Light Aircraft emergency landing in Portugal kills 2 people on the ground

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A light aircraft has killed 2 sunbathers near Lisbon in Portugal.

Portuguese officials have said the victims are a 56 year old man and an 8 year old girl. There were no other injuries. The aircraft got into difficulties and was forced to !ke an emergency landing on Caparica beach which is around 20 miles south of Lisbon.

Locals have said they are used to seeing light aircraft flying up and down the shoreline but locals on the beach were not happy with the pilots decision to make an emergency landing on the beach.

Eye witnesses said the aircraft was unstable on its attempt to land on the beach and skimmed the beach before landing and ending up close to the water, there was panic on the beach as the aircraft came into land and some sunbathers ran into the sea.

Above is a photo of the aircraft with a damaged port wing.

Flight Crew make emergency landing in extreme weather in Istanbul

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Thursday last week an Atlas Global A320 took off from Istanbul Airport in Turkey into a thunderstorm. The aircraft became damaged immediately after take off with the radome (nose of the aircraft that contains some aircraft systems including the weather radar) and windscreens damaged and some aircraft systems including the autopilot disabled.

The windscreen was so badly cracked neither pilot could see out. The flight crew were given permission to land at Ataturk Airport even though it was currently closed due to the weather overhead the airport.

Normally in this situation the crew would set the aircraft up for an automatic autopilot landing, but in this case the autopilot was not available so Captain Alexander Akopov had to land the aircraft with sole use of his instruments.

Normally the approach would be conducted on instruments with the final part of the landing (anything from 1000ft to the runway) flown manually with the pilot looking outside. In this case he would of used the radio altimeter to gauge when to flare the aircraft and the ILS localiser indications to attempt to maintain the centre line of the runway.

A successful landing was made and all 121 passengers and 6 crew members were unharmed. The Captain and his crew were congratulated by other airline crews who went onboard to shake their hands.

An image of the extensive damage to the aircraft is above. Click on the image to enlarge the image and see the state of the windscreen too! The Captain has been awarded the Ukrainian Order of Courage by the Ukrainian Government and the President Petro Poroshenko had personally called the Captain to congratulate him on the successful landing.

Armed officers remove pilot and cabin crew from flight at New York 

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A heated dispute between a pilot and cabin crew member delayed the departure of a flight from New York by two hours.

The male pilot and female flight attendant were hauled off the plane by armed Port Authority officers after the row developed.

Both crew members accused the other of grabbing their arm. One onlooker accused the pilot of ‘racist, inconsiderate and unprofessional’ behaviour, according to reports. The Delta Connection flight to Maine was operated by Endeavor Air.

Endeavor Air released a statement apologising to customers ‘inconvenienced as a result of a disagreement between two crew members’.

“The actions of these crew members, as described in no way reflects the respect, values and professionalism we expect from our employees,” it said.

Airbus delivers 100th A350 to China Airlines 

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Airbus has delivered the 100th Airbus A350 to China Airlines.

The delivery comes 30 months after Airbus delivered their first A350 in December of 2014 to Qatar Airways. “The 100th A350 XWB milestone comes as we reach our fastest widebody production ramp-up, on track to meet the target of 10 A350 deliveries per month by the end of 2018,” said Fabrice Bregier, Airbus COO and president commercial aircraft.

“We are especially proud to deliver today’s aircraft to our long-standing customer China Airlines. The A350 is setting new standards for long haul air travel in terms of efficiency and comfort, thus being the perfect aircraft for China Airlines to expand its long-haul network”

Airlines must be forced to be fair on fuel surcharges 

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The Conservative MP for Lichfield in Staffordshire in the UK, Michael Fabricant is calling for airlines to reduce their fuel surcharges. 

He argues that they were introduced to combat high oil prices, and are now a relic of an energy market that no longer exists. 

He says two years ago the price of oil plummeted under $50 a barrel and has remained there ever since. He notes that a £528 return flight to New York from London with Lufthansa incurs a surcharge of £183, or 35 per cent of the fare. 

Meanwhile the fuel surcharge makes up £364 of a £1,380 flight from London to Sydney with Emirates. He adds that these fees are not always obvious and in some cases are deliberately camouflaged under terms such as a “carrier charge”. 

Mr Fabricant states that in Japan fuel surcharges have long been heavily regulated; a model that he says the UK Government ought to emulate.  

Branson sells his majority stake in Virgin Atlantic

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Sir Richard Branson is to sell his majority stake in Virgin Atlantic, the airline has announced.

Air France-KLM will acquire a 31 per cent ownership in the airline, currently held by the billionaire entrepreneur’s Virgin Group for £220 million.

Delta will retain its 49 per cent share of the company, leaving Virgin Group with 20 per cent.

The transactions are subject to a series of agreements and approvals, Virgin Atlantic said.

The carrier will remain a “UK airline with a UK operating certificate” and will continue flying under the Virgin brand, according to the statement.

Sir Richard said: “Virgin Atlantic has made a big difference to people’s flying experience over the past 33 years and transformed the airline industry for the better.

“This is a fantastic opportunity to extend our network and create a stronger customer champion, as well as being extremely beneficial to our people and the Virgin Atlantic brand that our customers love dearly.”

Air France-KLM, Delta and Virgin Atlantic marked the announcement by unveiling a plan to create “the most comprehensive transatlantic route network”.

They pledged to offer convenient flight schedules with competitive fares and reciprocal frequent flyer benefits, including the ability to earn and redeem air miles across all carriers.

Thy aim to make changes to improve connectivity times and allow premium passengers to access each airlines’ lounges.

Virgin Atlantic chief executive Craig Kreeger said: “We built the Virgin Atlantic brand by providing customers with the choice they deserve and a travel experience they love.

“We couldn’t be more excited that the next stage of our growth will be at the heart of the strongest partnership for customers travelling between Europe and North America.

“Together with our friends at Air France-KLM and Delta we will build on this vision of our teams creating irresistible experiences for customers flying on our network.”

Air France-KLM said the partnership will provide passengers with “even more choice”, while Delta claimed the deal would “spur additional benefits for customers, employees and shareholders”.

US fines three airlines for violating consumer protection rules 

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The US Department of Transportation (DOT) has fined Frontier Airlines, American Airlines and Delta Air Lines for violating several rules aimed at protecting consumer rights. 

Frontier Airlines has been charged a $400,000 penalty for violating DOT’s oversales and disability rules. According to DOT, Frontier failed to seek volunteers before involuntarily removing passengers from the aircraft and was unable to provide them with the required written notice describing their rights

IAG orders new aircraft for LEVEL 

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International Airlines Group is converting three Airbus A330-200 long-haul aircraft options into firm orders for LEVEL, its new low cost long-haul airline brand which started operations in early June. 

The aircraft will be delivered in summer 2018 and will facilitate LEVEL’s expansion. Willie Walsh, IAG chief executive, said: “LEVEL has already been incredibly successful and these aircraft will enable it to expand. 

“Long-haul flights are now available to many people for the first time and we’re extremely pleased with the customer response in all of LEVEL’s markets. 

“It will continue to stimulate demand by providing people with more choice.” These modern, fuel efficient aircraft will bring both cost efficiencies and environmental benefits to LEVEL. 

Air Zimbabwe cuts workforce by half 

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Air Zimbabwe has laid off around half of its workforce, a few months after it was banned from using EU airspace amid safety concerns.

The state-owned airline said the 200 job losses are part of its efforts to return to profitability from a £230 million debt. 

easyJet creates new airline to continue flying in EU after Brexit 

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Budget airline easyJet is creating a new airline so it can continue flying in the European Union after Brexit.

 

The company said it had applied for a new air operator certificate in Austria and that the application process was ‘well advanced’ and that it hoped to receive the accreditation ‘in the near future’.

 

It will allow the low-cost carrier to establish easyJetEurope, which will have its headquarters in the Austrian capital Vienna.

 

This is planning for a worst case scenario should Britain fail to negotiate the same aviation freedoms it currently enjoys as a member of the EU.

 

In other easyJet news – Classic children’s books will be slipped into the seat pockets of easyJet planes to create flying libraries encouraging youngsters to read on holiday.

 

The easyJet Book Club, which launches tomorrow, will put 7,000 paperbacks on 147 flights. It is being backed by Dame Jacqueline Wilson, the award-winning former children’s laureate and campaigner for child literacy.

 

Dame Jacqueline selected copies for the planes ‘encompassing the spirit of travel and adventure’ that include Peter Pan, Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland, The Railway Children, The Wizard Of Oz, The Borrowers and Charlie And The Chocolate Factory.