Earlier today, at about 3:26pm, New York time, US Airways flight 1549, an Airbus A320, took off from New York’s LaGuardia Airport, bound for Seattle, with a stop over at Charlotte. Shortly after take off, even before the aircraft had flown to an altitude of 3000 feet, (less than 1km) it is believed a flock of birds had been sucked into the engines, causing the plane to begin falling. The captain radioed Air Traffic Control and and declared an emergency, informing of a bird strike. With the plane unable to gain more altitude, the pilots sent they’re last recorded message to ATC requesting an emergency landing at an airstrip that was in view, which is believed to be Teteburo Airport.
 The aircraft, without much altitude left, had to make a ditching, unable to reach Teterboro. The pilots crash landed the A320 in the Hudson River, which runs on the west side of Manhattan Island. It is believed that the landing was gradual, and smooth, with the aircraft remarkably intact and with minimal damage. All passengers and crew managed to disembark the aircraft, while various boats within the area picked them up. Reports of injuries are minimal, with many uninjured, while some passengers were treated due to exposure amongst the cold conditions. The worst reported injury was a leg fracture.
Performing a water landing is almost unheard of in commercial airliners, let alone a ditching. Most water ditchings involve the aircraft splitting up and disintegrating on impact. The aircraft is currently being left in the Hudson River, and the NTSB is currently investigating the incident.
Haha! Another day where lots of people lose more money! It’s Cox Plate Day here in Australia, part of the Spring Horse Racing Carnival! Now, just like last time, the horses I chose were… well…. didn’t do as well as I thought they would have, but I guess that’s just what happens when you want that particular horse to win… So, today’s Cox Plate. I’m surprised to see Master O’Reilly and Maldivian racing again, considering they ran last week and may be running next week as well… Current favourites for the race are Samantha Miss, Zipping, and Princess Coup. Samantha Miss has been a rather interesting racehorse with it being the youngest among them, and from 9 starts, it has won 6 of them. She is also being ridden by a very light jockey, Glen Boss… Not going into too much detail, and so I want Zipping to win, although I would like to see Master O’Reilly or Maldivian to win… Heh, I bet you I’m totally wrong again!
So I was browsing around YouTube earlier today, looking at various landings at Kai Tak. (Hong Kong’s old airport which is now closed as it posed much danger to the buildings around it, as planes had to fly in almost skimming the tops of apartments and skyscrapers) Must be kinda freaky to fly those planes into the airport with the 47 degree banked angle almost at the foot of the runway in order to land on it’s only runway! Anyway, I ran into a few Qantas ads on there. Qantas now actually has it’s own channel from the looks of it! Haha! They have posted the new ads of the Qantas A380, some of the unveiling ceremony when their A380 was delivered to them, and various other little videos! Tehehe! *blocks user*
Watched United 93 last night. Twas rather interesting… I might write about it later, don’t feel like writing too much today, or reviewing it today… I don’t plan to be on the computer as much this weekend as I kinda have to study for my exam stuffs next week. 🙁 Well, at least I’ll get a large dump of anime from one of my sister’s friends tomorrow, which should be interesting…
Well, hopefully I don’t over procrastinate! (Heh, like that’s gonna happen…)
Haha, Well, first of all, it seems as though my post from Tuesday has disappeared… Freehostia has had a database move thing recently, and also had to have repairs made on one of the MySQL Motherboard thingys, thus I believe the cause of the disappearance! Haha, maths is funny! My textbook asked a silly question relating to planes where in reality, it would be illogical and could be deadly too! The question asked was: “A plane is 340 metres directly above one end of a 1000 metre runway. Find the angle of depression to the far end of the runway”. So… this plane is currently above one end of the runway, and plans to touch the ground at the other end of the runway… Smart of that pilot…
I also got curious as to how a real plane would and in such a situation. If we were to find out the rate of descent, my result would be that, presuming it’s ground speed is 150 knots (about 278km/h) and that I can do maths, the aircraft would have a rate of descent of 1.7 km/min (102km/h) or 5700 feet per minute. I presume that a standard jet plane lands at around 150 knots and that a normal landing descent rate should not be more than 1000 feet per minute, but lets say it isn’t, and that a plane (like a small light plane such as a Cessna) lands at 50 knots (about 92km/h) or 25 metres per second, the planes rate of descent would be 648 metres per minute, or 2160 feet per minute… Heavy and dangerous landing much? Not taking into account that it plans to land at the other end of the runway where there is no more runway…
Some school test results have come back recently, and some of my results are surprisingly high for my standard… For a story that we had to write in English, based on a text that we studied in class and we had to write from another character’s perspective, I got 23 out of 30 (77%) and for my Science electricity topic test, I got 35 out of 40 (88%) which are above my usual marks… I have my school testing period next week, which means I’ve got to do a lot of study this weekend and next week. I don’t feel too confident so I hope I don’t procrastinate too much… I’m sure I’ll have fun studying maths and food tech work! Grr…
Haha, I love The Mentalist! Daniel watched it for the first time last night and he said it sucked… Grr… Patrick Jane is just awesome! So are the writers for it! What I don’t like about Channel Nine, is that they took Fringe off the air last night… Unsure of when they plan to return it if ever… I want to see Walter Bishop’s crazed up mind again! And I’m sure that the onion soup does look delicious! He has good tastes that Dr. Bishop. Although I don’t like Root Beer…
As I had posted yesterday, Qantas Flight 72 (QF72) issued a Mayday call on October the 7th, while en-route to Perth from Singapore, after the Airbus A330-300 aircraft plunged thousands of feet in a matter of seconds. 303 passengers were on board with 10 crew members, of which 74 were hurt, 15 seriously, and 30 needing hospital treatment. The cause of the drop is so far unknown, but the Australian Transportation Safety Bureau (ATSB) do not believe that it was severe turbulence caused by high altitude winds, and focusing on a possible computer/flight control problem.
According to the ATSB, “the pilots received electronic centralised aircraft monitoring messages in the cockpit relating to some irregularity with the aircraft’s elevator control system”, meaning that the computer believed that the aircraft’s ability to move up and down may have a problem. The aircraft then ascended 300 feet even though no command was given. The aircraft then pitched at a sharp nose down angle abruptly, catching passengers and crew off guard, sending passengers who had not fastened their seatbelts into the ceiling of the aircraft, resulting in the injuries. The pilots then issued a “Pan-pan” distress call to air traffic controllers, indicating that they had flight control problems and possible injured passengers. Later on, the aircraft declared a “Mayday” call and informed air traffic control that they had multiple injuries and that they needed to land at the closest airport for medical attention. The aircraft managed to land safely at Learmonth Airport.
The Airbus A330 has only had 2 hull losses, and 3 other major incidents ever (before QF72), and has only ever had 7 fatalities (On a test flight, an A330 owned by Airbus crashed shortly after take off). Like most Airbus aircaft, the A330 is fly-by-wire, which means the aircraft is controlled by electrical circuits, rather than hydraulics, wires and pulleys etc. The ATSB have already obtained the aircraft’s flight data and cockpit voice recorders (a.k.a. Black Boxes) and are looking into the possibility that the flight controls/comnputer may have malfunctioned somewhere during the flight, or that there was a problem with the autopilot. Representatives from Airbus and the Civil Aviation Safety Authority are working with the ATSB.
Just days after Qantas received an Airbus A380, Qantas has once again had a mid-air emergency needing a Mayday call. This time it was Qantas Flight 72, an Airbus A330-300 en-route from Singapore to Perth, when the aircraft made a sudden descent, falling what some say 8000 feet in just a few seconds. The aircraft declared a Mayday and landed without further incident at Learmonth Airport, a remote Semi-Air Force Base in north-west Australia near the town of Exmouth.
At this point, it is believed to be severe turbulence, that the aircraft encountered. Many passengers were caught of guard when the turbulence hit, and those who were not wearing their seatbelts were thrown into the ceiling of the cabin. Recent mobile phone video shows the aircraft’s ceiling minorly damaged. The Aircraft was carrying over 300 passengers of which at least 74 are to have been injured during the incident, 14 serious. Injuries included lacerations and broken bones. Some passengers had to be flown to Perth for medical treatment via the Royal Flying Doctors. Meanwhile, Qantas arranged two other planes, Boeing 767 and 717, to pick up the remaining passengers from Learmonth. Learmonth is a small airport with only one runway, but has a length of over 3 km.
This incident comes just months after Qantas had other mid-air dramas unfold, primarily Qantas Flight 30 where peliminary reports say that an Oxygen tank had exploded, creating the massive hole in the 747’s fuselage, and an incident in early January when another Qantas 747 lost all electrical power just moments before landing in Bangkok. The cause of Qantas Flight 72 is currently being investigated by the Australian Transportation and Saftey Buereu.
Please click here for an update about this post.
 Well, I only assume that it was a while ago, but Qantas Airways has received the first of twenty, Airbus A380 Aircraft! In a rather shiny and colourful presentation ceremony in Toulouse, the Qantas A380 was on it’s way to Sydney, and should touchdown sometime in the early morning of tomorrow. Gah! Damn Geoff Dixon… He get’s to keep a limited-edition Airbus A380 pen! Well, at least he’s retiring soon. Then the current CEO of Jet Star Airways will become CEO of Qantas… Haha!
Qantas has been with the A380 ever since it was a concept plan. They were the first airline to officially order the A380 and that order asked for twelve of them. Later on, they ordered eight more A380’s and after seeing the success that Singapore Airlines has received, Qantas plans to purchase even more A380’s sometime in the near future, along with possibly a few orders of Airbus’s A350XWB aircraft. Qantas’s first A380 is to begin commercial service in October, flying from Melbourne to Los Angeles, and will use other A380’s to start flying from Sydney to Los Angeles and London later on.
The Airbus A380 is the newest of commercial jets to be released and flying today, and is the largest currently in passenger service with 50% more floor space than the Boeing 747-400, the second largest. The Airbus A380 is certified to transport over 800 people, and a recommended 525 seat configuration for the an aircraft having first, business and economy classes. Qantas has decided to use a 450 seat configuration with 14 First, 72 Business, 32 Premium Economy and 332 Economy class seats. The Qantas A380 has USB and Internet Ports available for use as well. Unlike Singapore and Emirates, the A380 does not have showers or private beds. =( Economically speaking, the A380 is one of the most fuel efficient aircraft per passenger mile, and produces a lot less noise than most commercial jets.
Visit Airbus’s Qantas A380 Delivery Website for highlights of the presentation ceremony, or Airbus’s A380 page for more information about the A380, or try Qantas’s A380 webpage to find out more about Qantas and the features on the A380.
Producing eloquent and intellectual dialogue can transcend you meritoriously! I ascertained this hypothesis subsequently after an acquaintance of mine referred to as “Cameron” answered a question written on a white board as “A racially divided community with no pretensions of materialism”. My mentor (although you may seldomly refer to her as a “mentor”) praised him with a signal of acknowledgment and commendation, which presented a certainty, that use of intellectual dialogue excels you beyond those who do not. Production of such complexity in terms of dialogue proves to be of paramount difficulty. For Cameron however, generating such sophisticated language proves to be virtually effortless. I believe I shall cease using such complexity in language from now on.
Okay, that paragraph, even using a thesaurus took about half an hour for me to write and I’m glad I’m not going to use such big words from now on. (Well, this post at least…) I’m sure you were fairly impressed by my use of such big words and I am also sure that I have excelled quite a bit now. I don’t quite like the English teacher I have now. At the time my class was presented with the task, we all had 26 hours to complete a 2 page draft at home of an assessment that we will be writing in class. I now have about 20 hours to do it but I probably won’t start till I get to school again tomorrow.
One of my friends has presented to me a nice little theory about the crash of Aeroflot-Nord Flight 821. His theory was that the flight controls went into a reversal. (Where when you try to descend, your plane ascends and vice-versa) This event happened to at least 2 737’s since 1991 where the aircraft crashed after the aircraft made violent downward-spiral motions when the rudder of the aircraft suffered a “hard-over” and also went into reversal. Reversal makes sense since the plane ascended when it was supposed to descend, and turned left when it was supposed to turn right. Although this Boeing 737 was a different version compared to the other two incidents. My knowledge about reversals is very little, however it should be interesting if this is the case.
On the 14th of September, 2008, as many of you should know, Aeroflot Flight 821 was a Boeing 737-500 en-route from Moscow to the city of Perm near the Ural Mountains of Russia. It crashed on the outskirts of the city of Perm near the rail line which shut down the Trans-Siberian Railway which runs from Moscow down to the south eastern city of Vladivostok and continues onward to China, North Korea and Mongolia. The cause of the crash is still unknown although it is a suspected engine-failure of some sort and terrorism is said to be ruled out. Many witnesses report that the plane came down on-fire and hit the ground at a 30-40 degree angle. All on 88 on board were found dead.
According to the Air Traffic Controller (ATC), who was working at the tower at the time, the final approach the aircraft was taking was too far to the right, which the pilots corrected after being informed of this. He also states that instead of descending to land, the aircraft pitched upwards and ascended. The ATC informed the pilots of this and asked if they had ascended to 3000 feet off the ground, in case the radar was reading the altitude incorrectly. The pilots stated that they were descending, and yet, climbed further to 4000 feet. The aircraft at which point was too high to initiate an Instrument Landing Approach and so ATC instructed them to initiate a go-around and turn to the right. The pilots acknowledged this instruction but strangely turned to the left and asked if they could continue their approach. The controller asked the pilots if things were okay. The pilots responded and stated that everything was alright. ATC instructed the crew to change radio frequencies and maintain a holding pattern. At this point, the aircraft seemed to make a rather quick descent. ATC asked if they could maintain 2000 feet, at which point the plane crashed and an explosion was seen from the tower.
One of the two flight data recorders have already been sent to investigators for analysis. Aeroflot has had approximately 127 accidents involving Aeroflot aircraft throughout it’s history as an airline but has not had a major accident since 1994 when Aeroflot Flight 593, an Airbus A310 crashed in Siberia after after the auto-pilot was unintentionally partly turned off while the captain’s son was allowed to sit in the pilot seat. The cause of this crash should be interesting as the events described by the Air Traffic Controller about the plane’s actions seem rather abnormal, and whether it was pilot error or a mechanical failure etc. was the cause of the crash.
Note that this was a post from my blog at an older location: Posted August 2 2008
Yes, another post about Qantas! I’m sure you’re all tired of my ramblings about Qantas but it’s not my fault Qantas has all these incidents! Okay, now I’m sure you’ve all heard about Qantas Flight 30 and how the aircraft had suffered a rapid decompression. Well, it is currently being investigated and the current theory is that an oxygen bottle exploded. I disagree with that theory right now. I (personally) think that that piece of fuselage may have a manufacturing defect (such as an impurity in the metal) although I may be completely wrong here.
Qantas has had 2 more incidents this week, all of them were Boeing aircraft (although note that at this moment, only 14 of it’s fleet of currently 139 operating aircraft, that’s excluding Jetstar Airways and QantasLink’s fleet, are Airbus). On Monday, 28th of July 2008, Qantas Flight 692, a Boeing 737-800, was en-route from Adelaide to Melbourne I believe when it was forced to turn back to Adelaide because it’s landing gear doors on the undercarriage failed to close. Today, Saturday August the 2nd, Qantas Flight 19, a Boeing 767-300ER, en-route from Sydney to Manila had to turn back to make a landing back in Sydney due to a mechanical fault. When the aircraft took off from Sydney, Air Traffic Controllers spotted what they believed to be “smoke” trailing from the left wing of the 767. The “smoke” was actually the hydraulic fluid from line 1 (there are 3 lines in total) leaking from the aircraft. Without line 1, the aircraft’s main landing gear would deploy slower than usual and some surfaces on the wing such as the flaps and spoilers would not function as they would normally. The cause of the leak is still unknown.
What’s worse is that I’ve recently discovered that Qantas is pretty much everywhere in Australia! They sponsored World Youth Day 2008, they sponsor a lot of sporting teams, they are running advertisements on television, and with the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing to be broadcast soon, I’ll be seeing Qantas ads even more with them sponsoring the broadcast! GAAAAHHHH!!! Qantas is everywhere to haunt me! Why can’t there be more Emirates ads? Or more Singapore Airlines ads? Heh, at least I get to laugh at some of my friends as they go on an excursion to Hong Kong flying QANTAS soon!
Note that this was a post from my blog at an older location: Posted July 26 2008
Yes, two blog entries about Qantas in a row! Guess what happened this time! (I’m sure most of you know now, but still) A Qantas flight from London to Melbourne with a stop-over in Hong Kong had to make an emergency landing in the Philippines at Manila’s Airport. Qantas Flight 30 took off from Hong Kong heading for Melbourne when at cruising altitude, passengers heard a loud bang and part of the ceiling and floor near the right wing collapsed. The pilots had to make an emergency decent from 30000 feet down to 10000 feet as a result of the cabin depressurising. The pilots managed to land the plane without problems at Manila.
 Once the passengers and crew were able to disembark the Boeing 747-400 (named “City of Newcastle”), they saw exactly what had happened to their aircraft. A hole approximately 2 metres wide and 4 metres in length located near the right wing (at the fairing) is believed to be the cause of the collapse of the floors and the rapid decompression. The cause of the hole is so far unknown. Qantas has promised to investigate the cause, along with the Australian and US Transportation Safety Bureaus, the Federal Aviation Authority and representatives from Boeing. Investigators have discovered what they believe to be corrosion damage, thus it is assumed that the cause was not a bomb, and not metal fatigue as the fairing is not normally prone to metal fatigue.
Well, that’s another incident from Qantas, and I am still yet amazed as to how Qantas hasn’t lost a jet yet! They have had only one other “major” incident though, and that was Qantas Flight 1, another Boeing 747-400 which was en-route from Sydney to London with a stop over in Bangkok, Thailand. When the plane touched down on the Runway in Bangkok, weather conditions were terrible with heavy rain and low visibility. The plane overshot the runway, and crash landed in a nearby golf course. The aircraft was repaired and returned to service. That event occurred in September 1999.
In each of the incidents, both aircraft were repairable and all the crew and passengers survived. Although some people believe that the aircraft involved in the 1999 incident should have been written off and not returned to service. There are also a growing number of problems found with Qantas’ aircraft and more incidents with them as well. Qantas has been skimping down on maintenance and, as in my previous post, have been/are sacking maintenance engineers to “save operating costs due to rising fuel prices”. It should be interesting as to when Qantas has another major incident.
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