Memorials, etc.

Most of the time we only post the crash as it happens, unless there’s an event that happens that really needs more dissemination. Usually the mailbox is full of news and reports, requests, pleas for attention and the occasional argument. I suppose because we’re in the process of moving the blog–and because last week was a really busy week–and because I’m fighting off an infection–this week’s mailbox is full of things that didn’t just happen and can’t be easily put into a file.

So the way it goes today…there’s a two-seater Vans RV light aircraft that flipped over in the North Weald airfield in Essex in the UK. The pilot hurt his neck and back. (In these cases, I always feel like it’s a miracle if they get out of a crash alive, so some bumps and bruises are like getting out of a coffin scot– free–particularly when the pilot is in his seventies.)

And of course, we’ve already talked about the Piper Navajo Chieftain that fell out of the sky into a North Las Vegas house. Five people in the house got out–one died. Its eerily like the same crash that happened also in Vegas, also this week. Apparently in this case, when his engine was running roughly, the pilot decided to go back to the airport and when he did, he hit trees and power lines, crashed on the house and died. Is there a pattern here? Anyway, they’re investigating.

There’s a memorial service at Southern Utah University to remember the nine people from Cedar City clinic Southwest Skin and Cancer Inc who died in the crash along with the pilot. The Air Force is remembering 9 men who died in the Davao crash. There were actually 11 lost–but they apparently didn’t know two of them were on the plane; and they will be remembered separately. I almost posted the details but really, I’m overwhelmed by all those names. I don’t have any idea where Davao is, but grief is grief, and I am sure we all mourn with them. And I will mourn twice for the two men they forgot to mourn the first time around.

In fact, the only new news looks like it is the 1976 Rockwell International 112A whose pilot got pulled out of the water off of Gasparilla Island. 69-year-old Glen Koedding took a trip to the hospital but he’s ok. They don’t say if the plane survived.

Maybe if we’re really lucky, a day will go by and we won’t have any crash reports. Wouldn’t that be something?

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    LionAir Flight Updated


    On the flight prior the LionAir accident flight on the Boeing Max registered as PK-LQP, an off-duty fully-qualified Boeing 737-MAX 8 pilot was traveling home on flight JT-43. The plane encountered problems similar to the next flight that crashed it (i.e. the LionAir accident flight from Denpasar to Jakarta.) The crew aboard the earlier flight managed to land the aircraft at the destination. Based on the crew’s entry in the AFML, the engineer at Jakarta flushed the left Pitot Air Data Module (ADM) and static ADM to rectify the reported IAS and ALT disagree and cleaned the electrical connector plug of the elevator feel computer. The aircraft was subsequently released to carry out flight JT610.(A different crew manned the fatal flight.) The pilot was interviewed by the Kantor Komite Nasional Keselamatan Transportasi–Ministry of Transportation of the Republic of Indonesia (KNKT). The KNKT committee is responsible for investigating and reporting air transportation system accidents, serious incidents and safety deficiencies involving air transportation system operations in Indonesia.

    The KNKT estimates that the release of the final report for Lion B38M in August or September 2019.

    The KNKT is cooperating with Ethiopian Authorities but will make no official comment. News media reports suggest that on the earlier LionAir flight, a third pilot had occupied the observer’s seat in the cockpit of flight JT-43 and that this pilot identified the automatic trim runaway issue at hand and initiated that the trim cut out switches be used.

    The preliminary report on the LionAir crash is located HERE.

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    Tallahassee: Update on Plane Cockpit Fire

    What: Delta Connection carrier Canadian Regional Jet 200 Flight 5563 Registration 830AS Destination Atlanta
    Where: Tallahassee Regional Airport
    When: 02/28/2009
    Who: 47 passengers
    Why: At the Tallahassee Regional airport at the gate, the pilot reported a fire in the cockpit.

    Delta Cockpit Fire

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    Air Traffic Controllers Audio Released

    4 Marine Corps officers have lost their jobs. 9 individuals are being disciplined. The audio is damning, but who does it damn?

    What: F/A-18 Military Jet from the carrier Abraham Lincoln landing at Marine Corps Air Station Miramir
    Where: San Diego neighborhood
    When: DEC 8
    Who: the pilot, who was part of a training squadron, ejected. He had been aiming the plane at a deserted canyon to avoid homes and the 805 Freeway. 4 Individuals in the house are dead. The pilot has been transported to Balboa Naval Hospital
    Update: F/A-18 Crash in San Diego

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    Egyptair Flight MS804 Almost A Year Later

    Elements of this image are furnished by NASA

    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:

    • 00:26Z 3044 ANTI ICE R WINDOW
    • 00:26Z 561200 R SLIDING WINDOW SENSOR
    • 00:26Z 2600 SMOKE LAVATORY SMOKE
    • 00:27Z 2600 AVIONICS SMOKE
    • 00:28Z 561100 R FIXED WINDOW SENSOR
    • 00:29Z 2200 AUTO FLT FCU 2 FAULT
    • 00:29Z 2700 F/CTL SEC 3 FAULT
    • no further ACARS messages were received.

    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:

    • Le Figaro reported that no explosives were found on Egyptair flight MS804 French victims’ bodies. The flight crashed in the Mediterranean in 2016.
    • On Dec 15th 2016 Egypt’s Civil Aviation Authority announced that forensic examination on behalf of the Accident Investigation Commission found traces of explosives with some of the human remains recovered. In accordance with Egypt law, the states prosecutor was informed, and a technical commission formed by the prosecution office opened their investigation into the crime.

    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.

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    Update: Turkish Boeing Crash at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport

    Minutes before the Turkish Airlines Boeing crashed at at 10:26 am, a Northwest Airlines Boeing 757 landed, leaving behind a trail of “wake turbulence.” Just as a speedboat moving in water leaves a dramatic ripple of water, a jet leaves a deadly invisible “wake” behind. If this is indeed what happened to the Turkish Airlines jet, then the control tower is at fault for scheduling the flights too close together. (The Turkish Airlines jet was following only four miles behind.) Records show that the Northwest flight landed at 10:24 a.m.


    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact photographer Joop Stroes – Global Aviation Photography
    What: Turkish Airlines Boeing 737-800 (TC-JGE) Flight 1951 en route from Istanbul to Amsterdam.
    Where: Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport
    When: 10:40 a.m. Wednesday Feb 25
    Who: 135 passengers on board; eight crew members. (numbers vary)
    Why: The plane crashed as it approached the runway to land. Witnesses say the approach was too low and the pilot tried to go higher to avoid crashing into the A-19 (hwy.) The wreckage is in three pieces lying in a field next to the runway; emergency crews are tending injured passengers on site. The cockpit was intact, adn the fuselage broke at the wings.There was an immediate report of one fatality which was later denied. There were at least 20 injured and at least 50 survivors. Another report estimated the majority of the passengers are injured. (Sorry the numbers don’t mesh, but this is the news as it came in–) There was no fire. Fights to and from Schiphol were suspended temporarily after the crash.

    The number of deceased has been increased to 9.

    More than 80 suffered injury.

    25 suffered “serious” injury.
    6 are hospitalized in critical condition.

    Numbers corrected (again): 127 passengers 7 crew.

    According to various passenger accounts, prior to the crash, twelve minutes to the scheduled landing, the plane was flying low, and an announcement was made that the plane was landing. (No announcement was made that the plane was in an emergency.) Immediately on landing, those who were able left the plane, and when there was no fire, they went back in and pulled the others out, especially in the front of the plane, where there was screaming. Outside help arrived within 20-25 minutes.

    See the Original Post

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    Recent Airline Accidents since the Tam Air Crash in Sao Paulo

    30 November 2007; Atlasjet MD83; near Keciborlu, Turkey:
    Domestic flight from Istanbul to Isparta disappeared from radar screens. The crew had requested permission to land and subsequently crashed in mountainous terrain near the town of Keciborlu 7.5 miles from the Isparta airport. All seven crew members and 50 passengers were killed.

    16 September 2007; One-Two-Go Airlines MD82; Phuket, Thailand:
    Scheduled domestic flight from Bangkok (DMK) to Phuket (HKT). After landing heavy rain and poor visibility , the aircraft skidded off the runway, impacted trees, and caught fire. At least 89 deaths, including 85 of the 123 passengers and five of the seven crew members.

    20 August 2007; China Airlines 737-800; Naha, Japan:
    After landing at Naha on the island of Okinawa, the left engine caught fire and the crew initiated an emergency evacuation. All 157 passengers (including two toddlers) and eight crew members survived. This event did not result in a passenger death.

    9 August 2007; Air Moorea Twin Otter; Moorea, Frech Polynesia:
    Scheduled domestic flight from Moorea (MOZ) to Tahiti (PPT) crashed into the ocean shortly after takeoff. The single crew member and all 19 passengers were killed.

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