Frontier Airlines flight F9-1686 made an emergency landing in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on November 22nd.
The Airbus A320-200 plane heading from Las Vegas, Nevada, to Nashville, Tennessee, was diverted after the crew noticed an odor in the cockpit.
The plane landed safely. All one hundred and seventy-eight passengers and six crew members remained unharmed.
Air Malta flight KM-467 had to return and make an emergency landing at Paris Orly Airport, France, on September 5th.
The Airbus A320-200 plane took off for Malta but had to turn back after the crew noticed autopilot problems.
The plane landed safely. All passengers and crew members remained unharmed.
What: (2) Pasadena Police Department Bell OH-58A Kiowa
Where: Pasadena Police helipad
When: Nov 17, 2012, 4:00 pm
Who: 6 injured: a pilot and observer in both helicopters; two officers on the ground
Why: As one police helicopter tookoff and another one was landing, the rotors of both helicopters touched, causing a collision and crash.
Both helicopters were damaged. Six people were hospitalized.
One helicopter crew was on regular patrol.
One helicopter was monitoring UCLA-Southern California football game traffic.
The weather conditions at the time were cloudy with a drizzle of rain. The NTSB is investigating.
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Philippine Airlines flight PR-422 had to return for an emergency landing in Manila, Philippines, on September 26th.
The Airbus A340-300 plane took off for Tokyo, Japan, but had to return shortly afterwards after the crew reported smoke in the cabin.
The plane landed safely. All 222 passengers and 13 crew members remained unharmed.
The airline arranged a replacement plane for the passengers.
Delta Airlines flight DL-64 had to return and make an emergency landing at Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Atlanta, Georgia, on May 1st.
The Airbus A330-300 en-route to Rome Fiumicino, Italy, had to return due to electrical issues.
The plane landed safely.
All 306 people aboard remained safe.
Swiss International Air Lines flight EDW-405 made an emergency landing in Pristina, Kosovo, on October 3rd.
The plane took off for Zurich, Switzerland, but had to turn back after one of the engines ingested a bird.
The plane landed safely. All passengers and crew members remained unhurt.
Egyptair Flight MS804 (AKA EgyptAir Flight 804) was a Paris to Cairo flight that ended in the Mediterranean on May 19, 2016. Sixty-six people lost their lives: three security crew, fifty-six passengers, seven crew.
Egyptian authorities published a progress report on 28/06/16 that the BEA repaired the recorders. On 17/06 that the Technical Investigation Committee of the A320 accident studied FDR data as well as performing time correlation between FDR and CVR data and cockpit voice recordings before the occurrence of the accident where the existence of a “fire” was mentioned. That report did not determine the reason or location where that fire occurred. Smoke was reported during the flight in the bathroom and the avionics bay.
The investigation has been fraught with controversy. On 22 May, 2016, M6 (French TV) reported that a pilot told Cairo air traffic control about smoke in the cabin, and the pilot consequently made an emergency descent.
On May 20th 2016 The Aviation Herald received information from three independent channels, that ACARS (Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System) messages with following content were received from the aircraft:
No sooner did the report come out that the Egyptian Civil Aviation Ministry dismissed it as false.
One truism I have found in accident investigation is that it takes time to find the truth. Another is that facts can be misleading. Reportage from official sources moves slowly; reportage from commercial, so-called “news,” or social sources is frequently speculative, unsourced, or purely imaginary. Sometimes it is actually correct. It is difficult to tell the difference. Contradictions are a frequent finding, such as this:
How does a close reader respond to a statement that “traces of explosives were found WITH human remains?” A close reader finds more questions. With the remains is not ON the remains. But it could be either way since we are dealing with languages. In English, WITH the remains could mean a bomb was floating in the water near the bodies, or ashes, or gasoline or TNT residue. And what constitutes near? Inches? Miles? It all is relative. Or if the original report is loosely translated, did the original document use a preposition such as ON the remains? And then, there are the forensic questions. Were explosive remains washed off of bodies that were submerged in the ocean?
If the case goes to court, the court will want to know if something failed on the plane, and if so, what it was. Manufacturers of failed components are considered responsible parties. No matter what the cause, international treaty determines carrier responsibility to the victims of the crash.
The determination of failed components provides additional responsible parties. The discovery of a bomb would make airport security one of the potential responsible parties. In addition, international treaty provides guidelines for what carriers owe to the families. (Which treaty is involved depends on which treaty/treaties the involved country/countries are signatory to. If it sounds like it can get complicated, you are correct.)
It has been nearly a year since the accident, and though some things may be believed in the court of public opinion to be one way or another, questions remain unanswered. How grievous and how difficult for the families that must wait so long to find out what brought about this tragedy that took their loved ones.
