Lucky escape as Embraer E190 lands without nose gear in Myanmar

The passengers and crew of a National Airlines an Embraer E190, operating flight UB103 had a lucky escape on Sunday when the aircraft landed without nose gear down.  It's the second time in a week of a landing incident in Myanmar

The Myanmar National Airlines aircraft was carrying 89 passengers and crew when it came into land at around 0900 local time in Mandalay, a city popular with tourists. It's understood there were no injuries reported either with the passengers or crew.

At least 41 dead in Moscow plane crash - Aeroflot jet lands in flames

An Aeroflot Sukhoi Superjet SSJ100 caught fire shortly after taking off from Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport causing the crew to issue a distress signal and return to the airport.

According to local media, there were 78 people on the stricken jet at the time of the incident and were enroute to Murmansk.

At least 41 people are now known to have died in the crash, including two children according to local news agency Tass. It is understood that one of the dead is an Aeroflot stewardess, who had been helping passengers evacuate the burning jet. The number of those injured appears to be between 5 and 10 but the number varies between various sources. One witness though said it was a "miracle" anyone escaped the jet.

The crew attempted to make an emergency landing, but this was aborted and the crew made a second attempt.  Videos shared on social media show the jet in flames and trailing thick black smoke as it landed in Moscow.

Miami Air International 737-800 overruns runway in Florida - 21 injured

An investigation is underway into how a Boeing 737-800 of Miami Air International carrying 143 people came to skid off the runway at Naval Air Station Jacksonville in Florida into the St. Johns River on Friday evening.

The jet had was transporting 136 passengers and 7 crew and had just arrived from the US Guantanamo Bay base in Cuba at 2140 local time. According to local weather sources, there were thunderstorms in the area at the time the aircraft was attempting to land. 

The sheriff's office in Jacksonville confirmed that every person on the aircraft was accounted for and alive. Some 21 people were taken to a local hospital to be treated although their condition is said to be 'good'.   

Plane crash in Nepal leaves three dead

Photo AFP

An aircraft has veered off the runway and collided with a stationary helicopter at Lukla Airport, the main gateway to the Everest region in Nepal, killing three people.

According to reports, the pilot of the small plane and two police officers standing close to the helicopter died in the incident and another three were injured. The aircraft are both understood to belong to firms specialising in taking climbers and tourists to and from the mountains. 

According to local officials, the weather at the time of the incident on Saturday was good and a full investigation had already begun.

 
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BAe Jetstream 41 leaves runway in Dominica

A BAe Jetstream 41, of  Sky High Aviation Services, has suffered major damage after making a runway excursion after landing at Douglas-Charles Airport, in Dominica on Monday 8th April.

According to local reports, there were no casualties among the passengers or crew on the turboprop aircraft and all evacuated the aircraft safely.

The aircraft, registration HI-1038 was performing a scheduled flight from Santo Domingo-Las Américas José Francisco Peña Gómez Int'l Airport, in the Dominican Republic to Dominica Douglas-Charles Airport, Dominica and had just landed on runway 27 at Douglas-Charles Airport when it left the paved surface and headed into the grass. Photographs from the scene seem to show the landing gear and some debris on the runway, while the aircraft appears nose down on the grass. 

Boeing's CEO responds to Ethiopian Airlines crash announcement

Dennis Muilenburg, the Chairman, President & CEO of  The Boeing Company issued an apology, of sorts, on Thursday, April 4th, in reply to the preliminary report announcement from the Ethiopian Authorities indicated the anti-stall system on its 737 max aircraft was to blame for the crash that killed all onboard.

In the video, the Boeing boss says the tragedies weigh heavily on the hearts and minds of all at Boeing and the firm extends its sympathies to the loved ones of the passengers and crew of those on the two 737 max 8's that crashed. Yet at the same time, it's legal teams have been instructed to fight vigorously all lawsuits filed against the firm for compensation. 

Boeing says it continues to work with the US Federal Aviation Administration and other regulatory agencies worldwide on the development and certification of the MCAS software update and training programme. However, that holds little sway with many in the industry as to a large extent Boeing self-certificated the 737 Max range of aircraft, with the blessings of the FAA. It was treated as just a modification of the forerunning 737 models, rather than that of a new design, which would have had a more rigorous examination and certification programme.  Boeing advises they are "working to demonstrate that we have identified and appropriately addressed all certification requirements and will be submitting for FAA review once completed in the coming weeks. Safety is our first priority, and we will take a thorough and methodical approach to the development and testing of the update to ensure we take the time to get it right."

Some industry commentators are estimating the earliest the 737 Max 8 and 9's will be back in the air will be the Middle of May, whilst others are less optimistic saying the troubled craft will not get the all clear with the new software update until the autumn. 

Read the full statement below.

Ethiopian Airlines pilots followed proper procedures according to crash report of 737 Max 8

The Ethiopian Airlines pilots followed proper procedures when their Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft repeatedly nosedived just prior to the crash on March 10th that claimed the lives of all 157 on board, the official preliminary report says.

The Ethiopian Minister of Transport, Dagmawit Moges (Pictured left), announced the reports finding at a press conference on Thursday, April 4th, advising  "The crew performed all the procedures repeatedly provided by the manufacturer but was not able to control the aircraft,".   

Ethiopian Airlines flight ET302 crashed shortly after taking off from Addis Ababa's Bole airport, it was the second deadly crash of a 737 Max 8 in the space of just 5 months. The previous disaster took place ion October of last year when a Lion Air 737 Max 8 aircraft. operating flight  JT610 came down in the sea just off Indonesia with the loss of 189 people on board. There were striking similarities between the two crashes which lead to a grounding of the 737 Max 8, first by individual countries air safety authorities, then regional ones, the last authority to ground the aircraft type were the US regulators. 

Spirit jet runs on to the grass at Indianapolis

Early on Saturday 30th March, a Spirit Airlines jet operating flight 566, from Las Vegas to Indianapolis had an excursion off the paved surface shortly after landing.

The Airbus aircraft landed safely at around 0500 without incident, however, when negotiating the taxiway the aircraft left the paved surface and got stuck in the mud.  According to local media - WTHR - passengers were then asked to deplane the aircraft via stairs and transferred to the terminal by busses.  

There were no reported injuries during the detour and the aircraft, an Airbus A320 registration N629NK was towed out of the mud and examined before returning to service on Sunday.   Spirit apologised to passengers and issued travel vouchers and refunds to those impacted by the little run on the grass. 

Pilot who flew footballer Emiliano Sala to his death was 'not qualified to fly at night'

The Piper Malibu on the day of the crash               Photo AAIB

The UK's BBC News is reporting that David Ibbotson, the pilot of the Piper Malibu that crashed on January 21st this year, killing new Cardiff City footballer Emiliano Sala was not qualified to fly at night.

It is being reported that Ibbotson was colour-blind and his pilots licence restricted him from flying after dark, yet the flight took off at least an hour after sunset.  According to the BBC, his UK pilots licence did not have a night rating mirroring his US one which states, "must have available glasses for near vision" and that "all limitations and restrictions on the United Kingdom pilot licence apply".

It would have been unlawful for Ibbotson to take off at 1900, over an hour after sunset if the report is true. However, the Air Accidents Investigation Branch advised that licensing was still a key part of the investigation and the UK Civil Aviation Authority refused to comment on the story.

The crash on the 21st January killed both men and whilst the body of Emiliano Sala has been recovered from the wreckage, Mr Ibbotson's body is still missing. 

A full accident report is not expected from the AAIB until February of 2020.

Two Fokker F100 landing gear incidents in Iran in three days!

Iranian aviation investigators are looking into two aircraft incidents in the space of three days, both of which involved Fokker 100s.

On Tuesday 19th March 2019 an Iran Air Fokker 100 was operating flight 215, from Qeshm to Tehran when it suffered a hydraulic systems failure. The result of this failure meant the main landing gear would not lower, according to the reports, the crew tried to manually lower the wheels, which didn't work and the crew then had to perform an emergency landing at Tehran's Mehrabad Airport, with its main gear up. According to local state media reports,  there were no injuries and all passengers evacuated the aircraft safely. 

Flight recorders have been retrieved and are being analysed with the enquiry being assisted by investigators from the UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch and the Dutch Safety Board.

Ethiopian Airlines crashed 737 Max 8 cockpit voice and data recorders found

The Ethiopian State media has confirmed they have retrieved the ‘black boxes’ cockpit voice and flight data recorders from the crashed Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft.  Local reports confirmed the devices had been retrieved on Monday morning and will be sent for analysis. However, an airline official has stated that one of the recorders has suffered serious damage in the crash and at present, it is unknown how much data can be retrieved from it. 

The Boeing 737 Max 8 was just four months old when it crashed on Sunday morning claiming the lives of all 157 people on board. The manufacturer Boeing has already said, before any causes of the crash are known, that it will not be issuing any further safety advisories. It has sent a technical team to the crash site to provide technical assistance under the direction of the Ethiopia Accident Investigation Bureau and U.S. National Transportation Safety Board.

Photo Ethiopian Airlines

Ethiopian Airlines has halted all further flights on 737 Max 8 aircraft as a precaution, the Chinese authorities have also ordered all 737 Max 8 in the country be grounded will investigations are ongoing.  

Cayman Airlines has two 737 Max aircraft and has grounded them as a precaution in the wake of the latest disaster to befall the type. 

Ryanair's Laundamotion jet aborts take off at Stansted...................................eight injured

Panic at London Stansted.......Shortly after 8pm on Friday, March 1st an Airbus A320 of Ryanair's Austrian based Laudamotion was trundling down the runway at London Stansted when a loud big bang boomed around the cabin, the takeoff was abandoned and a full-scale evacuation called for.

During the scramble down emergency slides and the ensuing panic at least eight passengers were injured and many others left in a state of shock.  While others took to social media to document the terrifying event others merely counted their blessings for only having minor scrapes and abrasions.

The runway at London Stansted was closed for around three hours causing many flights to be delayed and diverted. The airport said around three hours after the aborted take off that the aircraft had been moved off the runway, an inspection the surface had taken place before the management allowed the runway to be fully reopened.

AAIB issue special report on the plane crash that killed footballer Emiliano Sala

The UK's Air Accidents Investigation Branch has issued a special interim report in the crash of a Piper PA-46-310P Malibu, with the registration N264DB, that claimed the life of Argentine soccer player Emiliano Sala. 

The aircraft was lost some 22 nautical miles north-northwest of Guernsey, the Channel Islands on 21st January 2019 performing a flight from Nantes to Cardiff for Sala who had just signed for the Premiership football club Cardiff City. 

Atlas Air 767 crash.........................................crew named.

Photo  By Nathan Coats from Seattle

A full investigation is underway into why a Boeing 767 aircraft of cargo carrier Atlas Air, operating an Amazon Prime delivery flight crashed in Texas on Saturday, February 23rd.

The Atlas Air Worldwide aeroplane was operating Flight No. 3591 from Miami to Houston, at around 1236 local time, radio and radar contact was lost with the aircraft. According to investigators, no distress call was received from the crew and the aircraft came down near the city of Anahuac Texas, into the north end of Trinity Bay. 

According to eyewitnesses, the aircraft appeared to nosedive from a height into the bay and officials have stated debris is scattered over a three-mile stretch.  Initial reports say the 767 was descending normally for its approach to Houston, then at 6300 feet, it went into an incredibly rapid descent. There were three people onboard the aircraft at the time of the crash and two bodies have been retrieved from the water at the crash site. Divers are currently searching the site for the flight data and cockpit voice recorders.

It is understood that a video of the final moments, filmed by an eyewitness, of the flight has been handed to investigators from US NTSB, which show the aircraft in a nose down attitude, showing no signs of recovery being made. 

Lion Air 737 overshoots runway in heavy rain.

A Boeing 737 of Lion Air with 189 people onboard has skidded off the runway in Indonesia during a heavy rain storm today.  The aircraft was performing a flight from between Jakarta and Pontianak in Indonesia when it skidded off the runway.

Local media report that all passengers and crew had evacuated the aircraft and there were no injuries reported. The aircraft, a Boeing 737-800NG had 182 passengers and 7 crew members on board at the time of the accident.

Images from local media show the aircraft with its wheels embedded in the soft turf of the grass at the end of the runway, with some damage visible to the engines and undercarriage.

Polana Pramesti, Director General of Air Relations at the country's Ministry of Transportation, confirmed some details of the incident, ''It is true, the plane slipped due to heavy rain. There were no fatalities and the entire crew survived.''

Flights from the Supadio International Airport were cancelled while airport workers try to move the aircraft from its current position. A full investigation is underway.

Flybe flight BE1265 diverts due to technical problem

Flightradar24 followed the flight.                             image Flightradar24

A flybe Bombardier Q400 registration G-JECX flying from Manchester to Luxembourg performing flight BE1265 this afternoon developed a technical fault that caused the crew to divert and make an emergency landing at Birmingham.

The aircraft concerned was also at the centre of an Air Accident Investigation Branch investigation in April last year following a tail strike at Newquay airport. The 12-year-old aircraft has an all economy seating configuration capable of accommodating up to 78 passengers. 

The flight crew shut one engine down during the flight and the aircraft was met on arrival by Birmingham Airport's fire service who followed the aircraft to stand.  There were some unconfirmed reports of smoke coming from the shutdown powerplant.

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Landing with the brakes on........FlyBmi EMB145 in the mud

On December 22nd last year an Embraer EMB-145EP, registration G-CKAG of FlyBMI operating a flight from Frankfurt to Bristol with three crew and twenty-two passengers onboard ran off the runway during landing and stuck in the mud.

The flight crew had arrived at Bristol early that morning and performed a flight to the German city which had been uneventful and were returning back to Bristol.  The two flight deck crew were made up of a pilot undergoing training who was both new to the airline and the aircraft type. He was qualified on SAAB 2000s with another operator and had completed 17 hours of flight time on the Embraer 145, this was his eighth sector.  The commander of the aircraft, the captain was 50-year-old company training captain with some 8,600 flying hours experience. 

The crew had expected to be in a holding pattern over Bristol for a short period of time, however, upon arrival, they were given clearance to land ahead of what had been expected. The landing checklist was interrupted a number of times by getting the latest weather and talking to air traffic controllers.

15 dead after cargo plane crash in Iran

At least 15 people have been killed by in the crash of a Boeing 707 cargo aircraft near the Iranian capital, Tehran. 

According to local reports, the vintage Boeing 707 veered off the runway, went through a wall and collided with a house near the airport.  The aircraft had been trying to land at Fath airport in Karaj, some 25 miles west of the Iranian capital of Tehran.  The weather is reported to have been considered 'poor' at the time of the incident.

It is understood the aircraft was carrying meat and other supplies from the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps controlled Fath airport base.  

Local TV is reporting that the aircraft's black boxes have been found at the scene and that that out of 16 people onboard the aircraft, only one had survived - said to be the flight engineer. Also reported by the local media is that aircraft was confirmed to be owned by Iran and all onboard were of Iranian nationality. 

Images from the scene seem to show the aircraft was adorned with the civilian airline livery of the Iranian Air Force. It is unclear at this stage if the 707 was supposed to be landing at Fath or had mistaken the airport from the nearby commercial Payam International Airport, which has a much longer runway. 

Some Iranian and local regional commentators believe the US imposed sanctions have had a negative impact on the Iranian aviation industry, forcing airline and operators in the country to fly aircraft long after their airworthiness could no longer be assured. 

 (Photos EPA).

Lion Air crash black box found

Officials from the Indonesian search and rescue have found and retrieved the cockpit voice recorder from the Lion Air Boeing 737 that crashed killing 189 people in October 2018.

The rescue teams also found human remains at the same location in the Java Sea local officials have confirmed. However, the bright orange cockpit voice recorder had broken in two when it was located in around 165ft or 50m away from where the fight data recorder black box had been found in November. 

It is hoped that the recorder will help to provide crucial insights into the last moments of flight JT610, to help pinpoint what went wrong and how much the faulty equipment on the latest Boeing 737 model contributed to the crash.    

The Indonesian navy confirmed the recorder had been damaged and had been found in water that was approximately 321ft / 98m  deep and was buried in mud said to be 8th down.  A spokesperson from the navy confirmed that a weak signal from the recorder had been detected several days ago and was slowly retrieved.

 

Wreckage did 'most likely' come from MH370

Photo  AFP

According to officials, small items of wreckage located on a beach in Madagascar last year are most likely to have come from the doomed Malaysian Airlines flight MH370.

The debris had been handed over to Anthony Loke, the Malaysian Transport Minister at the end of November last year by a beaching combing amateur hunter, Blaine Gibson along with relatives of a few of the passengers on the aircraft when it disappeared.

According to an official Malaysian report from the MH370 Safety Investigation Team, the 5 items had come from an aircraft and a section of the floor had come from a Boeing 777, which was 'most likely MH370.'

The small section of floor has part of a white label on it which bears half of a serial number WPPS61, which researchers have found would match that found on a Boeing 777 aircraft. Where the bulk of the wreckage of the aircraft is, still remains a mystery, with many people believing it was just outside the official search area.