Aviation News, Headlines & Alerts
 
Category: <span>unresolved</span>

Disabled Piper Quietly Lands on Palm Beach


image capture from youtube

What: Secure Aviation Inc Piper PA-31-310 Navajo C
Where: North Ocean Boulevard, West Palm Beach, FL
When: Jan 28 2012 2:46 pm
Who: 1
Why: After having engine problems, a pilot quietly landed his twin-engine Piper Navajo on the beach south of the Palm Beach jetty. He said “The plane didn’t want to run anymore, so it landed.”

The pilot was not injured but the plane suffered some damage and will have to be dismantled to be removed from the beach.

The 1974 plane is registered to Secure Aviation, 10218 SE Banyan Way in Tequesta.


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Tiger Moth Crash Kills Two at Mayborough


Click to view full size photo
Contact photographer red750

What: De Havilland DH.82A Tiger Moth
Where: Maryborough Airport on Leviathan Road, Australia
When: Jan 27, 2012, 5pm.
Who: 2 fatalities
Why: After taking off, the plane hit trees at the end of the runway.

Witnesses described seeing a ball of flames, which ignited a field of dry grass. The grass required seven Country Fire Authority crews to extinguish it.

The two men aboard the vintage plane were John Fisher and David Oxley. In the past, John Fisher, who worked at Maryborough airport, had flown the Tiger Moth from England to Australia. He was the pilot and the owner of the plane.

The accident is under investigation by three investigators from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau.


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Cessna Fireball Crashes in Jennings County Field, 2 Lives Lost

What: Cessna 177 Cardinal en route from Chicago to Madison Municipal Airport
Where: S of County Road 600, near Dupont Indiana
When: Jan 21, 2012 8:41 p.m
Who: 2 fatalities
Why: 55 year old Gregory L. Wehr and 55 year old Candace S. Wehr of Versailles, were flying from Chicago, when their Cessna crashed in a Jennings County field.

A witness saw a big ball of fire fall straight down and explode.

The NTSB is investigating.

British Airways Message Terrifies Transatlantic Passengers


What: British Airways Miami to London
Where: en route
When: Jan 14 2012
Why: Passengers got the fright of their lives aboard the British Airways flight when a tape warning passengers to brace for an emergency water landing played in the cabin. The incident occurred three hours into the flight, and caused passengers significant psychological trauma. The fight attendant responded within thirty seconds, but the captain never came on with an explanation of how the pre-recorded message was activated.

A flight attendant came on the intercom and apologized for the mistake. This is the second time (that we know of) the recording has been played on a British Airways flight.


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Flight 409: Ethiopia Airlines Rejects Official Report


Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact photographer Alastair T. Gardiner

The report from Lebanon on the January 2010 crash of ET409 has been rejected by Ethiopia Airlines. It is not surprising that they would reject it as the report blames Ethiopian airlines; specifically they cite the probable cause of the crash as being “the flight crew’s mismanagement” and “a failure in basic piloting skills,” and that the pilot flew 188 hours in 51 days with minimum rest.

The crew ate during their Beirut stop, and complained they could not sleep afterwards.

Ethiopian Airlines claims the government withheld information, and claim the plane exploded.

No sign of fire or explosion were detected in the wreckage

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Cirrus Wreck Kills 4 in Rural Illinois

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.

Three Children, Three Adults lost in Arizona Crash

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.

Webcam footage:

News Coverage

Views of the wreckage

Flight School Cessna and Military Piper Collision In Argentina

What: (Fuerza Aérea Argentina) Argentine Air Force Piper PA-A28-236 Dakota light aircraft
Where: Mercedes Airport, Argentina
When: 21-NOV-2011 09:45 LT
Who: 2 fatalities
Why: On approach to Mercedes Airport, an Argentine Air Force Piper PA-A28-236 Dakota collided with an aviation school Cessna 152.

Both the flight school crew members in the Cessna 150 were killed in the crash. The Piper PA-28 landed safely. The two military personnel aboard the Piper survived.

According to witness Boloni Eduardo, the Air Force plane cut the back of the Cessna with its propeller, causing it to fall

Firefighters, police, ambulance, Air Force, and Civil Aviation Accident Investigation Board were on the scene. Mercedes is a public air field with no control tower.

José Francisco Blake Mora Dead in Chopper Crash

What: Fuerza Aerea Mexicana Aérospatiale AS 332L Super Puma
Where: Temamatla , Edo de Mexico
When: Nov 11, 2011, around noon
Who: 9 aboard, 9 fatalities
Why: A Mexican government helicopter en route from Mexico City to Cuernavaca carrying 9 passengers crashed, killing everyone aboard.

Those aboard included José Francisco Blake Mora, Secretary of the Interior, Felipe Zamora Castro, Legal Affairs and Secretary of the Interior Ministry DH, Jose Alfredo Garcia Medina, director of social communication Interior Ministry, Diana Miriam Hayton Sanchez, technical secretary of the office, and Major Rene de Leon, Lt. Col. Philip Bacio Cortes, Jorge Luis Juarez Gomez, Ramon Escobar Segundo and Pedro Teninete Becerra.

The chopper was en route to a prosecutors meeting. It went down in heavy cloud cover, so weather is considered to be a factor. Mexico’s No. 2 official, Francisco Blake Mora, who embodied Mexican government’s get-tough attitude, is one of the victims of the crash. Mora been a key figure in Mexico’s battle with drug cartels and he oversaw disaster response, like the pipeline explosion in San Martin Texmelucan in 2010. He is the 2nd interior secretary in this administration to die in an air accident.


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5 Die in Hawaiian Chopper Crash into Mountain

What: Blue Hawaiian Helicopters Eurocopter EC130 B4 helicopter departing from Kahului
Where: Kaunakakai, Molokai island, Hawaii
When: November 9, 2011 at 12:30 pm
Who: pilot Nathan Cline, 30, of Kihei and 4 tourists
Why: While on a 45 minute tour of West Hawaii, the chopper crashed into a mountain. The accident occurred on Wednesday, less than a mile from Kilohana Elementary School, right after a hard rain. At the school, students heard an explosion and saw black smoke when the chopper crashed.

The pilot and four tourists died at the scene. Although the investigation is ongoing, according to at least one published report, the NTSB said that the pilot failed to maintain enough altitude over the terrain amid low-lying clouds.

Two of the passengers were newlyweds, and they came from Pennsylvania and Ontario Canada.

Blue Hawaiian, which conducts 160,000 tours yearly, leased the year old chopper from Nevada Helicopter Leasing LLC.

Four bodies have been recovered. The fifth has been located, but is in a difficult location.


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Yemeni Military Crash Kills 5

What: Yemen Air Force Antonov
Where: Al-Anad Air Base, Yemen
When: October 25, 2011
Who: 15 aboard, 5 fatalities
Why: A plane carrying eight Syrian engineers and seven Yemenis crashed while landing at Al-Anad on October 25 in the southern province of Lahij.

Three Syrian technicians and one Yemeni died at the scene. Four, then five deaths have been reported.

The condition of the survivors has not been released.

One survives Nairobi Crash

What: Cezanne Air Express Cessna 401A
Where: 10km west of Nairobi, Kenya
When: Oct 21, 2011
Who: 2 fatalities, 3 aboard
Why: The flight took off from Wilson Airport taking Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education exam papers to Marsabit and Lodwar and crashed. Witnesses describe the flight as spinning out of control before it crashed near a school. Kenya Red Cross Action team and Emergency Medical Services (Eplus Kenya) responded.

The pilot and two passengers were hospitalized at Karen Hospital. Two died from the crash, one at the hospital. One passenger is still alive in critical condition.

Extensive photos of the wreckage of this tragic event are available on facebook at Facebook Photos

Ministry Opinion on PNG crash

What: PNG Airlines de Havilland Canada DHC-8-102
Where: 20 km (12.5 mls) S of Madang Airport (MAG) (Papua New Guinea)
When: Oct 13, 2011
Who: 4 crew, 28 passengers, 4 survivors
Why: The Png flight crashed 20 miles south of Madang, and was lost and later discovered on fire. 28 died in the crash, but pilots, one passenger and an attendant survived. The Australian Captain broke both legs in the crash. The surviving passenger is a Chinese man who incurred serious burns.

Based on the information that the pilot gave to the towers which was there’s smoke coming out of the engines and we’re running out of power, doing a forced landing, that’s what they said, which resulted in it crash landing.” The Ministry of Civil Aviation in Papua NG announced unofficially that there was a mechanical problem with the plane. The black box was recovered and sent to Australia for analysis.

A Canadian team from de Havilland is doing an independent investigation.


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Nepal: Chopper Crashes; Buddha Air Suspends Flights

What: Mountain Air Helicopter
Where: Mallarani Hill, Pyuthan
When: Sept 25, 2011
Who: Pilot Kumar Chalise, Shyam GC of Gulmi, Jitendra Jhankri and Hirababu Karki of Kathmandu
Why: The chopper was on a medical evacuation mission when they had to make an emergency landing.

Mallarani Hill is in Nepal, the country where the Buddha Air crash occurred yesterday,on the same day as this chopper emergency landing. Another source says the helicopter “made a crash landing at Okharpauwa of Nuwakot due to technical problems.”

Buddha Air, no connection to Mountain Air other than operating in the same country, suspended domestic flights in mourning for the Buddha Air Crash on Sunday. The victims of the crash will be returned to their families on Monday, Sept 26, 2011, following their autopsy at Tribhuvan University. A committee of 5 has been assigned by Nepal’s Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation to report on the crash within 90 days.

Military Embraer Crashes in Angola, 6 survivors


What: Força Aérea Nacional Angolana Embraer 120ER Brasilia en route from Albano Machado to Luanda
Where: Angola
When: Sept 14, 2011
Who: 23 aboard, 17 fatalities
Why: An Angolan Air Force Embraer 120 Brasilia crashed while trying to land at Albano Machado Airport in Huambo, Angola and was destroyed. Number of those aboard ranges from 23 to 36.

Media reports say a wheel broke off on landing. Other reports say the plane was flying low and already on fire before it crashed in the Cachingue neighborhood.


There were six survivors, including the pilot and co-pilot. The back of the crashed plane caught on fire, leaving the survivors who were in the front of the plane. Those dead include s Lt Gen Bernardo Leitao Francisco Diogo, and Lt Gen Elias Malungo Bravo da Costa Pedro, and two unidentified women, and two unidentified children.

The plane broke in two on impact. The pilot says the problem was mechanical.

A second accident occurred in Three Bridges, in Lubango, Huila province, killing the pilot of a SU-22.

Chile Turns to Psychic Leonor del Carmen Díaz

What: Grupo 10, Fuerza Aerea de Chile CASA 212 Aviocar en route from Santiago to isla Juan Fernandez
Where: near the Juan Fernandez islands
When: Sept 2, 2011 4:58 p.m.
Who: 21 aboard, 21 fatalities
Why: The Chilean air force plane on a relief flight attempted to land, but the landing was aborted twice as pilots fought hard winds. On the third attempt, the flight disappeared from radar, as witnesses saw it veer left. It was lost at sea.

In addition to the usual sources, Defence Minister Andres Allamand of Chile told the world Chile has turned to a psychic who was on one of the search boats as it looked for 17 bodies missing off of the island believed to have been the setting for the novel Robinson Crusoe by 18th century British author Daniel Defoe, the main island of the Juan Fernandez archipelago.

The local psychic who assisted was Leonor del Carmen Díaz. She drew a map of her “vision” of the accident that revealed to her body of the “plane on the ocean floor with victims’ bodies still strapped in their seat belts inside it.”

WE believe in whatever it takes to find the bodies, and if a Psychic works by all means.

Lifenet Medical Evacuation Chopper Down in Missouri, Four Fatalities

What: Air Methods Corp Eurocopter AS-350 en route from a hospital in St. Joseph, MO
Where: a field a mile north of Midwest National Air Center. Missouri
When: April 26, 2011, 7 pm
Who: 3 crew and one patient
Why: The St. Joseph Missouri medical chopper was on the way to Liberty Kansas about to refuel at Midwest National Air Center in Mosby when it went down in a Clay County field. There is no indication what went wrong that caused the crash and skies were reported to be clear. The wreckage is reported to be mangled. According to the video below the wreck might have been a failed landing, hitting the skids, then flipping.

There were no survivors. The crew lost in the crash were Randy Bever, Flight Nurse, 47, of Savannah, Mo., Chris Frakes, Flight Paramedic, 36, of Savannah, Mo. and James Freudenberg, Pilot, 34, of Rapid City, Sd.

The name of the 58-year-old female passenger has not yet been released.

The helicopter was certified in 2005, good until 2013. Key Equipment Finance Inc. out of Boulder, CO.holds the lien and it was being operated by LifeNet, a subsidiary of Air Methods Inc. of Englewood, CO.

The NTSB is investigating.

Mystery Boeing Crash in Nunavut Canada


Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact photographer Gilbert Hechema

What: First Air Boeing 737-210C en route from Yellow Knife to Resolute
Where: near Resolute Airport, Nunavut, Canada
When: August 20, 2011
Who: 4 crew, 11 passengers, 12 fatalities
Why: On approach to Resolute Bay Airport, the plane impacted the hillside. The wreckage was found five miles from the airport.

Three survivors were recovered. There were twelve fatalities, including the entire crew. Two survivors (a seven year old and a 48 year old) were taken to Ottawa hospital, and the third (a 23 year old woman) is reported to be stable at Qikiqtani General Hospital in Iqaluit where all of the survivors were originally taken. Two forensic teams are on the scene (one to identify the bodies, and one for accident investigation), and the black boxes have been recovered.

The weather at the time of the crash was he weather was rainy with a low cloud ceiling, and reported to be patchy fog. A mock rescue military exercise was going on with 700 military personnel when the crash was reported. They responded to the crash with helicopters and medical personnel. Eleven RCMP personnel were also part of the rescue unit. The senior administrative officer, Ralph Alexander, said it wasn’t foggy enough in Resolute at the time of the crash to have caused the accident, and that planes landed there in worse visibility. However there have been reports of locals hearing the impact but not seeing anything because of dense fog. The charred wreckage is in three parts with smaller plane parts and remains scattered.

The crash site is less than two kilometres west of Resolute, a small tight-knit community with many individuals directly affected by the twelve fatalities.

The passenger manifest has not yet been made public but the owner of South Camp Inn, Aziz (Ozzie) Kheraj, reportedly lost a granddaughter on the crash, and one survived.

First Air held a news conference at in Kanata, Ontario on Sunday at 11 a.m. ET.

Transport Canada issued the following release:


At approximately 12:30 EST, First Air Flight 6560 from Yellowknife to Resolute Bay crashed on approach to Resolute Bay. There were 15 passengers on board. At this time, 12 people are thought to be dead and three injured. Our thoughts go out to those affected by this tragic accident.

Transport Canada has appointed a Minister’s Observer, who will keep TC informed of the investigation’s progress. We will cooperate fully with the Transportation Safety Board who is currently on site investigating this accident.

The Canadian Armed Forces are in Resolute Bay for Exercise Operation Nanook 2011 and are responding in support of emergency operations to the situation.

Contacts:

Media Relations
Transport Canada, Ottawa
613-993-0055

First Air published this:

On Sunday August 21, 2011, First Air Vice President of Marketing and Sales, Chris Ferris, made the following statement to the media from the First Air Head Office in Kanata:

As you are aware, yesterday at 12:40pm First Air experienced a tragic loss of
charter flight 6560. We are deeply saddened by this tragedy and offer our sincere condolences to the families.

The details we have at this time are as follows: a First Air Boeing 737-200 combi travelling from Yellowknife to Resolute Bay, went down 5 miles from the airport. The flight was carrying 11 passengers and four crew. There were 12 fatalities including all four crew members.

Our first priority has been contacting and looking after the families of passengers and crew. Out of respect for the passengers, our crew, and their families, we are not releasing any names or passenger details.

The three injured passengers were Medivac’d to Iqaluit for further treatment last evening. Two of the three passengers have since been moved to Ottawa, while the third remains in Iqaluit in stable condition.

At this time the cause of the accident is unknown. The Transportation Safety Board is conducting their investigation and First Air is cooperating fully.

Our thoughts and focus are with the families and friends of the passengers and crew; and the community of Resolute Bay. Field teams including counsellors, have been deployed to provide support in Resolute Bay, Yellowknife and other main stations in our network.

We would like to thank the Canadian Military whose on-site presence and immediate response was instrumental in the rescue efforts.

We will be providing further updates as they become available.

Turkish Crash Kills Two in Aegean Sea


What: Turkish Air Force Cessna T-37C Tweet
Where: Aegean Sea off the coast of Güzelbahçe, Turkey
When: July 14, 2011, noon
Who: 2 aboard
Why: The Turkish Airforce flight fell into the Aegean Sea, killing both the pilot and passenger. The Cessna is normally used for training. The flight took off from the Jet Base Flight Training Center but it has not been released if this was a training exercise. The pilot and passenger have not yet been recovered.

Russian Flight Ditches on River Ob, 7 lost, 22 hospitalized


Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact photographer Gleb Osokin – Russian AviaPhoto Team

What: Angara Airlines Antonov 24RV en route from Tomsk-Bogashevo Airport to Surgut Airport, Russia
Where: near Strezhevoy, Russia
When: July 11, 2011, 11:55
Who: 4 crew, 33 passengers, 6 fatalities
Why: The plane took off from Tomsk at 10:10, and developed an engine fire around 11:48. The pilot attempted to divert to divert to Nizhnevartovsk Airport and had to make an emergency landing, crashing into the Ob river. The tail and port engine detached on impact.

Twenty passengers were hospitalized, and seven passengers died in the crash.

Film of the crash


Names Released in Construction Chopper Crash in Norwegian Mountainscape

What: Airlift AS Eurocopter AS 350B3 Ecureuil
Where: between Dalamot and Busete in Hardanger, Hordalan, Norway
When: July 24, 2011, 21.30
Who: 5 fatalities
Why: About to transporting building materials into the mountains during heavy fog, the Airlift to Dagbladet helicopter crashed and caught on fire. The witnesses were part of a crew that had flown in earlier. A crisis team from Eidfjord and Ullensvang is on the scene.

The Airlift company had a fleet of 17 helicopters.

Police and fire departments, two air ambulances and at least two Sea King helicopters were engaged after emergency services were called. Three of the deceased were found quickly, and the other two took longer to find. The pilot was also killed in the crash.

The crash occurred in a remote location far (5 hours walk) from a road. It was so remote that the individual who reported the crash had to travel to a location where there was phone service coverage.

The state agency Havarikommisjonen is investigating.

Illushin IL-76 Hits Mountain in Afghanistan


Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact photographer Matthias Bindseil

What: Silk Way Airlines Illushin IL-76TD en route from Baku Azerbaijan to Bagram Air Force Base Afghanistan
Where: Bagram Afghanistan
When: Jul 6th 2011
Who: 9 crew
Why: Carrying 18 tons of automobiles and trailers, the flight took off from Baku and lost radar contact 13.5 miles from Kabul. The plane struck a mountain near Akhshay in the Ghorband/Syahgerd district at 19:40 on Jul 5th. Eight bodies were recovered at 12,500 feet.

The cause of the crash is unknown. The distict chief of Siagerd stated publicly that there was a big explosion heard when the plane struck the mountain.



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RussAir Death Toll Rises as 3 Succumb After Rescue

What: Rusline/Rusair Tupolev TU-134A en route from Moscow to Petrozavodsk
Where: outskirts of the Besovets village, Petrozavodsk, Russia
When: Jun 20 2011 at 11:40 pm
Who: 43 passengers and 9 crew N
Why: On approach to the airport, the plane struck the ground about 2600 feet shy of runway 2. On impact, the plane burst into flame, and skidded into the gardens of a residential area, although missing residences.

Initially eight people survived, but on the 21st, a nine year old boy died, a woman died on the 25th, and a man died on the 26th.

Details on the Tu134 RusAir Crash

Russian Rusline/RusAir Tupolev Crash Kills 44, 8 Gravely Injured Survive

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