Passenger breaches cockpit of American Airlines 737

AMERICAN AIRLINES B737-823 N965AN (MSN 29544)   File Photo

A man was arrested in Honduras on Tuesday after entering the cockpit of an American Airlines Boeing 737-800 during the boarding process. The unidentified male broke into the cockpit and damaged some cockpit controls and attempted to jump out a cockpit window before crew members intervened and police arrested him. The American Airlines Boeing 737 set to operate AA488 between San Pedro Sula-Ramon Villeda Morales Airport (SAP/MHLM) and Miami International Airport, FL (MIA/KMIA) was boarding its 121 passengers when the incident occurred.

According to ABC News, the man ran down the jetway, entered the cockpit, damaged some controls, and tried to jump out a window when pilots attempted to stop him. Footage posted on Twitter shows the man half out the window. AA488 is the 14:58 departure, one of American’s three daily flights between San Pedro Sula and Miami. The flight normally reaches Miami two and a half hours later. As a result of the damage done to the operating aircraft by the cockpit intruder, the plane was grounded in Honduras, and American Airlines sent a replacement aircraft down to collect the passengers.

No one was injured during the incident, and American Airlines praised how their crew handled the situation. In a statement, the airline said:

“We applaud our outstanding crew members for their professionalism in handling a difficult situation.”


Multiple media outlets are reporting this as a case of air rage. However, it is unclear whether it is an air rage incident or a mental health issue. While air rage is an increasing problem for airlines, successful attempts to enter aircraft cockpits are rare.

In June last year, a passenger on a United Express flight departing from Los Angeles and bound for Salt Lake City left his seat while the plane was moving, pounded on the cockpit door, managed to open the service door, and jumped from the aircraft. He was promptly arrested and taken off for medical treatment.

In July, a man in St Petersburg, Florida, was on the run from police when he drove through the security gate at the US Coast Guard Station at St Petersburg Airport. He then got into a hangar, boarded a C-130, and managed to get into the cockpit before police arrested him.

In September, a passenger on a JetBlue flight from Boston to San Juan was dissatisfied because he couldn’t make an inflight phone call and subsequently charged the cockpit, shouting in Spanish and Arabic to be shot.

After seriously assaulting a flight attendant, half a dozen crew members were able to subdue the man with flex cuffs, seat-belt extenders, and other improvised items before the flight landed in San Juan, and police took the man into custody,




Story sourced from here but with additions
Passenger Breaches Cockpit Of American Airlines 737 In Honduras - Simple Flying

Remembering Air Florida Flight 90 - 40yrs today

On the 13th January 1982 at 3:59 p.m. (20:59 UTC),  Air Florida Flight 90, a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Washington National Airport (now Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport)  (DCA/KDCA) to Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport, (FLL/KFLL) with an intermediate stopover at Tampa International Airport (TPA/KTPA) crashed into the Potomac River shortly after take off.  

At about 14:20 maintenance personnel began de-icing the left side of the fuselage with de-icing fluid Type II because the captain wanted to start the de-icing just before the airport was scheduled to reopen (at 14:30) so that he could get in line for departure. Fluid had been applied to an area of about 10 feet when the captain terminated the operation because the airport was not going to reopen at 14:30. Between 14:45 and 14:50, the captain requested that the de-icing operation be resumed.
The left side of the aircraft was de-iced first. 

No covers or plugs were installed over the engines or airframe openings during de-icing operations.

At 15:15, the aircraft was closed up and the jet way was retracted and the crew received push-back clearance at 15:23. A combination of ice, snow, and glycol on the ramp and a slight incline prevented the tug, which was not equipped with chains, from moving the aircraft. Then, contrary to flight manual guidance, the flight crew used reverse thrust in an attempt to move the aircraft from the ramp. This resulted in blowing snow which might have adhered to the aircraft. This didn't help either, so the tug was replaced and pushback was done at 15:35. 

The aircraft finally taxied to runway 36 at 15:38.
Although contrary to flight manual guidance, the crew attempted to deice the aircraft by intentionally positioning the aircraft near the exhaust of the aircraft ahead in line (a New York Air DC-9). This may have contributed to the adherence of ice on the wing leading edges and to the blocking of the engine’s Pt2 probes.

At 15:57:42, after the New York Air aircraft was cleared for takeoff, the captain and first officer proceeded to accomplish the pre-takeoff checklist, including verification of the takeoff engine pressure ratio (EPR) setting of 2.04 and indicated airspeed bug settings. Takeoff clearance was received at 15:58. Although the first officer expressed concern that something was 'not right' to the captain four times during the takeoff, the captain took no action to reject the takeoff. The aircraft accelerated at a lower-than-normal rate during takeoff, requiring 45 seconds and nearly 5,400 feet of runway, 15 seconds and nearly 2,000 feet more than normal, to reach lift-off speed. 

The aircraft initially achieved a climb, but failed to accelerate after lift-off. 

The aircraft’s stall warning stick shaker activated almost immediately after lift-off and continued until impact. The aircraft encountered stall buffet and descended to impact at a high angle of attack. At about 16.01, the aircraft struck the heavily congested northbound span of the 14th Street Bridge and plunged into the ice-covered Potomac River. It came to rest on the west end of the bridge 0.75 nmi from the departure end of runway 36. When the aircraft struck the bridge, it struck six occupied automobiles and a boom truck before tearing away a 41-foot section of the bridge wall and 97 feet of the bridge railings. Four persons in vehicles on the bridge were killed; four were injured, one seriously.

The airliner broke through the ice covering the river and sank. 

There were only five survivors.
In addition to those who died aboard the 737, four persons on the 14th Street Bridge were killed when the airliner struck their cars. Many people who witnessed the crash tried to help the survivors by going in to the freezing water to reach them.

The U.S. Park Police responded with a 1979 Bell 206L-1 LongRanger II helicopter, Eagle 1, (N22PP, serial number 45287) flown by Officers Donald W. Usher and Melvin E. Windsor. The pilot, Don Usher, hovered low, sometimes with the skids of the helicopter in the water, while Gene Windsor tried to reach the survivors.

The aircraft involved, a Boeing 737-222, registered as N62AF, was manufactured in 1969 and started its life with United Airlines under the registration N9050U.
It was sold to Air Florida in 1980. The aircraft was powered by two Pratt & Whitney JT8D-9A turbofan engines, and had recorded over 27,000 hours before the crash.

Covid Isolations Cancels 80 flights at Sydney Airport

Nearly 80 flights arriving and departing from Sydney Airport were cancelled on Tuesday, as Omicron forces aviation staff into isolation.

The disruption is affecting domestic and international flights from airlines including Qantas, Virgin, Jetstar, Cathay, Fly Pelican and Delta.

The news comes a day after Virgin formally announced it would slash its flight capacity for January and February by 25 per cent and place its recently resumed sole international service to Fiji on hold.

On Tuesday, 78 flights were cancelled at Sydney, 47 at Melbourne and 48 at Brisbane, with NSW alone recording 220,816 COVID cases this week.

The high numbers have led to a string of changes to get employees back to work by both state and federal governments, including allowing asymptomatic close contacts in frontline industries to return to work if they’re asymptomatic, switching PCR tests for over-the-counter antigen tests and mandating a third booster shot.

It follows Virgin on Monday announcing it would significantly cut its capacity for the rest of summer. Chief executive Jayne Hrdlicka said the measures will not impact the business or its customers long-term.

“One thing we have learnt from the last two years is that we need to keep adapting as circumstances change. So, we will continue to do that, and have made some temporary changes to our network to manage the current environment,” Hrdlicka said.

“We do know that as we make the shift to living with COVID-19, there will continue to be changes in all our lives and we look forward to continuing to connect our guests with their families, friends, colleagues.

“We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience caused to any guest impacted by the changes to our flight schedule during this time.”

The suspended routes are:

• Adelaide-Darwin
• Adelaide-Cairns
• Adelaide-Sunshine Coast
• Coffs Harbour-Melbourne
• Hamilton Island-Melbourne
• Sydney-Townsville
• Melbourne-Townsville
• Gold Coast-Launceston
• Gold Coast-Hobart
• Sydney-Fiji

Customers with existing bookings on impacted services will be “re-accommodated”, according to Virgin, and the airline encourages affected customers to reach out for more information.

Full story sourced from here
COVID isolation cancels 80 flights at Sydney Airport – Australian Aviation

Pushback tow tug catches fire at Mumbai airport

A pushback tow tug caught fire at Mumbai airport earlier yesterday.
The aircraft tug was on-site to push back Air India flight AI-647 from Mumbai to Jamnagar, which had 85 passengers on board.
The incident occurred around 1 pm, according to NDTV. Video's of the blaze has gone viral on social media. A video of the incident shows fire extinguishers on the site, trying to put out the flames.

According to a statement by Mumbai airport’s Public Relations Officer, the fire was brought under control in 10 minutes. “All operations are normal,” the statement read, adding that no person sustained any injuries due to the incident. Air India commented that no damages were sustained due to the fire. The airlines added that it was “checking with the airport ground handler for more information”. No official reason has been given regarding how the vehicle caught fire. According to a Times of India report, the tow tug had returned after refueling and was being attached to the aircraft when it burst into flames.

Aircraft catches fire at Hangzhou Xiaoshan International airport

A fire has broken out in the cabin of a cargo plane at Hangzhou Xiaoshan international airport:

A Russian airline cargo plane, a Tupolev Tu-204-100C, suddenly caught fire in the cabin during the launch process, and after receiving the on-site aircraft maintenance notice, Hangzhou airport organized fire, medical, public security and other departments to rush to the scene.

At 4:40 A.M. the Aeroflot cargo plane, which was due to fly from Hangzhou-Xiaoshan International Airport (HGH/ZSHC), China to Novosibirsk-Tolmachevo Airport (OVB/UNNT), Russia, suddenly burst into flames inside the cabin.
After receiving the emergency call and nature of the emergency, Hangzhou airport immediately started the emergency procedure, with fire and first aid rushing to the scene within two minutes and successfully securing the area and rescuing the 8 crew members on board. 

8 Fire services attended to the fire, but could not prevent the fire from spreading through the entire fuselage. The fuselage eventually fractured just behind the wings and broke into 3 pieces causing damaged beyond repair.

According to the manifest information, the cargo plane was loaded with about 20 tons of general cargo and about 26 tons of aviation fuel. at present, the relevant dangerous situations have been successfully eliminated, and the relevant departments are further investigating the specific causes of the fire.

Aircraft Information:

Airline: Aviastar-TU (Flying for Cainiao)

Code: 4B/TUP

Aircraft: Tupolev TU 204-100C

Registration: RA-64032

Serial Number: 1450742264032

Engines: 2 Soloviev PS-90A

First Flew: 18/07/2002 (19 years 6 months)

Finnair aircraft diverts to Helsinki after smoke reported in cabin

A Finnair Airbus A350 passenger aircraft travelling from Helsinki-Vantaa Airport (HEL/EFHK) to Bangkok-Suvarnabhumi International Airport (BKK/VTBS) made an emergency landing back in Helsinki, Finland after smoke-filled cabin sparks potential fire risk.

According to Flightradar24.com data, flight AY141 took off from Helsinki's runway 15 at 5.32 p.m., an hour later that its scheduled 4.20 p.m. departure, and was due to land at Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK) around 7.35 a.m. the following day. While the aircraft was commencing the climb from Helsinki airport, smoke detector indications alerted the crew to a potential fire onboard. The climb was paused at 3,800 ft and the flight crew decided to return to Helsinki for an emergency landing on runway 22L twelve minutes later.

Passengers noticed a suspicious steam in the cabin and shared pictures of the incident on social media.
After landing the passengers were taken to hotels and no further incidents were reported.

Investigations later found the source of steam that entered the interior of the A350 aircraft was the de-icing fluid that ended up in the wrong place, i.e. the auxiliary power plant. The airline will continue to investigate the matter with its partners and ensure that the same thing does not happen again. 

The smoke seen and smelled by the passengers was therefore, in reality, steam.

Aircraft Information:

Airline: Finnair

Code: AY/FIN

Aircraft: Airbus A350-941

Registration: OH-LWH

Serial Number: 097

First Flew: March 2017

Air New Zealand named the world's SAFEST airline for 2022

Air New Zealand has been put at the top of the list of the safest airlines in the world for 2022 by AirlineRatings.com, the world’s only safety, product, and COVID-19 rating website. AirlineRatings.com has also announced its Top Twenty Safest Airlines and Ten Safest Low-Cost Airlines for 2022 from the 385 it monitors. 

Evaluating Factors of the Safest Airlines in the World

In making its evaluation of the safest airlines in the world, AirlineRatings.com takes into account a comprehensive range of factors that include: airline’s crash over 5 years and serious incident record over two years, audits from aviation’s governing and industry bodies, government audits, industry-leading safety initiatives, fleet age, and COVID-19 safety protocols. In selecting Air New Zealand as the world’s safest airline for 2022, AirlineRatings.com editors noted that the airline operates in some of the most challenging weather conditions and remote environments. It is also leading the way with technical innovation and has a very young fleet with an average age of just 6.8 years.

Air New Zealand has also been involved in a range of safety improvements such as the Future Air Navigation System; real-time monitoring of its engines across its fleet, and precision approaches around mountains in the cloud, using RNP.

Air New Zealand’s chief executive Greg Foran said;
“Air New Zealand is very humbled to receive this recognition, particularly given the high safety standards the airline industry holds itself to. We’re in good company and a big congratulations to all airlines on the list.

“The Air New Zealand promise is to take manaaki (care) further. To do that we have to take our approach to safety further. For us, it’s not about safety first – it’s about safety always. We want everyone to go home safely every day.

The Top 20 Safest Airlines for 2022

Top 20 are in ranking order;

1. Air New Zealand,
2. Etihad Airways,
3. Qatar Airways,
4. Singapore Airlines,
5. TAP Air Portugal,
6. SAS,
7. Qantas,
8. Alaska Airlines,
9. EVA Air,
10. Virgin Australia/Atlantic,
11. Cathay Pacific Airways,
12. Hawaiian Airlines,
13. American Airlines,
14. Lufthansa/Swiss Group,
15. Finnair,
16. Air France/KLM Group,
17. British Airways,
18. Delta Air Lines,
19. United Airlines
20. Emirates.

Qantas lost its number one ranking due to an incident at Perth Airport in 2018, where a combination of factors caused a 737 crew that had just exited runway 03 to taxi past stop bars and enter an active runway – 06 – almost colliding with another company 737 on its take-off roll. The report into that complex and serious incident was not issued till late 2020, and too late to be included in the 2021 safety rankings.

Top 10 Safest Low-Cost Airlines for 2022

AirlineRatings.com editors also identified their Top 10 safest low-cost airlines.

In alphabetical order they are;

1. Allegiant, 
2. easyjet, 
3. Frontier, 
4. Jetstar Group, 
5. Jetblue, 
6. Ryanair, 
7. Vietjet, 
8. Volaris, 
9. Westjet, 
10. Wizz.

Story sourced from here

Air New Zealand the World's Safest Airline for 2022 - Airline Ratings