Friday, August 10, 2012

Emergency Crews Stop Searching For 'Plane Down' on Chickamauga Lake - Chattanooga, Hamilton County, Tennessee

911 Caller Says Saw Plane Go Down Into Chickamauga Lake, But No Plane Found After "Long Intensive Search" 

On Friday at approximately 4:38 p.m. a caller dialed 911 to report seeing a small plane go down in Harrison Bay around  the 7900 block of Highway 58.

 The Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office along with several volunteer fire departments responded to the scene, but due to severe weather the initial search was delayed.  As weather conditions improved boats equipped with SONAR moved into the area and searched with nothing being located.

Members of the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office SURT team responded and sent divers into the water where it was reported the plane went down,  but after a long intensive search, nothing was located.

Emergency personnel who responded to the scene were Highway 58 Volunteer Fire Department, Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office, Dallas Bay Volunteer Fire Department, Sequoyah Volunteer Fire Department, Sale Creek Volunteer Fire Department,Chattanooga Fire Department  Fire Boat, Marine Rescue and Hamilton County Emergency Medical Services.


Hamilton County rescue personnel search the Harrison Bay area of Chickamauga Lake late Friday evening after they received reports of a plane crash. Witnesses reported the possible crash about 5 p.m., just before a strong thunderstorm passed over the area. Officials called off the search about 9 p.m. Friday without having found anything. There was no word whether a search would resume today. 


The search has been called off for now, after water rescue and emergency management crews converged on the Wolftever - Harrison Bay section of Chickamauga Lake Friday afternoon on reports of a plane down. 

Crews have not confirmed the crash reported by one witness, but sonar-equipped search boats in the area did indicate "a large object on the bottom." The witness told officers it was a small "Cessna-type" plane or maybe an ultralight aircraft.

However personnel in the FAA Tower at Lovell Field told police they had no radio traffic or reports of any plane in distress.

 Several emergency boats are converging on the area and officers have established a Command Post along Hwy. 58 north of Island Cove Marina. They are requesting other boats stay out of the area.

Crews had to halt search operations when severe storms passed through the area, but as of 6:30, they were back on the water in the search mode.

According to Chattanooga dispatch, there are no plans to resume the search Saturday morning.


CHATTANOOGA (WRCB) - The Channel 3 newsroom is following breaking news involving a possible small plane crash into Lake Chickamauga in Hamilton County. 

A spokeswoman for the Hamilton County EMS confirms that officers have been called to assist in the search. The search area is near Harrison Bay around the Highway 58 and Wolftever Landing Drive area.

More boats with sonar devices on the way to search.

Search crews have been hampered by strong thunderstorms in the area, but resumed their search once the weather cleared somewhat.

Cessna P210N Pressurized Centurion, N41KA: Accident occurred August 10, 2012 in Santa Monica, California

http://registry.faa.gov/N41KA

NTSB Identification: WPR12FA349
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Friday, August 10, 2012 in Santa Monica, CA
Probable Cause Approval Date: 01/27/2015
Aircraft: CESSNA P210N, registration: N41KA
Injuries: 1 Fatal.

NTSB investigators either traveled in support of this investigation or conducted a significant amount of investigative work without any travel, and used data obtained from various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.

About 15 minutes after departure, the pilot contacted air traffic control and requested a return to the departure airport without indicating the reason. About 10 minutes later, the pilot was instructed to enter a right base leg for the runway and was subsequently cleared to land behind traffic. One minute later, the pilot declared an emergency, but he did not identify the nature of the emergency. No further transmissions were made by the pilot. The airplane then collided with treetops on a southeasterly heading about 3 miles northeast of the airport and continued about 200 feet before striking the top of a palm tree and falling to the ground. A postcrash fire consumed the majority of the airplane. Postaccident examination of the airframe revealed no mechanical anomalies that would have precluded normal operation. The engine spark plugs were covered in heavy, dark soot indicative of an extremely rich mixture condition, which could have resulted in a loss of engine power. The engine was examined and subsequently placed on a test stand. After repairs were made to facilitate an engine run, the engine started, ran, and responded to throttle movements with no discrepancies noted. The reason for the return to the departure airport and subsequent reported emergency could not be determined. The investigation found that the pilot may have had therapeutic levels of doxylamine, a sedating antihistamine, in his blood about the time of the accident. However, based on the circumstances of the accident, it is unlikely that pilot impairment from doxylamine contributed to the accident. Further, the carbon monoxide present in the pilot’s blood is consistent with postaccident exposure to combustion products. 

The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident as follows:
The pilot's failure to maintain altitude during a return to the airport following an unspecified emergency; the nature of the emergency could not be determined because postaccident examination of the airframe and engine did not reveal any anomalies that would have precluded normal operation.

HISTORY OF FLIGHT 

On August 10, 2012, about 1811 Pacific daylight time, a Cessna P210N, N41KA, impacted trees and terrain about 3 miles northeast of the Santa Monica Airport (SMO), Santa Monica, California. The private pilot/owner operated the airplane under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal flight. The pilot, the sole occupant, was fatally injured. The airplane sustained substantial damage in the post impact fire. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the flight that departed SMO about 1744, and no flight plan had been filed.

According to a Los Angeles City fire fighter/paramedic, he was about a block away clearing a call when he heard tree branches snapping. He turned around and saw the accident airplane in a nose down attitude. The airplane struck a 30-foot-tall palm tree, rotated 90 degrees, and dropped straight down. The airplane was then involved in a post-crash fire. The witness stated that he did not recall hearing the sound of the airplane's engine.

PERSONNEL INFORMATION

The pilot, age 70, held a private pilot certificate with ratings for airplane single-engine land, and instrument airplane. He held a third-class medical certificate issued on October 21, 2011. According to his logbook, the pilot had accumulated a total time of 3,200 hours.

According to the pilot's son, his father had flown from Santa Monica to Mammoth, California, Carson City, Nevada, Reno, Nevada, then to Monterey, California, Santa Barbara, California, and then back to Santa Monica, the week before the accident. He further stated that the flight before the accident, the airplane seemed to be operating normally.

AIRCRAFT INFORMATION

The accident airplane was a 1978 Cessna P210N, serial number P21000045. The pilot purchased the airplane in October 1997. 

Last annual inspection was performed on October 21, 2011, at an aircraft total time of 3,361.5 hours; tachometer time of 1,258 hours. A 50-hour airframe inspection was signed off on May 17, 2012, at an aircraft total time of 3,402.7 hours and a tachometer time of 1,299.2 hours.

According to the engine logbook, a Continental Motors Inc. (CMI) TSIO-520-P7 serial number 513052 was removed and a factory remanufactured zero-time CMI TSIO-520-P7, serial number 278910-R, 300-horsepower engine was installed on December 16, 2002; the airplane total time was 2,455.0 hours, and tachometer time 357.0 hours. An entry dated October 21, 2011, recorded a total engine time of 906.5 hours, and a time since major overhaul of 906.5 hours. The last 50-hour engine inspection was signed off on May 17, 2012, at a total time of 947.7 hours.

The accident airplane was refueled on August 4, 2012, by American Flyers at SMO with the addition of 32.2 gallons of 100-Low Lead Aviation fuel.

COMMUNICATIONS

According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the pilot had been in contact with both Santa Monica (SMO) Tower and Southern California Terminal Radar Approach Control (SCT) controllers. The flight departed SMO about 1744. The FAA reviewed the radar data and reported that the airplane departed over the ocean and made a right turn to the east, toward Burbank Airport. At 17:47, the pilot requested a frequency change to SCT, and contacted SCT at 17:48. The pilot requested flight following en-route to Mammoth Lakes, California. At 17:51, SCT instructed the pilot to contact a different SCT sector. The pilot checked in with the new SCT controller and reported that he was climbing out of 2,300 feet.

At 18:00, the pilot contacted SCT with a request to return to SMO without giving a reason to the controller. Between 18:01 and 18:08, SCT queried whether the pilot wanted to transition east or west of Van Nuys Airport (VNY), Van Nuys, California, to SMO. The pilot responded that he would be transitioning east of VNY. The controller then instructed the pilot to contact SMO tower.

At 18:08, the pilot contacted SMO Tower and reported that he was in the "pass" with Kilo; SMO tower instructed him to enter a right base for runway 21 and the pilot confirmed "right base." Radar data identified the aircraft tracking on a straight path and descending to enter the airport area on a right base leg. At 18:10, SMO Tower informed the pilot that he was number 3 and to follow the King Air, 2 miles straight-in, and to report if he had the aircraft in sight. The pilot subsequently reported that he had the King Air in sight. The controller then instructed the pilot to follow traffic, he was number 2 and cleared to land. The pilot acknowledged that he was cleared to land.

At 1811 the pilot reported to SMO tower that he had an emergency. The tower controller queried the pilot as to the nature of the emergency; however, there was no response from the pilot. Radar data identified the last target on the aircraft at 1811:08 at an altitude of 400 feet.

According to the FAA, tower personnel reported hearing an unidentified squealing noise in the background during the last transmission from the pilot.

WRECKAGE AND IMPACT INFORMATION

The National Transportation Safety Board investigator-in-charge (NTSB IIC) and an inspector from the FAA responded to the accident site. The accident site was about 3 miles northeast of the SMO airport. The first identified point of contact was the tree-lined street of South Glendon Avenue; several tree tops had been damaged about 200 feet west of the final resting spot of the airplane. The airplane had been on a southeasterly heading (140-degrees) before it impacted a 30 foot palm tree at the intersection of South Glendon Avenue and Mississippi Avenue. The airplane came to rest on a magnetic heading of 230-degrees at the base of the palm tree; the airplane impacted the top one-third of the palm tree. The majority of the airplane was thermally consumed in the post-impact fire, and the entire airplane came to rest at the accident site. The instrument panel had been destroyed in the fire. 

The engine along with the propeller assembly separated from the firewall and came to rest on its right side adjacent to the empennage and left wing. 

During the recovery of the airplane, as the left wing was picked up by the recovery personnel, fuel began to flow out of the wing. The wing had been compromised during the accident sequence. It was estimated that there was 25-gallons of fuel that spilled out. The fuel was not recovered.

MEDICAL AND PATHOLOGICAL INFORMATION

A postmortem examination was conducted by the County of Los Angeles Department of Coroner on August 13, 2012. The Coroner reported that the pilot had succumbed to burns over greater than 90-percent of his body. 

The FAA's Civil Aerospace Medical Institute performed forensic toxicology on specimens from the pilot. The results were negative for tested volatiles, and a cyanide test was not performed. There was a positive result for carbon monoxide 19-percent carbon monoxide was detected in blood. The specimens also tested positive for Dextromethorphan, which was detected in the pilot's urine and blood. Dextrorphan was detected in the pilot's urine, but not in his blood. Also detected in the pilot's blood was 0.168 (ug/ml, ug/g) Doxylamine. 

TEST AND RESEARCH

On August 12, 2013, investigators from the NTSB, Cessna Aircraft Company (Cessna), and CMI, examined the airframe and engine at Aircraft Recovery Service, Pearblossom, California. The postaccident examination revealed no evidence of mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation of the airframe and engine. A detailed report is in the public docket for this accident.

Flight continuity was established throughout the airplane via cables and associated hardware. The right wing had been consumed by fire. The left wing remained attached to the fuselage. The rudder remained attached to the empennage, and the left aileron remained attached to the left wing. The elevator and horizontal stabilizer were consumed in the fire. The right main and nose landing gear were extended down and locked; the left gear was in an intermediate position. The instrument panel sustained severe thermal damage and was destroyed with only the radio stack visible. The engine JPI was destroyed. The fuel selector was positioned to the left wing.

The engine crankshaft rotated via the propeller and drive train and mechanical continuity was established. Rotation of the propeller also established continuity of the ignition system, resulting in a spark at each of the top ignition leads. The cylinders were borescoped with no signs of operational distress observed. All of the top sparkplugs were covered with heavy, black soot. The right side top spark plugs were also oil soaked. The turbocharger impeller revolved freely when rotated by hand. 

The 3-bladed propeller exhibited very little rotational damage (no leading edge gouging or chord wise scrapes). Two of the blades displayed slight bending, while one remained straight. The two blades that were slightly bent were free to rotate in the hub. The propeller governor remained intact and in place at the front of the engine.

The engine was shipped to CMI for further examination. Under the auspices of an NTSB investigator, the engine was inspected and repairs were made to facilitate an engine run. The engine was started, ran, and responded to throttle movements with no discrepancies noted. The report is in the public docket for this accident. The engine's turbocharger (absolute pressure controller, wastegate, and pressure relief valve) were functionally tested at Hartzell Engine Technologies facility in Montgomery, Alabama, under NTSB oversight. All of the turbocharger components functioned within specification.

NTSB Identification: WPR12FA349 
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Friday, August 10, 2012 in Santa Monica, CA
Aircraft: CESSNA P210N, registration: N41KA
Injuries: 1 Fatal.

This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed.

On August 10, 2012, about 1811 Pacific daylight time, a Cessna P210N, N41KA, impacted trees and terrain about 3 miles northeast of the Santa Monica Airport (SMO), Santa Monica, California. The private pilot/owner operated the airplane under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal flight. The pilot, the sole occupant, was fatally injured. The airplane sustained substantial damage in the post impact fire. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the flight that departed SMO about 1745, and no flight plan had been filed.

According to a Los Angeles City firefighter/paramedic, he was about a block away clearing a call when he heard tree branches snapping. He turned around and saw the accident airplane in a nose down attitude. The airplane struck a 30-foot-tall palm tree, rotated 90 degrees, and dropped straight down. The airplane was then involved in a post-crash fire. The witness stated that he did not recall hearing the sound of the airplane’s engine.

The National Transportation Safety Board investigator-in-charge (NTSB IIC) and an inspector from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) responded to the accident site. The accident path was along a heading of 140 degrees magnetic (S. Glendon Avenue). Several trees were impacted along the path by the airplane before it impacted a palm tree. The investigation team noted a witness mark on the top 1/3 of the palm tree. The entire airplane came to rest at the accident site.


The airplane was recovered and taken to a secure facility for further examination.





View more videos at: http://nbclosangeles.com.


The pilot who died when his small plane crashed into a West Los Angeles neighborhood Friday evening flew volunteer medical missions using his Santa Monica Airport-based aircraft, according to a friend.

He was identified by his neighbor as attorney Sean McMillan of Westchester. He had been flying charitable flights for those medically in need for about 20 years through a service called Angel Flight, the neighbor said.

McMillan's plane crashed two blocks from Olympic and Westwood boulevards at about 6:15 p.m. on Friday, sending a plume of smoke into the air and bringing dozens of firefighters and police officers to the scene – a residential neighborhood.

He was killed on impact, and his Cessna 210 broke into pieces that lay charred on the ground in an intersection, aerial video showed.

 A home saw an exterior wall damaged, and a palm tree went up in flames that were quickly doused by firefighters, video from the scene showed. No one on the ground was injured.

"I know for a fact Sean would've aimed his airplane at the last moment for an empty street," said McMillan's neighbor Charlie Fredricy.

He said that McMillan volunteered with Angel Flight, and the organization confirmed it had a pilot named. Online records showed McMillan was 70. 


 The State Bar of California lists an M.S. McMillan as a lawyer at the Century City-based firm of Greenberg Traurig. The firm's website lists a Sean McMillan as a shareholder who is a member of Angel Flight.

The bar listing for McMillan says he had an undergraduate degree from USC and a law degree from Harvard University.

On Friday, a spokesman with the Federal Aviation Administration said Friday that the plane had declared an emergency after departing Santa Monica Airport, about 3 miles southwest of the crash site.

Neighbors near the crash site – in the 2100 block of Glendon Avenue (map) – said planes going to and from the airport frequently fly overhead.

The plane "flew around for an unknown period of time, and was coming back to land when the accident occurred," said the FAA's Ian Gregor on Friday.

Multiple witnesses said they saw the plane flying low before it crashed.

FAA records for the aircraft said it was a fixed-wing, single-engine Cessa 210 that was manufactured in 1978.

Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board removed the wreckage early Saturday. Some flowers had been left on the site.


The pilot who died after his plane crashed onto a sidestreet in West Los Angeles yesterday has been identified by a neighbor who knew him as a local attorney, who volunteered to fly planes for charity.

A friend and neighbor told NBC Los Angeles that the pilot who perished in yesterday's fiery plane crash was Sean McMillan of Westchester. He was an attorney at at the Century City-based law firm Greenberg Traurig. Charlie Fredricy said that McMillan was in his 70's and for two decades he had volunteered with a group called Angel Flight.

Fredricy described McMillan as a generous person who would have gone out of his way to make sure no one else was hurt as his plane went down: "I know for a fact Sean would've aimed his airplane at the last moment for an empty street."

Locals who saw the plane before it crashed said that it had been flying extremely low before it crashed into the intersection of Glendon Avenue and Mississippi. The FAA told reporters that the pilot declared an "emergency" for an unknown reason. He was trying to turn his fixed-wing, single-engine Cessa 210 around to land back at the Santa Monica, which was just three miles away.

Related:

Plane Crashes Into West Los Angeles Neighborhood, Killing 1


 A Cessna 210 crashed Friday on Aug. 10, 2012 in West Los Angeles. One person on board has been reported killed.

 A crash site of a single-engine Cessna 210 is seen in the 2100 block of South Glendon Avenue in the West LA portion of Los Angeles, California, August 10, 2012. The plane crashed about three miles northeast from the airport shortly after taking off from Santa Monica Airport, killing one person aboard but causing no injuries to anyone on the ground. 


 



 
A small plane crashed into a tree in a Westwood neighborhood on Friday, August 10, 2012.



 


Authorities have said a small fixed-wing aircraft crashed in a residential neighborhood on the westside of Los Angeles on Friday evening, and one person had died.

The victim's age and gender was not immediately known, fire officials said. No other victims have been discovered.

The pilot of the single-engine Cessna 210 declared an emergency around 6:10 p.m., shortly after departing Santa Monica airport, which is about three miles northeast from the site of the crash, according to Ian Gregor, with the Federal Aviation Administration.

It was not immediately know why the pilot signaled an emergency. The plane is registered to a Santa Monica resident, Gregor said.

Aerial video showed smoke rising from the scene, a residential neighborhood in West Los Angeles. A blackened, broken-apart plane appeared in the roadway.

The plane appeared to crash near homes but no structures were involved in the crash, officials said.

Los Angeles firefighters were on the scene spraying down the wreckage. It appeared to be partly in an intersection.

An alert sent out by the Los Angeles Fire Department at 6:18 p.m. gave the address as 2111 Glendon Avenue (map).

A man who said he lived less than a block from the scene spoke on air during the NBC4 News at 5 p.m. via phone.

"I saw a small plane go right overhead. It literally clipped the power lines right behind myself.   Instantly, I heard it hit the ground and there was smoke. We ran over there … the plane was already engulfed in flames, the tree was on fire," said the neighbor, who gave his name as Matt.

He added that there was "high air traffic" in the area going into Santa Monica Airport.

"They usually go in that direction, but obviously never that low," Matthew said.

Plane hit by lightning: Blue Grass Airport (KLEX), Lexington, Kentucky

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) - It was a rough flight for passengers and crew aboard a plane that landed at Blue Grass Airport Thursday night. 

A spokeswoman with Allegiant Airlines confirmed to WKYT that a flight from Sanford, Florida was hit by lightning just before landing in Lexington around 9 p.m.

147 passengers were on board when it was hit.

One flight attendant suffered minor injures and was checked out by paramedics.

Allegiant's spokeswoman said mechanics were on their way to Blue Grass Airport late Thursday to see how much damage the lightning caused to the plane.
 

Cessna 172RG Cutlass, D-EIYL: Accident occurred August 10, 2012 , Bjugn, in the Norwegian county of South Troendelag - Norway



Three Germans were killed when their light aircraft crashed into a mountain side in Norway in low visibility conditions, Norwegian police confirmed on Saturday. 

 The Cessna 172 plane was registered to a German owner and was carrying three passengers, Norwegian police spokesman Erling Landro told DPA news agency.

Norwegian police confirmed the passengers, whose names have not yet been released, consisted of one 49-year-old and two 55-year old Germans, reported the online edition of the Focus magazine on Saturday.

The plane crashed into a rock face while navigating through low-lying cloud in an inaccessible and mountainous area on Friday, said police. The aircraft had been en route to the Vaernes airport in Trondheim when poor visibility caused the crash near Bjurn in western Norway.

The plane was part of a convoy of three German aircraft which had departed from the Lofoten Islands in the north of the country, Norwegian authorities confirmed.

The other two aircraft landed safely at their destination.


http://www.rosenheim24.de


 OSLO, Norway (AP) Police in Norway say three people were killed when a small German-registered plane crashed into a mountain side in the central part of the Scandinavian country.

 Rescue official Per Fjeld said Friday the wreck of the Cessna 172 plane was found in a remote area near the town of Bjugn, north of Trondheim.

Berglund said the weather in the region was foggy and rainy.

VIDEO: North Korea still uses old Russian passenger plane

 

August 2, 2012 by ZazaNews1 

North Korea still uses old Russian passenger plane.mp4

Qantas passengers refused to fly as XL pajamas were unavailable

Melbourne, August 10 (ANI): Two Melbourne-bound Qantas passengers refused to fly after they were told that there were no XL-sized first-class pajamas on their LA flight.

The crew's offer of business-class jim-jams failed to placate the duo.

Their luggage was offloaded after they elected to spoil their own pajama party and were left behind.

QF094 business-class passenger Angela Ceberano said that the cabin erupted in laughter when the captain announced the reason for the delay.

"He said: 'Just to inform you all, the reason we've had the delay is because two of our first-class passengers refused to fly on this plane as there was no extra large pajamas on board for them,'" the Herald Sun quoted her as telling mX newspaper.

Another passenger told her that the pajama guy had said to the crew: "Make sure you tell everyone why were so late: They didn't have pajamas for us.'"

"In his mind, he thought everyone sympathized with him.

"If you didn't laugh, you would have cried. It was unbelievable," she said.

It is believed that the irate passengers were offered business-class pajamas but insisted on being clad in the real deal, pairs of which are listed on eBay, for as little as 10 dollars.

International business-class passengers are given Peter Morrissey pajamas on "selected flights" while first class passengers get "soft and luxurious pajamas and slippers."

Qantas spokesman Luke Enright said that the two passengers chose to get off an aircraft just before departure in LA.

"Other passengers were unaffected with the flight touching down in Melbourne this morning on schedule," he said.

On Qantas International Flights business-class passengers receive Peter Morrissey pajamas and while first classers get even higher quality pajamas and slippers. A first class ticket from Los Angeles to Melbourne could cost upwards of $10,000 and takes 15 hours.

A Qantas spokesperson didn't elaborate on the incidence and said to The Herald Sun, "Two passengers elected to get off an aircraft just prior to departure in LA overnight. Other passengers were unaffected with the flight touching down in Melbourne this morning on schedule."

Qantas First Class on A380 are some of the most luxurious in the industry and pajamas are just a small part of the package. The airlines website states that amenities include:
  •  "Room to stretch out in a fully flat extra wide and extra long bed that extends up to 6'6
  • Rest well with a 'bedding-down' service featuring a luxurious sheep skin mattress, duvet, fitted sheet, large pillow and soft wool blanket
  • An extra large privacy partition along with electronic dividers ensuring complete privacy"

The leviathan of the skies

 
The prototype Princess emerges from the Saunders-Roe hangar at East Cowes.


TO THOSE who know little of aircraft, there appears to be striking similarity between Howard Hughes’s ill-fated Spruce Goose and an equally unlikely looking plane of the 1940s produced on the IW. 

Both clocked up precious few flying hours and when on the ground or in the water both had the appearance of lumbering leviathans.

One was not at home in the air either. Spruce Goose lifted off to a maximum height of just 70ft on November 2, 1947. It was on its brief third — and last — test flight.

The largest aircraft ever constructed was designed as a seaplane cargo carrier. Made of wood (hence the nickname), it was a heavy beast.

Two years before Spruce Goose took off, Saunders-Roe at East Cowes had been contracted by the Ministry of Supply to build a long-range civil flying boat designed to be operated by the British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) across the Atlantic.

The company would draw on some of its experience of wartime construction of Supermarine Walrus and Sea Otter amphibious aircraft.

But this was an entirely different kettle of fish and the aluminium aircraft, the biggest then made, was to become an equal can of worms to Spruce Goose.

The Saunders-Roe SR.45 flying boat, known as the Princess, would have done all that was asked of it. Sadly, for the workforce who struggled against the odds to produce it, the project had been overtaken by a fast-changing industry.

By the 1950s, flying boats were in the shade of their land-based counterparts thanks to rapid airport development.

Read more here:  http://www.iwcp.co.uk

Panic at Port Harcourt airport as aircraft lands in the dark


Passengers flying through the Omagwa International Airport in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, have expressed concern over absence of proper lightings and adequate infrastructure around the airport area.

Speaking with Nation Evening Express shortly after an airplane was forced to land without adequate light on Wednesday, passengers decried a situation they said was capable of causing another crash.

Sources said there was anxiety when the pilot announced that there was “no light” after he managed a rough landing.

Reacting about the traumatic experience, the passengers said it is wrong for an airport to operate without light at that hour of the day and cautioned the management to be conscious of the safety of the passengers.

Mrs. Ibinabo Grace, one of the aggrieved passengers, said: “The Port Harcourt Airport is too local compared to other airports in African countries. Look at what happened to us while we were trying to land; the pilot announced to us that he could not see clearly for safe landing because there was no light at the Airport.

“Where in the world would an aircraft land by 7:30pm without light? Even in the afternoon, some airports use light not to talk of night. The Governor should warn the management before it gets out of hand,” she said.

Another passenger, Mr. Edwin Obi, said: “When the manager was pleading with us, he said the mistake was because some construction work was going on at the Airport, but that is not enough reason why they should endanger our lives.

“Since I know this Airport, it has been one construction work or the other and it has never ended or completed, even as the Airport lacks certain infrastructure such as shopping complex and other things vital to passengers.

Responding on the issue, the regional manager of Omagwa International Airport, Mr. Henry Anyawu, apologized for the incident.

He said: “Presently, a lot of work is going on at the Airport, but passengers are free to complain about any issue they discover to the management. However, we are sorry for the inconveniences the absence of light, which was not up to a minute, has caused them.”

http://www.thenationonlineng.net

Plane turns back after bird strike

A bird strike has forced a Qantas flight from Perth to Melbourne to turn back soon after take off this evening. 

A Qantas spokeswoman said the A330 aircraft which took off about 6.20pm returned to Perth Domestic Airport safety after 14 minutes in the air.

The spokeswoman said the bird strike appeared to have affected engine two of the A330's four engines.

The plane will now be inspected by engineers in Perth to assess the degree of damage.

It is understood passengers reported hearing a loud bang and flames shortly after taking off.

The 256 passengers on board will soon be transferred onto a replacement aircraft to fly to Melbourne tonight.


http://au.news.yahoo.com

Meet the pilot who cheated death - Carp Airport (CYRP), Ottawa - Canada



The pilot of a small plane was able to walk safely away from a crash in the bush near the Carp airport in Ottawa’s rural west end late Saturday afternoon.

Police said the 40-year-old pilot was not seriously injured, but suffered a few scrapes and bruises. According to one witness, he was able to pull out his cellphone and start making calls.

The Zodiac plane was found nose first in the bush in the area of March Road and Diamond View Road, according to Ottawa Fire Service officials.

They said the plane did not catch fire, but there was a small fuel leak.

The pilot was taken away in an ambulance, according to Heather Boyd, who lives across the road from the crash site.

Boyd hadn’t seen the crash, but said a neighbour came to the door and alerted her to it.

“By this time he was sitting in [a] car just at the end of the driveway and he seemed to be all right,” Boyd said.

That was before emergency vehicles arrived, she said.

The Transportation Safety Board is investigating the cause of the crash. 

British Columbia, Canada: Vandals damage fire fighting plane

After The Coulson Group of Companies employees worked all night on Sunday to repair a damaged tail, the Hawaii Mars water bomber was back on fire service Monday morning. 

On Saturday night, a group of eight to 10 individuals climbed on the plane as it floated on Sproat Lake at Port Alberni, making three holes in the tail flap, causing $25,000 worth of damage. As a result, the Coulson Group had to put the plane out of commission for half a day, forfeiting half its day rate with the B.C. Forest Service, with whom the company has a contract for fighting wildfires in the province.

Coulson Group owner Wayne Coulson compared his airplane to a first response vehicle.

"You don't damage an ambulance," he said.

This is the second act of vandalism against the plane this season. In May, vandals climbed on the plane and damaged a hatch on the top of the bomber.

Coulson has decided to offer a $5,000 reward to find the vandals. "We want to find them and prosecute them to the full extent of the law," he said.