Locale

  • | | |

    Sad Chopper Crash in Colombia.

    What: Bell UH-1H
    Where: Melgar, Tolima – Colombia
    When: March 07, 2011 5:40
    Who: 5 fatalities, 4 injuries
    Why: Six helicopters were engaged in a training mission when the rotors of two of the UH-1Hs collided. One of the helicopters fell, and caught on fire.

    Technician Felipe Pava Rodriguez, technician John Mario Diaz Llanos, Lt. Manuel Alberto Cuspoca, Mexican Lt. Dante Herrera Alarcon, and Capt. Juan Jose Orjuela were killed in the crash. Lt. Hugo Estrada Lopez is one of 4 survivors, all from the 2nd helicopter which managed to make a controlled, if hard, landing.

    The cause of the crash has tentatively been attributed to human error.

  • | | | | |

    Delta: Whacked Tail at JFK

    What: Delta Airlines Boeing 767-300 from New York JFK,NY to Sao Paulo
    Where: New York
    When: Mar 6th 2011
    Why: The Delta Boeing encountered heavy wind on takeoff and suffered a tail strike. The pilot returned to JFK and made a safe landing. According to Flight Aware, the duration of the flight was 49 minutes.

  • | | | | | | |

    Emergency Landing: Safety for Tripoli Evacuation


    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact photographer Vivek Manvi

    What: Air India Airbus A330-200 en route from Tripoli to Delhi
    Where: Malta
    When: Mar 6th 2011
    Why: After taking off from Tripoli, the landing gear failed to retract. The pilot diverted to Malta and made a safe landing.

    So far, of 18,000 Indians expats, 9,200 people had been evacuated from Tripoli. Egypt Air has also been making chartered flights to bring Indian citizens back home in “Operation Safe Homecoming.” As of Mar 2, Air India had retrieved 6 flights worth of passengers.

  • | | | | | |

    Dash 8 Has Gusty Landing Ending in Crunch


    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact photographer Stefan Sonnenberg

    What: Flugfelag Air Iceland de Havilland Dash 8-100 en route from Reykjavik Iceland to Nuuk Greenland
    Where: Nuuk
    When: Mar 4th 2011
    Who: 31 passengers and 3 crew
    Why: After weather conditions had already delayed the flight for more than a day, passengers were finally able to make the journey. However, on landing, the plane veered off the runway in gusty conditions. The de Havilland Dash received nose, propellers and engines damage, but no one aboard was injured.

    Perhaps they should have delayed the flight for another day.

  • | | | |

    Russia: Wing Falls off New Antonov, Crash Kills 6

    What: Voronezh Aircraft Joint Stock Company (VASO) Antonov 148-100E on the border between the Voronezh and Belgorod regions.
    Where: Garbuzovo, Belgorod Region (Russia)
    When: Mar 05, 2011
    Who: 6 fatalities
    Why: The new Antonov-148, being developed in the Ukraine in cooperation with 14 countries, and was sold by the Voronezh Aircraft Factory to the Myanmar Air Force and is designed to carry 79 to 99 passengers. Hundreds of technical problems have been recorded, but the plane is still in its testing phase. On a test flight to Myanmar, witnesses saw a wing and the tail fall off the plane while it was still in the air over a school and kindergarten. The crew managed to avoid the school, and the plane crashed and burned in a field.

    Two pilots from Myanmar died at the crash. Those killed included Yuri Zubritsky, First Class Test Pilot, Captain; First Class Test Flight Navigator Vladimir Yasko; Test Engineer Alexander Korolyov; Lead Flight Test Engineer Anatoly Samoshkin and two Republic of the Union of Myanmar pilots Htein-Lin-Aung and Zaw-Htun-Aung. The flight recorders have been recovered.

    Five engines and 13 firefighters responded.

    The plane’s contractor was JSC Voronezh Aircraft Manufacturing Company. (VASO). The plane had flown 31 flights.


  • | | |

    Sata Airbus Tire Punctured

    What: SATA International Airbus A320-200 en route from Lisbon to the Terceira Azores Islands
    Where: Lajes
    When: Mar 4th 2011
    Why: Landing in Portugal on a wet runway, the plane ran over a sandbag and cable, puncturing a tire. The runway was closed, as the situation was dealt with.

  • | | |

    Smokey Delta Flight Overnights in Omaha

    What: Delta en route from New York City to Phoenix
    Where: Eppley Airfield
    When: Feb 28, 2011
    Why: While en route, the plane developed smoke in the cockpit.

    The flight diverted to Omaha and made a safe landing with rescue crews standing by.

    Passengers disembarked and were booked on an 8:15 am Omaha to Phoenix flight.

  • | | | | |

    Triple S Crash Kills 4 Americans in Abu Dhabi


    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact photographer Simon Curtis

    What: Triple S Aviation McKinnon G-21G Turbo Goose seaplane en route from UAE to US via Riyadh, Saudi Arabi
    Where: Taxiway Kilo Al Ain
    When: Feb 27, 2010
    Who: 4 fatalities
    Why: After takeoff, the plane veered left and crashed.
    The plane caught on fire on impact. 4 US citizens were killed in the crash, including Triple S owner Landon Studer and the company’s international project manager Joshua Hucklebridge. The other victims were pilots from Nevada and California. Triple S has offices in the Middle East and in Texas. The 4 aboard the flight were crew apparently, although their names have not been released.

  • | | | | |

    British Airways Diverts to Tamanrasset


    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact photographer Mark Kwiatkowski

    What: British Airways Boeing 747-40 en route from Lagos Nigeria to London
    Where: Tamanrasset Algeria
    When: Feb 27th 2011
    Who: 301 passengers, 16 crewmembers
    Why: While en route, the plane developed engine trouble with an air bleed valve.

    The crew shut down an engine and diverted to Tamanrasset Algeria where they made a safe landing.

    A maintenance crew was dispatched to Tamanrasset. The replacement jet and the repaired plane were both in London less than 24 hours later.

  • | | |

    Athens Bird Strike

    What: Air France Airbus A319-100 en route from Athens to Paris
    Where: Athens
    When: Feb 25th 2011
    Who: 113 on board
    Why: On takeoff, the plane had a bird strike.

    THe flight returned to Athens about 30 minutes after takeoff. The extent of the damage to the plane was not reported.

  • | | |

    Cessna Emergency Landing at Hagerstown

    What: Cessna
    Where: Hagerstown Regional Airport
    When: Feb 26, 2011, 2:30
    Who: pilot
    Why: The pilot reported a loss of oil pressure. Also, the nose wheel of the single-engine Cessna did not come down, which was verified by a flyby for the tower.

    On landing, the prop hit the runway. The Maugansville Volunteer Fire Co arrived after the plane had landed.

  • | | |

    Ryanair Passenger Falls

    What: Ryanair Boeing 737-800 en route from Seville to Barcelona
    Where: Seville
    When: Oct 27th 2010
    Who: 1 passenger
    Why: A boarding passenger fell and fractured his arm. The fall was allegedly caused by the force from another engine’s exhaust.

  • |

    Nama Goes Digital GPS

    Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) is moving to the satellite-based navigation framework known as WGS84″. IATA has been contracted at a cost of ?360 million. The Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS is carried out through the World Geodetic System 84 (WGS84) survey. The federal government will bear the cost of 22 airports controlled by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) including two others owned by the Akwa Ibom and Gombe State governments.

    So far the project has begun at Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos; Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport, Abuja; Port Harcourt Airport, Rivers; and Aminu Kano Airport, Kano.

    Pilots using the system will rely on the satellite to navigate to the airport.

  • | |

    Strikemaster Crashes in Hudson


    Contact photographer Derek Heley

    What: Dragon Aviation 1969 BAC 167 Strikemaster en route from Nashville, Tennessee, to an airport in Ghent, New York See more about the plane here
    Where: near the Kingston-Rhinecliff Bridge, Hudson River, Kingston New York
    When: Feb 26 2011 1:30 p.m.
    Who: pilot Michael Faraldi
    Why: The BAC 167 Strikemaster ex-military jet did a very low pass over the runway before crashing into the frozen Hudson River on approach to Kingston-Ulster Airport at about 1:30 p.m. Saturday near the Kingston-Rhinecliff Bridge. The body of 38-year-old Michael Faraldi was recovered 3 p.m. Sunday. Faraldi whose day job was podiatry was a general aviation pilot on his first transition into a high performance jet-fighter category aircraft.

  • | | | | | | | | | | |

    Family Charges Bombardier with Negligence

    The National Transportation Safety Board’s decision on the Colgan Air Flight 407 crash is that the pilot responded inappropriately to the stick shaker, which led to an aerodynamic stall from which the airplane did not recover. The stick shaker only comes into play when the plane is already slow enough to stall. The plane fell 800 feet before crashing pointing northeast, away from the airport

    The family of Ellyce Kausner has filed a lawsuit against Bombardier. Bombardier is the manufacturer of the plane involved in the crash. The suit charges that Bombardier was “negligent and careless” in the design of the plane by not providing more efficient internal mechanical warning systems.

    Kausner was a 24 year old Jacksonville law student traveling to NY to visit family.

    At least 19 other families have filed suits.

    At the time of the crash, the automated “stick-pusher,” pushes the control column down in order to send the aircraft into a temporary dive so it can regain speed and recover from a stall but Capt. Renslow yanked back on the controls while adding thrust, manually overriding the stick-pusher.

    Colgan Air, Clarence Center, NY, Accident Dockets

    George’s Point of View

    Time for Bombardier to step up to the plate. Although this has little to do with the pilot, who had flunked numerous flight tests during his career and was never adequately taught how to respond to the emergency that led to the airplane’s fatal descent. Maybe Ellyce would still be here if the warning systems on the Bombardier were simply better.

    When the plane slowed down to a dangerous level, it set off the stall-prevention system, and the pilot performed the opposite of the proper procedure. So there were hiring and training issues involved too. And Captain Renslow had about 109 hours of experience, hardly enough to be pilot.

    Even if procedures seem counter-intuitive, shouldn’t the pilot be aware of them?

    Barring the inefficiency of an ill-prepared pilot, shouldn’t Bombardier have some kind of way to limit ineffective pilot responses?

    When the hiring and training fails, and when the pilot fails, shouldn’t there be some kind of fail-safe within the plane? Even a copy of the Complete Idiot’s Guide to Not Crashing your Bombardier for pilots who flunked their last check write 16 months before and who apparently didn’t read the real manual?

  • | |

    Injured Flight Attendent Delays Plane

    What: US Airways flight en route to Philadelphia
    Where: Columbus Ohio
    When: February 25 2011, 3:30 pm
    Who: not available
    Why: A flight attendant injured boarding was further injured when the flight encountered turbulence. The flight diverted to Port Columbus and made a safe landing where the fight attendant was seen by paramedics and transported to Grant Medical Center. US Airways has no base of operations in Port Columbus; and passengers endured a lengthy wait aboard the plane as USAirways searched for a replacement flight attendant. The flight resumed at 5:15 after a replacement attendant was found .

  • | | | |

    Indiana Pilot Crashes in Corn Field


    What: #3875C C421 Golden Eagle Executive Commuter plane
    Where: Connersville Indiana
    When: 8:15 pm
    Who: James Robert Savor, 47
    Why: Around 8:15 witnesses heard the plane flying low. It crashed in a corn field south East County Road 400, near Henry Road two miles from the airport Weather at the time was rainy. The pilot was killed in the crash.

  • | | | |

    Newfoundland Cougar 491 Crash: Unanswered

    Families and the only survivor of the 2009 Sikorsky crash have petitioned Transport Minister Chuck Stahl to take action. Transport Canada did not enforce certification requirements, leading to sixteen factors that in their turn lead to the crash. Two of three titanium studs broke off the oil filter assembly.

    The helicopter’s design is to be able to continue flying for thirty minutes after the gearbox runs dry.

    The last conversations between air traffic controllers and the Sikorsky’s pilots, Capt. Matt Davis, 34, of St. John’s, and First Officer Tim Lanouette, 48, Comox, B.C., were released by the Transportation Safety Board of Canada.

    The news from the day of the tragic accident.

  • | | |

    Venezuela Crash Kills 6

    What: Cessna 340 A en route from El Vigia airfield in Merida state to San Antonio del Tachira
    Where: E Venezuela near Colombia
    When: Feb 23, 2010
    Who: 6 fatalities
    Why: The Premezclado Agroconcha plane carrying three well-known businessmen refueled at El Vigia. Outside the village of San Pedro del Rio, the plane crashed. Pilot Victor Correa and passengers Jesus Rojas, Efrain Rojas, Gonzalo Hidalgo, Rodolfo Betancourt and Ivan Martini were killed in the crash. The plane belongs to Maparca Corporation.

    JIAAC is investigating.

  • | | | |

    Lufthansa Airbus Smoked


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

    What: Lufthansa Airbus A340-300 en route from Sao Paulo Guarulhos,SP to Munich
    Where: Sao Paulo
    When: Feb 21, 2011
    Who: not available
    Why: Thirty minutes after takeoff, the plane developed smoke.

    The pilots returned to Sao Paulo where they made a safe landing. The passengers who were not rebooked were scheduled to fly to Munich 19 hours later.

  • | | | | |

    Buenos Aires: Lufthansa Bird Strike


    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact photographer Ralf Meyermann

    What: Lufthansa Boeing 747-400 en route from Buenos Aires Ezeiza,BA (Argentina) to Frankfurt/Main Where: Buenos Aires
    When: Feb 21st 2011
    Who: 289 passengers
    Why: After taking off from Buenos Aires, one engine ingested a bird or birds, and developed engine problems. The pilots dumped fuel and returned to land back in Buenos Aires with emergency services on standby.

    Passengers disembarked in Buenos Aires, and were provided hotel accommodations while waiting for a Tuesday flight.

  • | | | | | |

    Survivors Have Rights Too


    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact photographer Andrei Visan

    What is a life worth?

    It appears that Manx2 Airlines doesn’t think a life is worth very much. Manx2 denied an advance payment of more than £15,000 to cover the costs of a crash survivor (Cork Airport) to fly by aircraft from Cork University Hospital to the U.K. They are trying to shift responsibility to BCN.

    On the second approach to runway 17 the right wing-tip of the Swearingen SA-227BC Metro III hit the runway, flipping the aircraft upside down. The plane slid 190 metres along the runway and came to rest in the grass adjacent to Taxiway C when fuel tanks leaking fuel in the right wing caught fire.The leased plane crashed on Feb 10, 2011, killing 2 crew members, and 4 passengers. There were 6 survivors.

    After a horrific accident like that, you’d expect Manx to step up to the plate.

    When someone dies in a crash the question is asked: what is this life worth? You may not hear it in that many words, but it is there. The value of a human being, translated into dollars and cents. When someone survives a crash as 6 did in this instance, it is difficult not to see Manx’s petty delay tactic as a slap in the face.

  • | | | | |

    Malaysia Airlines A330 Engine Mystery Snag


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

    What: Malaysia Airlines Airbus A330-300 en route from Delhi to Kuala Lumpur
    Where: Delhi-Indira Gandhi International Airport
    When: Feb 20, 2011, 3:02 PM
    Who: 158 passengers
    Why: After experiencing engine trouble en route (described as a “snag”) the flight returned to Delhi and made an emergency landing, with emergency services standing by. Specific details about the engine problem have not been released.

    The news video misreports that the flight originated in Kuala Lumpur

  • US Ban on Yemen Freight Flights lifted

    Last year, after explosives were found on flights originating in Yemen, a ban was imposed.

    A US technical team visited Yemen and found security measures to be up to ICAO standards and recommended lifting the ban on freight. The Sana’a International Airport meeting also involved security and staff training.

    Yemenia Airlines and other carriers still have to abide by regulations, but the ban on flights from Yemen has been lifted.

  • | | | |

    Turbulence Injures 3 over Salt Lake


    Pictured: A Skywest Canadair jet similar to the one experiencing turbulence
    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact photographer Mark Kryst
    What: Skywest Canadair CRJ-200 en route from Helena,MT to Salt Lake City,UT
    Where: Grand Junction,CO
    When: Feb 16th 2011
    Who: 32 passengers
    Why: On approach to Salt Lake City, the plane encountered turbulence. The pilot diverted to Grand Junction, where they landed an hour later. Three individuals were injured, and treated by paramedics.