What: US Airways Boeing 737 en route from Ft Lauderdale
Where: Ft Lauderdale
When: Dec 9 2010
Why: Shortly after takeoff, the US Airways Boeing had a bird strike, and a fireball came out of one of the engines, and it was “blown out.” The plane returned safely to Ft. Lauderdale and landed. There were no injuries except for the bird.
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Martinair Flight Makes Emergency Landing in Amsterdam
Martinair flight MP-8341 made an emergency landing in Amsterdam, Netherlands, on July 14th.The Boeing 747-400 freighter plane took off for Johannesburg, South Africa, but had to return shortly afterwards due to an engine failure.
The plane landed back safely. Everyone aboard remained unharmed.
- airliners.net | Boeing | Emergency | Germany | XL Airways
XL Airways Boeing Smoked out at Cologne-Bonn airport
Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact photographer Markus AdankWhat: XL Airways en route through Boeing 737-800 from Hanover to Bonn
Where: Cologne-Bonn airport
When: Sept 3 2012
Who: 186 passengers, 6 crew
Why: An XL Airways plane at Bonn was evacuated when smoke filled the cabin. Seven passengers were treated on the scene and eleven in all were injured. Some passengers described an odor like kerosene.Passengers disembarked via the stairway on to the tarmac with emergency services on standby.
In 2008, the same plane had an engine problem forcing an emergency landing.
Silver Airways Flight Returns to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport
Silver Airways flight 3099 had to return and make an emergency landing at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, Florida, on October 6.The plane was heading to Key West when its windshield cracked, forcing the pilots to return.
The plane landed safely. No one was injured.
The passengers were transported to Key West in another flight.
The FAA is investigating.
Hull Breach in American Airlines Flight
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Contact photographerWhat: American Airlines Boeing 757-200 from Miami,FL to Boston,MA
Where: Miami
When: Oct 26th 2010
Who: 154 passengers and 6 crew
Why: A half hour after takeoff, the plane developed rapid decompression at 31,000 feet requiring oxygen masks, an emergency descent and a return to Miami.Maintenance found a one by two foot hole in the hull.
George’s Point of View
Maintenance, Maintenance, Maintenance!
Even with AD Directives issued, this was still missed. Was there telltale evidence prior to this event that could have prevented endangering 154 passengers and six crew?
The hole in the hull is not unprecedented. Sixteen months prior to flight AA-1640, Southwest Airlines (SWA) flight 2294, (another Boeing suffering a hole in the hull in July 13, 2009), the FAA has already issued Airworthiness Directive 2010-01-09 mandating inspection requirements. At that time, they ascribed the hull failure to a design fault: Fuselage skin failure due to preexisting fatigue at a chemically milled step.
It’s an easy enough thing to visualize-picture slightly squeezing an empty cola can, then blowing into it; and repeating the process, over and over. In a soda can, it would not take the 20 years this plane has been flying for the stressed areas to develop a crease, and eventually crack.
Not that a soda can is expected to sustain the significant pressures at 10,000+ feet, nor does it have the design flaw of chemical milling, nor is its skin made of single and double bonded layers. If it were, one could theoretically presume and anticipate metal fatigue to occur at the weakest location–the edges of where the metal is double-bonded.
In the Southwest Airlines event, it was observed that the progression of metal fatigue tends to be higher at the borders between chemically milled and non-chemically milled bays.
The inspection requirements in SB 737-53A1301 require inspections to detect cracks in the vulnerable areas (the chem-mill step) to avoid sudden fracture and failure of the fuselage skin panels.
Did this plane undergo “repetitive external non-destructive inspections to detect cracks in the fuselage skin“?
Carriers out there, when there are directives which indicate potential problems, pay attention!
If not for the stellar performance of this flight crew, this plane would have been a statistic.
Thank you, John D King for sending the links.
Royal Brunei Cautionary Landing in Malaysia
Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact photographer IgnatiusWhat: Royal Brunei Airlines Boeing 767-300 en route from Manila to Bandar Seri Begawan
Where: Kota Kinabalu
When: Apr 18 2010
Who: 150 people
Why: While en route, the flight developed engine trouble. The plane made a safe landing and was able to resume the flight after several hours.- Airbus | back to base | bird strike | Delta | Emergency | engine trouble | USA | Utah
Delta Airlines Plane Returns to Salt Lake City after Bird Strike
Delta Airlines flight DL-1606 had to return for an emergency landing in Salt Lake City, Utah, on September 20th.The Airbus A319-100 plane took off for Austin, Texas, but had to return shortly afterwards after a bird strike caused damage to one of the engines.
The plane landed safely. There were 120 people aboard at the time; all of them remained unharmed.