A REACH Air Medical Services aircraft crashed in Humboldt County, North Coast, California, on July 29th.
The Piper PA31 flying from Crescent City Airport, to Oakland International Airport, California, was mid-air when the crew declared emergency due to smoke in its cockpit, and later it lost connection with radar.
The plane debris was found the next morning.
All 4 people onboard including 3 crew members and one patient were killed.
What: Condor Cessna TU206G Turbo Stationair
Where: El Astillero, Cerro San Antonio de Prado, Colombia
When: October 20, 2010, 9:40 am
Who: 4 aboard, 4 fatalities
Why: The plane carrying provisions to Urabá and 3 passengers flew into San Antonio Mountain, killing all aboard. A would-be passenger’s life was saved because he could not board the flight—because it was full.
The pilot did not report an emergency to the tower.
The pilot was Juan Guillermo Mondragon. Passengers included John Amado Pérez, Osías Sierra and Xenobia Palacios.
“How many people will be killed before the Brazilian government stops the [air force’s] live experiments on the travelling public’s safety?” said Marc Baumgartner, the president of the International Federation of Air Traffic Controllers.
Brazil is rethinking its flight patterns
Across the country, frustrated passengers whose flights have been delayed or cancelled are rioting due to the long lines in Brazil’s airports. Underpaid and understaffed air traffic controllers are at the hub of a logistical nightmare. More than 10 government agencies oversee aviation.
Baumgartner accused the Brazilian government of “chasing scapegoats” among the Brazilian air traffic controllers instead of “re-engineering the necessary safety oversight and risk assessment to prevent Brazilian civil aviation from falling into deeper chaos.”
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva promised to get tough on safety and build a new airport in São Paulo to ease congestion. “Our aviation system, in spite of the investments we have made in the expansion and modernization of almost all Brazilian airports, is passing through difficulties.” To ease the pressure, several measures are planned like bans on charter, cargo and executive flights to Congonhas. The question is what pressure will such changes actually ease: the stressed airport system, or the government taking the heat for the stressed airport system?
Aviation experts say that the Airbus 320 that crashed at Congonhas was too large for the airport’s short runways, that the runway was not textured properly and part of the plane’s supplementary braking system was not working. Last February, a federal judge prohibited the landing large types of aircraft at the airport, including Fokker 100, Boeing 737-800 and Boeing 737-700.
Carlos Gilberto Salvador Camacho, director of flight security for the National Union of Pilots, tokd a São Paulo newspaper last week. “There is subliminal pressure from the commercial airlines that if you don’t land there you are somehow hurting the companies that rely on their revenues from the passengers.”
“What exploded at Congonhas was not just the TAM jet and its almost 200 victims, but the credibility of the Brazilian system of civil aviation. Ten months ago, the country felt the impact of the worst disaster in its history of civil aviation, an incident which lifted the veil off the chaos in the industry, and we completely ignored it.” wrote Cezar Britto, the national president of the Order of Brazilian Lawyers after the Congonhas crash.
What: crop dusting helicopter
Where: 1778 Richvale Highway, Richvale, Butte County California
When: Wednesday May 13
Who: pilot Craig Compton
Why: The pilot (and business owner of Avag ) was moving the plane when it crashed into a building. Compton was flown to Enloe Medical Center in Chico.
AVAG’s business is aerial seeding.
Ex-Brazilian football hero, Fernando Lucio da Costa, 36, who led Internacional to Copa Libertadores and World Club Cup victories in 2006, died in a helicopter crash in central Brazil on June 7.
The helicopter had five people on board at the time of crash and none of them survived.
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff said on Twitter, “I am saddened by the death of Fernandão, a hero to all Internacional fans and all lovers of football….On the field he was world champion, off the field he was an example of a man of character.”
Fernandao played for the Porto Alegre club 190 times and scored 77 goals.
Delta Airlines flight DL-803 had to return and make an emergency landing at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, Kentucky, on March 23rd.
The plane took off for Orlando, Florida, but had to return shortly afterwards due to reports of a smoky odor in the cabin.
The plane landed back safely. All 148 passengers aboard remained unharmed.
The airline arranged a replacement plane for the passengers.
