Today I have read two stories that mention a name that has been in the headlines recently; That name is Air France. Air France has had "two" reported near incidents or Technical Problems. Now, the 'real' difference is that the aircrafts involved in these cases aren't Airbus (British-France jointly manufactured), but rather Boeing airplanes. La de da?

Well, here are the incidents; Check them out for yourselves:

Incident: Air France B744 near Paris on Jul 2nd 2009, technical problem
By Simon Hradecky, created Friday, Jul 3rd 2009 19:18Z, last updated Friday, Jul 3rd 2009 19:32Z

The crew of an Air France Boeing 747-400, registration F-GITA performing flight AF-84 from Paris Charles de Gaulle (France) to San Francisco,CA (USA), declared emergency and circled in northern France at FL200 for about 2 hours and subsequently returned to Paris Charles de Gaulle. The airplane landed safely 2:35 hours after departure.

Air France said on their Website, that the airplane returned due to a technical incident.

A replacement Boeing 747-400 registration F-GITH departed Paris as flight AF-84A with a delay of 23 hours.

The Aviation Herald contacted Air France via e-mail early today, followed up with a phone call to the press office in late afternoon about 12 hours later, but was refused a comment on phone and was promised a statement via e-mail for coming Monday.

If you have been passenger on the flight, please contact the editor via the contact form.


Source: http://avherald.com/h?article=41c1e740&opt=0

2.

Incident: Air France B773 at Santo Domingo on Jul 2nd 2009, engine or airconditioning failure
By Simon Hradecky, created Friday, Jul 3rd 2009 18:50Z, last updated Friday, Jul 3rd 2009 19:02Z

An Air France Boeing 777-300, registration F-GSQS performing flight AF-493 from Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic) to Paris Charles de Gaulle (France) with 200 passengers, was about 30 minutes into the flight, when the crew reported problems with an engine. The airplane returned to Santo Domingo, where the airplane landed safely about 75 minutes after departure.

The passengers were brought to local hotels, the flight is currently scheduled to depart Santo Domingo again with a delay of 26 hours.

Air France Offices in Santo Domingo reported, that there was no engine problem, but a problem with the air conditioning.


Source: http://avherald.com/h?article=41c1e272

Ok, both these "occurrences" were urgent enough to require these airplanes to return to their point of origin. Air France is either on a roll, or it's trying to spread the blame.

Vive la Difference!

Stay tuned!