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    Hawaii Helicopter Crash

    What: 25th Combat Aviation Brigade OH-58D Kiowa Warrior helicopter
    Where: Hawaii Wheeler Army Airfield runway
    When: 3:34 p.m May 27 2009
    Who: 2 deaths
    Why: While two soldiers assigned to the 25th Combat Aviation Brigade were running a maintenance test flight on the two seat rotor when the OH-58D Kiowa Warrior Helicopter made a hard-landing.

    *Col. Matthew Margotta:”the accident a “hard landing” because the pilots were in control of the aircraft when it went down.”

    George’s Point of View

    The helicopter in question has been in service since 1991. Isn’t this well past the date for a helicopter’s active duty?

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  • | | |

    Montezuma’s Revenge Diverts Ecuador Flight

    What: Delta Flight 680 en route from Atlanta from Ecuador
    Where: Orlando
    When: May 29 2009
    Who: 118
    Why: Three passengers became sick because of possible food poisoning before boarding the plane.. Two of the passengers were transported to Orlando Regional Medical Center for treatment. The third passenger declined treatment.

    George’s Point of View

    Find the chef-
    And fire him…

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  • | | |

    Congonhas Radio Interference

    What: TAM Linhas Aereas Airbus A320-200 en route from Victoria to Sao Paulo Congonhas
    Where: Campinas
    When: May 27th 2009
    Who: 100 passengers
    Why: On approach to Congonhas, the plane’s communication with air traffic control was interrupted. Because of the interference, the plane diverted to Campinas where it made a safe landing.

    Brazil has a history of problems with reception in areas of the Amazon; but in this case, in Sao Paulo, the radio problems caused several flights to be diverted.

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  • | | | |

    McDonnell Douglas Litters Chicago Midway


    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact photographer Shaun Edelstein

    What: Delta Airlines McDonnell Douglas MD-90-30 en route from Atlanta, GA to Chicago Midway
    Where: diverted to Cincinnati,KY and concluded in Chicago
    When: May 26th 2009
    Who: Not Listed.
    Why: “DELTA AIRLINES FLIGHT 2090 MCDONNELL DOUGLAS 90-30 AIRCRAFT AFTER LANDING, INSPECTION REVEALED A PIECE OF THE AIRCRAFT FELL ONTO THE RUNWA. NO INJURIES REPORTED, CHICAGO, IL”

    George’s Point of View

    As you see, the FAA report indicates that the plane lost a piece of itself on landing. I don’t know what’s more curious–what exactly fell off the MD-90 when it landed (generally I don’t think of external plane parts as optional); or if the dropped item was related to the plane’s delay in Cincinnati.

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    Airbus Engine Shuts Down on Singapore-London flight

    What: Singapore Airlines Airbus A380-800 en route from Singapore to London Heathrow
    Where: Heathrow Airport
    When: May 25th 2009
    Why: One of the plane’s four engines shut down causing an hour’s delay. The plane was taken out of service, and the return flight was delayed until the Airbus was back in service.

    George’s Point of View

    Airbus is just starting out with this monster and already having engine issues. Engine shut down is serious stuff, even though the monster can fly on less than 4 engines, it’s serious.

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    Canadair Jet Cockpit Side-Window Shatters in Flight

    What: British Air on behalf of Air France Canadair CRJ-100 en route from from Barcelona to Paris
    Where: 15 passengers
    When: May 26th 2009
    Who: 15 passengers
    Why: Near Limoges, the right cockpit window shattered, causing the plane to experience sudden decompression. the plane landed safely at Limoges. Cockpit crew had some injuries from flying glass.

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    Emergency Landing in Reno

    What: Fedex Boeing 757-200 en route from Reno to Memphis
    Where: Reno-Tahoe International Airport
    When: May 26th 2009 7:45 p.m.
    Who: Fed Ex crew
    Why: The plane’s emergency light indicated overheating after leaving Reno, and the crew requested to return, before entering a holding pattern over Carson City and Minden to burn off fuel. The plane landed safely in Reno; the packages were not delayed.
    =

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  • | | | |

    Depressurized Boeing Lands Safely


    Contact Photographer Denis Lyaskovskiy
    What: Uzbekistan Airway Boeing 757-200 en route from Tyumen Russia to Tashkent Uzbekistan
    Where: Astana Airport Kazakhstan
    When: May, 27 at 05.04
    Who: 13 crew members and 94 passengers
    Why: The plane made an emergency landing when it depressurized.

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  • | |

    Air Maintenance in Crisis

    George’s Point of View

    Oversight is one of those words in the English language that bothers me because it means the opposite of itself.

    An oversight is something that was missed. Something that is over-looked is something that was not seen. That smudge on my windshield after a car wash–that is an oversight. The Christmas bicycle that came without it’s assembly manual–that is an oversight.

    Oversight means the unintentional failure to notice. It’s an “oops.”

    But–oversight also means the act of supervision. It is frequently mentioned in terms of aircraft; the FAA and the NTSB are responsible for Aviation oversight. But when I read that, I read two completely opposite sentences. The FAA and the NTSB are responsible for supervising aviation. AND the FAA and the NTSB are responsible for what they missed.

    When I read the usage of “oversight” (meaning supervision) I am waiting for the other shoe. What have they overlooked (missed) now? What’s the oversight (supervisor) oversight (missed)?

    And now I see the oversight (missed) is the licensing of aircraft mechanics.

    Apparently the procedure to qualify aircraft mechanics is poorly administered. Hundreds of aircraft mechanics may have been improperly licensed

    The crisis comes down to faulty testing by FAA examiners who profit from testing in “diploma mills.” Apparently the FAA does not keep employment histories on the mechanics they license. There have even been programs where testing was delayed; and when the program was discontinued, the untested mechanics kept working.

    So where do we look when there’s an accident like the Indonesian Air Force Lockheed L-100-30(P) Hercules whose wing fell off in flight on May 20th 2009? (Granted that this is NOT a US plane–but there are US incidents. This is just a recent one.) Did the pilot cause that wing to fall off? Of course not. The pilot climbed into that plane in good faith, with complete trust in the mechanics whose job it is to keep the plane in safe running order. The pilot relies on the integrity of the mechanics to maintain the integrity of the plane. As do we all.

    Fortunately, integrity is a word in the English language that always means what it means:
    The quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness; the state of being whole and undivided; the condition of being unified, unimpaired, sound in construction : the structural integrity; lack of corruption.

    Is it too much to ask of our FAA to require integrity in our mechanics and the planes they maintain? Integrity is not an oversight; but lack of integrity in oversight is.

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    Turbulence Rattles Tam Airbus


    Contact photographer SkyMember
    Pictured: flight 8095

    Contact photographer Jerome Mervelet
    Pictured: TAM Linhas Aereas Airbus A330-200 registration PT-MVN
    What: TAM Linhas Aereas Airbus A330-200 en route from Miami,FL (USA) to Sao Paulo
    Where: Sao Paulo
    When: May 25 2009
    Who: 154 passengers
    Why: On approach to Sao Paulo, the flight experienced turbulence. Fasten seat belt signs were illuminated about 20 minutes before landing–Some passengers struck the ceiling.

    Thirteen were treated at the airport; eight were taken to the hospital. No mention is made of any injuries to crew members

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    Flat Tire Down Under

    What: A Virgin Blue Holdings Ltd. Boeing 737-700 en route from Sydney Nova Scotia to Coolangatta Australia
    Where: Brisbane Airport Queensland
    When: 2:30 p.m. local time May 26
    Who: 109 passengers
    Why: After departing, Airport crew at Sydney found parts of the Boeing’s nose wheel tire. The plane made a safe emergency landing in Brisbane. Passengers debarked; and the tire was replaced.

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  • | |

    Bomb Scare

    What: Oman Air Boeing 737-800 en route from Muscat to Chennai
    Where: Mumbai
    When: May 25, 2009
    Who: 140 passengers
    Why: When a passenger found a suspicious object and a letter which threatened to kill all the passengers aboard the flight, the crew requested an emergency landing.

    Another source quoted: ‘a flight attendant had found a note in one of the lavatories saying “you will all die. Bye.”‘

    The flight landed safely and the passengers were directed to another plane.

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  • Landing at St. Maarten

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  • For the Businessman Who Has Everything

    Faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap small buildings at a single hop…Gulfstreams new oh-so-green jet…

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    Red Wings Divert to Krasnodar

    What: Moscow-based Red Wings Tu-204 airline en route from Perm in the Urals to Antalya Turkey
    Where: Krasnodar airport
    When: The plane landed at Krasnodar airport at 10:55 a.m. Moscow time (6:55 GMT) on Sunday, May 24
    Who: 206 passengers and 11 crewmembers
    Why: Problems were detected with the fuel system, necessitating a diversion to the Krasnodar airport

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  • | | | |

    Air Canada Boeing Engine Failure over Ottawa


    Contact photographer Frank Robitaille
    What: Air Canada Boeing 767-300 en route from Montreal,QC to Toronto,ON (Canada)
    Where: Ottawa- runway 23
    When: May 21st 2009
    Who: 88 people on board
    Why: When the flight experienced engine failure, the pilot diverted to Ottawa and landed safely.

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    MD-82 Engine quits over Bahia Blanca


    Contact photographer Daniel Rodolfo Popinga
    What: Andes Lineas Aereas McDonnell Douglas MD-82 en route from Buenos Aires Newbery,BA to Puerto Madryn Argentina
    Where: Bahia Blanca
    When: May 22nd 2009
    Who: 140 passengers and 7 crew
    Why: The right engine shut down when oil pressure (or the quantity of oil) went down. The flight was diverted to divert to Bahia Blanca

    George’s Point of View

    Another emergency on another MD-82. Two engines are always safer than one, and we’re all glad they made a safe diversion…

    Now…how old was the plane? Was this a leak that just developed, or a lapse of maintenance?

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  • India Aviation: Oversight or Overlooked?

    George’s Point of View

    INDIA-The Director General of Civil Aviation has been inactive, unresponsive to Indian aviation statistics of the past few years, which reflect cockpit crew fatigue, relaxed aircraft maintenance norms in India, dearth of DGCA flight safety inspectors, pilots put under pressure by airlines to operate flights even in difficult conditions, and poor training.

    I guess problems like this are all over the world.

    The DCGA, like the United States NTSB National Transport and Safety Board, is an authority over general transportation; India has no agency like the FAA, dedicated exclusively to aviation. India does have a recently formed (and woefully inadequate) board of various government and individual concerns that is supposed to meet four times yearly. Apparently there is an inadequate store of safe, well thought-out policies, forcing pilots and air traffic control to act on the spur of the moment in dangerous situations, instead of having an encyclopedia of safe procedures on hand to increase the safety factor.

    We can only hope that the Indian government does not drag its feet, so that this time at some future date, we will not be looking back at future Indian Aviation tragedies saying to ourselves “We should have known this would happen. We should have done something about it while we had the chance.”

    You have the chance, now.

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  • | | |

    Brazil Crash Kills Businessman and Family

    What: King Air 350 jet en route from Sao Paulo to Trancoso
    Where: seaside resort town of Trancoso, Bahia near the resort area of Porto Seguro. Their destination had been the Terravista complex in Bahia.
    When: 23 May 2009
    Who: Eight passengers and three crew members including Roger Ian Wright, founder of a Sao Paulo-based investment company, his wife Lucilia Lins and two children–Veronica and Felipe, two grandsons, a grand daughter, a great aunt,and the 56-year-old pilot Jorge Lang Filho
    Why: UPDATED:The plane left Sao Paulo at 6:31 pm, and crashed in a forested area near the runway at 9: 10 pm while attempting to land during a heavy storm. Prior to impact, the pilot reported that “visual and landing conditions were normal.”

    In addition to being the ex-director of Banco Garantia, Roger Wright, was the owner of Arsenal Investmentos and a friend of Prince Andrew.

    George’s Point of View

    We share the sentiments expressed on the Arsenal Investment’s website:

    Arsenal Investimentos está profundamente pesarosa diante do trágico acidente aéreo ocorrido na noite de sexta-feira, dia 22 de maio, em Trancoso, na Bahia, que tirou a vida de seu sócio-fundador, o empresário Roger Ian Wright, e de seus familiares. Diante desse momento doloroso, a empresa se solidariza com todos os amigos e parentes das vítimas.

    Arsenal Investments is deeply sorry the tragic crash occurred on the evening of Friday, on May 22 in Trancoso, Bahia, which took the lives of their socio-founder, the entrepreneur Roger Ian Wright, and their families . In this painful moment, the company in solidarity with all the friends and relatives of victims.

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    Two In One Day

    What: experimental plane
    Where: Healdsburg Municipal Airport
    When: Thursday, May 21 10:58 a.m.
    Who: Pilot
    Why: A quartering wind caused the pilot to veer off the runway and into the Funsten Ranch vineyard grape vines. Plane owner/pilot was not injured when his homebuilt crashed.

    Then…a mere six hours later…same place…

    What: low-wing, single-engine Mooney
    Where: Healdsburg Municipal Airport
    When: 4:55 p.m
    Who: pilot
    Why: Right after take-off, the Mooney went to partial power, passed a home and powerlines, then skidded on its belly into the vineyard where this Mooney also crash-landed on grapevines by the Mazzocco Winery

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    United Hydraulics Failure over Pittsburgh

    What: United Flight 615 en route from Washington DC to Chicago O’Hare
    Where: Pittsburgh
    When: landed at 12:51 May 22, 2009
    Who: 119 on board including Sen. Roland Burris (D-Ill.), Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) and White House Social Secretary Desiree Rogers
    Why: After a hydraulic system failure was announced, the crew announced there would be an emergency landing. There had been “loud bang” at take-off, then the noise and vibration increased.

    The landing was safe; and United was providing another plane for passengers to complete the flight to Chicago.

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  • | |

    Gulfstream International Airlines Fined

    Gulfstream International Airlines is being fined by the FAA for improper scheduling of flight crew duty, installation of unapproved air conditioner compressors and improperly maintained vent blowers on the airline’s fleet of 27 BE-1900-D aircraft.

    See the press release:

    Washington Headquarters Press Release
    For Immediate Release
    May 21, 2009
    Contact: Laura Brown
    Phone: (202) 267-3883

    FAA Proposes $1.3 Million Civil Penalty for Gulfstream International Airlines

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has proposed a $1.3 million civil penalty from Florida-based Gulfstream International Airlines, Inc. for violations of the Federal Aviation Regulations.

    The alleged violations include improper scheduling of flight crew duty time, and the installation of unapproved air conditioner compressors and improperly maintained vent blowers on the airline’s fleet of 27 BE-1900-D aircraft.

    An FAA review of the airline’s electronic record-keeping system for tracking crew duty and rest time revealed that Gulfstream International did not accurately input the proper data from its manually generated hard-copy aircraft logbook records into the electronic system. The discrepancies resulted in scheduling crew members in excess of daily and weekly flight time limitations.

    During a June 2008 inspection, the FAA determined that the airline had installed unapproved automotive air conditioner compressors on its aircraft between September 2006 and May 2008. Following the FAA inspection, the airline grounded all of the affected aircraft and replaced the units with approved aircraft air conditioner compressors.

    In the course of a July 2008 inspection of Gulfstream International avionics and component shops in Fort Lauderdale, the FAA discovered that the airline had installed improperly maintained vent blowers on six planes between January 2008 and June 2008. Following that inspection, the airline replaced the blowers with properly maintained units.

    Gulfstream International Airlines has 30 days from the receipt of the civil penalty letter to respond to the FAA.


    #
    (end of release)

    George’s Point of View

    Gulfstream is a former employer of the Captain Marvin Renslow of the ill-fated Continental Connection 3407 flight. If Gulfstream had kept proper records, trained and maintained according to accepted protocol, the Buffalo NY tragedy may never have happened.

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  • | |

    Carelessness Begats F-15 Escort

    What: single-engine Piper en route from Florida to Louisiana
    Where: Galliano Airport
    When: Thursday morning
    Who: Ricky Navarro, 62, of Riverview, Fla.
    Why: Ricky Navarro was flying near the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP) facility offshore and ventured into restricted airspace at which point Harbor Police were unable to reach him on the radio. He was “given” an escort of F-15’s to the Galliano airport. All because Navarro had forgotten to turn on his radio.

    Navarro was released.

    George’s Point of View

    Let’s look at the predecessors to this event.

    -911
    -Banker Marcus Schrenker faking his death in a plane
    -semi-suicidal Turkish Canadian Adam Dylan Leon flying from Canada to the US
    -Brazilian father who abducted his 5 year old daughter and flew his stolen plane into a mall

    I’m not saying these events are directly linked. I’m just saying that the rate of air events of this nature is disturbingly frequent. Our brave, free-minded and patient fighter pilots who pursue flying fools can only keep their finger off the button for so long. Kamakaze-minded idiots keep testing the waters, doing stupid things and putting themselves and others in danger

    On the day we ever inch closer to war, there will not be a US resident who will blame the soldier for pushing the button the next time someone forgets to turn on their radio.

    Ricky Navarro, if you’re going to be that negligent–rookie mistake or not–you don’t need to be flying. The cockpit is no place for carelessness.

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  • | | |

    Boeing emergency landing in Buenos Aires

    What: Flight AA956, American Airlines Boeing 767 en route from Ezeiza International of Buenos Aires to New York
    Where: Buenos Aires
    When: May 20 took off at 8:39 p.m and landed at 1:17
    Who: 200 passengers
    Why: The flight returned to Buenos Aires for an emergency landing due to a technical failure of the “defrosters.” The 767 anti-ice system is essential as the plane flies at 10,000 feet. No injuries were reported. The flight had to fly over De la Plata River to “*finish the fuel.”

    There’s no indication if *finish in this context means dump (they did fly over a river) or use up. The term came verbatim from a Xinhua report–so we have a report that has gone from Spanish to Chinese to English and we do apologize if we lose details.

    The flight has been rescheduled for Thursday.

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  • | | | |

    TAM Linhas Aereas Airbus loses Airspeed, Data


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

    What: TAM Linhas Aereas Airbus A330-200 en route from Miami, FL to Sao Paulo Brazil
    Where: en route to Sao Paulo
    When: May 21st 2009
    Who: not listed
    Why: While in flight, the flight crew observed a drop of the outside temperature and recorded seeing St. Elmo’s Fire. They lost the air data reference system. Autopilot and autothrust system disconnected, and fly by wire switched to alternate law (and remained in alternate law for the remainder of the flight.)

    Rudder travel limiter was deactived and airspeed and altitude indication was lost.

    Standby instrumentation allowed data restoration in under ten minutes.

    George’s Point of View

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