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    Quantas Autopilot Incident Spurs Part Safety Investigation


    What: Qantas Airways Airbus A330-300 en route from Perth in Western Australia to Singapore
    Where: Perth
    When: Saturday December 27,
    Who: The number of passengers and crew has not yet been released.
    Why: The autopilot on a Qantas Airways Airbus A330 suddenly disconnected 500 kilometres after taking off. The jet was cruising at 36,000 feet when the autopilot quit. The flight successfully turned and landed in Perth.

    This being the second autopilot fault, the situation is being investigated. A prior incident involving an on board system shutoff has been possibly attributed to communications interfering with aircraft onboard systems.

    The ADIRU (air data inertial reference unit) is the flight computer system component about which the crew received an error message during the Dec 27 incident.

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    Medellin Colombia: American Airlines Boeing’s Miraculous Safe Landing

    What: Fully fueled American Airlines Boeing 737 flight 924 en route from Rionegro to to Miami
    Where: emergency landing at Rionegro airport (Jose Maria Cordoba) near Medellín
    When: 9:50 AM flight
    Who: 148 passengers
    Why: Passengers heard an explosion, after which the crew was concerned that the full plane would not make it over the mountains. They turned back with a fire in one engine, and the crippled plane not climbing as it should.

    The plane circled the airport for half of an hour prior to the successful emergency landing. Though successful, the landing was not uneventful as the heat from braking actually fused the brakes, leaving the plane immobile on the runway. The passengers were successfully deplaned on site via stairs and ported from the runway to the terminal by bus.

    No cause has been given for the initial engine problem, but the American Airlines crew is to be commended for a near-miraculous safe-guardianship of the welfare of the passengers.

    The plane was carrying thousands of pounds of fuel.

    Spanish Article El Tiempo

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    British Plane Crashes Train system

    What: light aircraft registered to Mr Matthews.
    Where: Little Haywood,Staffordshire
    When: Friday.
    Who: 3 fatalities: Pilot Alan Matthews, Nich O’Brian and Emma O’Brian. Mr Matthews is registered as company director of Sittles Farm Flying Club
    Why: Under investigation.

    A witness said “I heard the plane, I looked up, and suddenly it just turned and went straight down like a stunt plane” The single engine propeller plane came down yards from plane tracks after hitting power lines above the main West Coast rail.

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    New Years Eve Air Rage Shakes Up Thomson Airways Flight

    What: Thomson Airways TOM133 out of Manchester en route to Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic
    Where: Diverted to Bermuda
    When: New Years Eve
    Who: Three men engaged in an “air rage” incident
    Why: On board the plane, the three men fought over alleged homophobic public order offences, affray and smoking.

    A 35-year-old was arrested at Gatwick airport. The two other men are still in custody in Bermuda.

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    Panamanian Cessna Crash a Mystery

    What: Cessna 152 belonging to a flight training school en route from Marcos A. Gelabert Airport to the Calzada Larga Airport
    Where: floating near the village of Tranquillas in the Panama Canal’s Lake Madden
    When: found early Wednesday
    Who: Panamanian flight instructor Alex Bosquez and student Abraham Licona
    Bosquez had a commercial pilot’s license and was certified as a flight instructor. Licona had a private pilot’s license.
    Why: The crash is under investigation. The bodies have been recovered.

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    Corrected: Pilot Lost in Crop Duster Crash in New South Wales, Australia


    What: Crop duster
    Where: on Pangee Road, 85km south-west of Nyngan, New South Wales, Australia
    When: Noon Dec 29
    Who: Paul Corcoran
    Why: On making a pass over a field, the plane crashed. The pilot was killed.

    Paul Corocran was from Trangie, NSW, Australia. Nyngan the town near the accident site is a nearby town also in Western NSW. This accident was not in New Zealand

  • ATR Emergency in New Zealand


    What: Cook Airlines Air New Zealand ATR 72-500
    Where: Wellington airport
    When: Friday less than one minute after the flight’s departure for Christchurch
    Who: 65 passengers on board, 4 crew
    Why: engine was damaged seconds after takeoff, filling the cabin with smoke. Witnesses said something hit the right engine of the plane, followed by a bang. The pilot saw a warning indicator and shut down the right engine. We have no report of injuries.

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    New South Wales Crash on Christmas Day


    What: single-engine Cessna en route from Mudgee to rural NSW
    Where: west of Merriwa in the Great Dividing Range, New South Wales
    When: Dec 25
    Who: pilot Scott Kennedy-Green and brother-in-law, Matthew Green. Green died at the scene. The pilot survived and was winched to safety at 1 pm, with chest and pelvic injuries, and leg fractures. He is recuperating at Sydney’s Westmead Hospital.
    Why: The pilot lost control in heavy cloudcover and rain, and crashed in a ravine in the upper Hunter Valley

    The piliot set crash site co-ordinates by CB radio but had to spend the night out in the elements as conditions prevented his recovery until 1 pm the next day.

    The wreck was located at 10 in the morning Dec 26th, lying upside down with a wing torn off

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    Helicopter Crashes in Salters SC


    What: Helicopter
    Where: a field near Haddock’s Flying Services, in Salters
    When: 2:45 p.m. Dec 25
    Who: Two men aboard. One was taken by ambulance to a local hospital; the other airlifted to Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston in serious condition.
    Why: The helicopter experienced mechanical problems

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    Pilot Killed 500 feet from Airport

    What: plane registered to Steven P. Reamer en route from Piedmont Triad International Airport to o Gainesville, Fla
    Where: 500 feet short of the runway at Anson County Airport.
    When: THURSDAY, DECEMBER 25 3 pm
    Who: Pilot Steven P. Reamer was killed in the crash. His wife Pamela was airlifted to Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte.
    Why: The plane was having engine problems. Witnesses report the motor was sporadic and sputtering

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    Mexico Crash Kills Water Commission Chief


    What: Cessna Centurion crashed
    Where: just before reaching the airport in Ramos Arispe in northern Mexican state of Coahuila
    When: Friday
    Who: 5 Passengers included state water commission chief, his assistant and two TV Azteca reporters.
    Why: Engine lost power, then hit high-voltage wires before crashing and burning/

    Emilio Bichara Marcos and Rafael Reyes died in the crash. Two reporters and the pilot are still hospitalized.

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    Argentina Plane Crash

    What: Twin-engine plane described as “a little training plane with capacity for two people” en route from San Fernando airport to Entre Rios.
    Where: 150 METRES FROM TIGRE/PAN-AMERICAN HIGHWAY near service station on the outskirts of Buenos Aires Argentina
    When: Thursday Thurs Dec 18
    Who: Both Pilot and passenger were killed
    Why: Pilot attempted emergency landing on PanAmerican Highway but crashed into two trucks and bursts into flames.

  • Turks and Caicos Island Crash, 12 Missing.


    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact Photographer Felix Bahamonde

    What: Linea Aerea Puertorriquena (LAP)’s Atlantis Airlines Britten-Norman BN-2A Trislander Mk.III-2 en route from Santa Domingo in the Dominican Republic to Managua, Bahamas, registration N650LP. The airport of departure was Santiago de los Caballeros-Cibao International Airport (STI/MDST) and the scheduled destination was Mayaguana Airport
    Where: off the coast of the Turks and Caicos Islands
    When: Monday December 15, 2008
    Who: 1 pilot, 11 passengers missing.
    Why: The flight’s mayday call was picked up on Monday 16 miles off the coast of Providenciales. Rescue effort were called off Monday due to adverse weather conditions

    The BN-2A Trislander en route from Santiago de los Caballeros-Cibao International Airport Dominican Republic to Mayaguana Bahamas. It departed at 16:06. An hour into the flight, the pilot contacted Providenciales ATC reporting an emergency. The airplane crashed shortly after the distress call. Asociación Nacional de Pilotos reported that the pilot’s licence was suspended in October 2006.

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    Taranaki Crash kills Pilot


    What: crop duster (model not indicated)
    Where: crashed into the hillside on farmland above the Waitara River in a paddock in Tarata, 19km east of Inglewood
    When: noon 14 December 2008
    Who: pilot a man in his 40s died on the scene
    Why: Cause unknown

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    Brazil’s GOL Report

    Brazil released a report Wednesday regarding the GOL crash. Specifically, the report concerns the Gol jet that collided over the Amazon rain forest with an Embraer Legacy 600 executive jet owned by ExcelAire Service Inc. of New York ; it concludes that the pilots of a New York-based executive jet had placed the transponder and collision avoidance system on standby before colliding with the Boeing 737 operated by GOL Linhaus Aereas Inteligentes SA on Sept. 29, 2006.

    However, the two American pilots are not exclusively responsible. The NTSB opinion is that the rules and regulations that govern Brazilian air space, as well as the on duty air Brazilian traffic controllers are at fault. Brazilian air traffic controllers should have informed the Long Island pilots that their transponder was turned off. There’s no indication that the Legacy’s control panel indicated that the transponder was off.

    The Legacy landed safely but everyone on the GOL jet died. Flight controllers failed to alert pilots that they were on a collision course and also did not notice–or communicate that the transponder was off.

    The on duty flight controllers and the two U.S. pilots – Joseph Lepore and Jan Paladino have been indicted. They could get up to three years in prison.The pilots deny turning off the transponder. They claim to have been flying at the altitude designated by the air controllers. Their lawyer is quoted as saying “This accident was caused by a string of catastrophic errors committed by Brazilian air traffic controllers. In essence, they put and kept these two planes on a collision course.”

    ExcelAire says that “the transponder issue is a distraction from the true cause of the accident, which is an air traffic control system that put two airplanes on a collision course for about an hour.”

    Families of the GOL victims may yet file a civil lawsuit in Brazil.

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    Mexico Learjet Crash Update: Another Update Another Death


    A sixteenth victim of the Lear jet crash in Mexico has died. 85-year-old Victor Altamiranot died Thursday

    The fifteenth victim of the Lear jet crash was a 44-year-old woman who died in the hospital.

    The NTSB has concluded that wake turbulence was the problem that downed the jet. Air traffic controllers told the Learjet pilots to slow down significantly so as to not gain ground on the 767, but they flew into wake 4 miles behind the jet. This action has been interpreted as pilot error. Additionally, the contract pilots may not have been qualified on the jet as deficiencies in their certifications were uncovered.

    The Learjet departed San Luis Potosí (SLP) at 18:04 on a flight to Mexico City (MEX). On board were a.o. Mexican Interior Minister Juan Camilo Mourino, Deputy Attorney General Josi Luis Santiago Vasconcelos and Miguel Monterubio Cubas, the director of social communication.

    The flight was uneventful and the Learjet passed LUCIA VOR at 18:40 and ATIZAPAN VOR at 18:42. It passed SAN MATEO VOR at 18:44, at an altitude of 11000 feet and an airspeed of 262 kts. It was trailing a Boeing 767-300 (Mexicana Flight 1692 from Buenos Aires). At 18:45 hours the aircraft was instructed to switch to the Tower frequency which the pilot acknowledged but never contacter Mexico Tower. At 18:46 the flight was observed approaching runway 05L. The last radar position of the aircraft was 7.5 miles from the Mexico VOR on the 256 radial, at an altitude of 9700 feet at 185 kts airspeed.
    The airplane crashed on the Avenida Reforma and caught fire. Several cars were destroyed and at least five people on the ground were killed.

    What: Learjet 45 flown by the Mexican government en route from San Luis Potosí Airport (SLP/MMSP) to Mexico City-Benito Juárez International Airport
    Where: Paseo de la Reforma, Mexico City
    When: 04 NOV 2008
    Who: Passengers included:

    • Mexican Secretary of the Interior Juan Camilo Mouriño, top aide to President Felipe Calderón.
    • José Luis Santiago Vasconcelos-former assistant attorney general and current head of the federal technical secretariat for implementing the recent constitutional reforms on criminal justice and public security.
    • Miguel Monterrubio, director general of social communications with the Interior Secretariat.
    • Arcadio Echeverría, coordinator of special events, office of the Interior Secretary.
    • Norma Díaz, director in the communications department of the Interior Secretariat.
    • Julio César Ramírez Dávalos, pilot.
    • Álvaro Sánchez, co-pilot.
    • Gisel Carrillo, stewardess.

    Why: At 18:45, although the aircraft was instructed to switch to the Tower frequency, the pilot acknowledged but never contacted the Mexico Tower. The Learjet then crashed on the Avenida Reforma and caught fire. Several cars were destroyed and at least five people on the ground were killed.

    Voice Data Recorder Excerpts
    Pilot: That one’s got some turbulence.
    Co-pilot: Hey man.
    Pilot: Hey [expletive].
    Pilot: Alvaro, what do we do, Alvaro?
    Co-pilot: Hand it over to me, hand it over to me, hand it over to me.
    Pilot: It’s yours Alvaro.
    Pilot: [expletive]
    Pilot: No, Alvaro.
    Co-pilot: Diosito.


    View Larger Map

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    Turbulence shakes up JAL


    MD 80 pictured
    What: JAL Japan Airlines McDonnell Douglas MD-81, flight JL-2375 from Osaka Itami to Nagasaki (Japan)
    Where: Midway to Nagasaki
    When: Dec
    Who: 73 passengers. 2 flight attendants were injured because they were working in the galley when they encountered turbulence.
    Why: The plane was caught in clear air turbulence. The flight crew declared an emergency and continued to Nagasaki.

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    Gol Investigation Findings Released

    Regarding the Gol jet that collided over the Amazon rain forest with an Embraer Legacy 600 executive jet owned by ExcelAire Service Inc. of New York: The GOL InvestigatIon has determined that the pilots of a New York-based executive jet had placed the transponder and collision avoidance system on standby before colliding with the Boeing 737 operated by GOL Linhaus Aereas Inteligentes SA on Sept. 29, 2006.

    The Legacy landed safely but everyone on the GOL jet died.

    Flight controllers failed to alert pilots that they were on a collision course and also did not notice the transponder was off.

    The on duty flight controllers and the two U.S. pilots – Joseph Lepore and Jan Paladino have been indicted. They could get up to three years in prison.The pilots deny turning off the transponder. They claim to have been flying at the altitude designated by the air controllers.

    ExcelAire says that “the transponder issue is a distraction from the true cause of the accident, which is an air traffic control system that put two airplanes on a collision course for about an hour.”

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    Emergency Landing at Sidney Airport

    What: Single engined plane owned by Sydney Flight Training Centre
    Where: Sydney’s Bankstown airport southern runway
    When: 10.20am
    Who: pilot was injured. No one else was aboard. He was taken to Liverpool hospital for an assortment of non-life-threatening injuries.
    Why: On landing, the plane skidded down the runway and flipped.

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    Puerto Rican Crash Found

    What: Rockwell International 690B, took off from Tortola in the British Virgin Islands en route to the Puerto Rican capital
    Where: Puerto Rican rainforest fog-shrouded El Yunque mountain
    When: on Wednesday
    Who: Caribbean pilot Ken Webster owner of Websta’s Aviation Services Inc. in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. ; and two U.S. tourists Tracy Turner and Ken (Kent) Clapp
    Why: During foggy weather, the plane apparently slammed into El Yunque mountain.


    View Larger Map

    Video taken by hikers hiking to top of El Yunque in Puerto Rico May 2008. El Yunque National Forest is the site of the crash.

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    Australia Kit Crash update

    What: kit-built Thorpe-T18 engaged in a biennial flight review
    Where: south of Perth
    When: Thursday last week.
    Who: pilot Fred Murray and pilot examiner Allan Hayes, both fatalities
    Why: The plane crashed after it clipped trees about a kilometre from the Serpentine airfield.

    The pilot Mr Murray spent 20 years working with Aboriginal people and will be missed.