Tag: Aviation Accidents, Safety and Disasters

United Airlines Planes Have Seen 8 Incidents in 2 Weeks. What’s Going On?

An engine fire sparked by plastic packaging wrap, a tire lost shortly after takeoff and a plane veering off the runway: These are among the eight incidents that have occurred over the past two weeks on flights operated by United Airlines. While no injuries — or worse — have been reported, the mishaps have generated […]

Read More

Criminal Inquiry Into Boeing Panel Blowout Expands

The Justice Department is sending subpoenas and using a recently convened grand jury in Seattle as it widens a criminal investigation into the door plug that blew off a Boeing 737 Max 9 jetliner in January, a person familiar with the matter said on Friday. The detachment of the panel from the fuselage of an […]

Read More

United Airlines Flight Missing an External Panel Lands Safely

A United Airlines flight that took off on Friday morning from San Francisco International Airport landed in Oregon missing an external panel, the Federal Aviation Administration said. The panel was found to be missing after the plane, a Boeing 737-800, landed safely at its scheduled destination at Rogue Valley International Medford Airport in Oregon and […]

Read More

Boeing Directs Airlines to Check 787 Cockpit Seats After Latam Incident

Boeing has told airlines to check the cockpit seats of its 787 Dreamliner plane, the company said on Friday, after a Latam Airlines plane suddenly plunged on a flight to Auckland, New Zealand, on Monday, injuring passengers. The drop in altitude appears to have been caused when a flight attendant hit a switch on a […]

Read More

Boeing Whistleblower Who Raised Quality Concerns Is Found Dead

A prominent Boeing whistle-blower, a former quality manager who raised concerns about manufacturing practices at the company’s 787 Dreamliner factory in South Carolina, was found dead on Saturday with what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to local officials. The whistle-blower, John Barnett, was in Charleston for a deposition for a lawsuit in […]

Read More

Alaska Airlines Flight Was Scheduled for Safety Check on Day Panel Blew Off

A day before the door plug blew out of an Alaska Airlines flight on Jan. 5, engineers and technicians for the airline were so concerned about the mounting evidence of a problem that they wanted the plane to come out of service the next evening and undergo maintenance, interviews and documents show. But the airline […]

Read More

FAA Audit of Boeing’s 737 Max Production Found Dozens of Issues

A six-week audit by the Federal Aviation Administration of Boeing’s production of the 737 Max jet found dozens of problems throughout the manufacturing process at the plane maker and one of its key suppliers, according to a slide presentation reviewed by The New York Times. The air-safety regulator initiated the examination after a door panel […]

Read More

Numerous Passengers Treated Following ‘Technical Problem’ on Latam Flight Bound for Auckland

About 50 people were treated by emergency medical workers on Monday after a Latam Airlines flight bound for Auckland, New Zealand’s largest city, experienced what the airline called “strong movement” caused by a “technical problem.” Twelve people, one of whom was in serious condition, were taken to three hospitals, Auckland’s ambulance service said. Latam, a […]

Read More

Numerous Passengers Treated Following ‘Technical Problem’ on Latam Flight Bound for Auckland

About 50 people were treated by emergency medical workers on Monday after a Latam Airlines flight bound for Auckland, New Zealand’s largest city, experienced what the airline called “strong movement” caused by a “technical problem.” Twelve people, one of whom was in serious condition, were taken to three hospitals, Auckland’s ambulance service said. Latam, a […]

Read More

Boeing Subject of Criminal Inquiry by DOJ

The Justice Department has begun a criminal investigation into Boeing after a panel on one of the company’s planes blew out on an Alaska Airlines flight in early January, a person familiar with the matter said. The airline said it was cooperating with the inquiry. “In an event like this, it’s normal for the D.O.J. […]

Read More

Texas Helicopter Crash Near Mexican Border Kills 3

A helicopter carrying National Guard members and a Border Patrol agent crashed on Friday in southern Texas near the border with Mexico, killing three of its occupants and critically injuring the fourth, officials said. The helicopter, which crashed at 2:50 p.m., was a UH-72 Lakota, Joint Task Force North said in a statement. Two of […]

Read More

NTSB Says Boeing Has Not Provided Key Information in 737 Max Inquiry

The chairwoman of the National Transportation Safety Board told a Senate committee on Wednesday that Boeing was dragging its feet in providing some information to the agency as it investigates what caused a door panel to come off an Alaska Airlines plane during a flight in January. The official, Jennifer Homendy, told the Senate Commerce […]

Read More

Why Boeing’s Top Airplanes Keep Failing

The Daily is made by Rachel Quester, Lynsea Garrison, Clare Toeniskoetter, Paige Cowett, Michael Simon Johnson, Brad Fisher, Chris Wood, Jessica Cheung, Stella Tan, Alexandra Leigh Young, Lisa Chow, Eric Krupke, Marc Georges, Luke Vander Ploeg, M.J. Davis Lin, Dan Powell, Sydney Harper, Mike Benoist, Liz O. Baylen, Asthaa Chaturvedi, Rachelle Bonja, Diana Nguyen, Marion […]

Read More

Plane Crashes on Florida Highway, Killing at Least 2, Authorities Say

At least two people were killed when a small plane crashed on Interstate 75 near Naples, Fla., on Friday afternoon, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. The plane, a Bombardier Challenger 600 series jet, was carrying five people when it crashed on the highway around 3:15 p.m., the F.A.A. said in a statement. It was […]

Read More

Ukraine’s Creative Use of Weapons Carries Promise and Risk

U.S. officials say Ukraine should continue to develop innovative ways to strike at Russian forces as the war approaches its third year. But Ukraine’s use of a Patriot missile to take down a plane last month is an example of how novel battlefield tactics can be fraught with peril as well as promise. Unbeknown to […]

Read More

5 Marines Confirmed Dead in Helicopter Crash in California

The Marine Corps confirmed on Thursday that five Marines had died in Tuesday’s helicopter crash east of San Diego. The announcement from the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing came after a search and rescue operation located the helicopter on Wednesday in Pine Valley, about 44 miles east of San Diego. But the military did not confirm […]

Read More

Former Chilean President Sebastián Piñera Dies in Helicopter Crash

Sebastián Piñera, a former president of Chile who helped strengthen the nation’s young democracy after becoming its first conservative leader since a military dictatorship, died in a helicopter crash in Chile on Tuesday, the government said. He was 74. The helicopter, carrying four people, crashed into Lake Ranco in the Los Ríos region in southern […]

Read More

Alaska Airlines 737 May Have Left Boeing Factory Missing Bolts, N.T.S.B. Says

Four bolts used to secure the panel that ultimately blew off an Alaska Airlines plane during a flight last month were removed — and appear not to have been replaced — at Boeing’s factory in Renton, Wash., according to a preliminary report released Tuesday by the National Transportation Safety Board. The panel, known as a […]

Read More

FAA Chief Pledges ‘More Boots on the Ground’ to Monitor Boeing

The Federal Aviation Administration’s top official told a House panel on Tuesday that the agency would step up its on-the-ground presence monitoring Boeing’s aircraft production. The official, Mike Whitaker, appeared before lawmakers one month after a door panel blew out of a Boeing 737 Max 9 jet while in flight, raising new questions about Boeing’s […]

Read More

Facing Another Boeing Crisis, the FAA Takes a Harder Line

When a Boeing 737 Max 8 crashed off the coast of Indonesia in 2018, killing all 189 people on board, the Federal Aviation Administration allowed other Max planes to keep flying. Less than five months later, in early 2019, another Max 8 crashed in Ethiopia, killing 157 more people. Even then, days passed before the […]

Read More

Boeing, Still Recovering From Max 8 Crashes, Faces a New Crisis

After two deadly crashes involving its best-selling 737 Max 8 planes five years ago, Boeing spent billions of dollars to make its products safer and repair its reputation. Now, the company is again confronting a wave of uncertainty and costs following a harrowing incident involving a different 737 jet. Just four weeks ago, a hole […]

Read More

Several Die as Small Plane Crashes Into Mobile Home Park in Florida

A single-engine plane crashed into a waterfront mobile home park in Clearwater, Fla., Thursday evening, killing several people and damaging four homes, officials said. The plane slammed directly into one home, Scott Ehlers, the fire chief in Clearwater, said at a news conference, adding that there were “several fatalities, both from the aircraft and within […]

Read More

An Explorer Believes He Found Amelia Earhart’s Plane. Experts Aren’t Convinced.

It is one of the greatest enduring mysteries in aviation history: the disappearance of Amelia Earhart after she took off from Lae, New Guinea, in a Lockheed 10-E Electra on July 2, 1937. Earhart was trying to become the first woman to fly around the world. She and a navigator, Fred Noonan, were headed to […]

Read More

Boeing Faces Tricky Balance Between Safety and Financial Performance

Less than four weeks after a hole blew open on a Boeing 737 Max 9 jet during a flight, company executives face a thorny question: Should they emphasize safety or financial performance? The issue is looming as Boeing prepares to report its fourth-quarter earnings on Wednesday amid its most significant safety crisis in years. With […]

Read More

How to Know if You’re Scheduled on a Boeing 737 Max 9, and What Your Options Are

After a portion of an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 jetliner’s fuselage blew out in midair minutes after taking off from Portland, Ore., on Jan. 5, the Federal Aviation Administration grounded about 170 Max 9 planes, causing airlines that rely heavily on the aircraft to cancel thousands of flights and inconveniencing many passengers. On […]

Read More

Airlines Hoping for More Boeing Jets Could Be Waiting Awhile

Boeing hoped 2024 would be the year it would significantly increase production of its popular Max jets. But less than a month into the year, the company is struggling to reassure airline customers that it will still be able to deliver on its promises. That’s because the Federal Aviation Administration on Wednesday said it would […]

Read More

NASA’s Ingenuity Helicopter Ends Its Mars Mission

Ingenuity, the little Mars helicopter that could, can’t anymore. At least one rotor broke during the robotic flying machine’s most recent flight last week, NASA officials announced on Thursday. Ingenuity remains in contact with its companion, the Perseverance rover, which has been exploring a dried-up river bed for signs of extinct Martian life. Ingenuity will […]

Read More

Ukraine Searches for Answers on Russian Plane Crash

Ukrainian officials searched for answers on Thursday to the circumstances of a deadly plane crash over the border in Russia, asking for patience from citizens while it investigated Moscow’s claims that Ukraine had shot down a Russian military aircraft carrying Ukrainian prisoners of war. President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine called for his country’s intelligence agency […]

Read More

Boeing Reinstalled Panel That Later Blew Out of 737 Max Jet

Nearly three weeks after a hole blew open on a Boeing 737 Max 9 during an Alaska Airlines flight, terrifying passengers, new details about the jet’s production are intensifying scrutiny of Boeing’s quality-control practices. About a month before the Max 9 was delivered to Alaska Airlines in October, workers at Boeing’s factory in Renton, Wash., […]

Read More

Boeing Faces Backlash From Airline Chiefs

Airline bosses on both sides of the Atlantic are lashing out at Boeing over a number of recent safety and production issues — loose bolts, a discarded wrench found under the floorboards, delayed shipments — as the crisis over the aircraft maker’s 737 Max 9 shows little sign of ending soon. The ordeal is taking […]

Read More

Russian Plane Carrying 65 Ukrainian POWs Crashes, Killing All Onboard, Officials Say

A large Russian military transport plane crashed on Wednesday in the Belgorod region near the border with Ukraine, state news agencies said, citing a statement by the Russian Defense Ministry. Everyone onboard was killed, the regional governor said. The Defense Ministry said that the plane had been carrying 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war who were […]

Read More