What: Saudi Arabian Airlines Airbus A300-600 en route from Riyadh (Saudi Arabia) to Khartoum
Where: Khartoum
When: Jul 7th 2009
Who: 310 passengers and 16 crew
Why: On approach, the crew reported problems with the braking system. The plane swerved while landing but no injuries or damage was reported.
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Contact photographer Carlos De Oliveira
What: Air Austral Boeing 777-200 en route from Saint Denis to Dzaoudzi
Where: Saint Denis (2x)
When: May 8th 2009
Why: When there was a problem with the brakes, the plane returned to Saint Denis twice for repairs, before the flight was ultimately cancelled
George’s Point of View
Maintenance! Maintenance! Maintenance!
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Contact photographer Mick Bajcar
What: Ryanair Boeing 737-800 en route from Prestwick in Scotland to Brussels Charleroi in Belgium
Where: Charleroi Airport in Belgium
When: Monday March 16 2009
Who: 157 passengers and crew
Why: On approach to Charleroi Airport, the crew reported a problem with the braking system. The plane landed safely.
What: German airline Air Berlin Airbus A320 en route from from the Spanish resort of Mallorca to Nuremberg
When: Sunday Sept 21
Who: 167 people
Why: Although a light indicated one of four brakes was overheated, the plane landed safely.
Masry and Vititoe Partners, MIAMI, March 26 /PRNewswire/ PRESS RELEASE — Internationally recognized aviation attorneys Steven C. Marks and Ricardo M. Martinez-Cid with the Podhurst Orseck law firm have filed a series of lawsuits on behalf of families of passengers killed in Brazil’s worst airline disaster. On July 17, 2007, 199 people perished when TAM Airlines Flight 3054 slid off the runway at Congonhas Airport and slammed into an air cargo building in Sao Paulo. Today, Podhurst attorneys filed 59 wrongful death complaints related to the catastrophe in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
In addition to TAM NYSE: TAM, which is charged with its own negligence and that of its pilots and maintenance personnel, the defendants in the lawsuits are Pegasus Aviation IV, Inc.; Airbus S.A.S.; Airbus Industrie G.I.E. (EADS) (EAD.PA); Airbus Customer Services, Inc.; Goodrich Corporation NYSE: GR; and International Aero Engines AG.
“Responsibility not only lies with the companies that manufactured and handled maintenance for the aircraft,” said Marks, “We believe Airbus provided inadequate customer support, simulator services, and training materials for the pilots and flight crew that replicates the performance of the aircraft in all normal and abnormal conditions.”
Marks said it’s clear the flight crew knew there were problems with the aircraft before the disaster because the plane’s right thrust reverser had been deactivated before the flight.
“The thrust reverser is used to slow the jet down upon landing. Without an operational right thrust reverser, it didn’t have enough room to stop on the runway, ending in a horrific crash when the plane skidded off the runway’s edge,” he said.
Podhurst Orseck filed the first lawsuit related to the crash on behalf of the family of 35-year-old Ricardo Tazoe of Miami, an employee with Banco Santander. In all of the cases, the plaintiffs are seeking a jury trial to recover financial damages for pain and suffering; lost value of life; funeral expenses; and all other damages they may be entitled to under the law.
Marks and Martinez-Cid have extensive experience handling Brazilian aviation matters. They currently represent the families of numerous passengers who were killed when Gol Transportes Aeros Flight #1907 collided with an Embraer Legacy 600 business jet over the Amazon Rainforest in September 2006.
They have represented victims in countless significant major commercial airline crashes, including those killed in the crash of Comair Flight 5191 at the Blue Grass Airport in Lexington, Ky. in August 2006. Marks has acted as co-lead trial counsel for the California State Court plaintiffs after a Silk Air crash between Jakarta and Singapore in 1997 (successfully obtaining one of the most significant and largest verdicts in a mass disaster aviation case) and acting as lead liaison counsel for the state court and federal multi- district litigation plaintiffs’ steering committees over the ValuJet Flight 592 crash in Miami-Dade County in 1996.
Based in Miami, Podhurst Orseck, P.A. concentrates exclusively in trial and appellate litigation. The firm’s general tort practice places a major emphasis on aviation, automobile, products liability and medical malpractice litigation. In addition, the firm has a substantial practice in commercial, matrimonial and criminal litigation, as well as complex commercial tort litigation. Attorneys serve clients and corporations throughout the United States, and in many foreign countries. You can learn more about Podhurst Orseck by visiting the firm’s website at www.podhurst.com.
Interested in more about the Airbus? Airbus Flight Crew Training Manual.pdf
Local media tries to claim that pilot error was responsible for the airplane crash that killed nearly 200 people in Sao Paulo last week.
The news magazine VEJA said that a short runway and a constricted area that gave little room for victims to escape contributed to the accident.
The Brazilian air force said no conclusion had been reached.
It labelled as “premature and unfortunate” any conclusion about the accident, “as long as the investigations are ongoing.”
On July 17, a TAM airline Airbus 320 carrying 187 people overran the runway, crossed a road and slammed into an airport building.
The left turbine was thrust in reverse and was helping the airplane slow down, the right one was accelerating.
Key information has been obtained from the airplane’s black boxes.
The runway, which had been closed has now reopened Friday.
Brazilian airline TAM admitted one of the thrust reversers on the Airbus A320 that crashed at San Paulo was not operating.
Its right braking system was deactivated in accordance with the Airbus manufacturer specifications approved by the Brazil’s National Civil Aviation Agency (Anac). There were problems with the brake days before the disaster.
Brazil’s Air Force Accident Investigation and Prevention chief Jorge Kersul said any aircraft can land properly without using the reverse brake. The reverse brake is only an additional instrument to help the plane stop.
Specialists said that if the airport’s runway is wet, it is difficult to land without using the reverse brake.
The investigation will last some ten months.
Propair Flight 420, chartered by General Electric to transport their workers to their facility in Lachine, Quebec and Peterborough, Ontario, took off from Dorval. The left brakes overheated during take-off leading to a fire in the left wing which ruptured pipelines. The crew made an emergency landing. All 11 passengers and crew on board were killed. As a result of this accident, an overheat warning system inside the wheel-wells of every Metroliner was required. The pilot was Captain Jean Provencher. The co-pilot was Walter Stricker.
The official summary:
The aircraft, a Fairchild-Swearingen Metro II (SA226-TC), registration C-GQAL, serial number TC 233, took off as Propair 420 from Dorval / Montréal International Airport, Quebec, around 0701 eastern daylight time bound for Peterborough Airport, Ontario. On board were nine passengers and two pilots. About 12 minutes after take-off, at an altitude of 12 500 feet above sea level (asl), the crew advised air traffic control (ATC) that they had a hydraulic problem and requested clearance to return to Dorval. ATC granted this request. Around 0719, at 8600 feet asl, the crew advised ATC that the left engine had been shut down because it was on fire. Around 0720, the crew decided to proceed to Mirabel / Montréal International Airport, Quebec. At 0723, the crew advised ATC that the engine fire was out. On final for Runway 24, the crew advised ATC that the left engine was again on fire. The landing gear was extended on short final, and when the aircraft was over the runway, the left wing broke upwards. The fuselage pivoted more than 90? to the left around the longitudinal axis of the aircraft and struck the ground. All 11 occupants were fatally injured.