Category Archives: Air transport

Working iPhone found on side of road ‘likely’ fell from Alaska Airlines flight

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Person who found phone posted that it was ‘in airplane mode with half a battery and open to a baggage claim’

The US’s National Transportation Safety Board says it has recovered a working iPhone that “likely” fell from the Alaska Airlines flight that required an emergency landing in Portland, Oregon, over the weekend after a passenger plane’s door panel blew out while midair.

An NTSB spokesperson issued a statement about the phone to the Guardian after the newspaper asked about a social media user’s viral post which described finding the device on the side of the road.

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Design flaws not suspected ‘at this time’ with Boeing Max 9 jets, investigators say

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Boeing faces fresh scrutiny after door panel blows out of brand new plane, leaving a hole ‘the size of a refrigerator’

US aviation investigators were on the ground in Oregon on Sunday trying to figure out what caused a door panel to blow out of a brand new Boeing passenger jet just minutes after takeoff, forcing pilots to make an emergency landing with a hole “the size of a refrigerator” in the side of the plane.

The American jet maker was facing fresh scrutiny as regulators temporarily grounded the Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft after a section of a plugged exit door on an Alaska Airlines flight detached 16,000ft (4,877 meters) above Portland, Oregon, on Friday with 171 passengers and six crew on board. The weeks-old plane had been modified, requiring fewer emergency exits because it had fewer seats.

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US orders Boeing 737 Max 9 planes grounded after Alaska Airlines blowout

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Nearly 200 planes grounded as FAA investigates Saturday flight from Portland, Oregon, in which a cabin panel blew out in mid-air

US regulators have ordered the temporary grounding of 171 Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft following a cabin panel blowout late Friday that forced a brand-new airplane operated by Alaska Airlines to make an emergency landing.

“The FAA is requiring immediate inspections of certain Boeing 737 MAX 9 planes before they can return to flight,” said Mike Whitaker, a Federal Aviation Administration administrator, on Saturday. “Safety will continue to drive our decision-making as we assist the NTSB’s [National Transportation Safety Board] investigation into Alaska Airlines Flight 1282.”

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Ryanair ticket sales hit after travel agent websites delist airline

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Carrier says such sites only account for ‘small fraction’ of its bookings but move has affected load factor

Ryanair has said that it has seen a drop in the number of tickets it has been able to sell after a number of major online booking websites stripped the budget carrier’s flights from their listings.

Europe’s largest airline said that in early December “most” of the larger online travel agent sites – including Booking.com, Kiwi and Kayak – “suddenly removed Ryanair’s flights from sale on their websites”.

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Japan jet crash: passenger plane was cleared to land, say officials

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Smaller plane on runway was not cleared for takeoff, however, say authorities as investigations begin

A passenger jet that collided with a coastguard plane at Haneda airport in Tokyo had been given permission to land, but the smaller plane was not cleared for takeoff, Japanese authorities have said, as police reportedly prepared to investigate whether the crash involved professional negligence.

Five people on the coastguard aircraft died but all 379 passengers and crew escaped to safety down emergency slides minutes before the Japan Airlines Airbus was engulfed in flames on Tuesday.

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Five dead after horrific runway crash at Tokyo airport leaves jet in flames

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Hundreds evacuated from burning passenger jet after collision with coastguard plane at Haneda airport

Five crew members on a coastguard plane were killed and 379 people forced to evacuate a burning Japan Airlines jet after a horrific collision on a runway at Haneda airport in Tokyo.

JAL flight 516, an Airbus A350, was engulfed in flames soon after landing as it struck the smaller coastguard aircraft waiting to deliver aid to the earthquake-hit Noto peninsula.

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Six-year-old boy put on wrong flight from Philadelphia to Florida

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Spirit Airlines sent boy to Orlando instead of Fort Myers, leaving his grandmother to drive 160 miles to pick him up

A six-year-old boy boarded the wrong airplane last week, making a holiday trip look more like a Home Alone sequel in Philadelphia.

Spirit Airlines placed Casper on the wrong flight on Thursday, making his first flight one to remember. His grandmother was expecting him to arrive in Fort Myers, Florida, but instead he landed in Orlando.

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Man flies from Denmark to Los Angeles with no passport or plane ticket

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Sergey Ochigava, who had Russian and Israeli identification, faces felony charges of being an aircraft stowaway

A Russian man who flew on a plane from Denmark to Los Angeles in November without a passport or ticket told US authorities he didn’t remember how he got through security in Europe, according to a federal complaint filed by the FBI. He has been charged with a federal crime.

Sergey Vladimirovich Ochigava, 46, arrived at Los Angeles International Airport on 4 November via Scandinavian Airlines flight 931 from Copenhagen. He initially told authorities he had left his passport on the airplane which he flew on. A US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer could not find Ochigava on the flight manifest or any other incoming international flights, according to the complaint filed 6 November in Los Angeles federal court.

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UK’s Christmas getaway traffic will peak earlier than usual, AA predicts

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Friday 22 and Saturday 23 December expected to be the busiest days on the roads

Festive getaway traffic is expected to peak earlier than normal this year as Christmas Day falls on a Monday.

The AA predicted that Friday 22 December and Saturday 23 December will be the busiest days on the UK’s roads in the festive period.

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Saudi Arabia could take ‘effective majority control’ of London Heathrow

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Investors may sell shares to oil-rich state’s Public Investment Fund, which already owns a stake, report says

Saudi Arabia could take effective majority control of London Heathrow, the UK’s major airport, with other investors considering selling their stakes, according to reports.

The oil-rich state’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) allied with private equity investor Ardian to announce the purchase of a 25% stake in the airport last month from Ferrovial, the Spanish infrastructure giant that had been the primary owner of Heathrow for 17 years.

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Alaska Airlines to buy Hawaiian Airlines in deal that may face regulator scrutiny

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Deal for $1.9bn, which includes $900m in Hawaiian Airlines debt, would keep both airlines’ brands

Alaska Airlines said Sunday it agreed to buy Hawaiian Airlines in a $1.9bn deal, including debt, putting it on track for a potential clash with a Biden administration that has shown wariness about higher fares in the industry.

The combined company would keep both airlines’ brands, rooted in the nation’s 49th and 50th states. Alaska will pay $18 in cash for each share of Hawaiian, whose stock closed Friday at $4.86 after losing just over half its value in the year so far.

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Cumbria police declare major incident after heavy snowfall

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Drivers urged not to make unnecessary journeys as cars stuck in traffic and some roads impassable

Cumbria police have declared a major incident and warned against unnecessary journeys after heavy snowfall on the county’s roads, as freezing conditions hit the UK.

Police said a “multi-agency response” is under way, with reports of cars stuck in traffic and some roads in the South Lakes area impassable due to the snow.

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Legal dispute rages over unsolved C$24m gold heist at Toronto airport

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Airline and armoured car company locked in bitter lawsuit over who is to blame for one of Canada’s largest ever heists

A brazen gold heist at Toronto’s main airport, in which thieves seized nearly C$24m ($17m) worth of gold bars and cash, is still unsolved after more than half a year.

But the airline and armoured car company that handled the cargo are now locked in a bitter lawsuit over the theft, with each saying the other is to blame for one of Canada’s largest ever heists.

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Search for camera operator and pilot resumes after mid-air plane crash over Victoria’s Port Phillip Bay

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James Rose identified as the passenger on board a Viper S-211 Marchetti jet that crashed into the water

Police and air crash investigators have resumed their search for a pilot and a TV camera operator whose aircraft crashed into the water off Melbourne’s Mornington Peninsula.

James Rose, 30, and a pilot were on board one of two light Viper S-211 Marchetti planes conducting a formation flight that collided mid-air about 1.45pm on Sunday.

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Cargo plane forced to return to New York after horse escapes from crate

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Boeing 747 cargo plane turns back after horse becomes untethered in flight and pilot says ‘We cannot get the horse back secured’

A cargo plane heading for Belgium was forced to return to New York City after a horse escaped from its crate on board.

The horse became loose on the Boeing 747 cargo plane within 30 minutes of the plane’s initial takeoff, according to the audio clips from air traffic control that were reconstructed on YouTube, ABC News reported.

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How a small airport in rural Colorado became a landing pad for the rich

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Private jet travel is booming – and community members living near airports say they are bearing the brunt

It was just before noon on New Year’s Day when PJ Breslin reached her limit. As she angrily typed out a letter to the editor of the local newspaper, the roar of yet another jet aircraft drowned out her thoughts and rattled the windows of her home office.

“It’s insane to even contemplate that many private jets flying into one small location!” wrote Breslin, who has lived in the western Colorado town of Rifle for more than 25 years. “Jets owned by the wealthy, entitled, third-home owners and fake environmentalist celebrities, who have zero idea of their impact on the valley and the planet, much less their neighbors. Nor do they care.”

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Suspected bomb on Panama City flight actually a diaper, police say

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Officials removed passengers on Copa Airlines aircraft bound for Florida and identified diaper as cause after emergency inspection

A Copa Airlines aircraft bound for Tampa, Florida, from Panama City turned back following a suspected bomb threat and the 144 passengers on board were disembarked, but the scare turned out to be a false alarm, authorities said on Friday.

Officials carried out an emergency inspection of the aircraft, and identified a disposable diaper for adults as the object that prompted the scare, the Central American country’s police said on X, formerly Twitter.

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Seagulls force Venice’s Marco Polo airport to close briefly

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A number of flights delayed or redirected after unusually large number of birds ‘invade’ the runway

Venice’s Marco Polo airport has been forced to close briefly after an unusually large number of seagulls “invaded” the runway, leading flights to be delayed or redirected.

Various tools were deployed to ward off the gulls on Friday morning, including a falconer and an acoustic deterrent, according to Save, the airport’s management company.

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Armed police surround plane at Stansted airport after security alert

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Unconfirmed reports say flight from Nairobi, which was diverted from Heathrow to Stansted, was intercepted by RAF fighters

Armed police have surrounded a Kenyan Airways flight at London Stansted airport after a security alert.

The Boeing 787 from Nairobi was due to arrive at Heathrow this afternoon but was diverted to Stansted in Essex 45 minutes before its expected arrival.

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BA and Virgin Atlantic suspend all flights between UK and Israel

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Airlines make decision for safety reasons as MPs and families call on UK to evacuate nationals from Gaza

British Airways and Virgin Atlantic have suspended all flights between the UK and Tel Aviv in Israel, as countries around the world scramble to evacuate citizens amid the mounting crisis.

BA earlier had to divert a flight to Tel Aviv back to the UK because of security concerns, and said it took the decision after “the latest assessment of the situation”.

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