The Canadair CRJ 200 aircraft was carrying mail from Oslo to Tromso, Norway, when it went down. According to Daniel Lindblad, spokesman for the Swedish Maritime Administration, “They sent a very brief ‘mayday’ and then the plane disappeared from our radar. The weather conditions weren’t harsh.”

There were two people aboard the plane, including the 42-year-old captain and a 34-year-old first officer; both of them are feared dead.

The plane was being operated by West Atlantic.

The post 2 Feared Dead as Norwegian Postal Plane Crashes in Sweden first appeared on George Hatcher's Air Flight Disaster.

Two tour groups, Xiamen Airlines International Travel Service Co. and the Xiamen Tourism Group International Travel Service Co. from mainland China (from Xiamen) were aboard. The plane was less than a year old with only 684 flight hours and powered by Pratt & Whitney PW100-127M engines.

A search helicopter, a hovercraft, 9 ambulances, 10 fire trucks, and police divers in wet suits are among those who responded to the scene. Rescue efforts are underway, with plans to lift the fuselage by crane in an attempt to rescue survivors trapped inside. Underwater visibility in this very polluted river is very limited, according to divers.

The post TransAsia Airways Falls from Sky, hits Bridge, Keelung river first appeared on George Hatcher's Air Flight Disaster.

First Omonigho Akinsanya had come to visit, and now she was waiting in the crowded, overheated Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport to catch a plane to take her home. She, with her 5-year-old son Moyo, and her sister had been waiting in line, trying to travel back home.

The airport, which is undergoing renovations is reportedly hot and crowded, and Omonigho Akinsanya had her son to manage. She was understandably upset when a man broke in line and took the last seat in the crowded airplane that her sister had already boarded.

His breaking in line saved her life. But she cannot rejoice in the luck, fortune, Karma, coincidence that left her alive. Her sister was one of the victims.

This is her sister’s sad story, and her own too, because it is a terrible loss and a close call. But it is only one of 153+ losses (not forgetting the families on the ground who were minding their own business in their own apartments when a plane fell on their heads.)

It is hard to sift rumor from fact. One rumor is that the flight had been diverted or delayed due to Dame Patience Jonathan, the first lady, but that rumor has been discounted; she was at an event on Sunday when the crash occurred, and nowhere near the airport. There was a rumor of a bird strike, stemming from an official speculating on the cause. And then of course, everyone is studying the plane’s history, and wondering if it was airworthy.

The MD-83 belonged to Alaska Airlines from 1990 when it was new until 2007, when the plane’s title went to North Shore Aircraft LLC (probably the financier) and leased back for a year. Before it was retired in 2008, it had gone through a diversion on Nov 4 2002 due to an overheated light ballast; on August 20, 2006 due to a “chafed wire bundle.” And as Dana Air 5N-RAM it suffered a bird strike on April 19, 2010.

The pilot, Peter Waxtan, was an American, and the first officer was Mike Mahendra, from India. Captain Waxton called a double engine failure. The pilot had requested to land on Murtala Muhammad Airport’s longer runway 18R before calling air controllers back a few minutes later to report a total emergency.

There has been some negative buzz regarding maintenance of this MD83 in the hands of Dana Air, and a recent discussion of Dana Air crew being reluctant to fly in this plane, due to mechanical difficulties on a recent flight, even that Dana Air execs insisted the plane be flown. Plus, it was overloaded.

It is still so soon after the crash that we hardly know which questions to ask first. There are so many questions. But if Dana Air was putting faulty aircraft in the air, they will have to answer for it. Too bad it will be too late for those who were aboard.

The post Questions follow Dana Air first appeared on George Hatcher's Air Flight Disaster.

Pilots diverted to Ottowa because Ottawa International Airport has a 10,000-foot runway. An A380 requires at least 9,875 feet.

According to Global Toronto, the jet nearly ran out of fuel after being rerouted due to torrential rains in Toronto.

The flight eventually made it to Toronto at 9:00 pm.

The post Dubai -Toronto Flight, First Ever A380 Diverts to and Lands in Ottowa first appeared on George Hatcher's Air Flight Disaster.

What: C And S Manufacturing Corp Cessna 414A en route from Marco Island, Collier County, Florida to Cherryland Airport in Sturgeon Bay Wisconsin
Where: Wisconsin
When: April 2,2012
Who: 2 aboard
Why: After her husband John passed out at the controls of their Cessna, eighty-one year old Helen Collins took some quick lessons “on the fly” and managed to land the plane, with minor damage.

Air Traffic Control talked to her until pilot instructor Robert Vuksanovic took his plane up to fly by her as he coached her down. The distress call came at 5:05 pm. after Collins was three hours in flight from Marco Island, Florida. On landing, Helen and her husband John were hospitalized; John was declared dead at 6:38 p.m. Helen had back pain, minor bumps and bruises and a broken rib, but her son Richard Collins did not lose both of his parents that day.

A heroic effort from ATC, Collins and flight instructor Robert Vuksanovic.

The post Octogenarian Lands Plane Beside Unconscious Pilot/Spouse first appeared on George Hatcher's Air Flight Disaster.

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What: Air France Airbus A330-200 en route from Sao Paulo to Paris Charles de Gaulle
Where: over Atlantic
When: Nov 30th 2009
Who: not available
Why: While en route over the Atlantic ( 680nm northeast of Fortaleza, Brazil and 750nm southwest of Praia, Cape Verde) the flight encountered severe turbulence, that led them to send out a mayday call, that was relayed by another Airbus amidflight from Paris to Rio.
They descended to a lower altitude, and landed at Paris six hours forty minutes after the mayday call. This was reputedly one of several flights experiencing similar turbulence in the same area over the past month.

The post Air France Airbus in Turbulence over Atlantic. first appeared on George Hatcher's Air Flight Disaster.