Airline Industry Review » Incidents

Santiago Airport Update

Miyuru ( K FLYER ) — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 16:46:31 +0000

It is reported that the Santiago Comodoro Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport ( IATA : SCL ) in Chile is currently closed following the 8.8 magnitude earthquake that hit Chile this morning.
It is reported that the terminal building and some walkways are damaged. Some reports also say that the control tower has been damaged. Initial reports say the runway has not been damaged. Information from Chile is still scarce at the moment.
Most flights are being diverted to Mendoza (MDZ) in Argentina while some have also reportedly been diverted to Sao Paulo ( EZE ) and Lima ( LIM ). If congestion arises, diversions are also expected at Antofagasta ( ANF ) and Iquique ( IQQ ), both of which are Chilean airports. Some other airlines have cancelled flights to Santiago. This includes ( but not limited to ) GOL, TAM and American.
The airport is expected to be closed for between 24-72 hours.

May god bless all those who are affected !Similar Posts:

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ET409 crashed into sea

Miyuru ( K FLYER ) — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 03:37:34 +0000

It is reported that Ethiopian Airlines ET409 has crashed into the Mediterranean Sea on a flight from Beirut.
The aircraft operated was a 737-800, with 85 passengers onboard.
The scheduled flight was as follows
ET408 ADD 2135 – 0125+1 BEY
ET409 BEY 0210 – 0750 ADD

The aircraft reportedly lost radar contact 45 mins after the departure.
The weather in the area was
OLBA 250300Z 06004KT
030V090 5000 VCTS RA
FEW020CB BKN026 10/06
Q1014 NOSIG

and included light winds, rain and thunderstorms.

It is likely to become the 7th hull loss of a 737-800 in the last 3.5 years.

Lebanese Civil Defense forces, with its three Sikorsky S-61Ns, Lebanese Navy and UNIFIL are expected to jointly carry out the rescue operation.

The last fatal accident of Ethiopian was in 1996, when a 767-200, hijacked by terrorists, ran out of fuel in sea near Comoros.
Await more details.

UPDATE 3:
“ET409 crashed around five mins after takeoff at 2:30am with 83 passengers and nine crew onboard” – Airport Official

UPDATE 4:
Public Works and Transport Minister Ghazi Aridi : the plane crash site has been determined. It crashed in the sea about 1.5km to the west of Naameh.

UPDATE 5:
Al Arabiya reports that seven survivors have been rescued by the Lebanese army.

UPDATE 6:
Passengers Nationality List as per Ethiopian Airlines press release
23 Ethiopian
51 Lebanese
1 Turkish
1 French
1 British
1 Russian
1 Canadian
1 Syrian
1 Iraqi

UPDATE 7: Reportedly it was learnt via Beirut ATC that the aircraft reached 8000ft ( FL80 ) in around three minutes.

Information is still scarce Keep an eye on major news sources and #ET409 on Twitter.
More info will be updated once AIR receives more info.Crash: Ethiopian Airlines B738 near Beirut on Jan 25 th 2010 , lost height after takeoff and impacted Mediterranean By Simon Hradecky, created Monday, Jan 25 th 2010 07 : 48 Z, last updated Monday, Jan 25 th 2010 14 :13 Z An Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737-800 , registration ET- ANB performing flight ET-409 from Beirut (Lebanon) to Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) with 82 passengers and 8 crew, departed Beirut around 2 :35 L (00 :35 Z) when the airplane lost height and impacted the Mediterranean Sea about 2 nm off the coast of Naameh and about 4 nm southsouthwest of the airport. Lebanon’s Authorities initially reported, they were able to recover 7 survivors, but did not confirm that report later. 21 bodies have been recovered from the Sea. A thunderstorm system was moving into Lebanon at the time. Airport Officials confirmed, the airplane was taking off in stormy weather, and continued, that the airplane has been hit by lightning. Witnesses on the ground at Naameh reported having seen the airplane being hit by multiple lightnings. Aviation sources in Beirut said, that the airplane had reached about 8000 feet of altitude, when the crew requested to turn around a thunderstorm cell just before radio contact was lost. Ethiopian Airlines confirmed the loss of flight ET-409 saying, that they have no information of survivors. An investigation team has been dispatched to the scene. The airline’s press office later reported ET-AMZ being involved in the accident although radar data suggested the airframe involved was ET-ANB. Ethiopian Airlines CEO said in a press conference, that the airplane had been built in 2002 ( editorial note: which rules ET-AMZ out, but confirms ET-ANB) and had been leased from CIT Aerospace in September 2009. The airplane went through maintenance checks last on Dec 25 th 2009 with no technical problems being identified. Ethiopian operated three Boeing 737-800 s: ET-ANA was built in 2001 , ET-ANB was built in 2002 and ET-AMZ was built in 2007. Metars: OLBA 250300 Z 06004 KT 030 V 090 5000 TSSHRA FEW020 CB BKN 026 10 /06 Q1014 NOSIG OLBA 250200 Z 12006 KT 8000 VCTS FEW020 CB BKN026 11 /06 Q1014 NOSIG OLBA 250100 Z VRB03 KT 4000 SHRA FEW020 CB BKN026 12 /07 Q1014 NOSIG OLBA 250000 Z 31008 KT 280 V 340 8000 VCTS FEW020 CB SCT 026 13 /06 Q1014 NOSIG OLBA 242300 Z 32011 KT 300 V 360 8000 FEW020 CB SCT 026 14 /07 Q1014 NOSIG OLBA 242200 Z 32016 KT 7000 FEW020 CB SCT026 FEW 070 14 /07 Q1014 NOSIG OLBA 242100 Z 32013 KT 5000 TSGR FEW020 CB BKN026 13 /08 Q1013 NOSIGSimilar Posts:

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Man Tries to Explode Delta aircraft on approach

Miyuru ( K FLYER ) — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 01:39:37 +0000

A passenger onboard a Delta flight from Amsterdam ( AMS ) to Detroit ( DTW ) tried to blow up the plane on descent, yesterday.
The flight, NW 253, was being operated on an Airbus A330 and had 278 passengers onboard.
The suspected passenger, later identified as Abdul Mudallad – a Nigerian, had tried to detonate an explosive device ( containing of powder and liquid ) on final approach. However, the passengers had subdued the man and may be due to this – the device had not exploded.
The suspected passenger had however created a disturbance in the aircraft by lighting reportedly firecrackers or may be a powdery substance, which injured some passengers.
The pilot declared an emergency and landed at 1151 local without any incident thereafter.
The suspected passenger had started his journey at Murtala Mohammad Airport, Lagos, Nigeria ( LOS ). However it still remains a question why were the explosives with him not detected on screening at AMS. It was also reported that the man had been directed to do this, by the Al Qaeda.
It is considered that the explosion was planned for the descent in order to maximize the harm – since the aircraft would fall down to a populated area.
The incident caused the U.S to raise National Aviation Terrorism Alert to orange. Stricter security controls will now be enforced at U.S airports.Similar Posts:

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BREAKING: American 737-800 AA331 overrun at Kingston.

Miyuru ( K FLYER ) — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 05:54:19 +0000

N977AN in her glory days.

American Airlines flight AA331, operated by a 737-800, has overran the runway 12 at Kingston Airport, Jamaica ( KIN/MKJP ). There is heavy rain in the area at the moment. The aircraft has reportedly broken into two. There have been 145pax and 7 crew onboard. The aircraft is apparently N977AN, a 2001 vintage one.

METAR : MKJP 230600Z
19003KT 55000 RA
BKN014 BKN090 20/18
Q1012

Update 1 : No casualties reported so far. It is reported that the aircraft has NOT broken into two pieces and came into a safe stop. However this cannot be confirmed yet.

Update 2 :

The above satellite image of the airport shows how limited space the pilot had to work with.
Image courtesy Hummingbird and Google Maps

Jamaican TV reports that the plane has broken three pieces .

Update 3:
AA331 Flight Details

Washington/DCA ETD1530
Left the gate at 1537, Take off at 1556
Miami/MIA ETA1810
Arrived at 1826
Miami/MIA ETD1925
Left the gate at 2022, Take off at 2052
Kingston/KIN ETA2110
Estimated at 2227

As you can see from the details above, the aircraft left DCA ontime, however has incurred a delay of 87 minutes at MIA. It is not clear whether this delay was a maintenance related issue or not.
Anyone who believes they have
family members or friends
aboard Flight 331 may contact
American Airlines at the
following toll-free numbers:
(800) 245-0999 for calls
originating in the United States;
(800) 872-2881 for calls
originating in Jamaica. Family
members from other locations
outside the U.S. may contact
American through the AT&T
Direct Access system. Callers
should dial the local AT&T Access
telephone number, which can be
found at www.usa.att.com/
traveler, for the country from
which they are calling. Once in
the AT&T system, callers can then
dial American toll-free at (800)
245-0999. Family members in
Canada, Puerto Rico, or the U.S.
Virgin islands can call the (800)
245-0999 number directly. Non-
family members are asked not to
call those numbers so the lines
can be kept available for those
who truly need them.
This is a developing story. Stay tuned.Similar Posts:

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BREAKING: Rwandair Q200 reportedly crashes on chocks on

Miyuru ( K FLYER ) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 15:27:43 +0000

Please refer to Update 2 below.

An aircraft accident is reported from Rwanda’s Kigali airport.
The incident, occured less than an hour ago, has involved an aircraft operating for Rwandair by Jetlink.
The incident is not clear yet, but appears to be an emergency landing with an engine trouble. One fatality reported.

UPDATE1: It appears that the aircraft made an emergency landing, taxied to the gate, but crashed to the terminal following a sudden engine startup

UPDATE2: The flight appears to be WB109, operating from Kigali ( KGL ) to Bujumbura ( BJM ) .
The incident that took place according to AIR *assumptions* is as follows.

The aircraft, a DHC-8-Q200 leased from Jetlink, attempted to take off but had to make an emergency landing due to a technical issue.
The aircraft safely landed and taxied to the gate for chocks on. At this moment, the engines suddenly started and the aircraft hit the VIP Pavilion.
One fatality reported.

This is a breaking news and will be updated.
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NTSB investigating Northwest overfly incident

Miyuru ( K FLYER ) — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 02:11:28 +0000

NTSB is investigating an incident where a Northwest Airlines flight went past its destination for 150 miles two days ago.
The flight, NW 188 was flying from San Diego to Minneapolis.
ATC lost contact with the Airbus A320 at 1756 MDT as the flight cruised at 37,000ft.
At 1958 CDT, the airplane flew over the destination airport and continued northeast for some 150 miles.
The Minneapolis ATC re-established communications with the crew at 2014 and requested a return to the airport.
According to the FAA, the FBI and airport police interviewed the crew upon arrival to MSP. The investigators have secured the aircraft’s CVR and FDR. NTSB plans to schedule its own interview with the crew.
It was reported that the crew had been in a heated discussion over the airlines’ policies at the time of overflying.

Source : AINSimilar Posts:

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Tailfin Tear Marks on AF447 – A Possible Contributing Factor ?

Miyuru ( K FLYER ) — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 05:38:15 +0000

I noticed the following photo while surfing Airliners.net Today’s Most Popular photos section. The photo is probably the last ever photo of F-GZCP, the aircraft which went down in the Atlantic as AF447, and has been taken on 31st May upon her last ever touchdown at Paris Charles De Gaulle.
Look closely at the tail, can you notice some tear marks ? The tear marks are small, but are torn to the extent that they show the green composite material beneath.

Could this have had any effect in its crash ? What do you think ? Please leave a comment. I would really appreciate if any expert on avionics could explain this.

Photo by Vincent Edlinger . Thanks to the photo commentors who noticed this.Similar Posts:

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Contact Air Fokker 100 lands with main gear up

Miyuru ( K FLYER ) — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 12:43:55 +0000

(c) stuttgarter-zeitung.de
A Contact Air Fokker 100 aircraft, operating flight LH288 from Berlin Tegel ( TXL ) to Stuttgart, Germany ( STR ) made an emergency landing at STR as its main landing gear could not be retracted.

73 passengers and five crew members were reported to be onboard and none of them suffered serious injuries, however five passengers and a flight stewardess were hospitalised, mainly for the shock . The flight also had Franz Muentefering, the chairman of one of Germany’s governing parties – the Social Democrats, onboard.

The aircraft, registered D-AFKE, is an 1995 example and had been delivered to Contact Air just three weeks ago.

The aircraft suffered damage to its under carriage and is currently on the Stuttgart’s single runway. The airport is currently closed until the aircraft is moved elsewhere. A large number of flights are expected to be blocked as STR is an airport with a sizeable amount of domestic traffic.
Contact Air is a Lufthansa affiliate.Similar Posts:

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Yemenia IY527 blackbox found

Miyuru ( K FLYER ) — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 09:42:02 +0000

As per BNO News report a few minutes ago, black box of the Yemenia A310 that crashed off Comores Is. in June has been found. This post will be updated once more information is available.Similar Posts:

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Plane Hijack Incident in China

Miyuru ( K FLYER ) — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 16:37:28 +0000

An aircraft has been hijacked in Xinjiang, China, state media reported. No details available at this time.

UPDATE 1: It was the Xinhua news agency that first reported the news. There has so far been no other update from them since. It is not clear whether the aircraft was a passenger one or a freighter or whether it was in air or not. Xinjiang is the district where there was a recent ethnical unrest.

UPDATE2: BNO News reported that an Afghan plane flying over the Xinjiang province has faced with a bomb threat and local authorities had however denied the aircraft permission to land. It is unclear whether the aircraft was actually hijacked at any point.Similar Posts:

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