What: Manx2 LET-410 en route from Isle of Mn to Blackpool Eng (UK)
Where: Blackpool
When: Nov 26, 2011, 11:38
Who: 9 aboard
Why: On landing at Blackpool, a tire burst.
A replacement plane flew to Blackpool with spare and maintenance crew.
What: Marion Flying Club Cirrus SR-20 en route from Marion Municipal Airport
Where: CRYSTAL LAKE, Ill
When: Nov 26, 2011 10:30am
Who: 4 fatalities
Why: The one-engine Cirrus SR-20 was flying in rainy, overcast conditions when it crashed in a soybean field on a farm unincorporated McHenry County, killing the four aboard the plane. Marion businessman Ray Harris and his daughters Ramie and Shey were killed in the crash, along with one of the girl’s boyfriends. On impact, the plane shattered into debris which was spread over 100 yards. The plane carries a parachute, which had been deployed but it was tangled in a tree, which may have contributed to the wreck.
The pilot, Harris, had been flying one of his daughters back to Wheaton College.
Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact photographer Wladimir Castro
What: American Airlines Boeing 767-200 en route from Los Angeles,CA to New York JFK,NY
Where: Los Angeles
When: Nov 23rd 2011
Who: 164 aboard
Why: The LA to New York flight took off as usual but once in the air, passengers and crew smelled something burning.
The pilots returned to LAX and made a safe landing.
The incident is under investigation. No details as of yet.
What: KLM Boeing 777-200, registration PH-BQB en route from Johannesburg to Amsterdam
Where: Amsterdam
When: Nov 25th 2011
Who: one passenger
Why: While en route, a thirty-one year old male passenger believed to be under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol became unruly. After harassing other passengers, the passenger ignored warnings of the crew, attempted to open the plane’s emergency exit and cockpit. He was subdued, and on landing in Amsterdam, was handed over to military police.
What: Ponderosa Aviation Inc. Rockwell Commander 690A en route from Mesa, Ariz to Safford, Arizona
Where: Apache Junction, Pinal County, AZ
When: Nov 23, 2011
Who: 6 fatalities
Why: On a thanksgiving flight that took off at 6:15, the pilot was flying to Safford and struck a rockface at the Superstition mountains. The children’s mother, Karen Perry, was not aboard. The fuselage is jammed between rocks.
The victims of the crash included Joseph Hardwick, 22, mechanic; pilot and aircraft owner Russell Hardy, 31; pilot Shawn Perry, 39; and Perry’s three children, Morgan, 9, Logan, 8, and Luke, 6.
The plane had just left Mesa’s Falcon Field when it crashed. It is a six hour hike from a campground to the wreckage. A ten member sheriff’s rescue team was flown in by chopper, and hiked down from a mountaintop.
The flight path that the pilot took is a controversial one. The FAA redesignated Phoenix airspace, raising the floor altitude for commercial traffic at almost the same height as the tallest peak in the Superstitions (5,057 feet). Planes such as this one flying east from Mesa’s Falcon Field must either go around the peak or request permission to enter commercial airspace to fly above it.
News Coverage
Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact photographer Je89 W.
What: United Airlines/Shuttle America Embraer ERJ-170 en route from Denver,CO to Toronto
Where: Denver
When: Nov 23rd 2011
Who: 68 passenger
Why: While climbing out of Denver, passengers and crew smelled smoke in the cabin.
A newscast said that passengers heard a “pop” before the pilots turned around and returned to the Denver airport.
They made a safe landing. Passengers disembarked on the runway and were provided an alternative flight.
Who: Open to the public
What: Mars Family Day – celebrating the launch of Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) and its Curiosity rover.
When: Saturday, November 26, 2011– 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Where: Virginia Air & Space Center, 600 Settlers Landing Road, downtown Hampton
How: Launch viewing and Mars Family Day activities are included in regular exhibit admission. Members always receive free admission.
More than 100 researchers and technicians at NASA Langley have worked on the MSL mission. Mars Family Day participants will be able to: learn more about MSL and Langley’s role in it; create an “egg” Mars lander; go on a MarsQuest scavenger hunt to win the chance for a free VASC Summer Science Camp; test their Martian skills with rover races; become an engineer for the day to help work on the challenges of landing on the Red Planet; see how much they weigh on Mars and other planets; and see a Mars meteorite and Viking lander, Viking orbiter and Mars rover models.
During the day, Air & Space Center visitors will also be able to participate in a free live, interactive video broadcast about the MSL launch from Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida. NASA is partnering with the National Institute of Aerospace, also in Hampton; the Denver Museum of Nature & Science (DMNS); and VASC to host livestream web coverage.
What: Air India Express en route from Cochin-Salalah
Where: Salalah
When: Nov 3, 2011 9:45
Who: 87 passengers
In George’s Point of View
India has made noises in the press about cleaning house regarding some of the bad pilots that skated through a flawed and corrupt school and accrediting system.
In this event, the pilot of an Air India Express COK-Salalah (Oman) flight, made three attempts to land. A cumulation of numerous small errors threatened passenger safety and defied standard operating procedures and included mis-entering data into the system.
The pilot forced the B737 to land using “autoland” in high cross-winds.
Wind speed on the ground was 25 knot (46 kmph) gusting to 35 knot (65 kmph.) Operating procedure allows landing when winds are no higher than 25 knots. The Boeing FCOM lists 35 knots as the max permissible crosswind landing component on a 45m wide. The pilot would have been correct to divert to another airport. There was adequate fuel to do so (if he had realized the numbers entered into the system were incorrect). Ground conditions were at the top of what Boeing allows and would be a challenge. Instead of diverting to Abu Dhabi, the pilot landed in defiance of safety norms.
The pilot attempted to land twice, and then decided to divert. Having been entered with incorrect data, the FMC (Flight Management Computer) incorrectly concluded there was only six minutes of flight time left. This was incorrect, as the plane had 4.7 tons of fuel, more than enough to reach Abu Dhabi, 75 minutes away.
On the pilot’s third attempt, the pilot autolanded (without having trained for autolanding.) It was a safe, if hard landing, and one that damaged the plane and nearly went off the runway. Two tires burst, and the landing gear was damaged.
Maybe this pilot is a fool, or maybe just careless. The plane did land with no loss of life. You know they always say “the devil is in the details.” I don’t know verifiable particulars. We don’t have available first hand data to analyze, but Air India and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation does.
But when we see evidence of problems like this, we wonder if India has gone far enough in raising the bar.
Vayalar Ravi, Indian Civil Aviation Minister met or called (on the 18th) victims of the Mangalore crash to discuss their compensation claims. A meeting on the 19th included representatives from the airline, the government and the insurance company.,
The crash occurred in May of 2010, when the Dubai-Mangalore Air India Express jet overshot the runway, killing 158 people aboard.
However other business was also being handled during the meetings.
The outcome of the meetings has not yet been released.
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Contact photographer Brian Casity
What: American Airlines McDonnell Douglas MD-83 en route from Dallas Ft. Worth,TX to Pittsburgh,PA
Where: near Dallas
When: Nov 19th 2011
Why: Just after take-off, the pilot switched the fuel supply from center fuel tank to main wing tanks and the right engine flamed out.
Pilots returned to the airport and made a safe landing.
Maintenance is investigating why operating pumps were working, yet failing to provide fuel to the right engine.
