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    India, Chopper Crashes, Incinerates


    What: BSF HAL Chetak helicopter en route from Gujarat to Jodhpur
    Where: Fatehpura village India
    When: May 13 2011, 3.15 pm.
    Who: 4 fatalities
    Why: The chopper crashed around 3:14, killing the Captain Bal (pilot), co-pilot Vivek Choudhary (Deputy Commandant- BSF), BSF”s Sub-Inspector Sohan Lal and an engineer of Pawan Hans Helicopters ltd. S S Chopra. A fire followed the crash, completely engulfing the wreckage.

    The pilot was a retired Army colonel.

    After identification on May 14, the remains were returned to the families.

    *This incident was reported to have occurred on Friday and on Saturday.

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    Bird Strike Cancels Flight 757

    What: Jet Blue Airbus A320-200 New York to Aruba
    Where: JFK Airport, New York
    When: May 14, 2011
    Who: 104 passengers, 5 crew
    Why: The Jet Blue flight had a bird strike after takeoff, and returned to the airport to make a safe landing.

    The bird apparently was ingested in or on the right engine.

    Maintenance inspected the plane. The flight was delayed by three hours.

    *updated

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    3 Businessmen Die in Plane Crash

    What: Pulsar group Super Cruiser YS 300 ED plane en route from Ilopango
    Where: Changallo, El Salvador
    When: May 14, 2011
    Who: 3 fatalities
    Why: The Pulsar Aircraft Super Cruiser plane climbed to an altitude of about 500 feet and crashed about 500 meters from the landing strip south of the airport. Fatalities included Yaron Degani, a 56-year-old Israeli businessman who manufactured small planes, and two businessmen—Lee Yen, 49, and Yu Wen Kao, 42— in Salvador on business on behalf of a Chinese aircraft company from Wuxi.

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    Louisville- Vision Airlines Copes With Hydraulic Emergency


    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact photographer Fred Seggie

    What: Vision Airlines Dornier Do-328-100 en route from Atlanta to Louisville
    Where: Louisville
    When: May 11th 2011, 8 pm
    Who: 21 aboard
    Why: After takeoff from Atlanta, the pilots experienced hydraulic problems, which they attempted to amend while en route. They announced the issue to passengers who were somewhat anxious on the way, but apparently did not panic. On approach to Louisville, a flyby revealed the landing gear was down. They continued to make a safe landing, leaving skidmarks on the runway, although without nose gear steering, they veered off the runway. After the landing, one passenger was hospitalized due to a medical condition. The runway is closed pending the investigation.

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    Answers Needed in Merpati Plane Crash

    So far, there have been no answers in the question of the Chinese built Xian MA-60 Merpati Nusantara Airlines plane which killed 27 people on board when it crashed in Kaimana, West Papua. The plane was moments from landing when it crashed.

    There are questions concerning state-owned Merpati Airlines, the state financing, and the planes air-worthiness. There is a local call for the Finance Ministry to publish details of the plane’s purchase.

    On Thursday, the black box data of the Chinese made plane was sent to China for decoding.

    The Indonesian Aviation Industry suffers from a reputation of questionable safety.

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    Two Pipers Collide in NY State

    What: Gary L. Delia (rgd. owner) Piper PA-24-250 Comanche #N7757P
    What>Edward J. Crump(rgd. owner) Piper Cherokee D # N5275L
    Where: County Road 12 and County Road 37, Wawayanda, about 60 miles north of New York City
    When: May 9 2011
    Who: 2 fatalities (pilots)
    Why: The planes were headed back to New Jersey when they crashed. A witness says one clipped the other, one spiraled down, the other angled over the hill. One of the planes caught fire. Edward Crump was not piloting his plane when it crashed.

    Licensed pilots Gary Delia in the Comanche (of Sussex, N.J.) and William Clark in the Cherokee (of Matamoras, Pa.) flew from Sussex County Airport.

    Neither pilot survived the crash.

    2 Small Planes Crash in Orange County, N.Y.: MyFoxNY.com

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    Oust Paul Morell says USAPA

    Vice President of Safety and Regulatory Compliance Paul Morell needs to be ousted for lack of leadership, and ignoring aviation safety concerns of US Airways pilots, according to the pilot reps of the US Airline Pilots Association. Seventeen points have been cited as examples of his dereliction and lapses in safety protocols.

    An October pilot survey pointed out pilot concerns that:

    • “The push for on-time departures may hinder safety.”
    • “unsatisfactory response” to reported safety issues”
    • little pilot input on the airline safety decisions
    • Safety personnel perceived as “out of touch with the risk of flight operations

    Click to view the press release .pdf

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    Southwest Boeing Diverts to Oklahoma City

    What: Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-300 en route from Kansas City, Mo., to Dallas
    Where: east of Oklahoma City
    When: May 10th 2011
    Who: 44 passengers, 5 crew
    Why: While en route, east of Oklahoma City, the plane developed smoke in the cockpit.

    The pilot made an emergency landing diverting to Oklahoma city for a safe landing. A replacement jet was provided within two hours.

    The smoke was attributed to a malfunctioning windshield heating element.

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    Ryanair Madrid-Rome; Frankfurt-Ciampino: Oil Leak and Bird Strike

    What: Ryanair Boeing 737-800 en route from Madrid to Rome
    Where: Madrid
    When: May 9 2011
    Why: The plane took off without incident, but an hour outside of Rome, the instrument panel indicated an engine leak. The pilots returned to Barajas where they made an uneventful landing with emergency services on standby.

    The flight was cancelled.

    What: Ryanair Frankfurt to Ciampino
    Where: Rome
    When: May 10, 2011
    Who: 166 passengers
    Why: On the next day, another Ryanair flight ingested two birds into an engine, overshot the runway on the emergency landing in Rome. Several injuries occurred during the emergency exit via slides.

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    Nigeria: Arik Air 737 Bird Strike

    What: Arik Air Boeing 737-700 en route from Owerri to Lagos
    Where: Owerri Nigeria
    When: May 8th 2011
    Who: 69 passengers
    Why: While en route, the plane incurred a bird strike. The bird was ingested in an engine. The flight continued until there were severe vibrations on the right side of the plane (where the strike occurred).

    Passengers aboard the flight said they experienced five minutes of terror (that lasted forever) as the right side of the plane was vibrating. Presumably pilots shut down that engine after five minutes.

    The pilots made a safe landing in Lagos.

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    Barcelona-Vienna Vueling Sustains Lightning Strikes


    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact photographer Tommy Desmet

    What: Vueling Airbus A320-200 en route from Barcelona to Vienna
    Where: Vienna
    When: May 8th 2011
    Why: While en route, the plane through weather and was struck by multiple lightning strikes. The pilots continued to land in Vienna. There were no injuries but the plane received damage from two strikes.

    At the time the flight landed in Vienna, windshear had been detected, and rain and wind were causing flight delays.

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    US$5,850 to Crash Victims

    What: Merpati Nusantara Xian MA-60 en route from Sorong to Kaimana
    Where: Kaimana, West Papua
    When: May 7, 2010 12:21 pm
    Who: 21 passengers (including 2 children and a baby), 4 crew, 2 technicians
    Why: After flying a holding pattern for a quarter of an hour, the plane was on its final approach when it crashed in shallow water .3 miles before it reached the runway. On impact with the water, the plane broke in two and sank, with the passengers trapped within. Officials say bad weather and low visibility (6,600 ft) are responsible for the crash.


    Crash victims are being paid Rp 50 million (US$5,850) by State insurance firm PT Jasa Raharja, according to published reports. The total is 1.35 billion Rp. Reports do not say if this is an interim payment.

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    Eagle Airways Beech Diverts to Gisborne


    What: Air New Zealand/Eagle Airways Beech 1900D from Gisborne to Auckland New Zealand
    Where: Gisborne
    When: May 8th 2011
    Who: 9 passengers
    Why: Ten minutes into the flight, while flying over Opotiki, the pilots shut down an engine because of readings they were getting; and they announced to passengers they were going to make an emergency landing.

    The pilots then returned to the airport. Everyone aboard clapped when the nineteen seat plane landed safely.

    The engine of the Eagle Airways Beech was examined and no problems were found.

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    St. Louis: Unruly Passenger Left Behind

    What: Continental Airlines Boeing 737-800 en route from Houston to Chicago
    Where: Saint Louis
    When: May 8th 2011
    Who: disruptive passenger
    Why: While en route, a passenger attempted to open a plane door, saying he had to get out of the plane. He was subdued and restrained, as the flight diverted to Lambert International Airport, where the passenger in question was released into police custody. Charges may be pending.

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    Air New Zealand Loses Engine, Makes Safe Landing


    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact photographer George Canciani

    What: Air New Zealand Boeing 737-300 en route from Auckland to Wellington
    Where: Hamilton
    When: May 8, 2011
    Who: 101 aboard
    Why: While en route, the pilots shut down the right engine. Low oil pressure is suspected to be the problem.

    Passengers heard the right engine make an explosive noise. In the plane, passengers panicked as they dropped for several seconds—screaming, crying, praying, panic attacks.

    The plane rolled right, then straightened.

    After a few moments, the pilot came out and reassured the passengers, explaining that they’d lost an engine, but it was a routine procedure they practiced all the time and that everything was under control.

    Pilots diverted to Hamilton, where they made a safe landing. As passengers exited, the pilot told them “this was the first time an Air New Zealand 737 had had a total loss of engine.”

    Passengers were bused or rented cars to go back to Auckland and engineers examined the downed plane.

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    India: Crashed Helicopter found, Minister Dorjee Khandu’s body recovered.

    What: Pawan Hans Helicopters Eurocopter AS 350B3 Ecureuil en route from Tawang to Itanagar
    Where: Luguthang, India
    When: April 30, 2011
    Who: 5 fatalities, including Dorjee Khandu
    Why: The helicoptor taking Dorjee Khandu from a retreat disappeared en route. Two MI-17 and two Cheetah helicopters were engaged in the search.

    The helicopter wreckage was found 5 days after it went missing. Dorjee Khandu, Mr Khandu’s security officer Yeshi Choddak, Yeshi Lamu, and crew members JS Babbar and KS Malick all died in the crash. The wreckage was at 4900 meters, near Jung Falls in the Tawang district. The search was hampered by bad weather.

    The chopper that crashed was 4 months old, according to Chief Minister Khandu’s adviser Kiren Rijiju. However, the maintenance department of Pawan Hans has a bad reputation.

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    Air Tran Engine Shut Down, Return to Greenville-Spartanburg IA

    What: Air Tran Boeing 717-200 en route from Charlotte to Atlanta
    Where: Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport
    When: May 4 2011
    Who: 115 passengers
    Why: After taking off, the left engine compressor stalled. The pilots shut down the left engine and returned to the airport.

    Spartanburg EMS, and Boiling Springs, Greer, Pelham and Tyger River fire departments were on the scene

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    UN Cessna Crashes in Bolivia, 6 Perish


    FAB-341 Cessna 210 Centurion Fuerza Aerea Boliviana

    What: Fuerza Aérea Boliviana Cessna T210 Turbo Centurion en route from El Alto International Airport in La Paz
    Where: Santa Elena River, Iquisiva Province, La Paz
    When: May 5 2011
    Who: 6 aboard
    Why: The Bolivian Air Force plane piloted by the air force and carrying four United Nations workers was doing a fly-by and did not return at 2:30 as scheduled. The plane, which had been missing since May 5 and a search going on in Yungas (Coroico, La Asunta and Caranavi). The flight was located near the Santa Elena River, where it appears that it hit a tree during an emergency landing.

    The passengers lost in the crash were Ivan Alfaro Santiago, Estephan Campos Ruiz, Mariela Romero Torreblanco and Patricia Delgado Rua, and the Cessna was being flown by Lt. Néstor Álvaro Ottich Arenas and Lt. José Javier Alegría Estrada.

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    27 Perish in Kaimana Bay in Merpati Crash

    What: Merpati Nusantara Xian MA-60 en route from Sorong to Kaimana
    Where: Kaimana, West Papua
    When: May 7, 2010 12:21 pm
    Who: 21 passengers (including 2 children and a baby), 4 crew, 2 technicians
    Why: After flying a holding pattern for a quarter of an hour, the plane was on its final approach when it crashed in shallow water .3 miles before it reached the runway. On impact with the water, the plane broke in two and sank, with the passengers trapped within. Officials say bad weather and low visibility (6,600 ft) are responsible for the crash.

    The divers recovering the bodies from Kaimana Bay have been hampered by heavy rain; those recovered were described as “not intact.”

    The Chinese-made plane was new and only had been in operation for just over 600 hours, since its purchase in October. Merpati flies three other Xian MA-60s’.

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    Arm-wrestling Damages from the Mother Country: Brazil vs France


    In the continuing saga of Air France Flight 447, whether the victims are Brazilian or French, they certainly qualify for compensation. The question is how much. Everyone involved, the airlines, the insurance companies, the lawyers, the families all have different numbers in mind.

    Recovery of the black boxes is not the only Air France news.

    In the poker game of damage recovery, Air France must have blinked. The Brazilian Court system rejected the latest offer to the family of the deceased Luciana Clarkson Seba, a 31-year-old Brazilian who died along with her husband and stepparents.

    Brazil rejected the appeal and raised compensation from1.2 million reals ($744,000) to 1.4 million reals ($868,000). The decision was unanimous.

    Currently French courts are considering manslaughter charges against Airbus. At least Airbus has some good news to temper the bad, since the search has revealed the black boxes. Whether or not the integrity of the boxes has been breached has not yet been revealed. Experts predict both extremes: complete data loss due to the pressure and time and complete data recovery. We tend to believe the data is safe, since these memory devices must pass certification at 3400 G/ 600 psi.

    And when that data is recovered, the experts will be examining it, looking at the rest of the gathered evidence, including the wreckage that is being recovered right now, which will have its own tale to tell.

    It remains to be seen if the pitot tube theory will be supported by the CDR and FDR; but with all of these various sources coming together, we can anticipate a dimensional inquiry, a coordinated synthesis, and a profound deduction to explicate the enigma that is Air France Flight 447.

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    Madrid Crash Case Should Be Tried Here, Not Stuck in Spanish Amber

    March coverage included the news of Central District of California U.S. District Judge Gary Allen Feess dismissing the case against McDonnell Douglas (and component manufacturers) because he believed the litigation of the airline crash case should be moved to Spain. Spanair Flight JK 5022, the deadliest Spanish accident in the last 20 years, killed 154 people (18 survivors) when it crashed just after takeoff at the Barajas Airport in Madrid.

    Here is the problem:
    In Spain, Spainair filed for a delay which was granted, and now, criminal proceedings have pre-empted civil proceedings, which now makes the Madrid case stuck in Spanish suspended animation.

    Families believe that this new development should allow their case to be reconsidered in US Courts.

    Suspending civil proceedings until criminal proceedings are concluded could extend the length of time it takes the aviation case to complete. Aviation cases normally take a long time to settle anyway)

    According to forum non conveniens, the court court can dismiss a case where another court or forum is better suited to hear the case. (Plaintiffs refer to another Spanair crash case which took eleven years to settle.)

    The judge’s decision was based on his opinion that that private and public interest factors weigh in favor of shifting the litigation to Spain. But now that the case will be delayed indefinitely pending the judiciary of Spain’s criminal case, the interest of the families who were affected by the crash has in effect been swept aside.

    How is that in anyone’s best interest? Why must the victims’ justice wait on Spain looking at two maintenance personnel have been charged with negligent homicide?

    The judge cited “drawbacks associated with translating the cockpit voice recording” but, as Boeing was a technical adviser to the U.S. investigative team, and downloads, transcripts and the cockpit voice recorder are part of evidence already secured in the United States which cannot be secured in Spain.

    Plaintiffs argue that family members were injured or died because of problems with the wing slats and flaps (component failure). The facts support the case being tried in US Courts.

    Read More…

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    Moncton: American Airline Smokey Cockpit Emergency Landing


    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact photographer Jan Bialas

    What: American Airlines Boeing 777-200 en route from London to Chicago
    Where: Moncton
    When: May 3rd 2011, 3 pm
    Who: 150 aboard
    Why: While en route, the crew reported the smell of smoke, and diverted to Moncton in Canada.

    The plane landed with emergency services on standby and emergency services stayed until 5:20 p.m. The smoke in the cockpit turned out to be from an overheating battery. Dieppe Fire Department examined the plane. There were no injuries, and passengers were provided a room in the airport, so they didn’t have to go through customs.

    A replacement jet was flown in.

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    Beech Crashes House in Miami Gardens

    What: Beech 18 (N18R)
    Where: near Opa-Locka Airport, Miami Gardens Florida
    When: May 2, 2010
    Who: pilot Harry Trauffer
    Why: Right after takeoff, the pilot of the twin engine Beechcraft 18 cargo plane that was carrying household goods to the Bahamas radioed he was going down, before he clipped trees, crashed through a fence and 2 cars and into a residential yard. Neighbors were at home at the time of the crash, and witnessed it.

    More than 90 Miami-Dade firefighters were on the scene. Although we saw reports that the fire only caused smoke damage to the exterior of the home, and that it did not strike the building, it is clear in the video that the house was breached by the plane, and there were several areas of the house that were on fire. The family is staying elsewhere and no one in the house was injured.

    and was toxic while burning,
    The pilot who was killed in the crash was 64 year old Harry Trauffer, who regularly flew clothing, bedding and auto parts to the Bahamas.

    Near the accident site on 38th Avenue and 150th Street., the NTSB is holding a 3:00 PM press briefing conducted by NTSB Investigator-in-Charge, Todd Gunther

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    Skydiving Crash Victims Awarded by Jury


    Doncasters Inc. of London is a manufacturer of aviation components. They were recently held accountable for the death of five victims of the crash of a DeHavilland DHC-6 Twin Otter, the skydiving plane which exploded at the Sullivan airport.

    Six people were killed: Melissa Berridge, 38, of St. Louis; Victoria Delacroix, 22, of London; Robert Cook, 22, of Rolla, Mo.; Rob Walsh, 44, of St. Louis; Scott Cowan, 42, of St. Louis were awarded four million each, and a portion of $28 million in punitive damages.

    David Aternoster, 35, also died in the crash but his relatives were not part of the lawsuit. Jim and Scott Cowan, owners of Quantum Leap Skydiving were piloting.

    Eight engine failures are believed to be due to a defective Doncasters part according to aviation experts, air crash investigators, metallurgists and aircraft design engineers.