Jetstar leaves hundreds of passengers stranded in Alice Springs

JETSTAR BOEING 787-8 VH-VKB (MSN 36228)

A Jetstar 787 flying travelling from Bangkok (BKK/VTBS) to Melbourne (MEL/YMML) forced to land in Alice Springs (ASP/YBAS) due to a medical emergency after a passenger was taken ill, has left hundreds of passengers stranded for over 10 hours.

JQ30, a Boeing 787-8 (VH-VKB) departed Bangkok at 9.30pm and was due to land in Melbourne around 10.30am but ended up landing in Alice Springs at 7.20am (Alice Springs Time) 

Officials confirmed the grounding was due to an electrical fault being detected after the plane landed, and airline officials had to organise for a replacement mechanical part to come from Sydney. Jetstar confirmed the flight was experiencing” a lengthy and frustrating delay” after the ill passenger had to be removed.

Many of the passengers onboard took to social media to vent their frustration at the situation which has left hundreds waiting, allegedly without food.

One wrote on social media, 

“As Alice Springs is not an international airport, we have all been stuck on the plane for close to 14 hours now and aren’t allowed to leave". 

“Passengers are having panic attacks on the plane, several children under 3 years old are onboard, yet no food has been provided,” another passenger added.

A second Boeing 787-8 JQ8996 (VH-VKE) arrived at 4.43pm and departed for Melbourne at 7.24pm, touching down in Melbourne at 11.20pm, 13 hours behind its scheduled arrival.

JETSTAR BOEING 787-8 VH-VKE (MSN 36230) 

At the time of writing this, VKB was still ground in Alice Springs.

Qantas flight diverts to Brisbane, 7 hours in the air.

QANTAS AIRBUS A330-303 VH-QPJ (MSN 0712)

A Qantas flight travelling from Sydney (SYD/YSSY) to Seoul (ICN/RKSI) diverted to Brisbane yesterday afternoon after spending 7 hours in the air.

QF87 was due to depart Sydney at 9.35am (Sydney Day Light Saving Time) but didn't push back until 9.55am. It lined up on 16R and got airborne at 10.08am. It initially climbed to 320, then 12 minutes later climbed to 340, which was its final cruising altitude. Two hours and forty minutes later, at 12.48am (Sydney time) as the aircraft was just off the coast of Cooktown (North of Cairns), due to what we know was a technical issue, it started a left-hand turn and made its way back to Brisbane.

At 2.12pm and just off the coast of Rockhampton, QF87 started one of six 20-minute holding patterns.

Exactly 2 hours later, at 4.12pm the Airbus A330 left the pattern and headed for Brisbane. At 5.10pm, seven hours and two minutes later, QF87 touched down safely on runway 01R in Brisbane. 

The local time was 4.10pm as we don't have Day Light Saving Time.

Aircraft Information:
Airline: Qantas
Code: QF/QFA
Aircraft: Airbus A303-303
Registration: VH-QPJ
Serial Number: 0712
Engine: 2 x GE CF6-80E1A3
First Flew: 29th November 2005
Age: 17 Yrs. 3 Mts

SmartLynx lands Australian approval for A330 operations

IATA ICAO Callsign 6Y ART SMART LYNX

Latvian wet-lease specialist SmartLynx has secured authorisation to conduct operations from Australia, where is intends initially to use Airbus A330s.

The company says it has received an Australian foreign air transport operator certificate.

SmartLynx says operating flights to Australia has been “integral” to its strategic effort to extend its network to new markets.

It says it met all the operational requirements, including supplying airworthiness and maintenance information for the A330s, to secure the certificate.

“Foreign air operator certification in Australia strengthens our competitive advantage to offer wet-lease services to international airlines and tour operators,” says SmartLynx chief Zygimantas Surintas.

SmartLynx aims to obtain similar certification for single-aisle aircraft including Airbus A320-family jets and Boeing 737s.

It is expanding its fleet and expects to have 65 aircraft by the end of this year including:

•  6 A330-300s
• 37 A320s and A321s 
• 13 A321 freighters, 
•  9 737 Max twinjets.

SmartLynx Airlines Limited, (previously known as LatCharter) is a Latvia-based ACMI*, charter and cargo airline based in Mārupe. It was founded in 1992 and operates flights on wet lease out (ACMI), holiday charter flights, ad-hoc passenger charter and cargo flights across Europe, Africa, Asia, Canada and the USA.

*ACMI stands for Aircraft, Crew, Maintenance and Insurance

ACMI, charter, and cargo operator | SmartLynx Airlines

Remembering United Airlines Flight 811

UNTITED B0EING 747-422 N194UA (MSN 26892)

United Airlines Flight 811 was a regularly scheduled airline flight from Los Angeles (LAX/KLAX) to Sydney (SYD/YSSY), with stop overs at Honolulu (HNL/PHNL) and Auckland (AKL/NZAA). 

On the 24th of February 1989, the Boeing 747-122 serving the flight experienced a cargo-door failure in flight shortly after leaving Honolulu. 

The resulting explosive decompression blew out several rows of seats, resulting in the deaths of nine passengers. The aircraft returned to Honolulu and landed with no further incident.

Flight 811, with 337 passengers and 18 crew members on board, took off from Honolulu (HNL/PHNL), Hawaii at 01:33 local time, bound for Sydney, Australia, with an intermediate stop at Auckland, New Zealand. The initial climb passed through an area of thunderstorms, so the captain elected to keep the seat belt sign on. As the aircraft was climbing, between 22,000 and 23,000 feet, an explosive decompression was experienced. An emergency was declared at approximately 02:20 HST. The captain initiated a 180-degree left turn to avoid a thunderstorm and proceeded toward Honolulu. The forward lower lobe cargo door had opened in flight, taking with it a large portion of the forward right side of the cabin fuselage. The starboard side Pratt & Whitney JT9D-7A engines (no.3 and 4) were damaged and had to be shut down. Parts of the leading and trailing edge flaps where also damaged resulting in the crew electing to use only 10-degrees trailing edge flaps for landing (a non-normal configuration). This resulted in the aircraft having to land at a higher speed than it would under normal conditions. The aircraft was cleared to land on Honolulu's runway 8L. At 02:34 HST, Honolulu tower was notified by the flight crew that the airplane was stopped, and an emergency evacuation had commenced on the runway. 

The aircraft had been flying for 17 minutes, as it was passing from 22,000 to 23,000 feet (6,700 to 7,000 m), when the flight crew heard a loud "thump", which shook it. About a second and a half later, the forward cargo door blew off. It swung out with such force that it passed its normal stop and slammed into the side of the fuselage, bursting it open. Pressure differentials and aerodynamic forces caused the cabin floor to cave in, and 10 seats (G and H of rows 8 through 12) were ejected from the cabin. All eight passengers seated in these locations were killed, as was the passenger in seat 9F. Seats 8G and 12G were unoccupied. A gaping hole was left in the aircraft, through which a flight attendant, Mae Sapolu in the business-class cabin, was almost blown out. Senior flight attendant Laura Brentlinger hung on to the steps leading to the upper deck and was dangling from them when the decompression occurred. Passengers and crew members saw her clinging to a seat leg and were able to pull her back inside the cabin, although she was severely injured.

The aircraft involved was a Boeing 747-122 (registration number N4713U MSN 19875).

It was delivered to United Airlines on the 3rd of November 1970. At the time of the accident, the Boeing had accumulated 58,814 total flight hours, 15,028 flight 'pressurization' cycles, and had not been involved in any previous accident.

Vietjet eyes off Brisbane, Adelaide, Darwin

Vietjet is launching direct flights from Sydney (SYD/YSSY) and Melbourne (MEL/YMML) to Ho Chi Minh City (SGN/VVTS) across April – with plans for Brisbane (BNE/YBBN), Darwin (DRW/YPDN) and Adelaide (ADL/YPAD) to follow.

While Vietjet is technically considered a low-cost carrier, its international Airbus A330s offer a premium cabin called ‘Skyboss Business’. But it’s not quite business class as you know it: the 12 leather seats fold out into an older-style angled flatbed. Our tip for relaxing or catching some shut-eye on the 8+ hour flight: try to set up the seat as a recliner rather than a sloping lie-flat bed and wedge a pillow behind your lower back for added comfort.

Perks of Vietjet’s premium cabin include 40kg of checked baggage and 18kg carry-on, along with lounge access, priority check-in and complimentary meals. (It’s worth noting Vietjet doesn’t offer any inflight entertainment, so a good book or some pre-downloaded content on your own device is essential.)

VietJet will make its Australian debut in Melbourne on the 8th of April and run to the following schedule:

• Flights depart from Melbourne every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, departing just after midnight at 12:30am, and touching down into Ho Chi Minh City at 5:15am.

• Flights depart Ho Chi Minh City at 9:50am every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, arriving into Melbourne at 10:35pm.

April 12 sees three Sydney-Ho Chi Minh City flights per week, as follows:

• Sydney to Ho Chi Minh City flights will depart every Monday, Thursday and Saturday at 10:15am, with a mid-afternoon arrival of 4:30pm.

•  Ho Chi Minh City to Sydney flights will depart every Wednesday, Friday and Sunday at 7:30pm, landing in Sydney at 7:20am the following day.

From Ho Chi Minh City, VietJet offers connections to a multitude of domestic and international ports, such as Da Nang and Hanoi, and Phnom Penh and Siem Reap in Cambodia.

Air New Zealand flight to New York returns to Auckland

AIR NEW ZEALAND BOEING 787-9 ZK-NZQ (MSN 39296)

When passengers boarded Air New Zealand's flight 2 bound for New York (JFK/KJFK) from Auckland (AKL/NZAA) last Thursday, little did they know that it was going to become a return flight.

The Air New Zealand Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner had departed Auckland 35 minutes late at 20.18, bound for New York JFK International Airport.

The flight was well underway and had been cruising over the Pacific Ocean for 7 hours 30 minutes when it was forced to make an unscheduled turnaround and return to Auckland.

The reason for the rebound flight was a power outage suffered at John F Kennedy Airport. The airport announced via social media channels that a fire in its Terminal 1 facility had rendered the airport unable to process inbound or outbound flights.

The airport stated that: “The power outage was caused by an electrical panel failure, which also caused a small, isolated fire overnight that was immediately extinguished.”

The fire may well have been immediately extinguished, however the anguish for passengers aboard NZ2 was not so immediate, with the aircraft making a marathon round-trip of just over 16 hours by the time it returned to Auckland.

The Washington Post has reported that several other inbound international flights suffered a similar fate, with flights from Seoul, Rome and Milan being forced to make a return to their departure airports.

Other flights were subsequently diverted to alternative US airports. The question naturally arose as to why the New Zealand flag carrier could not simply divert flight NZ2 in a similar manner to a US alternate.

According to the Washington Post, the airline stated that a diversion to an alternate airport would have been “too disruptive for the carrier’s operations.”


Aircraft Information:
Airline: Air New Zealand
Code: NZ/ANZ
Aircraft: Boeing 787-9
Registration: ZK-NZQ
Serial Number: 39296
Engine: 2 x RR TRENT 1000
First Flew: 5th September 2018
Age: 4 Yrs. 5 Mts

Four dead in Philippines plane crash

A light twin-engine aircraft travelling from Legazpi-Bicol International Airport (LGP/RPLK) to Manila-Ninoy Aquino International Airport (MNL/RPLL) crashed near an active volcano in the Philippines and it is four occupants are presently missing, feared dead.

According to the Philippines Information Agency (PIA), wreckage appearing to belong to the twin piston engine Cessna 340 has been sighted on Mount Mayon in the countries Albay province.

The aircraft had departed on Saturday morning bound for Manila; however, all radio contact was lost with the aircraft shortly afterwards. According to the report of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP), the Cessna had departed Bicol International Airport at 6:43 AM bound to Metro Manila. The last radio contact was made around 6:48AM, after which there was no further response. This was last recorded by CAAP Bicol tower at an altitude of 2600 ft in Camalig Cement Plant in Anoling, Camalig Albay.

According to the Australian national broadcaster ABC News, two of the men aboard the six-seater twin-engine aircraft were Australian residents. The Australian pair were said to be former employees of the Australian gas producer Santos. Also aboard were the aircraft pilot and one other crew member. Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) was made aware of the situation.

The Philippines Information Agency has made the following statements on their social media channel:

“Video and photo footage was captured on Sunday, around 2:00 PM in the afternoon of the almost crushed part of an aircraft in the upper part of Anoling Gulley, which is 350 meters from the crater of the volcano and an altitude of 1,600 feet.”

“Its passengers have still not been found. In Barangay Anoling, the cellphone signal of one of the passengers was detected around 10:00 PM on Saturday.”

According to the PIA, 162 personnel are currently deployed in the search and rescue operation. There are 108 on standby and 23 in the Emergency Operations Center.

Aside from the local responders, other national government agencies have also sent more help to intensify and expand the ongoing search and rescue operations.


Aircraft Information:

Owner / Operator: Energy Development Corporation
Aircraft: Cessna 340A

Registration: RP-C2080

Serial Number: 340A-0917

Last minute Sunday spotting in Melbourne and Brisbane.

Yesterday it was time to head home, we got to Melbourne's Tullamarine airport just after 6am for our 8am departure. We dropped off the hire car and headed for security. By the time we got to the REX terminal we had around 30 minutes left before we boarded. I did manage to get a few photos before leaving Melbourne. 

BAMBOO AIRWAYS BOEING 787-9 VN-A829 (MSN 62739)
BAV88 ARRIVING FROM HO CHI MINH CITY (SGN)

EMIRATES AIRBUS A380-842 A6-EUU (MSN 238)
EK406 ARRIVING FROM DUBAI (DXB)

Before we departed Melbourne, we got a notification to say SYD SQUAD was broadcasting live from the carpark at Brisbane airport so, as we were parked on level nine of the carpark we decided to call over and say hello when we get there.

Once landed in Brisbane we spent about an hour at the carpark plane spotting before we had to leave.

MATT FROM SYD SQUD BROADCASTING LIVE ON YOUTUBE 

VIRGIN AUSTRALIA BOEING 737-8FE VH-YIR (MSN 39925)
VA115 OFF TO QUEENSTOWN (ZQN)

AIR NEW ZEALAND BOEING 787-9 ZK-NZR (MSN 65088)
NZ145 ARRIVING FROM AUCKLAND (AKL)

FIJI AIRWAYS BOEING 737 MAX 8 DQ-FAD (MSN 64308)
FJ921 ARRIVING FROM NADI (NAN)

QANTAS BOEING 737-838 VH-VXL (MSN 33482)
QF615 OFF TO MELBOURNE (MEL)

MALAYSIA AIRBUS A330-323 9M-MTN (MSN 1470)
MH134 OFF TO KUALA LUMPUR (KUL)

SINGAPORE AIRBUS A350-941 9V-SHA (MSN 254)
SQ255 ARRIVING FROM SINGAPORE (SIN)

                            REX BOEING 737-8FE VH-PAG (MSN 37821)
                                    ZL223 OFF TO MELBOURNE (MEL)

Topless Russian woman on flight demands entry to cockpit

A topless Russian woman demanded entry to the cockpit during an Aeroflot flight from Stavropol (STW/URMT) to Moscow SVO/UUEE) on Friday.

The incident happened after Anzhelika Moskvitina was spotted smoking in the plane toilet.
It has been widely reported the passenger went to the toilet while the aircraft was experiencing turbulence.  A video obtained by Russian news site Mash shows the half-naked Ms Anzhelika Moskvitina being told to sit down.

“Lady, take a seat and get dressed,” she is instructed, before being asked: “Where are your clothes?”

After Ms Moskvitina appears to ignore the Aeroflot crew member, instead looking at her phone, they say: “Do you understand you’re violating the behaviour rules on the plane?” She is subsequently told to respect that there are children onboard.

The video also shows the flight attendant attempting to cover Ms Moskvitina with a blanket, but she refuses and says: “I understand I’ll go to the mental hospital or a prison.”

“But I want to go to the cockpit,” she adds, shaking her head.

Ms Moskvitina was then covered and pinned to the floor,

“Kill me here, but I will smoke,” she is heard shouting.

After being told to calm down, staff began trying to restrain her with cable ties, but the footage shows her lash out and bite a crew member.

“Leave me alone,” she screams, as the video ends.

The woman was reportedly met by police and detained upon arrival at Moscow Sheremetyevo airport, while the flight attendant received medical treatment.

In a statement shared online, an Aeroflot spokesperson said: “The passenger ignored repeated warnings from the crew and tried to break into the cockpit.

“Due to the passenger’s destructive behaviour, the aircraft captain decided to use a means of restraint on her.

“Aeroflot emphasises that this case again proves the urgent need at the legislative level to toughen punishment for rowdy passengers, including creating a single blacklist of destructive passengers for all airlines.”

Story sourced from here

Topless Russian woman on flight demands entry to cockpit | The Independent

More spotting from Melbourne airports

This morning while my family slept, I got up early and headed out to Melbourne's Tullamarine airport to get some early morning arrivals. Due to commitments, I couldn't stay very long.

BATIK/MALINDO BOEING 737-MAX 8 9M-LRL (MSN 43012)
OD177 ARRIVING FROM DENPASAR (DPS)

QANTASLINK BOEING 717-2BL VH-NXJ (MSN 55166)
QF1511 ARRIVING FROM CANBERRA (CBR)

GARUDA A330-343 PK-GPU (MSN 1560)
GA718 ARRIVING FROM DENPASAR (DPS)

JETSTAR AIRBUS 321-251NX VH-OFQ (MSN 11189)
JQ36 ARRIVING FROM DENPASAR (DPS)

REX BOEING 737-8FE VH-PAG (MSN 37821)
ZL402 ARRIVING FROM ADELAIDE (ADL)

QANTASLINK DASH 8 Q300 VH-TQD (MSN 598)
QLK2045 ARRIVING FROM ALBURY (ABX)

XIAMEN AIR BOEING 787-8 B-2763 (MSN 41543)
MF813 ARRIVING FROM FUZHOU (FOC)

QANTAS BOEING 787-9 VH-ZND (MSN 63390)
QF94 ARRIVING FROM LOS ANGELES (LAX)

VIRGIN AUSTRALIA BOEING 737-8FE VH-VON (MSN 33795)
VA204 ARRIVING FROM ADELAIDE (ADL) 

THAI AIRBUS A350-941 HS-THL (MSN 185)
TG465 ARRIVING FROM BANGKOK (BKK)

AIR NEW ZEALAND AIRBUS A320-271N ZK-NHD (MSN 9207)
NZ211 ARRIVING FROM CHRISTCHURCH (CHC)

SINGAPORE AIRBUS A350-941 9V-SHC (MSN 276)
SQ227 ARRIVING FROM SINGAPORE (SIN)

AIR INDIA BOEING 787-8 VT-AND (MSN 36278)
AI308 ARRIVING FROM DELHI (DEL)

Around midafternoon, after dropping my wife and daughter at Rod Laver Arena, (to see a Stray Kids concert) I headed back to the airport. But this time I thought I would try a different airport and headed to Essendon Airport (MED/YMEN). I was there for a good hour and a half and there wasn't much happening at all. I looked Tullamarine and there wasn't a lot happening there either.

AMATEUR BUILT AIRCRAFT VH-LPN (MSN W143)

CIRRUS DESIGN SR20 VH-VDR (MSN 2227)

PIPER PA 28-181 VH-LGD (MSN 28-7790379)

EUROCOPTER EC120B VH-KXX (MSN 1526)

ROBINSON R44 VH-XUN (MSN 2677)

LEONARDO AW139 VH-YXF (MSN 31591)

HELICOPTERS GUIMBAL CABRI G2 VH-DGL (MSN 1258)

BEECH SUPER KING AIR B200C VH-VAE (MSN BL-155)

BOMBARDIER CL600 2B16 VH-IEJ (MSN 6100)

EMBRAER EMB 145 VH-JGR (MSN 145307)

PIPER PA 31 350 VH-XMM (MSN 31-8052020)

TEXTRON AVIATION B300 VH-PVE (MSN FL-1181)

GULFSTREAM G650ER N16SA (MSN 6360)

CESSNA CITATION 510 N510MW (MSN 510-0109)

I did go out to Tullamarine and get the SriLankan A330 going out, however.

SRILANKAN AIRBUS A330-343 4R-ALO (MSN 1650)