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.
Initial British news coverage of the Madrid Crash, before the number of casualties were known. Helicopters dumping water on the wreckage. The only survivors were the 26 survivors taken to the hospital, some of whom died.
The Madrid crash happened as Spanair Flight 5022 was taking off from the main runway=taking off at about 2:45 p.m. (8:45 a.m. ET). The plane was headed to Las Palmas in the Canary Islands.
EL VUELO JK 5022 con 173 a bordo, 150 FALLECIDOS, El accidente se produjo a las 14:45 hora local en el momento de despegue del avión, un modelo MD-82. UNA TRAGEDIA HORROROSA.
Accidente aereo en Sao Paulo Un avión de pasajeros de la aerolínea brasileña TAM con 186 personas a bordo se ha estrellado contra una gasolinera en el aeropuerto Congonhas de Sao Paulo.
After four years and about two dozen "Angel flights to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Robert Gregory's leukemia had finally gone into remission. Then, he and his wife Donna died when their Angel Flight crashed outside Boston.
On counselor's advice, relatives taking care of their four year old twins Amanda and Bobby have not yet told them their parents are dead.
What: single-engine 956 Beechcraft Bonanza G35 on a flight from Westhampton Beach, N.Y., to Logan International Airport for Angel Flight New England nosedived into the parking lot of an Easton strip mall and exploded in flames. The plane is owned by Janet Keene. Where: Easton, blacktop parking lot of a Hannaford's supermarket on Robert Drive near Route 106 When: 10:15 a.m. Who: Killed were pilot Joseph Baker and Robert Gregory and his wife Donna. The flight was taking the husband to a Boston hospital for cancer The sad tale of this Angel Flight is made eve
Why: the plane disappeared from radar about 20 miles southwest of Logan. Witnesses said "The plane was flying low under the clouds when it appeared to "stall or spin" " "Investigators are trying to determine what may have transpired. We don’t know at this time."
*Angel Flight New England is a 12-year-old volunteer “air charity network” out of Lawrence Municipal Airport in North Andover that provides free transportation to hospitals for financially challenged patients
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.
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.
What: Single-engine Cessna 150 owned by Ormond Beach Aviation en route from Ormond Beach to Flagler beach Where: In the median of Interstate 95 in Volusia County When: Tuesday June 17 around noon Who: Instructor and student were aboard. The owner came to the scene to make repairs. The plane had no damage and on landing, did not hit or graze any of the hundreds of vehicles on the road caught in noonday traffic. (Eric McRee and Craig Highes) Why: The plane"blew a cylinder head in the motor" and the engine failed, forcing the landing.m
Video of the burning Sudanese Airbus 310 moments after landing in Khartoum. Fourteen passengers are unaccounted for, 171 survived and 29 people died inside the plane. Many were transported to local hospitals. This is just one of a number of Airbus crash incidents where the plane has had difficulty on landing.
Air France 296
1988:
First crash of a new 'Fly-By-Wire' aircraft, the Airbus A320-100 impacted trees while performing a fly-by at an airshow and burst into flames. The crew, and Air France maintenance officials, have all been sentenced to probation for manslaughter; the Captain has been imprisoned. Evidence, including photographs, has now been exposed that an Airbus official at the scene switched the Digital Flight Data Recorder before the court hearing.Read More
TAM is a huge airline with all the resources necessary to have assigned human beings to notify families of their dead.
Such a notification would be painful, indeed, more than words can describe.
But even worse, imagine going on the internet, reviewing the manifest that was made available to the public within hours and finding your mom’s name or your mom and dad’s name or your wife, or your husband.
Imagine that for a moment.
Imagine that days go by and no one from TAM makes any personal notifications to families. No one calls, no one connects on a one on one basis.
What were they thinking when they released the manifest to the public prior to any attempt of locating the next of kin?
TAM, fire the person or persons who made the decision to release the manifest.
Get your act together.
Have a plan in place.
Have people who can be on call immediately to handle these matters.
No matter what you end up paying the family for their losses, they will never forget how they learned about the death of their loved ones.
Shame on you, TAM
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How about giving a choice to a passenger about boarding a plane that has 1/3 of its braking system disabled.
In the Tam crash of July 2007, all parties agree that the right thrust reverser was disabled. They defend that position by stating that the documentation for an Airbus A320 allows the plane to fly for up to 10 days with a disabled thruster(s).
So let's say that Tam had let everyone that was boarding that plane know about the thrust reverser. Let's say they had even played down the importance of having it operational. Had the passengers known about the disabled thruster, and had they known that it compliments the braking system, what would they have done?
It is possible that not all the passengers would have boarded. Some probably would have transferred to another flight, or would have gone home and waited for another day. But no one was given that notice.
Think about it: the wheel brakes, the wing flaps and the thrust reverser are the breaking system for an airbus a320. I'm not certain that even a seasoned flyer as I am that I would have gone on board knowing that part of the breaking system was not functional.
Mandatory warnings should be required when a plane with broken, flawed, or partially disabled systems is used as if functioning at 100%. Speaking personally on my own behalf, I believe this warning issue–or failure to warn issue–should be legally addressed.
If only one person had not boarded that plane, that would have been one less fatality.
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