Thierry’s son was on the plane that caught fire in Montreal: “They were stuck for five hours without receiving food or water”

Launched at more than 200 km/h, a plane finally decides not to take off: “The most terrifying moment of my life”

Hundreds of passengers stranded since Friday in Namibia

Another air incident involving Belgians occurred on Friday evening departing from Windhoek, the capital of Namibia. Several hundred passengers from Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany are still stuck at the airport due to a technical problem with a Discover Airlines plane, a subsidiary of the German company Lufthansa.

The passengers, who still have no prospect of a return flight to Frankfurt, reported their misfortune to the Dutch media De Telegraaf anonymously, for fear of not being able to benefit from a return option to Europe.

Finally, an Etihad Airways plane had to abort its takeoff at the last moment on Sunday evening at Melbourne airport, Australia, due to technical problems, Australian media report. Emergency braking at more than 200 km/ha caused the failure of two tires and the release of smoke. None of the plane’s 289 passengers were injured.

The Etihad Airways Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner was scheduled to take off from Melbourne to Abu Dhabi Airport. One of the passengers described the maneuver in question as the “most terrifying moment” of his life, according to Australian news channel 9News. “We were convinced we were going to die.”

The airline apologized and reiterated that the safety of passengers and staff has always been the top priority. Since the plane could not be moved immediately, the airport had to make do with a single runway for a while, causing flight delays.

These incidents are added to a long list following the crash of a Boeing in Kazakhstan at the end of the year which left 38 dead. A few days later, a passenger plane crashed in South Korea. It was a Boeing plane carrying 181 people. Only two crew members survived. A collision with a bird may have caused the accident during landing.

“Don’t give in to psychosis”

No question, however, of giving in to psychosis, as Philippe Touwaide, federal mediator for Brussels National Airport, explained in our columns. “The number of accidents worldwide, however, remains stable compared to other years. There have been several accidents with small planes due to human error but this remains insignificant compared to the total number of flights recorded this year.”