Aviation

It is being reported throughout the world that the young co-pilot of Germanwings Flight 9525 intentionally crashed the plane into the French Alps yesterday, killing all 150 people on board. In its wake, grieving families are looking for answers as to why a person would commit such a horrific act. Major news outlets are reporting that the 28-year-old co-pilot from Germany who has been working for the airline since 2013 locked out the captain and…

A world mourns another tragic plane crash in France, killing all 150 people aboard including two babies, 16 students and two teachers from a German high school. Germanwings Flight 9525, an Airbus, reportedly was “obliterated” when it plunged from 14,000 feet in eight minutes into the foothills of the French Alps in southeastern France where it is very difficult to reach, according to rescuers. It is being reported that 144 passengers and six crew members…

It’s been one year since Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 vanished, taking the lives of 239 passengers and crew who have never been seen again. It is one of aviation’s greatest mysteries, despite the touting of some state-of-the-art technology to help prevent such disasters. The Boeing 777-200ER weighed about 656,000 pounds and was the length of six school buses. How did it just vanish into thin air? How could air traffic control not keep in touch…

A Delta flight reportedly skidded off of a snow-filled runway at New York’s LaGuardia Airport Thursday, according to a report by USA Today. (“Delta Flight Veers Off Runway In Landing At LaGuardia”, March 5, 2015). The plane, which was heading to New York from Atlanta and carrying a total of 127 passengers, exited the runway before it plowed through a fence coming to rest just feet from the Flushing Bay, USA Today reported. The incident,…

Following a number of recent aviation tragedies in Southeast Asia, it is being reported that the Indonesian Ministry of Transportation plans to publish safety ratings of all scheduled Indonesian airlines perhaps as early as next month. It also is being reported that the Ministry of Transportation plans to encourage the entire airline industry to put safety as a priority, according to a statement by the transportation minister as reported by the Aviation Safety Network: http://news.aviation-safety.net/2015/01/29/indonesian-ministry-of-transportation-to-publish-airline-safety-ratings/…

The Malaysian government officially declared the disappearance of Flight 370 an “accident”, on Thursday, Jan. 29, 2015, thus allowing the families of the victims on board to officially begin seeking compensation, according to the Chicago Tribune (“Malaysia Declares MH370 Crash An Accident To Clear Compensation,” 1/29/2015). Malaysia’s Department of Civil Aviation released a statement that all 239 passengers aboard Flight 370 are now presumed to be dead, NBC News Reported (“Malaysia Airlines MH370 Declared An…

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) yesterday (Thursday, Jan. 22, 2015) released a number of recommendations, some of which it has been asked to consider for decades, calling for improvements in locating downed aircraft and to obtain flight data more quickly and without the need for underwater retrieval. Many of these recommendations, which were issued to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for action, have been demanded by families who have lost loved ones in recent…

On Tuesday (Jan. 6, 2014), the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a final rule requiring most U.S. airlines to implement Safety Management Systems (SMS) by 2018, according to an FAA press release. SMS is a formal, organization-wide approach that assists in managing safety risks by providing airlines a set of business procedures to compile data from everyday operations, the FAA press release explained. With this data, airlines are able to isolate trends that may be…

An Airbus AIR.PA A320-200 operated by Indonesia AirAsia disappeared on Sunday morning on course from Surabaya, Indonesia to Singapore, Reuters reported. As the plane was traveling over the Java Sea, it reportedly encountered a string of violent thunderstorms and massive clouds, at which point the pilot requested to ascend some 6,000 feet to circumvent a cloud, according to the Washington Post. However, Indonesian dispatchers denied the request, and the plane disappeared within minutes with no…