A small plane crashed into a parking lot near Gillespie Field in El Cajon, California, on December 17th.
Authorities said the pilot had reported engine issues, and was attempting to return to Gillespie Field when the plane went down and caught fire.
Three people were injured in the crash, including the pilot and two passengers. They were taken to hospitals.
The incident is being investigated.
View larger photo here
Contact photographer Iam Lim
What: Yemenia Air Airbus 310 flight 626 en route from Yemen’s capital Sanaa to Moroni
Where: Indian Ocean near the Comoros archipelago
When: Monday June 29, 2009
Who: 142 passengers, 11 crew ( 6 Yemenis, 2 Moroccans, 1 Indonesian, 1 Ethiopian and 1 Filipino). 66 on board were French Nationals. A young girl survived. 5 bodies were found.
Why: Airbus attributes the crash to bad weather. The crash occurred on the pilot’s second attempt to land. The first landing was aborted because of 50 mph winds. The plane had circled to make a 2nd attempt and was flying low and impacted the ocean. Earlier reports described a “u turn.”
The 19 year old plane has 51,900 flight hours. Two years ago, aviation officials reported problems with this plane. Fifty-one percent of the airline is owned by the Yemeni government. Forty-nine percent is owned by the Saudi Arabian government.
Its fleet includes two Airbus 330-200s, four Airbus 310-300s and four Boeing 737-800s, according to the company website.
Comorian President Ahmed Abdallah Sambi cut short his attendance at the AU summit in Libya to return to Moroni to “mourn alongside those who lost loved ones in the crash.” He expressed “condolences to the Comorian people and to the affected families.”
Yemin call center: for more info contact the call center at 00967 1250800 or the emergency No 00967 1 250833 or call center 00967 1 250800 #IY626
Gen. Bruno de Bourdoncle de Saint-Salvy is the senior commander for French forces in the southern Indian Ocean. The islands are considered a French “department” and 80,000 immigrant Comorans are domiciled in Marseille. The general is quoted as saying that the Airbus 310 crashed 9 miles north of Comoros and 21 miles from the Moroni airport.
Reports of a toddler being found have not been verified; but when a young girl could not grasp the ring that had been tossed to her, Sgt. Said Abdilai jumped in the water and rescued her. The water was apparently too rough to recover more than five bodies. No other live victims have been found.
Comoros honorary consul in Marseille, Stephane Salord calls Yemenia’s planes “flying cattle trucks” and is quoted saying “This A310 is a plane that has posed problems for a long time, it is absolutely inadmissible that this airline Yemenia played with the lives of its passengers this way,” he said.
The plane in question has been also referred to as “ancient, old, elderly, and geriatric.”
There are complaints about Yemenia Airlines:
Safety breaches have put this area on a French “watch list.” A group called “SOS Voyage aux Comores” claims Yemenia Airlines is run by “cowboy operators.” They list complaints like:
src: http://www.douniaweb.net/webradio/index.php?2008/09/06/248-sos-voyage-aux-comores-6-septembre-2008
Hawaiian Airlines flight HA-43 had to divert and make an emergency landing in Oakland, California, on September 12th.
The Boeing 767-300 plane heading from San Jose, California, to Honolulu, Hawaii, was diverted due to a fuel distribution problem.
The plane landed safely. Everyone aboard remained unharmed.
Two Cessna planes collided mid-air east of Fort McMurray in north-eastern Alberta, Canada, at around 8 p.m. on June 21.
One of the planes, a Cessna 185, landed safely at the Fort McMurray airport after the collision. The pilot, who was the only one aboard, remained uninjured.
The other plane, a Cessna 172, crashed in bushes. Both people aboard were pronounced dead at the scene. Their identities have not yet been released.
The Transportation Safety Board will investigate the incident.
United Airlines flight UA-789 had to return and make an emergency landing at Portland International Airport, Oregon, on October 13th.
The Boeing 737-900 plane took off for Denver, Colorado, but had to return shortly afterwards due to an electrical smell onboard.
The plane landed safely. There were 177 people aboard at the time; all of them remained unhurt.
What: HAL Rotary Wing Academy Schweizer 269C (300C)
Where: Byapanahalli area, northeast Bangalore, India
When: April 12, 2012, 4:30 pm
Who: 2 aboard, 0 fatalities
Why: After a two hour ten minute flight, the helicopter on a training flight developed engine failure, dodged high-tension wires and other buildings to land on a Bangalore roof.
The Schweizer 269C is a light four year old plane used for civilian training.
The helicopter was damaged during the emergency landing, rolling over on its side on the rooftop of Maitri Apartments in the Byapanahalli area in North East Bangalore and leaking some of the 20 litres of fuel it carried. The rotors were blown off on impact with the parapet. Retired Air Commodore Roj Assey and trainee Digvijay Singh survived the emergency landing uninjured.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation is investigating.
Delta Airlines is going to lease 88 former AirTran Airways Boeing 717 jets from Southwest Airlines. SW took over AirTran Airways in 2011.
These planes are about to undergo a $100 million face lift. Southwest plans to replace the jets with bigger ones. The changes include the outdoor livery, and revamping the interiors.
The jets will allow Delta to retire 50-seat regional jets which are unprofitable due to fuel costs.
