Category Archives: Air transport

Snow from nor’easter storm leads to canceled flights in north-eastern US

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Meteorologists predicted New York City could get as much as eight inches of snow, with a foot or more possible in Boston

A strong nor’easter storm hit the north-east of the United States overnight on Tuesday, causing airlines to cancel more than 1,000 flights and disrupt the morning work commute for millions.

Meteorologists predicted New York City could get as much as eight inches of snow, with a foot or more possible in Boston. However, warm ground temperatures meant that snow was not yet heavily accumulating in Manhattan.

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Outback Wrangler star Matt Wright faces fresh charges over fatal Northern Territory helicopter crash

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NT WorkSafe has charged the celebrity croc-wrangler and his aviation company Helibrook with ‘reckless conduct for operating unsafe aircraft’

Outback Wrangler star Matt Wright and his aviation company have been hit with a slew of new charges over a fatal chopper crash that killed his co-star.

Chris Wilson plunged to his death in a remote area of the Northern Territory in February 2022 while attached to a helicopter owned by Wright and being flown by pilot Sebastian Robinson.

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Not just luggage: Finnish airline invites passengers to weigh in for flights

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Finnair says trial is voluntary and will help estimate weight of planes’ cargo before takeoff

The words “overweight luggage” have the power to induce a whirlwind of stress and embarrassment for holidaymakers. But one airline is upping the stakes by inviting passengers to step on the scales too.

The Finnish airline Finnair started the voluntary weighing in policy at departure gates at Helsinki airport on Monday with the aim of enabling it to better estimate the weight of its planes’ cargo before takeoff.

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Goose is at center of deadly medical helicopter crash

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All three people on board, including the pilot, a flight nurse and a paramedic, were killed on 20 January in western Oklahoma

A dead goose was found in part of the flight control system of a medical helicopter that crashed in western Oklahoma, killing all three people on board, according to a preliminary report by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

While it highlights the goose’s presence on board, the report stops short of specifying a suspected cause of the deadly crash. The report notes that other geese were found in the debris field left by the wreck.

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Aircraft crashes on San Francisco Bay Area city street, killing pilot

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No one else on board single-engine plane that crashed at busy junction along golf course by Buchanan Field airport in Concord

The pilot of a single-engine plane was killed on Tuesday when the aircraft crashed on a city street near a small San Francisco Bay Area airport, authorities said.

The crash was reported at about 11am at a busy intersection along a golf course adjacent to Buchanan Field airport in Concord, officials said.

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Boeing has ‘much to prove’ following cabin panel blowout, CEO says

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Aircraft maker suspends financial guidance as it grapples with ‘serious challenge’ of winning back trust amid 737 Max 9 crisis

Boeing faces a “serious challenge” to win back the confidence of regulators and airlines, its CEO has said, as the aircraft maker faces intense scrutiny after a cabin panel blowout.

Dave Calhoun acknowledged the business has “much to prove” since a brand-new 737 Max 9 jet was forced into an emergency landing earlier this month.

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Australian air fares halved when three carriers rather than one fly route, data reveals

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Assistant competition minister Andrew Leigh says it is often cheaper to fly from Darwin to Singapore than to Sydney as Labor targets monopolies

Ticket prices are halved when three airlines fly a route compared with a monopoly situation and fares fall further as more rivals are added, according to new findings designed to inform Australia’s competition and merger laws.

The assistant competition minister, Andrew Leigh, will tell a Melbourne audience on Tuesday there are worrying signs that competition intensity has weakened over recent decades, with evidence of increased market concentration and profit markups in several industries.

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Four of six aboard private jet survive crash in Afghanistan

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Rescue teams find charter ambulance flight from Thailand to Moscow after it disappeared from radar screens

Four people are reported to have survived after a private jet carrying out a medical evacuation from Thailand to Russia disappeared from radar screens and crashed in a remote and mountainous area of north-eastern Afghanistan on Saturday.

Russian aviation authorities said two passengers and four crew members were onboard the charter ambulance flight, which was travelling from Utapao airport, near Pattaya, to Moscow via India and Uzbekistan.

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Light aircraft that crashed into ocean off California could be built from kit

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Body of San Francisco woman, 27, recovered near site of crash involving single-engine plane believed to be carrying four people

A plane that crashed into ocean south of San Francisco on Sunday was a light aircraft that can be built from a kit, authorities have said.

Officials also said on Tuesday that they had identified a body that was found in the water near where the Cozy Mark IV plane crashed as a 27-year-old San Francisco resident.

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US-bound plane returns to Tokyo after man allegedly bites flight attendant

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Incident reportedly happened on All Nippon Airways flight with man, 55, arrested after plane brought back to Tokyo

A drunk US man allegedly bit the arm of a flight attendant on a passenger jet headed to Seattle from Tokyo on Tuesday night, forcing the plane’s return to the Japanese capital, according to local reports.

The attack happened over the Pacific Ocean on All Nippon Airways flight 118, Japan’s Kyodo News reported. Crew members restrained a 55-year-old American man accused of biting an attendant on the arm, and police arrested him after the Seattle-bound plane was brought back to Tokyo’s Haneda airport.

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Bonza owners being chased in court for US$30m after leased planes repossessed in Canada

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777 Partners, which launched Australian budget carrier in early 2023, had leased four planes for Flair Airlines in Canada, UK court documents show

The private investment firm poised to take over Everton football club and which owns airlines in Canada and Australia is being chased for almost US$30m (A$44.7m) in unpaid aircraft leasing fees and damages.

777 Partners is facing legal action in the UK from three aircraft lessors over unpaid fees and damages related to four aircraft that were leased to Flair Airlines, the Canadian low-cost carrier that 777 partly owns.

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CEO says Boeing must acknowledge ‘our mistake’ as 737 Max 9 jets are grounded

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Planes await inspection by aviation regulators after panel blowout on Alaska Airlines flight amid heightened safety concerns

Boeing must acknowledge “our mistake”, its CEO has said, after the cabin panel of a 737 Max 9 jet blew off during an Alaska Airlines flight last week.

Dozens of Max 9 planes have been grounded following the incident, awaiting inspection amid heightened concerns around safety. Alaska and United Airlines have since both found loose parts on several jets.

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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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