Remember that British Airways Airbus A319 event we talked about the other day? The one where (oops) the engine cover fell off of the engine on that Oslo flight?
The one where “the coverings broke off and punctured the right engine’s fuel pipe, damaging the aircraft’s systems?” The Air Accidents Investigation Branch the investigation said evealed that the fan cowl doors on both engines were left unlatched during maintenance.”
In George’s Point of View
Oops. FORGET does not work, not even once with an aircraft.
Here’s the situation–after the problematic Oslo flight, British Airways paid for food and hotel accommodation for stranded passengers who had been on the flight, but they deny further compensation. This is apparently British Airways attitude in regard to “thousands of passengers” impacted by the closures caused by the BA flight, according to Travel Weekly.
BA’s cancellation of 200 flights after the Oslo flight issue led to Heathrow’s brief closure (of two runways.) 200 flight cancellations affects a whole lot of people.
In this case, the European Commission’s new guidelines are going to be tested. Clyde and Co. said if the closure was a bird strike, BA would probably be off the hook, but if it was due to faulty maintenance, that’s their responsibility.
In my opinion, BA deserves all the ass kicking they get and a whole lot more for their laxity in accepting responsibility. I hope the passengers all sue for their damages. Maybe, just maybe a lawsuit will send a message to the operators of huge airline companies.
Flight Aware
On May 24, 2013, a Pakistan International Airlines Boeing 777-340ER was en route from Allama Iqbal Int’l to Manchester when a stewardess told the Captain Nadeem Sufi that a passenger had threatened to bomb the plane. Sixty miles east of their destination, the pilot diverted to Stansted Airport with a British fighter escort.
Mr. Mohammad Shafqat and Ms. Ammara Ashraf had been fighting with eight family members, and when the argument escalated, the two were taken into custody and then released.
During the domestic fight, two men who approached the cockpit were also arrested aboard the plane, handcuffed, and taken into custody to the police station at Stansted. The case is being treated as a criminal rather than terror case.
There were 11 crew and 297 passengers aboard.
Although the Pakistani High Commission blames the pilot for making a decision that puts PIA in a bad light, we believe that the fact that because Captain Sufi landed the plane without injury or loss of life, then he made the right decision.
When a Bristow S-76 Helicopter with eight passengers and two crew fishtailed as it was flying from from Humberside Airport to a gas platform in the North Sea, the helicopter made a precautionary landing. The crew smelled smoke in the cockpit at the time.
The investigation concluded that an electrical short had occurred in a wiring loom.
British Airways Boeing 747 with 158 passengers aboard en route from Houston to London diverted to Cardiff today after developing a “technical problem.” The flight made a safe landing at 10:43 in South Wales with emergency services on standby.
There were no injuries. The Mayday was attributed to an instrument problem.
After the plane was inspected, it continued on to Cardiff where it made a safe landing.
London’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch is working the first helicopter accident in London since 1976. A review of helicopter flight regulation over the UK capital is already underway.
In low broken clouds with visibility of 2,300 feet, the AgustaWestland struck a crane on January 16 on top of the Tower at St George Wharf and fell to the street around 8 a.m.. The pilot had diverted to Battersea heliport due to bad weather.
Warning lights were on the building but not on the crane. (Crane lights had an allowed shut off around daylight.
The Wednesday January 16, 2013 crash of the helicopter that struck a crane on top of London’s St George Wharf Tower did result in two casualties. Two office buildings, 5 cars & 2 motorbikes were damaged. The AgustaWest AW109E #G-CRST was flown by Rotormotion, and leased from Castle Air.
Weather people are saying that the top of the crane was not in fog but in a low cloud. (This is apparently different from fog, and might be something I should ask my pilots about. And this London. London=Fog, no?)
Four people were injured and taken to St. Thomas’ Hospital. Five injured were taken to Kings College Hospital. Seven people were treated at the scene. One of the injured was rescued from a burning car. The helicopter fell to Wandsworth Road, hit some vehicles, burst into flames; and falling burning debris started flames in some buildings. Although there were people in the area who thought the accident was a bomb and didn’t realize the helicopter had struck the crane, some witnesses saw the helicopter clip the crane and in seconds, spin out of control. Part of the crane also fell.
I think it’s nothing short of a miracle that there were only two killed and nine injured. London has 8.2 million people.
The pilot, Peter Barnes, was en route from Redhill to Elstree, but had diverted to Battersea because of the visibility. Barnes had over 12,000 flying hours, was employed by charter firm Rotormotion and had flown in the movies Die Another Day, Tomb Raider II and Saving Private Ryan.
Night officially ended thirty minutes before the crash, at which time lights on tall structures were allowed to be turned off. The lights are not visible during fog and bad weather.
The accident resulted in some subway/tube/station closures.
On Wednesday January 16, 2013, a helicopter crashed into a crane and fell to a London street just south of the River Thames near the Underground and mainline train station at Vauxhall, killing two and injuring nine. London Ambulance said only one of the people they took to the hospital had critical injuries.
The crane was on top of the 50-story St. George Wharf Tower. The top of the crane was not visible from the street because of fog.
An investigation is underway, among other things questioning if the crane was equipped with lights, if the pilot committed an error, if the helicopter was fit for use, and if weather was a factor.
photographer Andy Egloff
On Jan 8 2013, a Delta Airlines Boeing 777-232LR was en route from Johannesburg to Atlanta when one of the engines developed problems.
The pilots dumped fuel and diverted to the island of Ascension where they made a safe landing. Passengers say the plane swerved and fuel came pouring out. The crew was handling problems but did not make a lot of explanations to bewildered and hysterical passengers.
There is a British Air Force Base on the island, and the island is a British territory.
The good news is that the pilots made a rough but safe landing on Ascension. The bad news is that Ascension is a volcanic island in the South Atlantic Ocean about halfway between Recife Brazil and Luanda Angola.
Other sources say that a replacement 777-200 was flown in to Ascension, and that stranded passengers return to Atlanta was delayed less than 24 hours.
On Dec 17, 2012, an Alpi Aviation Pioneer 400 en route to Gloucestershire did a visual flyby over Gloucestershire Airport before it skidded on landing.
The registered owner of the plane is CORRADO RUSALEN, HARDWICK ABERGAVENNY.
A wheel collapsed (or failed to extend) and the plane collapsed in grass off the runway.
Great Western Ambulance Service paramedics were on standby but there were no injuries.
What: British Airways Boeing 767 en route from Edinburgh to London Where: Sanquhar When: Dec 11, 2012 12:45 Who: crew (2 pilots) Why: Fifteen minutes after taking off, the BAE flight developed smoke in the cockpit and returned to Edinburgh. No passengers were aboard the flight.
What: L2 CHC Scotia Super Puma en route from to the Awilco-owned WilHunter rig in the North Sea Where: Aberdeen Airport When: Dec 7 2012 Who: 16 passengers 2 crew Why: The pilot was flying to the Wilhunter platform when a warning light came on in the plane.
The flight made an emergency return to Aberdeen, with the Scottish Ambulance Service on standby.
The helicopter is being examined for the nature of the problem that caused the warning. No injuries were reported.
Two year old Emma Reddan witnessed a Sikorsky S76 piloted by Bill Curry crashing in the Neptune Hotel car lot. The chopper’s rotor blade struck a lamp post, resulting in the crash.
Emma Reddan suffered from separation anxiety disorder.
In Civil court, Judge Matthew Deery approved a €10,000 settlement for Emma Reddan from Curry and GP Helicopter Services Ltd, of Woodstown Dale, Knocklyon, Dublin, and Barrack Construction Limited, Thomastown, Caragh, Naas, Co Kildare.
What: CHC (for Total) Helicopter Eurocopter EC225 Super Puma en route from Aberdeen to West Phoenix drilling rig Where: 32 miles south of Shetland, off Fair Isle When: October 22, 2012 Who: 19 aboard, 0 fatalities Why: The helicopter that was ditched in the North Sea has been retrieved and taken to Peterhead, Aberdeenshire.
The UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) is investigating the incident in which seventeen passengers and two crew were on the way to the drilling rig when the crew had to ditch the helicopter (controlled ditching) in the North sea.
Report name:
S5/2012 – EC225 LP Super Puma, G-REDW
Registration:
G-REDW
Type:
EC225 LP Super Puma
Location:
20 nm east of Aberdeen
Date of occurrence:
10 May 2012
Category:
Commercial Air Transport – Rotorcraft
Summary:
This Special Bulletin contains information about the helicopter’s main gearbox (MGB) lubrication system and the results of an investigation into the indication of a failure of the emergency lubrication system, after it was activated by the crew. It follows publication of two earlier Special Bulletins on this accident, AAIB Special Bulletins S2/2012 and S3/2012.
This was the first occasion that the EC225 LP MGB emergency lubrication system had been operated in-service. One Safety Recommendation is made.
The investigation into the failure of the bevel gear vertical shaft in the MGB continues.
After yesterday’s Super Puma ditching in the North Sea, CHC helicopters suspended Puma flights due to suspicions of possible flaws in the design of the main gearbox lubrication system.
The concern is a hangover from a 2009 Bond Aviation crash that led to recommendations to look into the Super Puma’s gearbox lube system design.
What: CHC (for Total) Helicopter Eurocopter EC225 Super Puma en route from Aberdeen to West Phoenix drilling rig Where: 32 miles south of Shetland, off Fair Isle When: October 22, 2012 Who: 19 aboard, 0 fatalities Why: Seventeen passengers and two crew were on the way to the drilling rig when the crew had to ditch the helicopter (controlled ditching) in the North sea.
All 19 aboard were picked up by the Nord Nightingale.
The first official Maritime & Coastguard Agency press release said:
Shetland Coastguard has been coordinating a major search and rescue operation after a helicopter ditched off the coast 15 miles west of Fair Isle this afternoon.There were 19 people on board, all of which have now been accounted for. Three RNLI lifeboats (Kirkwall, Aith and Lerwick) went to the scene, along with the Coastguard Search and Rescue Helicopter from Stornoway, RAF Lossiemouth, and the Bond rescue helicopter from Sumburgh. A vessel in the area at the time – the Nord Nightingale – launched its fast rescue craft. This rescued the 19 people from their life raft and brought them back to the tanker. From here they were flown by the RAF helicopter and Bond helicopter back to Kirkwall.It is believed the helicopter was on its way from Aberdeen to West Phoenix drilling rig.
What: Jet2 737 en route from Glasgow to Alicante Where: Glasgow Airport When: October 19, 2012 7.40am. Who: 189 passengers Why: On the takeoff run, the pilot “hit the brakes” and according to passengers “the plane started shuddering and there were lights flashing and smoke and the crew started shouting ‘Get out, get out’.”
Another passenger told BBC “We were careering up the runway and smoke started belting out of all the air vents with a smouldering smell.Then the brakes went on and the emergency chutes went out and we were all evacuated.I have a nine-week-old daughter and a four-year-old daughter. I had my nine-week-old attached to my chest as I went down the emergency chute and my wife had our four-year-old and was in tears. it was like something out of a movie. There was panic, people started running and I shouted ‘slow down’, and then the pilot shouted ‘get out, get out'”
Passengers disembarked via emergency chutes; ten passengers climbed out on a wing where there was no chute but only a few of them jumped.
Six people were taken to the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley; fourteen were treated at the scene. Injuries from the chutes are not uncommon, especially if they throw themselves down in a panic; and injuries from jumping off a wing could also occur.
This incident occurred a couple of hours prior to the Thomas Cook flight that diverted to Dublin Ireland
What: Thomas Cook Boeing 767-300 en route from Manchester to Tenerife Where: Dublin When: Oct 19th 2012 9.40am Who: 325 aboard Why: After taking off from Manchester, the crew reported smoke in the cockpit.
THe pilot diverted to Dublin and made a safe landing with a dozen emergency services units including fire and ambulance on standby.
Passengers disembarked and waited in the terminal for a replacement flight to Tenerife
What: American Airlines Boeing 777 from Chicago to London Where: Shannon Airport When: Oct 2, 2012 Why: American Airlines Flight 98 diverted to Shannon due to an unspecified technical fault. The smell of smoke was detected in the cabin.
Ennis and Shannon fire crews and ambulances were on standby. Passengers disembarked at 1.07pm.
What: NOVEMBER CHARLIE FLYING GROUP Cessna F172M Skyhawk Where: Netherthorpe Airfield, South Yorkshire When: July 5 2012 Who: 2 aboard, no injuries Why: The flight did not achieve lift on takeoff, possibly due to the combined effects of uphill runway, tailwind and damp grass surface.
After the pilot’s attempt to rotate failed, the plane overran the runway, passed through a hedge and flipped.
The pilot was able to secure the plane and assist the passenger’s exit.
What: Schempp-Hirth Nimbus 3 Where: Portmoak Airport When: Sept 4, 2012 Who: 1 pilot Why: An experienced pilot in his forties in his Winch-launched Glider crashed in UK taking off from the Scottish Gliding Centre, Portmoak Airport. The winch runs on a cable that generate speed so the glider can lift off but it was barely off the ground when it plunged into a farm field in Forfar, Angus. The emergency call came at 1:30pm.
What: British Airways Boeing 747-400 en route from Cape Town to London Where: London When: Aug 23rd 2012 Who: 1 fatality Why: It has not been released whether the stowaway found in the plane’s landing gear bay died from exposure or lack of oxygen. Temperatures at 30,000 feet are between -40 and -50ºC. The body was found by crew at Heathrow and is presumed to be the trespasser who evaded pursuers in the Cape Town International Airport. Police were called at 6.25am when the body was found.
Mr. Mohammad Shafqat and Ms. Ammara Ashraf had been fighting with eight family members, and when the argument escalated, the two were taken into custody and then released.
