Plane Crashes
- Thread starter Cyre2067
- Start date
LIVE: Delta #DL219 Copenhagen to New York JFK (Boeing 767-300ER N195DN) has just diverted to Syracuse due to storms over the NYC area. One of many holding or diverting. http://airportwebcams.net/syracuse-hancock-airport-webcam/ …
12:52 PM - 17 Jul 2018
INCIDENT: JASDF E-2C Hawkeye AWACS aircraft burst tyres on landing at Naha, Okinawa (also Naha Air Base) at 1740JST/0840UTC today, forcing runway closure. Flights diverted to Kagoshima, Nagasaki, Miyako, Ishigaki, Kobe & others: https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2018/07/d28b1c1cfb26-naha-airport-closed-after-sdf-aircraft-blocks-runway.html … | http://airportwebcams.net/naha-airport-webcam/ …
6:00 AM - 17 Jul 2018
https://twitter.com/AirportWebcams/status/1019308895947444224
12:52 PM - 17 Jul 2018
INCIDENT: JASDF E-2C Hawkeye AWACS aircraft burst tyres on landing at Naha, Okinawa (also Naha Air Base) at 1740JST/0840UTC today, forcing runway closure. Flights diverted to Kagoshima, Nagasaki, Miyako, Ishigaki, Kobe & others: https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2018/07/d28b1c1cfb26-naha-airport-closed-after-sdf-aircraft-blocks-runway.html … | http://airportwebcams.net/naha-airport-webcam/ …
https://twitter.com/AirportWebcams/status/10192050977027809296:00 AM - 17 Jul 2018
[B]Airport Webcams[/B] @[B]AirportWebcams[/B]
LIVE: Geneva inbounds regulated due to storms in the area. Some are diverting. Aegean
https://twitter.com/AirportWebcams/status/102036235067376025710:38 AM - 20 Jul 2018
[B]Scott Bateman[/B] @[B]jumbo747pilot[/B]
Large fire near to
Scott Bateman on Twitter
At a Glance:
- At least 49 people are injured after an Embraer E190 aircraft from Mexican airline Aeromexico crashed in a field.
- The aircraft was transporting 97 passengers and four crewmembers.
- Mexican officials say there were no immediate reports of fatalities.
- Officials and witnesses say the aircraft was trying to take off during a storm.
Last edited:
Snips:
Eighty-five injured in Aeromexico plane crash in Mexico, authorities say
About 85 people were injured on Tuesday, some seriously, when an Aeromexico-operated Embraer passenger jet crashed just after takeoff in Mexico's state of Durango, but authorities said there were no fatalities.
The operator of Durango airport, Grupo Aeroportuario Centro Norte, attributed the crash to bad weather conditions, citing preliminary reports.
The mid-sized jet was almost full, with 97 passengers and four crew members aboard, when it came down at around 4 p.m. local time (2100 GMT), Gerardo Ruiz Esparza, Mexico's minister for communications and transportation, wrote on Twitter.
"The plane was taking off," Governor Jose Rosas Aispuro told Mexican television, adding that witnesses told him there was "a bang" and then without warning the plane was on the ground.
TV images showed the severely damaged body of the plane emerging from scrubland and a column of smoke rising into the sky.
The plane made an emergency landing about six miles (10 km) from the airport shortly after taking off, Alejandro Cardoza, a spokesman for the state's civil protection agency, said on local television.
Cardoza said in an interview that around 85 people had been injured, adding that a fire resulting from the accident had been put out and there were no reports of burn victims. "Many managed to leave the plane on foot," he said.
The Mexican airline said on Twitter that flight number 2431 was an Embraer 190 and was bound for Mexico City when it crashed.
Embraer did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto wrote on Twitter that he had instructed the ministries of defense, civil protection and transportation to respond to the crash
PEDRO PARDO | AFP | Getty Images
An airplane of Aeromexico sits on the tarmac at Mexico City's international airport, on November 28, 2017.
Passengers on board an Aeromexico plane escaped through a hole in the fuselage as the aircraft was engulfed in flames after crashing in bad weather in Mexico’s central state of Durango.
One passenger, identified as Jackeline Flores, said she and her daughter escaped from a hole in the fuselage as smoke and flames filled the aircraft. The plane had barely left the ground in heavy rain when it came down, she said, adding that her passport and documents burned in the fire. “I feel blessed and grateful to God,” she said.
“A little girl who left the plane was crying because her legs were burned,” said Flores, who said she was Mexican but lived in Bogota, Colombia.
Durango Governor José Rosas Aispuro also said a gust of wind rocked the plane before it plunged suddenly, citing air traffic control at the airport. The plane’s left wing hit the ground, knocking off two engines, before it came to a halt 300 meters (328 yards) from the runway, he told a news conference.
Passengers were able to escape on the plane’s emergency slides before it was engulfed in flames, he said. The pilot was the most severely hurt but was in a stable condition.
The civil protection agency said 37 people were hospitalized, while the state health department said two passengers were in a critical condition.
The United States will send two people to assist the Mexican investigative team, a U.S aviation official said.
Flight number 2431 was an Embraer 190 bound for Mexico City when it crashed, Aeromexico said on Twitter. A spokesman for the Mexican airline declined to disclose the passenger list or the nationalities of those on board.
Among the passengers was Chicago-born priest Esequiel Sanchez of the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, according to a statement by the Archdiocese of Chicago.
A U.S. embassy spokesman said he did not currently have confirmation of whether any American citizens were involved in the incident.
Aeromexico has not had any fatal crashes in the past 10 years.
A Mexican pilots association said last year there were 66 accidents and 173 incidents in Mexican aviation, saying the number was “worrying” and calling for more supervision of flying schools, more funds for maintenance and oversight of fleets, and shorter flying hours for pilots.
The Embraer 190 was involved in one fatal crash when a Henan Airlines flight overshot a Chinese runway in 2010 and another in Africa in 2013 when a LAM Airlines pilot deliberately crashed the plane during a hostage-taking incident, according to a summary by the Aviation Safety Network.
Embraer has delivered more than 1,400 E-Jets.
Aeromexico leased the 10-year-old aircraft involved in Tuesday’s incident from Republic Airlines in the United States in 2014, according to data on Planespotters.net.
Embraer said late on Tuesday it had sent a team of technicians to the scene of the accident and stood ready to support the investigation. The aircraft, the serial number of which was 190-173, was delivered in May 2008, the company said in a statement.
Passengers 'grateful to God' after plane crashes in Mexico with no...
Translated from Spanish by Microsoft
This video reports to us the sky of#Durango during the plane crash #Vuelo2431 in #Aeroméxico which it collapsed in Guadalupe Victoria airport in Durango. You can notice the strong storm that fell right between 3pm and 4pm
Hmmm?
Eighty-five injured in Aeromexico plane crash in Mexico, authorities say
About 85 people were injured on Tuesday, some seriously, when an Aeromexico-operated Embraer passenger jet crashed just after takeoff in Mexico's state of Durango, but authorities said there were no fatalities.
The operator of Durango airport, Grupo Aeroportuario Centro Norte, attributed the crash to bad weather conditions, citing preliminary reports.
The mid-sized jet was almost full, with 97 passengers and four crew members aboard, when it came down at around 4 p.m. local time (2100 GMT), Gerardo Ruiz Esparza, Mexico's minister for communications and transportation, wrote on Twitter.
"The plane was taking off," Governor Jose Rosas Aispuro told Mexican television, adding that witnesses told him there was "a bang" and then without warning the plane was on the ground.
TV images showed the severely damaged body of the plane emerging from scrubland and a column of smoke rising into the sky.
The plane made an emergency landing about six miles (10 km) from the airport shortly after taking off, Alejandro Cardoza, a spokesman for the state's civil protection agency, said on local television.
Cardoza said in an interview that around 85 people had been injured, adding that a fire resulting from the accident had been put out and there were no reports of burn victims. "Many managed to leave the plane on foot," he said.
The Mexican airline said on Twitter that flight number 2431 was an Embraer 190 and was bound for Mexico City when it crashed.
Embraer did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto wrote on Twitter that he had instructed the ministries of defense, civil protection and transportation to respond to the crash
PEDRO PARDO | AFP | Getty Images
An airplane of Aeromexico sits on the tarmac at Mexico City's international airport, on November 28, 2017.
Passengers on board an Aeromexico plane escaped through a hole in the fuselage as the aircraft was engulfed in flames after crashing in bad weather in Mexico’s central state of Durango.
One passenger, identified as Jackeline Flores, said she and her daughter escaped from a hole in the fuselage as smoke and flames filled the aircraft. The plane had barely left the ground in heavy rain when it came down, she said, adding that her passport and documents burned in the fire. “I feel blessed and grateful to God,” she said.
“A little girl who left the plane was crying because her legs were burned,” said Flores, who said she was Mexican but lived in Bogota, Colombia.
Durango Governor José Rosas Aispuro also said a gust of wind rocked the plane before it plunged suddenly, citing air traffic control at the airport. The plane’s left wing hit the ground, knocking off two engines, before it came to a halt 300 meters (328 yards) from the runway, he told a news conference.
Passengers were able to escape on the plane’s emergency slides before it was engulfed in flames, he said. The pilot was the most severely hurt but was in a stable condition.
The civil protection agency said 37 people were hospitalized, while the state health department said two passengers were in a critical condition.
The United States will send two people to assist the Mexican investigative team, a U.S aviation official said.
Flight number 2431 was an Embraer 190 bound for Mexico City when it crashed, Aeromexico said on Twitter. A spokesman for the Mexican airline declined to disclose the passenger list or the nationalities of those on board.
Among the passengers was Chicago-born priest Esequiel Sanchez of the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, according to a statement by the Archdiocese of Chicago.
A U.S. embassy spokesman said he did not currently have confirmation of whether any American citizens were involved in the incident.
Aeromexico has not had any fatal crashes in the past 10 years.
A Mexican pilots association said last year there were 66 accidents and 173 incidents in Mexican aviation, saying the number was “worrying” and calling for more supervision of flying schools, more funds for maintenance and oversight of fleets, and shorter flying hours for pilots.
The Embraer 190 was involved in one fatal crash when a Henan Airlines flight overshot a Chinese runway in 2010 and another in Africa in 2013 when a LAM Airlines pilot deliberately crashed the plane during a hostage-taking incident, according to a summary by the Aviation Safety Network.
Embraer has delivered more than 1,400 E-Jets.
Aeromexico leased the 10-year-old aircraft involved in Tuesday’s incident from Republic Airlines in the United States in 2014, according to data on Planespotters.net.
Embraer said late on Tuesday it had sent a team of technicians to the scene of the accident and stood ready to support the investigation. The aircraft, the serial number of which was 190-173, was delivered in May 2008, the company said in a statement.
Passengers 'grateful to God' after plane crashes in Mexico with no...
Translated from Spanish by Microsoft
This video reports to us the sky of
Hmmm?
angelburst29
The Living Force
31.07.2018 - Pilot Dies in Flaming Wreckage After horrific Plane Crash in Brazil
Pilot Dies in Flaming Wreckage After Horrific Plane Crash in Brazil (VIDEO)
According to the G1 News website, the founders of the Videplast plastic company were among the passengers on board.
A crash of a small Beechcraft King Air plane was accidentally filmed at Sao Paulo's Campo de Marte airfield on Sunday.
According to the agency operating the airport, all five passengers and one crew member survived the incident, however, the pilot Antonio Traversi died in the flaming wreckage. His body was found by the firefighters, who rescued the survivors after the incident.
Published on Jul 31, 2018 (1: 16 min.)
02.08.2018 - 'Somebody Help!': Plane Evacuated as Charger Erupts in Flames ( Photos - Video)
‘Somebody Help!': Plane Evacuated as Charger Erupts in Flames (VIDEOS, PHOTOS)
Ryanair passengers had a rude awakening on Tuesday when they were suddenly forced off their Ibiza-bound flight after a traveler's portable phone charger burst into flames before takeoff.
The incident took place at roughly 5:30 p.m. local time at Barcelona's El Prat Airport, just minutes before the Boeing 737 was due to depart for the party island. Footage of the growing flames was uploaded to Instagram on Wednesday by passenger Anthony Carrio.
The video begins at the point when passengers are already frantically heading toward the emergency exits.
Carrio stated in his post that he'd extinguished the fire by simply dumping some water on it. "I've never seen so many people so scared in [their] life!" he wrote. "Portable charger blew up in the same row as I was sitting, everyone tries to run and all I do was put it out with water."
Additional footage from the scene shows passengers falling over each other as they slide down the plane's emergency chute. Although no medical attention was required due to the actual fire, some passengers did suffer slight burns from the chute.
According to The Sun, the ignited device belonged to a passenger from New Zealand.
In a statement released Tuesday, Ryanair indicated that the plane was immediately evacuated once flight staff were alerted to the incident, and the passengers were then relocated to the airport terminal.
Per Ryanair protocols, passengers are allowed to carry two spare lithium ion batteries in their carry-on luggage, but they must be "individually protected" to avoid any short circuits, the Independent reported.
Images taken once emergency officials responded to the scene show both the mobile phone and charger melted down and charred. Local media reports also indicate that the seat of the phone's owner showed had burns.
This incident comes a few weeks after another Ryanair flight was forced to make an emergency landing after dozens of passengers experienced bleeding from their ears. According to earlier reports, the injuries were caused after the cabin lost air pressure.
Pilot Dies in Flaming Wreckage After Horrific Plane Crash in Brazil (VIDEO)
According to the G1 News website, the founders of the Videplast plastic company were among the passengers on board.
A crash of a small Beechcraft King Air plane was accidentally filmed at Sao Paulo's Campo de Marte airfield on Sunday.
According to the agency operating the airport, all five passengers and one crew member survived the incident, however, the pilot Antonio Traversi died in the flaming wreckage. His body was found by the firefighters, who rescued the survivors after the incident.
02.08.2018 - 'Somebody Help!': Plane Evacuated as Charger Erupts in Flames ( Photos - Video)
‘Somebody Help!': Plane Evacuated as Charger Erupts in Flames (VIDEOS, PHOTOS)
Ryanair passengers had a rude awakening on Tuesday when they were suddenly forced off their Ibiza-bound flight after a traveler's portable phone charger burst into flames before takeoff.
The incident took place at roughly 5:30 p.m. local time at Barcelona's El Prat Airport, just minutes before the Boeing 737 was due to depart for the party island. Footage of the growing flames was uploaded to Instagram on Wednesday by passenger Anthony Carrio.
The video begins at the point when passengers are already frantically heading toward the emergency exits.
Carrio stated in his post that he'd extinguished the fire by simply dumping some water on it. "I've never seen so many people so scared in [their] life!" he wrote. "Portable charger blew up in the same row as I was sitting, everyone tries to run and all I do was put it out with water."
Additional footage from the scene shows passengers falling over each other as they slide down the plane's emergency chute. Although no medical attention was required due to the actual fire, some passengers did suffer slight burns from the chute.
According to The Sun, the ignited device belonged to a passenger from New Zealand.
In a statement released Tuesday, Ryanair indicated that the plane was immediately evacuated once flight staff were alerted to the incident, and the passengers were then relocated to the airport terminal.
Per Ryanair protocols, passengers are allowed to carry two spare lithium ion batteries in their carry-on luggage, but they must be "individually protected" to avoid any short circuits, the Independent reported.
Images taken once emergency officials responded to the scene show both the mobile phone and charger melted down and charred. Local media reports also indicate that the seat of the phone's owner showed had burns.
This incident comes a few weeks after another Ryanair flight was forced to make an emergency landing after dozens of passengers experienced bleeding from their ears. According to earlier reports, the injuries were caused after the cabin lost air pressure.
Flug AM2431: Flugzeug von Aeroméxico verunglückt | aeroTELEGRAPH
01.08.18.
Aeroméxico's flight AM2431 crashed on Tuesday afternoon (31 July) at about 4 pm local time at the Aeropuerto Internacional de Durango. Images from Mexico showed smoke rising from an area beyond the slope and a partially burned wreck. Aeroméxico confirmed the incident. "We are very sad and deeply touched," said company boss Andrés Conesa at a press conference.
The crashed Aeroméxico aircraft is an Embraer E190 that was supposed to fly from Durango in northern Mexico to Mexico City. On board were 97 passengers, two babies and four crew members. No casualties, many injured.
There were no casualties in the accident, but according to local reports, about 80 were injured, 18 of whom were hospitalized. Twelve of them are said to be in critical condition.
The reason for the accident is still unclear. As Governor José Rosas Aispuro explained in the meantime according to the newspaper El Universal, the Embraer E190 was apparently caught by a gust of wind when taking off. As a result, the plane with the left wing touched the ground. He then shot out of the piste. At the time of the disaster, Durango stormed. Brand broke out later.
A passenger told El Universal newspaper that after the evacuation, it took about three to four minutes for the machine to catch fire. During this time they would have moved away from the wreckage. He also speaks of a violent gust of wind. Other travelers Flight AM2431 report something that should have felt like a "lightning".
Czech Republic
American woman dragged off SFO-bound flight from Seoul [VIDEO]
"Self-upgrader" forcibly removed from Korean Air business class
Published on Aug 1, 2018
An American passenger with an economy seat delayed a flight when she insisted on being moved to business class.
01.08.18.
Aeroméxico's flight AM2431 crashed on Tuesday afternoon (31 July) at about 4 pm local time at the Aeropuerto Internacional de Durango. Images from Mexico showed smoke rising from an area beyond the slope and a partially burned wreck. Aeroméxico confirmed the incident. "We are very sad and deeply touched," said company boss Andrés Conesa at a press conference.
The crashed Aeroméxico aircraft is an Embraer E190 that was supposed to fly from Durango in northern Mexico to Mexico City. On board were 97 passengers, two babies and four crew members. No casualties, many injured.
There were no casualties in the accident, but according to local reports, about 80 were injured, 18 of whom were hospitalized. Twelve of them are said to be in critical condition.
The reason for the accident is still unclear. As Governor José Rosas Aispuro explained in the meantime according to the newspaper El Universal, the Embraer E190 was apparently caught by a gust of wind when taking off. As a result, the plane with the left wing touched the ground. He then shot out of the piste. At the time of the disaster, Durango stormed. Brand broke out later.
A passenger told El Universal newspaper that after the evacuation, it took about three to four minutes for the machine to catch fire. During this time they would have moved away from the wreckage. He also speaks of a violent gust of wind. Other travelers Flight AM2431 report something that should have felt like a "lightning".
Czech Republic
American woman dragged off SFO-bound flight from Seoul [VIDEO]
"Self-upgrader" forcibly removed from Korean Air business class
https://www.sfgate.com/chris-mcginnis/article/Woman-dragged-off-Korean-Air-seoul-13124658.phpPublished on Aug 1, 2018
An American passenger with an economy seat delayed a flight when she insisted on being moved to business class.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUyFnLH4e6U
By The Washington Post
Authorities have identified the man who stole a Horizon Air plane from an airport in Seattle, Washington, that ended with him crashing into an island.
The Horizon Air employee who commandeered an empty turboprop passenger plane at Seattle's main airport Friday night, flying it over Puget Sound before crashing it into a small island, has been identified as Richard Russell, authorities said.
Russell had been described as "suicidal."
The FBI Seattle field office on Friday said early signs do not point toward terrorism. Pierce County Sheriff's Department spokesman Ed Troyer described the suspect as an unnamed suicidal 29-year-old man from the county "doing stunts in the air" before the crash.
The man, referred to as "Rich" and "Richard" by air traffic controllers in tense recordings, said he was "just a broken guy" as authorities tried to divert the 76-seat Bombardier Q400 away from populated areas.
Russell took off with the stolen aircraft at about 8 p.m. Friday from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, and was an employee of Horizon Air, the Alaska Air Group said in a statement.
The aircraft slammed into Ketron Island about an hour later, authorities said, triggering an intense blaze. The wooded island, about 25 miles southwest from the airport, has a population of about 20 people, the Seattle Times reported, and is only accessible by ferry.
Pierce County Sheriff Paul Pastor called it a "joyride gone terribly wrong." He said it appears that Russell died in the crash and that there were no injuries on the ground, according to the Times.
Russell appears to have been a ground service agent, the paper said. Those agents guide planes, handle bags and de-ice planes, Horizon Air says.
Investigators have not disclosed how Russell was able to steal the plane and take it aloft, but the suicidal state evident in his radio exchanges is likely to revive the debate about the background checks of aviation employees with access to secure areas, analysts say.
The United States has approximately 900,000 aviation workers, according to the most recent federal data, and the screening procedures they are subjected to are "pretty rudimentary," said Mary Schiavo, the former inspector general of the U.S. Department of Transportation. While pilots undergo periodic medical exams, she said, airline mechanics and ground crew members are checked on a much more limited basis that does not include mental health exams.
The incident has also raised questions about the physical security of the planes. Though aircraft mechanics have broad access and routinely taxi planes along the tarmac, crew members are not supposed to be allowed inside the cockpit.
But Schiavo said those security procedures are not always observed, especially for smaller aircraft like the 76-seat Bombardier Q400 hijacked Friday night. "It can be a little more casual and a little loosey-goosey, especially if they are doing overnight maintenance," said Schiavo, a former pilot and aviation professor.
A video posted to social media shows the aircraft flying loops as the F-15s flew in pursuit. The aircraft nose-dives toward the water before pulling up, flying low and sending locals into a panic.
The two F-15s were scrambled and in the air within minutes of the theft, flying at supersonic speeds from their Portland Air Force base to intercept the aircraft, said the North American Aerospace Defense Command, which oversees airspace protection in North America.
The jets were armed but did not fire on the aircraft, Air Force Capt. Cameron Hillier, a NORAD spokesman, told The Washington Post on Saturday. They attempted to divert the aircraft toward the Pacific Ocean while maintaining radio communication with controllers and Russell. The jets flew close enough to make visual contact, he said.
The incident fell under the ongoing mission of Noble Eagle, the air-defense mission launched after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Hillier said. There have been 1,800 intercepts of nonmilitary aircraft since, according to NORAD's statement.
Communication between Russell and air traffic controllers revealed a conversation between authorities and Rich, who boisterously says he fueled the plane "to go check out the Olympics [mountains]."
Russell detailed his experience flying from video games and asked for the coordinates to the killer whale shepherding her dead calf through Washington coastal waters for nearly three weeks.
"You know, the mama orca with the baby. I want to go see that guy," Russell explains, according to audio obtained by Canadian journalist Jimmy Thomson.
At one point, an air traffic controller advises he should land at the airfield of the nearby military base, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, the Times reported.
"Oh man," Russell says, "Those guys will rough me up if I try and land there. I think I might mess something up there, too. I wouldn't want to do that. They probably have antiaircraft."
The air-traffic control says they don't have those weapons.
"We're just trying to find a place for you to land safely," he says.
Russell replies: "I'm not quite ready to bring it down just yet . . . But holy smokes, I got to stop looking at the fuel, because it's going down quick."
He explains he had not expected to expend fuel so quickly, as he thinks about what comes next. "This is probably jail time for life, huh?" he says. "I would hope it is for a guy like me."
At one point, Russell appears to believe he will not live through the moment.
"I've got a lot of people that care about me. It's going to disappoint them to hear that I did this. I would like to apologize to each and every one of them. Just a broken guy, got a few screws loose, I guess. Never really knew it until now."
The last known transmission was from about 8:47 p.m., the Times reported.
"I feel like one of my engines is going out or something," Russell says, according to audio posted by aviation journalist Jon Ostrower at the Air Current website.
The controller responds: "OK, Rich. . . . If you could, you just want to keep that plane right over the water. Keep the aircraft nice and low."
The incident prompted authorities to temporarily ground flights at SeaTac. Flights resumed at about the same time the crash occurred, the airport said in a statement. The FBI said Friday night it was investigating the incident alongside other agencies.
Russell wrote on a blog that he met his wife in Coos Bay in 2010 while they were attending school. They later opened a bakery that they ran for three years. He lived in Sumner, Washington, at the time of the writing.
Russell's family said in a statement that they are stunned and heartbroken. They referenced the recordings of him talking to air traffic controllers and said and that it's clear Russell, who went by the nickname "Beebo," didn't intend to harm anyone and "he was right in saying that there are so many people who loved him."
Coaches at Wasilla High School in Alaska, where Russell was a football player, wrestler and discus thrower, told the Anchorage Daily News they are shocked at the news.
Track and field coach Gary Howell said he was "absolutely the kind of kid you want on your team."
"He had that energy, that vibrance," Howell said. "He was that kid you high-five in the hallway even if you don't know him."
Royal King, a Seattle-area resident in the area to photograph a wedding, was near the island when the plane cratered into the island, the Times reported.
"It was unfathomable; it was something out of a movie," he said. "The smoke lingered. You could still hear the F-15s, which were flying low."
Richard Bloom, an aviation security expert at Arizona's Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, said he wasn't aware of another incident in which a ground crew member managed to heist an airplane. Incidents of aviation workers attempting "inside jobs" that benefit extremists or drug traffickers are far more common.
A screening system to evaluate the mental health of aviation workers would be difficult, Bloom cautioned. "There are such significant challenges to preventing inappropriate security behavior," he said. "It's kind of surprising that these types of things don't happen more often."
A bipartisan House bill approved last year, 409 to zero, would tighten employee background checks and increase surveillance of secure areas at airports. But a Senate version of the bill has not advanced to a vote.
The House bill followed a February 2017 House Homeland Security report warning of vulnerabilities to terrorists and criminals seeking to land jobs as aviation workers. Concerns over mental health were not a major focus of the inquiry.
But concern about the mental state of aviation workers has grown in recent years, analyst say, particularly after the 2015 crash of Germanwings 9525 flight in France, when a pilot deliberately steered his plane into a mountainside, killing 144 passengers and five crew members.
The pilot, Andreas Lubitz, had been treated for depression and psychiatric problems, but he had concealed the information from his employer. Once the flight was airborne, Lubitz locked his co-pilot out of the cockpit and set the plane on its fatal course.
-- The Washington Post
Edit Add BBC's Spin of the event:
Authorities have identified the man who stole a Horizon Air plane from an airport in Seattle, Washington, that ended with him crashing into an island.
The Horizon Air employee who commandeered an empty turboprop passenger plane at Seattle's main airport Friday night, flying it over Puget Sound before crashing it into a small island, has been identified as Richard Russell, authorities said.
Russell had been described as "suicidal."
The FBI Seattle field office on Friday said early signs do not point toward terrorism. Pierce County Sheriff's Department spokesman Ed Troyer described the suspect as an unnamed suicidal 29-year-old man from the county "doing stunts in the air" before the crash.
The man, referred to as "Rich" and "Richard" by air traffic controllers in tense recordings, said he was "just a broken guy" as authorities tried to divert the 76-seat Bombardier Q400 away from populated areas.
Russell took off with the stolen aircraft at about 8 p.m. Friday from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, and was an employee of Horizon Air, the Alaska Air Group said in a statement.
The aircraft slammed into Ketron Island about an hour later, authorities said, triggering an intense blaze. The wooded island, about 25 miles southwest from the airport, has a population of about 20 people, the Seattle Times reported, and is only accessible by ferry.
Pierce County Sheriff Paul Pastor called it a "joyride gone terribly wrong." He said it appears that Russell died in the crash and that there were no injuries on the ground, according to the Times.
Russell appears to have been a ground service agent, the paper said. Those agents guide planes, handle bags and de-ice planes, Horizon Air says.
Investigators have not disclosed how Russell was able to steal the plane and take it aloft, but the suicidal state evident in his radio exchanges is likely to revive the debate about the background checks of aviation employees with access to secure areas, analysts say.
The United States has approximately 900,000 aviation workers, according to the most recent federal data, and the screening procedures they are subjected to are "pretty rudimentary," said Mary Schiavo, the former inspector general of the U.S. Department of Transportation. While pilots undergo periodic medical exams, she said, airline mechanics and ground crew members are checked on a much more limited basis that does not include mental health exams.
The incident has also raised questions about the physical security of the planes. Though aircraft mechanics have broad access and routinely taxi planes along the tarmac, crew members are not supposed to be allowed inside the cockpit.
But Schiavo said those security procedures are not always observed, especially for smaller aircraft like the 76-seat Bombardier Q400 hijacked Friday night. "It can be a little more casual and a little loosey-goosey, especially if they are doing overnight maintenance," said Schiavo, a former pilot and aviation professor.
A video posted to social media shows the aircraft flying loops as the F-15s flew in pursuit. The aircraft nose-dives toward the water before pulling up, flying low and sending locals into a panic.
The two F-15s were scrambled and in the air within minutes of the theft, flying at supersonic speeds from their Portland Air Force base to intercept the aircraft, said the North American Aerospace Defense Command, which oversees airspace protection in North America.
The jets were armed but did not fire on the aircraft, Air Force Capt. Cameron Hillier, a NORAD spokesman, told The Washington Post on Saturday. They attempted to divert the aircraft toward the Pacific Ocean while maintaining radio communication with controllers and Russell. The jets flew close enough to make visual contact, he said.
The incident fell under the ongoing mission of Noble Eagle, the air-defense mission launched after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Hillier said. There have been 1,800 intercepts of nonmilitary aircraft since, according to NORAD's statement.
Communication between Russell and air traffic controllers revealed a conversation between authorities and Rich, who boisterously says he fueled the plane "to go check out the Olympics [mountains]."
Russell detailed his experience flying from video games and asked for the coordinates to the killer whale shepherding her dead calf through Washington coastal waters for nearly three weeks.
"You know, the mama orca with the baby. I want to go see that guy," Russell explains, according to audio obtained by Canadian journalist Jimmy Thomson.
At one point, an air traffic controller advises he should land at the airfield of the nearby military base, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, the Times reported.
"Oh man," Russell says, "Those guys will rough me up if I try and land there. I think I might mess something up there, too. I wouldn't want to do that. They probably have antiaircraft."
The air-traffic control says they don't have those weapons.
"We're just trying to find a place for you to land safely," he says.
Russell replies: "I'm not quite ready to bring it down just yet . . . But holy smokes, I got to stop looking at the fuel, because it's going down quick."
He explains he had not expected to expend fuel so quickly, as he thinks about what comes next. "This is probably jail time for life, huh?" he says. "I would hope it is for a guy like me."
At one point, Russell appears to believe he will not live through the moment.
"I've got a lot of people that care about me. It's going to disappoint them to hear that I did this. I would like to apologize to each and every one of them. Just a broken guy, got a few screws loose, I guess. Never really knew it until now."
The last known transmission was from about 8:47 p.m., the Times reported.
"I feel like one of my engines is going out or something," Russell says, according to audio posted by aviation journalist Jon Ostrower at the Air Current website.
The controller responds: "OK, Rich. . . . If you could, you just want to keep that plane right over the water. Keep the aircraft nice and low."
The incident prompted authorities to temporarily ground flights at SeaTac. Flights resumed at about the same time the crash occurred, the airport said in a statement. The FBI said Friday night it was investigating the incident alongside other agencies.
Russell wrote on a blog that he met his wife in Coos Bay in 2010 while they were attending school. They later opened a bakery that they ran for three years. He lived in Sumner, Washington, at the time of the writing.
Russell's family said in a statement that they are stunned and heartbroken. They referenced the recordings of him talking to air traffic controllers and said and that it's clear Russell, who went by the nickname "Beebo," didn't intend to harm anyone and "he was right in saying that there are so many people who loved him."
Coaches at Wasilla High School in Alaska, where Russell was a football player, wrestler and discus thrower, told the Anchorage Daily News they are shocked at the news.
Track and field coach Gary Howell said he was "absolutely the kind of kid you want on your team."
"He had that energy, that vibrance," Howell said. "He was that kid you high-five in the hallway even if you don't know him."
Royal King, a Seattle-area resident in the area to photograph a wedding, was near the island when the plane cratered into the island, the Times reported.
"It was unfathomable; it was something out of a movie," he said. "The smoke lingered. You could still hear the F-15s, which were flying low."
Richard Bloom, an aviation security expert at Arizona's Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, said he wasn't aware of another incident in which a ground crew member managed to heist an airplane. Incidents of aviation workers attempting "inside jobs" that benefit extremists or drug traffickers are far more common.
A screening system to evaluate the mental health of aviation workers would be difficult, Bloom cautioned. "There are such significant challenges to preventing inappropriate security behavior," he said. "It's kind of surprising that these types of things don't happen more often."
A bipartisan House bill approved last year, 409 to zero, would tighten employee background checks and increase surveillance of secure areas at airports. But a Senate version of the bill has not advanced to a vote.
The House bill followed a February 2017 House Homeland Security report warning of vulnerabilities to terrorists and criminals seeking to land jobs as aviation workers. Concerns over mental health were not a major focus of the inquiry.
But concern about the mental state of aviation workers has grown in recent years, analyst say, particularly after the 2015 crash of Germanwings 9525 flight in France, when a pilot deliberately steered his plane into a mountainside, killing 144 passengers and five crew members.
The pilot, Andreas Lubitz, had been treated for depression and psychiatric problems, but he had concealed the information from his employer. Once the flight was airborne, Lubitz locked his co-pilot out of the cockpit and set the plane on its fatal course.
-- The Washington Post
Edit Add BBC's Spin of the event:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-45157596
Last edited:
MD-87 air tanker experiences engine failure after takeoff - Fire Aviation
(Originally published at 8:38 p.m. MDT August 1, 2018; updated at 6:16 a.m. PDT August 2, 2018)
Photos:
An engine malfunctioned on an air tanker operated by Erickson Aero Air July 30 after taking off from the Coeur d’Alene Airport in Idaho. A person we talked with at the airport said they heard a very loud “boom” as the engine failed, and said the aircraft was an MD-87 air tanker. Mike Ferris, a spokesperson for the U.S. Forest Service, the agency that contracts for the large and very large air tankers used by the federal government, confirmed Wednesday evening that “an Erickson Aero Tanker MD-87 did have an engine upset shortly after takeoff from the Coeur d’Alene Airport on Monday at approx. 1430 PDT”. He said the aircraft landed safely after the incident.
The Coeur d’Alene Post Falls Press reported that unofficial sources have told them that hot debris from an air tanker engine started multiple fires after the pieces fell to the ground north of the airport. They also wrote that the runway was closed while “unspecified debris” was removed. The newspaper was not able to find any government officials who would comment about the cause of the fires, saying it was under investigation.
Kootenai County Government reported on their Facebook page that “several small fires resulted from an aircraft incident” at the airport.
(UPDATE at 6:16 a.m. PDT August 2, 2018: Late yesterday Jim Lyon, Deputy Fire Marshal/Public Information Officer with Northern Lakes Fire District, issued a statement confirming that a jet-powered air tanker under contract to the U.S. Forest Service, at approximately 2:30 p.m. “had mechanical problems on take-off and was able to make an immediate circle route to return to base safely. In so doing, it appears the plane was discharging some sort of material as a result of the mechanical problem, starting several fires throughout the area approximately a five mile radius of the airport.” Marshal Lyon said “up to eight fires” started by the incident were under control by the evening of July 30th.)
Below is an excerpt from a July 31 article in the Spokesman Review about the incident:
KXLY reported that a firefighter was injured while working on one of the fires near the airport:
We were not able to find a SAFECOM report about the incident, and very few people are willing to talk about it. Our calls to personnel at Erickson Aero Air late in the afternoon August 1 either were not returned right away or the employees we talked with were not able to comment.
This is not the first time that an engine on an Erickson Aero Tanker MD-87 exploded and falling debris caused problems after hitting the ground. On September 13, 2015 debris from a failed engine landed in a residential area of Fresno, California. One chunk of metal crashed through the rear window of a car, while other shrapnel was found in city streets.
There has been concern about retardant being ingested into the engines when the MD-87 is making a drop, since at least 2014. A SAFECOM filed back then considered the possibility after engine surges or intermittent power was a problem for one aircraft after making a drop. Photos were taken of retardant stains on the fuselage caused by retardant flowing over the wing.
The first fix that Erickson Aero Air implemented was in 2014, “a new spade profile that has proved to eliminate this problem by keeping the fluid column much more vertical”.
Then in June, 2017 the company took a much more radical step. They had an external tank, or pod, fabricated and installed below the retardant tank doors, which lowered the release point by 46 inches, mitigating the problem, Kevin McLoughlin, the Director of Air Tanker Operations, said at the time.
On December 12, 2017 I was given a tour of Tanker 101 by the flight crew while it was in Rapid City, and noticed there was evidence of retardant flowing over the top of the wing. If you check out the profile photo of Tanker 101 at the top of this article, you will see that the top of the wing is not much lower than the height of the engine intake.
Another unique characteristic of the MD-87 is that they are required by the FAA to lower the gear while dropping — in fact it is specified in their Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) issued by the FAA. That 10-page STC uses the words “stall” or “stalling” 60 times, an average of 10 times on every page.
Our view
How many second chances should an air tanker design get after exploding engines on two occasions drop hot shrapnel over a city and at an airport? The FAA and the Interagency Airtanker Board should rescind the Supplemental Type Certificate and the IAB approval and carding of the air tanker before something much worse happens than a car is damaged while parked at a home, shrapnel closes a runway, multiple wildfires are ignited, and a firefighter is injured putting out the blaze. I fear not only for the safety of the flight crews in the MD-87’s, but people on the ground who have every right to expect that firefighting air tankers on U.S. Forest Service contracts will not kill or injure them with exploding engines. And, that an air tanker hired to suppress fires will not start them.
(Originally published at 8:38 p.m. MDT August 1, 2018; updated at 6:16 a.m. PDT August 2, 2018)
Photos:
An engine malfunctioned on an air tanker operated by Erickson Aero Air July 30 after taking off from the Coeur d’Alene Airport in Idaho. A person we talked with at the airport said they heard a very loud “boom” as the engine failed, and said the aircraft was an MD-87 air tanker. Mike Ferris, a spokesperson for the U.S. Forest Service, the agency that contracts for the large and very large air tankers used by the federal government, confirmed Wednesday evening that “an Erickson Aero Tanker MD-87 did have an engine upset shortly after takeoff from the Coeur d’Alene Airport on Monday at approx. 1430 PDT”. He said the aircraft landed safely after the incident.
The Coeur d’Alene Post Falls Press reported that unofficial sources have told them that hot debris from an air tanker engine started multiple fires after the pieces fell to the ground north of the airport. They also wrote that the runway was closed while “unspecified debris” was removed. The newspaper was not able to find any government officials who would comment about the cause of the fires, saying it was under investigation.
Kootenai County Government reported on their Facebook page that “several small fires resulted from an aircraft incident” at the airport.
(UPDATE at 6:16 a.m. PDT August 2, 2018: Late yesterday Jim Lyon, Deputy Fire Marshal/Public Information Officer with Northern Lakes Fire District, issued a statement confirming that a jet-powered air tanker under contract to the U.S. Forest Service, at approximately 2:30 p.m. “had mechanical problems on take-off and was able to make an immediate circle route to return to base safely. In so doing, it appears the plane was discharging some sort of material as a result of the mechanical problem, starting several fires throughout the area approximately a five mile radius of the airport.” Marshal Lyon said “up to eight fires” started by the incident were under control by the evening of July 30th.)
Below is an excerpt from a July 31 article in the Spokesman Review about the incident:
Jim Lyons, spokesman for Northern Lakes Fire District, said crews battled about seven fires, though none grew to the size of a major wildfire. The first blazes started about 2 p.m. and spread from there.
Shoshana Cooper, spokeswoman for the U.S. Forest Service in North Idaho, said the fires burned to the northwest, south and east of the airport near U.S. Highway 95. She said they burned mostly grass and brush and were not affecting structures. As of 3:30 p.m., no structures had been lost.
Multiple aircraft were sent in to drop retardant on the blazes, but firefighters weren’t sure early Monday afternoon how large the fires had grown.
KXLY reported that a firefighter was injured while working on one of the fires near the airport:
A Kootenai County Fire and Rescue firefighter was injured Monday evening when he was struck by a vehicle that was backing up on Dodd Road by Strayhorn while responding to fires burning near the Coeur d’Alene Airport. He was evaluated at the scene. His injuries were not life threatening, but he was transported to Kootenai Health as a precaution.
The airport resumed normal operation at about 6:30 p.m. Monday.We were not able to find a SAFECOM report about the incident, and very few people are willing to talk about it. Our calls to personnel at Erickson Aero Air late in the afternoon August 1 either were not returned right away or the employees we talked with were not able to comment.
This is not the first time that an engine on an Erickson Aero Tanker MD-87 exploded and falling debris caused problems after hitting the ground. On September 13, 2015 debris from a failed engine landed in a residential area of Fresno, California. One chunk of metal crashed through the rear window of a car, while other shrapnel was found in city streets.
There has been concern about retardant being ingested into the engines when the MD-87 is making a drop, since at least 2014. A SAFECOM filed back then considered the possibility after engine surges or intermittent power was a problem for one aircraft after making a drop. Photos were taken of retardant stains on the fuselage caused by retardant flowing over the wing.
The first fix that Erickson Aero Air implemented was in 2014, “a new spade profile that has proved to eliminate this problem by keeping the fluid column much more vertical”.
Then in June, 2017 the company took a much more radical step. They had an external tank, or pod, fabricated and installed below the retardant tank doors, which lowered the release point by 46 inches, mitigating the problem, Kevin McLoughlin, the Director of Air Tanker Operations, said at the time.
On December 12, 2017 I was given a tour of Tanker 101 by the flight crew while it was in Rapid City, and noticed there was evidence of retardant flowing over the top of the wing. If you check out the profile photo of Tanker 101 at the top of this article, you will see that the top of the wing is not much lower than the height of the engine intake.
Another unique characteristic of the MD-87 is that they are required by the FAA to lower the gear while dropping — in fact it is specified in their Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) issued by the FAA. That 10-page STC uses the words “stall” or “stalling” 60 times, an average of 10 times on every page.
Our view
How many second chances should an air tanker design get after exploding engines on two occasions drop hot shrapnel over a city and at an airport? The FAA and the Interagency Airtanker Board should rescind the Supplemental Type Certificate and the IAB approval and carding of the air tanker before something much worse happens than a car is damaged while parked at a home, shrapnel closes a runway, multiple wildfires are ignited, and a firefighter is injured putting out the blaze. I fear not only for the safety of the flight crews in the MD-87’s, but people on the ground who have every right to expect that firefighting air tankers on U.S. Forest Service contracts will not kill or injure them with exploding engines. And, that an air tanker hired to suppress fires will not start them.
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