Welcome to our 2nd video covering noteworthy incidents. Based on your feedback from our
first video on June 30th, we’re continuing on with the series with one near the end of
each month! A lot has happened but here are some of the most interesting incidents that
took place.
Starting on June 26th, an American Airlines 737 flying from Dallas to El Salvador, was
reportedly denied an emergency landing in Costa Rica. The airport’s control tower
informed the flight that the airport was closed and a landing would not be possible. Denying
an emergency landing is very unusual but it looks as if the staff at the airport were
unaware that the aircraft was requesting an emergency landing until after.
Local media report that the tower was not in direct contact with the aircraft. The request
actually came via the Center for Air Traffic Control CENAMER, which covers Central American
airspace above 20,000ft. Apparently, CENAMER did not communicate the
urgent nature of the request and is investigating the incident. The aircraft eventually diverted
to Guatemala City (GUA) and made a safe landing there.
On July 2nd, a Boeing 737 carrying cargo crashed just off the coast of Honolulu. The 46-year-old
737-200 freighter was operated by Rhodes Aviation operates in Transair colors. About ten minutes
after takeoff, the crew started to face engine issues and decided to turn back to Honolulu.
Less than 30 minutes after takeoff, the aircraft was ditched in the ocean.
On July 10th, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) located major components
of the 737 on the seafloor, releasing the chilling images.The investigation continues,
and involves the Federal Aviation Administration, Boeing, Pratt & Whitney, the National Air
Traffic Controllers Association, and Rhoades Aviation.
On July 6th, an Antonov An-26 belonging to Kamchatka Aviation Enterprise crashed on approach
near Palana, Russia. In ths incident, all 22 passengers and six crew members lost their
lives. While one flight data recorder has been recovered, the cause of the crash remains
under investigation.
On the same day in the United States, flight attendants duct-taped a first class passenger
to her seat after she reportedly had an inflight mental breakdown. In a statement, American
Airlines said: “The crew onboard American Airlines flight 1774 reported a potential
security concern after a customer attempted to open the forward boarding door and physically
assaulted, bit, and caused injury to a flight attendant.
“...the individual was restrained until the flight landed at [Charlotte Douglas Airport]
and could be met by law enforcement and emergency personnel.”
Three days later on July 9th, Dr Farah Khan was traveling with United Express from Kalispell
to Houston when she placed a dirty diaper in the bin in the aircraft’s bathroom. A
flight attendant scolded Dr Khan about it being a quote-unquote ‘biohazard.’ The
passenger was ordered to remove the diaper, which quote ‘shocked and humiliated’ her.
Once in Houston, she was called by United and informed that she was now on the carrier’s
no-fly list due to the ‘bio hazard incident’. When asked about the incident, the airline
operating the flight for United, Mesa Airlines, said the following:
“The details as described by our customer do not meet the high standards that Mesa sets
for our flight attendants and we are reviewing the matter.”
On July 13th, an Emirates Boeing 777-300ER was forced to return to Milan Malpensa Airport
after encountering severe hail upon departure. As you can see in the photos, the jet suffered
substantial damage, including shattering both windshields.
To avoid a hard landing, the pilots were forced to enter a holding pattern around Milan Airport
for an hour and a half. Only once enough fuel had been burned did the aircraft land. The
jet landed safely 90 minutes after departure with no injuries reported.
Then, on July 16th in Dublin, an American Airlines 787-8 struck an Aer Lingus A330 while
being pushed back. American Airlines issued a statement saying:
“[During] flight AA723 from Dublin to Philadelphia, a Boeing 787-8 aircraft incurred damage during
push back, when the right wingtip made contact with a nearby parked aircraft. All customers
onboard have deplaned and returned to the terminal with no injuries reported,”
Finally, we wanted to note that the UK’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch issued
a special bulletin regarding the British Airways 787 nose gear collapse on June 18th. The investigation’s
findings were quite interesting and so we made a full video just for this story- which
you’ll find here next week! We certainly weren’t able to cover everything
in this video, or go into as much detail as we would have liked. As with all of our videos,
there’s a more detailed corresponding article on SimpleFlying.com. Check out the links in
the description to learn more- and, as always, share your thoughts on this video and any
of the topics we covered by leaving a comment below!