Pictured: An EasyJet Airline Airbus A319-111
Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact photographer Paolo Migliavacca
What: Easyjet Airbus A319-100 en route from Milan to Brindisi
Where: Milan
When: Feb 14th 2010
Why: While en route, the control panel of the cockpit began emitting smoke. Landing in oxygen masks, the flight crew returned to Milan and made a safe landing. Passengers were provided a replacement craft.
Pictured: A Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-7H4
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Contact photographer James Richard Covington
What: Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-700 en route from from Chicago to Salt Lake City
Where: Denver
When: December 4, 2009
Who: mother and child
Why: About 130 miles NW of Denver, an expectant mother aboard the 737 delivered a baby boy. A doctor was on board and assisted. The flight diverted to Denver when the baby was born. Mother and son were taken to a Denver hospital, and the flight continued to Salt Lake City.
Reportedly, the pilot announced that a new patient had just boarded.
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Contact photographer RalfB
What: Lufthansa Airbus A340-300 en route from Frankfurt/Main (Germany) to Boston,
Where: Amsterdam
When: Sep 24 2010
Why: While en route, the plane developed problems in an engine and had to shut it down for an unspecified fault inside engine #1 (outer left). After dumping fuel, the crew made a safe landing in Frankfurt. No injuries were reported.
Pictured: A Bacau Yak-52 taken in the UK. This is not the plane in the incident. Photos of private
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Contact photographer Malcolm Clarke
What: Joseph M. Gauthier’s Yakovlev circa 1985 YAK-52 en route from/to from Redlands Airport performing aerobatics
Where: Santa Ana River bed at Opal Avenue, 10 miles from Redlands, CA
When: Monday, Feb 08 2010 between 12:50 and 1 p.m.
Who: 2 fatalities (a man and a woman) both off-duty California Air National Guard ( March Air Reserve Base) members
Why: Witnesses say that while they were watching the plane doing aerobatics, the plane went down. The area is a place where planes often perform aerobatics, and the soviet-built Yakovlev was designed as a trainer and acrobatic aircraft.
Cezar Britto, president of The Order of Lawyers of Brazil said it was “a tragedy waiting to happen,” echoing public opinion. “What exploded in Cagonhas was not just the TAM airbus and almost 200 victims but the credibility of the Brazilian aviation system.”
Cagonhas is notorious for its short, dangerous runway.
“The runway was as slippery as soap,” a pilot confessed.
Rescuers pulled 181 bodies from the twisted metal wreckage and rubble. Five people are listed as missing. 11 are hospitalized. No passengers survived.
Relatives gathered to identify the remains amid calls for authorities to improve airport safety.
The crash is the latest of a series of airline disasters. The main runway had been resurfaced last month, but more work was scheduled to allow for better water drainage.
“Control tower operators had warned the runway should be closed,” said Sergio Olivera, who heads the Federation of Air Controllers.
Footage of landing showed the aircraft travelling at high speed–the Airbus took only three seconds as opposed to the usual 11 to traverse the runway then disappeared after skidding off the left side of the runway. Then a ball of flame filled the sky.
An investigation has been ordered. One of the black boxes has been recovered.
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva declared three days of national mourning. Pope Benedict XVI expressed his sorrow.
In February a judge banned Fokker 100, Boeing 737-800 and Boeing 737/700 jetliners from the airport but the ruling was overturned in appeals.
Vietnam Airlines flight VN1266 had to make an emergency landing at Noi Bai international airport in Hanoi, Vietnam, on the afternoon of December 16.
The pilot of the flight, en-route from Ho Chi Minh City to Vinh, sought permission for emergency landing after the cabin began de-pressurizing and oxygen masks deployed. However, instead of sending the ’general emergency’ code 7700, the pilot mistakenly sent code 7500 which means ‘unlawful interference’.
Emergency services were ready at the scene to handle hijacking situation when the Airbus A321-200 landed safely. None of the 140 people aboard was harmed.
The situation later got cleared and the airline released a statement confirming that the emergency landing was due to a technical issue and there was no hijacking incident.
The incident is under investigation.
What: Mesaba/Delta CRJ 200 en route from Minneapolis to Dayton
Where: Dane County Regional Airport, Madison
When: Jan 7 2011
Who: 40 passengers
Why: While en route, the plane developed engine trouble.
One of the engines displayed an emergency warning and had to be shut down.
The pilot landed safely in Madison. Passengers disembarked normally.
