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Aviation expert: Allegiant 'accident waiting to happen'

Aviation experts are speaking out over repeated Allegiant Air safety concerns, Pinellas County's largest air carrier. Dozens of Allegiant Air flights have been involved in emergency landings or diversions in recent months, brining accusations the airline is struggling to manage maintenance of its aircraft. "It's an accident waiting to happen," Brauchle says....

Drunken British stag party kicked off Ryanair flight in Berlin

London-to-Bratislava flight is forced to land in Germany to expel passengers for their aggressive behaviour. A pilot was forced to land his plane in Berlin when members of a British stag party reportedly became aggreesive after they were refused more alcohol. The latest disruption comes amid a sharp rise in alcohol-fuelled incidents in the air, prompting some airlines to launch a crackdown o...

Hero pilot saves plane after landing gear FAILS

Airport staff watched in horror as the cargo plane flew towards the runway.  The hero pilot managed to alert air traffic control moments before he attempted the incredible manoeuvre.  The quick-thinking pilot released fuel to make the plane lighter as he got the situation under control.  With the runway just feet away he performed an impressive touch-and-go manoeuvre saving...

Airline staff reveal why window shades must be kept open during takeoff and landing

Lifting the shades on the windows during take-off and landing might seem like a trivial ask to many aeroplane passengers. Some travellers believe that this to prepare them for the jolty landing moment when the wheels hit the concrete below. But experts have now revealed the reasons why it is much more important to passenger safety than you would think. Aviation Safety Officer, Saran Udayakum...

SA opens solar-powered airport

Environmental Affairs Minister Edna Molewa has congratulated the Department of Transport on the official opening of South Africa’s - and Africa’s - first solar-powered airport in George. Transport Minister Dipuo Peters launched the project that is spearheaded by the Airports Company of South Africa (ACSA) at a special ceremony in the city on Friday. Most of the airport’s en...

Brazil airline Gol to get $251 mln cash injection, trim routes

Feb 27 Brazil's second biggest airline Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes SA said it will get a cash injection of up to 1 billion reais ($251 million) and announced cuts to its routes and aircraft fleet in an effort to trim costs amid weak demand. Takeoffs and landings will be cut by 6 percent this year while service to seven cities is being ended, Gol said in a securities filing on Friday. It...

Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary is the latest entry in the list of Irish billionaires

Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary became Ireland's latest billionaire when as the 54-year-old saw his worth grow from €755m (£595m, $832m) in 2015 to €1.08bn this year. In January, the budget airline said it carried over 100m passengers for the first time in a year (2015), while its monthly traffic in December 2015 surged as the carrier cut fares to encourage passengers to tr...

USAF SOC wants 3 more CV-22s before the product line ceases

Air Force Special Operations Command would like to acquire three additional multi-mission V-22 Ospreys before the product line ceases, a service leader told reporters Feb. 25.  There is not much of an attrition reserve for Special Operations Command’s force of 50 CV-22s, said Lt. Gen. Bradley Heithold, commander of Air Force Special Operations Command. “Before our production li...

One dead after Hong Kong plane crash

A man died after a small aircraft he was flying plunged into the sea in Hong Kong today, a rare occurrence in the southern Chinese city. The crash was reported shortly after 2pm local time (0600 GMT) and emergency responders were seen lifting a body out of the water. "Fire services found an unconscious man in the vicinity, and he died at 3.55pm," a government spokesman told AFP....

Building Airplane Toilets Isn’t Cutting It Anymore for Zodiac Aerospace

Budget airline Ryanair caused an outcry five years ago when it cheekily suggested its airplanes might forgo seats to cut costs, obliging weary passengers to stand instead. In the wake of the troubles at Zodiac Aerospace, a French supplier of aircraft seats, airlines and aircraft manufacturers must be starting to regret the idea didn’t catch on. Zodiac shares plunged 25 percent on Thu...

Bell take seven helicopters to Heli-Expo

Bell have provided details on the helicopters they will be showing at Heli-Expo 2016, which runs next week in Louisville, Kentucky. As usual, the major OEMs will each take huge amounts of floor space, and are spaced out to encourage Expo visitors to walk throughout the massive halls. Bell is in the North Wing and has more space than Airbus and Finmeccanica, while Sikorsky has the smallest area...

British Airways to Grow Fleet After Profit Leap in 2015

British Airways owner IAG SA said it’s making progress in talks to add more wide-body jets at the U.K. carrier in order to tap surging demand after profit across the group jumped 68 percent in 2015. Chief Executive Officer Willie Walsh said Friday that he’s in detailed discussions with potential suppliers of used Boeing Co. 777-300ER aircraft and is continuing to look at leasin...

France stuck between export and import selections

France’s DGA defence procurement agency predicts that the nation’s military exports will have nearly doubled in 2015, thanks in no small part to its first international orders for the Dassault Rafale. Although exact figures for export sales will not be confirmed until May, the DGA estimates that some €16 billion ($17.8 billion) will have been made in 2015, which would almost do...

Marenco Swisshelicopter Flies Second SKYe Prototype

Marenco Swisshelicopter’s second flight-test SKYe SH09 prototype, dubbed P2, made its maiden flight today from the company’s headquarters at Mollis Airport in Switzerland. The helicopter took off at 5:24 p.m. local time with chief test pilot Richard Trueman at the controls and flight-test engineer Peter Wittwer analyzing real-time data. “This first fli...

US Air aborted takeoff in Philadelphia blamed on pilot error

Federal investigators say pilot error was the "probable cause" of an aborted takeoff that collapsed a jet's nose gear in Philadelphia. The National Transportation Safety Board says US Airways Flight 1702's pilot and co-pilot chose to take off rather than ensure its computer was properly configured. The NTSB's final report was released Thursday. It says the first officer...

Plane returns to airport in China after rat spotted on board

A rat found scuttling around the cabin forced a Chinese airliner to return to an airport shortly after takeoff on Friday morning. The rodent was found shortly after the Loong Air flight left the eastern city of Hangzhou for the southwestern resort city of Xishuangbanna, the airline said on its official microblog. It wasn't clear how the rat gained access to the plane, although the offici...

Boeing plans layoffs for airplane engineers

Boeing Co said on Friday that it is considering layoffs of airplane engineers, a plan that it said may cause it to reorganize or consolidate its engineering teams, according to an internal memo seen by Reuters. Boeing said in a memo to employees that the company is deciding whether to make voluntary layoffs available to those workers, according to the document. The company also said it does...

Air Force Unveils Design for New Long Range Bomber

Meet the newest plane in the United States Air Force, the B-21 Long Range Strike Bomber. It's so new that it exists only as an artist's rendering; a prototype has yet to be built. Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James unveiled the highly anticipated design today at the Air Force Association’s Air Warfare Symposium in Orlando, Florida. The plane is designated right now as the &q...

Fire-damaged British Airways jet getting preflight tests

 A British Airways jet that was damaged by fire during an aborted takeoff in September flew from Las Vegas to a California airport on Friday after six months of repairs including an engine replacement and fuselage patch. The Boeing 777 took a circuitous route over the Mojave Desert to Victorville, where it will be repainted before being flown back to the United Kingdom, airline spokeswoman...

Why This Airline Is Being Sued for Sexism

She was asked to move seats. An elderly woman is suing the Israeli airline El Al for gender discrimination. Renee Rabinowitz was asked to give up her seat on an El Al flight home to Israel at the request of an ultra-Orthodox man, who did not want to sit next to her. She’s being represented by the Israel Religious Action Center, a liberal Israeli group that has previously fought against...

The First Boeing 727 Will Fly Again—For 12 Minutes

Once N7001U takes off from Paine Field in Everett, Washington next Tuesday, the crew won't even retract its landing gear. Makes sense. It'll only be airborne for just over 10 minutes.  The first 727 ever built rolled off the line in 1962 and hasn't flown in 25 years. But it's about to make a trip to Boeing Field (King County Airport), where it will become a permanent exhibi...