Jaunted - Tag: Emergency Landings

Mt. Isa: Emergency Landing Forces Qantas Passengers to Deplane Via Forklift

jetflyboy — 2012-01-31T08:55:11-05:00

From time to time planes are forced into emergency landings. Sometimes the reasons are real emergencies, like a bird strike or cracked windshield. Sometimes the reasons are still real, but are only a smell of smoke in the cabin or an unruly passenger. In all cases, the crew make the executive decision to bring the bird down in the interest of safety. In many cases, the problem is detected, rectified and the passengers are on their way with a bit of a delay. They'll be a little late, but no major dramas ensue.

Over the weekend, a Qantas aircraft had such an emergency where the crew smelled smoke on board. Naturally, alarms were raised and the captain decided to divert to an alternate airport. The Boeing 767, en route from Darwin to Brisbane, safely landed in the small outback town of Mt. Isa.

An In-Flight Meal Proves Deadly for One Jetstar Passenger

kjb — 2011-09-06T10:47:35-05:00

We’re always quick to criticize in-flight meals as hazardous to your health due to their taste, but a recent dinner aboard a Jetstar flight was actually deadly for one unlucky passenger.

During a flight from Singapore to Auckland, a passenger—Robert Rippingale—choked on his in-flight meal only an hour or two into the 11-hour journey. He was sitting next to his girlfriend, who initially thought he was just laughing, but soon the scene turned very serious.

Ryanair Handles Mid-Flight Passenger Heart Attack Exactly How You Imagine

Omri — 2011-08-05T14:32:41-05:00

Any time Ryanair spokespeople begin to talk about following EU airline regulations—and by "following EU airline regulations" they mean "doing the absolute minimum as required by law"—you know that something has gone wildly awry.

Last time we saw them being defensive like this was last year, after they stranded Canary Island-bound passengers on the entirely wrong island in the midst of a thunderstorm. The airline's excuse? That according to EU regulations they were, in terms of physical distance, close enough.

So with Ryanair spokesperson Stephen McNamara telling a Swedish newspaper that flight attendants handled a medical situation according to EU requirements, you know that the story is going to be good. And by good we mean very, awesomely bad.

Havana: Cuba Libres All Around! United Flight Makes Surprise Stop in Havana

JetSetCD — 2011-08-01T08:30:02-05:00

Too bad the United passengers missed this action

Weird smells. In-flight drama. An emergency landing in Cuba. These three elements sound like the basis for a Weekend At Bernie's-sort of movie, but instead it was reality for 135 passengers onboard United Flight 931 this weekend, when their Washington-Dulles to Cancun, Mexico trip took a detour—to Havana, Cuba.

The cause of the unscheduled stop? CNN reports: "The crew detected a burning smell, saying it was in the cockpit," and they landed the Airbus A320 on Castro's turf just to be safe.

Colorado Springs: Get A First Person Look at Last Week's Delta Emergency Landing

kjb — 2011-01-03T09:12:56-05:00

Some Delta passengers had something to be thankful for this holiday season as 2010 ended, as their flight had to make an emergency landing in Colorado Springs last Thursday. Obviously any landing that isn’t on the scheduled runway at the scheduled time is an emergency one, but this detour was pretty calm and orderly.

Pilots noticed a light indicating that one of their engines was probably not working like it was supposed to, so they made the decision to land in Colorado instead of Arizona. However, once safely on the ground the overheated brakes created a fire danger, so the call was made for all passengers to Steven Slater their way out of the plane and onto the runway.

Speedos and Mesh Underwear: The Busiest Travel Weekend Was Also Skimpiest

JetSetCD — 2010-11-29T09:00:45-05:00

As expected with one of the busiest travel periods of the year, much travel news happened over the long Thanksgiving weekend. Luckily for everyone, the headlines focused on occurrences of nudity at airports or the lack of, as the TSA declared victoy in Opt-Out Day, even though they had turned off most of the controversial full-body scanners. There were no underwear bombs or package bombs; there were only Jaeger bombs at family tables stewn with pumpkin pie crumbs.

Alas, before getting back on track after a gluttonous weekend, let's pig out once more...on the brief news bits from the last few days:

What Is 'Snarge' and Why You Don't Want It On Your Flight

JetSetCD — 2010-11-22T16:25:51-05:00

Up until today, our vocabulary remained free of the word "Snarge", but now that we know what it means, we are totally going to find ways to use it. This icky-sounding term is pretty damn icky for sure; it's what bird remains are called, but not just any bird remains; it's the leftovers of birds found in the engines of airliners that suffer bird strikes.

Even before "The Miracle on the Hudson" hit the water after bird strikes took out its engines, the danger of flocks living around New York City's airports was well documented. Now the issue is back, after the pilot of yesterday's Delta Flight 30, which blew an engine after taking off from JFK bound for Moscow, claims that a bird strike caused the failure. Notable extra fact: the flights had Leonardo DiCaprio onboard! As of now, no "snarge" has been found in the engine, but the NTSB isn't ruling out the possibility, although it's probably just that a compressor stalled and the engine malfunctioned.

[Photo of a different bird strike engine: AP/WSJ]