Aircraft

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    Mexico: Aero JL Cessna Crash


    Click to view full size photo at abpic.co.uk
    Contact photographer George Trussel

    What: Aero JL Cessna 182 registration XB-AIL en route to Jalapa, Veracruz, Mexico
    Where: Xalatlaco, Estado de México, Estado de Mexico
    When: April 3, 2008
    Who: 1 dead, 3 injured
    Why: After losing altitude, the Cessna crashed in the Toluca Valley.

    45 year old Ricardo Medina died in the crash; Jose Adrián Hernandez, the pilot survived with injuries. The injured were airlifted to ABC Hospital in Mexico City.

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    TAM Crash Families File Suit in Florida

    TAM Crash Families File Suit in Florida

    ACCIDENT: Attorneys for the families of passengers killed on TAM Linhas Aereas Flight 3054 filed 58 wrongful death lawsuits in Florida last week. The 17 July 2007 crash, the worst in Brazil’s history, killed 187 on board and 12 people on the ground when an A320 attempted a go-around at Sao Paolo’s Congonhas airport and slammed into a building just past the runway end. The investigation in part is focusing on whether the pilots mishandled landing operations in light of a known inoperative thrust reverser. Parties named in the lawsuits include TAM, leasing company Pegasus Aviation, Airbus, Airbus Customer Services, thrust-reverser provider Goodrich and International Aero Engines.

    Read the original

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    PR Newswire: Multiple Lawsuits Against TAM Airlines

    Masry and Vititoe Partners, MIAMI, March 26 /PRNewswire/ PRESS RELEASE — Internationally recognized aviation attorneys Steven C. Marks and Ricardo M. Martinez-Cid with the Podhurst Orseck law firm have filed a series of lawsuits on behalf of families of passengers killed in Brazil’s worst airline disaster. On July 17, 2007, 199 people perished when TAM Airlines Flight 3054 slid off the runway at Congonhas Airport and slammed into an air cargo building in Sao Paulo. Today, Podhurst attorneys filed 59 wrongful death complaints related to the catastrophe in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

    In addition to TAM NYSE: TAM, which is charged with its own negligence and that of its pilots and maintenance personnel, the defendants in the lawsuits are Pegasus Aviation IV, Inc.; Airbus S.A.S.; Airbus Industrie G.I.E. (EADS) (EAD.PA); Airbus Customer Services, Inc.; Goodrich Corporation NYSE: GR; and International Aero Engines AG.

    “Responsibility not only lies with the companies that manufactured and handled maintenance for the aircraft,” said Marks, “We believe Airbus provided inadequate customer support, simulator services, and training materials for the pilots and flight crew that replicates the performance of the aircraft in all normal and abnormal conditions.”

    Marks said it’s clear the flight crew knew there were problems with the aircraft before the disaster because the plane’s right thrust reverser had been deactivated before the flight.

    “The thrust reverser is used to slow the jet down upon landing. Without an operational right thrust reverser, it didn’t have enough room to stop on the runway, ending in a horrific crash when the plane skidded off the runway’s edge,” he said.

    Podhurst Orseck filed the first lawsuit related to the crash on behalf of the family of 35-year-old Ricardo Tazoe of Miami, an employee with Banco Santander. In all of the cases, the plaintiffs are seeking a jury trial to recover financial damages for pain and suffering; lost value of life; funeral expenses; and all other damages they may be entitled to under the law.

    Marks and Martinez-Cid have extensive experience handling Brazilian aviation matters. They currently represent the families of numerous passengers who were killed when Gol Transportes Aeros Flight #1907 collided with an Embraer Legacy 600 business jet over the Amazon Rainforest in September 2006.

    They have represented victims in countless significant major commercial airline crashes, including those killed in the crash of Comair Flight 5191 at the Blue Grass Airport in Lexington, Ky. in August 2006. Marks has acted as co-lead trial counsel for the California State Court plaintiffs after a Silk Air crash between Jakarta and Singapore in 1997 (successfully obtaining one of the most significant and largest verdicts in a mass disaster aviation case) and acting as lead liaison counsel for the state court and federal multi- district litigation plaintiffs’ steering committees over the ValuJet Flight 592 crash in Miami-Dade County in 1996.

    Based in Miami, Podhurst Orseck, P.A. concentrates exclusively in trial and appellate litigation. The firm’s general tort practice places a major emphasis on aviation, automobile, products liability and medical malpractice litigation. In addition, the firm has a substantial practice in commercial, matrimonial and criminal litigation, as well as complex commercial tort litigation. Attorneys serve clients and corporations throughout the United States, and in many foreign countries. You can learn more about Podhurst Orseck by visiting the firm’s website at www.podhurst.com.

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    Carolina Beach Rd Helicopter Crash Thursday March 13, 2008

    Thursday March 13, 2008-Pilot John C. Miller, 18 year veteran firefighter, died in a helicopter crash behind Strickland Surplus Inc. at 5915 Carolina Beach Road in North Carolina. Miller was a member of a water rescue and recovery team and captain of Station 5. He ran a business, Wilmington Helicopter Rental & Training, and was about to take his final test to become a certified instructor. The helicoptor was a (year 2000) Robinson R22 Beta, a “trainer”. Miller was the only person on board the two seater.

    We extend our condolences to family and friends.

    The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating.

  • Copter Crash Construction Catastrophe

    The question is should helicopters be used as aerial cranes in construction?

    Helicopters are prone to the vortex ring state (fatally settling into their own downwash), Low-G condition, Dynamic rollover and tail rotor failure, ground resonance, not to mention a serious state of vibration, (among other problems.)

    Using helicopters to carry loads connected to long cables or slings to relocate heavy equipment such as large air conditioning units on tall buildings is asking for trouble.

    It is not surprising that the aerial crane helicopter crashed at the Willow Island Power this weekend. The pilot was in the process of his fifth lift of the day when he started spinning and the tail rotor came off. The pilot dropped his load but managed to crash land with his props bent up, on a coal heap.

    The FAA’s FSDO office is investigating the incident. The St. Louis Helicopter Company pilot’s name has not been released.

    src: http://www.wtap.com/home/headlines/16432916.html
    http://www.newsandsentinel.com/page/content.detail/id/503230.html?nav=5061
    http://www.statejournal.com/story.cfm?func=viewstory&storyid=35801

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    Hamburg – A320 nearly crashes during crosswind approach

    1st march 2008 – A320 nearly crashed during crosswind approach at Hamburgs RWY23.

    This wise pilot aborted his landing and saved them all from a crash. Pilots should be able to calculate the wind direction and speed to determine if they can execute a safe crosswind landing. This plane landed safely on the second attempt.

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    Helicoptors: How long has this been going on?

    I was looking at the news and noticed this:

    Paramedics die in AirCare helicopter crashThe National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the cause of the crash, which may have occurred through negligent acts, i.e. failure to properly maintain the helicopter

    Have we always had so many helicopter crashes or are we just hearing about them now because our information management is what it is today?

    Look at all of these incidents:


    Swedish helicoptor crash. This was supposed to be his birthday present. Some birthday, huh.

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    Russia R-44 Helicopter Crash with 2 fatalities


    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact photographerSergey Ryabtsev

    What: Robinson R-44 II
    Where: Nizhnevartovsk, Russia
    When: March 2, 2008
    Who: 2
    Why: On March 2, 2008, about 1320, the Robinson R-44 II, impacted trees and terrain near Nizhnevartovsk, Russia. The pilot and the passenger were fatally injured. The flight was conducted under Russian flight regulations.
    According to preliminary information provided by the Russian government, the wreckage of the accident helicopter was not located until July 2008. Initial examination of the wreckage revealed that the helicopter impacted a swampy forest area in a nose down, right roll attitude

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    Russia: Fatal Robinson Crash


    Pictured: A Robinson R-44 Raven II
    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact Photographer Vala

    What: Robinson R-44 II
    Where: Nizhnevartovsk, Russia.
    When: March 2, 2008
    Who: pilot and the passenger
    Why: The helicopter was destroyed when it impacted trees and terrain– a swampy forest area in a nose down, right roll attitude.

    The pilot and the passenger were fatally injured. The flight was conducted under Russian flight regulations and the wreckage was not found until July 2008

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    Brazil Tam Air Crash: Still Under Investigation after 7 months

    Here is where the disaster stands:

    On July 17, 2007 the pilot of TAM Airlines Flight JJ3054, tried to land at Congonhas, but realizing he wouldn’t be able to stop in time on the rain-slicked tarmac, tried to take off again.

    He failed.

    The Airbus A320 skidded across a road and smashed into a building owned by the airline. The ensuing fireball killed all 186 people on the plane and 13 more on the ground, making this the worst air disaster in Brazilian history.

    The thrust reverser had been deactivated during maintenance checks, the airline confessed. The reverser is used to help jets slow down on landing. Tam Airlines insists the deactivation was in accordance with proper procedures. However, nearly 200 people–passengers and crew–are dead.

    Brazil’s Globo TV televised that a problem with the right thrust reverser had emerged four days prior to the crash.

    The Airbus’s manual stipulates that ten days can lapse after a problem is first detected in an inspection and the plane can continue to operate in the meantime.

    Aviators call São Paolo’s Congonhas Airport “the aircraft carrier,” because landing on its short runway, surrounded by densely populated residential areas, is like landing on the deck of an aircraft carrier. Though a Brazilian court had banned large jets from the airport in February, citing safety concerns, the ban was later overturned.

    Masry and Vititoe is participating in the litigation.

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    Santa Barbara ATR-42-300 Crashes Indian Face

    13,000 feet above sea level on the sheer cliff called “Indian Face” by the locals, buffeted by freezing winds, crews rappelled from helicopters to search the wreckage in a dramatic rescue and reconnaissance attempt. No survivors were found.

    The flame-charred tail of the twin-engine plane rested on the mountainside amid fuselage and assorted wreckage.

    The Merida airport six miles away is hemmed in among mountains in a region notoriously difficult to navigate. Terrain forced searchers to camp a mile away and hike in. Pilots–including the one lost in this flight–receive specialized training to fly through the area.

    Venezuela mourns.

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    Santa Barbara ATR-42-300 Crash Site Found. No Survivors.



    Santa Barbara Airlines 518 flight from Mérida to Maiquetía had 43 passengers and three crew members on board. Passenger list includes the Major of Mucuchíes Municipality, Mérida state, Alexander Quintero; foreign affairs expert Italo Luongo, and two relatives of the Vice-Minister of Citizens’ Security Tarek Al Aissami.

    Six nautical miles from the Alberto Carnevalli Airport, it’s point of departure, the wreck was discovered.

    Missing since Thursday, it failed to contact the Maiquetía airport air control tower within the 15 minutes after takeoff.

    Venezuelan Civil Aeronautics Institute director Ramón Viñas declared in a public statement, “Given the way the airplane crashed, we believe no people survived,”

    Officials with the Aeronautics Prosecution Office, physicians, pathologists, and forensic scientists and search and rescue teams are scheduled to begin removal of the aircraft and the victims.

    Firefighter Department Sergeant Johnny Paz told local news TV channel Globovisión that the airplane shattered. “The plane crashed at 12,000 feet high against a stone wall in the high plateau.”

    Status: Preliminary
    Date: 21 FEB 2008
    Time: CA 17:00
    Type: ATR-42-300
    Operator: Santa Bárbara Airlines
    Registration: YV1449
    C/n / msn: 028
    First flight: 1986
    Engines: 2 Pratt & Whitney Canada PW120
    Crew: Fatalities: 3 of 3
    Passengers: Fatalities: 43 of 43
    Total: Fatalities: 46 of 46 (confirmed)
    Airplane damage: Written off
    Location: ca 10 km NW of Mérida-A Carnevalli Airport (MRD) (Venezuela)
    Phase: En route
    Nature: Domestic Scheduled Passenger
    Departure airport: Mérida-A Carnevalli Airport (MRD/SVMD), Venezuela
    Destination airport: Caracas-Simón Bolívar International Airport (CCS/SVMI), Venezuela
    Flightnumber: 518

    518 departed Mérida (MRD) at 16:59 on a domestic flight to Caracas. Shortly after take-off the airplane flew into the side of a mountain. Weather reported about the time of takeoff (21:30 UTC) was:
    SVMD 212100Z 29008KT 9999 SCT013 BKN100 XX/XX Q1018=
    SVMD 212200Z 25005KT 9999 BKN013 OVC100 20/12 Q1021=

    Film of ATR42 landing at Mérida Airport. Note the surrounding mountains and the fierce wind.

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    Flight 518-Andes Mountain Crash, 46 on board


    Head of the Civil Defense for Merida, Noel Marquez, said locals saw the plane go down 500 kilometers (300 miles) southwest of Caracas, in the Andean region of Coyado del Condor.

    The Santa Barbara Airlines flight went missing after departing from Merida at 5:45 pm (2245 GMT).

    Rescue teams are in transit, according to Marquez. The plane they are searching for is a French-Italian-made ATR42 twin-engine turbo-prop. It crashed approximately 15,600 feet above sea level and sent no emergency signals prior to its disappearance. When air traffic controllers had been out of contact with flight 518 for hours, alarms went out.

    Advance rescue teams traveled toward the Paramo Mifafi valley. The first rescue team left Thursday night for the village of Mucuchies, an hour from Merida but won’t not arrive at the accident location for about three hours because of the steep terrain and near freezing temperatures. Marquez, said “Early tomorrow (Friday) two M17 rescue helicopters will be deployed.” Until then, over a hundred searchers are working on on the ground.

    National Civil Defense chief Antonio Rivero said officially that the plane is still listed as missing.The passenger list included a Venezuelan political analyst and relatives of a government official. The pilot had received special training for flying in the Andes and had been employed by Santa Barbara Airlines eight years.

    The 20-year-old plane had no record of technical problems but the Aviation Safety Network publishes that the ATR 42 series has been involved in at least 17 accidents its beginnings in 1984. Psychologists have been sent to counsel relatives waiting at the airport.

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    Convictions Stand in Milan Airport Crash

    Convictions Stand in Milan Airport Crash
    4 hours ago

    ROME (AP) — Italy’s top criminal court on Wednesday upheld prison sentences for five aviation officials convicted in a 2001 runway collision of two aircraft that killed 118 people, Italian news agencies reported.
    The Court of Cassation upheld the convictions of manslaughter and negligence and confirmed sentences ranging from three to 6 1/2 years in jail, the ANSA and Apcom news agencies reported.

    The longest prison term belongs to Sandro Gualano, who stepped down as chief executive of Italy’s air traffic agency ENAV after the Oct. 8, 2001, crash between an Scandinavian Airlines System airliner and a corporate jet at Milan’s Linate airport, the agencies said.

    The crash happened on a foggy morning when the SAS MD-87, bound for Copenhagen, rolled down the tarmac for takeoff. The jetliner collided with a business plane with four people on board then careened into a baggage hangar, killing four ground workers and 110 people on the jetliner.

    Investigators have described the accident as avoidable, caused by a combination of human error and poorly followed safety procedures. The ground radar was out of operation.

    Investigators cited confusing runway signs, and the control tower failed to ask the smaller plane’s pilot to read back his instructions, authorities said.

    Wednesday’s ruling upheld the sentence of former ENAV director general Fabio Marzocca to four years and four months in jail. Three-year terms were also confirmed for Paolo Zacchetti — the controller on duty during the crash — and two other airport officials, ANSA reported.
    Copyright © 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

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    Brazil jet thrust reverser ‘off’


    This photograph was produced by Agência Brasil, a public Brazilian news agency.Their website states: “O conteúdo deste site é publicado sob a licença Creative Commons Atribuição 2.5 Brasil”(This photo is published under the Creative Commons License Attribution 2.5 Brazil)

    The thrust reverser had been deactivated during maintenance checks, the airline confessed.

    The reverser is used to help jets slow down on landing.

    Tam Airlines insisted the deactivation was in accordance with proper procedures. However, nearly 200 people–passengers and crew–are dead.

    Yet this was in accordance with proper procedures?

    The airbus started to land at Sao Paulo’s Congonhas airport, and either aborted the landing or failed to slow down when the deactivated thrust reverser failed. The plane crossed the street, hit buildings and exploded.

    Tam Airlines said the right thrust reverser was “deactivated” at the time of the accident. To quote them specifically:
    “in conditions stipulated by the maintenance of the manufacturer Airbus and approved by [Brazil’s] National Civil Aviation Agency”.

    Brazil’s Globo TV televised that a problem with the right thrust reverser had emerged four days prior to the crash.

    The Airbus’s manual stipulates that ten days can lapse after a problem is first detected in an inspection and the plane can continue to operate in the meantime.

    sources: http://news.bbc.co.uk
    http://www.aviation.com/ap_070721_thrustreverser.html

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    Emergency Landing: Flight BA38 British Airways Boeing 777



    What: Flight BA38 British Airways Boeing 777
    Where: Heathrow
    When: January 17 2008
    Who: one passenger seriously injured and 12 others slightly hurt.
    Why: lost thrust in both engines at 600ft
    Initial report stated: drop in temperatures to -105F (-76C) may have caused the fuel in the aircraft to thicken during the flight which meant it was unable to get the additional thrust needed to land.

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    How the Airbus Brakes

    An A320 gets three devices to brake

    Interested in more about the Airbus? Airbus Flight Crew Training Manual.pdf

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    Airbus says no evidence of plane fault

    A representative for the European aircraft manufacturer told the Brazilian Congress, “We don’t see any indication of a fault.”

    A TAM airline Airbus 320 overran the runway while landing at Sao Paulo’s Congonhas airport crossed a road and slammed into an airport building, and exploded on July 17.

    Available data shows the aircraft’s brakes functioned correctly.

    But the representative said that one of the engine’s throttles was in the ‘climb’ position.

    The plane was also operating with only one of of its two thrust reversers, which are used to help brake the plane upon landing.

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    No ‘Errors’ In Sao Paulo, Brazil Plane Crash

    Mechanical or other failures were not responsible for the crash of a Brazilian airliner that killed 199 people in July, a report released Thursday said.

    The report, presented to Brazilian lawmakers, came from the manufacturers of the Airbus that crashed at Congonhas Airport in Sao Paulo, O Globo TV reported.

    However, the same congressional panel that heard the findings by Airbus determined last week that a misaligned engine throttle was likely the cause of the crash.

    REposted from: http://www.postchronicle.com/news/breakingnews/article_21296833.shtml

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    Premature and Unfortunate Conclusions in Brazil

    Local media tries to claim that pilot error was responsible for the airplane crash that killed nearly 200 people in Sao Paulo last week.

    The news magazine VEJA said that a short runway and a constricted area that gave little room for victims to escape contributed to the accident.

    The Brazilian air force said no conclusion had been reached.

    It labelled as “premature and unfortunate” any conclusion about the accident, “as long as the investigations are ongoing.”

    On July 17, a TAM airline Airbus 320 carrying 187 people overran the runway, crossed a road and slammed into an airport building.

    The left turbine was thrust in reverse and was helping the airplane slow down, the right one was accelerating.

    Key information has been obtained from the airplane’s black boxes.

    The runway, which had been closed has now reopened Friday.

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    Could It Be The Brakes

    SAO PAULO Widespread claims of a faulty runway, potential pilot error or failure of the plane’s brakes? That is the question

    Many officials and aviation experts blamed the rain-soaked runway where the plane skidded before crashing and exploding.

    A video of the landing suggests other factors.

    Footage shows the TAM Linhas Aereas plane accelerating instead of braking. Speculation is that the pilot was trying to lift off again.

    “The government will try to convince public opinion that the runway at Congonhas is not at fault,” said Elnio Borges, president of the Varig Pilots’ Association. “They’re going to do everything they can to blame the pilot.”

    Only 18 bodies have been identified. Four badly injured victims died in hospitals. At the TAM cargo building hit by the plane, eight people are missing.

    The landing strip had not been grooved to drain rainwater.

    “Why was Congonhas reopened in that state?” asked Paulo Sampaio, an aviation consultant at Multiplan Consultora in Rio de Janeiro. “It’s a crime.”

    Infraero’s Pereira said “We have to clarify why the plane accelerated again,” he added. “Only the black box can tell us that.”

    Air traffic controllers, fearing to be made scapegoats for that accident, have staged periodic work slowdowns to protest against deficient radar and radio equipment poor pay and hours. Delays and cancellations are routine. Passengers occasionally storm the airfields.

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    Anger Mounts

    Cezar Britto, president of The Order of Lawyers of Brazil said it was “a tragedy waiting to happen,” echoing public opinion. “What exploded in Cagonhas was not just the TAM airbus and almost 200 victims but the credibility of the Brazilian aviation system.”

    Cagonhas is notorious for its short, dangerous runway.

    “The runway was as slippery as soap,” a pilot confessed.

    Rescuers pulled 181 bodies from the twisted metal wreckage and rubble. Five people are listed as missing. 11 are hospitalized. No passengers survived.

    Relatives gathered to identify the remains amid calls for authorities to improve airport safety.

    The crash is the latest of a series of airline disasters. The main runway had been resurfaced last month, but more work was scheduled to allow for better water drainage.

    “Control tower operators had warned the runway should be closed,” said Sergio Olivera, who heads the Federation of Air Controllers.

    Footage of landing showed the aircraft travelling at high speed–the Airbus took only three seconds as opposed to the usual 11 to traverse the runway then disappeared after skidding off the left side of the runway. Then a ball of flame filled the sky.

    An investigation has been ordered. One of the black boxes has been recovered.

    President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva declared three days of national mourning. Pope Benedict XVI expressed his sorrow.

    In February a judge banned Fokker 100, Boeing 737-800 and Boeing 737/700 jetliners from the airport but the ruling was overturned in appeals.

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    Prosecutors calling for closure of Sao Paulo airport

    Brazilian prosecutors call for the immediate closure of Sao Paulo’s airport today after the country’s worst air disaster in its history.

    Governor Jose Serra declared that the volume of air traffic at Congonhas must to be drastically. A plane belonging to Brazil’s TAM airlinehit a nearby warehouse and exploded, killing 186 people on board and three on the ground.

    Footage shows Flight 3054 accelerating as it hit the short runway. Authorities believe the pilot tried to abort his landing and take off again.

    Rescue workers suspended the search for victims when the building at the crash scene threatened collapse. 4 Europeans, three from France and one from Portugal, were on board.

    Pilots are instructed to touch down within the first 1,000ft (300m), or pull up and circle round again. Yesterday, another TAM airline jet was rerouted after coming in at an unsafe angle.

    The official statement is that it is necessary to temporarily paralyze the activities at the Congonhas Airport in Sao Paulo until a complete renovation of both of its runways can be completed and there is certainty that they are fully secure for full operations.

    The senate leader of the Social Democratic Party (PSDB), Arthur Virgilio – whose colleague, the opposition leader Julio Redecker, was killed in the crash – said President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, needed to “act, not to talk…Otherwise his term will be marked by the suffering and pain of so many Brazilians who could still be alive.”