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Contact photographer Andreas Fietz
What: Contact Air /Lufthansa Fokker 100 en route from Stuttgart to Berlin
Where: Stuttgart
When: Nov 20th 2009
Who: 75 passengers
Why: While en route, the gear proximity sensor failed, indicating that gear was indicated unsafe after retraction. The flight returned to Stuttgart, and had to be towed as nose gear steering was inoperable.
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Contact photographer Jens Breuer
What: Aer Lingus Airbus A320-200 en route from Cork to Barcelona
Where: Barcelona
When: Mar 14th 2012
Who: 56 passengers, 6 crew
Why: Pilots on approach to Barcelona aborted their approach at 10,000 feet due to the poor visibility. Barcelona ATC refused the pilots requests for a Category III landing forcing pilots on a holding pattern for thirty minutes, then on flight on a wild goose chase looking for somewhere else to land, until the pilots eventually were about to run out of fuel.
After pilots declared an emergency, Barcelona ATC cleared the landing. Spanish authorities are investigating.
(The wild goose chase? First the denial and holding pattern, then off to Valencia, but before arriving, Barcelona said visibility had cleared, so back to Barcelona, but no, visibility hadn’t cleared. Pilots diverted to Girona, but Girona was congested, so back to Barcelona, which was finally cleared to land on declaring emergency.)
LEBL 142030Z 00000KT 0200 R25R/0300N R25L/0300V0550D FG BKN005 12/12 Q1027 NOSIG
LEBL 141930Z 00000KT 0200 R25R/0325N FG BKN005 12/12 Q1027 NOSIG
Pictured: An Estonia Air Boeing 737 at Tallinn – Lennart Meri (Ulemiste)
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What: Estonia Air Boeing 737 en route from Tallinn to Copenhagen
Where: Lennart Meri Tallinn Airport
When: Jan 16, 2011
Why: A leak in a water pipe set off electrical problems. The pilots returned to the airport and made a safe landing.
Passengers were provided an later flight.
Air India flight AI-171 made a safe landing following a bird strike near Heathrow Airport, England, on March 22nd.
The Boeing 787-800 plane flying from Ahmedabad, India, was on approach to Heathrow Airport when a bird hit it, causing damage to the nose and weather radar system.
The plane continued for a safe landing. Everyone aboard remained unharmed.
A Fokker 50 turboprop plane, operated by Skyward International Aviation, crash landed at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi, Kenya, early morning on January 4.
The authorities said the plane, en-route from Wajir to Nairobi, landed on its belly due to landing gear failure. None of the 6 people aboard was injured.
The flight operations were temporarily halted at the airport and all incoming flights were diverted to Mombasa airport. The Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) later released a statement saying, “Kenya Civil Aviation Authority has concluded the inspection of the runway at JKIA. JKIA Runway 6 has been cleared by Kenya Civil Aviation Authority and is now open. Arrival and Departure flight operations have resumed.”
According to the local media reports, the aircraft was struck by birds upon take off, one of which got stuck in the landing gear mechanism.
A medical emergency prompted Thomas Cook flight TCX 4125 to make an unscheduled landing in Lisbon, Portugal on January 10.
The flight was en-route from Fuerteventura to Birmingham when a 79-year-old female passenger Hilda Holland became ill after getting hit by a falling shoe. According to Hilda’s husband John,“The woman sitting behind Hilda decided to get a cardigan from the locker but she pulled a shoe out with it…That came down and hit her on the back of the head and the ear….Ten minutes later I looked over and she was shaking and pale…I thought she wasn’t going to make it, I had never seen her like that.”
The Airbus A321-211 made a safe emergency landing and the couple was rushed to a hospital.
They left the hospital next day and were transported to Birmingham through another flight.
An airline spokesperson said, “Our operations control centre contacted Mr and Mrs Holland at the hospital and offered assistance within a few hours of their arrival… Mr Holland was grateful for the call and advised that he would make arrangements through his insurers and we ensured he had direct contact number for Thomas Cook… Our welfare team have been in touch with the Hollands following their return and we hope Mrs Holland makes a full recovery.”
Lufthansa flight LH-758 made an emergency landing in Munich, Germany, on March 6th.
The Airbus A340-300 plane en-route from Frankfurt, Germany, to Chennai, India, was diverted due to a cargo smoke indication.
The plane landed uneventfully. All 162 people aboard remained safe.
