American Airlines flight AA-199 had to divert for an emergency landing at Heathrow Airport, England, on June 1st.
The Boeing 767-300 plane heading from Milan–Malpensa Airport, Italy, to John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York, was diverted after the crew reported issues with the cabin pressure control.
The plane landed uneventfully. All passengers and crew members remained safe.
Ryanair flight FR-4708 suffered a bird strike near Alghero-Fertilia Airport, Italy, on November 14th.
The incident happened when the Boeing 737-800 plane flying from Orio al Serio International Airport, Italy, was on approach to Alghero-Fertilia Airport.
The plane continued for a safe landing. All passengers and crew members remained unharmed.
Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact photographer Alastair T. Gardiner
Newspaper reports talk about traces of black soot on the Auxiliary Power Unit. The APU is like your computer backup—similar in theory to the battery backup you may have at home hooked to your computer.
The APU is an auxiliary engine that provided electric power and air to the Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 until the main engines began to run.
We ourselves haven’t seen soot, or proof of fire–but we haven’t seen much proof at all, since the report that we keep hearing whispers of has not been made public.
Some facts are known We know, for example, that…
—…the APU is located in the rudder section.
—…the weather was bad.
OLBA 250300Z 06004KT 030V090 5000 VCTS RA FEW020CB BKN026 10/06 Q1014 NOSIG
We have heard rumors which may or may not be unfounded:
—Statements made anonymously by Lebanese airport sources report that Captain Habtamu Benti, the pilot in command (PIC) of the Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737-800 encountered engine problems, perhaps a flame out, during takeoff, and requested permission to abort the flight and return to Beirut. He was given clearance to do so, but another aircraft, a Etihad Airlines flight from Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates was in the process of landing and could have interfered with his emergency maneuvers. *
But some information has been made public.
—The rudder found at the plane’s tail was reported to have been sent to France. *
—“One of the five cockpit voice recorders which has a damaged segment will be sent from France’s BEA to a Seattle-based company [Honeywell] to recover that lost segment.” *
So we have even more questions. Where, for example, are the statements of the witnesses? What has France said about the rudder? Has the APU been found, and if so, what is its condition?
Even if ATC sent pilot in to a storm, the pilot also has radar and should have seen the storm and refused the order to take off and/or the heading issued to him. Did his radar fail? Did the APU fail? It might well be that the pilot was misled by a radar system in the plane that was not operating correctly. Unlikely, but, possible. There are still a lot of possibilities we can not rule out. The captain had too many hours logged to take off in to a storm with a plane that he knew was not built to withstand the forces of a cell ahead of him.
Even if there is no immediate report available yet, we look forward to the promised release in March/July. (They say that data collection will continue until March 15 2011, in April the data will be verified/validated by Ethiopian and Lebanese authorities, officials of Boeing and the US National Transport Safety Board by May 30th, with a tentative public release date in July.) When more official information is released, it will help to rule out all gross speculation, so we can focus on possible culpable parties in the chain of events that caused this tragedy.
We shall see.
What: Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 en route from Beirut to Addis Ababa
Where: 2 miles west of the coastal village of Na’ameh.
When: Jan 25 2010
Who: 7 crew 83 passengers
Why: Shortly after taking off in stormy weather and heavy lightning, Lebanese ATC lost contact. The plane disappeared from radar 45 minutes after leaving Beirut. Witnesses on the coast saw the plane as it crashed into the sea. So far 9 bodies have been found by members of the Lebanese army .
Update
Initial reports of 7 survivors, became 9 bodies, and now the count has reached 21 bodies.
The site of the crash is 2 miles west of the coastal village of Na’ameh.
Fifty-four passengers were Lebanese, 22 Ethiopian, two were British and there were also Canadian, Russian, French, Iraqi and Syrian nationals.
A Cypriot police helicopter has joined the Lebanese army in the search for survivors, and two U.N. helicopters are on the scene.
Ethiopian Airlines is state owned, and has a standing order of 10 of Boeing’s Next-Generation 737-800s
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ET-409 Incident – 25 January, 2010
Ethiopian flight ET-409 was scheduled to operate from Beirut to Addis Ababa on January 25th lost contact with the Lebanese air controllers shortly after take off. The flight departed at 02:35 Lebanese time from Beirut International Airport.
Flight ET-409 carried 82 passenger plus 8 Ethiopian Crew members. Out of the total passengers 23 were Ethiopian, 51 Lebanese, 1 Turkish, 1 French, 2 British, 1 Russian, 1 Canadian, 1 Syrian, 1 Iraqi nationals.
Strobe flashes
Germania Flug flight GM-3225 had to return and make an emergency landing in Pristina, Kosovo, on June 14th.
The Airbus A321-200 plane took off for Zurich, Switzerland, but had to turn back after a phone battery started emitting smoke.
The plane landed safely. All passengers and crew members remained unharmed.
Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact photographer Manuel Wenger
What: United Airlines Boeing 767 en route from London to Chicago
Where: Chicago
When: August 4, 2010
Who: 178 passengers and 12 crew, 7 injuries
Why: On landing in Chicago, the left main gear caught on fire. As the plane waited on the runway, the fire was put out by fire crews who sprayed the gear and surrounding areas with fire retardant.
Emergency slides were deployed, and half the passengers evacuated via them, which is where the injuries occurred. After the fire was out, the slides were no longer used. About five were hospitalized after suffering minor injuries during the evacuation. Some individuals were treated at the airport and released.
Emirates flight EK 262 had to make an emergency landing in Lagos, Nigeria, on May 28th.
The plane, heading from Sao Paulo, Brazil, to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, was diverted after the health condition of a passenger, who had ingested cocaine, started deteriorating.
According to Mr. Ahmadu Garba, the NDLEA commander at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), “A passenger complained of severe abdominal pains and later suffered three recurrent seizures thus necessitating an emergency landing in Lagos… Upon arrival, four passengers tested positive for narcotic ingestion. They are Okeh Desmond, Ezeanya Nnaemeka, Christopher Nonso and Chibusi Promise. All the suspects are under observation.”
Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact photographer Randall Johnson
What: Delta Airlines Boeing 757-200 en route from San Diego to Atlanta
Where: Phoenix
When: May 23rd 2012
Who: 179 passengers
Why: After taking off, the Delta flight developed unspecified engine problems.
Pilots shut down the affected engine due to “mechanical problems” and diverted to Sky Harbor Airport where they made a safe landing with emergency services on standby.
The flight landed 45 minutes after American Airlines Flight 510 (at 2:30) returned to Phoenix for a warning indication.
