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    Lear Jet Crashes in Illinois


    Pictured: A Royal Air Freight Lear Jet 24
    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact photographer John Padgett

    What: Royal Air Lear (Cargo) jet en route to Wheeling illinois
    Where: S of Chicago
    When: January 5th 2010, 2 pm
    Who: Pilot
    Why: On the landing approach to Chicago Executive Airport in Wheeling, Ill., witnesses saw the plane go down in the Cook County Forest Preserve on the banks of the Des Plaines River. The plane came to rest in about 4 feet of water.
    The video below shows Emergency crews on Euclid.

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    Aviation News From Washington

    Possible jobs bill; possible faa bill raising the cap on PFCs; airport infrastructure investment and stimulas packages; collective bargaining rights; the runway summit; plant based biofuels.

    (Not in video) In Britain, British climate change committee suggest airport expansions be put on hold until airline technology is more efficient. Curbs are recommended on aviation of emissions, which counters the possibilities of aviation as a growth industry.

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    Mercy Flight Engine Shut Down During Evac

    What: Mercy Flight enroute Buffalo to ECMC from Orleans County
    Where: A mile from Buffalo Niagara
    When: Dec 2 2009
    Who: Pilot Shawn Hayes, 2 flight crew nurses and a patient
    Why: After Pilot Shawn Hayes reported “a drop” in one of his engine, he headed for the airport. ATC halted takeoffs for 5 minutes allowing Hayes to land anywhere but he didn’t make it to the airport. With one engine running, the pilot made a safe emergency landing.

    Flight nurses transported patient by ambulance.

    Hayes is a 23 year former military pilot.

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  • Jet Airways Punked?

    Ostensibly to check the crew’s ability to handle an emergency–the check pilot with the status of a passenger and not to touch the flight controls –pulled the circuit breaker on the commercial Delhi-Mumbai flight. Instantly the autopilot tripped and the flight director disappeared. The pilot landed the plane manually, albeit with a higher-than-normal descent rate. The EGPWS warning system was not engaged. An internal investigation is apparently underway, but one wonders why the name of the pilot in question has not been made public.

    Putting all the passengers aboard a commercial liner in danger is not something that should be swept under a rug.

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    Airbus A380 Lands at JFK

    Air France Airbus A380 crosses the Atlantic and lands at JFK. Passengers commented on how weirdly quiet the plane is inside, not being able to hear the engines.


    A380-800 Brake test in overweight landing situation.
    Dynamometer energy: 125.2 MJ
    Brake application speed: 90.07 m/s
    Stop distance: 1120 m
    Mean deceleration: 3.62 m/s/s
    Energy absorption rate: 5.04 MJ/s

    Air France on Friday became the first European airline to operate the double-decker Airbus A380 in commercial service, completing its inaugural flight from Charles De Gaulle Airport in Paris to John F. Kennedy Airport in New York.

    Thank god for the success of this flight. In an earlier flight this time of the year (November) in 2007, during testing, an an Airbus 340-600 crashed through a barrier and rammed into a wall at the Toulouse-Blagnac airport. Nine on board, and one person on the ground were injured. When the airplane’s four engines were throttled up and the brakes applied, the plane lurched into the barrier and wall “for reasons still unknown.”

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    Small Plane Crash at Chico Airport

    What: Beechcraft 35 en route from Portland-Hillsboro Airport to Chico Minicipal Airport
    Where: 200 feet N of the runway of Chico Airport
    When: NOV 10, 2009 5:30 pm
    Who: 2 on board
    Why: On approach to the Chico airport after refueling in Hillboro, Ore., the plane lost power at the north end of the airport. The right wing dipped and struck the ground, then the plane flipped nose first.

    The wife was piloting the plane.

    The plane was a total loss; but the couple who is from Seattle, made plans to fly on to AZ.

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    S Dakota Medical Helicopter Bird Strike

    What: (new) Avera Careflight helicopter
    Where: S Dakota
    When: November 2, 2009
    Who: Pilot Craig Hilzendager and EMT Terry Willis
    Why: While en route, the new helicopter had a bird strike (specifically duck) that shattered the helicopter cockpit window, and injured the EMT.

    The landing was simplified by night vision goggles which made it possible for the pilot and EMT to be able to see the ground.

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    Azza Transport Boeing 707 Crashes


    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact photographer Thomas Posch

    What: Azza Transport Boeing 707-300 freighter on behalf of the Sudan Airways en route from Sharjah, United Arab Emirates to Khartoum, Sudan
    Where: Sharjah
    When: Oct 21st 2009
    Who: 6 crew
    Why: It is speculated that the plane had flaps problems that contributed to the flight crashing not long after takeoff. Witnesses say the plane first lost parts first, then it lost height, then veered to the right and into the ground.

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    Lear Jet emergency Landing

    What: Bank Air Learjet
    Where: Chippewa Valley Regional Airport
    When: 5:30 p.m. Wednesday July 15
    Who: pilot, co-pilot and two passengers
    Why: After takeoff, th landing gear indicator light presented problems. After dumping fuel, the plane was able to land safely about 20 minutes after takeoff.

  • Bahia Returns to France

    Bahia Bakari of Airbus A310 flight, ejected from the aircraft, clung to the Airbus 310 debris for more than 13 hours before she was rescued.

    Bahia boarded a Yemenia Airlines flight in France, but then she and her fellow Comoros-bound passengers were switched to a sub-standard Yemenia Airlines plane, one which had been forbidden to fly in European airspace. That plane failed on its second approach, and impacted the Indian Ocean in bad weather and rough seas. Although others appear to have survived the crash, they did not survive the 13 hours it took rescuers to reach the wreckage. The dead include Bahia’s mother.

    Bahia is the only survivor.

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    Seaplane Crashes, Meedhupparu Island


    Maldivian airtaxi. Meedhupparu Island. April 02, 2008
    What: Maldivian Air Taxi de Havilland DHC6 Twin Otter
    Where: Halavelhi Resort lagoon while coming in for a landing, one of the Otter’s wings struck the water causing the crew to lose control of the airplane.
    When: Jun 2nd 2009
    Who: 4 passengers, 3 crew
    Why: After taking photographers on a photo-flight over the resort, on return, the wing struck water and the pilot lost control. There were no major injuries.

  • For the Businessman Who Has Everything

    Faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap small buildings at a single hop…Gulfstreams new oh-so-green jet…

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    Longbeach Plane Collision

    View more news videos at: http://www.nbcsandiego.com/video.


    What: Aero Aviation Cessna single-engine 172 en route from Longbeach Airport
    What: Cessna 310 en route from Longbeach Airport
    Where: TORRANCE, CA
    When: 05/19/2009 5:45 PM
    Who: The Aero Aviation Cessna had a pilot and student pilot.
    Why: N738NN, A CESSNA 172N AIRCRAFT, AND N777AL, A CESSNA 310P AIRCRAFT, COLLIDED OVER THE OCEAN.

    The planes collided in flight off the Southern California Coast. THE COAST GUARD LOCATED two debris fields five miles apart. On monday a seat cushion, nosewheel and several pieces of fuselage were recovered. THE SEARCH was suspended Tuesday.

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    Indonesian Crash Kills Over Fifty



    Pictured: Indonesian C-130 Hercules. On the video, it appears that the C-130 involved in the crash was painted in the military’s standard camo pattern.
    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact photographer Richard Vandervord
    What: C-130 Hercules Indonesian military transport en route from Jakarta to East Java
    Where: Magetan, East Java. Geplak 325 miles east of Jakarta.
    When: Wednesday May 20
    Who: 112 passengers and 13 crew. 57 were killed, 5 on the ground. 70 were hospitalized. The exact number of those aboard is unclear. (Some overlap with passengers and crew numbers. The reports range from 99 to 113 passengers and 13 or 14 crew members.)Update:The number of dead has risen to 98. Ten children were on the flight. Two were killed on the ground. 15 are injured.
    Why: The plane was about to land at Iswahyudi military airbase. Witnesses claim the plane split apart in the air, (one of the wings fell off when the plane was still in the air) and exploded.

    The plane destroyed four houses in Geplak and skidded into the rice paddy.

    George’s Point of View

    A colleague said that the fact that this is a 30 year old plane loaded with soldiers speaks for itself.

    I think it’s terrible that old planes are allowed up in the air, taking lives.

    The manufacturers build a deadly weapon like a plane and the craft is sold and resold. It seems to me that the manufacturer should maintain control of deciding the airworthiness of their planes from birth to retirement, no matter who owns the plane.

    Maybe one day manufacturer’s sale agreements will be written including a clause that the decision of a plane’s airworthiness is part of the ownership certificate for the life of the plane. Then Lockheed would be diligent about keeping maintenance crews diligent.

    Am I dreaming?

    I anxiously await the preliminary report from the NTSB, and to hear what happened from Lockheed what caused the explosion.