1.0 Introduction
On July 17, 1996, Trans World Airlines flight 800, A Boeing 747-100, exploded and crashed into the Atlantic Ocean near New York 12 minutes after its departure. All 230 people on board died.
1.1 Accident Timeline
Although the flight was scheduled to depart from JFK Airport at about 7:00 p.m., it was delayed due to a disabled piece of ground equipment and concerns about a suspected passenger mismatch with baggage. The airplane took off at 8:18 p.m., shortly at 8:25 p.m., Boston air route traffic control center (ARTCC) instructed the pilots to climb and maintain an altitude of 19,000 feet and then lower down to 15,000 feet. However, at 8:26 p.m., Boston ARTCC amended TWA flight 800's altitude clearance, advising the pilots to maintain an altitude of 13,000 feet. At 8:29 p.m., the captain stated, "Look at that crazy fuel flow indicator there on number four... see that?" One minute later Boston ARTCC advised them to climb and maintain 15,000 feet to which the pilot replied: “Climb thrust”. After an extremely loud and quick sound, the cockpit voice recorder stopped recording at 8:31 p.m. At that moment, the crew of an Eastwind Airlines Boeing 737 flying nearby reported an explosion in the sky. TWA Flight 800 aircraft had broken up and crashed into the sea, 8 miles south of East Moriches, killing all on board. (1,2)
2.0 Accident Investigation
The Safety Board’s lengthy investigation revealed the possibilities of short circuiting wire systems as a source of ignition within the fuel tank, which would provide the minimum ignition energy required according to the parameters established by the American Petroleum Institute (API) as well as the analysis of the conditions within the CWT at the time of the incident. The he...
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...red testing at Lectromec showed that contaminants, such as water, lavatory fluid, and metal shavings, can create a bridge that can allow energy to unintentionally transfer between wires with cracked or damaged insulation for as long as 25 minutes without tripping circuit breakers. Specifically, the totalizer gauge’s wires on TWA Flight 800 had been improperly soldered together and had subsequently cracked apart, providing another opportunity for an explosive short circuit. During examination of the gauge at Honeywell, it was determined that electrical energy would cross the crack in the solder between the connector pins when slightly more than 270 volts (less than is used in lighting circuits) was applied to one of the pins. Thus, a short circuit from a higher-voltage wire to any corouted FQIS wiring could result in excess energy being transferred to the CWT.
Only six people in the World Trade Center towers at the time of their collapse survived. Almost 10,000 others were treated for injuries, many severe. At 8:45 a.m the first plane crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center; it was a Boeing 767. 18 minutes after the first plane hit, another Boeing 767 crashed into the South Tower of the World Trade Center. At 9:45 am Flight 77 blasted into the west side of the Pentagon military headquarters.
Terrorism – This is a word that many people are terrified of. When a terrorist attack occurs, people’s daily routines are shattered. Things change instantaneously the moment the bomb goes of. When we think about a terrorist attack that really impacted the world, we immediately think about 9/11. On that day many people were hurt directly and indirectly. People were disorientated and scared. The moment there is change, the world panics. Unfortunately, 9/11 was not the only day where people panicked. On 1988, the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 occurred. This terrorist attack was not as massive as 9/11; but, it did leave scares especially to the Syracuse University community.
Spirit Airlines has long been considered an unorthodox airline. They, of course, address all four P’s in their marketing strategy; however, they focus a large amount of their effort on price and promotion. They focus on cutting price through “unbundling”. They focus on promotion through taking advantage of social issues and breaking news. Many advertisements and deals promoted by Spirit have given the public a definite shock-factor. Spirit has made two objectives very clear: they are furious at getting the customer the lowest fare possible by any means necessary, and they will similarly use any means necessary to get those potential customers to notice those fares. Such a blatant marketing strategy works. Even going up against some big competition, Spirit finds ways to be competitive and successful in flagrant fashion.
January 31, 2000, Alaska Airlines Flight 261 Details On January 31, 2000, Alaska Airlines, Inc., flight 261, a McDonnell Douglas MD-80, crashed into the Pacific Ocean about 2.7 miles north of Anacapa Island, California. The two pilots, three cabin crewmembers, and 83 passengers on board were killed, and the impact destroyed the airplane. Flight 261 was operating as a scheduled international passenger flight from Lic Gustavo Diaz Ordaz International Airport (PVR), Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, Seattle, Washington, with an intermediate stop planned at San Francisco International Airport, San Francisco, California. National Transportation Safety Board Ruling
For many, being a pilot is a very glamorous job. It does sound like a high profile job, but it is by no means an easy feat. I chose to be a pilot because I wanted to be a globetrotter. I knew that being a commercial pilot is an opportunity to travel to many exciting places. To become a professional pilot, I have trained over 2000 hours. After finishing my training I applied for British airways and trained for nearly one year in the flight simulators of the Boeing 777.
This report is on the Crossair flight 3597 crash which happens at Zurich airport on 24th November 2001. Analysis of Crossair flight 3597 will be covered, which includes details such as facts of Crossair flight 3597 crash, and the three contributing factors involved in the air accident. The three contributing factors are mainly Crossair, pilot error and communications with air traffic controllers.
The above mentioned airplane was a planned commercial passenger flight that took off from LaGuardia Airport, New York destined for Charlotte Douglas Airport in North Carolina on January 15, 2009. Six minutes after takeoff, the airplane was successfully abandoned in Hudson River after striking multiple birds during its initial climb out. The crew reported by radio two minutes after takeoff at an altitude of 3,200 feet, the Airbus experienced multiple bird strikes. The result of this multiple bird strikes, which occurred in northeast of George Washington Bridge was compressor stalls as well as loss of thrust in both engines. The Airbus was ditched in Hudson River after the aircrew discovered that they would not reach any airfield and turned southward. Fortunately, all the 155 passengers on board survived the accident though the Airbus was partly submerged and sinking slowly.
After the bombers of Flight 19 had disappeared, the US Navy immediately sent out a search party for the lost crew. Two PBM Mariner flying boats were sent out in search of the crew of Flight 19, but shortly after their departure one plane had already gone missing. The plane had been reported as seemingly following the path that had been taken by Flight 19. The crew of thirteen on the Mariner was never found, but it was believed that the plane had exploded shortly after departure. The theory was proven shortly after when a merchant ship that was passing by reported seeing a fireball in the sky followed by oil in the ocean.
On February 24, 1989, United Airlines flight 811 was en route to Sydney, Australia from Honolulu, Hawaii. They later experienced decompression due to the cargo door failure in front aft during flight. Flight 811 made successful emergency landing at Honolulu with nine passengers missing out of 337 passenger aboard. The cargo door that was ejected on Flight 811 damaged engines 3 and 4, which led to crew to turn back to Honolulu.
"Welding Processes, Welding Faults, Defects & Discontinuities For NDT Technicians Part 3." Hera.org. Hera, n.d. Web. 15 Mar. 2014. .
It was only after the “Lord Cullen Report” was finalized that the world would have a better knowledge about the causes that led to the disaster of the Piper Alpha. Although the investigation hit its road bumps with very little physical evidence, eyewitness information and accounts of what led up to the disaster helped to give a clearer picture to investigators. It was through eyewitness accounts that concluded that a cloud of flammable hydrocarbon was released into the air when a relief valve from a pump had been removed for maintenance, and the pump restarted. It was this cloud that eventually would find an ignition source and set off the world’s worst oilfield disaster in history.
On November 28, 2004 at about 10:00 a.m. mountain standard time, a Canadair (now Bombardier) CL-600-2A12 (Challenger 600), tail number N873G, crashed into the ground during takeoff at Montrose Regional Airport (MJT), Montrose, Colorado. The aircraft was registered to Hop-a-Jet, Inc., and operated by Air Castle Corporation doing business as Global Aviation. (Insert Here)The flight was operating under Part 135 Code of Federal Regulations. The captain filed the flight under an IFR Flight plan. Of the six passengers on board, three died from fatal injuries and the other three sustained major injuries. The aircraft was totaled due to the impact with the ground and a post-crash fire.
Flight 370 was an international passenger flight that went missing on March 8, 2014. The flight was scheduled in route to Beijing, but it went missing throughout the second day after the plane took off from Kuala National Airport. At approximately 1:21 p.m., the communications and transponder signal were functioning no longer. There were no emergency calls at the time the plane had its last checkpoint. On March 24 at approximately 10p.m.Malaysia Standard Time, officials ceased the search as radio signals picked up debris found throughout a remote Indian Ocean. It is believed that all of the 239 passengers on the plane died (Preimesberger). From protests and outcries, to mourning and fallouts, it is still a distraught event that shocked the world.
a) Failure of winding due to short circuits (turn-turn faults and open winding) [63] [64].
The airport that I chose is the Los Angeles International airport. It is the airport in my hometown and I have always been fascinated by its operation. I currently work in the city of El Segundo in which it is located. Its ICAO call sign is KLAX, NPIAS - 06-0139. Given its size it is a large primary airport. It is publicly owned by the city of Los Angeles with the management of the property handled by Jacqueline Yaft. LAX started operation in 1940 and was a tertiary hub to the main airports at the time located in Burbank and Glendale. It currently utilizes 4 runways, with the longest stretching in length above 12,000 ft and one helipad. When it first started operations there were only two main runways. American, Trans World, United, Western and Pan Am operated primarily from Los Angeles International Airport in 1947 as defined by Masters,N. (2012). Today LAX consists of nine terminals with one main international terminal (Named after Tom Bradley a long standing mayor of Los Angeles during the 1990’s). It services an average of 63 million passengers per year and is considered the sixth largest airport in the United States.