USA

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    Pilot Makes and Survives Emergency Landing in Texas after Running Out of Fuel


    On Feb 14, 2013 at 10:30 a.m., a Beechcraft A60 Duke was en route from Fort Smith to Abilene when it ran out of fuel. The pilot, Frank LeRoy Bell, 75 attempted to divert to Elmdale Airpark but had to make an emergency landing. He tried to land in a blowed field but landed instead in a rough pasture where the plane sustained damage. No passengers were aboard and Bell was able to walk away.

    Emergency services responded as an in-flight emergency at Elmdale Airpark.

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    Cessna Crashes off Florida Coast

    On Feb 14, a privately owned Cessna 310 en route from Okeechobee to Bartow, Florida went missing 15 miles west of Ft. Pierce, and was located west of Vero Beach Florida. Three passengers were aboard.

    Paramedics flew in a Coast Guard Chopper to the crash site to recover the three victims; they were fatalities.

    The cause of the crash is under investigation.

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    Emergency aboard Expressjet

    After suffering smoke in the cabin, an Embraer ERJ-145 ExpressJet en route from O’Hare to Ottowa returned to O’Hare.

    Pilots made a safe landing at 6:15 pm.

    Thirty-eight passengers disembarked safely in Chicago. One was hospitalized at Resurrection Medical Center for breathing problems. The rest of the passengers were provided an alternative flight to Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

    Video Below

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    Plane Hits Building


    On Feb 1, 2013, a privately owned Cessna was being worked on when it rolled off and struck the fire station.

    The Fire Chief of the Belen Fire Department said the building was empty when the plane hit it.

    There is some damage to the plane.

    The Cessna 182P is registered in Albuquerque New Mexico.

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    Small Plane Mired in Mud at Charlottesville

    On January 30, 2013, a Hawking ventures LLC Learjet 45 was landing at Charlottesville-Albemarle Airport when it overran the runway. Emergency services were on standby and responded to the runway overrun.

    The plane came to rest in soft ground.

    The plane sustained damage. The three people aboard did not.

    See Video

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    Borrowed Heli Hit by Wind


    On Jan 30, 2013, a Pennsylvania State Police Bell B206 was returning from searching for a missing snowmobiler at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Latrobe when strong 60 mph winds blew it over.

    The helicopter had landed and had been tied down for fueling when the wind blew it over.

    The chopper was borrowed from Altuna and is currently out of service.

    No one was injured except the helicopter.

    See Video

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    US Airways Flight Diverts to Greensville

    On January 30, 2013, a U.S. Airways Bombardier CRJ 200 was en route from Tallahassee, Fla. to Charlotte, NC with 19 passengers and three crew when a strong odor was smelled in the cabin.

    Pilots diverted to Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport where they made a safe landing.

    A bus was provided for passengers to complete the trip.

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    Preliminary Report Issued in Piper Crash

    According to one report, the piper that crashed on Jan 12 near Paris Texas killed Passengers Michael Dale Bradley, 44, and Michael Endo, 51, and pilot Rob Thompson, 49. After takeoff, the plane lost its rudder and crashed in “foggy and drizzly” conditions between 8:54 and 9:00 a.m., a minute after talking to ATC in Fort Worth.

    Witnesses heard the engine backfire several times, and saw black smoke coming from the field where the plane crashed near Glory Texas.

    The horizontal stabilizer/rudder separated from the airframe and the report recorded that it was was found “approximately 30 feet behind the main wreckage.”

    The report was issued on Jan 22.

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    American Diverts To San Juan

    On Jan 28, 2013, American Airlines Boeing 767 Flight 233 with 198 passengers and a crew of 13 was en route from Miami to Brazil when it developed an electrical odor in the cockpit.

    The pilots diverted to Puerto Rico and made a safe landing in San Juan at 5:08 p.m.

    The plane is to remain there overnight for inspection, and on the 29th, take the crew and passengers on to Sao Paolo.

    Hotel accommodations were provided for passengers.

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    Hog Hunters Flipped in Chopper Bang-Up


    At 9 a m Jan 26,2013, a Hiller UH-12B helicopter crashed east of the St. Lucie-Okeechobee County line in a swamp between Okeechobee Road and Orange Avenue, west of the Adams Ranch The three men aboard,Pilot William Harward, and passengers Jonathan Strayer, 46, and Massad Ayoob, 64 were hospitalized at Raulerson Memorial Hospital.

    The helicopter had been chartered to “shoot feral hogs from a helicopter with .44 Magnum revolvers” a pastime that has been called pest eradication. A blog has released that the main rotor hit treetops, and the helicopter ended up upside down.

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    Refuel Stop Crash in Warsaw Indiana


    On 27-JAN-2013, a Mooney M20J/201 en route from Ohio to Michigan made a crash landing at Warsaw Municipal Airport in Indiana when it bounced in crosswinds, crossed a runway and crashed barriers.

    Pilot Thomas Kowalczk and his son Brian Kowalczk had gotten parts in Port Clinton, Michigan and Lapier, Michigan and had stopped in Warsaw to refuel.

    The plane came to rest over the controls of underground fuel tanks. No fire occurred but the plane sustained significant damage.

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    American Airlines Bird Strike

    Burbank, twenty minutes from my home!

    On Jan 26, 2013, an American Airlines Boeing 738 flight took off from John Wayne Airport en route to Dallas, and suffered a bird strike (or more properly, three of them), and diverted to Los Angeles International Airport where they made a safe landing.

    Impact with the birds occurred around 7:30 a.m. (Does that make them early birds?)

    They landed safely around 8:00 a.m.

    Click if you want to see flight details on Flight Aware

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    Monroe Crash Kills Pilot and Three Passengers


    On January 24, 2013, a Central Flying Services Inc Beechcraft A36 Bonanza en route from Beaumont Municipal to Monroe Regional Airport was on approach to Monroe when it crashed for unknown reasons. Four minutes before the crash, the pilot told ATC of problems with the plane’s landing gear. ATC lost contact with the plane at 1:49 p.m. The plane crashed eight miles from the airport. Witnesses saw the plane circle and nosedive into the woods.

    The plane impacted behind Ouachita Correctional Center in Richwood. The manifest says Dean Hart Sr. of West Monroe, owner of Hart Commercial Investments, and Max Larche of Bastrop, engineer with Lazenby & Associates in West Monroe and Don Thompson of Monroe were passengers aboard the flight. The three businessmen were returning from a business trip to Beaumont.

    The pilot was also a fatality.

    Emergency services included police and fire firefighters, firefighters on ATV. Firefighters relied on fire extinguishers to put out the blaze.

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    Pilot Lands After Copilot Suffers Emergency


    Contact photographer Dmitriy Shapiro
    On January 22, 2013, an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 from Seattle to McCarran was en route when the co-pilot fainted. The pilot requested priority landing. The plane landed in McCarran ten minutes early at about 5:26 p.m.. None of the 146 passengers were injured.

    Alaskan Airlines said that while on board, the co-pilot was checked by a doctor on the flight, and that the co-pilot’s medical records were up to date. He was hospitalized on landing. A news program reported the plane landing on auto-pilot but an Alaskan Airlines official made assurances that the pilot landed the plane.

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    Parachute Saves 3 Lives in Connecticut “float”-Landing

    On Jan 23, 2013, a single engine Kenyon Flight Cirrus SR20 was engaged in a training flight, Groton-Danbury, near Danbury Connecticut. Aboard was an instructor, the pilot trainee and a friend of the trainee. The pilot was on approach to Danbury Municipal Airport two miles away when the plane suffered a loss of power.

    The pilot deployed a rocket-fired parachute system and floated down to land without hitting anything in a parking lot near South Street and Wixted Avenue at about 7:30 p.m. The parachute did become tangled with electrical wires.

    The pilot and two passengers were injured but survived.

    The parachute is being credited with saving their lives.

    Power was cut to unentangle the parachute, resulting in an electrical outage that affected about a thousand homes.

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    Ultralight Pilot Walks Away from Crash

    On January 21, 2013, a Rotax 447 ultralight was flying, clipped treetops and crashed after takeoff.

    The pilot, Randy R. Roman took off at 2:45 pm and shortly later crashed on Mendoza road in Manatee County.

    The pilot was uninjured but the ultralight was a total loss. After crashing his homebuilt ultralight, reports say Roman called his wife and asked for his toolbox, without letting on anything was out of the ordinary.

    He attributed his crash to “the corrosive effects of ethanol in his fuel caused…the fuel cap to flake off into the tank and plug a fuel line.”

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    Smoke in 737 Cockpit; Pilots divert to Tulsa. (updated)

    On January 21, 2012, a Southwest Airlines 737 with 76 passengers and five crew aboard was en route from Kansas to Houston when it developed smoke in the cockpit.

    Pilots diverted to Tulsa and made a safe landing (but probably hard and fast since reportedly three tires blew) with emergency services on standby at about 9:15 a.m.. No injuries were reported. Passengers were provided alternative transport to Houston.

    The plane has been removed from service and will be inspected in Tulsa.

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    Beechcraft Crash in Mangum Oklahoma

    On Jan 19 2013, a 1964 Beechcraft B55 Baron operated by J S Leasing experienced engine trouble and crashed in a field in Mangum Oklahoma.

    Three people were aboard at the time. The crash occurred at about 5:30 pm. Witnesses say the plane appeared to have engine problems.

    THe fatalities have been listed as the pilot Stephen Scott, John Hall, and Edi Ortega.

    Those aboard had to be extricated from the wreckage.

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    Turbulence Injures Attendants, Passenger

    On January 16, 2013, an American Eagle Canadair CRJ-700 en route from New Orleans to Chicago encountered turbulence which injured flight attendants and a passenger. The pilots made a safe landing in Chicago.

    If you’re buckled in, turbulence feels more dangerous than it is. Unfortunately, flight attendants, who are required to be up and about doing their jobs, are not infrequently injured by turbulence, whether it is clear-air (hard to predict changeable jet stream-rivers of air), wind shear, microbursts, mountain waves, thermal or wake turbulence left by another plane.

    The physical consequences of being unbuckled when turbulence strikes means the unsecured person can be hurled about the plane, jolted in the air, struck by food carts or anything else loose in the plane. I’ve been on some white-knuckled flights where the flight attendants were champs and in spite of getting bounced around managed to calm the passengers. It’s only afterwards coming across either a cool and calm (or white-knuckled) pilot that I was able to determine just how dangerous the turbulence was.

    In this case, great. A safe landing trumps everything. Too bad about the two injured flight attendants and passenger though.

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    Heli Rolls in Connecticut, No Injuries


    On Jan 17, 2012, a Northeast Helicopters Flight Services LLC Robinson R22 landed in Ellington, Connecticut and rolled on its side. The student pilot and the teacher aboard were uninjured.

    It was described as a hard landing at 360 Somers Road adjacent to the airport in Ellington at 12:45 pm. There was a minor fuel leak which was contained.

    IDENTIFICATION
    Regis#: 26NE Make/Model: R22 Description: R-22
    Date: 01/17/2013 Time: 1248

    Event Type: Accident Highest Injury: None Mid Air: N Missing: N
    Damage: Substantial

    LOCATION
    City: ELLINGTON State: CT Country: US

    DESCRIPTION
    AIRCRAFT SUFFERED A HARD LANDING. ELLINGTON, CT

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    Planes Bump in the night at Miami International.

    On January 17, 2012, at Miami International Airport at 5:45 pm, an Aerolineas Argentinas Airbus with 240 passengers aboard was taxiing when it struck an Air France 777-300 with 350 passengers at the gate. Impact occurred between Concourses J and H.

    A passenger aboard the Air France plane said the impact felt like an earthquake.

    The Aerolineas Argentinas flight hand just arrived from Argentina Passengers disembarked at the gate.

    The Air France passengers disembarked, collected their luggage and had to reschedule.

    The planes’ damage was limited to a wingtip of one (Airbus) and the tail of the Boeing. (Which is which has not been verified, but assuming it was the Airbus that was taxiing, i.e. moving, it is more likely to be the wingtip of the moving plane that struck the stationary Boeing at the gate.)

    Damage to the planes was minimal. Damage to the patience of the Air France Passengers having to reschedule? Not so much.

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    LAX Terminal 1 improvements to the tune of $400 Million


    Although Southwest has outstanding legal claims against Los Angeles World Airports, the following items are are on the table:

    Southwest Airlines will

    • build a new checked baggage security system
    • improve passenger security checkpoints
    • refresh passenger waiting areas
    • refurbish the baggage claim area
    • construct new passenger boarding bridges
    • renovate the terminal lobby

    Los Angeles World Airports will fund most of the renovations, along with—hopefully—federal grant money. Los Angeles World Airports may give the airline rent credits or by pay a lump sum.

    If the lease is signed Southwest will drop legal claims against Los Angeles World Airports; if renovation proceeds, Southwest will pay about $9.5 million in rent the first year, and US Airways will move to Terminal 3.

    The Board of Airport Commissioners has approved improvements in “dog-eared” Terminal one.

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    FAA Issues Battery Statement. And Me Too…Attention, Boeing…

    My experts are telling me that it looks like Boeing is all alone on these 787 battery fires. The FAA issued 31 ‘Special Conditions’ (you can read that to mean that the FAA gave Boeing a whole lot of slack) but this battery problem is not getting a free ride, or any favors.

    SAFETY is the top priority. Make no mistake. The sooner the Dreamliner and its battery is grounded, the sooner the fix will be found and it will be safe to fly again. Well. While you’re at it fixing the battery problem, get that team of pilots who fly this thing to go over all areas of failure thus far, including the engines. Look at ALL of these…

    • Nov 6 2010: Boeing flight Texas: electrical problems in the aft electronics bay which disabled the primary flight displays in the cockpit.
    • Nov 6 2011: ANA Flight Okayama forced to deploy the landing gear using the alternate extension backup system, after an active warning light, which said that the wheels were not properly down.
    • July 28 2012: Boeing Flight Charleston: contained engine failure during a taxi test at Charleston International Airport PRE Delivery Taxi test. Debris fell from engine
    • Dec 4, 2012: United over Mississippi: “multiple messages” regarding flight-system errors, and diverted to New Orleans (KMSY). The problems occurred when one of the plane’s generators failed. Power was supplied to the aircraft with the five functioning generators.
    • Jan 7, 2013: JAL Boston: fire was discovered in a battery and electrical compartment of the aircraft.
    • Jan 8, 2013: JAL Boston: 40 gallons of fuel had spilled from one of its wing tanks at the gate. The plane was contacted before takeoff and it returned to the terminal without incident. Probably a case of overfilling the tank.
    • Jan 9, 2013: ANA Yamaguchi: Brake problems
    • Jan 16, 2013: ANA Takamatsu: instrument indications of smoke in the forward electrical compartment. No fire was found.

    Boeing? Are you listening? I fly everywhere, all over the world but at the moment, I’m not comfortable getting on this great plane that I really want to love for future travel. I’m am confident you can do it, even if all of these wrinkles are going to mean you need to bring in the really big iron. We need all the finders and fixers on this! The world has places to go and things to do, and you’re holding their safety in the palm of your hand.

    The Emergency Airworthiness Directive has been issued. Issued Jan 16, 2013
    and here is their announcement:

    As a result of an in-flight, Boeing 787 battery incident earlier today in Japan, the FAA will issue an emergency airworthiness directive (AD) to address a potential battery fire risk in the 787 and require operators to temporarily cease operations. Before further flight, operators of U.S.-registered, Boeing 787 aircraft must demonstrate to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) that the batteries are safe.
    The FAA will work with the manufacturer and carriers to develop a corrective action plan to allow the U.S. 787 fleet to resume operations as quickly and safely as possible.
    The in-flight Japanese battery incident followed an earlier 787 battery incident that occurred on the ground in Boston on January 7, 2013. The AD is prompted by this second incident involving a lithium ion battery. The battery failures resulted in release of flammable electrolytes, heat damage, and smoke on two Model 787 airplanes. The root cause of these failures is currently under investigation. These conditions, if not corrected, could result in damage to critical systems and structures, and the potential for fire in the electrical compartment.

    Last Friday, the FAA announced a comprehensive review of the 787’s critical systems with the possibility of further action pending new data and information. In addition to the continuing review of the aircraft’s design, manufacture and assembly, the agency also will validate that 787 batteries and the battery system on the aircraft are in compliance with the special condition the agency issued as part of the aircraft’s certification.

    United Airlines is currently the only U.S. airline operating the 787, with six airplanes in service. When the FAA issues an airworthiness directive, it also alerts the international aviation community to the action so other civil aviation authorities can take parallel action to cover the fleets operating in their own countries.

    See Directive:

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    Labcorps Pilatus Crash in Softball Field


    On Jan 16, 2013, a LabCorp Pilatus PC 12/45 was en route from Burlington-Alamance Regional Airport to Morristown NJ when the place crashed. After taking off from Burlington and experiencing problems, the pilot tried avoiding a residential area. The crash near the North Park Community Center occurred around 6:00 a.m. about five miles from the airport. Witnesses report the pilot either circled (or spun) to crash on the softball field. About 400 gallons of fuel spilled.

    Fifty emergency responders arrived on the scene.

    57-year-old David Gamble of Greensboro died in the crash. He was a LabCorp employee delivering inter-office mail. He was the pilot, the only one aboard, and an employee of LabCorp. The plane is registered as property of Regions Equipment Finance Corp.

    The NTSB was on the scene by 4:30 pm.

    Video Below