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A passenger's laptop computer is being considered as a possible cause of the Qantas incident off Western Australia on Tuesday. The Airbus A330-300 was flying from Singapore to Perth when it suddenly plunged thousands of feet, leaving more than 50 people injured. The plane was forced to make an emergency landing at an air force base near Exmouth in WA. A computer malfunction involving the auto-pilot system is being blamed for the incident. 'There certainly was a period of time where the aircraft performed on its own accord as it pitched over nose forward,' said Julian Walsh from the Transport...

A man whose original flight was delayed seven hours is facing disorderly conduct charges today because he allegedly sprayed fellow passengers with foot powder after landing in Boston. "This is what your airline gets for treating me bad," Arthur Nicolson allegedly yelled, according to a State Police report, as he shook a 7-ounce bottle of Dr. Scholl's Foot Powder on other travelers as he ran off the plane. The 42-year-old Framingham resident was arrested in Terminal A at Logan International Airport shortly after US Airways Flight 67 landed at 3:30 p.m. Nicolson had originally been booked the day before on...

September 22, 2008 Later this week FusionMan Yves Rossy will attempt the first solo jet-propelled flight flight across the English channel. Using a new single jet wing he unveiled in May, and which has already been tested over the distance (Rossy flew 35 kilometers in ten minutes during the test – an average 210 mph). The event will be broadcast live by National Geographic national geographic Channel in 165 countries and will also be streamed live online. Check out the image gallery – quite simply amazing. Good luck FusionMan! We’ve previously covered Rossy’s exploits here, but he's done so much...

Fox says there is an AA plane circling LAX with a blown tire, burning fuel before it attempts an emergency landing.

It has been 25 years since Korean Airlines Flight 007, carrying 269 passengers and crew, including Congressman Larry McDonald of Georgia, was fired on by a Soviet fighter jet off the coast of Siberia. At the time, McDonald was chairman of the John Birch Society (a subsidiary of which publishes THE NEW AMERICAN). Although several speakers eulogized McDonald at a Washington, D.C., memorial service 10 days following the September 1, 1983 attack, the words most remembered by both this magazine’s editor, Gary Benoit, and this writer were delivered by the late Senator Jesse Helms, who passed away on July 4....

Foxnews Alert: Foxnews says it started on the East Coast. Shep says Massive Communications Problem. www.faa.gov

This video was arranged and animated to the song, “One Day”, sung by Evangelist, Ezekiel Cash. The Merlin falcon and its song are arranged in autumn scenery.

AIRLINES are desperate. With jet fuel over $4 per gallon and still climbing, American, United and other major carriers are raising fares, cutting flights, trimming fleets and laying off pilots. They're also ordering fuel-efficient Boeing 787s and Airbus A350XWBs — the new generation of plastic planes. These new aircraft promise 20-percent-lower fuel consumption. Replacing heavier traditional aluminum alloys, 50 percent of their skins, panels and load-bearing structures are comprised of lighter, stiffer carbon-fiber-reinforced-plastic (CFRP) composites. Then add the latest, most fuel-efficient engine technology. Sounds good. But beneath these advantages danger lurks — novel maintenance challenges for which neither airlines nor...

Imagine two scales at the airline ticket counter, one for your bags and one for you. The price of a ticket depends upon the weight of both. That may not be so far-fetched. "You listen to the airline CEOs, and nothing is beyond their imagination," said David Castelveter, a spokesman for the Air Transport Association, a Washington, DC-based trade group. "They have already begun to think exotically. Nothing is not under the microscope." He declined to discuss what any individual airline might be contemplating, including charging passengers based on weight. With fuel costs almost tripling since 2000, now accounting for...

This video was arranged and animated to the song, Hallelujah, sung by: The Five Blind Boys of Alabama. The Merlin falcon and its song are arranged in autumn scenery.

This video was arranged and animated to the song, Hallelujah, sung by: The Five Blind Boys of Alabama. The Merlin falcon and its song are arranged in autumn scenery.

WASHINGTON, May 24, 2008 – They last donned their uniforms nearly 70 years ago, but the veterans appeared as proud as if they were still wearing them as they set out for their visit to the nation’s capital to see the memorial in their honor. As guests of Honor Flight Michigan, 40 World War II veterans traveled to Washington, D.C., on May 17, 2008, to visit the memorial built in their honor. Former soldiers Eddie Johnson (left) John Reiff (center) and John DeNardo wait with their Honor Flight guardians, Kim Stafford, Virginia Reiff, and Norm Van Sparr, respectively. The...

BEX, Switzerland - A Swiss pilot strapped on a jet-powered wing and leaped from a plane Wednesday for the first public demonstration of the homemade device, turning figure eights and soaring high above the Alps.

Congressman Jim Ramstad (R-MN) gave a House speech this month, supporting Mr. Burnett's opposition to the crescent design. The speech is entered in the Congressional Record here, along with supporting statements from Tom Burnett Sr. (father of murdered Flight 93 hero Tom Burnett Jr.). That makes two Congressmen now who have come out publicly against the crescent memorial. (Tom Tancredo took the lead last November, asking the Park Service to choose a completely new design.) News coverage revs up confrontation at this Saturday’s public meetingRamstad's speech, and our ongoing petition drive, netted a full width banner headline on the...

This video was arranged an animated to the song, Hallelujah, sung by: The Five Blind Boys of Alabama. The video pictures are of a Merlin falcon and its song, in autumn scenery, the background photo is of Butchart Gardens; Canada. Autumn is my favorite time of the year.

LONDON (AFP) - Flights began operating at Heathrow airport's new terminal on Thursday, slightly clouded by a few teething problems and a protest at the London air hub. Terminal Five, which cost 4.3 billion pounds and is the first addition to Heathrow in 20 years, was inaugurated by Queen Elizabeth II earlier this month. On Thursday the first flight to land was from Hong Kong, and while the British Airways aircraft landed 10 minutes ahead of schedule, some passengers reported delays while signs were also criticised. "It took an hour for our bags to come through from the time we...

You have heard of white flight. Now consider black flight Next month the Burning Bush Baptist Church will hold its first service in a converted Sears department store. When the church was founded, in 1995, it had a congregation of 12. About 750 now attend Sunday services, and more are joining all the time. One reason for the church's growth is the oratorical skill of David Denson, its pastor. Another is that Burning Bush is a mostly black church, and there are a lot more blacks around these days. Between 2000 and 2006 the black population of Victorville and Apple...

KIRKUK — Pull back and the trees get smaller; push forward and the trees get bigger. It’s a simple explanation for flying that pilots give when talking about the similarities between flying different airplanes. It’s also a foundation that former Iraqi pilots work from since returning to the Iraqi Air Force as flight instructors in the country’s first flight school since Operation Iraqi Freedom began. The Iraqi Flight Training School, located in Kirkuk, is training officers to fly fixed and rotary wing aircraft, producing the future pilots of the Iraqi Air Force. “After the war, I felt sad for my...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - A teenage passenger from California was arrested in Nashville for plotting to hijack a plane from Los Angeles to Nashville, the FBI said Friday. FBI spokesman George Bolds told The Associated Press the 16-year-old boy was removed from Southwest Airlines Flight 284 Tuesday night by authorities at Nashville International Airport and found with "suspicious" items. Bolds said the teen had handcuffs, rope and duct tape in his bag and was believed to be traveling alone. The juvenile's name has not been released. "His plan had a low probability of success," Bolds said. Southwest Airlines spokeswoman Brandy King...

This is the first craft that is set to make regular tourist flights into space. The Virgin Galactic spacecraft, which was being unveiled in New York today, is already under construction. Test flights are expected to begin in June, with commercial flights starting 12 months later. More than 200 potential astronauts are believed to have already paid deposits for the £100,000 flights, including actress Victoria Principal, scientist Stephen Hawking, and Princess Beatrice. Flights will last for two hours and will include four and a half minutes of weightlessness. The 60ft ship is expected to reach an altitude of 110km -...

'White flight' increasing, race chief says By Philip Johnston, Home Affairs Editor Last Updated: 1:41am GMT 15/01/2008 The flight of the white middle classes from the inner cities is accelerating, the Government's race relations chief has said. Trevor Phillips said so-called ''white flight" - an American phenomenon now increasingly seen here - was deepening racial segregation. Mr Phillips has warned in the past of the growing polarisation of the country along ethnic lines. But his use of the emotive term ''white flight" will fuel the controversy triggered by the Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, the Bishop of Rochester. He said last...

DALLAS - Up to three American Airlines jets carrying passengers will be outfitted with anti-missile technology this spring in the latest phase of testing technology to protect commercial planes from attack. An American Airlines spokesman said Friday that the test will determine how well the anti-missile system holds up under the rigors of flight. The first Boeing 767-200 will be equipped in April or later, said the airline spokesman, Tim Wagner. American operates that Boeing model mostly between New York and San Francisco and Los Angeles.

You're one of those people who likes airplanes and airports. You look up when an airplane goes by. Perhaps you've been to a small airport and watched the Cessnas and Pipers come and go, daring to wish that it could be you. Well, it can be you, and even better, the U.S. government is here to help you. "I'm from the FAA and I'm here to help" In late 2004, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) introduced a simplified license called the sport pilot certificate, offering basic flying privileges in a new class of simplified aircraft called light sport aircraft, or...

KADENA AIR BASE, Japan, Nov. 9, 2007 – From the pilot’s seat of a KC-130 air refueler, Mark Brainard carefully guided the craft over the ocean to the landing strip on the coast as his co-pilot coached him. Mark Brainard, chief of staff for the governor of Delaware, sits in the cockpit of a KC-130 air refueler flight simulator Nov. 9, 2007, at Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, Japan. Brainard is part of the Joint Civilian Orientation Conference, which landed here today on its fourth day of a week-long tour of military forces in the U.S. Pacific Command. Photo by...

NEW YORK - New DNA testing of bone fragments found at the World Trade Center site has identified the remains of a Framingham woman who was on American Airlines Flight 11 when it was crashed into the north tower on Sept. 11, 2001. Laura Lee Morabito was working as a national sales manager for Qantas Airways and had lived for about a year in Framingham when she was killed when terrorists commandeered the airliner and crashed it into the World Trade Center. The remains of the 34-year-old woman were found in the initial recovery effort but could not be linked...

Alaska Bird Makes Longest Nonstop Flight Ever Measured Dave Hansford in Wellington, New Zealand for National Geographic News September 14, 2007 A female shorebird was recently found to have flown 7,145 miles (11,500 kilometers) nonstop from Alaska to New Zealand—without taking a break for food or drink. It's the longest nonstop bird migration ever measured, according to biologists who tracked the flight using satellite tags. The bird, a wader called a bar-tailed godwit, completed the journey in nine days. In addition to demonstrating the bird's surprising endurance, the trek confirms that godwits make the southbound trip of their annual migration...

On the Road Right There on the Tarmac, the Inmates Revolt By JOE SHARKEY Published: August 14, 2007 ON July 29, Continental Flight 1669, a 737-700 with about 120 passengers aboard, was bound for Newark from Caracas, Venezuela, when bad weather caused the plane to be diverted to Baltimore. It sat there for about five hours with passengers on board as food and water ran low and toilets became filthy. Since Dec. 29, there have been hundreds of reports of passengers unable to get off parked airplanes for 6, 8 and even 12 hours. Just last weekend, for example, a...

ATLANTA - A woman said she and her toddler son were kicked off a plane after she refused a flight attendant's request to medicate her son to get him to quiet down and stop saying "Bye bye, plane."

GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. -- A Georgia mother said she wants answers and action after she and her baby were kicked off a plane. Kate Penland said she was glad to board the plane in Houston to visit her father in Oklahoma after an 11-hour delay. But she said a rude and aggressive flight attendant caused her to get to Oklahoma a day late. Penland thinks her 19-month-old son, Garren, has a bubbly personality. But Penland said when they were aboard a Continental Express plane, a flight attendant became annoyed by Garren's personality when he kept saying three words. "As we...

Diary of A Last and Final Flight Home February 17, 2007, 0350 I was at curbside at 24th and M, Washington DC. 16 Degrees with a light breeze. Going home after my second week of freezing temps to my warm home in SoCal. Take a walk on the beach, ride a horse, climb a mountain and get back to living. I'm tired of the cold. 0425 paying the taxi fare at Dulles in front of the United Airlines counter, still cold. 0450 engaged the self-serve ticker machine and it delivers my ticket, baggage tag and boarding pass. Hmmm, that Marine...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE LOYALTY, Iraq, June 14, 2007 — The Iraqi Army and Iraqi Police receive a lot of attention in the news, but little is known about the Iraqi Air Force. Lately, the Air Force has made great strides and recently flew an UH-1 Huey helicopter carrying the Iraqi Minister of Defense and landed at a Combat Outpost. “Hopefully, we’ll see more Iraqi aircraft flying over the capital doing patrols" — Sgt. 1st Class Eric D. Radecki The Huey was flown by members of the Iraqi Air Force Military Transition Team (MiTT), which consisted of one Iraqi pilot, one...

Chief Warrant Officer Thomas Walker, a Sherpa pilot with I Company, 185th Aviation Regiment, steps off his plane for the last time in a combat zone, May 7, 2007. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Amanda J. Solitario U.S. Army Chief Warrant Officer Thomas Walker Vietnam Veteran Takes Last Combat Flight By Sgt. Amanda J. Solitario 13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) LSA ANACONDA, Iraq, June 1, 2007 — After 36 years of flying for the United States Army, Chief Warrant Officer Thomas Walker had mixed emotions as he brought his plane down for the last time over a combat zone. Having...

TOKYO: Turbulence hit a KLM flight bound for western Japan Thursday, injuring 16, including two seriously, officials and a news report said. The plane encountered turbulence about two hours after taking off from Amsterdam, Transport Ministry official Toshiharu Osumi said. He said that 16 people were injured, but the extent of the injuries were not immediately known. Kyodo News agency reported two were seriously injured. The pilot apparently decided that the injuries did not require immediate attention, Osumi said.

WASHINGTON- Argentine scientists announced that the male impotence drug Viagra may be useful in alleviating jet-lag. Jet lag is caused by flying across multiple time zones and can disturb one’s sleeping pattern which can lead to insomnia, sleepiness and concentration problems. By studying hamsters, researchers Patricia Agostino, Santiago Plano and Diego Golombek of the Universidad Nacional de Quilmes in Buenos Aires administered Viagra to hamsters at night and then switched on bright lights six hours earlier to model an eastbound flight. However, the drug eased the subjects handle jet lag only when they took the samples before the equivalent of...

ANDREWS AIR FORCE BASE. Md., May 18, 2007 – The annual Joint Service Open House here kicked off today in tandem with a preview of two new military-themed, high-soaring postage stamps. Left to right: Air Force Col. Margaret H. Woodward, commander of the 89th Airlift Wing; David Failor, the U.S. Postal Service’s executive director of stamp services; and Marine Col. Andrew W. O’Donnell Jr., commander of Marine Helicopter Squadron One, participate in a May 18 ceremony that kicked off this year’s Joint Services Open House and previewed new postage stamps commemorating Air Force One and Marine One at Andrews...

A couple whose drunken and abusive behaviour led to their flight being diverted changed their pleas to guilty today. Trevor Augustus Blake, 44, and Nicola Fitzgerald, 27, of Enderby Road, Luton, were charged following a disturbance on flight BA2263 from Gatwick to Kingston, Jamaica, on December 5, 2005. Blake admitted affray aboard the Boeing 777 when he appeared at Brighton Magistrates' Court today. Fitzgerald pleaded guilty to drunkenness on an aircraft. The couple, who claimed later that they had twice had sex on board the jet before the disturbance, had denied the charges at Lewes Crown Court in September last...

WILMINGTON --Carl Persing's "public display of sexual affection" for his girlfriend on a Raleigh-bound flight last fall -- and threats to a flight attendant who asked him to stop -- landed him in a federal trial, a prosecutor said Monday. Persing, 40, of Lakewood, Ca., is charged with interfering with a flight attendant on the Sept. 15 Southwest Airlines flight from Phoenix. His girlfriend, Dawn Elizabeth Sewell, 40, is charged with assisting him. Flight attendant Frank McCabe, 29, testified Monday that Persing and Sewell sat together in the second row, and that Persing was glassy-eyed. Before takeoff, McCabe said, Persing...

LA JOLLA – To explore the link between climate change and air pollution, a La Jolla scientist and his colleagues will launch a trans-Pacific journey Tuesday with an unusual goal: to maneuver the nation's most advanced environmental research plane into the middle of a giant cloud of dust and soot. This and other plumes of polluted air from Asia can be the size of California. Their increasingly frequent appearance in recent years has generated substantial scientific scrutiny. But the latest venture is believed to be the first in which researchers will follow a plume across the Pacific and take air...

PORT HURON, Mich. -- A Northwest Airlines pilot made a U-turn at a U.S.-Canada border crossing, then led deputies on a chase in his Hummer before being subdued and found to be holding cocaine, a sheriff's officer said Sunday. The 50-year-old pilot posted $10,000 bond Sunday but was being held until his blood alcohol level fell to a level considered sober, said St. Clair County sheriff's Lt. A.J. Foster. Walter L. Dinalko of St. Paul, Minn., apparently had a change of heart after driving onto the Blue Water Bridge toward Sarnia, Ontario, Saturday night, Foster said. Dinalko turned around three...

For those who are bored with hang-gliding or find skydiving just too dull, a Swiss airline captain has devised the ultimate aerial thrill: flying like a bird. Thanks to high technology and nerve, Yves Rossy has come closer than anyone to realising the ancient dream of soaring free, flitting through the sky, guided only by the body. As well as a crash helmet he wears a small pair of wings and four tiny jet engines. As he skims the Alps at up to 187mph (300km/h), the only thing that the former fighter pilot has come up against so far is...

Military transition team members gather next to a newly refurbished helicopter at New Al Muthana in Baghdad, Iraq. The helicopters will be flown out of Taji Air Base. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Kevin Williams) Download HiRes Story Tools by Tech. Sgt. Kevin Williams 506th Air Expeditionary Group Public Affairs 3/29/2007 - KIRKUK REGIONAL AIR BASE, Iraq (AFNEWS) -- The Iraqi air force is taking off once again with the help of U.S. Air Force Airmen who serve with the Coalition Air Force Transition Team in Iraq. The U.S. Air Force's contribution to enabling the Iraqi air force to build and sustain itself...

Along with a few of Neil Diamond's hits, Elton John's "Rocket Man" is one of my guilty musical pleasures. I love the melody, but the lyrics are also a kick. "Mars ain't the kind of place to raise your kids/In fact it's cold as hell." The Ananova article's headline -- "Rocketman takes to the skies" -- caught my eye with its allusion to John's song. It's an interesting article with two good photos that accompany the story. I don't understand how the Rocketman can breathe or stay warm, but can Evel Knievel be far behind? UPDATE: Randy Tollefson writes with...

A man who authorities said became upset when an airline crew refused to serve him alcohol, forcing a Los Angeles-bound flight to be diverted to Denver, appeared in court Friday to face a criminal charge of interference of a flight crew. Frederick Murphy, 59, of New Jersey was arrested at Denver International Airport Thursday night when Continental Flight 17 from Newark, New Jersey landed in Denver, the U.S. Attorney's Office said in a statement. Murphy's hometown was not immediately available and it was unclear whether he had retained an attorney. Airline officials did not return a message left by The...

JAKARTA, Indonesia — A commercial jetliner caught fire as it landed at an airport on Indonesia's Java island on Wednesday, an airline official said. Operations director of national carrier Garuda Capt. Ari Sapari said authorities were trying to rescue passengers onboard the Boeing 737-400. Media reports said more than 100 people were believed to have been on the plane. "It caught alight when it landed," he said giving no more details. The incident happened at Jogyakarta airport in central Java, Sapari said. Witness Hariman Siregar said the plane was completely gutted. One passenger who survived told local TV station RCTI...

Passenger bill of rights proposed Fri Feb 16, 1:00 PM ET Senator plans passengers' bill of rights WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. Barbara Boxer (news, bio, voting record) says she plans to introduce a "Passengers' Bill of Rights" that would give passengers the right to deplane when an aircraft has been on the ground for more than three hours past its scheduled departure time. "I've been stuck on the tarmac many times in my travel back and forth to California," Boxer said in a statement posted on her Web site. "Sometimes with the weather and traffic, it's unavoidable. But to keep...

U.S. Plans NYC Flight Restrictions Monday February 5, 2007 9:46 PM By DEVLIN BARRETT Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - Flight restrictions imposed around Manhattan after New York Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle crashed his single-engine plane into an apartment tower will be made permanent, government documents indicate. The plan for the rule change was revealed as the National Transportation Safety Board released papers Monday detailing its investigation of the Oct. 11 crash that killed Lidle and his flight instructor. ``The pilot and owner was New York Yankee player Cory Lidle, and a California based flight instructor was with him,'' the...

Anyone who knows me can tell you I'm nothing if not punctual. Ask my wife. She'll tell you I always insist on getting to the airport two hours early. It's an obsession, she'll say. My commitment to being on time is bizarre, she'll say. So, to make a very long story short, the day before yesterday, I was running a little bit late – by my standards. But I still got to the airport more than an hour before my flight to Jacksonville, Fla. This would be the time my wife, and most non-obsessed people, would plan to get to...

The thrill of DIY flying The PressSaturday, 3 February 2007 DON SCOTT, MIKE CREAN PLANE CRAZY? This weekend 200 plane-makers and flyers will descend on Ashburton for the annual national Fly-in. John King says pilots appreciate the country more than other people do. "Watching that glorious landscape unwind less than 1000 metres beneath the aircraft is sheer joy." For a small but committed bunch of Kiwis, the only thing better than flying is doing so in a plane you've built yourself. Mike Crean reports. Kiwis can fly. More than that, Kiwis can build planes and fly. They do so in...

Tucson's night skies will be buzzing with more military traffic for the next several days. Some jet flights will run as late as midnight as personnel at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base test their war readiness. A series of drills simulating real combat conditions began Tuesday and will run until next Friday, base officials said in a news release. Midnight flying deadlines are scheduled for Tuesday through Thursday. D-M officials have pledged to "minimize flight operations that cause undue stress to the community," the news release said. Airmen serving overseas typically work 12- to 14-hour shifts, so the training exercises will...

U.S. Army Capt. Thornton S. Mu treats Ibrahim, an 8-year-old boy who arrived at Forward Operating Base Sykes seeking medical attention. Mu works as a pediatrician when not on deployment. U.S. Army courtesy photo Flight Surgeon in Iraq Treats Injured Local Child Deployed pediatrician gets a chance to help local boy with broken bones and shrapnel injuries. By Spc. Daniel Bearl 25th Combat Aviation Brigade Public Affairs TAL AFAR, Iraq, Jan. 19, 2007 -- When Capt. Thornton S. Mu deployed to Iraq he hoped that he would be able to work with children. "I had always envisioned that even...