On Feb 20, 2013, a Pakistan International Airlines – PIA Boeing 747-367 with 465 aboard was en route from Karachi to Jeddah when the pilots reported a fire indication on engine 2. Pilots shut down the affected engine.
The pilots diverted back to Karachi where they made a safe landing. They were in the air for fifteen minutes.
Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact photographer Flavio Guerra
What: GOL Transportes Aereos Boeing 737-700 en route from Bauru to Sao Paulo Brazil
Where: Bauru
When: Feb 2 2010
Who: 82 on board
Why: Prior to take-off, the engine presented an automated warning sufficient to deter the pilots from taking off. Details about the warning have not been made public although they were adequate for Gol to begin an investigation. While the original plane went into maintenance, a replacement plane was provided within four hours.
While we of course have no idea what the warning was, nor how important an issue it represented, we commend GOL for taking proactive action and responding to warning systems as they were intended to be. Hopefully maintenance will become as diligent as the crew that actually has to be in the plane aboveground.
American Airlines flight AA-973 made an emergency landing in Bermuda, on February 4th.
The Boeing 777-200 plane heading from John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York, to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, was diverted due to a cargo smoke indication.
The plane landed uneventfully. All two hundred and one people aboard remained safe.
A small plane made an emergency landing in a field in Macedon, Wayne County, New York, on January 21.
Authorities said the pilot was forced to land the single-engine plane in the field behind a home after the ice clogged its carburetor and the engine began seizing up. The plane was heading from New Bedford, Massachusetts, to Rochester, New York, at the time.
The plane landed safely. Both people aboard, including the pilot Jeremiah Coholan and his passenger, Richard Medeiros, remained unhurt.
Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact photographer Allen Zhao
What: Qantas Boeing 737-800 Aukland to Sydney
Where: Sydney
When: Apr 13 2011
Who: 130 passengers
Why: While en route, the plane reportedly had a fuel leak and an engine problem while over the Tasman sea. They made a “priority” landing in Sydney, with no injuries, although the fuel leak problem was mistakenly announced.
The problem was diagnosed as a fuel transfer valve, which was subsequently replaced.
Prior to landing safely in Sydney, the problem was announced on Twitter.
What: Delta Boeing 737 London to Detroit
Where: London
When: Nov 1
Who: 213 passengers plus pilot George LaPerle
Why: Scotland Yard took Delta pilot George LaPerle from his plane.
He was so drunk…(how drunk was he? Five times the pilots legal limit, that’s how drunk.) He was so drunk, he thought his Detroit flight was bound for New York. With him at the controls, he wouldn’t have gotten out of Heathrow much less across the Atlantic.
LaPerle is suspended by Delta and will be going to court in the UK on Nov 16. Let’s hope for his sake he shows up sober, and already on his ten step plan.
Filing this one under “pilot error.”
Air Canada flight AC 810, from Toronto to Ataturk International Airport in Istanbul, Turkey, made an unscheduled landing at London Heathrow Airport, at 5:38 a.m. local time on August 23.
According to the Air Canada spokesperson Isabelle Arthur, the plane was diverted as a precaution after the crew reported an ‘oil indication’. However, she did not provide details.
Emergency services were put on alert as the plane safely touched the runway at London Heathrow. All passengers and crew members remained unhurt.
The passengers were booked on other flights while the plane was temporarily grounded for inspection.
