Henan Airlines crash

Hardly has the dust settled down on the crash of Aires Airlines B737-700 on San Andres Island on August 16 when another aircraft accident occurred on August 24 Tuesday in Yichun City, Heilongjiang Province in China. The aircraft is an E-190 jet operated by Henan Airlines, and on the time of the accident, carried 91 people aboard. Initial reports stated that more than 40 people were rescued from the crash which occurred at 10:10 PM. The plane departed from Harbin, the provincial capital of Heilongjiang. The news reported the aircraft was on fire after the crash and a thick fog blanketed the airport. The cause of the accident is now being investigated.

Aires Airlines crash

Nothing on TV captures my attention more forcefully than the news about an airplane crash. And so it was on August 16, Monday when I heard the Aires airplane crash, the aircraft splitting into three sections upon landing on the runway. The news described it as a miraculous incident, saying only one person died, an elderly woman, who died not because of direct injury due to the crash but because of a heart attack. Of the 130 persons on board, 120 were injured, but fortunately alive. The plane took off from Bogota and landed on the San Andres Island Resort in Colombia.

I wanted to know the immediate cause of the crash and the news mentioned that the plane was struck by a lightning, but the pilot was able to expertly land the plane though it split into three. How the lightning affected the flight would be a matter of conjecture at this moment. There are many airplane incidents of lightning strikes and it would be informative if we are to review its history. Stay tuned for updates.

Remembering the Defiant 300 aircraft



Remembering the name



Aeroscope March 1989

 I have posted here the article I wrote for Aeroscope Magazine in March 1989, one year after the Defiant 300 aircraft prototype successfully flew in February 1988, that was 22 years ago. Capt. Panfilo V. Villaruel Jr., was the pilot; he's also the project director who later became the chief of the former Air Transportation Office (ATO) then went on to head the Philippine Aerospace Development Corporation (PADC). He was involved in the NAIA Tower incident and was killed during the takeover. As far as his contribution to developing the local aircraft design and construction, Captain Villaruel's legacy remains as one of the most outstanding feats in the field of Philippine aeronautical engineering.

I was one of a group of young Filipino aeronautical engineers who were imbued with the idealistic notion that we could help develop the local aircraft manufacturing industry in the country by building an aircraft prototype of our own design. Well, we did build it and the Captain did fly it but we're still nowhere on the road to establishing the local aircraft manufacturing base. Here's the saga of the Defiant 300 aircraft.

Welcome Aboard

This is Flight 101. Welcome aboard to the wonderful world of flight.