What: American Airlines Boeing 757-200 en route from Boston,MA to Saint Thomas US Virgin Islands
Where: Atlantic
When: Apr 3rd 2011
Who: 157 aboard
Why: While en route, the flight developed a problem with cabin pressure. The flight was 150nm southeast of New York City at the time. They descended to 10,000 feet for the sake of the pressure.
Then the pilots diverted to jfk to make a safe landing.
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Contact photographer Ralf Meyermann
What: Lufthansa Airbus A320-200 en route from Frankfurt to Moscow
Where: Frankfurt
When: Apr 2nd 2011
Who: 80 passengers
Why: Engine exhaust increased in temperature. The pilots returned to Frankfort where they made a safe landing. Passengers were provided a replacement flight 3 hours later.
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Contact photographer Rodrigo Carvalho
What: American Airlines Boeing 767-300 en route from Dallas to Santiago Chile
Where: Dallas
When: Apr 1st 2011
Who: 170 passengers 12 crew
Why: After taking off from Dallas/ft Worth, the crew returned to the airport because of a tail strike. They made a safe landing 30 minutes after takeoff. The flight was cancelled.
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Contact photographer Giovanni Verbeeck
What: Egyptair Airbus A321-200 en route from Brussels (Belgium) to Cairo (Egypt)
Where: Cairo
When: Apr 1st 2011
Who: 76 passengers
Why: On landing at Cairo, the crew aborted the initial approach on receipt of an unsafe gear indication.The plane rotated with the airport to the right, and leveled off.
The cabin crew announced the flight would be landing later due to traffic then made a hard landing on runway 23L. The plane rolled out, with firetrucks on standby. The landing gear was examined on the runway.
What: Eurocopter EC135P2 Helicopter registration OE-BXF
Where: Lake Achensee, Austria
When: March 31, 2011
Who: 4 crew members, 4 fatalities
Why: During a border inspection flight, the helicopter was flying very low, and tipped the surface lightly, the helicopter shot up, then fell. The helicopter had a crew of 3 Tyroleans and one Swiss. The air rescue and mountain guide, Stephen L. (38) was found floating; Pilot Mark P. (41), Mr Herbert F. (53) from the state police, and a Swiss civil servant (43) were not found until evening. They appeared to have been trapped in the cockpit. The pilot had 2,500 flight hours,and the helicopter was new.
Fire and water emergency personnel responded, and (3 rescue helicopters and 43 divers) dive teams are on site using sonar imaging. They are looking for the black box so they can learn the details of the crash.
In 2009 in Syria, two people died in an EC 135 helicopter.
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Contact photographer
What: American Airlines McDonnell Douglas MD-82 en route from Fort Myers to Dallas TX
Where: Jacksonville
When: Mar 30th 2011
Why: While en route, the crew smelled smoke in the cabin.
They diverted to Jacksonville. By the time they landed, the odor dissipated. The plane was examined; and a replacement MD-83 was flown in.
Passengers arrived 2 and a half hours late.
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Contact photographer Frank Robitaille
What: United Airlines Airbus A320-200 en route from Washington to Portland
Where: Chicago
When: Mar 29 2011
Who: 3 unruly passengers and one ill passenger
Why: While en route, three unruly passengers caused the pilot to divert to Chicago for an overweight landing. The passengers disembarked, and the fight continued to Portland, albeit between four and five hours late. The passengers who disembarked were re-screened.
What: Chart Air flight en route from Ngukurr to Katherine
Where: Katherine, Australia
When: March 29, 2011
Why: When the plane’s landing gear did not work properly, the plane circled the airport for 45 minutes. Passengers were “advised to call their loved ones.
Maybe the pilot was young or inexperienced. I don’t know. I do know that it is not all that rare for planes to have landing gear problems. Usually it is something that is handled fairly easily. Usually they foam the runway to prevent a fire, and the plane lands on its belly, usually after flying by the control tower to get visual confirmation on the status of the landing gear.
I’m not sure what I think about telling passengers to make that phone call. That pilot might have caused some unnecessary panic. There will probably be some negative consequences for some of these people who experienced flying on the plane and having the pilot practically promise them their goose was cooked and they were going to die.
Is this Chart Air protocol I wonder? In my opinion, however well-meant it is, it is not particularly a good thing for a pilot to induce panic and terror into one’s passengers.
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Contact photographer Andy Egloff
What: American Eagle Embraer ERJ-145 en route from Oklahoma City,OK to Chicago O’Hare,IL
Where: Kansas City
When: Mar 26th 2011
Who: 1 attendant
Why: While en route to Chicago, the flight encountered turbulence, injuring the flight attendant.
The pilot diverted to Kansas City and made a safe landing.
What: Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-300, en route from Orlando to Chicago
Where: Louisville Kentucky
When: Mar 28 2011 3:00 pm
Who: 101 passengers 5 crew
Why: While en route, the cockpit began to fill with smoke. A pilot saw a problem with the windshield defroster wiring, and turned off the defroster.
The pilots diverted the flight to Louisville where they made a safe landing. Passengers were provided an alternative Boeing flight to Chicago arriving two and a half hours later.
The insurers have had months to move this case along.
They had months to compensate the families of victims. Have they done so?
Word is that they have not.
The one year anniversary of the crash is on May 12.
Look at what we have. No compensation.
Look at the debris field. Do we have spoliation of evidence? Common elements like weather wreak havoc on evidence. Just look at what rust does and you have a pretty good idea of the kind of details can be erased by weather. So if the evidence has been defaced by exposure to the elements, how might spoilation of evidence affect the case? No doubt it will result in a series of failed attempts. Failure to secure evidence. Inability to analyze degraded evidence. Obfuscated results.
For crash investigators, fresh evidence can be as easy to read as a book. Waiting until the evidence is unintelligible leaves us with no Rosetta Stone to help us get to the cause. Another missed opportunity to make aviation a little safer. Another missed opportunity to bring closure to the families who were immeasurably damaged by this crash.
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Contact photographer Alan LebedaWhat: Trans Air Congo Antonov AN-12 en route from Brazzaville to Pointe Noire
Where: between the Roy and Kitoko area in Mvou-Mvou, Pointe-Noire, Congo
When: Mar 21st 2011 3:30pm
Who: 19 killed, 14 injured.
Why: The crew attempted an emergency landing on the sea but failed. The attempted landing was less than successful although there are reports that the pilot managed to get out of the plane before it stopped.
They were over a residential area and had been cleared to land when the Antonov AN-12 struck the residential neighborhood Mvou-Mvou. After striking buildings, the plane caught fire.
Although the plane was not permitted to carry passengers, it appears that there were 5 passengers aboard in addition to the 4 Russian crew members. Twenty buildings were destroyed (burned and covered in debris), including residences and a school. The ICAO had reported the plane TN-AGK as not airworthy in 2006. (It is certainly not airworthy now.) The plane is a total loss.
While some news reports say that the number of injured were passengers, other reports say that there were 9 aboard, and that the rest of the injured and casualties were in Mvou-Mvou at the time of the crash. The weather conditions were said to be “good” at the time. There was apparently a technical problem which caused them to attempt to ditch in the ocean, (or a technical problem preventing them from landing in the ocean). The cause of the crash is unresolved. It is being investigated.
Trans Air Congo is based in Brazzaville, the capital of the Republic of Congo.
What: Helicopter over Dallas
Where: Regal Row and Empress Row
When: March 18, 2011, 9:30
Who: 3 passengers
Why: A helicopter a mile and a half from Dallas Love Field Airport had to make an emergency landing at the intersection of Regal Row and Empress Row when an air conditioning belt overheated.
There were no injuries.
What: Delta en route from Grand Rapids to Detroit
Where: Gerald R Ford International Airport
When: March 19 2011
Who: 55 passengers
Why: After departure from Grand Rapids, the plane developed smoke in the cockpit. The pilot returned to the airport where he made a safe landing. Passengers disembarked on the runway and were ported back to the terminal.
What: Aragon Fire Brigade government helicopter
Where: Camarena, near Teruel Spain
When: March 19 2011 13.30 am
Who: 7 aboard, 6 killed, 1 injured
Why: While en route to put out a fire outbreak in the area of ??Villel, 6 firemen died in a helicopter crash in Spain.
Two helicopters assisted in the recovery of the bodies and rescue of the injured. The one survivor was taken to Hospital Obispo Polanco of Teruel where he is intubated after suffering broken ribs and head trauma. Psychologists of the 112 Emergency Center are meet relatives and colleagues of those affected.
The President of Aragon, Marcelino Iglesias, and the Minister for the Environment, Alfredo Bone have traveled to Teruel. The initial fire which called out the fire helicopter has been controlled.
We haven’t heard yet the make of the helicopter, or the names of those involved. The world is always worse off after we lose our heroes in tragic circumstances.
Pictured: Not N339NG but another DHC-8-402Q Dash 8
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Contact photographer Nino Buda-CYYZ Aviation Photography
What: Colgan Air de Havilland Dash 8-400 on behalf of Continental Airlines en route from Cleveland,OH to Baltimore,MD
Where: Pittsburgh
When: Mar 17th 2011
Who: not available
Why: While en route, left engine indicated a fire.
The crew shut down the engine and diverted to Pittsburgh where they made a safe landing 30 minutes after the initial alert. There were no injuries.
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Contact photographer Propfreak
What: AM Transporte Aereo Militar Xian MA-60 en route from La Paz to Rurrenabaque
Where: Rurrenabaque Bolivia
When: Mar 18th 2011
Who: 33 aboard
Why: On landing at Rurrenabaque the landing gear failed to deploy. The flight performed a belly landing with no injuries reported. Minor damage on the plane. The gear problem may have been due to a hydraulic leak but the circumstances are under investigation.
March 20 is the date the search starts again, more on that below.
So yesterday, Thursday, was Airbus’s turn in court–
Today, Friday, Air France has been called in its turn before a judge in France to get its hand slapped. Or get in preparation to get its hand slapped, in ten years or so. Anyway, Air France is also on the mat.
Or, as they call it in France, (to be purists here) Mise en examen
This is a criminal investigation. It is a matter of FRENCH LAW. As it was explained to me, “Every air accident is also a criminal matter, and a judge is appointed to oversee the investigation and follow up including charges if any to be filed.”
So what was the problem with the flight? It crashed. It killed lots of people No one knows for sure why. (Though to some of us it seems obvious.) No black boxes, right? But we’re not idiots. We have plenty of information about what was going on. Not everything, of course, but we have the messages sent by the plane’s computers. They reflect faulty readings which are believed to be the result of faulty pitot tube readings and a series of system failures. We would have a rounder picture of events if the black boxes, which hold crucial information were not misplaced somewhere in the Atlantic. They think they know where it is, (or at least they say they know or say they think they know) based on drift and whatnot (heavy on the whatnot.) But millions have been spent finding this needle in a stack of needles under the ocean, in a submarine mountain range. Nearly 30 million dollars has been spent on the search for the black boxes so far. The cost of the new search is shared by Airbus and Air France and will cost 12.5 million.
What about the details about the mise en examen preliminary manslaughter charges filed Thursday against Airbus? They were filed in French court by Judge Sylvie Zimmerman over the 2009 deaths of 228 people aboard Air France Flight 447. Fatal accidents automatically prompt criminal probes running concurrent with civil investigations, but a couple of points which may not be obvious to Americans not versed in French Justice are that the charges may be issued pending further investigation, and may hinge on the black boxes which have not been found and may never be found; AND the dual investigation slows things down. That may be one item that delayed the Concord trial 10 years after the accident. You’ve seen pictures of a guy walking around with a tiny ankle-biting dog chewing on the hem of one pants leg? Well, instead of a chihuahua, picture the entire french justice system. Might tend to slow down ones progress, do you think?
So Air France will be in court Friday, ie today. Watch the news, because what we saw yesterday about Airbus, we’ll see today about Air France. I hope the families are getting some satisfaction from this, because it is going to be a long (long long long) time before they feel like they’re actually being heard, not herded into obscurity.
What: Delta Boeing 737-800 en route from Fort Lauderdale to Minneapolis
Where: Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport
Who: 119 passengers 6 crew
Why: After takeoff from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, the Boeing suffered engine failure and had to turn back to the airport, sprinkling bits and pieces of the damaged engine over Florida. The plane made a safe landing. Passengers disembarked and transferred to an alternative flight which reached Minneapolis with considerable delay but no further trouble.
What: Orange County Sheriff’s Office helicopter
Where: intersection of South Orange Blossom Trail and Holden Avenue, Orlando
When: March 13, 2011
Who: Pilot and crew
Why: While en route, the helicopter began making a strange sound. The crew decided to land, and made an emergency landing at the mall. The helicopter originated at Orlando Executive Airport.
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Contact photographer Erick Lopez Collection
What: Ameriflight Fairchild SA-227-AC Metro III en route from Lewiston to Seattle Boeing Airfield Where: Seattle
When: Mar 10th 2011,
Who: pilot
Why: On landing in wind shear conditions, the pilot came in with late clearance to land, and veered off the runway. The fire department sprayed with foam. There were no injuries but the plane incurred gear collapse and propeller damage. The accident tied up the runway and led to diversions.
Click to view© Anatoliy Uvarenko
What: International Aviation Training Center Tecnam P2006T
Where: Kiev Ukraine
When: Mar 11, 2011
Who: 4 aboard, 4 fatalities
Why: The plane owned by International Aviation Training Center fell in a tailspin and crashed near Vasilkova. It was a new plane, and the cause of the accident has not been determined. It is however, the second problem this plane has had. On its first flight it apparently had to return after 20 minutes due to problems.
What: Comair flight en route from Atlanta to Charleston
Where: Lexington Bluegrass Airport
When: Mar 10, 2011
Who: passengers include 9 Marshall assistant football coaches
Why: After visiting Texas Christian University and Mississippi state, Marshall coaches reunited in Atlanta with the intent of returning to Atlanta on the same plane.
Prior to takeoff, that plane developed unknown issues and the flight was delayed as a replacement plane had to be brought in.
Then, while en route, the replacement plane developed a problem with the landing gear. The pilot diverted to Lexington Bluegrass Airport and made a safe landing.
While they apparently endured the flight with aplomb and some extra prayers, there was no outward panic, but one can only guess how the coaches felt. With two problems on two separate planes, they were no doubt remembering the fatal 1970 plane crash that took Marshall’s football team. Is Marshall University cursed or what? If I went to Marshall, or especially played football for Marshall, I’dt be thinking about alternative transportation.
What: Desert Sand Aircraft Leasing de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter 100
Where: SW of Clayton County Airport-Tara Field, GA
When: 08 MAR 2011
Who: 2 fatalities
Why: The Desert Sand Aircraft Leasing flight piloted by 37-year-old Bryan Hedrick crashed at 11:45 am on March 8, 2011 on a post maintenance flight run. The maintenance was done by National Aerotech Aviation, and the maintenance flight was headed toward Tara Field when the plane went down for an unknown reason, and landed upside down, with the tail leaning on a tree, the right wing off and twisted, and the left wing folded back.
Both the pilot and passenger Oriel Roberts died in the crash.
photo: Pictured a Hawker Sidley HS 125
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Contact photographer Giovanni Verbeeck
What: King’s Aviation Hawker Sidley HS 125 registration 5N-BNR
Where: Bauchi Airport, Nigeria
When: 08 MARCH 2011
Who: Nuhu Ribadu, presidential candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria
Why: On landing at the airport, the plane struck goats on the runway.
The plane owned by Wings Aviation incurred some damage. No one aboard the flight was injured, but the director of media and publicity of the Nuhu Ribadu Campaign Organisation is calling the invasion of goats on the runway a sign of sabotage.
