I get so sick of hearing pundits talk about how bad it is to criminalize aircraft accidents, how we need to be able to determine the cause of accidents without the threat of criminal sanctions such as fines and jail time impeding the free exchange of information. Some claim that the chilling effect of looming criminal inquiries would thwart the NTSB’s ability to determine probable cause and so on.
Accidents, Safety, Security and Training » Accidents
News about significant aircraft accidents and information from accident reports.
August 8, 2011 - 9:20am
The French pilots’ union, SNPL, has withdrawn its participation in the ongoing investigation of Air France Flight 447 (AF447), the Airbus A330-200 that crashed into the Atlantic Ocean while en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris in June 2009.
August 1, 2011 - 9:24am
The National Transportation Safety Board dispatched a team yesterday to assist with the investigation into Saturday’s accident in Georgetown, Guyana, involving a Caribbean Airlines Boeing 737-800 that broke in two after overshooting the runway at Cheddi Jagan International Airport. The airplane crashed through a chain-link fence and came to rest on a dirt road that ran adjacent to a deep ravine.
July 30, 2011 - 1:40pm
The NTSB coupled old-fashioned “kicking tin” with highly technical investigative assistance from safety agencies in Germany and Switzerland to solve a perplexing mystery–what caused a Pilatus PC-12 to crash while attempting to land at the airport in Butte, Mont., killing everyone on board the big turboprop single.
July 29, 2011 - 1:03pm
July 28, 2011 - 7:00am
Preliminary Report: Medevac King Air Goes Down in Alaska
July 26, 2011 - 7:25am
A Let L-410 operated by Brazilian regional Noar Airlines crashed soon after takeoff from Recife, Brazil, on July 13, killing all 14 passengers and two pilots. The 19-seat turboprop reportedly descended steeply into a field about a mile from the end of the runway at Recife, soon after taking off for the northeastern Brazilian city of Natal.
July 14, 2011 - 11:00am
In a board meeting Tuesday, the NTSB pinned the blame for the March 2009 fatal crash of a Pilatus PC-12 in Butte, Mont., on the actions of the pilot.
July 8, 2011 - 8:28am
At least 53 people were killed when a Boeing 727 operated by Hewa Boro Airways crashed at Kisangani Airport in the Democratic Republic of Congo on July 8. The accident happened at around 2.30 p.m. local time as the airliner tried to land in reported bad weather after a flight from Kinshasa, the capital of the central African country.
July 7, 2011 - 10:08am
General aviation as a whole was a stain on an otherwise excellent year for aviation safety in Europe, according to 2010 accident figures released today by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). For all GA operations including both fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters weighing more than 2,250 kg (4,960 pounds) involved in private, business and aerial work activity, the total number of accidents increased from 19 in 2009 to 31 last year.
