A Lufthansa’s flight had to land in emergency in Rome due to a medical emergency, on the afternoon of June 27.
The flight took off from Frankfurt, Germany for Malta at about 1.22 p.m., however, soon afterwards, the Airbus A320 was diverted to Rome for offloading a sick passenger.
The plane landed safely. According to a Lufthansa spokesman, the plane resumed its journey to Malta after refueling.
American Airlines flight AA-1897 made an emergency landing in El Paso, Texas, on June 3rd.
The Airbus A319-100 plane heading from San Antonio, Texas, to Phoenix, Arizona, was diverted after it sustained damage to the windscreen and nose cone due to a severe hail storm.
The plane landed safely. All one hundred and thirty passengers and five crew members remained uninjured.
What: Qantas Airbus A380 en route from LA to Sydney
Where: New Caledonia’s La Tontouta airport
When: August 11, 2010
Why: Forced to land because of the bad weather, the plane was actually too big to turn on the runway, so it had to sit on the tarmac blocking traffic until it was towed.
George’s Point of View
Bravo to American Airlines which is (finally) putting their Airbus A300’s to bed. American’s spokesman Tim Smith announced “One, we are in the process of cutting capacity. Two, these airplanes are a likely candidate for retirement, in that they are older than most of the airplanes in our fleet, and three, the A300 requires different training and maintenance from the other airplanes in American’s fleet.” We should expect to see a greener, more responsible American AIrlines now. This is part of the fleet renewal effort introduced in American’s 2007 Environmental Responsibility Report when they began replacing their MD-80s with new 737-800s.
I don’t know about being clean and green, environmentally renewed and downsized. I do know that these are 21 year old planes. They’re old enough to vote. (And –I am told–old enough to drive a pilot to drink.)
Think about it…In 1987 when these planes were first introduced into American’s fleet, Charles and Diana had just separated; Jim Bakker got caught playing hanky panky with Jessica Hahn; Klaus Barbie was convicted of Nazi war crimes; Andy Warhol died; an earthquake in LA injured 100 and killed 6; and most unbelievable of all, the Cosby show and Cheers were still in their first run.
I guess time flies when you’re flying deathtraps.
As a frequent flyer who does not trust the A300, I applaud that decision–though it does seem to be a no brainer to retire 21 year old planes.
Batik Air flight ID-6890 encountered turbulence on the way to Kualanamu International Airport, Indonesia, on October 24th.
The Boeing 737-800 plane was flying from Jakarta, Indonesia, when it hit severe turbulence that injured a passenger and a flight attendant.
The plane continued for a safe landing. The injured were rushed to a hospital.
American Airlines flight AA-1668 made an emergency landing in Charlotte, North Carolina, on August 15th.
The Airbus A321-200 plane took off for Chicago, Illinois, but had to turn back after the right-hand engine stalled.
The plane landed safely. All passengers and crew members remained unharmed.
American Airlines flight AA-5559 had to divert and make an emergency landing in Selma, Alabama, on June 21st.
The plane heading from New Orleans, Louisiana, to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Virginia, was diverted after burning smell was noticed in the cabin and cockpit.
The plane landed safely. There were sixty-five passengers aboard at the time; two of them were taken to hospital with minor injuries.
