PlasticPilot.net

Three days after the in-flight depressurization of a Qantas Boeing 747, it was the turn of a Qantas 737 bound to Melbourne that had to return to Adelaide, after a door opened in flight. Flight QF692 landed safely, no one got hurt. The news was released by the AFP, and is relayed by skynews only by the time I’m writing this post.

I’m quite sure that most general audience media will jump on that occasion to make good results, particularly during a time of year which is not full of other news. An airline having two incidents within three days is the holy Grail of media, just like landing in London City is mine.

Is there a link between the two incidents ? It’s way too early to say anything. The investigations are just starting, and despite various rumors, no official, reliable information is available. The two aircraft were not of the same type (Boeing 737 vs. Boeing 747), and were not operating the same kind of flight (Domestic vs. Intercontinental).

Had the first incident not occured, would anyone mention the second one ? I don’t know how many planes come back to land daily, but given the total number of flights, there are probably a few dozen of them. So please, don’t take part in the propagation of silly rumors.

I feel like I’m constantly repeating myself here, but the only responsible attitude is to wait for the official reports. Because of the media pressure, and because commenting and making hypothesis is in human nature, it’s not easy to refrain. As a blogger, I could get much more visitors by claiming I know the truth about accidents, but that would be wrong, and morally arguable.

Be sure that I’ll wait for the reports, and comment them when they’ll be issued. Until that, 7600, if you see what I mean …

UPDATE: Click here to read the BBC coverage… not surprisingly, most of their online article refers to the first of the two incidents…

Do you remember Samedan Airport (LSZS) ? It’s the higher airport in Europe (altiports excluded), at 5′600 ft. It’s located in eastern Switzerland, close to St-Moritz. There are no IFR approaches, but the runway is plenty long, and wealthy people often land their with business jets.

Even with small planes, the landing there is a bit impressive, particularly the base and final turns in the valley. Judge yourself, with these videos of a landing and take-off in Samedan with a DA40-TDI. You will also see the kind of business jets that sometimes land there in the video, and with this excellent shot of a Gulfstream landing, on short final.

If you think Gulfstream is kind of the bigger airplane that operates there, the next photo will make you change your mind.

Yes, this is nothing less than a boeing 737 ! It did obviously not followed the single engine pattern shown in the video, but it certainly was an impressive approach anyway ! Thank you the the airliners.net spotter who made this shot !