Cathay Pacific flight CX-469 made an emergency landing in Hong Kong, China, on April 6th.
The Airbus A330-300 plane was flying from Taipei, Taiwan, when the pilot declared emergency due to hydraulic problems.
The plane landed safely. There were 320 people aboard at the time; all of them remained unharmed.
George’s Point of View
As opposed to Boeing, where the pilot always has the upper hand over the machine, the basic tenet of Airbus philosophy is machine knows best. That must be the case, because when all else fails, here comes the Airbus autopilot and the pilot can’t do anything. We’ve seen this bite pilots in the *** in a number of circumstances, but the first one that comes to mind, for me, is the big TAM crash in Sao Paulo. Not being a pilot, I’ve had to ask airbus pilots about this, and believe me, I’ve heard some horror stories that would curl your hair. Maybe that’s what is at the root of my negativity toward the Airbus. The other would be their tendency to crash and kill a lot of people at one time.
Anyway, Airbus recently started production of the A320 series in China. They just did a maiden flight on the first plane. I like China very much but I don’t know about getting on China-made planes. It is bad enough that they are Airbus.
ASL Airlines Belgium flight 3V-76B had to make an emergency landing in Liege, Belgium, on January 12th.
The plane flying from Bologna, Italy, was on approach to Liege when the crew aborted approach reporting an unsafe gear indication.
The crew subsequently worked the checklists and landed uneventfully.
All passengers and crew members remained safe.
Brussels Airlines flight SN-515 had to return and make an emergency landing in Brussels, Belgium, on September 11th.
The Airbus A330-200 plane took off for Washington Dulles International Airport, Virginia, but had to turn back after the crew noticed an issue with an engine fuel control computer.
The plane landed safely. All one hundred and fifty-five passengers remained unharmed.
American Airlines flight AA-101 made an emergency landing in Dublin, Ireland, on September 26th.
The Boeing 777-200 plane heading from Heathrow Airport, England, to John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York, was diverted after the crew reported an engine fire.
The plane landed safely. All passengers and crew members remained unharmed.
Turkish Airlines flight TK-541 made an emergency landing in Istanbul, Turkey, on June 13th.
The Boeing 737-900 plane took off for Niamey, Niger, but the crew received a tail strike indication during departure and decided to return.
The plane landed back safely. All passengers and crew members remained unharmed.
On January 27, 2013, a Med View flight was en route from Lagos to Abuja when it developed sudden problems in one engine. Passengers panicked when they heard a boom at 12:30, and the plane began to fly unsteadily.
73 passengers were aboard the twelve o’clock flight that had started fifteen minutes late at Murtala Muhammed Airport.
Pilots shut down the affected engine and made a safe return to Lagos with emergency services on standby.
Apparently pilot and crew made no announcements, but they did handle the emergency and get the plane down safely.
Passengers were provided an alternative flight to Abuja on a 737.
