Jet Aviation Casualties

A small airplane plowed into the top of a flight safety center at an airport in Kansas after losing engine power on takeoff Thursday. The Beechcraft King Air twin-engine plane reported trouble after taking off from Mid-Continent Airport in Wichita, about 9:50 a.m. (10:50 a.m. ET) and hit a two-story FlightSafety International building while trying to return to the runway, the Federal Aviation Administration said.

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/video-captures-wichita-plane-crash-scene-n237521

Virgin Galactic could have a new spacecraft ready to fly by next year, the chief executive of Richard Branson's space tourism company said in an interview published on Sunday, reacting to concerns about the safety of technology used in the Virgin craft that crashed last week. George Whitesides, the head of the company dedicated to Branson's vision of bringing everyday passengers into space, told the Financial Times the new fuel system used in Virgin's SpaceShipTwo during Friday's test flight in the Mojave Desert was rigorously tested. One pilot was killed and the other badly injured in the crash.

Whitesides said a second craft being built for Virgin was about 65 percent complete, sounding a note of optimism about the programme as federal investigators began what is likely to be a year-long investigation into the accident. "The second spaceship is getting close to readiness," he said, adding that it could be ready to fly by next year once the probe by the National Transportation Safety Board reached its conclusions. His remarks followed a sombre assessment of the future of Virgin Galactic by founder Branson, who hoped to be among the first passengers on its maiden voyage that had been expected early next year.

"We really thought by March of next year, we'd be there," the billionaire entrepreneur told the BBC after arriving in Mojave on Saturday. "Something went wrong. We need to find out what went wrong and fix it." US investigators say the powered test flight of Virgin's SpaceShipTwo on Friday was well recorded, giving them an abundance of information to help determine what caused it to crash and spread debris over a 5 mile (8 km) swath of the Mojave Desert, 95 miles (150 km) north of Los Angeles.

"We owe it to our pilots to find out exactly what went wrong," Branson said during a Saturday news conference in Mojave. "If we can overcome it, we will make absolutely certain that the dream lives on." Michael Alsbury, 39, has been identified as the co-pilot who died in the crash of SpaceShipTwo. The surviving pilot is Peter Siebold, 43. Alsbury, who police said was found dead in the aircraft, was a project engineer and test pilot at Scaled Composites, a Northrop Grumman subsidiary that built and designed the craft for Virgin Galactic. Alsbury was flying for the ninth time aboard SpaceShipTwo, including serving as the co-pilot on its first rocket-powered test flight on April 29, 2013, according to the company's website.

Siebold parachuted from SpaceShipTwo and was found with serious injuries by rescuers, who took him by helicopter to Antelope Valley Hospital, the Kern County Sheriff's Office said in a statement. He was alert and talking to his family and doctors on Saturday, Scaled Composites said in a statement. An aircraft flying behind SpaceShipTwo collected video images and radar data, and a range camera at Edwards Air Force Base also recorded the failed test flight, Hart said. The spaceship had video cameras and data storage cards on board which could help investigators. Friday's crash was the second disaster in less than a week suffered by a private space company, dealing a blow to the fledgling commercial space industry that has been taking on work traditionally done by governments. On Tuesday, an Antares rocket built and launched by Orbital Sciences exploded after lift-off from Wallops Island, Virginia, destroying a cargo ship bound for the International Space Station.

NEW TYPE OF FUEL

The Virgin Galactic investigation will likely focus on SpaceShipTwo's rocket engine, which on Friday was flying with a new type of fuel for the first time, experts said. The solid plastic propellant is ignited by liquid nitrous oxide, commonly known as laughing gas. Virgin Galactic announced in May it was replacing the rubber-based propellant used during the spaceship's three previous rocket-powered test flights to get better performance. Before Friday's flight, SpaceShipTwo's last powered test flight was in January, though the rocket and its new propellant had passed multiple ground tests. "We have put that motor through a rigorous ground development programme," Whitesides said in the FT interview. "The results of those tests were positive." Friday's accident marked the fourth fatality in Scaled's SpaceShipTwo development effort. In 2007, a fuel tank exploded, killing three Scaled employees.

(Reuters)

Not a jet but still comes under the casualty heading...

An Aero Commander 500 missed an elderly couple by inches when it crashed into their Chicago home minutes after taking off from Chicago Midway Airport early Tuesday morning, officials said. The pilot of the twin-engine cargo plane, the only person on board, was found dead at the scene of the crash, which occurred at about 2:42 a.m. The FAA said the Aero Commander took off at about 2:30 and shortly after the pilot radioed he was having engine trouble. The airplane crashed through the bedroom of the couple within about eight inches of where they were sleeping, according to local media reports. They were shaken but unharmed, the reports said. (Flying)

Pilots of a Wind Jet Airbus A319 landed far short at Palermo after deciding to continue a non-precision approach at night, in poor weather, despite failing to sight the runway. Italian investigation authority ANSV has determined that the pilots demonstrated a “poor attitude” towards crew resource management and failed to maintain a sterile cockpit during the descent or carry out proper approach briefings. The aircraft landed 367m (1,200ft) short of the runway 07 threshold and skidded for 850m, suffering such extensive damage that the twinjet was written off. ANSV says there was “deliberate disregard” for procedures at the point of reaching the minimum descent altitude, when the crew is supposed to confirm sighting of the runway – and execute a go-around if it is not clearly visible.

Plane carrying 11 crashes in The Bahamas.

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/latestnews/Plane-carrying-11-crashes-in-Bahamas--US-man-dies

A U.S. Air Force pilot on a mission to bomb ISIS targets in the Middle East was killed when his F-16 fighter jet crashed on Sunday, according to military officials. The F-16 Falcon reportedly suffered a mechanical malfunction shortly after takeoff. While trying to return to the airstrip he crashed short of the runway, according to multiple news accounts.

Nothing yet on that Air Asia X Airbus A320 that presumably went down...

Okay it seems that they have found some of the wreckage relating to the Air Asia A320.. good news. Meanwhile another Air Asia aircraft runs off the end of a runway in the Philippines, another A320.

The vital tail section of the aircraft has been found now according to news reports and photos I have seen. Now they can start to get data from the black boxes and determine what caused this crash.

An analysis of radar data from the AirAsia Airbus A320 that crashed near Indonesia late last month points to a steep climb and aerodynamic stall that caused the jetliner to go out of control and plummet into the Java Sea, a government official said. Indonesian Transportation Secretary Ignasius Jonan said at a government hearing that the A320 climbed at more than 6,000 feet per minute. Citing radar data, he said the airplane, during its last minutes aloft, "went up faster than normal ... then it stalled."

Tragedy struck the otherwise successful and upbeat U.S. Sport Aviation Expo in Sebring, Florida, last week when two people were killed in the crash of an Aero Adventure amphibious LSA near the main runway at Sebring Regional Airport. Officials identified the victims as pilot Dennis Day of Groveland, Florida, and Jason Sponks of Orlando. The light sport aircraft was being flown for customer demos at the Sport Aviation Expo, though the accident flight was reportedly not a demonstration flight. The crash on Friday occurred in front of spectators at the show, which ran through Saturday. (Flying)

This car dashcam footage reportedly captured TransAsia #GE235 plane clipping a Taipei bridge.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10152660854612934

Another view of the same crash

Taiwan’s aviation regulator has ordered all operators of ATR planes in the country to conduct “special checks” on their aircraft, a day after a TransAsia Airways plane crashed, killing at least 31 people. The checks will focus on the engines, fuel control system, propellor systems, and spark plugs and ignition connectors in the turboprop planes, the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) said in a statement. A grounding of Taiwan's 22 ATR aircraft was not ordered despite the incident, the second fatal crash involving a TransAsia plane in seven months. Twelve people were still missing after the crash of TransAsia flight GE235, which was carrying 58 passengers and crew.

The plane was on its third flight of the day and there were no records of any malfunction in the previous two flights, the CAA statement said. TransAsia has 10 ATR turboprop aircraft, a combination of 72-500s and 72-600s. Its aircraft that completed the checks resumed operations on Thursday, the CAA said. Uni Air, a subsidiary of EVA Airways, operates 12 ATR 72-600s. “We are conducting the checks, but we have not grounded the aircraft,” an EVA Air spokeswoman said. ATR is a joint venture between Airbus and Alenia Aermacchi, a subsidiary of Italy's Finmeccanica. France, where the aircraft was designed and built, and Canada, where the engines are manufactured, will both be involved in the investigation, which will be led by Taiwan's Aviation Safety Council.

(Reuters)

Whoops?

http://avherald.com/h?article=48188170

Check this out, talk about a near death experience!!!!

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1052404391452706

The Red Bull Flying Bulls aerobatic team was performing at the Aero India airshow in Bengaluru on Thursday when two of the airplanes collided midair, sending both into emergency descents that ended with successful landings. Both pilots escaped the accident uninjured, but one aircraft suffered significant wing damage. Local reports say the collision between the two Zlín 50LX airplanes occurred during a wing-over maneuver. (FM)

Harrison Ford said to be in critical condition after vintage plane he was flying crashes...

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10153436889791509

Three French sports stars were among 10 people killed on Monday when two helicopters collided in northwest Argentina during filming for a reality TV show. The sports stars, all well-known in their home country, included Florence Arthaud, who in 1990 set a record for sailing across the Atlantic alone; champion swimmer Camille Muffat, who won three medals at the 2012 Olympics in London; and the boxer Alexis Vastine, who won a bronze medal at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. A video of the crash, which also killed the pilots and five of the show's producers, showed the helicopters colliding in level flight as they flew in formation. The contestants were reportedly being flown into a remote area, where they would have to find food and shelter as part of the TV survival show Dropped. (FM)