USA: Seaplanes Collide Midair Over Alaska, At Least 5 Passenger Killed

Two seaplanes carrying cruise ship tourists have collided midair over southeastern Alaska, killing at least five and injuring 10, while one person is missing.

The accident occurred on Monday afternoon over waters about 40 kilometres northeast of Ketchikan town, said Petty Officer Jon-Paul Rios, a coastguard spokesperson.

The seaplanes collided under unknown circumstances, Allen Kenitzer, a spokesman of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said .Weather conditions in the area on Monday included high overcast skies.

Seaplanes have pontoons mounted under the fuselage so they can land on water.

Local emergency responders worked with state and federal agencies and good Samaritan vessels to help rescue victims.

The passengers were from the cruise ship Royal Princess and were on sightseeing flights.

The ship left Canada's Vancouver city on May 11 and was scheduled to arrive in the city of Anchorage in Alaska on Saturday.

Our thoughts and prayers are with those who lost their lives and the families of those impacted by today's accident. Princess Cruises is extending its full support to traveling companions of the guests involved, Princess Cruises said in a statement.

The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the accident.

The Washington DC-based investigative team from the National Transportation Safety Board is expected to arrive in Ketchikan on Tuesday afternoon, agency spokesman Peter Knudson said.

He said board member Jennifer Homendy is also travelling with the so-called "Go Team", which investigates major accidents.

The crash site, which the FAA said was at Coon Cove near George Inlet, lies in the vicinity of a popular tourist lodge that runs excursions to the nearby Misty Fjords National Monument, about 480km south of Juneau, Alaska's capital.

One of the aircraft involved was a de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver with five people on board and the other was a de Havilland Otter DHC-3 carrying 11 people, FAA spokesperson Allen Kenitzer said in an email message, citing information from local authorities.

The Ketchikan-based operator of the larger plane, Taquan Air, said its pilot and nine passengers were rescued and they were receiving medical attention, but one passenger's fate remained unknown.

That group was returning from a sightseeing tour of Misty Fjords when the crash occurred, Taquan said in a statement.

A spokesperson for Taquan Air, the operator of the Otter, said the company had suspended operations while federal authorities investigate the deadly crash.

It is not the first time a major plane crash has occurred near Ketchikan, a popular tourist destination.

In June 2015, a pilot and eight passengers had died when a de Havilland DHC-3 Otter, operated by Promech Air Inc, crashed into mountainous terrain about 39km from Ketchikan.

The NTSB later determined that pilot error and lack of a formal safety programme were behind the crash.


Tourism Observer

USA: $5,000 Cheques For Southwest Airlines Passengers

Southwest Airlines sent $5,000 cheques to passengers aboard a flight that made an emergency landing this week after an engine failed, killing a passenger.

The airline confirmed, for passengers it had sent the cheques along with $1,000 travel vouchers. We can confirm the communication and gesture are authentic and heartfelt, the company said in a brief statement on Friday.

Aircraft with CFM56 jet engine on Southwest flight 1380 blew apart over Pennsylvania on Tuesday, 20 minutes after the Dallas-bound flight left New York’s LaGuardia Airport with 149 people on board.

The engine debris shattered a window on the Boeing 737 plane, killing one passenger – first death in a US airline accident since 2009.

The plane made an emergency landing in Philadelphia.

The Federal Aviation Administration(FAA) said, its working to quickly finalise an airworthiness directive within two weeks that had been proposed in August 2017 after a similar engine failure in a Southwest plane in 2016, which it said would apply to 220 engines

National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigators on the scene were expected to wrap up their work in Philadelphia on Saturday, the agency said on Friday.

Southwest said after the incident that it was accelerating its existing engine inspection programme out of an abundance of caution and expected to complete it over the next 30 days.

Plane saw Serious damages as a cause of engine failed and an emergency landing forced.

The company has declined to answer questions about the status of those inspections and whether the engine that failed had previously been inspected or whether the inspections have turned up any evidence of defects or metal fatigue.


Tourism Observer

CHINA: Pilot Sucked Out Halfway Of Sichuan Airlines Plane After Windshield Shattered. Makes Emergency Landing.

A Sichuan Airlines Airbus A319 flying from Chongqing to Lhasa was forced to make an emergency landing about 20 minutes after its right windshield cracked and shattered into the plane as it cruised at 33,000 feet, hitting and injuring the First Officer.

The flight’s Captain, Liu Chuanjian, narrated the horrific accident.

The windshield cracked suddenly and gave a huge bang. I looked aside and found half of the co-pilot’s body was already outside the window. Fortunately, his seat belt was fastened, he said.

The sudden loss of pressure and low temperature made me very uncomfortable and it was very difficult to make a single move when the aircraft was flying at 900 kilometers an hour and such a high altitude, the captain explained.

As the emergency unfolded, the Captain initiated an emergency descent and diverted to Chengdu.

According to him, he descended to 23,500ft, which was the minimum safe altitude in the area because of the tall mountains in the vicinity of the flight’s routing.

As the plane cleared the mountainous area, it descended to a more suitable 9,000ft, where oxygen levels are adequate for the human body.

The Southwest Regional Administration CAAC released a preliminary event bulletin, suggesting that the aircraft was en route at 9,800 meters at 0.74-0.75 match when the right-hand windshield developed cracks.

The crew received an ECAM message regarding the windshield heating soon followed by the windshield bursting.

Even though the First Officer faced the harshest consequences, he only received minor injuries.

Following the windshield incident, the Flight Crew was unable to establish ATC communications because of the loud noise coming in from the wind speed bursting into the Flight Deck.

According to the bulletin, the Captain dialed the emergency code on the airplane’s transponder, signaling the airport to clear the runway for an imminent landing.

According to some witness passengers, oxygen masks were released and all Flight Attendants performed the emergency maneuvers flawlessly.

The bulletin also specified that the aircraft (B-6419 • MSN 4660) had accumulated a total of 19,912 flight hours and 12,920 flight cycles, with its last C-Check, finished in March 2017.

No windshield malfunctions had been recorded during the preceding 15 days.

The plane was delivered on July 26, 2011, and is fitted with two IAE V2527M-A5 engines.

Sichuan Airlines, based at Chengdu Shuangliu Airport, boasts an all-Airbus fleet of 132 planes, composed of 23 A319s, 60 A320s, 37 A321s, and 12 A330s.

The airline also has three A350s on order. The average fleet age is just of 5.6 years.

The Civil Aviation Administration of China said the Sichuan Airlines co-pilot was treated for scratches and a sprained wrist. A second crew member also suffered injuries to their waist, officials said.

The crew members are in good condition and after full rest, they will continue to perform the sacred duty of safe flight, the airline said.

Another 27 passengers sought assistance after the plane made an emergency landing in the Chinese city of Chengdu.

None of them appeared seriously hurt, the airline said, adding that it had arranged for special personnel to accompany the travelers.

The airline did not immediately comment about what led to the shattered windshield, but apologized and referred to the incident as mechanical failures.

France's BEA accident investigation agency and Airbus were sending staff to China to investigate, Chinese aviation officials said.

We thank all passengers on this flight for their understanding and tolerance. The crew responded calmly and properly handled it in an emergency, Sichuan Airline said.

Flight 8633 left Chongqing, southwest of the Chinese capital of Beijing, just before 6:30 a.m. local time Monday (6:30 p.m. ET Sunday). It was scheduled to land in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa about two and a half hours later.

But just as flight attendants came down the aisles with breakfast carts, the plane was thrown into a commotion, passengers told local media.

Unknown to them, the pilot was trying to steer the aircraft with his co-pilot partially out of the windshield.

Every item in the cockpit was flying around. Most of the equipment was malfunctioning. And the noise was so great, the radio was inaudible, Liu said.

The entire aircraft was vibrating it was impossible to see the instruments and it was difficult to operate.

Freezing air also blasted through the cockpit's open windshield panel.

Chinese who learned of the successful landing heaped praise on Liu, a former military pilot, for his life saving maneuvers during a perilous situation.

The hashtag #ChinaHeroPilot was trending on the popular Chinese social media site Weibo.

I hope they make a movie to let more people know about Liu, one user wrote.

It took exquisite technical flying skill to turn the tide.

Witness the quality of Chinese pilots! another user posted, adding, But why did the window fall out? The aviation maintenance industry pays well, shouldn't there be some accountability?"

Incidents involving cracked windshields do happen on a regular basis due to bird and lightning strikes, but ones involving entire windshields coming off are rare.

In 1990, one of the pilots on British Airways Flight 5390 was blown partially out of the cabin window after its windshield burst open at 23,000 feet. He survived.

The National Transportation Safety Board, meanwhile, is investigating what caused an engine on Southwest Flight 1380 to explode on April 17, forcing the emergency landing in Philadelphia.

Pilot Tammie Jo Shults and co-pilot Darren Ellisor were lauded for successfully landing the crippled aircraft.

The incident is being investigated.


Tourism Observer

What Is The Airline Liable For In The Event Of A Crash Landing?

Question:
My husband was on a flight from Ft. Lauderdale to Los Angeles when the plane crashed on a routine stopover in Dallas. It was determined that the cause of the crash was attributed to pilot error combined with extreme weather conditions known as microburst and wind shear. He didn’t survive. What recourse do I have and what is the airline liable for?

Answer:
In the United States, two federal agencies regulate air travel and also investigate every commercial and general aviation accident, which may include an airplane crash landing. The first one of these agencies is called the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the second is the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

The NTSB is in charge in investigation the accident and recommending safety standards to prevent future accidents. The FAA sets legal standards for pilot conduct, flight operations, and aircraft manufacturers. In enforces FAA regulations through civil and even criminal penalties.

The circumstances of aviation accidents vary from personal injury and/or death to legal theories of product negligence and/or product liability. The airline and its insurance company may be held responsible for the errors of its pilots in operating the aircraft. Damages arising from a wrongful death fall into four categories. They include economic loss, non-economic loss, survival damages and punitive damages.

When a passenger on a domestic commercial flight is killed in a crash, it is possible for his or her next of kin to bring a “survival” action to recover monetary damages for the pain and suffering and mental anguish he or she experienced after the accident, but before the decedent died. Aviation litigation is extremely complex and a professional attorney who specializes in this field can best handle bringing a wrongful death suit.