A private King Air 350 plane made an emergency landing at San Jose International Airport in California, after a mechanical fault was discovered.
According to Rosemary Barnes, spokesperson of San Jose International Airport, the pilot declared a mechanical emergency after which, fire fighters and police immediately rushed to the site. However, the plane safely landed at 6:53 a.m.
All three persons on board remained injured.
A SONERAI II LT Experimental plane flying out of Centennial Airport crashed in Highlands Ranch, Colorado, at about 3pm on March 29.
After the pilot suffered difficulty maintaining control, the plane went down in flames in a nose dive away from populated areas.
The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office has confirmed that the pilot was killed in the incident.
The workers at a nearby car wash centre declared the pilot to be a hero as he apparently tried to steer the plane away from local shops and road, before it finally crashed.
Search teams have finally recovered the bodies of 5 persons who were on board while their single engine plane crashed in the Ridgeway Reservoir Colorado on March 22nd.
The Socata TBM700 crash happened on March 22 when the plane was en route to Montrose regional airport.
The victims have been identifies as Jimmy Hill, 48; Katrina Barksdale, 40; Seth McDuffie, 14; 11 year old Kobe and 8 year old Xander. All the victims were from Gadsden, Alabama.
The plane wreckage was found upside down buried in silt, 60 feet below water level.
The cause of the crash is still unknown.
This post is an update of ‘Single Engine Plane Crashes Near Montrose‘
TAME Airlines Airbus A330-200 heading to Ecuador from New York’s JFK Airport made an emergency landing at Joint Base Charleston at 2:05 on March 25.
The medical emergency was declared because of a female passenger having breathing trouble. However, she refused to go to the local area hospital for medical treatment. The plane left after refueling at 4.30 a.m. without dropping the passenger.
The flight was directed to the Joint Base since no international flights operate between midnight and 4 a.m. at the Charleston International airport, and the ground crew is not available during this time.
The plane had 70 passengers and 9 crew members on board.
A single engine plane crashed about 90 feet from the shore south of Montrose on 22nd March, 2014. The incident happened while the plane was on its way from Oklahoma to Montrose regional airport.
A large piece from the tail of the crashed plane has been recovered from the reservoir. Rescue teams could not find the pilot and the other five people on board. It is assumed that there are no survivors of the crash incident.
According to the Ouray County emergency, law enforcement and public officials, the search and rescue operation is going on at the best, and the efforts will continue on Monday as well.
A single-engine small plane en-route from Chicago to St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport crashed on March 22, near McMullen Booth Road and Enterprise Road in Clearwater, Florida.
The 53-year-old pilot, Jeffrey Bronken, was killed in the crash. Katherine Bronken, Jeffrey Bronken’s daughter, and Keyana Linbo, her classmate, both 15-year-olds from Round Lake were injured.
Drivers are advised to avoid the area of McMullen Booth Road and Enterprise Road. The investigation by the Sheriff’s deputies and the FAA is underway.
Birds ingested in one of the engines of the American Airlines flight 757, forced it to make emergency landing in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
The incident happened while the plane was taking off from Tulsa. The pilot immediately returned the plane back for check-up.
These kind of incidents are quiet common in Tulsa, The airplanes usually get hit by birds and sometimes by skunks and other mammals. Alexis Higgins of FAA says that they are seeking help from biologists to remove these birds from the airport.
The Pilot of the Delta Connections carrier GoJet coming from St. Louis saw a crack in the windshield and made emergency landing at LaGuardia Airport, NY, on March 22.
The plane did not have any passengers on board.
Delta spokesperson said the windshield had a very thin crack and the plane remained fully pressurized. The pilot declared emergency as an extraordinary precautionary measure.
The plane has been grounded for repair and maintenance.
Five people are feared dead after a single engine plane crashed in Ridgeway Reservoir Colorado.
The incident happened in the south of Montrose at 1:50 pm on March 22, 2014. The plane was on its way to Montrose regional airport from Oklahoma. Investigators believe that none of the five passengers survived, although no victims have been found yet.
Rescue and search efforts are still in progress, whereas a team of divers is recovering the parts of plane from water. NTSB and FAA will be investigating the incident.
The residents of Hopedale, a Tazewell County town in Illinois, are preparing a farewell for the 32-year-old Marine, who died in Nevada when his training aircraft crashed on March 1 during a training exercise.
2,380 American flags were placed along 12 miles of highway for honouring Captain Reid Nannen, whose funeral is planned on Saturday, March 22 at Eastview Christian Church in Normal.
He left behind a wife and four children. He was temporarily stationed at the U.S. Navy’s “Top Gun” school in Nevada, while his permanent posting was in Japan with the Marines.
Larry Eckhardt of Little York initiated this effort. The Hopedale residents also wanted to do something special for their native son, therefore, they warmly welcomed him.
Reid’s sister, Bethany Nannen, moved by this wonderful gesture of the townspeople said that her family feels humbled beyond belief.
A small aircraft crash landed on the roof of a building in Vicksburg, after it experienced some technical issues.
The plane crash landed on Friday, March 21, 2014, on the roof of Cooper Lighting building near the Vicksburg Municipal Airport. The passengers, a flight instructor, and a student sustained minor injuries.
John Elfer, the director of Warren County Emergency Management Agency, says “It’s my understanding they were trying to get back to the airport when they were forced to land on the building.”
The names of the instructor and the student have not been revealed.
A private Cessna airplane crashed on Friday, March 21 before noon, behind Lowes in Palatka, Florida.
The incident happened in Putnam County in between Gainesville and Jacksonville. Florida Highway Patrol is investigating the possible cause of the crash.
The pilot, Richard Carrara, 73 and a passenger, Malcolm Clevenstine,, 71 were critically injured. They were taken to the nearby hospital. Malcolm Clevenstine, 71, died Friday at Shands Gainesville Hospital.
A Piper Aerostar 601P crashed in Douglas County near Otero Drive and East Phillips Place, towards the southeast of Aurora, killing the only person on board.
Aurora Police advised people to stay away from the area although they declared nearby homes out of danger.
About two acres of grass were burnt because of the fire. The plane broke into pieces.
An amateur video and the eye witnesses say that the pilot appeared to be a kid playing in the plane. He was flying very low in circles close to the houses.
American Airlines Flight 202 made an emergency landing at Chicago O’Hare International Airport on Wednesday, March 19, 2014. It later departed Chicago for Boston after a passenger departed from the plane with medical emergency.
The 757 plane had 187 on board including nine crew members.
Kent Powell, American Airlines spokesman said that the pilot had declared a medical emergency to deliver a passenger to medical assistance.
The flight landed safely at about 8:30 p.m..
A chopper crash near a tourist spot in downtown Seattle killed all two passengers while setting several cars on fire.
The chopper belonging to KOMO news channel was crashed in a busy street after it attempted to take off from the news station’s helipad located nearby.
Emergency responders found two dead bodies in the helicopter wreckage. Three other people were injured as the crash set their cars on fire. According to the spokesman of Seattle Fire Department, one of the injured was in serious condition.
United Airlines flight 1263 made an emergency landing at the Jackson-Evers International Airport, after a mechanical fault was discovered.
The flight was en route from Chicago to New Orleans when the problem was detected after which, the plane was landed in Jackson, Mississippi, on Monday, March 17, 2014.
Jackson Municipal Airport Authority confirms that none of the passengers or crew members were injured.
A mechanical fault in a CRJ-200 aircraft, forced it to make emergency landing at Montgomery Regional Airport.
According to the airport spokesperson, the Delta flight connecting through Express Jet was carrying 47 passengers and was travelling from Atlanta to Montgomery. He further said that some mechanical issue was detected in one of the flaps and hence it was decided to request an emergency landing at Montgomery Regional Airport.
The plane landed at around 1:30 p.m. on Monday, March 17, 2014. All passengers and crew members exited safely.
A Puerto Vallarta, Mexico-bound Sunwing Boeing 737-800 en route from Edmonton,Alberta Canada, diverted and made an emergency landing on Sunday March 16, 2014 in Helena Montana after flying through ninety seconds of turbulence.
Two of the six person crew sustained injuries, but none of the 181 passengers were seriously injured, perhaps because the seatbelt lights were on.
Passengers waited hours on the airstrip before a customs agent finally arrived and attended to them. The replacement jet did not arrive for eleven hours.
According to Ron Mercer, Director Helena Regional Airport, the airport has only one customs agent who was not there on Sunday. Another customs agent was called and arrived after a 1.5 hour drive from Great Falls. The airport does not usually host commercial international flights and the customs agent had to “do his homework” and consult international rules before passengers could exit the aircraft.
The situation called for modification in the US customs and immigration department’s emergency protocols, for easing up procedures for those passengers already traumatized due to an emergency situation.
The unexpected delay will no doubt result in consequences because, as CBC News says major Canadian airlines tariff says if “…your flight is delayed more than 90 minutes, you may have the right to get off the plane.”
You can rest assured that after these passengers spent five hours in the plane, someone is going to be paying a hefty fine.
Delta Airlines flight 2412 was on its way from Orlando to Atlanta, when a part of its right wing fell off. The missing wing panel of Boeing 757 was first spotted by passengers after which, the pilot instantly decided to make emergency landing.
There were 179 passengers and 6 crew members on the plane, who then took a sigh of relief when the plane was safely landed in Atlanta at about 7:30 pm, on March 16, 2014.
According to Delta Airlines spokesperson, the broken wing panel did not affect the ability of aircraft to fly or land.
The incident could have been very serious and undoubtedly, it was very scary for the passengers to look out and see part of a wing missing.
A Puerto Vallarta, Mexico bound Sunwing flight experienced extreme turbulence, while flying over Montana, and made emergency landing at Helena Regional Airport, Montana.
The flight took off from Edmonton, Canada. Severe turbulence near Montana disturbed the flight and injured two flight attendants, after which the pilot declared a medical emergency and landed at Helena Regional Airport at 7:30 a.m. on March 17, 2014.
According to the airport spokesperson, the injured flight attendants suffered only minor injuries and did not need medical attention.
A Tulsa-Dallas American Airlines flight stroke a bird, after which it had to return and make emergency landing at Tulsa International Airport. 
The flight 1491 took off at around 10:30 am on Friday March 14, 2014, carrying 182 passengers and 7 crew members. Shortly after departing, it hit a bird and had to land back at the Tulsa International Airport.
All passengers and crew members were safely de-planed.
US Airways Flight 678 was forced to make emergency landing when a baby stopped breathing.
The flight was en route from Tampa, Florida to Phoenix Sky Harbor, when the baby started turning purple due to seizure. The pilot had to divert the flight to Houston, while the passengers gave chest compressions and rescue breathing, to the baby for saving his life.
According to media sources, the plane safely landed in Houston where the child was given medical aid.
The US Airways flight was continued to Phoenix.
A Kansas State University helicopter made an emergency landing near Saline-McPherson County line, on Thursday.
According to the Kansas State Troopers, the pilot made emergency landing due to a mechanical fault in the helicopter. The two-seater training helicopter was landed safely, in a wheat field and the pilot remained uninjured.
The helicopter is being repaired on-site, after which it will be flown to the KSU’s aviation facility in Salina.
In the first couple of weeks after a crash, an airline carrier will distribute partial payments of $20,000 to $30,000 to each family with no catches. Families should know that this money is available to them.
Money is not that important to families waiting for news of their lost loved ones, but for some, even that soon after someone is gone, the family is feeling the hurt. In many places, it is a paycheck to paycheck world. Airlines can drag their feet in regards to this partial payment. This is what is behind the recent fine to Asiana.
Asiana was fined $500,000 last month because they failed to attend to the victims and their families properly for the Asiana flight 214 in San Francisco in July. Airlines have to follow their “family assistance plan.” You’ve seen parts of that plan before—the toll free phone number, the reports of assistance to families. These things aren’t out of the goodness of their hearts, but the consequence of the Foreign Air Carrier Family Support Act of 1997.
Asiana dragged their feet in contacting families—about ¾ of the passengers were approached within 2 days, but some took as long as five days. Imagine that your loved ones died or were severely injured, and the airline didn’t call for five days. That’s an eternity.
The Department of Transportation’s statement on the matter said that “Asiana’s response to the crash of flight 214 indicates that the carrier failed to commit sufficient resources to carry out its family assistance plan….In the very rare event of a crash, airlines have a responsibility to provide their full support to help passengers and their families by following all the elements of their family assistance plans…The last thing families and passengers should have to worry about at such a stressful time is how to get information from their carrier.” Additionally, Asiana failed to widely publish the family members’ information hot line, failed to send in an adequate number of translators and personnel, in addition to not contacting family members quickly enough.
Take a look at the plan below:
Here’s the question: do pilots rely too much on automation? This question has been on my mind since hearing the parallels between the UPS Cargo jet crash and the Asiana passenger jet crash. This is on my mind not only as one who works toward aviation safety but also as a very frequent flyer. You can only imagine how my work carries me into international situations. I don’t fly as frequently as a pilot, but sometimes I fly internationally several times a month. I am on these planes frequently. I rely on them.
So I find it disturbing that the NTSB’s hearing Thursday revealed parallels between the crash of UPS Flight 1354 and Asiana Filght 214. While I don’t know the answers, I can only hope the investigation shines light on ways to deal with this problem. What is the solution? Less reliance on Automation? Better training for pilots?
On the other side of the coin, some parties will want even more automation, but I am reluctant to go in that direction. The idea of even more reliance on automation is anathema to me because the engineers and advocates of reliance on even more automation will not be on those even-more automated planes. While the technology and/or training will be on the chopping block, their actual necks won’t be.
What I don’t find disturbing is the professionalism of the hearings. The webcast is well worth watching.
The hearing webcast is recorded here: http://ntsb.capitolconnection.org/022014/ntsb_archive_flv.htm
Note the NTSB cautions participants in the hearing not to engage the media and to stick to the facts.
Or the recorded captions (unformatted) are here.
https://airflightdisaster.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/ntsb022014.htm.pdf
bio docket: https://airflightdisaster.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/biodocket.pdf
