What: China United Airlines flight en route from Beijing to Urumqi
Where: Jiayuguan Airport in Gansu province
When: Oct 13, 2011
Who: Mrs. Wang
Why: Apparently 27 year old Mrs Wang wanted to make her husband worry, so she made a fake bomb and said it was aboard the flight, which diverted to Jiayuguan Airport. There was no actual bomb, which investigators discovered, and the plane was sent on its way after the inspection.
Mrs. Wang was detained. Her husband was not aboard the plane.
Air France flight AF-185 had to return and make an emergency landing in Hong Kong, China, on February 2nd.
The Boeing 777-300 plane took off for Charles de Gaulle Airport, France, but had to turn back after the crew received an engine fire indication.
The plane landed back safely. Everyone aboard remained unharmed.
United Airlines flight 102 made an emergency landing at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Texas, on March 6th.
The plane took off for Munich, Germany, but had to return shortly afterwards due to a bird strike.
The plane landed safely. All 184 passengers aboard remained unhurt.
Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact photographer Jeffrey Schäfer
What: Delta Airlines Airbus A330-300 en route from Paris to Atlanta
Where: Bangor
When: Apr 27th 2010
Who: 235 passengers and 8 crew
Why: While en route, Derek Stansberry of Apollo, Florida passed a note— “Forgive me, I f—ed up, I’m sorry”—to a flight attendant and muttered that he had explosives in his bag and claimed he had a false passport. (There were no explosives and no fake passport.)
Two federal air marshalls isolated Stansberry in the rear of the plane and insulated him with pillows and blankets in case of an explosion.
(As if that would do any good in case of an explosion! I’m sure the action marshals took was the protocol for such things, however, from a layperson’s position I’m wondering what do they think a blanket can do to muffle a bomb exploding in a plane at 20,000 feet? Keep you warm while you explode? It’s like hiding behind a thimble while being run over with a steamroller, isn’t it?)
The flight diverted to Bangor.
Stansberry, who remained in custody after the rest of the passengers flew on to their destination, is an Air Force veteran who had taken a valium and a sleeping pill prior to the flight.
United Airlines flight UA-710 had to make an emergency landing in Denver, Colorado, on February 20th.
The plane was flying from San Francisco, California, when the crew reported an issue with the flaps and requested an emergency landing.
The plane landed safely. No injuries were reported.
Sichuan Airlines flight 3U-8633 had to divert and make an emergency landing in Chengdu, China, on May 14th.
The Airbus A319-100 plane heading from Chongqing to Lhasa, China, was diverted after the right-hand windshield completely shattered, partially pulling the co-pilot out of the cockpit.
The plane landed safely.
The airline said the co-pilot received skin abrasions and another crew member sustained a waist injury.
United Airlines flight UA-956 had to return for an emergency landing in Newark, New Jersey, on June 12th.
The Boeing 767-300 plane took off for Geneva, Switzerland, but had to turn back due to loss of cabin pressure.
The plane landed back safely Everyone aboard remained unharmed.
