Wizz Air flight W6-1476 had to return and make an emergency landing in Barcelona, Spain, on July 29th.
The Airbus A320-200 plane took off for Warsaw, Poland, but had to turn back after the crew noticed smoke in the cockpit.
The plane landed back safely. All passengers and crew members remained unharmed.
Southwest Airlines flight WN-1658 had to make an emergency landing in Portland, Maine, on April 3rd.
The Boeing 737-800 plane flying from Baltimore, Maryland, was on approach to Portland when the crew declared an emergency due to a problem with the flaps.
The plane landed at higher than normal speed. There were 180 people aboard at the time; all of them remained unharmed.
Thomas Cook flight FQ-816 had to return and make an emergency landing in Brussels, Belgium, on February 7th.
The Airbus A319-100 plane, operated by Brussels Airlines, took off for Marrakech, Morocco, but had to return shortly afterwards after one of its engines ingested a bird.
The plane landed uneventfully. All 140 passengers remained safe.
The airline arranged a replacement aircraft for the passengers.
What: Arik Air Boeing 737-700 en route from Owerri to Lagos
Where: Owerri Nigeria
When: May 8th 2011
Who: 69 passengers
Why: While en route, the plane incurred a bird strike. The bird was ingested in an engine. The flight continued until there were severe vibrations on the right side of the plane (where the strike occurred).
Passengers aboard the flight said they experienced five minutes of terror (that lasted forever) as the right side of the plane was vibrating. Presumably pilots shut down that engine after five minutes.
The pilots made a safe landing in Lagos.
Pakistan International Airlines flight PK-764 suffered a bird strike near Faisalabad, Pakistan, on September 4th.
The incident happened when the Airbus A320-200 plane was coming from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
The plane continued for a safe landing. All one hundred and fifty-four people aboard remained unharmed.
Lufthansa CityLine flight LH-2316 had to return and make an emergency landing in Munich, Germany, on September 11th.
The Canadair CRJ-900 plane took off for Luxembourg but had to turn back after a strange smell was noticed in the cockpit.
The plane landed back safely. All passengers and crew members remained unharmed.
Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact Photographer Sergio Domingos
What: jet2.com Boeing 757-200 en route from Tel Aviv Israel to Manchester
Where: Budapest (Hungary)
When: Aug 6th 2009
Who: 238 passengers
Why: Four hours into the flight, the flight developed pressurization problems. The pilot dropped altitude suddenly, described as experiencing turbulence and “plummeting thousands of feet.” Oxygen was deployed. The pilot made assurances, but of course the passengers were terrified.
The flight landed safely when it diverted to Budapest, and passengers were put up in a local hotel until a replacement flight was provided for them.
George’s Point of View
We need a better system to see turbulence in time to avoid it. Until we have it, airline operators are just going to need to accept the cost factor.
Going around turbulence is a fact of aviation, and avoiding turbulence is going to cost extra fuel. Sometimes you have to wonder if our present systems are working when flights are routed through known turbulence in order to avoid the expense of going around it. Those are the kind of foolish economical decisions made by those kinds of marginal airlines that are banned in the EU, and one of the reasons they are known to fall out of the sky.
At least our Jet 2 pilot here, had the skill to handle the situation, and a plane sturdy enough to withstand the pressures long enough to safeguard the lives of those aboard.
