Pictured: A Delta Airlines McDonnell Douglas MD-88
Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact photographer Ricardo Morales
What: Delta Airlines McDonnell Douglas MD-88 en route from Albuquerque, N.M to Atlanta
Where: Albuquerque
When: Oct 23rd 2009
Why: Shortly after takeoff, the cockpit indicator light indicated something wrong with the landing gear. The flight returned to the airport and circled before landing uneventfully.
The flight was cancelled.
Air New Zealand flight NZ-268 had to return and make an emergency landing in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, on October 9th.
The Boeing 767-300 plane took off for Auckland, New Zealand, but had to turn back after it experienced severe turbulence that injured 4 people.
The plane landed uneventfully. The injured, including 3 crew members and 1 passenger, were taken to hospital.
Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact photographer Stuart Lawson [Airplane-Pictures]
What: SEAir South East Asian LET L-410 ferry flight from Manila to Caticlan
Where: Godofredo P. Ramos Airport Caticlan
When: Mar 15th 2010 6:30 a.m.
Who: 3 crew composed of pilot Capt. James Bihasa, his co-pilot and a mechanic.
Why: On landing, the plane had a flat, the fifth SEAir aircraft to have a flat at that airport. (There is only the one runway.) There were no injuries, but the plane blocked the runway until the left main tire was replaced. Because there was no spare, and lacking the equipment to relocate the plane, the airport closed for six hours during which time, flights diverted to Kalibo airport 70 kilometers away.
As a consequence, Philippines Civil Aviation Authority Director General Alfonso Cusi has ordered a review of the airport’s “Emergency and Rescue Plan.”
American Airlines flight AA-2098 had to return and make an emergency landing in Las Vegas, Nevada, on February 10th.
The Airbus A321-200 plane took off for Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, Texas, but had to return shortly afterwards due to reports of smoke and haze in the cabin.
The plane landed safely. All passengers and crew members remained unharmed.
The airline arranged a replacement plane for the passengers.
Pictured: An Air Zimbabwe Boeing 737
Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact photographer Chaity
What: Air Zimbabwe Boeing 737 en route from Victoria Falls
Where: Harare Airport, Zimbabwe
When: December 6, 2010
Who: not released
Why: Passengers coming back from Victoria falls got a surprise today as, en route, the plane’s fire alarms went off.
The pilots made a safe emergency landing at Harare. The cause of the alarm is being investigated, and there’s no indication of whether passengers were provided transportation, housing or if they had to wait until the plane was examined/repaired.
Turkish Airlines flight TK-79 had to make an emergency landing at Warsaw Chopin Airport, Warsaw, Poland, at around 3:50 P.M. on July 30.
The Boeing 777-300, heading from Istanbul Atatürk Airport, Turkey, to San Francisco, California, had to be landed in emergency due to an unclaimed mobile phone found in the cabin.
The plane landed safely and all 332 people aboard remained unhurt.
The journey continued after security clearance.
For most people August 16 was just a day. But there are still some people who remember this day as the day in 2005 that one hundred fifty-two people died aboard a MD-82 near Machiques Venezuela. First one engine failed, then the second. After both engines flamed out, Flight 708 requested an emergency landing from Machiques ATC, but pilots lost control and within three minutes, crashed in a swampy area in a cattle ranch. The Bureau d’Enquêtes et d’Analyses pour la Sécurité de l’Aviation Civile (BEA) Investigation found the cause was human error due to in-flight problems from poorly paid, stressed Caribbean Airways crew working with poor communication.
One hundred and fifty-two French citizens from Martinique, and Colombian crew of eight were lost. It has gone down in the record books as the biggest crash in Venezuelan history, and the worst accident in 2005. In the distant photo of this accident, we cannot help but see how small and frail the craft looks. Like a toy of broken matchsticks lying broken on the ground. Sometimes we should remember that we are creatures of land, and have given ourself wings. The tragedy that we sometimes fail does overshadow sometimes that itt is a marvel that we fly.
It is the job of the investigation to find the cause to help make future flight safer; but when we remember a date such as this, it is a time to remember the passengers and crew. It is time to remember and console the families who survive them.
Whatever the cause, tragedies wear the same face of irreparable loss. It is not only France and Colombia that mourned the loss of their citizens. When tragedies happen, all the nations of the world mourn. So let us pause in our day and remember those who are lost to us; and take the time to remember John Donne “Any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankind; And therefore, never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.”
