Gregory Polek has spent his entire career in aviation journalism with AIN, starting as a proofreader and assistant to then-managing editor Mary Mahoney in 1995 after serving an internship with&nbsp;New Jersey Monthly&nbsp;magazine and completing his B.A. degree in English/Writing at New Jersey’s William Paterson College. By 1997 Polek accepted a position as an associate editor, covering the regional airline beat for&nbsp;Aviation International News&nbsp;in place of retiring industry veteran Don Anderson. The assignment took Polek across North America and Europe to profile regional airlines varying in size and mission from the likes of floatplane operators Kenmore Air and Chalk’s Ocean Airways to regional jet operators such as SkyWest and American Eagle. Today, in his dual role as Air Transport Editor and International Airshow Editor, Polek writes, edits, and manages AIN’s commercial aviation content while overseeing each of the company’s daily international air show publications in Paris, Farnborough, Singapore, and Dubai. Most recently Polek has assumed oversight of daily coverage of the Helicopter Association International’s annual Heli-Expo convention.

Senior Editor

Gregory Polek

Korean Air has started a special safety audit of its Airbus A330 fleet, three days after the second incident involving the airline's widebody fleet occurred&nbsp;in a week. The latest case saw one of the airline’s A330-300s headed to Sydney, Australia, return to Seoul on Sunday after one of its Pratt &amp; Whitney PW4000-series turbofans malfunctioned during the airplane’s climb, prompting the pilots to shut down the engine.

 


A week earlier, on <a href="https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/air-transport/2022-10-24/korean-air-a330-suffers-major-damage-during-overrun-cebu" target="_blank">October 23</a>, a Korean Air Airbus A330-300 overran the runway at the Philippines’ Mactan&nbsp;Cebu International Airport during heavy rain, causing severe damage to the forward fuselage.&nbsp;All 162 passengers and 11 crew members on board survived the crash after Flight KE631 from Seoul&nbsp;executed two separate go-arounds due to weather conditions, but the airplane sustained major damage as the front of the airplane tipped forward onto its nose, shearing off much of its underbelly. According to FlightRadar24, the aircraft struck an instrument landing system lighting array before coming to rest about 300 meters beyond the runway.

 


Korean Air told South Korea’s Yonhap news agency that it will remove from service 24 A330s in phases, the first of which underwent inspection on Tuesday.

 


The latest cases add to a fairly long list of Korean Air accidents and incidents over the years, including a 1997 crash that killed 228 people and the 1999 crash of a Korean Air Cargo Boeing 747 in which all four crewmembers died. Thankfully for Korean Air, it has suffered no further fatal accidents since then, although in September one of its Boeing 777-300ERs clipped the tail of an&nbsp;Icelandair Boeing 757-200 on the ground at&nbsp;Heathrow Airport, resulting in no injuries.

News about significant aircraft accidents and information from accident reports.

Korean Air Launches Special Safety Audit of A330 Fleet Following Recent Incidents

An engine problem on Sunday involving a Korean Air Airbus A330 followed a runway overrun involving another of Korean Air’s A330s on October 23. 

Korean Air Launches Special Safety Audit of A330s

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News and information on safety procedures and concerns.

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