Under FAA JAA IKO rulings, it is mandated that if and when an emergency is declared by an airborne plane, ATC immediately diverts all incoming traffic and gives priority to the emergency situation. Most, if not all, of the events we have described as emergency are official emergencies. However, sometimes they are incorrectly reported as emergencies by our sources, have been downgraded from official emergency status, or are believed to be emergencies by passengers in fear for their lives.
A small plane made an emergency landing along Highway 555 in Washington County, Kentucky, on the afternoon of May 28.
The plane was flying from Bedford, Indiana to South Carolina when it developed some engine issues.
The pilot Robert Kinion then informed the FAA and made a safe emergency landing.
No injuries were reported.
A Super Puma EC 225 helicopter had to make an emergency landing at Aberdeen International Airport, United Kingdom, on May 28.
The helicopter, operated by CHC Helicopter, was carrying 19 people when an alarm went off, forcing the pilot to declare an emergency.
The aircraft landed safely and everyone aboard remained unhurt.
According to CHC, the alarm went off due to a baggage item that had been restricting the air flow around a smoke detector.
SkyWest Airlines flight 6391 had to divert and make an emergency landing in Boise, Idaho on May 27.
The flight was heading from Eugene, Oregon, to Denver, Colorado, when it had to be diverted due to a sick passenger.
The Canadair Regional Jet 700, carrying 68 passengers, landed safely and the sick passenger was rushed to a hospital.
According to airline spokesperson Marissa Snow, the plane was taken for inspection as it landed “overweight” due to excess fuel. Some of the passengers were accommodated in other flights while the others resumed their journey in another plane Wednesday evening.
United Airlines Flight 594 had to make two emergency landings at Kansas City International Airport, Kansas City, Missouri, on May 26.
The flight originated from Washington, D.C. and was heading to Denver, Colorado, when it was diverted to Kansas City due to weather radar issues aboard the Airbus A-320 aircraft. The plane landed safely and all 142 passengers and crew members remained unharmed.
The plane was taken for repair and was cleared to take off again around 3 hours later. However, it had to return and make another emergency landing due to hydraulic issues.
The aircraft was grounded while the airline provided meal and hotel vouchers to the passengers and accommodated them in other flights.
A crop-dusting plane crashed in the Irvine Flats area near Polson, Montana, on May 26.
According to Lake County Sheriff Don Bell, the single-engine plane crashed while the pilot was attempting to make an emergency landing due to mechanical issues. The aircraft’s landing gear sustained damage during landing and it skidded before coming to a stop.
The pilot sustained minor injuries in the incident and was taken to Providence Medical Center in Polson.
The FAA is investigating.
Southwest Airlines flight 1516 had to make an emergency landing at Los Angeles International Airport, California, on May 26.
The Boeing 737, en-route from San Jose to San Diego was diverted after a warning light indicated smoke in the cargo hold.
The plane landed uneventfully and all 75 passengers aboard remained safe.
The airline arranged an alternate aircraft for the passengers.
An Israir flight made an emergency at Ben Gurion International Airport in Israel, on May 25.
The ATR plane took off from Sde Dov airport in north Tel Aviv and was en-route to Eilat when one of its engines failed. The pilot reported the situation to ATC and requested at emergency landing.
The plane, carrying around 80 passengers, landed safely. No one was hurt.
A replacement aircraft was arranged for the passengers.
A seaplane made an emergency landing at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in Florida, on May 22.
According to Broward Sheriff’s Office officials, the pilot forgot to extend gear before landing the Cessna 208 aircraft. The plane skidded down the runway before coming to halt.
None of the two people aboard was injured in the accident.
Authorities said the plane is registered to a resident of Salt Lake City, Utah and was flying from the Bahamas at the time.
A Learjet 60 plane, carrying Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, made an emergency landing in Zurich, Switzerland, on May 21.
Prime Minister Gruevski was returning to Skopje from Strasbourg when his jet had to make an emergency landing due to technical issues. According to a government spokesperson, “The (technical) failure manifested as a strong noise, from an unknown origin, and it was followed by perturbation of the cabin pressure,”
The plane landed uneventfully. Everyone aboard remained unhurt.
Air India flight AI 873 had to make an emergency landing at Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport in Lucknow, India, on May 19.
The plane was heading from Bhubaneshwar to New Delhi when a bird hit it, causing a cockpit glass pane to crack. The pilot immediately reported the situation to ATC and requested an emergency landing.
The plane landed uneventfully and all 169 passengers aboard remained unharmed.
The airline arranged a replacement plane for the passengers.
Emirates flight EK222 had to divert and make an emergency landing in Warsaw, Poland, on May 20.
The A380 plane, en-route from Dallas to Dubai, was diverted after a Nigerian passenger suffered a stroke midair.
According to an airline spokesperson, “Emirates flight EK222 from Dallas to Dubai on 20 May was diverted to Warsaw due to a passenger medical emergency… Subsequently, the aircraft faced a technical issue on ground. Passengers and crew safely disembarked, and Emirates arranged a replacement aircraft to bring all passengers to Dubai, with a total delay of 6 hours. Emirates apologises for any inconvenience. The safety of our passengers and crew is of paramount importance.”
KLM flight KL-765 made an emergency landing in Aruba on May 16.
The plane was heading from Amsterdam, Netherlands to Aruba when the crew reported a suspected fuel leak on the left side.
The Airbus A330-200 plane landed safely and emergency services confirmed a fuel leakage from its left engine. The engine was then shut down before it taxied to apron.
All 203 people aboard remained unharmed.
Hawaiian Airlines flight HA3 had to return and make an emergency landing at Los Angeles International Airport, California, on May 18.
According to an airline spokesperson, the plane was en-route to Honolulu when the crew noticed a cockpit indicator light that showed an open fuel jettison valve. The captain then declared an emergency and turned back towards LAX.
The A330 plane landed uneventfully. There were 290 passengers and 10 crew members aboard at the time; all of them remained safe.
On landing, it was found that the valve was closed.
Pegasus Airlines flight PC5121 had to return and make an emergency landing at Adnan Menderes Airport in Izmir, Turkey, on May 18.
The Boeing 737-800 was heading to London when it lost cabin pressure and had to turn back for an emergency landing.
The plane landed uneventfully and everyone aboard remained safe.
The airline accommodated 49 passengers in another flight.
Alaska Airlines flight 601 made a hard landing at Seattle–Tacoma International Airport, Washington, on May 18.
The Boeing 737, coming from Las Vegas, Nevada, was about to land at Sea-Tac Airport when the crew of another plane that was lined up behind it reported fire, sparks and smoke from its left main landing gear.
Landing was delayed until emergency services arrived at the scene. The airline confirmed that two left tires of the aircraft blew upon landing, erupting sparks.
All 173 passengers aboard remained unharmed.
A mobile stairway was brought at the scene to safely disembark passengers and crew.
The incident is being investigated.
British Airways flight BA343 had to make an emergency landing at London Heathrow Airport in United Kingdom on May 18.
The flight was heading from Nice to Heathrow when the crew requested an emergency landing due to a landing gear malfunction.
The firefighters were ready at the scene when the plane landed safely No injuries were reported.
An airline spokesperson said, “Our flight has landed safely after a suspected technical issue… The safety of our customers and crew is always our first priority and the aircraft will be checked by our engineers before returning to service.”
Ryanair flight FR6695 made an emergency landing at London Stansted Airport, United Kingdom, on May 17.
The plane was en-route from Edinburgh to Malta when it had to divert due to a medical emergency on-board.
According to an airline statement, “This flight from Edinburgh to Malta (17 May) diverted to London Stansted after a customer became ill on board… The crew called ahead to request medical assistance, the aircraft landed normally and the customer was met by an ambulance upon arrival, before the aircraft departed to Malta…Ryanair apologised to all customers affected by this short delay.”
Delta Airlines flight 1471A had to return and make an emergency landing at Los Angeles International Airport, California, on May 17.
The plane took off for Atlanta, Georgia but had to return shortly afterwards, due to mechanical issues.
The plane, carrying over 200 people, landed safely. No injuries were reported.
The airline arranged an alternate aircraft for passengers.
SunExpress flight XQ943 had to divert and make an emergency landing in Riga, Latvia, on May 14.
The plane, en-route from Helsinki Airport, Finland to Adnan Menderes Airport, Turkey, had to divert after the cabin lost pressure and oxygen masks deployed.
The Boeing 737 plane landed safely.
No one was hurt.
Hawaiian Airlines flight 118 had to divert and make an emergency landing at Kahului Airport, Hawaii, on May 12.
According to the airline, the plane was heading from Honolulu to Kailua-Kona when it had to be diverted due to a “left engine surge.”
The faulty engine was smoking when the plane touched the runway and the firefighters had to spray foam to douse it.
All 73 passengers and 5 crew members remained uninjured in the incident.
SkyWest Airlines flight 5316, operating as United Express, made an emergency landing at Los Angeles International Airport, California, on May 11.
Emergency was declared aboard the plane, coming from Monterey, California, after its landing gear failed to fully deploy.
The Bombardier CRJ100 jet skidded along the runway, leaving a smoke trail behind, before finally coming to stop.
None of the 43 people aboard was injured in the incident.
Air Canada Jazz flight 8992 had to make an emergency landing at St. John’s airport in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, on May 10.
The plane was flying from Halifax to St. John’s airport when it conducted a missed approach, indicating a fault in its hydraulic and landing gear mechanism.
The crew then manually deployed the landing gear and made a successful emergency landing.
Everyone aboard remained unharmed.
A Marine Apache helicopter had to make an emergency landing on the east side of Los Angeles River bed in South Gate, California, on May 11.
Two pilots aboard the Camp Pendleton-based aircraft decided to make an emergency landing after they discovered some electrical issues.
The helicopter landed uneventfully and no one was injured.
Cathay Pacific flight CX289 had to make an emergency landing in Urumqi, Xinjiang, China, on May 7.
The flight was heading from Hong Kong to Frankfurt when a Singaporean air steward Vincent Chee suffered a stroke. The plane was then diverted to Urumqi where it made a safe emergency landing.
Chee was rushed to hospital while the flight resumed with a 4 hour delay.
Authorities confirmed that Chee had died on May 12.
Malaysian Airlines flight MH 179 made an emergency landing at Kuala Lumpur Airport in Malaysia, on May 10.
The pilot decided to return after a drunk passenger started harassing the crew members. The flight was en-route from Malaysia to Colombo, Sri Lanka at the time.
The plane circled around Malacca Strait before landing safely in Kuala Lumpur.
