Pictured: A Steen Skybolt-180
Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact photographer Jeff Snyder
What: Skybolt en route from Altus/Quartz Mountain Regional Airport
Where: Oklahoma
When: Nov 8 2009
Who: 2 fatalities: pilot Robert N. Munson and passenger Zachary james Cook
Why: Shortly after takeoff, the plane crashed and burned in a field a mile and a half from the airport. Both occupants were killed.
The FAA is investigating.
A tour helicopter made a crash landing, hit 2 vans, and caught fire in the parking area of Santa Barbara Municipal Golf Club in California, in the afternoon of May 5th.
The four-seater Robinson R-44 was returning to the Santa Barbara Municipal Airport after a tour, when it developed a mechanical problem.
All three people aboard sustained injuries.
The FAA is investigating.
Formula one racing in Malaysia will be organized as planned, despite the Prime Minister’s confirmation about Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 crashing and killing all on board.
However, the organizers have decided to scale down the planned activities considering the somber atmosphere after the MH370 tragedy. The weekend concerts have been cancelled as “a sign of respect to the families and next-of-kin of the crew and passengers of flight MH370.” The concerts featured pop star Christina Aguilera.
Britain’s Mirror newspaper reported that Mercedes had planned to run “Come Home MH370” signage on all its W05 cars during the Grand Prix weekend. However, DPA news agency reports that Mercedes will now run the words “Tribute to MH370” on the cars at Sepang.
Sepang circuit boss Razlan Razali said that the F1 race was planned a long time ago, and it cannot be cancelled, despite pressure from various sides.
Pictured: A Beech 200 Super King Air
Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact photographer Carlos Barbosa
What: Hendrick Motorsports Beechcraft Super King Air 200
Where: Bull Mountain, seven miles from Blue Ridge Airport,
When: October 24 2004
Who: 2 pilots 10 passengers
Why: On October 24 2004, en route to theNextel Cup Series, a Beechcraft Super King Air 200 owned by Hendrick Motorsports crashed in fog into Bull Mountain, seven miles from Blue Ridge Airport, carrying two pilots and ten passengers. Fatalities included Jon Hendrick and his twin daughters,and Ricky Hendrick. The plane missed its first landing attempt before veering off course and crashing; and the plane had not climbed to its temporarily assigned altitude of 2,600 feet; it instead descended to 1,800 feet before crashing. The cause was ruled failure to use an instrument approach and pilot error
update:
On July 07, 2013, a Rediske Air Inc deHavilland DHC-3 Otter with 10 aboard was taking off from Soldotna Airport Alaska. THe crash was reported at 11:23 a.m.
Nikiski pilot Willy Rediske and nine passengers died on impact. The crash occurred at Funny River Road. By the time Soldotna police, fire and medic personnel with Central Emergency Services and Alaska State Troopers responded, the plane was on fire.
First responders are notifying family members and retrieving remains.
Investigator Brice Banning who had been targeting the Asiana Airlines crash will instead be launching the Soldotna crash investigation.
Aircraft Details:
Pictured: Indonesian C-130 Hercules. On the video, it appears that the C-130 involved in the crash was painted in the military’s standard camo pattern.
Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact photographer Richard Vandervord
What: C-130 Hercules Indonesian military transport en route from Jakarta to East Java
Where: Magetan, East Java. Geplak 325 miles east of Jakarta.
When: Wednesday May 20
Who: 112 passengers and 13 crew. 57 were killed, 5 on the ground. 70 were hospitalized. The exact number of those aboard is unclear. (Some overlap with passengers and crew numbers. The reports range from 99 to 113 passengers and 13 or 14 crew members.)Update:The number of dead has risen to 98. Ten children were on the flight. Two were killed on the ground. 15 are injured.
Why: The plane was about to land at Iswahyudi military airbase. Witnesses claim the plane split apart in the air, (one of the wings fell off when the plane was still in the air) and exploded.
The plane destroyed four houses in Geplak and skidded into the rice paddy.
George’s Point of View
A colleague said that the fact that this is a 30 year old plane loaded with soldiers speaks for itself.
I think it’s terrible that old planes are allowed up in the air, taking lives.
The manufacturers build a deadly weapon like a plane and the craft is sold and resold. It seems to me that the manufacturer should maintain control of deciding the airworthiness of their planes from birth to retirement, no matter who owns the plane.
Maybe one day manufacturer’s sale agreements will be written including a clause that the decision of a plane’s airworthiness is part of the ownership certificate for the life of the plane. Then Lockheed would be diligent about keeping maintenance crews diligent.
Am I dreaming?
I anxiously await the preliminary report from the NTSB, and to hear what happened from Lockheed what caused the explosion.
