Lion Air suffered structural damage after impacting building

LION AIR BOEING 737-8GP N381AG (MSN 39861)
EX PK-LQV

A Lion Air Boeing 737 has suffered structural damage after impacting a building during taxi at Merauke Mopah International Airport (MKQ/WAKK), Indonesia earlier Thursday morning.

Lion Air flight JT797 was departing the terminal building heading for Jayapuru (DJJ/WAJJ) when its right-hand wing struck the airport terminal building.

Footage which is now surfaced on social media shows the damage to both the aircraft’s wing that structure and to the corner of the building itself where it impacted.

According to the Indonesian news source Republika, Lion Air Corporate Communications Strategic manager Danang Mandala Prihantoro has issued a statement on the Merauke Mopah airport incident, saying:

“After service preparations and ground handling are complete, the aircraft gets ready and begins to move slowly in the aircraft parking area.”

He went on to note that the flight crew had decided to make a return to the parking point after an obstacle occurred, and it appears that at this point the aircraft’s right wing impacted the building structure.

The airline and aviation authorities are reportedly conducting further investigations into the incident.

Aircraft Information:

Airline: Lion Air

Code: JT/LNI

Aircraft: Boeing 737-9GP

Registration: PK-LFO

Serial Number: 35716

Engine: 2 x CFMI CFM56-7B27

First Flew: 23rd January 2008

Age: 15 Yrs.

Auckland Airport shut until at least noon following flooding

Every morning when I wake I check flightradar24 to see if Brisbane will get any overflying aircraft to New Zealand or to see if anything unusual is coming into Brisbane. This morning I noticed Air New Zealand flight 90 from Tokyo to Auckland had diverted here. Then I see New Zealand 80 from Hong Kong diverted to Sydney and New Zealand 23 from Vancouver diverted to Christchurch. I noticed the daily Emirates turned back to Dubai, the American Airlines flight from Dallas also turned back and so on. So then I went investigating and found this story.

Auckland Airport will remain shut until at least midday Saturday due to flood damage sustained overnight and its effect on terminal infrastructure.

Photos from the airport last night showed the terminal full of water after Auckland was pummelled with torrential rain, causing chaos around the city and seeing a state of emergency declared.

Over 2000 travellers were stuck at the airport until the early hours of the morning, with flood waters having cut off roads in and around the airport area.

In a statement, Auckland Airport said flooding inside the international terminal check in area had cleared, and travellers were able to begin making their way home safely at around 3.30am.

"A number of passengers are still waiting airside at the international terminal, with Auckland Airport working with borders agencies to support them through formal border processing formalities, prior to them being able to depart from the terminal."

The airport said there would be no flights arriving or departing until at least noon as checks for flood damage were completed.

"Due to the damage overnight and the need to check key infrastructure, no domestic or international flights will be arriving or departing from Auckland Airport before noon Saturday, 28 January. This will continue to be reviewed as the weather event continues."

Remembering TAME Ecuador

 TAME Ecuador Flight 120 was a scheduled flight from Quito-Mariscal Sucre Airport (UIO/SEQU), Ecuador to Cali Airport (CLO/SKCL) with a scheduled stopover at the Ecuadorian border town of Tulcán (TUA/SETU) also in Ecuador.  The Boeing 727 took off from runway 17 at 10:03 for the first leg to Tulcán. The flight climbed to the cruising altitude of FL180 and proceeded on the G-675 airway towards Ipiales from where it was to turn to Tulcán. At 10:15 the flight contacted Tulcán Tower. At that moment the airplane was 29 miles from the Tulcán NDB. The crew received permission to descend to FL140 and was given the current weather information, which included 8000 metres visibility, few clouds at 200 metres and overcast at 500 metres. The approach procedure called for a speed of 180 kts, but the actual speed was much higher at 230 knots. During the descent the airplane flew into the side of the Nevado el Cumbal Volcano at 14,700 feet, 1400 feet below the summit.

The decision of the instructor captain and his crew to initiate and continue the operation towards Tulcán airport below the meteorological minima established in the company's SOPs.
Inadequate navigation and operation of the aircraft by the pilot flying and directed by the instructor captain, consisting of entering the holding pattern of the Tulcan radio beacon with a speed of 230 knots indicated airspeed and with a banking of 15 degrees exceeding the maximum stipulated speed limit of 180 knots during the entire procedure including the holding pattern and using a banking below the recommended range of 25 to 30 degrees, thus exceeding the lateral navigation and obstacle protection limits of the holding pattern, leading this operation to the collision with El Cumbal Hill.

Aircraft Information:

Airline: TAME Ecuador

Code: EQ/TAE

Aircraft: Boeing 727-134

Registration: HC-BLF

Serial Number: 19692

First Flew: 20-11-1967 (34 years 3 months)
Engines: 3 Pratt & Whitney JT8D-9A

The aircraft involved had first flown in 1967 and was previously operated by Transair Sweden, Air Madeira and Philippine Airlines before being transferred to TAME.

Emirates "Destination Dubai" calls into Brisbane

Yesterday morning the blue Emirates, sporting the Destination Dubai livery, called into Brisbane as Emirates ninety-four golf. This aircraft has been into Brisbane about six times already but would arrive at 10.20pm and depart at 8.50pm the next night. From the 15th of this month Emirates changed the arrival time from 10.30pm to 7am. Finally being able to see this aircraft in daylight, myself, my wife and youngest daughter headed out to the airport to catch the arrival.

EMIRATES AIRBUS A380-861 A6-EEU (MSN 147)
EK430 ARRIVING FROM DUBAI

QANTAS BOEING 737-838 VH-VYA (MSN 33762)
QF984 OFF TO MACKAY (MKY)

JETSTAR AIRBUS A320-232 VH-VQL (MSN 2642)
JQ904 OFF TO TOWNSVILLE (TSV)

ALLIANCE FOKKER F100 VH-XWQ (MSN 11300)
QQ8860 OFF TO TREPELL (TQP)

ALLIANCE FOKKER F70 VH-NUU (MSN 11532)
QQ2822 OFF TO EMERALD (EMD)

BATIK AIR BOEING 737-MAX 8 9M-LRP (MSN 43014)
OD157 ARRIVING FROM DENPASSAR (PDS)

KOREAN AIR BOEING 777-2B5 HL-7764 (MSN 34214)
KE407 ARRIVING FROM SEOUL (ICN)

ALLIANCE FOKKER F70 VH-QQW (MSN 11569)
VA1707 OFF TO GLADSTONE (GLT)

QANTASLINK EMBRAER E190AR VH-XVX (MSN 19000081)
QF1927 ARRIVING FROM ADELAIDE (ADL)

JETSTAR AIRBUS A320-232 VH-VGF (MSN 4497)
JQ561 OFF TO MELBOURNE (MEL)

REX BOEING 737-85R VH-MFM (MSN 42805)
ZL309 OFF TO MELBOURNE (MEL)

SINGAPORE AIRBUS A350-941 9V-SHO (MSN 394)
SQ235 ARRIVING FROM SINGAPORE (SIN)

AIR CANADA BOEING 787-9 C-FSBV (MSN 37182)
AC35 ARRIVING FROM VANCOUVER (YVR)

The world's busiest airline routes in 2022

            World's busiest routes: by flights

As shown in the table below, the top 10 routes are domestic, and all are within Asia-Pacific and the Middle East. Leading the pack is Seoul Gimpo to Jeju, located some 280 miles (450km) apart. More significant is how it had 85% more flights than number two, Melbourne-Sydney.

Jakarta-Medan and Jakarta-Makassar entered the top 10, replacing São Paulo Congonhas-Rio Santos Dumont and Jakarta-Surabaya. Of course, this is about airport pairs; results would be different if examining city pairs.

The South Korean Island of Jeju is so popular because it is easy and cheap to reach, involves a short flight (less than 50 minutes), and has some of the best scenery and beaches in South Korea. The massive amount of air service is because there is no real alternative to reach the island. Nine airlines operated last year; almost half of the flights were by Asiana and Korean Air, rising to a substantial majority when their subsidiaries are included.

Ranking            Route                        2022 departing flights (daily flights)

1.                    Seoul Gimpo-Jeju                 44,180 (121)

2.                    Melbourne-Sydney                23,908 (65)

3.                    Jakarta-Denpasar Bali          21,980 (60)

4.                    Hanoi-Ho Chi Minh City         21,574 (59)

5.                    Tokyo Haneda-Fukuoka        19,017 (52)

6.                    Tokyo Haneda-Sapporo        18,816 (51)

7.                    Jakarta-Medan                      18,298 (50)

8.                    Mumbai-Delhi                        18,258 (50)

9.                    Riyadh-Jeddah                      18,059 (49)

10.                 Jakarta-Makassar                   16,964 (46)



       World's busiest routes: by ASM

ASMs are a standard aviation industry measurement. It means one seat flown per one mile. As aircraft size and distance influence the results, it's why London Heathrow-New York JFK tops the table and why there's no sign of Gimpo-Jeju, Melbourne-Sydney.


Ranking                Route                                            2022 ASMs

1.            London Heathrow-New York JFK               5.37 billion

2.            Dubai-London Heathrow                             4.57 billion

3.            Los Angeles-London Heathrow                  4.24 billion

4.            London Heathrow-Singapore                      4.15 billion

5.            New York JFK-Los Angeles                         4.03 billion

6.            Hanoi-Ho Chi Minh City                               3.60 billion

7.            Singapore-Sydney                                       3.55 billion

8.            Toronto-Vancouver                                      3.50 billion

9.            Tokyo Haneda-Okinawa                              3.45 billion

10.          Los Angeles-Honolulu                                 3.24 billion

Qantas embarrassed as another flight returns mid flight

QANTAS AIRBUS A330-202 VH-EBA (MSN 0508)

A Qantas flight from Adelaide (ADL/YPAD) to Perth (PER/YPPH) was reportedly 50 minutes into its journey on Monday when the aircraft was forced to turn back around.

The Qantas plane has been forced to turn back due to a paperwork issue, marking the sixth incident to plague the airline in the last week.

QF887, an Airbus A330, departed from Adelaide's runway 23 at 3.36pm and climbed to flight level 400 (40,000feet). 52 minutes into the flight, it was discovered the correct paperwork had not been finalised  so the aircraft turned around and returned to the South Australian capital, touching down on runway 23 just short of three hours later at 5.31pm.

One passenger tweeted the flight was forced to turn back about halfway into its journey due to a "compliance issue". "Waiting in the plane on the tarmac in Adelaide, while it's being refueled, and then they'll try again for Perth," they wrote in a follow-up tweet.

The passengers eventually landed in Perth four hours after the scheduled arrival time.

"There were no technical issues with the aircraft," a Qantas spokeswoman said.

Aircraft Information:

Airline: Qantas

Code: QF/QFA

Aircraft: Airbus A303-202

Registration: VH-EBA

Serial Number: 0508

Engine: 2 x GE CF6-80E1A2

First Flew: 11th October 2002

Age: 20 Yrs. 3 Mts

A Boeing 737 has been transformed into an epic luxury villa in Bali

Disused commercial jets being repurposed into luxury hotels is not a common sight, and yet there are a few examples around the world of these crafty adaptive reuse projects. We already know that France plans to turn an old A380 into a hotel, but it looks like the team behind that project has been beaten to the punch by entrepreneur Felix Demin and investor Alexander Lebedev, who have come together to turn a defunct Boeing 737 into a private villa in Bali.

The abandoned Boeing 737 was reportedly part of the Mandala Airlines fleet. The once Jakarta-based low-cast carrier doesn’t exist anymore, but its legacy will be a considerable one if this luxury hotel takes off, so to speak.

A complete overhaul has gutted the Boeing 737 and turning the retired jet into an imaginative luxury villa that sits on a cliff roughly 152-metres above Bali’s Nyang Nyang Beach in Uluwatu. The “private jet villa” (Expedia’s words, not ours) is already listed at around US$7,300 (~AU$10,455) per night, presenting what just may be Bali’s most unique accommodation.

Demin, who already owns a bunch of hotels around Bali, told Business Insider that the once commercial jet took about a week to transport to its current position, requiring a team to completely dismantle the aicraft and rebuild it on-site.

“Externally and structurally, this is a jet aircraft that we have turned into a luxury hotel.”

There are no seats or equipment left in the Boeing 737. Only the shell and portholes remain, repurposing the inside with a minimalist interior where the former cocktpit is now a stylish bathroom (with a circular stone tub) and the cabins are replaced by a kitchen and dining room, a second bathroom and two bedrooms.

Most impressively, the designers have turned one of the aircraft’s wings into a very slick terrace, which stretches nearby an adjacent infinity pool peppered by a few loungers so guests can take advantage of the cliffside views over Bali’s Bukit Peninsula.

According to the Expedia listing, the Boeing 737 villa offers all the necessary amenities to make a stay in Bali feel more convenient. You’ve got free self-parking, Wi-Fi and a 24-hour front desk. There’s also enough space for the villa’s own helipad, so at least there’s some element of functional aviation.

Aircraft Information:
The aircraft started its life with Arkia Israeli Airlines and first flew on the 22/10/1982.

The serial number and Line number is 22876 / 922.

The engines were 2 x PW JT8D-17A.

The aircraft model is a Boeing 737-2E7

15/03/1983 Arkia Israeli Airlines 4X-BAC

22/12/1983 Dan-Air London G-BLDE

26/03/1984 Arkia Israeli Airlines 4X-BAC

22/04/1984 Dan-Air London G-BLDE

15/03/1993 Mandala Airlines PK-RII (Stored 10/2008 in Bali -Indonesia)

Headaches continue for Qantas as another flight turns back.

QANTAS BOEING 737-838 VH-VZT (34186)

Another Qantas flight had to be diverted after suffering an in-flight problem. This time it was a flight from Nadi, Fiji (NAN/NFFN) to Sydney, Australia (SYD/YSSY) and again it was operated by a Boeing 737.

QF102 was scheduled to depart Nadi at 2.35pm (local) but didn't get away until 3.52pm.

The aircraft departed from runway 20 and climbed to flight level 350. Fifty-two minutes later passengers and crew smelt fumes in the cabin, so the pilots decided to return to Nadi.

The aircraft was given priority landing and landed safely on runway 02 at 5.18pm, one and a half hours after it departed.

An early investigation has revealed an oven in the galley as the likely culprit of the fumes. 

Engineers will now examine the aircraft to determine the cause.

On the 19th of January QF101 travelling from Sydney Australia (SYD/YSSY) to Nadi Fiji (NAN/NFFN) was forced to return to Sydney citing a mechanical issue.

 

Aircraft Information:

Airline: Qantas

Code: QF/QFA

Aircraft: Boeing 737-838

Registration: VH-VZT

Serial Number: 34186

Engine: 2 x CFMI CFM56-7B26

First Flew: 2nd October 20011

Age: 11 Yrs. 3 Mts

Delta Airlines to launch L.A. to Auckland service

DELTA AIRLINES BOEING 777-232 N708DN (MSN 39254)

Delta Air Lines announced that they will be, for the first time ever, launching scheduled services between Los Angeles (LAX/KLAX) and Auckland, New Zealand (AKL/NZAA).

Delta is well and truly on a roll with their latest route announcements, adding yet another to their ever-growing list of Los Angeles announcements, with their first ever scheduled services non-stop to Auckland in New Zealand.

Inaugurating on the 28th of October 2023, Delta will begin flying to Auckland directly using their Airbus A350-900 fleet, operating the new service on a daily basis. This will also mark the first U.S. carrier to offer a direct service between L.A. and Auckland. 

American Airlines and United service Auckland now from Dallas and San Francisco respectively.

Auckland now joins Delta’s list of newly restored services, alongside a new service to Nice in France and increased frequencies to both Paris and Tel Aviv.

Not only this, but recently, Delta already commenced new services from L.A. to Tahiti, Paris, and London Heathrow, making Auckland their fourth new L.A. destination, offering yet more choices for international travel for its customers.

Adding his thoughts to Delta’s latest announcement out of L.A., their Senior Vice President for Network Planning, Joe Esposito, says, “With more than 1,750 weekly flights to 85 destinations around the globe this summer, Delta is well positioned to deliver on its plans to fully restore its network in 2023.”

“With brand-new flights this year to cities like Auckland, Geneva, and London Gatwick, we’re giving customers more options to enjoy the premium experience and elevated hospitality they have come to know and expect from us.”



The flight will operate with the following schedule:

DL65 will depart Los Angeles for Auckland at 10:30PM arriving 7:35AM 2 days later.
DL64 will depart Auckland for Los Angeles at 2:00PM arriving 6:05AM

Remembering the Kano air disaster

The Kano air disaster is a story about a chartered Boeing 707 passenger flight that on the 22nd of January 1973 crashed while attempting to land at Kano International Airport. It is the deadliest aviation disaster ever to take place in Nigeria, as 176 passengers and crew perished in the crash. There were 26 survivors.

The Boeing 707 was on a nonscheduled international flight and had been chartered by Nigeria Airways to fly pilgrims back from Jeddah (JED/OEJN) to Lagos (LOS/DNMM). Extremely bad weather at Lagos forced the crew to divert to Kano (KAN/DNKN). The aircraft touched nosewheel first steady and heavy with main wheels barely in contact with the runway. The nosewheel entrenched itself into the ground and then collapsed. The main gear contacted later in rapid deceleration, pierced the main wings and the aircraft collapsed along the runway centreline. A fire broke out immediately and after a prolonged pause the passengers and crew evacuated. Unfortunately, 6 of the 9 crew members and 170 of the 193 passengers were killed. 

The aircraft was owned by Royal Jordanian Airlines, but as the accident was a charter flight operated on behalf of Nigeria Airways, this is considered by AirSafe.com to be both a numbered event for Nigerian Airlines, and a significant event for Royal Jordanian Airlines.

Aircraft Information:

Airline: Royal Jordanian

Code: RJ/RJA

Aircraft: Boeing 707-3D3C

Registration: JY-ADO

Serial Number: 20494

Engines: 4 Pratt & Whitney JT3D-

First Flew: 14/01/1971

Age: 2 Yrs 

Yet another Qantas flight turned back

QANTAS BOEING 737-838 VH-VXP (MSN 33722)

Qantas is really not having a good time at the moment with three aircraft being forced to turn back in as many days. Are they really having a run of bad luck, or is this just a normal daily event being bought to our attention because of the pan call on Wednesday?

A packed Qantas plane travelling from Melbourne (MEL/YMML) to Sydney (SYD/YSSY) has been forced to turn around mid-flight in the airline's third incident in three days.

The airline claims the pilots of QF430 were alerted to a 'minor engine issue' and decided to immediately turn around and land the plane in Melbourne.

The Boeing 737 took off from Tullamarine runway 16 at 9.41am and climbed to flight level 250 before completing a large loop and returning just 50 minutes later at 10.19am, once again landing on runway 16.

A Qantas spokesperson said that customers would be booked on other flights over the following hours.

'The aircraft landed normally – this was not an emergency or priority landing. Both engines remained operational throughout the flight,' they said.

It comes immediately after Qantas flight QF144 from Auckland to Sydney was forced to issue a mid-air mayday call halfway through the three-hour journey on Wednesday.

Then on Thursday, flight QF101 was forced to turn back to Sydney airport after it suffered a 'potential mechanical issue' on its way to Fiji.

Aircraft Information:

Airline: Qantas

Code: QF/QFA

Aircraft: Boeing 737-838

Registration: VH-VXP

Serial Number: 33722

Engine: 2 x CFMI CFM56-7B26

First Flew: 8th May 2003

Age: 19 Yrs. 8 Mts

Spotting at Ballina Airport

Being on annual leave, I decided I would drive the 175 kilometer (109 Miles) to Ballina Airport to do some plane spotting. The drive is normally just a fraction over 2 hours, but due to peak hour traffic and road works, it took me 2 hours 56 minutes. (Then I had to add an hour due to daylight saving.)

I arrived at 11am and left at 2.30pm (NSW time) 

The drove home was much quicker and easier, 1 hour 58 mins.

Ballina Byron Gateway Airport (BNK / YBNA) is a small regional airport located at Ballina, New South Wales. It is owned and operated by Ballina Shire Council. It serves Ballina and the nearby famous town of Byron Bay, a 20-minute drive north. The airport is 5 km (3 miles) from the Ballina town centre. It has one Asphalt runway, 06/24, which is 1,900 mts long (6,234 Feet) and is 2 mts AMSL. This airport does not have a control tower, so pilots are required to communicate via a Common Traffic Advisory Frequency (CTAF) 124.2 to safely co-ordinate arrivals and departures.

Ballina Airport is served by four airlines, Qantas, Virgin Australia, Jetstar and Air Pelican. Both Qantas and Virgin run out of Sydney, Jetstar runs out of Sydney and Melbourne, and Air Pelican runs out of Newcastle.

EDWARDS AVIATION CESSNA 650 CITATION VH-LYM (MSN 650-7095)

PIPER PA-24-260 VH-SMJ (MSN 24-4816)

ROBINSON R22 BETA VH-VGK (MSN 2973)

BEECH 58 BARON VH-YDC (MSN TH-755)

BEECH 35-DEBONAIR VH-CPL (MSN CD-441)

CESSNA 172N SKYHAWK VH-JGY (MSN 172-68664)

PACIFIC CT/4A AIRTRAINER VH-DMI (MSN 037)

DIAMOND DA40NG VH-FZI (MSN 40.NC185)

VIRGIN AUSTRALIA BOEING 737-8FE VH-VUS (MSN 36607)

VA 1139 ARRIVING FROM SYDNEY

CESSNA 172S SKYHAWK SP VH-EOQ (MSN 17210008)

JETSTAR AIRBUS A320-232 VH-YXQ (MSN 5618)

JQ458 ARRIVING FROM SYDNEY

PILATUS PC-12NG VH-JKU 

CESSNA 172S SKYHAWK SP VH-XBM (MSN 172S-10013)

JABIRU J-170 24-5066

JABIRU J-160 24-4753

QANTASLINK DASH 8 Q400 VH-LQF (MSN 4375)

QF2062 ARRIVING FROM SYDNEY