A U.S. military helicopter made an emergency landing at Chofu Airport in Tokyo, Japan, on February 29th.
Authorities said the pilot of the Bell UH-1 Iroquois aircraft, belonging to the 459th Airlift Squadron at Yokota Air Base, declared emergency due to an engine warning light. The helicopter was on a routine local flight at the time.
The aircraft landed safely. All nine people aboard remained unhurt.
American Airlines flight AA-141 had to divert and make an emergency landing at Shannon Airport, County Clare, Ireland, on May 23rd.
The Boeing 777-200, en-route from London, England, to New York, was mid-air when the crew reported indications of vibrations and decided to divert.
The plane landed uneventfully.
All 89 people onboard remained unharmed.
A light plane was crashed near Upper Maffra Road, in the town of Newry, Victoria, Australia, on the afternoon of April 3rd.
The plane hit the power lines before crashing into a paddock.
The pilot, who was the only person aboard, sustained injuries. He was later airlifted to hospital.
A helicopter crashed into a cotton field in Williamson County, Texas, on August 21st.
The incident happened shortly after the aircraft took off from Georgetown Municipal Airport, Texas.
There were two people aboard at the time; both were killed in the crash.
The NTSB and the FAA are investigating.
What: Robinson R22 en route from Palomar Airport Wednesday morning (no destination given)
Where: Swami’s Beach in Encinitas
When: Wednesday Feb 18
Who: two flight instructors were aboard
Why: After the aircraft developed mechanical problems, the pilot crash landed. No one was injured, but the tail of the helicopter broke off.
What: Heliflite Inc/Aris Helicopter Sikorsky S-58ET
Where: El Segundo
When: March 13, 2011. 9:30 am
Who: pilot
Why: Earlier in March we talked about the Sikorsky that crashed while lifting an ac unit from atop the Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems warehouse in El Segundo. The injured pilot survived though he had to be extracted from the helicopter. Anthony Savedra, an employee of Excel Mechanical, pulled the pilot to safety. The helicopter capacity is 5000 pounds, and the unit that was being removed from the building was under 4500 lbs, but the helicopter apparently suffered an engine failure (the pilot said the engine when “offline”) while the operation was in progress. A witness in the video below said the helicopter made a popping noise on impact, and there was white smoke; then a few moments later, there was an explosion, and black smoke. The pilot escaped burn injuries.
The crash started a fire on two floors of the warehouse but no one was injured in the fire, because the accident occurred on a Sunday. Seventy firefighters put out the blaze within forty minutes.
Flybe flight BE-2108 made an emergency landing at Manchester Airport, England, on October 3rd.
The plane heading from Heathrow Airport, England, to Edinburgh, Scotland, was diverted due to a suspected technical fault.
The plane landed safely. All forty-eight passengers aboard remained unharmed.
