Aircraft in the News and Odd Stories

Aircraft Hijacked at Libyan Airport

Tripoli International Airport was the subject of an armed hijacking incident at the start of this month on 2 September 2013. It involved an aircraft operated by Royal Jordanian Airlines and the hijacking occurred after the airport had become besieged by militias. Arrangements were apparently made to move Tripoli International's flights to another Libyan airport, Mitiga.

Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo flew a personal record recently. On the 5th of September they made a flight that marked only the second in-flight ignition of the RocketMotorTwo rocket, and the second supersonic flight. During the 20s motor burn, SpaceShipTwo reached M1.43 speed and 69,000-foot altitude, the fastest and highest yet.

"In addition to achieving the highest altitude and greatest speed to date, the test flight demonstrated the vehicle's full technical mission profile in a single flight for the first time, including a high altitude deployment of the unique wing "feathering" re-entry mechanism. All of the test objectives were successfully completed," says the company.

Check this out.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/twelve-years-9-11-flight-123500519.html

United pledges to honour 'free' tickets sold due to a computer glitch

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/united-airlines-pledges-honour-free-2273026

A Schweizer SGS 2-33A sailplane came gliding in... on the wrong runway. The unidentified teenage pilot, a member of the Royal Canadian Air Cadets and an experienced glider pilot with a private pilot's license, landed on the roof of a convenience store a half mile short of his intended runway at Langley Regional Airport near Vancouver, British Columbia. He emerged without major injuries. The roof of the convenience store was apparently damaged by the wheel of the glider. The glider sustained damage itself with fractured wings.

CTV British Columbia

The US FAA on Tuesday ordered airlines to inspect more than 3,800 planes to ensure that emergency locator beacons sold by Honeywell do not have battery problems that could cause a fire.

Police forces in the north of England have arrested a pilot at Leeds Bradford Airport, believing him to be drunk. Aged 54, the man - reportedly a pilot with Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) - was detained at around 2200hrs on 18 September. "We are aware of the incident but the matter is being dealt with by West Yorkshire Police", one Leeds Bradford Airport representative explained.

It has not been suggested that the man in question had been flying under the influence but, rather, it seems that he'd been observed close to an aircraft, according to a West Yorkshire Police statement. "At about 10pm last night police were called to Leeds Bradford International Airport where they arrested an airline pilot on suspicion of carrying out an activity ancillary to an aviation function while impaired by drink", the police confirmed.

An intertesting look for this Ethiopian Cargo MD-11 after it was apparently loaded or off-loaded incorrectly.

Two pilots on a British airliner on a long haul flight fell asleep in the cockpit, leaving the packed jet flying unsupervised on autopilot, Britain's Sun newspaper reported on Thursday. One of the pilots on board the Airbus A330 flight to Britain - the name of the airline was not disclosed - eventually woke up and roused his colleague, but neither knew how long they had been asleep, the paper said. The flight took off on August 13 and the pilot and co-pilot took turns to have 20-minute rests but, after flying for more than an hour, they both fell asleep. They reported the incident themselves to Britain's Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), blaming longer shifts during the peak summer travel period. The Sun said it had seen a copy of their report.

The CAA said it was legally prevented from disclosing any details about companies or individuals who filed Mandatory Occurrence Reports to them. "Fatigue is a serious issue and needs careful oversight, which is why we welcome new EU proposals to give regulators greater powers to oversee airlines' fatigue risk management systems and data," a CAA spokesman said. "The UK has an excellent safety record, but we are constantly striving to improve air safety."

(Reuters)

Actually no, thanks for highlighting it.

Nigerian investigators have yet to ascertain the full circumstances of an incident involving a Kabo Air flight that landed at the city of Sokoto on 4 October, 2013. The Boeing 747-200 apparently landed on Sokoto’s runway 26 despite having been cleared for runway 08, according to a government statement widely carried within Nigeria. It also struck a section of the instrument landing system during the landing and came to a halt with deflated tyres.

Nigerian investigators have yet to ascertain the full circumstances of an incident involving a Kabo Air flight that landed at the city of Sokoto on 4 October, 2013. The Boeing 747-200 apparently landed on Sokoto’s runway 26 despite having been cleared for runway 08, according to a government statement widely carried within Nigeria. It also struck a section of the instrument landing system during the landing and came to a halt with deflated tyres.

One fatality has resulted from the crash of a MASwings de Havilland Canada DHC-6 during arrival at Kudat in eastern Malaysia. The accident destroyed the twin-engined aircraft and the impact of the crash damaged a house. Initially MASwings were saying that 6 persons were injured but now updated it to say that a fatality and 5 persons injured in the accident.

You have to be a great liar...

http://confessionsofatrolleydolly.com/2013/01/09/the-top-10-cabin-crew-lies/

When the pilot of a Cessna 172 lost consciousness over northern England on Tuesday, his passenger, 77-year-old John Wildey, knew enough to make a Mayday call. That initiated a flurry of rescue activity that resulted in a successful emergency landing, though the unidentified pilot later died after being taken to a hospital.

Police: Arrest made in Los Angeles airport dry ice explosion

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/10/16/travel/los-angeles-airport-dry-ice-arrest/index.html?sr=fb101613laxarrest11a

A Spirit Airlines Airbus A319 turned back to Dallas/Fort Worth International airport on 15 October after smoke was seen in the cabin. The flight's captain had received "an indication of a possible mechanical issue", says a Spirit spokesperson. "One engine was shut down, which is normal procedure under these circumstances," she adds. The aircraft turned back to Dallas/Fort Worth as a safety precaution, she says.

The longest commercial flight in the world...

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/10/19/travel/worlds-longest-flight/index.html?sr=fb101913longestflight6pm

A government minister has angered Nigerians by buying two bullet-proof limousines for USD$1.4 million, in a country where 60 percent of people live on less than USD$1 a day. The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) said it ordered the BMW 760 Li vehicles for 225 million Nigerian naira two months ago at the request of aviation minister Stella Oduah, saying they were necessary for security.

"It is internationally customary to convey our minister and... foreign dignitaries in a security vehicle whenever they are in Nigeria," NCAA director general Fola Akinkuotu told journalists over the weekend. News of the car purchase was revealed in a document leaked by a whistle-blower to US-based Nigerian diaspora website Sahara Reporters last week. Oduah's supporters say the story is an attempt by her enemies to smear her reputation. But Nigerians, fed up with what they see as politicians' squandering of public money on flash cars and houses while education and health budgets are squeezed, expressed outrage.

"When poverty is eroding the lives of the citizenry, it is outrageous for such an amount of money to be used to purchase armed vehicles for the minister," an activist group called the Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice said, calling on Oduah to resign. Oduah's spokesman Joe Obi was not available for comment, but he was quoted in The Punch newspaper on Monday as saying the vehicles were needed because of "clear and imminent threats to her personal security." Around 70 percent of the budget of Africa's biggest oil producer is spent on running the government, leaving the remaining 30 percent for investment in badly needed infrastructure.

Almost 100 million Nigerians live on less than USD$1 a day.

"In another land, this act of recklessly spending public funds... would be a political suicide," blogger Tolu Ogunlesi wrote in The Punch. "But this is Nigeria, where such irresponsible acts are welcome." Adding to the controversy is the fact that the cars retail in the West at a third of the price, around USD$250,000. Akinkuotu attributed the price difference to a monopoly position enjoyed by the importer. Oduah, a close ally of President Goodluck Jonathan, upset relatives of plane crash victims this month by calling such incidents inevitable acts of God. There have been two deadly plane crashes in the past 15 months, including one that killed 163 people last year.

(Reuters)