AVIATION NEWS BRIEFS

*SAS is selling 18 Boeing MD80 jetliners to the parent of US carrier ALLEGIANT AIR. The twin-jets are being sold as part of the company's "Core SAS" restructuring program under which it is withdrawing 21 aircraft from its fleet. SAS states that the agreement will reduce its net debt by SKr200 million ($28.4 million). It will deliver the aircraft to Allegiant Air in the 1st half of this year.

*A UNITED AIRLINES Pilot has pled guilty to being over the alcohol limit as he prepared to take off from London's Heathrow Airport. The 51 year old Pilot was arrested in November last year on a flight that was due to leave Heathrow Airport. A breath test showed that he was more than 3 times the permitted limit to fly a plane. He will be sentenced on February 5. He was due to Captain a Boeing 767 bound for Chicago with 124 passengers and 11 crew members onboard on November 9.  The plane's departure was imminent when a colleague smelled alcohol on his breath. Police arrived and arrested him. The flight was subsequently cancelled and passengers were put on other planes.

*MESA AIR GROUP has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in order to undergo financial restructuring. Its joint Hawaiian inter-island operation GO!-MOKULELE  is not part of the filing. Mesa Air Group says its business will continue unaffected, including its codeshare arrangements with UNITED AIRLINES, US AIRWAYS and DELTA AIRLINES. The group filed its petitition in New York state. "This process will allow us to eliminate excess aircraft to better match our needs and give us the flexibility to align our business to the changing regional airline marketplace, ensuring a leaner and more competitive company poised for future success," said Mesa in a statement. Mesa operates a fleet of about 130 aircraft.

*THAI AIRWAYS executive chairman Wallop Bhukkanasut has resigned after a probe into allegations that he abused his power to avoid paying for excess luggage on an international flight. The carrier says that its board had accepted the decision. According to various media reports, Bhukkanasut and his wife failed to pay for 260kg of excess luggage on a flight from Tokyo- to Bangkok. They also reportedly routed it through a special channel to avoid paying taxes and fees. This resulted in a public outcry and led to the carrier's employee union calling on Bhukkansut to resign.

*QANTAS passengers who sat on a defective A380 for 5 hours at Melbourne Airport yesterday finally departed for Los Angeles today, after yet another delay. As posted yesterday, Flight 93, originally scheduled to take off yesterday at midday, was pushed back to this morning. After another delay, the flight finally left the terminal at 12.10pm, 24 hours late, and took off at 12.27pm. (All times are local). A Qantas spokesman said engineers were this morning still working on the problem, in consultation with Airbus, that caused yesterday's delay. He said today's delay was due to the large volume of A380 passengers boarding at Melbourne Airport.

*A KALITTA Boeing 747 had to make an emergency landing at Liege, Belguim, yesterday, January 4. Flight 328, on Cargo Service from Bahrain, with 5 crew members onboard, was on approach to Liege when the crew declared an emergency, reporting an unsafe gear indication. The Airport deployed a full Emergency Services response, however the aircraft landed without incident. After inspection, the 747 was cleared to return to service.

*A RYANAIR Boeing 737 had to make an emergency return to Liverpool, England, yesterday, due to a fire alert. Flight 4021 was on International Service to Agadir, Morocco, with 116 passengers and 6 crew members onboard. While climbing thru 17000 feet, the crew declared an emergency reporting a fire alert had triggered. The 737 touched back down at Liverpool about 25 minutes later, and passengers and crew were evacuated via the slides. No one onboard was injured and the aircraft was removed from service for a full inspection. In a brief statement, Ryanair said that they believed the alert was due to a malfunction.

*An AIRTRAN Boeing 737 had to make an emergency return to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on January 3. Flight 514, on Domestic Service to New York La Guardia, declared an emegency, reporting an open door indication, while on its initial climb out of Milwaukee. The crew halted their climb at 3000 feet, and landed back at Milwaukee without incident, about 10 minutes after their initial departure. The aircraft was removed from service for inspection.

*A JETBLUE A320 had to divert while enroute, on January 3. Flight 672, on Domestic Service from LAX to JFK, was inflight at 35000 feet, overhead Missouri, when the crew reported that more than 1 toilet was overflowing. The A320 was diverted to Chicago OHare, where the aircraft landed without incident. Although the aircraft was quickly repaired, the crew had gone over their duty time, thus Flight 672 did not continue on its journey until the next day.

*An AMERICAN AIRLINES Boeing 777 had to divert while enroute, on January 3. Flight 79 was on International Service from London Heathrow to Dallas/Ft Worth, Texas, and was enroute at 38000 feet, about 250 miles from Chicago, Illinois, when the crew reported a possible fuel leak. The crew descended to 32000 feet and requested diverison. Flight 79 was diverted to Chicago OHare, where it landed without incident. The 777 was removed from service for inspection and repairs.

*An ORENAIR Boeing 737 had to divert while enroute, due to navigation systems problems, on January 2. Flight 9265 was on International Service from Perm, Russia, to Dubai, UAE, with 129 passengers and crew onboard. About 4 hours into the flight, some navigation systems failed and the crew requested diversion. The 737 was diverted to Bandar Abbas, Iran, where it landed without incident. The aircraft was repaired while on the ground in Bandar Abbas, and departed about 15 hours later.

*A MESABA AIRLINES CRJ200 suffered a flaps failure, on January 1. Flight 3361 was on International Service on behalf of NORTHWEST AIRLINES, from Minneapolis/St Paul, Minnesota, to Thunder Bay, Canada, with 38 passengers and crew onboard. While on approach to Thunder Bay, the crew notified ATC that their flaps were stuck at 20 degrees. The crew then performed a go-around, while troubleshooting the problem. Unable to move the flaps beyond 20 degrees, the crew declared an emergency. The CRJ landed without incident about 30 minutes later. According to the Canadian TSB, the flaps were reset, and the aircraft returned to service.

*An AIR CANADA JAZZ CRJ200 suffered a flaps failure, on December 31. Flight 8516 was on Domestic Service from Winnipeg to Thunder Bay, Canada, with 45 passengers and crew onboard. The crew declared an emergency while on approach to Thunder Bay, reporting that the flaps would not move beyond 30 degrees. The crew then performed a go-around and landed without incident on its 2nd approach. According to the Canadian TSB the flaps have been replaced and the CRJ returned to service.

*A CANJET Boeing 737 had to make an emergency return to Toronto, Canada, on December 31. Flight 792, on International Service to Montego Bay, Jamaica, declared an emergency as it was climbing thru 31000 feet, with crew reporting a cracked windshield. The aircraft landed back at Toronto without incident, about 30 minutes later.