A US Navy Sikorsky MH-53E Sea Dragon crashed off a Norfolk Virginia beach, killing one of five aboard. The helicopter was assigned to Helicopter Mine Countermeasures Squadron Fourteen.
Three were injured and hospitalized at at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital. A rescue team is searching for one crewman who is still missing.
The USAF Pavehawk Sikorsky HH-60G that crashed on January 7 2013 at about 19:00 GMT on a training flight in Marshland near Cley-Next-The-Sea, Norfolk in the UK during training exercises transporting munitions, killed the crew of four aboard. The helicopter impacted in a nature reserve.
A second helicopter flew in as a rescue unit, but there were no survivors. Local witnesses heard and saw the helicopter flying low. It was initially believed the helicopter had ditched in the North Sea. No one on the ground was injured.
The names of the victims have been released: Capt Christopher S. Stover, Capt Sean M. Ruane, Technical Sergeant Dale E. Mathews and Staff Sergeant Afton M. Ponce. The commander of their unit said that Captains Stover and Ruane were pilots, while Tech. Sgt. Mathews and SSgt Ponce were acting as special mission aviators and “The Liberty Wing feels as though it has lost members of its family, and we stand by to support one another and these airmen’s families during this difficult time.”
An investigation is underway.
WASHINGTON – The investigative work into the Jan. 7, 2013, fire aboard a Japan Airlines Boeing 787 at Logan International Airport in Boston, is estimated to be completed by the end of March, the National Transportation Safety Board said today. The analytical and report writing phase of the investigation will follow the completion of the investigative activities. The final report is expected to be presented to the Board at a public meeting in Washington in the fall.
Members of the investigative team have been conducting work in the United States, Japan, France, and Taiwan. As the investigation has progressed, the NTSB has been working closely with Boeing, the Federal Aviation Administration, the Japan Transport Safety Bureau, the French BEA, and technical advisors from Japan and France.
Some of the investigative activities include:
– Completed disassembly and documentation of the individual cells of the incident battery.
– Completed examinations of exemplar batteries and battery cells for baseline reference and comparison to the incident battery. These examinations were conducted at NTSB and independent laboratories and included computed tomography scans, non-destructive soft short testing, and destructive evaluation and analysis of the batteries and cells.
– Awarded a contract to Underwriter’s Laboratories to assist the NTSB in defining and performing system-level tests of the Boeing 787 battery and charging system. The testing includes characterization of the thermal and electrochemical properties of the battery and oscillatory testing and is expected to be completed in February.
– Radiographic studies, which included over 200,000 CT scan images, were conducted to examine and document the internal configuration of individual cells from the incident and exemplar batteries.
– Conducted interviews with FAA, Boeing, Thales, and GS Yuasa personnel to review and document key steps, personnel roles and responsibilities, data and information flow, design artifacts, and approvals in the certification process for the battery and charging system.
– Evaluated and documented the process for the battery system safety assessment, including a review of the supporting tests and analysis performed and the safety analysis standards relevant for lithium-ion batteries.
– Conducted on-site survey of battery manufacturing facility in Japan including a review of design, engineering, and production documentation, as well as manufacturing processes, procedures, and training for personnel involved in the manufacture of the battery.
The date of the Board meeting at which the findings of the investigation will be released, including the probable cause of the battery fire, will be announced later in the year.
A Canadair CL-600 that burst into flames off the right side of the runway on its second go-round after it veered and flipped off Aspen’s challenging mountain-surrounded runway was registered to the Bank of Utah in Salt Lake City and flown from Tucson. The crash killed the Mexican co-pilot Sergio Carranza Brabata. The Mexican PIC Pilot Miguel Henriqez and passenger Moises Carranza survived with injuries. Both were hospitalized at Aspen Valley Hospital. Everyone aboard was a pilot.
The crash occurred at at 12:22 p.m in ten degree weather and gusty winds; it had been snowing in the area but not at the airport.
In Jaipur at 9:30 on January 5, 2013, after having to divert due to visibility issues, an Imphal-Delhi Air India flight was out of fuel and made an emergency landing in Jaipur damaging a wing and suffering a flat tire. The video says the wing damage was due to a tree-strike after the tire burst.
The Gauhati to Delhi flight diverted Jaipur due to dense fog but in Jaipur too, the pilot landed in fog and low visibility. 168 passengers and 5 crew were aboard. We have heard no reports of injuries on the Airbus A320-231 #VT-ESH but the damage looks pretty bad, if the twitter post is of the correct incident. (That’s the correct # as far as we can tell.) You can click through our link to the twitter discussion.
Emergency services responded to the scene.
On January 3, 2013, a Garuda Indonesia Bombardier CRJ-600-2E25 en route from Sorong Airport to Renani Airport suffered a runway excursion after landing.
The number of passengers aboard was not release.
No one was injured and the plane didn’t suffer any damage but it did get stuck.
The pilots apparently tried to turn on the runway and its nose wheel got mired.
Six crew and three passengers died in the crash of a fifty year old An-12 on the outskirts of Irkutsk Russia at the Irkutsk plant airfield. All nine aboard died on impact. A fuel fire ensued but was under control by emergency responders.
So far six remains have been recovered but not the black boxes. The military crew was flying plane parts from Novosibirsk (Novosibirsk Aircraft Production Association (NAPO)) to Irkutsk-2 airport, when it hit a warehouse. There were no injuries reported in the warehouse.
Officials said:
“The An-12 came in for landing at low altitude and grazed military depot buildings 10 kilometers away from the landing strip, after which it crashed.”
A British Airways Boeing 747-436 was taxiing for takeoff from Johannesburg-OR Tambo Airport. The plane missed a turn, went on to taxiway M which was too narrow, and the wing hit a building. (I guess December 22nd was the day for planes all over the world hitting things.) The plane’s wing was damaged, but luckily no one aboard was, except the pilot was probably pretty red in the face. Oops.
The wing did a pretty good job of cutting into a two story building. Four employees of Johannesburg-OR Tambo airport were slightly injured. The airport emergency team handled the plane’s fuel leak, and of course, an investigation is under way.
Not the location of “M” on the chart below:
Tatarstan Airlines operator of the Boeing 737-500 that crashed in November in Kazan only flies seven planes. (Maybe 6, now?) The one that crashed was leased from a Bulgarian company, with a history of minor accidents.
Fifty people died on the Tatarstan Airlines jet that dived nose-down to a fiery grave in Kazan. The investigation says that even though the two pilots were on their second go-around (i.e. second attempt to land), everything was working until impact. Recovering from the botched landing attempt, they pulled up at a too steep angle. From a height of 700 m the airplane entered a nose down attitude, reaching a -75° pitch. They died trying to dive to recover momentum, and impacted at 450 km/h.
Human error? Sleep deprivation? The crash embodies what is wrong with Russian Airlines.
Russia has withdrawn the operating license for Tatarstan Airlines due to
“noncompliance by the airline with certification requirements for Russia’s civil aviation, violations of the established norms of flying hours, working and relaxation time.” The action came after it was discovered that Tatarstan Airlines breached rules regarding personnel training and rest times for flight and cabin crew. Of course, Tatarstan Airlines is
Currently there’s a political wrestling match going on whether or not to ban planes over twenty years old.
In my opinion? They could buy all the new planes they want, but unless they supplement with proper training and rest protocols, safety issues will remain the same.
On December 22nd 2014, a Delta Airlines Boeing 737 was damaged by a large container used by DGS cleaning company. The impact tore a hole behind the wing.
The 737 was parked at gate B37 Terminal 4.
DGS (http://deltaglobalaviation.com) offers jobs for aircraft cleaners, skycaps, and ramp agents. I don’t see dumpster driving on their list….
Chinese billionaire Lam Kok purchased a French vineyard, and boarded a helicopter with three others, including his son, the former owner who was flying the helicopter, and a translator, to take an aerial tour of the 65-hectare (160-acre) vineyards and surrounding grounds. Lam Kok’s and James Gregoire’s wives had declined to fly.
Twenty minutes after the flight took off, the helicopter went missing.
The helicopter, flown by James Gregoire, former owner of the vineyard, was missing but a witness came forward and told a mounted policeman that the helicopter had been seen falling into the Dordogne river, and people had been seen struggling in the water.
Emergency helicopters, divers and a hundred foot officers converged on the scene, and were deployed to search. After dark, a helicopter with a searchlight joined the searchers.
Lam Kok, new owner of the vineyard Château de la Riviere was head of the Hong Kong-based Brilliant group which plans to develop a tea and wine tasting center and hotel in Bordeaux.
One of the bodies was recovered around midnight. Rumors are that the body is of Lam Kok’s twelve year old son. The search was halted overnight, but resumed on the morning of the twenty-first. The search has been hampered by strong currents in the river.
Ironically, John Leprince, a former owner of the vineyard, died in a plane crash in 2002, not far from the crash site in the Dordogne. Combined with this crash, this means the last three owners of the vineyard were lost in aviation accidents.
On December 18, Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 767-383ER #ET-AQW en route from Addis Ababa to Zanzibar-Kisauni Airport diverted to Arusha Airport. On landing on the too short runway, the plane’s wheels departed the pavement and became mired in soft ground.
No one was injured in the landing.
There is a rumor that the pilots diverted from the Zanzibar airport because they were unable to land there because there was a vehicle on the runway with a flat tire. The plane was nearly out of fuel and the best/closest option was Arusha. Passengers waited aboard as air stairs were driven from Kilimanjaro airport to Arusha—time consuming, but stairs eliminate the likelihood of injury by emergency evacuation on slides.
The diversion to Arusha is under inquiry; they apparently landed without clearance and once they were down, asked where they were. It is unknown if, even under the most favorable conditions (i.e., empty with experts at the helm), the plane can take from the short runway. It remains to be seen how the crew will fare for this decision, but some credit should be given for landing a 767 safely onto a 4500′ runway with zero casualties. Some armchair pilots are guessing that the pilots mistook Arusha for Kilimanjaro airport, mistaking Mount Meru for Kilimanjaro.
Four people are missing after a helicopter crashed into the Dordogne river.
The helicopter fell into the waters of the Dordogne, by the commune of Lugon-and-l ‘ île-du-Carnay, bordering the River, where is located the castle of île-du-Carnay.
Divers were searching the waters of the Dordogne while police swarmed the banks at the port of Petit Chartron. At midnight Friday, an unidentified corpse was recovered in the wreckage of the helicopter. The search for the other three missing was suspended at 11:30 and will resume Saturday morning at 8:00 a.m..
Volunteer Coast Guard, Volunteer Marine Rescue and Water Police searched the coast Monday and Tuesday for a missing plane.
Pilot Alexander Rae, AKA Jimmy, was flying a Gold Coast Tiger Moth Joy Rides de Havilland DH 82 biplane off South Stadbroke Island off the coast of Queensland. His last message was “Conducting aerobatics over 3500 feet.” Jimmy was twenty-six years old, and had a reputation of being an excellent pilot. He was newly-wed to Alice, who is an equine dentist.
Tuesday at 9:30 a.m., sonar located the plane on the seabed near the Couran Cove Resort where the passenger and pilot were subsequently found by police divers, still inside the plane. Debris from the plane had already washed up.
The plane crashed into the water about four hundred meters from the coast on December 16. Police are looking for witnesses.
The Tiger Moth was built in the thirties. Tiger Moth Joyrides had been in operation since 1978.
Some events that happened today:
A Hutch Air Cessna 421B Golden Eagle en route from Abbotsford International Airport to Tofino BC had one passenger and one pilot aboard when it went missing on December 14, 2013, at 14:25 local time.
The twin engine plane was expected at 2:50 pm. It was over Vargas Island on radar when it disappeared at the densely wooded island in Clayoquot Sound. A search of the west coast of Vacouver island by the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre Victoria has been implemented but has been hampered by fog, rain, low cloud cover and darkness over Tofino. Two search and rescue helicopters pulled out Saturday because of no visibility, and are continuing the search today. A crew is also on the island searching on foot.
JRCC Victoria is located at Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt and is responsible for planning, co-ordinating, controlling and conducting aeronautical and maritime search and rescue (SAR) operations within Victoria’s Search and Rescue Region (SRR).
On December 12, 2013, an Air Canada Jazz de Havilland Canada DHC-8-311 took off from Nanaimo Airport en route to Vancouver when the plane developed an engine fire.
Fire broke out over open water when the plane reached cruising altitude minutes after leaving the airport. Passengers reported hearing a loud bang, and on the side of the plane, they saw flames from the affected engine.
The pilot shut down the engine, and they made a safe landing. The crew also discovered an engine oil problem just prior to the fire.
This was the first emergency landing at the Nanaimo Airport, which was shut down for four hours after the incident. Emergency services responded to the scene. Passengers used stairs to exit.
Passengers spoke positively about the crew. No one was injured.
On December 14, 2013, an Azul Linhas Aereas Embraer with 98 aboard was en route from São Paulo to Uberlândia-Eduardo Gomes Airport when it made a landing on wet pavement and suffered a runway excursion skidding on to soft grass. There were no injuries reported.
According to Sergeant Ramos, emergency services assisted.
The accident closed the airport pending removal of the plane. There was no damage to the Embraer 195, which operated the flight AD 6913, and Azul’s reports stressed that there were no injury to any of the 93 passengers and five crew members.
Subsequently on the 14th, after heavy rain was recorded, the Civil Defense of Uberlândia asked the population to avoid going through critical points referred to in the city due to possible flooding.
A Nordstar Airlines emergency landing at Krasnoyarsk occurred after a cabin decompression alarm indicated problems aboard the Krasnoyarsk to Norilsk flight.
Pilots returned the Boeing 737 to Krasnoyarsk and made a safe landing at 6:26. An inspection revealed that a door had not been properly closed. The open door was unable to maintain cabin compression adequately, although the door itself was in working order.
No one was injured. Nordstar Airlines is now reviewing its procedures and local officials are opening an inquiry.
An AirAsia flight from Kota Kinabalu to Penang made an emergency landing here yesterday afternoon after an elderly female passenger complained of chest pain.
Seventy-one year-old Annie Dunlop from Sandakan, was on an Air Asia flight from Koto Kinabalu to Penang when she suffered chest pain. Pilots diverted to Kuching International Airport where she was pronounced dead. Her remains were taken to Sarawak General Hospital.
The Air Asia flight continued on to Penang
On December 13, 2013, a Norwegian Air Shuttle Boeing 737-8JP in Las Palmas Airport, Gran Canaria had boarded. The Danish captain announced over the intercom that “we have become bombhotade and must vacate the planet directly,”
The airline’s staff who received the message prior to departure. After the threat was placed against the plane, it was evacuated and searched, as were the passengers. The announcement came when they were already on the runway.
Passengers were admitted into the terminal. Baggage and the plane were examined.
No bomb was found.
The plane was rebounded at 20:40 and went on its way from Las Palmas Airport to Stockholm without further delay.
On December 12, 2013 at 7L45 a.m., a MHS Aviation Sikorsky S-76C #9M-STE had eight aboard when the flight encountered bad weather. They were flying to identify oil and gas exploration sites when weather forced them to ditch in the sea 159 kilometers off the coast of Bintulu.
The helicopter was leased from MHS Aviation by Malaysian oil and gas company Petronas.
The two pilots and six oil workers aboard were rescued by a passing ship. Apparently there were no fatalities, and no specific reports of injury. They were hospitalized in Miri.
The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) is investigating.
The Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) has not released whether or not the helicopter was recovered from the ocean.
On December 13, 2013, at Amsterdam-Schiphol International Airport, a US Airways (737-8K2) #N202UW was taxiing when it struck a parked Boeing 737-8K2 belonging to KLM Royal Dutch Airlines (PH-BXK).
The winglet of the parked plane was knocked off. Both planes sustained damage. There were no reports of injury, but the incident caused passenger delays.
We found the image of the accident on Twitter.
On December 9, 2013 at 6:45 p.m, American Eagle flight 3162 safely departed Cincinnati en route to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport but then smoke developed in the cabin. It may have originated in the main gear.
Pilots declared emergency and returned to CVG airport and made a safe landing with emergency services on standby.
The plane was successfully evacuated. Fifty-three people were aboard.
No injuries.
The preliminary investigation of the Clutha helicopter crash revealed …
Other than ruling out what is not the cause, investigators may be no closer to determining the reason the helicopter fell out of the air. The report says there was “no evidence of major mechanical disruption of either engine” of the Eurocopter EC135 as it returned from a police operation in Dalkeith, Midlothian, on the night of the crash.
There were no flight recorders, but there is radar data and radio communications. The pilot had 5,500 hours, 646 in type.
The wreckage is at AAIB’s headquarters, and the investigation continues.
A fund has been opened for the victims. Donations can be made to the fund by calling 0141 287 7878 and paying by debit or credit card. Cash or cheques can be handed in to the council’s service desk at 45 John Street, Glasgow G1 1JE and bank payments can be made to Clutha Appeal Fund, sort code 83-44-00, account 10804129.
