SA Airlink flight 4Z-8730/SA-8730 made a safe landing at O. R. Tambo International Airport, Gauteng, Johannesburg, South Africa, on May 18th.
The Avro RJ-85, en-route from Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, was mid-air when one of its engines emitted a huge bang followed by streak of flames, prompting the crew to shut the engine down.
Icelandair flight FI-631 had to return and make a safe emergency landing at Keflavik International Airport, Keflavik, Iceland, on May 21st.
The Boeing 767-300, en-route to Boston, Massachusetts, was climbing out of Keflavik’s runway when the crew detected retraction issue with the gear, prompting the plane to return.
The plane landed safely. All people onboard remained unharmed.
The passengers were accommodated in a replacement plane.
Delta Airlines flight DL-8957 was intercepted by two Greek F-16 fighter aircrafts on May 19th.
According to the airline, the radio contact with Greek ATC was lost for a brief period of time when the Boeing 767-400, en-route from Frankfurt, Germany, to Kuwait, was transiting through Greek Airspace.
The fighter jets returned to the airbase as the communication was restored.
CityJet flight WX-112 had to return and make an emergency landing in Dublin, Ireland, on May 20th.
The plane took off for London, England, but had to return shortly afterwards after the crew needed to shut down one of the engines due to a low oil pressure indication.
The plane landed safely. Everyone aboard remained unharmed.
The airline arranged a replacement plane for the passengers.
Indigo flight 6E-591 diverted and made a safe emergency landing at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India, on May 19th.
The Airbus A320-200, heading from Vadodara, to Delhi, India, was mid-air when the crew reported a technical fault, prompting the plane to divert.
China Eastern flight MU-5577 made a safe emergency landing at Wenzhou Longwan International Airport, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, China, on March 20th.
The Airbus A320-200, flying from Shanghai to Wenzhou, China, was about to land when the crew faced some visual difficulties disabling them to see the runway.
The plane received substantial damage to its landing gear and flaps after impacting treetops outside the airport perimeter.
A Malaysia Airlines plane made an emergency landing at Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah airport in Selangor, Malaysia, on May 18th.
The plane, heading to Singapore, had to return due to a bomb threat. Authorities said the airport’s reception received two phone calls saying there was a bomb on-board.
The plane landed safely. There were 30 passengers and 4 crew members aboard at the time; all of them remained unharmed.
Before the wreckage was located off Greece’s Karpathos Island, search and rescue services picked up the ELT signal around 8:25, four hours after dawn. Greece reported two red and white plastic objects floating in the sea, and two orange objects, apparently life vests. Civilian ships are heading into the area to assist. France is assisting the search, with ships and aircraft. Several bodies were found floating in the area, according to RT.
The EgyptAir A320 disappeared May 18 over the Mediterranean.
When planes cross from one country’s airspace into another, the Air Traffic Control transition at those points is called the ‘hand-off.’ The crew was engaging with Greek ATC but when they attempted to hand the aircraft off to Egypt ATC, the crew made no response.
EgyptAir released that the crew was comprised of the captain, first officer, five cabin crew and three sky marshals. The passengers included 30 Egyptians, 15 French, 2 Iraqis, 1 British, 1 Belgian, 1 Kuwaiti, 1 Saudi, 1 Sudanese, 1 Chadian, 1 Portugese, 1 Algerian and 1 Canadian. The 56 passengers included three children.
Journalists have been barred by Airport security from the area in the Cairo airport where family and friends of the passengers are waiting.
UPS flight 5X-63 made a safe emergency landing at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, Anchorage, Alaska, on May 16th.
The Boeing 747-400, flying from Hong Kong, China, was flying above the Pacific Ocean when the crew notice a slow oil leakage from one of its engines. The crew had to shut the engine down before landing.
Caribbean Airlines flight BW-1511 made a safe landing at Piarco International Airport, Trinidad and Tobago, on May 14th.
The Avions de Transport Regional ATR-72-212A, flying from Tobago, was about to reach the Port of Spain when the crew noticed a fire indication for its right side engine. The crew had to shut down the engine and activate the fire suppression system.