Years after the plane disappeared with 239 people on board, experts are still unsure where it crashed or why
On 8 March 2014, Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 left Kuala Lumpur for Beijing and never landed.
Since then, the most expensive underwater search in history has failed to find it, and authorities are no closer to figuring out why, 40 minutes into what should have been a six hour flight, MH370 diverted and flew towards the southern Indian Ocean with 239 people on board.
Continue reading...Passengers describe ‘huge bang’ followed by evacuation of Vienna-bound flight
Flights were temporarily suspended at Stansted airport after an aborted takeoff by a Vienna-bound plane on Friday evening.
A spokesman for the Essex airport said the incident had happened shortly after 8pm and that all passengers had been safely evacuated. The runway was reopened around three hours later.
Continue reading...Alicante airport is likely to be worst affected, says consumer group Which?
British tourists to Spain could face airport queues of five hours or more after a no-deal Brexit, according to analysis by Which?, and the consumer group suggests travellers should take food, water and even nappies to survive prolonged delays.
Alicante airport, which serves Benidorm and other Costa Blanca resorts, is likely to be the worst-affected airport, and Which? said visitors to Tenerife, Lanzarote and Málaga were also facing “life in the slow lane”.
Continue reading...Police given powers to stop and search and use warrant to access drone electronic data
Flying drones will be illegal within five kilometres (3.1 miles) of airports after ministers decided to widen the no-fly zone to try to prevent a repeat of the chaos at Gatwick.
The enlarged zone will come into force from 19 March ahead of new drone legislation, which will give police new powers to stop and search those they believe are misusing the devices and a power to access electronic data stored on a drone with a warrant.
Continue reading...Lufthansa is suing a traveller over a loophole that many are using to get cheaper flights to popular destinations
Airlines are cracking down on a ticketing loophole that can knock thousands of pounds off the cost of travel – but the fight back is only giving more publicity to the advantages of “hidden city” travel.
At its most simplistic, hidden city ticketing is when a passenger purchases a ticket to less popular and thus cheaper destination that happens to be routed through a more popular, and thus pricier hub destination, and gets off there, skipping the last leg of their journey. Anyone can do it, providing you travel only with carry-on luggage.
Continue reading...Authorities yet to confirm if remains are those of missing footballer or pilot David Ibbotson
A body has been recovered from the wreckage of the plane that crashed in the Channel with footballer Emiliano Sala and pilot David Ibbotson on board, three days after the aircraft was found.
The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) has not said whether the body is that of the Argentinian striker or that of the pilot, following their disappearance on 21 January.
Continue reading...Five people died after a small plane crashed into a house, setting it on fire. A spokesman with the National Transportation Safety Board said the twin-engine Cessna 414A crashed on Sunday shortly after taking off from a nearby airport. Lt Cory Martino, from Orange County Sheriff Office, said the pilot and four occupants of the home in Yorba Linda died, while firefighters planned to search for additional victims
Continue reading...Underwater search reveals one occupant visible amid wreckage
One of the occupants of the plane that crashed carrying the footballer Emiliano Sala has been spotted by air investigators who have been carrying out underwater searches.
The UK’s Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) said it was considering its next steps in consultation with the families of Sala and the pilot, David Ibbotson, and the police.
Continue reading...The plane carrying the missing Cardiff City player and pilot David Ibbotson has been found
The wreckage of the plane that vanished with the footballer Emiliano Sala on board has been found within hours of a search starting in the sea off the Channel Islands.
A search boat hired privately by Sala’s Argentinian family – thanks partly to a crowdfunding appeal – located the wreckage on Sunday morning.
Continue reading...Follow live updates on the disruption in the UK after the Met Office issues a warming for continuing snow
Wiltshire Health and Care, a partnership formed by the three NHS foundation trusts that serve Wiltshire to deliver adult community health services, is looking for volunteer 4x4 drivers to help nurses get to work.
We still urgently need 4x4 volunteer drivers in North #Wiltshire to help get nurses to and from work today. If you can help please call Sarah on 07514-323303. Please share. @wiltscouncil @Chippenhamtcl @MTCwilts @malmesburyteam @ChippenhamCEM
Welsh rugby fans trying to get to Paris for the opener of the Six Nations kept themselves entertained at Bristol airport after flights were cancelled.
Some of our amazing passengers choosing a singalong to keep upbeat during the snowy weather ❄️ pic.twitter.com/OoMigFLcJV
Continue reading...Thousands of flights canceled, schools close, and post office halts deliveries as Chicago lows approach record
Frozen Arctic winds brought record-low temperatures across much of the US midwest on Wednesday, as a blast of Arctic air known as the polar vortex unnerved residents accustomed to brutal winters.
As of Wednesday evening, at least eight deaths were linked to the system, including an elderly Illinois man who was found several hours after he fell trying to get into his home and a University of Iowa student found behind an academic hall several hours before dawn. A man was struck by a snowplow in the Chicago area, a young couple’s SUV struck another on a snowy road in northern Indiana and a Milwaukee man froze to death in a garage, authorities said.
Continue reading...For one ideological constituency, the government shutdown may hold the seeds to privatizing functions such as air traffic control and airport security
The US government is open again. For now.
For many liberals, it will read as the spoils of Nancy Pelosi’s finest hour and proof of her superior bargaining acumen. For disappointed conservatives pundits, evidence that Trump is a proper “wimp” in his act of capitulation.
Continue reading...Two boats go out looking for Cardiff City footballer after £259,000 raised online
A new search for missing Cardiff striker Emiliano Sala has been launched after more than £250,000 was raised to fund the operation.
An official search and rescue operation for the Piper PA-46 Malibu carrying the Argentinian striker and pilot David Ibbotson was called off on Thursday.
Continue reading...Romina Sala says she believes he is still alive after plane vanished over Channel Islands
The family of the footballer Emiliano Sala have pleaded for rescuers to continue searching for the player and a pilot after their light aircraft went missing over the Channel Islands.
Sala’s sister, Romina Sala, speaking after the search was called off, said she believed the Argentinian striker and the pilot Dave Ibbotson, from Lincolnshire, were still alive and in the Channel three days after their plane vanished.
Continue reading...‘We cannot even calculate the level of risk currently at play, nor predict the point at which the entire system will break,’ representatives write
Union leaders representing air traffic controllers, pilots and flight attendants issued an urgent warning on Wednesday that the month-long government shutdown was threatening the safety and security of the nation’s air travel system.
“We cannot even calculate the level of risk currently at play, nor predict the point at which the entire system will break,” the union leaders wrote. “It is unprecedented.”
Continue reading...Hong Kong-based carrier says it will honour tickets after second error in a fortnight
Cathay Pacific has accidentally given passengers first-class airline tickets at economy prices – for the second time in a fortnight.
The Hong Kong-based carrier sold first-class tickets from Portugal to Hong Kong, which normally cost about £12,500, for only £1,175 because of an error on its website.
Continue reading...A winter storm that contributed to at least five deaths in the US midwest pummeled the mid-Atlantic region for a second day on Sunday, bringing with it an icy mix that knocked out power, cancelled flights and contributed to hundreds of car accidents.
Virginia state police said the driver of a military surplus vehicle was killed late on Saturday after he lost control on Interstate 81 due to slick road conditions.
Continue reading...Confusion still hangs over the investigation into airport’s three days of chaos last month
Six days before Christmas, an airport security officer at Gatwick was finishing his shift at about 9pm when he saw something unusual. There were two drones, each in the shape of a cross, flying over the south perimeter road with sharply flashing lights.
The worker reported what he had seen – and chaos ensued. About 1,000 flights affecting 140,000 passengers were cancelled or diverted across three days. Tempers flared, and hearts were broken. Two people were arrested and released without charge. The army was brought in.
Continue reading...London airports purchase equipment in wake of incidents that caused around 1,000 flights to be grounded
The UK’s largest airports are set to spend millions of pounds on anti-drone equipment, the Guardian understands, as they seek to protect themselves from future attacks like that which grounded about 1,000 flights into and out of Gatwick airport during the Christmas period.
The country’s two busiest hubs – London’s Heathrow and Gatwick – have brought in their own military-grade anti-drone apparatus. The owners of both airports invested millions of pounds in the equipment after about 140,000 passengers were affected by the unprecedented disruption to Gatwick.
Continue reading...Airline says it will honour huge accidental discounts on business and first-class fares
It was the New Year’s Eve travel sale that appeared to be too good to be true: business and first-class flights on Cathay Pacific from Vietnam to New York for $675 (£534), rather than the standard $16,000.
It turned out to be a ticketing error, but the airline promised to honour the sale. “Happy 2019 all, and to those who bought our good – VERY good surprise ‘special’ on New Year’s Day,” the Hong Kong-based carrier tweeted on Wednesday. “Yes – we made a mistake, but we look forward to welcoming you onboard with your ticket issued. Hope this will make your 2019 ‘special’ too!”
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