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Posted: 30-09-2009 10:13 Post subject:

With pics:

Bird strike! The moment 200 starlings were sucked into passenger jet engine on take-off
By Mail Foreign Service
Last updated at 8:04 AM on 30th September 2009

Dwarfed by the jetliner, they look little more than a smattering of black dots.
But this flock of birds could have brought the plane crashing down in seconds.
They flew straight into the path of the Germania airlines flight to Kosovo as it took off from Dusseldorf airport with 80 on board.

More than 200 birds were sucked into one of the engines as one of the pilots can be seen watching what was happening. The markings directly below him are believed to be pitot tubes which measure the speed of the aircraft as opposed to holes in the fuselage created by the birds

‘It was like a scene from the Hitchcock movie The Birds. One second all was clear, and the next thing you saw were these birds swarming over the plane,’ said an onlooker.
It is thought more than 200 starlings were sucked into the right engine as the Boeing jet approached 200mph.

Others dented the fuselage but thankfully did not pierce it. Their splattered remains could be seen on the plane later.
‘The pitch of the engine said it all,’ said plane-spotter Juergen Kienast, who took these dramatic pictures.
‘It was like sticking a bit of metal pipe into a blender.’

Once airborne, the pilot reported engine damage and circled for almost 45 minutes before landing safely.
No-one was hurt and the plane had only minor damage.

A similar bird strike brought down an Airbus in the Hudson in New York in January this year.

The pilot managed a heroic emergency landing and all 155 on board survived.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1217035/Bird-strike-The-moment-200-starlings-sucked-passenger-jet-engine-off.html#ixzz0SZytWlPU

Posted: 30-09-2009 10:23 Post subject:

The birds remains were processed inro in-flight meals no doubt.

Posted: 19-11-2009 11:40 Post subject:

Pilot hailed a hero after ditching plane at sea
Sophie Tedmanson in Sydney

A pilot has been hailed as a hero for safely ditching his aircraft into the sea off Australia and saving the lives of all on board.

The medical aircraft, which was transporting a patient and five others from Samoa to Melbourne, began to run out of fuel as it approached Norfolk Island, a small island in the Pacific off the east coast of Australia, on Wednesday night.

Captain Dominic James, a former nominee for "bachelor of the year" in an Australian magazine, was praised for his “amazing” skill at bringing the plane down in the dark and saving the lives of his passengers.

In an accident that bore similarities to the Hudson River plane crash in New York in January, Captain James decided to make a controlled landing onto the sea off the island, and landed the Westwind jet safely on the water.

The aircraft sank within minutes, but the patient, her husband, two medical crew and the two pilots escaped safely. The six people clung to each other, treading water under the moonlight for 90 minutes because only three had time to grab life jackets.

They were eventually rescued by boat and taken to the island where they were treated for shock, but remarkably none were injured.

The Pel-Air Aviation chairman John Sharp said that he was very proud of Captain James and the first officer.

“Their professionalism stood out on the day and made a substantial difference to the outcome,” he said.

“They executed what would have to be described as a perfect landing on water. The pilots ensured that the aircraft landed close to the coast, close to rescue.

“They landed at night, approximately we think about 9.30pm (10.30am GMT) local time, and as a result of the skill of the pilots the aircraft landed in the water and none of the passengers were injured.”

Norfolk Island airport manager Glenn Robinson said that the passengers were shaken up by their ordeal.

“They were extremely lucky and believe me, they all know it,” he told an Australian radio station.

“Full credit to the pilot. It was just an amazing effort by him.”

In January US Airways pilot Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger safely ditched an Airbus 320 into the Hudson River in New York, saving all 155 passengers and crew on board.

After circling Norfolk Island for around an hour to refuel, making several unsuccessful approaches because of the weather, the fuel was running so low that Captain James decided to ditch the Pel-Air plane in the ocean.

The patient, who was a "walk on" passenger with an infection in an old cut, was rescued with five others suffering from hypothermia.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article6922654.ece

But readers' comments don't endorse the 'hero' angle...

Posted: 02-03-2011 10:48 Post subject:

Pilot cheats death after his propeller falls off and his radio breaks down
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 1:14 PM on 1st March 2011

A lucky pilot told yesterday how he cheated death after a freak accident saw his propeller fall off his plane mid-flight - at 2,300ft.
Neil Rankin, 51, performed an incredible emergency landing in his tiny Tipsy Nipper when the bolts attaching his propeller mysteriously snapped over an Essex reservoir.

Mr Rankin heard a 'thump and a wobble' as the entire propeller came off and then discovered his radio was broken but somehow kept his cool to dodge power lines and land the plane without sustaining a scratch.

Neil was cruising at 2,300ft (700m) above Hanningfield Reservoir, Billericay, Essex, when the propeller came off and dislodged the radio.
He landed the single-engine plane on green grass at 4.10pm on February 3, near Flemings Farm, South Hanningfield, Chelmsford, Essex.

Fire engines, ambulances, police cars and even an RAF helicopter rushed to the scene, on the assumption that a plane crash was imminent.
But on arrival they found Neil with farmer Gloria Jessop, 61, who had made him a cup of tea heaped with three sugars to try and calm him down.

Father-of-two Neil said: 'I was on my way back home when I felt a thump and a wobble.
'I assumed I had hit a bird and checked the propeller for damage but it had disappeared. Shocked

'That moment I realised the propeller had gone - it's burnt into my soul, if I think about it too long I still get the shakes.'

He added: 'I made a mayday call but realised no-one could hear me and so with no chance of a rescue I looked for a landing spot.
'You don't want to land in a ploughed field as the small wheels would certainly dig in and turn the plane over.
'I spotted a green field and headed towards it, I thought if I can just get over the power lines and a hedge before I loose too much height I would survive.
'The wave of relief as I touched down was overpowering.'

The experienced pilot, who started flying gliders when he was 16-years-old, said he is baffled how the specialised bolts holding the propeller on snapped off simultaneously.
He added: 'When you're flying you worry about certain things, if an engine fails, if a bird hits you, but you don't expect the propeller to fall off.
'It's very unlikely. There are six specialised bolts to hold it on that are wire locked and it is safety checked regularly.
'No-one yet knows how it could have happened.'

Neil has had a third share in the Tipsy Nipper for ten years which he keeps at Stapleford Flight Centre, Essex.
He owns a maintenance business and lives in Bishop's Stortford, Herts., with his wife, Rosemary, and sons; Alex, 14, and Angus, 11.

The propeller was found by the police a mile and a half from the landing site. The Air Accident Investigation Branch is now looking into the matter.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1361755/Pilot-cheats-death-propeller-falls-radio-breaks-down.html#ixzz1FQwyeOmh

Posted: 04-03-2011 09:29 Post subject:

Flybe plane's wheel falls off sparking emergency landing drama
An investigation was launched on Thursday night after a Flybe aircraft lost a wheel during take-off, forcing the pilot to make an emergency landing.
By Andrew Hough 9:00PM GMT 03 Mar 2011

The Flybe Bombardier Q 400 was forced to turn back to Exeter International Airport, Devon, when a wheel underneath the wing came off during “retraction”.
Terrified passengers reported seeing "little sparks" coming from the wheel and a "large piece of metal" protruding from the undercarriage.

The 39 passengers and four crew on board the BE 703 flight, bound for Newcastle International Airport, all escaped serious injury.

The drama began at 12.25pm on Thursday after the wheel detached from the undercarriage.
After the pilot raised the alarm, a police helicopter was deployed and roads around the airport were closed and traffic diverted amid fears the plane could crash.

The heroic pilot was forced to circle Exeter for 90 minutes and offloaded fuel. It re-landed safely just before 2pm.
The passengers were taken to the departure lounge at Exeter Airport to recover from the incident.

The airline said the wheel fell off during "retraction" which occurs when wheels are withdrawn into the aircraft after take off.

Passenger Martin Brown, 30, from Newcastle, said it had been a scary experience.
“There was little sparks coming of the central piece of the wheel which spins around and then after take-off as the wheels started to move up into the undercarriage," he told ITV News Tyne Tees.
"I don't know whether the doors of the undercarriage missed time or whatever but one of the wheels hit the door.
"The fire went flying off the wheel and because all the mechanisms crashed together there was a large piece of metal sticking out of the undercarriage.”

Another eyewitness, who did not wish to be named, told The Daily Telegraph: ''We were standing watching as the plane circled the area while it offloaded fuel.
“The emergency teams were on standby but luckily the plane touched down nice and softly.”

The UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch has launched an investigation to find out what caused the wheel to come off.

Flybe has also launched its own internal investigation. A Flybe spokesman said no passengers were injured.

etc...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travelnews/8360184/Flybe-plane-Exeter-emergency-landing-drama-after-wheel-falls-off.html

Posted: 03-04-2011 08:13 Post subject:

Southwest Airlines grounds jets over mid-air hole scare

The US carrier Southwest Airlines has grounded for inspection about 80 of its planes after a hole opened up in mid-air in the roof of one of its aircraft.
Investigators have ruled out terrorism, but so far have not been able to establish the cause of the rupture.

The hole caused a sudden drop in cabin pressure, and Flight 812 from Phoenix to Sacramento was forced to make a steep descent and emergency landing.
One flight attendant was slightly injured during the incident on Friday.
Witnesses said a couple of people aboard the Boeing 737-300 nearly passed out while scrambling for oxygen masks.
There were 118 passengers and crew on board the 15-year-old plane.

An FBI spokesman said terrorism was not suspected and "it appears to be a mechanical issue".

Passenger Brenda Reese said the plane had just left Phoenix when she heard a "gunshot-like sound".
"It's at the top of the plane, right up above where you store your luggage," she told the Associated Press by telephone from the plane.
"The panel's not completely off. It's like ripped down... When you look up through the panel, you can see the sky."

Passengers said they were happy to be alive She said the plane had "dropped pretty quick".

Another woman on board said: "They had just taken drink orders when I heard a huge sound and oxygen masks came down.

"There was a hole in the fuselage about three feet long. You could see the insulation and the wiring. You could see a tear the length of one of the ceiling panels."

Aviation officials said the pilot made controlled descent, dropping 8,000m (25000ft) from 11,000m in about five minutes.
The National Transportation Safety Board said an "in-flight fuselage rupture" led to the sudden descent and drop in cabin pressure.
"We do not know the cause of the decompression," Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said.

The same thing happened to another Southwest jet in 2009. Then, metal fatigue was the cause.

in 1988, cracks caused a hole to open in an Aloha Airlines plane over Hawaii. In that incident, a flight attendant died.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-12947583

Posted: 03-04-2011 09:49 Post subject:

Life's cheep: Delta plane forced into emergency landing after horror collision with flock of cranes
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 6:04 PM on 2nd April 2011

A commuter plane with dozens of passengers on board was forced to make an emergency landing after it struck a flock of large cranes, causing significant damage.
The Atlantic Southeast Airlines Flight 5087 was coming in for a landing at the Little Rock National Airport in Arkansas when the pilot made an emergency call at 4:38pm, according to FAA spokesman Lynn Lunsford.

The plane safely landed around 30 minutes later with a gaping hole at the tip of the aircraft, several dents, blood splattered over it and a large dead crane still embedded to the front.
A total of 49 passengers and crew members were aboard the plane when the incident occurred. Officials say no one was injured.
Passengers said they felt and heard loud banging.
Gail Adams told KATV that no one panicked because the flight attendant announced that the noise was coming from the landing gear.
She said: 'It certianly wasn't the landing gear! We circled around for a while before they came on and told us it was a flock of cranes.
'We clapped when we landed.'

ASA is a regional partner of Delta Air Lines.

Cranes are several feet long and can weigh more than 20 pounds, explaining the significant damage that was caused to the plane.
According to the FAA, this is not an uncommon occurrence and there are thousands of bird strikes annually, estimating that about 80 per cent are not reported.

The most famous bird strike crash occurred in Januray 2009 when a U.S. Airways Airbus had to make an emergency landing in the Hudson River after a flock of birds struck right after take off.
Both engines were disabled causing the pilot to make the emergency landing.
All of the 155 passengers survived.

...

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1372710/Plane-forced-make-emergency-landing-significant-damage-caused---flock-birds.html#ixzz1IRpwh6wL

Posted: 12-04-2011 21:51 Post subject:

This is at the Oops! end of the spectrum, rather than OMG!

Air France jet clips small plane at New York airport
[video]

An Air France Airbus has clipped the tail of a commuter plane while taxiing at New York's John F Kennedy Airport.
The smaller Comair jet could be seen spinning violently on its wheels as a shower of sparks fell from the impact point just after 2000 on Monday.

The Paris-bound Airbus A380 carried 495 passengers and 25 crew, Air France said. The Comair jet had 62 passengers and four crew. No-one was injured.
The flight recorders from both aircraft will be reviewed, investigators said.

The aircraft were towed to a nearby hangar for inspection by the Federal Aviation Administration.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said it was investigating the incident.
"Preliminary reports indicate that the left wing tip of Air France flight 7 struck the left horizontal stabilizer of Comair flight 293 while the Comair airplane was taxiing to its gate," the NTSB said in a statement.
Air France said it would co-operate with the investigation.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-13052948

Posted: 20-09-2011 09:58 Post subject:

Relating to the Reno Air Show crash.

New pic of the plane plummeting appears to show nobody in the cockpit, now of course that is impossible and the most likely explanation is he had passed out and was slumped forward. Other theories are that the seat is placed far back anyway and pilots are strapped in so tight you would not see them anyway.

However, I have Googled some images of the plane in question and it seems quite clear the pilot is in view and from those I have seen in museums etc... cockpits are hardly spacious. This one does look a bit more roomy but still I just cannot see how the pilot can be completely out of sight.

Any more aviation minded souls able to shed some light?

Empty cockpit shot:
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/09/19/article-2038749-0DEFBBBC00000578-710_634x819.jpg

Regular plane in flight shot:
http://www.airteamimages.com/pics/111/111442_big.jpg

Posted: 02-11-2011 09:13 Post subject:

Plane carrying 230 passengers crash lands in Warsaw

[video]

A Boeing 767 carrying 230 passengers has made an emergency landing at Warsaw airport after its landing gear failed.
The plane, which was travelling from the US city of Newark, in New Jersey, landed on its belly without its wheels.
It had circled above the Polish city for over an hour burning up fuel as the airport was prepared for the crash landing.

The Polish airline Lot, which operated the flight, said all safety procedures had worked and that no-one was injured.
"The plane landed safely on its belly on the runway which had been sprayed with special flame-retardant substances. All the passengers disembarked, no-one was injured," Leszek Chorzewski, a spokesman for Lot, told AFP news agency.

In preparation for the landing, the airport was closed to all other flights, while nearby streets were cleared, reports Reuters news agency. Two military F-16 jets were scrambled to observe its progress.

The BBC's Adam Easton in Warsaw says the emergency landing looked incredibly smooth to the untrained eye as the plane slid to a halt on the runway, giving off relatively few sparks.
After it landed, fire crews could be seen hosing the aircraft with water and foam as a precaution.
The airport will be closed until Wednesday morning.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-15543315

All's well that ends well! Very Happy

Posted: 10-11-2011 08:57 Post subject:

An incident, rather than an accident:

Flybe plane passengers 'saw wheel fall off'

Passengers who saw a wheel fall off a plane as it took off did not immediately inform the crew, a report has said. Shocked

The accident happened in March on a Flybe flight from Exeter to Newcastle.
The captain returned to Exeter and used the emergency brake and "significant amounts of right rudder" to safely land the plane. No-one was injured.

The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) report said the wheel's outer bearing had seized.

A mayday alert was sent to air traffic controllers and after circling the airport for more than an hour, the 39 passengers on board the Bombardier Q400 were "evenly distributed" in the brace position as the captain attempted to land the plane.
As it touched down, it veered to the left but the captain was able to hold the aircraft steady and the passengers were able to disembark through the front left door.

The AAIB report said the wheel's outer bearing had seized and "consequential damage had allowed the wheel to detach".

Some passengers saw the wheel fall as the plane's landing gear retracted just after take off, but "they did not inform the cabin crew at this point", the report said.
Air traffic control contacted the flight crew and when the captain asked the senior stewardess to inspect the right landing gear area, she was then told of the loss by passengers.
The decision was taken to return to Exeter using the "alternate landing gear extension" procedure.

The co-pilot contacted the airline's chief pilot by radio and it was agreed that the crew would use a "left-wing-down" technique ensuring the left main wheels touched down on the runway first, with the remaining right main wheel then being lowered onto the runway as gently as possible.

The AAIB said that the captain had inspected the right main landing gear before the flight and had not noticed any abnormalities.
The report said: "Given the nature of the bearing failure, it is unlikely that any (abnormalities) would have been visible.
Several safety actions had been initiated following the incident, the AAIB report concluded.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-15668364

Back in the day, there was a common put-down, used when someone was bragging about some possession: "Yeah, I had one, but the wheel fell off!"

Posted: 10-11-2011 13:24 Post subject:

Another red arrows fatality this week.

I'm sure you all seen int one bbc or sky news websites.

Turns out the Eject mechanism went off by itself, but because the pilot did not pull the lever, the canopy stayed in place and the parachute did not open.

Posted: 10-11-2011 16:22 Post subject:

Posted: 11-11-2011 11:03 Post subject:

I do find it ironic that on red arrows pilot dies because he failed to eject while crashing, then another dies because he ejects while he is not crashing.

Posted: 29-12-2011 14:00 Post subject:

How did anyone survive this? Not one of 70 on board plane killed after plane flips on landing
By Anthony Bond
Last updated at 5:52 PM on 28th December 2011

To look at these remarkable images you'd find it hard to believe that anyone could survive such a devastating plane crash.
But incredibly not a single one of the 70 passengers on board the aircraft lost their life.

The Kyrgyzstan Airlines Tu-134 aircraft skidded off the runway at the airport in Osh, Kyrgyzstan, today, and flipped on its side.
At least 26 people were injured following the crash-landing, CNN reported.

Speaking to the Russian state news agency RIA Novosti, an airport spokesman said: 'The landing was performed in thick fog.
'The plane skidded off the runway and turned to the left side. Its wing was smashed off. A loud explosion was heard.'

The Russian-made Tupolev was travelling from the capital of Kyrgyzstan, Bishkek.
It is a twin-engined airliner which is still used across many central Asian countries.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2079453/How-did-survive-Only-26-injured-plane-flips-landing.html#ixzz1hvbOht7K

Remember, Clunk, Click, every trip! Cool