A small plane crashed near Corona Municipal Airport, California, on January 17th.
The single-engine plane had just taken off from the airport when the pilot noticed some issues and attempted to make an emergency landing.
There were two people aboard at the time; both were taken to hospital with moderate to severe injuries.
The FAA and the NTSB are investigating.
A Royal Flight Airlines Plane, performing flight flight 4R-7772, had to divert and make an emergency landing in Astrakhan, Russia, on March 6th.
The Boeing 757-200 aircraft was en-route from Goa, India, to Moscow, Russia, when the crew reported an electronic issue and requested an emergency landing.
The plane landed safely. There were 224 people aboard at the time; all of them remained unhurt.
The airline arranged a replacement plane for the passengers.
A Volaris plane was hit by a luggage cart at Los Angeles International Airport, California, on February 17th.
The incident happened when the plane was lining up to perform flight Y4-919 to Guadalajara, Mexico.
The plane was unable to depart and safely returned to the apron.
After a crash, the stories always come out that put faces on the “seats.” The one that has, so far, struck me the most in the Dana Air crash is a tale of mixed blessings.
First Omonigho Akinsanya had come to visit, and now she was waiting in the crowded, overheated Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport to catch a plane to take her home. She, with her 5-year-old son Moyo, and her sister had been waiting in line, trying to travel back home.
The airport, which is undergoing renovations is reportedly hot and crowded, and Omonigho Akinsanya had her son to manage. She was understandably upset when a man broke in line and took the last seat in the crowded airplane that her sister had already boarded.
His breaking in line saved her life. But she cannot rejoice in the luck, fortune, Karma, coincidence that left her alive. Her sister was one of the victims.
This is her sister’s sad story, and her own too, because it is a terrible loss and a close call. But it is only one of 153+ losses (not forgetting the families on the ground who were minding their own business in their own apartments when a plane fell on their heads.)
It is hard to sift rumor from fact. One rumor is that the flight had been diverted or delayed due to Dame Patience Jonathan, the first lady, but that rumor has been discounted; she was at an event on Sunday when the crash occurred, and nowhere near the airport. There was a rumor of a bird strike, stemming from an official speculating on the cause. And then of course, everyone is studying the plane’s history, and wondering if it was airworthy.
The MD-83 belonged to Alaska Airlines from 1990 when it was new until 2007, when the plane’s title went to North Shore Aircraft LLC (probably the financier) and leased back for a year. Before it was retired in 2008, it had gone through a diversion on Nov 4 2002 due to an overheated light ballast; on August 20, 2006 due to a “chafed wire bundle.” And as Dana Air 5N-RAM it suffered a bird strike on April 19, 2010.
The pilot, Peter Waxtan, was an American, and the first officer was Mike Mahendra, from India. Captain Waxton called a double engine failure. The pilot had requested to land on Murtala Muhammad Airport’s longer runway 18R before calling air controllers back a few minutes later to report a total emergency.
There has been some negative buzz regarding maintenance of this MD83 in the hands of Dana Air, and a recent discussion of Dana Air crew being reluctant to fly in this plane, due to mechanical difficulties on a recent flight, even that Dana Air execs insisted the plane be flown. Plus, it was overloaded.
It is still so soon after the crash that we hardly know which questions to ask first. There are so many questions. But if Dana Air was putting faulty aircraft in the air, they will have to answer for it. Too bad it will be too late for those who were aboard.
James Kallstrom, who headed up the investigation into the 1996 crash for the FBI says the original report is legitimate.
But six retired investigators from TWA, the National Transportation Safety Board, and the Air Line Pilots Association say the final report of the 1996 accident, “TWA Flight 800” was falsified. They say the accident was either a terrorist attack or a failed military operation. The cadre of retired investigators are calling for a new investigation by the feds. Others argue that there’s no question the explosion was an accident. 230 people died after Flight 800 took off from JFK.
Originally there were several theories put forward: a missile theory ,a bomb-on-the-plane theory, a meteor strike theory. All of these theories were discarded when an exploding fuel tank was concluded to be the cause.
The retirees have appealed to families to ask for the case to be reinvestigated. Many family members are disturbed by the idea of renewal of the case which they believe is simply hype to push a new documentary “TWA Flight 800.”
A LOT Polish Airlines flight had to make an emergency landing at Scotland’s Glasgow airport at 11:35 a.m. on September 26.
The decision for emergency landing was made after the crew received an alert from the Boeing 787 Dreamliner’s fire protection system. The aircraft, carrying 260 people, was on its way from Chicago, US, to Warsaw, Poland, at the time.
The plane landed safely and no one was hurt.
An airline spokesperson Barbara Pijanowska-Kuras said, “The emergency landing of the plane was caused by a glitch in the fire protection system…There was no fire or smoke onboard.”
GoJet Airlines flight DL-6185 had to divert and make an emergency landing in Richmond, Virginia, on July 22nd.
The plane heading from Raleigh–Durham International Airport, North Carolina to LaGuardia Airport, New York, was diverted due to a fault in the right hand engine.
The plane landed uneventfully. There were 60 passengers and 4 crew members aboard at the time; all of them remained safe.
The airline arranged a replacement plane for the passengers.
