The 0B2945 flight from Blue Air and the "shock and horror" from the Romanian press

Today a news "shock and horror" circulated through the Romanian press. It announced that "a Blue Air company plane was at a disaster near Catania, lost altitude, was down, and the pilots finally managed to recover the plane and decided to land in Palermo."

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Reading the news, I saw that "Shock and horror" announced by the Romanian publications were not found in the reality of the facts.

It is normal for passengers to relate what they want and how they want, but people in the media should also check on official channels. It is not a common area, and a misused term can cause panic among people, image damage to airlines, etc.

But this happens when the news is written without careful documentation. The flight after the sensational remains the only concern of some reputable publications in Romania. Sin!

Flight 0B2945 from Blue Air

From what we noticed, the Blue Air flight 0B2945, from the route Bacău - Catania, went smoothly until close to landing at the airport in Sicily. Strong winds, severe turbulence and shear winds caused the pilots to cancel the landing procedure in Catania and divert the plane to the reserve airport, the one in Palermo.

Go-around

For those who are not familiar with the terms "go around" and crosswind landing, I invite you to read about them.

Given that the Catania airport is a step away, it is normal for passengers to see the water when the plane lands at this airport. Due to the strong wind, the descent slope may have been higher than the normal one, but it was not about stopping.

It is normal for the aircraft to reach low altitude above the water, and in this case the procedure was also aborted landing, the plane was later diverted to Palermo.

incident-zbor-0B2945-blue-air

And a comparison between the Blue Air approach yesterday (4 January 2018) and the RYANAIR approach today (5 January 2018) when landing in Catania. Do you find something strange at altitude, speed?

comparatie-abordare-aterizare-catania
Thanks Joe Mate!

So it was not a technical malfunction, it was not a pickup, an aircraft that was out of control, etc. Not! It was just the application of normal procedures in such weather conditions.

The passengers panicked because they do not know what is outside, do not know what the pilots do, plus the discomfort created in the plane, but everything was in accordance with the procedures, the proof is that everything ended well.

As a press man, when you want to write news about such situations, it is enough to open flightradar24.com and to monitor the parameters of the flight concerned, to see the flight path and to see that no anomalies have been recorded. It is good to ask the opinion of the airline, plus the opinion of a specialist, plus to be informed about some terms in aviation. SIMPLE!

Last autumn, a Wizz Air flight, which was operated on the route Bucharest - Catania, had a similar fate. Press "shock and horror" did not miss the moment to sow panic.

Blue Air official position!

Dear passengers,
Due to adverse weather conditions, the Blue Air 0B2945 flight that today departed from Bacau to Catania was forced to make a stop at Palermo Reserve Airport, where the 126 passengers and the 6 crew members landed safely. .

The exact cause of the Boeing 737 aircraft having to stop its flight was mainly the strong wind gusts with the shear phenomenon, as well as severe turbulence near the airport.

Immediately after the end of these weather phenomena, the aircraft continued its flight to Catania, where it took over the passengers of the return flight Catania - Bacău.

Once again, we would like to underline the commitment of Blue Air which, in such situations, manages to keep its promise in front of the passengers and to transport it safely to its destination.

At the same time, as a result of various interpretations in the press regarding the landing of flight 0B2945 Bacău - Catania, the Blue Air company is forced to point out the following extremely important aspects:

- at no time during the flight, the safety of passengers and crew was endangered.
- the aircraft was not and did not declare an emergency landing / state of emergency / emergency situation.
- the approach to Catania took place according to standard procedures, without any deviation, and the commander, experiencing unfavorable weather conditions, decided to interrupt the landing procedure and redirect to Palermo Reserve Airport.
- the aircraft is in optimal technical condition for flight and has not experienced any technical or other defects during flight or landing. At this moment, the aircraft is in flight, with passengers flying from Catania to Bacău.

We ask you, with immediate effect, to correct any erroneous information relating to crashes, alert status, exceptional condition, technical problems, emergency or forced landing, sudden loss of altitude, injured passengers - elements that seriously damage our image and which obviously distorts the truth.

The year 2018 I hope will bring less "shock and horror" in the Romanian press and more correct information, presented with a sense of responsibility and documented. We may have made some slips in the past, but we have always sought to provide official, real information, without speculation and without forming opinions based on uninformed statements…

Clear skies and smooth flights!

9 Comments
  1. Bibilotul says

    In fact, all media people are good at aeronautics… I've found this in the last two decades. I don't know why I'm still trying to bring an argument for building the situation…? Probably because I was an aviator ...? Who believes me?!? Credible are the "sensational". However, I want to tell the alerted people, who panicked due to the lack of information, that the crew acted very professionally and did not endanger the passengers. Some air turbulence, shear currents and coastal effects can NOT be detected by radars on board the aircraft. There is a certain risk, which is true, but it exists and we must assume it since we want to travel in a very short time over long distances… Let the aviators do their job, as they were instructed and do not throw invectives at them..I ask for peace of all !!!

  2. Alex says

    That part with "SIMPLE!" made me laugh. What you say is true, but unfortunately many journalists out of the desire to be the first do not respect the rule of the 3 sources.

  3. Ion says

    Maybe if the crews were trying to communicate more with the poor living on board .. no such stories would come out.
    Something like "it's windy and we can't land here." Otherwise it is worth the reputational risk created.

    1. Sorin Rusi says

      During the procedures, I think it is difficult to communicate in real time. Pilots are focused on procedures. After landing, the crew may announce and reassure the passengers. But it is true that more communication is needed, and here the press can play an important role, but not the "shock and horror"

  4. Andrew says

    Isn't -768 fpm a lot though? I don't think passengers were in danger, but it was certainly a high degree of discomfort from a sharp descent plus gusts of wind.

    1. Sorin Rusi says

      There was definitely some discomfort. We do not criticize or judge passengers. There are people who panic about flying and when the weather conditions are the best… But the people in charge of the press should be more attentive to the terms used in their news.

  5. Hincu Victor says

    Mr. Sorin Rusi, you are right when you say that there are passengers who panic easily at any small turbulence. I remember an IAS-OTP flight when the aircraft went through a larger plane. Several passengers panicked and began to say prayers. For me it was nothing crazy, considering that some flying experiences in less favorable weather conditions.
    Unfortunately, we do not only have responsible journalists. Everything is commercial and only panic titles and "soap bubble" items sell.

    1. Sorin Rusi says

      We don't judge passengers. It is normal and natural for everyone to perceive the flight from a personal point of view… But the Persian should be responsible for educating the masses and informing them as correctly as possible…

  6. Nicolae Crefelean says

    "Panic in the air" - another recent nonsense, on the same topic, broadcast by a national television station.
    https://www.facebook.com/nicolae.crefelean/posts/1535685769858770:0

    They didn't jump the horse with who knows what blooms, except that the first word was panic, which is an obvious lie for all the passengers. The plane had a normal flight, almost without any turbulence (and those minor ones), it just needed to make an unplanned stop.

    Unfortunately, more and more "sensationalists" are coming to the press, and their bosses do not think they just allow it, but probably encourage them or make them willing to do so. Otherwise it is impossible to persist this journalistic style. If they were expelled or penalized I would not see such articles. So it's intentional.

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