Japan Airlines flight JL-632 made an emergency landing in Kumamoto, Japan, on May 24th.
The Boeing 767-300 plane took off for Tokyo, Japan, but had to return shortly afterwards due to an engine issue.
The plane landed safely. All two hundred and nine passengers and eight crew members remained unharmed.
Japan’s Ministry of Transport reported that metallic pieces from the left-hand engine were found at various locations on the ground below the flight path.
Coming soon from Boeing….(2010)
The 787 Dreamliner
George’s Point of View
I’d line to be on that first testflight…
The fact sheet is directly from the Boeing site.
Brief Description:
The Boeing 787-3 Dreamliner is a super-efficient airplane with new passenger-pleasing features. It features a wing and structure optimized for shorter-range flights. It will bring the economics of large jet transports to the middle of the market, using 20 percent less fuel than any other airplane of its size.
Seating:
290 to 330 passengers
Range:
2,500 to 3,050 nautical miles (4,650 to 5,650 kilometers)
Configuration:
Twin aisle
Cross Section:
226 inches (574 centimeters)
Wing Span:
170 feet (52 meters)
Length:
186 feet (57 meters)
Height:
56 feet (17 meters)
Cruise Speed:
Mach 0.85
Maximum Takeoff Weight:
364,000 pounds (165,100 kilograms)
Total Cargo Volume:
4,400 cubic feet
Program milestones:
Qantas Airways flight QF-9 had to divert and make an emergency landing in Muscat, Oman, on March 25th.
The Airbus A380-800 plane en-route from Melbourne, Australia, to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, was diverted due to bad weather conditions in Dubai.
As the plane was on approach to Muscat, it was hit by a bird. The crew continued for a safe landing.
Everyone aboard remained unharmed.
What: Loganair Saab aircraft, operating for Flybe
Where: Isle of Man Airport
When: 10 November 2008
Who: 19 persons onboard
Why: Reported problems with the plane’s undercarriage-but the plane landed without incident. Roads around the airport were closed in accordance with safety directives.
Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact photographer Vernon
What: SilkAir Boeing 737-36N en route from Jakarta, Indonesia to Singapore
Where: Musi River
When: Dec 19, 1997
Who: 97 passengers, 7 crew
Why: SilkAir Flight 185, a Boeing 737-36N, was en route from Jakarta, Indonesia to Singapore, and crashed on 19 December 1997 after abruptly plunging into the Musi River from its 35,000 feet cruise altitude, killing all 97 passengers and 7 crew on board. For no apparent reason, minutes before the crash, the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder stopped recording, at different times, then the aircraft departed level flight and entered a steep vertical dive. All 104 people on board died in the crash. The pilot was deep in debt and had taken out an insurance policy on himself.
Envoy Air Flight 3530 had to return and make an emergency landing at LaGuardia Airport in New York on April 30.
The plane took off for Detroit but had to turn back shortly afterwards after one or more birds hit its left wing flap.
The plane landed safely. All 62 passengers aboard remained unhurt.
Capt. Lee Collins of the Coalition of Airline Pilots Association said pilots are prepared for emergencies in the air. The pilot of a transatlantic flight died over the Atlantic Ocean, but the jet landed safely.
What: Continental Airlines Boeing 777-200 en route from Brussels Belgium to Newark, NJ
Where: en route
When: June 18th 2009
Who: 247 passengers and 3 flight crew
Why: Four hours into the flight, while over the Atlantic, the captain died. The two first officers took over and landed the plane safely in Newark.
A doctor on board was called to the cockpit, and the on board defibrillator failed to revive the captain who apparently had died of a heart attack.
George’s Point of View
It’s a small world.
Recently I’d been in a conversation with someone about the Colgan flight.
Remember the Colgan flight? The one that crashed in Buffalo? The wings iced over, the captain was ill-trained, and the co-pilot was too inexperienced and too exhausted to know how to respond to the particular emergency. The combination resulted in disaster for everyone on board.
So, I was in this conversation with someone about the Colgan flight, and the question came up about the value of the co-pilot’s experience. The rate of the co-pilot’s pay was released, ($11.00/hr) and that provoked me to write about co-pilots needing “professional” pay. What would happen, we speculated (in this conversation) if the pilot died? The copilot becomes the de facto pilot.
Then, lo and behold, today a pilot dies of a heart attack. Luckily for Continental and everyone on board, there were two co-pilots on hand, and both of them apparently qualified enough to handle the flight. (Apparently so, since they did manage to finish the flight.)
I just wasn’t expecting that speculative question to manifest itself in a headline today.