Carrier

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    Delta Flats Land in Atlanta


    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact photographer Alessandro Lukas

    What: Delta Airlines Boeing 737-800 en route from Denver to Atlanta
    Where: Denver
    When: Jun 24th 2011
    Who: 159 passengers and 6 crew
    Why: On takeoff, the flight blew two tires.

    Pilots continued to Atlanta where they made a safe landing on the blown tires. After landing, the plane stopped on the runway, the tires replaced, and then the flight continued to the gate, when passengers disembarked normally.

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    SATA Emergency Landing in Funchal

    What: SATA International Airbus A320-200 en route from Funchal to Copenhagen
    Where: Funchal Portugal
    When: Jun 20th 2011
    Who: 104 passengers, 6 crew
    Why: On takeoff, the plane flew through a flock of birds, resulting in damage to both engines. There was vibration but no loss of power. Within a quarter of an hour, the pilot landed safely back at Funchal.

    Both engines ingested seagulls, resulting in damaged fan blades. Also, on impact with a gull, one of the cargo doors opened.

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    Flight Data Recorders Beyond 447

    Honeywell could be resting on its laurels, since the Honeywell Flight Data Recorders aboard Air France Flight 447 certainly performed, resisting two years worth of extreme water pressure and temperature. Skeptics did not expect the data to be recoverable. The fact is that the flight data recorders working for two years at 12,800 feet is operability beyond the design parameters. They were only expected to last about 28 days under water.

    The FDR reports confirmed that in the minutes leading up to the crash, pilots were given conflicting speed readings.

    The event does provide Honeywell a wakeup call with at least one FDR feature.

    The only thing that gave out within 28 days was the battery. Honeywell plans to extend battery life.

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    Mangalore: Two Pilot Tales, Which is true?

    There are two accounts of the Pilot Alexander Glusicia’s situation prior to the Mangalore-Dubai-Mangalore flight. We wonder which of these versions is true.

    1. Alexander (Zlatko) Glusica was initially not rostered by Air India to fly on the day of the crash— not scheduled to fly till May 23.. His schedule had last minute changes, when Glusica was asked to fly though he was fatigued, having just returned from a Serbian vacation.

    2. Capt Glusica had landed in Mangalore two days in advance, and was plenty rested prior to flying.
    Officials claim the family had opportunity to appear before the Court of Inquiry but they never came.

    PILOT NOT ORIGINALLY SCHEDULED TO FLY

    What: Air India Express Boeing 737-800 en route from Dubai to Mangalore
    Where: Mangalore airport
    When: 6:00 a.m May 22 2010
    Who: Passengers include 23 children, 6 crew, 158 fatalities and 8 survivors

    First report

    Remember Flight 812

    Read More

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    Lufthansa and Egyptair Close Call


    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact photographer Khor

    What: Lufthansa Airbus A340-600 en from New York to Munich


    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact photographer Howard Pain

    What: Egyptair Boeing 777-300 en route from New York Cairo
    Where: JFK’s runway 22R
    When: Jun 20th 2011

    Why: The Lufthansa Airbus was next and at high speed when ATC cancelled their clearance. Lufthansa subsequently rejected takeoff and slowed. Takeoff was delayed for about two hours, until after brakes were checked.

    Simultaneously, the Egyptair Boeing was taxiing for departure and holding, but missed their turn and accidentally turned on to runway 22. The Egyptair flight vacated the runway as directed. The flight took off 75 minutes later.

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    Lufthansa having a bad day

    What: Lufthansa Airbus A330-300 en route from Frankfurt/Main to Seattle,WA
    Where: Calgary
    When: Jun 18th 2011
    Who: 197 aboard
    Why: Over Greenland, the Airbus A330-300 developed APU and generator failure. On board electrics failed (right hand generator (engine Trent 772), affecting reading lights, cabin and lav lighting. The crew initially was going to divert to Edmonton, but diverted to Calgary when there was a medical emergency.

    The flight made a safe landing.

    And about fifteen minutes later…
    What: Lufthansa Airbus A340-300, registration D-AIGX performing flight LH-494 from Frankfurt/Main (Germany) to Calgary,AB
    Where: Calgary
    When: June 18, 2011
    Who: 213 aboard
    Why: The Lufthansa flight made an emergency landing with rescue services on standby when they developed a hydraulic problem while approaching Calgary.

    The plane made a normal landing.

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    Emergency landing on Midway Atoll

    What: Delta Airlines Boeing 747-400 en route from Honolulu to Osaka
    Where: 300 nm southeast of Sand Island/Midway Atoll
    When: June 17, 2011
    Who: 359 passengers, 19 crew
    Why: While en route, a windshield cracked. Although they did not lose cabin pressure, the crew decided they had to land while it was daylight. The plane had two birdstrikes and had flap damage also.

    The pilots made a safe landing on a 7,900 foot runway on the atoll, Sand Island’s Henderson Field.

    Passengers waited on board until a replacement jet was provided within 16 hours. The replacement 747 jet left at 5:00 am before the “sea birds woke up.”

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    Emergency Landing in Caracas

    What: Delta Airlines Boeing 757-200 en route from Atlanta,GA to Brasilia
    Where: Caracas
    When: Jun 19th 2011
    Who: 119 aboard
    Why: En route near Caracas, the plane developed an issue with the right hand engine.
    The crew diverted to Caracas where they made a safe landing.

    A replacement jet was provided within 20 hours.

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    Turbulence Over Burlington Injures Jetblue Flight Attendants


    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact photographer Alejandro Torres

    What: Jetblue Airbus A320-200 en route from New York to Burlington,VT
    Where: Burlington
    When: Feb 19th 2011
    Who: 2 injured
    Why: On approach to Burlington, the plane encountered severe turbulence, which injured two flight attendants. The pilot continued, to make a safe landing in Burlington. Both attendants were hospitalized, one with bruises, and one with broken ribs.

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    Delta from Atlanta-Emergency Exit after Engine FIre


    Lare photo
    Contact the photographer John E. Jauchler

    What: Delta Airlines Boeing 757-200 en route from Atlanta to Los Angeles
    Where: Atlanta
    When: Jun 21st 2011
    Who: 174 passengers
    Why: Taking off out of Atlanta, the left hand engine indicated fire.

    The engine was shut down, and pilots made a landing back in Atlanta, ten minutes after takeoff. Passengers exited via emergency slides, resulting in three injuries.

    External examination of the engine reveals charring, and results of a fire inside the cowl.

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    Yemenia Flight 626 Ongoing Investigation

    Some airlines refuse to perform night approaches to the Moroni airport in the Comoros islands on the western coast of Grande Comoros. The airport is a non-redar environment, which means any inbound plane must use an instrument approach.

    That instrument approach was fatal for Flight 626, which crashed on June 30, nearly 2 years ago.

    International Lease Finance Corporation first leased the Airbus 310 to Air Liberté and from September 1999 to Yemenia airlines. In 2007, the plane had failed French inspections and was banned from French airspace. The French passengers aboard the flight had transferred to Flight 626 at Sana’a

    The crash is under investigation.

    Description of the runways of Moroni Airport:

    Length: 2900 meters Runway 02 is equipped with an automatic instrument landing system (ILS) Runway 20 is equipped with VOR-DME system (VHF Omni-directional Range navigation system, and Distance Measuring Equipment)

    work below cited from the Internet Wire, Feb 15, 2011 pNA
    LOS ANGELES, CA, Feb 15, 2011 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) — For the families of the victims of the Yemenia Airlines flight 626 plane crash on June 30, 2009, a group of California law firms has filed case BC452279 in Los Angeles Superior Court against International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC). The Airbus A310 leased by ILFC to Yemenia airlines crashed on approach to Prince Said Ibrahim International Airport, in Moroni, Comoros.

    The case charges both ILFC and the unnamed principals whose negligence contributed to the crash that killed a hundred and fifty-two individuals, and nearly killed the one survivor, 12-year-old Bahia Bakari who was rescued after spending thirteen hours adrift in the Indian Ocean.

    Plaintiffs assert that Yemenia Airlines was “incompetent, unfit, inexperienced and/or reckless in its operation as an air carrier,” which can be ascertained by looking at the airline’s “long and notorious history of poor maintenance on an epic scale, poor pilot training and total lack of compliance with minimum standards of safety at every level of the company from 1999 to the present” (including but not limited to substandard or non-existent SARP, training, inspections, pilot certification and supervision, plane maintenance and airworthiness, and in-house regulations/documentation.) As the leasing agency ILFC is responsible for seeing they lease to responsible airline operators.

    Yemenia Airlines Flight 749 flew from Marseille to Sana’a International Airport, where passengers disembarked from a different airbus, and boarded Flight 626 Airbus A310 (70-ADJ). This second Airbus had avoided European airspace since an inspection in 2007 revealed it as being in noncompliance with ICAO standards.

    “We expect that attorneys representing other families in France will want their clients to join this lawsuit in the United States,” explains George Hatcher, whose Air Crash Consultants firm provides international communications support, investigative, paralegal and claims management services in the case.

    The investigation is ongoing.

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    India’s BJP Chief’s Chartered Chopper Crashes

    What: SAR Aviation Bell 407 helicopter en route from Dehradun, Uttarakhand, to Sahastradhara India
    Where: Ladpur Jungle near Raipur, India
    When: June 19, 2011
    Who: 2 aboard, 0 fatalities
    Why: One of the choppers hired for porting Bharatiya Janata Party chief Nitin Gadkari and his family to Sahastradhara crashed, injuring a pilot and an engineer.

    The weather was clear at the time of the crash, and a technical problem is presumed. Two of the three choppers in the party landed safely. The BJP chief and family were not aboard the Bell helicopter at the time of the crash.

    The chopper broke in to pieces on impact and just missed Vigyan Vihar, a residential area. There were no casualties on the ground.

    SAR is Swajas Aviation Company based in Chennai.

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    RusAir Flight 9605

    With forty-three passengers and nine crew aboard, RusAir Flight 9605/RusLine Flight 243 crashed near Petrozavodsk Airport, Petrozavodsk, Russia, on 20 June 2011. The Tupolev Tu-134A-3 was flying from Domodedovo International Airport, Moscow, to Petrozavodsk and crashed on approach in bad weather, crashing on highway A133, 3,900 ft shy of the runway. The plane was flying off-course by about 660 ft. Subsequent to this crash, all Tu-134s were withdrawn from commercial service in Russia. Forty-seven people died. Of the five injured, the only surviving crew member was a flight attendant.

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    The Callous Abandonment of Air France Flight 447

    It’s difficult for me to comprehend why we cancelled earlier searches. I’m certain we do not have any new technology now that we didn’t already have 2 years ago. The subs used have been gradually fine-tuned, but not significantly in the past two years.

    It is common knowledge now that the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute team, running a couple of AUVs (Autonomous Underwater Vehicle) Remus 6000’s were barely a week into the fourth search when they discovered the location of pieces of the wreckage of the fallen Airbus, flight 447 in an area thought of as an underwater “Himalayas”. Mike Purcell, Senior Engineer of the Woods Hole team, has attributed the discovery to the ability of the Remus being able to submerge to 6000 meters (which means being able to follow the underwater mountain range cliffs, ravines, and slopes); and to the decision to start close to the last known position of the plane.

    I do wonder why this was the fourth search; there should have been only one— a single search that continued until the wreckage was found.

    Maybe there is no correct time to be critical, and if I am critical, it is not of the search team who did a splendid, if not all but impossible job, in finding the wreckage. It is entirely the human effort that made the difference, because although the AUVs are autonomous, they are not truly intelligent. They had to be daily programmed, and with three units running, this means three times the (sonar) data had to be daily downloaded, processed and analyzed. The team learned how to deal with managing the challenging demersal topography, and reading the visual output which were sonar abstractions that look like etch-a-sketch scribbles. The expert on board analysts had 15 years of experience in interpreting this data.

    For the search team, I have only praise.

    My point of criticism is for the decision makers, and it is founded on behalf of concern for the families.

    We are hearing how well preserved the remains were, due to the temperature and water pressure. We are hearing about how only some of the remains were retrieved.

    Why only some?

    All the bereaved families should have the right to retrieve their loved ones. All of the families should have the right to place their loved ones in a known and tangible resting place.

    It is a chilling callousness on behalf of the planners to advise their team to knowingly leave behind even so much as a single hair, if that hair was known to be that of one of the victims. The decision betrays a chilling callousness; an act of deliberate abandonment. It reminds me of those all fallen into a “deep place…where the sun is silent”, in Dante’s hell. “Abandon all hope, all ye who enter here.”

    And now, we’re back to where we started, only worse. Many bodies were not recovered. Are they lost forever?

    I can all but guarantee you that the future holds some grisly Titanic/Disney-esque treasure-seeking macarbre (or sugared) revisitation of the tragic ground, private touring expeditions seeking out the latitude and longitude, with camera, wallet, and catching net in hand. Movie rights and treasure hunters-a marriage made in hell, or Hollywood.

    This is no Dante’s tale. For the bereaved families there will be no poetic justice. They will live knowing forever that their loved ones were found…came this close to being returned…and left behind, if not in the nine circles of hell, then across the oceans in that “deep place…where the sun is silent” and all hope abandoned.

  • Stranded Friday, United Airlines Unglitched Saturday

    Stranded Friday, June 17, 2011 is over.

    United Airlines flyers will be glad to know that the network connectivity problem that led to all UA flights being grounded is fixed. Stranded Friday only lasted 5 hours though repercussions won’t be confined to those 300 minutes. Long lines appeared, with stranded passengers stuck overnight, on an international scale.

    United and Continental merged in May 2010 but Continental was able to continue operations.

    Ticket agents were mystified and besieged. Everything is online, including check-in, so there was no choice but to stop everything.

    The five hour interruption in service will be affecting schedules for up to a week in Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles and San Francisco. For affected passengers, during the duration of the event, their information disappeared, and they were stranded.

    31 flights cancelled, 105 flights delayed

    Ironically, the United Airline ticket refund request is an online function. During the event, announcements were made that rescheduling of affected flights will not incur additional charges.

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    Unglued Hallucinating Terrorist LIkely Heading for Siberia


    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact photographer Svido Stanislav

    What: Gazpromavia Boeing 737-700 en route from Moscow to Nadym
    Where: Nadym
    When: Jun 16th 2011
    Who: 51 passengers and 5 crew
    Why: Unruly passenger had hallucinations, threatened airline crew, claimed his phone was a bomb, etc. Emergency services met the flight when it landed and took the passenger off their hands, where he was taken to a mental hospital and diagnosed with “alcoholic hallucinosis.”

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    Cracking Windshield Leads Delta to Vegas


    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact photographer Jason Whitebird

    What: Delta Airlines Boeing 757-200 en route from Los Angeles to New York
    Where: Las Vegas
    When: Jun 16th 2011
    Why: While en route, the right windshield of the Boeing developed a crack.

    The flight crew diverted to Las Vegas where they made a safe landing. The disposition of the passengers is not known, though we presume that the passengers were provided alternative flights to Kennedy airport

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    Bad Day for Air Europa Flaps


    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact photographer Galen Burrows

    What: Air Europa Boeing 737-800 en route from Madrid,SP to Lanzarote,CI
    Where: Lanzarote
    When: Jun 16th 2011
    Why: On approach to Lanzarote, the plane developed flap problems. The crew responded by entering a holding pattern, and shortly afterward landed with flaps up. Touchdown was lower and at a higher speed but a safe landing.

    What: Air Europa Boeing 737-800 en route from Lanzarote,CI to Bilbao,SP
    Where: Bilbao
    When: Jun 16th 2011
    Why: The same plane was on approach to Bilbao and suffered a reoccurrence of the flap problem.

    The pilots diverted to Madrid. Touchdown was lower and at a higher speed but a safe landing.

    In George’s Opinion
    One can not help but wonder what was going on behind the scenes here–if they had an attempted-but-failed flap repair in maintenance, or if someone had a boneheaded thought process of flying a disabled plane.

    We do not have a record here that this was a ferry flight, so whether or not there were commercial passengers aboard, someone else will have to enlighten us.

    Hopefully the flaps problem will be repaired rather than continuing to subject the crew to a less-than-airworthy plane. Good on you to the flight crew of EC-III

    .

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    Croatian Pilots Survive Coyote Crash but not the Fire

    What: Rans S-6 Coyote
    Where: Letjelište Zvekovac, Croatia
    When: June 16, 2011
    Who: 2 fatalities, one injury
    Why: A home built ultralight carrying two passengers on a training exercise crashed at an airfield two hundred feet from the runway between 10:00 and 10:15 pm. The plane fell from the sky, and exploded when it impacted the ground. A local farmer who was on site to cut the grass attempted to come to the aid of the pilots who were calling for help, and was injured by the fire.

    The light aluminum frame burned quickly.

    Apparently Vladimir Bodiš and Marinko Lovri? survived the impact but died in the fire. Bodiš was an Eagle test pilot with a commercial license, and Lovri? taught military pilots although a Croatian newspaper said they found no license for him.

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    Delta Flight Cancelled over Jacksonville—Engine Lost and Recovered

    What: Delta Airlines McDonnell Douglas MD-88 en route from Jacksonville FL to Atlanta.
    Where: Jacksonville
    When: Jun 15th 2011, 10:30 p.m
    Who: 135 aboard
    Why: Taking off from Jacksonville, they had a compressor stall.

    The pilots recovered the left engine, and made a safe landing back in Jacksonville, in spite of a loud bang that occurred. They stopped on the runway (which had been inspected for debris). A passenger told reporters that there was an engine sparking.

    Emergency vehicles were on hand.

    Passengers disembarked, and were provided an alternative flight.

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    Virgin Emergency Diversion to Hobart

    What: Virgin Australia Boeing 737-700 en route from Brisbane to Launceston
    Where: Hobart
    When: Jun 16th 2011
    Who: 56 passengers
    Why: On approach to Launceton, the crew noted a flaps asymmetry, and aborted the approach. They burned off fuel, and diverted to Hobart where they made a safe landing. Passengers feared for their lives but apparently were not in as much danger as they feared.

    Subsequently, due to Puyehue ash concerns, they took a bus to Launceston. The flight was carrying the Gold Coast Suns football team.

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    Piper Crashes in Australia


    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact photographer Ignatius

    What: TRENK Contracting Pty. Ltd. Piper PA-46-310P en route from Doolgunna to Meekatharra
    Where: Meekatharra Airport Australia
    When: June 15, 2011, 9:00 am
    Who: Pilot and passenger
    Why: The pilot and passenger in a piper that was flying from Doolgunna to Meekatharra are both hospitalized today, after crashing short of the Meekatharra runway.

    The plane’s right wing and undercarriage were smashed, and the hood was lost. Meekatharra voluntary brigade reported a fuel spill but nothing that would cause a fire.

    Both pilot and passenger only had minor injuries, and one was already discharged from Meekatharra Hospital. One injured party was flown to Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital in Perth.

    The crash is under investigation by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau who declined to make a statement.

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    Bird Strike Damages American Airlines, Endangers Flight


    Capture from video posted below

    What: American Airlines MD-80 en route from Dallas/Fort Worth to Norfolk Virginia
    Where: DFW airport
    When: June 13 2011, 6:15 pm
    Who: 122 passengers and 5 crew
    Why: On takeoff from Dallas/ Fort Worth , Monday’s American Airlines flight struck a flock of (20+) pigeons, damaging the cone and right wing and requiring an emergency landing. The plane had to be taken out of service for repairs, and bird part extractions. Dead birds littered the runway.

    Birds can be a problem at the 29 square mile airport. Attached you can view a wildlife management news clip demonstrating a wildlife expert’s noise system used to disrupt the birds.

    View more videos at: http://nbcdfw.com.