What: Webjet Boeing 737 en route from Belo Horizonte to Sao Paulo
Where: Belo Horizonte
When: Aug 10, 2011
Who: 108 passengers
Why: After takeoff, the pilots received indications of problems with the right engine.
Passengers reported hearing noise from the engine, which jarred the plane.
Pilots shut down the engine and diverted back to Belo Horizonte where they made a safe landing. There is no indication if it was a bird strike or some other type of mechanical problem.
Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact photographer A J Best
What: American Airlines Boeing 767-300 en route from Paris to Dallas
Where: Reykjavik
When: 13 April 2010
Who: 133 passengers and 12 crew
Why: While en route, five crew members became ill from chemical fumes aboard flight 49. The flight diverted to Keflavik Iceland where they made a safe landing. London was sending an alternative flight to pick up the stranded passengers and crew and continue to their destination.
There is no indication yet of the source of the fumes. Eight ambulances were on hand to treat those affected.
Ethiopian Airlines flight 3W-20 blew a tire after landing in Johannesburg, South Africa, on January 14th.
The incident happened when the Boeing 737-700 plane was coming from Blantyre, Malawi.
The plane was towed to the apron.
Everyone aboard remained safe.
Here’s what is bothering me:
It’s no secret how planes are tested before they are released, to the very extreme so how did this electrical problem issue by the testing? Is my favorite plane manufacturer taking short cuts in quality control?
The Japan Boeing 787 Dreamliner was delivered on Dec. 20 and had only flown 169 flight hours and 22 flights when one of its two lithium ion batteries caught fire.
Is the investigation going to turn from the battery to the problem referenced by the whistleblower?
But is GS Yuasa really off the hook?
Battery questions:
The entire 787 fleet is grounded. Replacing the battery system might be a “quick” fix but certification could last a year.
A large format battery can generate heat faster than it dissipates.
Is venting the battery and monitoring the vents a viable temporary solution that could keep the planes in the air until a system alternative has been certified within the year?
The current batteries are “prone to spontaneous combustion due to ‘organic electrolyte which makes it volatile and flammable.'”
Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact photographer Ben Wang
What: UPS Boeing 747-400 en route from Louisville to Dallas
Where: Louisville
When: April 14 2010
Who: 2 crew
Why: After takeoff, multiple systems failed, and the crew decided to make a cautionary landing. No explanation has been provided any more explicit than generic “multiple system failures” but whatever the problem was, by Wednesday the plane was back in the air.
A small plane made an emergency landing on the Lookout Beach in Plettenberg Bay, South Africa, on March 24th.
According to the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) spokesperson Craig Lambinon, “On arrival on the scene a Cessna light aircraft was found to have made an emergency landing on the beach and it is believed that the light aircraft may have suffered engine failure while flying over Keurbooms Lagoon while on a pilot training flight from George Airport forcing the pilot to make an emergency landing on the beach.”
There were two people aboard, including the instructor pilot and trainee pilot; both of them remained unharmed.
The Civil Aviation Authority is investigating.
