What: Fake Pilot
Where: Turin Airport
When: Sept 21, 2012
Who: Andrea Sirlo
Why: “Andrea Sirlo” was arrested in the Turin airport for impersonating a pilot.
He had already flown several times as a “third pilot” in the jump seat, and had a fake uniform and resumes. The name Andrea Sirlo is a fake identity, not his real name.
United Boeing 737-700 #N23708 en route from Denver to Billings had 114 passengers and 5 crew when it encountered turbulence. The tower reported winds at “200 at 2-8 gust 3-6.”
Fifteen minutes outside of landing, three crew and two passengers sustained injury. According to interviews, one flight attendant struck the ceiling, and also a passenger. An infant flew out of its parents arms and landed on a seat when it felt like the plane dropped. Passengers complained of inadequate feedback from the airline.
Pilots declared an emergency; and after they landed safely with emergency services on standby, they taxied to the gate. The flight attendant who struck the ceiling knocked out a ceiling panel and suffered a bleeding wound for which “medical attention at the gate” was requested. One flight attendant is in intensive care.
One passenger in the video below says it felt like the plane was “hit from the bottom.” At that point, loose items in the cabin were disturbed.
What: Aero Vodochody L39 Albatross on training flight
Where: west of Boulder City Airport
When: May 18, 2012, 12:30
Who: Two fatalities
Why: When Boulder City Police Chief Thomas Finn talked about the training flight, he said, “It landed flat; it pancaked into the desert.
After the plane crashed, the engine was still running and caught fire, burning the rear end of the aircraft.” Two of the jets had taken off in tandem but only one issued a Mayday and crashed. The jet’s tail and most of its body are still intact.
The flight took off from Boulder City Municipal Airport.
Emergency responders included Metro Police and Boulder City police and firefighters.
According to the Las Vegas Sun the registered owner of the plane, Walter Woltosz of LA, was not aboard.
A federal hearing into a fatal plane crash last February in Buffalo, N.Y., is focusing on the training of the pilot. A top concern is the training the flight’s captain, Marvin Renslow, received from Colgan Air. (May 12
A Puerto Vallarta, Mexico-bound Sunwing Boeing 737-800 en route from Edmonton,Alberta Canada, diverted and made an emergency landing on Sunday March 16, 2014 in Helena Montana after flying through ninety seconds of turbulence.
Two of the six person crew sustained injuries, but none of the 181 passengers were seriously injured, perhaps because the seatbelt lights were on.
Passengers waited hours on the airstrip before a customs agent finally arrived and attended to them. The replacement jet did not arrive for eleven hours.
According to Ron Mercer, Director Helena Regional Airport, the airport has only one customs agent who was not there on Sunday. Another customs agent was called and arrived after a 1.5 hour drive from Great Falls. The airport does not usually host commercial international flights and the customs agent had to “do his homework” and consult international rules before passengers could exit the aircraft.
The situation called for modification in the US customs and immigration department’s emergency protocols, for easing up procedures for those passengers already traumatized due to an emergency situation.
The unexpected delay will no doubt result in consequences because, as CBC News says major Canadian airlines tariff says if “…your flight is delayed more than 90 minutes, you may have the right to get off the plane.”
You can rest assured that after these passengers spent five hours in the plane, someone is going to be paying a hefty fine.
Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact photographer Royal S King
What: Boeing 787 Dreamliner test flight
Where: Laredo, Texas
When: Nov 9, 2010 at 2:54 pm
Who: 42 person crew on board
Why: Boeing is performing flight tests with Rolls-Royce and with General Electric engines.
During the test flight, the pilots made an emergency landing. This was sue to smoke in the cabin attributed to electrical problems in the aft electronics bay; and this disabled the primary flight displays in the cockpit.
The crew disembarked via slides on to the runway with one injury.
Click below to see video
Tatarstan Airlines operator of the Boeing 737-500 that crashed in November in Kazan only flies seven planes. (Maybe 6, now?) The one that crashed was leased from a Bulgarian company, with a history of minor accidents.
Fifty people died on the Tatarstan Airlines jet that dived nose-down to a fiery grave in Kazan. The investigation says that even though the two pilots were on their second go-around (i.e. second attempt to land), everything was working until impact. Recovering from the botched landing attempt, they pulled up at a too steep angle. From a height of 700 m the airplane entered a nose down attitude, reaching a -75° pitch. They died trying to dive to recover momentum, and impacted at 450 km/h.
Human error? Sleep deprivation? The crash embodies what is wrong with Russian Airlines.
Russia has withdrawn the operating license for Tatarstan Airlines due to
“noncompliance by the airline with certification requirements for Russia’s civil aviation, violations of the established norms of flying hours, working and relaxation time.” The action came after it was discovered that Tatarstan Airlines breached rules regarding personnel training and rest times for flight and cabin crew. Of course, Tatarstan Airlines is
Currently there’s a political wrestling match going on whether or not to ban planes over twenty years old.
In my opinion? They could buy all the new planes they want, but unless they supplement with proper training and rest protocols, safety issues will remain the same.
