Incidents / Accidents graves

Un avion de ligne cubain s'est écrasé jeudi soir, près de Guasimal, à une centaine de kilomètres au sud-ouest de la Havane.D'après les télévisions cubaines, aucune des 68 personnes à bord (40 Cubains dont sept membres d'équipage et 28 étrangers) n'a survécu. L'appareil, un ATR-72-212 à double turbopropulseurs, appartenait à la compagnie d'Etat Aero Caribbean.L'avion avait lancé un appel de détresse

L'avion avait décollé de Santiago de Cuba et faisait route vers la capitale lorsqu'il s'est écrasé à 17h42, heure locale, dans une région montagneuse près de la ville de Guasimal dans la province de Sancti Spiritus après avoir lancé un appel de détresse.Sept corps auraient été retirés des décombres de l'avion. Un témoin a parlé d'une «boule de flammes au milieu de la montagne» pour décrire la catastrophe. Les équipes de secours ont dû utiliser une pelle mécanique pour se frayer un passage dans l'épaisse végétation entourant le lieu de l'accident.

http://www.20minutes.fr/article/618469/monde-crash-avion-cuba-aucun-survivant

Instruments on board the crashed Dagestan Airlines Tupolev Tu-154 had indicated fluctuations in the supply of fuel to the engines before two of them shut down in flight.

Initial information from the flight-data recorder shows that the instability showed up around eight minutes after the aircraft departed Moscow Vnukovo for Makhachkala, as the aircraft passed an altitude of 6,500m (21,300ft).

Russia's Interstate Aviation Committee says the fuel supply to all three engines was affected.

The aircraft continued to climb but, on reaching 9,000m, the left- and right-hand Soloviev D-30KU powerplants shut down leaving only the central engine available.

After the loss of power to the two engines, the crew put the tri-jet into a descent in order to carry out an emergency landing at Moscow Domodedovo.

While the central engine underwent a "period of instability" its operational status was "restored and maintained" until the aircraft landed at 14:36, some 35min after the engines were started.

The aircraft had been carrying 19.5t of fuel. Vnukovo Airport's operator has already checked the fuel supply and confirmed it meets required regulatory standards.

"The investigating commission is examining possible causes of the de-activation of the [left and right] engines during flight, and its impact on the performance of other aircraft systems," says MAK.

Both the primary flight-data recorder and a secondary data recorder contain a record of the incident. MAK says it is focused on retrieving the cockpit-voice recorder from the aircraft.

At least 70 people are believed to have been killed when an Iran Air Boeing 727-200 crashed at 7:45 p.m. Sunday evening (local time) while attempting an emergency landing.

Local media reports vary, but there appears to have been around 105 passengers and crew on board the flight. More than 30 survived with injuries, reports say.

The 727 was en route from Tehran to the city of Orumiyeh in northwest Iran during severe winter weather conditions. The pilot reportedly told controllers there was a technical problem of some kind. The aircraft crashed outside Orumiyeh, breaking up on impact. There was heavy snow at the crash site.

The aircraft, registered ERP-IP, was delivered in 1974.

This incident will likely focus attention again on the aging Iran Air fleet. Modernization has been difficult due to sanctions against Iran. Iran Air is also one of the carriers on the European Union’s blacklist.

Beochien a écrit:Bonjour !

Un A148 au tapis en Russie !
6 morts ! No Pax !
Un avion à l'entraînement !

http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2011/03/05/353959/an-148-crashes-in-russia-on-test-flight-ministry.html

JPRS

Crashed An-148 broke up after being pushed beyond limits

Investigators suspect the Antonov An-148 which crashed in Russia during a test flight broke up in the air, having been pushed beyond maximum aerodynamic limits after a technical problem confused the crew.

The commission of inquiry into the 5 March accident, which killed all six crew members, has disclosed that flight-recorder data shows evidence of an aircraft equipment problem which "misled" the pilots as to the true speed of the twinjet.

"To achieve the desired speed the pilots [increased loads on the aircraft] that exceeded the maximum permissible," says the commission. "Destruction of the aircraft in the air resulted."

The interregional transport committee has not detailed the nature of the possible technical problem.

It also states that this is a preliminary version of the event, and that it is looking into the possibility of pilot error and even the use of "poor quality" fuel.

The aircraft involved had been destined for export to Myanmar and was being flown with a test crew, including representatives of Myanmar's air force, from airframer VASO's base in Voronezh.

While a large section of the aircraft came down in a field near a village south of Voronezh, several large pieces of debris have been located away from the main wreckage - further evidence of a break-up in-flight.

There has been no regulatory requirement to ground the An-148 fleet. The serial-production version was introduced into airline service with Rossiya in December 2009 and the St Petersburg-based carrier is still the only operator, although test airframes were trialled on commercial routes by AeroSvit.

Rossiya, which had publicly criticised the aircraft's cost-effectiveness last year, has underlined that it believes the type is safe.

"Being the newest aircraft the An-148 is under special control of the company's management and aviation authorities," says Rossiya, adding that it assigns only its most experienced crews and instructors, as well as skilled maintenance technicians, to the An-148 fleet.

http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2011/03/09/354143/crashed-an-148-broke-up-after-being-pushed-beyond-limits.html

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating after a United Airlines Airbus A320 went off the runway Monday in New Orleans after returning to the airport with electrical problems and smoke in the cockpit.

United flight 497, with 109 people aboard, returned to Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport about 20 minutes after taking off.

“Preliminary information indicates that, while climbing through 4,000 feet, the crew reportedly received automated warnings and detected smoke in the cockpit,” the NTSB said. “A loss of primary instrumentation was also reported during the event. The crew indicated that they initiated emergency procedures and turned back to the airport. Upon landing, the crew described a loss of anti-skid braking and nose-wheel steering and exited the runway approximately 2,000 feet from the approach threshold.”

Passengers and crew left the plane via slides, although the right forward slide reportedly did not inflate, the NTSB said. It said initial reports are that the aircraft has minor damage.

The agency plans to release a preliminary report within 10 business days.

If you want to hear a great example of professionals doing their job under extreme pressure, check out this audio recording of the controller-pilot conversation during an emergency landing at New Orleans April 4. It’s riveting stuff.

Shortly after takeoff, United flight 497 reported smoke in the cockpit and then a loss of instruments. Controllers guided the aircraft back and cleared a runway. The aircraft involved was an A320, bound for San Francisco.

Here is the link to the audio recording. The first part has regular ATC communications, so fast-forward the recording to 11 minutes 40 seconds, when the emergency develops on flight 497. At this point the pilot says “we need a vector back to the airport, we’ve got a smoke issue with the airplane.”

At 16.10 on the recording, the pilot reports that “we’ve lost all our instruments right now,” with warning alerts audible in the background. He’s still pretty calm considering, although you can definitely tell he’s under stress.

The aircraft eventually landed safely with no injuries, although its nose wheel ended up off the runway. Here’s the link to the initial NTSB statement on the incident.

This is an excerpt: preliminary information indicates that, while climbing through 4,000 feet, the crew reportedly received automated warnings and detected smoke in the cockpit. A loss of primary instrumentation was also reported during the event. The crew indicated that they initiated emergency procedures and turned back to the airport. Upon landing, the crew described a loss of anti-skid braking and nose-wheel steering and exited the runway approximately 2,000 feet from the approach threshold.
Here’s a link to a Bloomberg story on the emergency landing.

At least five occupants of a Russian-operated Antonov An-24 have been killed after it ditched on the River Ob during a domestic flight.
Russia's Angara Airlines, which was operating the services, stated that the aircraft suffered a fire in its left engine prior to attempting an "emergency landing on water".
It had been operating as flight IK9007 between Tomsk and Surgut but came down at Strezhevoy, 63km east of Nizhnevartovsk, itself 120km east of Surgut.
Angara Airlines said the fire occurred at 04:54UTC while the ditching took place about 15min later, at 05:10.
"The decision to ditch was taken because the left engine caught fire during flight," said the carrier.


It said there were 33 passengers and four crew members - two pilots, an engineer and flight attendant - on board the twin-engined aircraft.
Twenty of those on board have been taken to hospital and four are in serious condition, added the carrier.
Angara added that it was trying to establish further details on possible casualties.
Russia's emergency situations ministry stated that the aircraft did not catch fire but broke into three sections, coming to rest on a sand bank in shallow water.

nvestigators are expected to focus on the flammability of cargo carried by an Asiana Airlines Boeing 747-400 freighter that crashed Thursday off the coast of South Korea in the East China Sea, killing both pilots. The aircraft was destroyed.

According to the airline and South Korean government officials, the pilots reported a fire and control problems about 1 hr. into the flight and were diverted to Jeju when contact was lost.

According to Flight Safety Foundation's Aviation Safety Network, the 747F departed Seoul Incheon at 3:05 am bound for Shanghai Pudong. South Korea Deputy Transport Minister Kim Han-Young told reporters that "the crew told Shanghai traffic controllers that fire had erupted in the hold." He added, "We suspect some flammable material caught fire there."

The CF6-powered freighter was carrying 58 tonnes of cargo, including 0.4 tonnes of materials such as lithium batteries, paint, amino acid solution and synthetic resin. According to The Korea Times, Asiana CEO Yoon Young-Doo said, "We load and manage lithium batteries according to the regulations set by the International Air Transport Assn. The goods on the cargo plane were also managed according to the checklist and double-checked by the captain."

The captain had 14,123 hr. of flight time, of which 6,896 were on the 747. The co-pilot had 5,211 hr. of flight time. The aircraft that crashed had its first flight in February 2006, according to ASN.

While there is discussion about a possible cargo-hold fire, there has been no conclusion reached regarding the crash's cause, authorities stressed. US FAA last year issued a Safety Alert for Operators on carriage of lithium batteries as cargo on aircraft