Plane crash-lands at Doncaster Airport causing Ibiza holiday chaos

One person was taken to hospital as the LinksAir flight came down at the town's Robin Hood Airport at around 7.30pm last night.

The plane had been travelling from Belfast City Airport and the airport confirmed that the passenger plane had experienced problems with its landing gear.

The aircraft was pictured beached on the runway as emergency services rushed to the scene.

More than 300 hundred passengers were left waiting for hours as the airport closed to begin clearing the runway.

Many of those looking forward to going away were travelling to popular party island Ibiza as at least 10 flights were affected.

Steve Gill, managing director at the airport, told the Doncaster Free Press this morning: "Our apologies go to any passengers expecting to fly into or out of Doncaster Sheffield Airport tonight. Our team will work to ensure the airport reopens as soon as possible."

After a 12-hour shut down, air investigators assessing the situation gave officials the all clear to reopen the airport.

Flights are now resuming as normal.

A statement from the airport said: "We are pleased to confirm that the runway at Robin Hood Airport Doncaster Sheffield reopened at 14.45pm this afternoon.

"The UK Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) have visited the airport and the LinksAir flight, LNQ207, which experienced problems with its undercarriage on landing, has now been moved from the runway area.

"The first departure from Doncaster Sheffield Airport will be the Wizzair flight to Bucharest at 15:30pm.

"We apologise for the inconvenience caused to passengers affected by the incident which occurred last night."

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2 injured in plane crash near Wisconsin air show

The Experimental Aircraft Association says two people were hurt when a plane crashed at the Oshkosh airport, where planes taking part in the annual AirVenture convention land.

EAA spokesman Dick Knapinksi says the plane went down on the southeast side of Wittman Regional Airport about 9:30 a.m. Thursday.

Knapinski says two people on board the plane have been taken to a local hospital, but he didn't immediately know how seriously they were injured.

He also didn't immediately know the type of plane involved.

Knapinski says the airport was closed temporarily, but was reopened to departures about an hour later.

The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating.

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Officials declare reports of plane crash 'unfounded'

Officials determined Sunday morning that the report of a plane crash in Whitewater Township that had crews searching late into the night was "unfounded."

A witness called emergency dispatchers around 8 p.m. Saturday to report what they thought was a plane crash in the 6000 block of Kilby Road. The witness reported seeing the aircraft dive toward the ground then observed a plume of smoke, according to the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office.

Emergency crews from several jurisdictions responded and searched as darkness fell, but were unable to find anything. Several units reported seeing smoke but later confirmed it to be campfires.

There was no indication from local airports of any distress signals or missing flights, authorities say.

The University of Cincinnati Medical Center AirCare helicopter was called to scene to search for wreckage just before 10 p.m., and found a light source that ended up being nothing significant.

The search was terminated for the night around 11 p.m. and picked back up Sunday morning at about 8:30. Officials said they hoped light could aid in the search.

But Sunday morning's search only lasted about an hour before officials from the sheriff's office and Whitewater Township determined the reports about the incident were "unfounded," according to a news release from the sheriff's office.

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Taking Photos Caused Plane Crash

Investigations into the Aircam 1999 plane crash that killed One Africa Television founder and chairman, Paul van Schalkwyk, revealed he lost control and crashed because he was concentrating more on capturing pictures. Flying the aircraft became a second priority at the time of the crash.

Van Schalkwyk (59) who was an award-winning photographer and businessman died on March 8 this year some 75km from Ondangwa airport near the Etosha national park.

The businessman who was alone in the aircraft left Eros airport on March 8 for a low level flight to Ongava Lodge in Etosha to go and take pictures. The aircraft never arrived at Ongava as the deceased diverted to Outjo.

Speaking to New Era in an interview yesterday, Thomas Herman, the investigator-in charge who compiled a report of the accident for the Ministry of Works and Transport, said: "He was concentrating more on taking pictures and flying became second priority, while his aircraft did not have auto-pilot. The pictures on his camera show that moments before the crash the pilot was flying too low while taking pictures of an elephant in line with a thunderstorm in the distance. Taking pictures while flying this type of aircraft severely affects the ability to maintain a safe flight."

Further, the information obtained on his camera relating to the position of the aircraft to the elephant and the timing show that the pictures were taken during "a lot of steep turns made in close proximity to the ground".

Although Herman could not determine the exact altitude Van Schalkwyk was flying, he said the minimum height allowed to be flown in Etosha is 1 000m.

"He was however flying below 1000 metres while concentrating more on taking pictures. And in the process he lost flying situational awareness," Herman explained.

The aircraft, Herman said, was flying in a steep bank of about 45 degrees and impacted the ground with the right wing first followed by the forward section.

From the last impact the aircraft accelerated 6.3m forward, turned 180 degrees to the direction of flight and came to rest.

"The right wing was destroyed and found detached from the empennage. The forward section was destroyed by the impact, the right main under carriage was damaged and the wheel was found around 40m from the wreckage and because of the wobbling effect the tail section was found broken upward," he said.

The three propellers on the right engine were also found broken off and one piece of the propeller was found around 70m in the direction of flight from the wreckage.

The investigation into the place crash started on March 10 and ended on June 3.

Other shocking revelations were that the camera he used was heavy and can normally only be handled with both hands during a phographic session.

"Which means that the pilot had to leave the flight control column to operate the camera which in turn makes the flying a second priority," the investigator observed.

The investigation also found out that the pilot (deceased) did not hold a micro light pilot licence but merely a private pilot's licence.

There was no reported communication failures between the pilot and the air traffic controller who handled the flight from Eros airport.

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Pilot and passenger killed in light aircraft crash

The plane narrowly avoided crashing onto the M1 in Nottinghamshire by swerving at the last minute. A light aircraft pilot was said to have avoided crashing onto the M1 on Saturday by swerving at the last minute and ditching in a nearby field. The pilot and a second person on board were killed in the accident, which happened near Hucknall, in Nottinghamshire, at about 1.30pm. Craig Wing, from Clifton, Notts, said he was close to junction 27 when he saw the aircraft descend.

“It lost control and it just dipped straight down," he explained. "[The pilot] managed to swerve from the M1 and into the field.”

Mr Wing, who described the aircraft as a glider, added: “I’ve gone straight over to the plane and obviously seen the two people, it was very upsetting.“I had to do what I had to do. I wanted to try and help.”

A Nottinghamshire Police spokeswoman said: "Two men have died after a plane, in which they were travelling, came down in a field.

"Inspectors from the Air Accidents Investigation Branch have been deployed to the scene to commence an investigation."

East Midlands Ambulance Service said there were two casualties. He said: “Frontline staff responded to an incident involving a light aircraft which came down close to the M1 between junctions 26 and 27.

“We received the call at 1.24pm and immediately dispatched a range of resources including specially trained staff from our Hazardous Area Response Team, the Derbyshire Leicestershire Air Ambulance, conventional ambulances, solo responders and incident managers.

“The first resource arrived on scene at 1.30pm. We can confirm that there were two casualties.

“Officers from Nottinghamshire Police and staff from the Air Accident Investigation Branch are now managing the scene.”

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Eurofighter Jet Crashes Near Spanish Air Base

Madrid, Spain:  The Defence Ministry of Spain says an air force combat jet crashed just before a planned landing at a base in southern Spain, killing the pilot.

Ministry spokesman Miguel Morer said the Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft went down Monday at the end of a routine practice flight at the Moron de la Frontera base near Seville.

The ministry said in a tweet that the pilot, Capt. Fernando Lluna Carrascosa, died in the crash close to the end of a runway.

The ministry said the cause of the accident was being investigated.

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Two Military Jets Down, Pilots Safe

This week has seen two seen two military jet crashes, fortunately with no serious injuries. The first, a Marine AV-8B Harrier, impacted in a residential neighborhood in Imperial, California, at 4:20 PDT on Wednesday, destroying three homes and leading to the evacuation of eight others. The pilot ejected safely and was hospitalized for evaluation. The ejection may have been made at low altitude as at least one person reported watching the pilot exit the aircraft. In the second accident, a Navy F/A-18E Super Hornet went down Wednesday at about 10:00 pm PDT during approach for landing on the carrier Carl Vinson during predeployment training off the coast of southern California. The pilot ejected and was rescued from the water. The jet was part of Strike Fighter Squadron 81, based at Naval Air Station Oceana, Virginia.

Investigations into both crashes are underway. The Harrier, a part of the Third Marine Air Wing, was based in Yuma, Arizona and was the second non-fatal crash of a Harrier from the base in a month.CNN reports that a witness to the Harrier crash in Imperial, Shaun Penniman, said, “I heard a pop and a whistle. And right when I looked up is when I saw the pilot eject.”

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