UPS flight 5X-213 made an emergency landing in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, on April 25th.
The plane, heading from Louisville, Kentucky, to Cologne, Germany, was diverted due to a suspected fuel leak.
The plane landed safely. All four crew members remained unharmed.
Turkish Airlines flight TK-1523 made an emergency landing in Dusseldorf, Germany, on January 16th.
The Airbus A321-200 plane flying from Istanbul, Turkey, was descending toward Dusseldorf when the crew reported possible issues with the nose gear.
The plane landed safely and was towed off the runway.
All one hundred and seventy-five people aboard remained unharmed.
A 1976 Cessna 150 M had to make an emergency landing in a cornfield on Bill Moxley Road, Mount Airy, Maryland, on September 19.
The pilot, identified as Paul Borghese, 47, of Ashburn, Virginia, said he was forced to make an emergency landing after the plane experienced engine issues. He was heading from Clearview Airpark, Westminster to Leesburg, Virginia at the time.
The plane ended up on its roof and sustained minor damage.
The pilot remained unharmed.
Pictured: Air Asia Airbus A320
Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact Photographer T.Laurent
What: Air Asia Airbus A320 en route from Kuala Lumpur to Macao
Where: Macao International Airport
When: 2009 08 24
Who: 148 passengers
Why: While en route, a warning light signaled that the emergency door was open
The plane made a safe landing. Apparently the warning message went off in error on a securely locked door.
George’s Point of View
The issue here is not simply a warning light. It is the fact that warning lights on aircraft are crucial, life-saving equipment and cannot afford to fail. A warning that goes off for no reason may cause the “boy who cried wolf” syndrome (i.e. let’s ignore it because that warning always goes off;) or it can indicate some mechanical underpining that is faulty (loose wire, blown gasket); or a miniscule software error that could range in significance from mundane to catastrophic.
So let’s hope that maintenance looks at that door until they determine exactly what did happen to cause the warning to go off. Because the only way to prevent problems in the future is to pin down every issue now, before it escalates into another Airbus disaster.
Pictured: A FedEx Express McDonnell Douglas MD-11
Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact photographer Javier Cáceres
What: Fedex McDonnell Douglas MD-11 en route from Cologne Germany to Memphis,TN
Where: Atlantic Ocean
When: Nov 12th 2009
Why: While en route, the crew reported smoke in the cockpit and diverted to Goose Bay where they landed safely.
What: Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-3H4 en route from Phoenix to Sacramento
Where: Yuma International Airport, AZ
When: 01 APR 2011
Who: 118 aboard
Why: A hole burst through the top of this Boeing while en route. The plane suffered decompression, descended to a safe level (when an attendant was injured) and made an emergency landing in Yuma.
The hole has opened a witch hunt on aging Boeings in search of the kind of metal fatigue that would result in a hole during operations now that the aluminum skin has been known to separate at the lap joints, where panels are spliced together. Although the incident did not result in death, it is being taken as a “warning.” 175 Boeing 737 are slated for examination, and maintenance programs (Southwest, FAA, Boeing) are being re-evaluated to take this into account.
Discussion of lap joint and the 3 rows of rivets. The skin separated at the lower rivet line. Pre-existing fatigue existed on the fracture surface. (Multi site damage.) The decompression happened 18.5 minutes after take-off, and no pre-indications. The flight crew immediately declared emergency.
Avia Traffic Company flight YK-4283 had to return and make an emergency landing in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, on August 5th.
The Airbus A320-200 plane took off for Antalya, Turkey, but had to turn back due to an engine issue.
The plane landed safely. All passengers and crew members remained unharmed.
