No hope of survivors in the Air France 447 crash
June 4, 2009
Searchers are racing against time and the elements as they try to retrieve pieces of an Air France jet before the wreckage sinks into the sea.
Officials say, the plane with 228 people aboard broke apart over the Atlantic hours after leaving Rio de Janeiro late Sunday. Flight 447 had flown through towering thunderstorms, and may have shattered in the air.
More Brazilian ships are nearing the area where floating debris has been spotted, hundreds of miles off Brazil’s northern coast. French search planes are on the scene, as is a U.S. team that includes the National Transportation Safety Board.
Seas are calm, though “extreme cloudiness” has been hampering U.S. satellite searches.
Air Force One photo shoot triggers panic in Manhattan
April 27, 2009
A photo shoot involving a 747 used as Air Force One and two fighter jets flying at low altitude led to hundreds of frightened calls from residents and workers in Lower Manhattan Monday morning, triggering memories of 9-11 as many evacuated their offices. Although the shoot was authorized, the normal system of public notification broke down, multiple officials said.
“It scared a couple of million people,” one airport official said. Witnesses told ABCNews.com that they were “shocked” and “running scared” when the planes flew overhead. Elena Zaccario, who works at an office building near Battery Park, said she was too startled to grab her camera until the planes’ third fly-by. “Needless to say, everyone was concerned and upset about not being notified like in previous ‘military fly-overs,”” she said. “Other offices on other floors fled the building in panic. Not acceptable!”
Photo: In this image taken with a cell phone by Jason McLane, the primary presidential aircraft, a Boeing 747 known as Air Force One when the president is aboard, flies low over New York Harbor, followed by an F-16 chase plane during a federal government photo op Monday, April 27, 2009.
JAL MD-81 scrapes wing on landing
April 23, 2009
A Japanese passenger plane damaged part of its wing on landing at Osaka International Airport. No one was injured but the runway was closed for about an hour to clean up debris. Japan Airlines spokeswoman Mari Yanagawa says 168 passengers and crew were aboard Wednesday’s flight from Niigata. She says the MD81 aircraft tilted during landing, and the landing light and slats were damaged as the left wing rubbed against the ground.
Airplane hijacker captured in Jamaica
April 20, 2009
A gunman forced his way though airport security and hijacked a Canadian jet near Montego Bay, holding six crew members hostage for eight hours before police and soldiers stormed the aircraft on Monday and captured the man. Nobody was killed or injured in the ordeal, which ended with a raid near daylight after talks broke down with a 20-year-old Jamaican hijacker described as “mentally challenged.” The hostage crisis that began around 10:20 p.m. Sunday and ended near 6:40 a.m., when members of the Jamaica Defence Force Counter Terrorism Operations Group stormed the aircraft’s cabin, according to a police statement. The man boarded CanJet Airlines Flight 918 in Montego Bay and demanded to be flown to Cuba, Vaz said.
Passenger lands King Air after pilot drops dead
April 13, 2009
A passenger landed a twin-engine Beechcraft King Air in Florida after the pilot died in flight with a total of six people on board. Federal Aviation Administration officials say the pilot died after takeoff from an airport in Naples on Sunday. It was on autopilot and climbing toward 10,000 feet when the pilot died. An air traffic controller helped the passenger, who turned out to be a private pilot licence holder, by calling a friend in Connecticut who knows the King Air plane and relaying instructions. The plane landed safely at Southwest Florida International Airport in Fort Myers.
Two dead in small plane crash near Sacramento, CA
March 1, 2009
A pilot and an airplane mechanic died Saturday after their single-engine plane crashed outside a private airport north of Sacramento, authorities said.
Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said the 1966 Mooney M20E crashed after 9 a.m. Feb 28 west of the Rio Linda Airport. Gregor said the plane was believed to have taken off from the airport.
Sacramento County Sheriff’s Capt. Scott Jones identified the pilot as David Michaud, 53, a reserve deputy who pursued his passion for flying after serving 12 years as a full-time deputy.
Jones said Michaud and the mechanic, who was not identified, had worked on the aircraft before taking flight Saturday morning. FAA records indicate the fixed-wing plane was registered to David and Judith Michaud of Sacramento.
“They were checking out repairs,” Jones said. “Just like working on a car and taking it around the block. Witnesses said they heard sputtering and it had some engine issues and then it crashed.”
Navy fighter jet almost landed at wrong airport
March 1, 2009
The San Diego Union Tribune reports the Navy fighter jet pilot was preparing to land at Montgomery Field by mistake being low on fuel.
The jet flew low over San Diego neighborhoods last Tuesday evening and apparently was lined up to land at Montgomery Field instead of Miramar Marine Corps Air Station before an air-traffic controller corrected him
The Federal Aviation Administration says the F/A-18C Hornet broke off from the traffic pattern around the aircraft carrier Nimitz – which was operating southwest of San Diego – at 8:40 p.m. because of low fuel after a missed landing attempt, said Lt. Cmdr. Charlie Brown, a spokesman for the Coronado-based Naval Air Forces command.
The pilot, whose identity has not been released, bypassed North Island Naval Air Station because broken clouds obscured the runway, Brown said. So FAA air-traffic controllers directed him over San Diego toward Miramar, the second alternate destination. That pointed him toward Montgomery Field, a general aviation airport in Clairemont used by small private aircraft, said Ian Gregor, an FAA spokesman.
A controller at Miramar alerted the pilot to his mistake, Brown said. According to Gregor, the pilot pulled up, then turned to approach Miramar’s runway 24. He landed without further incident at 8:54 p.m., Brown said.
Turkish Airlines 737 crashes in Amsterdam
February 26, 2009
A Turkish Airlines Boeing 737-800 has crashed into a field while attempting to land at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport. There were conflicting reports about whether anyone was killed on the plane, which had 127 passengers and seven crew members. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said one person was killed, according to the semi-official Anatolia news agency, but an airline spokesman and Turkish Transportation Minister Binali Yildirim said no one had died. The aircraft, which originated in Istanbul, Turkey, was trying to land at Schiphol International Airport when it went down at about 10:40 a.m. local time, Dutch airport officials said.
Wind gust causing small plane to crash in Centennial, CO
February 25, 2009
The wind appears to be the cause for a small plane crash that happened at a general aviation airport in Centennial, Colorado Wednesday afternoon.
Emergency officials say the small, single engine plane was taking off from Centennial Airport and was about 10-feet off the ground when a gust of wind slammed the plane back to the ground. The landing gear collapsed on impact and the plane came to a stop.
Emergency teams say two people were onboard the plane, both walked away from the crash with no injuries.
