Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact photographer John Ballantyne
What: Kuwait Airways Boeing 747-400 en route from Cairo to Kuwait
Where: Kuwait
When: Mar 12th 2010
Who: 259 passengers
Why: On approach to Kuwait City, the plane indicated a fire and emergency services were deployed. However on landing, there was no fire.
The report was due to a faulty fire indicator on the wheel well.
Southwest Airlines flight WN-2573 returned and made an emergency landing at Raleigh–Durham International Airport, Morrisville, North Carolina, on October 30.
The Boeing 737-300, heading towards Tampa, Florida, had to return in emergency due to bird strike.
The aircraft sustained minor damage on its left side.
All 124 passengers and 5 crew members aboard remained unhurt.
KLM Cityhopper flight KL-1198 made an emergency landing in Amsterdam, Netherlands, on November 15th.
The Embraer ERJ-175 plane flying from Stavanger, Norway, was on approach to Amsterdam when the crew declared an emergency due to an unsafe gear indication.
The plane landed safely. All eighty-three people aboard remained unharmed.
Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact photographer Karl Nixon
What: Helios Airways Boeing 737-300 en route from Cyprus to Athens to Prague, Czech Republic
Where: Athens
When: Aug. 14, 2005
Who: 121 passengers
Why: Before losing radio contract, pilots reported trouble with the air conditioning system. In the flight, cabin pressure failure knocked out the pilots. They made it to Athens, but the plane ran out of fuel and crashed. Crash video shows fire fighting planes controlling fires, bodies, baggage, airplane spread over a large debris field, the tail and engines relatively intact. At the time of the crash, except for one pilot (who was observed trying to land the plane), everyone aboard was comatose due to lack of oxygen.
In the case, prosecution failed to prove that German pilot Hans-Juergen Merten and his Cypriot co-pilot Charalambos Charalambous didn’t meet the minimum standards
A Cyprus court has acquitted four former airline officials of manslaughter charges.
Contact photographer John Farmington
What: Delta Airlines Boeing 767-300 en route from New York JFK,NY (USA) to Kiev (Ukraine)
Where: returned to New York
When: May 3rd 2009
Who: 212 on board
Why: The crew listed “operational reasons” but listed no details. They turned back over Moncton,NB and returned flying at lower altitude.
Contact photographer Wim Callaert
What: Delta Airlines Boeing 767-300 En route from New York JFK,NY (USA) to Rome Fiumicino
Where: Bangor,ME
When: May 4th 2009
Why: En route, the plane lost all air data computers and had lost most of the flight instruments, and requested to return to the airport of origin. Instead, they diverted to Bangor Maine. A replacement plane completed the flight. Fortunately, all that was suffered was a delay of nine hours.
George’s Point of View
This caught my eye mostly because two Boeings flying out of NY’s JFK were both listed as having “technical difficulties.” I wanted to doublecheck and see if they were the same plane.
Not the same plane.
The first incident with the undisclosed technical difficulty involved plane registration registration N182DN.
The second incident, the one with the data computer problem, involved plane registration N196DN.I find myself curious to discover what is coincidence and what is not. It may not be the same plane; but it is the same airline, the same model plane. Is it the same flight crew? Same procedures? What about the equipment? Is there something here to discover?
Japan Transocean Air flight NU-44 had to return and make an emergency landing at Naha Airport, Okinawa, Japan, on May 6th.
The Boeing 737-400 flying to Nagoya, Japan, had to return after the first officer’s windshield cracked.
The plane landed safely.
All 148 passengers and 5 crew members remained safe.
Alaska Airlines flight AS-792 had to divert and make an emergency landing at Spokane International Airport, Spokane County, Washington, on July 24th.
The Boeing 737-800 flying from Seattle, Washington, to Detroit, Michigan, had to divert due to burning odor on board.
The plane landed safely.
No injuries were reported.