What: Air Canada Airbus A320-200 en route from Montreal to Toronto Where: Toronto When: Mar 23rd 2010 Who: 99 (98?) passengers and 6 crew Why: En route, the flight had an indication of a problem with the hydraulics, followed by a problem with cabin smoke on landing. The flight crew complained of an odor in the cabin. Passengers were removed directly to the runway by emergency responders at about 9:00 am. Illness was attributed to an odor that reportedly made them sick, as well as smoke. The source of the odor, at some point, was determined to be the hydraulic fluid leak.
Passengers aboard the flight say that even before the flight there was a peculiar odor; they were told the odor was blamed on a malfunctioning heating system
The pilot also had complained to a steering problem, no doubt related to the leak. The plane was towed off the runway.
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What: Delta Airlines McDonnell Douglas MD-88 en route from Jacksonville FL to Atlanta. Where: Jacksonville When: Jun 15th 2011, 10:30 p.m Who: 135 aboard Why: Taking off from Jacksonville, they had a compressor stall.
The pilots recovered the left engine, and made a safe landing back in Jacksonville, in spite of a loud bang that occurred. They stopped on the runway (which had been inspected for debris). A passenger told reporters that there was an engine sparking.
Emergency vehicles were on hand.
Passengers disembarked, and were provided an alternative flight.
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What: Roadside Ventures LLC Pilatus PC-12/47 en route to Kansas Where: Tiger Creek Swamp area, Lake Wales, Polk County, Florida When: June 7, 2012, 12:36 Who: 6 aboard, 6 fatalities Why: After taking off from Fort Pierce, the plane returning the Bramlage family from Bermuda began having trouble at 28,000 feet, and crashed in a remote area in Florida in an area of the Tiger Creek Preserve reachable by helicopters and all-terrain vehicles. The remains of the pilot 45-year-old Ronald,his wife Rebecca, 15-year-old Brandon, 11-year-old Bo, and 8-yea- old Roxanne have been recovered. Thirteen year old Boston is missing. There is a gaping hole in the plane, and the NTSB and FAA is speculating that Boston may have been sucked from the plane while in the air.
Witnesses in the Babson Park area heard a loud noise and apparently witnessed mechanical issues. Some witnesses saw the plane “twirling” before it crashed; other witnesses saw the plane flip and fly upside down.
The recovery party says the debris field covers hundreds of acres and that the plane came apart in the air. The investigation is being conducted by the NTSB and the FAA, and the search for Boston continues.
Aircraft Pilatus PC-12 (single-turboprop) (PC12/G – track or photos) Origin St Lucie County Intl (KFPR – track or info) Destination Freeman Field (3JC – track or info) Route LAL SZW (Decode) Date Thursday, June 7, 2012 Duration 4 hours 36 minutes Status result unknown (?) (track log & graph) Distance Direct: 1,239 sm Planned: 1,253 sm
Scheduled Actual/Estimated Departed 11:30AM EDT 12:05PM EDT Arrival 03:10PM CDT 03:41PM CDT (?) Speed 233 kts Altitude 26,000 feet
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What: Thomas Cook Airlines Airbus A330-200 en route from Belfast to Orlando Where: Norfolk When: Jul 10th 2009 Who: 265 Why: En route, an engine started vibrating and had to be shut down. The crew decided to divert to Norfolk,VA
George’s Point of View
Another Airbus.
Shutting down the engine is standard operating procedure, and at the same time, it is a near fatality because the pilot had to shut down that vibrating engine while the plane was still over the Atlantic Ocean, 60 miles from land. Can you imagine what was going through this Airbus pilot’s head as he made the decision to shut down that engine? No doubt he was thinking about last month’s two latest Airbus tragedies: Air France flight 447, or perhaps the Yemenia Airlines Airbus.
I know how overdramatic this sounds. Pilots shut down engines all of the time. it’s the very reason they fly with more than one. Just in case. Pilot training covers how to fly on the remaining engines. But this is just July 2009. Even the most well -trained Airbus pilot has last month’s story of Air France flight 447 in his mind, especially when he’s flying something that fails over the ocean.
This Thomas Cook Flight wasn’t experiencing a subtle problem. It wasn’t some subtle, quiet control panel error that could be handled as passengers flew along blissfully unaware and uninformed. In interviews of passengers, they are quoted as describing the engine as “vibrating” or “clackity.” No doubt there were 530 sweaty palms on that plane.
This was one of at least 5 airbus events we heard about today–and it is not in fact, even a complete listing. Hopefully at least the pilot gets serious credit for getting these people safely on the ground.
Who in the world is going to intercede and demand that Airbuses (every model) get checked from A-Z BEFORE they take off ‘in every part of the globe’? Vero?
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