Delta Air Lines flight 281 had to return and make an emergency landing at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, Washington, on October 8.
Authorities said the airbus A330 aircraft had to turn back after one of its engines sustained damage due to a bird strike.
The plane landed safely. Everyone aboard remained unhurt.
Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact Photographer Tim Perkins
What: Southwest Airlines 737 en route from Nashville to Baltimore
Where: Charleston’s Yeager Airport
When: 6:30 p.m Monday July 13
Who: 126 passengers and five crew
Why: While en route, the cabin depressurized when a hole (metal fatigue?) approximately the size of a football appeared in the fuselage. The plane managed to land safely in Charleston West Virginia. The NTSB is investigating.
(News photos don’t look football sized, but it is sure big enough to see plenty of daylight through.)
George’s Point of View
The 737 is a true workhorse, built to land and takeoff almost without too much delay except to load and unload passengers.
I fly Southwest to Las Vegas all the time. It’s a short hop.
I must admit, that every time I fly in one of these planes I have begun to worry about the age and/or the fatigue of the structure. A trip like one from LA to Vegas, most times, is a beating on the passengers and the plane itself. My guess is that 4 out of 5 of these short trips encounter turbulence, sometimes bad turbulence. This beats up the plane. In this case, the plane being beaten up was manufactured in 1994. That’s a lot of years of turbulence abuse. Metal fatigue in these conditions is not surprising, and neither is it completely unexpected. An inspection on this plane last January revealed eight cracks in the frame that required repairs.
I’m just glad it was a BOEING, and that the pilot remained in control of the aircraft. And of course, it’s a good thing that Southwest is now inspecting all of their planes for fatigue. Last year Southwest was fined $7.5 million for overdue inspections. I hope this is not going to be a repeat of last year. All the timely inspections in the world aren’t going to make this plane any younger. Maybe it’s time to put this particular plane out to pasture.
PICTURED: A Cessna R182 Skylane RG
Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact Photographer Simon Thomas
What: GENESUS ONE INC owned single-engine Skylane Cessna en route to Essex County Airport
Where: emergency landing outside the Rockaway Townsquare Mall
When: Tuesday August 25 2009
Who: pilot and a female passenger
Why: After the engine began running “rough” during a training flight, the plane was forced to land where it could–outside the Rockaway Townsquare Mall. The pilot and passenger only had minor injuries and were taken to hospital. The plane suffered minor damage to the front end.
A sightseeing plane crashed into a cliff near Ketchikan, Alaska, on June 25.
The DeHavilland DHC-3T Otter aircraft was on a shore excursion from a Holland America Line cruise ship when it went down.
Nine people were killed in the crash, including the pilot Bryan Krill, 64, of Hope, Idaho and 8 passengers.
The deceased passengers had left Seattle on June 20 for a 7-day round trip on MS Westerdam cruise ship. They were identified as Hal Cheney, 71, of Lodi, California, Mary Doucette, 59, of Lodi, California, Glenda Cambiaso, 31, of North Potomac, Maryland, Hugo Cambiaso, 65, of North Potomac, Maryland, June Kranenburg, 73, of Medford, Oregon, Leonard Kranenburg, 63, of Medford, Oregon, Margie Apodaca, 63, of Sparks, Nevada and Raymond Apodaca, 70, of Sparks, Nevada.
The cause of crash is under investigation.
All Nippon Airways flight NH-1101 made an emergency landing in Nagoya, Japan, on August 3rd.
The Airbus A320-200 plane flying from Tokyo to Tottori, Japan, was diverted after the crew needed to shut down one of the engines.
The plane landed uneventfully. All one hundred and forty-four people aboard remained safe.
Mount Cook Airlines flight NZ-5184 had to return and make an emergency landing at Christchurch International Airport, Christchurch, New Zealand, on May 11th.
The Avions de Transport Regional ATR-72-212A, flying on behalf of ANZ Air New Zealand towards Palmerston North, New Zealand, had to return due to a technical issue.
The plane landed safely.
All 56 people aboard remained safe.
A Manchester-bound Thomson Holidays flight had to make an emergency landing at Nantes Atlantique Airport, France, at round noon on September 6.
The decision for diversion and emergency landing was made after a passenger in his mid 50s suddenly fell sick midair, shortly after the flight TOM2621 took off from Alicante, Spain.
The paramedics were ready at the scene when the plane safely landed. The passenger was treated for about half an hour and the flight resumed after his condition stabilized.
The flight, which was due to land at Manchester Airport at 1:05 p.m. eventually landed at 3:30 p.m.
