What: US Airways Boeing 757-200 en route from Philadelphia,PA to Orlando,FL Where: Orlando When: May 11th 2012 Why: The flight was en route when there was a bird strike impacting the nose. The bird made a “significant” dent in the plane. ATC says “Looks like you guys got punched in the nose, US Air”
What: 0640 UTC, a Piper PA42 Cheyenne III Where: Grand Case, St. Maarten When: May 5, 2012 Who: Pilot and three passengers Why: On May 5, 2012, at 0640 UTC, a Piper PA42 Cheyenne III, French registration F-GXES, was destroyed when it crashed about four minutes after takeoff into the Atlantic Ocean, three miles from Grand Case, St. Maarten. The pilot and three passengers on board were fatally injured. The aircraft was airborne at 02:39 LT and crashed approximately five minutes later about one nautical mile off coast.
The passengers were a doctor, nurse, and the patient, Panagiotis Vryonides of Nicosia, a sick man from the cruise ship Allure of the Seas.
Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The foreign, non-scheduled cross-country flight was en route to Fort de France, Martinique.
Witnesses saw the airplane explode and crash into the sea.
The plane and remains were later found off Le Galion Beach.
This investigation is under the jurisdiction of the government of France.
What: Qantas Boeing 737-800 en route from Perth to Kalgoorlie Australia Where: Kalgoorlie When: May 13th 2012 Why: The flight was on approach to Kalgoorlie when it was struck by lightning.
Pilots returned to Perth and made a safe landing. A replacement jet was provided for the passengers.
What: Ryanair Boeing 737-800 en route from Eindhoven to Ibiza Where: Paris When: May 15th 2012 Why: The flight was en route over Paris when a problem developed, and the crew diverted to Brussels where they made a safe landing at Brussels South Charleroi Airport (BSCA).
The plane will be examined to determine the nature of the problem. (We an only assume the rocking motion passengers complained of was not turbulence.)
What: Agni Air Dornier 228 en route from Pokhara to Jomsome Airport, Nepal Where: Jomsom Airport, Nepal When: May 14, 2012, 9.45 a.m Who: 21 aboard, 15 fatalities 18 passengers, 3 crew Why: Fifteen minutes after taking off from Pokhara, the plane with 21 passengers aboard crashed by Jomsom Airport, Nepal. Reports say that a wing contacted ground 890 feet north of the airport, and the nose embedded/impacted a muddy slope. Reports are the plane was attempting to return to Pokhara.
At the time of approach, weather was fine, though clear air turbulence can occur any time. Investigations will begin regarding technical problems with the plane, including the one that made the pilots turn back to the airport. Five surviving passengers were airlifted to Pokhara, for medical care at the Manipal College of Medical Sciences. The plane impacted behind the army barracks. There were 16 Indians aboard. A Danish couple, Emilie Jorgensen, 29, and Andreas Rasch, 30, are said to have survived the crash.
The information numbers available for family members are 00-977-1-4423702 00-977-1-4410900, extn.4109, 00-977-1-4411699, extn. 4109.
The passengers had been going to visit a pilgrimage site, Muktinath.
Reports are that most of the fatalities were Indian. One source, myrepublica.com said that there were 15 fatalities and six rescued. Numbers may not be accurate.
The bodies of pilot Prabhu Sharan Pathak and co-pilot J.D. Maharjan were among those recovered.
The marketing director of Agni Air, Pramod Pandey, said that there were 16 indians aboard, and six survivors. Three children, two foreigners and an air hostess R. Haiju survived at least to the hospital, all in critical condition.
Jomsom airport is known for unpredictable turbulence.
External Affairs Minister S M Krishna has posted a letter of condolences.
I am deeply saddened to hear about the tragic air crash that occurred earlier this morning near Jomsong airport in Nepal. I would like to convey my deep condolences to the families of all those who have lost their lives in this accident. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of all those who have lost their near and dear ones.
* Mr. K. Mamanya
* Mr. S.K. Arora
* Mr. M. Handa
* Mrs. M. Arora
* Ms. R. Handa
* Mr. K. Arora
* Ms. T. Sachdev
* Ms. G. Sachdev
* Mr. Sanaim Sudhar
* Mr. G. Raman
* Mr. Kidambi Tirumala
* Ms. Latha Echambade
* Mr. Sreeva Kidambi Tirumala
* Ms. Sreepada Kidambi Tirumala
* Mr. Kumar
* Mrs. Kumar
What: Aryan Aviation Agusta A109C en route to Kuchai Where: Birsa Munda Airport in Ranchi India When: 09-MAY-2012 Who: 6 aboard, no fatalities Why: The Agusta A109C helicopter with chief minister of Jharkhand, Arjun Munda and his wife aboard crash-landed from a height of 25 feet at the Ranchi airport. Those aboard (the chief minister, his wife Meera, two pilots, a security officer and BJP MLA Barkuanr Gagrai) were rushed to the hospital and are being treated for injury.
The Minister was scheduled to inaugurate a power sub-station.
Munda sustained several injuries but is in stable condition at the ICU of Apollo Hospital.
On reaching Kuchai, the pilot had informed ATC that the helicopter had developed a rudder control problem. At Birsa Munda Airport, the pilot made four attempts to land, and then hovered to exhaust fuel. There was no fire when the twenty-year-old helicopter went down, as the fuel supply was exhausted.
The DGCA is investigating, and has appointed Sanit Kumar as the I.O.
What: Sukhoi Superjet 100-95 en route from Jakarta to Jakarta Halim Perdanakusuma Airport Where: Indonesia When: May 9th 2012 Who: 36 passengers, 6 crew and 2 Sukhoi official Why: Indonesian special police found the engines, running gear of the SSJ-100, and located (but have not retrieved) the black boxes. The Sukhoi cockpit design is similar to Airbus, with fly by wire technology and a “joystick.”
The Flight Data recorder is believed to be at a depth of 500 meters under rock and debris on the rockface, making the recovery tricky.
No answers have been found why the pilots requested to descend to 6,000 feet from an altitude of 10,000 feet, while flying above a 6000+ mountain in heavy cloud cover. The pilot was an experienced pilot but had not flown in this area and may not have been intimately familiar with the topography. Was he planning on buzzing the peaks, or was the plane in trouble? The black boxes will contain the answer.
What: unidentified Cessna Where: Lake of Valencia, Venezuela When: May 13, 2012 Who: unknown Why: Witnesses say they saw a yellow and white cessna with blue stripes flying low crash into Lake Valencia and after an hour, sink.
Carlos Tovar, Denny Vera and Giovanni Montilla contacted authorities who are searching the lake for the plane. Civil Protection officials along with firefighters from Los Guayos, Guacara and National Guard troops, activated the rescue search the waters of Lake Valencia. No fuel or floating objects were discovered. Control del Aeropuerto Internacional Arturo Michelena did not report any lost planes.
The search Sunday ended at 6:00 pm and will continue on Monday.
What: Skywork Airlines Dornier Do-328-100 en route from Bern to Vienna Where: Zurich When: Mar 14th 2012 Why: While en route, the plane developed a problem with cabin pressure. The crew had perform a descent to safe levels.
Pilots returned to Bern where they made a safe landing.
What: Bond Offshore Helicopters Ltd. Eurocopter EC225LP Super Puma Mk2+ Where: 24 nautical miles off the coast of Aberdeen, North Sea When: May 10, 2012 Who: 16 passengers, 0 fatalities Why: The Bond helicopter was en route from Aberdeen Airport to the Maersk Resilient drilling rig when an emergency developed.
Pilots had to make a controlled descent into the North Sea when the gearbox oil pressure tanked. With the use of flotation equipment, the ditched helicopter stayed afloat.
The two crew and twelve passengers were safely recovered by afternoon. A cautionary measure suspending Eurocopter EC225 flights has been issued pending investigation. Examination revealed that the helicopter suffered a crack to the gearbox shaft.
The passengers were employed by Halliburton, Ensco, Brundt and Stag, and Conoco. The Jasmine field is operated by Conoco Phillips.
The rescue was coordinated by the Aberdeen coastguard, who was alerted at 12.15pm, and RNLI lifeboats. The initial call indicated that added that all everyone was on the raft. Nine were flown to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, and five were taken by life boat.
In George’s Point of View
The choice to suspend the EC225 model until the kinks are worked out is a smart move. Better monitoring of potential cracks to the gearbox shaft may eliminate more “catastrophic failures” like the one that Eurocopter that crashed in 2009. In that event, the operator had put off replacing the main rotor gearbox, resulting in the death of 14 offshoremen and two helicopter crew.
The skill and training of the (May 10, 2012) 100% successful pilots and rescue crew cannot be commended highly enough. Sure, the media is calling this a textbook rescue, but somehow that description feels inadequate to me, leaving out the heroic human element involved. These guys are heroes.
What: Bourgault Industries Piper PA-28 Cherokee What: Lake LA-4-200 Buccaneer amphibious plane Where: Brieux, Saskatchewan When: May 12, 2012 Who: 5 fatalities Why: Two men and a boy were aboard the Piper PA-28 en route from Calgary to St. Brieux to pick up plane parts; and a woman and man were aboard the amphibious plane flying from Regina to La Ronge.
The planes made some kind of impact in the air, after which both planes impacted the ground. The Buccaneer plane was found in shallow water. Piper debris was found around Brieux.
The Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Trenton, Ont said that indications are that the planes made contact at low altitude and it appears that the amphibious plane struck the Piper.
The planes were found less than a kilometre apart with a debris field of more than a mile.
Bourgault Industries is a airline seeding company. The RCMP asked Jerry Bourgault to assist, and he flew his Piper Super Cub to find the debris field.
What: Air India Boeing 777 en route from Frankfurt to Chicago Where: Bucharest When: May 12, 2012 10:25 Who: 303 passengers and 17 crew Why: The flight was en route over Romania when a door warning went off, alerting the pilot of a potential problem.
One source reported the problem as a door alarm; another source said there was a cargo smoke indication.
Passengers deplaned via stairs as on examination, no indication of fire or heat was found. Passengers were then provided hotel accommodations.
The pilot informed ATC in Bucharest and shortly later made a safe landing. The cargo door was examined but no problems were found. The issue was chalked up to being a false alarm.
The plane awaited takeoff pending an allocated scheduled landing-time in Chicago.
What: Policía Nacional del Perú Mil Mi-17 helicopter en route from Mazamari to Satipo Where: Peru When: May 9 2012 Who: 1 fatality, 18 injuries Why: While attempting an emergency landing on the banks of the Tambo River after one of the helicopter blades broke off in flight, the police chopper crashed near the native community of Bethany. Satipo is in the valley of the Apurimac and Ene rivers.
Officer Rodolfo Leon was flying when it crashed. He was the sole fatality; eighteen passengers were injured on the crash.
The injured will be hospitalized in Lima.
The police had been engaged on an anti-drug trafficking mission.
Before the Sukhoi Superjet smashed into a ledge on Wednesday, killing 45 people and raining debris down the slopes of Mount Salak, I had never heard the term “joy flight.”
The “joy flight” is the airline equivalent of you going down to the Ferrari dealership and taking a test drive. Or it would be if you were being driven in the Ferrari for fifty minutes or so, in a party atmosphere courted along with a bunch of other potential buyers.
The “joy flight” is a selling tool for the manufacturer. They host this ride for potential buyers to show off the features and quality/qualities of a new plane they are trying to sell.
Until the black box is recovered (we hope one was on the plane!), we won’t have any idea if the pilots had been asked to “buzz” the mountain, or if their request to fly low was a response to the heavy cloud cover. United Aircraft Corporation which built the Superjet says that pilot Alexander Yablontsev (who had logged 10,000 hours in Sukhoi prototypes) was their best test pilot, and had overseen “everything from the designing of the aircraft to its certification.”
Buzzing mountains renowned as an airline graveyard would not be the smartest thing to do, but everyone does wonder why the pilots requested to lower their altitude right over Mount Salak. Family members are already protesting the hazardous route that had been planned for the demonstration flight.
There were 35 Indonesians, 8 Russian crew members, 1 French and 1 American.
The American, Peter Adler was a consultant for Sriwijaya Air, a domestic Indonesian carrier. Adler had been born in São Paulo, Brazil to Auschwitz survivors, grew up in Los Angeles and leaves behind a wife Randi, and family.
Joy flight is a cruelly ironic term. In catastrophic loss of life cases, loss of joy can be considered part of the damages, as families inevitably remain haunted by the loss of their loved ones.
We offer our condolences, but we know how insufficient that is, as relatives are only beginning the harsh journey of grief that begins with shock and a sense of immeasurable loss.
What: US Airways/ Air Wisconsin Canadair CRJ-200 en route from Portland Maine to Philadelphia Where: Boston When: May 10th 2012 Who: 50 passengers and 3 crew Why: A passenger with a history of seizures and on medication attempted to open the door while en route.
The disruptive passenger was caught by a flight attendant, who stopped him. He told her he was going to the bathroom. The attendant led him to a seat in the rear of the plane where state police found him. Other passengers may have been upset or frightened by the incident, but under normal conditions, it’s not physically possible to open the door while in flight anyway.
Pilots diverted the flight to Boston where the disruptive passenger was offloaded, presumably by gentlemen in white coats.
Michael Ensalaco, 40, of Mooresville, N.C was charged with interfering with a flight crew. His lawyer explained that his seizure disorder is similar to sleep walking.
In George’s Point of View
While a medical event should not be handled in the same way as a malicious act, perhaps someone with this tendency should not fly, or else they should not sleep during the flight, and also be obligated to inform the flight crew ahead of time. It could happen to anyone taking Ambien!
What: IFL Group/Contract Air Cargo Convair CV-440 en route from Miami to Guatemala City Where: Guatemala City When: May 11th 2012 Who: 2 crew Why: The Contract Air Cargo freight flight landing in Guatemala City on Friday had a less than stellar landing.
On landing, the nose gear crumpled. After one of the propellers impacted the runway, it disengaged. Remarkably, no one was reported as injured, although the plane may be a write-off.
Civil aviation spokeswoman Oddra Lacs said that the Airport was shut down for four hours after the crash-landing about 100 yards the cargo hangers.
The certificate of the IFL GROUP INC plane was issued on 12/13/1994
What: Turkish Airbus en route from Istanbul to Johannesburg Where: Entebbe When: May 11, 2012 Who: 230 passengers Why: A Turkish Airlines Airbus developed a technical problem and diverted to Entebbe for an emergency landing.
No injures were reported.
An undisclosed source said the airport received radio calls hurrying them to clear a runway prior to the unscheduled landing of the Turkish Airlines flight.
As you see, few details are available regarding this event. The Turkish Airlines offices in Kampala did not respond. An unofficial and unconfirmed blog post seemed to imply the event was a simulation.
Passengers were provided hotel accommodations.
So our choices for this unconfirmed situation is that this happened, didn’t happen, was pretended to have happened, or someone is pretending it didn’t happen. Your guess is as good as ours, or may be better.
What: Privately owned Cessna 401 en route from Riverside Kansas to Council Bluffs Kansas Where: Thomas Road between 1900 & 2000 or 9 miles west of Chanute, KS When: May 11, 2012 16:36 Who: 5 aboard, 3 fatalities Why: The privately owned Cessna was en route to Council Bluffs when it told ATC it requested permission to descend to a lower altitude, then crashed near Chanute and caught on fire. The plane skidding 200 feet across a field before it hit trees.
23-year-old pilot, Luke F. Sheets, Garret Coble of Tulsa and Stephen J. Luth, 22 died in the crash according to Shawnee County Coroner’s Office-Topeka.
22-year-old Hannah N. Luce of Texas and 27-year-old Austin G. Anderson were injured. Hannah was hospitalized at KU Medical Center-Kansas City, KS and Austin at Christi St. Francis Hospital-Wichita.
Chanute is about 90 miles northwest of Joplin, Mo.
The plane crashed in a field east of Highway 75. Two of the five aboard survived the crash.
What: US Airways Boeing 757-200 en route from Dublin to Charlotte Where: Gander When: May 8th 2012 Why: After taking off from Dublin, one of the engines developed a situation not unlike a stuck carburetor.
Pilots troubleshooted (troubleshot?) the problem but then shut down the engine and diverted to diverted to Gander, where they made a safe landing.
The mechanical repair was performed. (The issue was mechanical, not digital.) Meanwhile, a replacement flight was provided to transport the passengers to Charlotte.
What: China Southern Airlines Boeing 777-200 en route from Guangzhou to Shanghai Where: Guangzhou When: May 10th 2012 Who: 9 injured Why: Twenty minutes after taking off from Guangzhou, the plane encountered clear air turbulence.
Those who weren’t buckled in, including flight attendants, were injured during the turbulence. Injuries included fractures, and other injuries. The extent of the turbulence is being reported as “a pocket of extreme turbulence.”
One passenger blogged “I had a horrible feeling that I was going to die at that moment because I suddenly felt being weightless.”
A flight attendant and her dining cart were tossed in the air.
Pilots continued to Shanghai, where nine injured were transported to hospital facilities.
The plane was grounded for inspection but later released for service.
What: Sukhoi Superjet 100-95 en route from Jakarta to Jakarta Halim Perdanakusuma Airport Where: Indonesia When: May 9th 2012 Who: 36 passengers, 6 crew and 2 Sukhoi official Why: A rescue helicopter found the wreckage a vertical wall of rock, scattered debris on the cliff surrounded by forest.
A team of around 200 police, military and rescue workers are headed in vehicles and on foot towards Salak mountain where the plane went missing.
A passenger list of 36 names posted at Halim airport showed that most of the people on board were Indonesian airline and aviation representatives, as well as five journalists and a representative of French aircraft engine maker SNECMA.
What: Sukhoi Superjet 100-95 en route from Jakarta to Jakarta Halim Perdanakusuma Airport Where: Indonesia When: May 9th 2012 Who: 36 passengers, 6 crew and 2 Sukhoi official Why: The Sukhoi Sukhoi Superjet was thirty minutes into a demo flight over Jakarta when it disappeared from radio contact. It had already flown to Myanmar, Pakistan and Kazakhstan. After Jakarta, it was supposed to visit Laos and Vietnam.
The flight has not been reported landing at any airport. According to an individual who was supposed to be on the flight, it was only to last thirty minutes, and would have run out of fuel by now, if it had been flying all this time.
At 15:30L the crew asked ATC to descend to 6000 feet in an area where there is a 6,200 foot-high mountain. The plane lost contact on a descending right turn and has been reported as missing.
No crash site has been located; it may have crashed into Mount Salak.
The plane was flown by plane was operated by senior test-pilot Aleksandr Yablontsev and co-pilot Aleksandr Kochetkov, and there were six other russians aboard, Aero navigator Oleg Shvetsov, flight engineer Aleksey Kirkin, leading test flight engineer Dennis Rakhmanov, test flight deputy head Nikolay Martyshenko, “Sukhoi” company Sales Director Evgeny Grebenshchikov, and contract manager Kristina Kurzhukova.
Hijacking is unlikely, and appears to be a media rumor.
In George’s Point of View
Along with the rest of the world, we are hoping and praying the plane will be found intact.
One helicopter was sent out on a search mission, according to a local twitter. (See video below.)
Passenger Manifest
1. Kornel M. Sihombing (DI),
2. Edie Satiyo (Pelita Air),
3. Darwin Pelawi (Pelita Air),
4. Gatot Purwoko (Airfast),
5. Budi Rizal (Putra Arta Dirgantara),
6. Syafrudin (Carpedrem Mardin),
7. Peter Adler (Sriwijaya),
8. Herman Suladji (Air Maleo),
9. Donardi Rahman (Aviastar),
10. Eloni (Kartika),
11. Hurdiana Widjanda (Kartika),
12. Arief Wahyudi (TR),
13. Nam Tran (Snecma),
14. Ruli Dermawan (Indo Asia),
15. Ahmad Fazal (Indo Asia),
16. Insan Kamil (Indo Asia),
17. Edward Edo (Indo Asia),
18. Ismie (Trans TV),
19. Aditya Sukardi (Trans TV),
20. Indra Halim (PT KAI),
21. Rietyan S. (PT KAI),
22. Dody Aviantara (Angkasa),
23. Don Yusuf (Angkasa),
24. Femi (Bloomberg),
25. Stephen Kamaci (Indo Asia),
26. Capt. Aan (Kartika),
27. Yusuf Ariwibowo (Sky),
28. Maria Marcella (Sky),
29. Henny Stevani (Sky),
30. Mai Syarah (Sky),
31. Dewi Mutiara (Sky),
32. Sussana Vamella (Sky),
33. Nur Ilmawati (Sky),
34. Rossy Withan (Sky),
35. Anggi (Sky),
36. Aditya (Sky).
What: Ryanair Boeing 737-800 en route from Gothenburg Sweden to London Where: Gothenburg When: May 8th 2012 Who: one injury Why: A flight attended closing the door fell out of the plane.
Presumably wind may have been a factor in the door issue.
The injured attendant was taken to the hospital. A number of passengers deplaned, presumably to keep the Ryanair crew/passenger ratio at least one flight attendant for every 50 passengers.
What: Niki Airbus A321-200 en route from Malaga to Vienna Where: Vienna When: May 6th 2012 Who: 1 injury Why: The plane had made a safe landing but at the gate, a loading bridge malfunction occurred. The bridge lifted the plane and damaged the door. Passengers did not disembark through the bridge, but instead through the back. One person who had initially said she was unhurt had a fracture. The plane received substantial damage.
The airline reported that docking was correct but a sensor malfunctioned.
