Remember the 14 person crash in Nepal–and that mysterious unnamed 15th fatality?
The fifteenth fatality missed the plane. While in Katmandu, the tourist named E Wols booked a seat on the Agni Air flight to Lukla, but luckily she missed it, and missed being the fifteenth fatality.
The remains of the victims have been airlifted to Kathmandu.
Argentine Aviators Union of Air Lines said that the investigation into the Rio Negro crash will take 3 months.
After departing from Neuquén at 20:08, the pilot sent out a distress call declaring an emergency. 19 passengers and 3 crew were aboard.
Locals saw a ball of fire fall from the sky 35 kilometers from the town of Los Menucos in an area not available to cell phone usage. Rescue units (three ambulances and civil defense team including the police force of Black River (Rio Negro), Sierra Colorado, General Roca and Los Menucos) were deployed but there were no survivors.
Saab officials will be participating in the investigation. But three months till the investigation is done? I don’t think so. Maybe three years.
The saga continues:
One thing that is coming out is that there’s more to the story, that the flight attendant’s problems started at the beginning of the flight with a couple of women who were fighting over bin space, that a woman (accidentally?) struck Slater on the head with her luggage, that a woman was enraged her checked luggage wasn’t handy.
It’s being posted as news now that Steven Slater has been granted bail. Whether or not he can afford to pay it is questionable. Maybe one of his new media cubbies will start a fund.
Of course they have to grant him bail.
Are they going to lock him in jail and throw away the key for having a melt-down on his job?
Have the abusive passengers been charged with unruly behavior, or does Jet Blue not concern themselves with the safety and well being of their employees?
On March 24, Najib Razak, Malaysia’s Prime Minister, announced that new computations by Inmarsat and the AAIB, flight MH-370 ended in the South Indian Ocean west of Perth (Australia). At this point, Malaysia endorsed the new search search parameters.
The full statement:
“This evening I was briefed by representatives from the UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch — or AAIB. They informed me that Inmarsat, the UK company that provided the satellite data which indicated the northern and southern corridors, has been performing further calculations on the data. Using a type of analysis never before used in an investigation of this sort, they have been able to shed more light on MH370’s flight path.
Based on their new analysis, Inmarsat and the AAIB have concluded that MH370 flew along the southern corridor, and that its last position was in the middle of the Indian Ocean, west of Perth. This is a remote location, far from any possible landing sites.
It is therefore with deep sadness and regret that I must inform you that, according to this new data, flight MH370 ended in the southern Indian Ocean.
We will be holding a press conference tomorrow with further details. In the meantime, we wanted to inform you of this new development at the earliest opportunity. We share this information out of a commitment to openness and respect for the families, two principles which have guided this investigation.
Malaysia Airlines have already spoken to the families of the passengers and crew to inform them of this development. For them, the past few weeks have been heartbreaking. I know this news must be harder still. I urge the media to respect their privacy, and to allow them the space they need at this difficult time.”
The numbers for the Dana Air crash may be as high as 222: 153 passengers and crew and a possible 69 ground casualties. The Voice of America puts the Nigerian death toll from 110 recorded crashes since 1943 with a total of 1500 fatalities. AllAfrica puts that number at 162 fatalities and 16 crashes.
Can we say there has been improvement when there were three crashes in 2005-2006 that killed a whopping 320 people? Regardless of the exact recorded figures, the list of Nigerian plane crashes makes a long, sad story. Carriers have a history of financing problems or corruption.
Prior to Dana Air, the last big crash was Oct. 29, 2006, when an Aviation Development Co. flight from Abuja to Sokoto crashed, killing 96 people after two minutes in the air. There was also the Bellview Airlines Crash in 2005, and Sosoliso Airlines–a plane full of children.
On Wednesday Nigeria’s Federal Executive Council established a nine-man Technical and Administrative Review Panel headed by Group Captain John Obakpolor to “determine the remote and immediate causes of the crash.” But here’s the problem–studies have already been made, and findings found. But where is the implementation of concrete reform?
Is Nigerian aviation industry in a tailspin? We can only hope that progress is being made in this country where governmental corruption has rendered airline regulation ineffective. We have seen time and again in aviation safety, when corners are cut, lives are lost.
After looking at the November 2006 ICAO audit here, we can only hope that Nigeria will redouble its efforts at aviation safety reform.
NTSB Investigation Arrives in Lagos
Questions follow Dana Air
Dana Air Semantic Wars
Husband Files Dana Air Flight 992 Lawsuit
Dana Air’s license Suspended
Witnesses of the Dana Air Crash Recount What they Saw
First Report of Dana Air Crash in Lagos
While the real life mystery of Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 disappearance hit the headlines, Australian film producer Alister Grierson revealed that this real life event is eerily similar to the story line of his upcoming action horror film ‘Deep water’.
Considering the sensitivity of scenario, Arclight Films on Monday announced that they have decided to pause the work on Deep water. The film company’s managing director Gary Hamilton said ‘Out of sensitivity to the Malaysia flight situation, we’ve decided to put it on pause for now’.
The film is based on the story of plane crash survivors who have to face and fight hungry sharks.
The post is an update of “Alister Grierson Says Malaysian Plane Incident Resembles the Plot of “Deep Water”
Following the Air India Express tragedy in Mangalore India (and definitely in response to it), the DGCA (India’s Directorate-General of Civil Aviation) has been trying to shut the gate after the horses are out. They’re still pointing their fingers at the pilot.
The tape of the crash records the co-pilot Capt H S Ahluwalia (*i.e. the pnf) insisting to Commander Capt Zlatko Glusica to initiate a go-around. The Captain (**i.e. the pf) did not, and the plane landed too far down the runway, clipped an antenna, crashed thru the end of the runway, off the edge of the runway plateau. We can only assume the captain ignored his co-pilot, as no go-around was initiated.
Apparently the pilot was in error and the co-pilot knew it. It must have been obvious to Ahluwalia that they were landing at the wrong angle too far down (the middle) of the runway–but he did not act on his knowledge. At any rate, he was in disagreement with his superior officer.
Consequently, the DCGA has issued an operations circular highlighting procedural assertiveness for the co-pilot when he knows the pilot is wrong. The Mangalore tragedy is not mentioned by name, but it is certainly the silent subtext.
Did the crash occur because the co-pilot did not take the controls? What exactly will this circular accomplish? Had this circular been public already, would the pilot and co-pilot have ended up in a wrestling match over controls of the airplane?
It will be interesting to hear from pilots about what they think the consequences of this directive might be, and if they think a cultural context may play a part.
I always turn to the experts. Right now, before the full investigation is out, I am hearing a lot of speculative “pilot error” but it is all speculation. But is it all pilot error?
My experts remind me that “Every incident is linked to a chain of events. Each event alone is not sufficient reason to provoke an accident although when they link together the chances are multiplied and sometimes the accident occurs.” ( I am quoting a pilot.)
For example, if pilot fatigue were a contributing factor (landing at dawn after a long tiring duty cycle), isn’t the carrier’s policy on pilot fatigue a contributory factor?
The Boeing 737 landed midway on runway 24, and then overshot it, crashing into a gorge. Initial reports on the civil aviation website showed runway 27 mislabeled as runway 24. The actual crash site was not even pictured, a mistake that certainly casts doubt on the quality of the investigation, and possibly even the quality of the resources available to pilots at the time they were negotiating a landing. What did their map say? Is a pilot alone in error if the resources provided him are in error? I know I am digressing, but the point I want to make is this:
I don’t have years of flight school, or engineering training but I do have opinion. And in my opinion, pilot error alone does not cause a crash like this.
Terminology
*pnf – pilot not flying
**pf – pilot flying
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Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact photographer WT
What: Air India Express Boeing 737-800 en route from Dubai to Mangalore
Where: Mangalore airport
When: 6:00 a.m May 22 2010
Who: 160 (?) passengers including 23 children, 6 crew= 158 fatalities and 8 survivors
Why: Air India Express flight 812 attempted touch down was around the middle marker. (Conflicting) reports are that it overshot the runway, and that the pilot intended a go round (tapes reveal the co pilot was urging a go-round) but the plane hit the localizer antenna at the runway’s end, plowed through the perimeter losing part of a wing, and went down 75 feet into a ravine, and broke into pieces and burst into flames. On touchdown, there was a reported “bang” which may have been a tire bursting. A drizzle started after the accident. From 5 to 10 people have been hospitalized, but according to reports there are possibly 3 survivors.
Survivor Abdul Puttur suffered burns. He was seated near the wing exit and said that the pilot had announced the landing, then there was a thud. He saw huge flames after the plane fell into the ravine and then he jumped out from the back entrance. Another passenger said the pilot made no announcement.
The Serbian pilot was Zlatko Glusica, first officer was S.S. Ahluwalia.
According to DGCA rules, Mangalore International Airport is deemed a “critical airfield” which means that “supervised take offs and landings” are prohibited. Only the captain (not the first officer) can pilot take-offs and landings. Mangalore International Airport has a controversial table top runway and which forces pilots to make a precision landing. The airport has no buffer zone, and pilots landing planes must fly precisely or risk hurtling off the edge.
