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Contact photographer Joey Collura
What: Delta Airlines Airbus A320-200 en route from Detroit to Denver
Where: Lake Michigan
When: Feb 28 2010
Why: While en route, the left engine developed problems and was shut down. The flight returned to Denver and made a safe landing on the remaining engine.
Loganair flight LM-438 had to return and make an emergency landing at Sumburgh Airport, Scotland, on October 19th.
The plane took off for Glasgow, Scotland, but had to turn back due to a bird strike.
The plane landed back safely. All passengers and crew members remained unharmed.
What: Midwest Connect flight en route to Flint, Michigan
Where: General Mitchell International Airport
When: Monday
Who: 40 passengers
Why: the pilot reported smoke in the cockpit and turned back. No Injuries reported.
Tomorrow we’ll post the BEA’s statement regarding the latest in the Air France 447 crash saga. After the crash, the $50 million search operation to recover the black boxes that took two years, after a successful data recovery, a misfired unjustified conclusion of pilot error, finally, on Friday, the BEA promises more news.
The data analysis will probably be as grueling as one could imagine, considering all of the data that has been recovered. The new data that has been recovered does not overwrite the messages received by Air Traffic control, but it will have to be logically coordinated so that the chain of events can accurately be determined, whatever lead up to the crash that ended up killing all 228 people on board. We cannot expect the analysis too soon.
There are many hypotheses floating out there in the blogosphere, and myths and conjecture; but we have to give the investigators and engineers time to study the data and write the most accurate report that can, which they promise to produce by the summer. It is an ambitious promise, but one that the world expects the investigators to fulfill in a timely fashion. It is by virtue of the BEA’s history as one of the better governmental aviation institutions. They do have a history of publishing their reports, in accordance to international guidelines, following not just Montreal protocol, but also IATA and EASA.
There are other crash investigations going on in which the agencies do not have as strong a history as the BEA. (Just consider the Concorde Disaster–it took ten years to resolve the criminal case but Continental had to pay more than 1.3 million in civil damages and a $265000 fine. Under French law, damages to 750 dependents were resolved in 11 months and the interim report completed after 12 months.)
The DGCA is responsible for implementing, controlling, and supervising airworthiness standards, safety operations, crew training in India. Indian aviation has been plagued by safety issues, personnel issues, and they have not yet established for themselves a reputable track record regarding the timeliness of their accident reports (at least, not if you ask the families of Air India Express flight 812. )
Likewise, in Pakistan, the families of Air Blue Flight 202 are waiting for word and assistance from the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority. Air Blue flight ED202 crashed in the Margalla Hills in Islamabad, killing all 146 passengers and six crewmembers on board on July 28, and the Pakistani High Court has been charged with the support of the victims’ family members, and a request of the federal government to constitute an independent board of inquiry for determining the causes of the crash, and to make the findings public.
But I digress. Concerning Air France Flight 447–we can’t expect miracles, and it is too soon to expect all the pieces of the puzzle to fit; but Friday we can expect to see a factual update. And that is another step toward discovering the truth, another step toward justice.
Delta Airlines flight DL-72 made an emergency landing in Amsterdam, Netherlands, on June 13th.
The Airbus A330-300 plane flying from Atlanta, Georgia, was descending toward Amsterdam when the crew noticed a hydraulic leak.
The crew subsequently performed an alternate landing gear extension and continued for a safe landing.
All passengers and crew members remained unharmed.
A Ryanair flight had to divert and make an emergency landing at Limoges – Bellegarde Airport, Limoges, France, on April 28th.
The Boeing 737, en-route from Liverpool, England, to Alicante, Spain, was mid-air when two drunk men onboard began fighting, prompting the captain to divert the plane.
The plane landed uneventfully. All 180 passengers onboard remained unharmed.
The two men were taken to a nearby police station.
JetBlue flight B6-2216 made an emergency landing in Buffalo, New York, on May 24th.
The plane took off for Boston, Massachusetts, but had to turn back due to a bird strike.
The plane landed uneventfully. All sixty people aboard remained safe.
