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Contact photographer Sergey Kustov

Update:
A team of around 200 police, military and rescue workers are headed in vehicles and on foot towards Salak mountain where the plane went missing.

A passenger list of 36 names posted at Halim airport showed that most of the people on board were Indonesian airline and aviation representatives, as well as five journalists and a representative of French aircraft engine maker SNECMA.

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Contact photographer Egor Naumenko

What: Sukhoi Superjet 100-95 en route from Jakarta to Jakarta Halim Perdanakusuma Airport
Where: Indonesia
When: May 9th 2012
Who: 36 passengers, 6 crew and 2 Sukhoi official
Why: The Sukhoi Sukhoi Superjet was thirty minutes into a demo flight over Jakarta when it disappeared from radio contact. It had already flown to Myanmar, Pakistan and Kazakhstan. After Jakarta, it was supposed to visit Laos and Vietnam.

The flight has not been reported landing at any airport. According to an individual who was supposed to be on the flight, it was only to last thirty minutes, and would have run out of fuel by now, if it had been flying all this time.

At 15:30L the crew asked ATC to descend to 6000 feet in an area where there is a 6,200 foot-high mountain. The plane lost contact on a descending right turn and has been reported as missing.

No crash site has been located; it may have crashed into Mount Salak.

The plane was flown by plane was operated by senior test-pilot Aleksandr Yablontsev and co-pilot Aleksandr Kochetkov, and there were six other russians aboard, Aero navigator Oleg Shvetsov, flight engineer Aleksey Kirkin, leading test flight engineer Dennis Rakhmanov, test flight deputy head Nikolay Martyshenko, “Sukhoi” company Sales Director Evgeny Grebenshchikov, and contract manager Kristina Kurzhukova.

Hijacking is unlikely, and appears to be a media rumor.

In George’s Point of View
Along with the rest of the world, we are hoping and praying the plane will be found intact.

One helicopter was sent out on a search mission, according to a local twitter. (See video below.)

Passenger Manifest

1. Kornel M. Sihombing (DI),
2. Edie Satiyo (Pelita Air),
3. Darwin Pelawi (Pelita Air),
4. Gatot Purwoko (Airfast),
5. Budi Rizal (Putra Arta Dirgantara),
6. Syafrudin (Carpedrem Mardin),
7. Peter Adler (Sriwijaya),
8. Herman Suladji (Air Maleo),
9. Donardi Rahman (Aviastar),
10. Eloni (Kartika),
11. Hurdiana Widjanda (Kartika),
12. Arief Wahyudi (TR),
13. Nam Tran (Snecma),
14. Ruli Dermawan (Indo Asia),
15. Ahmad Fazal (Indo Asia),
16. Insan Kamil (Indo Asia),
17. Edward Edo (Indo Asia),
18. Ismie (Trans TV),
19. Aditya Sukardi (Trans TV),
20. Indra Halim (PT KAI),
21. Rietyan S. (PT KAI),
22. Dody Aviantara (Angkasa),
23. Don Yusuf (Angkasa),
24. Femi (Bloomberg),
25. Stephen Kamaci (Indo Asia),
26. Capt. Aan (Kartika),
27. Yusuf Ariwibowo (Sky),
28. Maria Marcella (Sky),
29. Henny Stevani (Sky),
30. Mai Syarah (Sky),
31. Dewi Mutiara (Sky),
32. Sussana Vamella (Sky),
33. Nur Ilmawati (Sky),
34. Rossy Withan (Sky),
35. Anggi (Sky),
36. Aditya (Sky).

Two Southwest flights were grounded after bomb threats were made Tuesday evening.

Southwest Flight (7:30 p.m. flight 1184) was isolated at Sky Harbor Airport. Passengers were re-screened.

Southwest Flight (8:30 p.m. flight 811) at John Wayne Airport was also isolated after a bomb threat.

Nothing was found when the plane was searched. No one was injured.

The Joint Terrorism Task Force is investigating.

See Video below:

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Contact photographer Sebastian Sowa

What: Ryanair Boeing 737-800 en route from Gothenburg Sweden to London
Where: Gothenburg
When: May 8th 2012
Who: one injury
Why: A flight attended closing the door fell out of the plane.

Presumably wind may have been a factor in the door issue.

The injured attendant was taken to the hospital. A number of passengers deplaned, presumably to keep the Ryanair crew/passenger ratio at least one flight attendant for every 50 passengers.

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Contact photographer Kim Philipp Piskol

What: Niki Airbus A321-200 en route from Malaga to Vienna
Where: Vienna
When: May 6th 2012
Who: 1 injury
Why: The plane had made a safe landing but at the gate, a loading bridge malfunction occurred. The bridge lifted the plane and damaged the door. Passengers did not disembark through the bridge, but instead through the back. One person who had initially said she was unhurt had a fracture. The plane received substantial damage.

The airline reported that docking was correct but a sensor malfunctioned.

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Contact photographer Nicholas Young

What: Egypt Air Airbus A321-200 en route from Aleppo to Cairo
Where: Aleppo
When: May 6th 2012
Who: 130 passengers
Why: While taking off from Aleppo, the plane had a tail strike, impacting the runway. The pilots diverted to Larnaca where they made a safe landing. No reports were made of personal injury but the plane was damaged. A replacement flight was sent to carry the passengers to Cairo.

In George’s Point of View
I cannot help but wonder why pilots decided to climb to 31000 feet and continue to Lanarca instead of returning to Aleppo. Wouldn’t potential damage from a tail strike possibly affect cabin pressure and put the flight at risk? Wouldn’t standard procedure be to do a fly-by for a visual assessment, and a return to the airport? Or is there an Egypt Air or Airbus repair facility at Lanarca? It just seems like it was a risky choice.

Contact photographer Icaro Roberto

What: Governo do Est. de Goiás, opf. Policia Civil de Goiá AgustaWestland AW119 MkII Koala Enhanced
Where: Near Piranhas, state of Goiás Brazil
When: 08-MAY-2012
Who: 8 aboard, 8 fatalities
Why: An AgustaWestland AW119 MkII Koala Enhanced helicopter was participating in a reconstruction of a murder on a farm in Goiás, and crashed. The eight people aboard included The accident victims are the delegates Jorge Moreira, Osvalmir Carrasco (pilot), Vinicius Baptist, Bruno Carneiro (copilot), the superintendent of the Judicial Police, Antonio Goncalves, experts and Marcel de Paula de Paula Fabiano and suspected murderer, Ali Ahmad Souza.

The helicopter had been inspected Monday.

The Ministry of Justice and the National Civil Aviation Agency was bitufued, The Secretary of Public Security of Goiás, John Furtado will be supervising rescuers and the investigation.

Eyewitness accounts disagree. One witness says the aircraft was spinning on its axis and falling, another says it exploded in midair.

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Contact photographer DavidCherkasov

What: Aerosvit/Dniproavia Embraer ERJ-145 en route from Dnepropetrovsk to Moscow
Where: Moscow
When: May 5th 2012
Who: 22 passengers
Why: While landing in Moscow, halfway down the runway the plane veered right and stopped on soft ground. No injuries or damage to the plane was reported. The Embraer was formerly owned by Alitalia Express, along with another Embraer, UR-DNS.

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Contact photographer Xu Zheng

What: Sichuan Airlines Airbus A319-100 en route from Nantong to Wuhan
Where: Wuhan
When: May 5th 2012
Why: On approach to Wuhan, the plane suffered a bird strike on the left wing slat and rib.

Airbus sent a repair crew to perform repairs in Whuhan.

Stall warning sounded 75 times after the pitot tubes froze over.

Could the crash have been averted if the stick had communicated to the more experienced co-pilot what the less experienced pilot was doing? We agree that if the stick had been designed to communicate that the angle was wrong, the error would have been caught before the situation became critical.

We happen to agree with journalist, Nick Ross, who said in the video below that “All commercial airliners are remarkably safe,” but that the design could be made safer.

Should the stick provide pilot feedback? We believe amending the Airbus design to provide feedback would make the airbus a safer vehicle. What is your opinion?