Aviation News, Headlines & Alerts
 
Month: <span>March 2014</span>

Light Plane Crash in Russia Claims Two Lives

russia

A light engine plane crashed in the Russian Urals, killing both on board.

According to the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations, the two-seater RokoAero NG4 crashed at Pirogovo settlement, at about 1pm Moscow time on March 30.

The plane was owned by Izhevsk Flying Club. The company’s website reports that the pilot requested permission for landing. However, as he took a 180 degree turn, the plane crashed.

The victims have been identified as 35 year old instructor, Alex Surnin and a 39 year old student.

Emergency specialists are investigating the cause of accident.


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Private Plane Makes Emergency Landing at San Jose Airport

A private King Air 350 plane made an emergency landing at San Jose International Airport in California, after a mechanical fault was discovered.

According to Rosemary Barnes, spokesperson of San Jose International Airport, the pilot declared a mechanical emergency after which, fire fighters and police immediately rushed to the site. However, the plane safely landed at 6:53 a.m.

All three persons on board remained injured.

Plane Crash in Essex Kills 2

EssexA YAK 52 light aircraft crashed in a field in Essex, England, killing both on board. The plane was flying from North Weald.

According to the local police, the aircraft was witnessed to be in trouble before it hit a field near Cooksmill Green, west of Chelmsford, at about 2:55 pm on March 29.

The plane was in flames when it crashed. Firefighters from Chelmsford, Colchester and Maldon rushed to the scene and put out the fire.

Air Accident Investigation Branch is investigation the cause of accident. The families of both victims have been informed.

Pilot Killed in a Small Plane Crash in Highlands Ranch, Co

HighlandA SONERAI II LT Experimental plane flying out of Centennial Airport crashed in Highlands Ranch, Colorado, at about 3pm on March 29.

After the pilot suffered difficulty maintaining control, the plane went down in flames in a nose dive away from populated areas.

The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office has confirmed that the pilot was killed in the incident.

The workers at a nearby car wash centre declared the pilot to be a hero as he apparently tried to steer the plane away from local shops and road, before it finally crashed.

Avianca Airlines Flight Makes Emergency Landing Without Front Wheels

UntitledAn Avianca Airlines Fokker 100 jet made an emergency landing in the Brazilian capital city Brasilia, as its front landing gear stopped working.

The plane, carrying 49 passengers, was en route from Petrolina to Brasilia airport on March 28. The pilot requested emergency landing protocol as his attempt to lower the plane’s front landing gear failed.

Media sources report that the pilot kept flying the passenger jet around the city, in order to shed the weight of extra fuel. The plane then safely landed on its rear wheels, while the fire crew foamed it to avoid a friction fire when its nose touched the runway.

All the passengers and crew members were evacuated safely.

Latest Video Coverage of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 Search

Videos below not visible on the front page
Readers and subscribers, please feel free to tweet @georgehatcher if you have more current MH370 news.

AL Jazeera says Chinese ire over MH370 is hurting Malaysia ties.
Chinese protests put a face on the lost passengers. China officials feel public pressure from the grief and anger of the Chinese people.

The search for debris from #MH370 has been moved north based on alternative estimates of speed.

The zone of focus, 1100 kilometers away is outside of the “roaring forties” air zone, taking the search out of bad weather.

New computation of location is based on faster speeds, faster usage of fuel based on Kuala Lumpar data. Termed the most credible lead.

Pencarian beralih, pesawat bergerak lebih pantas

Families wish the information was coming faster and staged a walk-out after a disappointing press conference. Hopes are high in some areas that debris will be found on Saturday’s search.

$51,651 Civil Penalty Proposed Against AAA Services


The Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration’s proposes a penalty of $51,651 against All American Aviation Services, LLC for FAA drug and alcohol testing regulation violations. All American allowed eight employees in sensitive positions without securing their drug and alcohol testing records, and failed to abide by follow-up testing procedures on two marijuana-positive testees.

One employee who tested positive was excluded from the random testing program, and one employee who failed a test failed to provide the return to duty test result.

The discrepancies came to light during a March 2013 inspection where the company’s antidrug and alcohol misuse prevention program was audited.


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Bodies Recovered 5 Days After Ridgeway Reservoir Plane Crash

Ridgeway reservoirSearch teams have finally recovered the bodies of 5 persons who were on board while their single engine plane crashed in the Ridgeway Reservoir Colorado on March 22nd.

The Socata TBM700 crash happened on March 22 when the plane was en route to Montrose regional airport.

The victims have been identifies as Jimmy Hill, 48; Katrina Barksdale, 40; Seth McDuffie, 14; 11 year old Kobe and 8 year old Xander. All the victims were from Gadsden, Alabama.

The plane wreckage was found upside down buried in silt, 60 feet below water level.

The cause of the crash is still unknown.

This post is an update of ‘Single Engine Plane Crashes Near Montrose


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Malaysia Moves Ahead with Formula One Race In Spite of MH370 Crash

Formula one racing in Malaysia will be organized as planned, despite the Prime Minister’s confirmation about Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 crashing and killing all on board.

However, the organizers have decided to scale down the planned activities considering the somber atmosphere after the MH370 tragedy. The weekend concerts have been cancelled as “a sign of respect to the families and next-of-kin of the crew and passengers of flight MH370.” The concerts featured pop star Christina Aguilera.

Britain’s Mirror newspaper reported that Mercedes had planned to run “Come Home MH370” signage on all its W05 cars during the Grand Prix weekend. However, DPA news agency reports that Mercedes will now run the words “Tribute to MH370” on the cars at Sepang.

Sepang circuit boss Razlan Razali said that the F1 race was planned a long time ago, and it cannot be cancelled, despite pressure from various sides.


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Ecuador Bound International Flight Makes Emergency Landing in Charleston

TAME Airlines Airbus A330-200 heading to Ecuador from New York’s JFK Airport made an emergency landing at Joint Base Charleston at 2:05 on March 25.

The medical emergency was declared because of a female passenger having breathing trouble. However, she refused to go to the local area hospital for medical treatment. The plane left after refueling at 4.30 a.m. without dropping the passenger.

The flight was directed to the Joint Base since no international flights operate between midnight and 4 a.m. at the Charleston International airport, and the ground crew is not available during this time.

The plane had 70 passengers and 9 crew members on board.


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Jamaica Vows to Adopt International Standards for Aviation Safety and Security

The Jamaican Government plans to spend US$ 22 Million to upgrade its aviation safety and security infrastructure to bring it up to par with the international standards.

In an interview, Director General Jamaican Civil Aviation Authority Leroy Lindsay said that Jamaica is fully complying with the best practices and standards set by International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

He further said that Jamaica has improved by 10 percent from its ranking which was 30 percent in 2007, in terms of compliance requirements. Jamaican authorities are taking serious steps to comply with the Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation. He hoped that Jamaica will top in the Caribbean countries in maintaining high standards of performance in aviation.

He disclosed that Jamaica will replace all outdated technology in two to three years in the air navigation services and they are planning to have Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) equipment to monitor satellite surveillance of aircraft by 2017.

He hoped to have Controller Pilot Data Link Communications in place by 2017. This technology is used for automatic communication between the aircraft and the air traffic control systems.

Lindsay further mentioned that they have already called bids for replacement of outdated radar at 26 sites.

Jamaican authorities are adopting environment-friendly measures for airspace in line with the Priority Based Navigation in the ICAO Global Navigation Plan, including Continuous Descent Approach (CDA), and Continuous Climb Operations (CCO).

In George’s Point of View

This announcement of Jamaica’s update is, in my opinion, a timely gesture, especially considered in terms of the recent events concerning Malaysia Airlines flight 370, the instant recognition code for which across the internet has been #MH370. The tragic and mysterious disappearance of Flight 370 is one many people believe would not have happened if there had been streaming data technology in place that would have relayed the plane’s details even when the transponder was shut off. Jamaica’s move toward “Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast” equipment in 2017 is one that that should be in development universally and internationally. We believe that one day the ICAO will have revised standards of online data streaming, perhaps even by 2017; and that this upgrade of Jamaica, while in compliance with current not future standards, is a step in the right direction.


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Arclight Films Halts the Preproduction of ‘Deep Water’ After MH370 tragedy

Malaysian airlines
While the real life mystery of Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 disappearance hit the headlines, Australian film producer Alister Grierson revealed that this real life event is eerily similar to the story line of his upcoming action horror film ‘Deep water’.

Considering the sensitivity of scenario, Arclight Films on Monday announced that they have decided to pause the work on Deep water. The film company’s managing director Gary Hamilton said ‘Out of sensitivity to the Malaysia flight situation, we’ve decided to put it on pause for now’.

The film is based on the story of plane crash survivors who have to face and fight hungry sharks.

The post is an update of “Alister Grierson Says Malaysian Plane Incident Resembles the Plot of “Deep Water


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Hastings Plane Crash Updates

TomHawkThe recent single engine Tomahawk PA38 crash in Hastings killed 46 year old Christopher Howell and 48 year old Christopher Rawlings.

Rawlings, hailing from the Clive in the Hawke’s Bay region, was an instructor at the Hawk’s Bay and East Coast Aero Club.

Howell, a fully qualified and trained pilot from UK, was flying the plane when it bursted into flames mid-air. According to Bruce Govenlock, president of Hawk’s Bay and East Coast Aero Club, Howell wanted to acquire a New Zealand license for getting employment there. He also had to appear for pilot’s validation exam later in the day.

Govenlock also said that the last radio transmission from the plane did not show any sign of trouble. The Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand is investigating the crash.

The post is an update of “Tomahawk PA38 Crashed in Hastings, 2 Dead


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Malaysia Airlines Media Statement

Released at 12: 30 p.m. local time

Tan Sri Md Nor Md Yusof, Chairman of Malaysia Airlines

As you will be aware, last night the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Najjib Razak, announced new evidence regarding the disappearance of MH370 on 8th March.

Based on this evidence, the Prime Minister’s message was that we must accept the painful reality that the aircraft is now lost and that none of the passengers or crew on board survived.

This is a sad and tragic day for all of us at Malaysia Airlines. While not entirely unexpected after an intensive multi-national search across a 2.24 million square mile area, this news is clearly devastating for the families of those on board. They have waited for over two weeks for even the smallest hope of positive news about their loved ones.

This has been an unprecedented event requiring an unprecedented response. The investigation still underway may yet prove to be even longer and more complex than it has been since March 8th. But we will continue to support the families – as we have done throughout. And to support the authorities as the search for definitive answers continues. I will now ask our Group Chief Executive¸ Ahmad Jauhari Yahya, to provide you will with fuller details of our support for the families.

Ahmad Jauhari Yahya, Group Chief Executive Officer, Malaysia Airlines

I stand before you today not only as the Group Chief Executive Officer of Malaysia Airlines, but also as a parent, as a brother, as a son. My heart breaks to think of the unimaginable pain suffered by all the families. There are no words which can ease that pain. Everyone in the Malaysia Airlines family is praying for the 239 souls on MH370 and for their loved ones on this dark day. We extend our prayers and sincere condolences.

We all feel enormous sorrow and pain. Sorrow that all those who boarded Flight MH370 on Saturday 8th March, will not see their families again. And that those families will now have to live on without those they love. It must be remembered too that 13 of our own colleagues and fellow Malaysians were also on board.

And let me be very clear on the events of yesterday evening. Our sole and only motivation last night was to ensure that in the incredibly short amount of time available to us, the families heard the tragic news before the world did. Wherever humanly possible, we did so in person with the families or by telephone, using SMS only as an additional means of ensuring fully that the nearly 1,000 family members heard the news from us and not from the media.

Ever since the disappearance of Flight MH370 Malaysia Airlines’ focus has been to comfort and support the families of those involved and support the multi-national search effort. We will continue to do this, while we also continue to support the work of the investigating authorities in the Southern Indian Ocean.

Like everyone else, we are waiting for news from those authorities. We know that while there have been an increasing number of apparent leads, definitive identification of any piece of debris is still missing. It is impossible to predict how long this will take. But after 17 days, the announcement made last night and shared with the families is the reality which we must now accept. When Malaysia Airlines receives approval from the investigating authorities, arrangements will be made to bring the families to the recovery areas if they so wish. Until that time, we will continue to support the ongoing investigation. And may I express my thanks to the Government and all of those involved in this truly global search effort.

In the meantime, Malaysia Airlines’ overwhelming focus will be the same as it has been from the outset – to provide the families with a comprehensive support programme. Through a network of over 700 dedicated caregivers, the loved ones of those on board have been provided with two dedicated caregivers for each family, providing care, support and counsel. We are now supporting over 900 people under this programme and in the last 72 hours, we have trained an additional 40 caregivers to ensure the families have access to round-the-clock support.

In addition, hotel accommodation for up to five family members per passenger, transportation, meals and others expenses have been provided since 8th March and that will continue.

Malaysia Airlines has already provided initial financial assistance of USD 5,000 per passenger to the next of kin. We recognize that financial support is not the only consideration. But the prolonged search is naturally placing financial strain on the relatives. We are therefore preparing to offer additional payments as the search continues.

This unprecedented event in aviation history has made the past 18 days the greatest challenge to face our entire team at Malaysia Airlines. I have been humbled by the hard work, dedication, heartfelt messages of concern and offers of support from our remarkable team. We do not know why, and we do not know how this terrible tragedy happened. But as the Malaysia Airlines family, we are all praying for the passengers and crew of Flight MH370.


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Malaysian Airlines Flight MH066 Makes Emergency Landing in Hong Kong

Malaysian airlines

Malaysian Airlines flight MH066 had to make an emergency landing in Hong Kong after its main electrical power generator failed.

The flight was on its way from from Kuala Lumpur to Seoul when the main generator of Airbus A330-300 stopped working.

The plane, carrying 271 passengers, safely landed at the Hong Kong International Airport on Monday, March 24, before 3 am.

Malaysian Airlines maintains that even though the main generator failed, the plane’s auxiliary power unit was able to continue delivering electric power.


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Pilot Survives After 1951 Cessna L19 Crashed in Waters of Tampa Bay, St. Petersburg

A 1951 Cessna L19 “Bird Dog” crashed in Tampa Bay, St. Petersburg, on Sunday, March 23,

The plane owned by Advertising Air Force fell into the water 300 to 400 yards south east of the Bayboro Harbor Coast Guard Base.

The 36 year old pilot, Robert L. Gilchrist, was uninjured. The coast guard reported that a good Samaritan managed to pull the pilot from the cockpit of the crashed plane. There were no other passengers on board.


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Prime Minister Endorses Australian-based search

On March 24, Najib Razak, Malaysia’s Prime Minister, announced that new computations by Inmarsat and the AAIB, flight MH-370 ended in the South Indian Ocean west of Perth (Australia). At this point, Malaysia endorsed the new search search parameters.

The full statement:

“This evening I was briefed by representatives from the UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch — or AAIB. They informed me that Inmarsat, the UK company that provided the satellite data which indicated the northern and southern corridors, has been performing further calculations on the data. Using a type of analysis never before used in an investigation of this sort, they have been able to shed more light on MH370’s flight path.

Based on their new analysis, Inmarsat and the AAIB have concluded that MH370 flew along the southern corridor, and that its last position was in the middle of the Indian Ocean, west of Perth. This is a remote location, far from any possible landing sites.

It is therefore with deep sadness and regret that I must inform you that, according to this new data, flight MH370 ended in the southern Indian Ocean.

We will be holding a press conference tomorrow with further details. In the meantime, we wanted to inform you of this new development at the earliest opportunity. We share this information out of a commitment to openness and respect for the families, two principles which have guided this investigation.

Malaysia Airlines have already spoken to the families of the passengers and crew to inform them of this development. For them, the past few weeks have been heartbreaking. I know this news must be harder still. I urge the media to respect their privacy, and to allow them the space they need at this difficult time.”

Tomahawk PA38 Crashed in Hastings, 2 Dead

TomHawk

A Hawkes Bay and East Coast Aero Club-owned Tomahawk PA38 plane crashed at the riverbed near Maraekakaho, 12km past the aerodrome, in Hastings, NZ.

The incident happened at about 11 am on March 23, 2014.  Bruce Govenlock, president of the Club said it was too early to determine the cause of crash; it could be engine failure or a mechanical problem.  The weather was fine and the 30-year-old aircraft was very well maintained.

The eye-witnesses heard the engine of the plane making strange sounds before the crash; one of them described it as “coughing and spluttering.”

Those killed in the crash included an experienced club instructor and a visitor from the UK who was preparing for his pilot’s license validation exam.

The fully qualified pilot from the UK had been flying the single engine plane for half an hour before the crash.  He took off from Bridge Pa Aerodrome for practice.

Ridgeway Reservoir Plane Crash Updates

Ridgeway reservoir

A single engine plane crashed about 90 feet from the shore south of Montrose on 22nd March, 2014. The incident happened while the plane was on its way from Oklahoma to Montrose regional airport.

A large piece from the tail of the crashed plane has been recovered from the reservoir. Rescue teams could not find the pilot and the other five people on board. It is assumed that there are no survivors of the crash incident.

According to the Ouray County emergency, law enforcement and public officials, the search and rescue operation is going on at the best, and the efforts will continue on Monday as well.


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Couple Died in Caboolture Airfield Plane Crash, Leaving Behind Six Children

Plane crash

The Caboolture Airfield plane crash happened on Sunday, 22nd March 2014, and killed all 5 on-board including Rahi Hohua, and her fiancé Joey King.

Rahi, 27 and Joey, 32 were engaged to marry, and had six children. The trip was Joey’s gift to his fiancée.

A couple of hours before the crash, Joey updated a social media status, disclosing his fear of skydiving. Within hours of tragedy, Joey’s worried friends returned to Facebook hoping that the plane that crashed was not their friends’.

Alister Grierson Says Malaysian Plane Incident Resembles the Plot of “Deep Water”

Malaysian airlines

Australian film maker Alister Grierson has disclosed that the plot of his recent production, “Deep Water” coincidentally resembles the mysterious story of the Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 disappearance.

The film is about the fate of survivors of a plane crash on a China-bound air flight. The director said “The similarities and timing is interesting, and I can see why anecdotally the two things link up, it’s a tricky thing.”

This coincidence becomes even more mysterious considering that the director’s previous movie, “Sanctum”, based on an underwater cave diving adventure gone wrong, was released exactly two weeks prior to the  Northern New South Wales and Queensland floods.

Father Dies, Daughter and Schoolmate Injured in Round Lake Plane Crash

single engine

A single-engine small plane en-route from Chicago to St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport crashed on March 22, near McMullen Booth Road and Enterprise Road in Clearwater, Florida.

The 53-year-old pilot, Jeffrey Bronken, was killed in the crash. Katherine Bronken, Jeffrey Bronken’s daughter, and Keyana Linbo, her classmate, both 15-year-olds from Round Lake were injured.

Drivers are advised to avoid the area of McMullen Booth Road and Enterprise Road. The investigation by the Sheriff’s deputies and the FAA is underway.


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Investigation into Deadly Cessna 206 Crash near Brisbane Continues

The Cessna 206 operated by Adrenalin Skydivers crashed during takeoff on March 22 at the airstrip, 50km north of Brisbane.  Five persons, including the pilot, two tandem instructors and a couple were killed.

The Managing Director of Aero Dynamic Flight Academy and the Safety Officer of Caboolture Airfield, Bryan Carpenter said the aviation community is shattered by the ­tragic incident. He said it was not possible at this stage to speculate the cause of the accident.  The possible causes could have been a bird collision, a mechanical failure or a center of gravity shift in the plane.  The plane was reportedly having engine trouble on takeoff.

The victims included instructors Glenn Norman and Juraj Glesk, and Logan couple Rahuia Hohua and Joey King.

Adrenalin Skydivers, known as Skydive ­Bribie, uses Caboolture Airfield for picking up tourists for conducting tandem jumps.  They land on nearby Bribie Island.

Adrenalin Skydivers Pty Ltd also had a similar accident in August 2010 killing seven on board.

The investigation is being handled by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau.


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American Airlines Flight 757 Made Emergency Landing at Tulsa

Birds ingested in one of the engines of the American Airlines flight 757, forced it to make emergency landing in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

The incident happened while the plane was taking off from Tulsa.  The pilot immediately returned the plane back for check-up.

These kind of incidents are quiet common in Tulsa, The airplanes usually get hit by birds and sometimes by skunks and other mammals. Alexis Higgins of FAA says that they are seeking help from biologists to remove these birds from the airport.

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