Spanair Crash in Madrid

Spanair has confirmed that flight JK5022 from Madrid to Las Palmas in the Canary Islands was involved in an accident in Madrid at 2:45 p.m. local time Wednesday.  Early reports from emergency workers place the number of fatalities at 45 with an additional 40 injured, which is very unfortunate and likely to change since several conflicting reports of casualties exist.  The accident was caused by a runway overrun on an attempted takeoff by the MD-82.  

Spanair is owned by Scandanavian airline SAS.  Stay tuned to PointNiner for new developments.

UPDATE: 164 passengers and 9 crew total.  19 survivors as of 8:00 a.m. 8/21/08.

(Reuters)

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CRJs play bumper cars in Baton Rouge

Three Canadian Regional Jets were damaged in a surface incident that took place Monday at the new ASA maintenance base at the Baton Rouge Airport. Allegedly a "young mechanic" flipped an engine starter switch on an aircraft to slowly spin the compressor blades for cleaning when the engine immediately spooled up to takeoff power. This sent the CRJ hurling into two adjacent aircraft causing serious damage in a chaotic frenzy that took only five seconds. The aircraft involved were two CRJ-200s and a CRJ-700 that belong to Delta Connection partner Atlantic Southeast Airlines. Damage is reported to be around $100 million with one aircraft likely becoming a write-off. Fortunately no one was injured in the incident that involved the local Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting crew although one witness told WAFB that they were surprised the entire hangar didn't go up in flames. I'm looking forward to the pictures on this one.

(WAFB)

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European skydivers have one bad weekend

Two separate stories...two different endings. This one has the happy ending. During a parachute competition in Germany, a skydiver got hung up on the landing gear of the aircraft he was jumping out of. The good news...there was one person left on the plane. The bad news...he was flying the plane. Five other British soldier skydivers had jumped out before the last guy whose chute partially deployed and got tangled on one of the wheels of the Britten-Norman Islander they were flying on. The pilot, aware of the problem, left the cockpit for about 30 seconds while at 3,000 feet above the Joint Service Parachute Centre at Bad Lippspringe to cut the parachute's cord with a knife. The Skydiver was able to deploy his reserve chute after falling free from the aircraft. I believe that warranted a free beer for the pilot from the skydiver at the airport pub.

Now the story with the not-so-happy ending, or should I say beginning. A 29 year old female skydiver in Rapla, Estonia was preparing to board a turboprop on the ramp for a jump at the local airfield when she apparently walked straight into one of the spinning propellers and was killed. Skydive Estonia, the club she belonged to, said she was an experienced skydiver with 224 jumps.

Both of these make be think of one of my favorite quotes about aviation from Captain A. G. Lamplugh:

Aviation in itself is not inherently dangerous. But to an even greater degree than the sea, it is terribly unforgiving of any carelessness, incapacity or neglect.

Be safe.

(AVweb and Fox News)

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Banner-towing Cessna tries surfing instead

The pilot of this Cessna 150 had a lively 4th of July weekend. While towing a banner on Independence Day with his aircraft over the Surfside residential community beach just North of Seal Beach, California he lost engine power and was forced to ditch the aircraft in the ocean about 100 feet off the beach. The video starts up almost immediately after impact. Local life guards were able to drag the pilot and sole occupant out of the Cessna and back to the beach where he was transported to the hospital with minor injuries. The pilot did manage to drop his banner shortly before bringing her in.

(LiveLeak and Press Telegram)

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New photos from B-2 crash (again)

First was the takeoff crash of the B-2 on the island Guam back in February. Then two months later, the first photo was released. Two months after that, the videos of the crash were released along with the final investigation report. Now over a month after that, in true Pentagon fashion, the Air Force has released these new photos from the crash site at Anderson AFB when the B-2 Spirit of Kansas stalled on takeoff and augered in due to a "moisture buildup" on a sensor. Check out the guys inspecting the ejection seat at the bottom of the stack. Maybe in another two months, we'll get some more pictures or video of the world's most expensive aviation accident.





Photos courtesy of the United States Air Force

(Popular Mechanics via Danger Room)

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Surveillance camera captures USA Jet crash

It can be a bit difficult to make out, but this video from a surveillance camera captured the last few moments before that USA Jet DC-9 crash at the Saltillo Airport in Mexico last Sunday. The video shows the DC-9 enter what appears to be a significant roll on its final approach to the runway. A bright flash near the aircraft suggests it may have clipped a power line before exiting the frame and crashing on to a nearby road. The impact explosion fills the screen with white light. Unfortunately, one of the pilots did not survive. No word on the state of the other pilot.

(Flight International)

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Concorde loses its nose in Brooklyn

I knew Brooklyn had some bad neighborhoods, but come on. This poor Concorde was damaged on July 1 at a recreational facility in Brooklyn when a truck hauling equipment from a Jamaican soccer-and-cricket festival hit it and tore off its distinctive needle nose. Concorde G-BOAD was temporarily sitting at the facility to await a renovation of its home pier where it normally sits on display along side its caregiver the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum. Museum President Bill White told the AP that the nose should be reattached and repaired within two weeks. He also apologized to British Airways, the owner of G-BOAD, for not providing better security of the aircraft. She is one of only 11 survivors in the world, sparking some enthusiasts to demand better respect for the world's only supersonic airliner.



(story via USA Today)
(photos copyright by Matt Sokol and John Musolino, respectively)

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Kalitta 747 crashes...again

A Kalitta Air 747 crashed this morning on takeoff from the Bogota, Columbia airport this morning killing two individuals on the ground. Somehow all eight crewmembers and individuals on board the 747 survived the crash with varying injuries. The US based Kalitta aircraft was operating for another carrier hauling a load of flowers to Miami. This is the second fatal airline crash in two days involving US based air carriers. The other was a USA Jet DC-9 that crashed yesterday in Mexico. This is also the second Kalitta 747 to crash on takeoff this year. The other taking place on May 25 in Belgium.

(via MSNBC and Flight International)

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USA Jet crash photos

Sadly, this accident claimed the lives of one of the two crewmembers on board this DC-9-15 when it crashed this morning during approach to the Saltillo Airport just west of Monterrey, Mexico. The aircraft was registered as N199US and belonged to the American charter freight and passenger hauler USA Jet Airlines. The captain was killed in the crash, while the first officer suffered severe burns. Both were US citizens. Weather was reportedly clear at the time when the aircraft slammed onto a road near the airport. The NTSB has dispatched a team of investigators to assist the Mexican government in its investigation. This incident saddens me as I've worked several USA Jet baby DC-9 operations over the years. R.I.P. and the prayers of the PointNiner crew go out to the families on this one.





(story via CNN.com)
(pictures via Vanguardia)

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Swiss helicopter crashes after being so close to landing

He was so close! Then, whap! Right on the side. No other information on what caused this AS 350 Ecureuil to crash land at a Swiss airfield yesterday. Video was captured by a local aviation enthusiast.

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Cessna takes off from Interstate 95

So what do you do when there's no runway around to takeoff on? Make one yourself. And any old road will do just fine, such as Interstate 95 in Volusia County, Florida. That's exactly what this pilot did today after his Cessna 152 made an emergency landing on the interstate earlier in the day. Adrian Thompson came to the scene after a flight instructor and student forced a landing on the median when their engine failed. Thompson was able to make a repair at the site and receive FAA and local authorities' blessings to takeoff right on the freeway. I like how he merges right behind the semi. I guessing the camera was mounted on an overpass, which Thompson barely manages to clear.

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Stunt pilot pushes helo a little too hard (into the ground)

Dennis Kenyon has made a career out of crazy stunt flying. He also nearly killed himself doing just that on Friday when his Schweizer-Hughes 300 dug a hole in the ground with Kenyon at the controls during a performance at the Utah Rotorcraft Association Fly In in Cedar Valley. Kenyon was attempting a "wing-over" with either too much speed or not enough altitude when he crashed his tiny helicopter into the West Desert Airpark dirt infield. Suffering only minor injuries including bleeding from the head, the veteran stunt pilot is reconsidering early retirement.

Video is a little long with the good stuff only in the last 20 seconds.

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Camera captures tragic Panamanian helo crash

A CCTV camera in Panama City captured this amazing footage of the last few seconds of an ill-fated helicopter as it crashes onto the rooftop of a building. The helicopter, known only as SAN-100, was destroyed and sadly 12 of the 13 souls on board perished. Half of the passengers were Chilean federal police officers and the other half were Panamanian federal police officers.

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B-2 crash videos released by Air Force

Remember that B-2 Stealth Bomber that crashed on takeoff from Anderson AFB in Guam back in February? Well the Air Force has finally released two videos that were taken of the incident. Keep in mind that the B-2 that crashed was #2 in a 2 ship formation, so you'll see the lead ship takeoff first before the "mishap" bomber crashes.

This first video was taken from a security camera being remotely operated and has no sound.



This second video was taken at ground level by an airman on the flight line. Again, no sound.



The Air Force has also released information on what they believe led to the $1.4 billion loss of the B-2. Moisture contamination on the fly-by-wire B-2’s air data sensors is suspected of leading to the onboard computer thinking the aircraft was pointed downward on takeoff roll and moving about 10-12 knots faster than its actual speed. This resulted in the bomber rotating way too soon and subsequently stalling before rolling to the port side and impacting the ground. Luckily, both crewmembers ejected from the aircraft and survived although one sustained a compressed spinal fracture from the ejection, though he is expected to recover fully. This particular accident is being referred to as the single most expensive aviation accident ever.

(Editor's note: Updated to include 2nd video at 18:30Z)

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Italian helo crashes into lake

Unfortunately, these days air shows and crashes seem to go hand in hand. This particular accident happened on Sunday at the Bracciano Lake in Italy in front of the Italian Air Force Museum, at Vigna di Valle airport. Sadly, Cap Filippo Fornassi of 1 Gr Sq of the Italian Army based in Viterbo last his life. The 2 other individuals on board the NH-90 helicopter were severly injured, but rescued. It looks like they were coming out of some sort of a loop when the helo got a little too close to the water.

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P-51 Mustang crash photos

PointNiner covered the crash of this rare RAAF Mustang back in April when it happened but I had not seen these pictures until today. As a recap, this P-51 made a gear up landing at RAAF Base Williams, Point Cook, Victoria, Australia after the pilot declared an emergency following a gear extension failure. The pilot, who was a 70 year old former Ansett captain, did an excellent job bringing her in for a smooth belly landing. The County Fire Authority also did a superb job responding to and handling this event. I haven't heard what the status of aircraft is, but I'd like to think she'll be slipping gracefully through the skies again sometime soon.

Click here to review the video of this crash landing.






Photos courtesy of CFA Public Affairs

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747 splits in half during takeoff

A US registered 747 operated by Kalitta Air spilt in to two pieces following a takeoff accident at the airport in Brussels, Belgium today. The flight crew reportedly heard a loud noise just before the fuselage separated during the takeoff roll. Four of the five crew members were slightly injured during the accident which fortunately left the 747 in good shape, despite having split in two. They were also fortunate that the aircraft did not catch on fire as it was fully loaded with fuel for a flight to Bahrain. Belgian aviation investigators and the NTSB are already looking into the accident.

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CRJ vs. Pelican

This must be the sequel to F-111 vs. Pelican. I saw these late last week and wasn't sure whether or not I wanted to post them because I really have none of the details on this other than the obvious. That being this is a CRJ and the woman was photoshopped in the last picture. Otherwise, they are some pretty dramatic shots of what a 20 pound bird can do at 400 mph.






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Delta CRJ catches fire on taxiway

The flight crew and passengers of Atlantic Southeast Airlines flight 4320 had quite a bit of excitement yesterday when their CRJ-200 caught on fire while taxiing out to the runway for departure at the Baton Rouge Airport. The flight, operating for Delta, had to be evacuated on the taxiway when it was apparent after a loud pop, that the right engine was on fire. No one was injured in the incident and the airport fire crew was on scene within 90 seconds to start fighting the fire as seen in the picture above with the ARFF truck shooting some Purple K dry chem on the right engine.

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Plane lands on top of another plane

Here's some nice video footage for you of what I guess you could call a "runway incursion" when a Piper Cherokee landed right on top of a Stinson 108 at the Northwest Regional Airport in Roanoke, TX yesterday. Miraculously, no one was injured. What's that old saying about a low-wing and a high-wing not being able to see each other. It's no wonder that this is not the first time this kind of thing has happened.

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