Are planes crashing because recession hit airlines are skimping on maintenance? Beware!

You probably all know of today's Caspian Airlines crash .

A Russian-made Iranian airliner crashed and exploded in farmland 75 miles northwest of Tehran today, killing all 168 people aboard, after an apparent engine fire.

The Tupolev 154M of Caspian Airlines came down near the city of Qazvin about 15 minutes into the flight bound for Yerevan, Armenia. The crash was the third involving an Iranian Tu154 in seven years.

People on the ground said that the Caspian jet, a later version of the medium-range Soviet workhorse of the 1970s, descended with fire coming from one of its three tail-mounted engines. The pilots appeared to be looking for a landing spot and had lowered the undercarriage when it suddenly plunged, gouging a long trench, and exploded.

This is the third major crash in the last month.

Air France flight 447 came down Sunday 010609 over the Atlantic ocean. The black box has not been recovered and there were questions about the Air Speed Sensors, indeed their fleet of Air Buses had them speedily replaced.

Air France replaces speed sensors

Air France has said it is accelerating replacement of speed monitors on Airbus planes following the disappearance of a jet over the Atlantic six days ago.

It said it had noticed problems arising from icing on the monitors last year and had begun changing them in April.

There has been speculation that faulty data on the old-type sensors may have caused the crash of the Rio de Janeiro-Paris flight with 228 people on board.

Investigators say that sensors on board the missing Airbus 330 were providing "inconsistent data" in the minutes before it went missing.

On Monday the 29th of June, communication with Yeminia Flight IY626 was lost shortly after it had made one attempt at landing at Moroni International airport. The aircraft then came down into the sea resulting in the death of 153 people. The airline was strongly condemned by Airbus and French officials for the poor servicing of the plane. Although this was refuted by Yemenia:

Yemenia 'may cancel Airbus order'

The airline Yemenia has said it may reconsider an order for 10 Airbus A350s because it has received "no support" from the manufacturer.

Yemenia chairman Abdul Khaleq al-Qadi said Airbus had jumped to conclusions after the crash of a Yemenia plane off the Comoros Islands last week.

Without any proof, he said, Airbus had told the media the crash was the result of technical problems.

The Comoran community in France held protests in both Paris and Marseille, saying that the 19-year-old aircraft had not been fit for service.

And the French Transport Minister Dominique Bussereau on Friday said that Yemenia was "under strict surveillance", and would have to make "big efforts" to avoid being placed on an EU blacklist of airlines banned from entering Europe.

Yemenia, however, says that bad weather - strong winds and high seas - was the more likely cause of the crash of flight IY626.

I cannot recall such a tragic succession of air crashes. It makes me think that the recession is biting hard on airlines. For some, especially for the lesser carriers, cutting back on the stringent but costly maintenence required might be one way of saving a bit of cash.

Just something to think about if you're booking a flight in a developing country, or with a less popular airline.

I would spread the word too. Just in case!



[edit on 15-7-2009 by kiwifoot]

Yeah, good post. It seems lately planes have just been falling out of the sky.

reply to post by A.M.L.


The fact that the black box from Air France crash is really interesting.

Although it did go down in deep water, it is still quite convenient that technical issues cannot be ruled out.

I my be a bit paranoid, but if I were planning a trip in Africa, South America or Asia, I'd take major international airlines to the country, then I'd take the train.

reply to post by kiwifoot


There's another thread on the topic of the Air France crash:

Two A330 airspeed and altitude incidents under NTSB scrutiny


Instead of posting the same news I'll let you go to that thread!

Aircraft have to have certificate of airworthiness for so many hours flown or for a period of time, these conditions would be followed to the letter by all major airlines otherwise they would not be able to fly in international airspace.

However, if you are flying an internal flight or even a flight that traverses two countries that have turned a blind eye to these rules, on your head be it, needless to say corruption is rife, and licences, and certificates can be fabricated, or in some cases ignored.

I do remember hearing of the Russians grounding their military planes from flying due to magnetic disturbances when the first one went down over the Atlantic. I also know the planes aren't the only public transportation having issues.

You guys remember back when the FAA was doing all that stuff for the non safe planes?

Ever wonder what the hell the New World Airport commission is all about?

I had a dream about a year ago that planes were going down left and right. One went down where I was, then I went to check the national news and there were airplanes going down everywhere, all at the same time and same day. Dozens of planes all going down at the same time.

When was all this taking place?

I have 6 flights in 9 days starting September 12th, I wonder what that does to my odds.

Yeah, I've noticed an increase in reported incidents, and it's an interesting theory about the current economic state influencing the upkeep/maintenance norms.

Here's hoping Air Canada and BMI are not included.

Maybe there isn't a marked increase, I have no idea what the norms are, maybe it just seems like I hear more because I come to ATS.

Dunno.

In the U.S. I think we have a problem less with maintaining aircraft, as compared to overworked, (AND REALLY) underpaid flight crews. But I fly a lot, often overseas. The things I've seen would chill you to the bone. Western airlings do a pretty good job. Any rusty link in the chain can of course be a disaster. The recent Iranian aircraft accident, my guess would be multiple system and group failure. Add to the fact the TU aircraft that crashed would have had to be a minimum 20plus years old, I don't know if the Russians even make parts for them any more. The TU-144 is a brazenly stolen copy of our old 727.

Long ago, like most Russian aircraft, they were built with very good rough take off/landing capacity. It could almost take off on a gravel road.

Originally posted by kiwifoot

I cannot recall such a tragic succession of air crashes. It makes me think that the recession is biting hard on airlines. For some, especially for the lesser carriers, cutting back on the stringent but costly maintenence required might be one way of saving a bit of cash.

Just something to think about if you're booking a flight in a developing country, or with a less popular airline.

I would spread the word too. Just in case!

[edit on 15-7-2009 by kiwifoot]

Actually, I wouldn't be too quick to assume that a flight in a developing country, or a less popular airline has a higher percentage of crashing, that is if I made the right connection in your post.

While it might be true that in this current recession, the aviation industry has taken a dump, but during these times I find it more likely for the "big guys" to take more cuts and drastic measures due to the huge workforce and fleets that they have to manage and maintain. Now, not considering accidents for a moment, many major carriers have been in financial trouble lately needing drastic cuts and bailing out, whereas the lesser carriers seem to have less trouble adjusting amid the global downturn.

However, this is based on speculation. Just thought it might be worth mentioning that it isn't necessary to "spread the word" and a sense of worry and danger in flying low carrier and from less developed areas.

But back to the main issue, there has been many planes dropping out of the sky lately. This year alone I have already lost count. It is devastating for an aspiring pilot like myself to hear so much devastation in such a short period of time. RIP to those all.

I noticed today that there were 13 airplane incidents reported to this site (Link) in the last seven days.....just in the U.S. alone! The types of airplanes vary greatly, but it still seems a bit out of the ordinary. Twelve of these were in the past three days.

[edit on 7/16/2009 by Tunatarian]

[edit on 7/16/2009 by Tunatarian]

You know I posted a thread about VHF and UHF frequencies being used for RFID and so now they are using the analog frequencies for RFID so I wonder if that has anything to do with it. Maybe the new world order and the new world airport commision will come from failing aircrafts.

Originally posted by Tunatarian
I noticed today that there were 13 airplane incidents reported to this site (Link) in the last seven days.....just in the U.S. alone! The types of airplanes vary greatly, but it still seems a bit out of the ordinary. Twelve of these were in the past three days.

yea no kiddin. considering you mentioned that was in the US alone. there has been a couple here in asia the past few days also. yesterday, a fighter jet in taiwan went down after a training mission. going a little OT here but ive noticed there seems to been an increase in the number of fatal helicopter incidents too.

There have been alot of plane crashes this year, or it seem like there have been more than usual. I was wondering the same thing earlier today, does this have something to do with the downturn in the global economy?

I sure hope not, hopefully this is just a series of coincidences.

Originally posted by moonwalk

Actually, I wouldn't be too quick to assume that a flight in a developing country, or a less popular airline has a higher percentage of crashing, that is if I made the right connection in your post.

While it might be true that in this current recession, the aviation industry has taken a dump, but during these times I find it more likely for the "big guys" to take more cuts and drastic measures due to the huge workforce and fleets that they have to manage and maintain. Now, not considering accidents for a moment, many major carriers have been in financial trouble lately needing drastic cuts and bailing out, whereas the lesser carriers seem to have less trouble adjusting amid the global downturn.

However, this is based on speculation. Just thought it might be worth mentioning that it isn't necessary to "spread the word" and a sense of worry and danger in flying low carrier and from less developed areas.

What I said wasn't a slight on developing nations.

But it can safely be said (without fear of being poitically incorrect) that there is a higher rate of accidents and crashes in countries that are developing and lack the regulations that govern most western countries with regards to flying.

I think my mate dan steely says it best in a post above:

However, if you are flying an internal flight or even a flight that traverses two countries that have turned a blind eye to these rules, on your head be it, needless to say corruption is rife, and licences, and certificates can be fabricated, or in some cases ignored.

As for spreading the word, it's not about panic, but protecting your loved ones.