Boeing

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    Faulty Indicator causes Malaysian Flight Delay


    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact photographer Sri Ramani Kugathasan

    What: Malaysia Airlines Boeing 737-400 en route from Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) to Bandar Seri Begawan (Brunei)
    Where: Kuala Lumpur
    When: Jan 2nd 2012
    Who: n/a
    Why: The pilots were taking off when they received an indication and rejected takeoff.

    The “low speed due to a takeoff configuration warning” was determined to be a false indication, and the plane took off three hours later.

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    Helios Flight 522 Crash Killed 121, Greek Court Acquits Officials


    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact photographer Karl Nixon

    What: Helios Airways Boeing 737-300 en route from Cyprus to Athens to Prague, Czech Republic
    Where: Athens
    When: Aug. 14, 2005
    Who: 121 passengers
    Why: Before losing radio contract, pilots reported trouble with the air conditioning system. In the flight, cabin pressure failure knocked out the pilots. They made it to Athens, but the plane ran out of fuel and crashed. Crash video shows fire fighting planes controlling fires, bodies, baggage, airplane spread over a large debris field, the tail and engines relatively intact. At the time of the crash, except for one pilot (who was observed trying to land the plane), everyone aboard was comatose due to lack of oxygen.

    In the case, prosecution failed to prove that German pilot Hans-Juergen Merten and his Cypriot co-pilot Charalambos Charalambous didn’t meet the minimum standards

    A Cyprus court has acquitted four former airline officials of manslaughter charges.

    In George’s Point of View


    This court case is just another example of how long aviation cases, including the criminal cases of potentially/allegedly responsible parties, can drag on in court.

    See 5 part video study of Flight 522




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    After Weather Tag, Five Injured in Yogyakarta Emergency Landing

    What: Sriwijaya Air Boeing 737-300 en route from Jakarta to Yogyakarta (Indonesia)
    Where: Yogyakarta
    When: Dec 20th 2011, 17:35
    Who: 131 passengers
    Why: The plane aborted an approach to Yogyakarta due to weather and low visibility. The flight diverted to Solo, where it could not land due to weather; and diverted again to Surabaya where the flight landed to refuel. Meanwile, weather conditions at Yogyakarta improved, so the pilots returned to Yogyakarta, and proceeded to land at a higher than normal speed in the hard rain. The plane veered off the runway, with brakes rendered ineffective due to rain, and came to a stop 60 meters past the runway, with collapsed nose gear and with fuselage damage. Bits and pieces of the plane were scattered along the runway.

    Passengers exited via emergency slide. Five passengers reported injury.

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    Delta Flight Diverts to Kansas City


    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact photographer Christopher Schneider

    What: Delta Airlines Boeing 757-200 en route from Atlanta,GA to Seattle,WA
    Where: Kansas City
    When: Dec 15th 2011
    Who: 163 aboard
    Why: The flight was well underway when passengers and crew smelled smoke in the cabin.

    Pilots diverted to Kansas City Missouri, where they made a safe landing.

    A KING 5 News employee was a passenger aboard the flight and posted on twitter that everyone was ok.

    The problem was repaired, and the plane was re-boarded, continuing on to its destination.

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    Lightning Strike Disables Plane over Five Finger Mountains


    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact photographer Ole Simon

    What: Pegasus Airlines Boeing 737-800, registration TC-ASP performing flight PC-223 from Ercan Cyprus to Adana Turkey
    Where: Ercan
    When: Dec 9th 2011 11:05
    Who: 75 passengers and 6 crew
    Why: Just ten minutes out of Ercan, over the Five Finger Mountains, the plane was struck by lightning.

    Consequently, several systems malfunctioned. Pilots returned to Ercan State Airport and made a safe landing. Passengers were provided alternative flights.

    Many regions in cyprus have been subjected to torrential rain and thunder.

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    Southern Air Transport Landing Causes Airport Closure


    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact photographer Rainer Bexten

    What: Southern Air Transport Boeing 747-200 freighter en route from Charleston,SC to Liege Belgium
    Where: Liege
    When: Dec 11th 2011
    Who: 5 crew
    Why: On approach to Liege, the pilots encountered issues with the hydraulic systems.

    The flight made a safe landing in Liege.

    After allowing the Southern Air Transport flight to land, the Liege airport shut down, forcing in bound traffic to divert to other airports.

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    Southwest Emergency Landing

    What: Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-300 en route from Saint Louis,MO to Dallas
    Where: Saint Louis
    When: Dec 7th 2011
    Who: 137 passengers and 5 crew
    Why: After takeoff, systems revealed unsafe gear.
    The pilot returned to Lambert and made an emergency landing. No injuries were reported, and passengers were provided alternate flight.

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    American Engine Emergency Landing in Lubbock

    What: American Airlines Boeing 757 en route from Dallas to Los Angeles
    Where: Lubbock Preston Smith International Airport
    When: Dec 4, 2011, 10:00 a m
    Who: 175 aboard
    Why: The flight was en route when it developed problems with one of its engines. Apparently it ingested something in one of its right engines (or “encountered an unknown obstacle”) disabling the right engine.

    The pilots made a safe landing in Lubbock. We assume alternative arrangements were provided for the stranded passengers.

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    Unstable Portuguese Passenger Alarms Toronto-bound Passengers

    What: WESTJET en route from Vancouver to Toronto
    Where: Thunder Bay, Ontario
    When: December 3, 2011 5 pm
    Who: 118 passengers
    Why: A Westjet Boeing 737 was en route when a Portuguese passenger made what seemed to be bomb threats.

    The flight diverted to Thunder bay. The passengers disembarked, and the disturbed passenger, a former mental patient, was taken into custody and hospitalized.

    The plane was examined and no explosives were found. Passengers were able to resume their flight on December 4.

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    Maldives Emergency Landing


    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact photographer Christian Schürmann

    What: Emirates Boeing 777-300 en route from Colombo Sri Lanka to Male, Maldives
    Where: Male
    When: Dec 2nd 2011
    Why: On landing in Male, the plane’s tires burst.

    Passengers disembarked on the runway, as the plane was disabled. No explanation was given regarding the tires. (We assume a too fast landing, but one should never assume.)

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    Crew Injured in Turbulent Approach to Oakland


    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact photographer DJ Reed – OPShots Photo Team

    What: Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-700 en route from Albuquerque,NM to Oakland,CA
    Where: Oakland
    When: Dec 1st 2011
    Who: 95 passengers and 5 crew
    Why: On approach to Oakland, the plane flew through ten seconds of turbulence that injured the cabin crew.

    The pilots made a safe landing half an hour later, after which two members of the crew were hospitalized.

    In George’s Point of View


    Given the time and place, we might be able to chalk this one up to the Santa Ana Winds.

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    Singapore Flight Runway Excursion


    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact photographer Felix Heilmann

    What: Singapore Airlines Boeing 747-400 freighter en route from Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, to Singapore
    Where: Singapore
    When: Dec 2nd 2011
    Why: The freighter flight was landing on runway two, but drove off the runway.

    The excursion caused the runway closure for more than an hour, although the plane did not require towing. There were no injuries.

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    American Airlines Emergency Landing (and Bankruptcy)

    What: American Airlines Boeing 767-200 flight from New York City to San Francisco
    Where: Buffalo Niagara International Airport
    When: Nov 27, 2011
    Who: 713 passengers
    Why: After having taken off from JFK, the flight developed smoke in the cockpit.

    Pilots diverted to Buffalo, where they made a safe landing. No injuries were reported.

    American Airlines routed another plane in to pick up the passengers. In the meantime, passengers were put up overnight in a hotel.

    On an unrelated note, the CEO of American Airlines, CEO Gerard Arpey, stepped down. After a meeting in NY on Monday, the company is filing Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Operations of the airline will continue as usual, and frequent fliers will not be affected. However, some jobs will be cut. American Eagle also filed for bankruptcy, delaying its spin off from American.

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    Burning Odor Cancels American Airlines LAX to NY


    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact photographer Wladimir Castro

    What: American Airlines Boeing 767-200 en route from Los Angeles,CA to New York JFK,NY
    Where: Los Angeles
    When: Nov 23rd 2011
    Who: 164 aboard
    Why: The LA to New York flight took off as usual but once in the air, passengers and crew smelled something burning.

    The pilots returned to LAX and made a safe landing.

    The incident is under investigation. No details as of yet.

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    Inebriated Passenger Attempts Exit During Afrika-Netherlands Flight

    What: KLM Boeing 777-200, registration PH-BQB en route from Johannesburg to Amsterdam
    Where: Amsterdam
    When: Nov 25th 2011
    Who: one passenger
    Why: While en route, a thirty-one year old male passenger believed to be under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol became unruly. After harassing other passengers, the passenger ignored warnings of the crew, attempted to open the plane’s emergency exit and cockpit. He was subdued, and on landing in Amsterdam, was handed over to military police.


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    Indian Pilots: One bad seed


    What: Air India Express en route from Cochin-Salalah
    Where: Salalah
    When: Nov 3, 2011 9:45
    Who: 87 passengers

    In George’s Point of View


    India has made noises in the press about cleaning house regarding some of the bad pilots that skated through a flawed and corrupt school and accrediting system.

    In this event, the pilot of an Air India Express COK-Salalah (Oman) flight, made three attempts to land. A cumulation of numerous small errors threatened passenger safety and defied standard operating procedures and included mis-entering data into the system.

    The pilot forced the B737 to land using “autoland” in high cross-winds.

    Wind speed on the ground was 25 knot (46 kmph) gusting to 35 knot (65 kmph.) Operating procedure allows landing when winds are no higher than 25 knots. The Boeing FCOM lists 35 knots as the max permissible crosswind landing component on a 45m wide. The pilot would have been correct to divert to another airport. There was adequate fuel to do so (if he had realized the numbers entered into the system were incorrect). Ground conditions were at the top of what Boeing allows and would be a challenge. Instead of diverting to Abu Dhabi, the pilot landed in defiance of safety norms.

    The pilot attempted to land twice, and then decided to divert. Having been entered with incorrect data, the FMC (Flight Management Computer) incorrectly concluded there was only six minutes of flight time left. This was incorrect, as the plane had 4.7 tons of fuel, more than enough to reach Abu Dhabi, 75 minutes away.

    On the pilot’s third attempt, the pilot autolanded (without having trained for autolanding.) It was a safe, if hard landing, and one that damaged the plane and nearly went off the runway. Two tires burst, and the landing gear was damaged.

    Maybe this pilot is a fool, or maybe just careless. The plane did land with no loss of life. You know they always say “the devil is in the details.” I don’t know verifiable particulars. We don’t have available first hand data to analyze, but Air India and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation does.

    But when we see evidence of problems like this, we wonder if India has gone far enough in raising the bar.

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    Bird Strike over Panama


    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact photographer Bill Shull

    What: Continental Airlines Boeing 737-900 en route from Panama City (Panama) to Newark,NJ
    Where: Panama City
    When: November 18, 2011
    Who: 176 aboard
    Why: After takeoff, while climbing out of Panama City, the Continental flight suffered a bird strike. After ingesting the bird, the left engine surged, and caught on fire. Pilots shut down the engine, and returned to Tocumen Airport where they made a safe landing.

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    Little Airline’s Big Deal with Boeing, Lion Air 21.7 Billion Expansion


    Indonesian Lion Air is planning to buy 230 planes from Boeing Co. $21.7 billion for the fleet will be paid in loans from U.S. Export-Import Bank over 12 years though bank financing. The airline will be adding flights to cities in China, South Korea and Taiwan. Lion Air, founded in 2000, currently flies Boeing 737s and MD-90s in 226 flights daily to more than 36 cities including Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Ho Chi Minh City.

    The 737 MAX is a fuel efficient upgrade competitive with Airbus SAS’s A320neo.

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    Mangalore Crash Families Long for Closure


    Plane crash cases take a long time to settle, and the families of the Mangalore Crash can vouch for it, having been waiting since the date of the crash in May of 2010. Families who are still waiting on a settlement, and will be back in court this November. They aren’t looking for extraordinary measures, but want compensation for flight 812–the Air India Express Dubai-Mangalore in accordance with the Montreal Convention. 152 died in the crash.

    According to The National, Airlines are required to pay compensation of 7.5 million rupees (Dh560,000) per passenger to families of crash victims, just as a Kerala judge ordered. Then that judge was overruled in favor of Air India Express. This November, the case will move into the highest court to rule in favor of the victims or Air India Express.

    In George’s Point of View


    It’s not that simple.

    I know I have said this before, but it bears repeating.

    I must remind the families that the value of the aviation case is usually much higher than 75 lakhs.

    And this is because Tier II of the Montreal Treaty.

    The convention’s second tier deals with the portion of a claim exceeding the $155,000 limit. An airline can avoid liability for portions of claims over the limit by proving it was “not negligent or otherwise at fault.”

    I’m not a lawyer but I know from experience how it works. I have been working with wrongful death cases for years, and have learned a lot from the experience my aviation experts have graciously passed on to me.

    If you can prove provable damages, then Tier II (referred to in Article 21(2) of the Montreal Convention) Air India Express is liable to families/passengers for all personal injury or wrongful death damages exceeding 100,000 Special Drawing Rights (SDRs), unless the carrier(s) can prove that the injuries or deaths were not due to the negligence or other wrongful act or omission of the carrier or it servants or agents OR the injuries or deaths were solely due to the negligence or other wrongful act or omission of a third party.

    My guess is that the carrier will never prove this. The burden of proof is on them. If I am correct, and know the experts who have taught me, are correct, Air India Express is liable to the victims’ families for all damages under the applicable law, including but not limited to, pain & suffering of your loved one prior to death.

    They are liable for pain and suffering, the loss of support, i.e., money, the loss and enjoyment of life of the victim.

    I hope the families don’t sell themselves short, and give up all that may be coming in return for even a payment of the 75 lakhs. Accepting 75 lakhs—which may look like a lot after the losses they’ve suffered—but if they sign their name on the dotted like, they give up the right to future compensation.

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    Jetlite Engine Trouble

    What: Jetlite Boeing 737-700 en route from Ranchi to Mumbai
    Where: Nagpur
    When: Nov 13th 2011
    Who:
    Why: The flight was en route when it developed engine problems.

    Pilots diverted to Nagpur where they made a safe landing.
    Passengers were provided alternative flights.

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    Continental Emergency Landing

    What: Continental Airlines Boeing 777-200 en route from Tel Aviv to Newark,NJ
    Where: Tel Aviv
    When: Nov 9th 2011
    Who: 280 aboard
    Why: When smoke was reported as coming from the baggage compartment, the pilots returned to Ben-Gurion International Airport and made a safe landing.

    45 ambulances and 17 mobile units were on the scene of the emergency landing.

    The origin of the smoke turned out to be an oven in the aft galley.

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    Germany: Singapore Airlines Runway Excursion


    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact photographer Bastian Ding

    What: Singapore Airlines Boeing 777-312ER en route from Manchester to München-Franz Josef Strauss Airport, Germany
    Where: Germany
    When: Nov 3, 2011 at 12:14
    Who: 158 passengers
    Why: Although there were problems presented to ATC in advance, on landing in Munich, the Singapore Airlines Boeing suffered a runway excursion, when it veered right on landing. Landing occurred with reduced visibility and low cloud cover. All three gear were off the runway when the plane stopped. Passengers evacuated with no injuries via stairs brought to the jet.

    The three year old jet has General Electric GE90 engines and appears to have suffered no obvious damage.

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    Gear Up Landing in Warsaw



    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact photographer powwwiii

    What: LOT Polish Airlines Boeing 767-300 en route from Newark,NJ (USA) to Warsaw (Poland) with 220 passengers and 11 crew
    Where: Warsaw
    When: Nov 1st 2011
    Who: 220 passengers and 11 crew
    Why: On the first approach to Warsaw, the flight crew aborted the approach. They had gotten an unsafe gear indication for the three gear struts. They spent over an hour trying to amend the problem, but efforts to lower the gear failed, and the failure was confirmed by a visual fly by.

    Captain Tadeusz Wrona and First Officer Jerzy Szwarc then nailed a gear up landing, landing on the Boeing’s belly and skidding to a stop. The runway was foamed beforehand to lower potential fire damage.

    In George’s Point of View


    Right away the operator is quick to report that no one was injured.

    Below, you can see that a US Airport like Indianapolis (with its “beastmaster”) would handle the flight differently. There is always controversy about landing on a foam-slick runway.

    See video below: