Locale

  • | | | | | | |

    Camp Pendleton Crash Resolved in Court


    Jurors are sending a message to big business.

    The only way to hurt big business is through the pocket book. When you hit them there, they eventually come around to doing what is right.

    After this California wrongful death lawsuit verdict, my bet is that SDG&E will develop a belated conscience and will install safety devices or ball markers to help prevent this type of disaster.

    So we are offering congratulations to the jurors for using their voices; and congratulations to the families. No amount of money is going to bring back those precious four lives, or ever ease the pain of their families, but, at the very least we can hope that the families will have some comfort that a small measure of justice has been served.

  • |

    Aussie GA-8 Forced Landing

    What: Kakadu Air Gippsland GA-8
    Where: near Cooinda Australia (Northern Territory)
    When: 3pm on Tuesday
    Who: Pilot suffers minor injuries.
    Why:Engine failure forces landing. Suspected engine failure related to faulty fuel systems.

    Last Sunday 5 people walked away from a Barrier Air charter plane that experienced engine failure at 2500 feet and crashed when trying to land on Whitewood Rd, Howard Springs, in Darwin’s rural area.

  • | | |

    Plane Crashes North of San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.

    What: Cessna Centurion being used for aerial photography
    Where: crash/lands in the shallows north of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.
    When: 2 p.m. Wednesday.
    Who: Pilot Matt Barcelona of San Jose and passenger Bruce Moody.
    Why: The pilot reported a loss of power before it crashed. Witnesses reported the plane left a dark trail. After the impact. they managed to get the door open. They waited on the plane’s wing until rescued by Coast Guard vessels conducting training sessions within fifteen minutes of the vicinity; passengers were taken to Yerba Buena Island, then to the hospital.

    Listen to the audio podcast of a witness being interviewed by KCBS

  • | |

    Ryanair Denies Non-working Masks

    What: Ryanair en route from Bristol, England, to Gerona, Spain
    Where: central France
    When: Aug 26
    Who: 141 British and 27 Spanish passengers plus six crew members
    Why: cabin suddenly depressurized. The plane lost 26,200 feet (8,000 meters) of altitude”Urgent landing in Limoges” 26 people were hospitalized.; 16 people “complaining of ear ache” were taken to hospital. Although Ryanair brought in a second plane to carry passengers the rest of the way, fewer than twenty of them chose non-aviation transportation.

    Some passengers said the oxygen masks had not worked properly. Ryanair denies that there had been any problem with the oxygen supply except that passengers had expected a rush of gas instead of the steady stream the masks actually deliver.

    “The oxygen masks were working, the correct safety procedures were followed”

  • |

    Ultralight Crash in Canada


    What: ultralight plane en route from Volks Aerodrome in Tottenham near Caledon, Ont.
    Where: north of Toronto
    When: The wreckage found by York Region police helicopter at about 7:45 p.m.
    Who: The pilot, John Townsend of King City was found in the wreckage
    Why: unknown. Transport Canada is investigating

  • |

    Queenstown Crash injures Pilot


    What: Cessna aircraft en route from Queenstown
    Where: Fox Glacier Air Strip
    When: Friday.
    Who: Pilot and two passengers. The pilot was seriously injured but the two passengers
    Why: On landing the plane took out power lines, cutting electricity to parts of the town and smashed into bush at the end of the strip.

    Fatalities: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 3
    Other fatalities: 0
    Airplane damage: Unknown
    Location: Fox Glacier air strip – New Zealand
    Phase: Landing
    Nature: Unknown
    Departure airport: ? ZQN
    Destination airport: FGL
    Narrative:
    A plane travelling from Queenstown to Fox Glacier crashed off the end of Fox Glacier air strip, apparently cutting power to the township. Two passengers were unhurt while the pilot suffered a punctured lung.

    src: http://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=22690

  • |

    Beechcraft Lands on New York Highway


    What: crippled 1992 Beechcraft Bonanza flying to Burlington, Vt
    Where: on Interstate 87, close to the town of North Hudson, near Lake Placid.
    When: Wednesday evening
    Who: Pilot/flight instructor Michael Denning and 2 student pilots.
    Why: While a student was flying, the engine started clicking; then there was an explosion and a power loss. The instructor landed on the highway’s center lane with minima. clearance of surrounding guardrails. Flight instructor Michael Denning has gotten significant accolades for his skilled response.

  • |

    Falcon Emergency Landing


    What: twin-engine Falcon jet from Delhi en route to Coimbatore owned by the GMR group
    Where: Bangalore airport
    When: Thursday-3.05 pm.
    Who: Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Finance Minister P Chidambaram. No injuries.
    Why: Engine developed a “snag.” Instruments showed a “drop” for the right engine, so the pilot switched the engine off and landed with one engine. Passengers transferred to another plane.

  • Congo Crash Update


    What: Beechcraft plane owned by Air Serv which provides air transport for international aid agencies. The plane was being flown by South Africa’s Cem Air.
    Where: eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Plane fragments scattered over a forested mountain area, 9 miles NW of the Bukavu air strip.
    When: Inital reports that the crashed into a mountain near Bukavu were changed; apparently the plane broke up across the mountain. The plane was last contacted in heavy rain 10 minutes from Bukavu
    Who: 15 passengers and two crew members. Most of the passengers were Canadian, Indian, French and Congolese aid and relief workers employed by Medicins Sans Frontieres and Handicap International. Seven aid workers were employed by the UN.
    Why: The weather is considered a factor but no cause is listed as yet. UN rescue teams are “securing the site and searching for and recovering victims’ bodies.” No survivors. The black box flight recorder has been recovered

  • | |

    New FAA Rules Coming

    The British Airways Boeing 777 crashed on Jan. 17, 2008, in icy weather with 136 travelers and 16 crew members aboard.

    The reason why it crashed is that the flow of fuel to both of the plane’s engines was cut off by ice that accumulated on prior flights in cold air at high altitudes. The plane was flying at minus 29 degrees Fahrenheit over Siberia.

    These are the significant just-released details behind the FAA’s move to adopt new safety rules (Pilot procedures and in-flight throttle settings) regarding planes flying in cold weather. Fuel systems might even be changed to adapt to the problem of water (which accumulates in fuel) freezing inside the fuel system.

  • |

    Helicopter crashes in Canada


    What: helicopter en route to a remote fishing camp near the Quebec-Labrador border
    Where: wilderness in northeastern Quebec
    When: Friday
    Who: Two pilots–a man and woman–flown to hospital in nearby Schefferville, Que and are reported to be in good condition.
    Why: No cause is given. The search began Tuesday after someone at the fishing camp called to say the helicopter hadn’t shown up. The crash was located by a Cormorant from Greenwood, N.S. at 8:10 p.m. Tuesday

  • |

    South African Beechcraft Crashes into Mountain


    What: Beechcraft plane owned by Air Serv which provides air transport for international aid agencies. The plane was being flown by South Africa’s Cem Air.
    Where: eastern Democratic Republic of Congo
    When: crashed into a mountain near Bukavu. The plane was last contacted in heavy rain 10 minutes from Bukavu
    Who: 15 passengers and two crew members. Most of the passengers were aid and relief workers.
    Why: The weather is considered a factor but no cause is listed as yet. UN rescue teams are “securing the site and searching for and recovering victims’ bodies.” No survivors.

  • |

    Conviasa Crash in Ecuador

    What: Conviasa Boeing 737-291 advanced (reg. YV-102T) en route from (Simón Bolívar International Airport,) Maiquetia, Venezuela to Latacunga, Ecuador
    Where: Illiniza Volcano elevation approx. 17000 feet) Toacaso, Ecuador
    When: August 30, 2008
    Who: 3 crew members, no survivors
    Why: The plane was being delivered to a new owner after being in storage. The flight crew lost lost radio and radar contact with Ecuadorian air control at 02:56Z on beginning descent to Latacunga. The wreckage location (near the LOTOA waypoint (LOTOA at 0° 46′ 23S 78° 52′ 20W) at an altitude of approximately 4000 meters )suggests the airplane flew into the side of the Iliniza Volcano and was completely destroyed on impact. The wreckage was spread 400 meters.

    Hondorus states attorney in Honduras opened an investigation against “Atlantic Airlines de Honduras.” It has yet to be established, whether the airplane was operating under a Honduran license and if all requirements were met.

    Atlantic Airlines had operated the airplane until March 31st 2007.

    As of Sept 3rd, both flight recorders (flight data and cockpit voice recorder) have been recovered and will be sent to the USA for analysis

  • | | | | |

    UTair Crash at Nizhnevartovsk


    Pictured: A UTair Aviation Mil Mi-8T
    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact photographer Schelakovsky Maxim

    What: UT Air
    Where: 350 kms from Nizhnevartovsk, Russia
    When: July 2 2008
    Who: 9 fatalities, 13 aboard
    Why: The helicopter was on landing approach when according to witnesses, it caught fire and crashed. Apparently one of the black boxes survived and is being studied. The crew survived the crash.

  • | | | |

    Taca A320 Overrun in Tegucigalpa


    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact Photographer Mario J Craig

    What: Taca A320 en route from San Salvador (El Salvador) to Tegucigalpa (Honduras)
    Where: Tegucigalpa
    When: May 30th 2008
    Who: 124 passengers and 11 crew
    Why: On landing at Tegucigalpa, the A320 overran the runway of Tegucigalpa Toncontin Airport’s runway 2. The crash occurred in bad weather. Overrunning the runway, the plane continued to crash into a store and cars.

  • | | | |

    Cessna: 5 Fatalities in Bolivia


    Pictured: A Cessna 172A
    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact photographer Giovanni Francisco Rodriguez Bravo

    What: Bolivian Cessna 172 RG
    Where: “Agropecuaria Arco Iris” airstrip, north of Montero, Santa Cruz, Bolivia
    When: May 11, 2008
    Who: 5 fatalities
    Why: While en route, the plane impacted a tree with its left’s wing and then the ground, where a fire ensued. The accident site was about 1,150 meters from an unlit runway of “Agropecuaria Arco Iris” airstrip, north of Montero, Santa Cruz, Bolivia. The pilot and the four passengers received fatal injuries; the airplane was destroyed. The flight originated from El Tromprillo Airport, Santa Cruz, Bolivia, at about 1808.

  • |

    Crash: Biplane Crash



    What: 78-year-old Gypsy Moth biplane
    Where: Perthshire England
    When: 11:55 May 5
    Who: 2 men. Minor Injuries
    Why: Loss of power due to mechanical failure. Plane anded on its nose in a field of oilseed rape

  • Emergency Landing: Fla Gov. Charlie Crist



    What: Florida State Plane
    Where: Tallahassee
    When: Tues May 6
    Who: Gov. Charlie Crist
    Why: The Plane’s autopilot, yaw damp and pitch trim malfunctioned in the first 45 minutes of Crist’s flight from Tallahassee. The yaw damp is part of the autopilot system that helps stabilizes the tail, and the pitch trim the craft’s up and down movement.

  • $136.3 million jet crash Oops. Look Ma, No Wheels

    CHINA LAKE CA–During a war games exercise, an RAF Top gun and his copilot crash landed a new $136.3 million Typhoon fighter at China Lake air base in California. The plane skidded on its belly on the runway at 130 mph.

    With no wheels.

    “Everything points to the pilot forgetting to lower the wheels, which does happen from time to time,” an RAF insider said.

    None of the other 48 Typhoons in service has been grounded with landing gear failure.

    The pilot and his copilot were unhurt.

    Recently the China Lake air base area has been struck with earth quake activity.

    RAF’s Typhoons are based at RAF Coningsby; the damaged jet will be returned to the UK for possible repair or salvage.

  • | |

    A Czech Z-37 Crashes at German Air Show

    BERLIN, April 26 – While taking off, the small propeller airplane formerly used for crop dusting rolled off the runway and into air show spectators. There were seven minor injuries, three serious injuries and one woman was killed. The pilot survived with injuries, though he was pinned in the cockpit of the single seat plane.

  • | |

    A Killing Syndrome of Four Letters

    A killing syndrome of four letters

    By Héctor Héreter

    Special for Air Crash News and Information

    Right after 46 passengers and crew of Santa Barbara’s flight 518 were killed on February 21st on a desolated and cold mountain slope in the Venezuelan Andes, it became evident for many that Venezuelan pilots do as they wish, disregarding all local and international set of flying regulations.

    Their attitudes demonstrate a lack of professionalism and excess of self confidence, mostly among the most experienced pilots who think of themselves as infallible. This leads to bad judgment and unfortunate decisions, in some cases with tragic results, as in flight 518.

    Just as The Peter Principle states in a hierarchy members are promoted so long as they work competently. Sooner or later they are promoted to a position at which they are no longer competent (their “level of incompetence”), with potential to create conflicts, or worse still, disastrous endings.

    “The level of pilots arrogance in our country is amazing” says a high Venezuelan airline executive who prefers to remain in anonymity. “They do as they please regardless of regulations set by authorities or the airline the work for, and there is no nobody that can restrain them from following that behavior”

    “And this is common among all the airlines?” we asked.

    His answer gave us chills: “You better believe there is God who will protect you and start pray to him so you reach your destination in one piece every time you board a Venezuelan plane.”

    The 518 flight is a vivid example of what is known here as the “3IA” syndrome: Impatience, Imprudence, Indiscipline and Arrogance.

    Human error is a major, recurring issue in most aviation accidents. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has consistently cited triplane’s crews as the major cause or factor of accidents, exceeding the proportion of accidents related to aircraft or environmental causes by a large margin. The human factor in modern aviation is a source of concern, since humans are the ones to suffer from the 3IA syndrome: aircraft equipment, engines, navigation and in-flight safety devices have become so good that human beings are the constant weak link in aviation safety.

    NTSB HUMAN ERROR CHART

    Unprofessional Attitudes 47%

    Visual Perception Misjudgment 19%

    Pilot Technique 21%

    Inflight Judgment or Decision 5%

    Improper Operation of Equip. 6%

    Unknown Causes 4%

    Santa Barbara’s crash started with a series of events that led to a disastrous end.

    In first instance the pilot who commanded the ill-fated airplane, Captain Aldino Garamito, was called at last minute to substitute for the designated pilot grounded at the Vigia airport because of bad weather. Garamito who was an experienced pilot with 9 years in Santa Barbara, was hastening to return to his home near Caracas.

    The first “I” of the 3IA syndrome: Impatience

    In this point enters another law, Murphy’s law. Anything that can go wrong, will—and at the worst possible moment When an event begins badly and is not corrected on time, the subsequent decisions that are taken follow a mistaken path. Due to the change of pilots, SB flight 518 already had two hours of delay which increased the pressure on (and impatience of) the pilots. Such impatience was demonstrated when initiating the return to Caracas, the flight: 1) didn’t wait for the airplane’s avionics to calibrate, 2) didn’t follow procedure of preparing a pre- flight check list, 3) took a flying route prohibited by the National Institute of Civil Aeronautics (INAC the Venezuelan equivalent of FAA). This “non-approved air path” saved them 15 minutes on their way back to Maiquetía International airport.

    This last decision, aside from being impatient, demonstrates imprudence, a lack of discipline and a failure to follow the set of flying rules established by the aeronautical authorities and Santa Barbara´s Corporate policies.

    Several experts in the Venezuelan civil aviation agree that the most experienced pilots become victims of excess of confidence, developing among them a sense of “infallibility and rules don’t apply to them”. Minutes before the airplane collided with the mountain, copilot, Denis Fereira, said to Garamito “we just made another yucca”, That’s a Venezuelan idiom meaning that they were repeating a mistake.

    Posted in “Vigilante Aéreo”, a blog dedicated to analyze airplane crashes in the country, were the last words ever exchanged between pilot and copilot just before they slammed the mountain wall:

    “Sir. this is not the route”, says copilot Fereira.

    “Relax, I know what I’m doing,” and then sarcastically adds, “Are you scared?”

    The big gray barrier of mountains appears in front of them. They set the engines to full power.

    The fatal affirmation of “Relax, I know what I’m doing.” and asking “Are you scared’?” is the last letter of the syndrome.

    “A” for Arrogance and excess of confidence, ends the life of 46 people in a desolate and the cold Andean slope at 12,000 feet.

    By Héctor Héreter

  • | |

    Is Brazil a One Trick Pony?

    In May, will Tam become the only Brazilian airline flying out of Brazil? If Ocean Air and Varig cancel all their International flights, their fleets of Boeing 737, Ebraer and Folker airplanes will service only Intra-Brazilian destinations.

    Brazil’s aviation safety record is notoriously negative. In 2007, electrical problems shut down Brazilian airspace for 2½ hours. Brazil diverted incoming flights to return to their respective points of origin or unscheduled landings at airports from Chile to Puerto Rico. (This was subsequent to the Sao Paulo Airbus A320 TAM Airlines Flight 3054 crash, but it was by no means the first disaster.) The last couple of years,in fact, Brazil’s entire civil aviation system has been in crisis, suffering from safety issues, air traffic controller strikes as well as flight cancellations and delays. The so-called “Apagão Aéreo” (Aerial blackout) followed the Gol Flight 1907 mid-air collision.

    The four CINDACTA, or “Centro Integrado de Defesa Aérea e Controle de Tráfego Aéreo (Integrated Air Traffic Control and Air Defense Centers) are run by the Brazilian Air Force. The government’s Tribunal de Contas da União (Union Accounting Tribunal) holds the Brazilian Government responsible for the disastrous record, due in part to Pan American World Airways Flight 202 ( April 28, 1952), VASP Flight 168 ( June 8, 1982), Varig Flight 254 ( September 3 1989), and TAM Transportes Aéreos Regionais Flight 402 (October 31, 1996), among others.

  • | |

    Update: 111 injured; 40 Dead in Goma Crash

    A Congolese domestic airliner taking off from Goma failed lift off, rammed through a fence and crashed into a crowded market district and burned. The Hewa Bora McDonnell Douglas DC-9 was taking off for the Congolese capital, Kinshasa, when it crashed into the teeming market district of Birere; the single-story shops and stalls of Birere were crowded at the time of the crash. An American missionary, Barry Mosier, was onboard with his wife and two children, and said the plane’s front tire blew out just before the DC-9 lifted off. When they saw flames, and smoke coming up through the floor, the passengers who were not trapped tried the side doors which did not open, so they exited thru the pilots cabin.

    Pilots could not stop on the short runway which was partially blocked by volcanic lava from 2002. Residents heard a big explosion. A large plume of smoke rose from the crash site. A witness said, “Half of the plane has broken off, there is a fire towards the back. People are coming with buckets of water to put out the fire. The U.N. is here trying to keep back the crowds.”

    Crew members and U.N. troops managed to evacuate most of the 79 passenger on board, but there were 40 deaths and 110 injured–many of them locals. Not all bodies have been recovered.

    Recovery of bodies was hindered by ground fires where there were additional casualties.

    The Congo has one of the world’s worst air safety records. The Goma airport has been the site of several accidents, with planes overshooting the runway and endangering homes near the airport. According to the International Air Transport Association, the air accident rate in Africa is six times the average. Aviation safety experts single out Democratic Republic of Congo as one of the worst offenders. The huge country only has a few hundred miles of paved roads. The European Union added Congo’s Hewa Bora Airways to the banned list of aviation companies flying in the 27-nation block last week.

    One of the survivors, Frederic Katemo, said that he scrambled out through the cockpit. “I was in my seat with my seat belt fastened. There was a big crash. We jumped up and found our way out. We could feel the fire behind us.”

    Initially, Governor of North Kivu province, Julien Paluku, said there were 79 passengers and six crew members but that “…six people have been saved, two pilots and four passengers including two children.”

    Serge Ukundji a local conservationist said, “We have been waiting for something like this to happen. There have been lots of accidents just behind here at the airport.”

    The cause of the accident was still under investigation. The overloaded cabin is believed to be the reason behind the crash.

  • | |

    Mexico: Aero JL Cessna Crash


    Click to view full size photo at abpic.co.uk
    Contact photographer George Trussel

    What: Aero JL Cessna 182 registration XB-AIL en route to Jalapa, Veracruz, Mexico
    Where: Xalatlaco, Estado de México, Estado de Mexico
    When: April 3, 2008
    Who: 1 dead, 3 injured
    Why: After losing altitude, the Cessna crashed in the Toluca Valley.

    45 year old Ricardo Medina died in the crash; Jose Adrián Hernandez, the pilot survived with injuries. The injured were airlifted to ABC Hospital in Mexico City.

  • | | | | | | | |

    PR Newswire: Multiple Lawsuits Against TAM Airlines

    Masry and Vititoe Partners, MIAMI, March 26 /PRNewswire/ PRESS RELEASE — Internationally recognized aviation attorneys Steven C. Marks and Ricardo M. Martinez-Cid with the Podhurst Orseck law firm have filed a series of lawsuits on behalf of families of passengers killed in Brazil’s worst airline disaster. On July 17, 2007, 199 people perished when TAM Airlines Flight 3054 slid off the runway at Congonhas Airport and slammed into an air cargo building in Sao Paulo. Today, Podhurst attorneys filed 59 wrongful death complaints related to the catastrophe in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

    In addition to TAM NYSE: TAM, which is charged with its own negligence and that of its pilots and maintenance personnel, the defendants in the lawsuits are Pegasus Aviation IV, Inc.; Airbus S.A.S.; Airbus Industrie G.I.E. (EADS) (EAD.PA); Airbus Customer Services, Inc.; Goodrich Corporation NYSE: GR; and International Aero Engines AG.

    “Responsibility not only lies with the companies that manufactured and handled maintenance for the aircraft,” said Marks, “We believe Airbus provided inadequate customer support, simulator services, and training materials for the pilots and flight crew that replicates the performance of the aircraft in all normal and abnormal conditions.”

    Marks said it’s clear the flight crew knew there were problems with the aircraft before the disaster because the plane’s right thrust reverser had been deactivated before the flight.

    “The thrust reverser is used to slow the jet down upon landing. Without an operational right thrust reverser, it didn’t have enough room to stop on the runway, ending in a horrific crash when the plane skidded off the runway’s edge,” he said.

    Podhurst Orseck filed the first lawsuit related to the crash on behalf of the family of 35-year-old Ricardo Tazoe of Miami, an employee with Banco Santander. In all of the cases, the plaintiffs are seeking a jury trial to recover financial damages for pain and suffering; lost value of life; funeral expenses; and all other damages they may be entitled to under the law.

    Marks and Martinez-Cid have extensive experience handling Brazilian aviation matters. They currently represent the families of numerous passengers who were killed when Gol Transportes Aeros Flight #1907 collided with an Embraer Legacy 600 business jet over the Amazon Rainforest in September 2006.

    They have represented victims in countless significant major commercial airline crashes, including those killed in the crash of Comair Flight 5191 at the Blue Grass Airport in Lexington, Ky. in August 2006. Marks has acted as co-lead trial counsel for the California State Court plaintiffs after a Silk Air crash between Jakarta and Singapore in 1997 (successfully obtaining one of the most significant and largest verdicts in a mass disaster aviation case) and acting as lead liaison counsel for the state court and federal multi- district litigation plaintiffs’ steering committees over the ValuJet Flight 592 crash in Miami-Dade County in 1996.

    Based in Miami, Podhurst Orseck, P.A. concentrates exclusively in trial and appellate litigation. The firm’s general tort practice places a major emphasis on aviation, automobile, products liability and medical malpractice litigation. In addition, the firm has a substantial practice in commercial, matrimonial and criminal litigation, as well as complex commercial tort litigation. Attorneys serve clients and corporations throughout the United States, and in many foreign countries. You can learn more about Podhurst Orseck by visiting the firm’s website at www.podhurst.com.