In the late 1970s, Continental Airlines president Frank Lorenzo used a court of law to confront his pilots with an existing, although seldom used, negotiating technique, abrogating their contract when he was unable to secure an agreement through traditional collective bargaining. He quickly replaced his then striking workers with a non-union workforce willing to accept his management style and pay more

British Aerospace 146-200A, Stord-Sorstokke, Norway, Oct. 10, 2006–Three passengers and one crewmember were killed when the BAE146 overran the 3,940-foot-long Runway 33 at Stord-Sørstokken Airport. The jet continued down a slope toward the sea and caught fire. The Atlantic Airways airplane was chartered by Norwegian firm Aker Kvaerner. It was substantially damaged in a previous accident in 1989 more

Sikorsky S-76A, Eugene Island, La., Oct. 22, 2006–The S-76 was repositioning to an offshore oil platform in VMC when it crashed into the water and sank. The crew encountered a cloud deck at 500 feet and visibility was hindered by rain. The ATP-rated pilot was not injured and the commercial first officer was slightly injured. The helicopter, operated by Petroleum Helicopters of Lafayette, La., wa more

British Aerospace 125-700A, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Nov. 1, 2006–The Blue Star Airlines Hawker 700A landed gear up at Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport. The pilot told investigators that he remembered placing his hand on the landing gear selector handle and moving it halfway down. He saw a green light for the left main landing gear but saw red lights for the nose and right main land more

Bell 407, Kalispell, Mont., Nov. 2, 2006–Departing Kalispell Regional Medical Center, the EMS helicopter lost power shortly after takeoff after the flight paramedic pointed out to the pilot an engine “chip light.” The pilot turned back to the hospital helipad but had to make an emergency autorotation landing when the engine quit. The three occupants were not injured, but the tailboom was dam more

Bell 206L LongRanger, Colville Lake, Canada, Oct. 5, 2006–A Canadian-registered LongRanger lost power on approach to a remote location and the pilot performed an autorotation. The LongRanger, which belonged to Great Slave Helicopters, was substantially damaged, and one passenger suffered minor injuries. The Transportation Safety Board of Canada is investigating.
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Aerospatiale AS 350B/Eurocopter EC 130B4, Homestead, Fla., Nov. 20, 2005–The Biscayne Helicopters AS 350B and the HelicopterShuttle.com EC 130 collided on approach to the Motorsports Complex VIP Heliport (Speedway Heliport) in Homestead. Weather was VMC and neither helicopter was on a flight plan. The commercial pilot of the EC 130 was killed; the commercial pilot of the AS 350 was not injured. more

Raytheon Beech King Air 200, Hondo, Texas, Sept. 5, 2006–The King Air had just been painted when the 18,500-hour ATP-rated pilot arrived to fly it back to home base. The airport at which it had been painted did not have jet-A, so he planned to fly to an airport 30 miles away to refuel. While taxiing out, he ran into a pothole, which was not visible because of standing rainwater. There was no not more

Raytheon Beech King Air 100, Pawtucket, R.I., Aug. 13, 2006–The NTSB said that the cause of the gear-collapse accident was the pilot’s misjudging distance and speed during final approach, which resulted in an undershoot and subsequent gear collapse. The 3,374-hour commercial pilot said that while landing on Runway 33 with a seven-knot wind at 300 degrees, the right main gear touched down about more

Bell 206L-3 LongRanger, Gulf of Mexico, Aug. 13, 2003–The NTSB said that the cause of the accident was the pilot’s inadequate compensation for crosswind conditions and failure to obtain and maintain directional control. The crosswind was a contributing factor, as was the pilot’s attempt to position the helicopter near the refueling station in a crosswind to perform a hot refueling.

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