What: The United Express flight 7164, en route from O’Hare bound for South Bend
Where: O’Hare Airport
When: Monday night Dec 15
Who: 28 passengers and 4 crew members
Why: The plane was about to land in South Bend but instead, circled the airport and returned to Chicago because of a landing gear problem. When the plane hit the tarmac, the left wing shot sparks. The belly landing as the plane slid down the runway, half on its belly.
What: Delta Flight 5083 en route from Cedar Rapids to Cincinnati
Where: Quad City International Airport.
When: Tuesday Dec 16, 2008 around noon
Who: 38 people were on board
Why: The pilot reported flap problems. Limited visibility prevented a return to Cedar Rapids. The plane landed safely.
What: US Airways Express CRJ Jet operated by Air Wisconsin en route from Norfolk, Va to Philadelphia.
Where: Philadelphia International Airport
When: 5:30 pm Sunday
Who: 3 people aboard, the captain, first officer and a flight attendant. The plane can hold 50 passengers
Why: The pilot reported problems with the landing gear. The plane landed safely on runway 27 Left on foam though its left landing gear was not down. Sparks were seen on the runway at landing, but no injuries were reported. The plane carries 3000 lb of fuel.
What: en route from Perland to Meacham
Where: land the plane safely in a field near Mark IV Parkway and Loop 820
When: 10 am reported engine trouble
Who: 2 people aboard
Why: After reporting that the plane’s engine was running rough, the pilot was able to land in the field safely.
What: small plane, probably (but not definitively) Forney Aircoupe from the Avon Park airport
Where: among trees between the 10th, 12th and 14th fairways in Golf Hammock, a golf community west of Sebring in Highlands County
When: 11:30 a.m. Saturday
Who: Pilot James Weener, and passenger James Richer
Why: Witnesses saw black smoke, heard the plane’s engine over-revving, then the plane came apart and in fell in pieces from the sky. A witness said “Some small parts came off first, then the wing came off and the tail shot off. It just disintegrated in midair.”
The Fighter Wing F-16 landed safely around 10:20 a.m. The tanks were 3/4 full, and are capable of carrying 370 gallons. Procedures are underway to retrieve the tanks.
What: F/A-18 Military Jet from the carrier Abraham Lincoln landing at Marine Corps Air Station Miramir
Where: San Diego neighborhood
When: DEC 8
Who: the pilot, who was part of a training squadron, ejected. He had been aiming the plane at a deserted canyon to avoid homes and the 805 Freeway. 4 Individuals in the house are dead. The pilot has been transported to Balboa Naval Hospital
Why: Witnesses said, “It was mushing through the air…iIt was chugging along with what seemed like one engine. Then I heard a roar of engine and all of a sudden, woop, dead silence.”
The deceased have been identified as 4 members of a Korean family. Dong Yun Yoon is the sole survivor–Lost in the crash were Young Mi Yoon, 36; her daughters Grace, 15 months, and Rachel, 2 months; and her mother, Suk Im Kim, 60.
Apparently caused by power failure, the crash is considered unrelated to the previous discovery of cracks in hinges on the wings of more than a dozen F/A-18s ( This writer, however, does wonder if the two problems reveal a maintenance factor in common–though hinge cracks seem that they would be related to parts, wear or broader manufacturing issues.)
Brazil released a report Wednesday regarding the GOL crash. Specifically, the report concerns the Gol jet that collided over the Amazon rain forest with an Embraer Legacy 600 executive jet owned by ExcelAire Service Inc. of New York ; it concludes that the pilots of a New York-based executive jet had placed the transponder and collision avoidance system on standby before colliding with the Boeing 737 operated by GOL Linhaus Aereas Inteligentes SA on Sept. 29, 2006.
However, the two American pilots are not exclusively responsible. The NTSB opinion is that the rules and regulations that govern Brazilian air space, as well as the on duty air Brazilian traffic controllers are at fault. Brazilian air traffic controllers should have informed the Long Island pilots that their transponder was turned off. There’s no indication that the Legacy’s control panel indicated that the transponder was off.
The Legacy landed safely but everyone on the GOL jet died. Flight controllers failed to alert pilots that they were on a collision course and also did not notice–or communicate that the transponder was off.
The on duty flight controllers and the two U.S. pilots – Joseph Lepore and Jan Paladino have been indicted. They could get up to three years in prison.The pilots deny turning off the transponder. They claim to have been flying at the altitude designated by the air controllers. Their lawyer is quoted as saying “This accident was caused by a string of catastrophic errors committed by Brazilian air traffic controllers. In essence, they put and kept these two planes on a collision course.â€
ExcelAire says that “the transponder issue is a distraction from the true cause of the accident, which is an air traffic control system that put two airplanes on a collision course for about an hour.”
Families of the GOL victims may yet file a civil lawsuit in Brazil.
At the time of the crash, air temp was 36 degrees; water temp 62 degrees. Wind was from the west at 23 knots, and there was a weather advisory. The three crew members who were recovered were wearing personal floatation devices. A search is ongoing for two others. All four passengers were crew members for a contract customer of Rotorcraft.
What: Mitsubishi MU-2 twin engine prop plane
Where: Millington TN Airport
When: 12/09 11:00 AM
Who: One person injured was transported to the MED.
Why: The plane lost a wing during the emergency landing, and spilled fuel on the ground. The pilot did not believe he could make it to the airport; after landing on the runway, the plane crashed thru a chain link fence. One of the engines was malfunctioning.
Regarding the Gol jet that collided over the Amazon rain forest with an Embraer Legacy 600 executive jet owned by ExcelAire Service Inc. of New York: The GOL InvestigatIon has determined that the pilots of a New York-based executive jet had placed the transponder and collision avoidance system on standby before colliding with the Boeing 737 operated by GOL Linhaus Aereas Inteligentes SA on Sept. 29, 2006.
The Legacy landed safely but everyone on the GOL jet died.
Flight controllers failed to alert pilots that they were on a collision course and also did not notice the transponder was off.
The on duty flight controllers and the two U.S. pilots – Joseph Lepore and Jan Paladino have been indicted. They could get up to three years in prison.The pilots deny turning off the transponder. They claim to have been flying at the altitude designated by the air controllers.
ExcelAire says that “the transponder issue is a distraction from the true cause of the accident, which is an air traffic control system that put two airplanes on a collision course for about an hour.”
What: 1979 single-engine Cessna was registered to Rohan Aviation of Lantana and flown by a student pilot from Lantana Airport en route to Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport.
Airline Transport Professional Piper registered to Harry Duckworth en route from Ocala to Pompano Beach
(The specific models have been deleted due to conflicts)
Where: 2.7 miles southwest of Holiday Park (six miles northwest of Pompano Beach and about two miles into the Everglades)
When: both planes departed Saturday (12/06) afternoon
Who: Cessna-2 passengers Piper-1 person on board. The alleged victims include flight instructor Stuart Brown, and pilot Bryan Sax.
Why: The planes collided west of U.S. 27 and south of Alligator Alley in the Everglades. No survivors. The NTSB is investigating. Only one of the flights had a flight plan. The exact number of individuals in the student flight is under dispute. The wreckage is located in an area accessible by airboat.
What: Rockwell International 690B, took off from Tortola in the British Virgin Islands en route to the Puerto Rican capital
Where: Puerto Rican rainforest fog-shrouded El Yunque mountain
When: on Wednesday
Who: Caribbean pilot Ken Webster owner of Websta’s Aviation Services Inc. in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. ; and two U.S. tourists Tracy Turner and Ken (Kent) Clapp
Why: During foggy weather, the plane apparently slammed into El Yunque mountain.
Video taken by hikers hiking to top of El Yunque in Puerto Rico May 2008. El Yunque National Forest is the site of the crash.
What: Sky West Flight 6552 Embraer en route from Palm Springs International Airport to Los Angeles International Airport
Where: Palm Springs International Airport
When: 5:46 p.m
Who: 14 people on board
Why: After the crew detected smoke in the cockpit right after takeoff, the Sky West flight was able to land safely.
