Retrieval of the Lao Airlines plane that crashed in the Mekong river on a go-around has been hampered by primitive conditions. The plane has only been in service since March 2013.
The plane encountered a strong gust of wind, its nose lifted, then the ATR-72-600 impacted near Done Kho Island. Although the accident was on the 19th, and investigators have detected signals from the flight data recorders, rustic conditions, poor visibility and turbulent river eddies have prevented recovery of the black boxes. Divers have had to use ropes in the muddy water.
Forty-four victims had been recovered from the swollen river in Laos. The bodies have been subject to significant drift, due to the forceful currents.
Four crew, the Cambodian captain, plus 16 Laotians, seven French travellers, six Australians, five Thais, three South Koreans, two Vietnamese, and one national each from the United States, Canada, Malaysia, China and Taiwan were aboard.
This is Lao Airlines first fatal crash in 13 years.
(Thai)
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On March 19, 2013, an Aeroclub de Muchamiel Piper PA-28-161 Cherokee Warrior en route from Spain’s MUTXAMEL airport had three people aboard when it suffered some kind of mechanical problem, possibly engine failure.
A fourteen year old girl, Belen, along with her father, Jose Antonio Perez, and uncle Ricardo died in the crash at 12: 37.
The uncle was the pilot and flight instructor.
The plane crashed in Paraeta Espí, in an olive grove 500 meters from the town called Ibi. On impact, the cabin broke in two, and left a debris field with a hundred yard radius.
Local residents reported the crash to authorities. The Guardia Civil (local police) arrived on the scene. The bodies were removed by four in the afternoon and taken to the Forensic Anatomical Institute of Alicante for autopsies.
Eyewitnesses say the plane had been circling and flying very low as if looking for somewhere to land, and the pilot dodged cottages when it came down.
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Promises last year to add over 500 regulatory positions have not yet been implemented, risking India being degraded by the FAA to a Category 2 country which cannot fly to the US.
Only halfway through an inquiry of their aviation industry, India is suffering an ethical crisis in aviation, following the revelation of mass corruption and fraud. India has 8000 pilots. So far 29 pilots have lost their licenses. (This is not including 57 drunk pilots who reported for work inebriated.)
Bribery, test cheating, fake flying records led to the revoking of licensure and firing of at least twelve pilots. In order to pass off some of the false information, those complicit had to have included aerodrome officials, aviation fuel suppliers, flying instructors and government officials. Some flying schools seem to be completely uncredited. Two gangs from six cities were running a racket fudging test scores. Revoked licenses include six commanders licenses and 13 commercial pilots licenses. The problem is industry wide, with a vastly understaffed (140 employees) regulatory system. Licensure testing is not computerized, and not focused on aviation.
So in view of all of this exposure, I think back on 2007. I am not an attorney, and this is just my opinion, but it is the opinion of someone who is reasonably familiar with what goes on in the aviation industry.
I see so much of what is happening, from my vantage point, just standing back and looking inside what is going on.
I can not help but wonder how these airlines continue to get their financing.
Why aren’t the financiers taking a harder look at who they’re giving the keys to the planes? Let’s consider how quickly Air Inda Express grew. Sure, they are owned by Air India, but they started out with five planes and very quickly grew to a fleet of 25. Someone financed these planes.
Why?
What were they thinking?
After an audit of Indian Aviation in 2007 revealed unqualified manpower, then we saw the Air India Express crash in 2010. Now they have another audit and we find that NOTHING HAS CHANGED.
Think about this in ordinary terms. If you as a driver were to lease a car, when
you walk into that agency to get the lease, they check to make sure you have a valid license. They make sure you’re old enough. They verify your qualifications as a driver. They examine your fiscal health before they accept your contract and hand over the keys.
SImilarly, those companies which provide the loans for airlines to purchase planes do their due diligence. If an airline defaults on a loan, that A380 or B737-800 is going to get repossessed just as a car would be repossessed in similar circumstances.
In light of all of the corruption and lack of qualification that has been uncovered in all corners of Indian aviation, I can not help but wonder who performed the due diligence on these plane leases. Someone is financing it. It takes a lot of cash to put planes in the air, but that big financing brings in big income for leasing companies, in interest and lease payments.
So, the 2007 audit revealed failings in Indian aviation; and this one that is ongoing in 2011 has revealed the continuation of failings. Where are the leasing companies? Shouldn’t they monitor the safey program of their investments? If they do not do so, are they not negligent?
Are they not entrusting the guardianship of the lives of passengers, and those planes—weapons of mass destruction—to the hands of unqualified pilots?
In the Air India Express case, there was a 737 800 leased. We don’t have an official report yet, but there have been some who have precipitously assumed the crash was caused by pilot error. Everyone is concluding the pilot blundered. We do not know if (in addition to bundering) he was unqualfiied, asleep, stupid, suicidal, or if the plane malfunctioned. And we may never know.
But we do know a finance company backed that airline, who put a possibly unqualified pilot into that cockpit. Somebody financed that plane with due diligence that ignored the safety audits revealing the lack of health in Indian Aviation.
Are they not negligently entrusting weapons of mass destruction to unqualified personnel? The financiers have the right to repossess the plane if there is a failing in the plane, its operation or its custodianship. The financiers can withhold the use of a plane until such time that safety conditions are met and they abide by all international expectations, rules and recommendations of air authorities, just as ALL airlines must. If they do not have that right written into their contracts, shame on them, and to lessen that shame, write that condition, right and responsibility on all future contracts.
The lenders have the right to repossess the plane (and if they don’t they should.) They have the responsibility to do so, especially when life is on the line.
In the meantime, banks and leasing company should suffer the consequences of their negligence right along with the operators after a crash. In other words, pay for your mistake. Pay the families of the victims for negligently entrusting that weapon of mass destruction.
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What: Cessna 152 owned by Basair Aviation College
a single-engine Liberty owned by Sydney Flight Training Centre Where: Flame Tree Street, Casula, in Sydney’s southwest When: 11.30am (AEST) on Thursday Who: Two fatalities: a woman instructor and her female student pilot.
On the Liberty, the 89-year-old male instructor and a 25-year-old male student pilot were unhurt Why: Plane clipped another light aircraft in mid-air. One plane managed to make it to Bankstown Airport. The other plane landed in a yard, destroying the back of the house and a pergola.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau is investigating.
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AL Jazeera says Chinese ire over MH370 is hurting Malaysia ties.
Chinese protests put a face on the lost passengers. China officials feel public pressure from the grief and anger of the Chinese people.
The search for debris from #MH370 has been moved north based on alternative estimates of speed.
The zone of focus, 1100 kilometers away is outside of the “roaring forties” air zone, taking the search out of bad weather.
New computation of location is based on faster speeds, faster usage of fuel based on Kuala Lumpar data. Termed the most credible lead.
Pencarian beralih, pesawat bergerak lebih pantas
Families wish the information was coming faster and staged a walk-out after a disappointing press conference. Hopes are high in some areas that debris will be found on Saturday’s search.
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The Wednesday January 16, 2013 crash of the helicopter that struck a crane on top of London’s St George Wharf Tower did result in two casualties. Two office buildings, 5 cars & 2 motorbikes were damaged. The AgustaWest AW109E #G-CRST was flown by Rotormotion, and leased from Castle Air.
Weather people are saying that the top of the crane was not in fog but in a low cloud. (This is apparently different from fog, and might be something I should ask my pilots about. And this London. London=Fog, no?)
Four people were injured and taken to St. Thomas’ Hospital. Five injured were taken to Kings College Hospital. Seven people were treated at the scene. One of the injured was rescued from a burning car. The helicopter fell to Wandsworth Road, hit some vehicles, burst into flames; and falling burning debris started flames in some buildings. Although there were people in the area who thought the accident was a bomb and didn’t realize the helicopter had struck the crane, some witnesses saw the helicopter clip the crane and in seconds, spin out of control. Part of the crane also fell.
I think it’s nothing short of a miracle that there were only two killed and nine injured. London has 8.2 million people.
The pilot, Peter Barnes, was en route from Redhill to Elstree, but had diverted to Battersea because of the visibility. Barnes had over 12,000 flying hours, was employed by charter firm Rotormotion and had flown in the movies Die Another Day, Tomb Raider II and Saving Private Ryan.
Night officially ended thirty minutes before the crash, at which time lights on tall structures were allowed to be turned off. The lights are not visible during fog and bad weather.
The accident resulted in some subway/tube/station closures.
A single-engine Cessna plane crashed at Purdue University Airport in West Lafayette, Tippecanoe County, Indiana.
The incident happened on the runway 23, at about 10:37am on May 17.
The aircraft took off from Lafayette Aviation with two people on board. According to Purdue Airport’s Director of Information, Liz Evans, the plane’s propeller hit the runway while the pilot was attempting touch-and-go landings.
The passengers remained uninjured.
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Promises last year to add over 500 regulatory positions have not yet been implemented, risking India being degraded by the FAA to a Category 2 country which cannot fly to the US.
