Tough course. One of the hazards is landing aircraft.

Golfers at Sandown got a shock yesterday morning after a light aircraft came down on land next to Sandown Golf course. Fire crews were called to the scene after reports that the craft had crash landed shortly after 10 oclock yesterday morning.The microlight had made a false landing in scrubland between the Golf Course and Sandown Airport.The pilot is said to be unharmed and was walked back to the airport shortly afterwards.

via Pilot Escapes Injury After False Landing | #IW Radio News | News – Isle of Wight Radio.

Turtles but no mention of hares

Image via Wikipedia

Runway 4 Left at Kennedy International Airport was closed for more than an hour on Wednesday morning. The cause: turtles on the runway.

Specialists from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey removed about 100 diamondback terrapins from the runway around 10 a.m., said John P. L. Kelly, a Port Authority spokesman.

More via NYTimes.com.

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“In the unlikely event of a water landing…”

It started as a 1930s Boeing Stratoliner, owned by Howard Hughes. The tail and wings were cut off to transform it into the houseboat it is today, dubbed Cosmic Muffin and based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

via 12 Amazing Houseboats & Floating Homes | WebEcoist.

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Let’s see now…which one of these thingies makes this thing fly?

India’s fake pilot scandal began unravelling when a female captain landed her packed airliner on the nose instead of the rear wheels as she touched down in the holiday hotspot of Goa…

The case set alarm bells ringing for passengers, anxious about the idea of a semi-trained fraud being responsible for their lives, and for airline bosses, who have been hiring crew at a furious pace in recent years.

via Yahoo! News.

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• Faked Airline-Pilot Records Prompt India to Review Licenses (businessweek.com)
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Seems like every critter in Oz is out to kill you, one way or another

Image via Wikipedia

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau has reported that a twenty seat aircraft was forced to return to the Brisbane Airport when pressure sensitive instruments failed shortly after takeoff. Turns out that the instruments were full of inch-worm caterpillars.

via  News.com.au.

Tennis, anyone?

via  Cracked.com.

F4U pulled from Lake Michigan

An F4U, lost in a training accident in Lake Michigan in World War 2, has been pulled from over two hundred feet of water and is remarkably intact after 70 years in the water. Lake Michigan was used for training pilots to land on aircraft carriers and accidents were common. There are still around 80 aircraft on the bottom of the lake.

Video at this link.

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• World War II Aircraft Wreckage Pulled From Lake Michigan (chicagoist.com)

Crocodiles and planes don’t mix

Image via Wikipedia

A stowaway crocodile on a flight escaped from its carrier bag and sparked an onboard stampede that caused the flight to crash, killing 19 passengers and crew.

The croc had been hidden in a passenger’s sports bag – allegedly with plans to sell it – but it tore loose and ran amok, sparking panic.

A stampede of terrified passengers caused the small aircraft to lose balance and tip over in mid-air during an internal flight in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

via News.com.au.

Related Articles

• This Exists: Crocodile On Airplane Kills 19 Passengers (mediaite.com)
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Bah! Humbug!

Source unknown but looks photoshopped

Maybe not the best PR photo

Posting a photo of one of your planes broken in two and burned to a crisp on your homepage is generally not one of the steps in the airline public relations expert’s damage control plan, but Henan Airlines, which saw 42 of its customers die on Tuesday when one of their Embraers crashed in China, has done exactly that.

More via  NYCAviation.com

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• China Plane Crash: Henan Airlines Plane Overshoots Runway (blippitt.com)
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Thank you for flying US Airways. There is a $10 fee for extra maggots.

In what must be one of the strangest airline cancellations ever, a US Airways flight from Atlanta to Charlotte was not allowed to take off after maggots began dropping onto a passenger from an overhead bin. Airline officials traced the maggots to rotten meat in a bag in the bin.

via Maggots ground plane | Quirky News | Orange UK.

How do you not notice a 54 foot tall statue?

Indira Gandhi International Airport has a new runway 29/11, commissioned in August 2008. Runway 29 is the end cleared for Category III Landing in foggy conditions, making it one of most modern in Asia.

But while the runway is technically 14,000 feet long, only 8,500 feet is available for aircraft landing from the 29 end, probably owing to a massive 54 feet (four storey) Shiva statue which sits on the flight path.

This means all flights land almost 2 km after the runway actually starts, forcing the pilots to use full brakes and reverse thrust to slow down in time for the turn off.

via Lord Shiva threatens Delhi runway.

It can’t be any harder than piloting a Flying Saucer, right?

An unruly passenger who banged on the cockpit door of a SkyWest flight and claimed he was a space alien was arrested after the plane made an emergency landing Sunday in Idaho Falls…

…  Pocatello TV station KPVI reported he told flight attendants he was a space alien and wanted to fly the plane.

More via  Deseret News.

“…flight attendants get into fistfight…” (You can’t make this stuff up.)

A flight from Rochester, N.Y., to Atlanta was canceled on Thursday after two flight attendants got into a fist fight, YNN Rochester reported.

via NYPOST.com

According to an airline spokesman, “The acts described are not acceptable.”  Really? Sounds like more fun than 6 peanuts and a half a Coke.

No, Ma’am. That’s not rats on the plane. It’s sea otters.

If you fly a lot, you’re no stranger to delays. Usually, it’s weather. Sometimes, it’s mechanical. Sometimes, it seems like there’s no reason at all.But on Tuesday, a group of passengers on a Continental flight had a good – albeit unusual – reason for their delay: otters.

No joke. Sea otters.The furry critters caused an 80-minute delay for a Columbus-bound flight at Houston’s Bush Intercontinental Airport.The flight was supposed to leave at 7:55 p.m., but the otters had other plans.Passengers were told the otters were in the cargo area, and somehow they escaped their cages.

More at  khou.com | Local News.

Now this is a school “bus”

Children on a remote Scottish island are to take what is believed to be the world’s shortest flight to and from school. The plane journey from Papa Westray to Westray in the Orkney Islands takes just 96 seconds, covering just over a mile, reports the Daily Telegraph.

Six teenagers will have to take the Loganair service to Westray Junior High after the local ferry service was suspended.

via Ananova – Children take ‘world’s shortest flight’ to school.

Hey, what does this yellow handle doooooooo

[A] novice flier instantly shot through the jet’s perspex canopy and was blasted 100 metres into the sky by the rocket-powered emergency chair [when he accidentally pulled the ejection seat handle]. Experts said the man was lucky to escape unharmed following the bizarre incident, which happened on Wednesday in South Africa.

It is thought he activated the ejector seat after lurching forward during an aerobatic manoeuvre and accidentally pulling on the black and yellow emergency handle between his legs.

via Telegraph.

And just think what they’ll save on toilet paper

A Japanese airline is asking passengers to visit the lavatory before boarding in an attempt to reduce carbon emissions. All Nippon Airways (ANA) says empty bladders mean lighter passengers, which means lighter aircraft and lower fuel use.

The airline will position staff near the boarding gates in terminals to ask passengers waiting for their flight to relieve themselves before boarding the aircraft.

It hopes that the weight saved will lead to a five-tonne reduction in carbon emissions over the course of a month, reports the Daily Telegraph.

via Ananova – Airline asks passengers to ‘go’ before flying.

Flying the decidedly unfriendly skies

Pilots and cabin crew have come to blows on an international flight bound for India, media reports say. The scuffle is said to have begun as an argument in the plane’s cockpit over claims of sexual harassment but spilled into the galley, startling passengers.

One pilot and one air hostess suffered bruises, as punches were thrown.

The incident took place over Pakistan on an Air India flight from the United Arab Emirates to Delhi, with 106 passengers and seven crew on board.

via BBC NEWS | South Asia

It’s usually not a good thing when your flight crew gets into a fist fight while in the air.

Watch out for flying splinters…and lumber

A Chinese farmer with only a basic school education has made his own helicopter out of wood. Wu Zhongyuan, 20, of Luoyang, in central China’s Henan province, took nearly three months to complete his home-made aircraft.

He says he used his memories of middle school physics lessons to make the machine which he claims can fly up to a height of 800 metres.

“I didn’t have a design,” he said. “The only source for me to get relevant knowledge was surfing the internet via my mobile phone.”

The blades are made from an elm tree, the engine is from a motorcycle and the frame is reinforced with steel pipes, reports Dahe Daily.

More at  Ananova – Farmer’s home-made helicopter

Why am I skeptical about this thing?

UPDATE: The Chinese government has grounded him.