Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact photographer Mats Salder
What: Aeroflot Airbus A319-100 en route from Nizhniy Novgorod to Moscow Sheremetyevo
Where: Moscow
When: Dec 28th 2011
Who: 76 aboard
Why: While en route, the right engine developed problems, and pilots had to shut it down.
The flight landed safely at Sheremetyevo less than a quarter hour after the engine was shut down.
Iberia Express flight IB-3842 had to return and make an emergency landing in Madrid, Spain, on September 18th.
The Airbus A321-200 plane took off for La Palma Airport, Spain, but had to turn back due to a bird strike.
The plane landed safely. All passengers and crew members remained unharmed.
George’s Point of View
Judgements and awards offer no closure.
For those left behind, the accidents are never over.
Angela de Marchi lost her husband in September 29 2006, a Boeing Legacy crash, when 154 died.
She lost him again at the crash of Tam Congonhas Flight 3054 July 17 2007 when 199 people died.
And now this new Airbus crash…she lost him again.
For the families, each new crash brings the memories back, the hope, the loss.
The Airbus Group launched their two-seater, E-Fan electric trainer airplane in France last month.
The all-electric all-composite experimental plane designed specifically as a demonstrator for the small electric aircraft technology made its first public flight in Bordeaux, France, during the Airbus’ E-Aircraft Day.
The aircraft is comparatively quieter than the non-electric planes and has zero carbon dioxide emissions during flight. Moreover, it lasts an hour for training flights and half an hour for manoeuvres.
According to Airbus, the E-Fan electric trainer plane will be used as a model for designing, building and selling two improved versions through their subsidiary company, VoltAir.
Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact photographer Rodolfo García López
What: Thomson Airways Boeing 767-300 en route from Bridgetown to London
Where: Atlantic
When: Jan 19th 2012
Who: 1 injury
Why: Thirty minutes into the flight, a flight attendant incurred facial injuries from steam in the galley.
The flight diverted to Bermuda where they made a safe landing. It took an hour to get underway again, after the injured attendant was taken to the hospital.
Damaged A380 Wing
Update
The gearbox problem is not the only recent technical glitch that occurred. The aircraft’s huge propellors built by French company Ratier-Figeac, (indirectly owned by U.S. group United Technologies _UTX.N_,) developed cracks prematurely.
What: A380 superjumbo,
Where: Le Bourget airport, Paris
When: June 17, 2011
Who: no reported injuries
Why: Before an audience including 2,100 exhibitors from 45 countries—a jury of its peers—during the Paris Airshow, Airbus had to pull its A380 display.
The A 380 was withdrawn from the flying display when the jet had an on-the-ground collision with a building, clipping a wing on a taxiway structure.
Also, although it made a fly-over, the Airbus A400 M military transport demo was cancelled due to a “a minor gearbox problem”
Then on Saturday Airbus announced that two of three versions of the A350, would be delayed for about two years. We commend the decision to delay, because while Rolls Royce will be granted more time to develop a more powerful motor, hopefully Airbus will take the time to work on whatever bugs are in its system. A delay in release is clearly an opportunity to perfect the product, from a safety perspective.
LATAM Airlines flight JJ-8081 had to divert and make an emergency landing in Brasilia, Brazil, on July 23rd.
The Airbus A350-900 plane heading from John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York, to Sao Paulo–Guarulhos International Airport, Brazil, was diverted due to issues with the fuel leak detection system.
The plane landed safely. All passengers and crew members remained unharmed.