United Airlines flight UA-31 had to return and make an emergency landing in Munich, Germany, on May 30th.
The Boeing 767-300 plane took off for Newark, New Jersey, but had to return shortly afterwards due to an engine failure.
The plane landed safely. All passengers and crew members remained unharmed.
An advisory panel of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has recommended strict actions for discouraging bulk shipment of lithium batteries through commercial planes.
The recommendations were published by the ICAO on October 1, after a recent meeting of the advisory group was held in Cologne, Germany, in September.
The group has also suggested to re-assess the fire detection systems in terms of their ability of respond quickly and to limit the battery shipments to cargo compartments with excellent fire-suppression capability.
In July 2010, 2 people were killed after a shipment of batteries caught fire and caused a Boeing Co 747 cargo plane, operated by United Parcel Service Inc., to crash in Dubai.
Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact photographer Fred Seggie
What: Thomson Boeing 767-300, en route from Manchester to to Punta Cana Dominican Republic
Where: Bermuda
When: Occurred:Nov 5th 2010
Sentenced: Aug 19th 2011
Who: 45 year old British Citizen
Why: While Charity worker Carol Close’s flight had been delayed for 30 hours in Manchester with technical problems, the depressed woman passed the time by drinking beer and two mixed drinks. Probably not a good idea.
Six hours into the November 5, 2010 flight, the woman attacked her husband and other individuals aboard the flight. Her husband moved to another seat to get away from her, and Close then bit and kicked a flight attendant (or two) who attempted to restrain her. Then she started yelling.
The captain diverted to Bermuda where Carol Close was arrested.
On Aug 19th 2011, Close pleaded guilty to “two charges of assault and one of affray.”
British Court sentenced her to a suspended 6-months jail term, £2700 British Pounds. (£200 compensation to cabin crew, plus £2,476 to Bermuda Police)
JetBlue flight B6-913 had to divert and make an emergency landing in Charleston, South Carolina, on June 23rd.
The Embraer ERJ-190 plane heading from Westchester County Airport, New York, to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, was diverted after smoke was noticed in the cockpit.
The plane landed safely. All ninety-eight passengers and four crew members remained unharmed.
Swiss International Air Lines flight LX-65 made an emergency landing in Zurich, Switzerland, on March 21st.
The Airbus A330-300 plane flying from Miami, Florida, was descending toward Zurich when the crew received indication of a nose wheel steering issue.
The plane landed safely. All passengers and crew members remained unharmed.
U.S. Airways Express flight 3846 had to return and make an emergency landing at Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on January 20.
According to a statement issued by the American Airlines, “US Airways Express flight 3846 from Milwaukee to Charlotte returned to Mitchell airport due to an indication of possible smoke in the lavatory. The flight is operated by AirWisconsin.”
The plane landed uneventfully at 2:44 p.m. and was taken for inspection.
There were no passengers aboard at the time.
Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact photographer Mark H
What: Qantas Boeing 747 en route from Johannesburg to Australia
Where: Johannesburg
When: Nov 16, 2010, 7:20 p.m.
Who: 171 passengers
Why: After takeoff around 6pm, the Qantas jet—reportedly the same plane which turned back from Sydney to Buenos Aires on Nov 15 2010_ingested a bird into the number 2 engine,which caused a drop in power. The pilot made an emergency landing (80 minutes after takeoff) in Johannesburg with emergency vehicles on standby.
Passengers will be provided hotel accommodations and are expected to have flight accommodations on one of three options within 24 hours.
The damage to the number 2 engine is said to be limited to a turbine blade.
While it is no doubt that the media is overreacting to the current series of Qantas incidents, the airline’s reputation of being the world’s safest airline should be untarnished. Consider how their fleet is being squeezed by having to pull six A380 superjumbos because of the engine problem that Rolls Royce admits is their problem.
The rest of Qantas fleet must be scrambling to make up for the temporary loss of the A380s. Such is the perfect scenario-pushing the remaining fleet to the max-that will inevitably stress the “weakest links,” should there be any.
But a bird strike is a routine event, routine in the sense of being an inevitable phenomenon. Bird strikes happen. And when they do, so far, the Qantas pilots have been able to handle every contingency.