What: Beechcraft BE-36 Bonanza en route from Miami to Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais Where: Venezuela When: 6 p.m. Brasilia time on July 11 Who: Mauricio Lustosa de Castro, CEO of Magnesita Refratorios SA Why: Mauricio Lustosa de Castro’s private plane was last heard from in a distress call in Bolivar. Following the distress call a search and rescue began around July 13, though the incident was deemed a fatal crash on July 11.
What: Cathay Pacific Boeing 747-400 en route from Hong Kong China to Sapporo Japan Where: Fukuoka When: Jul 19th 2009 Who: 398 on board Why: After smoke filled the cabin, the flight diverted to Fukuoka Japan. The smoke was attributed to an air conditioning leak which was repaired so that the flight was continued less than four hours later.
What: Lion Air Boeing 737-300, en route from Jakarta to Mongonsidi airport, South East Sulawesi Where: Sultan Hasanuddin airport in Makassar When: 5 pm Jul 18th 2009 Who: 132 passengers 6 crew members Why: The plane made an emergency landing because of a “crack on the glass of its cockpit window,” according to information released by Lion Air.
What: Air Canada Airbus A320-200 en route from Vancouver, BC to Calgary Where: Vancouver When: Jul 16th 2009 Why: After takeoff, the plane experienced engine failure, and the airbus returned to Vancouver after being in the air for less than half an hour.
What: Germanwings Airbus A319-100 en route from Pula Croatia to Berlin Where: Schoenefeld Airport When: Jul 16th 2009 Why: The airbus landed at Schoenefeld with gear issues and had to be towed off the runway.
What: An Iranian Caspian Airlines Russian-made Tupolev passenger jet en route from Tehran (Iran) to Yerevan Where: near Jannatabad village 75 miles northwest of Tehran When: July 15 2009, crashed 11:30 am, 16 minutes after takeoff Who: 153 passengers and 15 crew including eight members of Iran’s youth judo team and two trainers. Another report said simply there were “over 150” aboard. Why: After the pilot complained of technical problems, witnesses reported that the plane caught on fire while still in the air, then smashed up when it hit the ground.
Update:
The Russian-made plane’s Russian-made black boxes have been found. They are badly burned; however, and may be sent to Russia for assistance in data recovery. There is already a Russian team on the way to help investigate. An Iranian Insurance company promises $58,000 to the families of victims.
The 22-year-old TU-154M has not been produced since 1996. Most of the passengers were Iranian; seven were Armenians or Georgians. One Canadian woman and her son (Nana Antasyam and her son, Edward Khachik ) were reportedly also on board, as well as a pair of Australian siblings who may have had dual citizenship.
What: Beechcraft 36 Bonanza en route from Hawthorne Municipal Airport Where: Los Angeles (3901 W. Jack Northrop Ave) When: 4:20 p.m. Who: 3 people on board including a flight instructor Why: After takeoff, the pilot experienced mechanical difficulties and crashed in a parking lot, killing everyone aboard.
The plane is registered to CARPET PROS INC, LOS ANGELES
What: Air Canada Airbus A319-100 en route from Toronto to Bridgetown Where: Over the Atlantic Ocean… When: Jul 15th 2009 Who: Why: En route to Barbados, a fuel leak was discovered; the flight returned to Toronto where passengers debarked safely and were eventually provided another Airbus.
View Qazvin, Iran in a larger map What: An Iranian Caspian Airlines Russian-made Tupolev passenger jet en route from Tehran (Iran) to Yerevan Where: near Jannatabad village 75 miles northwest of Tehran When: July 15 2009, crashed 11:30 am, 16 minutes after takeoff Who: 153 passengers and 15 crew including eight members of Iran’s youth judo team and two trainers. Another report said simply there were “over 150” aboard. Why: After the pilot complained of technical problems, witnesses reported that the plane caught on fire while still in the air, then smashed up when it hit the ground.
As it flew overhead, burning pieces of the plane were falling to the ground, setting of fires as they hit the ground,
Other sources say that after one engine caught on fire, the pilot attempted a landing in a wheat field. A witness Abul-Fazel Idaji made statements released on the internet explaining that just before the plane hit the ground, “its wheels were out and there was fire coming from the lower parts.” An eighteen year old farmer said “I was driving my tractor when I saw a big fire in the sky.” Another witness said the plane circled as if looking for a place to land, before it crashed. The sound it made is described as being like an earthquake, and some people thought that they had been bombed. The impact with the ground created a 10 meters deep crater. No survivors. Local villagers had carried off parts of the plane. Nothing identifiable remained of the passengers who reportedly were Armenian or Georgian.
Most public statements attempt to blame the crash on US sanctions; however, the TU-154 is a Russian made plane with Russian made components, and a very old, noisy and rickety one, at that, and banned from European airspace.
What: R44 Astro Helicopter en route to Nelson in rural Butte County Where: Near Yuba River, Marysville, California When: 07/13/2009 at 1700 hrs Who: 3 crew members aboard Why: N244HP, A ROBINSON R44 ROTORCRAFT, STRUCK A POWERLINE AND FORCE LANDED on its side 10 MILES FROM MARYSVILLE, CA on the bank of the South Yuba River.
What: Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-300 en route from St. Louis to Orlando Where: Orlando When: Jul 14th 2009 Who: 134 passengers Why: On approach to Orlando, an APU fire was indicated; however, after the passengers debarked, there was no trace of fire of heat or found by the fire crew.
We have found conflicting reports whether or not there was an actual fire within the apu that resisted being put out, or a control panel indication of a fire that did not exist.
What: US Airways Airbus A320-200 en route from Phoenix to Oakland Where: San Francisco International When: Jul 13th 2009 Who: 147 passengers Why: Nose gear steering of the US Airways Airbus failed on approach to Oakland. The flight was diverted to San Francisco, where nose gear operation apparently was recovered prior to landing.
What: Southwest Airlines 737 en route from Nashville to Baltimore Where: Charleston’s Yeager Airport When: 6:30 p.m Monday July 13 Who: 126 passengers and five crew Why: While en route, the cabin depressurized when a hole (metal fatigue?) approximately the size of a football appeared in the fuselage. The plane managed to land safely in Charleston West Virginia. The NTSB is investigating.
(News photos don’t look football sized, but it is sure big enough to see plenty of daylight through.)
George’s Point of View
The 737 is a true workhorse, built to land and takeoff almost without too much delay except to load and unload passengers.
I fly Southwest to Las Vegas all the time. It’s a short hop.
I must admit, that every time I fly in one of these planes I have begun to worry about the age and/or the fatigue of the structure. A trip like one from LA to Vegas, most times, is a beating on the passengers and the plane itself. My guess is that 4 out of 5 of these short trips encounter turbulence, sometimes bad turbulence. This beats up the plane. In this case, the plane being beaten up was manufactured in 1994. That’s a lot of years of turbulence abuse. Metal fatigue in these conditions is not surprising, and neither is it completely unexpected. An inspection on this plane last January revealed eight cracks in the frame that required repairs.
I’m just glad it was a BOEING, and that the pilot remained in control of the aircraft. And of course, it’s a good thing that Southwest is now inspecting all of their planes for fatigue. Last year Southwest was fined $7.5 million for overdue inspections. I hope this is not going to be a repeat of last year. All the timely inspections in the world aren’t going to make this plane any younger. Maybe it’s time to put this particular plane out to pasture.
What: Delta en route from Dayton to Atlanta Where: Chattanooga When: July 13 10:45 am Why: En route to Atlanta, the pilot smelled smoke and decided to land at the nearest airport which happened to be Chattanooga.
What: Air India A319-100 en route from Mumbai to Kolkata Where: near Aurangabad When: Jul 11th 2009 7:08 pm Who: 88 passengers 6 crew Why: After takeoff, one engine failed, and the crew decided to return to Mumbai rather than fly without a backup engine. After three hours, the passengers were provided a replacement plane.
What: Philippine Airlines A343 en route from Manila to Vancouver, BC Where: Vancouver BC When: Jul 9th 2009 Why: While over the Pacific, the pilot shut down one of the engines for an unspecified reason. They landed under emergency circumstances without assistance in Vancouver. No injuries were reported.
What: American Eagle Embraer ERJ-145 en route from Dallas to Dayton Ohio Where: Dallas When: Jul 11th 2009 Who: 43 passengers Why: Just after takeoff, the flight experienced issues with hydraulics. The landing gear failed to extend. Nearly an hour after leaving, the flight landed safely at the airport of origin, although “alternate gear extension” implementation was required.
American Eagle is affiliated with American Airlines.
What: Air Malta Airbus A320-200 en route from Malta to Amsterdam Where: Malta When: Jul 6th 2009 Who: 167 passengers Why: The Air Malta Airbus A320-200 was en route when it experienced a problem with the nosegear and had to return to Malta where it did a flyby for air traffic control to get a look at the nosegear.
What: Thomas Cook Airlines Airbus A330-200 en route from Belfast to Orlando Where: Norfolk When: Jul 10th 2009 Who: 265 Why: En route, an engine started vibrating and had to be shut down. The crew decided to divert to Norfolk,VA
George’s Point of View
Another Airbus.
Shutting down the engine is standard operating procedure, and at the same time, it is a near fatality because the pilot had to shut down that vibrating engine while the plane was still over the Atlantic Ocean, 60 miles from land. Can you imagine what was going through this Airbus pilot’s head as he made the decision to shut down that engine? No doubt he was thinking about last month’s two latest Airbus tragedies: Air France flight 447, or perhaps the Yemenia Airlines Airbus.
I know how overdramatic this sounds. Pilots shut down engines all of the time. it’s the very reason they fly with more than one. Just in case. Pilot training covers how to fly on the remaining engines. But this is just July 2009. Even the most well -trained Airbus pilot has last month’s story of Air France flight 447 in his mind, especially when he’s flying something that fails over the ocean.
This Thomas Cook Flight wasn’t experiencing a subtle problem. It wasn’t some subtle, quiet control panel error that could be handled as passengers flew along blissfully unaware and uninformed. In interviews of passengers, they are quoted as describing the engine as “vibrating” or “clackity.” No doubt there were 530 sweaty palms on that plane.
This was one of at least 5 airbus events we heard about today–and it is not in fact, even a complete listing. Hopefully at least the pilot gets serious credit for getting these people safely on the ground.
Who in the world is going to intercede and demand that Airbuses (every model) get checked from A-Z BEFORE they take off ‘in every part of the globe’? Vero?
What: Turkish Airlines Airbus A340-300 en route from Istanbul Turkey to Casablanca, Morocco Where: Ataturk Airport (Istanbul) When: Jul 9th 2009 Who: 223 passengers Why: The plane had an undisclosed problem and returned to the airport where it landed safely.
What: Northwest Flight Airbus 330 en route from San Francisco to Tokyo Where: SFO When: Thursday, 09 July 2009 Who: 194 passengers Why: The flight took off without issues but developed a problem in one of its engines When the engine compressor failed, the flow of air to the engine was disrupted, and the flight had to return to the airport for a safe landing.
What: Saudi Arabian Airlines Airbus A300-600 en route from Riyadh (Saudi Arabia) to Khartoum Where: Khartoum When: Jul 7th 2009 Who: 310 passengers and 16 crew Why: On approach, the crew reported problems with the braking system. The plane swerved while landing but no injuries or damage was reported.
What: Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-300 en route from Baltimore to Providence Where: BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport When: Jul 7th 2009 Who: 135 on board Why: On takeoff, the plane flew into a flock of birds. About 40 small birds were found on the runway after the incident. The plane landed shortly after the bird strike. The plane was sent to be examined; and another plane was provided about 5 hours later to resume the flight.
What: Merpati Nusantara Airlines Boeing 737-400 en route from Biak to Ujung Pandang, Indonesia Where: Biak When: Jul 6th 2009 Who: 110 passengers and 6 crew Why: On take off, the left main wheel (rolled or fell? entire wheel or tire?) was lost. After takeoff, the plane burned off fuel and landed safely (even without the wheel), apparently without substantial damage, as the plane reportedly resumed the flight 24 hours later.
What: Qantas Airbus A380-800 en route from Singapore to London Where: London Heathrow When: Jul 4th 2009 Why: The first approach was aborted due to a nose gear issue. After landing, nose gear steering failed, and the plane was towed. However, repairs were made so that on the return flight, the delay was only about two hours.
