This week in airline safety and security - 5 February 2016

First fatal airliner event of 2016
The February 2nd in-flight explosion on a Daallo Airlines A321 over Somalia led to the death of one passenger and was the first fatal airliner event of 2016. At present, the investigation into the explosion is ongoing, and the authorities in Somalia have not ruled out the possibility that the explosion was caused by a bomb.

Because of the nature of the event, and the ongoing challengers faced by the government of Somalia, there may not be a full and open investigation of the event. For a fuller description of the problems that the Somali government may have with the investigation, please read this recent article from AirSafe.com's Todd Curtis

A recent crash with many similarities to the Daallo event involved a MetroJet A321 last October.

This week's A321 event was the 13th time at least one airline passenger was killed on an A320 series aircraft.

Accident report from fatal AirAsia crash from December 2014 now available
The Indonesian government recently release their final report into the 28 December 2014 crash of an AirAsia A320 that killed all 155 passengers and seven crew members. The authorities concluded that a combination of system malfunctions and crew actions led to the crash.
Crash description and a link to the accident report

Laser encounter near Heathrow leads to arrest
Earlier this week, police near London's Heathrow airport arrested a man who allegedly pointed a laser at an aircraft. Laser encounters are a serious threat not only in the United Kingdom, but also in the United States, with over 20,000 laser encounters reported in the US between 2004 and 2014.

For a detailed look at the patterns of laser encounters in the US, as well as two Todd Curtis interviews with the BBC on laser threats to aircraft, please visit lasers.airsafe.com

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Six month safety review for 2014

This review of plane crashes and other significant events from the first six months of 2014 discusses three airline events, two of which involved at least one confirmed passengers fatality, and the third, which involved suspected passenger fatalities on Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.

Since AirSafe.com began tracking such events in 1996, there have been three or fewer fatal events in the first six months of a calendar year on five other occasions. There were also three fatal events in the first six months of 2001, 2005, and 2010. There was a single fatal event in the first six months of 2006 and 2013.

This review includes all fatal events, specifically events involving passenger fatalities in aircraft which have the capacity to seat at least 10 passengers where those models are used in regular airline service in North America, western Europe, Australia, or Japan. Also included are plane crashes and other significant events that did not qualify as a fatal event, but that either had high media interest or that had noteworthy aviation safety or security implications.

All of the events in the first half of 2014 were fatal events, and there were no significant events. From 1996 to 2014, there have been a total of 81 fatal events and 35 significant events in the first half of the year, for an average of 4.26 fatal events and 1.94 significant events each year.

The AirSafe.com definitions page has additional details on how an event is assigned to a category. The Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 event led to a change in the definitions, expanding the fatal event category to include situations where an airliner has been missing for at least 30 days, and where there is also substantial indirect evidence that one or more passengers were killed.

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Events Killing Airline Passengers

1. 16 February 2014; Nepal Airlines DHC-6 Twin Otter 300; 9N-ABB; flight 183; en route between Pokhara and Jumla, Nepal: The aircraft was on a scheduled domestic flight from Pokhara to Jumla, Nepal. Radio contact was lost about 30 minutes after takeoff. The crashed aircraft was found the next day, and all three crew members and 15 passengers had been killed.

2. 8 March 2014; Malaysia Airlines 777-200; 9M-MRO; flight MH370; unknown location: The aircraft was on a scheduled international flight between Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and Beijing, China and went missing while en route. The current location and status of the aircraft, along with that of the 227 passengers and 12 crew members who were on board, is unknown.

   This is a numbered event as defined by AirSafe.com because there is substantial indirect evidence that one or more passengers were killed.

   Visit the Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 page for additional information, including links to articles and interviews of Dr. Todd Curtis of AirSafe.com

3. 24 June 2014; Pakistan International Airlines (PIA); A310-300; AP-BGN; flight PK756; Peshawar, Pakistan The aircraft was on a scheduled international flight from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia to Peshawar, Pakistan, when it was struck by several bullets shortly before landing. Two cabin crew members and one passenger were hit, and the passenger died of her injuries. There were no other injuries among the 10 other crew members or 177 other passengers.
   Fatal PIA Events

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Other Significant Events

None

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Other Years
1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000,
2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005
2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010
2011, 2012, 2013

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AirSafe.com Bonuses
All subscribers to the AirSafe.com mailing list at subscribe.airsafe.com will be able to download free copies of all of the recent AirSafe.com books, including the AirSafe.com Family Air Travel Guide.

Also available is the AirSafe.com Fear of Flying Resource Guide, with an overview of the symptoms of fear of flying, as well as recommended resources for managing or eliminating these fears.

Update on the crash of a Gulfstream IV jet near Boston on 31 May 2014

31 May 2014; Gulfstream IV; N121JM, Hanscom Field, near Boston, MA: The aircraft was on an unscheduled flight form Hanscom Field in Bedford, MA to Atlantic City, NJ and crashed during takeoff. According to preliminary reports from the NTSB, a witness saw the aircraft attempt a takeoff, but did not see it become airborne.

After departing the runway, the aircraft struck a localizer antenna (used for instrument landing approaches) and a fence before proceeding down an embankment and coming to rest about 1,850 feet beyond the end of the runway, in a gully formed by a small river. Multiple witnesses reported hearing an explosion and seeing a fireball. The photo below from the NTSB shows that the aircraft broke up and had caught fire.

The aircraft was equipped with both a cockpit voice recorder and a flight data recorder, both of which were recovered and are currently being analyzed by the NTSB.

All seven occupants, including two flight crew members, a cabin crew member, and four passengers were killed. Although the authorities have not determined a cause of death, given the location of the crash site and the condition of the aircraft, it is likely that the fatal injuries were due to the effects of a combination of impact forces, smoke or fume inhalation, and burns.

Among the four passengers was Lewis Katz, a prominent entrepreneur and philanthropist who was a former owner of the New Jersey Nets and New Jersey Devils, and a current part owner of the Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper.

An AirSafe.com review of the online incident and accident databases of the NTSB and FAA show no prior accidents or serious incidents involving the accident aircraft. The aircraft was owned by SK Travel, LLC, of Raleigh, NC (a company co-owned by one of the passengers), and there were no indication of those same databases of any previous accident or serious incident involving this company.

According to Gulfstream Aerospace, 536 Gulfstream IV aircraft were produced from 1985 until 2002. The aircraft involved in the Hanscom Field accident was manufactured in 2000.

According to Aviation-Safety.net, a site run by the Flight Safety Foundation, there have been four fatal events involving the Gulfstream IV, including the recent crash at Hanscom Field, that resulted in the death of one or more people either inside or outside of the aircraft.

NTSB preliminary report - 13 June 2014
The NTSB preliminary report included the following key findings:

• Tire marks consistent with braking were observed to begin about 1,300 feet from the end of runway 11. The tire marks continued for about another 1,000 feet through the paved runway safety area.

• The airplane's ground roll began about 49 seconds before the end of the CVR recording.

• FDR data indicated the airplane reached a maximum speed of 165 knots during the takeoff roll, and did not lift off the runway.

• The FDR data ended about seven seconds after thrust reverser deployment, with the airplane at about 100 knots.

• The airplane was equipped with a mechanical gust lock system, which can lock the ailerons and rudder in the neutral position and the elevator in the down position, to protect the control surfaces from wind gusts while parked.

• The FDR data revealed the elevator control surface position during the taxi and takeoff was consistent with its position if the gust lock was engaged. The gust lock handle was found in the forward (OFF) position, and the elevator gust lock latch was found not engaged.

• Review of FDR data parameters associated with the flight control surface positions did not reveal any movement consistent with a flight control check prior to the commencement of the takeoff roll.

In an interview conducted shortly after the preliminary report was released, former NTSB Board Member John Goglia suggested that this lack of flight control movement prior to takeoff indicated that the crew did not complete a standard preflight checklist.

Resources
NTSB preliminary report
Video of the John Goglia interview

UPS A300 crash in Alabama kills both pilots

14 August 2013; UPS A300F4-622R; N155UP; flight 1354; Birmingham, AL: The aircraft was on a domestic cargo flight from Louisville, KY (SDF) to Birmingham, AL (BHM), crashed and burned during a landing attempt. The aircraft was destroyed in the crash and subsequent fire, and both pilots were killed. There were no other occupants, and no one was killed or injured on the ground.

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Video from the crash site

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NTSB photos from the crash site

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Speed and altitude profile from FlightAware.com

Note: Time in the graph is EDT, Birmingham, Al is in CDT

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About the A300-600
This is the fourth fatal plane crashes involving the A300-600. The previous events were:

• 26 April 1994; China Airlines A300-600; Nagoya, Japan: All 15 crew and 249 of the 264 passengers were killed.
• 16 February 1998; China Airlines A300-600; near Taipei, Taiwan: All 15 crew and 182 passengers were killed, as were seven people on the ground.
• 12 November 2001; American Airlines A300-600; Queens, New York: All nine crew members and 251 passengers on the aircraft were killed, as were seven people on the ground.

UPS accident history
This is the second fatal crash involving a UPS aircraft. On 3 September 2010, a UPS 747-400 aircraft crashed in Dubai, UAE, killing both pilots. UPS had two other accidents that destroyed aircraft, but did not kill any crew members. The first was a 1985 crash of a Swearingen SA227 at London, KY on 31 January 1985, and the second was due to a fire that started shortly before the aircraft landed in Philadelphia, PA on 8 February 2006.

UPS 747 Crash in Dubai Kills Crew

3 September 2010; United Parcel Service (UPS); 747-400F; N571UP; flight 6; Dubai, United Arab Emirates: The aircraft was on an international cargo flight from Dubai, UAE to Colonge, Germany, and crashed shortly after takeoff about 10 km (6.2 mi) north of the airport. The two crew members were killed.

About the Boeing 747
This was the second fatal plane crash involving 747-400 series. The only previous fatal crash of a 747-400 was a 2000 crash of a Singapore Airlines in Taipei, Taiwan. The various models of the 747 have been involved in 28 crashes that have resulted in the death of at least one passenger, and seven fatal crashes of cargo or military versions of the aircraft. The earliest fatal passenger plane crash was a 1974 Lufthansa accident in Nairobi, Kenya, and the most recent passenger crash was a 2005 Saudi Arabian Airlines crash in Sri Lanka. The most recent cargo crash was a 2008 accident in Colombia involving Kalitta Air that killed three people on the ground.

About United Parcel Service
United Parcel Service (UPS) has been offering air cargo services since the early 1980s. The current UPS fleet has well over 200 aircraft, including about a dozen 747s. This is the third UPS crash that destroyed an aircraft, and the first fatal crash for United Parcel Service.

Related resources
UPS plane crashes
747 plane crashes
UPS fleet

Graphic: Gulf News

Aires Colombia 737 crash kills one passenger

16 August 2010; Aires Colombia; 737-700; HK-4682; San Andres Island, Colombia: The airliner was on a scheduled domestic flight from Bogota to San Andreas Island, Colombia. San Andreas Island lies off the east coast of Nicaragua. The aircraft took off from Bogota just after midnight and was attempting to land just before 2 a.m. local time during a storm.

The aircraft was reportedly struck by lightning just before touchdown. The airplane struck the runway and broke up into three large pieces. One of the 125 passengers was killed, and all six crew members survived.

Fatal Crash History of Aires Colombia
This was the third fatal crash involving Aires Colombia. Their two previous fatal crashes were in 1995 and 1985 and both involved Embraer Bandierante aircraft.

Fatal Plane Crash History of the 737
This was the 70th crash of a 737 that resulted in the death of at least one airline passenger. This is the sixth fatal plane crash involving one of the current production models of the 737 (737-600, 737-700, 737-800, and 737-900). All five previous fatal crashes involved the 737-800 model. The 737-700 had been involved in one previous fatal incident. In December 2005, a Southwest Airlines 737-700 ran off the runway at Midway Airport in Chicago and struck a car on a nearby road, which led to the death of one of the passengers in the car.

Afriqiyah A330 Crashes in Libya and Has Sole Survivor

12 May 2010; Afriqiyah Airways; A330-200; Flight 771; near Tripoli, Libya: The aircraft (5A-ONG) was on a scheduled international flight from Johannesburg, South Africa (JNB) to Tripoli, Libya (TIP) with 93 passengers and 11 crew on board. Of the 93 passengers, 82 were traveling onwards to destinations in Europe. The aircraft was relatively new, having been delivered only last September. The aircraft has reportedly experienced fewer than 500 flights and 1600 flight hours prior to the crash.

Early reports indicate that the aircraft crashed short of runway 9, and that all 11 crew members and 92 of the 93 passengers were killed. The sole survivor was Ruben van Assouw, a young Dutch boy who is about 10 years old. This would make this event the 16th sole survivor event since 1970.

About sole survivor plane crashes
According to AirSafe.com,in eight of these 16 sole survivor cases, the sole survivor was a child or teenager. A crew member was the sole survivor five times, an adult passenger was the sole survivor in two cases, and there was one other case where the age of the surviving passenger could not be determined.

About Afriqiyah Airways
Afriqiyah Airwayss has been in operation since 2001 and has no previous fatal plane crashes or other serious safety events. The airline currently has about 10 aircraft in its fleet, including two remaining A330-200 aircraft.

With respect to meeting international standards, the two most prominent rating authorities are the FAA in the US and the European Commission. The FAA's International Aviation Safety Assessments (IASA) Program categorizes countries rather than airlines, but in their latest published summary from December 2008 did not rate Libya, where Afriqiyah Airways is based. Libya does not have any direct flights to or from the US. The European Commission restricts individual airlines or even individual aircraft, but their latest "blacklist" of airlines from March 2010 did not include Afriqiyah Airways.

About the A330
The aircraft has been in service since 1994 and has been involved in in two previous fatal plane crashes, one that occurred during a test flight and last June's crash of Air France flight 447 in the Atlantic Ocean near Brazil. The most recent serious event involving an A330 was a Christmas Day 2009 failed bombing attempt on Northwest Airlines flight 253 near Detroit. According to AirFleets.net, about 682 aircraft were produced, and about 660 remain in service.

AirSafe.com will provide updates to this investigation as they become available.

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Two News reports from AlJazeeraEnglish

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Additional Resources
Plane crashes with a sole survivor
Where is the safest place to sit on a plane
A330 plane crashes
Wikipedia page on Afriqiyah Airways
Wikipedia page on flight 771

Photos: Globespotter, Libya TV

NTSB Blames Crew in February 2009 Buffalo Crash

During a public meeting on February 2, 2010, the NTSB adopted a report on the February 12, 2009 crash of Continental Connection flight 3407 that determined that the captain inappropriately responded to the activation of the stick shaker, which led to a stall from which the airplane did not recover.

The aircraft was a Bombardier Dash 8 (N200WQ), and was flying as a Continental Connection aircraft, though it was operated by Colgan Air. On the night of February 12, 2009, it was on a scheduled flight from Newark, NJ to Buffalo, NY and crashed in a residential area about five miles (8km) from the airport. One house on the ground was destroyed. All 45 passengers and four crew members were killed, along with one person on the ground.

Their report stated that during approach, when the stick shaker activated to warn the flight crew of an impending aerodynamic stall, the captain should have responded to the warning by pushing forward on the control column. However, the captain inappropriately pulled aft on the control column and placed the airplane into an accelerated aerodynamic stall from which the crew could not recover. The NTSB also identified as probable causes the flight crew's communications procedures, the captain's ineffective management, and the airline's procedures for airspeed selection during approaches in icing conditions.

This investigation has generated substantial public interest over the past year in part because of issues, that may have contributed indirectly to this accident, including crew fatigue and the related issue of pilot pay. The captain commuted hundreds of miles and the first officer commuted from the other side of the country prior to reporting for duty, and the NTSB concluded that both pilots used an inappropriate facility during their last rest period before the accident flight. The NTSB also concluded that the pilots’ performance was likely impaired because of fatigue.

The synopsis of the accident investigation report is currently available, and the full report will be available in a few months. In the meantime, the public can review a wide variety of information, including the public docket, which contains testimony, exhibits, and other information used by the NTSB during the investigation.

AirSafe.com's Initial Report on this Accident
Audio: MP3 | Video: iPod/MP4 | WMV | Google Video | YouTube

NTSB Accident Animation
The following NTSB animation of the last few minutes of the flight shows excerpts from the flight data recorder (FDR), the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) transcript, recorded radar data, and aircraft performance data. The audio portion of the video is from air traffic control communications, and does not include audio from the cockpit.

Resources
Additional information about this event
Synopsis of NTSB accident investigation
NTSB press release on the accident report
NTSB public docket on the investigation
Colgan Air input to the NTSB investigation
Previous Continental crashes
Other Dash 8 events
Continental Airlines Wikipedia page
Continental Express Wikipedia page
Continental Connection Wikipedia page
Continental fleet
Continental Express fleet
Colgan Air fleet

AirSafe.com YouTube channel

Update to the Investigation into the 25 January 2010 Crash of an Ethiopian Airlines 737

The investigation into the 25 January 2010 crash of the Ethiopian Airlines is still in the early stages, with searchers still looking for wreckage and victims. While there has been no formal announcement of the death toll by the investigating authorities, no survivors have been found in the two days since the crash. Most of the aircraft wreckage, including the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder (black boxes) is on the seabed just off the coast has not been recovered. On the 27th, several media outlets, including Ethnomedia.com, reported that at least one of the black boxes was located in about 500 feet of water, and that recovery would be attempted. The American naval vessel USS Rampage was assisting in this effort.

The aircraft crashed into the sea about 6 km past the end of runway 21, about 3.5 km from the village of Naameh. According to the departure procedures for that runway, the airplane was supposed to have turned right due to high terrain east and south of the airport.

Several media outlets also reported that the aircraft failed to follow air traffic control instructions after takeoff or that witnesses reported seeing the aircraft in flames before it struck the surface of the water. None of these reports have been confirmed by part of the Lebanese government that is tasked with investigating this event.

Below is an AP report on the early results of the investigation, including wreckage recovery.

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NTV in Kenya filed the following report:

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BBC Report on Crash Aftermath
BBC reporter Uduak Amimo interview on the Focus on Africa program about what the mood was like in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia's capital the day of the crash.

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Resources
More information on the Ethiopian Airlines Crash
American Airlines 737-800 crash in December 2009
Ethiopian Airlines fatal plane crashes
Fatal 737 plane crashes
Boeing 737 Technical Site
Example 737-800 cockpit with notes
Ethiopian Airlines announces order for 10 737-800 aircraft
Fatal airliner crash rates by model

Ethiopian Airlines 737-800 Crashes near Beirut Killing Many on Board

25 January 2009; Ethiopian Airlines 737-800 (ET-ANB); Flight 409; near Beirut, Lebanon
The aircraft was on a scheduled international flight from Beirut, Lebanon to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and crashed into the Mediterranean Sea shortly after takeoff.

There were 82 passengers and eight crew members on board, all of whom were killed in the crash. The accident took place at about 2:30 in the morning local time and during heavy rain.

A Lebanese government official listed the nationalities of the passengers as 51 Lebanese, 23 Ethiopians, two Britons, and one each from Iraq, Turkey, Syria, Canada, Russia, and France. Among the passengers was the wife of the French ambassador in Beirut.



According to AirlinersGallery.com, the accident aircraft (ET-ANB) first flew in 2002 and was previously operated by Ryanair. The aircraft was delivered to Ethiopian Airlines in September 2009.

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BBC Report on Crash Aftermath
BBC reporter Uduak Amimo interview on the Focus on Africa program about what the mood was like in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia's capital the day of the crash.

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Ethiopian Airlines Crash History
This is the third crash of an Ethiopian Airlines jet airliner that has resulted in the death of at least one passenger. The first was a September 1988 bird strike event involving a 737-200, and the most recent was a ditching of a 767-200 during a hijacking in 1996.

Ethiopian Airlines Fleet
According to the Ethiopian Airlines web site the airline has an operating fleet of 37 aircraft, including three 737-800s. AeroTransport Data Bank has additional fleet details, including average age by model. The airline has 45 aircraft on order, including 10 737-800s, 10 787s, and five 777-200s.

Previous 737-800 Crashes
This is the seventh crash involving a 737-800. The first was a September 2006 midair collision involving a Gol Linhas Aéreas 737-800 in Brazil that killed all six crew members and 148 passengers, and the most recent was the non-fatal runway overrun last month involving an American Airlines 737-800 in Jamaica. Three of the previous six crashes involved passenger fatalities.

• 29 September 2006; Gol Linhas Aéreas 737-800; Flight 1907; near Peixoto de Azevedo, Brazil: The aircraft was on a scheduled domestic flight from Manaus to Brasilia when it had a midair collision in the area of São Félix do Xingu with an Embraer ERJ135 Legacy 600 executive jet operated by ExcelAire. The ExcelAire Legacy 600 jet had been on a flight from São José dos Campos to Manaus. After the collision, which damaged the left wing, left stabilizer, and left elevator of the executive jet, the crew of the damaged ExcelAire aircraft was able to land at a nearby military airfield at Cachimbo, Brazil. The 737 subsequently experienced an inflight breakup and crashed about 30 kilometers (19 miles) north of the Peixoto de Azevedo municipality. The Legacy 600 was on the first leg of a delivery flight to the US The 737 aircraft was also relatively new, having come into service with the airline less than three weeks before the crash. All six crew members and 148 passengers on the 737 were killed. The two crew members and five passengers on the Legacy 600 were not injured.


• 5 May 2007; Kenya Airways 737-800; Flight 507; near Douala, Cameroon: The aircraft was on a scheduled international flight from Douala, Cameroon to Nairobi, Kenya. The aircraft crashed into a swampy area near the airport less than one minute after takeoff. The aircraft departed just after midnight local time and the aircraft sent at least one communication to the control tower prior to the crash. All nine crew members and 105 passengers were killed.


• 20 August 2007; China Airlines 737-800; Flight 120; Naha, Japan: Shortly after landing at Naha on the island of Okinawa, the left engine caught fire and the crew initiated an emergency evacuation. Although the aircraft was destroyed by fire, all 157 passengers (including two toddlers) and eight crew members survived.


• 10 November 2008; Ryanair 737-800; Flight 4102; Rome, Italy: The aircraft, on a scheduled international flight from Frankfurt, Germany to Rome, Italy encountered a flock of birds during approach to Rome, sustaining damage to both engines, the wings, and the nose. The crew was able to land on the runway, but aircraft had a collapsed landing gear and serious damage to the rear of the fuselage. All six crew members, and 166 passengers survived.


• 25 February 2009; Turkish Airlines 737-800; Flight 1951; Amsterdam, Netherlands: The aircraft, on a scheduled international flight from Istanbul, Turkey, to Amsterdam, Netherlands crashed in a field about a mile (1.6 km) short of the runway. Three crew members, including both pilots, were killed, as were at least six others among the 134 passengers and crew members.


• 22 December 2009; American Airlines 737-800 (N977AN); Flight 331; Kingston, Jamaica: The aircraft was on a scheduled international flight from Miami, FL to Kingston, Jamaica. The aircraft landed during a rainstorm, and was unable to stop on the runway. After departing the runway, the aircraft went beyond the airport fence, and crossed a road before coming to rest on a beach. The landing gear collapsed, both engines separated from the wings, and there were two major breaks in the fuselage, but all 148 passengers and six crew members survived. The landing was carried out with a slight tail wind.

AirSafe.com will provide updates as information becomes available.

Resources
More information on the Ethiopian Airlines Crash
American Airlines 737-800 crash in December 2009
Ethiopian Airlines fatal plane crashes
Fatal 737 plane crashes
Ethiopian Airlines announces order for 10 737-800 aircraft
Fatal airliner crash rates by model

Video from Associated Press

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Five Lowest Fatal Plane Crash Rates by Model
A 25 September 2009 entry on the AirSafe.com News described the September 2009 update to following listing of fatal plane crash rates by model. The video and audio podcast below discusses the aircraft models with the lowest rates. After the Ethiopian Airlines 737-800 fatal crash, the revised estimate of fatal crash rates would change the order of aircraft. The current generation of the 737, which includes the 737-800, would drop from number two to number three, and the A320 series would go from number three to number two. For more details, visit AirSafe.com's Fatal Plane Crash Rates for Selected Airliner Models page

Video and Audio Podcast Links (2:57)

Audio: MP3 | Video: iPod/MP4 | WMV | YouTube

ET-ANB Photo: Antony J. Best

RwandAir Jet Crashes into VIP Terminal in Kigali and Kills One Passenger

12 November 2009; RwandAir CRJ-100ER; Flight 205; Kigali, Rwanda: A RwandAir CRJ-100ER was on a scheduled flight from Kigali, Rwanda to Kampala, Uganda, ran into a terminal at the Kigali airport, killing one of the passengers. All three crew members survived, but one of the 10 passengers was killed.

The aircraft reportedly had and unspecified engine problem shortly after taking off and the crew returned to the airport. According to eyewitnesses, the plane first taxied to a parking position on the apron, but then accelerated, knocked over blast fences, and hit the concrete wall of the airport building containing the VIP lounge. The nose gear collapsed and the forward portion of the aircraft penetrated the building up to about the position of the forward passenger doors.

According to the airline, the aircraft involved in the crash was leased from the Kenya-based airline Jetlink Express.

Main Terminal at Kigali Airport

The tragedy was not limited to the crash site. A Rwandan newspaper reported that an ambulance carrying one of the injured flight crew members struck and killed a pedestrian while transporting the crew member to a local hospital.

Crash Location at Building with VIP Lounge

This was the third fatal plane crash that killed a passenger on a CRJ jet. The most recent fatal event was a 27 August 2006 crash of a Delta Connection CRJ-100 at Lexington, KY. Two other CRJ passenger jets have been destroyed in crashes, and in one of them the captain was killed.

UPDATE: RwandAir Statement from 13 November 2009

The following is a statement from RwandAir on the accident at Kigali International Airport where flight number WB205 bound for Entebbe taxied and hit the VIP building. This flight was operated by Jetlink Express Limited on behalf of RwandAir.

At 1240hrs yesterday flight number WB205 took off for Entebbe with 9 adults and an infant. A crew of three - captain, first officer and an engineer manning the flight and two RwandAir flight attendants were on board the flight. Two minutes into the flight, the Captain called the control tower asking to land back because of a technical problem with the engine's thrust lever (throttle).

The aircraft safely landed and taxied into the parking bay. However as the ground crew went to put on the back wheel chocks, the aircraft suddenly accelerated, turned right and hit the eastern wall of the VIP building after covering a distance of about 500 meters. After hitting the wall, the flight attendants aboard the aircraft initiated an evacuation sequence and the passengers escaped through the over-wing emergency door and walked away from the aircraft to the terminal building.

The Crash and Rescue team at Kigali International Airport ensured that all the passengers and crew were rushed to King Faisal hospital for evaluation and observation as needed. The entire crew has been tested for substance abuse.

Of the passengers rushed to the hospital, six passengers were immediately discharged after evaluation. While two passengers went home, three others were put in hotels by RwandAir. One passenger departed for Entebbe on RwandAir flight number WB105 last evening. Three others flew out this afternoon to Entebbe.

One passenger sustained two broken ribs and a punctured lung and is admitted. The passenger who is the mother of the infant was kept overnight for observation while family members took the infant home, she has also been discharged today.

It is highly regrettable that one passenger died in hospital, the cause of death is yet to be determined. However, RwandAir is in touch with the family and is assisting with the funeral arrangements.

While the cabin attendants were treated for minor injuries and discharged, the cockpit crews are still admitted at the hospital. The Captain sustained a broken leg, the First Officer sustained a broken ankle and the Flight Engineer had bruises but was kept for observation.

The management of RwandAir would like to commend, the management and staff of King Faizal Hospital for their efforts in assisting with the patients in their care. The airline is maintaining dialogue with each of the passengers who were on this flight to ensure all the after effects of this incident are dealt with amicably.

The aircraft involved in this incident is a bombardier manufactured 50 seater Canadian Regional Jet -100 series. The aircraft registration number 5Y-JLD is registered in Kenya and owned by Jetlink Express Limited which was operating flight number WB205 on behalf of RwandAir at the time. It is worth mentioning here that prior to getting into lease arrangements with Jetlink Express, RwandAir along with Rwanda Civil Aviation Authority (RCAA) as the aviation regulator, conducted independent audit of Jetlink Express, her maintenance facilities and crew capabilities to determine safety and airworthiness of the operation.

All operations with the Jetlink CRJ aircrafts have been suspended while investigations of this incident are ongoing and RwandAir passengers have been rebooked through partner airlines. Note that only flights to Johannesburg and Nairobi have been affected by this suspension. However flights to Entebbe, Kamembe, Bujumbura, and Kilimanjaro will be operated as normal but with time changes. All passengers booked are advised to contact any RwandAir office for travel information.

Soon after the aircraft taxied into the VIP building, and after the evacuation, different organs at the airport concerned were swift to deal with the wreckage and ensured that any potential danger to the airport was contained. After long hours of careful efforts and amid heavy rain the wreckage was moved to a safe area away from the operational area.

RwandAir is thankful to RCAA management, the security organs, all men and women who worked until midnight to resolve this problem.

The accident investigations started immediately after the accident and will be headed by Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) who licensed the aircraft, supported by RCAA who own the accident scene and we recommend that the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) be invited as a neutral party to help with the investigations.

Over the last few months, RwandAir has been working vigorously towards the acquisition of its owned fleet of aircrafts delivery of which is scheduled before the end of the year. Over the next few days, the airline is going to fast track the delivery of these aircrafts. In her bid to ensure the highest standards of safety, RwandAir has secured and retained the maintenance services of Lufthansa Technic for its expected fleet. Further, to head her technical and flight operations going forward the airline has retained qualified and experienced personnel like the Chief Pilot who has over 17,000 flying hours with renowned airlines and the Director of Operations with over 40,000 flying hours.

RwandAir would like to reaffirm its commitment to upholding the highest safety standards and would like to see this incident swiftly investigated so that its esteemed customers and the public are reassured of continued and reliable safe operations.

RwandAir Corporate Communications

Phone: +250 252503687

Fax: +250 252503686

Data Limitations of AirSafe.com and Suggested Additional Aviation Safety Resources

As many visitors to this site know, we have made a commitment to making AirSafe.com a reliable resource for airline safety and security information. While we strive to make the information in the site, and in related sites link AirSafeNews.com, Plane-Crash-Videos.net, and BirdStrikeNews.com, informative and useful.

AirSafe.com is the site with the most data, especially about fatal airline crashes, but there are important limitations to that data, and anyone who uses the site for research or for other purposes should be aware of the key limitations. Listed below are those key limitations, as well as links to additional resources that go beyond the range of what is in AirSafe.com.

The Events Most Closely Followed by AirSafe.com
The site focuses on airline events involving jet aircraft since 1970, specifically plane crashes and other events that resulted in the death of one or more passengers. Within the site are lists of fatal events for selected airlines and for selected aircraft models, as well as pages summarizing the key aviation safety and security events for each year from 1996 onwards. While lists for specific airline models may have events that occurred before 1970, airline specific lists have events from 1970 onwards.

Aircraft Types Covered
While some events involving propeller-driven events are included in the site, these are in most cases limited to aircraft models that are flown by major airlines in the US and western Europe. Most events involving smaller aircraft are not included.

Jet Airliner Model Limitations
Some jet airliner models such as the DC8. Caravelle, and 707, may be listed as a fatal event in one of the airline pages or one of the annual review pages, but there are no comprehensive listings for these models. Those models with a comprehensive listing, which would include pre-1970 events, are on the fatal events by model page.

Many of the newer airliner models, such as the regional jets from Embraer, don't show up on the site because they have not been involved in a crash or accident that was fatal to a passenger.

Not all fatal airliner crashes are included in the site, and some that are are not counted when it comes to computed event rates for aircraft models. For example, after the March 2009 FedEx crash in Tokyo, a new page was added for FedEx that included that notable FedEx accidents and other events, but none of those events would have counted towards AirSafe.com's fatal event rates for those aircraft models because FedEx had no events involving passengers. Also excluded from the statistics are flights where the public could not buy a ticket. Private or military accidents involving airline type aircraft are excluded, for example the crash that killed Commerce Secretary Ron Brown that involved an Air Force CT-43 (a modified Boeing 737) .

Computation of Fatal Event Rates
The page listing fatal event rates for selected airlines or fatal events rates for selected models use a specific formula
for creating the values that takes into account the percentage of passengers killed . While only events killing passengers are included in the calculations, the number of flights for an aircraft model include types of flights, such as cargo flights, that are normally not considered by AirSafe.com. The effect is that fatal event rates are slightly lower than they would be if I strictly limited flight operations data to
relevant passenger flights.

AirSafe.com Definitions
AirSafe.com uses terminology such as 'fatal event' that is unique to the site and is distinctly different from safety and accident related terms used by organizations such as ICAO and NTSB.

Sources of Information
AirSafe.com only uses information that is accessible to the general public. While some of the the most detailed and wide ranging sources of information are available online, other offline sources have been used as well. The most reliable online sources include the accident and incident databases of the NTSB (you can search the entire database or search it by month) and FAA, as well as these resources:

Flight International Magazine has an excellent annual roundups of accidents and serious events (written by David Learmount), and they can be found through the site http://www.flightglobal.com. You have to use their internal search engine to find safety reviews, but it is worth it. Evey year the magazine publishes a comprehensive review of airline accidents and incidents, typically in one of the January issues of Flight International magazine.

The Aviation-Safety.net web site has a very comprehensive listing of accidents, incidents, and fatal events, plus a very easy to navigate online database of events.

The New York Times has usually been head and shoulders above most newspapers when it comes to details about famous events and many of the more obscure ones. They also allow online searches of their entire history of articles.

There are a few offline sources that may be much harder to get to, but
if you find them it could be quite useful:

NTSB: Many of their older (pre mid-1990s) studies and accident reports
are not online, but could be in Federal Depository libraries or some
university Libraries.

ICAO: This UN organization publishes accident summaries from around the world. Although many are in English, some are not. If you can find them at all, it will likely be at larger research libraries.

Creating Your Own Analysis Method
One last resource you may want to use is from the book ,
Understanding Aviation Safety Data. Written by AirSafe.com's creator Dr. Todd Curtis, one of its chapters describes in detail the general method used to create much of the content of AirSafe.com. You can download this chapter at http://www.airsafe.com/analyze/chap6_curtis.pdf. You can also take a free email-based course that covers the same material as this chapter. You can sign up for the "How to Ask an Aviation Safety Question" class at classes.airsafe.org and get the lessons mailed to you over the course of a few weeks.

Caspian Airlines Crash Kills All On Board

15 July 2009; Caspian Airlines Tu154M, Flight 7908; near Jannatabad, Iran: The aircraft was on a scheduled international flight from Tehran, Iran to Yerevan, Armenia, and crashed near a village in the Qazvin region of Iran about 16 minutes after takeoff.

The aircraft was completely destroyed in the crash, and all 153 passengers and 15 crew members were killed. Among the victims were members of Iran's youth judo team, including eight athletes and two coaches.

This is the first fatal crash for Caspian Airlines, and the 19th fatal passenger crash involving the Tu154 since 1990. The most recent fatal Tu154 crash was an Iran Air Tours crash in September 2006. The Caspian Airlines crash represents the fourth fatal Tu154 airliner crash involving an Iranian airline. the previous three were all with Iran Air Tours.

Fatal Events for Airlines from Africa and the Middle East
Caspian Airlines Plane Crash Wikipedia page

Infomercial Celebrity Billy Mays Dies After Flight

Television infomercial celebrity Billy Mays died in his sleep less than a day after he was involved in a landing incident where he was struck in the head by one or more falling objects. US Airways Flight 1241, a 737-400, departed from Philadelphia, PA just after noon on June 27, 2009 on a nonstop flight to Tampa, FL.

The aircraft experienced a hard landing, which ruptured the two nose wheel tires. The aircraft remained on the runway and the 138 passengers and five crew members, none of whom at the time appeared to be seriously injured, were taken to the terminal. Billy Mays was interviewed by a reporter from WTVT television in Tampa shortly after the incident and stated that he had been hit on the head by something falling from the ceiling.

Billy Mays had returned to Tampa on Saturday in order to undergo hip surgery the following Monday. According to his family, he had no other significant medical conditions at the time of his death. Tampa police reported that Mays wasn't feeling well the evening of the landing incident, and he went to bed at about 10 pm. He was found dead by his wife at about 7:45 the following morning.
Listen to the 911 Call from the Home of Billy Mays (2:25)
Source: Tampa Fire Rescue

So far, a direct connection between the head strike on Billy Mays during the hard landing and his subsequent death has been neither ruled in or ruled out by local authorities. Although Mays reported that he was struck in the head, neither he or the Tampa police could confirm that he was struck by luggage. Local authorities will conduct an autopsy to determine the cause of death, and the results may be available before the end of June.

If the authorities determine that Mays's death was not connected to the landing incident, then the incident will be considered minor and would likely not end up in the online incident and accident databases of the FAA or NTSB. If the death is determined to be associated with the hard landing, then this would be considered a fatal accident by the NTSB, but would not likely result in a major investigation.

The most recent significant safety event for US Airways was the ditching of an A320 in the Hudson River last January. The last fatal crash for US Airways involved a regional aircraft in Charlotte, NC in January 2003. That crash killed both pilots and all 19 passengers. The most recent fatal event involving a 737-400 was a Garuda Indonesia Airways crash in 2007.

Dangers from falling luggage have long been recognized by the airline industry. In 1998, the Flight Safety Foundation published the results of a study that estimated that worldwide, there were about 10,000 injuries every year involving falling baggage. The same study looked at 397 cases at a major US airline where a person was struck by falling luggage, and 30 percent of those strikes resulted in bruises or lacerations.

For more information on how to protect yourself from threats from falling luggage due to hard landings and in-flight turbulence, please visit turbulence.airsafe.org.

Resources
Listen to the Podcast About This Event (3:00)
Plane Crashes and Significant Events for US Airways
Plane Crashes and Significant Events for the 737

Update 29 June 2009
Hillsborough County Medical Examiner Vernard Adams stated that preliminary results from the autopsy of Billy Mays indicates that he had hypertensive heart disease. He also said that Mays was taking the prescription painkillers Tramadol and hydrocodone for hip pain, and that pill counts indicate that Mays had been taking the correct amount of the drugs. Initial tests showed no evidence of head trauma. Hillsborough County includes the city of Tampa.

Turkish Airlines Plane Crash in Amsterdam

25 February 2009; Turkish Airlines 737-800; Amsterdam, Netherlands: The aircraft, on a scheduled international flight from Istanbul, Turkey, to Amsterdam, Netherlands crashed in a field about a mile (1.6 km) short of the runway. The fuselage was broken into three major sections, and both engines were torn off. There was apparently no post crash fire. Three crew members, including both pilots, were killed, as were at least six others among the 135 passengers and crew members.

AirSafe.com's Initial Report on this Accident
Audio: MP3 | Video: iPod/MP4 | WMV | Google Video | YouTube

Additional information about this event.

For more videos, visit the AirSafe.com YouTube channel.

Continental Connection Crash in Buffalo 12 February 2009

The aircraft, a scheduled flight from Newark, NJ and operated by Colgan Air, crashed in a residential area about five miles from the airport. At least one house on the ground was destroyed. All 44 passengers and four crew members were killed, along with one person on the ground.

AirSafe.com's Initial Report on this Accident
Audio: MP3 | Video: iPod/MP4 | WMV | Google Video | YouTube

Additional information about this event.
Plane crashes involving the Dash 8
Synopsis of NTSB accident investigation

For more videos, visit the AirSafe.com YouTube channel.

New Video for Year in Review 2008 Released

The new video for the podcast "AirSafe.com's Airline Safety Review for 2008" is now available. You can see the video or listen to the audio version, below, or you can find it at one of the podcast links.

Audio: MP3 | Video: iPod/MP4 | WMV | Google Video | YouTube

For details on the events of 2008, visit http://2008.AirSafe.org

For more videos, visit the AirSafe.com YouTube channel.

Complacency and the Qantas A330 Accident of 7 October 2008

The accident earlier this month involving a Qantas Airbus A330 on a flight from Singapore to Perth seriously injured several passengers, but didn't result in any fatalities. While the event drew substantial news media attention in Australia and Asia, there was very little mention of it by major US media. This is very likely another example of how when it comes to airline events, it's difficult to get the attention of the US public, or of the policy makers in the US, if no one is killed.

My belief was that there would have been more media attention in the US if there had been at least one recent fatal event involving a US airline. While researching recent fatal US events, I found that the most recent passenger fatality on a US airliner was in August 2006. Looking back further, I realized that the US airline industry had quietly passed a milestone. The 26-month period between the last fatal US event and the date of this recording on October 21st, 2008 is the longest period without a passenger fatality on a US airliner since airlines in the US first began using jet aircraft in 1958.

One could argue that there's a certain amount of public complacency about airline safety when there are no major accidents. Looking through my archives, I found that this wasn't the first time I'd dealt with this subject. In late May 2004, the US airline industry was in the midst of another fatality-free period. At the time, it had been nearly 17 months since the last fatal US airline event. That month, I was interviewed as part of a National Public Radio program on airline safety that discussed some of the reasons for that absence of fatal events.

In the following segment, you'll hear my interview with Mike Pesca of NPR about some of the reasons behind the reduction of accidents. Also interviewed was David Evans of the publication Air Safety Week, who talked about how accidents drive the regulatory process.

Five months after the show aired, a regional airliner crashed in Missouri, killing both crew members and 11 of the 13 passengers, bringing to an end a 21-month period with no US passenger fatalities. Currently, the US airline industry has gone 26 months without a passenger fatality. This current fatality-free period is a sign that in spite of all the problems faced the industry, that the risk faced by passengers continues to decline.

Although this record is a positive sign for the industry, the recent Qantas event demonstrated that no airline, even one with no passenger fatalities in its history, is immune from accidents.

I'd like to remind the AirSafe.com audience that however good the system may be, there's always room for improvement. One way to improve things is to learn from those rare events such as what happened with Qantas earlier this month. AirSafe.com will continue to follow the accident investigation, and any future podcasts about the event, or news from the investigation, will be available at qantas.airsafe.org.

You can hear the associated podcast, which includes my interview with NPR, at:
http://www.airsafe.com/podcasts/show73-npr.mp3

Two Veteran Airline Captains Discuss the Crash of a Spanair MD82

The previous podcast reviewed the initial findings from the Spanish accident investigation. The video version of the podcast also included portions of a security camera video that captured the final moments of the flight. This podcast features a discussion that was originally recorded on August 23rd, 2008, three days after the crash of the Spanair MD82, and featured Capt. Tom Bunn of the SOAR fear of flying organization, and Capt. Steve Fisher, a veteran airline pilot who has flown for a major US airline for over two decades.

Capt. Bunn has been a guest previously on the show, and in this episode he'll talk about some of the anxieties and concerns that have been expressed to him by some passengers.

In the days following the Spanair crash, I brought Capt. Bunn and Capt. Fisher together to provide insights into the mechanics of flying a large jet transport, especially the MD82, and to give the audience an idea of the kind of training and preparation pilots go through to prepare for emergencies during takeoff.

Early on in our conversation, the two captains discussed some of the issues that came up during the the first few days of the investigation, including a problem with a temperature sensor that caused the crew of the accident aircraft to return to the terminal after its first takeoff attempt.

You can use the following link for the podcast: Audio: MP3

Additional information about the Spanair accident, including links to a video showing the crash, and links to further updates from the investigation, will be available at http://spanair.airsafe.org.

For other AirSafe.com podcasts, visit http://podcast.airsafe.org

Preliminary Findings: Crash of Spanair MD82

According to a number of media reports, Spanish Authorities have completed a preliminary report about the August 20, 2008 crash of a Spanair MD82 in Madrid. Among their findings were that the flaps were not properly configured for takeoff and that there was no flap warnings or alarms presented to the crew.

The aircraft crashed shortly after takeoff on a scheduled domestic flight from Madrid to Las Palmas in the Canary Islands. The aircraft was briefly airborne, and crashed just to the right of the departure runway. The aircraft broke up and there was a severe post-crash fire. 154 of the 172 occupants were killed.

The accident occurred during the second takeoff attempt. The crew had returned to the gate after the first takeoff attempt due to problems that so far appear to be unrelated to the subsequent accident. During the second takeoff attempt, the crew reported reaching V1, or takeoff decision speed. The aircraft was airborne for about 15 seconds, reaching a maximum altitude of about 40 feet.

A video taken by the Spanish airport authority showed that after touching down, the aircraft slid for a considerable distance and appeared to be relatively intact before breaking up and exploding. Contrary to early reports on the day of the accident, the video did not show any sign of a fire or explosion while the aircraft was airborne.

Among the key early findings of the investigation was that the aircraft’s flaps were not properly deployed at takeoff. Also, there was no indication that the flap configuration alarm was activated. This sequence of events was similar to that of a 1987 MD82 crash in Detroit, Michigan.

After that accident, the manufacturer recommended that the flaps and associated warning systems be checked prior to each flight. Spanair procedures called for a check of the flaps and warning systems prior to the first flight of the day and after each change of flight crews during the day. There was no pre-takeoff check of the flap warning system prior to the accident flight.

For additional information on this crash, including links to related audio and video podcasts and updates on the investigation, visit
http://spanair.airsafe.org

Preliminary Investigation Findings


You can also use the links below for the podcast:
Audio: MP3 Video: WMV | iPod/MP4 | YouTube | Google Video

For Other AirSafe.com podcasts, visit
http://podcast.airsafe.org