Carrier

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    Three Soldiers and Two Civilians Die in Colombian Helicopter Accident

    On JAN 9 2014, a Sociedad Aeronáutica de Santander (SASA) Bell 206L-3 LongRanger
    # HK-4462 en route from Puerto Berrío to Anori was north of Anori, Colombia when it suffered controlled flight into terrain, striking a mountain. No one aboard survived the impact. Three soldiers and two civilians died on the 9th when the helicopter went missing.

    The Seventh Division of the National Army had made a public statement that the aircraft, affiliated with the Aeronautical Society of Santander was “transporting a priest and military personnel assigned to the Fourteenth Brigade”.

    The helicopter crew failed to check in on Thursday afternoon and was located on Friday in rural Anori. Fatalities were two soldiers, one police, one military priest and the pilot.

    Director of the Department of Care andPrevention of Disasters César Hernández confirmed the fatalities.

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    Ultralight Emergency landing, takeoff, crash

    On January 10, 2013, a Jabiru J200 ultralight piloted Dennis Horn and co-pilot Manfred Scherbius made a successful emergency landing on the beach crashed on takeoff when it stuck the water. The accident occurred on Martins Bay beach, near Warkworth New Zealand. Nobody on the beach was injure, which is a feat, because the beach was crowded with people in a sandcastle competition. On the takeoff attempt, a wing and propeller broke. The pilot and co-pilot walked away from the incident.

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    Flight Slides off Runway


    On January 9, 2013, a Jazz Air flight operating as Air Canada Express–flying a de Havilland DHC-8-402Q Dash 8 made a safe landing at John G. Diefenbaker International Airport in Saskatchewan Canada.

    The plane was taxiing when it struck ice, and veered off runway into snow where it was mired, blocking the runway.

    The fifty-six passengers aboard evacuated with the assistance of emergency crews at about 6:30 after waiting about half an hour for a Saskatoon Transit bus from Tarmac to the gate. Weather conditions at the time were reported as heavy fog causing and near zero visibility in Saskatoon. It looks really cold, doesn’t it?

    This image was tweeted:

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    Sikorsky Down off Norfolk, Va Beach


    A US Navy Sikorsky MH-53E Sea Dragon crashed off a Norfolk Virginia beach, killing one of five aboard. The helicopter was assigned to Helicopter Mine Countermeasures Squadron Fourteen.

    Three were injured and hospitalized at at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital. A rescue team is searching for one crewman who is still missing.

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    USAF Helicopter Crash in the UK

    The USAF Pavehawk Sikorsky HH-60G that crashed on January 7 2013 at about 19:00 GMT on a training flight in Marshland near Cley-Next-The-Sea, Norfolk in the UK during training exercises transporting munitions, killed the crew of four aboard. The helicopter impacted in a nature reserve.

    A second helicopter flew in as a rescue unit, but there were no survivors. Local witnesses heard and saw the helicopter flying low. It was initially believed the helicopter had ditched in the North Sea. No one on the ground was injured.

    The names of the victims have been released: Capt Christopher S. Stover, Capt Sean M. Ruane, Technical Sergeant Dale E. Mathews and Staff Sergeant Afton M. Ponce. The commander of their unit said that Captains Stover and Ruane were pilots, while Tech. Sgt. Mathews and SSgt Ponce were acting as special mission aviators and “The Liberty Wing feels as though it has lost members of its family, and we stand by to support one another and these airmen’s families during this difficult time.”

    An investigation is underway.

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    Copilot Dies in Aspen Crash, Two Survivors


    A Canadair CL-600 that burst into flames off the right side of the runway on its second go-round after it veered and flipped off Aspen’s challenging mountain-surrounded runway was registered to the Bank of Utah in Salt Lake City and flown from Tucson. The crash killed the Mexican co-pilot Sergio Carranza Brabata. The Mexican PIC Pilot Miguel Henriqez and passenger Moises Carranza survived with injuries. Both were hospitalized at Aspen Valley Hospital. Everyone aboard was a pilot.

    The crash occurred at at 12:22 p.m in ten degree weather and gusty winds; it had been snowing in the area but not at the airport.

    Videos below

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    Wing Damage, low fuel, Fog, Flat tire to Air India

    In Jaipur at 9:30 on January 5, 2013, after having to divert due to visibility issues, an Imphal-Delhi Air India flight was out of fuel and made an emergency landing in Jaipur damaging a wing and suffering a flat tire. The video says the wing damage was due to a tree-strike after the tire burst.

    The Gauhati to Delhi flight diverted Jaipur due to dense fog but in Jaipur too, the pilot landed in fog and low visibility. 168 passengers and 5 crew were aboard. We have heard no reports of injuries on the Airbus A320-231 #VT-ESH but the damage looks pretty bad, if the twitter post is of the correct incident. (That’s the correct # as far as we can tell.) You can click through our link to the twitter discussion.

    Emergency services responded to the scene.

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    USB Drive Mistaken for a Bomb

    A stowaway USB flash drive on American Airlines Flight #24 from San Francisco caused the crew to divert to Kansas City International airport.

    The USB flash drive, found in the bathroom, was mistaken for a bomb.

    Two hundred and twenty-seven passengers were bussed to the terminal, and then bussed back after it turned out to be someone’s lost flash drive.

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    Indonesia: Plane Stuck in the Mud

    On January 3, 2013, a Garuda Indonesia Bombardier CRJ-600-2E25 en route from Sorong Airport to Renani Airport suffered a runway excursion after landing.

    The number of passengers aboard was not release.

    No one was injured and the plane didn’t suffer any damage but it did get stuck.

    The pilots apparently tried to turn on the runway and its nose wheel got mired.

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    Russian Cargo Crash


    Six crew and three passengers died in the crash of a fifty year old An-12 on the outskirts of Irkutsk Russia at the Irkutsk plant airfield. All nine aboard died on impact. A fuel fire ensued but was under control by emergency responders.

    So far six remains have been recovered but not the black boxes. The military crew was flying plane parts from Novosibirsk (Novosibirsk Aircraft Production Association (NAPO)) to Irkutsk-2 airport, when it hit a warehouse. There were no injuries reported in the warehouse.

    Officials said:

    “The An-12 came in for landing at low altitude and grazed military depot buildings 10 kilometers away from the landing strip, after which it crashed.”

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    Boeing Hits Building

    A British Airways Boeing 747-436 was taxiing for takeoff from Johannesburg-OR Tambo Airport. The plane missed a turn, went on to taxiway M which was too narrow, and the wing hit a building. (I guess December 22nd was the day for planes all over the world hitting things.) The plane’s wing was damaged, but luckily no one aboard was, except the pilot was probably pretty red in the face. Oops.

    The wing did a pretty good job of cutting into a two story building. Four employees of Johannesburg-OR Tambo airport were slightly injured. The airport emergency team handled the plane’s fuel leak, and of course, an investigation is under way.

    Not the location of “M” on the chart below:

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    Pilot Suicides

    If the preliminary report on the Mozambique Airlines crash is correct that the pilot Captain Herminio dos Santos Fernandes was suicidal, and deliberately flew the Embraer he was piloting into the ground, he may not be the only one.

    ASN compiled a list of possible pilot suicides.

    • 26 September 1976 – 12 fatalities
      A Russian pilot stole an Antonov 2 airplane directed his aircraft into the block of flats in Novosibirsk where his divorced wife lived.

    • 22 August 1979 – 4 fatalities
      A 23 year old male mechanic who had just been fired entered a hangar at Bogotá Airport, Colombia and stole a military HS-748 transport plane. He took off and crashed the plane in a residential area.

    • 13 July 1994 – 1 fatality
      A Russian Air Force engineer stole the aircraft at the Kubinka AFB to commit suicide. The aircraft crashed when there was no more fuel left.

    • 21 August 1994 – 44 fatalities
      A Royal Air Maroc ATR-42 airplane crashed in the Atlas Mountains shortly after takeoff from Agadir, Morocco. The accident was suggested to have been caused by the captain disconnecting the autopilot and directing the aircraft to the ground deliberately. The Moroccan Pilot’s Union challenged these findings.

    • 19 December 1997 – 104 fatalities
      Silk Air Flight 185, a Boeing 737 en route from Jakarta, Indonesia to Singapore, crashed in Indonesia following a rapid descent from cruising altitude. Indonesian authorities were not able to determine the cause of the accident. It has been suggested by amongst others the U.S. NTSB that the captain may have committed suicide by switching off both flight recorders and intentionally putting the Boeing 737 in a dive, possibly when the first officer had left the flight deck. During 1997 the captain experienced multiple work-related difficulties, particularly during the last 6 months. Also at the time of the accident the captain was experiencing significant financial difficulties, which was disputed by the Indonesian investigators.

    • 11 October 1999 – 1 fatality
      An Air Botswana captain who had been grounded for medical reasons took off in an ATR-42. He made several demands over the radio and finally stated he was going the crash the plane. He caused the plane to crash into two parked ATR-42 aircraft on the platform at Gaborone Airport, Botswana.

    • 31 October 1999 – 217 fatalities
      Egypt Air Flight 990, a Boeing 767, entered a rapid descent some 30 minutes after departure from New York-JFK Airport. This happened moments after the captain had left the flight deck. During the investigation it was suggested that the accident was caused by a deliberate act by the relief first officer. However, there was no conclusive evidence. The NTSB concluded that the accident was a “result of the relief first officer’s flight control inputs. The reason for the relief first officer’s actions was not determined.” The suggestions of a deliberate act were heavily disputed by Egyptian authorities.

    • 29 November 2013 – 33 fatalities
      LAM Flight 470 entered a rapid descent while en route between Maputo and Luanda and crashed in Namibia. Preliminary investigation results indicate that the accident was intentional. The captain made control inputs that directed the plane to the ground, shortly after the first officer had left the flight deck.

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    Tatarstan Airlines License Revoked

    Tatarstan Airlines operator of the Boeing 737-500 that crashed in November in Kazan only flies seven planes. (Maybe 6, now?) The one that crashed was leased from a Bulgarian company, with a history of minor accidents.

    Fifty people died on the Tatarstan Airlines jet that dived nose-down to a fiery grave in Kazan. The investigation says that even though the two pilots were on their second go-around (i.e. second attempt to land), everything was working until impact. Recovering from the botched landing attempt, they pulled up at a too steep angle. From a height of 700 m the airplane entered a nose down attitude, reaching a -75° pitch. They died trying to dive to recover momentum, and impacted at 450 km/h.

    Human error? Sleep deprivation? The crash embodies what is wrong with Russian Airlines.

    Russia has withdrawn the operating license for Tatarstan Airlines due to
    “noncompliance by the airline with certification requirements for Russia’s civil aviation, violations of the established norms of flying hours, working and relaxation time.” The action came after it was discovered that Tatarstan Airlines breached rules regarding personnel training and rest times for flight and cabin crew. Of course, Tatarstan Airlines is

    Currently there’s a political wrestling match going on whether or not to ban planes over twenty years old.

    In my opinion? They could buy all the new planes they want, but unless they supplement with proper training and rest protocols, safety issues will remain the same.

    Video of Impact

    Aviation Casualties

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    Boeing 737 Hit


    On December 22nd 2014, a Delta Airlines Boeing 737 was damaged by a large container used by DGS cleaning company. The impact tore a hole behind the wing.

    The 737 was parked at gate B37 Terminal 4.

    DGS (http://deltaglobalaviation.com) offers jobs for aircraft cleaners, skycaps, and ramp agents. I don’t see dumpster driving on their list….

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    Early Preliminary Response on Mozambique Airlines Crash

    The Mozambique Airlines Embraer 190 disappeared from radar when entering Namibian airspace but Mozambican authorities took over three hours to inform Namibian ATC that the plane had gone missing. Heavy rain in the area led to poor visibility. Was the pilot was deliberately flying low or had lightning possibly damaged the plane?

    Head of the Mozambique’s Civil Aviation Institute (IACM) Joao Abreu made some statements to the press.

    Abreu said just before the Embraer 190 hit the ground, Captain Herminio dos Santos Fernandes locked himself in the cockpit, ignored warnings and did not allow his co-pilot back in.

    Abreu said that Captain Herminio dos Santos Fernandes manipulated the Embraer 190’s autopilot in a way which “denotes a clear intention” to bring the plane down;

    Abreu said that “During these actions you can hear low and high-intensity alarm signals and repeated beating against the door with demands to come into the cockpit.”

    Input from the black boxes indicated that the altitude was changed three times from 38,000 feet to 592, and the spoilers were deployed and held.

    The captain had 9,053 hours of flying time, 1,395 of them as the captain of an Embraer.

    Do we really know what was going on in the cockpit of the plane as it went down in the Bwabwata National Park in north-east Namibia? Do we have any idea what went on in the mind of Captain Herminio dos Santos Fernandes?

    I think not. I think it is too soon to make presumptions. I believe the investigation, if it is performed to industry standards—which may be a challenge, given Mozambique’s safety standards as regarded by the EU—has much more to reveal.

    *Don’t watch the video below if you have a weak stomach. U.S. News does not carry such graphic images.

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    Billionaire Lost in French Helicopter Crash

    Chinese billionaire Lam Kok purchased a French vineyard, and boarded a helicopter with three others, including his son, the former owner who was flying the helicopter, and a translator, to take an aerial tour of the 65-hectare (160-acre) vineyards and surrounding grounds. Lam Kok’s and James Gregoire’s wives had declined to fly.

    Twenty minutes after the flight took off, the helicopter went missing.

    The helicopter, flown by James Gregoire, former owner of the vineyard, was missing but a witness came forward and told a mounted policeman that the helicopter had been seen falling into the Dordogne river, and people had been seen struggling in the water.

    Emergency helicopters, divers and a hundred foot officers converged on the scene, and were deployed to search. After dark, a helicopter with a searchlight joined the searchers.

    Lam Kok, new owner of the vineyard Château de la Riviere was head of the Hong Kong-based Brilliant group which plans to develop a tea and wine tasting center and hotel in Bordeaux.

    One of the bodies was recovered around midnight. Rumors are that the body is of Lam Kok’s twelve year old son. The search was halted overnight, but resumed on the morning of the twenty-first. The search has been hampered by strong currents in the river.

    Ironically, John Leprince, a former owner of the vineyard, died in a plane crash in 2002, not far from the crash site in the Dordogne. Combined with this crash, this means the last three owners of the vineyard were lost in aviation accidents.

    Read More…

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    Ethiopian Airliner Diverts, Mired At Arusha Airport

    On December 18, Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 767-383ER #ET-AQW en route from Addis Ababa to Zanzibar-Kisauni Airport diverted to Arusha Airport. On landing on the too short runway, the plane’s wheels departed the pavement and became mired in soft ground.

    No one was injured in the landing.

    There is a rumor that the pilots diverted from the Zanzibar airport because they were unable to land there because there was a vehicle on the runway with a flat tire. The plane was nearly out of fuel and the best/closest option was Arusha. Passengers waited aboard as air stairs were driven from Kilimanjaro airport to Arusha—time consuming, but stairs eliminate the likelihood of injury by emergency evacuation on slides.

    The diversion to Arusha is under inquiry; they apparently landed without clearance and once they were down, asked where they were. It is unknown if, even under the most favorable conditions (i.e., empty with experts at the helm), the plane can take from the short runway. It remains to be seen how the crew will fare for this decision, but some credit should be given for landing a 767 safely onto a 4500′ runway with zero casualties. Some armchair pilots are guessing that the pilots mistook Arusha for Kilimanjaro airport, mistaking Mount Meru for Kilimanjaro.

    ethiopia

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    Helicopter Lost in Dordogne river

    Four people are missing after a helicopter crashed into the Dordogne river.

    The helicopter fell into the waters of the Dordogne, by the commune of Lugon-and-l ‘ île-du-Carnay, bordering the River, where is located the castle of île-du-Carnay.

    Divers were searching the waters of the Dordogne while police swarmed the banks at the port of Petit Chartron. At midnight Friday, an unidentified corpse was recovered in the wreckage of the helicopter. The search for the other three missing was suspended at 11:30 and will resume Saturday morning at 8:00 a.m..

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    Gold Coast Crash Victims Found


    Volunteer Coast Guard, Volunteer Marine Rescue and Water Police searched the coast Monday and Tuesday for a missing plane.

    Pilot Alexander Rae, AKA Jimmy, was flying a Gold Coast Tiger Moth Joy Rides de Havilland DH 82 biplane off South Stadbroke Island off the coast of Queensland. His last message was “Conducting aerobatics over 3500 feet.” Jimmy was twenty-six years old, and had a reputation of being an excellent pilot. He was newly-wed to Alice, who is an equine dentist.

    Tuesday at 9:30 a.m., sonar located the plane on the seabed near the Couran Cove Resort where the passenger and pilot were subsequently found by police divers, still inside the plane. Debris from the plane had already washed up.

    The plane crashed into the water about four hundred meters from the coast on December 16. Police are looking for witnesses.

    The Tiger Moth was built in the thirties. Tiger Moth Joyrides had been in operation since 1978.

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    Mishaps of the day

    Some events that happened today:

    • December 16, 2013, on JetBlue Flight 836#N661JB, the Airbus A320 arrived at the gate at JFK airport, New York, and the left wing struck the jet bridge. There was only minor damage and no injuries reported.
    • In Farmington NY on December 17, 2013, a Piper PA28#N43080 engine caught fire when the plane started up. The fire was extinguished, with unknown damage.
    • December 16, 2013, a Lancair/235#N15TG landing at John’s Island Charleston SC, when the nose gear collapsed. Minor damage was reported.
    • December 16, 2013, a Cessna/172 #N421ER was taxiing when the wing struck a light pole. The accident occurred in Wickenburg Arizona. Minor damage was reported.
    • December 16, 2013, an experimental plane, a Zenith 601#N581SL crashed in Leakey Texas under unknown conditions.
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    Eurocopter Fuel Gauge Safety Alert

    No one is saying that the recently discovered Eurocoptor problem with the low fuel level warning system had anything to do with Clutha ——leased police Eurocopter crashed thru the roof of the Clutha pub in Glasgow killing three crew members and seven people inside the pub——but it is out there on the table and one of those things that make you go hmmm. Connection or not, the Clutha accident is causing Eurocopter to take a closer look at their helicopters.

    The preliminary report on Clutha is not out yet, but there are reports that the helicopter did not run out of fuel.

    The Eurocopter fuel indicator problem is that the supply-tank fuel gauge can overestimate how much fuel is in the tank. Apparently the gauge can skip amber and go straight to red (low fuel.)

    Eurocopter is sending out safety notices about the issue..

    In the Clutha crash, the number of fatalities has risen to ten.

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    Plane Missing in Clayoquot Sound

    A Hutch Air Cessna 421B Golden Eagle en route from Abbotsford International Airport to Tofino BC had one passenger and one pilot aboard when it went missing on December 14, 2013, at 14:25 local time.

    The twin engine plane was expected at 2:50 pm. It was over Vargas Island on radar when it disappeared at the densely wooded island in Clayoquot Sound. A search of the west coast of Vacouver island by the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre Victoria has been implemented but has been hampered by fog, rain, low cloud cover and darkness over Tofino. Two search and rescue helicopters pulled out Saturday because of no visibility, and are continuing the search today. A crew is also on the island searching on foot.

    JRCC Victoria is located at Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt and is responsible for planning, co-ordinating, controlling and conducting aeronautical and maritime search and rescue (SAR) operations within Victoria’s Search and Rescue Region (SRR).

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    Air Canada Jazz Suffers Engine Fire Just After Takeoff


    photographer Jason Whitebird

    On December 12, 2013, an Air Canada Jazz de Havilland Canada DHC-8-311 took off from Nanaimo Airport en route to Vancouver when the plane developed an engine fire.

    Fire broke out over open water when the plane reached cruising altitude minutes after leaving the airport. Passengers reported hearing a loud bang, and on the side of the plane, they saw flames from the affected engine.

    The pilot shut down the engine, and they made a safe landing. The crew also discovered an engine oil problem just prior to the fire.

    This was the first emergency landing at the Nanaimo Airport, which was shut down for four hours after the incident. Emergency services responded to the scene. Passengers used stairs to exit.

    Passengers spoke positively about the crew. No one was injured.

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    Rain Hampers Landing of Brazil Flight


    On December 14, 2013, an Azul Linhas Aereas Embraer with 98 aboard was en route from São Paulo to Uberlândia-Eduardo Gomes Airport when it made a landing on wet pavement and suffered a runway excursion skidding on to soft grass. There were no injuries reported.

    According to Sergeant Ramos, emergency services assisted.

    The accident closed the airport pending removal of the plane. There was no damage to the Embraer 195, which operated the flight AD 6913, and Azul’s reports stressed that there were no injury to any of the 93 passengers and five crew members.

    Subsequently on the 14th, after heavy rain was recorded, the Civil Defense of Uberlândia asked the population to avoid going through critical points referred to in the city due to possible flooding.

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    Nordstar Compression Alert over Open Door

    A Nordstar Airlines emergency landing at Krasnoyarsk occurred after a cabin decompression alarm indicated problems aboard the Krasnoyarsk to Norilsk flight.

    Pilots returned the Boeing 737 to Krasnoyarsk and made a safe landing at 6:26. An inspection revealed that a door had not been properly closed. The open door was unable to maintain cabin compression adequately, although the door itself was in working order.

    No one was injured. Nordstar Airlines is now reviewing its procedures and local officials are opening an inquiry.