Recent Aircraft Incidents the FAA and NTSB are Ignoring

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The following are unreported aircraft incidents from 12/31/1999 to 2/14/2000 in the US and Canada (though international airfcraft incidents are also reported in the National Transportation Safety Board's Accident Synopses). The problems should be recorded as aircraft incidents (such as this one in March 1996 or this one from June 1997) that threaten the safety of aircraft passengers and crew members.

The data from which the below graph for period 11/01/1999 - 1/31/2000 was made could thus be much different than maintained by the NTSB.

December 31, 1999 United Parcel Service DC-8 instrument screen glitch.

January 8, 2000 Canadian Airlines Boeing 767 mid-air collision warning.

January 14, 2000 America West Boeing 737-300 pressurization problem.

January 21, 2000 American Airlines Boeing 757 oil pressure lost in right engine. Story no longer available from source.

February 2, 2000 American Airlines MD-80 possible stabilizer problem. Delta Airlines MD-11 possible hydraulic system problem.

February 3, 2000 United Shuttle Boeing 737 cabin pressure trouble.

February 5, 2000 Alaska Airlines MD-80 horizontal stabilizer problem.

February 6, 2000 Iliamna Air Taxi Cessna 206 crash. FATAL US Airways Express/Chautauqua Airlines twin-engine Jetstream emergency landing.

February 7, 2000 Alaska Airlines MD-80 engine emergency.

February 8, 2000 Northwest Airlines DC-9 mechanical problems.

February 11, 2000 TWA MD-80 hydraulic glitch.

February 13, 2000 Northwest Airlines (unidentified aircraft model) hydraulic problems.

February 14, 2000 Horizon Air (unidentified aircraft model) emergency landing.

The FAA may have lead investigative responsibility over some incidents. It has an Incident Data System (updated the first week of every month; last updated January 6, 2000; last recorded incident October 19, 1999). No incidents were able to be gathered from its database within the above timeframe.

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Graphic of news-reported* aircraft incidents since November 12, 1999. These include fatal crashes (date-point is red), fires, computer malfunctions, and emergency landings.

*Information sources include Glitch Central, Excite and Yahoo newsfeeds, and other media outlets. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1998/2000 comparison of the number of aircraft incidents reported to the National Transportation Safety Board Data from their Accident Synopses. (Data is not available for some accidents and incidents where the NTSB did not have primary investigation responsibility.)

Accidents/Incidents from 11/01/1998 - 1/31/1999 with 7-day moving average

Accidents/Incidents from 11/01/1999 - 1/31/2000 with 7-day moving average

-- Uncle Bob (unclb0b@aol.com), February 17, 2000

Answers

One thing that caught my attention was the day with the largest number of incidents. Looks like it was November 29.

Wasn't that about the time that NBC broadcast "Y2K" the movie? Perhaps the airplanes were having sympathy pains in response.

-- Mikey2k (mikey2k@he.wont.eat.it), February 17, 2000.

Have a close look at the two graphs comparing 1998-99 and 1999-2000. Notice that there is no significant difference between them other than the moving average is lower this yar than last year. Notice also the peaks that appear aproximately every seven days. Could these peaks be because weekend flyers are less experienced? or is it possible that the Y2K bug strikes aircraft more often on saturdays, sundays and long weekends?

-- Malcolm Taylor (taylorm@es.co.nz), February 17, 2000.