Pictured: Italy – Vigili del Fuoco Eurocopter AS-350B-3 Ecureuil
© Photo by Stefano Capuzzo
Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact photographer Stefano Capuzzo
What: Helinka Eurocopter Ecureuil
Where: Loreto Province between Trompeteros and Saramuro Peru in the Corrientes River
When: 9:15 29 Oct 2009
Who: 2 fatalities, 2 injuries
Why: Pilot Hernie Cordova and Edgar Zevallo were killed; the survivors are Chugudaly Davila and Pedro Paredes Vela Junio.
A Philippine SIAI-Marchetti
Aero Image.com
Contact photographer Rogier Westerhuis
What: Philippine Air Force Siai-Marchetti AS-211 Warrior
Where: Banawang village near the Stela Mariz Beach resort, Philippines
When: April 28 2011
Who: 2 pilots
Why: After taking off from Basa Air Base (Clark Field in Pampanga) on a routine flight, the Aermacchi S-211 trainer jet crashed near the beach.
Initially reports said there was one person aboard, but later reports say there were two who both died in the crash. One body has been retrieved, and divers are searching for one of the pilots who is missing. The condition of the plane is described as “vaporized” and “disintegrated.” Pieces of the plane, and what can be found of the bodies are being recovered for the examination, and local witnesses are being interviewed about what they saw.
The fatalities were Maj. Ephraim Gatus Suyom and Juan de Leon.
What: Alleged crash reported
Where: Mitchell Road area east of Highway 45.
When: 3:40 p.m
Who: no one
Why: A farmer reported a low-flying plane followed by a puff of smoke. Rescue rushed to the scene, including a medical evacuation helicopter, but the crisis turned out to be a pile of burning leaves. Two planes which had been flying in the area at the time were accounted for. No plane was involved.
A single-engine plane crashed and caught fire near Horneytown, in the south of Kernersville, Forsyth County, North Carolina, at 12:12 P.M on September 7.
The Beechcraft A36 was en-route to Piedmont Triad International Airport, North Carolina, from Sarasota, Florida, at the time.
The airport’s director Kevin Baker said the pilot was communicating a problem to ATC before the crash, but could not explain it.
The FAA and NTSB were investigating the crash.
According to an NTSB spokesperson, 3 people lost their lives in the accident.
Pictured: A Delta Air Lines McDonnell Douglas MD-88 over Miami
Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact photographer Klaus Ecker
What: Delta Airlines McDonnell Douglas MD-88 en route from Boston, MA to New York
Where: Boston
When: Jan 2nd 2010
Who: 34 aboard
Why: On takeoff, the flight developed smoke in the cockpit and cabin. The pilot landed safely back at the airport within fifteen minutes.
After a crash, the stories always come out that put faces on the “seats.” The one that has, so far, struck me the most in the Dana Air crash is a tale of mixed blessings.
First Omonigho Akinsanya had come to visit, and now she was waiting in the crowded, overheated Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport to catch a plane to take her home. She, with her 5-year-old son Moyo, and her sister had been waiting in line, trying to travel back home.
The airport, which is undergoing renovations is reportedly hot and crowded, and Omonigho Akinsanya had her son to manage. She was understandably upset when a man broke in line and took the last seat in the crowded airplane that her sister had already boarded.
His breaking in line saved her life. But she cannot rejoice in the luck, fortune, Karma, coincidence that left her alive. Her sister was one of the victims.
This is her sister’s sad story, and her own too, because it is a terrible loss and a close call. But it is only one of 153+ losses (not forgetting the families on the ground who were minding their own business in their own apartments when a plane fell on their heads.)
It is hard to sift rumor from fact. One rumor is that the flight had been diverted or delayed due to Dame Patience Jonathan, the first lady, but that rumor has been discounted; she was at an event on Sunday when the crash occurred, and nowhere near the airport. There was a rumor of a bird strike, stemming from an official speculating on the cause. And then of course, everyone is studying the plane’s history, and wondering if it was airworthy.
The MD-83 belonged to Alaska Airlines from 1990 when it was new until 2007, when the plane’s title went to North Shore Aircraft LLC (probably the financier) and leased back for a year. Before it was retired in 2008, it had gone through a diversion on Nov 4 2002 due to an overheated light ballast; on August 20, 2006 due to a “chafed wire bundle.” And as Dana Air 5N-RAM it suffered a bird strike on April 19, 2010.
The pilot, Peter Waxtan, was an American, and the first officer was Mike Mahendra, from India. Captain Waxton called a double engine failure. The pilot had requested to land on Murtala Muhammad Airport’s longer runway 18R before calling air controllers back a few minutes later to report a total emergency.
There has been some negative buzz regarding maintenance of this MD83 in the hands of Dana Air, and a recent discussion of Dana Air crew being reluctant to fly in this plane, due to mechanical difficulties on a recent flight, even that Dana Air execs insisted the plane be flown. Plus, it was overloaded.
It is still so soon after the crash that we hardly know which questions to ask first. There are so many questions. But if Dana Air was putting faulty aircraft in the air, they will have to answer for it. Too bad it will be too late for those who were aboard.
Pictured: a Mooney M-20E
Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact photographer Tony Zeljeznjak
What: MOONEY M20E registered to David Michaud
Where: on the west side of Rio Linda airport, Sacramento Ca, Roy Hayer Memorial Speedway
When: 02/28/2009
Who: 2 on board were fatally injured
Why: The Mooney M2OE crashed on the west side of Rio Linda Airport . On crashing on the speedway, the plane caught fire. The plane’s owner, Dave Michaud, was an on-call reserve deputy, formerly a C-5 Flight Engineer in the 301st Airlift Squadron at Travis.
