Airplane Oops! Situations

"QUANTUM SHOT" #323
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Better on the ground than in the air

Short of the actual crash, most of the accidents depicted here occurred without loss of human life, and thus can be described as "Oops". There is a site "Aviation Safety" where many troublesome situations are listed and discussed, with full background information for each. What you will see here is a collection of images from various such occasions, sent to us by readers who found them or even witnessed the events.

On the Ground

The hazards start while the plane is still on the runway. Most of the time they are results of the "reckless driving" of the taxiing & service vehicles.

The accident above happened fairly recently - winter 2005 or 2006. The plane slid off the runway in the snow. A six year-old passenger in one of the cars on the street was killed.

(image credit: Michael Lashley)

The story for the accident below goes: "The mechanics failed to have someone riding brakes in the plane, failed to bring chokes and failed to set parking brakes on both aircraft AND the tug... and then they left aircraft unattended" -

Michael Lashley, as an aircraft safety inspector, have seen multiple occasions when aircraft was endangered by the careless driving of mechanics. The example below is credited to "Mechanics driving with no Hyd pressure for brakes" -

(images credit: Michael Lashley)

Sliced!

Ilyushin Il-62M Aeroflot at Anchorage in 1999, got sliced a little:

(image credit: xaminmo)

Plane chopped by the propeller of another plane:

(image credit: Eniac Jones)

(image credit: Darren Seiler)

The story on this rampage is playing out to the tune of a quarter of a million dollars - these are the damages for 4 destroyed planes. The poor guy who's responsible for this started the engine of his private Piper Saratoga plane - and then lost control, slicing through four other planes and crashing into the fifth...

Double-Deckers:

It does not help if there are some potholes on the runway:
(plus a bunch of construction equipment)

(sent in by Sergey)

or a huge snake:

(image credit: Michael Lashley)

Containers are not a good thing to digest:

Bizarre vintage service vehicle from Russia:

(source: TM, Russia)

Asleep at the wheel?

(images credit: Michael Lashley)

(image credit: p.roy1)

In the Air

All tangled up...

(image credit: xaminmo)

Famous occasion of the cargo doors opening in the middle of a flight:
(never a good thing, read for example this account)

(image credit: xaminmo)

Strange Landings

Broken Landing Gear:

(images credit: Michael Lashley)

(image credit: aviation-safety)

The tires... are gone

Blown engine: Southwest Airlines 737-2

(image credit: Joe Pries)

One-Wing Landing!

There is a fascinating story behind this (technically impossible) landing. Israel pilot Zivi Nedivi had a collision with another plane, but could not see that his wing was missing (because of trailing fuel vapors), otherwise he would've immediately bailed out. As it was, he proceeded to land, and had a greatest surprise when he saw in what condition F-15 brought him to safety...

Here is the video feature about this aviation miracle:

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Hairy Landing on Ice:

Landing on a street somewhere in Russia? I can hardly believe it. Must be an abandoned plane.

The thrill of Photoshop:

and a real deal....

Washed ashore...

(image credit: Darryl Chapman)

Accidents Waiting to Happen

This chopper stunt seem to be quite common at Russian airshows. I wonder if it's really dangerous...

This is just an illusion of imminent collision, though:

Not an accident, but judging by the size of this engine, anybody coming close should be very, very careful:

Real Deal Catastrophic Events:

Don't want to be anywhere near these occasions...

Parking can be a problem, even for airplanes

(image credit: englishrussia)

Whatever you do, keep away from my van!

in 1983 Royal Navy's "Sea Harrier" fighter-bomber was forced to make an emergency landing on a small Spanish freighter, "Alraigo." These pictures were taken at the port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, where the captain of the boat refused to hand over the plane: he got quite annoyed that the pilot chose to land on his van: