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Boeing 787 Dreamliner Jet in Air India Crash Was Subject of Conspiracy Theories About Dead Whistleblower — and Battery Problems

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By New York Post. Thursday’s Air India plane crash that killed more than 240 people has brought renewed scrutiny on Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner aircraft — which was at the center of a conspiracy theory following a whistleblower’s suicide last year.

The disaster marks the first time a 787 Dreamliner — Boeing’s newest plane model — has been involved in a catastrophic crash since its debut in 2011.

It’s also the latest disaster to hit the beleaguered American aerospace giant — which has been dogged by a door that blew off a 737 jet, a leaky spacecraft that stranded astronauts on the International Space Station for months, as well as politically damaging delays in outfitting the new Air Force One jets. . .

The Air India jet that crashed on Thursday was built in 2014 and had performed some 8,000 takeoffs and landings, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Despite enjoying a 14-year safety streak, the troubled aerospace giant has seen its Dreamliner suffer from a series of production woes and attention from whistleblowers warning about the massive plane’s assembly.

The issues began in 2013, with Boeing’s fleet of 787s grounded following a series of battery fires flagged by air safety inspectors. (Read more from “Boeing 787 Dreamliner Jet in Air India Crash Was Subject of Conspiracy Theories About Dead Whistleblower — and Battery Problems” HERE)

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Miracle Passenger in Seat 11A Survives Air India Plane Crash That Killed Over 200 People: ‘There Were Bodies All Around Me’

By New York Post. . .A lone survivor walked away from the Air India crash that killed everyone else aboard when the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner went down just 30 seconds after take off.

Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, who was in exit-row seat 11A, says he has “no idea” how he is still alive following the crash at Ahmedabad’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport on Thursday morning.

The British-Indian citizen was found limping in the street amid the wreckage after the passenger plane smashed into a hostel for doctors and their families just moments after taking off, authorities said. . .

“When I got up, there were bodies all around me. I was scared. I stood up and ran. There were pieces of the plane all around me,” the 40-year-old told the Hindustan Times from a hospital bed. . .

Ramesh recalled the horrifying moment the plane began rapidly descending and hitting a doctors’ hostel in a residential part of the city of 5 million in northwest India.

“Thirty seconds after takeoff, there was a loud noise and then the plane crashed. It all happened so quickly.” (Read more from “Miracle Passenger in Seat 11A Survives Air India Plane Crash That Killed Over 200 People: ‘There Were Bodies All Around Me’” HERE)

Delta Plane and Air Force Jet Nearly Crash Over DC Airport Two Months After Catastrophe

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The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is investigating after a Delta Air Lines plane nearly crashed midair with a T-38 Air Force jet Friday near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA), just months after a January collision at the airport claimed 67 lives.

Delta Air Lines Flight 2983, an Airbus A319 headed to Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP), departed its DCA gate at 2:55 p.m. local time and was cleared for takeoff around 3:15 p.m., the FAA and National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) told Fox News Digital.

Meanwhile, four U.S. Air Force T-38 Talons were inbound to Arlington National Cemetery for a flyover, according to the FAA and U.S. Air Force.

The Delta aircraft received an “onboard alert” that another aircraft was nearby, and air traffic controllers issued corrective instructions to both aircraft, according to the FAA.

The NTSB said it was aware of “a loss of separation” between Delta flight 2983 and other aircraft, shortly after takeoff from DCA. (Read more from “Delta Plane and Air Force Jet Nearly Crash Over DC Airport Two Months After Catastrophe” HERE)

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DCA Crash Victims’ Families Slam FAA As Report Identifies 15,000 Near Misses At Airport

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Family members of the victims of the January plane and helicopter crash at Reagan National Airport (DCA) voiced frustrations with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) after a preliminary report found that the airport had 1,500 near misses in the past three years.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)’s preliminary report was presented at Thursday’s Senate Subcommittee on Aviation, Space, and Innovation hearing. Victims’ families and their lawyers argued that the NTSB’s findings suggested the deadly crash was preventable.

“I was surprised at the lapses of safety protocols that led to this crash,” Dailey Crafton, brother of Casey Crafton, who died on the American Airlines jet that was crashed into by an Army helicopter, said after the hearing.

Casey Crafton was one of 67 people who died in the collision between American Airlines Flight 5342 and an Army Blackhawk on January 29.

“Specifically, even since the crash, certain safety measures that could have been simply implemented still have not been. Accountability is still not being taken by parties who should be held responsible,” Crafton said in a statement obtained by the Daily Caller. (Read more from “DCA Crash Victims’ Families Slam FAA As Report Identifies 15,000 Near Misses At Airport” HERE)

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Yikes! Another Plane Crash in Pennsylvania

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Fire and medical crews are responding to a plane crash off Airport Road near Brethren Village in Manheim Township. Lancaster County-Wide Communications dispatchers received reports shortly after 3:15 p.m EDT. that a small aircraft had crashed near a parking lot at Brethren Village. The crash ignited fires involving the plane and multiple vehicles.

LancasterOnline has more:

Emergency crews on the scene reported that a total of five people were injured in the incident. Dispatchers were unable to comment on the extent of the injuries.

Brian Pipkin, a Lititz resident who was visiting Brethren Village at the time of the crash, said he was driving on Airport road when he saw the plane flying low.

“I don’t know what played into it but it veered left,” Pipkin said. “It just nosedived.”

Pipkin said he couldn’t tell if the plane struck a parking lot at Brethren Village or a building. He called 911.

Pipkin said he saw two people laying in the grass nearby, covered in black marks. He wasn’t sure if they were ejected from the plane or not.

(Read more from “Yikes! Another Plane Crash in Pennsylvania” HERE)

Another One: Flight Aborts Landing at D.C. Airport to Avoid Departing Plane

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An American Airlines flight from Boston aborted its landing at Reagan National Airport in Washington, DC, Tuesday to avoid a plane departing from the same runway.

“An air traffic controller instructed American Flight 2246 to perform a go-around at Ronald Reagan Washington National (DCA) Airport to ensure separation was maintained between this aircraft and a preceding departure from the same runway,” the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said in a statement.

American Airlines said the flight landed “safely and normally” and described the move as standard operation to give the plane more time for the other plane to take off.

“American has a no-fault go-around policy as a go-around is not an abnormal flight maneuver and can occur nearly every day in the National Airspace System,” the airline said in its statement.

“It’s a tool in both the pilot’s and air traffic controller’s toolbox to help maintain safe and efficient flight operations, and any assertion that flight 2246’s canceled approach was more than that is inaccurate,” the airline continued. (Read more from “Another One: Flight Aborts Landing at D.C. Airport to Avoid Departing Plane” HERE)

New Information Could Shed Light on What Really Happened in Army Helicopter Crash

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The crew of the Black Hawk helicopter that collided with an American Airlines jet above the Potomac River last month might not have heard important instructions from air traffic control and could have been viewing erroneous flight data, investigators said on Friday.

National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) chair Jenniffer Homendy indicated that the recording taken from the helicopter suggested that the crew could have missed instructions just before the collision.

Investigators are currently analyzing flight data recorders from the helicopter and the airplane, according to The Baltimore Banner.

Homendy further stated that the helicopter was engaged in check flight when one of the pilots was being tested on the use of night vision goggles and using instruments during flight.

NTSB Chair @JenniferHomendy: “17 seconds before impact, a radio transmission from the tower…directing the Blackhawk to pass behind…the portion of the transmission that stated ‘pass behind the’ may not have been received by the Blackhawk crew.”

(Read more from “New Information Could Shed Light on What Really Happened in Army Helicopter Crash” HERE)

Deadly Plane Crash Makes Ominous State History as ‘Item of Interest’ Found at Site

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The remains of 10 people who were in a commuter plane that crashed off the coast of Alaska have been recovered, authorities said Saturday.

“All ten individuals aboard the Bering Air plane have been officially brought home,” the Nome Volunteer Fire Department wrote on Facebook.

Rhone Baumgartner, 46, and Kameron Hartvigson, 41, boarded the flight to Nome after traveling to Unalakleet to work on a heat recovery system servicing the community’s water plant, according to the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, The Associated Press reported.

The pilot killed in the crash has been identified as Chad Antill, 34, of Nome. The other victims, according to the Anchorage Daily News, were Liane Ryan, 52, of Wasilla; Donnell Erickson, 58, of Nome; Andrew Gonzalez, 30, of Wasilla; Jadee Moncur, 52, of Eagle River; Ian Hofmann, 45, of Anchorage; Talaluk Katchatag, 34, of Unalakleet, and Carol Mooers, 48, of Unalakleet. . .

The Coast Guard determined the severity of the wreckage was beyond the possibility of survival but announced an “item of interest” related to the search was recovered.

This was one of the deadliest plane crashes in the state in 25 years. (Read more from “Deadly Plane Crash Makes Ominous State History as ‘Item of Interest’ Found at Site” HERE)

At Least One Dead After 2 Jets Collide on Runway at Scottsdale Airport in Arizona

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At least one person is dead after two jets collided on the runway at Scottsdale Airport in Arizona on Monday afternoon, according to reports.

The accident happened just before 3 p.m. when a Learjet 35A “veered off the runway after landing,” the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement.

It collided with a Gulfstream 200 parked at a nearby ramp, according to AZ Family. . .

Three people were injured in the accident, with two being taken to trauma centers and one in stable condition, Scottsdale Fire Department Captain Dave Folio told reporters, according to the US Sun.

“We are still working on extricating one soul out of one of the airplanes,” he added, explaining that the runway remained an active rescue site. (Read more from “At Least One Dead After 2 Jets Collide on Runway at Scottsdale Airport in Arizona” HERE)

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Alaska Plane That Went Missing Found in Sea Ice With All 10 on Board Dead

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The wreckage of the small plane that went missing flying over Alaska was found Friday on sea ice — with all 10 on board dead, authorities said.

Coast Guard spokesperson Mike Salerno said rescue crews located the plane by helicopter while scouring over the aircraft’s last known location and lowered two rescue swimmers to investigate.

The two swimmers identified three bodies inside the plane, while seven others are believed to be inside the wreckage but were inaccessible due to the condition of the aircraft, the US Coast Guard Alaska said in a statement on X.

The Cessna Caravan carrying nine passengers and one pilot left Unalakleet around 2:37 p.m. Thursday and was headed for Nome, about 150 miles away, but lost contact with officials less than an hour later.


(Credit: USCG)

Wreckage of the missing aircraft was located 34 miles southeast of Nome, officials said.

Officials on Friday said the plane experienced a “rapid loss” in elevation and speed just before vanishing. (Read more from “Alaska Plane That Went Missing Found in Sea Ice With All 10 on Board Dead” HERE)

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Air Traffic Controller’s Reaction to D.C. Collision Revealed in Chilling Audio: ‘Crash, Crash, Crash, This Is an Alert Three’

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Chilling audio from air traffic control captured the moment the flight safety agency reported the horrific midair collision between an American Airlines jet and a Black Hawk military helicopter.

On Wednesday night, American Airlines Flight 5342 collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter, exploding in a fiery impact as it approached Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Washington, DC.

In a recording of air tower communications at the time of the horrific collision, captured by LiveATC.net, an aircraft can be heard calling the tower just seconds after the CRJ700 Bombardier jet carrying 64 passengers and crew got in touch.

(Read more from “Air Traffic Controller’s Reaction to D.C. Collision Revealed in Chilling Audio: ‘Crash, Crash, Crash, This Is an Alert Three’” HERE)