Cessna Crashes In Yao, Japan Street

A single engine Cessna crashed today into a busy street in Yao, Japan which is outside Osaka.  To me it looks like a Cessna 210 Centurion, which has a pretty outstanding safety record.  

Some news agencies are reporting no injuries and some others are reporting the two passengers suffered only minor injuries (which I find to be more believable).  No one on the ground was injured.  Apparently fuel was leaking from the aircraft, which may have led to the accident occurring.  The aircraft had just departed from Yao and was returning due to engine trouble.  Sounds like it was luck that no one on the ground was injured as the intersection was a very busy one with several buildings around it as well.  As you can see below, the aircraft suffered extensive damage, losing a wing and its gear along with severing its empenage (tail section).

(NZ Herald via AP)

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Hawker Crash at Owatonna Airport

Below are pictures of the crash site of a Hawker 800 (bizjet) that crashed on approach to the Owatonna (Minnesota) airport this morning (7/31/08) around 9:30 a.m. CDT -- seven of the eight onboard died in the accident with one passenger in critical condition at a local hospital.  Stormy weather was passing through the area at the time of the crash, however, it is unknown whether it played a role in the accident.  Pointniner's thoughts go out to those affected by the tragedy.

I listened to the ATC tapes from Owatonna around the time of the accident and heard someone report a wind shear alert, 20 knot loss at approach end of runway 31.  A 20 knot loss would be significant enough to cause a loss of aircraft control, however, no one has officially commented on the cause of the accident.  Watch for the NTSB prelim report, as they are arriving tonight in Owatonna to begin the investigation.

This photo was taken last summer of the accident aircraft, N818MV

UPDATE: There are conflicting reports as to the total number of passengers on board the aircraft.  Some report a total of 9 on board with one survivor as well as what Pointniner reported of 8 on board with one survivor.

(Image credit: Star Tribune)

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BUFF goes down off Guam

Most of you have already heard about this as it is a big story, but I'm a little late to get it up here. An Air Force B-52 Stratofortress crashed about 30 miles off the coast of Guam this morning enroute to conduct a flyover at a parade ceremony. The AP is reporting that two crewmembers have been found, however their condition has not yet been released. No word as to whether or not they were the only crewmembers on board as the BUFF typically carries a crew of six. There is also no word on what caused the crash of this Barksdale AFB-based B-52 although the Air Force has already begun an investigation. This is the first loss of a B-52 since 1994 at Fairchild AFB, which coincidentally took place during a non-combat flight at an air show. Of course, this comes in the same year as another high profile bomber crash at Guam when a B-2 went down in February. We'll try to keep you posted as things develop with this.

UPDATE: 05:24Z 7.24.08

Unfortunately, the Air Force announced that none of the 6 crewmembers on board survived the crash. They have now shifted from a rescue to a recovery operation.

(Danger Room)

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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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Honduras A320 Crash

The latest news says this TACA International Airlines Airbus A320 overshot the runway at the Tegucigalpa, Honduras airport. The aircraft was arriving from El Salvador. 124 passengers were aboard the aircraft, up to 4 dead, including one of the pilots. Below are a few images of the crash and a video (not of the accident) showing the typical approach into the airport where the crash occurred...it's not the easiest one out there for sure.

TACA has identified the accident aircraft as an A320-233 Airbus, Irish registration EI- TAF, series number 1374 built on January 4th 2001. Until May 29th it had accumulated 21,957 flight hours and 9,992 landings.



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Crazy Fighter Jet Crash

This is an interesting video of a MiG 29 crash taken at an airshow from multiple angles, pretty amazing.

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Congo DC-9 Crash Pictures (Hewa Bora Airways)

These are a few photos I found of the Hewa Bora Airways DC-9 crash in Congo. Several people actually survived the crash with injuries and several others could have have been in harms way when the DC-9 crashed into a crowded market area near the airport. Very sad. Note the second picture down where the man is trying to break a cockpit window with a rock.

On a side note, last week European officials banned Hewa Bora Airways from flying into the 27-nation union over safety concerns.

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What a Wrecked $1.2 Billion B-2 Looks Like

Remember that B-2 (Spirit of Kansas) that crashed in Guam back on February 24, 2008? Well this is the aftermath. A nice 1.2 billion dollar piece of metal. A tragedy to see such a beauty all burned up.

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Citation 2 Accident Video

I stumbled upon this Citation 2 crash footage. The video is not really of the crash, although you see the aircraft landing, downwind in strong winds, but it is the aftermath that makes this video really interesting. I'm not sure how this was caught on tape, but it's about 5 minute video from landing to the aftermath. Be sure to watch the whole video because what happens is unbelievable. And, for the record, everyone was ok.

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