Turkish Airlines flight TK-541 made an emergency landing in Istanbul, Turkey, on June 13th.
The Boeing 737-900 plane took off for Niamey, Niger, but the crew received a tail strike indication during departure and decided to return.
The plane landed back safely. All passengers and crew members remained unharmed.
Delta Flight 1703 had to make an emergency landing at Tampa International Airport in Florida, on May 4.
According to the airline, the Boeing 737 was en-route from Tampa to Detroit when a “performance issue” in one of its two engines forced the pilot to turn around.
The plane landed uneventfully all 177 passengers aboard remained safe.
The airline provided a replacement aircraft for the passengers.
This is the sad story of Marwoto Komar, a pilot with 22 years of flight experience.
In March 2007, he piloted a Boeing 737-400 with 140 passengers on board which crashed on landing at the Yogyakarta airport. The plane came in for landing too high and too fast, and although the co-pilot called for a go-around, he landed on that pass anyway. The Boeing overran the runway and caught fire. Twenty-one people died in that crash.
The* IFALPA position is that criminalisation of individuals does not improve air safety.
In July 2008 he was arrested, tried and found guilty of negligence.
An Indonesian court sentenced Komar to two years imprisonment for his role in the crash.
* International Federation of Air Line Pilots Associations
George’s Point of View
You make a mistake.
People get killed.
You go to jail.
Air New Zealand flight NZ-621 had to divert and make an emergency landing in Christchurch, New Zealand, on May 20th.
The Airbus A320-200 plane heading from Auckland to Queenstown, New Zealand, was diverted after it suffered a lightning strike.
The plane landed uneventfully. Everyone aboard remained safe.
Another Air New Zealand flight had also suffered a lightning strike around the same time. See: Air New Zealand Flight Diverts to Christchurch After Lightning Strike
A Shanghai-bound China Eastern Airlines flight made an uneventful emergency landing at Xiamen Gaoqi International Airport, after a bird collided with the pilot-side window.
Flight MU5666 took off from Xiamen at about 1:29pm on April 16. Shortly after the take off, the captain requested emergency landing due to a bird strike. The plane then returned and landed safely. None of the passengers or crew members were injured.
The ground attendants found the windshield to be severely damaged and splattered with blood and feathers. China Eastern Airlines has confirmed the incident, and commended their crew for calmly handling the situation.
According to airport authorities, passengers were taken to their destination on another plane.
SEATTLE, Aug. 16, 2010 – Boeing extends its profound condolences and wishes for speedy recovery to the families and friends of those lost or injured in the crash of an Aires S.A. 737-700 in San Andres, Colombia. Boeing is sending a team to provide technical support to the Colombia DJAC to assist in the agency’s investigation of the accident, at the invitation of the Colombian authorities.
