Pictured: A Beechcraft 1900D
Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact photographer Phil Vabre
What: Blue Bird Aviation Beechcraft 1900D en route to Quarrel airport in Mogadishu
Where: Wilson Airport
When: NOV 9, 2009
Who: 2
Why: After developing an on-flight problem, the Beechcraft was on return to Wilson Airport when it broke through the airport fence and caught on fire.
The two pilots were retrieved in critical condition. The pilot died either on the way to Kenyatta National Hospital. The co-pilot died shortly after hospital admittance.
The following is not really an opinion, since it is documented fact: this is the fourth plane disaster to have occurred near the airport which borders Nairobi National Park. There are serious concerns about the safety of the airport. African aviation is considered the least safe in the world.
A small plane crashed southeast of Vienna, Illinois, on December 31st.
The Piper PA28 plane was carrying four people when it went down in a wooded area.
All four people, including two adult men and two adult women, were killed in the crash. Their identities have not yet been released.
The cause of crash is being investigated.
Update
What: Spanair Flight JK5022, a 15-year-old MD-82 jet en route to Las Palmas in the Canary Islands.
Where: Madrid airport Terminal Four
When: Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2008 2:45pm
Who: Carrying 166 passengers and nine crew, at the time of this writing, the number of fatalities had mounted to 154 people.
Why: The jet swerved off the runway and caught fire during takeoff.
The final report of Spanair Flight JK5022 was released, it claims that the pilots failed to deploy the flaps for takeoff. The report blames the crash on “pilot error.” The automated voice warning to alert the crew did not sound.
Already more than one hour late, the flight experienced a technical issue with the plane (a sensor reporting excessive temperature in an air intake, and the temperature sensor was de-activated on the ground) that forced the first takeoff attempt to be aborted when there were failure signals taxiing away from the terminal. The aircraft was inspected and then tried to take-off for the second time, which ended in the crash.
The National Transportation Safety Board said that “that the probable cause of the accident was the flightcrew’s failure to use the taxi checklist to ensure the flaps and slats were extended for takeoff. Contributing to the accident was the absence of electrical power to the airplane takeoff warning system which thus did not warn the flightcrew that the airplane was not configured properly for takeoff. The reason for the absence of electrical power could not be determined.”
A similar disaster occurred in the Northwest Flight 255 in Detroit in 1987 when 154 people also died in an MD-82 due to incorrect flap settings.
As a consequence, Spanair and McDonnell Douglas now require a TOWS* system check prior to every flight.
The Interim Report is available here.
*The Take Off Warning System is part of CAWS. TOWS provides alert warnings on the following components involved in the configuration of the aircraft for takeoff: Flaps, Slats, Brakes, Auto brake, Auto spoilers, Spoilers and Stabilizer Trim.
What: Aero Vodochody L-29
Where: near the Tehachapi, California airport 110 miles north of Los Angeles
When: 1:30 p.m. July 4
Who: 2 on board were killed
Why: No reason was given yet for the crash according to the aviation accident investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board
An Indian Air Force MiG-29 was engaged in training maneuvers when the pilot ejected near Jamnagar in Gujarat, and the plane crashed. The wreckage is between Amran and Jivapar villages which are close to Jamangar airbase,
During the training flight, the plane developed a “technical snag.”
A court of inquiry is underway.
A helicopter made an emergency landing in a football field in suburban Hanover Park, Illinois, near Barrington Road and Route 19, at around 11:00 a.m. on August 23.
According to a Hanover Park Hurricanes youth football and cheerleading program spokesperson, the emergency landing was made due to engine failure.
The chopper landed safely and none of the 2 people aboard, including the pilot and a passenger, suffered any injuries.
The chopper, owned by Bachman Aero, landed minutes before a team of six-year-olds were about to start playing. According to the director of public relations for the Hanover Park Hurricanes Veronica Soto, “As the helicopter was coming down they had no control over it and they were trying to land on a grassy area…It was coming down regardless of anybody being on the field he would have hit…Had it been 20 minutes later our 73-pound team would be on the field so we’re talking 6-year-olds.”
Soto also said that the incident caused serious damage to the football field.
