What: Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-300 en route from Baltimore to Providence
Where: BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport
When: Jul 7th 2009
Who: 135 on board
Why: On takeoff, the plane flew into a flock of birds. About 40 small birds were found on the runway after the incident. The plane landed shortly after the bird strike. The plane was sent to be examined; and another plane was provided about 5 hours later to resume the flight.
George’s Point of View
The birds are at it again.
Regional Express Airlines flight ZL-5361 had to return and make an emergency landing in Cairns, Queensland, Australia, on February 1st.
The plane took off for Mount Isa, Queensland, Australia, but had to turn back due to an engine problem.
The plane landed safely. All twenty people aboard remained safe.
Pictured: An Air India Airbus A320-231
Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact photographer Wim Callaert
What: Air India Airbus A320-200 en route from Kolkata to Chennai (India)
Where: Kolkata
When: Dec 11th 2009
Who: 139 passengers
Why: The flight had a successful take-off, but while en route, air conditioning problems developed. (This can also mean pressurization issues. Specifics were not indicated.)
The flight returned to Kolkata and made a safe landing. A replacement plane was provided.
Martinair flight MP-6741 had to return and make an emergency landing at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, Amsterdam, Netherlands, on March 3rd.
The MD-11 Freighter, heading towards Miami, Florida, had to dump fuel and return after ingesting a colony of seagulls.
The plane landed safely.
All people aboard remained unhurt.
stranded flight
Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact photographer Luc Verkuringen
Rebellious passengers
Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact photographer Oleg Chaplin
What: Jet4You Boeing 737-400 en route from Casablanca Morocco to Bordeaux
Where: Bordeaux
When: Dec 4 2010
Who: 121 passengers
Why: While en route, the plane suffered a bird strike and made a safe landing. Another flight was diverted to pick up the passengers stranded in Bordeaux.
However…the flight that was to be diverted to pick them up was flying from Toulouse to Casablanca…didn’t. We do not know how they got home from Bordeaux.
When the 137 passengers aboard the replacement flight landed in Liege, they refused. (Refused to go to Bordeax, to get off the plane. Basically they rebelled. They did not want to go to Bordeaux and pick up the stranded passengers.) Apparently the pilot then left the plane, and the passengers (except for 52 of them who asked to get off the plane) stayed on the plane all night, outraged that their 90 minute direct trip had turned into 6 hours with 2 unscheduled stop. Their refusal ended up making them stranded even longer.
They were promised a direct flight to Casablanca on Sunday.
SBA Airlines flight S3-1515 had to divert and make an emergency landing at Las Americas International Airport, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, on March 11.
The Boeing 757-200, heading from Caracas, Venezuela to Miami, Florida, was mid-air when the crew needed to shut down its right hand engine, causing the plane to divert.
The plane landed safely.
All 198 passengers and crew members aboard remained unhurt.
What: Jetlite Boeing 737 en route from Delhi to Kolkata
Where: IGI airport
Who: 41 passengers and crew members
Why: The pilot declared an undisclosed emergency and landed at IGI.
Jetlite was formerly known as Air Sahara.
