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Contact photographer João Toste
What: Air France Airbus A340-300 en route from Paris Charles de Gaulle to Detroit
Where: Cork
When: May 2nd 2012
Why: While en route, the plane developed a technical problem and had to divert to Cork and make an emergency landing.
The technical problem involved transponder data. After maintenance, the plane was returned to service.
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Contact photographer Normando Carvalho Jr.
What: Tam Fokker 100 en route from Sao Paulo to Rio
Where: residential area 1 mile from Sao Paulo
When: October 31 1996
Who: 89 passengers,6 crew and 2 on the ground died.
Why: Summary: On October 31 1996, about 0545 UTC a Fokker 100, registration PT-MRK, operating as TAM Airlines flight. 402, a shuttle between Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, crashed shortly after takeoff from the Congonhas Airport, Sao Paulo, Brazil. The aircraft was destroyed; 89 passengers,6 crew and 2 on the ground died. 3 passengers were Americans .Witnesses reported the aircraft failed to gain altitude after take-off, collided with a tall building and crashed into residential area 1 mile from the end of the departure runway. Pilot error, unfamiliarity with the craft was judged to be partially responsible.
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Contact photographer Stefan Sonnenberg
What: Air Berlin Boeing 737-700 en route from Berlin Germany to Zurich Switzerland
Where: Berlin
When: Jan 6th 2010
Who: 124 passengers
Why: Because on the runway, the plane indicated conflicting airspeed, the pilot rejected takeoff and returned safely to the gate. A replacement flight was provided. On Jan 3, another (different) Air Berlin Boeing also rejected takeoff because of conflicting airspeed, but ended up in a runway overrun.
What: CHC (for Total) Helicopter Eurocopter EC225 Super Puma en route from Aberdeen to West Phoenix drilling rig
Where: 32 miles south of Shetland, off Fair Isle
When: October 22, 2012
Who: 19 aboard, 0 fatalities
Why: Seventeen passengers and two crew were on the way to the drilling rig when the crew had to ditch the helicopter (controlled ditching) in the North sea.
All 19 aboard were picked up by the Nord Nightingale.
The first official Maritime & Coastguard Agency press release said:
Shetland Coastguard has been coordinating a major search and rescue operation after a helicopter ditched off the coast 15 miles west of Fair Isle this afternoon.There were 19 people on board, all of which have now been accounted for. Three RNLI lifeboats (Kirkwall, Aith and Lerwick) went to the scene, along with the Coastguard Search and Rescue Helicopter from Stornoway, RAF Lossiemouth, and the Bond rescue helicopter from Sumburgh. A vessel in the area at the time – the Nord Nightingale – launched its fast rescue craft. This rescued the 19 people from their life raft and brought them back to the tanker. From here they were flown by the RAF helicopter and Bond helicopter back to Kirkwall.It is believed the helicopter was on its way from Aberdeen to West Phoenix drilling rig.
Aeroflot flight SU-1711 made an emergency landing in Khabarovsk, Russia, on May 22nd.
The Airbus A330-300 plane took off for Moscow, Russia, but had to turn back due to an issue with the landing gear.
The plane landed safely after burning off fuel.
Everyone aboard remained unharmed.
Airbus wants to do the impossible. Always pushing aviation physics to be bigger than we thought it was possible to be.
There’s a whole lot of buzz about Airbus’s superjumbo elephantine double-decker, wide-body, four-engine jets with seating for up to 853 people. The families who have lost loved ones at sea–especially those in the recent Airbus flight 447 and the Comoros crash–must feel crushed when they hear about expensive Airbus efforts to make their already huge aircraft series break more size records.
Maybe Airbus should stop trying to be the biggest plane on the block, and work a little harder on safety. If they were as safe as they are big, there would be 380 families not in mourning today. Yes, 380. Here’s the biggest irony.
There were 152 fatalities in the Airbus crash in the Comoros. There were 228 fatalities in AF 477. Does anyone else find it macabre and frightening that that adds up to 380? I’m not a numerologist, but that’s awfully disturbing–
Airbus needs to rethink their entire aviation philosopy, stop making these monstrous death traps, go back to the drawing board, and correct the defects of the planes they already have in service.
If they had done so already, there would be at least 380 mothers, fathers, and children still alive.
Or they should be responsible, and ask that their planes be grounded until they are made safe.
Airbus needs to stop throwing money at air shows, and start compensating the families of those that have died or been injured due to design flaws of Airbus planes.
Yes, even the much vaunted new jet has niggling problems surfacing all of the time, but the flaws in the Airbus 380 skywhale behemoth are being downplayed by the powers that be.
Issues have been found with all of these systems:
This is just what has come to light so far.
Please, let’s go back to the drawing board Airbus, for the sake of your human family. There is nothing, nothing, nothing you can do to bring joy back to 380 families who remain wounded, broken, with holes in their lives that can never be filled, lives that have been deformed by damage that can not be undone. Airbus, you want to do the impossible, be ever bigger. How about doing something in the realm of the possible? Let your heart be big. Step up to the plate, and compensate the grieving, who are suffering from lives lost in Airbus planes. This is beyond the physics of aviation and above the laws of man. It’s the right thing to do.
What: Air France Airbus 380 en route from NY to Paris
Where: JFK, NY
When: April 11, 2011
Who: Air France Airbus passengers; and Comair passengers;
Why: A Delta/Comair Bombardier CRJ-700 (N641CA) which had just flown in from Boston was struck in the tail by the left wing of an Airbus.
There were no injuries, but a lot of inconvenience, plus damage to both planes. (The Comair left horizontal stabilizer and the Airbus wingtip.) The Air France flight was cancelled because of the damage. Both flights were cancelled, although the Air France flight hadn’t gone anywhere. The Air France passengers had to disembark and retrieve their luggage as alternatives for reaching their destination were sorted out.
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating.
