Turkish Airlines flight TK-2828 made a safe landing after a bird strike near Trabzon, Turkey, on August 29th.
The Airbus A321-200 plane flying from Istanbul, Turkey, was on final approach to Trabzon when a bird impacted it.
The plane continued for a safe landing. All passengers and crew members remained unharmed.
Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact photographer Anthony Guerra
What: Air France Airbus A380-800 en route from New York JFK to Paris
Where: New York
When: Feb 22 2010
Who: 22 crew
Why: While ferrying the flight to Paris, the plane developed fuel system problems and returned to JFK where it made a safe landing. This is after the flight had already been cancelled earlier for undesignated technical issues.
A military helicopter crashed in Dand-e-Ghori district of Baghlan province, Afghanistan, on October 9th.
The helicopter was supplying a military base when it caught fire and crashed.
There were eight people aboard at the time, including five crew members and three army soldiers; all of them were killed in the crash.
Afghan defense ministry spokesman Dawlat Waziri said the accident happened due to a technical issue.
Air Arabia flight 185 made an emergency landing at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on March 17th.
The plane, en-route from Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, to Taif, Saudi Arabia, was diverted due to a cargo smoke indication.
The plane landed safely. All 168 passengers remained unhurt.
No evidence of fire was found upon inspection.
George’s Point of View
Bravo to American Airlines which is (finally) putting their Airbus A300’s to bed. American’s spokesman Tim Smith announced “One, we are in the process of cutting capacity. Two, these airplanes are a likely candidate for retirement, in that they are older than most of the airplanes in our fleet, and three, the A300 requires different training and maintenance from the other airplanes in American’s fleet.” We should expect to see a greener, more responsible American AIrlines now. This is part of the fleet renewal effort introduced in American’s 2007 Environmental Responsibility Report when they began replacing their MD-80s with new 737-800s.
I don’t know about being clean and green, environmentally renewed and downsized. I do know that these are 21 year old planes. They’re old enough to vote. (And –I am told–old enough to drive a pilot to drink.)
Think about it…In 1987 when these planes were first introduced into American’s fleet, Charles and Diana had just separated; Jim Bakker got caught playing hanky panky with Jessica Hahn; Klaus Barbie was convicted of Nazi war crimes; Andy Warhol died; an earthquake in LA injured 100 and killed 6; and most unbelievable of all, the Cosby show and Cheers were still in their first run.
I guess time flies when you’re flying deathtraps.
As a frequent flyer who does not trust the A300, I applaud that decision–though it does seem to be a no brainer to retire 21 year old planes.
Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact photographer Benjamin Exenberger
What: Lufthansa Airbus A340-600 en route from Munich to Los Angeles,CA
Where: Netherlands
When: Aug 20th 2010
Who: 302 passengers, 17 crew
Why: While en route, a smoke detector went off. The crew diverted to Cologne where they made a safe landing. The fire apparently originated in the hold though it was a lavatory alarm. No indication if the fight was continued on the same plane or if the passengers were rebooked on an alternative flight.
