Jet Aviation Casualties

A Hangar housing several private jets collapsed damaging many of them. The collapse was due to what is described as a microburst of weather. The facility was a Jet Aviation hangar being leased by Jet Linx apparently. The violent burst happened during the night on the 4th of April. Up to eight jets suffered damage including four that were in the hangar. The 30,000 sq foot hangar is now a wreck after being destroyed by winds above 80mph.

An Algerian Military aircraft crashed near the capital of Algiers this morning killing 257 persons. The aircraft is said to be an Ilyushin IL-76. The jet was said to be flying to Bechar in the south-west of the country. Reports say it was expected to make a stop in the town of Tindouf which is relatively close to the border of Morocco and disputed Western Sahara territory. Investigations are currently ongoing into the cause of the crash. The Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has declared three days of national mourning. This is the deadliest aviation crash since 2014. Of course back then you would remember Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was allegedly shot down over Eastern Ukraine claiming nearly 300 lives.

A Southwest Boeing 737-700WL had one of its engines explode inflight as it was enroute to Dallas Love Field (DAL) from La Guardia (LGA). The explosion shattered a window on the aircraft which cause decompression and a female passenger was partially sucked through the window. Passengers helped pull the woman back into the aircraft and attempted CPR which eventually proved unsuccessful. That female passenger died and a couple other passengers sustained minor non-lifethreatening injuries.

Another Southwest Boeing 737-700 has been thrown into the spotlight after a window suffered a crack during a flight. The aircraft was successfully diverted to Cleveland without injury to anyone onboard. Passengers were put on a different aircraft to continue their flight to Newark Liberty International. The flight with the cracked window took off from Chicago as WN957. On April 17, Jennifer Riordan succumbed to her injuries when she was partially sucked out of a window onboard another Southwest Boeing 737-700.

Recently a string of incidents regarding aircraft windows have been happening. Cabin windows cracking or being blown out and also cockpit windows cracking or being blown out. In the most recent incident noted in the news is a blown cockpit window on a Sichuan Airlines Airbus A320. It happened just as the plane reached its cruising altitude of 32,000 feet. The co-pilot was injured after being sucked halfway out the opening. Luckily he was wearing a seatbelt. Another crew member was also injured but no injuries to none of the 119 passengers were reported. The aircraft made an emergency landing in Chengdu. It was performing flight 3U8633 from Chongqing to Lhasa, Tibet. The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) is investigating the incident.

News is coming in that a Cubana Boeing 737 has crashed on takeoff from Havana's Jose Marti International Airport. The aircraft was reportedly heading to another Cuban city, Holguin. Just recently Cubana de Aviacion had to ground a number of their aircraft due to safety issues. The Boeing 737 was carrying 104 persons and casualties are expected.

A cockpit voice recorder has been retrieved from the crash in Cuba. The 737-200 was crewed by six Mexican nationals and had been leased by Cubana, according to state media. It was operating flight 972 to Cuban city of Holguin when it crashed. At the time of the crash the aircraft was 39 years old.

Boeing extends our deepest condolences to the families and friends of those on board Flight 972 operated by Global Aerolineas Damojh on behalf of Cubana de Aviacion outside of Havana, Cuba. Boeing also extends our best wishes for the recovery of those who were injured. A Boeing technical team is providing assistance at the request and under the direction of the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board, the Accredited Representative for the United States.

Another sad tale, this time it comes from the dangerous Honduran airport of Tegucigalpa-Toncontin. A Gulfstream G200 was completing a flight from Austin, Texas to Honduras. It touched down in Honduras at approximately 11:17am their time on Tuesday May 22nd. It then left the runway crashing to a half near El Pedregal neighborhood. The aircraft is a total loss as it split into two pieces and suffered tremendous damage. Honduran officials say there were six people on board. Their injuries are not known at this time, but social media from the area shows there are injuries.

Photo via @COPECO_HONDURAS

A Magnus eFusion Hybrid electric two-seater aircraft crashed a few days ago killed both persons onboard. The fatal accident happened in Hungary. Hungarian state police announced on 31 May that a, “small aircraft crashed a few hundred meters away from Pecs-Pogany airport in the direction of Szalanta for unknown reasons and circumstances,” according to a 31 May news release. “A tragic accident with two casualties happened yesterday in Hungary to an airplane [with] our electric propulsion,” says Frank Anton, head of eAircraft at Siemens. The Magnus eFusion is a version of the company’s gas-powered Fusion 212 two-seater that made its first flight in 2016. It uses Siemens’ new SP55D electric motor and a FlyEco diesel engine. (excerpts from FG)

This is a weird story involving a Piper Cub that was landed on a beach after it was allegedly stolen from the banner company it normally operates for. After the pilot landed the aircraft on the beach the individual fled the scene. The individual is said to be an employee of the company and took the plane without permission from Paramount Air Services before illegally landing it on the Coast Guard beach in Cape May, New Jersey.

In the last week there have been two headlined crashes. The thing is these crashes didn't occur under the traditional sense of 'pilot error' or technical failure or one or more components of the aircrafts leading to a chain of events causing their demise but rather the outcome was intentional on the part of the individual flying them. On Friday, many of you would have known of the Horizon Air Bombardier Q400 regional turboprop that crashed. Horizon Air is owned by Alaska Air and a company employee took the aircraft and left Tacoma International (SEA) in Seattle. After an hour of aerobatics and turns and climbs that you probably would see at an airshow, the aircraft crashed on Kentron Island in Puget Sound. Richard Russell was a Horizon Air ground service agent with full security access.

The second situation happened earlier this week where another plane was stolen from an airport. In the early hours of Monday morning, Duane Youd, crashed a Cessna Citation CJ into his house located in Payson Utah, about 10 miles south of Provo. The crash occurred at 2:38 a.m. Hours before, Youd had been released from the Utah County jail following an arrest the night before on charges of assaulting his wife. He was known to have a previous record of domestic violence incidents.

A Dassault Falcon 50 and its crew met their demise after overrunning the runway at South Carolina’s Greenville Downtown Airport (GMU). The crew were killed while the two passengers in the cabin suffered serious injuries. The aircraft left the paved runway surface and went down a 40-foot decline and then through the perimeter fence of the airport before breaking apart and resting across a road.

Bad news from Indonesia...a brand new Lion Air Boeing 737 MAX 8 operating as flight JT610 went down in the ocean just 13 minutes after take off. The aircraft believed to be registered PK-LQP claimed 188 persons onboard, three children and seven crew. The jet was only three months old after flying at the end of July. A few bodies have been found in the water already.

A Boeing 747 freighter skated off the runway in Halifax early this morning. Halifax's Stanfield International Airport was the scene of the accident which resulted in four crew members being sent to the hospital. The 747 freighter involved in the incident is a SkyLease Cargo aircraft and it is still too early to ascertain what the reason was for the incident. The freighter travelled from Chicago before arriving at Halifax

Some sad news out of Guyana where a Boeing 757 operating for Fly Jamaica Airlines was heavily damaged in the early hours of this morning at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport in Guyana. The aircraft had departed Guyana just after 1am local time and then was forced to turn back after 45 minutes of flight. The aircraft returned to the runway but could not stop in time and suffered a runway excursion only stopping in sandy soil. About half the aircraft broke through the perimeter fence and the other half remained inside. All 118 onboard were able to get off the aircraft with several having suffered injuries.

Boeing's statement on the OMB

Boeing is providing support and technical assistance to the Indonesian National Transportation Safety Committee and other government authorities responsible for the investigation into Lion Air flight 610. The Indonesian National Transportation Safety Committee has indicated that Lion Air flight 610 experienced erroneous input from one of its AOA (Angle of Attack) sensors. Whenever appropriate, Boeing, as part of its usual processes, issues bulletins or makes recommendations regarding the operation of its aircraft. On November 6, 2018, Boeing issued an Operations Manual Bulletin (OMB) directing operators to existing flight crew procedures to address circumstances where there is erroneous input from an AOA sensor. The investigation into Lion Air flight 610 is ongoing and Boeing continues to cooperate fully and provide technical assistance at the request and under the direction of government authorities investigating the accident.

The nose gear of a Bombardier Dash 8-300 operated by Canadian regional carrier PAL Airlines collapsed during landing. The incident happened on November 15th at the Newfoundland Airport while operating flight PB1922. No one was hurt in the incident it appears. The pilots noticed an indication in the cockpit of a potential nose gear problem. They decided to flyby low so the tower could tell them the status of the gear but the weather was bad and they diverted to another airport in Newfoundland. The aircraft landed without the nose gear in the locked position and thus it collapsed under the weight of the plane.

An update on this incident. One of the injured, an elderly person has reportedly passed away. She is 86 year old Rookhia Kalloo. She was returning to Canada on the flight OJ256 when the flight experienced hydraulic issues and returned to Cheddi Jagan International Airport. She suffered head injuries from the sudden jolt when the plane ended off the runway and the nose-gear dug into sand.

Apparently President of the United States Donald Trump's private Boeing 757 was involved in a bit of a fender-bender yesterday at La Guardia airport. A taxiing Bombardier Global was being marshaled when it struck the wing of the 757. The Global was to travel across the Atlantic but with the incident it left La Guardia bound for Hartford, Connecticut which has a Bombardier service center.