A body has been found in a Lufthansa A340’s landing gear at Frankfurt airport

 

A dead body has been found in the undercarriage of a Lufthansa aircraft that arrived at #Frankfurt airport from Tehran.

German newspaper Bild reported that the Airbus aircraft, belonging to the German company Lufthansa, had taken off from Tehran early on Thursday morning.

Police said the ground crew found the body while carrying out maintenance work.

German local broadcaster Hessenschau reported that the work had been going on for four hours before the body was found.

The Airbus A340-300 (reg. D-AIGW) was operating flight #LH601

Changes to Heathrow flights on Monday to respect the funeral arrangements of HM The Queen.

 

About 15% of flights into and out of London’s Heathrow Airport were disrupted on Monday due to Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral, the airport said.

As a mark of respect for the solemnity of this sad and unique occasion, operations at the airport were subject to alterations to avoid noise disturbance during the State Funeral:

• 1140-1210: no aircraft movements to support the two-minute silence at the conclusion of Her Majesty’s funeral
• 1345 – 1420: no arrivals to support the procession of Her Majesty’s hearse
• 1505 – 1645: no departures to support the ceremonial procession via the Long Walk to Windsor Castle
• 1645 – 2100: reduced departure rate to support the Committal service at St George’s Chapel

Flights abroad sell out following Putin’s partial mobilization.

 

Russian airlines have stopped selling tickets to Russian men aged 18 to 65 unless they can provide evidence of approval to travel from the Ministry of Defense.

All flights from Russia to available foreign destinations were sold out Wednesday after President Vladimir Putin declared a “partial” mobilization of the country’s 25 million reservists.

Flights from Moscow to the capitals of Georgia, Turkey and Armenia — which do not require visas for Russians — for Sept. 21 were unavailable within minutes of Putin’s announcement, according to Russia’s top travel planning website aviasales.ru.

By noon Moscow time, direct flights from Moscow to Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan had also stopped showing up on the website.

INCIDENT Qatar Airways Boeing 777 Freighter struck with a lighting pole in Chicago

 

A Qatar Airways Cargo Boeing 777 Freighter struck a lighting pole while taxiing at Chicago-O’Hare International Airport.

The Boeing 777F, with registration A7-BFH, sustained a severe dent on its right-hand wing leading edge. The aircraft arrived as flight QR8141 from Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.

“Qatar Airways can confirm that a cargo aircraft, QR8141, operating from Atlanta to Chicago, came into touch with a light post while taxiing at Chicago O’Hare and received some wing damage,” Qatar Airways spokesperson said.

According to an airline representative, no crew members were injured in the incident and the incident is being investigated.

FAA proposes to add a second barrier between the passengers and flight crew

 

FAA pushes safety regulation to protect flight deck as unruly passenger rates remain high.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Wednesday said it is proposing a new requirement that would protect the flight deck by adding a second barrier as unruly passengers continue to make headlines.

The mandate would require planes used in commercial flights to install a second physical barrier between the passengers and flight crew.

“Each additional layer of safety matters. Protecting flight crews helps keep our system the safest in the world,” FAA Acting Administrator Billy Nolen said.

The White House in 2021 added the second barrier stipulation to its “priority rulemaking list” after the FAA consulted with aircraft manufacturers, labor partners and other officials on how to increase air safety, the FAA said in a Wednesday statement.

“Flight crews keep us safe when we travel to visit loved ones, explore new places and conduct business. They, too, deserve to be protected, and this rulemaking is an important step forward,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement.

While the public have 60 days to comment on the proposed regulation, the announcement comes as passengers have increasingly made headlines for acting out while onboard

Ukraine International Airlines is resuming some flights

 

Ukraine International Airlines is operating charter to generate revenue during the Ukraine Crisis.

A Boeing 737-900 (reg. UR-PSL) will begin operations from Katowice Airport but may also flight from other airports such as Warsaw, Krakow & Rzeszow.

The airline will operate charter flights to Malaga, Arrecife, Antalya, Tenerife, Tirana, Las Palmas and Djerba.

Back in May, the airline announced that it would be leasing one of its Boeing 737 aircraft to airBaltic.

Ukraine International Airlines’ Chief Executive Officer, Evheniy Dykhne said about the agreement:

“We are sincerely glad that our European partners are helping both the Ukrainian state and businesses with a clear, absolutely transparent support for Ukraine.”

ALERT London Gatwick Airport is running out of water

 

London Gatwick Airport runs out of water so toilets won’t flush and restaurants shut.

A burst water main has resulted in low water pressure – with only two toilets reported to be working in one terminal.

Some outlets have not been able to provide food or drinks as SES Water works to resolve the issue.

A Gatwick spokesperson said: ‘An issue with the supply of SES Water to Gatwick and the surrounding area this morning has led to lower water pressure than normal across the airport.

‘Bottled water is being made available to passengers and staff across the airport and other contingency measures are being put in place to ensure the welfare of our passengers. We apologise for any inconvenience to passengers.’

Emirates rejects Heathrow Airport demand to cut capacity

 

Emirates airline has rejected Heathrow Airport’s demands to cut capacity, the company said on Thursday.

Dubai’s Emirates airline said on Thursday it was planning to operate as scheduled to and from London’s Heathrow airport, with no plans to cut capacity after the airport threatened legal action if capacity is not cut.

In a statement, the company described Heathrow’s request as “unreasonable and unacceptable,” saying that moving some Heathrow flights to other UK airports at short notice was not realistic.

 

British Airways has announced it will cut a further 10,300 short-haul flights until the end of October.

British Airways is scrapping another 10,300 flights through the summer peak travel season as the carrier struggles with an ongoing staffing crisis that’s contributed to travel chaos across Europe.

With the latest round of cancellations, which come after the carrier announced reductions earlier this week, it will have pared about 13% of its schedule.

The cancellations are all on short-haul routes, with long-haul operations not affected.

A mysterious plane crossed six NATO countries without authorization, landed in a small airfield before the pilot and passengers disappeared

 

A plane triggered the air defences of six NATO members before landing on Thursday (9 June) in a small airfield in Bulgaria, whereby the pilot and passengers promptly disappeared.

Fighter jets of several countries were scrambled to intercept the mysterious plane, trying to initiate contact with the pilot, without success.

The plane was reportedly spotted by the Hungarian and Romanian Air Force, which scrambled F-16 jets to intercept the Beechcraft. Upon entering Bulgarian airspace, the country’s air force was also activated.

The Beechcraft entered Bulgaria from the northern city of Vidin, where it landed for refuelling, but it is not known precisely where it was refuelled.

The Ministry of Defense announced that the plane entered the airspace of Bulgaria without an approved flight plan shortly after 7 pm on Wednesday.

He said the plane took off Lithuania and passed through seven countries, including Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Serbia, before landing in Bulgaria. Six of them, except Serbia, are NATO members.

The media quoted the director of the airport in Debrecen, Hungary, who reportedly said the Beechcraft also landed at a small airport in Hungary. Reportedly five or six people got off and refuelled the plane using jerrycans. The Hungarian police tried to stop them, but they were swift and took off quickly.

The plane landed at a local airfield usually reserved for agricultural aircraft. It was found abandoned with a still-warm engine.

The prosecutor’s office in the Bulgarian city of Targovishte launched an investigation.

Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport cancels over 100 flights today due to a strike

 

Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport has cancelled a quarter of Thursday morning flights after staff announced a strike.

Unionised employees will walk off the job between 7am and 2pm on Thursday morning as part of a protest against low wages.

“We demand a 300 euro raise for all,” the CGT union said in a statement, pointing to the rapidly rising cost of living.

Unionised workers claim that they are not paid enough to deal with this uptick in demand.

Norwegian Air has reached an agreement in principle with Boeing for a recommitment to purchase 50 Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft.The agreement also includes options for an additional 30 aircraft.

 

Norwegian Air has reached an agreement in principle with Boeing for a recommitment to purchase 50 Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft.The agreement also includes options for an additional 30 aircraft.

The 50 aircraft are due to be delivered between 2025 and 2028, at a schedule closely corresponding to current aircraft lease expirations. This entails a limited net increase of the company’s current fleet. The parties’ agreement in principle is subject to various closing conditions, which are targeted to be concluded by the end of June 2022.

The company intends to finance the outstanding balance of pre-delivery payments through positive cash flow from operating activities. A significant share of the aircraft will be owned by the company, ensuring an optimised and balanced aircraft financing structure. Subsequent to the conclusion of these agreements, Norwegian estimates to record a net gain of approximately NOK 2 billion.

Vueling airline to sell flight tickets in the metaverse

 

Vueling, an airline owned by IAG, will open a new sales channel in the metaverse.

The new channel will be up and running before the end of the year, and everything purchased in the metaverse will be usable in the real world and will be the same as a physical airline ticket. This is an airline first with Vueling becoming the first carrier to announce the sale of flights via the metaverse.

To enable this development, Vueling has partnered with Next Earth, the third largest platform available in the metaverse by number of users (more than 230,000 users and 45,000 virtual owners). From Next Earth, the user will be able to visualise real-world journeys and the carbon footprint of each stage, as well as select and book the best modes of transport for each moment.

Furthermore, the airline has joined an alliance with the Spanish start-up Iomob, a shared mobility platform which offers transport companies any mobility service through just one integration. Iomob, that has presence in more than 270 cities, has been briefed to create a specific APP for Vueling (usable in the Next Earth metaverse) which, in addition to flights, will offer last-mile transportation services (e-scooters, scooters, Uber, public transport, etc.).

A Tibet Airlines A319 caught fire on takeoff

 

A Tibet Airlines A319 aborted takeoff then veered off the runway.

All 113 passengers & 9 crew of #TV9833 have been evacuated.

Tibet Airlines TV9833/A319/B-6425 from Chongqing to Nyingchi was on fire during take-off .

12 passengers and 3 cabin crew members seriously injured onboard SpiceJet #SG945 due to severe turbulence

At least 40 people on board a SpiceJet flight from Mumbai to Durgapur in West Bengal Sunday suffered injuries, with 12 of them being seriously hurt

The Boeing 737-800 plane encountered severe turbulence during its descent. India’s aviation safety regulator — the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) — has deployed a multi-disciplinary team to carry out a regulatory investigation into the incident.

A SpiceJet flight operating Sunday evening from Mumbai to Durgapur in West Bengal underwent severe turbulence that resulted in mild to serious injuries to at least 12 passengers onboard the Boeing 737-800 aircraft, according to DGCA officials.

The aircraft took off from Mumbai a few minutes after 5 pm on Sunday and was on its approach to Durgapur’s Kazi Nazrul Islam Airport after a two-hour flight when it encountered severe turbulence that caused the passenger injuries.

The 189-seater aircraft, however, landed safely at Durgapur at 7.15 pm, following which the injured passengers were provided medical attention. It was not just the passengers but also some cabin crew members who suffered injuries. These people received head and spinal injuries.

Authorities at the Andal hospital have said that the condition of the 12 passengers is critical but they are out of danger.

The flight was about to land when it began hobbling and the cabin baggage fell on passengers in the midst of a massive turbulence due to extreme bad weather. A probe is currently underway to ascertain how the plane got caught in a storm.

A dad captains his daughter’s first flight as Southwest pilot.

 

Mackenzie was a kid the first time she rode on a Southwest plane flown by her dad, Captain Kyle.

Last month, they had another special “first” together: sharing the flight deck for Mackenzie’s first flight as a Southwest pilot!

Father/Daughter bonding time.

Indian Civil Aviation authorities have barred 90 SpiceJet pilots from flying the Boeing 737 MAX until more training

 

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has found 90 SpiceJet pilots unfit to operate the Boeing 737 Max aircraft and has barred them from flying it until they successfully complete another round of training.

“…we have barred these pilots from flying Max and they have to retrain successfully for flying MAX. We will take strict action against those found responsible for the lapse,” said DGCA director Arun Kumar, without specifying what the issues were.

A spokesperson for the airline said DGCA, the civil aviation regulator, “had [an] observation on the training profile” followed by 90 Pilots. “…therefore, as per the advice of DGCA, SpiceJet has restricted 90 pilots from operating MAX aircraft until these pilots undergo retraining to the satisfaction of DGCA.” The spokesperson added these pilots continue to remain available for other Boeing 737 aircraft.

SpiceJet, which has 650 pilots trained for Boeing 737 MAX operations, is the only Indian airline to operate them. It has 11 such aircraft in its fleet. Billionaire Rakesh Jhunjhunwala’s Akasa Air, which plans to begin operations this summer, has ordered 72 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft.

The spokesperson said the restriction will not impact 60 daily flight operations by MAX aircraft. “…144 pilots are required to operate these 11 aircraft. Of the 650 trained pilots on the MAX, 560 continue to remain available, which is much more than the current requirement,” the spokesperson said.

Boeing 737 MAX resumed operations in December 2020 two years after they were grounded after the 2018 Lion Air and 2019 Ethiopian Airlines crashes, which left 346 people dead. A faulty flight handling system meant to keep the plane from stalling as it ascends was blamed for the crashes. The automated system was found to have pushed the nose of the plane downwards.

Aviation authorities in the US later directed Boeing to revamp the planes and implement new training protocols for the pilots. The ban on Boeing 737 MAX was lifted in India in 2021.

US airlines are dropping their face mask requirement

 

United, American, Southwest, Delta, Alaska and other airlines late Monday said they were dropping their face mask requirement effective immediately given a federal judge’s ruling in Florida and the White House response to it.

The mask mandate, announced in January 2021, had been set to expire Monday. But the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced last week that it would keep it in place until May 3 to allow more time to study the BA.2 omicron subvariant of the coronavirus that is responsible for the majority of cases in the country.

It was the mask mandate’s fifth extension despite repeated requests from airlines and other travel industry officials to ease restrictions.

The court ruling moved up the timeline, barring any appeals, so passengers boarding flights late Monday are doing so without masks for the first time in nearly two years. Airlines began requiring masks before the government did, with JetBlue Airways the first carrier to announce the move.

The airline’s policy was quickly matched by other carriers.

U.S. airlines canceled more than 1,500 flights due storm

 

U.S. airlines canceled more than 1,500 flights Sunday as they tried to dig out of problems caused by severe thunderstorms in Florida and other disruptions that hit during the peak spring travel season.

Southwest canceled 400 flights Sunday, or 10 percent of its total, down from approximately 600 scuttled flights as of late Saturday, according to the airline, which sought to assuage irritated customers with what it called an “all hands on deck” effort to get them where they were trying to go.

“Annoyed and let down,” was data analyst Max Baldwin’s summary after Southwest canceled his flight from Nashville on Sunday and told him the earliest the airline could get him back to St. Louis was Tuesday.

Baldwin’s two shepherd mixes and greyhound mix were going to lose their dog-sitter, and he had to get back for work, so his dad is schlepping him 300 miles home in his truck instead, he said, given fellow passengers had already grabbed all the rental cars.

The problems were widespread through the weekend. JetBlue canceled nearly a third of its total flights Sunday, about 352 dashed departures. American Airlines and Spirit also each canceled more than 250 flights Sunday.

INCIDENT: LATAM A320 landed with its landing gear locked at a 90-degree angle

 

A LATAM flight was forced to return to proceed an emergency landing following a nose landing gear issue.

The Airbus A320-200 (reg. CC-BAS) was performing flight LA4292 from Medellín-José María Córdova Airport (MDE) to Cartagena-Crespo Airport (CTG) in Colombia.

Shortly after takeoff, the pilots detected an issue with the nose landing gear. After notifying ATC, the aircraft entered a holding pattern to burn enough fuel.

The aircraft landed with its landing gear locked at a 90-degree angle.

“The landing was carried out in a controlled manner in safe conditions for the occupants of the aircraft and the personnel on the ground,” reported Aerocivil, the Civil Aviation Authority of Colombia.

Operations at José María Córdova Airport were suspended while the passengers were deplaned, and the aircraft was removed from the runway.

No injuries among the crew or passengers were reported.

Qatar Airways A350 diverted to Pakistan due to smoke in cargo hold

 

A Qatar Airways Airbus A350 en route to Doha was forced to divert to Karachi after cargo hold smoke indication.

The A350 was performing a flight from Delhi to Doha as flight QR-579 when the occurrence forced it to divert to Karachi. The aircraft was met by emergency service in Karachi, and they found evidence of heat and fire in one of the containers.

In a statement, Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority’s spokesperson said:

“The pilot requested to make an emergency landing, and the control tower and CAA personnel responded immediately given the nature of the problem.”

No injuries were reported, and the passengers disembarked the aircraft via mobile stairs and were bussed to the terminal. Passengers reached Doha on replacement flight QR3139 with a delay of about 9 hours.

“Qatar Airways flight QR579 from Delhi to Doha on March 21 diverted to Karachi, having declared an emergency due to the indication of smoke detected in the cargo hold. The aircraft landed safely at Karachi where it was met by emergency services, and passengers disembarked orderly via stairs,” Qatar Airways said.

Jet2 LS895 from Manchester forced to divert after an ‘out of control woman’ slapped other passengers

 

A Jet2 flight heading from Manchester to Turkey was forced to divert to Vienna after an “out of control” woman became disruptive and slapped other passengers.

A plane was forced to divert after an “out of control” woman became aggressive and allegedly slapped another passenger on board.

The Jet2 flight headed to Antalya, Turkey left Manchester at around 9.15am Monday morning – with an expected flight time of nearly four-and-a-half hours.

But as the flight #LS895 pushed over the half-way mark, an incident involving a “disruptive” passenger forced the pilot to divert to Vienna.

Passengers had to wait on-board in the Austrian capital before setting off for Antalya for a second time at 1pm -with the plane finally touching down at 3pm.

A man got up to try and calm the situation before taking her to the back of the plane.

As the plane landed, the woman was said to have slapped another passenger as she was getting off.

ALERT U.S. to deploys two Patriot anti-aircraft missile batteries in Poland

 

The Pentagon is sending two Patriot surface-to-air missile batteries to Poland.

A move U.S. European Command said would “proactively” counter “any potential threat” to U.S. and NATO forces in the alliance’s territory.

About 4,700 soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division were dispatched to Poland last month to bolster NATO’s deterrence posture as Russian forces invaded Ukraine.

The Patriot is a surface-to-air missile (SAM) system, the primary of its kind used by the United States Army and several allied nations.

Patriot uses an advanced aerial interceptor missile and high-performance radar systems.

It is manufactured by the U.S. defence contractor Raytheon and derives its name from the radar component of the weapon system.

ALERT Japan Airlines forced to cancel all flights to Europe on 3RD of March 2022

 

Japan Airlines said they would cancel all flights to and from Europe on Thursday.

The airlines, which normally use Russian airspace for their Europe flights, join a growing number of carriers that have cancelled or rerouted flights between Europe and north Asia in the wake of the crisis.

The airline is citing safety concerns following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.“We are continuously monitoring the situation, but given the present situation in Ukraine and the different risks, we have decided to cancel flights,” a JAL spokesperson told Reuters.

BREAKING Russian airline Aeroflot suspends all international flights due to ‘circumstances that impede flight operations’

 

Aeroflot is suspending all international flights from March 8.

On Saturday, Aeroflot informed about the suspension of all international flights from March 8 (00:00 Moscow time) due to ‘additional circumstances that impede flight operations’.

The cancellation also applies to international destinations off Rossiya and Aurora airlines (flights in the range SU5400-5799 and SU5950-6999).

To mitigate the risks of impossibility to use return flights to Russia for its passengers, Aeroflot, starting from March 6 (00:00 Moscow time), stops admitting passengers to international flights who have round-trip air tickets with a return leg to the Russian Federation in the period after March 8, 2022 of the year.

Passengers on international flights with one-way tickets departing from the Russian Federation will be accepted for transportation until the flight is terminated.

Passengers of canceled international flights can apply for a full refund of the ticket price.

Passengers of international flights who are abroad and have two-way tickets with a used flight segment from the Russian Federation can apply to the carrier for reissuing the return segment to Russia until the flight is terminated.

For passengers who will remain abroad by the time the flights are terminated, the airline will make every effort to organize their return to Russia.

Aeroflot will continue to operate domestic flights and to Minsk, Belarus.

What fighter jets the European Union will give to Ukraine?

 

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has asked the European Union for jet fighter jets some EU countries plan to supply them, EU foreign-policy chief Josep Borrell said Sunday.

Any planes would be supplied directly by EU member states and not funded through an arrangement announced earlier for the EU to finance weapons deliveries to Ukraine.

Mr. Borrell said that Mr. Kuleba had requested planes that Ukrainian Air Force pilots can fly. Ukraine’s jet fighters are Soviet-built MiG and Sukhoi models.

Since training a fighter pilot to fly a type of aircraft is a time-consuming and expensive process, it seems reasonable to assume that the only rapid transfer possible might involve a fighter already serving in the Ukraine Air Force.

Some current EU members that were once part of the USSR-led Warsaw Pact still fly such planes or have old ones parked.

These countries plan to hand over their warplanes to #Ukraine.

• Bulgaria (MiG-29) 16 units
• Bulgaria (Su-25) 14 units
• Poland (MiG-29) 28 units
• Slovakia (MiG-29) 12 units

The aircraft could be deployed at the Polish airport, where Ukrainian pilots will carry out combat missions.

ALERT Russia bans airlines from 36 countries from using its airspace

 

Russia has banned airlines from 36 countries from using its airspace in a tit-for-tat response to Western sanctions.

On Sunday, Europe shut its skies to Russian owned or controlled planes. The announcement means all planes, including the private jets of oligarchs, will now be unable to land in, take off from or fly over any EU nation.

It is one of a number of sanctions imposed by Western nations on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine.

On Monday, the Russian aviation regulator, Rosaviatsia, said: “A restriction has been imposed on flights for airlines of 36 countries in accordance with international law as a retaliatory measure for the ban imposed by the European states on the flights of commercial airliners operated by Russian airlines and/or registered in Russia.”

The measures mean airlines will have to make long detours on some routes, potentially raising the cost of fuel and tickets.

The countries banned from Russia’s airspace are: Albania, Anguilla, Austria, Belgium, British Virgin Islands, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark (including Greenland, the Faroe Islands), Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Jersey, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, UK.

Swiss International Airlines, which is owned by Germany’s Lufthansa, said that it had cancelled flights from Zurich to Moscow despite Switzerland not appearing on Russia’s list of banned countries.

A spokesperson for the Swiss airline also said it was not flying through Russian airspace.

Ukraine International Airlines forced to suspend all regular and charter flights

 

Ukraine International Airlines announces the suspension of scheduled and charter flights to and from Ukraine due to the closure of Ukrainian airspace for civilian airspace users until 23:59 on February 24, 2022, Kyiv time.

UIA maintains and will maintain liaison with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine. All UIA passengers and citizens of Ukraine who have found themselves abroad and must return to Ukraine must register on the state website of the State Registration of Ukrainian Citizens

Registered citizens will be provided with information about flights to these points and to points of arrival in Ukraine.

All current information on the further status of flights will be posted on the official UIA website. Passengers of canceled flights will be informed by e-mail or phone, which are specified in the reservation. Passengers, please, check the availability of relevant contact information at Ukraine International Airlines – e-mail, individual mobile phone number.

JAMES G. WAWERU

Senior aviation Editor,

James is a navigator/FOM2 currently blogging at airbizafrica. 

He is an aviation ethusiast and has an eye for details that 

often helps him spot the best stories of the day...