Airbus

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    Smoke Prompts Emergency Evacuation of IndiGo Passengers; 28 Injured

    IndiGo AirlinesTwenty-Eight passengers were injured after a landing gear problem in IndiGo flight 6E-176 from Mumbai caused thick smoke emission on landing in New Delhi, India, and prompted an emergency evacuation on August 20.

    Air Traffic Control (ATC) observed “dense smoke” coming out of the left-side lower portion of the Airbus A-320 after it landed at IGI Airport at about 3:30 p.m.then alerted the pilots and emergency services at the airport. All 154 people aboard the plane were evacuated using emergency slide-chutes.

    Twenty-eight of 148 passengers suffered minor injuries during the slide evacuation, while the 6 crew members escaped unhurt.

    Aviation regulator DGCA and the airline have initiated investigations. Preliminary investigations revealed that a heavy friction on the left brake assembly of the landing gear caused the smoke.

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    AirAsia Zest Flight Returns to Manila due to Engine Failure

    AirAsia ZestAn AirAsia Zest flight had to return and make an emergency landing in Manila, Philippines, at 8:38 p.m. on August 9.

    The incident happened after the plane’s engine number 2 encountered “engine bleed” while cruising over Guangzhou, China. Shortly after the operational engineering bulletin procedures were done, the plane’s engine number 1 also failed.

    The pilots, Capt. Allan Roque and First Officer Dennis Surficial made a preemptive descent and contacted the air traffic controller for making an emergency landing back at Manila. The cabin pressure continued to rise and the oxygen masks deployed automatically.

    The A320 aircraft safely landed at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA). All the passengers and crew members remained unhurt.

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    Rats Found Running Around the Cabin; Air India Flight Lands in Emergency

    airindia2Air India flight AI021 had to land in emergency in New Delhi, after rats were found running around the cabin, on the evening of August 4.

    The Airbus A-321 was on its way from Calcutta to New Delhi when the crew members discovered ‘scores’ of rats in the cabin. The plane safely landed at the Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi after which, the passengers were evacuated and the aircraft was grounded for pest control treatment and fumigation.

    According to a senior commander, “Rats on board an aircraft can lead to a catastrophe if they start chewing up electric wires of a fly by wire plane…If that happens, pilots will have no control on any system on board leading to a disaster.”

    However, an Air India officer was reported saying that the rat infestation is ‘common’ in planes worldwide as the rodents could ‘get in anywhere.’ “They follow the catering vans into the plane when they smell the food,” he said.

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    Bird-Struck AirAsia Flight Makes Emergency Landing at Phuket

    Air AsiaThe AirAsia Flight FD 3187 had to make an emergency landing at Thailand’s Phuket International Airport, due to bird strike, on August 5.

    The flight, carrying 153 passengers and 6 crew members, was on its way from Nakorn Sri Thammarat to Bangkok when a bird smashed into one of the engine intakes and damaged the engine of the Airbus A320-200.

    The plane landed safely at about 5:15 p.m.

    The airline provided an alternate aircraft to take the passengers to their destination.

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    Lufthansa Flight Makes Unscheduled Landing due to Medical Emergency

    LufthansaA medical emergency prompted the Lufthansa Airlines flight LH434 to make an emergency landing at Manchester airport, UK, on August 6.

    The incident happened when the flight was en route from Munich, Germany to Chicago.

    The Airbus A340-600 dumped fuel over Greater Manchester before landing safely at the airport shortly after 5 p.m.

    The sick passenger was taken to Wythenshawe Hospital for treatment. The nature of illness is not yet known.

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    Chartered YanAir Flight Lands in Emergency at Bulgaria

    YANAIRThe chartered flight K2 6242of Ukraine’s YanAir, operated by Polish Eurolot, made a safe emergency landing in the port of Burgas in Bulgaria on August 6.

    The incident happened when the flight was heading from Antalya, Turkey to Poznan, Poland.

    Eurolot spokeswoman Karolina Bursa said the pilot of the Airbus 320 “decided to make a landing because a need emerged during the flight to check one of the systems.” She also said that security protocols in such situations require landing at the nearest airport.

    She further confirmed that the experts were checking a system that controls air conditioning and other things in the aircraft.

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    Bomb Hoax Forces Qatar Airways Passenger jet to Make Emergency Landing

    QatarThe Qatar Airways flight QR23 made an emergency landing at Manchester airport at about 1 p.m. on August 5, on suspicion of a possible explosive device on board.

    The flight was en route from Doha to Manchester when the crew received a threat regarding a possible device on the Airbus A330. Royal Air Force fighter Typhoon jet aircrafts were then sent to escort the plane which was carrying 269 passengers and 13 crew members at the time.

    Chief Supt John O’Hare said: “An incoming plane has been escorted into the airport by the Royal Air Force, as a result of information received by the pilot about a possible device on board….We don’t know how genuine this threat is but it is absolutely vital we deal with the situation as a full emergency.”

    The plane landed safely. The passengers were evacuated and the plane was thoroughly searched. However, no device was found.

    The British police arrested a 47 year old passenger on suspicion of making bomb hoax threat.

    Manchester’s runways remained closed for 25 minutes, and nine inbound flights were diverted to other airports.

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    Cargo Plane Made Emergency Landing at Spokane Airport

    UPS airlinesA UPS Airlines Airbus 300, heading from Portland to Spokane, made an emergency landing at the Spokane Airport in Washington on the morning of July 30.

    According to Todd Woodard with Spokane International, the pilots thought some tires of the plane had blown during takeoff. They declared an in-flight emergency as a precautionary step.

    The plane landed safely and it was discovered that no tires were actually blown.

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    London-Bound Kuwait Airways Flight Made Emergency Landing at Brussels

    Kuwait airwaysA Kuwait Airways Airbus 300, en route to London from Kuwait, made an emergency landing at Brussels airport, Belgium, on July 28.

    The pilot decided to make an emergency landing after discovering smoke in the cockpit, according to airport spokeswoman Florence Muls.

    The plane landed safely and all 200 passengers aboard remained unhurt.

    The aircraft was taken for examination.

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    South African Airbus Turbulence Injures 28 over #Malaysia

    southafricanairwaysSouth African Airways Flight SA286, an Airbus A340-313X, was en route from OR Tambo International Airport in Kempton Park, Ekurhuleni, Gauteng, South Africa, near the city of Johannesburg to Hong Kong International Airport when it encountered severe turbulence four hours from Hong Kong while over Malaysia. The plane suffered cabin damage.

    Three crew and twenty-five passengers were tossed out of their seats and into the ceiling. THere were 163 passengers aboard. Fourteen ambulances waited at Chek Lap Kok airport to transport the injured to North Lantau Hospital, Princess Margaret Hospital and Yan Chai Hospital. Two people are still hospitalized.

    Pilots continued to Hong Kong and made a priority landing.
    injured
    The injured were taken off the plane and hospitalized.

    Malaysian authorities will be assisting the Civil Aviation Department in the investigation.

    *A priority landing means that the incident leads to the aircraft being given landing priority by the airport where it is about to land.

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    TAP Diverts to Paris with Air Conditioning Emergency That Sets off Warning Bell

    bellA TAP Air Portugal Airbus A320-214 was en route from Lisbon, Portugal to Amsterdam when it developed a problem with the air conditioning.

    Pilots made an emergency landing in Paris at Orly airport.

    None of the 72 passengers was injured.

    However, an online twitter post assumed that the problem was an engine fire because an engine bell was heard during radio transmissions to ATC. There was no fire.

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    Malaysia Air Asia Runway Excursion, Plane Skids off Runway

    Selfie posted online, excursion in background
    Selfie posted online, excursion in background
    An Air Asia Airbus A320 en route from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to Brunei International Airport, Brunei suffered a runway excursion on landing.

    The airplane touched down and went off the side of the runway, and stopped in soft turf.

    Passengers disembarked via emergency slides directly on to the runway.

    The landing occurred under wet conditions.

    excursionslides

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    Near Miss in Barcelona Captured

    snapshot from video below
    snapshot from video below

    On July 5, 2014, an Aerolineas Argentinas Airbus A340-300 (LV-FPV) headed from Barcelona,SP (Spain) to Buenos Aires,BA (Argentina) was taxiing for departure as a UTAir Boeing 767-300(VQ-BSX) en route from Moscow, Russia to Barcelona was on approach. As the video shows, it looks like a close call. The UTAIR saw the Airbus on the runway, and less than ten seconds from touchdown pulled up and performed a go-around, making a safe landing fifteen minutes later.

    The Airbus took off twenty minutes later. The incident is under investigation, and it has not been determined if this was an Air Traffic Control error or if the Argentinian plane was there without clearance. The airport and ATC say that there was sufficient clearance for landing, and neither Aerolineas Argentinas nor UTAIR filed a safety report.

    On Jul 7th 2014,an investigation was opened into the runway incursion.

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    Water Leak Floods the Aisles; Qantas Flight Returns to LAX

    QantasQantas Airways Flight 94 had to return and make an emergency landing at Los Angeles International Airport due to a water pipe leak, on July 2.

    The Airbus A380 was en route from Los Angeles to Melbourne, Australia and was cruising at an altitude of about 31,000 feet when it sprung a leak, making the aisles flood with water.

    The pilot then decided to return to Los Angeles, where the plane made a safe emergency landing at about 2:40 a.m. No one was injured.

    According to a statement released by Qantas, “[The crew] did everything they could to help customers, including moving them to unaffected areas and providing spare blankets so they could stay dry.” The statement further said, “We’re also providing customers with hotel accommodation while the issue is being fixed by our engineers in Los Angeles. We apologise to customers for the inconvenience. There were no safety of flight concerns with the water leak, however the Captain decided to return to LA in the interests of passenger comfort. We are liaising with Airbus to understand what caused this fault.”



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    Lufthansa Flight Makes Emergency Landing in Rome

    lufthansabombardierA Lufthansa’s flight had to land in emergency in Rome due to a medical emergency, on the afternoon of June 27.

    The flight took off from Frankfurt, Germany for Malta at about 1.22 p.m., however, soon afterwards, the Airbus A320 was diverted to Rome for offloading a sick passenger.

    The plane landed safely. According to a Lufthansa spokesman, the plane resumed its journey to Malta after refueling.

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    Airbus Emphasizes More Manual Flying and Monitoring Skills in Pilots

    downloadIn 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.

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    JetBlue Flight 597 Diverts to Minot due to Electrical Odor

    JetBlue

    JetBlue flight 597 had to divert and make an emergency landing in Minot, North Dakota, due to electrical odor.

    The plane was en route from Boston to Seattle on June 18, when the pilot reported an electrical odor and requested to make an emergency landing. The Airbus A320-200 was then diverted to Minot International Airport, where it made a safe emergency landing at about 9:50 a.m. All 126 passengers aboard remained unharmed.

    The JetBlue maintenance technicians examined and cleared the plane. After about 4:15 hours, the plane was able to continue its journey towards Seattle where it landed with a delay of 4.5 hours from its scheduled time.

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    Monarch Airlines Flight Makes Priority Landing due Medical Emergency

    MonarchA medical emergency prompted Monarch Airlines Flight ZB403 to make a priority landing at Birmingham Airport, UK.

    The incident happened on June 17, after a diabetic male passenger aboard the Airbus 321, flying from Faro, Portugal to Birmingham, became unwell mid-air.

    The paramedics were put on alert as the plane approached Birmingham shortly before 1:00 p.m.

    According to a Monarch spokesperson, “Monarch Airlines can confirm that a passenger was taken ill on this flight into Birmingham earlier today… It was met by paramedics who attended to the passenger immediately.”

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    Several Crew Members Fell Ill; Aer Lingus Flight Lands in Emergency in Dublin

    Aer LingusA Boston-bound flight of Aer Lingus had to return and make an emergency landing at Dublin airport, after several crew members fell sick.

    Flight EI-139 carrying 280 passengers took off for Boston at about 4.23 p.m. on June 15. According to an airline spokesperson, the decision for emergency landing was made after a number of crew members reported feeling ill.

    Medical crews welcomed the Airbus A330 as it touched the ground shortly before 9 p.m. None of the crew needed hospital treatment.

    Aer Lingus said the incident is being investigated.

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    Airbus Launches E-Fan Electric Trainer Airplane

    ElectricThe Airbus Group launched their two-seater, E-Fan electric trainer airplane in France last month.

    The all-electric all-composite experimental plane designed specifically as a demonstrator for the small electric aircraft technology made its first public flight in Bordeaux, France, during the Airbus’ E-Aircraft Day.

    The aircraft is comparatively quieter than the non-electric planes and has zero carbon dioxide emissions during flight. Moreover, it lasts an hour for training flights and half an hour for manoeuvres.

    According to Airbus, the E-Fan electric trainer plane will be used as a model for designing, building and selling two improved versions through their subsidiary company, VoltAir.

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    Two United Flights Come Dangerously Close to Each Other; FAA Launches Investigation

    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.

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    Singapore Airlines Airbus Veers off the Runway in Myanmar

    Singapore airlinesAn Airbus A330 plane registered to Singapore Airlines slipped off the runway while it was landing on Yangon International Airport, Myanmar.

    The incident happened at about 9:20am on May 21 when the flight SQ998, carrying 265 people was making a landing attempt during heavy rain in Yangon. None of the passengers or crew members were hurt.

    The plane was later steered back and towed to the gate. The airline sent another plane to Yangon for the return flight.

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    9 Crew Members Fell Ill; US Airways Flight Makes Emergency Landing at Dublin Airport

    US AirwaysThe US Airways flight US 715 from Venice to Philadelphia, had to make an emergency landing at Dublin Airport after nine of its crew members fell sick due to a mystery bug.

    The airbus A330, carrying 185 passengers, was flying over the Atlantic ocean when nine flight crew members reported watering eyes, nausea and dizziness. The pilot then diverted the plane to Dublin where it landed in emergency.

    As per Dublin Airport sources, the flight landed at 3pm on May 10. The plane was parked in a remote area and ten ambulances were deployed to handle the patients.

    The ill crew members were shifted to Beaumont Hospital where the doctors are evaluating their condition.

    According to US airways spokesperson, none of the passengers reported illness. He also said that the airline is making arrangements to accommodate the passengers in other flights.

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    BA to Pay Thousands in Compensation for Emergency Landing Last Year

    British airwaysBritish Airways has agreed to pay compensation to some of the passengers whose connecting flights were delayed last year when its Airbus A319 aircraft had to make an emergency landing at Heathrow International Airport, London on May 24.

    Both the engine doors of Flight BA762 to Oslo blew off and right one caught fire, shortly after taking off from Heathrow. The passengers evacuated through escape slides. One of the two runways remained blocked for more than 3 hours.

    BA initially denied any compensation and maintained that the incident was due to exceptional circumstances beyond its control.

    However, the Air Accidents Investigation Branch revealed that the retaining latches to hold the engine doors in place were not closed, so this is human error. Therefore, the passengers who were delayed for more than three hours are entitled for compensation between €250 and €600 from the airline, said solicitors Bott & Co.

    After the incident, nine other passengers have also filed a lawsuit against aircraft manufacturer Airbus and the engine maker International Aero Engines.

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    Seventy-Two Children Treated at Heathrow Airport After Falling ill Midair

    AmbulanceSeventy-two children aboard Emirates flight EK007, coming from Cape Town, South Africa to Heathrow airport on Sunday, suffered from diarrhea mid air.

    The children aged 10 to 14, were part of a Welsh choir. They were on their way back after performing in Cape Town when they began vomiting. The crew members then requested emergency services at Heathrow airport to provide medical aid to the sick children.

    Especially trained paramedics from the ‘Hazardous area response team’ were waiting at the scene when the Airbus A380 touched the ground. Sixty Children were treated at the spot while 12 were taken to a hospital. The hospital sources confirmed that all children were released late night after they received treatment for diarrhea.