What: Pakistan International Airlines Boeing 737 en route from Islamabad to Multan Where: Multan When: April 25, 2012 Who: 45 passengers Why: On descent to Multan, the plane indicated an error. On a visual confirmation on flyby, ATC indicated that the wheels were down, but this disagreed with the cockpit alert. The pilot circled to burn fuel, then made a safe landing with emergency services on standby.
The plane was serviced, and continued the next leg of the flight carrying 118 passengers to Karachi.
What: SAS Scandinavian Airlines Airbus A330-300 en route from Oslo to Newark,NJ Where: Faroe Islands When: Apr 22nd 2012 Who: 264 passengers Why: While en route, the plane developed engine problems in one engine. Pilots shut it down, and diverted to Bergen Norway. Pilots made a safe landing in Bergen over an hour later, and passengers were delayed eight and a half hours.
The Arshad Jalil family owns 80% of Bhoja Air. Farooq Bhoja who owns a small percentage of Bhoja Air was detained and questioned after the crash of the Bhoja Air jet Friday. Now Bhoja is on the “control list” forbidden to leave Pakistan. A criminal investigation has been launched, as well as an aviation investigation, and a judicial commission.
Nadeem Yousufzai of the Civil Aviation Authority denied that political pressure was behind the Bhoja Air’s permit.
I am just wondering when they arrest the owner of Air Blue, the CAA and the DGCA.
What: KLM Embraer ERJ-190 en route from Amsterdam to Birmingham Where: Amsterdam When: Apr 21st 2012 Why: While en route, a leak in the right engine was detected. Pilots shut down the affected engine and returned to Amsterdam where they made a safe landing.
KLM Cityhopper received delivery of the plane on April 1 2010. It has CF34-10E6 engines. (GE)
What: Shaheen Air International Boeing 737-400 en route from Islamabad to Karachi Where: Karachi When: Apr 22nd 2012 Who: 122 passengers and 6 crew Why: On landing in Karachi, the main gear failed, and the gear perforated the wing.
Passengers disembarked on to the runway. No injuries were reported.
If we were to speculate (which we shouldn’t do) we would say this could be either due to a hard or fast landing and/or a mechanical failure.
The first flight of this Boeing 737-4H6 was Sept 21, 1993. On October 28 1993, the plane was delivered to Malaysia Airlines as 9M-MQC. It was stored 09/2011 as N829AR (Bank of Utah) and delivered to Shaheen Air on January 21, 2012.
What: Bell 206L helicopter Where: Antigua, Guatemala When: April 15, 2012 Who: Four injured Why: A helicopter flying over Antigua for aerial photography crashed into two houses at 9:30 in the morning.
No residents were at home at the time of the crash. Three Guatemalans and one American were injured in the crash. The American broke his tibia and fibula. The injured were taken to National Hospital. The American was identified only as Michael; the others were Juan Carlos Menendez, 40, Andres Turcios, 32, and Octavio Gordillo, 52.
The helicopter was broken in two by the impact. The translation of an unverified newspaper report said that the pilot had been flying low when a bird hit the rotors.
What: Piper PA-23-250 Aztec for sightseeing tour of city Where: Aurora Zoo, Guatemala City When: April 21, 2012 Who: 3 fatalities Why: The Piper took off from La Aurora International Airport and crashed into the Aurora Zoo beside the Esquilandia playground. The pilot of the aircraft, Alex Quezada, 35, Oscar Calderon, 22, who was the co-pilot, and Christian Werner, 20 were killed in the crash. One employee of the zoo, Carlos Aspuac, was hospitalized at Roosevelt Hospital with second and third degree burns. Hundreds of visitors were evacuated from the zoo.
The DAC says the plane was having mechanical problems. Witnesses report seeing the plane “rocking” and emitting black smoke, before it crashed.
Update: The investigation team formed to probe into Friday’s plane crash on Monday (April 23) visited the site and collected evidence. What: Bhoja Air Boeing 737-200 en route from Karachi to Islamabad Where: Islamabad When: Apr 20th 2012 Who: 121 passengers and 6 crew Why: The plane (reported as #AP-BKC a 27 year old Boeing) took off from Karachi, impacted the ground 3-6 miles from Islamabad while on approach and burst into flames in a rural location(Hussain Abad village) near Chaklala Air Base. No survivors were found, and ten houses on the ground were affected. The plane lost contact with the control tower minutes before landing. There was no distress call. There are conflicting reports that the plane was on fire and was not on fire before it impacted the ground. Some reports say the plane was struck by lightning. There was a thunderstorm at the time of the accident. The fire/fireball after the crash does not appear to have engulfed the entire debris area, according to photos of the scene.
Debris from the crash is said to cover a large muddy area. The area has not been cordoned off; reporters and others are swarming over the crash site.
This is reported to be the first Bhorja flight on this route. The jet left at 17:00 and was due to arrive at 18:50.
The flight data recorder has been recovered along with 110 bodies (so far.)
The number of people listed as passengers varies from 127 to 130 aboard.
Trans:
METAR for Benazir Bhutto International Airport, issued on the 20th of the month at 13:00 Zulu Time. Wind from 230° at 20 knots (37 km/h). Visibility 4,000 metres (13,000 ft), thunderstorms in area. Clouds few at 2,500 feet (760 m), cumulonimbus clouds present. Broken clouds at 10,000 feet (3,000 m). Temperature 25°C, dewpoint 15°C. Altimeter setting 1009.3 hPA / 29.80 inHg
What: Delta Airlines Boeing 757-200 en route from New York to Los Angeles,CA Where: New York When: Apr 19th 2012 Who: 172 passengers and 7 crew Why: After taking off from JFK, the plane had a bird strike. A bird was ingested by a right engine, which caused an engine failure. Pilots informed ATC.
Passengers feared the worst as they saw the birds, heard the impact and smelled the smoke, but the cool headed pilot was able to make a visual landing while flying on one engine.
Matthew Kroll, told reporters”We were taking off and two seconds off the ground, the whole plane shutters and you hear this low growl. Then you smell the smoke in the cabin. People were relatively calm because it happened about three second after take-off. Everyone saw what happened and you could smell it. It was more dead bird than smoke. The pilot came out and said we have to circle back. It took about four minutes and we were back on the runway.”
The bird strike was taped by a passenger and has been incorporated into the reports below:
What: Lee H Aviation Inc. Cessna 421C en route from Slidell, La., to Sarasota, Fla. Where: Gulf of Mexico When: April 19 2012 Who: pilot Why: The plane took off normally from Slidell at 6:43 a.m., but en route lost contact with ATC and began flying in circles over the Gulf of Mexico.
Around 8:45 a.m, two F-15s that flew in to check on the plane found it flying between 25,000 and 35,000 feet with the windshield iced over. The pilot remained unresponsive. The plane landed “softly” intact and right side up in the water around 12:10 p.m., approximately 120 miles west of Tampa. The pilot was unconscious or incapacitated.
The 87-foot cutter Coho was scheduled to respond as well as a HC-144 plane from Mobile, Alabama and a MH-60 helicopter in Clearwater.
The pilot may have lost consciousness due to hypoxia, or a lack of oxygen.
What: Lufthansa Boeing 747-400 en route from Shanghai to Frankfurt Where: Ufa When: Apr 18th 2012 Who: 311 passengers Why: While en route, the cabin developed smoke which was reported as an unusual odor. Pilots diverted to UFA and made a safe landing. No fire was found. There’s no indication of how Lufthansa is handling passengers, baggage or compensation for inconvenience, but we hear passengers were in for a long wait.
What: Virgin Australia Boeing 737-800 en route from Coolangatta/Gold Coast,QL to Melbourne,VI Where: Coolangatta When: Apr 15th 2012 Who: Essendon Football Team Why: The flight was en route when a problem developed with the fuel. Pilots diverted to Brisbane and made a safe landing. Emergency services met the plane on the tarmac. Virgin’s public statement said the problem was a minor maintenance issue.
The football team won against the Gold Coast Suns on Saturday night but ended up stranded in Brisbane. The spokesman for Essedon said “There was definitely no emergency. It’s probably been overplayed a bit.”
What: Malaysia Airlines Boeing 747-400 en route from Kuala Lumpur to London Where: Kuala Lumpur When: Apr 17th 2012 Who: 351 passengers, 21 crew Why: After taking off from Kuala Lumpur, the engine exploded.
Or at least that’s what passengers felt when they heard a backfire or some other kind of explosion from one engine, and saw sparks and flames.
Pilots dumped fuel and returned to Kuala Lumpur where they made a safe landing.
What: single-engine Cessna en route from North Carolina to Long Island NY Where: Heckscher State Park in East Islip, Long Island NY When: April 15, 2012, 4 pm Who: pilot and student Why: Pilot David J. Jensen and a student were in the single-engine Cessna when it developed engine problems. The pilots made a safe landing on a Heckscher State Park runway normally dedicated to model planes.
The plane was not allowed to take off from that runway, and was dismantled for removal.
What: Virgin Atlantic Airbus A330-300 from London to Orlando,FL Where: London When: Apr 16th 2012 Who: 299 passengers and 13 crew Why: The flight had taken off from Gatwick when the crew reported an indication of a cargo fire. Pilots returned to the airport, and made a safe landing on flat tires. (Flat tires can result from a heavy or fast landing.)
Passengers were evacuated by slide from the plane directly on the runway, at which time some scrapes and bruises occurred.
No heat or fire was found in the plane. It is not uncommon for de-icing fluid burning off an engine may set off an alarm.
In George’s Point of View
Better safe than sorry! A safe landing is a good landing. Good job by the pilots.
What: Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-300 en route from Seattle to Saint Louis Where: Omaha When: Apr 14th 2012 Who: 11 injured Why: While en route, the plane lost cabin pressure, oxygen masks deployed, and pilots decided to divert to Omaha where they made a safe landing. However on arrival, eleven passengers needed medical attention. Nine of them were treated at the airport with minor injuries, but continued the flight.
A replacement Southwest jet completed the last leg on Saturday.
What: United Boeing 777-200 en route from San Francisco to London Where: San Francisco When: Apr 12th 2012 Who: 195 passengers aboard Why: After taking off from San Francisco, the left side of the United Boeing 777 was struck by lightning. Passengers described the flash of light and the big bank. Oxygen masks deployed. No one was injured. Weather suspended other flights taking off from that airport until the storm blew through.
Pilots informed ATC, and dumped fuel before returning to land safely. The plane remained on the runway as officials inspected the aircraft. Passengers were put up in local hotels and scheduled to take an alternate flight Friday afternoon.
What: Aer Lingus Airbus A320-200 en route from Cork to Barcelona Where: Barcelona When: Mar 14th 2012 Who: 56 passengers, 6 crew Why: Pilots on approach to Barcelona aborted their approach at 10,000 feet due to the poor visibility. Barcelona ATC refused the pilots requests for a Category III landing forcing pilots on a holding pattern for thirty minutes, then on flight on a wild goose chase looking for somewhere else to land, until the pilots eventually were about to run out of fuel.
After pilots declared an emergency, Barcelona ATC cleared the landing. Spanish authorities are investigating.
(The wild goose chase? First the denial and holding pattern, then off to Valencia, but before arriving, Barcelona said visibility had cleared, so back to Barcelona, but no, visibility hadn’t cleared. Pilots diverted to Girona, but Girona was congested, so back to Barcelona, which was finally cleared to land on declaring emergency.)
What: Ural Airlines Airbus A320-200 from Nizhniy to Prague Where: Nizhniy Novgorod When: Apr 14th 2012 Who: 100+ passengers Why: The plane had taken off when systems indicated a technical problem.
Radio Vesti FM said that pilots diverted to Ekaterinburg where they made a safe landing. The departure from Ekaterinburg occurred seven hours later.
What: HAL Rotary Wing Academy Schweizer 269C (300C) Where: Byapanahalli area, northeast Bangalore, India When: April 12, 2012, 4:30 pm Who: 2 aboard, 0 fatalities Why: After a two hour ten minute flight, the helicopter on a training flight developed engine failure, dodged high-tension wires and other buildings to land on a Bangalore roof.
The Schweizer 269C is a light four year old plane used for civilian training.
The helicopter was damaged during the emergency landing, rolling over on its side on the rooftop of Maitri Apartments in the Byapanahalli area in North East Bangalore and leaking some of the 20 litres of fuel it carried. The rotors were blown off on impact with the parapet. Retired Air Commodore Roj Assey and trainee Digvijay Singh survived the emergency landing uninjured.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation is investigating.
On June 18 of 2011, Joe Lindsey was by the Guntersville airport with his family when he saw a plane crash. He drove part of the way to the crash, and rushed through the woods to pull a seven year old boy from the burning wreckage. Lindsey was awarded the Medal of Honor on Thursday April 12, with top state officials like Governor Robert Bentley in attendance.
The Medal of Honor is the Alabama Legislature’s highest honor given to law enforcement. Joe Lindsey is with the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources—a state game warden—and this is not his first rescue; in 2008, Lindsey rescued a child from a burning van. He does not consider himself a hero, just that he is “a guy who was in the right place at the right time and I had a job to do.”
Air India owes around Rs.2,000 crore to oil retailers, and faces accumulated losses worth Rs.22,000 crore but is looking at a financial overhaul. Lenders including State Bank of India and 18 other banks will be repaid Rs.10,500 crore in 10-15 years, or through government-guaranteed bonds. The restructured debt is only one part of the improvement; the airline is also being given time to improve operational efficiency. Operational efficiency is expected to rise from 71 percent to 90 percent within two years.
Twenty seven Dreamliners will be inducted into the Air India fleet and 7,000 Air India staff will be transferred to its maintenance, repair and overhaul divisions. 12,000 staff be transferred to transportation services.
What: E300 EXTRA FLUGZEUGBAU GMBH EA-300 Where: Salinas California When: April 8 2012, 6:57 Who: two fatalities Why: Captain George Mellone was flying his plane in Salinas with David Ostendorf when it crashed. Both died of blunt force trauma. Mellone was a harrier pilot who had flown home to Yuma for Easter weekend.
Mellone was a Marine Captain stationed at Air Station Yuma who graduated from the University of N. Dakota in 2007 with a degree in aviation management, and had earned three Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medals, the Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal and Global War on Terrorism Service Medal and obtained the rank of Captain since joining the Corps in 1999. He had been performing stunts right before his plane crashed. The cause of his crash is under investigation.
His co-pilot was 24-year-old David Gary Ostendorf, a 2010 St. Cloud State University aviation graduate, was an FAA controller at the Montery Regional Airport Tower. The cause of the crash has not been identified.
What: Korean Airlines Boeing 777 en route from Vancouver to Seoul Where: Comox air base When: April 10, 2012 5:30 p.m Who: 149 passengers, 12 crew members Why: After a bomb threat was made in a telephone call to the Korean Airlines Los Angeles office, the flight was diverted to Canada’s Comox air base, which is 70 miles outside Vancouver.
The flight was escorted by U.S. Air Force F-15 fighter jets. Three hours after the flight took off, it landed in Comex safely.
Officers checked passengers and luggage, Royal Canadian Mounted Police were investigating. Police, fire trucks and B.C. Ambulance paramedics were also on the scene.
What: United Airlines Boeing 737-700 en route from Houston,TX to Washington DC Where: Washington When: Apr 9th 2012 11:15 am Who: 122 passengers and 5 crew Why: On landing in Washington, the plane suffered two blown rear tires.
The plane was towed to the terminal.
No injuries were reported.
Fourteen students and chaperones from Mt. Carmel Louisiana were aboard, and were interviewed by a TV station after the rough landing in Washington DC. They said the landing was rough, and praised the pilot for being so calm.
Another group of fourteen joining them flew in on a different plane from Atlanta. They will all be returning to Lafayette on Friday, and they say none of them have developed a fear of flying.
