Pakistan International Airlines flight PK-194 had to divert and make an emergency landing in Muscat, Oman, on June 24th.
The plane heading from Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, to Turbat, Pakistan, was diverted due to an engine problem.
The plane landed safely. All passengers and crew members remained unharmed.
Qantas Airways flight QF-9 had to divert and make an emergency landing in Muscat, Oman, on March 25th.
The Airbus A380-800 plane en-route from Melbourne, Australia, to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, was diverted due to bad weather conditions in Dubai.
As the plane was on approach to Muscat, it was hit by a bird. The crew continued for a safe landing.
Everyone aboard remained unharmed.
Qantas Airways flight QF9 had to make an emergency landing in Oman, on April 8th.
The Airbus A380 plane, heading from Melbourne, Australia, to London, United Kingdom, was diverted after a male passenger suffered a suspected heart attack.
The plane landed safely. However, authorities said the passenger had died before the plane touched down.
Jet Airways flight 9W-536 had to divert and make an emergency landing at Muscat International Airport, Oman, on the afternoon of July 9.
The plane, en-route to Dubai from Mumbai, had to be landed in emergency after Air Traffic Controllers alerted the pilot about a bomb threat.
A Jet Airways spokesperson Manish Kalghatgi confirmed, “There was a bomb threat on the flight. It was a serious threat prompting the pilot to land at the closest airport.”
The plane landed uneventfully and all 54 passengers and 7 crew members remained safe. The flight continued after security clearance.
What: Air India Express en route from Cochin-Salalah
Where: Salalah
When: Nov 3, 2011 9:45
Who: 87 passengers
In this event, the pilot of an Air India Express COK-Salalah (Oman) flight, made three attempts to land. A cumulation of numerous small errors threatened passenger safety and defied standard operating procedures and included mis-entering data into the system.
The pilot forced the B737 to land using “autoland” in high cross-winds.
Wind speed on the ground was 25 knot (46 kmph) gusting to 35 knot (65 kmph.) Operating procedure allows landing when winds are no higher than 25 knots. The Boeing FCOM lists 35 knots as the max permissible crosswind landing component on a 45m wide. The pilot would have been correct to divert to another airport. There was adequate fuel to do so (if he had realized the numbers entered into the system were incorrect). Ground conditions were at the top of what Boeing allows and would be a challenge. Instead of diverting to Abu Dhabi, the pilot landed in defiance of safety norms.
The pilot attempted to land twice, and then decided to divert. Having been entered with incorrect data, the FMC (Flight Management Computer) incorrectly concluded there was only six minutes of flight time left. This was incorrect, as the plane had 4.7 tons of fuel, more than enough to reach Abu Dhabi, 75 minutes away.
On the pilot’s third attempt, the pilot autolanded (without having trained for autolanding.) It was a safe, if hard landing, and one that damaged the plane and nearly went off the runway. Two tires burst, and the landing gear was damaged.
Maybe this pilot is a fool, or maybe just careless. The plane did land with no loss of life. You know they always say “the devil is in the details.” I don’t know verifiable particulars. We don’t have available first hand data to analyze, but Air India and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation does.
But when we see evidence of problems like this, we wonder if India has gone far enough in raising the bar.
Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact photographer Szabo Gabor
What: Gulf Air Airbus A330-200 en route from Kuala Lumpur Malaysia to Bahrain
Where: Muscat
When: Feb 5th 2011
Who: 136 passengers
Why: While en route, the pilot’s illness forced a landing at Muscat. The flight was completed by a replacement crew, after the captain was hospitalized after a heart attack.
