Latest news with #pilots
South China Morning Post
12 hours ago
- General
- South China Morning Post
‘Terrifying': China flight forced to land, with passengers reporting burning smell
A Shandong Airlines flight from Qingdao to Shanghai was forced to make an emergency landing in Nanjing on Friday, with passengers saying they smelled a burning odour. Advertisement According to a social media post by the airline on Friday, flight SC4667 experienced an 'aircraft malfunction' and the crew diverted to an airport in Nanjing after handling the situation in accordance with procedures to ensure passenger safety. 'All affected passengers have been properly accommodated, and another aircraft has been dispatched to operate subsequent flights,' the post said. A user claiming to have been on board the flight said in a social media post that something appeared to have been sucked into the aircraft's left engine while it was cruising. 'Terrifying,' the user wrote. 'There were a few loud bangs, then the plane started shaking side to side by about 10 degrees, with a burnt smell that lasted for five to 10 minutes.' Advertisement The captain then announced the emergency landing in Nanjing, and the entire process was 'very smooth,' the user said, adding: 'Thumbs up to the Shandong Airlines pilots.'
The Sun
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Sun
Where is the Ayatollah? Iran's fanatical leader, 86, not seen in a WEEK – as CIA confirms Trump obliterated nuke sites
President Donald Trump on Wednesday praised the B-2 stealth bomber pilots who carried out strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities, saying they flew with a 'great risk' and a 'big chance that they would never come back home and see their husbands or their wives.' Speaking at the NATO summit, Trump said he received a call from Missouri after the mission, where the pilots are based, describing how upset they were by media reports that downplayed the success of the operation. 'I got a call that the pilots and people on the plane were devastated because they were trying to minimise the attack,' Trump said, referring to a leaked preliminary US intelligence assessment that questioned the level of destruction at the sites. 'They all said it was hit, but oh, but we don't think it was really maybe hit that badly. And they were devastated. They put their lives on the line,' he said. Trump added he spoke personally to one of the pilots, who told him: 'Sir, we hit the site. It was perfect. It was dead-on.' A U.S. Air Force B-2 Spirit stealth bomber lands after returning from Operation Midnight Hammer, the U.S. attack on Iran's nuclear facilities, at Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri
The Independent
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Independent
Trump lashes out at claims US strikes failed to destroy Iran's nuclear sites
Donald Trump refuted leaked intelligence reports claiming US strikes failed to destroy Tehran's nuclear sites. Speaking to reporters on Air Force One, Trump insisted the strikes were a 'perfect hit' that 'wiped it out'. He criticized the press for being 'disrespectful' and spreading 'fake news' regarding the military operation. Trump commended the pilots involved, referring to them as 'great geniuses' who faced 'tremendous danger'. Watch the video above
Daily Mail
6 days ago
- Daily Mail
The most dangerous airports in the world revealed - including popular European holiday destination and runway where only eight pilots are allowed to land
The most dangerous airports in the world have been revealed – and one is so feared that only eight pilots are approved to land there. In a video shared to TikTok by @spreadinggeo, it's said that Paro Airport, in Bhutan, has the fifth most precarious landing on the planet. The runway at Bhutan's only international airport is completely surrounded by the Himalayas and, when landing, planes have to dive through narrow valleys with no radar. For this reason, just 17 pilots are certified to land here, and can only do so during daylight hours, and at specific times in the afternoon during windy seasons. Next on the list is Courchevel Altiport, which serves the ski resort in the French Alps – and is only accessible to small planes and helicopters. Not only is the runway here on an upward slope, but it also has ski runs right next to it, no lights, and is covered in snow and ice 70 per cent of the year. The airport has seen multiple crashes over the years due to low visibility, and planes skidding, including one in August 2021 with one fatality. The airport that takes the third place spot is very surprising, given that it sees over 1.6 million tourists through its doors every year. Madeira is the fourth most visited region of Portugal, but the island has one of the most perilous airports in the world, due to the fact it's built over the ocean and has very strong crosswinds. To be able to land here, pilots must undergo additional training. There have been four fatal plane crashes at Madeira Airport, with the most recent on 11 September 2003, when a British pilot and nine Spanish passengers died shortly after taking off. Next up is Toncontin International, an airport in Honduras that's completely surrounded by mountains. To land, planes have to make a tight 45-degree turn just moments before touchdown. According to @spreadinggeo, experienced pilots commonly say, 'You don't land at Toncontin, you survive it.' The airport has seen many fatal crashes, with the most recent being in February 2011, when a Central Airways flight crashed on approach, 20km from the airport. All 14 onboard the aircraft were killed. At Toncontin International, an airport in Honduras that's completely surrounded by mountains, planes have to make a tight 45-degree turn just moments before touchdown The most dangerous airport in the world is Lukla Airport – also known as Tenzing-Hillary Airport – in Nepal, a tiny airport nestled among the steep mountains of the Himalayas The most dangerous airport in the world is Lukla Airport – also known as Tenzing-Hillary Airport – in Nepal, and passengers may have to take something strong to steady their nerves here. The tiny airport nestled among the steep mountains of the Himalayas is 1.5 miles above sea level and surrounded by sharp peaks of up to 18,000ft tall. So treacherous is the landing that only eight pilots in the world are qualified to land there. Until July 2011, just one airline, Druk Air, was allowed to use the facility. The runway is just 6,500 feet long - one of the few in the world shorter than their elevation above sea level. Planes have to weave through the dozens of houses that are scattered across the mountainside - coming within feet of clipping the roofs. Flights are only allowed during the daytime and under visual meteorological conditions - strict light allowances in which the pilot must make his judgements by eye rather than rely on instruments, as is the case in nighttime flights. Strong winds whip through the valleys, often resulting in severe turbulence. Passengers who have been on flights to the airport have described the landing as 'terrifying'.
Daily Mail
18-06-2025
- Daily Mail
Emergency power speculation emerges in Air India flight investigation
Authorities investigating the deadly Air India 171 crash that killed at least 270 last week believe the doomed flight was using an emergency-power generator, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the probe. The preliminary finding has raised questions into whether the plane's engines were working properly during take-off. The Gatwick-bound Air India aircraft, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, crashed on a medical college hostel soon after taking off from the west Indian city of Ahmedabad last Thursday. The Boeing was not much more than 400ft above ground when the two pilots experienced pilots onboard apparently lost power in both engines. They then had 17 agonising seconds to wrestle with the controls before their state-of-the-art plane smashed into a medical college packed with doctors, sending a fireball soaring into the sky. Experts from India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau are probing the crash with assistance from the UK, the US and officials from Boeing. As investigations into the disaster are underway, one focus of the probe into the crash is whether the plane suffered a loss or reduction of thrust. Emergency systems used in planes are known as ram air turbines. They are small propellers that drop from the bottom of the plane's fuselage to operate as a backup generator. These emergency systems usually deploy automatically in flight if both engines have failed or if hydraulic system pressures are low, and can deploy if cockpit instruments lose power. Sources close to the investigation suggest that findings from the crash indicate that the plane's flaps and other flight-control surfaces had been configured for takeoff, the Wall Street Journal reports. Authorities investigating the tragic airplane crash are also studying the black boxes of the plane, and are also looking at whether it was overloaded. Amit Singh, a former pilot and an aviation expert, said the recovery of the flight data and cockpit voice recorders, or black boxes, are crucial to piece together the sequence of events. The cockpit voice recorder records pilots' conversation, emergency alarms and any distress signal made before a crash. The plane's digital flight data recorder stores information related to engine and control settings. Both devices are designed to survive a crash. 'The data will reveal everything,' Singh said, adding that the technical details could be corroborated by the cockpit voice recorder that would help investigators know of any communication between air traffic control and the pilots. India's aviation regulatory body has said pilots Sumeet Sabharwal and Clive Kunder made a mayday call before the crash. Singh said the investigating authorities will scan CCTV footage of the nearby area and speak with witnesses to get to the root cause of the crash. Additionally, Singh said, the investigators will also study the pilot training records, total load of the aircraft, thrust issues related to the plane's engine, as well as its worthiness in terms of past performances and any previously reported issues. The Indian government has set up a separate, high-level committee to examine the causes leading to the crash and formulate procedures to prevent and handle aircraft emergencies in the future. The committee is expected to file a preliminary report within three months. Earlier this week, a new bombshell video provided evidence that the Air India Boeing 787 lost power immediately after take off, leading to the catastrophic crash that killed all but one on board, according to an aviation expert. Commercial airline pilot Steve Schreiber, who analyses plane crashes and close calls, said a new HD-quality video is a 'gamechanger' in diagnosing the cause. He says it reveals the doomed Dreamliner suffered a 'dual engine failure' before the worst aviation disaster in more than a decade. Initially Mr Schreiber, best known as Captain Steve online, suspected there had been an exceptionally simple error in the cockpit when the co-pilot was asked to retract the landing gear, with devastating consequences. However, a higher quality version of the original video of the crash has emerged, with higher quality visuals and sound, which Mr Schreiber believes could prove that a dual engine failure led to the plane's terrifying final moments. The 63-year-old, who has 26 years of flying experience - including 11 as a captain - and has flown in 60 different aircraft, said a tiny detail which can be seen on the new video is a 'total gamechanger'. Mr Schreiber explained on his Youtube channel Captain Steeeve that beneath the right wing of the aeroplane, he could see a 'protrusion on the belly of the aircraft'. Underneath that there is a 'little grey dot', he added. He said this is evidence of the RAT deploying on the plane. 'Many aeroplanes have it,' he said. 'It is just behind the wing on the right side of the aeroplane, there is a little door that holds it in. It looks like a little Evinrude motor, it's a little two bladed prop. The purpose is to provide electrical and hydraulic pressure for the aircraft on an extreme emergency.' Mr Schreiber said that on a 787 there are three things that will deploy the RAT automatically. He said: 'A massive electrical failure, a massive hydraulic failure, or a dual engine failure. Any one of those three things will cause that RAT to deploy.' The aviation expert said that the protrusion and the grey dot were visual evidence of the RAT deploying on the aircraft.
