On 12-JAN-2013 at 3:30 pm, a single engine SEAWIND 3000 seaplane was taking off from Sarasota for Venice Airport when it crashed after takeoff.
The pilot died in the collision; the passenger survived with injuries. The seaplane did not gain enough altitude and struck a couple of trees. It impacted near the New College of Florida campus. The passenger, a 63-year-old man from Michigan was taken by medivac to Tampa General Hospital.
Witnesses say the plane made a sound like a gunshot before it lost altitude, missed power lines and reached a grassy field owned by USF New College. One witness saw the plane on fire before it hit the ground.
What: Norwegian military Hercules C-130-J cargo plane en route from Evenes military base to Kiruna Sweden (military exercise) Where: Kebnekaise Mountain When: March 15, 2012 Who: 5 fatalities Why: The plane disappeared from radar as it crossed a mountain range in northern Sweden. It apparently flew into the west side of the mountain, demolishing the plane into pieces smaller than a sheet of paper. There had been bad weather (poor visibility brought on by low clouds, snow and strong winds) at the time of the crash. Harsh weather in the area has been delaying recovery. Wreckage is strewn over a wide area on top of Robots Glacier on the western side of Kebnekaise. No signal was heard from the Hercules’ emergency transmitter.
The Norwegian armed forces indicated that the accident may have occurred when pilots flew manually instead of on autopilot. The mission involved tactical flying. Crew members lost in the crash were Lt. Col. Truls Oerpen, 46; Capt. Staale Garberg, 42; Capt. Bjoern Yngvar Haug, 40; Capt. Steinar Utne, 35; and Capt. Siw Robertsen, 45
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Details from the confidential MH17 report that was handed over to Australian experts on June 2nd have not been revealed. The report questions if the flight path should have routed the passenger jet over a known war zone. The report is based on conclusions drawn by experts from Australia, Malaysia, the Ukraine, the US, Russia, the UK and the Netherlands, but those conclusions have not been revealed to the public. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau, which had experts on the committee, has not made a public statement. The final report is expected in October 2015.
Two hundred and ninety-eight people died aboard Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, which was shot down over the Ukraine on July 17 2014.
Report of Investigators Blocked from Investigating
MH-17: The Untold Story, a video examining the downing of MH17
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What: LOT Polish Airlines Boeing 767-300 en route from Newark,NJ (USA) to Warsaw (Poland) with 220 passengers and 11 crew Where: Warsaw When: Nov 1st 2011 Who: 220 passengers and 11 crew Why: On the first approach to Warsaw, the flight crew aborted the approach. They had gotten an unsafe gear indication for the three gear struts. They spent over an hour trying to amend the problem, but efforts to lower the gear failed, and the failure was confirmed by a visual fly by.
Captain Tadeusz Wrona and First Officer Jerzy Szwarc then nailed a gear up landing, landing on the Boeing’s belly and skidding to a stop. The runway was foamed beforehand to lower potential fire damage.
In George’s Point of View
Right away the operator is quick to report that no one was injured.
Below, you can see that a US Airport like Indianapolis (with its “beastmaster”) would handle the flight differently. There is always controversy about landing on a foam-slick runway.
What: Polish Air Force Tupolev TU-154M Where: Smolensk When: Apr 10th 2010 Who: 88 passengers and 8 crew Why: On approach to Smolensk North Airport in dense fog, the plane impacted a forest, coming to rest short of the runway. There are conflicting reports leading up to the decision to land at Smolensk (versus Minsk or Moscow), holding pattern, the number of approaches.
Everyone aboard the flight was lost, including Polish President Lech Kaczynski, his wife Maria, the national bank president, deputy foreign minister, army chaplain, head of the National Security Office, deputy parliament speaker, Olympic Committee head, civil rights commissioner and at least two presidential aides and three lawmakers.
Partial list of those lost in the crash:
1. Lech Kaczynski, President of the Republic of Poland
2. Maria Kaczynska, the president’s wife
3. Ryszard Kaczorowski, head of Poland’s London-based government-in-exile during the communist period
4. General Tadeusz Buk, Head of Polish Land Forces
5. Leszek Deptula, MP
6. Grzegorz Dolniak, MP
7. Katarzyna Doraczynska, President’s Chancellery
8 Janina Fetlinska, Senator
9. General Franciszek Gagor, Chief of Staff
10. Grazyna Gesicka, MP
11. Przemyslaw Gosiewski, MP
12. Mariusz Handzlik, Minister at the President’s Chancellery
13. Izabela Jaruga-Nowacka, MP
14. Sebastian Karpiniuk, MP
15. Admiral Andrzej Karweta, Head of Polish Navy
16. Mariusz Kazana, Foreign Ministry
17. Janusz Kochanowski, Poland’s Ombudsman
18. Stanislaw Jerzy Komorowski, Deputy Defence Minister
19. Andrzej Kremer, Deputy Foreign Minister
20. Janusz Kurtyka, National Remembrance Institute head
21. Tomasz Merta, Deputy Culture Minister
22. Aleksandra Natalli-Swiat, MP
23. Piotr Nurowski, head of Polish Olympics Committee
24. Krzysztof Putra, Deputy Speaker of parliament
25. Arkadiusz Rybicki, MP
26. Slawomir Skrzypek, head of Poland’s central bank
27. Wladyslaw Stasiak, head of Kaczynski’s Chancellery
28. Aleksander Szczyglo, head of the National Security Bureau
29. Jerzy Szmajdzinski, Deputy Speaker of parliament
30. Jolanta Szymanek-Deresz, MP
31. Izabela Tomaszewska, President’s Chancellery
32. Anna Walentynowicz, former Solidarity activist
33. Zbigniew Wassermann, MP
34. Wieslaw Woda, MP
35. Edward Wojtas, MP
36. Pawel Wypych, Minister and Kaczynski’s Chancellery
37. Stanislaw Zajac, Senator
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On July 17, 2007 the pilot of TAM Airlines Flight JJ3054, tried to land at Congonhas, but realizing he wouldn’t be able to stop in time on the rain-slicked tarmac, tried to take off again.
He failed.
The Airbus A320 skidded across a road and smashed into a building owned by the airline. The ensuing fireball killed all 186 people on the plane and 13 more on the ground, making this the worst air disaster in Brazilian history.
The thrust reverser had been deactivated during maintenance checks, the airline confessed. The reverser is used to help jets slow down on landing. Tam Airlines insists the deactivation was in accordance with proper procedures. However, nearly 200 people–passengers and crew–are dead.
Brazil’s Globo TV televised that a problem with the right thrust reverser had emerged four days prior to the crash.
The Airbus’s manual stipulates that ten days can lapse after a problem is first detected in an inspection and the plane can continue to operate in the meantime.
Aviators call São Paolo’s Congonhas Airport “the aircraft carrier,” because landing on its short runway, surrounded by densely populated residential areas, is like landing on the deck of an aircraft carrier. Though a Brazilian court had banned large jets from the airport in February, citing safety concerns, the ban was later overturned.
Royal Jordanian Airlines flight RJ-800 veered off runway at Sulaimaniyah International Airport, Iraq, on March 4th.
