Shanghai Airlines flight FM-852 had to return for an emergency landing in Taipei, Taiwan, on February 24th.
The Airbus A330-300 plane took off for Shanghai, China, but had to return shortly afterwards after the crew noticed a problem with one of the engines and decided to shut it down.
The plane landed uneventfully. All 299 people aboard remained safe.
This will be the first July 28 in history when these 152 people will not be living on this earth. We want to remember these people who lost their lives in such a tragic and unnecessary way. They deserve to be remembered.
Some remember those who are no longer with us by using symbols. Memorials like the one promised. There are other symbols, like the bird in flight that symbolizes a soul, or a chain with a broken link.
There is a tradition dating back to ancient times of placing rosemary by the graves of loved ones. “There’s rosemary, that’s for remembrance; pray, love, remember;” Hamlet, (V.iv.124)
I was going to talk about more ways that people remember, but I must pause here. In ancient times they put rosemary by the graves of loved ones. Some people still do. But we cannot lay sprigs of rosemary for remembrance at the feet of our loved ones, because there are families still waiting for a memorial promised before the first anniversary of the crash. Waiting a year to lay their flowers and their grief.
Instead of a bouquet of flowers, we have a bouquet of broken promises. Shall we count them?
A broken promise to share the final investigative report.
A broken promise over the Monument at the crash site (they want it elsewhere); and a broken promise over the 72 unmarked graves.
A broken promise over Airblue being grounded for negligence, malpractice, manslaughter.
A broken promise to assist the families.
Or maybe we can call this a pending promise, as we wait for an independent inquiry board and a pending promise of greater safety in the skies over Pakistan.
We have our Rosemary for remembrance, but it is bittersweet.
Bulgarian Air Charter flight IT-1113 had to return and make a safe emergency landing at Varna Airport, Aksakovo, Varna, Bulgaria, on July 11th.
The McDonnell Douglas MD-82, after taking off for Germany, had just climbed out of Varna when the crew needed to shut down its right side engine, prompting the plane to return.
The plane landed safely. All people onboard remained unharmed.
The passengers were accommodated in a replacement plane.
Pakistan International Airlines flight PK-661 crashed in Havelian, near Abbottabad, Pakistan, at around 4:45 pm on December 7.
The Avions de Transport Regional ATR-42-500 flying from Chitral to Islamabad, Pakistan, crashed due to the failure of its left engine. The plane had lost control with the radar shortly before it hit the ground.
The wreckage caught fire right after the crash.
There were 42 passengers and 6 crew members aboard at the time. All of them were killed.
The black boxes have been recovered and handed over to Pakistan’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).
The investigation is underway.
Delta Airlines flight DL-87 made an emergency landing in Iqaluit, Canada, on February 5th.
The Boeing 767-300 plane heading from Frankfurt, Germany, to Detroit, Michigan, was diverted after five crew members became sick.
The plane landed safely.
One crew members was taken to a hospital while others were treated at the airport.
Pakistan International Airlines flight PK-319 made an emergency landing in Karachi, Pakistan, on July 5th.
The Airbus A320-200 plane flying from Islamabad, Pakistan, was descending toward Karachi when the crew reported a nose gear issue and requested to be towed off the runway.
The plane landed safely and was towed off the runway.
All one hundred and seventy-three people aboard remained unharmed.
Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact photographer Mats Salder
What: Aeroflot Airbus A319-100 en route from Nizhniy Novgorod to Moscow Sheremetyevo
Where: Moscow
When: Dec 28th 2011
Who: 76 aboard
Why: While en route, the right engine developed problems, and pilots had to shut it down.
The flight landed safely at Sheremetyevo less than a quarter hour after the engine was shut down.