Eva Air flight BR-27 made an emergency landing in San Francisco, California, on November 25th.
The Boeing 777-300 plane took off for Taipei, Taiwan, but had to turn back after a bird strike caused engine issues.
The plane landed back safely. All one hundred and eighty-seven people aboard remained unharmed.
For most people August 16 was just a day. But there are still some people who remember this day as the day in 2005 that one hundred fifty-two people died aboard a MD-82 near Machiques Venezuela. First one engine failed, then the second. After both engines flamed out, Flight 708 requested an emergency landing from Machiques ATC, but pilots lost control and within three minutes, crashed in a swampy area in a cattle ranch. The Bureau d’Enquêtes et d’Analyses pour la Sécurité de l’Aviation Civile (BEA) Investigation found the cause was human error due to in-flight problems from poorly paid, stressed Caribbean Airways crew working with poor communication.
One hundred and fifty-two French citizens from Martinique, and Colombian crew of eight were lost. It has gone down in the record books as the biggest crash in Venezuelan history, and the worst accident in 2005. In the distant photo of this accident, we cannot help but see how small and frail the craft looks. Like a toy of broken matchsticks lying broken on the ground. Sometimes we should remember that we are creatures of land, and have given ourself wings. The tragedy that we sometimes fail does overshadow sometimes that itt is a marvel that we fly.
It is the job of the investigation to find the cause to help make future flight safer; but when we remember a date such as this, it is a time to remember the passengers and crew. It is time to remember and console the families who survive them.
Whatever the cause, tragedies wear the same face of irreparable loss. It is not only France and Colombia that mourned the loss of their citizens. When tragedies happen, all the nations of the world mourn. So let us pause in our day and remember those who are lost to us; and take the time to remember John Donne “Any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankind; And therefore, never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.”
United to expand international service with fuel-efficient Dreamliner
Boeing (NYSE: BA) and United Airlines (Nasdaq: UAUA) have finalized an order for 25 787-8 jetliners. The agreement includes the opportunity to purchase another 50 Dreamliners.
“Boeing and United Airlines share an 80-year partnership,” said Jim Albaugh, president and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes. “United, which launched the Boeing 777, now begins a new chapter with the 787 Dreamliner, the most technologically advanced commercial jetliner ever built.”
The order is valued at $4.2 billion at average list prices.
“United’s Boeing 787 order represents a substantial investment in our future and will enhance the significant progress we are making in improving the global competitiveness of our company while providing the opportunity to open new profitable markets and serve a broader range of international destinations,” said John Tague, president of United Airlines.
United expects to take delivery of the 787s at the same time it will begin to retire its Boeing 747s and 767s operating on international routes.
The 787 Dreamliner, currently in flight test, will provide greater fuel efficiency, allowing airlines to add new, nonstop city pairs and the additional frequencies that passengers prefer.
The 787 also promises a more comfortable flying experience for passengers. Its innovations include a new interior environment with improvements in air filtration, higher cabin pressurization resulting in reduced physical fatigue, larger windows, more stowage space, improved lighting and other passenger-preferred conveniences.
The technologically advanced 787 will also provide airlines with up to 45 percent more cargo revenue capacity
Including United Airlines, 57 customers around the world have ordered 876 Dreamliners, making the 787 the fastest-selling new commercial jetliner in history.
Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact photographer Phil Vabre
What: Qantas Boeing 767-300 en route from Melbourne to Perth
Where: Esperance
When: May 10th 2010
Who: 3 men aboard a life raft
Why: While en route, the flight got a message to assist in keeping an eye on a drifting raft while rescue crews came in to assist. An RAAF Hercules C130 was en route, but had not yet arrived–but the rescue arrived before the Boeing so the Qantas flight continued as usual. The Hercules rescued three survivors from a sunken fishing boat. Their emergency beacon had gone off about 7 a m about 93 nautical miles SW of Esperance. The distress flair had been witnessed by rescue personnel. The nearest boat was 50 miles away.
The owner of the sunken crayfishing boat, Paddy Daniels and his crew Corey Major and Anthony Mansted, were rescued at 1:45pm after a harrowing day in freezing conditions on the life raft. They had boarded it with a hurried selection of supplies at 6 a m after discovering the boat taking on water.
Air Berlin flight AB-7416 had to divert and make an emergency landing in Daytona Beach, Florida, on February 25th.
The Airbus A330-200 plane heading from Dusseldorf, Germany, to Cancun, Mexico, was diverted after smoke was noticed in the cockpit.
The plane landed safely. All passengers and crew members remained unharmed.
Egypt Air flight MS-780 made an emergency landing at Heathrow Airport in London, United Kingdom, on April 12th.
The Boeing 737-800 plane took off for Cairo, Egypt, but had to return shortly afterwards due to a problem with one of its doors.
The plane landed safely. Everyone aboard remained unhurt.
A small Beechcraft Bonanza aircraft made an emergency landing near the Arizona-California border on November 5.
The plane was en-route to California when it started experiencing engine trouble due to a fuel pump malfunction.
The pilot landed the plane on a natural gas pipeline road, around 20 miles east of Lake Havasu City in Arizona. The authorities said the pilot and his only passenger remained unharmed however, the aircraft’s wing was torn off after it crashed into a tree during landing.
The FAA and the NTSB will investigate.
