Two U.S. Marine Corps planes collided mid-air and crashed off the coast of Japan, on December 5th.
Authorities said the incident happened when the planes were involved in an aerial refueling as part of a routine training.
At least one Marine was killed in the crash while another was rescued. Five others remain missing.
Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact photographer Gilbert Hechema
What: First Air Boeing 737-210C en route from Yellow Knife to Resolute
Where: near Resolute Airport, Nunavut, Canada
When: August 20, 2011
Who: 4 crew, 11 passengers, 12 fatalities
Why: After the First Air jet was on final instrument landing system approach to 35T but failed to update its position.
The fog obscured its location, but shortly afterwards, lifting fog revealed the burning wreckage broken into three pieces, and the scattered 2,250 kilograms of food the flight was carrying. That food has been of interest to hungry polar bears, and a trial to forensic crews protecting the evidence.
Remains of the passengers have been recovered. Eleven individuals were flown to Ottowa for identification. The black boxes have been recovered and taken to an Ottawa lab.
The Air Line Pilots Association has been declared an official observer of the crash.
Note: CFIT is a “Controlled flight into terrain,” an accident in which an airworthy aircraft under pilot control is unintentionally flown into an obstacle.
What: single-engine Beechcraft Sierra BE24 en route from Creve Coeur Airport in suburban St. Louis to SYLVA NC
Where: Jackson County Airport near Sylva
When: 1:45 pm AUGUST 26, 2009
Who: pilot and passenger as James and Rhetta Lovins of Vaidalia, Ga
Why: The plane had missed its first pass and was attempting a “go around” when it crashed about a quarter mile from the end of the 3,200 foot runway. The Jackson County airport is located on the ridge of a mountain. The wreckage was pulled from a ravine.
What: Condor Aero 998 Commander AC 11 en route from Jasper to Jackson.
Where: 15 to 20 miles southwest of Lander, near Christina Lake, at an elevation of about 11,700 feet in Wyoming Wind River Mountains
When: Dec. 22 2010
Who: pilot Ralph Day, 56; his wife Doris Day, 52; and Connor Day, 12
Why: The Days operated the Day Forestry Appraisal and Management company, and left Jasper planning to visit Yellowstone and then Alaska for the Iditarod.
Day’s plane struck the top of a steep ridge three feet deep in snow. The plane was not reported missing, and was not located until a passing plane heard the beacon in Shoshone National Forest, Wyoming,
A helicopter retrieved the bodies on Saturday.
Cezar Britto, president of The Order of Lawyers of Brazil said it was “a tragedy waiting to happen,” echoing public opinion. “What exploded in Cagonhas was not just the TAM airbus and almost 200 victims but the credibility of the Brazilian aviation system.”
Cagonhas is notorious for its short, dangerous runway.
“The runway was as slippery as soap,” a pilot confessed.
Rescuers pulled 181 bodies from the twisted metal wreckage and rubble. Five people are listed as missing. 11 are hospitalized. No passengers survived.
Relatives gathered to identify the remains amid calls for authorities to improve airport safety.
The crash is the latest of a series of airline disasters. The main runway had been resurfaced last month, but more work was scheduled to allow for better water drainage.
“Control tower operators had warned the runway should be closed,” said Sergio Olivera, who heads the Federation of Air Controllers.
Footage of landing showed the aircraft travelling at high speed–the Airbus took only three seconds as opposed to the usual 11 to traverse the runway then disappeared after skidding off the left side of the runway. Then a ball of flame filled the sky.
An investigation has been ordered. One of the black boxes has been recovered.
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva declared three days of national mourning. Pope Benedict XVI expressed his sorrow.
In February a judge banned Fokker 100, Boeing 737-800 and Boeing 737/700 jetliners from the airport but the ruling was overturned in appeals.
Search teams have finally recovered the bodies of 5 persons who were on board while their single engine plane crashed in the Ridgeway Reservoir Colorado on March 22nd.
The Socata TBM700 crash happened on March 22 when the plane was en route to Montrose regional airport.
The victims have been identifies as Jimmy Hill, 48; Katrina Barksdale, 40; Seth McDuffie, 14; 11 year old Kobe and 8 year old Xander. All the victims were from Gadsden, Alabama.
The plane wreckage was found upside down buried in silt, 60 feet below water level.
The cause of the crash is still unknown.
This post is an update of ‘Single Engine Plane Crashes Near Montrose‘
