Category: Aviation Accident

Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg has admitted that the company made a “mistake” in handling a problematic cockpit warning system in its 737 Max jets before two crashes killed a total of 346 people in Ethiopia and Indonesia. According to an ABC news report, Muilenburg was speaking to reporters at the Paris Air Show when he said Boeing’s communication with regulators, customers and the public was not consistent and that is “unacceptable.” …Read the rest »

The grandniece of former presidential candidate and renowned consumer rights advocate, Ralph Nader, was among the 157 people who died when an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing Air Max 8 crashed on March 10. According to a report in the New York Daily News, Samya Stumo was only 24 and had recently graduated from the University of Copenhagen with a Master’s degree in Global Health. …Read the rest »

A plane smashed into the side of a warehouse and burst into flames in a devastating fatal crash that left building occupants fleeing for safety. The small two-person plane took off from Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport on December 1, but its left engine failed and burst into flames in mid-air. Pilot Eladio Marquez tried to land the plane safely, but it reached the ground at high speeds and skidded across a street before crashing into the side of a warehouse. The impact caused the plane to erupt in a large fiery explosion, killing the veteran pilot and his passenger. The building was being used at the time for a behavioral session helping autistic youngsters, but quick-thinking staff members were able to rush all occupants to safety. …Read the rest »

Five people were killed when a twin-engine aircraft, whose pilot declared an emergency, crashed into a busy parking lot near the South Coast Plaza shopping center the afternoon of Aug. 5. According to a news report in The Orange County Register, all the fatalities were aboard the aircraft, a Cessna 414 that was on approach to John Wayne Airport. There were no survivors. There was no fire and no one on the ground was injured. …Read the rest »

Southwest Airlines, particularly pilot Tammie Jo Shults, is getting a lot of kudos from passengers and the nation at large for the pilot and crew’s courageous efforts to minimize injuries and loss of life. According to news reports, the Dallas-bound Boeing 737 was just outside New York when an engine blew sending shrapnel along the fuselage and smashing a window. One passenger, Jennifer Riordan, was sucked out and killed while seven were wounded. Others were certainly rattled and traumatized by the ordeal they suffered until Shults valiantly landed the plane. …Read the rest »

Three British tourists were killed and three others were injured in a Grand Canyon helicopter crash the night of Feb. 10. According to a report in the Daily Mail, the deceased were identified as veterinary receptionist Becky Dobson, 27, and brothers Jason Hill, 32, and Stuart Hill, 30. Those who survived were identified as Jennifer Barham, 39, pilot Scott Booth, 42, and newlyweds Ellie Milward, 29, and Jonathan Udall, 32. …Read the rest »

Three people were killed and two others were injured in a helicopter crash in Newport Beach Tuesday, Jan. 30, after a helicopter crashed into a home in a neighborhood not far away from John Wayne Airport. According to a news report in The Orange County Register, the Orange County Coroner identified the deceased as Joseph Anthony Tena, 60, of Newport Beach, who was the pilot, and Kimberly Lynne Watzman, 45, of Santa Monica, and Brian R. Reichelt, 56, of Hollywood, Fla., who were both passengers. …Read the rest »

An Airbus A320 that was supposed to land at San Francisco Airport’s 28R runway on July 7 headed toward a parallel taxiway for planes with loads of passengers about to take off and was diverted at the last minute averting what many say could have been the biggest disaster in aviation history. The Air Canada aircraft was headed to a taxiway as four airplanes, each carrying hundreds of passengers, were getting ready to take off.

Air traffic controllers cleared the plane for landing when the pilot of one of the planes on the taxiway called the tower frantically to let them know the airbus was headed straight toward them. The pilot thought he was landing on a runway that was empty, but he was actually heading towards Taxiway C, which had the four planes on it. He was diverted at the very last moment, averting the potential catastrophe, which could have claimed more than 1,000 lives. …Read the rest »

Two people suffered injuries after a small airplane crashed on the 405 Freeway near John Wayne Airport in Orange County the morning of Friday, June 30, 2017. According to a KABC news report, the twin-engine Cessna 310 crashed at around 9:30 a.m. on the southbound side of the freeway. Video from the scene of the plane crash shows chaos on the freeway soon after impact. …Read the rest »

French investigators are looking into whether an EgyptAir jet may have crashed into the Mediterranean Sea last May after lithium batteries on a pilot’s cell phone and tablet overheated and sparked a fire. According to news reports, investigators are troubled by where a fire broke out in the cockpit zone on board Flight 804 and the spot where the co-pilot had placed his phone and tablet on the glare-shield above the instrument panel. France is conducting judicial and civil inquiries into the disaster, which killed all 66 people on the place en route to Cairo on an overnight flight from Paris.  …Read the rest »