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Contact photographer Tim Perkins
What: Delta/Pinnacle Airlines Canadair CRJ-200 en route from Detroit,MI to Quebec
Where: Quebec
When: Dec 10th 2011
Who: 45 aboard
Why: On approach to Quebec, the pilots received a flaps fault.
The pilots aborted the approach. After declaring emergency, the pilots reset the flap system and made a second approach, landing safely.
IndiGo Airlines flight 6E-135 had to divert and make an emergency landing in Nagpur, India, on August 16th.
The plane heading from Ahmedabad to Kolkata, India, was diverted after the crew needed to shut down one of the engines.
The plane landed safely. All passengers and crew members remained unharmed.
United Airlines flight 4870 had to return and make an emergency landing at Denver International Airport in Denver, Colorado, on March 14.
Authorities said the flight had to return after one of its tires blew during takeoff. The flight was en-route to Kansas City, Missouri, at the time.
The plane landed back safely after burning extra fuel. None of the 71 passengers was harmed.
The airline accommodated passengers in another flight.
GoAir flight G8-345 made an emergency landing in Goa, India, on August 30th.
The plane heading from Kochi to Mumbai, India, was diverted after the crew noticed a technical issue.
The plane landed uneventfully. There were one hundred and sixty-six passengers aboard at the time; all of them remained safe.
Pakistan International Airlines flight PK-719 made a safe landing following a bird strike in Milan, Italy, on January 28th.
The Boeing 777-300 plane flying from Lahore, Pakistan, was on approach to Milan–Malpensa Airport when a bird hit it.
The plane continued for a safe landing. There were 125 passengers aboard at the time; all of them remained safe.
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Contact photographer Bruce Leibowitz
What: Delta/Pinnacle Airlines Canadair CRJ-200 en route from Detroit to Portland
Where: Albany
When: Jan 18th 2012
Who: 51 passengers and 3 crew
Why: While en route, the plane developed problems with the fuel gauge.
Pilots diverted to Albany where they made a safe landing. The problem took two hours to repair, and the flight resumed.
What: Gulf Air Airbus A320-200 en route from Bahrain to Kochi, India
Where: Kochi
When: Aug 28th 2011, 3.55 am
Who: 137 passengers and 6 crew, 8 injuries
Why: In examining this August incident, after doing some runway testing, the DGCA is blaming the accident on a slick runway.
However defects have been found in the plane’s front wheel. And the statement of the DCGA’s opinion also mentions pilot error. So they have released a statement combining pilot error, plane flaws and a bad runway as being behind the runway excursion.
Can a pilot land on a slick runway? What exactly was the pilot’s error in this situation? Does the entire runway have the identical friction coefficient or just the area tested? Runway friction is also going to be affected by the condition of the tires; what was the condition of the tire before it blew? Inquiring minds want to know.
Airport testing at Cochin airport revealed airport friction level.
A C K Nair, director of the Cochin airport made the following defensive statement:
“As per the International Civil Aviation Organisation’s (ICAO) norms the friction coefficients of the runways should not go below 0.34, while the value was 0.61 to 0.86 till recently. On the day of the mishap the average value was hovering between 0.52 and 0.84. The value at the spot where the ill-fated aircraft touched the runway was 0.75 to 0.85. We did another test on September 3 and the value was above 0.5.’
Read More about Gulf Air Airbus Skids into Mud On landing in Kochi
