Learjet crashes into residential area on approach to El Cajon airport,

A medical jet travelling from Santa Ana-John Wayne International Airport, CA (SNA/KSNA), USA to San Diego-Gillespie Field, CA (SEE/KSEE), USA has crashed in a residential area, killing the two pilots and two nurses on board. The aircraft, a Learjet 35A, was completing the turn for the final approach to runway 27R at San Diego-Gillespie Field, California. It struck Pepper Drive in a residential area of El Cajon, San Diego, 2,6 km east of the runway threshold and burst into flames. At 19:08 Gillespie Tower cleared the flight to land on runway 17. At 19:11 the flight contacted Gillespie Tower, cancelling their IFR clearance and requesting to land on runway 27R. This was approved and the Tower controller cleared the flight for a left hand traffic pattern for runway 27R. The flight crew then requested the runway lights to be turned up, to which the controller replied that "they are at a 100% now".
The very last transmission from the pilot was "Oh Shit... Oh Shit" then the radio went dead.
The 10-seat jet was registered to Med Jet of El Cajon, according to the FAA.

Aircraft Information.

Owner / Operator: Med Jet (Aeromedevac)

Aircraft: Learjet 35A

Registration: N880Z

Serial Number: 35A-591

First Flew: 1985

Aeromedevac has twenty plus years of experience as an air ambulance company. Established in 1992, Aeromedevac has maintained operations continuously, with no history of aviation or medical incidents. Their aircraft are dedicated to air ambulance service and their medical staff are full-time employees available 24/7.


THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS GO OUT TO THE IMMEDIATE FAMILY AND FRIENDS AND OF COURSE THE STAFF AT AEROMEDEVAC

 

This has been another trying and difficult year and it has touched everyone in different ways. People continue to lose their jobs, their homes, and some have lost their lives or loved ones. Travel plans have been thrown into chaos worldwide. What ever you are doing today, I want to take this opportunity to wish you all a Merry Christmas. Christmas is not just about spending time with family and friends, it's about creating precious memories that will last a life time. I hope today brings joy to your heart and happiness to your home. May your day be filled with love, laughter and good health - not just for Christmas day but everyday.
MERRY CHRISTMAS

Remembering Air France Flight 8969

 As we get ready to spend time with loved ones over this holiday season, spare a thought for the passengers that were on this aircraft. This would be a Christmas they will never forget.

On the 24th December 1994 four armed men boarded Air France Flight 8969 which was due to depart Algiers-Houari Boumediene Airport (ALG/DAAG) for Paris-Orly Airport (ORY/LFPO) at 11:15 am. The men were dressed as Algerian presidential police; they wore blue uniforms with Air Algérie logos. Their presence originally did not cause any alarm. Two of the men began inspecting the passengers' passports while one went into the cockpit and the fourth stood guard. Claude Burgniard, a flight attendant, recalled noticing that the "police" were armed and one of them had dynamite showing, which she considered to be unusual as the Algerian police were not normally armed when carrying out checks. The Algerian military felt suspicious on noticing that the Air France flight appeared to have an unauthorised delay, so they began surrounding the aircraft. Zahida Kakachi, a passenger, recalled seeing members of the Special Intervention Group (GIS), known as "ninjas", outside the aircraft. Kakachi recalled hearing one of the "police" say "taghut," an Arabic word for "infidel", upon seeing the GIS men gathering outside the A300; she then realised that the four men on board the plane were terrorists. The four hijackers then revealed that they were not police, but mujahideen seeking to establish an Islamic state in Algeria. They had hijacked the aircraft because the national airline Air France was a symbol of France, which they viewed as infidel foreign invaders. 24 hours in, the hijackers released some of the passengers, mainly women with young children and those with severe medical conditions. Over 170 people still remained on board the plane. The hijackers offered to release the remaining Algerian passengers, but the Algerians refused to leave the aircraft. Delhemme recalled that one passenger who was refusing to leave said that he thought the crew would be killed if he did, and Delhemme believes that the passengers' motives were sincere. By the end of the 25th December, the hijackers had freed a total of 63 passengers. The terrorists murdered three passengers and their intention was to blow up the plane over the Eiffel Tower in Paris. The terrorists demanded the plane be flown to Marseille. When the aircraft reached Marseille, the National Gendarmerie Intervention Group (GIGN), a counter-terror unit of the French National Gendarmerie, stormed the plane and killed all four hijackers. The remaining passengers and crew survived the 20-minute gun battle. Of the remaining passengers, 13 received minor injuries. 9 of the 30 GIGN operatives received injuries; of them, 1 received serious wounds. 3 crew members received injuries. 138 of the 220 passengers were Algerian citizens. A significant number of the passengers were French people leaving Algeria. Captain Bernard Delhemme said that the hijackers, who had extensively planned the operation, did not anticipate that most of the passengers would be Algerians.  The whole incident from start to finish lasted 54 hours.

Aircraft Information

Airline: Air France

Code: AF/AFR

Aircraft: Airbus A300B2-1C 

Registration F-GBEC

Serial Number: 104

First Flew: 28/02/1980

Age at Incident: 14 Yrs 10 Mts

Qantas now flying from Melbourne to Delhi

As of today Qantas now connects both Sydney and Melbourne to Delhi, with the first Melbourne-Delhi service departing Melbourne. QF 69 was due to depart at 9.25am local but pushed back at 9.40am, after a very short taxi out it got airborne at 9.48am and headed to Adelaide South Australia, a quick 1 hour flight. The onward flight was due to depart at 11.15 (local) but didn't get away until 12.06pm

Although the flights from Delhi to Sydney and Melbourne are non-stop, the Sydney-Delhi and Melbourne-Delhi legs ‘initially’ include a stopover in Adelaide for the Airbus A330.
Today's inaugural flight from Melbourne was operated by VH-EBB an Airbus A330-202

QANTAS A330-202 VH-EBB (MSN 1060)

“With a big Indian expat community and growing trade and investment ties, India is going to be an incredibly important market for the Flying Kangaroo as international travel recovers.”
Doubling down on Delhi

The Sydney-Delhi flights began on the 6th December at an initial three days per week – Monday, Thursday and Saturday – with QF67 departing Sydney at 6.05am for a 3.35pm touchdown in Delhi.
QF67 was also operated by an Airbus A330-202 - VH-EBV performed the inaugural.

QANTAS A330-202 VH-EBV (MSN 1365)

 

The QF68 return leg leaves Delhi at 6pm and heads straight to Sydney to land at 11.45am the following day.

Qantas plans to boost the Sydney-Delhi route to a daily service from the 3rd January, although the airline maintains the flights will "initially operate until at least late March 2022, with a view to continuing if there is sufficient demand.”

MORE ROUTES TO COME
Qantas isn’t giving up on its pre-Covid plan for non-stop flights to Chicago, with CEO Alan Joyce saying the route “is still a huge opportunity” for the airline.

Just weeks before the inaugural Brisbane-Chicago flight on the 15th April 2020, Qantas was forced to suspend the service – and then its entire international network – as the Covid-19 pandemic took hold.

But the airline is once again looking to the future with optimism rather than trepidation, and Joyce is eager to “establish the network that we had before Covid, and planned to do.”

“We think Brisbane-Chicago is still a huge opportunity,” while also citing Seattle – home to new Oneworld member Alaska Airlines – as another possibility.

“We’ve always said we would consider destinations like Seattle, as well as reinstating Dallas, so our potential there is huge.”

Remembering Pan Am 103

33 Yrs ago today Pan Am 103 blew up over Lockerbie killing everyone on board.

Pan Am Flight 103 was a regular scheduled transatlantic flight from Frankfurt to Detroit via London and New York. At 19.03 on the 21st December 1988, N739PA, (the aircraft operating the fight) was destroyed by a bomb, killing all 243 passengers and 16 crew in what became known as the Lockerbie bombing. Large sections of the aircraft crashed onto a residential street in Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 11 people on the ground. With a total of 270 people killed, it is the deadliest terror attack in the history of the United Kingdom. Following a three-year joint investigation by Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary and the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), arrest warrants were issued for two Libyan nationals in November 1991. In 1999, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi handed over the two men for trial at Camp Zeist, Netherlands, after protracted negotiations and UN sanctions. In 2001, Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, a Libyan intelligence officer, was jailed for life after being found guilty of 270 counts of murder in connection with the bombing. In August 2009, he was released by the Scottish Government on compassionate grounds after being diagnosed with prostate cancer. He died in May 2012 as the only person to be convicted for the attack. In 2003, Gaddafi accepted responsibility for the Lockerbie bombing and paid compensation to the families of the victims, although he maintained that he had never given the order for the attack. Acceptance of responsibility was part of a series of requirements laid out by a UN resolution in order for sanctions against Libya to be lifted. Libya said it had to accept responsibility due to Megrahi's status as a government employee.  Some relatives of the dead, including the Lockerbie campaigner Dr Jim Swire, believe the bomb was planted at Heathrow airport and not sent via feeder flights from Malta, as the US and UK claim. A cell belonging to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (General Command) had been operating in West Germany in the months before the Pan Am bombing.

After a three-year joint investigation by the Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary and the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation indictments for murder were issued on November 13, 1991, against Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi, a Libyan intelligence officer and the head of security for Libyan Arab Airlines (LAA), and Lamin Khalifah Fhimah, the LAA station manager in Luqa Airport, Malta. United Nations sanctions against Libya and protracted negotiations with the Libyan leader Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi secured the handover of the accused on April 5, 1999.
On January 31, 2001, Megrahi was convicted of murder by a panel of three Scottish judges, and sentenced to 27 years in prison. Fhimah was acquitted.



The same aircraft was involved in another incident 18yrs earlier on the 4th November 1970.

Pan Am Flight 114 was operating from John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), New York to  Orly Airport, Paris, France. There were 148 passengers and a crew of 15 aboard the flight. The takeoff at 21.17 EST was uneventful. The flight had been cleared to 31,000 feet, and experienced turbulence during the climb at approximately 27,000 feet. It was described by the flight crew as an occasional “nibble.” At approximately 21:46 EST, the aircraft encountered moderate to severe turbulence as it passed Nantucket, Massachusetts. During the encounter, which lasted approximately 4 minutes, 21 passengers and 2 stewardesses sustained injuries which ranged from minor to serious. The seatbelt sign was on at the time of the encounter and had been on since takeoff.  At 22:07 EST, the flight crew requested clearance back to JFK Airport and later requested and received preferential air traffic control handling. The aircraft landed on runway 31R at 23:39 EST. 

Aircraft Information.

The aircraft was a Boeing 747–121, registered N739PA (CN 19646) and was named "Clipper Maid of the Seas". It was the 15th 747 built, it first flew on the 25th January 1970 and was delivered in mid February 1970. It had PW JTD-7A engines
The aircraft was 18yrs old at the time of the Lockerbie incident.

THE 747

• 1556  built
• 18th loss
• 12th fatal accident
• 4th worst accident (at the time)
• 5th worst accident (currently)

Four dead after light aircraft crashes in water at Redcliffe in Queensland

Four people have died after the light plane, a Rockwell Commander 114, crashed off the end of the runway at Redcliffe Airport, (YRED) in Queensland's Moreton Bay and end up upside down in the water.
Police said the plane went down at about 9.10am (AEST) this morning.
The crash, due to an engine failure, sparked a massive emergency response, with the Coast Guard and police working together to gain access to the plane. Multiple ambulances mustered at Redcliffe Airport.

A multi-agency operation is underway to investigate the crash, including Queensland Water Police officers and divers, the Forensic Crash Unit and the Australian Transport Safety Bureau.
The four people who died this morning have been revealed to be a man, two children and a 69-year-old pilot. Speaking to media Inspector White said the aircraft was seen to disappear behind two mangroves, where the wreck was spotted by another plane shortly after.

Police recovered the bodies of four people at 12pm and authorities will continue their investigation into the cause of the accident.

Chief commissioner of the Australian Transport Bureau, Angus Mitchell, said aircraft operation and maintenance teams from Brisbane and Canberra will be arriving at the scene to determine the nature of the crash. He also called on any potential witnesses to come forward to help authorities with the investigation.

“Early reports are, it looks as though it was not long after takeoff when it crashed, however we’ll need to confirm that with air traffic control,” said Mr Mitchell.

UPDATE

The soles on board have been identified, they were

Sixty-seven-year-old Robert "Roy" Watterson was piloting the light aircraft along with three passengers – 41-year-old Brisbane man Chris Mocanu, his 10-year-old daughter and 9-year-old son.

Aircraft Information

Owner/ Operator: Private 

Aircraft: Rockwell Commander 114

Registration: VH-WMM

Serial Number: 14229

THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS GO OUT TO THE IMMEDIATE FAMILIES INVOLVED.

Alliance Airlines 100 RAAF Centenary Livery

There is a saying my mother would always say "Everything comes to those who wait" well today that quote came true for me. Back in March an Alliance Airlines Embraer E190 dressed in the 100th RAAF Centenary Livery came to Brisbane. It was here for about 6 weeks then in mid May left on a wet lease to Qantas. Since leaving Brisbane the aircraft does the Darwin - Alice Springs - Adelaide - Alice Springs - Darwin run. I never got to see it back then, and even though it was in Brisbane for a few days at the start of this month, heavy traffic stopped me from getting to the airport in time to get the departure. Well this morning I got a message from a friend to say the aircraft is coming in again today from Darwin, it will be on the ground for 50 minutes then will depart back to Darwin. I was off today so I went out to the airport early and after waiting 8 months I finally got to see it.

ALLIANCE E190AR VH-UYB (MSN 19000012)
QF6291 ARRIVING FROM DARWIN (DRW)

AIR FORCE CENTENARY 2021 
THEN. NOW. ALWAYS.

QANTAS 6296 OFF TO DARWIN (DRW)

REX (Regional Express) performs its inaugural flight tomorrow from Brisbane to Sydney, and this REX 737 has been here for a few days in preparation for tomorrows inaugural.

REX BOEING 737-8FE VH-REX (MSN 36609)

VH-REX was originally registered to one of REX's SAAB 340 (MSN 384) but on the 3rd March 2021 it was registered as the 737.

Below are some other photos I took today.

VIRGIN AUSTRALIA B737-8FE VH-YFX (MSN 41013)
VA1114 ARRIVING FROM PROSERPINE (PPP)

TOLL FREIGHT B737-476 ZK-JTQ (MSN 24442)

ALLIANCE F100 VH-UQA (MSN 11499) 
VA1023 OFF TO ALICE SPRINGS (ASP)

RACQ LIFEFLIGHT CHALLENGER 604 VH-URR (MSN 5439)
AM604 ARRIVING FROM BUNDABERG (BDB)

NIUGINI B767-341 P2-PXV (MSN 30341)
PX4 OFF TO PORT MORESBY (POM)

QANTASLINK DASH 8 Q400 VH-QOH (MSN 4132)
QLK561D ARRIVING FROM ROMA (RMA)

ALLIANCE F100 VH-FGB (MSN 11446)
VA1239 OFF TO ROCKHAMPTON (ROK)

SMITHY'S FIRST EVER TRANS PACIFIC FLIGHT

QANTASLINK B717-2K9 VH-NXH (MSN 55055)
QF1773 OFF TO CANBERRA (CBR)

VIRGIN AUSTRALIA B737-8FE VH-YIV (MSN 40698)
VA1494 ARRIVING FROM HAMILTON ISLAND (HTI)

DISPLAYING ITS SPLIT SCIMITAR

SKYTRANS DASH 8 Q100 VH-QQB (MSN 004)
QN756 ARRIVING FROM MILES (WLE)

JETSTAR A320-232 VH-VQC (MSN 3668)
JQ886 OFF TO MACKAY (MKY)

ALLIANCE F100 VH-UQG (MSN 11520)
QQ3221 ARRIVING FROM OLYMPIC DAM (OLP)

SOUTHERN CROSS MINOR

AIR NEW ZEALAND B787-9 ZK-NZD (MSN 41989)
NZ1198 OFF TO LOS ANGELES (LAX)

QANTAS A330-202 VH-EBS (MSN 1258)
QF15 OFF TO LOS ANGELES (LAX)

QANTAS B737-838 VH-XZP (44577)
QF985 ARRIVING FROM MACKAY (MKY)

LINK AIRWAYS FAIRCHILD SA227 VH-VET (MSN DC-839B)

PHILIPPINE A321-271 RP-C9933 (MSN 8242)
PR5218 ARRIVING FROM MANILA (MNL)