Lufthansa

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    Airbus Diverts for hole in the road


    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact Photographer Lukas Bluth

    What: Lufthansa Airbus A330-300 en route from Frankfurt to Kolkata, India
    Where: Hyderabad
    When: Jun 8th 2009
    Who: 225 passengers
    Why: When the pilot spotted a hole in the runway, strong winds prevented it from landing at the other runway, so the approach was aborted. The airbus circled, then diverted to Hyderabad where it landed safely.

    After the runway was repaired, the plane returned with 174 passengers.

    George’s Point of View

    I’ve talked about Aircraft maintenance before, but not that much about airport maintenance. It’s obviously important that runways be kept in tip-top shape. Taking them for granted results in accidents like the the TAM disaster.

    Lufthansa is to be commended for NOT having an accident–in spite of the Kolkata airport’s disrepair.

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    Airbus Flap Failure


    Contact photographer Ian Older
    What: Lufthansa Airbus A340-600 en route from San Francisco,CA to Munich Germany
    Where: Munich
    When: May 29th 2009
    Who: 277 passengers
    Why: When landing flaps failed, the Airbus prepared for an emergency landing. Fortunately, though the plane landed too fast, there was no serious consequence to the flap failure. Reportedly the plane was repaired and returned to service hours later.

    George’s Point of View

    It’s a good thing they weren’t landing at Sao Paulo, or another airport with a short runway–

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    Lufthansa Emergency Landing In Prague


    What: Lufthansa en route from Duesseldorf to Budapest
    Where: Prague’s Ruzyne airport
    When: May 15 at 1400 hrs.
    Who: 35 update: 30 passengers; 5 crew
    Why: When smoke was detected in the luggage compartment, the flight was diverted to Prague where they made a safe landing. No injuries were reported.

    If we are apprised of more details, we will update.
    All 30 passengers were able to continue to Budapest at 1700 hrs on another flight.

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    Airbus a Hot Mess over Geneva


    Contact photographer Mark Kwiatkowski
    What: Lufthansa A321-100, registration en route from Munich Germany to Lisbon Portugal
    Where: Diverted to Geneva Switzerland
    When: May 9th 2009
    Who: 147 passengers
    Why: En route, the airbus was hit by clear air turbulence. Twelve passengers were injured, and 2 crew members. 5 were taken to the hospital.

    George’s Point of View

    Turbulence does not necessarily result in a plane being taken out of commission. The passengers were delayed for five hours while replacement transportation was procured. There is no indication why.

    This makes me question why the passengers had to switch planes.

    • Was this just a precaution?
    • Was the turbulence so bad that it damaged the plane?
    • Did they get jostled around much the galley contents (or during mealtime) that it made a 5+ hour mess?
    • Did something on the plane go on the fritz before during or after?

      • Inquiring minds want to know…

    Update: Meal service was in progress at the time of the turbulence.

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    Airbus Nose Gear Issue in SF

    What: Lufthansa Airbus A340-600 en route from Munich Germany to San Francisco,CA
    Where: on far approach to San Francisco
    When: May 5th 2009
    Why: After reporting nose gear issues, the airbus was towed off the runway after landing, and it’s return flight was cancelled.

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    German Airbus Flies to Seattle on One Engine


    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact photographer Anne Deus
    What: Lufthansa Airbus A330-300, registration D-AIKE en route from Frankfurt/Main to Seattle,WA
    Where: Seattle Washington
    When: Sunday, Mar 01, 2009
    Why: When the pilot reported the loss of power in one engine, the flight assumed a lower altitude and continued on one engine to Seattle to land without a problem an hour later.

    Flight Aware

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    Lufthansa Fire and Emergency Landing

    What: German Lufthansa Airbus A300-600 en route from Malta to Frankfurt.
    Where: Malta International Airport
    When: Tuesday
    Who: 205 passengers evacuated with no injuries.
    Why: The crew reported a fire in its cargo hold and returned for an emergency landing 25 minutes after embarking.