Landing

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    Trainee Flies into Tension wires


    © Vasuki Prasad at jetphotos.net

    What: Indira Gandhi National Aviation Academy trainee (operating a) SOCATA TB20 Trinidad en route from Raebareli Airport
    Where: Bhadokhar police circle of Rae Bareli district of Uttar Pradesh, India
    When: October 11, 2011
    Who: pilot
    Why: The pilot took off from Fursatganj Airfield-Raebareli Airport, and crashed in Bhav village, in Uttar Pradesh, India. The pilot was on a training flight and flew into the National Thermal Power Corporation tension cable line.

    The pilot trainee, Sudip Vashishtha (Vashisht?) was injured after the powerline reduced his momentum, after which he dropped 20 feet. The training plane was mangled, and the pilot injured with multiple fractures, but conscious, and he is currently considered critical but stable. He was remove from Rae Bareli hospital to Lucknow hospital.

    Newspapers are describing the craft as a chopper, but it is a light single engine aircraft with a variable pitch propeller built by Socata, out of France.

    According to the flight school’s website, “The Akademi functions under the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA), Govt. of India (GOI) through its Governing Council (GC). Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Uran Akademi (IGRUA) located at Fursatganj District Raebareli Uttar Pradesh”

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    Tire, Landing Gear Fail on Sky Airlines Antalya Landing


    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact photographer Szabolcs Kelemen

    What: Sky Airlines Boeing 737-400 en route from Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden (Germany) to Antalya (Turkey)
    Where: Antalya on
    When: Oct 10th 2011
    Who: 156 passengers and 6 crew
    Why: After a normal flight, on landing in Turkey, the plane’s right main gear collapsed when a right tire burst.

    One cause for a burst tire is a hard or fast landing, or the state of the runway. The cause has not yet been determined.

    In the accident photos (according to AV gossip), the logo has been painted out with white paint.

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    Emergency landing in St Petersburg Russia


    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact photographer Petr Gorbunov

    What: Rossiya Airbus A319-100 en route from St. Petersburg to Moscow
    Where: St. Petersburg, Russia
    When: Oct 7th 2011
    Why: After takeoff, the plane developed engine failure in the left engine.

    The pilots shut down the left engine and returned to make a safe landing.

    The flight was in the air less than twenty minutes. A replacement jet was provided within three hours.

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    Entrepreneur, Dies Piloting Plane, 2 Sons, Woman Passenger, 4 dead

    What: Pilot/operator Ângelo Rafaeli D’élia Beechcraft V35 Bonanza # PT-CTL en route from Ponta Porã to Viracopos-Campinas
    Where: Marabá Paulista, São Paulo, Brazil
    When: October 1, 2011, 21:30
    Who: 4 fatalities
    Why: In the night, as rain was falling, the Beechcraft Bonanza en route for Campinas in Sao Paulo never made it to its destination, but crashed on farmland near Marabá Paulista, leaving a five foot crater. Four people died in the crash: entrepreneur Ângelo Rafaeli D’elia, 51, who was piloting the aircraft, the children Bruna D’Elia, 18 and Rafael Ângelo, 12 years, and Syhlvia Katheiny Torreta.

    Reports are that the pilot was lost, and that someone aboard the plane was sick. They asked for assistance from London’s control tower.

    Locals reported hearing an explosion when the plane impacted the ground.

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    The Guam Question: What Happened on Flight 001?


    United/Continental flights to Guam have been laden with issues. Landing gear problems and other issues abound; and it happened again on Sunday, the fifth time in a month.

    This was aother emergency landing, although officially they are saying there was no incident. There was a nose gear problem reported, however; and the safe landing was made in spite of it.

    Airport rescue services were on hand when the flight landed, prepared to handle the Landing gear malfunction, which turned out to be a landing gear indicator malfunction.

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    Boston Turbulence Leads to Rocky Trip, Terrified passengers

    What: JetBlue Airbus 319 en route from San Juan, Puerto Rico to Boston
    Where: Boston Logan International Airport
    Who: 130 passengers and five crew members

    What: Lufthansa Flight 429, which was traveling from North Carolina to Munich, Germany
    Where: Boston Logan International Airport
    Who: 245 passengers and 18 crew

    The Jetblue flight, which arrived early, was en route when it encountered turbulence severe enough to injure 9 aboard with an assortment of neck and back injuries.

    The Lufthansa flight had to land at Logan due to a turbulence encounter that injured 11 passengers on that flight.

    The turbulence was severe enough that many aboard bumped their heads on the ceiling of the plane. Several people were treated for injuries but no one was hospitalized.

    Passengers aboard both flights describe the trip as terrifying. They were certain they were going to crash.

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    Finnish Bird Strike Cuts Flight Short


    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact photographer Martin Djupenstrom

    What: Norwegian Air Shuttle Boeing 737-800 en route from Helsinki to Rovaniemi
    Where: Helsinki Finland
    When: Oct 5th 2011
    Why: The flight took off normally from Helsinki but incurred a bird strike.

    After leveling off, the crew decided to return to Helsinki where they made a safe landing. The weather in Rovaniemi was foggy, with limited visibility, contributing to their decision.

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    NY Tourist Helicopter Crashes in East River, 1 Birthday Fatality, 4 Rescued

    What: Paul P. Dudley Bell 206B JetRanger
    Where: East River, New York, NY
    When: Oct 4, 2011
    Who: 5 aboard, 1 fatality
    Why: The Bell 206B JetRanger was en route with five people aboard when it took off to about 25 feet above ground, and spun, then crashed for an unknown reason upside down into the East River. The flight had just taken off from the riverbank launch pad. Two people were injured, one was missing. Four individuals were rescued from the water, including the pilot. While the helicopter was submerged, rescuers searched for the fifth passenger, Sonia Marra Nicholson, but did not find her until it was too late. The chopper had sunk 50 feet into the water. Nicholson had been visiting New York on the occasion of her 40th birthday.

    THe passengers who were rescued were Nicholson’s partner Helen Tamaski, her mother Harriet Nicholson and her stepfather Paul Nicholson, all of whom are in stable condition at Bellevue and New York University Hospitals. Paul and Harriet Nicholson live in Portugal but are British citizens. Sonia Marra Nicholson and Helen Tamaski lived in Australia.

    The pilot Paul Dudley also survived. The passengers were close personal friends. He manages the Linden, N.J., airport.

    Rescuers included police officers who where on hand, running a drill on the East River, and who, still in uniform, jumped in to assist passengers.

    video platformvideo managementvideo solutionsvideo player

    NTSB briefing today at 5:00 PM (EDT) on investigation of helicopter accident in New York City

    —
    WASHINGTON – NTSB Board Member Mark Rosekind will brief the news media on the NTSB investigation into yesterday’s East River helicopter accident.

    The briefing will be held at 5:00 PM EDT today at the
    accident site.
    NTSB Press Contact: Terry Williams (on-scene in New York)
    202-557-1350
    williat@ntsb.gov

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    Indonesia Crash Victims Found-PT Nusantara Buana Called UnProfessional by Heartbroken Families


    What: PT Nusantara Buana Airlines CASA C-212 North Sumatra and Aceh, 19 year old plane
    Where: Bahorok, Indonesia
    When: Sept 29, 2011
    Who: 15 passengers, 3 crew
    Why: The fate is known of the 18 passengers who went missing on a short Indonesian hop between North Sumatra and Aceh. The flight lost contact and crashed in the jungle canopy.

    Rescuers reached the crash site via helicopter, and all the passengers were reported as casualties. Search and rescue teams found the passengers all strapped in their seats, lifeless.

    Devastated family members accuse the airline of unprofessionalism. THe airline reports that rescue efforts were hampered by bad weather, terrible conditions, mountains and forest.

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    UltraLight Takes a Spin on the Ferris Wheel

    What: Superlight Cheetah S200 glider
    Where: Canberra New South Wales
    When: October 1
    Who: 2 aboard.
    Why: During the annual three-day festival in Old Bar, a glider crashed into a ferris wheel. (What are the odds of that?) A nine year old and a thirteen year old were trapped, as well as the pilot (Paul Cox) and passenger of the downed plane. The pilot was disoriented in low visibility. The children were stuck for an hour; the pilot and passenger for three hours. No one had serious injuries.

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    Crash Site Not Reached-Possible Survivors


    What: PT Nusantara Buana Airlines CASA C-212 North Sumatra and Aceh, 19 year old plane
    Where: Bahorok, Indonesia
    When: Sept 29, 2011
    Who: 15 passengers, 3 crew
    Why: After 18 passengers went missing on an Indonesian flight after a flight is reported to have lost contact, and all were reported as casualties, the mother of 27 year old Samsidar Yusni said her daughter called her on the phone Thursday night, crying.

    The PT Nusantara Buana Airlines plane is reported to have crashed in a mountainous area, at a midpoint in its route, in the mountainous Bohorok area about 70 kilometres north-west of Medan. Search and rescue teams have been deployed but did not reach the location of the wreckage, turning back due to difficult terrain and bad weather.

    Thirty hours after the crash, part of the rescue team reported seeing a plane door being opened. After leaving Medan by truck, the trek on foot takes six hours, according to search teams. The plane is apparently mostly intact in the canopy. Chopper flyby photos show wings damaged and nose gone.

    Before nightfall, a helicopter lowered two rescuers by rope about 300 meters yards from the wreckage but they are separated by a ravine. An open door seems to indicate there might be survivors.

    Four children were aboard.

    Nusantara Buana Air is on the EU blacklist.

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    4 Young People Die in Field in Mexico

    What: Piper PA-28-140 Cherokee
    Where: Jesus Ernesto Lozano Airport Chihuahua Mexico
    When: Sept 29, 2011
    Who: 4 aboard, 4 fatalities
    Why: Four people were killed in a plane that crashed in Valle de Allende. The passengers were found beside the plane. The front of the plane was gone.

    Valles Alejandro Medrano, 23, student
    Jasmine Meza Gabriela Nuñez, 20, student
    Marcos Moreno Angel Carrillo, 23, farmer
    Gabriel Edgar Campos Abes, 24 pilot

    They were from Jimenez, and two were students of Centro Cultural Universitario.

    They crashed on land belonging to Capitán Ernesto Lozano, who heard the crash, and arrived in time to find two dead passengers, and two dying.

    The cause of the accident is unknown. Investigators were called about the crash at 10:15 Sept 29, 2011

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    Emergency Landing in Multan Pakistan

    What: PIA Pakistan International Airlines Boeing 737-300 en route from Islamabad to Karachi
    Where: Multan Pakistan
    When: Sep 27th 2011
    Who: 118 passengers
    Why: While en route, the one working generator failed. The captain announced to the passengers that they were having technical problems.

    The crew diverted to Multan and made a safe landing; the flight landed with subdued lighting. One main generator was completely non-operational.

    Passengers were rebooked on an alternative flight.

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    Hydraulics Fumes on Aserca Airlines


    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact photographer Alfonso Sánchez

    What: Aserca Airlines Douglas DC-9-30 en route from Puerto Ordaz to Caracas
    Where: Puerto Ordaz, Venezuela
    When: Sep 26th 2011
    Who: 90 passengers
    Why: Four hours after the Aeropostal hard landing emergency at Puerto Ordaz, another emergency occurred, this one a take-off.

    A Douglas DC-9-30 took off from Puerto Ordaz and filled with smoke.

    The smoke came from a high pressure hydraulic leak. The pilot returned to Puerto Ordaz and made a safe landing with emergency services on standby. No injuries were reported.

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    Hard Landing Jars Douglas Jet Engines

    What: Aeropostal Douglas DC-9-50 en route from Caracas to Puerto Ordaz
    Where: Puerto Ordaz, Venezuela
    When: Sep 26th 2011
    Who: 125 passengers and 5 crew
    Why: On making a hard landing in Puerto Ordaz, the engine supports were jarred and cracked, severely damaging the plane. No injuries occurred. Passengers disembarked and were ported to the terminal.

    The plane was shut down on the runway. It is a testament to Douglas that the structural integrity of the plane maintained, it was flexible enough to make the landing, and a fire did not rage out of control.

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    Nepal: Chopper Crashes; Buddha Air Suspends Flights

    What: Mountain Air Helicopter
    Where: Mallarani Hill, Pyuthan
    When: Sept 25, 2011
    Who: Pilot Kumar Chalise, Shyam GC of Gulmi, Jitendra Jhankri and Hirababu Karki of Kathmandu
    Why: The chopper was on a medical evacuation mission when they had to make an emergency landing.

    Mallarani Hill is in Nepal, the country where the Buddha Air crash occurred yesterday,on the same day as this chopper emergency landing. Another source says the helicopter “made a crash landing at Okharpauwa of Nuwakot due to technical problems.”

    Buddha Air, no connection to Mountain Air other than operating in the same country, suspended domestic flights in mourning for the Buddha Air Crash on Sunday. The victims of the crash will be returned to their families on Monday, Sept 26, 2011, following their autopsy at Tribhuvan University. A committee of 5 has been assigned by Nepal’s Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation to report on the crash within 90 days.

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    Russia: Leaky Flight Turns Back

    I would have to say that this Nordavia (Russia to Turkey) flight had good reason to turn back. I’d be just as alarmed as the flight crew was. From the sound of it, the passengers were lucky if nothing else fell off this plane. I would say that this is one Boeing which was, as they said in the old West, “rode hard and put up wet.” I hope the leaky door seal was the least of their worries.

    MAINTENANCE!

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    Sightseeing Flight atKatmandu ends in Fatal Buddha Air Crash, 19 lost

    What: Buddha Air Beech 1900D performing flight U4-103 from Kathmandu to Kathmandu
    Where: Bisankunarayan Village, Kathmandu
    When: Sep 25th 2011
    Who: 16 passengers and 3 crew
    Why: On the flight were 2 Americans,3 Europeans, 10 Indians, 1 Japanese, and 3 Nepalese crew. The plane encountered foggy, rainy conditions on approach to Katmandu after a sightseeing flight. On approach, the flight lost contact at 7:31 local time, struck the roof of a house, and crashed into Kot Dada Hill.

    Problems with rescue efforts were compounded by heavy rain. Only one individual was retrieved alive by rescue personnel, but that person died.

    The black box has been recovered. A three person investigative team has been commissioned by the Nepalese government.

    The Japanese tourist:
    Uejima Toshinori

    The ten Indian tourists included 8 from Trichy:

    M. Maruthachalam,
    M. Manimaran,
    A.K. Krisunan,
    V.M. Kankasabesan,
    T. Dhansekaran,
    Kattoor Mahalingam,
    Meenakshi Sundaram
    K. Thyagarajan.

    One of these two Indian passengers was employed in Katmandu by the UN
    Pankaj Mehta.
    Chaya Mehta

    The passenger who died in the hospital was a man from Nepal:
    Nirajan Karmacharya

    The flight crew:
    Captain J.B. Tamrakar
    co-pilot Padma Adhikari
    air-hostess Ashmita Adhikari.

    The two Americans:
    Andrew Wade
    Natalie Neilan

    Two passengers from Nepal:
    Jagjan Karmacharya
    Sarda Karmacharya

    WEATHER
    This is a report for Kathmandu Airport, Nepal. The report was made 8 hours and 30 minutes ago, at 11:50 UTC. The wind was blowing at a speed of 4.6 miles per hour (2.1 meters per second) from south/southwest (210°). The temperature was 68 °F (20 °C), with a dew-point at 64 °F (18 °C). The atmospheric pressure was 29.85 inHg (1011 hPa). The relative humidity was 88.3%. There were scattered clouds at a height of 1500 feet (457 meters) and a few cumulonimbus clouds at a height of 2500 feet (762 meters). The sky was overcast from a height of 9000 feet (2743 meter) The overall visibility was 13123 feet (4000 meter). Currently showers of light rain.
    METAR: VNKT 251150Z 21004KT 4000N -SHRA SCT015 FEW025CB OVC090 20/18 Q1011 NOSIG CB TO SE AND NW

    (VFR) (IFR)
    Altimeter: 29.85
    Visibility: 2.5 miles
    Wind: 4 knots (210°)

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    Guam Route Emergencies Reflecting Vigilance or Roulette?

    After four emergency landings in Guam in the past couple of weeks, Continental/United made a statement to the press.

    Actually, four emergency landings…that’s not that unusual, is it? Of course, they were all at the same airport, with the same airline. I’ve written here recently about shabby looking, poorly maintained commercial airlines. As frequently as I fly, I really do not want to worry about whether or not a plane is capable of staying in the air. I don’t want to worry about a crew with a crippling pecking order, or pilots who don’t know how to fly. I really don’t want to worry about a broken plane.

    I am always pointing out the need for maintenance to keep a plane in peak running order. Maintenance is important; and also, the pilots tell me that it is crucial to keep an eye on safety directives, and concurrent events which may reveal crucial matters affecting entire fleets, such as operating parts nearing the end of their lifespan, faulty parts, etc…

    So someone should maybe look closely at those flights, and see if there is some factor that applies. Better to have prevention now, beforehand, than have a disaster happen, and lawyers looking into it after it is too late. Have these Guam flights been problematic in the past? Why are there problems now?I might ask how necessary are those flights?

    About those 4 landings, Koji Nagata Director of Corporate Communications said that:

    “We treat any issue aboard our aircraft seriously and our pilots will not hesitate to declare an emergency, when the situation warrants, in ensuring landing priority and returning our passengers and crew safely to the ground as quickly as possible. Typically a declaration of an emergency is precautionary in nature, as was true with both cases in question, and the situations were effectively managed without incident.”

    Sure it would be great to never have emergencies. However. The time to handle an emergency IS BEFORE it turns tragic. Being able to handle emergencies is one safety skill at the top of the list of pilot skills, and one that can not be separated from the other skill that is becoming alarming among pilots (pilots who are losing the ability to fly due to automation.)

    Sometimes factors are not clear. For example, it is true that in some recent tragic situations like the RusAir jet crash I talked about yesterday, there was a problem in the cockpit that prevented the crew from coping with the emergency. Bad flying? Primitive Airport? Insubordinate navigator and Inexperienced pilot? But it all came down to one conclusion: together or not, at that date and time, they were unable to cope with their emergency-bad weather, foggy landing, a plane that is a flying behemoth landing in a primitive airport, and they took down a whole plane full of people with them.

    And as for the four emergency landings Continental/United experienced recently:
    -the air speed indicator (PITOT tubes? like in AF447),
    – -two landing gear situations
    -and in the Guam flight CO-117, altitude equipment failure (another tube?)

    The landing gear situations could reflect bad tires, hydraulics, landing at too fast, or even runway conditions; altitude and airspeed problems could be anything on the system, from the tubes to the electronics. Only detailed examination will reveal if there is some common cause

    The planes landed safely. An emergency landing, a precautionary landing (whatever they want to call it), they handled the emergencies proactively, and landed safely. It is a whole lot better than the alternative.

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    Drunken Navigator?

    The Russian Interstate Aviation Committee published their report on the June 20 crash of a RusAir jet at Petrozavodsk Airport.

    The crucial factors included poor visibility due to the fog, poor networking among the crew, and the pilot subordinating himself to a navigator in a “light level of intoxication” but was five years older, with 25 years of flight behind him, with 13,000 hours on Tu-134 flights.

    The body of the navigator had a 0.081% blood-alcohol level and it is conjectured that his pre-flight medical was falsified, because the pulse rate is identical to the rest of the crew.

    Although the fleet is aging, no mechanical flaws are cited in the crash. However, according to the Wall Street Journal

    Instead of the automated system required at Russian airports since 1992, investigators said, it measured visibility with nine signposts, but just two of them were illuminated.

    The onboard alarm went off at an altitude 60 meters, when the plane was 270 meters to the right of the runway, eight seconds before it hit the trees and well past the time the navigator should have warned the pilot or the pilot or co-pilot to independently decide to pull up.

    What: Rusline/Rusair Tupolev TU-134A en route from Moscow to Petrozavodsk
    Where: outskirts of the Besovets village, Petrozavodsk, Russia
    When: Jun 20 2011 at 11:40 pm
    Who: 43 passengers and 9 crew, of whom only a flight attendant and 4 passengers survived.
    Why: On approach to the airport, the plane struck the ground about 2600 feet shy of runway 2. On impact, the plane burst into flame, and skidded into the gardens of a residential area, although missing residences.

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    Hoax Alarms Oakland Passengers


    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact photographer Joe Buvid

    What: Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 en route from Seattle to Oakland
    Where: Oakland
    When: Sept 19, 2011
    Who: 126 passengers, 6 crew
    Why: While passengers were winging it from Seattle, a handwritten bomb threat note threatening the Oakland flight was found in an airport bookstore in San Francisco International Airport.

    The flight landed at Oakland as planned—twenty minutes early, due to some background aviation networking. The fake crisis brought in some real FBI agents and real bomb sniffing dogs who got everyone out of the plane (and screened); and the plane was sent to an isolated location to (fortunately, not) blow up. No bomb was found.

    A false report or threat of a bomb or harmful device is punishable by up to four years in prison, a $2,000 fine plus reimbursement of costs to government.

    Sent from 37 thousand feet headed to NY

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    Reno Airshow Fatalities Rise

    What: Aero-Trans Corp. DBA North American P-51D-15-NA Mustang (mod.)
    Where: Reno Stead Airport, Nevada
    When: 16-SEP-2011
    Who: 11 fatalities, 1 aboard (2 on the ground)

    Eleven people have died so far in the Reno air show crash:

    • Pilot Jimmy Leeward
    • Joseph Wogan, 22, of Arizona;
    • George and Wendy Hewitt of Fort Mohave, Ariz;
    • Regina Bynum, 53, of Texas;
    • Sharon Stewart, 47, of Nevada;
    • Greg Morcom, 47, from Washington state.
    • Michael Wogan, 22, of Scottsdale, Ariz.;
    • Regina Bynum, 53, of San Angelo, Texas.
    • Craig Salerno

    Stewart was a paid staff member at the airshow, and Salerno was a volunteer. Spectator Cherie Elvin is missing, and her husband, two sons, and daughter in law each lost part of a leg.

    The names of the seventy injured (and all of the fatalities) have not been released, but there are hundreds of stunning accounts of the accident.

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    TACA Airbus Cockpit Smoking

    What: TACA Peru Airbus A320-200 en route from Lima to Cuzco
    Where: Cuzco
    When: Sep 18th 2011
    Who: 90 passengers
    Why: While en route, the windshield heating system began smoking.

    Pilots continued to Cuzco, stepping up the pace, and made a safe landing, with no injuries. Some passengers erroneously believed the turbine in the right wing was on fire.

    “sobrecalentamiento en el sistema eléctrico de los parabrisas en la cabina de los pilotos originó humo y activó el proceso de emergencia preventiva“, the problem was due to overheating of the windshield heating system, according to TACA, a problem that was essentially a short circuit.