• Emergency landing in Delhi

    What: Jet Airways en route from Delhi to Vadodara
    Where: Indira Gandhi International Airport Delhi
    When: August 2009
    Who: 63 passengers including including Vadodara MP and mayor Balkrishna Shukla.
    Why: After takeoff, the flight experienced undisclosed technical difficulties. According to passengers, the engines sounded like a train. The flight landed safely, and the passengers were upset over the uncomfortably hot flight, as well as the lack of explanation from the airline.

    However, newspapers carried the story, explaining that the problem with the plane was related to wheels that refused to retract.

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    Airbus Hydraulics Failure in Mumbai

    What: Air India Airbus A320-200 en route from Ahmedabad to Mumbai India
    Where: Mumbai
    When: Aug 4th 2009
    Who: 137 passengers,
    Why: The flight experienced a hydraulics failure on approach to Mumbai but had a safe landing.

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    Indonesian Plane Found


    Pictured: A Merpati Twin Otter plane
    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact Photographer Vector Grafix

    A search plane reported sighting the wreckage of the plane 20 nautical miles from Oksibil on a mountain at 9300 feet.
    Update:
    Fifteen bodies arrived at Sentani Airport, Jayapura on Thursday afternoon and taken to the Bhayangkara Kotaraja Police Hospital for autopsy. Two of the 12 passengers were babies.

    What: Merpati Nusantara Airlines de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter 300 en route from Jayapura to Oksibil Indonesia
    Where: 20 nautical miles from Oksibil Indonesia
    When: Aug 2nd 2009
    Who: 13 passengers and 2 crew
    Why: Initially the weather was reported to be foggy, but 2 hours after the flight, thunder storms were reported. The tower has not been contacted since 10:35 and although the flight was due at 11:05, it never arrived.

    State owned PT Merpati Nusantara Airlines is sent out another twin-otter to search for the missing plane. The search was hampered by continued bad weather.

    The flight was lost while passing through the Jayapura to Oksibil route

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    Bad Landing in Bangkok, Casualty Reports Vary


    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact Photographer Rui Miguel

    What: Bangkok Airways Aerospatiale ATR-72-500,en route from Krabi to Koh Samui Thailand
    Where: Koh Samui Thailand
    When: Aug 4th 2009
    Who: 68 passengers and 4 crew
    Why: While landing in heavy rain, the plane skidded off runway 35 at Koh Samui and into an old unused control tower. Public reports vary (between one and 41 deaths, including the captain).

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    US Airways Airbus Returns to Charlotte


    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact Photographer Jan Severijns

    What: US Airways Airbus A330-300 en route from Charlotte,NC to Frankfurt Germany
    Where: initially requested return to Philadelphia then Charlotte.
    When: Aug 1st 2009
    Who: 220 passengers
    Why: En route, the plane experienced an undisclosed technical issue preventing them from flying across the Atlantic. They received oceanic clearance from air traffic control, but requested it be revoked based on the “maintenance” issue

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    Indonesian Plane Missing


    Pictured: A Merpati Twin Otter plane
    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact Photographer Vector Grafix

    What: Merpati Nusantara Airlines de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter 300 en route from Jayapura to Oksibil Indonesia
    Where: unknown
    When: Aug 2nd 2009
    Who: 13 passengers and 2 crew
    Why: Initially the weather was reported to be foggy, but 2 hours after the flight, thunder storms were reported. The tower has not been contacted since 10:35 and although the flight was due at 11:05, it never arrived.

    State owned PT Merpati Nusantara Airlines is sending out another twin-otter to search for the missing plane. It was lost while passing through the Jayapura to Oksibil route

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    Engine Fire and Fuel Leak in Tehran


    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact Photographer Shary

    What: Saha Airlines Boeing 707-300 en route from Ahvaz to Tehran
    Where: Ahvaz
    When: Aug 3rd 2009
    Who: 174 passenger
    Why: On take off, engines one and two caught on fire. The crew declared emergency and landed safely where the plane landed and a fuel leak was discovered in the plane. Passengers debarked without injury.

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    Continental Boeing encounters Turbulence


    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact Photographer John Harris

    What: Continental Airlines Boeing 767-200 en route from Rio de Janeiro to Houston
    Where: turbulence occurred southeast of Puerto Rico; diversion to Miami.
    When: Aug 3rd 2009
    Who: 168 passengers and 11 crew members
    Why: About an hour out of Miami, the flight encountered turbulence. Four received severe injuries and there were multiple lesser injuries. 28 individuals were treated at the airport on site; 9 were taken to hospitals. (Alternate reports say 13 were taken to hospitals.) The flight landed at Miami, an hour and fifteen minutes after the turbulence.

    Uninjured passengers were routed to Houston; in fact, they remained on the plane nearly three hours after landing because it was an International flight and had to be cleared by customs to arrive.

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    British Airways Boeing Lands with Smoke Alert in Barcelona


    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact Photographer Gordon Gebert JR

    What: British Airways Boeing 757-200 en route from London Heathrow,EN to Barcelona
    Where: Barcelona
    When: Aug 2nd 2009
    Who: 176 passengers 2 pilots and 5 crew members
    Why: When smoke was detected in the cabin en route, the crew declared an emergency. The flight landed safely in Barcelona, and passengers debarked via slides. The examination of the plane as it was checked for fire which delayed the passengers retrieval of baggage, but no actual source of smoke or fire was ever detected.

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    Airbus Braking Emergency in Kazakhstan


    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact Photographer Frank Kuehne

    What: Air Astana Airbus A319-100 en route from Almaty to Pavlodar Kasakhstan
    Where: Astana Kasakhstan
    When: Aug 1st 2009
    Who: 72 passengers and 7 crew
    Why: The Air Astana Airbus declared an emergency when they discovered an (unspecified) brake problem. The flight diverted to Astana and made a safe landing.

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    Fed Ex Emergency Landing in Indianapolis


    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact Photographer Alastair T. Gardiner

    What: Fedex McDonnell Douglas MD-11 en route from Anchorage to Memphis,TN
    Where: Indianapolis
    When: Jul 31st 200
    Who: 2 crew
    Why: On experiencing hydraulics failure, the flight diverted to Indianapolis, landing safely just after midnight. No injuries were reported.

    It is a shame they diverted FROM Memphis, where the Fed Ex hub is, and complete repair facilities.

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    Airbus Wingtip Grazes Congo Building


    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact Photographers Daniel & Robert Fall

    What: Air France Airbus A330-200 en route from from Paris to Brazzaville Congo
    Where: Maya-Maya airport on the tarmac
    When:
    Who: Several dozen people were on board the plane,
    Why: While taxiing into a parking position, the right winglet (a small vertical section at the tip of the wing) brushed a building just after landing. Although maintenance moved fast to say the plane was fine, the plane will be flown back to France but is banned from taking off with any passengers.

    George’s Point of View

    I’m not picking on Airbus. Just to prove it, I am going to admit that in this case, the lousy taxi job is probably not due to an innate Airbus flaw (unless massive vehicle size can be construed as a design flaw directly related to the relative ease of negotiating turns on a runway. Maybe the pilot or ground crew was just a ham-handed driver. Come to think of it, parking the 1975 Cadillac Fleetwood was no piece of cake either. )

    No, I’m not picking on Airbus. With over 2,500 Airbus A320s flying around, (and who knows how many other Airbus models are still in service) incidents will happen.

    But.. look at these statistics:
    Airbus A300 – 17 crashes with a total of 1126 fatalities
    Airbus A310 – 9 crashes with a total of 825 fatalities
    Airbus A319/20/21 – 16 crashes with a total of 637 fatalities
    Airbus A330 – 3 with a total of 235 fatalities

    ——-*——-

    That’s a lot of fatalities. The number of deaths–almost 400 in June alone–this works out to a lot of misery spread around to a lot of families.

    I’m not picking on Air France, either. Air France isn’t responsible for the Yemenia Flight 626 that crashed June 30th 2009 with 152 fatalities and one miracle survivor.

    But even if I am not picking on Airbus, someone with lots of muscle (like all the citizens of France) should be doing just that.

    Enough deaths. It is past time to fix the problem.

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    Flybe Hydraulics Issue in Edinburgh

    What: Flybe de Havilland Dash 8-400 en route from Bergerac (France) to Edinburgh
    Where: Edinburgh
    When: Jul 29th 2009
    Who: 54 people on board
    Why: On approach to Edinburgh, the crew noted a hydraulics problem and spent twenty minutes in a holding pattern while the problem was resolved. The plane landed safely.

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    St Louis Bird Strike

    What: An American Airlines MD-80 jet enroute from Saint Louis to Los Angeles
    Where: Lambert Airport
    When: 2:00pm Wednesday July 29
    Who: 140 passengers 5 crew
    Why: After takeoff, the plane’s right engine ingested a bird. (Apparently it passed right through). The bird strike disabled the engine; and the pilot landed immediately, after declaring an emergency.

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  • Clunker Airlines

    George’s Point of View

    When times are hard, we drive clunkers. Our old cars get older and rattier, but they’re paid for. It takes more money and more maintenance to keep them going, but when we weigh the merits of getting a new car, the weight of the new car note comes along with it, along with more expensive insurance to cover a more expensive car. So, is it any wonder that we take a sigh over the new car commercial, even as we open the car door and climb into last year’s model? (Or for some of us, last decade’s model.) So what if the tires are maypops and the bumper is held on with twist ties and it takes more than rubbing compound to get the scratches out? It gets us down the road.

    The problem is that airlines are having the same issues.

    Profits are down, fuel costs are going up, and even airlines have to pay for new planes. And unlike this year’s Lexus, new planes cost millions, even billions. This wouldn’t be so bad if planes were like cars, and the likeliest outcome for a junker is an inevitable call to AAA for a tow. Because, obviously, airplanes don’t just stop rolling when they quit. They fall out of the sky. And of course there are the lesser things that happen. Pieces of the fuselage fall off, or magically sport holes the size of footballs. Landing gears fail. They get stuck open or shut. Windshields crack for no known reason. Mysterious electrical fires play hide and seek inside the myriad of separate systems inside the cabin.

    So many airlines struggling to stay afloat are pushing their older aircraft to their maximum life span, saving the expense of a new note–but that is balanced with the greater expense of maintaining older planes. The cost of everything is going up. (Consider that the new airbags by themselves are going to cost well over $1000 per seat.) Fortunately the FAA is working harder at monitoring maintenance guidelines, and policing the skies. The future of the industry in fact, may be riding on FAA Reauthorization Act. (Take a look at our sidebar where we have links to the FAA Reauthorization Act

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  • The Families of Air France Flight 447 Turn to US

    The Association of the relatives of the victims of Air France Flight 447 are proceeding against European manufacturer Airbus. To spearhead their undertaking, the families have contracted aviation consultant George Hatcher and the law firm of Masry & Vittoe.

    Hatcher conferred with the victims’ relatives monday (20), in Rio De Janeiro, to discuss legal strategies that will be adopted in the case. According to the specialist, at this stage, regardless of the cause of the accident, the responsible party is the manufacturer of the airplane, France’s Airbus, subsidiary of EADS, a European aerospace company.

    In a disaster of this stature, payments can reach up to $700 million dollars (U.S.).

    According to Mr Hatcher who maintains a list of hundreds of pilot experts, “Two of our Airbus pilots agree that in their expert opinion, a significant responsibility for the loss of the aircraft lies within defective computers and/or flawed computer technology. The Airbus, in their evaluation is far from perfect.”

    Hatcher will be working the Air France case, in addition to his work on the TAM case in Florida. “In respect for the family’s deep feelings,” he explained, “we are moving forward as quickly and carefully as the wheels of justice allow. Settlements in the US tend to be higher than elsewhere. The Tam hearing is scheduled for March of 2010. We came to a partial agreement with the TAM, but the case is pending on the responsible parties like BFGoodrich, responsible for the brakes, and the Pratt&Whitney, manufacturer of the turbines, one of which was with the broken reverser.”

    The Air France is eligible to be tried in Florida where Airbus maintains a training center commercial office of the Airbus.

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  • Familiares de vítimas do AF 447 vão processar Airbus nos EUA


    A associação dos parentes das vítimas do acidente do voo 447 da Air France vai processar a fabricante europeia Airbus. Para isso, os familiares das vítimas contrataram o advogado mexicano George Hatcher, do escritório Masry & Vittoe, um dos maiores estrategistas do mundo nesse tipo de processo.

    Hatcher esteve reunido com os parentes das vítimas na segunda-feira (20), no Rio de Janeiro, para discutir as estratégias jurídicas que serão adotadas no caso. Segundo o especialista, não importam as causas do acidente, já que o responsável na questão é o fabricante do avião.

    No caso do desastre do Atlântico, o montante de pagamentos pode alcançar o valor recorde de US$ 700 milhões de dólares.

    “Vamos processar a Airbus. Tenho uma lista de 700 pilotos com os quais costumo discutir. Dois deles são comandantes da ativa do A330 e, embora não se conheçam, disseram a mesma coisa: foram os computadores defeituosos os responsáveis pela perda da aeronave. O Airbus, na avaliação deles, é um projeto defeituoso”, definiu o consultor, de acordo com o Jornal do Brasil.

    Assim como no acidente da TAM em Congonhas, Hatcher levará o processo para a corte na Flórida, nos Estados Unidos.

    “As cortes da Flórida são rigorosas, tem uma simpatia pelo drama das famílias e não perdem tempo. Os acordos nos EUA são os mais altos no por isso. No caso do acidente de Congonhas são processos que somam US$ 100 millhões e a audiência na corte já está marcada, para março de 2010. Fizemos um acordo parcial com a TAM, mas há outros réus, como a BFGoodrich, responsável pelos freios, e a Pratt&Whitney, fabricante das turbinas, uma das quais estava com o reverso quebrado”, disse.

    A ação relativa ao caso da Air France deve ser aberta também na Flórida, onde há um centro de treinamento e um escritório comercial da Airbus.

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    DC: Turbulence on US Airways Landing


    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact Photographer

    What: US Airways/ Republic Airlines Embraer ERJ-175 en route from West Palm Beach,FL to Washington DC
    Where: Washington’s National Ronald Reagan Airport
    When: Jul 25th 2009
    Why: On the final approach, the plane was struck by turbulence and several passengers were injured. The flight landed safely. No more information has been reported–no details on the injuries or if anyone was actually hospitalized due to the turbulence injuries. One can conjecture it may have been members of the flight crew because everyone else should have been seated with belts on.

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    Lightning Strikes Flybe


    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact Photographer Darren Wilson

    What: Flybe de Havilland Dash 8-400 en route from Paris Charles de Gaulle (France) to Cardiff
    Where: Exeter
    When: Jul 27th 2009
    Who: 51 passengers
    Why: While en route, the plane was struck by lightning. The flight diverted to its base of operations in Exeter where it landed safely one hour and 45 minutes later. Passengers were transferred to an alternative plane which took them to their destination.

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    Boeing Emergency landing in Little Rock


    Pictured: Substitute Boeing flown in for replacement
    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact Photographer Klaus Ecker

    What: American Airlines Boeing 757-20 en route from Dallas to Boston
    Where: Little Rock
    When: 7/26/2009 5:59 p.m.
    Who: 185 aboard
    Why: After smoke was observed in the cockpit, the crew diverted the plane to Little Rock where it landed safely. Passengers were transferred to an alternative plane (Pictured)

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    Southwest Emergency Landing in Long Island

    What: Southwest Airlines en route from Bradley International Airport Hartford,CT to Orlando
    Where: diverted to Long Island Islip Macarthur Airport
    When: July 26, 2009
    Who: 132 passengers and 5 crew
    Why: After take-off, the crew detected an “electrical smell” and smoke; oxygen masks were deployed, and the plane diverted to Long Island where the passengers debarked without incident, and took an alternate 737-300 to Orlando. The original plane was taken out of service for a complete inspection which determined that the electrical smell originated from the burner of a coffee maker in the back of the aircraft.

    George’s Point of View

    Southwest, you are having a bad month.

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    MD-82 Emergency Landing in Tehran


    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact Photographer Taha Ashoori

    What: Mahan Air McDonnell-Douglas MD-82 en route from Tehran’s Mehrabad Airport to Bandar Mahshah
    Where: Tehran
    When: 16:30
    Who: 184 deaths and 30 injuries.
    Why: After takeoff, the plane indicated a fire alert, and returned to the airport for a safe landing. The public announcement called this a “technical” error. Reportedly, maintenance found no actual fire.

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    Nordstar Boeing Diverts to Krasnodar


    Pictured: First Nordstar Boeing
    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact Photographer

    What: Nordstar AKA Taimyr Avia Boeing 737-800 en route from Antalya, Turkey to Moscow
    Where: Krasnodar
    When: Jul 26th 2009
    Who: 173 passengers and 9 crew
    Why: When the Boeing’s landing gear would not retract, the flight diverted to Krasnodar Russia where it landed safely.

    George’s Point of View

    This is a huge 747.

    With so many older planes stretching their years of service, we’re going to see an increasing number of emergency landings; and we’re going to have an increasing number of incidents attributed to maintenance.

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    United Airlines Diversion to Chicago

    What: United Airlines Flight 745 en route from New York to Denver
    Where: O’Hare
    When: Jul 24, 2009
    Why: The flight was diverted to Chicago when a stewardess discovered a suspicious powder on a napkin, which turned out to be powdered napkin. The flight resumed without any more issues.

    Do they take the cost of this kind of thing out of the stewardess’s salary?

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    American Airlines Flight to Puerto Rico Cancelled due to Smoke in Cabin


    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact Photographer Alejandro Torres

    What: American Airlines Boeing 757-200 en route from Boston to San Juan, Puerto Rico
    Where: Logan International Airport
    When: Saturday 8:35 a.m-9:30 am
    Who: 185 on board
    Why: After smoke was detected in the cabin, the flight turned toward to Logan, and the crew found and put out the fire. The flight continued on to Logan, where passengers took alternative flights.

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