British Airways Flight falls short of runway at Heathrow

British Airways flight BA38 fell short of the runway whilst making an emergency landing.

The jet was packed with 136 passengers all of whom escaped without serious injuries. The undercarriage of the aircraft comlpetely fell apart and two wheel units were ripped off.

The black box is now being investigated by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch. The Boeing 777 had its landing gear lowered as it prepared to land but witnesses have said they saw it 'drop' out of the sky.

BA have reported that the flight coming in from Beijing came down as it was approaching the south runway at Heathrow.

Passenger Paul Venter said: "We came in to land, I could hear the undercarriage come out and the next moment the plane just dropped."

The captain has apparently told an airport worker that all power was lost as he came in to land.

The plane was heavily banking to the side at a very low level with one witness saying it was "so low you would think you could lean out of the window and touch it".

Meanwhile on the runway waiting to depart to Beijing was Gordon Brown's plane who along with many other flights was delayed. Two hundred flights had to be cancelled and diverted to other airports.

With wreckage still spread all over the south runway it's a miracle that nobody was killed.

Scotland Yard have said: "There is nothing to suggest at this stage that the incident is in any way terror-related."

Five killed in light aircraft crash

A Beechcraft B9L aircraft has crashed near the Czech Republic killing all five people onboard.

The accident happened near Kiev's second airport Zhulyany on Sunday. Nobody on the ground was hurt.

Experts are saying the aircraft caught fire on impact whilst employees are saying it exploded in flight. All five who died are believed to be Czech citizens.

Debris from the wings, engines and the inside cabin are believed to be scattered near a barn in the middle of a field.

"Five people died," the emergency ministry spokesman said.

"There were five people on board - two pilots and three passengers. This was a small plane which was flying to Ukraine and three kilometres from Zhulyany it dropped off the radar screens," he said.

Plane crash victim to be buried today

One of the victims of the Thai air disaster is to be buried today by family in Londonderry.

The remains of the 22 year old were sent back home on Friday to the Drumard Park home in the Hazelbank area.

The aircraft crashed on landing when it came down in bad weather killing 88 people.

Patricia Logue Aaron's Aunt said:

"We the parents and brothers of Aaron Toland would like to express heartfelt gratitude to our family and friends who have given us great comfort and support as we mourn the loss of our beloved son and brother Aaron. Nothing could prepare us to lose Aaron in this terrible tragic manner so far away from us, his family.

"We are heartened that he is back home with us. Our only desire now is to mourn our son and brother. We appreciate that the circumstances of Aaron's death and those of 88 other people in Thailand made it world news. However, we are a family in mourning and ask that the media would respect our privacy."

Doctors have said that his friend Chris Cooley is still in hospital in Phuket but is expected to make a full recovery.

Investigators have said that the possible cause of the crash is wind shear, where the wind makes a sudden change in direction or speed.

KLM And PanAm Aircraft Collision

Don't know if you've already seen this, but I found this on YouTube recently, it put the wind up me, that's for sure!

Britons killed in flight to Thailand named

The eight Britons who have been confirmed dead from the Thai air accident have been named.

Tributes were paid to Neil and Helen Slater, Susan Howell, Steve Saunby, Tony and Judy Weston, Colin Denny and Alexander Collins.

Eighty nine passengers were killed on the One-Two-Go flight from Bangkok to Phuket when the pilot tried to land in bad weather.

Reports are so far blaming the pilot and faulty equipment at Phuket Airport for the accident.

Plane crash survivor hailed a hero

British teacher Peter James Hill who survived the plane crash in Thailand has been praised for his help in pulling passengers from the wreckage.

Thai Foreign Minister Nitya Pibulsonggram visited Mr Hill in hospital and gave him grapes, flowers and £75 in Thai currency.

Mr Nitya said: "He is a hero by the way. I believed he pulled two people out at (his own) risk. He is now doing pretty well, sitting up and smiling."

Mr Hill added: "I am sure that there were acts of heroism on this flight, but not from me. I don't want to be hailed a hero. My only thought was to get off that plane."

He later said that as soon as he stepped onto the aircraft he had a bad feeling: "I saw the runway, then grass. We hit with a thud and then we hit a second time, which was the crash."

Are Pilots fully trained to fly commercial aircraft?

Investigators looking into the plane crash which claimed at least 89 lives are asking the question of why the airport remained open when weather conditions were so appalling.

Survivors are also amazed that despite the pilot aborting one attempt to land they were still given permission to come in when palm trees were being bent by the strong winds.

Most of the survivors are recovering in hospital with burns and some broken bones. Ten of the dead are British and forensic experts are expected to be flown in aid the identification of the bodies.

The aircraft's black boxes have been found and sent to the US for analysis.

"Hopefully, we will learn in a few weeks the cause of the accident," transport minister Theera Haocharoen told reporters.

One survivor said:

."I saw palm trees bending back in the wind. I couldn't see how he was going to land," Mildred Furlong, a waitress from British Columbia, Canada, said. "We missed the runway first time, came back up and then tried again. We were all silent, then we suddenly hit the ground and there were screams.

"I thought I was going to die because the carriage was filled with thick black smoke and people had passed out around me. There were people burning in the plane, but the man behind me managed to kick open the exit after a few tries and I escaped through that."

Marcel Squinobal, an Austrian holidaymaker, said the plane had bounced up and down and swerved dramatically to both sides. "I don't understand why we didn't fly to Krabi and we could have taken a bus to Phuket."

John O'Donnell, from Co Clare, Ireland, said the pilot had tried to get the plane back in the air after it first hit the runway. "You can tell it was in trouble, because it kind of landed then came up again," Mr O'Donnell said from his hospital bed.

"The plane was flying around trying to land. It was making some noises and it was bad rain. There was a lot of smoke in the plane. I got out through the doors and I came out on to the wing of the plane ... I saw my friend outside. And next thing, it really caught fire, then I just got badly burned, my face, my legs, my arms."

This latest air disaster has bought into question the possibility of budget Asian airlines using sub-standard pilots. This meaning that pilots aren't fully trained to handle serious situations, and to keep up with the increase in air travel pilots who aren't used to flying commercial aircraft are being drafted in.

That certainly doesn't make me feel at ease!!

Aircraft crashes on Phuket in attempt to land

At least 66 people have been killed on Phuket Island after an aircraft crashed in heavy rain whilst trying to land.

It's reported the aircraft split in two and then burst into flames.

The budget airline One-Two-Go was on a popular route from Bangkok to Phuket carrying 123 passengers and five crew.

Survivors have been describig their escape from the plane's windows as smoke began to consume the plane.

Pairnwit Chusaeng one of the survivors said: ``I saw passengers engulfed in fire as I stepped over them on way out of the plane, I was afraid that the airplane was going to explode so I ran away.''

Deputy Governor of Phuket Worapot Ratthaseema told press: ``At least 66 people have been confirmed dead and 42 have been hospitalized."

He later added that the remaining passengers are still missing.

As many as 27 of the injured passengers are thought to be Irish, Israeli, Australian and British.

One of the survivors who is Irish was badly burned on his arms, legs and back as he escaped the fire. He has told media that he knew something was wrong before the plane landed.

``You could tell when it was landing it was in trouble,'' he said. ``It was making a noise, this bang.''

It's thought the severe weather played a major part in this accident. Chaisak Angsuwan director of Air Transport Authority of Thailand said: ``The visibility was poor as the pilot attempted to land. He decided to make a go-around but the plane lost balance and crashed,'' he said. ``It was torn into two parts.''

This is the second fatal air accident since 1998 when 101 people were killed after a Thai Airways jet crashed whilst trying to land in heavy rain in Surat Thani. Forty Five people survived that incident.

Investigations continue.

More misery for China Airlines

To add to the bad luck of China Airlines another of its jets nearly ended its routine flight in disaster.

The aircraft had to make an emergency landing in Japan after it ran out of fuel. The pilots had to ask for permission to land at Kansai International Airport en-route to central Japan from Taipei.

Fortunately the plane landed safely with no injuries to anyone onboard.

After refuelling the plane resumed its journey to Chubu International Airport, China Airlines weren’t available for comment at this time.

Tough times ahead for China Airlines

China Airlines are preparing themselves for turbulent times ahead following the latest incident in Japan where a Boeing 737-800 burst into flames shortly after landing at Okinawa.

Johnson Sun China Airlines spokesman has said that their cash flow will be seriously affected despite having other aircraft to carry on their operations.

Sales in flight bookings with the airline will also drop until public faith has been restored. Sun also said that total losses from the accident had not yet been established.

A Boeing 737-800 jet is normally worth $70-$80 million but it’s not known how much China Airlines paid for the aircraft or how much compensation the insurance companies will pay out.

"Although TFMI is the lead underwriter, its exposure is limited," Taiwan Ratings said in a statement. "The expected net loss is equivalent to 1 percent to 2 percent of the insurer's total shareholders' funds plus special reserves at the end of June," it said.

China Airlines Jet bursts into flames after landing

Today at Naha Airport on the Japanese island of Okinawa a China Airlines aircraft burst into flames.

There were 165 people onboard all of whom managed to escape. Some only just made it when the plane exploded just seconds before they had evacuated.

Television pictures showed flames and smoke pouring out the 737-800 and even showed the pilot jumping out the cockpit window.

The Airline has said the cause of the explosion is not yet known but some reports have said that the left engine of the plane caught fire.

"Everything was normal, including take-off and landing, until the pilots were told the airplane was on fire," China Airlines spokesman Johnson Sun said.

"Then the crew on board immediately took the due procedure to evacuate all the passengers."

The plane had embarked on a routine flight from Taipei to Okinawa but after only 8 minutes after landing on the Japanese island black smoke and fire was seen coming from the plane.

The aircraft had actually broken in two after the fire was put out. There were 8 members of crew onboard the flight and all eight are reported to be safe despite reports that two had to be taken to hospital.

China Airlines have a reputation for being one of the unsafest airlines in the world and this recent incident will only add fuel to that belief.
During the 1990s the airline had several crashes and in 2002 one crashed into the sea near Penghu with 225 passengers onboard.

No survivors on doomed Air Moorea Aircraft.

It’s now been confirmed that all 20 people onboard the Air Moorea aircraft died after the plane took off bound for Tahiti.

The flight should have been a routine 15km flight taking only 7 minutes. President Gaston Tong Sang confirmed there were no survivors.

Among those on board are believed to have been 2 Australian tourists and two officials from the European Commission’s delegation to the Pacific.

Investigations are still underway as to the cause of the crash on what seemed to be a perfect sunny day.

Aircraft crashes into lagoon with 20 on board

Twelve lives have been taken following an Air Moorea aircraft crash whilst taking off from the French island of Moorea on its way to Tahiti.

An official said: "Twelve corpses have been recovered, operations are continuing,"

Similar to the Kenyan plane crash this airline plunged into a lagoon with 20 people onboard the Twin Otter Turbopop.

The cause of the accident isn’t immediately clear. The nationality of those killed hasn’t been released and there is no word of survivors as yet.

A police spokesman said: "The investigation is underway there now and police are still combing the area.”

Victims of Kenya Airways crash still to be identified.

For the victims of the Kenyan Airways crash almost two weeks ago a day of mourning has been observed in Cameroon.

All 114 people on board the flight died when the aircraft came down into swamps shortly after taking off from Douala Airport.

The official inquiry is still yet to report on the tragedy. Rescuers took 2 days to locate the wreckage.

The people in Cameroon have been very critical about how the crash has been handled by the government. The country’s transport minister still hasn’t visited the site.

Kenya observed a day of mourning on Monday.

Two weeks later and only a few bodies have been formally identified. Most are believed to still be buried in the swampy waters where the plane came down.

Indentification of plane crash victims a slow and painful process

The continuing rescue operation for the plane crash in Douala has been a very slow and frustrating process.

As soon as the aircraft disappeared from radars it appears the confusion started straight away, it was only 24 hours later that a co-ordination team was put together.

When that was eventually sorted the team were looking for the plane 248 miles away from where the actual wreckage was found, questioning whether the authorities can actually manage a major crisis.

One investigator said: "There is too much red tape here. Even when we are faced with a deadline to recover the body parts before they totally decompose,"

Joshua Osih, an aviation consultant in Douala said: "The professionals have been pushed aside in favour of politicians and this has resulted in the mission delays. Despite the urgency of the task, the crisis committee has failed to assemble the appropriate equipment for search operations - even though air force helicopters are readily available in Cameroon”

Human parts that can make up seventy-six bodies had been recovered by Wednesday evening.

Forensic experts from the UK have been flown in to help with the grim process of identifying bodies. But the process of identifying the victims remains difficult.

The crash has been seen as a wake up call for Cameroon’s authorities to assemble a more professional and well equipped team ready to cope with such disasters.

"Going by what happened to the plane it's clear that however rapid the authorities were no lives would have been saved, but we should learn from these mistakes and improve for the future."

Lets hope for everybody’s sake that they do.

Doomed Kenya Airways jet's flight data recovered

The flight data from the crashed Kenyan plane has now been retrieved by rescuers.

It’s hoped that this will be able to give answers as to why the aircraft went down and crashed into a mangrove swamp killing all those on board.

"We found the flight data recorder," Cameroon's civil aviation director general Ignatius Sana Juma was quoted as saying, and then added: "We still need to recover the cockpit voice recorder”.

The plane was located nearly 36 hours after the plane lost contact with the control tower. An official leading the recovery effort at the wreckage said that he had surveyed the entire scene and that nobody had survived. Rescuers began the grim task of removing bodies on Monday.

"There are no chances of finding any (survivors) under the circumstances," Luc Ndjodo said. "There is a crater filled with water and a clearing, then buried in the mud there are scattered plane parts and debris”.

As the swamp is unaccessible by vehicles, recovering bodies will be made more difficult and slow.

No survivors on Kenya Airways Jet crash.

The wreckage of Flight KQ507 has been reached by emergency workers in swamps. It is now confirmed that there are no survivors of the Kenya Airways jet, of those were 5 Britons.

It’s said that the plane was all buried under the swamp, which made the wreckage hard to find.

The plane had taken off from Douala on its way to Nairobi when a distress signal was sent from the plane before disappearing off the radar. The aircraft was located 12 miles from the town’s outskirts in a forest.

A local resident assisting officials in searching for the crash site reported he had seen one body and a body part.

The cause of the plane going down has not yet been established. Patrick Smith a US based airline pilot and aviation expert said: "Whatever happened must have happened very fast, which is usually a sign of catastrophic structural failure".

The aircraft was only 6 months old and had no history of problems. Investigations are continuing to establish the cause of the crash.

Rescuers still working away at flight KQ507 crash sight.

Courtesy of CNN.com

As I stated before the wreckage of flight KQ507 has been located nearby the airport it took off from in Douala. The aircraft was concealed from view by trees in mangroves therefore making it hard to see.

There has been no information on any passengers as yet and rescuers are still working away at the site.

CEO Titus Naikuni spoke at a news conference in Nairobi: "Kenya Airways regrets to confirm that its flight KQ 507 has been located on a mangrove swamp 20km (12 miles) south of Douala,"

Bad weather may have been a possible factor in events leading to the crash as the plane took off in very heavy rain. But this of course is still speculation until the real facts are established.

Wreckage of Kenya Airways Jet been located.

The five Britons on board the Kenya Airways Jet, which crashed on Saturday, have all been named.

They are Sarah Stewart, Adam Stewart, Anthony Mitchell, Stuart Claisse and Gordon Wright.

The aircraft has been located near a town called Mvengue, which is South West of Yaounde. No details were disclosed of any casualties or the state of the plane.

Relatives of those on board remain in Nairobi for news.

Update on Kenya Airways Jet..

There has still been no word about the wherabouts of the Kenya Airways jet after it disappeared from radar on Saturday.

The search has been hampered by the lack of light and also the terrain the search is being conducted in.

Hope is fading fast of finding any survivors yet officials say that there is a possibility the plane hasn't crashed as it has only disappeared. It's believed 5 Britons are on board one of those being journalist Anthony Mitchell.

The plane is only 6 months old and has no history of any problems, Kenya Airways' safety record is also said to be pretty good.

The search for the plane will continue at dawn on Sunday.