Vistara flight UK-996 had to return and make an emergency landing in Ahmedabad, India, on March 30th.
The Airbus A320-200N plane took off for Delhi, India, but had to turn back after the crew needed to shut down one of the engines.
The plane landed back safely. All one hundred and fifteen people aboard remained unharmed.
What: Gobierno del Estado de Mexico Agusta A109S Grand
Where: Peréz Valenzuela (street), Del Carmen district, in Coyacán, Mexico
When: Oct 21, 2011
Who: 4 aboard, 2 fatalities
Why: If you imagine going about your normal daily life, you do not expect a chopper to fall in the street, crush your cars and slam into your house.
A chopper owned by the government of Mexico fell in the streets of Coyoacán, between Guillermo Pérez Valenzuela and Avenida Universidad, landing on two vehicles and striking the wall of a house. Because of a fuel spill, the area was cordoned off.
The chopper is an Agusta A-109-S Grand, XC-EDM
Initial coverage was confusing and indicated no fatalities, then three fatalities, then two fatalities with identities unknown.
Eventually two people were confirmed to be deceased, and two as survivors, but the identities took some time to sort out. Two names were released: Juan Estevan Rodriguez (Ruiz Rodriguez) and Julius Caesar Maturano Gomez were reported to be the fatalities—that is, one of the pilots, and the assistant of the secretary of Metropolitan development. We can assume this is correct because of reports of officials attending the funerals in #7 Rue insurgentes in Sapotian neighborhood, Santa Maria Cuevas, Zumpango.
Fernando Alberto Garcia Cuevas (the government official) and the surviving pilot were rushed to Hospital Ángeles Pedregal by emergency responders. Cuevas suffered bleeding of a kidney, which is being addressed by catheter embolization. The surviving pilot, Juan Manuel Ramírez Rivera will be undergoing surgery for broken vertebra in his chest, when he is stabilized.
The pilots attempted to land and save the lives of their passengers and we acknowledge their heroic effort.
Our sources have one photo of the chopper in question:
Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact photographer Luis Tena Orozco – AeroImagenes de Mexico
There was significant confusion in the reportage, so that based on reported coverage, all I can say is this:
There may have been a flaw in the rotor of the aircraft, though it is not clear if it was something that the pilots had been informed of prior to the flight, or if there was a failure during the flight. There was also a statement published that the chopper fell out of the sky, and was seen plummeting, and that the rotor stopped because the hasp detached (or did not detach) from the main rotor. I am sure the truth come out in the investigation; it is too soon to know what happened, but if any parties in the know want to comment or make corrections, we welcome the input.
As always, condolences to the families of Rodriguez and Gomez, and best wishes to the recovery of the injured.
Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact photographer Frank Robitaille
What: United Airlines Airbus A320-200 en route from Washington to Portland
Where: Chicago
When: Mar 29 2011
Who: 3 unruly passengers and one ill passenger
Why: While en route, three unruly passengers caused the pilot to divert to Chicago for an overweight landing. The passengers disembarked, and the fight continued to Portland, albeit between four and five hours late. The passengers who disembarked were re-screened.
Southwest Airlines flight WN-1119 had to return and make an emergency landing in Las Vegas, Nevada, on September 18th.
The Boeing 737-800 plane took off for Denver, Colorado, but had to turn back after the crew noticed smoke in the cockpit.
The plane landed safely. All one hundred and eighty-one people aboard remained unharmed.
Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact Photographer Daniel Alaerts
What: Air France Airbus A340-300 en route from Paris Charles de Gaulle Airportto Bangkok Thailand
Where: Amritsar
When: Aug 27th 2009,
Who: not available
Why: While entering Indian airspace, the flight crew sent the wrong transponder code so that the airplane showed up as “unidentified” on both civilian and military radar screens. Communication was lost; and Indian Air Force MiG 29s were sent to intercept the flight; then the interception was aborted when the flight crew corrected the code. The flight continued to land normally at its scheduled destination.
British Airways flight BA-766 had to return and make an emergency landing at Heathrow Airport, England, on April 16th.
The Airbus A319-100 plane took off for Oslo, Norway, but had to turn back after the crew received indication of a nose gear shock absorber malfunction.
The plane landed safely. All passengers and crew members remained unharmed.
Lufthansa CityLine flight LH-2130 had to return and make an emergency landing in Munich, Germany, on August 8th.
The plane took off for Dresden, Germany, but had to turn back after the crew failed to retract the landing gear.
The plane landed safely. All passengers and crew members remained unharmed.
