Officials in Colombia called it a “miracle” that the plane crash on a Colombian island early Monday morning resulted in just one death.

Even as authorities work to determine what caused the Boeing 737 to go down, deft piloting is being pointed to as a key factor in saving the lives of the 130 other people aboard, including at least five American citizens.

“The pilot’s professionalism prevented the plane from going off the runway,” Gen. Orlando Paez of Colombia’s national police told Caracol Radio.

Officials are investigating whether the plane, which belonged to Colombian carrier Aires and was on its way from the capital, Bogotá, had been hit by lightning as it neared San Andres, a Caribbean resort island off the east coast of Nicaragua. A downdraft could have also caused the crash, officials speculated.

Colombian national police, in a statement, said the plane broke into three parts as it landed. There were at least 121 passengers aboard, including four children, plus six crew members.

The state government sent an e-mail to the Associated Press that said passengers included eight US citizens and four Brazilians. An airline representative later told the Associated Press that only five US citizens were aboard.

The sole death could have been caused by a heart attack, a doctor treating the patients has said.

The damage could have been far worse, according to Robert Sanchez, director of the hospital Amor de Patria, which was treating many of the injured. “It’s incredible. For the dimension [of the accident], there should be more,” he told the Associated Press.

Colombian Air Force Col. David Barrero told the wire service by telephone that “the skill of the pilot kept the plane from colliding with the airport.”

The incident called to mind the US Airways flight that landed in the Hudson River in 2009, dubbed the “Miracle on the Hudson.” Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger was credited then with saving the lives of all 150 passengers when the plane made an emergency landing on the river.

There are many more examples, says Robert Mann, president of R.W. Mann & Company, an aviation consultancy in Port Washington, N.Y. He says skilled pilots have managed to safely land despite structural failures on takeoff, malfunctioning controls, and cargo door failure. (Another example he cites is the 1989 crash in Honolulu that killed nine people, of 355 aboard.)

“Obviously skill goes into it, experience goes into it,” he says.

The experience of past crashes teaches pilots and the industry overall ways to deal with problems in the future. PBS has looked back at the lessons learned from some of the worst air accidents in history.

source

Stuart Armstrong, 51, and his partner Andrea Davison, 48, are heading back to Britain on board the supertanker Indian Point.

Although unhurt, they were tired, exhausted and grateful to be returning home after their six-week ordeal in which they “stared death in the face.”

The drama began on Jan. 9, six days after the couple left the Cape Verde Islands off the West Coast of Africa on board their yacht Sara.

They were headed for Antigua where they intended to anchor until April.

But, midway through the 2,550-mile journey disaster struck and the rudder on the yacht jammed to starboard. Attempts to fix it were useless.

At this stage the couple, who live on the yacht in Majorca, were in the middle of the Atlantic, 1,200 miles from Antigua, five days sailing time away and out of range for any rescue attempt.

“In effect we were sailing round and round in circles as the rudder was stuck all the way over,” Armstrong said, speaking from the Indian Point. “We tried to counteract this by putting droves over the side to try and help point the boat towards land but we didn’t really have any great success.”

“At first we were not too bothered as we had a good supply of dry provisions, the usual things you have on a boat – pasta, kidney beans, biscuits, rice and soya. There was also plenty of water to keep us going, the radio was still working and we had power so there was no need to be too worried.”

He continued, “I have crossed the Atlantic seven times and this was Andrea’s fourth so we are pretty experienced and for the first few days it was a challenge and a bit of an adventure.”

“We alerted the coastguards in Britain and America and we also let our families know. I spent a good few days trying to fix the rudder as well but I just didn’t have any luck.”

Their first problem was around 10 days or so later when the alternator broke which meant they had no power.

“All that we had was a small solar panel which gave us enough to fire up the satellite phone but we had to ration it,” he said. “The loss of the alternator also meant that we could not use the desalination unit which turns sea water into drinking water so we also had to start rationing that as well.”

The American Coast Guard monitored their position but because of their remote location a rescue attempt was impossible and the couple simply carried on drifting with the current pushing them slowly towards the Caribbean.

During their weeks at sea the couple’s yacht was battered by storms but they managed to escape unscathed. However, as they neared the Bermuda triangle after more than a month at sea conditions began to worsen.

The reduced electrical power meant that Armstrong could only talk to his daughter once or twice a week and it was the same for Davison and her two children.

“At first they were OK with our situation because they know Stuart is a good sailor but I think as time moved on they started to get more concerned and so did I,” said Davison. “We kept getting hit by storms but we managed to get out of them with no real problems. But I knew we were riding our luck and we wouldn’t be able to go on for much longer.”

Click here to read more on this story from Sky News.

British Couple Saved After 40 Days Stranded At Sea

Three people where seriously injured, fire officials said. Tokyo ‘s Kyodo news agency later put the number of overall injured at 47.

There were 408 passengers and 14 crew members on the Boeing 747-400 flight from Manila, Philippines .

American passenger Vincent Salazar told Kyodo News that he heard screams around 30 minutes before the plane was scheduled to arrive as it suddenly fell, then ascended.

Salazar added that several passengers were thrown into the cabin ceiling, hitting their heads and hurting their necks because they were not wearing their seatbelts.

”We were flying and then the seatbelt sign came on and when we were trying to get back to the seats, the plane dropped and so some people went up and hit the top (ceiling),” he told the agency.

”I actually was pretty calm because I’ve flown a lot, but the lady next to me was screaming… And unfortunately some people weren’t in their seatbelts. They were just flying.”

The plane eventually touched down east of Tokyo at Narita airport at around 12:20 p.m. Friday, the agency quoted the Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry as saying.

Those injured during the incident were taken to nearby hospitals, the airport’s operator and fire department officials told Kyodo.

Turbulence is air movement that normally cannot be seen. It may occur when the sky appears to be clear and can happen unexpectedly. Most injuries result from passengers who are not belted into their seats.

It can be created by any number of different conditions, including atmospheric pressures, jet streams, mountain waves, cold or warm fronts, or thunderstorms.

Passenger: People were ‘flying’ around the plane

An alert pilot of Air India’s Haj flight today helped avert a possible disaster at NSC Bose Airport this morning.
The Boeing-747 flight carrying 449 haj pilgrims from Jeddah was about to land in three minutes when the pilot noticed another aircraft on the same runway and contacted the Air Traffic Control (ATC) officers alerting them to it.

There was poor visibility and planes were landing under CAT-II ILS conditions. The ATC officers immediately contacted the pilot of the Alliance Air’s cargo flight that was on the runway. The cargo flight, IC-7901 was carrying mails to Guwahati.

The ATCOs immediately asked the Air India’s pilot to go around it, which he did. Then the pilot of AA’s flight, who entered the runway through Alfa Taxi Track, was asked to vacate the runway. He was asked to take off. The run way was vacated. The Air India flight landed safely after 20 minutes. The matter is being probed by safety officials of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation.

Meanwhile, Air India’s flight, IC-263, with 72 passengers on board took off for Delhi at 7.20 a.m. but made a priority landing due to a technical problem after 20 minutes. The flight later left for Delhi.

The Statesman

Another attendant suffered wrist injuries as the crew forcibly removed the co-pilot from the cockpit controls and restrained him in a seat in the cabin, the Air Accident Investigation Unit (AAIU) said.

As the Air Canada plane made its way over the Atlantic, the captain of the Boeing 767 from Toronto to Heathrow asked staff to seek out any trained pilots onboard.

One of the female cabin crew came forward saying she had a commercial pilot’s licence and was asked to take over in the co-pilot’s seat.

The captain praised the attendant to investigators for helping him safely land the plane at Shannon, where the sick flight officer was removed and admitted to the acute psychiatric unit of Ennis Regional Hospital for 11 days.

He was later flown home to Canada by an air ambulance for further care, according to the investigation.

The official report did not directly refer to the co-pilot’s medical condition, but it did record the views of two doctors onboard that he was in a “confused and disorientated state” when the incident happened, in January this year.

The captain also reported that his senior colleague became uncharacteristically “belligerent and uncooperative” and was “effectively incapacitated”.

One passenger at the time reported seeing the distraught co-pilot yelling for God as he was being restrained.

The AAIU praised the actions of both the captain and crew in diverting to the nearest airport and removing the co-pilot from the controls.

“For his own well-being and the safety of the aircraft, the most appropriate course of action was to stand him down from duty and seek medical attention which was available on board,” said the report.

“The commander, realising he was faced with a difficult and serious situation, used tact and understanding and kept control of the situation at all times.

“The situation was dealt with in a professional manner… As such the commander and flight attendants should be commended for their professionalism in the handling of this event.”

There were no safety recommendations from the investigation.

Times Online

The stationary boat was spotted by a Coastwatch plane late Wednesday about 80 nautical miles southeast of the reef.

The navy’s HMAS Ararat was sent to investigate, and found the boat was sinking fast because of a hole in the hull and its engine damaged beyond repair.

The 10 people and two crew members on board are being taken to Christmas Island.

In a statement, Immigration Minister Chris Evans says those on board have not made their intentions clear, but people-smuggling of refugees is still a problem in the region.

It is the third boat to reach Australian waters this year.

Sinking boat intercepted off Australian coast

- QantasLink plane emergency landing
- White smoke ‘filled the cabin’
- 35 passengers land in Brisbane

The Dash-8 aircraft, en route from Roma in central Queensland, touched down at 7.23pm, less than five minutes after the pilot contacted Air Traffic Control to request the emergency landing.

Emergency crews were on standby on the ground but none of the 35 passengers on board were injured or suffered smoke inhalation.

Despite initial reports the plane had caught fire, a Qantas spokeswoman this morning confirmed white smoke came from the rear of the cabin.

A Brisbane Airport Corporation spokeswoman said a possible worse outcome was avoided due to the smooth landing.

“The pilot contacted the (Air Traffic Control) tower at 7.10pm after white smoke filled the cabin … and passengers had all disembarked by 7.25pm,” the spokeswoman said.

Engineers will today investigate the cause of the smoke.

QantasLink plane lands in Brisbane after smoke fills cabin

“Both aircraft did sustain some damage and the extent of this is being assessed,” Qantas said in an e-mailed statement. “We have stood the individuals involved down pending a full investigation into this incident.”

The accident occurred this morning at the Avalon Maintenance Base near Melbourne, according to the statement. The carrier has had several safety mishaps this year, including a mid-air explosion of an oxygen tank in July.

Qantas operated 188 aircraft as of Oct. 1, 34 of which are from the Boeing 747 family, according to its Web site.

One of the planes involved in today’s incident was damaged in the mid-air explosion, the Australian Associated Press reported earlier today.

Bloomberg.com:

Two crew members and several of the 166 passengers were reportedly treated for minor injuries. As the plane began its landing, the birds were sucked into its engines, damaging the landing gear and forcing the aircraft to slide to a halt. One turbine then detached and hit the ground.

NYTimes.com

The Air Europa Boeing-737 plane had 74 people on board when it left Glasgow Airport at about 0300 GMT on Friday.

Flight AEA-196 came off the runway after touching down in Lanzarote, in the Canary Islands, at about 0710 GMT.

The plane came to a halt close to a beach. Passengers were unhurt but shaken by the incident.

Nora McNair, 80, from Orphir on Orkney was on board with her partially disabled husband Archie, 84.

She told BBC Scotland: “We seemed to make a very good landing, and then we were coming along a bit fast and the next thing we knew the plane was rocking from side to side and then they had to slam on the brakes and we just landed a few inches from a wall and the sea.

“I don’t think anyone realised what was going on.

“But the wheels were absolutely smoking when they put on the brakes.

“When you think about it later it was dramatic. At the time I wasn’t even upset about it.

“My nerves are very strong. The only thing we’re a bit annoyed about is we have no luggage.

“But we’re just very lucky that nobody was hurt.”

The airport has been closed while the emergency services remove the aircraft.

A spokesman for Thomas Cook said: “We can confirm that an Air Europa flight AEA196, which was charted by Thomas Cook, was involved in a runway incident at Lanzarote’s Arrecife Airport this morning.

“Thomas Cook staff were on hand at the airport to assist all passengers and can confirm that all guests are now en route to their holiday hotels.

“Thomas Cook has called on Air Europa and the airport authorities to provide a full explanation.”

A spokesman for Air Europa said: “There was a problem on landing. All the passengers left the plane and are fine and are being taken to their hotels.”

Spanish airport authority spokesman Alberto Martin Carvajal said the aircraft left the runway near the end of the landing strip.

It is reported to have ended up at an angle to the runway.

Mr Carvajal said passengers and crew were evacuated from the plane and no-one was hurt.

The Spanish Interior Ministry office in the Canary Islands confirmed the flight had been carrying 74 passengers and crew members.

BBC NEWS