What: Qantas Airbus A380 en route from LA to Sydney
Where: New Caledonia’s La Tontouta airport
When: August 11, 2010
Why: Forced to land because of the bad weather, the plane was actually too big to turn on the runway, so it had to sit on the tarmac blocking traffic until it was towed.
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Qantas no.2 Engine Chomps Bird
Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact photographer Mark H
What: Qantas Boeing 747 en route from Johannesburg to Australia
Where: Johannesburg
When: Nov 16, 2010, 7:20 p.m.
Who: 171 passengers
Why: After takeoff around 6pm, the Qantas jet—reportedly the same plane which turned back from Sydney to Buenos Aires on Nov 15 2010_ingested a bird into the number 2 engine,which caused a drop in power. The pilot made an emergency landing (80 minutes after takeoff) in Johannesburg with emergency vehicles on standby.
Passengers will be provided hotel accommodations and are expected to have flight accommodations on one of three options within 24 hours.
The damage to the number 2 engine is said to be limited to a turbine blade.
George’s Point of View
While it is no doubt that the media is overreacting to the current series of Qantas incidents, the airline’s reputation of being the world’s safest airline should be untarnished. Consider how their fleet is being squeezed by having to pull six A380 superjumbos because of the engine problem that Rolls Royce admits is their problem.
The rest of Qantas fleet must be scrambling to make up for the temporary loss of the A380s. Such is the perfect scenario-pushing the remaining fleet to the max-that will inevitably stress the “weakest links,” should there be any.
But a bird strike is a routine event, routine in the sense of being an inevitable phenomenon. Bird strikes happen. And when they do, so far, the Qantas pilots have been able to handle every contingency.

Brazzaville Cargo FLight Crash Fatalities Updated to 32
What: Aero-Services for Trans Air Congo Ilyhushin IL-76T freighter en route from Pointe Noire to Brazzaville
Where: Brazzaville
When: Nov 30 2012
Who: 30 fatalities, 14 injured *Death toll rises to 32
Why: A Trans Air Congo cargo jet landed in rainy conditions in Brazzaville, one report says the plane overran the runway, went through the airport fence, crossed a street and slammed by buildings into a ravine. It was reported that the brakes failed but the Congolese police said rainy weather was the cause. Another report says the landing failed and the pilot crashed when attempting to go-round.
The impact area is a residential area in the Mselou district of Brazzaville
The crew of the jet died in the crash as well as 19 on the ground, and fourteen injured were hospitalized at Makelekelele hospital, Center University Hospital and a military hospital.
Ownership of the plane has been reported all over the board:
1: Air Highnesses/Aero-Service leases the plane to Trans Air Congo. The plane was manned by an Armenian crew. Aero-Service is banned by the EU.
2: The Armenian company RIDGE AIRWAYS LLC, ARMENIA, RDG owns the plane, and it was flying for Aero-Service.
Metars reported
FCBB 301700Z 12007KT 050V170 4000 TSRA FEW010 BKN016 FEW026CB 24/22 Q1009 NOSIG
FCBB 301600Z 21013KT 6000 TS FEW010 BKN020 FEW030CB 30/23 Q1006 BECMG 06015G25KT 4000 TSRA
EasyJet Flight Makes Emergency Landing in Greece
EasyJet flight U2-1110 had to return and make an emergency landing in Thessaloniki, Greece, on May 30th.
The Airbus A319-100 plane took off for EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg, France, but had to return shortly afterwards due to a technical problem.
The plane landed uneventfully. There were 152 people aboard at the time; all of them remained safe.
China Airlines Flight Returns to Tokyo due to Engine Problem
China Airlines flight CI-221 had to return and make an emergency landing in Tokyo, Japan, on October 1st.
The Airbus A330-300 plane took off for Taipei, Taiwan, but had to turn back due to an engine problem.
The plane landed safely. All two hundred and seventy-eight people aboard remained unharmed.
Air France 447- Coming Soon, Just the Facts, and Nothing But the Facts
Tomorrow we’ll post the BEA’s statement regarding the latest in the Air France 447 crash saga. After the crash, the $50 million search operation to recover the black boxes that took two years, after a successful data recovery, a misfired unjustified conclusion of pilot error, finally, on Friday, the BEA promises more news.
The data analysis will probably be as grueling as one could imagine, considering all of the data that has been recovered. The new data that has been recovered does not overwrite the messages received by Air Traffic control, but it will have to be logically coordinated so that the chain of events can accurately be determined, whatever lead up to the crash that ended up killing all 228 people on board. We cannot expect the analysis too soon.
There are many hypotheses floating out there in the blogosphere, and myths and conjecture; but we have to give the investigators and engineers time to study the data and write the most accurate report that can, which they promise to produce by the summer. It is an ambitious promise, but one that the world expects the investigators to fulfill in a timely fashion. It is by virtue of the BEA’s history as one of the better governmental aviation institutions. They do have a history of publishing their reports, in accordance to international guidelines, following not just Montreal protocol, but also IATA and EASA.
There are other crash investigations going on in which the agencies do not have as strong a history as the BEA. (Just consider the Concorde Disaster–it took ten years to resolve the criminal case but Continental had to pay more than 1.3 million in civil damages and a $265000 fine. Under French law, damages to 750 dependents were resolved in 11 months and the interim report completed after 12 months.)
The DGCA is responsible for implementing, controlling, and supervising airworthiness standards, safety operations, crew training in India. Indian aviation has been plagued by safety issues, personnel issues, and they have not yet established for themselves a reputable track record regarding the timeliness of their accident reports (at least, not if you ask the families of Air India Express flight 812. )
Likewise, in Pakistan, the families of Air Blue Flight 202 are waiting for word and assistance from the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority. Air Blue flight ED202 crashed in the Margalla Hills in Islamabad, killing all 146 passengers and six crewmembers on board on July 28, and the Pakistani High Court has been charged with the support of the victims’ family members, and a request of the federal government to constitute an independent board of inquiry for determining the causes of the crash, and to make the findings public.
But I digress. Concerning Air France Flight 447–we can’t expect miracles, and it is too soon to expect all the pieces of the puzzle to fit; but Friday we can expect to see a factual update. And that is another step toward discovering the truth, another step toward justice.
Mesa Airlines Flight Makes Emergency Landing in Louisville
Mesa Airlines flight YV-6073 had to divert and make an emergency landing in Louisville, Kentucky, on May 18th.
The Embraer ERJ-175 plane heading from Toronto, Canada, to Houston, Texas, was diverted due to indication of a hydraulic failure.
All four main tires burst as the plane landed in Louisville. All 77 people aboard remained unharmed.