A Note to Our Readers

Dear Readers,
We make a special effort here to record the facts as we receive them. At times, there may be error but we do try to use our best judgement at the time of posting, and will be glad to amend any details which are proved incorrect. Furthermore, even though we do not here discuss the human cost, we realize that losing anyone in an air accident is insurmountable tragedy to individuals, families and communities. We do extend our heartfelt sympathy to those whose loss we record here. "...any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for..." us all.
Meditation XVII - (with apologies to) John Donne


2008/07/31

Piper PA-2 crashes in Macon County




What: small twin engine Piper PA-23 traveling to Hazelhurst, Ga., a small airport south of Atlanta
Where: Highlands Blue Valley, Macon County, just south of Highlands-plane crashed on wooded hill about 75 feet from Clear Creek Road
When: Tuesday 3 p.m
Who: Two people were killed. Identities not released.
Why: “A storm was coming up just as the plane went down. Just a thunderstorm, it wasn’t raining or anything, but it was real windy,”

Emergency Landing in WEST GOSHEN




What: Eclipse Aviation Corp. EA500 Fixed Wing Multi-Engine Turbo Fan registered to My Aviation LLC of Lafayette Hill--small, twin-engine jet attempting to take off from the Brandywine Airport but takeoff was aborted.
Where: WEST GOSHEN in a wooded area just yards from Route 202
When: 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday.
Who: No one was seriously injured, but the pilot sat for an hour after the crash comforting his young daughter, who was a passenger
Why: Pilot aborted flight. The right wing of the aircraft was badly damaged upon impact, and a strong odor indicated that the fuel tank was damaged. The plane did not catch fire but the controls died. The engine continued to run and could not be turned off.

El Al Emergency Landing in LA




What: El Al Boeing 777 airliner coming from Tel Aviv
Where: Los Angeles International Airport
When: Landed about 6 a.m. PDT on Thursday
Who: 300 passengers and crew members
Why:possible blown nose wheel.

News video

Raytheon Hawker 800 crashes in Minnesota, killing 8




What: Chartered small Raytheon Hawker 800 jet flying from from Atlantic City, N.J., to Owatonna. The plane had been scheduled to land at 9:42 a.m., then take off at 11:40 a.m. for Crossville, Tenn.
Where: Minnesota 60 miles south of the Twin Cities crash landing in a cornfield northwest of Degner Regional Airport
When: Thursday
Who: 8 passengers (possibly 9; one is unaccounted for) Seven died at the scene. One died later at a hospital. wo high-ranking executives from Revel Entertainment, which is building a $2 billion hotel-casino project in Atlantic City, and several employees of Tishman Construction
Why: The crash happened after the worst of the storm had passed, with the sky clearing and only light rain.

Recién termino de leer

Recién termino de leer
7> el reportaje de la periodista Wendy Molero publicado el lunes 28, en el
Diario El Siglo de Nereida y lo comentarios efectuados en la pagina web
semana/> Vuelo 518* y quedo atónito de la magnitud de los errores cometidos
por los pilotos de las aeronaves involucradas y el personal de la torre de
control de Merida violando todos los procedimientos establecidos para las
operaciones aéreas.

Da pena que la aviación comercial venezolana haya caído en tan bajo, siempre
había tenido respeto por los profesionales del aire venezolanos, pero por lo
que se lee aquí, estoy no son pilotos profesionales, si no unos
irresponsables. Para no hablar de la manera poco profesional que las
autoridades aeronáuticas han conducido la investigación, según leemos en
Vuelo 518. ¿Donde esta el informe final?

¿ Pero quien es el culpable de esta situación?, sin duda alguna el principal
responsable de que estos pilotos y funcionarios de operaciones (Torre) no
sigan los procedimientos establecidos mundialmente acordados y suscritos por
todos los países miembros de la Organización de Aviación Civil Internacional
( OACI-ICAO) de la cual venezuela es miembro, es el
Gobierno Nacional en su Dirección de Aeronáutica Civil (INAC/MINFRA), estos
señores han permitido que las reglas de vuelo no se tomen en cuenta, por lo
que se aprecia son un saludo a la bandera.

En la aviación comercial no se trata de que el piloto tenga una extrema
habilidad física para operar la aeronave, si no de que tenga la conciencia
de operar las aeronaves siguiendo estrictamente los procedimientos
establecidos.

¿ Cuando fue que Aeronáutica Civil chequeo a esos pilotos es sus
procedimientos de vuelo por instrumentos (IFR)?, ¿ quien fue el chequeador y
donde y bajo que condiciones se efectuó el chequeo?. ¿Y la línea aérea, lo
hace?, ¿chequea a sus pilotos y verificar su capacidad de operar dentro de
los procedimientos cada tipo de aeronave ? ¿Que dicen los manuales del
avión? Los hay al día? ¿Se cumple con los reportes? ¿Se verifican los
funcionamientos de los equipos de acuerdo con los manuales del fabricante?
¿Esta verificando todo esto Aeronáutica civil? ¿Y a los funcionarios de
control de las operaciones aéreas ( torre de control) quien los entrena? ¿y
quien verifica periódicamente el seguimiento de los procedimientos correctos
? ¿ Aeronáutica civil?, por lo que aquí se lee, ¡ no es así !
¿ Que dice la Asociación Nacional de Pilotos (ANP), la Asociación Venezolana
de Aviación Civil - AVAC y la Cámara de Empresas Venezolanas de Transporte
Aéreo - CEVETA sobre este accidente y la responsabilidad de AEREONAUTICA
CIVIL?

¡ Hay que exigirle al gobierno nacional la responsabilidad de que nuestra
Aviación civil este en este deplorable estado y hay que exigirle la
responsabilidad directa en este lamentable accidente!

¡ Pido la renuncia de el G/B (AVB) Ramón Jesús Viñas García presidente del
INAC y todos sus directores directamente responsables de las operaciones
aeronáuticas comerciales !

!Ojalá alguien directamente involucrado los demande civil y penalmente!

¡ Alerta roja a todos los usuarios de la aviación comercial, viajamos bajo
condiciones precarias !
Elio Ohep
Editor
* El 21 de febrero de 2008, el vuelo 518 de Santa Bárbara Airlines despegó a
las 21:59 UTC del Aeropuerto Alberto Carnevalli de la ciudad de Mérida en
Venezuela con destino a al Aeropuerto Internacional de Maiquetía Simón
Bolívar, en Maiquetía, Estado Vargas el cual sirve a la ciudad de Caracas -
Venezuela. Poco después de su primer reporte, la aeronave con matrícula
YV-1449, de tipo Aeroespatiale ATR-42-300, no se comunicó con su punto de
control siguiente por lo que se declaro en fase DETRESFA. Al principio, el
avión fue considerado oficialmente como desaparecido, sin embargo el 22 de
febrero de 2008, en horas de la mañana, se confirmó que la aeronave se
estrelló en el Páramo de los Conejos (contra un muro natural de rocas
llamado La Cara del Indio), sin sobrevivientes debido al fuerte impacto (y
al posterior incendio) que pulverizó el avión. Cuarenta personas perdieron
la vida, no hubo sobrevivientes. Mas sobre el
Vuelo 518

Elio Ohep tiene licencia Norteamericana (FAA) de piloto privado (SEL) y por
27 anos fue profesor de la Cátedra de Administración y Operación de Empresas
de Transporte Aéreo en el Colegio Universitario Francisco de Miranda, tiene
un BBA en Mercadeo y Comunicación de la Universidad de Loyola-New Orleans y
MBA en Mercadeo y Transporte de Kellogg´s School of Management, Northwestern
University.

Nota del Editor: Petroleumworld no se hace responsable por los juicios de
valor emitidos por esta publicacion, por sus colaboradores y columnistas de
opinión y análisis. Aceptamos colaboraciones previa evaluación por nuestro
equipo editorial, estamos abiertos a todo tipo o corriente de opiniones,
siempre y cuando a nuestro juicio esten dentro de valores éticos y morales
razonables.

From: Hector Hereter [mailto:hhereter@yahoo.com]

2008/07/30

Ultra Light Emergency Landing



Ultra Light Emergency Landing
What: Ultra light aircraft
Where: Linden Township
When: July 24 4:45 p.m
Who: Joseph Alphonse Dahl
Why: On the date of purchase, the plane ran out of gas and landed in a field of soybeans. The plane consumed more fuel than expected because of the winds.

Emergency Landing at Rochester Airport




What: United Airlines Regional jet traveling from O’Hare International Airport in Chicago to Providence
Where: Rochester
When: Tuesday 10:20 a.m
Who: 71 people were on board
Why: smoke filled the plane’s cockpit.

Delta Air Lines Flight 141




What: Delta Air Lines Flight 141 Boeing 737-800 was bound for Salt Lake City
Where: John F. Kennedy International Airport.
When: Tuesday
Who: 167 passengers and crew. Passengers rebooked on other flights.
Why: blew out a tire on takeoff from the Queens airport; Plane circled Kennedy for hours to burn fuel and dumped extra fuel over a nearby body of water before landing.

Vancouver Emergency Landing after Fuselage Damage




What: Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd <0293.HK> Boeing 747 from NY to Hong Kong via Vancouver
Where: Vancouver
When: 3:36 am (1026 GMT)
Who: 363 passengers and 17 crew members.
Why: Suffered mid-air damage while descending for a landing at Vancouver. One of the air conditioning access panels had detached from the plane and there was also some minor damage to other parts of the fuselage. Officials were trying to determine what happened to the plane at 20,000

2008/07/29

Second Qantas Emergency Landing




What: Qantas jet 737-800 flight 692 (domestic flight)
Where: Adelaide airport
When: Monday 6:10 pm three days after the Qantas jumbo jet blew a hole in its fuselage
Who: On return to the airport, the full load of passengers relocated to another plane
Why: routine 'air turn-back' shortly after take-off when one of the landing gear doors failed to retract

Emergency landing




What: Southwest Airlines Flight 121
Where: Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport
When: took off at 2:43 p.m. and landed at 2:50 p.m
Who: No details listed.
Why: Smoke from a faulty cockpit fan caused the plane to return to the airport. The fan was changed after landing. No injuries.

Allegiant Air Emergency Landing in Orlando




What: Allegiant Air flight MD 80 jet en route to Allentown, Penn. from Tampa
Where: diverted to the Orlando Sanford International Airport
When: Sunday
Who: Full plane
Why:one of its engines was not running correctly.

2008/07/27

Comair: The Road to Trial

Settlement does not simply happen.

The families of the victims of Comair Flight 5191 bare painful details of suffering and loss. Like remembering the bride and bridegroom en route to their island wedding. The magna cum laude accountant, the sixteen year old girl.

Burned alive in the crash.

Separate lawsuits are filed for the individual estates where eventually a jury will be asked to fix liability for the disaster and to award compensatory and punitive damages. IF the cases go to trial.

In the Flight 5191 case, Comair is charged with being negligent in training both pilots. The pilots committed errors before taking off on the wrong runway and crashing.

The airline's made claims against the airport which were dismissed. Some families are filing against the government because a contributing factor was the FAA's failure to require air traffic controllers to issue specific clearances to cross runways.

Airline disaster lawsuits rarely get to trial, which in this case is set for Aug. 4.

A flurry of settlements in the Comair cases have been negotiated in the past few weeks. Only 10 of 47 suits were pending as of Friday. Opposing counsel is rushing to resolve cases prior to the trial date.

What: Comair flight 5191, a Bombardier CL-600-2B19, N431CA,
Where: August 27, 2006
When: 0606:35 eastern daylight time,
Who: The captain, flight attendant, and 47 passengers were killed, and the first officer received serious injuries.
Why: See official report below

NTSB Number AAR-07/05
NTIS Number PB2007-910406
PDF Document(3.4 MB)

Executive Summary: On August 27, 2006, about 0606:35 eastern daylight time, Comair flight 5191, a Bombardier CL-600-2B19, N431CA, crashed during takeoff from Blue Grass Airport, Lexington, Kentucky. The flight crew was instructed to take off from runway 22 but instead lined up the airplane on runway 26 and began the takeoff roll. The airplane ran off the end of the runway and impacted the airport perimeter fence, trees, and terrain. The captain, flight attendant, and 47 passengers were killed, and the first officer received serious injuries. The airplane was destroyed by impact forces and postcrash fire. The flight was operating under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 121 and was en route to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Atlanta, Georgia. Night visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident.

The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was the flight crewmembers’ failure to use available cues and aids to identify the airplane’s location on the airport surface during taxi and their failure to cross-check and verify that the airplane was on the correct runway before takeoff. Contributing to the accident were the flight crew’s nonpertinent conversation during taxi, which resulted in a loss of positional awareness, and the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) failure to require that all runway crossings be authorized only by specific air traffic control (ATC) clearances.

The safety issues discussed in this report focus on the need for (1) improved flight deck procedures, (2) the implementation of cockpit moving map displays or cockpit runway alerting systems, (3) improved airport surface marking standards, and (4) ATC policy changes in the areas of taxi and takeoff clearances and task prioritization. Safety recommendations concerning these issues are addressed to the FAA.

Pilot and Passenger Survive Riverside Crash




What: World War II-era Ercoupe fixed-wing plane
Where: about a quarter-mile southwest of Corona Municipal Airport just after takeoff
When: 1:50 p.m 07/26/2008
Who: Herbert Allen Guiness, ( who piloted a B-24 Liberator four-engine bomber in World War II ) and Thomas Wixon
Why: Guiness took off at about 80 mph with a 20 mph crosswind, and as he turned to get out of the flight pattern, the wind stopped and he felt a downward draft. He throttled up but the plane "just kept going down."

Piper cub banner plane crashes




What: Single engine Piper cub banner plane owned by Paramount Air Services, of Middle Township
Where: hotel back yard- Cape May
When: Saturday
Who: Matthew Wolf
Why:The pilot dropped his AmeriHealth banner in a tree in a lakefront complex in Burleigh at about 5:40 p.m.

Update-After the engine quit, Wolf crossed North Wildwood Boulevard at Exit 6 of the Garden State Parkway, circled south aiming for the big mowed field of the exit's jug handle, but lacked altitude and momentum. After clipping the top of a tall tree, it plowed nose-first into the ground in the 60-foot-wide backyard of the Catalina Motel.

The pilot only suffered a broken nose.

2008/07/26

Drunken Emergency Landing in Germany




What: XL Airways plane, which was en route from the Greek island of Kos to Britain
Where: Frankfurt International Airport
When: Wednesday
Who: Two British women, aged 26 and 27 were arrested after smoking and drinking in the bathroom, and demanding more alcohol as well as threatening the crew
Why: The women attempted to open an exit door while flying at an altitude of (33,000 feet) and that one of them swung a vodka bottle at a flight attendant before they were restrained by security personnel which forced the flight to be diverted to Germany. XL Airlines wants the costs of the unplanned stopover.

Qantas update




What: Qantas flight QF30 Boeing 747 jumbo jet en route from from London to Melbourne
Where: international airport in Manila
When: July 25, 2008
Who: 365 passengers and crew
Why:Part of fuselage blew off in mid flight leaving a 10-foot diameter hole in the forward cargo area.. The flight crew performed emergency procedures as the plane plunged 6,000 metres. Debris flew through the cabin but there were no injuries.


Update 2
Australian Air Transport Safety Board investigators are focusing on whether an oxygen bottle used for emergency back-up for the cockpit exploded mid-flight, tearing a three-metre (10-foot) hole in the Boeing's fuselage.


  • In 1988an 18- foot roof section of a 737 tore off during an Aloha Airlines flight at 24,000 feet

  • In 2002, a China Airlines 747-200 broke apart in flight at 34,900 feet, and all 225 passengers and crew were killed or presumed dead. Taiwan's Aviation Safety Council concluded that a rear fuselage section had failed


Update-1Experts say that a 747 is like a battleship that can fly with all sorts of holes, but a lack of maintenance will eventually bring about tragedies that will be blamed on metal fatigue that maintenance does not catch or probably doesn’t bother to check.

However, in February there were forum postings discussing the rust and corrosion found during a maintenance check on the aircraft, a 17-year-old Qantas Boeing 747, at Avalon airport in Melbourne.

What good is the maintenance check if the findings are inadequately dealt with? Because if the news is correct, THIS maintenance search may have found the problem--they just didn't deal with it adequately.

Update on Bolivian Helicopter crash

Bolivian President Evo Morales is suspicious about the helicopter crash that killed five people, because the accident happened right after he had disembarked. After he used the helicopter, it crashed adn killed five people, so he is suggesting that the incident was "probably not accidental". The helicopter was on loan to Morales by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez,

Sunday, Morales used the Super Puma and was scheduled to use it again on Monday from La Paz to but the helicopter crashed one hour after Morales got off on Sunday.

Four Venezuelan military personnel and one Bolivian major aboard were all killed in the crash. Morales linked the crash with two others involving Bolivian Air Force aircraft this week that are still under investigation. This is not the first time that Morales has said that a conspiracy against the government was involved.

Cropdusting Chopper Crashes




What: Helicopter owned by Wild Horse Helicopters of Oregon, contracted to spray fields through Crop Production Services
Where: chopper went down in a corn field off County Road 700 East in xnortheastern Tippecanoe County.
When: noon
Who: The pilot, 32-year-old John Brad Wahl
Why: Under investigation.Wahl was spraying the fungicide "Quilt" and the pesticide "Hero." He dumped his load of chemicals before going down.

2008/07/25

Qantas Emergency Blows Hole in Plane, No Injuries




What: Qantas flight QF30 Boeing 747 jumbo jet en route from from London to Melbourne
Where: international airport in Manila
When: July 25, 2008
Who: 365 passengers and crew
Why:Part of fuselage blew off in mid flight leaving a 10-foot diameter hole in the forward cargo area.. The flight crew performed emergency procedures as the plane plunged 6,000 metres. Debris flew through the cabin but there were no injuries.


  • In 1988an 18- foot roof section of a 737 tore off during an Aloha Airlines flight at 24,000 feet.

  • In 2002, a China Airlines 747-200 broke apart in flight at 34,900 feet, and all 225 passengers and crew were killed or presumed dead. Taiwan's Aviation Safety Council concluded that a rear fuselage section had failed

Plane crashes after hitting quarry




What: Single-engine four-passenger 2004 Cozy Mark IV plane
Where: crashed near a limestone quarry in northwest Ellis County 10 miles southeast of Mansfield,
When: Thursday.
Who: Pilot/owner James J. Marshall (no passengers) No survivors. Marshall flew professionally for American Airlines.
Why: plane hit the top of the quarry in Midlothian and fell into a field, possibly attempting a crash landing.

Lake Nahwatzel plane crash and fatalities



What: single-engine float plane which took off from Lake Nahwatzel, about 10 miles west of Shelton.
Where: crashed into a wooded area after taking off from a lake west of Shelton.
When: 3 p.m. Thursday
Who: 51-year-old Mark Storer and his son 24-year-old Brian Storer
Why: The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating. The plane landed around 2:30 p.m. and started circling the lake. revving it almost like he was going to take off, then he would turn. After 30 to 45 minutes, the plane attempted to take off, trees at the edge of the lake and then seemed to go out of control; it got up about 100 feet when the power cut off and crashed about 200 to 300 yards from the lake. The crash caused a 3-acre fire among 12- to 20-foot fir trees.


News footage here:

Piper Cherokee Crashes at Lowell City Airport.




What: Single Engine Piper Cherokee bound for to Wisconsin (but never got off the runway)
Where: Lowell City Airport.
When: 6:10 p.m. Wednesday
Who: Pilot (Christopher Harper) and one passenger (Joshua Enrico). Both walked away. (No fatalities.) The pilot from Alto was issued a private pilot's license 5 years ago.
Why: The Piper Cherokee didn't have enough lift on the 2,300-foot runway to get airborne so the pilot aborted the takeoff. Heat impedes lift, and the runway was hot. The plane was going 20 to 25 miles per hour when it crashed into trees beyond the end of the runway and the 60 gallons of fuel on board started a grass fire.

2008/07/24

FAA and Emergency Landings

The Federal Aviation Administration has started investigating the emergency landing the Continental Airlines Boeing 737 that had been carrying former presidential candidate Ron Paul and six other members of Congress.

It is time we investigate every emergency landing here in the U.S. In most cases, the press release says it was precautionary. Seldom do they say it was lack of maintenance.

Emergency Landing in Lander Wyoming



What: 20-foot RV-6A experimental plane flying en route from Lander, Wyo., to the Lorain County Regional Airport
Where: Billings Road in Groton Township
When: Tuesday evening 7 pm
Who: Wyoming pilot Dennis Volger
Why: the engine suddenly stopped mid-flight with no warning

Cessna 182 Emergency Landing at North Myrtle Beach



What: Cessna 182
Where: 300 yards from the Grand Strand Airport in North Myrtle Beach near the Palmetto Harbor sub-division in North Myrtle Beach
When: Wednesday July 23
Who: Pilot Larry Warren of Efland, N.C.,
Why: the aircraft's engine died on approach to runway 23 at the airport.

Safe Emergency Landing in Longmont CO





What: Beechcraft four-seater
Where: emergency landing in a barley field
When: Wednesday July 23
Who: Pilot Brian Higley of Longmont and Robert Matlacki of Westminster
Why: engine trouble. FAA and NTSB will be investigating

Sioux Falls Emergency Landing




What: United Airlines Flight # 102 from San Francisco to Chicago
Where: Sioux Falls Regional Airport
When: 5:30 p.m. Wednesday July 23
Who: Number of passengers not released
Why: Fire alarm went off during the flight; airline attendent fanned smoke from the cabin; problem with a lightbulb near the front of the plane

Click to view News video here

2008/07/23

Another Ultra light crash and fatality



What: ultra-light plane
Where: Crashed into a farmer's field 3 km west of the town of Caroline.
When: about 2 p.m.
Who: Larry Lloyd Merrett
Why: practising taxiing with an on-ground instructor when the plane became airborne and crashed at about 2 p.m.

Fatality in rented Plane




What: Rented plane
Where: Crashed in a Soybean field a half mile short of the runway near Cushing Field, near Newark, Ill.
When: Monday afternoon
Who: Joseph Johnson
Why: The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating.

Ultra-light crashes killing pilot




What: Single seat Ultralight Aerolite 103 (wingspan of about 27 feet, weighs about 300 pounds) and travels 45-63 mph with a range of no more than 120 miles)
Where: Lynx National Golf Course just south of Sauk Centre Minnesota
When: 8 p.m. Monday
Who: 70-year-old Richard Alan Eidem
Why: Cause of the crash is still under investigation.

Emergency Landing in Woods Cross




What: Cessna 182
Where: a quarter of a mile from the Sky Park Airport in Bountiful
When: July 22nd, 2008
Who: Pilot and student
Why: the engine lost power

update-Kudos to the on board instructor who most likely saved their lives

Emergency Landing at New Orleans International Airport




What: Continental Flight 458, a Boeing 737 en route from Houston to Washington, D.C Reagan National Airport.
Where: Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport.
When: Tuesday 3:35 p.m
Who: 120 passengers and crew including congressmen:.Reps. Paul, Ted Poe, John Carter, Solomon P. Ortiz, Ciro Rodriguez, Rep. Nick Lampson, and Henry Cuellar.
Why: loss of cabin pressure. The pilot diverted to the closet airport.

Update: The plane began a steep dive half an hour into the flight. Cabin pressure dropped and oxygen masks were deployed. The pilot was able to land safely in New Orleans. There were no injuries. Monday, a US Airways flight and a Northwest Airlines flight were diverted to airports in Kentucky and Wisconsin over cabin pressure issues.

Ironically, the congressmen were trying to get back to Washington in time for a Tuesday night vote on an aviation safety bill.

2008/07/22

Bogota, Columbia crash



A cargo airplane carrying flowers to Miami crashes into a home in Bogota, Columbia, killing three people.

2008/07/21

Northwest Airlines Emergency Landing in Madison



What: Northwest Airlines DC-9 Flight 126 from Minneapolis to Chicago
Where: emergency landing in Madison, Wis
When: Monday
Who: 115 passengers safely bused to Chicago.
Why: Pressure loss.

US Airways Charlotte NC Flight diverted to Lexington




What: US Airways Flight 2212
Where: Lexington
When: Monday
Who: 73 passengers moved to another flight when the flight was diverted to Lexington; they continued on to their destination, Charlotte, N.C
Why: cabin didn't properly pressurize.

Emergency Landing Interrupts Air Show



What: Northwest Airlines Flight 491 Boeing 757 en route from Tampa, Florida, to Detroit
Where: Dayton International Airport
When: Sunday, 12: 26 pm.
Who: Six crew members and 182 passengers were on board. There were no injuries.
Why:one of its engines failed. The pilot shut down the engine and landed as a precaution


The Dayton Air Show at the airport was halted for about 25 minutes. Passengers completed the trip to Detroit by bus.

Three Die In Utah Crash




What: Hughes 500D helicopter took off from the Carbon County Airport, heading toward Salt Lake on their way home from a fishing trip.
Where: a half-mile northwest of the airport.
When: 3:42 p.m. Saturday July 19
Who: Pilot James Innes, the former owner of Haldon Station in South Canterbury and his son, Andrew formerly of Australia; and the American George McDaniel from Idaho Falls.
Why: Cause under investigation--NTSB says a preliminary report will be released in five to six days. There could have been too much weight for the windy conditions. (When they stopped to refuel, Mr Innes took some of the heavy supplies from a second helicopter.)

The Innes family history: Mr Innes lost another son Dan in a chopper crash in Mexico in 1998 and his brother David in an air crash at Gore. Mr Innes was a pioneer in shooting and capture of feral deer from a helicopter in New Zealand in the 1980s. James Innes flew for Pathfinder Helicopter, caught all the wolves for Yellowstone (National Park); transplanted them from Alaska down to Yellowstone.

Texas Crash Kills Three



What: Piper PA 22 light aircraft built in 1959.
Where: 4:00 p.m. Saturday afternoon
When: July 19, 3:40 p.m
Who: Three Fort Worth residents (fatalities) the pilot, wife and son, John and Cindy and J.W. Newman.
Why: The FAA is investigating the crash. The initial reason given for the crash was wind trouble.

The family leaves behind a seventeen year old daughter Katie who had been visiting friends.

Emergency Landing




What: private plane
Where: intersection of Cactus Ave. and Maryland Pkwy near Henderson Executive Airport Las Vegas
When: 8 a m July 19
Who: pilot
Why: Engine trouble. Pilot tried to re-start the engine, but it didn't work, forcing her to declare an emergency and land.

Reverend Sun Myung Moon Crashes




What: S-92 helicopter was flying to Cheongshim Hospital from southern Seoul
Where: crashed into a mountain in South Korea
When:
Who: The Reverend Sun Myung Moon, 88, founder of the Unification Church, and 15 others
Why: Cause is nder Investigation. The helicopter made an emergency landing due to bad visibility during heavy rain.


Moon founded the Seoul-based Unification Church in the 1950s; the church owns hundreds of businesses, including News World Communications Inc., which owns United Press International

Desolation Canyon Crash




What: Cessna Cherokee 140
Where: Green River in Desolation Canyon
When: Sunday, July 13
Who: Duncan Bridewell and his brother, John Bridewell
Why: The plane was losing altitude, so the pilot attempted to land--but crashed into a bolder hidden by greenery.

After the crash, the two injured men were discovered by a party including Kimberly Sawtelle, an emergency medical tech (enployed by the Utah Olympic Park ski patrol) who had gone rafting. Sawtelle treated the victims (both men had broken ankles and other injuries. They floated downriver, made camp, and eventually a rafter with a satellite phone was able to notify air meds. Two helicopters arrived and airlifted out the victims. Sawtelle, formerly with the Rye Fire Department, is being hailed as a local hero.

Piper Crash Down Under




What: seven-seater Piper Navajo
Where: Queensland's north-west, rugged terrain about 50 kilometres north of Mt Isa
When: July 17 10 am
Who: pilot
Why: Cause is under investigation. The pilot was found 2 hours later, injured but in stable condition

UK Crash Landing




What: £40,000 two-seater Ikarus C42 FB
Where: UK: Runway at Pine Trees Farm, off Hall Lane near Bitteswell.
When: 2.30pm
Who: pilot Gordon Higgins
Why: Difficulty in maintaining an accurate approach speed in the very gusty conditions. Mr Higgins attempted to take-off again to avoid a collision but the aircraft was unable to clear a tall hedge

Double trouble in Rochester NY




What: United Airlines (United Express) regional Jet flying from O’Hare International Airport in Chicago to Providence,
Where: Greater Rochester International Airport.
When: July 16, 10:20 am
Who: 71 passengers (including 4 crew)
Why: Smoke in cockpit. (Turned out to be faulty air conditioning. The unit was replaced and the plan rescheduled.)

What: Military cargo jet
Where: Greater Rochester International Airport.
When: July 16 11:30 am
Who: 2 passengers and crew
Why: The pilot noted hydraulic problems. The flight landed safely but the plane will require repairs before being allowed to return to flying.

2008/07/19

Arrestor Blocks Save Lives

Chicago -Friday , July 18, 2008 A Mexicana Airlines eAirbus A320 originating from Juarez International Airport in Mexico City overshoots the runway at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport but an arrestor bed of lightweight concrete blocks at the end of a runway stops the plane

Flight 802 was arriving from Mexico City and one flight attendant was injured. However, none of the 145 passengers on the flight were injured, even though crosswinds forced Flight 802's nose gear off the runway.

The fire department says 142 people were evacuated from the plane, although Mexicana Airlines said there were 145 passengers and crew aboard.

The arrestor bed was installed "probably in the past year." O'Hare Runway 22L closed Friday following the emergency landing.

Mexicana Airline operates 15 daily flights to O'Hare.

This non-fatal emergency landing occurred exactly one year and a day after the tragic TAM Linhas Aéreas overran the end of runway 35 at the Sao Paulo Congonhas Airport, killing 6 crew members, 162 passengers, and 18 persons on the ground.

Revisiting the news

2008/07/17

One Year Ago. Today.

Let's look at the numbers.

How many lives does one person impact? It is a huge number.

Think about it. Before you're out in the world, just getting through school, you know well over a thousand people. You meet people every day, through work, through church, through hobbies, through life.

So what does it mean to the world when a hundred and ninety nine people are suddenly gone?

There's a hole in the fabric of life, and it's one that no patch can fix.

The tam air crash is one that left parents without children.

It left children without parents.

It is a tragedy that stole sisters and brothers.

It stole the lives of children and grandchildren who will never be born.

Standing around courtrooms and boardrooms, there will be companies that talk about catastrophic loss of life--but those are only words.

What of those children who wake in the night, and cry for parents they will never see again? What of the wives and husbands who won't wash a shirt because it still bears the scent of their other half, who won't fluff a pillow because it still bears the shape of someone who will never sleep in that bed again?

There is no measure for the loss of a life. What is the measure of the loss of a hundred and ninety-nine lives?

You are gone, but not forgotten.

2008/07/16

NTSB REPORT:

DCA07RA059
On July 17, 2007, at 21:54 UTC, an Airbus A320-233, Brazilian registration PTMBK, serial number 789, operated by TAM Linhas Aéreas overran the end of runway 35 at the Sao Paulo Congonhas airport upon landing. The airplane was on a scheduled domestic flight from Porto Alegre, Brazil. The airplane departed the runway to the left side near the departure end and crossed over a road prior to impacting a cargo depot and gas station. The end of the runway is on elevated terrain approximately 80 meters above the surface of the road. The 6 crew members, 162 passengers, and 18 persons on the ground suffered fatal injuries. The aircraft was destroyed by impact forces and fire.

This accident is being investigated by the Brazilian Aeronautical Accident Prevention and Investigation Center (CENIPA). The NTSB is assisting as state of manufacture of the IAE V2527 engines, and is providing flight data and cockpit voice recorder readouts at the request of the CENIPA Investigator in Charge.

Let Us Not Forget The Day

BRAZIL'S WORST-EVER AIR DISASTER



Is it just one year ago?

199 Dead in Sao Paulo Crash

199 people were killed in Brazil's worst plane crash, a product of a country with an inadequate air travel network that has been plagued by havoc.

Witness Paulo Carol imagined he was at the set of a Hollywood disaster film when right in front of his taxi, an airplane crossed six lanes of the Avenida Washington Luis. He and his passengers fled on foot.

The Airbus A-320 operated by the Brazilian airline TAM skidded off the runway after touching down-- and collided with cars and through a gas station before slamming into a TAM maintenance building. 180 deaths were passengers on the Airbus jet. More deaths included Tam employees in the building.

Luiz Santos who barely escaped the explosion, said "The airplane was coming right at me. I could hear the sound of the engines and then it exploded." His windows and the back end of his truck were shattered, but Santos and his passenger escaped.

Flight JJ 3054 left Porto Alegre at 5:16 p.m. and landed at Congonhas two hours later. The plane apparently touched down too far down the runway.

Accidents have made flying in South America dangerous to contemplate. Flight controllers are overworked, underpaid and untrained, and rely on aging and defective radar technology in the Amazon.

In September, a Gol airlines Boeing 737 collided with a private jet over the Amazon, killing 154. That investigation is ongoing.

The country's air travel infrastructure has been unable to keep up with Brazil's fast economic growth.

2008/07/15

Helicopter Crashes in Arkansas; Two dead.



What: 1965 Hughes 269B registered to Ozark Mountain Helicopter and leased to leased to Show Me Power Co-op of Missouri. The helicopter was on a routine aerial survey/ inspection mission of the power lines and power system in the area of the Norfork Dam
Where: Baxter County Arkansas, Salesville/Norfork area (Jordan, Arkansas). The area was accessible only by all terrain vehicles.
When: Jul 15, 2008 between 9-9:30 a m
Who: Helicopter pilot James Dean Evertsen, 57, of West Plains, Missouri, and his passenger, Randall J. Arthur, 51, of Marshfield, Missouri was employed by Show-Me Electric co.. Neither man survived the crash
Why: As the helicopter descended, it clipped Entergy lines. The FAA arrived first; the NTSB is expected to arrive and begin their investigation tomorrow.

Creve Coeur Crash




What: small single-engine plane (experimental aircraft)
Where: in a cornfield near the Creve Coeur Airport
When: 07/14/2008 around noon
Who: unnamed pilot
Why: unknown. Plane flipped over during the crash. Pilot uninjured.

2008/07/14

Chile Crash Kills 8 Adults and one Baby

General Hugo Pena co-ordinated the retrieval efforts of the crash in Chile in the outskirts of the southern Chilean city, Puerto Montt, 1,058 kilometres south of the capital Santiago.

The plane came down In a scrub area during windy, rainy weather and came to rest just past a cluster of several hundred houses in a wealthy neighborhood.

Sergio Galilea, governor of Los Lagos region went public with information earlier but aviation official Francisco Rogel (and others) will be continuing the investigation.

The 10 person capacity plane is a small Beechcraft 99A two engine passenger plane, owned by a company called Aerocord. There were nine individuals on board, including the pilot. All were fatalities.

The eight adults and one child were identified online by Patagonia Times as Gastón Alvarado Alvarado, his two-year-old son Maximiliano Alvarado González, Arsenio Rosales Zúñiga, Marcela Orellana Jara, Roberto Saavedra Araya, Claudio Fernández, Hernán Gallardo Palma, Nelson Clieb and Óscar Aguayo, the pilot. We offer condolences to the families in their time of grief.

The plane took off from La Paloma airstrip for its original destination, the Island of Melinka but it never arrived.

Five kilometres north-west of the airport, the plane fell from the sky. Witnesses on the ground reported seeing flames on the plane’s left wing before it crashed and burst into fire in a barren area (scrubs)

Further investigation is planned by aviation authorities to determine the cause of the crash.

This is the 3rd plane crash in southern Chile in the past few weeks.

On July 1 a Chilean Air Force plane crashed into a mountainside near Cochamó (Region X), killing all three crew members. The Twin Otter aircraft was on an instructional flight in the Los Lagos region when it ran into a set of power lines and careened into the side of a mountain (PT, July 3).


Three weeks earlier, July 9th, a Patagonia Airways flight went missing. Four days later, the downed plane was located. All nine of the plane’s passengers survived. The Cessna 208’s pilot survived the accident but died two days later – before rescuers arrived.

Official Accident description



  • Status:Preliminary
  • Date:10 JUL 2008
  • Time:10:30
  • Type:Beechcraft 99A
  • Operator:Aerocord
  • Registration:CC-CFM
  • C/n / msn:U-145
  • First flight:1971
  • Crew:Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
  • Passengers:Fatalities: 8 / Occupants: 8
  • Total:Fatalities: 9 / Occupants: 9
  • Airplane damage:Destroyed
  • Airplane fate:Written off (damaged beyond repair)
  • Location:near Puerto Montt (Chile)
  • Phase:Initial climb (ICL)
  • Nature:Domestic Scheduled Passenger
  • Departure airport:Puerto Montt-Marcel Marchant Airport (SCPF), Chile
  • Destination airport:Melinka Airport (SCMK), Chile
  • Narrative:Crashed and burned shortly after takeoff.

Mitchell Georgia plane crash and fatality




What: cropduster
Where: a field near Pelham
When: 10:00 AM Saturday morning
Who: 62-year-old Gifford Flynt
Why: his crop duster crashed in Fred B. Hand's pecan field just off Highway 93. Cause unknown. Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating

Montreal Crash




What: two-person seaplane
Where: Ste. Marthe 75 kilometres west of Montreal.
When: Sat July 12 1:20 pm
Who: no injuries
Why: under investigation

2008/07/13

Bogota Crash on July 7

Click to see Video and News

What: Centurion Air Cargo Kalitta B742 registration N714CK took off runway 31L getting airborne at 3:58am local time.
Where:
When:
Who: 8 people on board. A woman from the farmhouse survived, but her husband and son were the only fatalities. Crew was transported to a Madrid, Colombia hospital.
Why:Twenty seconds after liftoff the crew radioed an emergency call stating, that engine #4 was on fire. The airplane initiated a left hand turn as by the published engine out procedure. Radio contact got lost afterwards. The airplane hit the wires along the highway triggering sparks, before it hit a farmhouse.

Plane crashes in Chile



What: Beechcraft 99A from La Paloma airstrip, headed for Melinka island
Where: 1,000 km south of capital Santiago, Chile, about 500 metres off a wealthy neighbourhood of Puerto Montt.
When: Thursday
Who: All nine passengers were killed.
Why: Witnesses say something was shaking in the plane’s left wing. The cause is not known.

Cessna 172 Emergency Landing in Ventura County



What: Cessna 172, originating from Santa Monica airport
Where: Tierra Rejada Valley field east of the 23 Freeway
When: 4:45 p.m. Wednesday
Who: Pilot and passenger were able to exit the plane without major injuries
Why: Not available. The plane flipped over while making an emergency landing.

emergency landing




What: Northwest Airlines DC-9 flying out of Minot
Where: Minot International Airport
When: 7/11/2008
Who: 76 passengers and four crew members on board.
Why:40 miles out of Minot the airplane experienced engine problems. Pilots shut down the engine and turned the plane around to land at Minot International Airport

Northumberland Helicopter Crash



What: Helicopter
Where: Cloverdale Marsh, Northumberland County, Virginia 5 miles south of Chesapeake Beach, Va.
When: July 11, 1:00 pm
Who: two passengers, currently not identified, They were transported to the Middlesex County Airport in Topping, Va., where they were turned over to awaiting EMS personnel for treatment.
Why: Virginia State Police, the Northumberland Sheriffs and the coast guard investigated and the NTSB will take over the investigation.

2008/07/11

Bay Area Crash Update




What: Schweizer 269 helicopter
Where: Sheridan Road near Interstate 680
When: 12:30 a.m. July 4
Who: fatalities: Eugene Khenson, 39, from Santa Clara and Antony B.J. Zani, 27, from Palo Alto
Why: Crashed after clipping power lines.

Note:
The helicopter was destroyed in the crash and the men died at the scene. Their names were just released.

2008/07/10

RAF Emergency landing on Playground




What: 2-tonne Chinook
Where: in Stoke by Clare, Suffolk
Who: 3 airmen
Why: Chopper hit a bird which caused the engine to catch fire.

After the Chinook landed, the 3 crewmen got out and asked locals for directions.

Another Chinook landed in the vicinity to deliver a mechanic. Both helicopters successfully returned to their base at RAF Wattisham.

Delta Emergency Landing



What: MD-88 -Delta Air Lines flight from Atlanta
Where: Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport
When: Jul. 10, 2008
Who: 97 people on board
Why: Pilot shut down an engine and declaring an emergency. Engine temperature was above normal. The problem was caused by an oil leak.

Note: The flight landed safely and no one was injured

Missouri Crash with injuries




What: Cessna Skymaster
Where: Taney County Airport.
When: Sunday
Who: Owner/pilot Gary Grandpre and wife
Why: lost power during takeoff; briefly airborne before falling back to the runway and blowing out a tire, then skidding 800 feet and off the end of the runway.

Fact:
* the second Skymaster crash in the past month

Does Skymaster design make it more difficult to fly if you lose power?

Fatal Plane Crash in Tennessee River



What: Amphibian Freedom S-100 and the tail number is N4450E. A light sport aircraft made by Colyaer registered to LSA Arrow of Tanner.
Where: near Lucas Ferry Road in the Tennessee River in Limestone County.
When: 2:30 pm
Who: James Don Langford of Huntsville, age 61 and Anthony Kane Baker from New York, age 65.
Why: no information available

Border Control Emergency Landing



What: A U.S. Customs and Border Protection Cessna Citation jet
Where: Grand Forks airport
When: 9 a.m.
Who: Customs agency did not release how many people were on board the plane
Why: Smoke in the cabin

Second American Airlines Emergency in a week





What: Flight 1767 MD-80 was bound for Palm Springs, Calif
Where: Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport
When: 2:30 p.m
Who: There were 123 passengers
Why: pilot noticed a problem with equipment that helps keep the plane stable

Kalispell Plane Crash




What: small passenger plane
Where: in a horse corral south of the Kalispell City Airport near Ashley Creek.
When: early Tuesday afternoon
Who: two unnamed passengers were pulled (alive) from the wreckage
Why: No information available.

Mexican crash kills US Pilot, copilot survives




What: USA Jet Airlines McDonnell Douglas DC 9
Where: Saltillo Airport in Ramos Arizpe, Mexico, 200 miles south of the United States-Mexico border.
When: Sunday, July 6,
Who: pilot Lon McIntosh. Co-pilot Chris James survived but is hospitalized.
Why: plane struck power lines during its descent.

Emergency Landing near Lancaster airport




What: Beechcraft V35B Bonanza single-engine fixed-wing plane that can seat up to six people and is distinguished by its V-tail design. The plane that crashed was manufactured in 1972. registered to Franklin B. Becker of Phillipsburg, N.J.
Where: Warwick Township cornfield near Lancaster Airport.
When: 3 p.m
Who: unnamed pilot
Why: Lost power when pilot switched fuel tanks for landing

BOGOTA Columbia Crash




What: 747-200 cargo plane
Where: near Bogota
When: Monday
Who: 8 crew members survived, 3 fatalities, including a 14 year old boy sleeping in the house where the plane crashed
Why: a fire in one of the plane's jet engines

Update

  • one member of the American crew remains in critical condition
  • Joseph Kendall is under observation with a head injury and has had his spleen removed
  • three other crew members remain hospitalized
  • Steve Szynkowski had spinal surgery
  • four crew members have been treated and released
  • This is the 2nd Boeing 747 operated by Kalitta Air to crash in six weeks.

2008/07/08

Delta MD-88 Emergency Landing



What: Delta Airlines MD-88
Where: GSP
When: Tuesday evening
Who: 96 passengers
Why:one of the plane’s engine was suffering an oil leak.

This seems to coincide with a new FAA directive.

The Federal Aviation Administration is ordering U.S. airlines to conduct safety inspections to look for cracking on overwing frames on certain MD-80 series aircraft.

American Airlines Emergency Landing




What: Flight 1257 MD-80 owned by American Airlines out of Indianapolis.
Where: Little Rock Arkansas
When: just after 3:30 p.m
Who: The 127 passengers and five crew
Why: Smoke in the cockpit caused the pilot to report an emergency and have a safe landing in Little Rock National Airport.

The light haze of smoke dissipated after the pilot shut down the cockpit's electrical system and depressurized the plane's cabin and depressurized. The plane has been taken out of circulation. Passengers were placed on a second plane but ironically, this plane was one of 56 that had to to be diverted because of storms.

Missing Piper Cherokee



What: small Piper Cherokee in Carbon County
Where: 40 miles from Price near the Green River
When: 12:40 p.m
Who: unknown
Why: The crash site has not been located yet

Experimental Plane Fatality in Broward County



What: Single-engine experimental Lancair aircraft using a 400-horsepower high-performance Corvette engine, taken from a car.
Where: North Perry Airport in Pembroke Pines. Landed on a fence separating North Perry Airport from nearby tennis courts.
When: 6 pm
Who: pilot Douglas A. Pohl
Why: There was engine trouble immediately after takeoff, then the plane crashed and burned. The plane has a history of a fuel delivery problem (c. about a month ago)

*Update Authorities believe the pilot was trying to return to the runway when the plane clipped a fence surrounding a nearby tennis court. A witness said "He was at 50 feet, wing stalled, started coming over to the left hand, the left side and after that he just kept coming on around. He was upside down and came straight down.""

Careflight Chopper Makes Emergency Landing



What: St. Mary's Careflight
Where: Fruita Monument high school
When: 11 o'clock
Why:drop in hydraulic pressure

* Note: Mechanics added hydraulic fluid and the helicopter was flown to St Marys where it received an inspection.

Sky Harbor Emergency Landing



What: Gulfstream Jet
Where: Sky Harbor Airport
When: Monday afternoon
Who: Not listed.
Why: Emergency called due to a blown tire. After 30 minutes circling to burn off fuel, when landing, the right-rear landing gear smoked and shredded. The nose gear hit the tarmac.

Emergency Landing for Obama

The Midwest Airlines chartered MD-80 carrying Barack Obama to Charlotte, N.C. was diverted to Missouri for an emergency landing. Press secretary Jen Psaki, Obama said "Well, you know, anytime a pilot says something's not working the way it's supposed to, you make sure you tighten your seat belt. Everything seemed under control... the pilots knew what they were doing."

The emergency was that an emergency slide located in the tail cone of the plane deployed while the plane was in flight.

Alternative travel arrangements were made for Senator Obama to reach his destination.

The National Transportation Safety Board plans to investigate.

2008/07/06

Helicopter Missing in Japan



What: Helicopter
Where: disappeared off the coast of Japan's Aomori prefecture
When: Sunday July 6
Who: An announcer and a cameraman from the Asahi Broadcasting Aomori and other passengers

Fayette County Crash and Fatality



What: Cessna owned by Vectair USA
Where: Rossville, Tennessee near Knox Road and Highway 57, 15 miles from the Olive Branch Mississippi airport
When: 2:30 p.m. Saturday
Who: 48-year-old FedEx pilot Ward Severts of Boise, Idaho--a vet recently returned from Afghanistan
Why: Authorities discovered the crash after receiving a "mayday" call from the plane.. National Transportation Safety Board will be in Fayette County tomorrow to start their leg of the investigation.

Copenhagen Emergency Landing




What: Boeing 737-300 Norwegian Air Shuttle
Where: Kastrup Airport
When: Saturday
Who: 120 passengers
Why: Engine malfunction. Observing a high oil temperature, the pilot turned off the left engine and made an emergency landing at Copenhagen's Kastrup Airport. There were no injuries.

Passengers returned to Oslo later Saturday on another flight

7th Fatality Precedes Memorial Service




What: Bell 407 helicopter operated by Air Methods out of Englewood, Colo.
What: Bell 407 helicopter operated by Classic Helicopters of Woods Cross, Utah.
Where: Flagstaff Medical Center
When: Sunday
Who:Air Methods: 3 fatalities, including a patient;
Classic Helicopters: 3 fatalities plus one critical injury-- pilot, paramedic and patient died. Flight nurse in critical condition
two emergency ambulance ground crew suffered burns. Names not released.
Why: Flagstaff Medical Center doesn't have flight controllers.

* UPDATE- On Friday afternoon, the only survivor of the crash, James Taylor, was taken off life support and died some time later. Taylor was a registered nurse at St. Mark's Hospital in Salt Lake City.

A memorial service for the people who died in the collision is set for 10 a.m. Tuesday at the Pine Mountain Amphitheater in Flagstaff. It will be open to the public and media.

2008/07/04

Emergency Landing off of Seal Beach




What: single engine plane
Where: on the water off Seal Beach
When: Friday
Who: the pilot
Why: Not available

The pilot was towing a banner when he landed on the water off of the coastal community south of Long Beach. His specific emergency is not known.

British Plane Grounded For Curry



What: British Airways jet,
Where: emergency landing in Belgrade
When:
Who: All passengers were evacuated via emergency chutes
Why: poison gas, alternately described in the media as "horrible" and "a sickening smell"

* Note- after crews examined the plane for poison gas, it turned out to be a broken container of curry spices.

Helicopter fatalities in Alameda County



What: Schweizer 269C helicopter owned by Quadrus Inc., a catering and conference center in Menlo Park
Where: Sheridan Road between Fremont and Sunol
When: 12:32 a.m
Who: fight instructor and student were killed
Why: Aircraft hit 60,000-volt power transmission lines and caught fire. Cloudy weather conditions but not raining.

After hitting the electrical wires, power lines were knocked into traffic lanes, and the burning helicopter ignited a 5 acre grass fire.

2008/07/03

Go-round go round



The go round--resulting from heavy traffic-- is a maneuver practiced in US airports. Just how safe is it?

Middleton Piper Crashes

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What: PA-28 Piper
Where: Newport
When: Thursday evening
Who: 3 occupants: Charles Thompson (flight instructor). Pamela Lancaster (a Newport bed and breakfast owner), and Keith Ulich (her husband pilot who was getting his license) Ulrich is the only survivor, and he is in critical condition in a local hospital.
Why: PA-28 Piper engine failed

777 survives Emergency Landing in Milan



What: Pakistan International Airlines Boeing 777-200, registration AP-BHX
Where: landing at Milan's Malpensa Airport en route from Paris CDG airport to Lahore, via Milan
When: on Jul 2nd 2008
Who: 80 passengers on board
Why: unspecified damage in clear air turbulences

Siberian crash kills 9




What: Mi-8 helicopter operated by civilian airline UT-Air
Where: Oil-rich Yamalo-Nenets region of northwest Siberia
When: Wednesday
Who: 16 people were on board including 3 crew members; nine fatalities
Why: No cause listed. helicopter caught fire after crashing en route from the city of Noyabrsk to the Varginskoye oil field.

Emergency landing




What: single-engine 1980 Beechcraft A36 Bonanza on approach to Pontiac Municipal Airport
Where: Livingston County on Interstate 55 southbound at milepost 214 1/2 near Dwight.
When: 5:52 p.m
Who: pilot Larry D. Kerr, flight instructor, Robert M. Jones and passenger, Robert S. Deckerd
Why: engine problems during its approach to Pontiac Airport

The plane suffered minor damage to the right wing after it struck a mile marker. Two semi-trailer truck drivers stopped traffic so that the plane could land safely.

Oakland Plane crash-landing



What: Cessna 172, part of the Flying Vikings, based at the Hayward Executive Airport
Where: in a vacant lot about 30 feet from the West Grand Avenue ramp to the bridge toll plaza,
When: 12:50 p.m. Monday
Who: pilot Richard Liu and traffic reporter, identified as Alan Brooks,
Why:oil pressure plummeted and the motor seized up

KCBS radio traffic reporter and pilot forced to crash land in a quarry when the plane fails. No fatalities