Philippine Airlines flight PR-103 had to return and make an emergency landing in Los Angeles, California, on December 11th.
The Boeing 777-300 plane took off for Manila, Philippines, but had to turn back after the crew failed to retract the landing gear.
The plane landed safely. Everyone aboard remained unharmed.
Pictured: An Air France (Brit Air) Canadair CL-600-2B19 Regional Jet CRJ-100ER arriving from Lyons
Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact photographer Jim Groom
What: Brit Air/Air France Canadair CRJ-100 en route from Paris Orly to Rodez
Where: Paris
When: Dec 16th 2009
Who: 22 passengers
Why: After takeoff, the left engine made several explosive noises, and the plane vibrated. The crew turned the plane around and landed safely at Orly. Passengers were rebooked, provided accommodations and further delayed by snow.
A helicopter crash-landed in Atkinson, Henry County, Illinois, at around 5 P.M. on August 5.
According to sources, the aircraft hit a power line, caught fire, and landed in a soy bean field.
The pilot, who was the only person aboard, was pulled out of the burning helicopter by farm owner. He was airlifted to Peoria, Illinois, in serious condition.
The NTSB and Illinois State Police were investigating the crash.
Cargolux flight CV-7303 made an emergency landing in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on January 16th.
The plane took off for Zhengzhou, China, but had to turn back after the crew noticed fire and smoke in the cockpit.
The plane landed uneventfully. All passengers and crew members remained safe.
Southwest Airlines flight 1429 en route from Sacramento to Bob Hope Airport, Burbank, made an unscheduled landing at Los Angeles International Airport in the afternoon of October 5.
The pilot of the Boeing 737 decided to divert after he noticed a warning light indicating a potential issue with the aircraft’s flaps. The airline later released a statement saying that the decision to land at LAX was made “out of an abundance of caution.”
The flight landed safely and all 123 passengers onboard were transported to Burbank with a delay of few hours from the schedule. The pilot informed that the situation did not require any emergency protocols, therefore, no emergency vehicles were called on the scene at the time of landing.
A Southwest spokesperson confirmed that aircraft is being examined by the mechanics.
TUI Airways flight BY-643 made an emergency landing in Chania, Greece, on January 29th.
The Boeing 737-8 MAX plane heading from Hurghada, Egypt, to Manchester, England, was diverted due to an engine problem.
The plane landed safely. All one hundred and forty-seven passengers aboard remained unharmed.
I’m not an expert but there are aspects to this Lithium Ion battery story which concern me. I completely understand why these planes are grounded as this battery situation is examined, and applaud that solutions are being considered even as I write this. I cannot help but wonder what the actual time-frame will be. When I start wondering, I start asking —and quoting—the experts available to me and my company.
The FAA maintains a database of Service Difficulty Reports (SDR’s) for US Registered airlines. There’s a long ignominious history recorded of fire and smoke events previously examined by the FAA in the unique category that the fires are hidden, i.e. in locations inaccessible or unknown to crew: mundane items the public never heard of–such as the built-in Halon 1301 trash receptacle extinguishers that failed to extinguish trash fires– were found and fixed or replaced. Battery ground cables have been known to arc (Northwest Airlines DC-10, March 1988), insulation blankets to burn (April of 1988, a Continental 737), overheated fluorescent light ballasts smoked (115 incidents way back in 1991).
Here’s an example of why I am concerned:
At least twenty-nine fires have been identified as being ignited by electrical short circuits in/from flammable acoustic blankets. One of these flammable circuit types that was identified back in a 1991 report is permitted in Boeing products until 2016.
When the solution to the battery problem is determined, what time frame will the Airworthiness Directives require? Will compliance be to exchange, replace or modify the battery system or to put it off till later? ADs are issued with overly generous compliance times in years.
Will a temporary measure be taken along with a compliance date set years from now?
Regardless of whether the bottom-line business of aviation is wrestling with the expense of safety, a dicey potential fire starter component is a problem that should be addressed.
If the Dreamliner is going to be in service for the next 40 years, an issue causing a component to cause a fire should not be covered with 40 years of bandaids. It should be fixed now.
