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The Polaris Award is the highest decoration associated with civil aviation, awarded by the International Federation of Air Line Pilots' Associations (IFALPA) to airline crews in recognition for acts of exceptional airmanship, heroic action or a combination of these two attributes. In extraordinary cases, passengers may also obtain this award for their heroism. These awards are not made every year, but are presented at IFALPA's annual conference.
Year | Captain | First Officer | Other flight crew | Incident | Circumstances |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1983 | Mr Donald W Usher | Mr Melvin E Windsor | Unknown | Air Florida Flight 90 | Rescue helicopter crew |
1984 | Captain Donald S Cameron | FO Claude Ouimet | Unknown | Air Canada Flight 797 | Cabin fire |
1985 | Captain J Gibson | FO G Lintner | FE G Laurin | Reeve Aleutian Airways Flight 8 | L188 Electra propeller loss, and flight controls jammed |
1986 | Captain Hani Galal | FO Imad Mounib | Unknown | EgyptAir Flight 648 | Hijack |
1987 | Captain M Takahama | FO Y Sasaki | FE H Fukuda | Japan Airlines Flight 123 | Decompression and loss of control |
1989 | Captain R L Schornstheimer | FO M L Tompkins | Unknown | Aloha Airlines Flight 243 | Explosive decompression |
1990 | Captain Alfred C Haynes | FO William Records | FE Dudley Dvorak, Captain Dennis E Fitch | United Airlines Flight 232 | Uncontained engine failure, total hydraulics and control failure |
1991 | Captain Anatoly Grischenko | Chernobyl disaster | Helicopter pilot who hovered over the reactor to allow cement to be dropped onto it | ||
1992 | Captain Stefan G. Rasmussen | FO Ulf Cedermark | Scandinavian Airlines Flight 751 | Dual engine failure after takeoff | |
FO Alastair Atchison | British Airways Flight 5390 | Windscreen failure | |||
Captain W C Query | FO Q E Haynes | Atlantic Southeast Airlines Flight 2254 | Mid-air collision | ||
1993 | Captain C Justiniano | Hijack, two successful forced landings | |||
1996 | Captain A Faria e Mello | Paraplegic, wheelchair pilot | |||
Captain B Dhellemme | FO Jean-Paul Borderie | FE Alain Bossuat | Air France Flight 8969 | Hijack | |
1998 | Captain L Abate | Mr M Mekuria | Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961 | Hijack, ditching | |
1999 | Captain U Khan | FO M F Querishi | Hijack | ||
2000 | Captain N Nagashima | FO Ka Koga | All Nippon Airways Flight 61 | Hijack | |
Captain J Yamauchi | |||||
Captain T Higuchi | |||||
Captain H Takagi | |||||
Captain H Nishikata | |||||
Captain Y Iwai | Mr D Sugama | ||||
2001 | Captain William Hagan | FO Richard Webb | FO Phil Watson | British Airways Flight 2069 | BA 2069, attempted hijack by a paranoia panic attacked person |
Captain Jason M Dahl | FO LeRoy Homer Jr. | United 93 | 9/11 attacks | ||
Captain Victor Saracini | FO Michael Horrocks | United 175 | |||
Captain John Ogonowski | FO Thomas McGuinness Jr. | American 11 | |||
Captain Charles Burlingame | FO David Charlesbois | American 77 | |||
2005 | Captain Eric Gennotte | FO Steeve Michielsen | FE Mario Rofail | 2003 Baghdad DHL attempted shootdown incident | Loss of all hydraulics and controls |
Captain I Lyngmo | FO K M Andresen | Kato Air | Lightning strike, elevator control failure | ||
Captain S M Lian | FO K M Andresen | Mr Odd Eriksen, Mr T Frantzen | Kato Air | Attempted hijack | |
Captain J Kurka | FO M Turk | Austrian Airlines | Fokker 70 dual engine failure | ||
2008 | Captain T Arnold | Nationwide Airlines | Engine separated from aircraft | ||
2009 | Captain D McMillan | FO R Haverfield | Eagle Airways Flight 2279 | Attempted hijack | |
2010 | Captain J Bartels | FO B Werninghaus | SO P Tabac | Qantas Flight 30 | Oxygen bottle explosion, rapid depressurisation |
2011 | Captain Richard Champion de Crespigny | FO M Hicks | SO M Johnson, Captain H Wubben, Captain David Evans | Qantas Flight 32 | Uncontained engine failure |
2014 | Captain Malcolm Waters | FO David Hayhoe | Cathay Pacific Flight 780 | Contaminated fuel leading to engine stuck at high thrust setting [1] [2] | |
2017 [3] | Carlos Ferreira, Philip Andre | David Abad | Antonio López-Cerón, Brian Chouza, Daniel Fernández. | Rescues of crews of MV Modern Express and Gure Uxua | Helicopter rescues of shipwrecked crews. |
Avianca S.A., is the largest airline in Colombia. It has been the flag carrier of Colombia since December 5, 1919, when it was initially registered under the name SCADTA. It is headquartered in Colombia, with its registered office in Barranquilla and its global headquarters in Bogotá and main hub at El Dorado International Airport. Avianca is the flagship of a group of airlines of the Americas, which operates as one airline using a codesharing system. Avianca is the largest airline in Colombia and second largest in South America, after LATAM of Chile. Avianca and its subsidiaries have the most extensive network of destinations in the Americas. Before the merger with TACA in 2010, it was wholly owned by Synergy Group, a South American holding company established by Germán Efromovich and specializing in air transport. It is listed on the Colombia Stock Exchange.
The British Airline Pilots’ Association (BALPA) is the professional association and registered trade union for UK pilots. BALPA represents the views and interests of pilots, campaigning on contractual, legal and health issues affecting its members and the flying public.
The Mexican Air Force is the air service branch of the Mexican Armed Forces. It is a component of the Mexican Army and as such overseen by the National Defense Secretariat (SEDENA). The objective of the FAM is to defend the integrity, independence, and sovereignty of Mexico. Its auxiliary tasks include internal security, assisting with public works, and natural disaster management. As of 2024, its commander is Óscar René Rubio Sánchez.
The Air Line Pilots Association, International (ALPA) is the largest pilot union in the world, representing more than 77,000 pilots from 43 US and Canadian airlines. ALPA was founded on 27 July 1931 and is a member of the AFL-CIO and the Canadian Labour Congress. Known internationally as US-ALPA, ALPA is also a member of the IFALPA.
Odd Eriksen was a Norwegian trade unionist and politician for the Labour Party. In addition to his political career he gained national fame after stopping an Algerian hijacker from crashing a Kato Air-flight in 2004.
Nature Air was a regional airline headquartered in San José, Costa Rica that offered a scheduled service to a range of tourist destinations in Costa Rica, Panama and Nicaragua. It operated scheduled domestic and international services, as well as charter services with turboprop aircraft. Its hub, operations and maintenance base was Juan Santamaría International Airport (SJO) having moved in 2013 from its original location at Aeropuerto Internacional Tobías Bolaños (SYQ). Claiming to be the world's first carbon neutral airline, it was one of the first airlines to publicize its sustainability credentials during a period of rapidly-expanding interest in eco-tourism. Nature Air received a number of awards, including a Global Vision Award for Sustainability from Travel + Leisure magazine in 2011. Its fleet consisted primarily of DHC-6 Twin Otter and Cessna 208 Grand Caravan turboprop aircraft that were ideally suited to short takeoff and landing characteristics of its destinations which often featured gravel or limited-paved landing strips. In 2010, Nature Air advertised 74 daily flights to 15 destinations in Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Panama. On 31 December 2017, all 10 passengers and two pilots aboard Nature Air Flight 144 were killed in an aerodynamic stall shortly after takeoff from Punta Islita airstrip. Although the accident was ultimately determined by the NTSB to have been caused by pilot error, Nature Air stopped flying in January 2018 and its operating license was indefinitely suspended by the civil aviation authority of Costa Rica on May 2, 2018 leading to the closure of the airline.
The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines is the civil aviation authority of the Philippines and is responsible for implementing policies on civil aviation to assure safe, economic and efficient air travel. The agency also investigates aviation accidents via its Aircraft Accident Investigation and Inquiry Board. Formerly the Air Transportation Office, it is an independent regulatory body attached to the Department of Transportation for the purpose of policy coordination.
Austral Líneas Aéreas Flight 2553 was an Argentine domestic scheduled passenger flight from Posadas to Buenos Aires. On October 10, 1997, the McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32 that was operating the flight crashed on the lands of Estancia Magallanes, Nuevo Berlín, 32 kilometres away from Fray Bentos, Uruguay. All 74 passengers and crew died upon impact. The accident remains the deadliest in Uruguayan history.
Stefan Gydegaard Rasmussen is a former Danish airline pilot who captained the crash-landing SAS flight 751 on 27 December 1991. There were no fatalities in the crash, and Rasmussen received recognition for his handling of the incident. He entered politics, and served in the Danish Folketing parliament from 1994 to 1996.
Línea Aérea Amaszonas S.A. operating as Amas Bolivia was a regional airline based in Bolivia, headquartered in Santa Cruz de la Sierra with its administrative center in La Paz. It operated scheduled and chartered short-haul passenger flights throughout the northern and northeastern regions of the country as well as to neighboring Brazil, Argentina, Peru, Chile and Paraguay, with its network's hub that was located at El Alto International Airport. It was acquired by NELLA Airlines Group in August 2021 and sold to businessman Luiz Divino in September 2023.
Chesley Burnett "Sully" Sullenberger III is an American retired aviator, diplomat and aviation safety expert. He is best known for his actions as captain of US Airways Flight 1549 on January 15, 2009, when he ditched the plane, landing on the Hudson River after both engines were disabled by a bird strike. All 155 people aboard survived. After the Hudson landing, Sullenberger became an outspoken advocate for aviation safety and helped develop new protocols for flight 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.
Aviateca Flight 901 was a scheduled international passenger flight which crashed into the 7,159-foot (2,182 m) San Vicente volcano in El Salvador on approach to the Comalapa International Airport on 9 August 1995. The accident killed all 65 passengers and crew on board and is the deadliest aviation disaster to occur in El Salvador. An investigation by the Civil Aviation Authority determined that pilot error and air traffic control error in bad weather contributed to the accident.
The Argentine Army Aviation is the army aviation branch of the Argentine Army. Their members have the same rank insignia and titles as the rest of the Army. The Army Aviation Command is based at the Campo de Mayo Military Airfield.
Binter Mediterráneo Flight 8261 on 29 August 2001, is a crash that landed next to the N-340 highway, some 200 meters short of runway 32 at Ruiz Picasso International Airport at Málaga, Spain. The captain reported a fire in the aircraft's port engine to Málaga Air Traffic Control while on final approach. The fire turned out to be a false alarm but, in following the emergency procedures, the First Officer inadvertently shut down both of the aircraft's engines. The plane descended, hitting the airport approach lights, and stopping next to the N-340.
The International Federation of Air Line Pilots' Associations (IFALPA) is an international not-for-profit organization of national aircraft pilot trade unions, known as pilot associations. IFALPA was founded in April 1948 and is based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
The Austrian Cockpit Association (ACA) is a professional pilot organization. ACA is the national member of IFALPA and ECA representing Austrian professional pilots. Main objective is the continuous improvement of aviation safety and security.
LaMia Flight 2933 was a charter flight of an Avro RJ85, operated by LaMia, that on 28 November 2016 crashed near Medellín, Colombia, killing 71 of the 77 people on board. The aircraft was transporting the first-team squad of Brazilian football club Chapecoense and their entourage from Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia, to Medellín, where the team was scheduled to play at the 2016 Copa Sudamericana Finals. One of the four crew members, three of the players, and two other passengers survived with injuries.
Alwyn Gordon Vette ONZM was a New Zealand airline captain best known for his involvement in the Cessna 188 Pacific rescue and his research into the cause of the Air New Zealand Flight TE901 crash. He spent five years in the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) and 55 years as a commercial pilot. Vette was portrayed by Roy Billing in the 1988 miniseries Erebus: the Aftermath, which recounts Vette's research into the cause of the Mount Erebus Disaster; and by Robert Loggia in the 1993 TV movie Mercy Mission: The Rescue of Flight 771, which recounts Vette's experiences piloting Air New Zealand Flight 103.
Cubana de Aviación Flight 972 was a scheduled domestic flight operated by Mexican charter airline Global Air on behalf of Cubana de Aviación, from José Martí International Airport, Havana, Cuba, to Frank País Airport in Holguín, Cuba. On 18 May 2018, the 39-year-old Boeing 737-201 Adv. operating the route crashed shortly after takeoff, near Santiago de las Vegas, 19 kilometres from Havana city centre. Of those on board, 112 died and one passenger survived with critical injuries. There were initially four survivors, but three of them later died at a local hospital. Most of the passengers on board were Cuban nationals, although the crew was entirely Mexican.
LATAM Airlines Perú Flight 2213 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight in Peru from Lima to Juliaca. On 18 November 2022, the Airbus A320neo was taking off from Jorge Chávez International Airport when it collided with a fire engine that was crossing the runway, killing two firefighters and injuring a third, who died of his injuries seven months later. Forty people were injured, 4 serious and 36 minor. The aircraft was damaged beyond repair and written off, making it the first hull loss of the A320neo family.