How is it that an illegal alien who owned a Boston flight school taught foreign nationals how to fly planes, and some of them got their licenses?
25 foreign nationals received approval by TSA to begin flight training. Eight students had entered the country illegally and seventeen had overstayed their allowed period. Six actually got their licenses. The flight school owner had not undergone TSA security threat assessment, had not been approved for flight training by TSA, but held two Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) pilot licenses (FAA certificates.)
What: Jet Blue en route from Syracuse to NYC, Kennedy Airport Where: Long Island When: July 15, 2012 Who: pilot Why: The flight was on approach to Kennedy when a laser struck the first officer in the eye. The jet made a safe landing, but the pilot suffered an eye injury. The green laser pointed directly into the cockpit and flashed twice when the jet was at 5,000 feet. First Officer Robert Pemberton was taken to Jamaica Hospital.
The FBI and the FAA are investigating. The source appears to be from West Islip, Babylon or Lindenhurst.
What: American Airlines Boeing 757 en route from Aruba to Miami Where: Miami When: July 10, 2012 Who: 185 passengers, 6 crew, 12 injured Why: While en route thirty minutes from landing, the flight encountered some turbulence. Fifteen seconds worth of turbulence was enough to knock people around. People were knocked out of their seats, and at least one person hit the ceiling. Some of the injured were treated at the airport and some at a Miami hospital.
What: Delta en route from Minneapolis to St Louis Where: Eastern Iowa Airport When: July 11, 2012, 6 pm Who: 150 aboard Why: The Delta flight was en route from Minneapolis to St Louis when it lost an engine. Pilots diverted to Cedar Rapids Iowa and made a safe landing.
Johnson and Linn County fire crews were reported as first responders. No injuries were reported.
What: US Airways Airbus A330-300 en route from Charlotte to Rome Where: Philadelphia When: July 10, 2012, 10:00 pm Who: 176 passengers, 12 crew, 5 crew ill Why: While en route, a number of US Airways flight crew became sick from smelling an odor. The pilot diverted to Philadelphia where they made a safe landing. Passengers were provided an alternative flight.
The flight crew was hospitalized. The fumes that made them ill have not been identified.
The crew possessed the licenses and ratings required to undertake the flight.
The aeroplane possessed a valid Certificate of Airworthiness, and had been
maintained in accordance with the regulations.
The aeroplane’s weight and balance were within operational limits.
The aeroplane had taken off from Rio de Janeiro without any known technical
problems, except on one of the three radio management panels.
The composition of the crew was in accordance with the operator’s procedures.
The meteorological situation was not exceptional for the month of June in the
inter-tropical convergence zone.
There were powerful cumulonimbus clusters on the route of AF 447. Some of
them could have been the centre of some notable turbulence.
An additional meteorological analysis showed the presence of strong
condensation towards AF 447’s flight level, probably associated with convection
phenomena.
The precise composition of the cloud masses above 30,000 feet is little known,
in particular with regard to the super-cooled water/ice crystal divide, especially
with regard to the size of the latter.
Several aeroplanes that were flying before and after AF 447, at about the same
altitude, altered their routes in order to avoid cloud masses.
The crew had identified some returns on the weather radar and made a heading
change of 12° to the left of their route.
At the time of the autopilot disconnection, the Captain was taking a rest.
The departure of the Captain was done without leaving any specific instructions
for crossing the ITCZ.
There was an implicit designation of a pilot as relief Captain.
There was an inconsistency between the speeds measured, likely following the
blockage of the Pitot probes by ice crystals.
The AP then the A/THR disconnected while the aeroplane was flying at the upper
limit of a slightly turbulent cloud layer.
The aeroplane systems detected an inconsistency in the measured airspeeds. The
flight control law was reconfigured to alternate 2B.
No failure message on the ECAM clearly indicates the detection by the system of
an inconsistency in measured airspeeds.
The pilots detected an anomaly through the autopilot disconnection warning
that surprised them.
The engines functioned normally and always responded to the crew’s inputs.
The PNF called out imprecise flight path corrections. They were however essential
and sufficient for short-term management of the situation.
The last recorded values were a pitch attitude of 16.2 degrees nose-up, roll of
5.3#degrees to the left and a vertical speed of -10,912 ft/min.
The Pitot probes installed on F-GZCP met requirements that were stricter than
the certification standards.
Analysis of the events related to the loss of airspeed indications had led Airbus
and Air France to replace C16195AA Pitot probes by the C16195BA model. The
first aeroplane had been modified on 30 May#2009.
EASA had analyzed Pitot probe icing events; it had confirmed the severity of the
failure and had decided not to make the probe change mandatory.
The flight was not transferred between the Brazilian and Senegalese control
centres.
Between 8 h 22 and 9 h 09, the first emergency alert messages were sent by the
Madrid and Brest control centres.
The crew was not able to use the ADS-C and CPDLC functions with DAKAR Oceanic.
If the connection had been established, the loss of altitude would have generated
an alert on the controller’s screen.
The first floating aeroplane parts were found 5 days after the accident.
The flight recorders were recovered 23 months after the accident.
The accident occurred after the following events:
Temporary inconsistency between the airspeed measurements, likely following
the obstruction of the Pitot probes by ice crystals that, in particular, caused the
autopilot disconnection and the reconfiguration to alternate law;
Inappropriate control inputs that destabilized the flight path;
The lack of any link by the crew between the loss of indicated speeds called out
and the appropriate procedure;
The late identification by the PNF of the deviation from the flight path and the
insufficient correction applied by the PF;
The crew not identifying the approach to stall, their lack of immediate response
and the exit from the flight envelope;
The crew’s failure to diagnose the stall situation and consequently a lack of inputs
that would have made it possible to recover from it.
What: Hevilift Bell 206 Where: Mt Hagen in the PNG Southern Highlands. When: July 6, 2012 Who: 3 aboard Why: A helicopter is missing in Papua New Guinea. The pilot Russell Aikten recently achieved some fame after rescuing victims of the “Black Saturday” fire, and used to fly the Westpac Surf Life Saving Rescue Helicopter.
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority and Hevilift are deploying teams to search for Captain Aikten, Chief pilot Antony Annan, and engineer Emmett Fynn. They left a mayday call about five minutes after leaving the InterOil Drill Rig site at 3.25pm Friday. They were en route to Creek to re-fuel and flying in an area reported to have low visibility at the time.
After days of searching, nothing has been found. Tuesday searchers will be using a helicopter fitted with a magnetometer, used to detect large mineral deposits. They hope it will pick up metal from the missing aircraft. The Australian Defence Force will be deploying two Blackhawks to assist in the search, in addition to the aero-medical evacuation team, additional observers and a downed aircraft recovery team.
What: Air India Airbus A-319 en route from Abu Dhabi to New Delhi Where: Nawabshah 3:37 a.m. When: July 9, 2012 Who: 122 passengers and six crew Why: While en route, the flight developed problems with three hydraulic systems. The crew diverted to Nawabshah Pakistan. According to news reports, “The captain preferred to keep passengers on board.”
Air India is sending a team of eight engineers to Nawabshah to repair the plane and return it.
The shuttle sent to return with the stranded passengers is expected to return by 4 pm.
What: Kenya Police Air Wing Eurocopter AS 350B3e Ecureuil Where: Ngong Hills, near Nairobi Kenya When: June 10, 2012 Who: 6 aboard Update: The Kenyan Commission of Inquiry established to look into the June 10 helicopter crash in the Kibiku Forest in Kenya is set to hold its first formal session on July 16. The container holding the wreckage will be stored at the Kenya Police Air-Wing facility at the Wilson Airport.
The Kenya Police Airwing Unit Commandant Rodgers Mbithi will be appearing as the first witness.
The pilots involved, Captain Nancy Gituanja and Luke Oyugi, underwent pilot training in the Ukraine in April 2009.
According to commission members, the intent of the commission is “…not to apportion blame, but to prevent occurrence.”
Fatalities included Minister of State for Provincial Administration and Internal Security George Saitoti and his permanent secretary Orwa Ojode, pilots Luke Oyugi and Nancy Gituanja and bodyguards Inspector Joshua Tonkei and Sergeant Thomas Murimi.
What: Chopper II LLC Aérospatiale AS 350B Astar en route from from Sedona to Scottsdale. Where: Sedona AZ When: June 30, 2012 Who: 4 aboard, 4 fatalities Why: A Aérospatiale AS 350B Astar, N729DP that was reported overdue on Saturday was found by a private pilot at 8:45 a..m. Sunday crashed into the Verde river south of Camp Verde, Arizona. According to FAA reports, “THE 4 PERSONS ON BOARD WERE FATALLY INJURED.”
The wreckage was consistent with a pilot flying at low speed and low altitude.
The remains were found of the pilot, 70-year-old Raymond Perry of Phoenix, 68-year-old passenger Karen Stinn of Cave Creek and 63-year-old Mike Dunaway and 64-year-old Linda Dunaway of Glendale. They were taken to Yavapai County Medical Examiner’s Office. Perry is the CEO of the Arriba Mexican Grill restaurant chain.
A helicopter mechanic reported that it looked as if the chopper nose-dived and the blades from the chopper and the transmission tore through the main cabin where the pilot and passengers were sitting. Wind may have factored in. The helicopter was found in the Verde river.
What: Tentara Nasional Indonesia-AU (Air Force) Fokker F-27 Friendship 400M Where: Jakarta Indonesia When: June 21, 2012, 15:00 hrs. Who: 7 aboard Why: The flight was engaged in maneuvers when it crashed into a Jakarta neighborhood in the Rajawali housing complex (the Air Force Eagle Complex, at Halim Perdanakusuma airport.). It is reported that everyone aboard the flight except the co-pilot died in the crash. The co-pilot survived; and several people inside the buildings also died on the ground. A fireball erupted in the neighborhood. Some residents were hospitalized with burns.
Major Flight Heri Setiawan (captain pilot), Sergeant Major Simulanto, Sahroni Flight Lieutenant, Captain Agus Supriyadi Engineering, Purwo First Sergeant, Master Sergeant Wahyudi (Engineering Squadron 021) were confirmed killed in the crash.
Skies were clear at the time of the accident.
The names of the victims who were in the housing were not released. Video below
What: Jetblue Airbus A320-200 en route from Las Vegas to New York Where: Las Vegas When: June 17 Who: 135 passengers Why: After taking off from Las Vegas, “yellow” hydraulics aboard the jet blue flight failed, leading the pilot to declare an emergency and return to the airport due to “mechanical indications.”
Passengers were getting airsick due to the plane’s rocking locomotion, and described the flight as nightmarish.
On landing, the plane was towed, as the steering was reported as inoperable. video below
What: All Nippon Airways Boeing 767-300 en route from Beijing to Tokyo Where: Tokyo When: June 20, 2012 Who: 190 aboard Why: On nosegear touchdown, the jet received damage, bouncing before securing the landing and making it to the gate. No injuries were reported.
What: Greater Houston Soaring Assn I.C.A. Brasov IS-28B2 Where: Highway 36 at Cougar Road GHSA-Wallis Glideport, Wallis, TX When: June 17, 2012 Who: 3 fatalities, 3 aboard Why: Investigators say that the glider was attached by rope 200 feet long, to another aircraft when it crashed during the climb. At 75 feet, the tow rope broke,
The pilot, his daughter in law and her son died in the accident. The victims were named as 68-year-old Fred Blair, the glider pilot; his daughter-in-law, 32-year-old Matilda Blair; and his grandson, 3-year-old Andrew Blair.
What: HeliCusco Sikorsky S-58ET en route from Mazuco to Cusco Where: Hualla Hualla Peru When: June 6 2012 Who: 14 aboard Why: The helicopter carrying two Peruvian crew members and 12 passengers (mostly Korean) is confirmed to have crashed in Hualla Hualla in the Cusco region in southern Peru on Mama Rosa mountain. The flight had gone missing on June 6 in a high Andes region of cloudy mountaintops. Difficulty retrieving the remains of eight Koreans, a Dutchman, a Swede, a Czech and three Peruvians, is due to the crash elevation of nearly 5,000 meters (16,393 feet). Between the elevation, weather and terrain, an air approach is impossible, and recovery crews had to approach by land. The consuls of Korea and Austria were in Cuzco to find out about the search for their fallen countrymen.
The recovery operation was suspended Saturday afternoon because of bad weather.
In addition to the police patrol, the parties of the High Mountain Unit included at least eight agents, a team of medical examiners and assistant prosecutors.
One of the videos below includes footage of locals hand carrying the remains down the mountain.
The eight Koreans who lost their lives in the accident will be returned to Korea on Sunday.
Jet Airways is suspending its Mumbai and Johannesburg route, leaving the field open for South African Airways, which is increasing flights between those cities by an additional weekly flight, beginning June 16th.
However, other sources report that South African Airways is canceling direct flights between London and Cape Town. Will British Airways and Emirates be filling in the gap?
Business Day asks if Cape Town can realise the dream of using its global location to take advantage of growing international trade. Cape Town International is South Africa’s second-largest airport and was named Africa’s leading airport in the 2012 World Airport Awards.
What: Kenya Police Air Wing Eurocopter AS 350B3e Ecureuil Where: Ngong Hills, near Nairobi Kenya When: June 10, 2012 8:30 a.m. Who: 6 aboard, 6 fatalities Why: Minister of State for Provincial Administration and Internal Security George Saitoti and his permanent secretary Orwa Ojode, pilots Luke Oyugi and Nancy Gituanja and bodyguards Inspector Joshua Tonkei and Sergeant Thomas Murimi, died in a helicopter crash in Ngong Forest in the outskirts of Nairobi, Kenya. The remains were badly burned. There were no survivors.
The helicopter was en route to a church service.
Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki declared three days of official mourning, and said a full investigation into the crash is planned. “On behalf of the Government and the people of Kenya I send my heartfelt condolences to the family, friends and relatives of the six Kenyans.”
What: Roadside Ventures LLC Pilatus PC-12/47 en route to Kansas Where: Tiger Creek Swamp area, Lake Wales, Polk County, Florida When: June 7, 2012, 12:36 Who: 6 aboard, 6 fatalities Why: After taking off from Fort Pierce, the plane returning the Bramlage family from Bermuda began having trouble at 28,000 feet, and crashed in a remote area in Florida in an area of the Tiger Creek Preserve reachable by helicopters and all-terrain vehicles. The remains of the pilot 45-year-old Ronald,his wife Rebecca, 15-year-old Brandon, 11-year-old Bo, and 8-yea- old Roxanne have been recovered. Thirteen year old Boston is missing. There is a gaping hole in the plane, and the NTSB and FAA is speculating that Boston may have been sucked from the plane while in the air.
Witnesses in the Babson Park area heard a loud noise and apparently witnessed mechanical issues. Some witnesses saw the plane “twirling” before it crashed; other witnesses saw the plane flip and fly upside down.
The recovery party says the debris field covers hundreds of acres and that the plane came apart in the air. The investigation is being conducted by the NTSB and the FAA, and the search for Boston continues.
Aircraft Pilatus PC-12 (single-turboprop) (PC12/G – track or photos) Origin St Lucie County Intl (KFPR – track or info) Destination Freeman Field (3JC – track or info) Route LAL SZW (Decode) Date Thursday, June 7, 2012 Duration 4 hours 36 minutes Status result unknown (?) (track log & graph) Distance Direct: 1,239 sm Planned: 1,253 sm
Scheduled Actual/Estimated Departed 11:30AM EDT 12:05PM EDT Arrival 03:10PM CDT 03:41PM CDT (?) Speed 233 kts Altitude 26,000 feet
update
The Dana Air flight crashed into a suburb of Lagos on Sunday. All 153 people on board and an unknown number of residents on the ground were killed in the crash.
Using cadaver dogs and cranes, emergency crews recovered 48 bodies. Local residents helped with spraying water on the fire, but after three hours, there was apparently no water to put it out.
Passengers aboard the plane included four Chinese citizens, and two Lebanese citizens (identified as Nadim Chediac and Roger Awwad.) The pilot was reported to be American, and the co-pilot Indian.
What: Neptune Aviation Services Inc.Lockheed P2V-7 Neptune Where: Iron County, Utah When: June 3, 2012, 1 pm Who: 2 fatalities Why: While fighting a fire east of the Utah/Nevada border, two fire fighting pilots working with the Ely division of the Bureau of Land Management lost their lives.
The plane was carrying 2000 gallons of water and 1,600 gallons of fuel, and was approaching the fire when it crashed in rocky terrain.
Pilot 48-year-old Todd Tompkins, and co- pilot, Ronnie Chambless, 40 were on their second run dropping retardant on the fire when the plane went down.
No probable cause of the accident has been released.
What: Minden Air Corp Lockheed SP-2H Neptune Where: Minden-Tahoe Airport in Carson Valley When: June 3, 2012 3:30 pm. Who: 2 aboard Why: The inbound tanker was unable to lower all of it’s landing gear, and burned off (about 7000 gallons) of fuel before it made a belly landing at 3:30 pm.
Neither the pilot nor the co-pilot were injured but the plane did skid off the runway.
The air tanker is a fire-fighting plane which had been engaged in fighting a wildfire south of Reno.
What: Dana Air McDonnell Douglas MD-83 en route from Abuja to Lagos, Nigeria Where: Iju neighborhood, Lagos When: June 3, 2012 Who: 153 passengers Why: Weather was clear. The Dana Air flight experienced engine trouble first in one engine, then the other and was nearing to the airport when it apparently struck a cable and crashed into a residential area less than four miles from the airport. There are no survivors.
Pilots already flying on one engine had slowed, then the second engine failed.
The number of people aboard is not definite as it is not reflected in the flight manifest. Apparently some paper-ticketed passengers are not recorded on computer records, and the passenger manifest is in the process of being double-checked.
The plane had refueled which contributed to a massive fire. The number of casualties in the furniture store/workshop and apartment building that were struck is unknown.
The Nigerian Red Cross, Nigeria’s air crash safety investigators,2 firetrucks and 50 rescue personnel arrived on the scene. A number of charred remains have been recovered.
Local residents report hearing a loud explosion that sounded like a bomb.
Photos of the disaster site show people wandering around the wreckage, with the site not secured.
What: Allied Air Boeing 727 en route from Lagos Nigeria to Accra Where: Kotoka Airport, Hajj Village, Ghana When: June 2, 2012 7 pm Who: 10 fatalities, 4 survivors Why: Flight DHV 111 was flying from Lagos when it touched down halfway down the runway in Accra and failed to stop at the end.
The plane overran the end of the runway, crashed through a perimeter fence, crossed Giffard Road, and slammed into a Benz van, killing 10. Four aboard the flight survived the collision.
ATC may have advised pilots to divert to Abidjan because of the weather.
Police, military and fire as well as the coordinator of National Disaster Management Organisation were on the scene.
The plane was considered totaled, with wing damage, separated tail and collapsed gear. The plane reportedly was Pan Am’s last revenue flight Dec 4, 1991.
What: American Eagle Embraer EMB-145LR en route from Chicago to Tulsa Where: Chicago When: May 31, 2012 Who: 31 aboard Why: The flight took off, but received a gear disagree message. After a flyby determining the gear were down, the pilots made an overweight landing. No injuries were reported. There were apparently no stairs provided on exit.
Passengers eventually arrived in Tulsa after 1 pm.
The same plane had just made a prior emergency landing at O’Hare.
