What: Air India Airbus A319-100 en route from Mumbai to Delhi
Where: Delhi
When: Jan 10th 2012
Who: 117 passengers and 6 crew
Why: While the plane was en route, an anonymous caller told Air India that someone aboard had a bomb in their luggage. The flight was nearing Delhi anyway, so ATC directed the pilot to land in Delhi.
The plane was isolated and passengers disembarked at 9.15; then the plane was searched. No bomb was reported.
Air Berlin flight AB-7346 had to return and make an emergency landing at Munich Airport, Munich, Germany, on December 31.
The Airbus A330-200, flying towards Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, had to return due to some issue with its flaps.
The plane landed safely.
No injuries were reported.
Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact photographer Szabo Gabor
What: Gulf Air Airbus A330-200 en route from Kuala Lumpur Malaysia to Bahrain
Where: Muscat
When: Feb 5th 2011
Who: 136 passengers
Why: While en route, the pilot’s illness forced a landing at Muscat. The flight was completed by a replacement crew, after the captain was hospitalized after a heart attack.
Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact photographer Ian Clarke
What: Saudi Arabian Airlines/Onur Air Airbus A300-600 en route from Madinah to Jeddah
Where: Jeddah
When: May 1 2012
Who: 10 crew
Why: Pilots had an indication of unsafe nose gear and landed without nose gear at Jeddah at 12:55. Emergency crew (reported as “civil defense but that could have been a translation error” sprayed the runway. The crew disembarked via slides. There were no injuries reported.
The flight was “a special flight from the western town,” with ten crew and no passengers. We assume a ferry flight.
The video shows mobile stairs that are up for the post flight check-up, but notice the steep angle of the slide at the rear of the plane.
What: Arik Air Airbus A340-542 en route from London to Lagos
Where: Lagos Murtala Muhammed International Airport
When: Oct 26, 2012
Who: 1 fatality
Why: The body of a man was discovered in the wheel well of an Arik Air Airbus after a flight from London to Lagos. The body had no identification. There is no indication how long the body remained there, nor where it came from.
According to officials the body was discovered “during a check on the aircraft panel as it was being prepared for another flight and that the undercarriage compartment of the Airbus A340-500 is big enough to accommodate a person, besides the space for the tires.”
Security at Lagos Murtala Muhammed International Airport is reputed to be lax, and authorities have apparently been ineffective in eliminating illicit activities.
George’s Point of View
The next big question is whether or not information is withheld.
That’s what some families are wondering, and that’s part of the reason why they’ve hired lawyers. Plaintiffs have access to more information; and they want to know what reason Air France has for not replacing a known Airbus problem, the pitot probes (airbus speed sensors.)
What has been published is error messages based on inconsistent readings taken by the pitot probes.
Air Arabia flight ABY-501 had to divert and make an emergency landing at Dabolim International Airport, Goa, India, on August 5.
The pilot requested an emergency landing due to a kidney patient aboard who needed immediate medical attention. The plane was heading from Sharjah, UAE, to Colombo, Sri Lanka at the time.
The plane, carrying 177 people, landed safely.
The patient was immediately transported to hospital.
