A helicopter crashed into a mountainside near Roldal, Norway, on February 17th.
The incident happened when the Robinson 44 helicopter was heading from a ski centre at Roldal to Karmoy.
There were two people aboard at the time, including a man and a woman; both were killed in the crash.
What: Cessna 177 en route to St. Thomas
Where: CHRISTIANSTED Virgin Islands, Caribbean
When: Thursday
Who: Mark Atchley of Tennessee, Elium King of St. Vincent and David Bentley of St. Croix.
Why: The single-engine Cessna 177 was en route to St. Thomas when it crashed Thursday and burst into flames. The pilot had reported problems after takeoff and was returning to the airport.
Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact photographer S. Mendes
What: Passaredo Linhas Aéreas Embraer ERJ-145LU en route from Sao Paulo to Vitória da Conquista, Bahia, Brazil
Where: Brazil
When: August 25, 2010
Who: 24 passengers and 3 crew
Why: The plane had a normal approach. This sounds like the merging of several versions:
The crew was attempting a belly landing, after the landing gear were not responding properly.
Prior to the runway, the plane had a tail strike and went out of control.
The flight touched down short of the runway and the landing gear ripped free and the plane skidded out of control.
What is indisputable is that after the plane skidded to a stop, the right engine briefly caught fire. Two passengers had minor injuries. From the photos, this looks like a miracle that no one was killed.
The Embraer sustained substantial damage and is considered a total loss.
I am marking this as unresolved. Of course ALL crashes we report are unresolved because the final report may not be out for YEARS. But this one seems contradictory. If the flight was making a belly landing, ATC would not be considering this a normal approach.
So this looks to me like the plane just landed short of the runway and sheared off its landing gear. But I am not in Bahia, Brazil and will have to wait on the report to know what really happened.
Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact photographer Jack Hannen
What: Victoria Air Douglas C-47B Skytrain freighter en route from Manila to Palawan/ Puerto Princesa, Philippines
Where: Villa Fidela subdivision in Las Pinas; abandoned warehouse
When: Oct 17th 2009
Who: 4 on board (7?)
Why: After takeoff, the crew reported a mayday situation. After reporting engine trouble, they were returning to the airport. Witnesses say that the airplane began to “wobble” (roll left and right). The pilot was approaching runway 6 when plane lost altitude, went down in Villa Fidela subdivision in Elias Aldana village and struck a house and a warehouse. 14 houses were damaged and four on board were killed. Two houses by the warehouse caught on fire. The manifest states that 7 were on board but that is unconfirmed.
The Victoria plane had been on a test flight. The same plane had encountered trouble at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) runway three weeks ago when its brakes failed.
Published reports identify the dead as Jaguar Huane, flight captain and co-owner of the plane; Benjamin Rivera (another Victoria Pilot), Richard Sinaya, and a “Mr. Cedingan.”
(Apologies for the audio quality of the video)
A development like the Boeing helicopter that can make autonomous takeoffs and landings is one that brings with it a whole set of questions.
The “little bird” which is the first full-size helicopter to take off and land on its own was developed by Boeing, Carnegie Mellon University and Piasecki Aircraft.
One wonders for example, if the software/hardware is transferable to other helicopters, and if this would increase or decrease the safety of those aboard.
I am looking forward to hearing more about the progress of this helicopter.
According to Boeing, the Unmanned Little Bird Demonstrator is a modified MD 530F single-turbine helicopter designed for optionally manned flight, a platform capable of dual pilot, single pilot or no pilot flight operations. It can be remotely operated or programmed for autonomous operation in any mode. The unmanned variant is only being marketed internationally.
A Riverside County Sheriff’s helicopter crashed on the runway at the northeast end of Hemet-Ryan Airport in Hemet district, Riverside County, California, at 11 a.m. on August 28.
According to the sheriff’s spokesperson Albert Martinez, the helicopter crashed during a low-flying training exercise. The FAA spokesman Ian Gregor said that the helicopter rolled over while the pilot was trying to land with a simulated engine power outage.
Two deputies of the sheriff aboard the chopper suffered minor injuries and were taken to a local hospital.
The tail rotor of the helicopter got snapped off due to crash. Hemet firefighters sprayed foam on the wreckage to stop any fire ignition.
The Federal Aviation Administration has initiated investigation.
