lost communication

  • | | | | |

    Pilot Dies in Alaska Crash

    What: Cessna 150 en route from Anchorage to Beluga Lake
    Where: west side of Cook Inlet, Beluga Lake Alaska
    When: June 26, 2011
    Who: 2 aboard, 1 fatality
    Why: Pilot Timothy Hudok was killed in his Cessna three miles west of Beluga Lake. The wreckage was found by Alaskan State Troopers at Triumvirate Glacier after the pilot’s wife had alerted the FAA to the flight being overdue. Passenger Robert Goodwill who survived was airlifted to Providence Alaska Medical center.

  • | | | |

    Aero Resources Flight Crashes in North Carolina, 4 die in crash


    What: Aero Resources Corp. of Hazard Beechcraft 58 Baron en route from Georgia to Kentucky
    Where: Unaka, about 125 miles west of Asheville, NC
    When: May 25, 2011
    Who: 4 fatalities: pilot Mat Shuey, Tiffany Maggard, Kassie Robinson and Miranda Morgan
    Why: Pilot Mat Shuey was flying at 9,000 feet, above the area peaks when he reported an emergency over North Carolina when it crashed north of Lake Hiwassee near the Tennessee border, and started a brush fire.

    The wreckage was spotted on the afternoon of the 25th but the site was not immediately accessible. The pilot and three female passengers died in the crash. The four bodies were recovered by rescue crews on Thursday.

    Tiffany Maggard, Kassie Robinson and Miranda Morgan, who had all graduated from a Knott County Kentucky high school, had been visiting a friend in Alabama. The pilot’s name was not released.

  • | | | | |

    UN Cessna Crashes in Bolivia, 6 Perish


    FAB-341 Cessna 210 Centurion Fuerza Aerea Boliviana

    What: Fuerza Aérea Boliviana Cessna T210 Turbo Centurion en route from El Alto International Airport in La Paz
    Where: Santa Elena River, Iquisiva Province, La Paz
    When: May 5 2011
    Who: 6 aboard
    Why: The Bolivian Air Force plane piloted by the air force and carrying four United Nations workers was doing a fly-by and did not return at 2:30 as scheduled. The plane, which had been missing since May 5 and a search going on in Yungas (Coroico, La Asunta and Caranavi). The flight was located near the Santa Elena River, where it appears that it hit a tree during an emergency landing.

    The passengers lost in the crash were Ivan Alfaro Santiago, Estephan Campos Ruiz, Mariela Romero Torreblanco and Patricia Delgado Rua, and the Cessna was being flown by Lt. Néstor Álvaro Ottich Arenas and Lt. José Javier Alegría Estrada.

  • | | | | | |

    New Zealand Pilots Lost in South Island Chopper Crash

    What: Wanaka Helicopters Robinson R22 on a training flight from Wanaka to Haast and back
    Where: Arawhata Saddle, Wanaka South Island, New Zealand
    When: April 27 2011
    Who: Pilot instructor and student
    Why: The training flight did not return to Wanaka as scheduled at 1:00; it’s last known position was near Bonar Glacier.

    The beacon, one of two types aboard, was detected and the helicopter found at 9:00 am Thursday *local time.

    Both pilot and student were fatalities, and the wreckage was found near the Olivine Wilderness Area in a stream at the head of the Arawhata River by search teams investigating an area near Mt Aspiring. The search was focused on Bow Peak in the “Waipara Saddle.”

  • | | | | |

    Tragedy in Honduras


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

    What: Central American Airways – CAA Let L-410UVP-E20 en route from San Pedro Sula-Ramon Villeda Morales Airport to Tegucigalpa-Toncontin
    Where: Santa Ana, Cerro de Hula Honduras
    When: Feb 14 2011
    Who: 2 crew, 12 passengers, 14 fatalities
    Why: The Central American Airways flight from San Pedro Sula to Tegucigalpa departed from San Pedro Sula at 07:04 for the 40 minute flight to Tegucigalpa and crashed at 8:02 in a forested area.

    Crash victims include labor leader, Israel Salinas Castellanos and Pedro Sula businessman Carlos Chahine, who served as minister Economy. The plane’s captain was Eduardo Ernesto Pach Pineda, and co-pilot Andersón Mejía. Salinas Elvir and Rodolfo Rovelo were also killed in the crash.

    CREW:
    1. Captain Oscar Anderson
    2. Captain Eduardo Pach
    PASSENGER LIST
    1. Plutarch Molina
    (Business Building)
    2. Peter Jhon
    3. Howar Jeams
    4. Chuk Tom Klein
    5. Joaquin Fernandez
    6. Leda Cabrera
    7. July Alvarenga
    8. Israel Salinas
    9. Carlos Chaín
    10. Alejandra Figueroa
    11. Rodolfo Rovelo
    12. Sara Villacorta

  • | | | |

    Spilled Coffee Cancels Flight


    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact photographer Charin de Silva

    What: United Airlines Boeing 777-200, en route from Chicago O’Hare,IL to Frankfurt/Main
    Where: Toronto
    When: Jan 3rd 2011
    Who: 241 passengers
    Why: While en route, the communication and navigation equipment failed, and the flight crew landed at Pearson as a safety measure. According to the FAA, the apparent reason (or a factor as the investigation is continuing) is that the equipment failed after a crew member spilled coffee on it. Additional confusion followed as pilots sent an incorrect code before they sent the “loss of communication” code.

    UA sent a plane to ferry the passengers back to Chicago and another flight.

  • | | |

    2 Die in Colorado Plane Crash

    What: Beech 60 Duke en route from Brownwood Regional Airport, Texas to Colorado
    Where: 3 1/2 miles North of Edwards, Colorado
    When: Dec 15, 2010, 4:30
    Who: 2 aboard, pilot Barton Harris and Jerry Hoggatt
    Why: While en route, the pilot lost radar contact with the Eagle County and Denver airports while making a final approach to the Eagle County Regional Airport in Eagle. Pilot, Barton Harris, 67, of Brownwood, Texas, and Jerry Hoggatt, 73, of Pelham, Alabama, were flying to ski in Colorado.

    The wreckage was found by a National Guard OS58 helicopter crew 3.5 miles north of Edwards in steep terrain at an elevation of approximately 10,800 feet.

    The plane is registered to Barton Harris of Brownwood, Texas.

    Eagle County Airport Rescue and Fire Fighting, Eagle County Ambulance District, Eagle County Coroner’s Office, Eagle County Sheriff’s Office, Eagle River Fire Protection District, Garfield Search and Rescue, Greater Eagle Fire Protection District, the Salvation Army, Summit County Search and Rescue, Vail Mountain Rescue, Vail Police Department and Western Eagle County Search and Rescue assisted in the recovery.

    Harris had spent 12 years as a Navy aviator. Harris was co-founder of W.T. Harris Company, a service firm providing warehousing, transportation, assembly work and wooden pallets, crates and other products.

  • | | |

    Monarch Cargo Plane Lost in Nassau

    What: Monarch Aircraft Group (fort Lauderdale Florida) twin-engine Beechcraft 18 cargo plane en route from Fort Lauderdale to Nassau
    Where: Nassau
    When: December 14, 2010
    Who: 2 passengers aboard
    Why: The cargo plane was en route to Nassau’s Lynden Pindling International Airport when it vanished from radar.

    It crashed in the Atlantic, north of Nassau. A man’s body has been recovered. A U.S. Coast guard helicopter and 3 Royal Bahamas vessels are searching for the missing passenger. Neither has been identified.

  • | | | | | |

    Cuban Flight Crashes; All aboard are Lost


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

    What: Aerocaribbean ATR-72-500 en route from Santiago to Havana
    Where: Guasimal, Sancti Spiritus Cuba
    When: Nov 4 2010
    Who: with 61 passengers and 7 crew
    Why: The last flight to leave Santiago before the airport closed due to tropical storm Tomas disappeared from radio contact at 5:42 pm while over Guasimal not far from the Zaza Reservoir. The crew made an emergency call at 5:42. 40 cubans were aboard and 28 non-cubans (9 Argentinian, 7 Mexican, 3 Dutch, 1 French, 2 German, 2 Austrian, 1 Italian, 1 Spanish, 1 Venezuelan, and 1 Japanese).

    A hospital worker said “The plane made several abrupt movements before crashing to the ground.” Rescuers hiked in through thick vegetation (using bulldozers to get through the vegetation to find the plane shattered and in flames and no survivors.

    Tropical storm Tomas developed into a hurricane. Cuba declared a state of alert.

    The ongoing investigation has not ruled that weather is the definitive factor because the storm had not reached Cuba at the time of the crash.

    Cuban state airline Cubana de Aviacion owns Aerocaribbean. The flight normally flies twice a week from Port-au-Prince, Haiti, to Santiago de Cuba to Havana

  • | | |

    French Researchers Lost Lives in Antarctica

    What: Institut Polaire Français Aérospatiale AS 350 Squirrel helicopter carrying supplies between the French research vessel and supply ship, l’Astrolabe and the country’s Dumont d’Urville research base in Adélie Land.
    Where: Antarctica
    When: October 28, 2010
    Who: 4 Fatalities
    Why: After taking off from the French research vessel L’Astrolabe which is icebound northeast of the Dumont-d’Urville station, the helicopter went down in bad weather. The helicopter was last seen flying at 29 feet. The helicopter normally supplied the research base. Initially there was hope of one survivor. A U.S. Air Force C-17 flew over; the distress beacon was activated off Adelie Land, but cloud cover prevented visibility; bad weather complicated rescue efforts. An Australian unit which spotted three bodies dropped supplies and survival equipment. A doctor flown in later confirmed that the pilot, the mechanic and two employees of the French Polar Institute who had been aboard the helicopter were dead. The remains were recovered and flown back in an Australian Hercules C-130 to a chapel at the base. (US) McMurdo base and AMSA’s rescue coordination centre are assisting the French recovery team.

    Two researchers were from l’Institut polaire Paul-Emile Victor, in Brest, Brittany, France.

  • | |

    New Zealand: Helicopter Missing

    What: Maritime New Zealand Robinson R22 helicopter on a training mission
    Where: Awarua, Southland New Zealand
    When: October 14, 2010
    Who: instructor and another pilot
    Why: After the last communication at 1:30 pm, at 2:15 a Robinson R22 was declared overdue.

    A search is underway utilizing three helicopters over a 1250 square kilometre area east of Bluff, including the Coastguard air patrol and Coastguard.

  • | | | |

    Air Cargo Crash in Kabul


    Pictured: A United Nations (Transafrik) L-100-20 Hercules
    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact photographer Serge Bailleul

    What: National Air Cargo/Transafrik International Hercules L-100 en route from Bagram Air Base to Kabul
    Where: 25-30km east of Kabul
    When: Oct 12th 2010, around 19:30
    Who: 7 crew (six Philipinos, an Indian, a Kenyan—all fatalities)
    Why: While en route, the airplane disappeared from radar about 6nm northeast of the airfield. The flight impacted a mountain in the Pol-e Charkhi area .

    Rescue teams are en route to the high altitude location.

  • | |

    Toronto: Uncleared Air Canada Landing


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

    What: Air Canada Airbus A321-200 en route from Montreal to Toronto
    Where: Toronto
    When: Feb 22 2010
    Who: crew
    Why: On landing, after normal communication had been established, attempts to reach the crew to confirm were not answered. Nevertheless, the plane landed safely.

    This is a disruption of procedure; if landing clearance is not received, the pilot is supposed pull up, abort the landing and make another pass. We have not heard if there was some kind of cockpit emergency that would make extenuating circumstances, but it is not likely, as the crew apparently contacted ATC after landing, confirming they had landed without clearance.

  • | | | | | | | | | | | |

    Flight Update: Ethiopian Death Toll Rising

    By nightfall tonight, 34 bodies have been recovered.

    Investigative crews sort through baby sandals, and airplane parts drifting ashore. People are questioning why the flight was not delayed due to the storm raging at the time of takeoff.

    The USS-Ramage, and US P-3 surveillance aircraft are helping with search and rescue efforts.

    The plane was last serviced on Dec. 25.

    Reports abound that the plane was seen to be on fire on its way down. If reports of an engine fire proved to be correct, it would have been difficult to handle at such a low altitude; but reports of a lighting strike, compounded by poor visibility and high winds compounded by a bird strike are equally as possible.

  • | | | | |

    Ace Lost At Sea


    Pictured: Alaska Central Express (ACE) Beech 1900C shot in Anchorage
    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact photographer Ben Wang

    What: ACE Alaska Central Express Air Cargo Beech 1900C en route from Sand Point to Anchorage
    Where: Sand Point Alaska
    When: Jan 22nd 2010
    Who: 2 crew
    Why: While en route, the flight lost altitude, and then lost communication. It hit the sea around midnight.

    A search party has been formed. Some wreckage has been found near Egg Island.


    View Egg Island in a larger map

    We are hoping the crew will be found alive and intact.

    *** ACE Air Cargo Press Release ***

    January 22, 2010

    ACE Air Cargo has joined the search for our Beech 1900 aircraft, that disappeared shortly after departing Sand Point, Alaska with two pilots on board yesterday evening. At this time, we are focused on the welfare of our pilots and their families and will be releasing no further information at this time. We ask that the media respect the privacy of our employees and their families at this time. More information will be released as it becomes available.

    Click image to visit Ace site.

  • | | | | |

    Lost Russian TU-142

    What: Russian Pacific Fleet Tupolev Tu-142M3
    Where: Tatar Strait (Tatarskiy Strait)
    When: 06 November, 2009
    Who: Eleven people on board
    Why: While on a routine training mission, the flight disappeared from ATC radar in the vicinity of Cape Sadinga.

    The retrieval effort of wreckage, bodies and black boxes continues with ferry boats and harbor tugs and aircraft of the 11th army VVS PVO (Air Defense), although hampered by strong sea currents.

    At 07.10 am with the help of sonar in the vicinity of Cape Sadinga north bay Silantyeva at a depth of 44 meters, an object was discovered that is presumed to be the lost plane. On the water surface items were visible which may be fragments of the plane shell. Rescue work continues.

  • | | | |

    Northwest Airbus Loses Contact; Overshoots Destination


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

    What: Northwest Airlines Airbus A320-200 en route from San Diego, to Minneapolis
    Where: Minneapolis
    When: Oct 21st 200
    Who: 144 passengers 5 crew
    Why: The Airbus was out of communication for nearly an hour and a half, and overflew Minneapolis by 15 minutes. The plane had been in contact with Denver but lost contact southeast of Denver,CO after 5:56pm. Denver ATC conferred with Minneapolis ATC. Without reestablishing contact, just before 8 p.m., the plane flew over the airport.

    Military jets were put on standby.

    Meanwhile, on board, passengers had a very quiet flight, without input from the captain.

    Before communications were re-established at 8:14 p.m. the plane had overshot the airport in an easterly direction by nearly a quarter of an hour. Contact was reestablished over Eau Claire, Wis. It is not known if pilots fell asleep.

    Pilots didn’t discover their mistake until a flight attendant in the cabin contacted them over the intercom. Passengers were looking at their watches and wondering when the flight would end. Even after they landed, passengers were told to wait, eventually walking past a line of security officers.

    On landing in Minneapolis, police boarded the plane, as per standard policy.

    The two pilots are suspended until Delta/Northwest investigates the situation. Interviews of the pilots and rest of the crew are pending.

  • | | |

    TAP Air Portugal Airbus loses Communication-Gets Fighter Jet escort


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

    What: TAP Air Portugal Airbus A320-200 en route from Lisbon to Copenhagen
    Where: Belgium
    When: Oct 18th 2009
    Why: Flying into Belgium, the flight lost communication with ATC for about 35 minutes. When ATC could not regain communication, two German fighters intercepted the plane near the Netherlands. Radio contact was restored and the flight landed without problems in Copenhagen

  • | | |

    Airbus Loses Communication en route to Bangkok


    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact Photographer Daniel Alaerts

    What: Air France Airbus A340-300 en route from Paris Charles de Gaulle Airportto Bangkok Thailand
    Where: Amritsar
    When: Aug 27th 2009,
    Who: not available
    Why: While entering Indian airspace, the flight crew sent the wrong transponder code so that the airplane showed up as “unidentified” on both civilian and military radar screens. Communication was lost; and Indian Air Force MiG 29s were sent to intercept the flight; then the interception was aborted when the flight crew corrected the code. The flight continued to land normally at its scheduled destination.