Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact photographer Alejandro Torres
What: Jetblue Airbus A320-200 en route from New York to Burlington,VT
Where: Burlington
When: Feb 19th 2011
Who: 2 injured
Why: On approach to Burlington, the plane encountered severe turbulence, which injured two flight attendants. The pilot continued, to make a safe landing in Burlington. Both attendants were hospitalized, one with bruises, and one with broken ribs.
Spicejet flight SG 517 had to make an emergency landing in Kolkata, West Bengal, India, on March 1st.
The Boeing 737-900 plane took off from Bangalore and was en-route to Kolkata when the runway inspection crew found tire debris and informed the pilots about tire burst. The pilots in turn requested emergency assistance on arrival in Kolkata.
The plane landed safely. There were 211 passengers and 7 crew members aboard at the time; all of them remained unharmed.
Frontier Airlines flight F9-195 made an emergency landing in Austin, Texas, on April 5th.
The Airbus A319-100 plane flying from Raleigh–Durham International Airport, North Carolina, was descending toward Austin when the crew declared an emergency due to an engine problem.
The plane landed safely. All one hundred and twenty-nine passengers and five crew members remained unharmed.
The Singapore Airlines Airbus A330-300 en route from Singapore Dhaka with 105 passengers and 12 crew aboard diverted to Bangkok when they got an internal flight warning. There were no injuries.
In spite of the cargo fire suppression system, there was a burning smell and a fire.
The plane made a safe landing in Bangkok. The plane taxied to the gate, and passengers disembarked and were provided hotel accommodations, meals and transferred to another airline.
An investigation is underway.
Singapore Airlines’ spokesman, Nicholas Ionides said that “Flight SQ446 operating between Singapore and Dhaka diverted to Bangkok as a result of indications of smoke from the aircraft’s rear cargo hold.”
When Thai authorities clear the Airbus, it will be flown back to Singapore.
But still, it is one of my least favorite things to read (especially while I’m halfway to Singapore) that there has been yet another cargo fire at all, regardless of what kind of plane it is on.
At least I had time to jot down some thoughts.
I hope that the media shines as bright a light on this airbus cargo fire as it has recently on the Dreamliner battery situation. Sure, the Dreamliner is developing new technology and Boeing is responsible for going the distance to keep new developments safe. The Dreamliner battery issue is new. But the fact that Boeing is developing new technologies and new solutions does not provide Airbus and an established plane like a A330-300 a free ticket when it comes to combustion.
Hopefully Airbus is paying attention to all problems and not getting too cocky. It should remember and respect that a plane is still an air-filled bubble hundreds of feet in the air. Until people develop their own wings, random combustion situations like cargo fires on an Airbus A330 are just as potentially hazardous situation–if not more so–than any battery incident that actually occurred on the ground.
Let us please see a fix for this problem.
Pictured: An Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 767-3BG/ER
Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact photographer Pieter-Jan Van De Vijver
What: Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 767-300 en route from Addis Ababa to Lagos
Where: Lagos Nigeria
When: Dec 13th 2009
Who: 180 passengers
Why: On approach, ATC communication failed. With air traffic control’s radar and communication radio out of service, the flight circled, and after two hours in a holding pattern, landed after declaring a fuel emergency.
Other flights also had the same experience.
Nigeria’s Airspace Management Agency NAMA was unavailable for two hours.
Insel Air flight 7I-512 made an emergency landing in Sint Maarten, on June 13th.
The plane took off for Curacao but had to turn back due to an engine issue.
The plane landed safely. All passengers and crew members remained unharmed.
Emirates flight EK-359 made an emergency landing at Cochin International Airport, India, on February 2nd.
The plane heading from Jakarta, Indonesia, to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, was diverted after a passenger suffered a medical emergency.
The plane landed safely. The patient was rushed to a hospital, however, he died on the way.
