Aircraft

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    Connecticut Pilot Treed


    What: 1930s single-engine de Havilland Tiger Moth
    Where: East Windsor, Conn
    When: Saturday August 30
    Who: pilot and passenger
    Why: The plane lost power 200 feet from the runway at the Skylark Airpark Saturday. The pilot and passenger crashed in treetops and were stuck in the tree until help arrived. A tree surgeon climbed the tree, and set up a pulley to rescue the pilot and passenger who were apparently unhurt. The pilot was an instructor who “maintained an airspeed where he was in control and buffeted [the plane] into the top of the trees. That’s what saved both their lives.”

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    Yak 52 Crashes; pilot and passenger lost


    What: Russian-built Yak-52 stunt plane flying from Archerfield Airport on Brisbane’s southside
    Where: off South Stradbroke Island, Jumpinpin Australia in south-east Queensland. Wreckage was found after a significant search in about 20 metres of water
    When: Sunday Aug 31 12.30pm AEST
    Who: veteran pilot Barry Hempel and 20 year old passenger. The pilot and passenger are missing.
    Why: no reasons listed; crash is under investigation

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    Cessna crashes in Ontario


    What: Cessna four-seat 172 owned by the Brampton Flying Club
    Where: Shelburne, Ontario –a farmer’s field just north of Toronto
    When: just before 5 a.m Sep. 01 2008
    Who: 2 men, including pilot, airlifted to St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto with life-threatening injuries;one Headwaters Hospital in Orangeville
    Why: There is no reason listed why the plane crashed in the field. It looks like a total loss. The pilot is building flight time to become a commercial pilot

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    Another Emergency Landing at LAX

    What: American Airlines Flight 1586 Boeing 737 en route from Los Angeles to Toronto at 11 a.m.
    Where: LAX
    When: Tuesday Aug 2 2008-12:51 p.m
    Who: 130 passengers and five crew
    Why: On takeoff, the pilot noticed a a blown tire and immediately requested to return. To burn off fuel, he had to circle the airport until his (safe) 12: 51 landing on the shredded tire.

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    Conviasa Crash in Ecuador

    What: Conviasa Boeing 737-291 advanced (reg. YV-102T) en route from (Simón Bolívar International Airport,) Maiquetia, Venezuela to Latacunga, Ecuador
    Where: Illiniza Volcano elevation approx. 17000 feet) Toacaso, Ecuador
    When: August 30, 2008
    Who: 3 crew members, no survivors
    Why: The plane was being delivered to a new owner after being in storage. The flight crew lost lost radio and radar contact with Ecuadorian air control at 02:56Z on beginning descent to Latacunga. The wreckage location (near the LOTOA waypoint (LOTOA at 0° 46′ 23S 78° 52′ 20W) at an altitude of approximately 4000 meters )suggests the airplane flew into the side of the Iliniza Volcano and was completely destroyed on impact. The wreckage was spread 400 meters.

    Hondorus states attorney in Honduras opened an investigation against “Atlantic Airlines de Honduras.” It has yet to be established, whether the airplane was operating under a Honduran license and if all requirements were met.

    Atlantic Airlines had operated the airplane until March 31st 2007.

    As of Sept 3rd, both flight recorders (flight data and cockpit voice recorder) have been recovered and will be sent to the USA for analysis

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    Wildfire Crash Update


    While on it’s third run from Helispot 44, at an elevation 5,935 feet, to Helispot 36, at an elevation of 2,516 feet, ferrying firefighters from a remote mountain site in the Shasta-Trinity forest, the Sikorsky S-61N helicopter crashed killing 9.

    Fortunately, the voice-data recorder was determined to be intact despite fire damage. The investigation so far has found that the chopper’s main rotor lost power during takeoff. After the rotor malfunction, witnesses say the helicopter struck trees and slammed into the hillside. Four of the thirteen passengers–three fire fighters and the co-pilot–survived. The co-pilot remains hospitalized.

    Read profiles of the victims here

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    UTair Crash at Nizhnevartovsk


    Pictured: A UTair Aviation Mil Mi-8T
    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact photographer Schelakovsky Maxim

    What: UT Air
    Where: 350 kms from Nizhnevartovsk, Russia
    When: July 2 2008
    Who: 9 fatalities, 13 aboard
    Why: The helicopter was on landing approach when according to witnesses, it caught fire and crashed. Apparently one of the black boxes survived and is being studied. The crew survived the crash.

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    Legacy Crash Murieta CA


    Pictured: A Lancair Legacy 2000
    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact photographer Connector

    What: Poulin L/Cullen D Lancair Legacy
    Where: Murrieta, CA
    When: May 30 2008
    Who: 2 aboard, both fatalities
    Why: The Lancair Legacy was heading south to the runway, made a hard right turn and nosed into the ground with one “loud engine rev” before the engine ” died out.” The propeller was not under power when it impacted terrain. The wings, wreckage, vegetation, and ground did not indicate signs of a fuel spill. It appeared that the airplane had run out of fuel and stalled on approach, causing it to enter a spin prior to impacting terrain in a near vertical attitude. Cited as cause was the pilot’s inadequate preflight planning, which resulted in the loss of engine power.

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    Taca A320 Overrun in Tegucigalpa


    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact Photographer Mario J Craig

    What: Taca A320 en route from San Salvador (El Salvador) to Tegucigalpa (Honduras)
    Where: Tegucigalpa
    When: May 30th 2008
    Who: 124 passengers and 11 crew
    Why: On landing at Tegucigalpa, the A320 overran the runway of Tegucigalpa Toncontin Airport’s runway 2. The crash occurred in bad weather. Overrunning the runway, the plane continued to crash into a store and cars.

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    Catalina Island Express Crash


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

    What: Island Express Helicopter Service
    Where: Catalina Island
    When: May 24 2008
    Who: 6 aboard, 3 fatalities
    Why: On May 24, 2008, at 0920 Pacific daylight time, an Aerospatiale AS-350-D helicopter, N67GE, operated by Island Express Helicopters, Inc., impacted terrain while landing at Two Harbors, Avalon, located on Santa Catalina Island, California, during a 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 135 on-demand, commercial flight. The flight departed from the Queensway Bay Heliport, Long Beach, California, at 0907. The commercial pilot, a company employee, and one passenger were killed, and three passengers were seriously injured. The helicopter was destroyed by impact damage and fire

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    Cessna: 5 Fatalities in Bolivia


    Pictured: A Cessna 172A
    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact photographer Giovanni Francisco Rodriguez Bravo

    What: Bolivian Cessna 172 RG
    Where: “Agropecuaria Arco Iris” airstrip, north of Montero, Santa Cruz, Bolivia
    When: May 11, 2008
    Who: 5 fatalities
    Why: While en route, the plane impacted a tree with its left’s wing and then the ground, where a fire ensued. The accident site was about 1,150 meters from an unlit runway of “Agropecuaria Arco Iris” airstrip, north of Montero, Santa Cruz, Bolivia. The pilot and the four passengers received fatal injuries; the airplane was destroyed. The flight originated from El Tromprillo Airport, Santa Cruz, Bolivia, at about 1808.

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    Emergency Landing: Luray



    What: Piper Saratoga single engine
    Where: Near Luray Caverns Airport
    When: May 6 around 6:30 p.m
    Who: Pilot, Carroll Sanders, Jr., from West Point, and passenger Myrna Titus, of Harrisonburg, were not injured in the landing.
    Why: Engine trouble

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    Crash: Biplane Crash



    What: 78-year-old Gypsy Moth biplane
    Where: Perthshire England
    When: 11:55 May 5
    Who: 2 men. Minor Injuries
    Why: Loss of power due to mechanical failure. Plane anded on its nose in a field of oilseed rape

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    Is Justice Done?

    It has been officially determined that helicoptor pilot Philip Heney’s death in a helicoptor crash is due to negligence by Skytech Aviation, who allowed the work of unlicensed mechanics to go unsupervised.

    The accident happened hours after Skytech Aviation released the Robinson R22 after extensive maintenance.

    John Horrell and licensed aircraft maintenance engineer Ronald Potts were found guilty of manslaughter of Heney, and injury of his passenger by failing to inspect the maintenance work. Each were fined and sentenced to 300 hours’ community service. (Potts $10,000; Horrell $25,000).

    Compensation will be divided between the injury victim and the grieving family.

    Heney’s widow, who wanted a prison sentence for Potts and Horrell, is disappointed in the verdict.

    Although loss of main rotor control of R22 helicopters have been a known factor since before April 2, 1996 when the National Transportation Safety Board published a special investigation report, in this case, investigators concluded the R22 crashed because its tail-rotor drive shaft had been assembled incorrectly during maintenance by unlicensed mechanics whose work Horrell and Potts failed to properly inspect.

  • Crash: Southern Sudan (details)



    What: Beechcraft 1900 South Sudan Air Connection
    Where: Wau to Juba when the pilot sought permission for an emergency landing in Rumbek 400km (250 miles) west of Juba
    When: Friday, 2 May 2008
    Who: 23 dead including Dominic Dim Deng, (His widow claims it was an assasination.)
    Why: engine trouble

    src: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7380412.stm

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    American Airlines Emergency Landing



    What: Boeing 757 Emergency Landing flight 1745 from Chicago to Los Angeles
    Where:Tulsa International Airport
    When: Friday landing safely at 11:30 a.m. local time
    Who: 152 passengers and a crew of six
    Why: Apparent problem with the hydraulics system.

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    Cypress Street Crash


    Footage right after the crash. The neighborhood is close to the airport.

    COMPTON CA — On West Cypress Street, a twin-engine Cessna 310 collided with three homes. Five individuals were injured, including the pilot, two passengers and two on the ground. All five victims were taken to area hospitals and are expected to survive.

    The crash occurred after the plane experienced complications and losing power. The cause has not yet been determined.

    After clipping a house, the right wing detached, then the craft cartwheeled down the street over a second home and landed nose down through the roof of a third house.

    One of the homeowners was at home washing dishes at the time of the crash and sustained a fractured jaw and broken bones. The plane’s passengers are in critical condition, and the pilot can’t give an accounting. The cause is under investigation by the FAA and NTSB, with both reports expected by December 2008.

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    Airbus Crashes:

      An old problem still not solved. Early Airbus A320 Video account of Sunday June 26, 1988, the airclub at the airfield of Mulhouse-Habsheim in Alsace/France. Low approach of a brand new Airbus A320 . 3 passengers died, and about 50 injuries.

    • 26 June 1988 – Air France Flight 296 crashes into trees beyond the runway on a demo flight at Habsheim, France. 3 passengers killed.
    • 14 February 1990 – Indian Airlines Flight 605, A320-231 with 146 passengers crashes on final approach to Bangalore Airport, killing 88 passengers and 4 crew.
    • 20 January 1992 – Air Inter Flight 148, an A320-111 crashes into a ridge near Mount Sainte-Odile in the Vosges mountains on final approach to Strasbourg from Lyon. 87 fatalities (five crew members, 82 passengers).
    • 14 September 1993 – Lufthansa Flight 2904, in Warsaw an A320-211 from Frankfurt am Main 70 people crashes into earth bunker at runway’s end. Fire in left wing penetrates the passenger cabin. Copilot and one passenger die.
    • 22 March 1998, Philippine Airlines Flight 137, an A320-214 crashes and overruns Bacolod City Domestic Airport runway RPVB, in Bacolod. All passengers and crew survive; many ground injuries.
    • 23 August 2000 – Gulf Air Flight 072, an A320-212 crash into the Persian Gulf on approach to Bahrain Airport. 143 passengers and crew fatalities.
    • 3 May 2006 – Armavia Flight 967, an A320-211 crashes into the Black Sea while conducting a go-around following 1st approach to Sochi Airport, Russia. 113 passengers and crew fatalites attributed to pilot error.
    • 9 July 2006 – Airbus A310 F-OGYP Sibir flight 778 departed Domodeovo. On landing, the airplane went off the runway at the high speed of ~180 km/h, hit the concrete fence and buildings, crashed and caught fire. 125 people died as a result of the accident. “On prior flight, was released with six defects as per minimum equipment list (MEL), including the deactivated state of the left engine thrust reverser. The previous two flights had been carried out with a deactivated right engine thrust reverser.
    • 17 July 2007 – TAM Airlines Flight 3054 – PR-MBK, the A320-233 on the route, can’t stop while landing at Congonhas International Airport in São Paulo, Brazil. Under investigation. All 187 passengers and crew died and further ground fatalities.
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    Aborted Crash


    Airbus A320-200 Lufthansa nearly crashes during a crosswind approach on the runway 23 at the Hamburg International Airport (EDDH) on 1st march 2008 in Germany.

    Left wing touched the runway during extreme turbulance. Left wing destroyed. Plane lands safely.

  • Whenuapai Crash

    The Thorp S-18 which crashed at Whenuapai air base was piloted by owner, Wayne Matthews. He and his passenger Brent Baldwin both died on impact. Matthews had seven or eight years experience flying, and was about to order a high-performance American aircraft.

    The aircraft exploded into flames, which were licking the walls of the liquid oxygen storage building when air force fire tenders arrived within a minute. Fortunately the liquid oxygen, which is stored under pressure, did not explode.

    Baldwin and Matthews both retired from the air force.

    The aircraft clipped a building on its descent before it exploded into flames.

    Aerial photographs of the flight bath were taken to assist in the inquiry, but currently no one knows the cause behind the crash.

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    Update: 111 injured; 40 Dead in Goma Crash

    A Congolese domestic airliner taking off from Goma failed lift off, rammed through a fence and crashed into a crowded market district and burned. The Hewa Bora McDonnell Douglas DC-9 was taking off for the Congolese capital, Kinshasa, when it crashed into the teeming market district of Birere; the single-story shops and stalls of Birere were crowded at the time of the crash. An American missionary, Barry Mosier, was onboard with his wife and two children, and said the plane’s front tire blew out just before the DC-9 lifted off. When they saw flames, and smoke coming up through the floor, the passengers who were not trapped tried the side doors which did not open, so they exited thru the pilots cabin.

    Pilots could not stop on the short runway which was partially blocked by volcanic lava from 2002. Residents heard a big explosion. A large plume of smoke rose from the crash site. A witness said, “Half of the plane has broken off, there is a fire towards the back. People are coming with buckets of water to put out the fire. The U.N. is here trying to keep back the crowds.”

    Crew members and U.N. troops managed to evacuate most of the 79 passenger on board, but there were 40 deaths and 110 injured–many of them locals. Not all bodies have been recovered.

    Recovery of bodies was hindered by ground fires where there were additional casualties.

    The Congo has one of the world’s worst air safety records. The Goma airport has been the site of several accidents, with planes overshooting the runway and endangering homes near the airport. According to the International Air Transport Association, the air accident rate in Africa is six times the average. Aviation safety experts single out Democratic Republic of Congo as one of the worst offenders. The huge country only has a few hundred miles of paved roads. The European Union added Congo’s Hewa Bora Airways to the banned list of aviation companies flying in the 27-nation block last week.

    One of the survivors, Frederic Katemo, said that he scrambled out through the cockpit. “I was in my seat with my seat belt fastened. There was a big crash. We jumped up and found our way out. We could feel the fire behind us.”

    Initially, Governor of North Kivu province, Julien Paluku, said there were 79 passengers and six crew members but that “…six people have been saved, two pilots and four passengers including two children.”

    Serge Ukundji a local conservationist said, “We have been waiting for something like this to happen. There have been lots of accidents just behind here at the airport.”

    The cause of the accident was still under investigation. The overloaded cabin is believed to be the reason behind the crash.

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    Tam Air Flight 3054 Case Filed

    Partner of the elite legal team of Masry and Vititoe, Podhurst Orseck filed 59 wrongful death lawsuits for the families of passengers killed on July 17, 2007 aboard Brazil’s TAM Airlines Flight 3054. The Law Office of Masry and Vititoe is familiar to the public as the firm depicted in the academy award winning film, “Erin Brockovich,” starring Julia Roberts.

    The 59 wrongful death lawsuits stem from the notorious Flight 3054, the worst airline disaster in Brazil’s history, when the A320 TAM Linhas Aareas aircraft attempted landing at Sao Paolo’s Congonhas airport and slammed into an air cargo building, killing 199 people (187 aboard the plane and 12 ground crew). Aware that the thrust reverser (an instrument that helps planes slow down on landings) had been deactivated during a maintenance check, the pilots mishandled the landing procedures. The parties included in the lawsuits are TAM, leasing company Pegasus Aviation, Airbus, Airbus Customer Services, Goodrich (thrust reverser provider) and International Aero Engines.

    The devastation was compounded when, within hours of the disaster, TAM released the passenger manifest via the internet. Abandoning the families of the crash victims to draw their own conclusions, Tam neglected to assign personal contact with the families of the victimized passengers to notify them of their loss.

    In prior airline crash cases, Masry and Vititoe has partnered with internationally recognized Florida-based aviation attorneys Podhurst Orseck. In addition to the Tam Flight 3054 case, together they also currently represent families of the passengers aboard the Gol Transportes Aeros Flight #1907 that collided with an Embraer Legacy 600 business jet over the Amazon Rainforest in September 2006. They also represent victims’ families in the Sibir Airlines crash that involved the same type of Airbus under similar circumstances; they too attempted landing in the rain, failed to stop and crashed into a building resulting in catastrophic loss of life.

    About Masry and Vititoe
    Masry and Vititoe is a leading law firm whose compassionate policy of keeping in personal contact further supports their clients’ comfort and confidence. The Masry and Vititoe firm has been defending the rights of the victims of negligence for over 30 years. As in the Hinkey case on which the movie “Erin Brockovich” was based, the firm is known for pursuing the rights of individuals who have suffered acute and chronic chemical exposure. They represent thousands of injured persons throughout the country, from Hawaii to the East Coast, and on their behalf have fearlessly combated and prevailed against some of the world’s largest corporations, including Fortune 500 companies, public utilities and oil companies.