What: All West Freight twin-engine cargo Fairchild C-123 Where: south-facing slope of Mount Healy, Delta Junction, Alaska When: August 1 2010 Who: 3 crew Why: Witnesses told a news crew that the pilot “was flying kind of low, and he banked hard to the left and went straight down we saw the fire ball come up from the back side of the mountains.”
The crash started a forest fire in Denali National Park which has been contained by Alaska Fire Service smokejumpers and Denali wildland fire fighters. The deceased are owner and pilot 61-year-old Bill Michel of Delta Junction; 52-year-old John Eshleman of Wasilla, and 66-year-old Paul Quartly of Wasilla.
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What: Qantas Airbus A380-800 en route from Singapore to Sydney Where: Sydney When: Mar 31st 2010 Who: 244 passengers Why: On landing, the plane blew its left tires; and there were sparks and and a brief fire from the brakes. The plane left a rubber trail. Damage assessment was made on the tarmac by engineers, with the plane sitting on its rims.
Qantas denies classifying this as an “emergency” landing.
George’s Point of View
I’m thinking how smart Boeing is to have held up release of their big jumbo, especially when I see A 380 incidents.
I am reminded of all the flaws that popped in the Airbus A310 (reputedly a rush copy of the Boeing 737); and I also remember reading about Airbus struggling to get the A-380 shipshape before Airbus rushed it to market. In development, Airbus wrestled with a plane that was severely overweight, withstructural, and production problems. Remember the trouble the A-380 had getting launched:
On Dec 4 2009, QANTAS Airbus A380-842 (VH-OQA) Singapore to London- On the runway, the plane’s nose gear became unsteereable. The plane was towed to the gate and spare parts had to be flown in to deal with the problem.
On July 4 2009, Qantas Airbus A380-842 (VH-OQA) Singapore to London- the approach was aborted due to nosegear problems. On landing, steering failed.
In March of 2008, Qantas removed all 3 of its A-380s due to fuel system problems (two unserviceable with a ‘”fuel tank indication system problem”.)
The A380 is a part of the Air France, Emirates, Qantas and Singapore airlines fleets , and in which fuel gauge problems, nosegear problems and braking problems are becoming known issues. Problems also arise because the prohibitive size of the plane limits where it can land.
Some Worrisome Airbus History
In 2004, Joseph Mangan, an Airbus whistleblower told European aviation authorities of flaws on a computer chip on the Airbus A380. (These were microprocessor flaws that could cause the valves that maintain cabin pressure on the A380 to accidentally open during flight, allowing air to leak out so rapidly that everyone aboard could lose consciousness within seconds.)
Mangan was chief engineer for the Viennese company TTTech Computertechnik, which supplied the chips and software controlling the A380 cabin-pressurization system assembled at the French Airbus plant. TTTech fired Mangan, filed civil and criminal charges against him for revealing proprietary company documents. Austrian law has no whistleblower protection, and there is currently a gag order imposed on Mangan. They claim his allegations have been disproved.
What did he know? Have the problems behind his concerns been addressed? What elsedo we not know? Without transparency, how can we ever know?
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What: Cathay Pacific Airbus A330-300 en route from Singapore (Singapore) to Jakarta Where: Singapore When: May 16th 2011 Who: 136 passengers Why: After takeoff, the right engine developed problems. Twenty minutes into the flight, the plane started to shake, and the plane was “plunged into darkness.” There was a stall in the #2 engine, which banged twice and filled the cabin with the scent of burning. Passengers prayed aloud.
Captain Bradley Chic shut down the affected engine.The crew reported the emergency and returned to Changi Airport to make a safe landing with emergency vehicles on standby.
Passengers disembarked normally, after which they joined hands in the airport and shared a prayer.
Six fire vehicles put out a fire in the right engine.
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What: South African Airways Airbus A319-100 en route from Durban to Cape Town Where: Durban When: Dec 11th 2009 Who: not available Why: On takeoff, the flight had a bird strike, and made an immediate emergency landing. Passengers debarked and were provided alternative transport.
The bird ingested was reportedly a “Yellow-billed Kite.”
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What: Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 en route from Beirut to Addis Ababa Where: 2 miles west of the coastal village of Na’ameh. When: Jan 25 2010 Who: 7 crew 83 passengers Why: Shortly after taking off in stormy weather and heavy lightning, Lebanese ATC lost contact. The plane disappeared from radar 45 minutes after leaving Beirut. Witnesses on the coast saw the plane as it crashed into the sea.
Other than one British citizen and one Syrian, families of all of the victims have submitted DNA to help identify relatives remains although only a portion of the 90 aboard have been found since the crash on January 25 into the Mediterranean sea minutes after takeoff. The plane’s black box and main sections of the plane have not yet been located but a U.S. Navy ship, the USS Ramage, detected signals from the black box flight recorders at a depth of 4,265 feet
The government of Lebanon has formally requested U.S. Odyssey Marine Explorations for submarine assistance in retrieval of victims, the black box and assorted wreckage.
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A small plane had to make a crash landing at Mineta San Jose International Airport, San Jose, Santa Clara County, California, on March 24.
The Plaggio P180 was seen circling over San Jose and Willow Glen, and it was reported that there was a mechanical issue, due to which the crew opted for a crash landing.
The plane landed uneventfully.
It turned out that there was a problem with the rear landing gear.
All people aboard remained unharmed.
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What: Air China Airbus 340-300 en route from Milan Italy to Beijing China Where: Moscow When: Tuesday 9.07pm Who: 155 passengers 18 crew Why: When one of the Airbus’s 4 engines failed, the crew requested an immediate emergency landing in Russia.
85 passengers were booked to continue to Beijing on Aeroflot and others were being booked elsewhere, later.
George’s Point of View
Slow boat to china?
How about taking a broken airbus to China?
Let’s not.
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What: Cathay Pacific Airbus A330-300 en route from Singapore (Singapore) to Jakarta
