Let me ask you, are the controllers going to be the fall guys for an insufficient and badly surfaced runway, out of service planes, an underbudgeted airport system and governmental corner cutting?
A Brazilian air traffic controller accused of making errors that led to that country’s most deadly plane crash last fall refused to answer questions about the crash during his criminal trial Tuesday. Click thru to read the article…
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Contact photographer Olaf Juergensmeier
What: Aerospatiale SA-341G Gazelle en route from Odessa to Nikolaev.
Where: Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine
When: Dec 26, 2010
Who: 40 year old Pilot and 3 passengers
Why: While flying in thick fog, the helicopter crashed, killing the occupants. The passengers were girls between the ages of 18 and 22. The helicopter performed private flights for a luxury chalet in Dnipropetrovsk.
Egyptian authorities have said for the first time that the Russian commercial jet that crashed on 31st October last year in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula was deliberately downed by terrorists.
Metrojet flight 9268 was heading to St. Petersburg, Russia, when it went down, killing all 224 people on-board. Islamic State had immediately claimed the responsibility, and Moscow’s investigation report had also claimed that a bomb downed the plane. However, the local authorities previously rejected these claims and maintained that a technical fault caused the accident.
In a television speech on February 24th, the Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said, “Has terrorism ended? No it has not, but it will if we unite. Whoever downed the Russian plane, what did he mean? He meant to hit tourism, and to hit relations with Russia.”
Sisi’s comments are the first official indication from Egypt that the plane was deliberately crashed.
What: BELL 206B crop-dusting helicopter
Where: Newton Texas
When: October 13, 2010
Who: pilots name not released
Why: After reloading the chemical tanks and refueling, the (registration 499BH ) N499BH BELL 206 ROTORCRAFT, lifted off while the fuel hose was still attached. The two seat helicopter went up, then, of course, crashed. It fell over on its side. One person on the ground was injured.
This is no joke, as someone on the ground was severely injured.
However, it still reminds me of high school, when my date at the drive-in left the speaker hooked in the window, and when we left, I also left the window. The speaker took it out, hooked on the frame and kept the car from moving. We didn’t crash, or fall over, or even dent my window frame. Of course, we were in a Pinto.
(I won’t go into how, when it was repaired, I tried to roll it up and it still wasn’t there, how the glass company goofed and replaced my perfectly good windshield, how I ended up with both a new door window AND a new windshield and an apology.)
It’s a good thing the helicopter pilot’s name wasn’t released. Even if someone else was doing the refueling.
How embarrassing.
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Contact Photographer JPC van Heijst
What: Itek Air Boeing 737 en route from Kyrgyzstan’s capital, Bishkek. The aircraft was operated by Iran Aseman Airlines as Flight 6895.
Where: 2 km (1.3 mls) from Bishkek-Manas International Airport
When: Departed 20:30 local time ; accident happened accident happened at 20:42 24 AUG 2008
Who: killing 68 out of the 90 passengers and crew. All six Kyrgyz crew members and an Iranian aviation official were among the survivors. 51 of the passengers were foreigners, including people from China, Turkey, Iran and Canada. 17 members of a school sport team from Bishkek on board, seven of whom survived.
Why: The crew had reported a technical problem, and the plane crashed not far from the airport and caught fire. Itek Air is on a list of airlines banned from EU airspace because of fears over safety standards. Word of mouth is that the plane had been made in 1979 and was “in good condition and had an extended warranty”.
Note: The Itek Air website says that there were 84 passengers and six crew members on board the accident aircraft. Itek Air says that 68 of the passengers were killed, and that 16 passengers and all six crew members survived the crash, although not without injuries. The aircraft departed Manas International Airport at Bishkek, the capital city of Kyrgyzstan, bound for Tehran, Iran. Itek Air says that the aircraft departed Bishkek at 20:30 local time, and that the accident happened at 20:42. News reports have said that the aircraft was attempting to return to Bishkek, but crashed before reaching the airfield, and a fire ensued.
Status: Preliminary – official Report
Date: 24 AUG 2008
Time: 20:44
Type: Boeing 737-219
Operator: Itek Air
Registration: EX-009
C/n / msn: 22088/676
First flight: 1980-06-16
Crew: Fatalities: / Occupants: 7
Passengers: Fatalities: / Occupants: 83
Total: Fatalities: 65 / Occupants: 90
Airplane damage: Destroyed
Airplane fate: Written off (damaged beyond repair)
Location: 2 km (1.3 mls) from Bishkek-Manas International Airport (FRU) (Kyrgyzstan)
Phase: Unknown (UNK)
Nature: International Scheduled Passenger
Departure airport: Bishkek-Manas International Airport (FRU/UAFM), Kyrgyzstan
Destination airport: Tehran-Imam Khomeini International Airport (IKA/OIIE), Iran
Flightnumber: 6895
Narrative:
Iran Aseman Airlines Flight 6895 from Bishkek (FRU), Kyrgyzstan to Tehran (IKA), Iran was carried out by Itek Air. The Kyrgyz airline operated one of their Boeing 737-200 aircraft on that flight.
In the afternoon of August 24, from 16:30 to 20:00 local time, a thunderstorm with associated rain passed over Bishkek. Over that period the wind shifted from 220 degrees to 100 degrees at 20:30. Wind was blowing at about 6 kts, with wind variable at 23 knots. The temperature had dropped from 31 to 27 degrees C.
The weather then improved and at the time of departure visibility was more than 10 km with 6/8 clouds at an altitude of 5000 m (ca 16400 ft).
The Boeing 737 was cleared to taxy to runway 08 for departure. Take off was commenced at 20:30. The flight was cleared for a DW-1 departure, which entailed a left turn after takeoff to a heading of 240 degrees towards the RENAT beacon. From there it was to continue to the Chaldovar NDB, which should be crossed at or above FL158.
At 20:36:40, the airplane was climbing through an altititude of 3000m (almost 10.000 feet). At that moment the cabin altitude alert horn probably sounded, because the crew reported problems with the cabin pressure.
The crew decided to return to Bishkek and requested a visual approach to runway 08. This was approved and the airplane made a right hand turn, for a straight-in approach to runway 08. At 20:41:40 the crew reported the runway in sight. About 20:42:30 the flight was 12 km from the runway, flying at 400 m above airfield elevation at an airspeed of 460 km/h (250 kts). At a distance of 5 km from landing, the airplane had decelerated to 340 km/h (185 kts), but it was not properly configured for landing. The flight crew then obtained permission to carry out a left-hand orbit in order to configure the plane for landing. A left hand turn was flown with a 30-degree bank.
In the process of ther turn the aircraft descended further with the airspeed decreasing to 290 km/h (155 kts).
The airplane struck terrain some 7.5 km from the runway. At the time of impact the landing gear was down and flaps were selected down at 15 degrees. (src=http://aviation-safety.net/db)
A light aircraft crashed shortly after taking off from Malta International Airport, Malta, on October 24th.
The Fairchild Metroliner was carrying military officers on a surveillance mission on behalf of the French government, at the time.
All 5 people including 3 officials and 2 crew members were killed in the crash.
The crash remains under investigation.
