Aircraft in the News and Odd Stories

Trouble at Chicago O'Hare...

http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2014/05/13/ohare-and-midway-flights-halted-due-to-fire-at-radar-facility/

The US FAA is investigating an air traffic controller's joking remark that caused a Delta jet to abort a landing at Atlanta Airport. Flight 630 from Detroit was approaching a runway last Wednesday when a controller told the pilot: “630, go around,” instructing the plane to circle the airport and attempt another landing, according to audio aired by Atlanta television station WXIA.

The controller then quickly said: “I’m kidding Delta 630. Delta 630, you're clear to land,” according to the recording. The pilot replied: “You sent us around. Delta 630 on the go.” The Boeing 777 landed safely on its second approach, the FAA said in a statement. The agency would not release a copy of the audio. “An air traffic controller instructed the pilot to make a missed approach, then quickly cancelled that clearance and re-cleared him to land,” the FAA said on Monday.

A missed approach is a safety procedure that pilots or air traffic controllers can initiate if they determine a landing cannot be completed, according to the FAA, which did not indicate such a precaution was needed for Flight 630. The plane was about 1,000 feet (300 metres) off the ground when it aborted the first landing, WXIA reported.
(Reuters)

Mexican Helicopter Crosses U.S. Border, Fires on Border Patrol

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/mexican-helicopter-crosses-u-s-border-fires-border-patrol-n142966

Caribbean Airlines flight denied landing in Florida, passengers stranded

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/latest/article.php?id=54060

Accident investigators in Poland are reviewing the maintenance logbooks of a 1976 Piper Navajo in which 11 people were killed and one was seriously injured when the parachute jump plane crashed shortly after takeoff on Saturday.

The pressurized PA-31P took off from an airfield in Czestochowa, Poland, with 11 jumpers and one pilot onboard. Weather at the time of the crash was good with a temperature of about 80 degrees F. The airport sits at an elevation of 862 feet.

A report by the Flight Safety Foundation said the Piper twin, registered to an owner in Merrimack, New Hampshire, and operated by the Omega Skydiving School, had a history of engine problems. Eyewitnesses reportedly stated that the Navajo’s left engine quit just before the crash. (FLYING)

Guam-bound plane makes emergency landing on Pacific island

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/nat...gency-landing-remote-island-article-1.1864352

Divers looking for shipwrecks in Lake Ontario came across a historic find when they stumbled upon a C-45 that crashed into the lake more than six decades ago. The C-45, the military version of the Beech Model 18, remained relatively intact after plunging into the lake on Sept. 11, 1952. The airplane was abandoned midflight after the left engine failed and all five aboard parachuted to safety. The airplane was just eight miles away from its intended destination, Griffis Air Force Base, when the incident occurred and the airplane began to lose altitude. The C-45 traveled another 65 miles after all aboard evacuated before finally crashing into Lake Ontario.

Delta Air Lines cancels all flights to Israel indefinitely, citing a report of a rocket landing near Tel Aviv airport. Flight DL468 that was en route to Tel Aviv is now diverting to Paris.

Loosing an engine?

A flight from Belfast suffered landing problems at Doncaster Sheffield Airport tonight. Robin Hood Airport has closed, after the LinksAir flight had a problem with its undercarriage. Media reports say there was one passenger and two crew members on board. No-one was injured as the aircraft landed at the airport in Yorkshire this evening. The plane is next to the runway, where air crash investigators will examine it.

http://breakingnews.ie/ireland/flight-from-belfast-suffers-landing-issue-in-sheffield-639321.html

Sunwing flight to Cuba forced back to Toronto after disruption

http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/sunwin...ed-back-to-toronto-after-disruption-1.1980225

JetBlue flight from New York forced to make emergency landing

http://www.caribbean360.com/travel/...ail&utm_term=0_350247989a-ba0502d7de-39347625

Longest passenger flights in the world.

http://www.cntraveler.com/galleries/2014-03-06/longest-flights-in-the-world/9

The sole pilot aboard an S-2T died on Tuesday when the air tanker crashed during a firefighting mission at Yosemite National Park. The pilot has been identified as 62-year-old Geoffrey "Craig" Hunt. The FAA said the airplane went down "under unknown circumstances," but a California Highway Patrol officer who witnessed the crash says the airplane hit the side of a canyon wall near the Arch Rock entrance. The crash occurred around 4:30 p.m., and the airplane reportedly exploded on impact.

Hunt, who worked for DynCorp International, was battling a fire that broke out earlier in the afternoon in the western portion of the national park. The airplane was one of more than two dozen models that Cal Fire purchased from the U.S. military and refurbished in the 1990s to support firefighting efforts in the state. (FLYING)

Piece from Amelia Earhart's aircraft perhaps?

http://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/aluminum-patch-may-be-amelia-earharts-lost-plane-n236511

Three people died when a Cirrus SR22 and a Robinson R44 collided midair in Frederick, Maryland, on Thursday afternoon. The accident occurred at around 3:40 p.m. about a mile southwest of Frederick Municipal Airport. Both aircraft were flying at low altitude at the time of the collision, with the Cirrus en route to the airport and the R44 performing a training run.

The helicopter crashed into a storage facility about a mile away from where the SR22, which deployed its full airframe parachute, came to rest, suspended vertically in a wooded area. The SR22's parachute lines were tangled along with the airplane in a stand of trees. NTSB is investigating the crash.

Whoopsie...

http://guyanaaviation.com/2014/12/dynamic-cancels-flight-as-aircraft-gets-stuck-in-mud-at-cjia/

Korea Air Chairman's daughter orders plane back to the gate over nuts.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-...ughter-deplanes-crew-over-macadamia-nuts.html

American Airlines Airbus A332 damaged by Cleaning truck on the ramp at CLT a couple weeks ago.

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=849206831806083&id=735258996534201

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is proposing a $390,000 civil penalty against Horizon Air Industries of SeaTac, Wash., for allegedly operating Bombardier DHC-8 aircraft that were not in compliance with Federal Aviation Regulations. Federal regulations require Horizon to test and inspect its aircraft transponders every 24 months. The FAA alleges Horizon operated six Bombardier DHC-8s on more than 2,600 flights in 2012 and 2013 with transponders that Horizon had not tested and inspected within that timeframe. The agency alleges the aircraft were not in airworthy conditions during those flights. Horizon has 30 days from the receipt of the FAA’s enforcement letter to respond to the agency.