Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact photographer Galen Burrows
What: BMI Airbus A319-100 en route from London Heathrow,EN (UK) to Berlin
Where: Amsterdam
When: Sep 29th 2011
Why: The flight was over Amsterdam when the air conditioning system began to lose cabin pressure.
The flight descended to a safe level and continued on to Berlin. A replacement jet was procured to complete the next leg of the journey.
Wizz Air flight W6-3071 made an emergency landing in Eindhoven, Netherlands, on August 22nd.
The Airbus A321-200 plane flying from Henri Coanda International Airport, Romania, was on approach to Eindhoven when the crew reported a flaps problem.
The plane subsequently landed at a higher than normal speed.
All passengers and crew members remained safe.
In an international safety conference held in the USA on June 18, Airbus expressed their plan to overcoming the issue of pilots relying too much on automated flight control systems.
The European plane manufacturing company is reviewing its pilot training priorities and putting more emphasis on manual flying and enhanced flight monitoring. According to William Tauzin, director of international regulatory affairs for Airbus, the new wide body jet series A350 will be the first with an approved training procedure which re-emphasizes manual flying and improved monitoring of the situations and progress of flight. “There are times when you have to take over manually…because even the most sophisticated automated systems can get planes into situations and places from which the pilots are going to have to fly out,” he said.
The largest customer of the A350 is Qatar Airways which has 80 aircrafts on order. The airline is set to put the new design into service by the end of 2014.
Pictured: A KLM – Royal Dutch AirlinesBoeing 737-306 taking off from Amsterdam – Schiphol
Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact photographer Fred Willemsen
What: KLM Boeing 737-300 en route from Amsterdam to Warsaw
Where: Amsterdam
When: Feb 10 2010
Why: After being cleared to take off on one runway, the flight actually took off from the taxiway. No incident ensued, and the flight continued to its destination.
Amsterdam Schiphol airport is reportedly supposed to be a confusing airport which recently changed its runway markings; and at the time of incident, it was sunset, and had supposedly snowed, which may have obscured the yellow taxiway/white runway distinctions, although there was good visibility. Hopefully the investigation will be used to make negotiating the runways safer.
http://www.nu.nl/algemeen/2182654/vliegtuig-steeg-taxibaan.html
The Federal Aviation Authority has revealed that on May 9, two United Airlines planes were recorded in dangerously close proximity to each other at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Texas.
The United flight 437 was en route to Mexico while the flight 601 was destined for British Columbia. The two Airbus 320 planes were found in a near-collision situation at about 9:38pm after the flight 601 was mistaken asked to take a right turn.
According to FAA’s statement, after realizing the danger, the air controller immediately told the pilot to change course.
The FAA has launched a formal investigation into the incident.
V Air flight ZV-252 had to return and make an emergency landing in Taipei, Taiwan, on May 6th.
The Airbus A321-200 took off for Tokyo, Japan, but had to return shortly afterwards after smoke was seen emanating from a lithium power bank carried by a passenger.
The plane landed uneventfully. All 161 people aboard remained safe.
Condor flight DE-2116 made an emergency landing at Shannon Airport, Ireland, on February 6th.
The Airbus A330-200 plane heading from Frankfurt, Germany, to Cancun, Mexico, was diverted after the crew noticed smoke in the cockpit.
The plane landed safely. Four crew members and a passenger were taken to a hospital.
