What: Far Eastern Air Transport McDonnell Douglas MD-82 en route from Taipei to Makung Where: Makung When: May 16th 2012, 10:45am Who: 165 aboard Why: On landing in Making in rain and wind, the plane exceeded a stop line on the runway which was abbreviated due to construction. Minimal damage occurred to the plane but runway lights were damaged.
Although a Taipei news report calls into question the pilot’s braking, the weather and the fact that the runway was shortened due to construction should be mentioned.
The Aviation Safety Council has begun an investigation into the incident.
What: Lufthansa Airbus A319-100 en route from Frankfurt to Erbil Where: Nuremberg When: May 15th 2012 Why: After taking off from Frankfort, the plane was struck by lightning.
There was a storm front around Nuremberg. The plane remained on the ground; and a replacement jet took passengers to Erbil.
Identification of the 15 victims of the Agni Air Crash in Nepal is going to be a difficult task, due to the condition of the remains.
The six survivors have been hospitalized in from critical to serious condition. A six year old, and a nine year old along with their father, are among the survivors. They are hospitalized Pokhara. Their father is in ICU and may survive.
Among the dead is the Rasna girl, actress Taruni Sachdev, Sanam Sundhar, G Raman, Latha Ethambai, mother of two children who survived and Swarnalakshmi.
After autopsy, the bodies of the victims will be handed over to their families. Everyone on the flight had visited the Iskcon temple at Chowpatty and were on their way to the Muktinath temple in Nepal, when the pilot turned with plane trouble, his intent to return to Pokhara Airport, and his wing struck a muddy slope, crashing the plane.
What: US Airways Boeing 757-200 en route from Philadelphia,PA to Orlando,FL Where: Orlando When: May 11th 2012 Why: The flight was en route when there was a bird strike impacting the nose. The bird made a “significant” dent in the plane. ATC says “Looks like you guys got punched in the nose, US Air”
What: Qantas Boeing 737-800 en route from Perth to Kalgoorlie Australia Where: Kalgoorlie When: May 13th 2012 Why: The flight was on approach to Kalgoorlie when it was struck by lightning.
Pilots returned to Perth and made a safe landing. A replacement jet was provided for the passengers.
What: Ryanair Boeing 737-800 en route from Eindhoven to Ibiza Where: Paris When: May 15th 2012 Why: The flight was en route over Paris when a problem developed, and the crew diverted to Brussels where they made a safe landing at Brussels South Charleroi Airport (BSCA).
The plane will be examined to determine the nature of the problem. (We an only assume the rocking motion passengers complained of was not turbulence.)
What: Agni Air Dornier 228 en route from Pokhara to Jomsome Airport, Nepal Where: Jomsom Airport, Nepal When: May 14, 2012, 9.45 a.m Who: 21 aboard, 15 fatalities 18 passengers, 3 crew Why: Fifteen minutes after taking off from Pokhara, the plane with 21 passengers aboard crashed by Jomsom Airport, Nepal. Reports say that a wing contacted ground 890 feet north of the airport, and the nose embedded/impacted a muddy slope. Reports are the plane was attempting to return to Pokhara.
At the time of approach, weather was fine, though clear air turbulence can occur any time. Investigations will begin regarding technical problems with the plane, including the one that made the pilots turn back to the airport. Five surviving passengers were airlifted to Pokhara, for medical care at the Manipal College of Medical Sciences. The plane impacted behind the army barracks. There were 16 Indians aboard. A Danish couple, Emilie Jorgensen, 29, and Andreas Rasch, 30, are said to have survived the crash.
The information numbers available for family members are 00-977-1-4423702 00-977-1-4410900, extn.4109, 00-977-1-4411699, extn. 4109.
The passengers had been going to visit a pilgrimage site, Muktinath.
Reports are that most of the fatalities were Indian. One source, myrepublica.com said that there were 15 fatalities and six rescued. Numbers may not be accurate.
The bodies of pilot Prabhu Sharan Pathak and co-pilot J.D. Maharjan were among those recovered.
The marketing director of Agni Air, Pramod Pandey, said that there were 16 indians aboard, and six survivors. Three children, two foreigners and an air hostess R. Haiju survived at least to the hospital, all in critical condition.
Jomsom airport is known for unpredictable turbulence.
External Affairs Minister S M Krishna has posted a letter of condolences.
I am deeply saddened to hear about the tragic air crash that occurred earlier this morning near Jomsong airport in Nepal. I would like to convey my deep condolences to the families of all those who have lost their lives in this accident. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of all those who have lost their near and dear ones.
* Mr. K. Mamanya
* Mr. S.K. Arora
* Mr. M. Handa
* Mrs. M. Arora
* Ms. R. Handa
* Mr. K. Arora
* Ms. T. Sachdev
* Ms. G. Sachdev
* Mr. Sanaim Sudhar
* Mr. G. Raman
* Mr. Kidambi Tirumala
* Ms. Latha Echambade
* Mr. Sreeva Kidambi Tirumala
* Ms. Sreepada Kidambi Tirumala
* Mr. Kumar
* Mrs. Kumar
What: Skywork Airlines Dornier Do-328-100 en route from Bern to Vienna Where: Zurich When: Mar 14th 2012 Why: While en route, the plane developed a problem with cabin pressure. The crew had perform a descent to safe levels.
Pilots returned to Bern where they made a safe landing.
What: Bourgault Industries Piper PA-28 Cherokee What: Lake LA-4-200 Buccaneer amphibious plane Where: Brieux, Saskatchewan When: May 12, 2012 Who: 5 fatalities Why: Two men and a boy were aboard the Piper PA-28 en route from Calgary to St. Brieux to pick up plane parts; and a woman and man were aboard the amphibious plane flying from Regina to La Ronge.
The planes made some kind of impact in the air, after which both planes impacted the ground. The Buccaneer plane was found in shallow water. Piper debris was found around Brieux.
The Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Trenton, Ont said that indications are that the planes made contact at low altitude and it appears that the amphibious plane struck the Piper.
The planes were found less than a kilometre apart with a debris field of more than a mile.
Bourgault Industries is a airline seeding company. The RCMP asked Jerry Bourgault to assist, and he flew his Piper Super Cub to find the debris field.
What: Air India Boeing 777 en route from Frankfurt to Chicago Where: Bucharest When: May 12, 2012 10:25 Who: 303 passengers and 17 crew Why: The flight was en route over Romania when a door warning went off, alerting the pilot of a potential problem.
One source reported the problem as a door alarm; another source said there was a cargo smoke indication.
Passengers deplaned via stairs as on examination, no indication of fire or heat was found. Passengers were then provided hotel accommodations.
The pilot informed ATC in Bucharest and shortly later made a safe landing. The cargo door was examined but no problems were found. The issue was chalked up to being a false alarm.
The plane awaited takeoff pending an allocated scheduled landing-time in Chicago.
What: US Airways/ Air Wisconsin Canadair CRJ-200 en route from Portland Maine to Philadelphia Where: Boston When: May 10th 2012 Who: 50 passengers and 3 crew Why: A passenger with a history of seizures and on medication attempted to open the door while en route.
The disruptive passenger was caught by a flight attendant, who stopped him. He told her he was going to the bathroom. The attendant led him to a seat in the rear of the plane where state police found him. Other passengers may have been upset or frightened by the incident, but under normal conditions, it’s not physically possible to open the door while in flight anyway.
Pilots diverted the flight to Boston where the disruptive passenger was offloaded, presumably by gentlemen in white coats.
Michael Ensalaco, 40, of Mooresville, N.C was charged with interfering with a flight crew. His lawyer explained that his seizure disorder is similar to sleep walking.
In George’s Point of View
While a medical event should not be handled in the same way as a malicious act, perhaps someone with this tendency should not fly, or else they should not sleep during the flight, and also be obligated to inform the flight crew ahead of time. It could happen to anyone taking Ambien!
What: Turkish Airbus en route from Istanbul to Johannesburg Where: Entebbe When: May 11, 2012 Who: 230 passengers Why: A Turkish Airlines Airbus developed a technical problem and diverted to Entebbe for an emergency landing.
No injures were reported.
An undisclosed source said the airport received radio calls hurrying them to clear a runway prior to the unscheduled landing of the Turkish Airlines flight.
As you see, few details are available regarding this event. The Turkish Airlines offices in Kampala did not respond. An unofficial and unconfirmed blog post seemed to imply the event was a simulation.
Passengers were provided hotel accommodations.
So our choices for this unconfirmed situation is that this happened, didn’t happen, was pretended to have happened, or someone is pretending it didn’t happen. Your guess is as good as ours, or may be better.
What: Privately owned Cessna 401 en route from Riverside Kansas to Council Bluffs Kansas Where: Thomas Road between 1900 & 2000 or 9 miles west of Chanute, KS When: May 11, 2012 16:36 Who: 5 aboard, 3 fatalities Why: The privately owned Cessna was en route to Council Bluffs when it told ATC it requested permission to descend to a lower altitude, then crashed near Chanute and caught on fire. The plane skidding 200 feet across a field before it hit trees.
23-year-old pilot, Luke F. Sheets, Garret Coble of Tulsa and Stephen J. Luth, 22 died in the crash according to Shawnee County Coroner’s Office-Topeka.
22-year-old Hannah N. Luce of Texas and 27-year-old Austin G. Anderson were injured. Hannah was hospitalized at KU Medical Center-Kansas City, KS and Austin at Christi St. Francis Hospital-Wichita.
Chanute is about 90 miles northwest of Joplin, Mo.
The plane crashed in a field east of Highway 75. Two of the five aboard survived the crash.
What: US Airways Boeing 757-200 en route from Dublin to Charlotte Where: Gander When: May 8th 2012 Why: After taking off from Dublin, one of the engines developed a situation not unlike a stuck carburetor.
Pilots troubleshooted (troubleshot?) the problem but then shut down the engine and diverted to diverted to Gander, where they made a safe landing.
The mechanical repair was performed. (The issue was mechanical, not digital.) Meanwhile, a replacement flight was provided to transport the passengers to Charlotte.
What: China Southern Airlines Boeing 777-200 en route from Guangzhou to Shanghai Where: Guangzhou When: May 10th 2012 Who: 9 injured Why: Twenty minutes after taking off from Guangzhou, the plane encountered clear air turbulence.
Those who weren’t buckled in, including flight attendants, were injured during the turbulence. Injuries included fractures, and other injuries. The extent of the turbulence is being reported as “a pocket of extreme turbulence.”
One passenger blogged “I had a horrible feeling that I was going to die at that moment because I suddenly felt being weightless.”
A flight attendant and her dining cart were tossed in the air.
Pilots continued to Shanghai, where nine injured were transported to hospital facilities.
The plane was grounded for inspection but later released for service.
What: Ryanair Boeing 737-800 en route from Gothenburg Sweden to London Where: Gothenburg When: May 8th 2012 Who: one injury Why: A flight attended closing the door fell out of the plane.
Presumably wind may have been a factor in the door issue.
The injured attendant was taken to the hospital. A number of passengers deplaned, presumably to keep the Ryanair crew/passenger ratio at least one flight attendant for every 50 passengers.
What: Niki Airbus A321-200 en route from Malaga to Vienna Where: Vienna When: May 6th 2012 Who: 1 injury Why: The plane had made a safe landing but at the gate, a loading bridge malfunction occurred. The bridge lifted the plane and damaged the door. Passengers did not disembark through the bridge, but instead through the back. One person who had initially said she was unhurt had a fracture. The plane received substantial damage.
The airline reported that docking was correct but a sensor malfunctioned.
What: Egypt Air Airbus A321-200 en route from Aleppo to Cairo Where: Aleppo When: May 6th 2012 Who: 130 passengers Why: While taking off from Aleppo, the plane had a tail strike, impacting the runway. The pilots diverted to Larnaca where they made a safe landing. No reports were made of personal injury but the plane was damaged. A replacement flight was sent to carry the passengers to Cairo.
In George’s Point of View
I cannot help but wonder why pilots decided to climb to 31000 feet and continue to Lanarca instead of returning to Aleppo. Wouldn’t potential damage from a tail strike possibly affect cabin pressure and put the flight at risk? Wouldn’t standard procedure be to do a fly-by for a visual assessment, and a return to the airport? Or is there an Egypt Air or Airbus repair facility at Lanarca? It just seems like it was a risky choice.
What: Aerosvit/Dniproavia Embraer ERJ-145 en route from Dnepropetrovsk to Moscow Where: Moscow When: May 5th 2012 Who: 22 passengers Why: While landing in Moscow, halfway down the runway the plane veered right and stopped on soft ground. No injuries or damage to the plane was reported. The Embraer was formerly owned by Alitalia Express, along with another Embraer, UR-DNS.
What: Sichuan Airlines Airbus A319-100 en route from Nantong to Wuhan Where: Wuhan When: May 5th 2012 Why: On approach to Wuhan, the plane suffered a bird strike on the left wing slat and rib.
Airbus sent a repair crew to perform repairs in Whuhan.
What: Transasia Avion de Transport Regional ATR-72-500 en route from Taipei to Makung Where: Taipei When: May 2nd 2012 Who: 72 passengers Why: Ten minutes after taking off, the pilots received an overheat indication from the left engine. They returned to Taipei and made a safe landing.
What: Air France Airbus A340-300 en route from Paris Charles de Gaulle to Detroit Where: Cork When: May 2nd 2012 Why: While en route, the plane developed a technical problem and had to divert to Cork and make an emergency landing.
The technical problem involved transponder data. After maintenance, the plane was returned to service.
What: Airblue Airbus A319-100 en route from Karachi to Peshawar Where: Karachi When: May 4th 2012 Why: After take-off, the flight developed cabin pressure problems.
Pilots returned to Karachi and made a safe landing.
