What: Delta Air Delta MD-88 en route from Atlanta to Washington DC Where: Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport When: April 22, 2011 11:30 Why: After takeoff, the plane experienced audible engine trouble loud enough to disturb the passengers, although there was no smoke. After a loud bang, the pilot shut down the affected engine.
The pilot returned to Atlanta and made a safe landing. Passengers were in the air again on a replacement jet by 2 pm.
What: American Airlines Boeing 777-200 en route from Tokyo to Los Angeles Where: Tokyo When: Apr 11, 2011 Who: 231 passengers, 4 flight attendants Why: While over the pacific, the Tokyo to Los Angeles flight encountered fifteen seconds of turbulence severe enough to injure four flight attendants. The flight continued as scheduled, and on arrival in the US, the flight attendants were treated.
Wake up ATC. Turn off the TV. The eyes of the media are on you again.
It is the air traffic control’s responsibility to watch the distance between planes. That includes the one Michelle Obama was on. Not that she was in any danger.
Now, if you’re really interested, you can leave our site and go check out the CBS Recording of Michelle Obama’s plane being diverted which CBS so uncharitably does not allow to be embedded. If you listen to this recording, and you should even though you will have to sit through whatever advertising they put at the start of it, do take note of the calm, matter of fact manner of both the pilot and the air traffic controller. This was a routine situation go-round.
What: Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky Aviation Enterprise Yakovlev Yak-40 en route from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky to Ossora Where: Russia When: Apr 16th 2011 Who: 21 passengers 5 crew Why: Due to bad weather, the pilots rerouted to Ust-Kamchatsk.
On landing, they overran the runway by 300 meters into heavy snow. The right wing sustained damage, (photos of the plane show it leaning on that wing), but no passengers were injured.
Weather conditions in Ust-Kamchatsk may not have been much better than Ossora–
What: US Airways Boeing 757-200 en route from Orlando to Philadelphia Where: Lynchburg When: Apr 16th 2011 Who: flight attendant Why: The plane took off as normal with no problem, but encountered turbulence near Lynchburg Virginia, during which a flight attendant was seriously injured.
The pilot descended to a lower altitude, and landed safely in Philadelphia less than an hour later.
What: Delta Airlines McDonnell Douglas MD-90 en route from Minneapolis to Las Vegas Where: Aspen,CO When: Apr 17th 2011 Who: 2 injured Why: While en route, the plane encountered unexpected turbulence.
Two passengers were injured as the plane was over Aspen.
The pilots continued on and made a safe landing in Las Vegas.
What: Piedmont Hawthorne Aviation Hawker Beechjet 400XP en route from Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport to Harrisburg Where: Baltimore When: April 19, 2011, 11:44 Who: 0 fatalities Why: On takeoff, the plane blew a tire. The plane veered off the left of the runway. Neither of the two pilots nor the passenger was injured. There was no damage to the plane except for the blown tire. Emergency crews were on hand.
What: Pawan Hans Helicopters Ltd Mil Mi-172 en route from Gauhati to Tawang India Where: Tawang India When: April 19, 2011, 13:57 Who: 23 aboard, 17 fatalities Why: The Pawan Hans helicopter Captain Varun Gupta and Captain A. K. Tiwari was flying was approaching the helipad to land in Arunachal Pradesh when it struck a wall, broke into pieces, burst into flame and fell down into a gorge by the helipad.
Six survived, three of whom are critical. All—two crew members and four passengers who survived —are badly burned.
The deceased were identified as Mrs Anita, A Baruah, Dr Tendon, Dr Asif, Mrs R Asif, Mrs Jahara, Ms Asif, Master Asif, Mr A Sharma, A K Saraugi, Ms N Botha, Col Sharma, Mr W Bhatia, Mr T Mustafa, second pilot captain Tiwari, flight attendant A Dixit and assistant maintenance engineer S B Kulkarni.
Survivors include Captain Varun Gupta, Randiv Kumar Chaturvedi, Dorjee Wangdi, Rishi Bothra, Rajendra Pal and Mrs Karishma Saraugi.
The injured were taken to Tawang hospital and on the 20th will be air-lifted to Guwahati.
This was a regular flight to Tawang from the Lokopriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport in Guwahati, and the helicopter has a valid certificate of airworthiness.
The DGCA speculates the chopper crashed was “likely” due to wind shear and down draft.
The Ohio, controller who watched a DVD while monitoring three planes sent audio of Samuel Jackson in the movie The Cleaner to those three planes over his mike, and sticking his mike in the ON position so he couldn’t receive calls. The FAA announcement of that controller’s suspension said that a military pilot on an alternative frequency heard the movie broadcast over airspace. That controller has been suspended along with his manager.
Is this Oberlin Ohio controller the only one doing this or was he just the only one unlucky enough to get caught? What other distracting solutions have air traffic controllers found to keep them from falling asleep during long dull lapses during the night? FAA policy prohibits the use of portable DVD players.
What: US Airways Boeing 737-400 en route from Dallas to Charlotte. Where: Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport When: April 18, 2011, 1 pm Who: 94 passengers, 5 crew (also reported as 107 aboard) Why: After pilots smelled smoke in the cockpit, they diverted the flight to Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport where they made a safe landing with local emergency responders as well as fire crews from Pelham-Batesville and Boiling Springs, and Greenville and Spartanburg EMS were on standby when the plane landed.
After the plane was grounded, passengers were taken by bus to Charlotte.
As a demonstration of the FAA’s zero tolerance policy, the seven controllers who were suspended were the seven caught sleeping during their shifts.
The FAA is adding an hour of down time between shifts, hoping that hour will make a difference. A bit of magic thinking there. The FAA doesn’t even allow napping during break time.
Rather than pay for naps or schedule unpaid naps, the FAA has rejected the possibility of controlled on the job napping, which is the solution offered by other countries like Germany and Japan which provide rooms for that purpose.
Yet how many exhausted controllers have made bad decisions based on being sleep deprived? According to research, US air traffic controllers get average 2.3 hours sleep before their overnight shifts.
What: SAS Scandinavian Airlines Boeing 737-800 en route from Oslo to Trondheim Where: Trondheim When: Apr 18th 2011 Who: infant Why: The mother was in the aisle seat with a 2 year old infant on her lap when water from the cart spilled on to the baby. It is said a passenger bumped the cart.
Medical services on board the flight treated the baby.
This reminds me of Liebeck v. McDonald’s Restaurants. Remember that case? A jury awarded her $2.86 million for getting burned by a cup of hot Mcdonalds coffee. They reduced that award to $640,000 but I think the final settlement was confidential. Of course Liebeck wasn’t an infant in her mother’s lap. She was 79, presumably familiar with the process of coffee drinking, and the water gave her third-degree burns on six percent of her body. No wonder they treated the baby while still on board.
What: Donavia Boeing-737-500 passenger airliner flying from Rostov to Tel Aviv Where: Sochi, Russia Who: 99 passengers * also reported as 103 Why: The flight made a scheduled stop at Sochi, but after takeoff had undesignated problems in the air, and had to return to make an emergency landing. A replacement plane arrived to perform the remainder of the flight about six hours later.
The problem was due to cabin pressure from a leaking door seal.
What: United Airlines en route to San Francisco Where: LAX When: April 17, 2011 Why: After takeoff, the autopilot took control and would not relinquish it. The pilot had no control over the plane, but then was able to turn off autopilot and return to the airport.
The news release of this event does not mention the type of plane; but I am not surprised at first research that it appears to have been an Airbus A320. Fortunately, the pilot regained control, and there were no injuries. But this kind of problem with an airbus could have significance relating to all fly by wire aircraft, which have the capacity to lock out the pilot.
We need more information about this event. It should be published heavily, and we should be hearing some alerts and safety directives from Airbus.
What: Cayman Airways Boeing 737-300 en route from Grand Cayman to Jamaica Where: Grand Cayman When: April 15, 2011 Why: After takeoff, the passengers aboard had a scare when they had to make an emergency return to the airport. The plane indicator light indicated a landing gear problem that did not materialize on landing. The plane made a safe landing, and passengers were boarded on to a later flight to Jamaica three hours later.
What: Malaysian Airlines Boeing 737-400 en route from Sabah (Kota Kinabalu) to Kaohsiung International Airport Where: Manila When: April 16, 2011 5:30 p.m. Who: 128 passengers Why: While over Philippine airspace, a member of the crew found a cracked cockpit window that caused pressurization problems.
The plane diverted to Manila and made a safe landing. The passengers, mostly from Taiwan, had to overnight in Manila but were provided hotel accommodations. Intervention from the Taiwanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs was apparently required.
On the company website, the airline has a press release about its new A330-300 but does not make reference to its plane down in Manila.
What: United Nations – UN/Georgian Airways Canadair CL600 2B19 Regional Jet CRJ-100ER on the return trip from Kinshasa-N’Djili Airport (FIH) to Kisangani (FKI) and Entebbe (and back) Where: Kinshasa-N’Djili Airport, Congo When: 04 APR 2011 2 pm. Who: 4 crew, 29 passengers Why: On landing in Kinsasha, the United Nations plane encountered rainy weather and crashed at the end of the runway, breaking into several pieces. Witnesses say the plane encountered windshear at 65 feet and fell straight down. At least eight were thrown from the plane when it broke. There were 32 fatalities. There was one survivor. The crew was composed of Georgians.
The rain helped put out the fire, according to firefighters. The black box was recovered.
The lone survivor, Francis Mwamba, a Congolese journalist, was taken to Biamba Marie Mutombo hospital.
The plane was also reported as a Fokker.
Airzena Georgian Airways made this statement:
“Airzena Georgian Airways” regrets to confirm an accident occurred at Kinshasa airport, capital of Democratic Republic of Congo on 4 April, 10 at 13:00 GMT.The flight was operated under UN mission by aircraft of type CRJ-100 enroute from Goma to Kinshasa. The landing was performed in adverse weather conditions. The aircraft sufferred crash landing, broke up into parts and caught fire.
According to the currently available information crew and passengers died in the accident. The number is specified.
The accident is being investigated officially to determine its possible cause.
“Airzena Georgian Airways” is deeply shocked about the accident and expresses its condolences to the family members of the perished.
What: Qantas Boeing 737-800 Aukland to Sydney Where: Sydney When: Apr 13 2011 Who: 130 passengers Why: While en route, the plane reportedly had a fuel leak and an engine problem while over the Tasman sea. They made a “priority” landing in Sydney, with no injuries, although the fuel leak problem was mistakenly announced.
The problem was diagnosed as a fuel transfer valve, which was subsequently replaced.
Prior to landing safely in Sydney, the problem was announced on Twitter.
What: Saudi Arabian Airlines Boeing 777-268ER en route from Washington to Riyadh Where: Greece When: April 14, 2011 Who: 240 Why: While en route, the plane indicated a fire aboard. The pilot diverted to Athens where they made a safe landing.
The plane had “dry ice” aboard, which gave the appearance of fire. Though from the accounts we have heard, we’re not sure if the smoke was visually detected, or if the ions from the offgassing of dry ice fooled a smoke detector.
What: Golden Wings Piper PA-32-260 Cherokee Six Where: Haifa Israel When: April 14, 2011 Who: 4 fatalities Why: On a training flight, the Piper developed unspecified engine problems, so that the pilot requested an emergency landing on the Air Force Technical School landing strip.
On return to the airport, the pilot attempted an emergency landing but brushed treetops on approach, and crashed. A flight instructor 65-year-old f David Bechor, and three students including Mustafa Amin Darawsheh and Moshe Bensel were killed in the crash.
Witnesses say the plane “dropped like a stone…a loud blast…explosion and black smoke”
When the rescue teams arrived, the plane was engulfed.
What: Cebu Pacific Air en route from Manila to General Santos City Where: Manila When: April 14 2011 Who: ill passenger Why: A passenger who developed a blood pressure crisis was lucky a doctor was on board the fight. The passenger, 72-year-old Leonida Rosqueta had taken her Pretor 40 blood pressure medication before the flight. When she was unresponsive, on the doctor’s advice, the pilot diverted to Manili, where Leonida and her daughter Maribel Pascua disembarked and were transported to a hospital in Manila. The plane took off again for General Santos City after being on the ground in Manila for an hour.
What: Virgin Australia Boeing 777-300 en route from Los Angeles to Sydney Where: Los Angeles When: April 12, 2011 Who: 305 passengers Why: On making its takeoff run from Los Angeles, the plane emitted a loud “bang!” and stopped on the runway, they believed for a nose gear. It turned out to be the fireball erupting from engine one. Needless to say, the jet was pulled for inspection, and the passengers were given hotel accommodations for the night. They were provided an alternative flight the next day.
What: Air France Airbus A330-200 en route from Caracas Venezuela to Paris Where: Caracas When: Apr 13th 2011 Who: 207 passengers Why: Unable to retract the landing gear, the plane circled for three hours to burn off fuel and made a safe landing in Caracas.
No doubt the situation caused significant anxiety. Any time an Air France flight originating in a South American country has a problem en route en route to Paris, the passengers in crisis must inevitably remember what happened to Air France Flight 447 and wonder if they too will become innocent victims, and statistics lost at sea.
What: Delta twin-engine McDonnell Douglas MD-90, en route from Tampa, Fla to Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport Where: Rochester When: April 13, 2011 4 pm Who: 143 passengers 6 crew Why: While en route, passengers felt vibrations, and smelled smoke before the pilots made an emergency diversion at the Rochester airport. They landed with the fire department on standby.
An engine was judged to be faulty and is being replaced while at the Rochester airport. Most of the stranded passengers finished the last leg of their trip on buses provided by Delta, though some rented cars.
What: Bedrock Investments LLC single-engine Cessna 150 training flight Where: Corona Airport, California When: April 12, 2011 Who: Flight instructor and student pilot Why: Whoever was flying lost control during takeoff and crashed into the hanger at Corona Municipal Airport. Both aboard were injured, one seriously enough to be evacuated to the hospital while unconscious. The hanger door is damaged, and the plane is a total loss.
Wake up ATC. Turn off the TV. The eyes of the media are on you again.
