Dennis Monroe, 65, and Josepha Sardinas, 70 died in a Van’s RV-7 plane crash while filming the airplane scene in a a low budget zombie movie in Bellevue Florida. The experimental kit plane circled for an hour over a 20-acre field before it crashed near Monroe Airpark in Summerfield/Belleview. The passenger was filming the pilot as the pilot banked (turned) and the engine quit. The plane went down, impacting nose first in a back yard in the 1700th block of Southeast 140th Street. The plane did not catch fire.
The accident occurred on Sunday. The plane will remain in the back yard until NTSB investigators arrive on the scene. The NTSB is expected to use the film footage in lieu of a CVR which is not required on this type of small homebuilt plane.
Dennis W. Monroe was piloting at the time of the accident. He was Belleview Public Works Director for 26 years.
A Red Bull Extra 300 aircraft crashed on October 12 during a Secunda airshow in Mpumalanga.
The engine appeared to stall when the pilot came out of a dive. The plane leveled out, made it to the ground and skidded seventy meters. When the plane caught fire, the pilot, Glen Dell, had to be helped from the cockpit. Reports indicated that he was airlifted and hospitalized at Mediclinic with burns and other injuries then transferred to Glenwood hospital/Netcare Sunninghill Hospital for burn care, but succumbed to the injuries.
The plane was a Extra 330LC, which is a Lycoming AEIO-580 powered two-seat competition aircraft, a type of Aerobatic monoplane, designed in 1987 by Walter Extra, an award-winning German aerobatic pilot and built by Extra Flugzeugbau.
Dell had 25,000 hours flying experience on 250 aircraft, held a zero foot aerobatic display waiver, which is awarded to pilots with proven competency and reputation reflecting display pilot expertise. In 2004, Glen finished first overall at the 6th Advanced World Aerobatic Championships, becoming the first South African to win. He had competed several times in the Red Bull Air Race but had announced he was returning to South African Airlines.
The Civil Aviation Authority is investigating the cause of the crash. Video below
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Frontier Airlines flight F9-1397 made an emergency landing in Tampa, Florida, on January 1st.
The Airbus A321-200 plane was flying from Cleveland, Ohio, when six passengers became sick, prompting the crew to request emergency assistance in Tampa.
The plane landed safely. Medical teams provided assistance to the sick passengers.
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What: Russian Air Force Antonov An-30B Where: Čáslav Airport, Czech Republic When: 23-MAY-2012 Who: 23 aboard Why: On landing at Čáslav, the pilot lost control, and the plane skidded off the runway.
There were fourteen Russians aboard, and 8 Czechs, six of whom were seriously injured. Ten ambulances and two choppers responded to the scene. Four patients were taken to Čáslav hospital with burns. Four injured were treated on the scene. One passenger with severe burns went to Vinohrady Hospital in Prague. Seven passengers and the pilot were taken by ambulance to a Cologne hospital. The emergency was declared at 11:50, and firefighters had the fire under control by 12:25. There were no casualties of the accident.
Specialists were testing the area for radiation, which was observed in the vicinity of the plane. The plane belongs to the”Open Skies” mission. The Antonov An-30B is an aerial survey observation plane.
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On January 7, 2013, a Japan Airlines Boeing 787 Dreamliner Japan-Boston had already landed in Boston, and all 184 passengers had safely disembarked when smoke filled the cabin.
A fire was found in a battery aboard the plane. Boston Firefighters arrived at 10:40 a.m. and put out the fire.
Passengers were provided alternative transportation and overnight accommodations.
Electrical issues in the avionics bay where the battery is located are a known issue in this type of plane, which uses electrical motors instead of hydraulics in certain areas. The auxiliary battery in the compartment kicks in after the engine kicks off. That’s what happened on test flights, and from what I have heard, that is what happened here.
In George’s Point of View
Let’s slow down with this great plane. Let’s get the kinks out of it before we put humans on too many of these Dreamliners. Let them stay Dreamliner and not become Nightmareliners. United is starting service but are these planes really ready? There have been engine problems and some spooky events. We don’t read too much about them, but I know they have occurred. I love this plane, I want to fly all over the world in it, and if I live long enough, I will, but, is it ready?
According to the NTSB report below, the NTSB seems to agree with me that incidents like this warrant investigation.
Press Release
WASHINGTON– Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board are gathering information regarding reports of smoke aboard a Boeing 787 at Boston’s Logan Airport today.
The Japan Airlines 787 was on the ground and empty of passengers at the time of the incident.
The NTSB has dispatched an investigator to Boston. Based on a review of the factual information gathered, the NTSB will determine the extent of its investigation. Video Below
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A privately owned Cessna 210 flew from Culiacan to La Noria; then an hour after leaving La Noria, the Cessna crashed in Sinaloa Mexico in a field and burst into flames.
Pilot Aaron Meza Martin del Campo, 21, and co-pilot Fortunato Ramirez Perez, 25 and two unidentified women died in the crash.
The accident is under investigation. THe cause may have been pilot error.
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Promises last year to add over 500 regulatory positions have not yet been implemented, risking India being degraded by the FAA to a Category 2 country which cannot fly to the US.
Only halfway through an inquiry of their aviation industry, India is suffering an ethical crisis in aviation, following the revelation of mass corruption and fraud. India has 8000 pilots. So far 29 pilots have lost their licenses. (This is not including 57 drunk pilots who reported for work inebriated.)
Bribery, test cheating, fake flying records led to the revoking of licensure and firing of at least twelve pilots. In order to pass off some of the false information, those complicit had to have included aerodrome officials, aviation fuel suppliers, flying instructors and government officials. Some flying schools seem to be completely uncredited. Two gangs from six cities were running a racket fudging test scores. Revoked licenses include six commanders licenses and 13 commercial pilots licenses. The problem is industry wide, with a vastly understaffed (140 employees) regulatory system. Licensure testing is not computerized, and not focused on aviation.
So in view of all of this exposure, I think back on 2007. I am not an attorney, and this is just my opinion, but it is the opinion of someone who is reasonably familiar with what goes on in the aviation industry.
I see so much of what is happening, from my vantage point, just standing back and looking inside what is going on.
I can not help but wonder how these airlines continue to get their financing.
Why aren’t the financiers taking a harder look at who they’re giving the keys to the planes? Let’s consider how quickly Air Inda Express grew. Sure, they are owned by Air India, but they started out with five planes and very quickly grew to a fleet of 25. Someone financed these planes.
Why?
What were they thinking?
After an audit of Indian Aviation in 2007 revealed unqualified manpower, then we saw the Air India Express crash in 2010. Now they have another audit and we find that NOTHING HAS CHANGED.
Think about this in ordinary terms. If you as a driver were to lease a car, when
you walk into that agency to get the lease, they check to make sure you have a valid license. They make sure you’re old enough. They verify your qualifications as a driver. They examine your fiscal health before they accept your contract and hand over the keys.
SImilarly, those companies which provide the loans for airlines to purchase planes do their due diligence. If an airline defaults on a loan, that A380 or B737-800 is going to get repossessed just as a car would be repossessed in similar circumstances.
In light of all of the corruption and lack of qualification that has been uncovered in all corners of Indian aviation, I can not help but wonder who performed the due diligence on these plane leases. Someone is financing it. It takes a lot of cash to put planes in the air, but that big financing brings in big income for leasing companies, in interest and lease payments.
So, the 2007 audit revealed failings in Indian aviation; and this one that is ongoing in 2011 has revealed the continuation of failings. Where are the leasing companies? Shouldn’t they monitor the safey program of their investments? If they do not do so, are they not negligent?
Are they not entrusting the guardianship of the lives of passengers, and those planes—weapons of mass destruction—to the hands of unqualified pilots?
In the Air India Express case, there was a 737 800 leased. We don’t have an official report yet, but there have been some who have precipitously assumed the crash was caused by pilot error. Everyone is concluding the pilot blundered. We do not know if (in addition to bundering) he was unqualfiied, asleep, stupid, suicidal, or if the plane malfunctioned. And we may never know.
But we do know a finance company backed that airline, who put a possibly unqualified pilot into that cockpit. Somebody financed that plane with due diligence that ignored the safety audits revealing the lack of health in Indian Aviation.
Are they not negligently entrusting weapons of mass destruction to unqualified personnel? The financiers have the right to repossess the plane if there is a failing in the plane, its operation or its custodianship. The financiers can withhold the use of a plane until such time that safety conditions are met and they abide by all international expectations, rules and recommendations of air authorities, just as ALL airlines must. If they do not have that right written into their contracts, shame on them, and to lessen that shame, write that condition, right and responsibility on all future contracts.
The lenders have the right to repossess the plane (and if they don’t they should.) They have the responsibility to do so, especially when life is on the line.
In the meantime, banks and leasing company should suffer the consequences of their negligence right along with the operators after a crash. In other words, pay for your mistake. Pay the families of the victims for negligently entrusting that weapon of mass destruction.
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Frontier Airlines flight F9-1397 made an emergency landing in Tampa, Florida, on January 1st.
Promises last year to add over 500 regulatory positions have not yet been implemented, risking India being degraded by the FAA to a Category 2 country which cannot fly to the US.