On July 14, 2013, a Gazpromavia Mil Mi-8 helicopter took off, made a hard landing at Igolsko-Talovoye oil field and rolled over on its side. Fourteen workers and three crew were aboard.
There were seven fatalities on the scene.
The condition of the other seven aboard has not been released.
In 2010 there was a fire in a helicopter at Igolsko-Talovoye oil field.
What: Fishtail Air Aérospatiale AS 350B Ecureuil en route from Lukla Airport to Mount Ama Dablam
Where: near Mount Ama Dablam base camp
When: Nov 7 2010
Who: 2 aboard; 2 fatalities Captain Sabin Basnet and Engineer Purna Awale
Why: After flying from Kathmandu to Lukla at 8 a.m, the helicopter was the rescue team who had flown to Mount Ama Dablam to rescue two stranded Japanese mountaineers. After taking off at Lukla, the helicopter lost contact.
A Fishtail Air helicopter search found the remains.
Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact Photographer Vlad Moskvin
What: Transaero Airlines Boeing 737-300 en route from Moscow Domodedovo to St. Petersburg (Russia)
Where: Moscow
When: Jul 20th 2009
Who: 41 passengers and 6 crew
Why: On takeoff, the right wing lost a 60 by 80 centimeter “leading edge fairing”. The flight continued as usual and fortunately landed safely in St. Petersburg.
The part was found on the Domodedova airport runway.
George’s Point of View
I’m sure that all of us have heard of the old saying (paraphrased from De Minimis Maxima ) the mighty oak from tiny acorns grow.
When one considers the question of pieces falling off of a plane, it seems simultaneously a tiny pointless thing and a huge issue. Consider a miniscule hole in the roof of our house is hardly worth considering; perhaps it is even invisible to the naked eye. But look what damage it causes when it rains. Somehow I don’t think “the leading edge” is like a car’s hubcap, mostly for decoration. It’s there to do something, and when that part is gone, that something is undone and will have consequences. Maybe letting in some moisture. Maybe causing corrosion down the road.
As a frequent passenger, I tend to be somewhat fatalistic about plane parts. Look, some engineer put that part there for a reason. I don’t know what that reason is, but if it’s good enough for the plane’s engineer, it is good enough for me, and I’d just as soon not fly without it. So many carriers get bad reputations based on careless maintenance of old planes, and this is just the kind of incident that gets people talking. (Old planes need MORE maintenance as they get older, just like old furniture, old machines, old cars, old people, old EVERYTHING.) Certainly Russia knows that maintenance deferred–especially on an airplane–is a recipe for disaster.
I just hope they replace the part before the little acorn of a problem grows into a great big oak tree of a pending disaster. This may be the first incident in a chain of events that unravels the whole plane.
Ural Airlines flight U6-2861 had to return and make an emergency landing in Yekaterinburg, Russia, on May 15th.
The Airbus A320-200 plane took off for Samarkand, Uzbekistan, but had to turn back due to a technical problem.
The plane landed safely. All passengers and crew members remained unharmed.
Noticias Telemundo interviewed Christian Esquino, owner of the plane that crashed and killed Jenni Rivera. He said that his pilots told Rivera’s entourage “it was bettr not to fly overnight,” but the flight took off at 3:00 a.m.
Ten minutes later, the Learjet crashed at 600 mph.
Esquino said the pilots were in excellent health but that the head pilot might have had a heart attack. Miguel Perez was 78 years old.
U.S. commercial pilots can only fly till they are 65.
Two of Esquinos planes were seized by the government this year.
The US is assisting Mexico in the investigation.
La Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Transportes, a través de la Dirección General de Aeronáutica Civil (DGAC), inició las investigaciones sobre la presunta caída de la aeronave con matrícula N345MC propiedad de la empresa Starwood Management, ocurrida hoy en la madrugada, en el estado de Nuevo León.
El avión LearJet salió de Monterrey a las 03:15 horas y tenía como destino el aeropuerto de Toluca. La aeronave perdió contacto con el radar a una distancia de 61.8 millas de Monterrey y en las coordenadas 24,45,50 N 99,52,18 W.
Se inició el protocolo de búsqueda correspondiente a las 04:40 horas con la ayuda de dos helicópteros y un avión.
Entre los desaparecidos se encuentran los pilotos Miguel Pérez y Alejandro Torres y los pasajeros, cuyo nombre quedó registrado como: Jenny Dolores Rivera Saavedra, Alberto Rivera Saavedra, Mario Macias, Jacob Llenares y Gerardo N.
La Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Transportes reitera que continuará con el curso de las investigaciones.
Following the Air India Express tragedy in Mangalore India (and definitely in response to it), the DGCA (India’s Directorate-General of Civil Aviation) has been trying to shut the gate after the horses are out. They’re still pointing their fingers at the pilot.
The tape of the crash records the co-pilot Capt H S Ahluwalia (*i.e. the pnf) insisting to Commander Capt Zlatko Glusica to initiate a go-around. The Captain (**i.e. the pf) did not, and the plane landed too far down the runway, clipped an antenna, crashed thru the end of the runway, off the edge of the runway plateau. We can only assume the captain ignored his co-pilot, as no go-around was initiated.
Apparently the pilot was in error and the co-pilot knew it. It must have been obvious to Ahluwalia that they were landing at the wrong angle too far down (the middle) of the runway–but he did not act on his knowledge. At any rate, he was in disagreement with his superior officer.
Consequently, the DCGA has issued an operations circular highlighting procedural assertiveness for the co-pilot when he knows the pilot is wrong. The Mangalore tragedy is not mentioned by name, but it is certainly the silent subtext.
Did the crash occur because the co-pilot did not take the controls? What exactly will this circular accomplish? Had this circular been public already, would the pilot and co-pilot have ended up in a wrestling match over controls of the airplane?
It will be interesting to hear from pilots about what they think the consequences of this directive might be, and if they think a cultural context may play a part.
I always turn to the experts. Right now, before the full investigation is out, I am hearing a lot of speculative “pilot error” but it is all speculation. But is it all pilot error?
My experts remind me that “Every incident is linked to a chain of events. Each event alone is not sufficient reason to provoke an accident although when they link together the chances are multiplied and sometimes the accident occurs.” ( I am quoting a pilot.)
For example, if pilot fatigue were a contributing factor (landing at dawn after a long tiring duty cycle), isn’t the carrier’s policy on pilot fatigue a contributory factor?
The Boeing 737 landed midway on runway 24, and then overshot it, crashing into a gorge. Initial reports on the civil aviation website showed runway 27 mislabeled as runway 24. The actual crash site was not even pictured, a mistake that certainly casts doubt on the quality of the investigation, and possibly even the quality of the resources available to pilots at the time they were negotiating a landing. What did their map say? Is a pilot alone in error if the resources provided him are in error? I know I am digressing, but the point I want to make is this:
I don’t have years of flight school, or engineering training but I do have opinion. And in my opinion, pilot error alone does not cause a crash like this.
Terminology
*pnf – pilot not flying
**pf – pilot flying
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Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact photographer WT
What: Air India Express Boeing 737-800 en route from Dubai to Mangalore
Where: Mangalore airport
When: 6:00 a.m May 22 2010
Who: 160 (?) passengers including 23 children, 6 crew= 158 fatalities and 8 survivors
Why: Air India Express flight 812 attempted touch down was around the middle marker. (Conflicting) reports are that it overshot the runway, and that the pilot intended a go round (tapes reveal the co pilot was urging a go-round) but the plane hit the localizer antenna at the runway’s end, plowed through the perimeter losing part of a wing, and went down 75 feet into a ravine, and broke into pieces and burst into flames. On touchdown, there was a reported “bang” which may have been a tire bursting. A drizzle started after the accident. From 5 to 10 people have been hospitalized, but according to reports there are possibly 3 survivors.
Survivor Abdul Puttur suffered burns. He was seated near the wing exit and said that the pilot had announced the landing, then there was a thud. He saw huge flames after the plane fell into the ravine and then he jumped out from the back entrance. Another passenger said the pilot made no announcement.
The Serbian pilot was Zlatko Glusica, first officer was S.S. Ahluwalia.
According to DGCA rules, Mangalore International Airport is deemed a “critical airfield” which means that “supervised take offs and landings” are prohibited. Only the captain (not the first officer) can pilot take-offs and landings. Mangalore International Airport has a controversial table top runway and which forces pilots to make a precision landing. The airport has no buffer zone, and pilots landing planes must fly precisely or risk hurtling off the edge.
