ignorance of a (notice) concerning work in progress reducing runway length.
This because of a FED EX flight which had been routed to a shortened runway (by 4000 feet less than the pilots thought.) The Fed Ex pilots barely made it over the fence but there was damage. Boeing pilots in July 2007 had the same issue, ignorance of a shortened runway.

The problem is pilots being uninformed about disruptions due to expansion, barricades, increased maintenance vehicle traffic. A mass of NOTAM “notices to airmen” handed out as a stack of pages is not efficient. Crucial notices are mixed in with irrelevant or nonoperational data. Prioritizing crucial alerts would go a long way in making construction zones safer.

The post O’Hare NOTAM Safety issues Critical Mass first appeared on George Hatcher's Air Flight Disaster.

Passengers were provided an alternative plane that had not been struck by lightning.

The post American Airlines Flight Struck by Lightning first appeared on George Hatcher's Air Flight Disaster.

What: LOT Polish Airlines Boeing 767-300 en route from Warsaw to Chicago
Where: Chicago
When: Jul 17th 2010
Why: The flight made a safe landing in Chicago. However, after landing, the left brakes and tires were smoking and on fire. The captain told passengers that the brakes had fractured and caused damage to the hydraulic lines leading to the fire.

Emergency services put out the fire while on the runway–it is not mentioned if passengers disembarked, before, during or after emergency services were deployed.

Although the left tire and brake were replaced, on return to Warsaw on the 18th, the same plane suffered another brake fire on landing.

George’s Point of View

I know I’m being a back seat driver again, because it’s impossible to know from my armchair in California what’s happening on the ground in Chicago and Warsaw, but it seems to me that there is obviously something going on.

Either the wrong brakes were replaced, or the brakes were not replaced, or the pilot consistently lands too fast, or the wrong (i.e. flammable) grease lubricating the brakes caught fire, or the thrust reverser is flawed or something else is going on that caused the brake fire to repeat on the return flight. Let’s hope LOT’s home base in Warsaw will get to the bottom of it before the plane has to land on a tabletop runway like Mangalore, or an unsurfaced runway like TAM Airlines Flight 3054 at Congonhas-São Paulo International Airport.

The post LOT Brake Fire in Chicago first appeared on George Hatcher's Air Flight Disaster.

What: United Airlines Boeing 757-200 en route from Sacramento to Chicago
Where: Chicago
When: Mar 8th 2010
Why: On final approach, there was a bird strike. After a safe landing, the plane was grounded for inspection. Specific damage might be out there published somewhere, but I didn’t see it. The next flight was cancelled.

The post Chicago Bird Strike first appeared on George Hatcher's Air Flight Disaster.

What: American Airlines McDonnell Douglas MD-83 en route from San Diego CA to Chicago
Where: Phoenix
When: Feb 9th 2010
Why: While en route, on board indicators detected a hydraulic leak. The flight diverted to Phoenix AZ where it made a safe landing. Passengers were provided alternative flights.

Another American Airlines maintenance issue?

The post American Airlines Emergency Landing in Phoenix first appeared on George Hatcher's Air Flight Disaster.

The landing was safe; and United was providing another plane for passengers to complete the flight to Chicago.

The post United Hydraulics Failure over Pittsburgh first appeared on George Hatcher's Air Flight Disaster.

The post United successful Belly Landing at O’Hare first appeared on George Hatcher's Air Flight Disaster.

Where: diverted to O’Hare International Airport

When: Wednesday 8:37 p.m

Who: 138 people were on board.

Why: When about a dozen passengers became sick during a flight, the flight was diverted to O’Hare and an EMS Plan 2 was called which sends at least 10 ambulances to the scene. Some passengers became sick from the smell of vomit on the plane. Those who fell ill were reportedly part of the same tour group of about 40. One among them reported feeling sick prior to takeoff. Four were hospitalized at Lutheran General Hospital. Fourteen declined to be hospitalized when examined by paramedics though the entire tour group was examined by paramedics. No food was served on the flight.

The post Queasy Stomachs Land at O’Hare first appeared on George Hatcher's Air Flight Disaster.

Some passengers became sick from the smell of vomit on the plane. Those who fell ill were reportedly part of the same tour group of about 40. One among them reported feeling sick prior to takeoff. Four were hospitalized at Lutheran General Hospital. Fourteen declined to be hospitalized when examined by paramedics though the entire tour group was examined by paramedics.

No food was served on the flight.

The post Queasy Stomachs Land at O’Hare first appeared on George Hatcher's Air Flight Disaster.

The post British Airways Emergency Landing at Chicago first appeared on George Hatcher's Air Flight Disaster.

What: American Airlines Flight 268, Boeing 757 en route from Seattle to Kennedy International in New York
Where: emergency landing in Chicago–O’Hare Airport Runway 22 Right
When: Monday 1:42 p.m.
Who: 185 Passengers and crew
Why: Pilot reported electronic problems. An indicator light came on in the cockpit. The plane’s instrument landing system was non-functional, and the pilots had to come in faster than normal, being unable to rely on instrumentation. On landing, the plane blew a tire and slightly overshot the runway. (A traffic controller is quoted as saying “He ran out of concrete before he ran out of speed.” ) Passengers deplaned at 2:05 p.m. on an over-run area off the runway.

Looks like disaster averted. Go AA. Yee ha!

The post American Airlines Flight 268 Emergency Landing in Chicago first appeared on George Hatcher's Air Flight Disaster.

What: United Airlines Flight 895 Boeing 747 bound for Hong Kong
Where: emergency landing at O’Hare International Airport
When: Saturday 5:27 p.m
Who: 323 passengers and 18 crew members
Why: One hour into the flight to Hong Kong, the pilot experienced unspecified problems with a temperature probe, and rerouted it back to O’Hare.

The post Hong Kong flight Grounded In Chicago first appeared on George Hatcher's Air Flight Disaster.