Cause

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    SCAT Bombardier Crashes 5 Miles from Airport, 21 Fatalities


    On Jan 29, 2013, A SCAT-owned Canadian-built Bombardier Challenger CRJ-200 # UP-CJ006 en route from Kokshetau Kazakhstan to Almaty crashed in Kyzyl Tu village five miles from the Almaty airport.

    The weather conditions consisted of low cloud cover and fog.

    There was neither fire nor explosion, but the plane shattered when it hit the ground which was covered in heavy snow.

    None of the 16 passengers (including a child) or 5 crew survived.

    SCAT is a domestic airline that was established in 1997 that has a fleet of six 50 set jets

    Bad weather and poor visibility is believed to be the cause of the crash at 1.p.m.

    UAAA 290730Z 02001MPS 0150 R23R/0150N R23L/0200N FZFG VV001 M01/M01 Q1018 882/0150 NOSIG RMK QBB040
    UAAA 290700Z 05001MPS 0150 R23R/0150N R23L/0200N FZFG VV001 M01/M01 Q1019 882/0150 NOSIG RMK QBB040

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    British Airways 747 Diverts to Cardiff

    British Airways Boeing 747 with 158 passengers aboard en route from Houston to London diverted to Cardiff today after developing a “technical problem.” The flight made a safe landing at 10:43 in South Wales with emergency services on standby.

    There were no injuries. The Mayday was attributed to an instrument problem.

    After the plane was inspected, it continued on to Cardiff where it made a safe landing.

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    American Diverts To San Juan

    On Jan 28, 2013, American Airlines Boeing 767 Flight 233 with 198 passengers and a crew of 13 was en route from Miami to Brazil when it developed an electrical odor in the cockpit.

    The pilots diverted to Puerto Rico and made a safe landing in San Juan at 5:08 p.m.

    The plane is to remain there overnight for inspection, and on the 29th, take the crew and passengers on to Sao Paolo.

    Hotel accommodations were provided for passengers.

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    Will Boeing Switch to Electrical Inquiry?


    Here’s what is bothering me:

    It’s no secret how planes are tested before they are released, to the very extreme so how did this electrical problem issue by the testing? Is my favorite plane manufacturer taking short cuts in quality control?

    The Japan Boeing 787 Dreamliner was delivered on Dec. 20 and had only flown 169 flight hours and 22 flights when one of its two lithium ion batteries caught fire.

    Is the investigation going to turn from the battery to the problem referenced by the whistleblower?

    Battery found not at fault by Safety Investigators in JAPAN

    But is GS Yuasa really off the hook?

    Battery questions:

    • If the battery was too hot, why didn’t it burn up on hours 1-169?
    • If the battery failed, what caused it to catch fire on the 22nd flight? Why that flight?
    • If the battery (which is a backup system replacing post flight hydraulics) only operates on the ground and is only engaged on the ground, why are flights grounded? If the battery is only at use on the ground, is it an actual flight risk or a post-flight risk?
    • Is the solution going to be simply going to the other type of lithium ion battery (nickel metal-hydride technology), or will components or the whole system be replaced?
    • Was this simply a GS Yuasa quality control failure, a batch of bad batteries manufactured by GS Yuasa of Japan in September 2012?

    The entire 787 fleet is grounded. Replacing the battery system might be a “quick” fix but certification could last a year.

    A large format battery can generate heat faster than it dissipates.

    Is venting the battery and monitoring the vents a viable temporary solution that could keep the planes in the air until a system alternative has been certified within the year?

    The current batteries are “prone to spontaneous combustion due to ‘organic electrolyte which makes it volatile and flammable.'”

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    Northern Thunderbird Air Sued for 2011 Crash

    Here’s a case that did not rush to court.

    Six passengers of the October 2011 crash listed below have filed suit against Northern Thunderbird Air. The pilot and co-pilot, Luc Fortin and Matt Robic died shortly after the crash. Seven passengers were rescued six of whom are listed in the suit. Prior to takeoff, passengers informed the crew they saw oil under the wing. After takeoff, the pilot told the passengers he would be returning because oil was pouring from the wing.

    The helicopter hit a lamp post, a car and smashed up on the road. An additional part of the suit is that the plane lacked an electrical cutoff switch to reduce fire threat.

    NTSB Report:
    On October 27, 2011, about 1600 pacific daylight time, a Beechcraft King Air 100, C-GXRX, operated by Northern Thunderbird Air, Inc. collided with terrain while attempting to land at the Vancouver International Airport, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and an instrument flight rules flight plan was in effect. The airplane sustained substantial damage, and a postcrash fire ensued. The pilot was killed. The copilot, seven passengers, and two people on the ground were seriously injured. The accident investigation is under the jurisdiction and control of the Canadian government.

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    Hog Hunters Flipped in Chopper Bang-Up


    At 9 a m Jan 26,2013, a Hiller UH-12B helicopter crashed east of the St. Lucie-Okeechobee County line in a swamp between Okeechobee Road and Orange Avenue, west of the Adams Ranch The three men aboard,Pilot William Harward, and passengers Jonathan Strayer, 46, and Massad Ayoob, 64 were hospitalized at Raulerson Memorial Hospital.

    The helicopter had been chartered to “shoot feral hogs from a helicopter with .44 Magnum revolvers” a pastime that has been called pest eradication. A blog has released that the main rotor hit treetops, and the helicopter ended up upside down.

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    Med View Emergency Landing, Lagos

    On January 27, 2013, a Med View flight was en route from Lagos to Abuja when it developed sudden problems in one engine. Passengers panicked when they heard a boom at 12:30, and the plane began to fly unsteadily.

    73 passengers were aboard the twelve o’clock flight that had started fifteen minutes late at Murtala Muhammed Airport.

    Pilots shut down the affected engine and made a safe return to Lagos with emergency services on standby.

    Apparently pilot and crew made no announcements, but they did handle the emergency and get the plane down safely.

    Passengers were provided an alternative flight to Abuja on a 737.

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    Refuel Stop Crash in Warsaw Indiana


    On 27-JAN-2013, a Mooney M20J/201 en route from Ohio to Michigan made a crash landing at Warsaw Municipal Airport in Indiana when it bounced in crosswinds, crossed a runway and crashed barriers.

    Pilot Thomas Kowalczk and his son Brian Kowalczk had gotten parts in Port Clinton, Michigan and Lapier, Michigan and had stopped in Warsaw to refuel.

    The plane came to rest over the controls of underground fuel tanks. No fire occurred but the plane sustained significant damage.

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    London Investigates Agusta Westland Helicopter Crash

    London’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch is working the first helicopter accident in London since 1976. A review of helicopter flight regulation over the UK capital is already underway.

    In low broken clouds with visibility of 2,300 feet, the AgustaWestland struck a crane on January 16 on top of the Tower at St George Wharf and fell to the street around 8 a.m.. The pilot had diverted to Battersea heliport due to bad weather.

    Warning lights were on the building but not on the crane. (Crane lights had an allowed shut off around daylight.

    see more
    Tower at St George Wharf Helicopter Crash

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    American Airlines Bird Strike

    Burbank, twenty minutes from my home!

    On Jan 26, 2013, an American Airlines Boeing 738 flight took off from John Wayne Airport en route to Dallas, and suffered a bird strike (or more properly, three of them), and diverted to Los Angeles International Airport where they made a safe landing.

    Impact with the birds occurred around 7:30 a.m. (Does that make them early birds?)

    They landed safely around 8:00 a.m.

    Click if you want to see flight details on Flight Aware

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    Kenn Borek Air Update

    The flight that went missing on January 23, 2013, the Kenn Borek Air de Havilland DHC-6 Twin Otter en route from the South Pole to Terra Nova Bay has been found.

    Wreckage of the plane was found after it impacted terrain half way between South Pole and McMurdo Station.

    The two helicopters that reached the crash site on Jan 26th could not land. They surveyed the area.

    Rescue Coordination Centre New Zealand said that
    “The site of the crash is at a height of 3,900 metres (13,000 feet) at the northern end of the Queen Alexandra Range. The aircraft wreckage is on a very steep slope, close to the summit of Mount Elizabeth. It appears to have made a direct impact that was not survivable.”

    The airline has the following release posted on their site:


    PRESS RELEASE – KENN BOREK AIR LTD. – JANUARY 25, 2013

    Friday evening Calgary time, a C130 Hercules aircraft of the New York Air National Guard made visual contact with the overdue aircraft in Antarctica. The sighting was confirmed approximately thirty minutes later by a Kenn Borek Air Ltd. Twin Otter aircraft deployed in a search and rescue (SAR) role. The crew of the SAR Twin Otter reports that the overdue aircraft impacted a steep snow and ice covered mountain slope. No signs of activity are evident in the area surrounding the site, and it appears that the impact was not survivable.

    Due to the terrain and ongoing weather conditions, the SAR Twin Otter was unable to land near the site. Subject to favourable weather conditions, helicopter crews and mountain rescue personnel will attempt to access the accident site Saturday morning Calgary local time.
    Further updates can be obtained directly from the Wellington Rescue Coordination Centre.

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    Door Ripped from SAS Airbus


    On Jan 25, 2013, a Scandinavian Airlines SAS Airbus A320-232 with 150 aboard was at Gardermoen airport Norway loaded with passengers to Copenhagen when the SAS plane rolled backwards while it still was parked at gate 44. The door to the plane was ripped from its hinges.

    Both the street and the plane were damaged.

    Passengers were provided alternative flights. The crew and airport hope, optimistically, that the damaged can be handled expeditiously.

    An investigation of how this could happen is underway.

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    Turkish Airlines Airbus Lightning strike, Engine Fire

    On January 25, 2013, a Turkish Airlines Airbus A321-231 with 114 aboard en route from Istanbul-Atatürk was on approach to Izmir Turkey when the plane is reported to have suffered an engine fire in the right engine.

    A report is circulating that the plane was struck by lightning.

    Many of the passengers were reported to be in a panic, saying the plane was vibrating the whole flight, describe the loud noise of the strike, and also the smell of burning

    The pilot made a safe landing on one engine.

    Video below
    Not sure what to think of the music added to the video below, which makes it most un-news-like. There’s no actual video of the plane landing, just a light making a line in the sky.

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    Ural Airlines Emergency Landing in Kazan


    On Jan 25, 2013, a Ural Airlines Airbus A321-211 with 220 aboard was en route from Sharm el-Sheikh to Kazan Russia.

    On approach to Kazan in poor visibility at 3:40 am local time, the first landing approach was aborted, and the rear fuselage of the plane struck an antenna. There is also a mention of an on board system failure.

    Pilots made a safe landing on the next approach in spite of damage the rear fuselage contact area and brake line. We have heard of no reported injuries.

    The investigation is underway.

    The official report is below. Please pardon the translation.

    Information on the incident at the international airport “Kazan”
    As reported in “Ural Airlines”, January 25, 2013 in “Ural Airlines” incident occurred. Performing flight U6-3045, Sharm el-Sheikh on the Kazan aircraft A321, during the approach to landing in bad weather in the automatic mode (the height of the clouds 30 meters visibility – 800 meters) at the exit from the clouds of the crew determined neposadochnoe position of the aircraft. The pilots decided to execute a missed approach. When a missed approach was touching the fuselage antenna localizer radio beacon. Re-entry is made without comment, the crew and passengers were not injured.

    To investigate the causes of the incident, a commission. For the flight U6-3046 Kazan-Sharm El-Sheikh directed backup aircraft.

    According to the press service of the airport “Kazan”, in connection with an event, delayed departure flight U6-3046 airline “Ural Airlines” Kazan-Sharm El-Sheikh. Passengers (203) have been registered and are in the sterile area of ??departure. They provided food and refreshments. Reserve board arrived in Yekaterinburg at 09:24 Moscow time. After preparing the aircraft for flight, aircraft will fly to destination, estimated it will happen at 10:15 MSK 25.01.2013.

    Airport “Kazan” is working normally.

    src: http://www.16.mchs.gov.ru/news/detail.php?news=27991

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    Monroe Crash Kills Pilot and Three Passengers


    On January 24, 2013, a Central Flying Services Inc Beechcraft A36 Bonanza en route from Beaumont Municipal to Monroe Regional Airport was on approach to Monroe when it crashed for unknown reasons. Four minutes before the crash, the pilot told ATC of problems with the plane’s landing gear. ATC lost contact with the plane at 1:49 p.m. The plane crashed eight miles from the airport. Witnesses saw the plane circle and nosedive into the woods.

    The plane impacted behind Ouachita Correctional Center in Richwood. The manifest says Dean Hart Sr. of West Monroe, owner of Hart Commercial Investments, and Max Larche of Bastrop, engineer with Lazenby & Associates in West Monroe and Don Thompson of Monroe were passengers aboard the flight. The three businessmen were returning from a business trip to Beaumont.

    The pilot was also a fatality.

    Emergency services included police and fire firefighters, firefighters on ATV. Firefighters relied on fire extinguishers to put out the blaze.

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    Pilot Lands After Copilot Suffers Emergency


    Contact photographer Dmitriy Shapiro
    On January 22, 2013, an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 from Seattle to McCarran was en route when the co-pilot fainted. The pilot requested priority landing. The plane landed in McCarran ten minutes early at about 5:26 p.m.. None of the 146 passengers were injured.

    Alaskan Airlines said that while on board, the co-pilot was checked by a doctor on the flight, and that the co-pilot’s medical records were up to date. He was hospitalized on landing. A news program reported the plane landing on auto-pilot but an Alaskan Airlines official made assurances that the pilot landed the plane.

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    Canadian Antarctica Support Flight Missing

    On January 23, 2013, a Kenn Borek Air de Havilland DHC-6 Twin Otter was en route from the South Pole to Terra Nova Bay when it went missing en route, somewhere around Northern end, Queen Alexandra Range, Antarctica.

    Rescue Coordination Centre New Zealand is coordinating the search.

    Three Canadians were aboard. The pilot is Captain Bob Heath, a Canadian with 25 years of Arctic and Antarctic experience. His plane was carrying survival tent and equipment and 5 day food supply.

    The flight was a support mission from Amundson-Scott South Pole Base (USA) to an Italian base at Terra Nova Bay, Antarctica. A distress beacon sounded but a C-130 sweep sent by United States authorities at McMurdo failed to detect the plane. The beacon activated at around 10pm Wednesday night from the northern end of the Queen Alexandra Range, during hurricane force winds blowing slow below at temperatures below zero.

    A DC-3 circled for five hours in heavy snow and 190 km winds.

    A Twin Otter was scheduled to take off at around 8am NZ Time from McMurdo Station to fly over and establish a forward base approximately 50km from the mountainous area where the beacon is sounding, but weather may be prohibitive. A joint New Zealand and US field rescue team is planning a helicopter rescue as soon as weather permits.
    View Video Below

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    Parachute Saves 3 Lives in Connecticut “float”-Landing

    On Jan 23, 2013, a single engine Kenyon Flight Cirrus SR20 was engaged in a training flight, Groton-Danbury, near Danbury Connecticut. Aboard was an instructor, the pilot trainee and a friend of the trainee. The pilot was on approach to Danbury Municipal Airport two miles away when the plane suffered a loss of power.

    The pilot deployed a rocket-fired parachute system and floated down to land without hitting anything in a parking lot near South Street and Wixted Avenue at about 7:30 p.m. The parachute did become tangled with electrical wires.

    The pilot and two passengers were injured but survived.

    The parachute is being credited with saving their lives.

    Power was cut to unentangle the parachute, resulting in an electrical outage that affected about a thousand homes.

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    Ryanair 737 Diverts to Genoa


    Contact photographer Fride Jansson
    On January 23, 2013, a Ryanair Boeing 737-8AS wasn en route from Valencia to Bergamo Orio al Serio when the plane developed cabin pressure problems.

    Oxygen masks were deployed, which panicked the passengers. The pilots descended the plane to 9,000 feet, and diverted to Christoforo Colombia Genova airport. Emergency services (ground staff of the port of Genoa) were deployed— teams of firefighters and ambulances.

    They made an emergency landing. Of the 93 passengers, two women reported injury, one with an ear problem who was sent to the hospital of San Martino, and one in the chest who went to “Villa Scassi” Sampierdarena.

    Genoa air traffic was halted to allow for the emergency.

    The uninjured passengers were taken to Bergamo aboard buses.

    Ryanair’s official statement was that the pilots followed standard operating procedure after the warning light indicated depressurization. “In line with standard operating procedures, the commander has deployed oxygen masks and initiated an emergency descent controlled at an altitude non-pressurized, normally before landing in Genoa at about 9.50.”
    “The passengers were transported by bus to Milan in order to minimize the delay while Ryanair engineers are now inspecting the aircraft before putting it back in service.”

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    A Weather Report: Snow and Cancellations in Europe

    Snow.

    We would leave it at that except that there are aviation consequences.

    Snow is predicted in Europe, and is expected to cause flight delays. Carriers are preparing to deal with the headaches, so there will be snow preparations, but also a lot of flights grounded.

    Details of 727 cancellations by Air France, Lufthansa, British Airways and KLM have been posted at Frequent Business Traveler but there were no delays reported in Moscow, for whom snow is commonplace.

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    Ultralight Pilot Walks Away from Crash

    On January 21, 2013, a Rotax 447 ultralight was flying, clipped treetops and crashed after takeoff.

    The pilot, Randy R. Roman took off at 2:45 pm and shortly later crashed on Mendoza road in Manatee County.

    The pilot was uninjured but the ultralight was a total loss. After crashing his homebuilt ultralight, reports say Roman called his wife and asked for his toolbox, without letting on anything was out of the ordinary.

    He attributed his crash to “the corrosive effects of ethanol in his fuel caused…the fuel cap to flake off into the tank and plug a fuel line.”

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    Easyjet Airbus Engine Shut Down in Malta


    Six minutes after takeoff from Malta, an EasyJet Airbus A320 with a 150 passengers had an engine failure, shut down the affected engine, and returned to Malta. One source said there was only a technical problem and the shut down was just a precaution. No injuries were reported. Passengers described noises like retracting landing gear thumping louder and louder.

    Passengers were held in the departures lounge.

    The plane made a safe landing with emergency services on standby.

    Passengers disembarked after the engine was checked. They were sent a replacement flight to take them to London with a five hour delay.

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    Smoke in 737 Cockpit; Pilots divert to Tulsa. (updated)

    On January 21, 2012, a Southwest Airlines 737 with 76 passengers and five crew aboard was en route from Kansas to Houston when it developed smoke in the cockpit.

    Pilots diverted to Tulsa and made a safe landing (but probably hard and fast since reportedly three tires blew) with emergency services on standby at about 9:15 a.m.. No injuries were reported. Passengers were provided alternative transport to Houston.

    The plane has been removed from service and will be inspected in Tulsa.

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    Glider Instructor and Student in Glider Tow Accident

    On January 19, 2012, an Aeroclub Punta Alta I.C.A. Brasov IS-28B2—a glider— apparently improperly released from a tow plane and crashed at Punta Alta Airfield in Argentina.

    Those aboard were an instructor and a student on their first flight.

    Two fire crews and several police responded to the scene.

    Scientific Police in Bahia Blanca arrived on the scene to conduct the initial investigation and survey of the site and the remains of the glider.

    Maria Agustina Mallemaci and the glider pilot, William Hugo Santos, died from their injuries.