So far, Polish authorities have questioned 70 witnesses of the April 10 Tupolev 154 crash that killed 96 including Polish President Lech Kaczynski and his wife. The black box so far provides no clues, but they are anticipating the possible causes to be technical failure, human error on the part of the crew, ground crew, or third parties.
Sunday 10:30 a.m. Sunday at St. Maximillan Kolbe Church Poles will be holding a memorial for the crash victims. The Polish American Congress says people can sign a condolence book before the service, and it will be sent to the people of Poland.
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Snow in Philly
The weather makes aviation news today–
Snow storms are stranding passengers in airports (and on streets and highways) due to the hazardous conditions.
DC, for example, has a blizzard warning with promise of snowfall accumulations ranging between 12 to 22 inches
Also expecting snow are Baltimore (blizzard warning), Philadelphia, New York, Richmond, Tennessee , North Carolina and the southern New England states.
Icy conditions on the road are causing accidents.
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Eastern Airlines Flight 401 Tribute Group will be meeting Tuesday to mark the 37th anniversary of the 1972 Florida Everglades airplane crash that killed 101 passengers.
The crew was attending to a landing gear light, and distracted from the fact that the plane was losing altitude.
75 passengers survived.
Bonds formed in family association support groups can be very strong, and continue nurturing the survivors for decades.
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A federal investigation has published findings that Northwest Airlines violated FAA safety directives.
The investigation by the U.S. Office of Special Counsel corroborates the allegations of a whistleblower who alleged the carrier had inadequate policies and procedures in 2008. The Office of Special Counsel indicated that FAA inspectors were going to work with Northwest to resolve deficiencies, and close cases with letters of correction rather than penal fines. However two Northwest managers may be disciplined.
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Splashed across today’s international headlines is the news that the Indian Court of Inquiry probe report (which we have not yet seen) is final, and was submitted to the civil aviation ministry yesterday. The report says that “Air India pilot Zlatko Glusica, from Serbia, was asleep for much of the three-hour flight and was “disorientated” when the plane started to descend.” The experienced First Officer had fewer hours but was soon due for command, and had landed frequently at that airport. He called for a go-around which the Captain ignored.
Captain Z Glusica had more than 10,200 hours of flying experience—but not landing at that airport. He was the pilot in command and reacted late, and was suffering from “sleep inertia”. His heavy nasal snoring and breathing was captured on the CVR. Many standard operating procedures were not followed during landing. Co-pilot H S Ahluwalia repeated “abort landing” saying they didn’t have enough runway left, three times asking for a “go around”.
With less than 3,000 feet of runway left, the pilots tried to take off again and crashed in the gorge at the runway’s end.
The plane’s takeoff gear was found activated. Experts concluded if the pilots had not attempted to take off again, the plane emergency brakes could have brought the plane to a halt.
This is not the first time Air India has had exhausted pilots. What had their schedule been that week?
June 2008: Mumbai air traffic controllers woke two sleeping pilots with an alarm when they were 200 miles past their destination.
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: 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.
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