Falling Parts

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    Azza Transport Boeing 707 Crashes


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

    What: Azza Transport Boeing 707-300 freighter on behalf of the Sudan Airways en route from Sharjah, United Arab Emirates to Khartoum, Sudan
    Where: Sharjah
    When: Oct 21st 2009
    Who: 6 crew
    Why: It is speculated that the plane had flaps problems that contributed to the flight crashing not long after takeoff. Witnesses say the plane first lost parts first, then it lost height, then veered to the right and into the ground.

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    American Airlines Wing Lamination Falls off


    Pictured: An American Airlines 757 landing at LAX
    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact Photographer Peter Spence

    What: American Airlines Boeing 757 en route from San Diego to Dallas
    Where: Los Angeles International Airport
    When: Friday August 21
    Who: 188 passengers and 6 crew
    Why: While en route to Dallas, passengers observed pieces of the right wing falling off. The crew declared an emergency and landed at LAX. Maintenance crews discovered that “delamination of a seal.”

    Passengers were able to board another plane bound to arrive at their destination on midnight Friday.

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    Transaero Airlines: Going to Pieces?


    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact Photographer Vlad Moskvin

    What: Transaero Airlines Boeing 737-300 en route from Moscow Domodedovo to St. Petersburg (Russia)
    Where: Moscow
    When: Jul 20th 2009
    Who: 41 passengers and 6 crew
    Why: On takeoff, the right wing lost a 60 by 80 centimeter “leading edge fairing”. The flight continued as usual and fortunately landed safely in St. Petersburg.

    The part was found on the Domodedova airport runway.

    George’s Point of View

    I’m sure that all of us have heard of the old saying (paraphrased from De Minimis Maxima ) the mighty oak from tiny acorns grow.

    When one considers the question of pieces falling off of a plane, it seems simultaneously a tiny pointless thing and a huge issue. Consider a miniscule hole in the roof of our house is hardly worth considering; perhaps it is even invisible to the naked eye. But look what damage it causes when it rains. Somehow I don’t think “the leading edge” is like a car’s hubcap, mostly for decoration. It’s there to do something, and when that part is gone, that something is undone and will have consequences. Maybe letting in some moisture. Maybe causing corrosion down the road.

    As a frequent passenger, I tend to be somewhat fatalistic about plane parts. Look, some engineer put that part there for a reason. I don’t know what that reason is, but if it’s good enough for the plane’s engineer, it is good enough for me, and I’d just as soon not fly without it. So many carriers get bad reputations based on careless maintenance of old planes, and this is just the kind of incident that gets people talking. (Old planes need MORE maintenance as they get older, just like old furniture, old machines, old cars, old people, old EVERYTHING.) Certainly Russia knows that maintenance deferred–especially on an airplane–is a recipe for disaster.

    I just hope they replace the part before the little acorn of a problem grows into a great big oak tree of a pending disaster. This may be the first incident in a chain of events that unravels the whole plane.

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    Indonesian Crash Update


    View Geplak in a larger map

    Earlier post


    Pictured: Indonesian C-130 Hercules licensed as A-1326. The plane in the crash was registered as A-1325.
    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact photographer Peter de Jong

    What: Indonesian Air Force civilian Lockheed L-100-30(P) Hercules, en route from Jakarta to Madiun’s Iswahyudi Airport [WIAR] (Indonesia) (The Lockheed L-100 is the civilian version of a C-130 Hercules)
    Where: Magetan, East Java. Geplak 325 miles east of Jakarta.
    When: May 19 6:20am local time
    Who: 98 passengers (troops and their families) and 11 crew. On May 22nd, aviation authorities reported recovering 101 bodies. 15 survivors were taken to local hospitals. The exact number aboard is unclear. The flight manifest is reportedly inaccurate. (Some overlap with passengers and crew numbers. The reports range from 99 to 113 passengers and 13 or 14 crew members.) Ten children were on board the flight. Two were killed on the ground..
    Why: The plane was about to land at Iswahyudi military airbase. Witnesses claim the plane split apart in the air, (one of the wings fell off when the plane was still in the air) and exploded.

    The plane skidded through a rice paddy, a stand of trees and into four houses in Geplak. 9 people were in the houses, of whom two are reported dead.

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    McDonnell Douglas Litters Chicago Midway


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

    What: Delta Airlines McDonnell Douglas MD-90-30 en route from Atlanta, GA to Chicago Midway
    Where: diverted to Cincinnati,KY and concluded in Chicago
    When: May 26th 2009
    Who: Not Listed.
    Why: “DELTA AIRLINES FLIGHT 2090 MCDONNELL DOUGLAS 90-30 AIRCRAFT AFTER LANDING, INSPECTION REVEALED A PIECE OF THE AIRCRAFT FELL ONTO THE RUNWA. NO INJURIES REPORTED, CHICAGO, IL”

    George’s Point of View

    As you see, the FAA report indicates that the plane lost a piece of itself on landing. I don’t know what’s more curious–what exactly fell off the MD-90 when it landed (generally I don’t think of external plane parts as optional); or if the dropped item was related to the plane’s delay in Cincinnati.

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    Arrow Cargo Crumbles in Flight over Brazil


    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact photographer Carlos A. Morillo Doria
    What: Arrow Cargo McDonnell Douglas DC-10 freighter, en route from Manaus, AM Brazil to Bogota Colombia
    Where: Manaus (rua Humaita, Terra Nova)
    When: Mar 26th 2009
    Who: 4 crew flew the plane that damaged 12 houses
    Why: The crew heard an explosion but kept going, unaware the engine had disgorged parts of the engine nacelle, its combustion chamber, turbine and outlet. The company has already said they’ll reimburse locals for the damage.

    No doubt.

    They continued on to Bogata…or they would have if weather hadn’t diverted them to Medellin.


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