A Ryanair plane clipped the wing of a Turkish Airlines aircraft at Malta International Airport, Malta, on January 17th.
The incident happened when the Turkish Airlines plane was departing for Istanbul, Turkey, while the Ryanair flight from Bari, Italy, was taxiing to an apron.
No injuries were reported.
A Pakistan International Airlines plane collided with a passenger stair car at Islamabad International Airport, Pakistan, on December 27th.
The incident happened when flight PK-373 was preparing to depart for Karachi, Pakistan.
No injuries were reported. A wing of the aircraft sustained damage.
A Pakistan International Airlines plane collided with another plane at Jinnah International Airport in Karachi, Pakistan, on November 24th.
It is believed that the ATR aircraft was being given a run-up as part of its examination when it hit a Shaheen Air aircraft parked nearby.
No injuries were reported. The ATR aircraft sustained substantial damage.
A Qatar Airways plane was hit by a water tanker at Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport in Kolkata, India, on November 1st.
The incident happened when passengers were boarding the plane that was scheduled to depart for Doha, Qatar.
The passengers were evacuated safely. The plane sustained substantial damage.
A helicopter and a small plane collided mid-air in Philippsburg, Germany, on January 23rd.
Authorities said four people were killed in the crash, including two occupants of the plane and two helicopter pilots.
The cause of crash is being investigated.
Two planes collided at Toronto Pearson International Airport, Canada, on January 5th.
Authorities said a WestJet plane, inbound from Cancun, Mexico, was waiting to go to a gate when a Sunwing Airlines plane, moving back from a gate, struck it.
The Sunwing plane caught fire after the accident.
There were one hundred and sixty-eight passengers and six crew members aboard the WestJet plane at the time; all of them were safely evacuated via emergency slides.
Authorities said the Sunwing aircraft was empty at the time of accident; it was being towed by the ground handlers.
Sunwest Aviation flight CNK-7123 collided with two deer upon landing at Christina Lake Airstrip, located east of Conklin, Alberta, Canada, on October 3rd.
The incident happened when the plane was coming from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
The plane sustained minor damage.
There were forty-three passengers and four crew members aboard at the time; all of them remained unharmed.
Lufthansa flight LH-456 continued for a safe landing at Los Angeles International Airport, Los Angeles, California, on March 18.
The Airbus A380-800, flying from Frankfurt, Germany to Los Angeles, California, was on its approach to runway when it encountered an object passing over, presumably a drone.
The plane landed safely.
All 525 people onboard remained unharmed.
The incident is being investigated.
According to the BEA, they will release the final report on Germanwings 9525 on Sunday, March 13, 2016 during a press briefing. I plan to be there.
Although the public has not seen the final report, and indeed, as the investigation has not yet even been completed, the world already understands what happened aboard this tragic flight. What we really do not understand—and perhaps never will—is what drove Germanwings co-pilot Andreas Lubitz to research cockpit door security and methods of committing suicide. We do not know what drove a depressed human being to impel the plane and all the lives in his safekeeping into the side of a French mountain, condemning every soul aboard that plane to death. We do not know the devils that hounded him into this cold-blooded act. We only mourn, perhaps, his loss of humanity, as we mourn alongside the grieving families who have been robbed of their loved ones and their rightful lives.
All passenger/families received a total of 8 million euros, divided equally among them. Media reports on what passengers received from Lufthansa varies.
In the German media, the Rheinische Post claimed officials of the German airline said families of the 144 passengers have obtained different compensation amounts. It is also reported that Lufthansa group has paid 11.2 million euros ($12.48 million) to the families. Additional “uncalculated” compensation in “property damages” is still coming from Lufthansa to the families.
This compensation…coming from Lufthansa, whose 2014 profit was declared “flat” at a mere $31.7 billion, announced in October of 2015 a nine-month net profit of €1.75 billion ($ 1.97 billion), up 262.7% from €482 million. The tragedy which destroyed 150 lives, and crippled all of their families appears to have left Lufthansa’s bottom line untouched.
Do we also mourn and grieve and condemn Lufthansa? The depth of the ethics and principals of this many billion dollar company—the largest airline in Europe—remains to be seen. We can ask ourselves if this is a high-principled company of good repute, of sterling honor. We need not conjecture long. A tangible answer will be obvious when these decisions are made. We will see where lie their priorities when we learn how they treat the families whose lives hang in the balance in their custodianship.
United Airlines Flight 1199 (Boeing 737-990/ER) had just landed from Newark with 175 aboard; Alaska Airlines flight 143 (Boeing 757-224) to Portland was departing with 182 aboard when they made contact.
The left hand winglet of the arriving 737 contacted the right hand horizontal stabilizer of the departing 757. Fortunately the Alaska jet was not on its take-off run, so the impact happened at a crawl (i.e. “taxiing at a low speed.”). Passengers said they felt a jolt. The planes were stuck together; and part of one plane had “snapped off.”
The impact occurred at 7:51, derailing travel plans of the passengers, and scheduling for the two damaged jets. Some passengers were put up at local hotels, but there were no reported injuries.
A passenger who shot a well-circulated picture that was released on twitter was besieged with reporter requests to post the image. Actor Peter Cambor who was aboard also tweeted that the jets were “stuck together.”
Two Southwest Airlines Jets collided at Oakland International Airport, California, on August 30.
Authorities said the Orange County-bound flight 2674 was pushing back from the gate when its wing tip came in contact with another jet that had just arrived from Phoenix.
No injuries were reported.
Both aircrafts were grounded after the incident.
Two Cessna planes collided mid-air east of Fort McMurray in north-eastern Alberta, Canada, at around 8 p.m. on June 21.
One of the planes, a Cessna 185, landed safely at the Fort McMurray airport after the collision. The pilot, who was the only one aboard, remained uninjured.
The other plane, a Cessna 172, crashed in bushes. Both people aboard were pronounced dead at the scene. Their identities have not yet been released.
The Transportation Safety Board will investigate the incident.
A couple of acrobatic planes collided in an Alba Adriatica airshow maneuver and crashed into the sea. One pilot was transported to the hospital. The other pilot, Marco Ricci, lost a wing and could not exit his plane, and died. The plane was located four meters underwater, upside down and closed. Divers tried lifting it with air balloons. The National Agency for Flight Safety (ANSV) has opened an investigation. One plane was Van’s RV-7 # I-Amel; the other was Van’s RV-8 with #I-Lovi.
Ten people died near Villa Castelli in La Rioja province, Argentina when two helicopters (Eurocopter AS 350B3 Ecureuil) and (Eurocopter AS 350B2 Ecureuil) carrying French contestants, crew and two Argentine pilots collided and exploded during the production of ‘Dropped,’ a French reality show.
The fatalities included Laurent Sbasnik, Lucie Mei-Dalby, Volodya Guinard, Brice Guilbert, and Edouard Gilles of the French production team, and three celebrities: swimmer Camille Muffat, boxer Alexis Vastine, and French sailor Florence Arthaud, and the two Argentine pilots:Juan Carlos Castillo and Roberto Abate.
One helicopter, LQ-FJQ, was owned and operated by Gobierno de Santiago del Estero, and the other, LQ-CGK, by the Government of La Rioja.
A SpiceJet aircraft hit a buffalo while taking off from Surat airport in Gujarat, India, at around 7 p.m. on November 6.
The Boeing 737-800 was taking off for Delhi when it hit and killed a stray buffalo.
None of the 146 passengers and crew members reported any injuries.
The aircraft was grounded for repair while the passengers and crew members were shifted to another aircraft.
The airline said in statement, “Stray animals are a growing menace in some airports. This incident has affected our regular operations and hence SpiceJet flights from Surat will now be suspended indefinitely.”
The Civil Aviation Authority has ordered the Airports Authority of India and the Director General of Civil Aviation to investigate the incident separately.
Two Ryanair jets collided on a taxiway intersection at Dublin Airport, Ireland, shortly before 7 a.m. on October 7.
According to a statement released by the airline, “Two of our aircraft were taxiing slowly to the runway at Dublin Airport this morning…The winglet of one aircraft appears to have scraped the tail of the other…Both aircraft were under the instruction of Dublin Airport Air Traffic Control at the time.”
The statement further said, “There was no impact on customers on board and Ryanair contacted the IAA and worked with them to return both aircraft to stand…Affected customers disembarked, were provided with refreshment vouchers and boarded two replacement aircraft, which departed to Brussels Charleroi and Edinburgh later this morning…Ryanair apologises sincerely to customers for any inconvenience.”
The emergency personnel were called at the scene after the incident and the airport operations were temporarily halted. However, the officials confirmed that normal operations at Dublin airport were resumed shortly afterwards.
Both the Boeing 737 aircrafts are currently being repaired.
The Air Accident Investigation Unit (AAIU) will investigate the incident.
Two Ryanair Boeing 737-800 planes collided in the parking area of the London Stansted Airport, Essex, at around 6:50 a.m. on June 28. One of the planes was about to take off for Warsaw, Poland, while the other had just landed from Frankfurt Hahn, Germany.
The tail cone of one plane and the wing tip of the other was damaged in the collision. A spokesperson of the Stansted Airport said, “We can confirm two aircraft were involved in a minor collision while on the ground at Stansted this morning. Both planes suffered some damage but there were no reported injuries to passengers or crew.”
The passengers of the out-going flight had to face a three-hour delay before they were transferred to another plane.
Robin Kiely, the spokesperson of Ryanair, said, “Our Stansted-based engineering team are currently investigating and will repair both aircraft and return them to service as soon as possible… Ryanair sincerely apologises to the affected passengers for any inconvenience.”
Essex Police responded on the scene. They conducted routine breath tests on both of the pilots. There were no signs of alcohol. No further police action will be taken.
I don’t know if we should blame George Jetson and his hover car commute to work, or Bruce Willis’s talkative flying taxi in The Fifth Element, but the fiction world (or at least the world according to movie directors) predicts a day when flying cars will endure a traffic filled commute identical to gridlock traffic that occurs on rush hour highways. It’s a completely irrational view, given the state of contemporary air traffic control. I don’t see it happening. At least, not until planes or flying cars can defy gravity and manage to hover motionless on demand, the flying car commute to work can’t happen. Not with our current protections. And that’s a good thing. The extra safety measures we have today are essential, because because gravity works. We can only hope our safety measures are adequate, or better than adequate. Just to keep from falling, physics requires that planes have to hurtle through the air at high speed to stay aloft, and require a multitude of safety measures to keep from colliding at all angles. Planes rely on pilots, of course, but also air traffic control, which is supposed to monitor plane trajectory and make certain that planes are miles apart. Commercial planes also have the TCAS (traffic collision avoidance) system which relies on on board transponders that monitor airspace around a plane, in order to avoid airborne collisions.
I have ranted before about the misnomer of the near miss. If two planes nearly collide, they nearly hit. If they almost miss (i.e. near miss), then it must have actually hit. So I dislike the term, because it doesn’t mean what it sounds like it means. I’d be happy to play around with the semantics, though, if it meant we could avoid the actual situation of planes colliding or nearly colliding. It’s a crucial thing to consider, especially since there were two near air collisions plus a collision a couple of weeks ago.
One (nearly) happened when a United Airlines San Francisco-Newark flight (155 passengers and six crew), and a Newark-Memphis ExpressJet (47 passengers and three crew) flew within 200 feet laterally and 400 feet vertically. The Expressjet was taking off; and the United pilot was ordered to abort their landing, and circle the airport but instead chose to land the plane.
The preliminary report for the United flight says that “on Thursday, April 24, 2014, about 1503 eastern daylight time, a near midair collision occurred at Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR), Newark, New Jersey, when an Embraer ERJ145, departing EWR runway 4R for Memphis, Tennessee, passed in close proximity to a Boeing 737-800 arriving from San Francisco, California, intending to land on runway 29. Both aircraft were on regularly scheduled 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 121 passenger flights and under control of EWR airport traffic control tower (ATCT) at the time of the incident. There was no damage reported to either aircraft, or any injuries to passengers or crew.
The B737 contacted the EWR tower on the Bridge Visual approach to runway 29. The local controller instructed the pilot to follow a B717 ahead, and cleared the pilot to land on runway 29. When the B717 was on short final, the local controller instructed the ERJ145 pilot to line up and wait on runway 4R. After the B717 crossed runway 4R, the local controller cleared the ERJ145 for takeoff. At that time, the B737 was about three miles from the runway 29 threshold. The ERJ145 did not actually begin its takeoff roll until the B737 was about 1 mile from the runway 29 threshold. The local controller recognized that the spacing was insufficient and instructed the B737 to go around. He provided traffic advisories to both the B737 and the ERJ145 pilots and instructed the ERJ145 pilot to maintain visual separation from the B737. The ERJ145 pilot responded that he was going to keep the aircraft’s nose down. The B737 overflew the ERJ145 at the intersection of runways 29/4R.
According to recorded Federal Aviation Administration radar data, the closest lateral and vertical proximity was approximately 0.03 miles and 400 feet.”
The preliminary report for the ExpressJet flight says that “On Thursday, April 24, 2014, about 1503 eastern daylight time, a near midair collision occurred at Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR), Newark, New Jersey, when an Embraer ERJ145, departing EWR runway 4R for Memphis, Tennessee, passed in close proximity to a Boeing 737-800 arriving from San Francisco, California, intending to land on runway 29. Both aircraft were on regularly scheduled 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 121 passenger flights and under control of EWR airport traffic control tower (ATCT) at the time of the incident. There was no damage reported to either aircraft, or any injuries to passengers or crew.
The B737 contacted the EWR tower on the Bridge Visual approach to runway 29. The local controller instructed the pilot to follow a B717 ahead, and cleared the pilot to land on runway 29. When the B717 was on short final, the local controller instructed the ERJ145 pilot to line up and wait on runway 4R. After the B717 crossed runway 4R, the local controller cleared the ERJ145 for takeoff. At that time, the B737 was about three miles from the runway 29 threshold. The ERJ145 did not actually begin its takeoff roll until the B737 was about 1 mile from the runway 29 threshold. The local controller recognized that the spacing was insufficient and instructed the B737 to go around. He provided traffic advisories to both the B737 and the ERJ145 pilots and instructed the ERJ145 pilot to maintain visual separation from the B737. The ERJ145 pilot responded that he was going to keep the aircraft’s nose down. The B737 overflew the ERJ145 at the intersection of runways 29/4R.
According to recorded Federal Aviation Administration radar data, the closest lateral and vertical proximity was approximately 0.03 miles and 400 feet.”
A second close call occurred outside of Hawaii; but the preliminary reports have not been posted yet. Proximity between United Airlines Kona-Los Angeles Flight 1205 and a westbound US Airways Jet initiated a TCAS alert on the United flight. The Los Angeles-bound United pilot took evasive action and made a steep dive to avoid a collision. TCAS (and the alert pilot) saved the day, after what appears to have been an air traffic control error on the ground in Honolulu.
All four of the planes were better off than the two planes that collided on April 27, in Port Richmond, resulting in one fatality and two injuries. A Cessna and a Hawker collided in midair over San Pablo Bay north of Brother Island off Richmond, California. The Sea Fury landed at Ione, California, and the Cessna impacted the waters of San Pablo Bay. Two occupants aboard the Sea Fury were uninjured.
The preliminary report for the Cessna indicates that a couple of days after that near accident, a collision occurred. On April 27, 2014, about 1606 Pacific daylight time, a Cessna 210E, N4962U, and a Hawker Sea Fury, N20SF, collided in flight near Port Richmond, California. Sanders Aircraft, Inc., was operating both airplanes under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91. The private pilot in the Cessna sustained fatal injuries; the commercial pilot and one passenger in the Sea Fury were not injured. The Cessna was destroyed during the accident sequence, and the Sea Fury sustained substantial damage to the empennage. Both cross-country personal flights departed Half Moon Bay, California; the Sea Fury departed about 1530 and the Cessna departed at an unknown time. Both airplanes were en route to Eagle’s Nest Airport, Ione, California. Visual meteorological conditions (VMC) prevailed, and no flight plans had been filed.
The National Transportation Safety Board investigator-in-charge (IIC) interviewed the Sea Fury pilot. The Sea Fury pilot stated the he and the Cessna pilot had flown their airplanes to Half Moon Bay to display them at an open house for the airport.
The pilot reported that after departure, he flew over the airport, and rendezvoused with a Beechcraft A36 Bonanza for a photo shoot over the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, California. They flew several 360-degree patterns over the bridge, completed their photo work, and he set his course for the return to Ione.
While en route the Sea Fury pilot broadcast on a common frequency, and the Cessna pilot responded with his position. The Sea Fury pilot made visual contact with the Cessna, which was ahead and to his left. He broadcast to the Cessna pilot that he would pass low and to the left. The Cessna pilot responded that it would be a good picture. The Sea Fury pilot replied that probably not due to the speed differential; the Sea Fury airspeed was about 200 miles per hour. The Sea Fury pilot proceeded on a path that he thought would allow adequate separation; however, as he was passing the Cessna, he felt and heard a thump and he realized that the two airplanes had collided. He pulled up and looked over his shoulder and he observed the Cessna inverted and going down.
The Sea Fury pilot stated that he concentrated on flying his airplane, and initiated a climb, and conducted a controllability check to determine that he could control the airplane in the current configuration. He wanted to avoid populated areas, so he continued toward his home airport. While en route he contacted company personnel, who decided to fly another company airplane to meet and examine the Sea Fury’s condition. The Sea Fury pilot lowered the landing gear, and did a controllability check to include turns. He lowered the flaps, and repeated the testing. He reduced airspeed to a landing compatible speed of 130 mph, and checked controllability again. Determining that he had adequate control to land, he made a full stop landing at his home airport.
The Sea Fury is silver in color and the Cessna has blue wingtips with blue paint on the leading edge of both wings, on top of the cowling, and along the sides of the fuselage.
During the postaccident examination of the Sea Fury it was noted that the top remaining portion of the vertical stabilizer was crushed aft and down with blue paint transfer marks on the aft portion of the remaining metal. The operator reported that the missing vertical stabilizer section was about 12 inches long. The rudder had crush damage. The right elevator separated outboard of the middle hinge and about 3 feet of the elevator was missing. About 3 feet of the outboard section of the right horizontal stabilizer was missing. The outboard fracture surface was jagged and angular, and the upper surface had crushed inboard in an accordion fashion. Blue paint transfer marks and scratches were observed on the upper surface and within the folds of the metal.
The Cessna descended into San Pablo Bay, and the wreckage was retrieved on April 30. The recovered wreckage consisted of the fuselage and the engine. The left wing was not located. The propeller separated from the crankshaft, and was not located.
A similar report for the Hawker has also been published.
Flight has become commonplace, but we can not take it for granted.
An Emirates flight catering truck collided with a Urals Airline Airbus A320 at the Dubai International Airport, resulting in flight attendant Marina Zhelyamova getting injured. None of the 128 passengers were injured.
According to media reports, the plane was about to take off for Russia when the catering truck smashed into its tail. The collision made the female flight attendant to fall out through the open door.
Marina Zhelyamova was immediately taken to the hospital with a concussion, and later had surgery.
On November 2nd, 2013, the two Skydive Superior Cessnas (Cessna A185F Skywagon #WN94059, Cessna 182 #N6068Y) were flying over Wisconsin when one flew into another, forcing eleven people into emergency mode. Two pilots and nine skydivers made it to the ground alive, though part of the plane was described as breaking off into a fireball of burning debris that the skydivers had to avoid while they were coming down. The nine skydivers had been planning a tandem jump.
The Skywagon encountered wake turbulence, which lead to the collision and breakup of the lead aircraft.
Four jumpers were aboard the lead plane that broke apart.
One plane broke up and burned; the other pilot managed to land. The pilot of one plane used his emergency parachute and was injured enough on landing that he was hospitalized. The other managed to land at the airport, albeit with a broken wing and propeller.
The FAA is investigating.
On October 28,at 3;20 pm, a Mayday was declared when a Helicopter Line Aerospatiale AS 355 Ecureuil was landing and crashed into another of its own helicopters which had landed during a scenic tours.
There were seven people aboard at the time of the landing. The pilot, his six passengers and five passengers from the helicopter that was struck were all injured.
The pilot was landing near Tyndall Glacier in Mt Aspiring National Park.
Twelve injured were taken to Queenstown airport, including the pilot, who was later transferred to Dunedin Hospital.
An unmanned CEMIG Helibras HB-350B Esquilo (Eurocopter Ecureuil) in Celso Buelo Brazil was parked with its pilot nearby when the helicopter was struck by an articulated semi that was rolling on its own. The truck driver had forgotten to apply the brakes.
The helicopter sustained damage in the horizontal stabilizer and tail cone.
Both the helicopter and the semi had been parked, and neither had a driver aboard at the time of the collision.
Hello three stooges airport, Detroit.
Delta Expressjet Flight 5365 was backing up before taking off for Tulsa (picture cartoon airplane backing up, and running in place. You know how cartoon figures always do that before they go fast…)
The wingtip of the Expressjet plane got stuck in the window of a vehicle around 4 pm on Sept 9 2013.
The vehicle is owned, operated and parked on the tarmac of Detroit Metro Airport by Skychef, which caters food for airlines.
I wonder if Skychef caters food for Expressjet? I wonder if SkyChef should paint their vehicles bright orange and haul on their roof a Times-Square sized Bulletin board that says “Don’t Hit Me, I’m Just the Caterer.”
Apparently the car was stationary and the plane was backing up when the hang-up occurred.
Maybe the Skychef vehicle was where it was supposed to be, since they’ve got to get food to the planes. We’re pretty sure that the plane was where it was supposed to be. In fact, we’re not sure if we should be sending a bucket of pavement striping paint to the airport, or a pair of those rear view glasses advertised on the back of a comic book to the pilot. Heads up folks. That could be a very expensive fender bender.
Oman Air Flight 717, a Boeing 737-800 bumped a stationary Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 767-300. The winglet on the Oman Air plane made contact.
The Oman Air flight to Dar-Es-Salaam and Muscat was only delayed four hours.
Neither plane reported damage. There is no indication if passengers were aboard either plane at the time of the incident.
The incident occurred at Zanzibar International Airport, now called Abeid Amani Karume International Airport.
On August 14, 2013, a Nordwind Airlines Boeing 767 300 en route from Bangkok to Irkutsk, with 284 passengers aboard was (standing) on the ground when it was struck by a vehicle.
None of the passengers aboard were injured–expressed by Phuket news as “no human casualties” but the plane suffered damage.
The plane was on the ground in Suvarnabhumi, Thailand. Passengers (we hope) were provided alternate transportation, but there’s no indication we could find of what those circumstances might be.
