HAPPY LANDINGS (aircraft)

[nitpicker1]

Crash landing in Blenheim
Newstalk ZB
September 30, 2010, 7:00 pm

An Air New Zealand flight has crash-landed in Blenheim.

The plane - a Bombardier Q300 - had 46 passengers and three crew on board.

It was on route to Nelson, but was diverted to Blenheim due to bad weather.

Air New Zealand says the plane suffered nosewheel failure - causing the wheel to collapse when landing.

The aircraft is still on the runway for inspection by engineers.

No passengers were injured, and alternative transport is being arranged for those affected.

http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/mp/8044789/crash-landing-in-blenheim/

[DidiMau69]

If man was meant to fly he'd have feathers and diarrhea.

[nitpicker1]

If man was meant to fly he'd have feathers and diarrhea.

I guess some of those who survive a crash would find the latter later?

Pilot back in air after lucky escape in Lancefield plane crash


Emergency Services1 Oct 10 @ 04:50pm by Kelly Sammut


LIGHT aircraft pilot John Moody had no qualms about getting in a helicopter just hours after a harrowing crash in Lancefield today.

>> PICTURES: Plane crash in Lancefield http://macedon-ranges-leader.whereilive.com.au/photos/gallery/lancefield-plane-crash/  <<

Mr Moody, 56, of North Fitzroy, escaped the crash with minor cuts to his head and happily hitched a ride in a TV crew’s helicopter back to his car at the Bolina Vale hanger in Clarkefield.

A piece of the plane still hung from a tree when Leader visited the property off the Burke and Wills Track near Lancefield.

Broken trunks clearly outlined the crash path.

Mr Moody said engine failure caused the crash about 12.50pm.

“I landed in the tree tops and then dropped to the ground,” he said.

He said it was his first incident flying and he considered himself lucky.

He had to be winched from the aircraft by air ambulance paramedics.

Kyneton Sen-Sgt Ian Brooks said Mr Moody was “very, very lucky”.

“He was flying a home-built experimental high-performance plane,” he said.

“He’s come in and hit the trees.

“He made a mayday call before the engine hit the ground and was able to call from the ground to let us know where he was.”

David Kosa, 13, is staying with his grandmother at the property where the plane crashed.

He said the first he and his grandmother knew of the accident was when they saw the police helicopter and five police cars arrive at the property.

http://sunbury-leader.whereilive.com.au/news/story/pilot-back-in-air-after-lucky-escape-in-lancefield-plane-crash/

[Magoo]

Between news like this and the breadwinner watching Aircrash Investigations every night I am losing the urge to travel OS.    I may have to take a cruise instead.   No I have not seen The Titanic.

[Kiwithrottlejockey]

The so-called crash landing in Blenheim was no such thing.

The aeroplane had already landed, then the nosewheel collapsed....how can that be a crash-landing?

The news media are full-of-shit when it comes to aviation incidents.

I'm sure they deliberately select sensationalist headlines to try and improve their ratings.

Some of their favourite words as pertaining to aviation incidents are “emergency” (when it is no such thing), “plummetted”, “nose-dived”, “Cessna” (that seems to be the news media's default name for an aeroplane when they don't know what type it is), and many other totally stupid and ignorant descriptive terms.

And don't even get me started on the news media's absolute ignorance & stupidity when it comes to railway operating incidents.

[Kiwithrottlejockey]

If man was meant to fly he'd have feathers and diarrhea.

So how come you fly?

Haven't you considered driving yourself to Wellington, or maybe catching the bus?

Mind you, statistically, you'd be considerably more likely to be killed or seriously injured in a motor vehicle crash on the roads between Hawke's Bay and Wellington than flying from Hawke's Bay to Wellington. In fact, if you fly, then you are considerably more likely to die on the roads travelling to and from the airports than come to harm while undertaking the actual flight.

[nitpicker1]

Marked increase in mid-air near-misses
By MICHELLE DUFF
Manawatu Standard
Last updated 09:36 02/10/2010

 An inquiry into mid-air collisions is being welcomed by the aviation industry, after a report into the airplane crash that killed Jessica Neeson revealed 131 near-misses between aircraft in the past 10 years.

The Civil Aviation Authority figures show a marked increase in the number of reported near-misses between all aircraft in New Zealand since 2000, from commercial airliners to light aircraft.

Between 1990 and 1999 there were 17 reported near-misses, three of which involved training aircraft. In the period since 2000, there have been 131 near-misses, 60 of which involved training aircraft.

Flight training hours have doubled in the past 15 years, to nearly 300,000 hours per year.

The figures have come to light as part of a Transport Accident Investigation Commission inquiry into the mid-air collision that killed flight instructor Ms Neeson, 27, and flying student Patricia Smallman, 64.

Their Cessna 152 and another plane collided on July 26, near Feilding Aerodrome. The pilot in the other plane managed to land safely.

The initial facts of the accident were laid out in an interim factual report, released on Thursday. An investigation will now be conducted into mid-air collisions and near misses, the standard of pilot training, and air traffic services at uncontrolled aerodromes, of which Feilding is one.

Aviation Industry Association chief executive Irene King said it was a pity the inquiry was being called after the crash had happened – but she welcomed any changes that would improve safety.

The industry had long been debating the issue of pilot training safety, and the increasing number of trainee pilots using the same airspace. It could be time for an overhaul in legislation, she said.

"Someone has to sit down and do quite a bit of analysis. It may be rules, it may be operating procedures or looking at how we address these systematic failures on a daily basis."

A Civil Aviation Authority spokesman said the high near-miss figures primarily reflected the growth of the flight training sector.

"The raw number is more a reflection of the increase in training activity and the pleasing willingness of pilots to report incidents, which has not always been the case," he said.

The authority was aware of the increases in flight training activity and the stresses this placed on the airspace system.

Ian McClelland, the investigator in charge of the Transport Accident Investigation Commission inquiry, said staff would be digging into all available data on reported near-misses to find out how bad the problem was.


We need to define what people mean by near-misses; is it an infringement of the rules or is it `oh my goodness, that was too close'."

The full report is expected to be finished by May 2011.

Associate Transport Minister and Otaki MP Nathan Guy could not be contacted for comment.

Incidents claim seven

There have been seven deaths since 2000 in four mid-air collisions in the Manawatu-Kapiti Coast regions – all involving training aircraft.

In February 2006, Massey University aviation students Brandon James Gedge, 20, of Tauranga, and Dae Jin Hwang, 27, of West Auckland, were found dead in their cockpits after their single-engine Cherokee Warrior trainer planes crashed onto farmland after a mid-air collision near Shannon.

In February 2008, Palmerston North pilot Dave Fielding, 30, the base manager of The Square Trust rescue helicopter, died when the Helipro helicopter, in which he was an examiner, and a Cessna plane collided in mid-air over Paraparaumu. The Cessna's pilot, Raumati schoolboy Bevan Hookway, 17, and trainee helicopter pilot James Taylor, 19, of Waikanae, were also killed. Jessica Neeson, 27, and Patricia Smallman, 64, died when their Cessna 152 collided with another above Feilding Aerodrome. The pilot of the other plane survived.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/4191484/Marked-increase-in-mid-air-near-misses

[nitpicker1]

Helicopter crash in Kaituna Valley
Pilot survives helicopter crash
The Press Last updated
14:07 05/10/2010

A helicopter pilot is in a stable condition after crash-landing on a remote Banks Peninsula ridge this morning.

Emergency services were notified of the crash between the Kaituna Valley and McQueens Pass, near Mt Herbert, about 8am today.

The pilot, the sole occupant of the privately-owned Robinson 22 helicopter, suffered moderate back injuries.

Westpac rescue helicopter pilot Stuart Farquhar said the man attempted an emergency landing after his helicopter suffered a mechanical failure.

He clipped the helicopter's rotors on a rise before crash-landing on a four-wheel-drive track on a ridge, in the middle of a pine plantation.

``It was a hard landing... but other than that it was quite a successful emergency procedure,'' Mr Farquhar said.

Simon Duncan, general manager of Garden City Helicopters, which operates the Westpac rescue helicopter service, said the man managed to get out of the wreckage and call another pilot on his cellphone to raise the alarm.

``He then realised his back was badly injured when he fell to the ground as he got out of the aircraft. He lay beside it until we got there,'' Mr Duncan said.

The helicopter's emergency beacon was ``smashed beyond repair'' in the crash, but rescuers were able to call the injured pilot's cellphone to get a rough location of the crash site.

``He was able to try and describe where he was but the description wasn't very clear because the crash was located amongst some trees.''

Mr Duncan said the crew was trained to know what to look for and found the crashed aircraft.

``They know how to look for telltale signs of brush moved apart and things like that.''

St John ambulance paramedics attended to the man before he was winched out on a stretcher.

He was flown to Christchurch Hospital to be treated for moderate back injuries.

A CDHB spokesperson said the man was in a stable condition in the hospital's emergency department.

Mr Farquhar said the helicopter's landing skids were splayed out and the blades and tail boom were bent.

``The helicopter's not in good condition, but I've certainly seen worse.''

The Civil Aviation Authority would investigate.

The Robinson R22 is a two-seater, single-engine light utility helicopter.

- with NZPA

http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/christchurch/4197640/Helicopter-crash-in-Kaituna-Valley

[nitpicker1]

'Big bang' in plane scare
The Press
09:55 21/10/2010S

Jetstar has denied claims that flames were seen coming from an engine of one of its aircraft in an incident that one witness says left flight attendants in tears.

Were you on the flight? Email reporters@press.co.nz or call 03 9432 827.

The airline's Christchurch to Sydney flight - JQ150 - was forced to land with just one engine about 4.30pm (Australian time) on Tuesday.

No-one was injured, the spokeswoman said.

New Zealander Amanda Tottle, of Christchurch, was one of the 118 passengers on board the Airbus A320.

She said nearby passengers reported flames and dark smoke coming from one of the engines.

Tottle, who was sitting near the damaged engine, said the incident started "with a big loud bang", which shook the aircraft.

"Suddenly there was this big loud bang and the guy sitting in front of me called over the stewardess and said there were flames and black smoke coming from the engine," she said.

Tottle said the flight attendant then told the pilot.

"We had the stewardesses continually running across to look at the engine and asking people what they saw . . . Some of the stewardesses were up the back in tears . . . and I think that worried some people."

A Jetstar spokesman denied the engine was on fire but said it was possible it produced smoke.

"Our understanding is that there was no fire coming out of the engines," he said.

The spokesman said pilots shut down the engine just out of Sydney and told air traffic staff of the situation. Fire crews were on standby when the jet landed.

- Sydney Morning Herald

http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/4255988/Big-bang-in-plane-scare

[nitpicker1]

http://xtranewscommunity2.smfforfree.com/index.php/topic,2036.0.html


and

Pair survive plane crash near Ohakune BY ANTONIO BRADLEY - The Dominion Post Last updated 11:03 26/10/2010SharePrint Text Size Relevant offers
 Two people have survived a plane crash east of Ohakune this morning.

Their Cessna was found upside down by firefighters minutes after they received a call from a cellphone about 10:30am, a Fire Service spokesman said.

The two people appear to be "OK", police said.

The crash site is east of Ohakune on Dreadnought Rd near the intersection of Mangateitei Rd.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/4272566/Pair-survive-plane-crash-near-Ohakune

[nitpicker1]

 

Union blames safety issues on outsourcing
Andrew Heasley and Aaron Cook
November 5, 2010

THE aircraft engineers' union has accused Qantas of putting profit before maintenance following the latest in a series of incidents.

While emphasising that it was not specifically blaming yesterday's Airbus A380 engine explosion on maintenance issues, the union sought to link a recent spate of incidents to outsourcing.

Licenced Aircraft Engineers Association secretary Steve Purvinas said the frequency of maintenance incidents on Qantas planes started escalating three or four years ago. ''There's a reason for that. It's because they're focused primarily on how much profit they can deliver their shareholders, not how much quality, when it comes to maintenance, they can deliver [to] their customers.''

He claimed the Lufthansa maintenance facility in Germany where the A380 involved in yesterday's incident was serviced three weeks ago had never done heavy maintenance on one of the super-jumbos before. ''That doesn't mean this incident was caused by something that went wrong in the heavy maintenance check. It's still under investigation,'' he said.

But he pointed the finger at outsourcing. ''We know that the dramatic increase in the number of safety incidents involving Qantas jets coincides with an increase in the amount of work that is no longer carried out in-house,'' he said.

"In the last 10 years, Qantas has shut down every in-house engine shop in Australia. It is little wonder safety standards are dropping."

The union's federal president, Paul Cousins, said photos of the damaged engine casing from yesterday's incident was evidence that an explosion took place that could have damaged the wing and flight controls of the aircraft. This would have made it difficult to land the plane.

Aircraft engineer Peter Marosszeky of the University of New South Wales said the appearance of the aircraft suggested a chain reaction leading to massive engine failure.

A dark patch near the top of the exposed turbine was probably a hole caused by the ejection of a turbine blade from the engine, and heat marks on the white casing showed that the engine had overheated. ''I rarely ever see a failure like this on any engine,'' he said.

Mr Cousins said that after the damage occurred, the flight crew would have received warning of excessive vibration. They would then have followed strict procedures to shut off fuel supply and electricity to the engine to prevent the chance of further damage.

''This is where a pilot's instinct takes over as well,'' he said.

Mr Cousins estimated that fewer than 5 per cent of engine failures involve debris leaving the casing of the engine.

The cause of the failure may have been a fracture to a turbine blade or other part caused by wear and tear, a bird strike or excessive heating.

''Once they have a fracture and a breakage occurs they can certainly unbalance the engine and cause it to fail,'' he said.

The engine that exploded yesterday on Qantas' two-year-old A380 was fitted to the aircraft in February, the airline confirmed. The engine had been overhauled in Hong Kong by Rolls-Royce.

Qantas spokesman Simon Rushton said the engine had also been checked to comply with a current airworthiness directive issued by European and Australian air safety regulators, who had warned of potential premature wear.

Mr Rushton said it was not unusual for a young aircraft to have an engine replaced so soon. Intervals between services were shorter when the engine was new, so newer engines were continually coming in and out of service, he said.

The engine, a Rolls Royce RB211 Trent 900, also underwent basic checks as part of the heavy maintenance at Lufthansa's A380 maintenance hangar in Frankfurt, he said.


http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-news/union-blames-safety-issues-on-outsourcing-20101105-17g08.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Airline passengers face delays following mid-air A380 drama
By Eveline Jenkin
Updated 12:50 PM Friday Nov 5, 2010 

Kiwi passengers transiting through Australia and Singapore may be subjected to some delays as airlines perform engineering checks on their A380 aircraft.

Qantas has grounded all of its Airbus A380 planes after an engine failure on one of its planes caused an emergency landing in Singapore yesterday.

The aircraft, which had 459 people on board, hit trouble soon after taking off from Singapore's Changi Airport, en route to Sydney.

Part of the engine's casing disintegrated as the plane flew over Indonesia, forcing it to turn back.

Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce says the airline is making safety its number one priority, and services will be suspended until the airline is completely confident standards have been met.

Sky News is reporting that Qantas flights between Los Angeles, Sydney and Melbourne have been delayed by 24 hours.

Flights between Australia and the USA affected by the delay include:

* QF93 between Melbourne and Los Angeles
* QF12 and QF108 between Los Angeles and Sydney
* QF94 between Los Angeles and Melbourne

The London to Singapore leg of a Qantas flight between the British capital and Melbourne (QF10) is today being operated by a B777 aircraft chartered from British Airways. A decision on how passengers will be transferred from Singapore on to Melbourne is due to be taken later today.

Qantas said all affected customers had been contacted regarding the flight changes.

The other airlines which operate A380s are Singapore Airlines, Emirates, Air France and Lufthansa. A total of 37 of the giant aircraft are in operation around the world.

Emirates is the only airline which operates an A380 service to New Zealand. It flies daily between Auckland, Sydney and Dubai.

However the Dubai-based airline said it had no plans to ground its fleet following yesterday's incident.

"All of our Emirates A380s are operating as scheduled. Emirates has 13 A380s in operation, powered by Engine Alliance GP7200 engines. The safety of our passengers and crew is always of paramount importance," an Emirates spokesperson told the Gulf News website.

A statement on Singapore Airlines' website said the company had been advised by its engine manufacturer Rolls Royce and aircraft manufacturer Airbus to conduct precautionary technical checks on all its A380 aircraft, following yesterday's incident.

Singapore Airlines' New Zealand manager of passenger marketing, Murray Wild, said the airline's flights into and out-of New Zealand were operating as normal.

"Some of our passengers leaving today and over the next couple of days may experience some small delays with connecting to A380 services from Singapore on to Europe, but we haven't grounded our fleet," he said.

"All we're doing is conducting additional engineering checks on the aircraft."

Mr Wild said the airline's A380 flight between Singapore and Zurich last night was delayed for around two and a half hours while precautionary checks were carried out.

He said affected passengers were being kept informed of developments.

Lufthansa and Air France are also carrying out checks on their A380 aircraft.

- with NEWSTALK ZB

By Eveline Jenkin

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/travel/news/article.cfm?c_id=7&objectid=10685526

[nitpicker1]

...Mr Joyce was adamant that the incident was not a maintenance issue, saying that over 90 per cent of maintenance last year was done onshore...
http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/qantas-rejects-union-maintenance-concerns-following-dramatic-mid-air-explosion-on-a380/story-e6freon6-1225948363120

...Mr Joyce said the explosion in engine two also affected engine one, which was unable to be switched off following the aircraft's emergency landing at Singapore's Changi Airport...

http://www.theage.com.au/travel/travel-news/a380-engine-explosion-qantas-boss-blasts-offshore-maintenance-claim-20101105-17gcu.html?from=age_sb

[Crusader]

That aircraft has a total of four engines. Losing one is not a big drama. There are still three others.

[nitpicker1]

That aircraft has a total of four engines. Losing one is not a big drama. There are still three others.

the explosion in engine two also affected engine one, which was unable to be switched off when it landed.

 Nemmind, there were still 2 others

[Crusader]

That aircraft has a total of four engines. Losing one is not a big drama. There are still three others.

the explosion in engine two also affected engine one, which was unable to be switched off when it landed.

 Nemmind, there were still 2 others

A P3K Orion is quite capable of carrying out a SAR on only two engines when the other two pack in.

[nitpicker1]

That aircraft has a total of four engines. Losing one is not a big drama. There are still three others.

the explosion in engine two also affected engine one, which was unable to be switched off when it landed.

 Nemmind, there were still 2 others

A P3K Orion is quite capable of carrying out a SAR on only two engines when the other two pack in.

  maybe ya should tell the Defence Dept to reduce expenses by taking a coupla engines off yr P3K Orions ... save on fuel too

[nitpicker1]

Saturday November 6, 2010
Engine problems hit second Qantas aircraft
By Vivek Prakash and Michael Perry

SINGAPORE/SYDNEY (Reuters) - Engine trouble forced a Qantas Airways Ltd jet to make an emergency landing in Singapore on Friday, less than 48 hours after another of the Australian carrier's aircraft had to land prematurely because its engine blew up.

The Sydney-bound Boeing 747-400 aircraft, with 412 people on board, returned to the airport 20 minutes after takeoff due to "an issue with one of its engines," Qantas Airways Ltd said in a statement.

That came a day after a Qantas Airbus A380 jet was forced to make an emergency landing after one of its four Rolls-Royce Plc engines appeared to break apart in flight, scattering debris over an Indonesian island.

"Around 20 minutes into the flight we heard a loud bang," Ranjan Sivagnanasundaram, an Australian citizen in his early 50s who was on Friday's flight, told Reuters. "It was a very big shock to us, especially after what happened yesterday."

The Boeing Co aircraft also had been equipped with Rolls-Royce engines.

Officials at British engine-maker Rolls-Royce did not return calls seeking comment.

The earlier incident saw Qantas ground its fleet of six A380s pending safety checks that will take 24 to 48 hours and led other airlines to check their own A380s.

"We believe this is probably, most likely, a material failure or some sort of design issue," Qantas Chief Executive Alan Joyce told a news conference in Sydney. "If we don't find any adverse findings in those checks, the aircraft will resume operations."

Separately, a European Union air safety body confirmed it told airlines in August to make checks after finding "wear, beyond engine manual limits," on the type of Rolls-Royce engines fitted to the Qantas jet and some other A380s.

The incidents could provide Rolls' rivals General Electric Co and the Pratt & Whitney unit of United Technologies Corp with a chance to grab market share from the No. 2 engine-maker.

"Things move slowly in the engine business, but there is no question that you have a series of events that really put Rolls-Royce's reputation at risk," said Richard Aboulafia, vice president at aviation consultancy Teal Group.

GE is the world's largest maker of jet engines, Pratt comes in third.

AIRLINES INSPECT A380S

The A380 engine failure on Thursday was the biggest incident to date for the world's largest passenger plane, which went into service in 2007.

Rolls-Royce and Airbus parent EADS told operators of the Rolls-equipped A380 jets to have them inspected.

The Engine Alliance, a joint venture between GE and Pratt that makes a rival engine for the A380 told users: "The EA is not recommending engine inspections as our design is unique ... and thus has no correlation with the RR engine."

Singapore Airlines Ltd resumed flying its 11 A380s on Friday, lifting a grounding order imposed after the first incident.

Deutsche Lufthansa AG said it had withdrawn an A380 from a Frankfurt-Johannesburg flight because it had not had enough time to check the engines before departure.

Passengers who had been on the first flight said a second engine on the stricken Qantas aircraft had failed to shut down once the jet was on the tarmac, sparking fears it could ignite spilling fuel.

Passengers said after landing they had been told of the dangers of using any electronic device as fire fighters sprayed the aircraft, which was leaking fuel from a hole in the wing.

"Obviously in the back of your mind you are concerned about a very hot engine next to leaking fuel," passenger Christopher Lee said. "Obviously, you are in a state of anxiety."

Qantas CEO Joyce said the second engine could have been harmed by the mishap to the first engine, which caused parts to fly off.

Aviation experts said the first plane being able to land despite the engine mishap illustrated the safety of modern aircraft.

"The fact that it survived the damage is a credit to the design. Twenty years ago that would probably have taken the aircraft out of the sky," said John Page, senior lecturer in Aerospace Engineering at the University of New South Wales.

Airbus sales chief John Leahy said he had not received complaints from airlines about the A380's safety.

"We have to find out the reason for the engine failure," he told Reuters in Paris.

Qantas said its engineers, along with those from Airbus and Rolls-Royce, were working to determine what went wrong.

"Rolls-Royce have identified a number of potential areas," said Joyce. "This issue does not relate to maintenance."

Rolls-Royce has maintained the engines since they were installed on the aircraft, he said. The company gets a goodly proportion of its revenues from such service contracts.

ROLLS SHARES SLIDE AGAIN

European plane-maker Airbus and Rolls-Royce lost over $1.5 billion in combined market value on Thursday

EADS shares were flat on Friday, after Thursday's 4 percent fall, while Rolls-Royce shares fell a further 3.3 percent to 601 pence after a 5 percent slide the previous day. Boeing was up 0.7 percent at $71.37 on the New York Stock Exchange.

Qantas shares ended down 1 percent at A$2.86 on Friday, underperforming the broader Australian market, which advanced 1.2 percent to a six-month high.

Commonwealth Bank aviation analyst Matt Crowe said there was unlikely to be long-term damage to its reputation, as investors had tended to move on from previous safety incidents, which have never resulted in a fatal crash for Qantas.

(Additional reporting by Scott Malone in Boston, Victoria Thieberger in Melbourne and Kevin Lim and Harry Suhartono in Singapore; writing by Scott Malone; editing by Mark Bendeich, Dan Lalor, Gerald E. McCormick and Andre Grenon)

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/11/6/worldupdates/2010-11-06T015756Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-527070-1&sec=Worldupdates

[nitpicker1]

 

Pilots getting a bit nervous?

Qantas passengers arrive in Sydney

Updated: 08:52, Sunday November 7, 2010


Some of the passengers who were onboard the second Qantas plane to suffer engine problems have arrived back in Sydney.

The Boeing 747-400 was forced to turn back to Singapore shortly after taking off on Friday night.

Meanwhile, a third Qantas aircraft, a Boeing 747, had to make an emergency landing at London's Heathrow airport late yesterday, after fears of a hydraulic fuel problem.

The hydraulics were later found to be working normally.

http://www.skynews.com.au/national/article.aspx?id=536114&vId=1911416

[nitpicker1]

Now it's a tossup between ash and industrial sabotage as the cause?

Qantas - more Airbus engines have issues
Mon, 08 Nov 2010 8:26a.m.

Qantas’ return to action will likely be further delayed after three more Airbus A380 Rolls Royce engines were found to have issues.

The engines, on aircraft in Sydney and Los Angeles, have been taken for inspection following tests recommended by Rolls Royce.

It looks increasingly unlikely that the grounding of the fleet, which affected 1300 passengers, will finish after the 48-hour period specified by chief executive Alan Joyce on Friday.

Thousands of Qantas customers would experience delays as the company took an “ultra-conservative approach”, said spokesperson Simon Rushton.

Qantas would not be specific about the nature of the issues.

'It's things that might apply to different components. I can't be more specific than that,'' said Mr Rushton.

3 News

http://www.3news.co.nz/Qantas---more-Airbus-engines-have-issues/tabid/417/articleID/185179/Default.aspx

[nitpicker1]

Dreamliner nightmare: flights halted
AP
Last updated 13:41 11/11/2010

Boeing has stopped test flights of its new 787 passenger jet while it determines what caused smoke in the cabin and forced one of the planes to make an emergency landing.

On Tuesday, a 787 on a 6-hour test flight had to make an emergency landing in Texas after the crew reported smoke in the rear of the plane.

Boeing spokeswoman Loretta Gunter said Wednesday the company will ground its fleet of test planes while technicians analyze data from the stricken plane to pinpoint the cause of the smoke.

The technicians will take "as much time as they need," Gunter said, but she held out hope test flights could resume as early as Wednesday if the problem is quickly identified. The Federal Aviation Administration is also investigating the incident.

This marks the latest setback for a plane that is already running about three years behind schedule. Boeing had hoped to deliver the first 787, which it calls the Dreamliner, to Japan's All Nippon Airways in the first quarter of next year.

Boeing shares fell $2.01, (US) or 2.9 percent, in trading yesterday morning, making Boeing the worst performer in the Dow Jones industrial average.

Tuesday's test plane took off from Yuma, Arizona, and flew a horseshoe-shaped route north to Montana, then east, then south to Texas. The pilot declared an emergency and landed the plane at an airport in Laredo, Texas, along the Mexico border.

According to Boeing, 42 people were aboard, including the crew and technicians who were performing a test to check the efficiency of a system used to pump nitrogen gas to the fuel tanks to reduce the risk that fuel vapors could catch fire.

Boeing said one person suffered minor injuries when the crew slid down emergency exit chutes.

Gunter said the pilot never lost primary flight displays during the incident, as some news organisations had reported Tuesday. She said information from the plane was sent for analysis in Seattle, where Boeing's commercial aircraft division is based.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/international/4331854/Dreamliner-nightmare-flights-halted

[nitpicker1]

http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-news/boeing-loses-eight-orders-for-787s-20101112-17poy.html


http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-news/qantas-grounding-could-last-for-weeks-20101111-17pg7.html?from=smh_sb


http://www.smh.com.au/travel/rollsroyce-finds-answer-to-engine-failure-20101112-17qqb.html

[nitpicker1]

'Panicky pilot' caused Indian passenger jet plunge
AFP
November 30, 2010, 1:56 pm

An Indian co-pilot sent an international passenger jet into a terrifying nosedive when he adjusted his seat and accidentally pushed the control column forward, an official report revealed Monday.

The clumsy officer then panicked and was unable to let the captain, who had gone on a toilet break, back into the cockpit as the plane plunged 7,000 feet (2,000 metres).

The captain only saved the Boeing 737 aircraft after using an emergency code to get through the cockpit door and take the controls back from the co-pilot, the report by India's Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said.

The 25-year-old co-pilot told the inquiry he had "got in a panic situation couldn't control the aircraft, neither open the cockpit door and answer the cabin call."

When the captain, 39, got back into the cockpit, he shouted "What are you doing?" as cabin crew ordered the 113 terrified passengers to fasten their seatbelts.

The report said there was "complete commotion" in the cabin and that passengers were "very much scared and were shouting loudly" as the plane dived steeply and boxes and liquor bottles fell into the aisle.

The Air India Express flight was flying at 37,000 feet from Dubai to Pune airport, in western India, on May 26 when the near-disaster occurred. No one was injured.

According to the report, the nosedive was "due to the copilot adjusting his seat forward and inadvertently pressing the control column forward."

The plane fell 2,000 feet before the captain got back into the cockpit -- and another 5,000 feet as he struggled with the panicking co-pilot.

"There was application of opposite force by pilot and copilot on control column," the report said.

It added that the copilot "probably had no clue to tackle this kind of emergency."

"Appropriate action shall be taken against the involved crew," it concluded.

After the incident, the captain tried to calm passengers by telling them that the aircraft had hit an air pocket.

Four days earlier, another Air India Express flight had crashed at Mangalore airport, killing 158 people. A leaked report blamed a sleepy pilot.

http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/more-footage-pike-explosions-released-3933946

[nitpicker1]

Queenstown woman thrown off airplane
02 Dec 2010

A Queenstown couple was warned by local cops about a barney that started at Auckland Airport – with the pair forced to fly home on different planes.

The 39-year-old woman and her male partner, 59, began arguing at the Auckland terminal on Monday and the aggro continued on the aircraft before take-off.

“The female was removed from the plane and she travelled to Queenstown on a later flight,” constable Dan Andrew says.

“After they’d both arrived back, they were spoken to the same evening by local officers about their behaviour.”

http://www.scene.co.nz/queenstown-woman-thrown-off-airplane/282749a1.page

[nitpicker1]

Flight attendant wins back job for second time
Published: 9:52AM Wednesday December 08, 2010 Source: NZPA

http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/flight-attendant-wins-back-job-second-time-3953368

[Kiwithrottlejockey]