Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled airspace. The primary purpose of ATC worldwide is to prevent collisions, organize and expedite the flow of air traffic, and provide information and other support for pilots.
Palm Beach International Airport is a public airport in Palm Beach County, Florida, located just west of the city of West Palm Beach, Florida, United States, for which it serves as the primary airport. It is also the primary airport for most of Palm Beach County, serving the suburbs and cities of Wellington, Boynton Beach, Jupiter, and Palm Beach Gardens. It is the third busiest airport in the Miami metropolitan area after Miami International Airport and Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport. The airport is operated by Palm Beach County's Department of Airports. Road access to the airport is direct from I-95, Southern Boulevard, and Congress Avenue. The airport is bordered on the west by Military Trail.
On the night of Monday, 1 July 2002, BALBashkirian Airlines Flight 2937, a Tupolev Tu-154 passenger jet, and DHL International Aviation ME Flight 611, a Boeing 757 cargo jet, collided in midair over Überlingen, a southern German town on Lake Constance, near the Swiss border. All of the passengers and crew aboard both planes were killed, resulting in a total death toll of 71.
On December 16, 1960, a United Airlines Douglas DC-8 bound for Idlewild Airport in New York City collided in midair with a TWA Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation descending toward LaGuardia Airport. The Constellation crashed on Miller Field in Staten Island and the DC-8 in Park Slope, Brooklyn, killing all 128 aboard the two aircraft and six people on the ground. The accident was the world's deadliest aviation disaster at the time, and remains the deadliest accident in the history of United Airlines.
The Sullenberger Aviation Museum, formerly the Carolinas Aviation Museum, is an aviation museum on the grounds of Charlotte Douglas International Airport in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Gol Transportes Aéreos Flight 1907 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Manaus, Brazil, to Brasília and Rio de Janeiro. On 29 September 2006, the Boeing 737-800 operating the flight collided with an Embraer Legacy 600 business jet over the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso. The winglet-equipped wingtip of the Legacy sliced off about half of the 737's left wing, causing the 737 to break up in midair and crash into an area of dense jungle, killing all 154 passengers and crew. Despite sustaining serious damage to its left wing and tail, the Legacy landed with its seven occupants uninjured.
A transponder is an electronic device that produces a response when it receives a radio-frequency interrogation. Aircraft have transponders to assist in identifying them on air traffic control radar. Collision avoidance systems have been developed to use transponder transmissions as a means of detecting aircraft at risk of colliding with each other.
The East River Special Flight Rules Area (SFRA), formally known as the East River class-B exclusion, is a section of airspace above the East River in New York City in which flight is permitted under visual flight rules (VFR). Formerly, this could be done without being in contact with air traffic control. Pilots operating within the SFRA are expected to self-announce on a designated frequency of 123.075 MHz, and to maintain appropriate separation visually.
Thai Airways International Flight 311 (TG311/THA311) was a flight from Bangkok, Thailand's Don Mueang International Airport to Kathmandu, Nepal's Tribhuvan International Airport. On Friday, 31 July 1992, an Airbus A310-304 on the route, registration HS-TID, crashed on approach to Kathmandu. At 07:00:26 UTC, the aircraft crashed into the side of a mountain 37 kilometres (23 mi) north of Kathmandu at an altitude of 11,500 ft (3,505 m) and a ground speed of 300 knots, killing all 113 passengers and crew members on board. This was both the first hull loss and the first fatal accident involving the Airbus A310.
US Airways Flight 1549 was a regularly scheduled US Airways flight from New York City, to Charlotte and Seattle, in the United States. On January 15, 2009, the Airbus A320 serving the flight struck a flock of birds shortly after takeoff from LaGuardia, losing all engine power. Given their position in relation to the available airports and their low altitude, pilots Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger and Jeffrey Skiles decided to glide the plane to ditching in the Hudson River off Midtown Manhattan. All 155 people on board were rescued by nearby boats, with only a few serious injuries. The time from the bird encounter to the ditching was less than four minutes.
Jeffrey Bruce "Jeff" Skiles is an airline pilot for American Airlines. On January 15, 2009, he became known globally as first officer of US Airways Flight 1549, when he worked together with captain Sully Sullenberger to land the aircraft on the Hudson River after the plane lost both of its engines. They were widely celebrated as heroes for landing the plane with no loss of life.
Chesley Burnett "Sully" Sullenberger III is a retired American fighter pilot, diplomat, and airline pilot best known for his actions as captain of US Airways Flight 1549 that he ditched in the Hudson River in 2009 after both engines were disabled by a bird strike. All 155 people aboard survived. Sullenberger became an outspoken advocate for aviation safety and has helped develop new protocols for airline safety. He served as the co-chairman, along with his co-pilot on Flight 1549, Jeffrey Skiles, of the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA)'s Young Eagles youth introduction-to-aviation program from 2009 to 2013.
On August 8, 2009, at 11:53 a.m. (15:53 UTC), nine people died when a tour helicopter and a small private airplane collided over the Hudson River near Frank Sinatra Park in Hoboken, New Jersey, United States. The aircraft were in an area known as the "Hudson River VFR Corridor", which extends from the surface of the river to altitudes of 800 to 1,500 ft at various locations along the Hudson River in the immediate area of New York City. Within this corridor, aircraft operate under visual flight rules (VFR), under which the responsibility to see and avoid other air traffic rests with the individual pilots rather than with the air traffic controller.
On 11 August 1979, a mid-air collision occurred over the Ukrainian SSR, near the city of Dniprodzerzhynsk. The aircraft involved were both Tupolev Tu-134As on scheduled domestic passenger flights, operated by Aeroflot. All 178 people aboard both aircraft died in the accident. The Soviet aviation board investigating the accident concluded that the crash was caused by "mistakes and violations" made by air traffic controllers.
ADC Airlines Flight 086 (ADK086) was a Nigerian domestic flight operated by ADC Airlines from Port Harcourt to Lagos. On the afternoon of 7 November 1996, the crew of the Boeing 727-200 operating the flight lost control of the aircraft while avoiding a mid-air collision on approach; the aircraft crashed inverted at a very high speed into a lagoon, killing all 144 passengers and crew on board. The crash remains as the fourth worst plane crash in Nigerian history.
The New York metropolitan area has the busiest airport system in the United States and the second busiest in the world after London. It is also the most frequently used port of entry and departure for international flights. In 2011, more than 104 million passengers used the airports under the auspices of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ). The number increased to 117 million in 2014.
Sully is a 2016 American biographical drama film directed by Clint Eastwood and written by Todd Komarnicki, based on the 2009 autobiography Highest Duty by Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger and Jeffrey Skiles. Tom Hanks stars as Sullenberger, with Aaron Eckhart, Laura Linney, Anna Gunn, Autumn Reeser, Holt McCallany, and Jamey Sheridan. The film follows Sullenberger's January 2009 emergency landing of US Airways Flight 1549 on the Hudson River, in which all 155 passengers and crew survived – most suffering only minor injuries – and the subsequent publicity and investigation.
Why Planes Crash was a documentary TV series based on aviation accidents and crashes. The series was created, named and produced by Caroline Sommers for NBC News. The series premiere on July 12, 2009, featured Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger's miraculous water ditching of U.S. Air Flight 1549 in the Hudson on January 15, 2009, popularly known as "Miracle on the Hudson." Three other ditchings were also featured in this episode: Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961, ALM Flight 980, and Pan Am Flight 6.
The 2021 Colorado mid-air collision occurred on approach to Centennial Airport near Denver, Colorado, on 12 May 2021.
