What: Ukraine Ministry of Defense Aero Vodochody L-39 Albatross
Where: Chuhuiv, Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine
When: Sept 22, 2012
Who: 1 fatality
Why: In Chuguev, a combat trainer aircraft L-39 crashed on the runway. The student pilot who was flying the plane when it crashed died at the scene.
The pilot was a third year student and had completed 71 flights.
The incident is under investigation. Use of L-39 planes has been suspended pending the investigation.
Flight attendants made the news this weekend with one flight attendant bringing her gun to work even though it was not Bring Your GUn to Work day. (Note: It is NEVER bring your gun to work day for a flight attendant, even if you have a valid Chester County permit to carry a concealed weapon as Republic Airlines FA Jaclyn Luby did.) The .38 caliber Smith and Wesson Airweight was in her purse. After it was confiscated when it showed up at checkpoint, a police officer was attempting to unload it and discharged it into the wall. Oops. I guess the wall was judged guilty, and it didn’t away. Bad wall. The Flight Attendant is being charged with disorderly conduct, and the police officer is on desk duty.
There’s also Horizon Air flight attendant Wendy Ronelle Dye who said that a passenger brought her an iPad he found on a seat, and she never used it, honest, even though the owner used an ap to track it to her house, and police say they found some of her personal information on it.
In a civil trial that sounded like a real life James Bond spy novel, a Dallas County Jury awarded Southlake Aviation, owned by Dallas business executive David Disiere, $32.4 million in damages against Houston based oil company, CAMAC International, its subsidiary CAMAC Aviation, and Mickey Lawal CAMAC’s Vice President of African Operations.
The case stemmed from a scheme in which CAMAC International and its officers used a Gulfstream V jet leased from David Disiere’s Southlake Aviation to try to spirit more than ten thousands pounds of gold bullion out of the Democratic Republic of the Congo with help from General Bosco Ntaganda, a notorious Congolese warlord.
Following the verdict, Southlake Aviation’s President, David Disiere praised the jury’s decision, “twelve citizens saw through a smoke-and- mirrors defense put on by the CAMAC’s attorneys and clearly found that CAMAC caused my company to loose a $43 million dollar aircraft in a greedy scheme that violated the U.S. Trading With The Enemy Act.”
The jury heard riveting testimony from a diamond trader involved in the scheme describing how CAMAC executives Kase Lawal, Mickey Lawal, and Kamoru Lawal arranged to exchange two-oversized suitcases stuffed with six-and-half million dollars in cash for ten boxes of gold delivered by General Bosco Ntaganda’s armed forces.
An investigation of the smuggling incident by the United Nations Security Council found that CAMAC and its three top executives, Kase Lawal, Mickey Lawal, and Kamoru Lawal were dealing with “individuals operating in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and committing serious violations of international law involving the targeting of children or women in situations of armed conflict.”
Kase Lawal, Mickey Lawal, and Kamoru Lawal who are Nigerian American brothers invoked their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination hundreds of times during their testimony in the case.
Houston energy executive, Kase Lawal the former CEO of CAMAC International and the current CEO of the publically traded CAMAC Energy Inc. was appointed to a White House Trade Advisory position by President Obama and serves on the boards of the Houston Port and Airport Authorities.
David Disiere, the Dallas business executive and owner of Southlake Aviation, told the jury how he was shocked to get a call in the dead of night informing him that his company’s 43-million dollar Gulfstream V jet aircraft loaded with ten boxes of gold had been confiscated in Goma by authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo on February 5, 2011. The jury’s verdict also included compensation of more than 535-thousand dollars for repairing damage done the to the aircraft’s interior passenger compartment during the loading of the gold.
Because Southlake Aviation’s aircraft was confiscated in the Congo, VFS Financing a subsidiary of General Electric, automatically placed Southlake Aviation’s loan to purchase the Gulfstream V in default, accelerated the entire balance, and repossessed the aircraft.
Testimony in the case and the investigation by the United Nations also indicated that former Houston Rocket’s basketball star Dikembe Mutombo acted as an intermediary in the gold smuggling scheme.
Testimony in the case showed that David Disiere had never met the Lawal brothers. Disiere testified that CAMAC had signed a three-year lease for Southlake’s Gulfstream V jet and claiming it would use the jet was to travel between its Houston headquarters and oil operations in Nigeria.
The jury agreed with David Disiere’s testimony that CAMAC and its officers violated the terms of the aircraft’s lease by using it in an outlaw region of Africa.
What: PAL Airbus A-319 Flight PR-124
Where: Zamboanga
When: Sept 22, 2012
Why: PAL Flight PR-124 was cancelled when engine inspection indicated a bird strike from an earlier flight. The 101 passengers who were scheduled on that flight were transferred to other flights.
The engine damage occurred on PR-123 Manila-Zamboanga which had arrived at 6:18 a.m.
What: Ryanair Boeing 737-800
Where: Billund, Denmark
When: Sept 22, 2012, 9:30 a.m.
Who: mo injuries
Why: Flight FR 9086 from Alicante to Gothenburg made an uneventful forced landing at Billund airport, Denmark due to technical problems. The plane took off normally at 6:55 but diverted to Billund instead of arriving at Gothenburg at the scheduled time of 10:15. Details are scarce.
On May 9, the Sukhoi SuperJet-100 piloted by Alexander Yablontsev was making a demo flight in Indonesia when the pilot took it dangerously close to terrain, and flew south into the mountains instead of turning north to the airport, crashing the plane and killing all 45 aboard the plane. The Russian Trade and Industry Ministry accepted the findings of local experts which blamed the crash on human error. Pilots ignored the collision avoidance system’s warning.
The investigation is not officially over. The French and US reports are part of the investigation. The NTSB Preliminary report is brief:
On May 9, 2012, at 1450 local time, a Sukhoi SJ100-95, Russian registration RP97004, collided with terrain about 35 miles south of Jakarta, Indonesia. The airplane was on a demonstration flight. The 40 passengers and 4 crew were fatally injured, and the airplane was destroyed.
This investigation is being conducted by the National Transportation Safety Committee of Indonesia (NTSC/KNKT). As the state of design and manufacture of the the ACSS/L3 Terrain Warning and Traffic Collision Avoidance System (T2CAS), the NTSB appointed a U.S. accredited representative upon being invited to do so by the NTSC.
Russian officials expect to make the final report public in October.
Arik Air Ltd., and Aero Contractors Co. of Nigeria Ltd., Nigeria’s top two airlines, have been banned from getting loans by Nigeria’s Central Bank due to the massive debt they have accrued. Arik Air owes Asset Management Corp. of Nigeria more than $534 million. Aero Contractors owes more than $203 million. A bank that loans money to these airlines will face “serious fines from the government.” Air Nigeria recently collapsed owing crew a debt of four months’ pay, in addition to $175 million in loans to Nicon Investments Ltd..
Only three Nigerian airlines remain in operation. Arik Air has not published a date when it will resume flying.
Officially, according to the BBC, the carrier resumed domestic flights on Sunday Sept 24. However we did get anonymous input from Monrovia that as of Saturday, Sept 22nd, Arik Air was flying.
This is what the aircraft leasing companies should do:
Stop leasing planes to operators that are careless in their maintenance and pilot training.
Leasing companies should not look only at credit worthiness. Yes, that is one factor, but it is only part of the picture. Leasing companies must also make judgements based on the history of the airline operator performance, and maintenance.
If credit and performance history all checks out, the oversight is not over. The leasing company should monitor every single plane they have leased out to foreign operators.
If monitoring reveals any problems whatsoever, that pilots are not being trained, that they are not getting enough sleep, that the operator or aircraft goes on a black list, that the operator is shown to be negligent in any way, then the lessor should endeavor immediately to pickup/repossess that plane.
Maintaining every aspect of the plane’s maintenance, flight operations, crew resource management, and crew training is as crucial to the contract agreement as payments. Failure to keep everything up to date is as much a breach of contract and cause for action as is failure to pay.
What: Syrian Arab Airlines
Where: Duma east of Damascus
When: Sept 20, 2012
Who: 200 aboard, no injuries
Why: The Syrian military helicopter that crashed near Damascus struck the tail of a Syrian Arab Airlines plane.
200 aboard were uninjured. Pilots managed to land the plane at Damascus.
A release stated that “The control tower at Damascus airport confirmed that the plane landed safely at Damascus airport and all 200 passengers are in good health.”
The Mil helicopter was damaged beyond repair. No one aboard survived.
What: AST Africa Trading 348 CC Robinson R44 Raven II
Where: Germiston South Africa
When: Sept 19, 2012
Who: 3 injured, no fatalities
Why: The helicopter crashed for unknown reasons in a field near Rand Airport. The pilot was airlifted to Milpark Hospital with chest injuries. A ER24 Advanced Life Support paramedic escorted a woman with a broken leg to Union hospital in the SAPS medevac; and a man was driven by ambulance to Union hospital.
Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact photographer Joachim Eichner
What: Ryanair Boeing 737-800 en route from Bristol to Reus
Where: Barcelona
When: Sept 15, 2012
Who: 171
Why: On Sept 15, the Bristol-Reus flight diverted to Barcelona after developing an engine problem. Passengers disembarked in Barcelona and were provided alternative transportation.
This is one of the events that caught the eye of Spanish and Irish aviation bodies. They are initializing an investigation into Ryanair after a number of diversions occurred recently in Spanish airspace.
The investigation was initiated after a diversion to Madrid during a Paris-tenerife flight, and three landings in Valencia on July 26.
There are fears that Ryanair is courting disaster by flying with minimal fuel requirements.
Read the official statement below:
What: Gobierno del Edo de Michoacan Bell 407
Where: lago Zirahuén Mexico
When: Sept 18, 2012
Who: 5 aboard, 1 fatality
Why: The Helicopter was filming a promotional tourism video when it crashed in Lake Zirahuen. Four aboard were injured. There was one fatality.
The aircraft became entangled with a tension wire, used as ziplining.
Despite the rumor, no members of the cast of “The Academy’ television show were aboard. The rumor appeared apparently after tweets immediately following the accident.
The injured were reported as Enrique Barragán, Carlos Vela, Pablo Gabriel Angulo and Luis Fernando Gutiérrez. Daniel Martinez was initially reported as missing, then later as a fatality.
THe helicopter is owned by the State of Michoacan.
What: Rgd. Dewberry Air LLC Beechcraft 400 en route from Charleston to Macon
Where: Macon GA
When: Sept 18 2012 10:05
Who: 3 aboard
Why: The Beechcraft hydroplaned while landing during a downpour at Herbert Smart Airport, overran the runway, went over an embankment, crossed Oculgee East Blvd and stopped in the trees thirty yards from the runway. The businessman and quarterback who were aboard the plane were not hurt. They had flown in on a business trip on the Dewberry Air Corporation Jet, on a plane registered in Dover Delaware.
The pilot was pinned in the plane and had to be cut out was not seriously injured.
What: Floatplane
Where: North of Forestville, Quebec
When: Sept 18, 2012 1 pm
Who: 2 fatalities
Why: The floatplane carrying two men crashed in an inaccessible area near a North Shore lake, Lake Petit Argent killing one man in his twenties and one in his fifties.
After they were recovered by Canadian Forces Rescue, they were rushed to a Baie-Comeau hospital. The cause of the crash is unknown. The victims names have not been released.
Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact photographer Raymond Wang
What: Malaysia Airlines Airbus A330-200 en route from Chennai to Kuala Lumpur
Where: Penang International Airport
When: Sep 15 2012 8:04
Who: 195 passengers
Why: While en route, the plane developed cabin pressure issues. The Free and Independent News site reported that the pilot dropped the Airbus rapidly from 39,000 to 10,000 feet. Passengers aboard the flight were screaming, crying.
Apparently the crew wasn’t in much better shape. (Panic mode)
Apparently an automated voice announced the emergency to passengers. (I wonder if it was the automatic pilot?) In the chaos, some of the oxygen masks failed. (That source also indicated 120 passengers aboard. Maybe people in a panic can’t count?)
Also this item was twittered: Samy Vellu was on board troubled Chennai-KL flight
Pilots diverted to Penang and made a safe landing. There were twitters by passengers swearing it was the worst flight ever
What: Flugschule UL Freital Fly Synthesis Storch
Where: Niederschöna Germany
When: Sept 17, 2012 at 8:30
Who: 2 fatalities
Why: The 582 Storch microlight engaged on a round trip from Mohom crashed in a Halsbrücke field and broke into pieces on impact.
The two aboard the plane died in the crash. The 22 year old pilot has been identified but the name has not been released. The passenger has not been identified.
The Niederschöna fire department were first responders. The Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Investigation of Brunswick is investigating.
What: NOVEMBER CHARLIE FLYING GROUP Cessna F172M Skyhawk
Where: Netherthorpe Airfield, South Yorkshire
When: July 5 2012
Who: 2 aboard, no injuries
Why: The flight did not achieve lift on takeoff, possibly due to the combined effects of uphill runway, tailwind and damp grass surface.
After the pilot’s attempt to rotate failed, the plane overran the runway, passed through a hedge and flipped.
The pilot was able to secure the plane and assist the passenger’s exit.
What: K-VA-T & W-L Aviation LLC Bell 407 en route to Bristol Motor Speedway
Where: South Holston Lake, Washington County Park, VA
When: AUG 24 2012 20:30 Local time
Who: 1 fatality
Why: 911 call of the Saturday 25 August 2012 crash in South Holston Lake late Friday 24 August 2012.
What: Kenya Police Air Wing Eurocopter AS 350B3e Ecureuil
Where: Ngong Hills, near Nairobi Kenya
When: June 10, 2012 8:30 a.m.
Who: 6 aboard, 6 fatalities
Why: Kenyan Internal Security Minister George Saitoti was killed in a helicopter crash on June 10, 2012. Clatus MacOwenga had been appointed in the investigation, and the appointment was backdated to January 5 to fill a legal gap for the period when no chief accidents investigator was in office. MacOwenga apparently was running an investigation separate from that of the President Kibaki’s public inquiry.
Martin Lunani is now the lead investigator, appointed for a period of three years : August 18 to August 17, 2015. The demotion occurred prior to Mr Macowenga submitting a report. Macowenga will now report to Mr Lunani.
The end of the investigations is scheduled to be October.
What: Small Plane en route from Gunnersville Airport
Where: Riverside campground off of Co Rd 131 in Cedarbluff
When: Sept 14, 2012
Who: pilot
Why: The pilot of the plane is reported to have been en route to visit friends when he struck power lines while attempting to land, and crashed into Lake Weiss. There was one fatality reported. His body was recovered by divers.
The plane was equipped with pontoons.
What: Cirrus SR22 en route from Kansas City to Springfield
Where: North of Willard, Missouri
When: Sept 15, 2012 Midnight
Who: 5 aboard, 5 fatalities
Why: The Lambert family plane crashed in a pasture just after midnight Saturday in a field near the intersection of State Highway 123 and Farm Road 81. Victims were reported a family and friend, including John M. Lambert, 44, of Springfield; Grayson Lambert, 16; McKinley Lambert, 15; Joshua Lambert, 10; and Robin E. Melton, 46, of Ozark.
The family was returning from a Kansas City Royals baseball game when their plane crashed in a farmer’s field, sending out what was described as a “sonic boom” and shooting fireballs into the sky. The plane essentially disintegrated on impact.
The family in whose farm they landed called 911 just after midnight, but no survivors were found.
The FAA is investigating.
What: Emirates Airlines Airbus A330-200 en route from Dubai to Kochi
Where: Kochi
When: September 14 2012
Who: 275 aboard
Why: According to IBN Live, an Emirates flight from Dubai to Kochi developed hydraulic problems and had to make an emergency landing in Kochi.
ATC said “Precautions were taken.” We assume this to mean that emergency services were on standby, but have no indication if any services were actively engaged.
The flight made a safe landing.
What: American Eagle Flight 2829 Embraer ERJ-145 en route from Gerald Ford International Airport to Dallas
Where: Cascade Township airport, Michigan
When: Sept 13 2012
Who: 53 aboard
Why: The flight boarded at 6:30, took off at 7.a.m.from Gerald Ford International Airport, but nineteen minutes into the flight, the panel’s engine emergency light lit up, indicating a problem.
Passengers were told the right engine overheated. They saw no smoke, but say they smelled it after they landed, which runs counter to some news reports which say that the problem was a faulty indicator. About ten fire trucks were on standby. Passengers were provided alternative transportation.
ATC recommended diverting to Grand Rapids, where the pilot made a safe landing at 7:25.
What: X Aviation LLC Piper PA-23-250 Aztec en routes from Hooks to Tyler
Where: Near Lake Palestine, Bullard, TX
When: Sept 12, 2012
Who: 1 fatality
Why: The pilot identified as 51-year-old Stephen Annis of Huntsville, crashed behind a subdivision, spiraling down, missing most of the trees and crashing. An ambulance is responded to the crash, which is located in the 15000 block of Treasure Cove in Bullard. In the adjacent neighborhood, witnesses heard the thud, smelled the fumes and saw flying debris. Investigators speculate he was aiming for the lake, and trying to avoid the neighborhood.
There was no report of a distress call.
IDENTIFICATION
Regis#: 4842P Make/Model: PA23 Description: PA-23-150/160 Apache
Date: 09/12/2012 Time: 2000
Event Type: Accident Highest Injury: Fatal Mid Air: N Missing: N
Damage: Destroyed
LOCATION
City: TYLER State: TX Country: US
DESCRIPTION
AIRCRAFT CRASHED UNDER UNKNOWN CIRCUMSTANCES. TYLER, TX
INJURY DATA Total Fatal: 1
# Crew: 0 Fat: 1 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:
# Pass: 0 Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:
# Grnd: Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:
OTHER DATA
Activity: Pleasure Phase: Unknown Operation: OTHER
FAA FSDO: DALLAS, TX (SW05) Entry date: 09/13/2012
What: Norwegian Air Shuttle Boeing 737 scheduled for Gdansk to Gardermoen
Where: Gdansk International Airport, Poland
When: 13-SEP-2012, 11:50
Who: no fatalities, no injuries
Why: The empty plane was at Gdansk International Airport when it was struck by a baggage vehicle.
The plane sustained damage and was subsequently taken out of rotation.
