The Annual Safety Review 2021 by the Directorate of Civil Aviation looks back at incidents reported to authorities last year.
The only accident that occurred was a hot air balloon that caught fire above Consdorf on 14 August. The aviation authority mentions one injury, however emergency services at the time reported three passenger injuries in total.
The report underlines that aviation accidents leading to serious injuries or fatalities are very rare in Luxembourg, adding however that ballooning is the sector most affected by such accidents (a serious injury in 2012, fatal accident in 2013, and another serious injury in 2021). The other affected activities are parachuting and paragliding, with one serious injury reported for each in 2018.
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There were also three ‘serious incidents’ reported in 2021, luckily resulting in no injuries.
On 22 March, a Boeing 747 in Dubai reported smoke development from the windshield heater.
In Zhengzhou, China, the engine of a Boeing 747 caught fire on 28 July, but the aircraft landed safely.
And lastly, a Pilatus PC12, a single-engine turboprop aircraft, suffered a rapid loss of altitude and speed in an abrupt manual maneuver as a result of bad weather. This occurred on 20 October in Brive-Souillac in France.
The report does not mention the airlines affected, but Cargolux operates Boeing 747s out of Luxembourg and flies regularly to these two destinations.
Despite a partial recovery in 2021 following the global pandemic, air traffic at Luxembourg Airport remains 22% below 2019 levels, yet 15% higher than in 2020.
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