A small plane crashed on Lake Gaston, North Carolina, on April 24th.
The 2005 Maule 235 single engine-plane was attempting to land when the pilot lost control and it flipped three times.
There were three people aboard, including the pilot Paul Heaton, of Roanoke Rapids, and two passengers; none of them were hurt.
The incident is being investigated.
A helicopter crashed near Lituya Bay, Alaska, on September 28th.
The helicopter was transporting four people from Grand Prairie, Texas, to Wasilla, Alaska, when it went down.
The U.S. Coast Guard rescued a 14-year-old survivor of the crash. Other occupants of the aircraft remain missing.
Gol Transportes Aereos flight G3-7660 had to divert and make an emergency landing in Curitiba, Brazil, on August 10th.
The plane heading from Sao Paulo, Brazil, to Santiago, Chile, was diverted due to a smoke indication.
The plane landed safely. All passengers and crew members remained unharmed.
American Airlines flight AA-5653 made an emergency landing in Watertown, New York, on January 15th.
The plane took off for Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, but had to turn back due to a configuration problem.
The plane landed back safely. Everyone aboard remained unharmed.
My experts are telling me that it looks like Boeing is all alone on these 787 battery fires. The FAA issued 31 ‘Special Conditions’ (you can read that to mean that the FAA gave Boeing a whole lot of slack) but this battery problem is not getting a free ride, or any favors.
SAFETY is the top priority. Make no mistake. The sooner the Dreamliner and its battery is grounded, the sooner the fix will be found and it will be safe to fly again. Well. While you’re at it fixing the battery problem, get that team of pilots who fly this thing to go over all areas of failure thus far, including the engines. Look at ALL of these…
Boeing? Are you listening? I fly everywhere, all over the world but at the moment, I’m not comfortable getting on this great plane that I really want to love for future travel. I’m am confident you can do it, even if all of these wrinkles are going to mean you need to bring in the really big iron. We need all the finders and fixers on this! The world has places to go and things to do, and you’re holding their safety in the palm of your hand.
The Emergency Airworthiness Directive has been issued. Issued Jan 16, 2013
and here is their announcement:
As a result of an in-flight, Boeing 787 battery incident earlier today in Japan, the FAA will issue an emergency airworthiness directive (AD) to address a potential battery fire risk in the 787 and require operators to temporarily cease operations. Before further flight, operators of U.S.-registered, Boeing 787 aircraft must demonstrate to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) that the batteries are safe.
The FAA will work with the manufacturer and carriers to develop a corrective action plan to allow the U.S. 787 fleet to resume operations as quickly and safely as possible.
The in-flight Japanese battery incident followed an earlier 787 battery incident that occurred on the ground in Boston on January 7, 2013. The AD is prompted by this second incident involving a lithium ion battery. The battery failures resulted in release of flammable electrolytes, heat damage, and smoke on two Model 787 airplanes. The root cause of these failures is currently under investigation. These conditions, if not corrected, could result in damage to critical systems and structures, and the potential for fire in the electrical compartment.
Last Friday, the FAA announced a comprehensive review of the 787’s critical systems with the possibility of further action pending new data and information. In addition to the continuing review of the aircraft’s design, manufacture and assembly, the agency also will validate that 787 batteries and the battery system on the aircraft are in compliance with the special condition the agency issued as part of the aircraft’s certification.
United Airlines is currently the only U.S. airline operating the 787, with six airplanes in service. When the FAA issues an airworthiness directive, it also alerts the international aviation community to the action so other civil aviation authorities can take parallel action to cover the fleets operating in their own countries.
See Directive:
What: Bankstown Helicopter Pty. Ltd. Robinson R44 Raven II
Where: Jaspers Brush Airfield, Berry, NSW, Australia
When: Feb 2, 2012, 3:55 pm
Who: 2 aboard
Why: Taking off, the helicopter was carrying two men scouting locations for a Jervis Bay documentary when the Robinson crashed and caught the field on fire.
Andrew Wight, The fifty year old pilot was from Melbourne, writer-producer of the 3D movie “Sanctum” based on Wight’s near-death experience in an underwater cave.
Mike DeGruy, 60, of Santa Barbara, California, won multiple Emmy and British Academy of Film and Television Arts, or BAFTA, awards for cinematography. He was a specialist in underwater photography.
Four ATSB investigators will be investigating.
A Rural Fire Service (RFS) responded. The cabin of the chopper burned, and sparked a brush fire.
Even though Rivera had filed for divorce, the widower of Jenni Rivera, Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Esteban Loaiza, is suing the owners of the Learjet that crashed on Dec. 9, 2012, killing the Mexican-American “Diva de la Banda” and six others. The wrongful death lawsuit in in Los Angeles Superior Court claims that the 78-year-old pilot and the co-pilot weren’t licensed to fly paying passengers.Also, the 43 year old jet flew unevenly and trembled when it hit cruising speed.
The families of four of the others, Rivera’s deceased publicist, makeup artist, hairstylist and attorney filed a wrongful death lawsuit in January 2013.
The pilot exceeded the age limit for the kind of license he obtained from Mexico, a fact for which Mexico’s civil aviation holds Mexico accountable. The pilot and co-pilot also died in the crash.
The plane’s owners were Starwood Management LLC and its parent company, Rodatz Financial Group.
The plane took off from Monterey and crashed within fifteen minutes.
