IndiGo flight 6E-1707 had to return and make an emergency landing in Chennai, India, on November 16th.
The Airbus A320-200 plane took off for Doha, Qatar, but had to turn back due to a bird strike.
The plane landed safely. All one hundred and thirty-four passengers and seven crew members remained unharmed.
What: Air France Airbus A319-100 en route from Athens to Paris
Where: Athens
When: Feb 25th 2011
Who: 113 on board
Why: On takeoff, the plane had a bird strike.
THe flight returned to Athens about 30 minutes after takeoff. The extent of the damage to the plane was not reported.
Pictured: an Air India Boeing 777-337/ER
Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact photographer Rick Schlamp
What: Air India en route from Delhi to Chennai
Where: Visakhapatnam airport, Delhi
When: Thu, 15 Oct 2009
Who: 162 passengers
Why: Twenty minutes after take-off, the Air India flight experienced an undefined technical problem and returned safely to the airport, where passengers debarked and were re-routed on another Air India flight, and technicians worked on the plane.
Air France flight AF-66 made an emergency landing in Los Angeles, California, on December 27th.
The Airbus A380-800 plane flying from Charles de Gaulle Airport, France, was descending toward Los Angeles when the crew received a low oil pressure indication for one of the engines.
The crew subsequently shut down the faulty engine and continued for a safe landing.
All passengers and crew members remained unharmed.
American Airlines flight AA-5562 made an emergency landing at Raleigh–Durham International Airport, North Carolina, on January 4th.
The plane heading from Birmingham, Alabama, to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Virginia, was diverted due to a fuel balance issue.
The plane landed safely. All passengers and crew members remained unharmed.
A US Airways jet, performing flight 1851, hit runway lights while trying to land in Charlotte, North Carolina, on August 15.
Authorities said the Airbus A321 was coming from Atlanta, Georgia, when the pilot reported wind shear. The plane then hit the runway lights while trying to land, damaging the underside of its tail.
There were 153 passengers and 6 crew members aboard at the time; all of them remained unharmed.
The U.S. accident investigators have launched an inquiry into the incident.
Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact photographer OlivierG
What: PIA Pakistan International Airlines Avion de Transport Regional ATR-42-500 en route from Karachi to Bahawalpur
Where: Karachi
When: Apr 27th 2012
Who: Belligerent Passenger, 52 aboard
Why: While en route, economy class passenger Javed Ansari had words with a flight attendant. Those words included threats that sounded like hijack attempts to someone. The passenger told authorities that he “hurled a threat after a quarrel with attendants Sadaf Mansoor and Mehreen Fatima, but had no intention to hijack the aircraft.” Ansari was offloaded in Karachi and escorted away by Airport Security Force commandos and handed off to police. The flight was delayed almost three hours.
Xinhua news reported that Urdu TV channel ARY News said Ansari followed the attendants into the cockpit and asked the captain to divert the flight. This was reported as a foiled hijack attempt, where the pilot tricked the hijacker by claiming the plane had to return to Karachi for an emergency landing. Ansari says he was “joking.”
