Cathay Dragon flight KA-618 had to return and make an emergency landing in Hong Kong, China, on April 24th.
The Airbus A330-300 plane took off for Xiamen, China, but had to return shortly afterwards due to an issue with the landing gear.
The plane landed back safely. All passengers and crew members remained unharmed.
Pegasus Airlines flight PC-947 made an emergency landing in Zurich, Switzerland, on September 7th.
The Boeing 737-800 plane flying from Istanbul, Turkey, was on approach to Zurich when the crew reported issues with the flaps.
The plane subsequently landed without flaps.
All passengers and crew members remained unharmed.
While a Germanwings Airbus A319-112 was en route from Moscow to Stuttgart, the plane issued warnings. Pilots diverted to Prague-Vaclav Havel (Ruzyne) Airport in the Czech Republic.
Airport fire and rescue services responded to the scene according to the airport air crash consultant spokesperson
THere were 144 passengers and five crew aboard the Airbus A320. There were no injuries reported on landing.
A replacement plane was sent from Cologne.
Thai Airways flight TG-111 made an emergency landing in Chiang Mai, Thailand, on June 11th.
The Airbus A330-300 plane took off for Bangkok, Thailand, but had to return shortly afterwards after the crew had to shut down its left engine.
The plane landed safely. No injuries were reported.
The airline arranged a replacement plane for the passengers.
A Japan Airlines flight made an emergency landing at Narita International Airport in Japan, on December 29.
It is believed that a sensor component of the Boeing 777’s landing gear was found on the runway after it took off from Chicago O’Hare International Airport. The pilots decided to continue the flight and requested emergency assistance at Narita International Airport.
The plane landed uneventfully. There were 232 passengers and crew members aboard at the time; all of them remained unharmed.
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Contact Photographer Lukas Bluth
What: Lufthansa Airbus A330-300 en route from Frankfurt to Kolkata, India
Where: Hyderabad
When: Jun 8th 2009
Who: 225 passengers
Why: When the pilot spotted a hole in the runway, strong winds prevented it from landing at the other runway, so the approach was aborted. The airbus circled, then diverted to Hyderabad where it landed safely.
After the runway was repaired, the plane returned with 174 passengers.
George’s Point of View
I’ve talked about Aircraft maintenance before, but not that much about airport maintenance. It’s obviously important that runways be kept in tip-top shape. Taking them for granted results in accidents like the the TAM disaster.
Lufthansa is to be commended for NOT having an accident–in spite of the Kolkata airport’s disrepair.
KLM flight KL-736 had to return and make an emergency landing in Curacao, on January 20th.
The Boeing 747-400 plane took off for Amsterdam, Netherlands, but had to turn back due to a bird strike.
The plane landed back uneventfully. All passengers and crew members remained safe.
