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Aer Arann: On 11th August, ATR-72-500, EI-REP operating the RE-3721/EI-3721 from Manchester to Cork on behalf of Aer Lingus Regional discovered it could not retract the landing gear after departure. The crew elected to return to Manchester where the aircraft landed on runway 23R without incident some 20 minutes after departure. The flight was subsequently cancelled and the passengers rebooked onto a later Aer Lingus flight to Dublin and transferred to Cork by bus.

Air Canada: On 5th August Airbus A330-343, C-GHKR, operating flight AC869 from Heathrow to Toronto diverted to Dublin with a sick passenger on board. Although the aircraft, landed at a weight in excess of its maximum landing weight, this was achieved without incident and the aircraft was able to resume its journey with only minimal delay. Air Canada has also been using its Boeing 777 on the normal Toronto-Dublin scheduled service beginning 3rd August in lieu of the normal 767 and that day C-FIUF operated the ACA894/5 as well as on the 5th. Another Air Canada type to visit since our last issue was the Airbus A319-112ET, two examples of which, C-GITP and C-GITR, were forced to make a fuel visit while operating Air Canada’s Heathrow-St John’s scheduled service. The ACA823 stopped due to adverse winds on the Atlantic on the 15th and 16th July respectively.

Air France: Frustration is reportedly building within Airbus over Air France's and cockpit union SNPL's public claims that the stall alarm on flight AF447, (the Airbus A330-203, F-GZCP which crashed into the Atlantic on 1st June 2009), activated in a manner which would have confused the A330's crew. The controversy follows the publication of another Interim Report on 29th July by the French Accident Investigation Bureau (BEA) which focuses on a recommendation that according to the BEA "corresponds to the functioning of the stall warning in a situation where the airplane reached an extreme angle of attack that is never encountered in flight tests, or even considered". The interim report made 10 recommendations in total. Air France has defended the pilots saying that the stall warnings were misleading after the BEA said they ignored repeated stall warnings and failed to follow procedures. The BEA added that the pilots had not been trained on a procedure known as "Unreliable IAS (indicated airspeed)" or on manual aircraft handling at high altitudes. The call for extra training may however comfort union leaders who have denounced what they see as a rush to blame the Air France pilots after the first black box read-out in May. Of the three pilots: 58-year-old flight Captain Marc Dubois had approximately 11,000 flight hours, including 1,700 hours on the Airbus A330 while the two first officers, 37-year-old David Robert and 32-year-old Pierre-Cedric Bonin, had over 9,000 flight hours between them. Sadly, although 154 bodies have been recovered 74 remain to be accounted for. Amongst these are two of the three Irish victims and it could take weeks or even months before all of the recovered bodies can be identified.

Air Southwest (Eastern Airways): On 8th August, De Havilland DHC8-311, G-WOWB operating Air Southwest's flight SZ-466 from Newquay to Glasgow was forced to divert to Dublin. While enroute over the Irish Sea near Dublin, the crew reported they had a seriously cracked windshield on the captain's side with burning evident and arcing of the windshield heating element. Unfortunately, the cracking continued to expand while the aircraft was on approach to Dublin. The aircraft with 24 passengers and three crew on board landed without incident on Dublin's runway 28 at 18:20. Later that evening an Eastern Airways Jestream 4, G-MAJC arrived as the EZE016P to pick up the stranded passengers who finally reached Glasgow with a delay of four hours. G-WOWB departed as the EZE59DN on the 10th.

Air Transat: The Canadian Transportation Safety Board has confirmed that Air Transat Airbus A330-342, C-GTSO operating flight TS-232 from Toronto to Dublin with 314 passengers on board, lost the tread of a left main gear tyre during the takeoff run from Toronto's runway 06R causing damage to the tyres and to the aircraft itself. While a routine inspection of the runway detected a tyre tread and small pieces on the runway between D1 and D3 taxiways and although the airport identified Air Transat as one of the operators of flights departing that evening, flight 232 was not identified as one of the possible flights. With the damage undetected, the flight continued to Dublin, where the aircraft performed a seemingly routine and safe landing. At the gate, tyre No. 1 (left main gear outboard forward tyre) was found deflated and missing its tread, tyres No. 2 and No. 5 remained inflated but showed some damage. Secondary damage was found at an under wing panel, the landing gear fixed door and trailing flap. The damage to the wing panel resulted in two punctures through the honey comb material, one about 6 cm (2.5 inches) and the other 4 cm (1.5 inches) in diameter. While the Irish AAIU dispatched one investigator to the scene it has said that any investigation will be conducted by Canada's TSB. The return flight TS-233 was initially cancelled and the 314 return passengers were accommodated in Dublin and financially compensated for the delay. Their ‘relief flight’ operated by A330-342, C-GKTS eventually reached Toronto with a delay of 38 hours. Some parts for C-GTSO were flown to Dublin from Hamburg on 17th July on City Line Hungary Antonov An-26 HA-TCO, but due to a lack of ground support equipment at Dublin, the aircraft was ferried Dublin-Shannon on 18th as TSC080. It finally departed Shannon at 18:00 (local).

American Airlines: On 31st July, Boeing 767-323, N360AA operating flight AA-92 from Chicago O'Hare to Dublin with 224 people on board encountered a technical problem described as "a flight control bug". It was on approach to Dublin and descending to 3,000 feet when the crew advised ATC of the problem and levelled off at 5,000 feet and entered the hold. Although there was a full call out of the fire and rescue service, the crew advised ATC that the aircraft would make a normal landing. The aircraft left the hold after about 20 minutes and landed on runway 28, vacating the runway without incident and taxied directly to the apron with the emergency vehicles in attendance.

Cityjet: On 20th July, a Cityjet Fokker 50, OO-VLS operating flight WX-5240/AF-5240 on behalf of Air France, from Antwerp to Manchester, was forced to return to Antwerp when the crew received a cargo fire indication while in the initial climb out of Antwerp. The aircraft landed without incident and the attending emergency services could find no trace of fire, heat or smoke. The flight was cancelled.

Flybe: On 9th August, an unidentified Flybe De-Havilland Dash-8-400Q made a precautionary landing at Belfast City Airport after reporting technical problems. The aircraft, enroute from East Midlands Airport with 41 passengers and five crew on board, was making its approach just before 19:00 when the pilot alerted air traffic controllers to a possible problem. The Sydenham bypass, which runs alongside the airport, was closed for a time and Ambulances and twelve fire appliances were sent to the scene. An airport spokesman said it was a merely a precautionary measure to have the emergency services on stand-by and when the aircraft landed safely the road was re-opened.

Ryanair: On 4th August, Ryanair Boeing 737-8AS, EI-EMI operating flight FR-4342 from Palermo (Sicily) to Bologna elected to divert to Rome Ciampino Airport when a passenger reported that smoke had emitted from an overhead light. The aircraft with 121 passengers and six crew, was enroute at FL250 over the Tyrrhenian Sea about 80nm southwest of Rome at the time of the diversion and landed without incident at Ciampino's runway 15 about 18 minutes later. A replacement aircraft EI-DAI took the passengers to Bologna with a delay of around three hours. The airline confirmed that a small amount of smoke had originated from a reading light.

Further a field: Italy's Agenzia Nazionale per la Sicurezza del Volo (ANSV) reports that on 5th July, an Alitalia Airbus A320-216, EI-DTL operating flight AZ-2019 from Milan Linate to Rome Fiumicino was forced to divert to Pisa when weather conditions at Fiumicino prompted a fuel emergency. Although the aircraft had entered a holding area near Perugia about 60nm north of Rome and had continued to a position about 20nm south of Rome, it was forced to abort the approach at FL100 due to poor weather conditions at both Fiumicino and Rome Ciampino Airports. After spending some 30 minutes waiting for the weather to improve the crew decided to divert to Pisa where the aircraft landed without incident some 50 minutes after its scheduled arrival time in Rome. The aircraft departed Pisa and finally reached Fiumicino with a delay of around three hours. The ANSV rated the occurrence as a serious incident and has initiated an investigation. Belarus' emergency ministry reports that on 29th July, EI-DZH, a Rossiya Boeing 767-3Q8 (ER), operating flight FV-6830 from Rhodes in Greece to St. Petersburg in Russia was forced to divert to Minsk in Belarus. The aircraft with 287 passengers on board was enroute at FL360 about 150nm south of Minsk when the crew shut the right hand engine (CF6) engine suspecting an engine failure. However, according to preliminary investigation results, the right hand engine had suffered fuel starvation. The aircraft landed without incident at Minsk and two replacement aircraft were dispatched to Minsk to take the passengers to St. Petersburg. In another incident involving an engine shutdown on 7th August, EI-CXO, a Blue Panorama Boeing 767-3G5 operating flight BV-7712 from Holguin to Havana and onwards to Milan Malpensa, had to shut down a PW4060  engine due to loss of engine oil pressure while enroute. The aircraft continued on and landed without incident at Havana. While the passengers were taken to a hotel in Havana and rebooked onto an Air Italy flight to Rome the following day with connecting flights from Rome to Milan, the aircraft was still on the ground in Havana a week later. Finally, correcting an item from last month, the incident involving Boeing 737-36E, EI-DVA of Mistral Air operating flight 7M-1804 was on 4th July not 7th July as stated.