Latest news with #mayday
Yahoo
7 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
A United Airlines flight made an emergency landing last week at Dulles after the pilot reported engine failure
A United Airlines flight traveling from Washington Dulles International Airport made an emergency landing last week after the pilot declared a mayday call shortly after takeoff due to suspected engine failure. United flight 108, bound for Munich, Germany, was forced to return to Dulles on July 25 'to address a mechanical issue,' the airline told CNN. The plane, a Boeing 787, was carrying 219 passengers and 11 crew members, the airline said. Minutes into its ascent and at nearly 5,000 feet, the pilot told air traffic control, 'Engine failure, left engine, United 108 declaring an emergency. Mayday, mayday, mayday,' according to recorded air traffic control audio. Mayday calls signal distress or urgency when an issue has happened aboard an aircraft. An air traffic controller asked the pilot, 'Are you able to make your way back to the field at this time' by turning right. 'There's nobody between you and the field,' the controller said. Data from flight tracking site Flightradar 24 showed the flight took off at 8 p.m. before it circled back and landed safely at Dulles about 30 minutes later. In a statement to CNN, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority said the plane was checked by Airports Authority Fire and Rescue personnel, then towed to a gate. 'There was no disruption to other flights,' MWAA said. 'The plane landed safely, and all passengers deplaned normally at the gate. The flight was subsequently canceled and we arranged alternate travel arrangements to take customers to their destination as soon as possible,' United said in its statement. Solve the daily Crossword
Forbes
7 days ago
- General
- Forbes
United Airlines Pilot Declared ‘Mayday' On Recent Flight—Nothing Unusual, Say Experts
A United Airlines pilot issued a mayday distress call after the Boeing 787 he was flying experienced engine failure shortly after taking off from Washington's Dulles airport for Munich on July 25, though 'mayday' calls are not unusual in aviation—letting air traffic controllers know when a flight needs priority handling. A United Airlines Boeing 737 airplane like this one suffered engine failure last month after taking off from Washington DC's Dulles airport. (Photo by Robert Alexander) Getty Images The flight 'returned to Washington Dulles shortly after takeoff to address a mechanical issue,' United Airlines confirmed in a statement shared with Forbes, adding that the plane landed safely, all passengers deplaned normally and the flight was subsequently canceled. 'Mayday' when repeated three times 'indicates imminent and grave danger and that immediate assistance is requested,' according to the Pilot/Controller Glossary published by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). 'That's by the book, exactly how it's to be done,' John Cox, aviation safety expert and retired commercial airline pilot, told Forbes of the United incident, adding that giving the mayday call tells air traffic controllers 'you need priority and to start moving airplanes away from you.' United Airlines flight 108 from Washington to Munich was operating a Boeing 787 with 219 passengers and 11 crew members on board, when one of the aircraft's two engines failed. 'Can the airplane fly just fine on a single engine? Yes, but that is something where you want to divert and get back on the ground,' Chad Kendall, an associate professor and FAA chief instructor in the Department of Aviation and Aerospace Science at Metropolitan State University of Denver, told Forbes. Pilots train repeatedly throughout their career for engine failure, multiple veteran pilots told Forbes. Air traffic controllers are used to 'mayday' calls, Cox told Forbes. 'And it's even more normal outside the U.S.' How Often Do Commercial Pilots Declare 'mayday'? 'Most of the public has probably seen a movie where there is a pilot in very dire straits using 'mayday, mayday, mayday,' but in terms of pilot training this is a phrase to convey the type of handling and resources from air traffic control that they need in a situation,' Kendall told Forbes. At least one other United Airlines flight issued a 'mayday' distress call last month, when a Boeing 737 on its way from Chicago O'Hare airport to Sarasota, Florida, on July 17 turned around after experiencing a mechanical issue, according to tower audio captured by Flight Follower. 375,000. That's the number of hours of operation per average turbine engine failure, according to the FAA. That translates to roughly one engine failure every 43 years of continuous flight. What Other Distress Calls Do Pilots Use? 'PAN-PAN,' repeated three times, 'indicates uncertainty or alert followed by the nature of the urgency,' according to the FAA's Pilot/Controller Glossary. 'PAN PAN is used in a lesser event, often for a mechanical issue that does not require urgency,' Kendall said. For example, in May, shortly after takeoff from New York's John F. Kennedy airport, a Lufthansa Airbus A340 crew reported that one of the aircraft's four engines failed while over the Atlantic, approximately 120 miles southeast of Boston. The pilot issued a 'PAN-PAN' distress call and requested to return to JFK, where it landed safely. Surprising Fact 'Mayday' comes from 'm'aidez,' which means 'help me' in French. The term 'PAN-PAN' originates from another French word, "panne,' which means "breakdown" or "failure." Both distress calls were adopted internationally in 1927. Further Reading Nervous About Flying? Here's How Aviation Safety Experts Mitigate Their Own Air Traffic Concerns (Forbes)
BBC News
01-08-2025
- BBC News
Sailor dies after going overboard yacht off Guernsey coast
A 72-year-old man has died off the Guernsey coast after he went overboard from a yacht, the coastguard has Coastguard said it had received a broken mayday message at about 03:35 BST from a sailing vessel about 15 miles (24km) north-west of vessel in the area relayed messages and it was established the sailor had entered the water and could no longer be seen, it Peter Port lifeboat, Channel Islands Air Search and a helicopter from the French coastguard were launched and the man was found at 05:45. He was flown to Cherbourg Hospital but later pronounced dead, authorities said. The coastguard said Channel Islands Air Search had initially found an object in the water and directed the lifeboat crew to object was found to be a man overboard marker deployed shortly after the sailor had entered the harbour master James Way said: "I would like to praise the efforts of the search and rescue crews during this incident and our thoughts are with the family and friends of the deceased at this difficult time."
BBC News
23-07-2025
- General
- BBC News
Donegal: Three people rescued from sinking fishing vessel
Three people have been rescued after their fishing vessel began taking on water off the coast of County Donegal in the Republic of before 8:00 local time on Wednesday, a mayday call was received by Malin Head coastguard, the Department of Transport has said.A nearby fishing vessel responded to the distress call near Glengad and successfully rescued all three individuals from the stricken coastguard, the Sligo-based coastguard helicopter rescue 118 and the Lough Swilly RNLI were all dispatched to the scene. In a post on social media, Lough Swilly RNLI said the vessel had already sunk its three crew had been recovered from a life raft by a nearby fishing were then transferred to the Greencastle coastguard boat and brought to Bunagee Pier, where they were assessed by an ambulance crew.
The Independent
23-06-2025
- The Independent
Flight issues ‘mayday' call after almost running out of fuel during diversion in India
The pilot of an Indian passenger jet was forced to issue a 'mayday' call after almost running out of fuel, according to Indian media reports. IndiGo flight 6764 left Guwahati in the northeastern state of Assam at 4.40pm on Thursday and was heading for Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu in southern India, where it was due to arrive at 7.45pm. The plane failed to land at Chennai, however, and was instead sent to Bengaluru in the neighbouring southern state of Karnataka, 300km away from its intended destination, where it landed at 8.15pm. All 168 passengers were deboarded safely, with no injuries reported. Accounts of the reason for the diversion differed, with news channel NDTV quoting an IndiGo spokesperson as saying it was due to 'bad weather'. 'The flight was scheduled to arrive in Chennai at about 7.45pm, but due to bad weather in Chennai, it could not land. The pilot opted to divert the flight to Bengaluru, but realised they ran out of fuel. So, he alerted the airport with a mayday call," the spokesperson was quoted as saying. The Indian Express reported that the pilot was denied landing at Chennai International airport because of air traffic congestion, which led the pilot to divert the aircraft to Bengaluru. 'Since the flight did not receive clearance to land at Chennai due to congestion and was flying at low fuel, the pilot announced a fuel mayday as per the protocol, and the aircraft was diverted to Bengaluru. The Bengaluru Air Traffic Control (ATC) gave a priority landing, and the flight landed safely at 8.15pm,' a source from IndiGo told the newspaper. 'Contrary to some reports, the pilot did not announce a mayday, instead a fuel mayday, which is different. Post landing, passengers were deboarded without reported injuries and were given refreshments at the airport, as per protocol.' According to a report by the Times of India, the pilot attempted a 'go around' after the landing gear touched the runway, and made the 'mayday call' when it was around 56km from Bengaluru's Kempegowda International airport. Citing a source, the newspaper reported that the aircraft appeared to have an 'unstabilised approach'. Several sources at the ATC confirmed to the Times of India that the pilot did not attempt a second approach at Chennai and flew to Bengaluru. The Independent has reached out to IndiGo for comment. The aircraft was refuelled at Bengaluru and finally took off with a new crew and all passengers at around 10.24pm, since the crew's flight duty time had lapsed by then. The passengers finally arrived in Chennai at 11pm. India's aviation sector has been under intense scrutiny in recent weeks amid a series of safety and operational incidents that have raised serious concerns. Earlier this month a London-bound Air India flight crashed shortly after take-off in Ahmedabad, killing 241 people on board and at least 29 on the ground. Days later, the airline was issued a stern warning by India's aviation safety watchdog over breaches of pilot duty‑time regulations during long‑haul flights. On Friday, passengers from two Air India Express flights landed in Patna to find that their baggage had not arrived. Recently, an IndiGo flight arriving in Raipur from New Delhi was delayed on the tarmac after a door malfunction left passengers trapped onboard for nearly 40 minutes. According to data shared by India's civil aviation ministry, private airlines in India reported 268 instances involving technical issues with aircraft over the 13 months leading up to January 2025. IndiGo – India's largest airline by market share – accounted for 118 of these incidents, while Air India reported 66.
