I have made a graph which plots aircraft incidents since November, 1999. Incidents (and fatalities) seem to be up significantly.

Viewable at: http://www.2000now.org/airplane/

-- Antoine Neron (metis@2000now.org), February 08, 2000

Answers

Antoine -

I took a quick look at your data and I must say, the trends are not what I expected! I am wondering this: since the trends with the straight data remain the same, or decline a bit during the turnover, I wonder what the trend would look like charted as a percentage of flights? Another words, it is certainly possible that the number of "incidents" as a percentage might be quite high as I believe that there are less numbers of actual flights in January, especially this past January.

I have an inside source from the industry (who is well versed in Y2K issues) and I am going to tap it and report back.

-- Jen Bunker (jen@bunkergroup.com), February 08, 2000.

Here's an itemized list from Glitch Central - doesn't include the last few days.... http://www.ciaosystems.com/airlineevents.htm From Glitch central...

Summary of airline events since November....

11-19-99 JET LANDS SAFELY AFTER CABIN LOSES AIR PRESSURE (Associated Press)- Passengers gasped and prayed as an American Airlines jetliner lost cabin pressure at 31,000 feet on Thursday, but the Boeing 767 made a safe emergency landing. Six people, including actor Abe Vigoda, were slightly injured. (no link)

12-24-99 AnAir Canada Air bus commuter plan from Calgary to Vancouver had to turn back afte 20 minutes in flight as their was a "power surge". Passengers were emergency exited and a fire broke out in one engine after a safe landing. (from Time Bomb 2000, greenspun: no link)

11-12-99 PRISTINA, Kosovo (CNN) -- A World Food Program (WFP) plane with 24 people aboard crashed Friday just outside of Pristina, Kosovo, said United Nations and WFP officials. (no link)

12-27-99 INDIANAPOLIS) -- A computer glitch at Indianapolis International Airport's Control Center may have caused a few flight delays for holiday travelers. (link expired, from excite.com/news)

12-31-99 KCCI-TV in Des Moines reports that two dozen airports in SW Iowa lost all communication ability at 0 GMT, this evening. Officials from Iowa's Department of Transportation and the FFA are swiftly investigating the source of the Y2K-related glitch. http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a386d8277152f.htm

12-31-99 The radar at Palm Springs International Airport remained out-of-order on Friday, causing concerns among some air traffic controllers who work there....The radar was shut down Dec. 19, and 25 specialists from the FAAs national technical center were sent to evaluate and repair the system. Air traffic controllers have reported at least six close calls between planes flying in local airspace, including several that reportedly came within 400 feet of each other. (link expired, from MSNBC)

12-24-99 AnAir Canada Air bus commuter plan from Calgary to Vancouver had to turn back afte 20 minutes in flight as their was a "power surge". Passengers were emergency exited and a fire broke out in one engine after a safe landing. (from Time Bomb 2000, greenspun: no link)

12-27-99 INDIANAPOLIS) -- A computer glitch at Indianapolis International Airport's Control Center may have caused a few flight delays for holiday travelers. (link expired, from excite.com/news)

12-31-99 KCCI-TV in Des Moines reports that two dozen airports in SW Iowa lost all communication ability at 0 GMT, this evening. Officials from Iowa's Department of Transportation and the FFA are swiftly investigating the source of the Y2K-related glitch. http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a386d8277152f.htm

12-31-99 The radar at Palm Springs International Airport remained out-of-order on Friday, causing concerns among some air traffic controllers who work there....The radar was shut down Dec. 19, and 25 specialists from the FAAs national technical center were sent to evaluate and repair the system. Air traffic controllers have reported at least six close calls between planes flying in local airspace, including several that reportedly came within 400 feet of each other. (link expired, from MSNBC)

01-02-00 The Australian Transportation Safety Bureau is investigating an incident on a Qantas flight from Melbourne to Sydney last Sunday. A Qantas spokeswoman says halfway through flight QF472 the lights in the cabin went out, and the emergency strip lighting in the floor came on. Just over a minute later the lights came back on. Qantas says the fault was in a control panel and a part was replaced when the plane landed in Sydney. The Australian Transportation Safety Bureau is investigating an incident on a Qantas flight from Melbourne to Sydney last Sunday. A Qantas spokeswoman says halfway through flight QF472 the lights in the cabin went out, and the emergency strip lighting in the floor came on. Just over a minute later the lights came back on. Qantas says the fault was in a control panel and a part was replaced when the plane landed in Sydney. (link expired, from Australian Broadcasting Corporation).

01-03-00 A computer malfunction at the Federal Aviation Administration's Boston Center here delayed flights at airports in Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York Monday night. AP-NY-01-03-00 2322EST (no link)

01-03-00 A Turkish Airlines plane was forced to return to Istanbul airport twice Monday because of technical problems.... (link expired, )

01-06-00 A software "patch" that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) installed on its host computers before the Y2K rollover may have ponsible for the computer system crash that grounded planes all over the East Coast today, according to a specialist that supervises work on the FAA's computer systems.....The system failure at the Washington Air Route Traffic Control Center in Leesburg, Va. earlier this morning comes on the heels of a similar breakdown at an air traffic control center in Boston earlier this week where a crashed computer hard drive held planes in limbo for hours and delayed flights at nearby airports. (link expired, from Newsbytes)

01-09-00 Sunday 1-09-99 a computer failure left a Boeing 777 stranded at London's Heathrow airport. "Any suggestion that it was due to a millennium bug is complete nonsense," said a BA spokeswoman. http://www.go.com/Content?arn=a1788LBY862reulb-20000109&qt=glitch&sv=I S&lk=noframes&col=NX&kt=A&ak=news1486

01-10-00 Ten die in plane crash near Zurich. Witnesses say they saw the twin engine turboprop plane turn into a fireball and dive into a field after leaving Zurich Airport. http://www.foxnews.com/world/011000/swisscrash.sml

01-11-00 OSLO, Norway (AP)--Two Boeing 737-500s made almost simultaneous emergency landings in two countries when their cockpit indicators gave virtual identical faulty readings....A third Braathen's 737-500 experienced the same problem after it had landed and parked. http://flash.oregonlive.com/cgi-bin/or_nview.pl?/home1/wire/AP/Stream- Parsed/OREGON_NEWS/o1958_PM_Norway-BraathensLandi

01-11-00 Washington, D.C., airport experiences another breakdown. All of the main frequencies and voice circuits at the control tower of Washington, D.C.'s Ronald Reagan National Airport failed for nearly an hour. http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/web-airport-01-13-00.asp

01-13-00 Thursday January 13 1:16 PM ET Swiss Plane Crashes Off Libya, 15 Feared Dead (41 aboard) Before the crash the plane had tried to land at the Tripoli airport....for unknown reasons it then tried to ditch in the sea. http://www.excite.com.au/news/story/aap/20000114/08/international/liby a-plane-afr.inp

01-13-00 A twin engine plane crashed in a remote region of northern Quebec on Thursday, killing the pilot and two french tourists, and injuring another three tourists. http://news.excite.com/news/ap/000113/21/int-canada-plane-crash

"Pressurization Problem Forces America West Flight to Land in Boise" http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGIMK4NIG3C.html

http://www.nationalpost.com/news.asp?f=000110/172894.html Monday, January 10, 2000 Collision Warning Alarms Passengers Canadian Airlines flight "OTTAWA - Passengers on an international Canadian Airlines flight experienced a series of scares when a mid-air collision warning forced the airliner's captain to take evasive action three times.

Jet makes emergency landing as smoke fills cockpit A Qantas jet carrying 68 passengers was forced to make an emergency landing at Darwin Airport this morning. http://www.abc.net.au/news/newslink/nat/newsnat-21jan2000-29.htm

http://www.newsday.com/ap/rnmpne1d.htm Military Plane Crashes, Pilot Dies BOISE, Idaho (AP) -- A military attack jet crashed Thursday night in southwestern Idaho, killing an Idaho National Guard pilot.

Power Outage Delays Flights United Airlines is continuing to feel the effects of an early morning power outage. The power went down around 2:30 Friday morning. Fortunately it struck when there were few passengers at the airport. http://www.wlsam.com/goout.asp?u=http://www.abcnews.go.com/local/wls/i ndex.html

SEATAC, Wash. (AP) -- An Alaska Airlines MD-80 jet heading to Los Angeles returned to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport shortly after takeoff Thursday due to engine problems. There were no injuries, though one engine was shut down due to a compressor failure. Flight 222 took off shortly after 7 a.m. A ground crew member saw sparks coming from one of the plane's engines and alerted air traffic controllers, said Alaska Airlines spokesman Jack Evans. The pilot saw that there had been a compressor problem, essentially a backfire, on one of the engines and shut it down. He then told passengers to assume a crash position -- heads down -- and turned the plane around, landing once again at SeaTac. The airport's fire department was called out to meet the plane and escort it back to the gate. Evans said the engine was removed from the airplane and was undergoing tests to find out what happened. Link to story: http://www.sacbee.com/news/calreport/calrep_story.cgi?N76.

Australia: Four have lucky escape from light plane crash Four people have had a lucky escape from a light plane crash near Verona Sands in Southern Tasmania. The Cessna 182 chartered by Tasair is believed to have crashed after its engine failed. A Verona Sands resident was driving home when a distressed and bloodied young woman waved him down. She told him the plane had crash landed in the D'Entrecasteaux Channel after suffering engine failure. The three passengers - two young women and one young man - and the pilot floated to shore with the assistance of life jackets and debris. All have been taken to the Royal Hobart Hospital suffering lacerations, shock, hypothermia and in the pilot's case a broken leg. Tasair had chartered the Cessna 182 for back-up during the fuel contamination crisis. The plane's owner, Rick Gumley says the crash could not have been caused by contaminated fuel because it has not flown outside of Tasmania. Link to story: http://www.abc.net.au/news/newslink/nat/newsnat-21jan2000-272.htm

Jan 1, 2000 - 12:40 AM UPS Plane Makes Emergency Landing The Associated Press ALLIANCE, Neb. (AP) - A DC-8 United Parcel Service jet was forced to make an emergency landing Friday in western Nebraska after an instrument screen blanked out and smoke entered the cockpit. Moments before the crew detected the smoke, they had joked about the possible perils of the Y2K computer bug. "I hope we all don't disappear when it rolls over here," Capt. Joe Stidham said he told an air traffic controller before the plane's troubles. Then smoke appeared, and the plane made an emergency landing at the Alliance Municipal Airport. The three crew members on board were not injured. The problems were not believed to be Y2K-related, but the crew was unsure of the cause, Stidham said. After the smoke entered the cockpit, the crew put on oxygen masks and radioed the nearest airport. The plane had left Louisville, Ky., and was due to arrive in Portland, Ore.

By Associated Press, 1/22/2000 00:53 LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) An American Airlines flight bound for Los Angeles made an emergency landing here Friday after its right engine lost oil pressure and filled the cabin with smoke. The plane landed safely at 7:05 p.m. at Lincoln Municipal Airport. There were no injuries reported among the 125 people aboard the Boeing 757. The flight was en route from Newark, N.J., to Los Angeles, said John Wood, executive director of the Lincoln Airport Authority. Joseph Sfez of Los Angeles said smoke in the damaged plane's cabin made it difficult to breathe. ''It was scary up there, very scary,'' he said. ''But the captain did a good job.'' The airlines sent another plane from Dallas to pick up the stranded passengers. http://www.boston.com/dailynews/022/nation/Jet_makes_emergency_landing _in:.shtml

http://www.newsday.com/ap/rnmpin0z.htm Kenya Airways Jet Crashes Into Sea By TIM SULLIVAN Associated Press Writer ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (AP) -- A Kenya Airways jet en route to Lagos, Nigeria, with 180 people aboard crashed Sunday night into the sea, shortly after taking off from Abidjan, airport and aviation officials said. The plane, an Airbus 310, took off at 9:08 p.m. and crashed just a few minutes later, airport officials said on condition of anonymity. Emergency workers were being dispatched, the officials said, but it was not yet clear how far out into the ocean the plane had crashed. French military firefighters, who are stationed at a French military base next to the airport, were being asked for assistance, they said. An official with Ivorian civil aviation authority, ASECNA, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said there were 168 adult passengers on board the plane, two children and 10 crew members. The officials did not know if there were any survivors, and had no further information. AP-NY-01-30-00 1824EST

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/aponline/20000131/aponline205215_ 000.htm Airliner Crashes Off Coast Near L.A. The Associated Press Monday, Jan. 31, 2000; 8:52 p.m. EST OXNARD, Calif.  An Alaska Airlines jet carrying 65 passengers and five crew members from Mexico to San Francisco crashed Monday in the Pacific Ocean after reporting mechanical difficulties. Flight 261 from Puerto Vallarta was reported down 20 miles northwest of the Los Angeles airport about 3:45 p.m., the Federal Aviation Administration said. Pieces of wreckage could be seen in the water, but there was no sign of survivors. FAA spokesman Mitch Barker said the plane was a Boeing 737. Boeing spokesman Craig Martin said the company was told by Alaska Airlines that the plane was an MD-80.

MD-80 Returns to Phoenix Airport After Reporting Problem 12:29 p.m. ET (1729 GMT) February 2, 2000 Two days after a possible stabilizer failure sent an Alaska Airlines jet crashing into the Pacific Ocean, an American Airlines MD-80 made an emergency landing in Phoenix, also after reporting a possible stabilizer problem. Airport spokeswoman Suzanne Luber said the pilot reported the problem about 20 minutes after taking off for Dallas. The plane turned around and landed safely at Sky Harbor airport in Phoenix. There were no injuries, and passengers were boarding another plane to Dallas. http://www.foxnews.com/national/020200/md80.sml

TEHRAN, Feb 2 (Reuters) - A passenger airliner and a military transport plane collided at Tehran airport on Wednesday and at least 10 people were killed, the official news agency IRNA reported. It quoted the civil aviation department as saying the civilian plane caught fire. It gave no further details. IRNA said the planes caught fire on the tarmac but the civilian plane, an Airbus 300, had no passengers on board. http://www.reuters.com/news/

A SINGAPORE Airlines (SIA) Airbus 310 made an emergency landing at Beijing airport yesterday when an alarm signalled that one of its engines was on fire. An SIA spokesman said that Flight SQ811 from Beijing to Singapore returned to the capital about an hour after take-off in the morning. Following a fire warning alert which showed that an engine could be on fire, the captain shut down that engine and returned to Beijing airport where the aircraft landed safely, he said. The aircraft carried 106 passengers, including two infants, and 12 crew members. The spokesman said all the passengers were later transferred to another flight, SQ801, which left Beijing at 4 pm and landed in Singapore at 10.54 pm yesterday. As for the affected plane, the spokesman said that the ground engineers had found no sign of fire in the engine.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/aponline/20000204/aponline012619_ 000.htm Plane Has Cabin Pressure Trouble The Associated Press Friday, Feb. 4, 2000; 1:26 a.m. EST SAN FRANCISCO  A flight from Los Angeles to San Jose had trouble controlling cabin pressure Thursday, forcing a drop in altitude and the deployment of passenger oxygen masks. No one was hurt and the passengers were able to breathe on their own. But some of the 75 passengers were shaken up by the problems with Shuttle by United Shuttle Flight 2622, spokesman Jim Peterson said. Four reported earaches, United spokesman Kurt Ebenhoch said. The problem occurred about 10:10 a.m., 20 minutes before landing and the plane dropped its altitude to cope, although there are conflicting reports on how far. Peterson said the plane dropped to 10,000 feet from its cruising altitude of about 32,000 feet. United spokesman Ebenhoch said the plane dropped to 8,000 feet from 25,000 feet. The Boeing 737 landed safely in San Jose, where engineers were trying to determine what caused the problem.

Thursday, February 3, 2000 PORTLAND Airliner headed for Tokyo lands after cockpit alert A Delta Airlines flight bound for Tokyo made an unscheduled landing yesterday at Portland International Airport after a cockpit warning system indicated a problem with hydraulic system. The MD-11, carrying 104 passengers and 12 crew members, took off about 11 a.m. from Los Angeles and landed at 2:04 p.m. in Portland without incident, said Tracey Bowen, a Delta spokeswoman. Mechanics checked the airplane for problems and found none. The passengers were to be put up in hotels overnight and will resume their flight to Tokyo today. Port of Portland and Delta officials said the "diversionary landing" was routine. Flight 79 usually hugs the West Coast and flies near Portland before turning west over the Pacific Ocean, said Suzanne Miller, general manager of marketing for the port. http://www.postintelligencer.com/local/brfs038.shtml

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/aponline/20000204/aponline012619_ 000.htm Plane Has Cabin Pressure Trouble The Associated Press Friday, Feb. 4, 2000; 1:26 a.m. EST SAN FRANCISCO  A flight from Los Angeles to San Jose had trouble controlling cabin pressure Thursday, forcing a drop in altitude and the deployment of passenger oxygen masks. No one was hurt and the passengers were able to breathe on their own. But some of the 75 passengers were shaken up by the problems with Shuttle by United Shuttle Flight 2622, spokesman Jim Peterson said. Four reported earaches, United spokesman Kurt Ebenhoch said. The problem occurred about 10:10 a.m., 20 minutes before landing and the plane dropped its altitude to cope, although there are conflicting reports on how far. Peterson said the plane dropped to 10,000 feet from its cruising altitude of about 32,000 feet. United spokesman Ebenhoch said the plane dropped to 8,000 feet from 25,000 feet. The Boeing 737 landed safely in San Jose, where engineers were trying to determine what caused the problem.

Alaska Jet Lands After Problem The Associated Press Sunday, Feb. 6, 2000; 2:48 a.m. EST RENO, Nev.  An Alaska Airlines MD-80 jet returned to Reno's airport shortly after takeoff on Saturday night after its pilot reported problems similar to those under investigation in Monday's crash off the California coast, officials said. The Seattle-bound flight left Reno/Tahoe International Airport at about 7 p.m. and returned about eight minutes later when the pilot reported motors controlling the plane's horizontal stabilizer were operating improperly, As flight attendants donned life jackets and explained crash procedures, "we all just looked at each other and said we loved each other, kind of holding on,". http://www.ciaosystems.com/url/feb6/Alaska%20Jet%20Lands%20After%20Pro blem.htm

-- Sheri Nakken (wncy2k@nccn.net), February 08, 2000.

The weekly Emergency Management Forum is focusing on aviation disasters this week. Accessible online. Perhaps there will be some experts there to address our questions about aircraft incidents - on the rise?

Here's the info: Please join us in the EIIP Virtual Forum, http://www.emforum.org !

------------------------ Wednesday February 9, 12:00 Noon EST: Schedule your work day for the Virtual Classroom presentation, "Major Aviation Disasters: Strategies to Save Lives & Control The Incident" - log in at the EIIP Virtual Forum homepage or http://www.emforum.org/vforum/formchat.htm using your first and last names.

Our guest speaker this week is Gunnar J. Kuepper, Chief of Operations, Emergency and Disaster Management Inc., Los Angeles, California. Kuepper's experience in this field includes lectures in Aircraft and Railway Disaster Management. He developed the professional training program, "Working Together," which was given an award by the ARFFwg (Aircraft Rescue Fire Fighting working group) in August 1999, and officially recognized by the city of Los Angeles. Gunnar's session will be highlighted with slides and photos of aviation disasters.

Background page is available at http://www.emforum.org/vclass/000209.htm

-- Jan Nickerson (JaNickrson@aol.com), February 08, 2000.