Southwest Airlines flight WN-5913 had to divert and make an emergency landing in Indianapolis, Indiana, on May 19th.
The Boeing 737-700 plane heading from Las Vegas, Nevada, to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was diverted due to issues with the cabin pressure.
The plane landed safely. All passengers and crew members remained unharmed.
What: Piper PA-28R-180 Arrow en route from Mammoth Lakes to Palomar Airport
Where: I-15 & W. El Norte Pkwy, Escondido, CA
When: July 22, 2012, 11:25 p,
Who: 4 aboard
Why: After the plane was rented, it ran out of gas en route. The pilot, Pilot Ken Gheysar, managed to make a safe landing on a highway in light traffic.
No one was injured, but a 1996 Dodge Dakota pickup clipped the plane’s left wing while the plane was sitting on the shoulder.
The pilot and his family were returning home from a weekend in Mammoth Lakes.
It was towed by 8:20 a.m. with damage too severe to fly out.
What: NTSB employee’s Beechcraft BE-35 (N6658R) five miles from Warrenton-Fauquier Airport
What: FAA employee Thomas R. Provin’s 1965 Piper PA-28 (N23SC) en route from from Culpeper Regional Airport to the Warrenton-Fauquier
Where: southern Fauquier County.
When: May 28, 2012 4:00 pm
Who: two people aboard the Beechcraft fatalities, one aboard the Piper (injured)
Why: Over Warrenton, Fauquier County, Virginia, two planes collided. The pilot of the piper was hospitalized with injuries; both in the Beechcraft succumbed to their injuries. The Beechcraft was owned by an employee of the NTSB. The Piper is owned by an employee of the FAA. Subsequently, they requested the Canadian NTSB to investigate.
The planes impacted the ground a mile apart by a mile long debris field, one on a family farm. The woodsy secluded area is a challenging site to gather debris due to wildlife like snakes.
View more videos at: http://nbcwashington.com.
Swiss International Air Lines flight LX-657 made an emergency landing in Zurich, Switzerland, on July 12th.
The Airbus A319-100 plane flying from Charles de Gaulle Airport, France, was descending toward Zurich when the crew noticed a hydraulic leak.
The plane landed safely and was towed to the apron.
Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact Photographer Sergio Domingos
What: jet2.com Boeing 757-200 en route from Tel Aviv Israel to Manchester
Where: Budapest (Hungary)
When: Aug 6th 2009
Who: 238 passengers
Why: Four hours into the flight, the flight developed pressurization problems. The pilot dropped altitude suddenly, described as experiencing turbulence and “plummeting thousands of feet.” Oxygen was deployed. The pilot made assurances, but of course the passengers were terrified.
The flight landed safely when it diverted to Budapest, and passengers were put up in a local hotel until a replacement flight was provided for them.
George’s Point of View
We need a better system to see turbulence in time to avoid it. Until we have it, airline operators are just going to need to accept the cost factor.
Going around turbulence is a fact of aviation, and avoiding turbulence is going to cost extra fuel. Sometimes you have to wonder if our present systems are working when flights are routed through known turbulence in order to avoid the expense of going around it. Those are the kind of foolish economical decisions made by those kinds of marginal airlines that are banned in the EU, and one of the reasons they are known to fall out of the sky.
At least our Jet 2 pilot here, had the skill to handle the situation, and a plane sturdy enough to withstand the pressures long enough to safeguard the lives of those aboard.
Caribbean Airlines flight BW-527 had to return and make an emergency landing at John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York, on October 8th.
The Boeing 737-800 plane took off for Georgetown, Guyana, but had to turn back due to a flaps problem.
The plane landed back safely. All passengers and crew members remained unharmed.
Turkish Airlines flight TK-1911 had to return and make an emergency landing in Istanbul, Turkey, on December 17th.
The Airbus A321-200 plane took off for Zurich, Switzerland, but had to turn back due to a bird strike.
The plane landed uneventfully. Everyone aboard remained safe.
