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Contact photographer Terry Wade
What: Jetblue Airbus A320-200, en route from Fort Lauderdale,FL to Santo Domingo
Where: Fort Lauderdale
When: Dec 20 2010
Why: After takeoff, the crew noticed substantial structural vibration of the plane’s airframe.
They decided to return to Fort Lauderdale and made a safe landing.
A replacement jet was provided.
Philippine Airlines flight PR-658 had to divert and make an emergency landing in Yangon, Myanmar, on July 10th.
The Airbus A330-300 plane heading from Manila, Philippines, to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, was diverted due to a cracked windshield.
The plane landed safely. All one hundred and seventy-seven passengers and thirteen crew members remained unharmed.
Remember that British Airways Airbus A319 event we talked about the other day? The one where (oops) the engine cover fell off of the engine on that Oslo flight?
The one where “the coverings broke off and punctured the right engine’s fuel pipe, damaging the aircraft’s systems?” The Air Accidents Investigation Branch the investigation said evealed that the fan cowl doors on both engines were left unlatched during maintenance.”
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What: Cityjet Avro RJ-85/Air France en route from Edinburgh to Paris
Where: Birmingham UK
When: Jul 8th 2010
Why: While en route, the Air France flight developed “technical problems” and diverted to Birmingham where it made a safe landing. Passengers were provided alternative flights.
Avro (1963) was taken over by Hawker Siddely, and later merged with British Aircraft Corp and Scottish Aviation (1977) , which was succeeded by British Aerospace( 1999) , and then succeeded by BAE Systems.
Technical issues? In this day and time, it seems to me that “technical issues” is an inadequate description of a problem. These have all been lumped at one time under “technical issues”:
A cursory announcement of a problem should be specific.
Was it a problem with an indicator? an alarm system? a physical problem? a communication problem? loss of control? overheating? leaks? maintenance?
The only way design issues can be caught ahead of the disaster is if full disclosure of the exact problem is noted publicly, and cross-checked with all other incidents and problem reports. If Air France or Cityjet Avro wants to present details, I would be delighted to present them in this forum here.
Air France—like all carriers—needs to practice full disclosure. If the cause is unknown, then it is multiplicatively more important to disclose the exact issue so that the problem can recorded, cross checked, and be tracked down. Maybe if there were less secrecy and more open communication in the field of aviation safety, the 575 lost in recent crashes would still be here.
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Contact photographer Angara
What: Batavia Airbus A320-200 en route from Denpasar to Balikpapan
Where: Balikpapan
When: Mar 12th 2012
Who: 177 aboard
Why: On landing in Balikpapan, the plane overran the runway, causing the airport to shut down.
The plane was towed to the gate, and the airport reopened after two hours. No injuries were reported.
Iberia Express flight IB-3673 had to return and make an emergency landing in Berlin, Germany, on November 9th.
The Airbus A320-200 plane took off for Madrid, Spain, but had to return shortly afterwards after a ground observer reported seeing a jet of flame emitting from the left hand engine.
The crew subsequently declared an emergency and turned back toward Berlin.
The plane landed safely. All passengers and crew members remained unharmed.
Ural Airlines flight U6-9785 made an emergency landing in Yekaterinburg, Russia, on December 14th.
The Airbus A321-200 plane took off from Ufa, Russia, but suffered a tail strike on departure.
The crew continued the takeoff and subsequently decided to land in Yekaterinburg.
The flight was originally bound for Nizhnevartovsk, Russia.
