AVIATION NEWS BRIEFS

*About 60 former employees of HAWAIIAN AIRLINES were able to fly in a restored 82 year old Bellanca CH-300 Pacemaker on Saturday at Dillingham Airfield on the island of Oahu. The event was organized by former Pilots and supported by the carrier. The 15 minute trips took off from Dillingham and circled Diamond Head, before returning to the base. Hawaiian Airlines' founder, Stanley Kennedy, bought the Bellanca CH-300 brand new from a factory in Delaware in 1929, starting the company then known as INTER-ISLAND AIRWAYS. It was used for sightseeing tours to promote air travel before it was sold in 1933. It went through several decades of heavy use in the Pacific Northwest, in Canada, and as a bush plane in Alaska. It crashed in the 1960s, was repaired in the 1980s and then placed into storage in 2000. In 2009, it was returned to Hawaii, restored with a coat of maroon paint for Hawaiian Airlines' 80th anniversary.

*ALASKA AIRLINES has received the FAA's Diamond Award for maintenance training excellence for the 10th consecutive year. The Diamond Award, the FAA's most prestigious maintenance honor, recognizes Alaska's ongoing commitment to aircraft maintenance and training excellence. During the past decade, individual Alaska aircraft technicians earned more than 8,000 FAA awards representing more than 400,000 hours of training.

*Canada's AIR TRANSAT has unveiled a new livery. The 1st aircraft to sport the livery, an Airbus A330, was captured leaving the paint shop this past weekend.

*Questions are being raised after a member of the public captured IRAN AIR Flight 710 being refueled in Manston, England, this weekend. The aircraft, seen above on approach to Manston, was on service from London Heathrow to Tehran, Iran. Although the carrier is allowed to operate in certain European countries, it has restrictions on where it is allowed to refuel. The restrictions stem from long time sanctions against Iran.

*The POLISH AIR FORCE has temporarily grounded it's RSK MiG-29 fighters, following the in-flight shutdown of a Klimov RD-33 engine. The incident on May 5 and involved an aircraft from the 41st Tactical Air Squadron at Malbork. The ilot was able to land safely and no aircraft damage was reported. The service's other MiG-29s are being inspected while an investigation takes place.

*IATA, the world aviation control body, says it has suspended Zimbabwe's debt-ridden national carrier, AIR ZIMBABWE, from international financial and flight booking services. In a statement Sunday, the International Air Transport Association told travel agents to "immediately stop all ticketing and refund transactions" for Air Zimbabwe. The Airline still can fly using only its own facilities, but will suffer a sharp drop in bookings by passengers who are not Zimbabwean nationals. Air Zimbabwe, already crippled by 2 Pilots strikes in the past 6 months, owed Iata $280 000 in unpaid worldwide billing and ticketing fees.

*AIR CHINA and CATHAY PACIFIC have announced the consolidation of their cargo businesses in a Beijing ceremony to launch the new AIR CHINA CARGO. Air China will hold 51% of the shares and Cathay Pacific will hold 25% of the shares and 24% of economic interests in Air China Cargo. After the consolidation, Air China Cargo's fleet will include 12 B747-400 aircraft. The Airline's operation center will be based in Shanghai.

*New Zealand's Auckland Airport has pulled the current issue of Arrival magazine due to an advertisement depicting a man using cocaine. The magazine is given to tourists arriving at the Auckland Airport. The advertisement, which shows a mountain range below an image of a man with a pile of white powder, wearing a shirt that reads "Cocaine," was for Wicked Campers. Over 100,000 copies of the magazine were pulled from the Airport. This is not the 1st time that the campervan rental company has found itself in the midst of controversy over its ads. Most recently, another Wicked Campers ad which featured the slogan "Kangaroo's (sic). Run the f---ers down!," was banned in Australia.

*AIR NEW ZEALAND and VIRGIN AUSTRALIA have announced plans for their joint trans-Tasman network, effective for the upcoming northern winter schedule from November 2011 to March 2012. The alliance will connect ANZ's domestic network of 26 ports to Virgin Australia's domestic network of 31 domestic ports. Under the new network, ANZ will operate approximately 70% of the capacity and Virgin Australia's PACIFIC BLUE Airline will operate 30%, similar to the relative market share the airlines had prior to the beginning of the alliance.

*QANTAS said today that its international business was loss making and in need of a shake-up, but it was too early to say whether it would build a new service out of Asia. Chief executive Alan Joyce said international business was a"'real problem for the Qantas group" and could not continue unchanged because it was losing market share and profits. Reports have suggested that Qantas is looking to Asia, possibly Singapore or Malaysia, as a base for a premium international service to offset weak international business. The carrier is currently facing industrial actions from many of its unions as negotiations for new contracts continue.

*4 Canadian soldiers were injured when a CANADIAN ARMED FORCES Boeing Ch-47 Chinook transport helicopter "rolled" during a "hard landing" early this morning on a river bed in Afghanistan. The chopper, carrying 25 soldiers and 5 crew members, including a Canadian Press journalist, flipped onto its side upon landing, pictured, in a remote part of Panjwaii district in southern Afghanistan. None of the injuries was considered life threatening. The chopper suffered substantial damages in the accident, which was not the result of any enemy contact.

*AMERICAN AIRLINES Flight 1720, an MD82, had to make an emergency diversion to Little Rock, Arkansas, yesterday, May 15, due to an engine fire indictation. The aircraft, enroute from Dallas/Ft Worth, Texas, to Washington Dulles, landed in Little Rock about 15 minutes after requesting diversion. Emergency Services met the aircraft and found no trace of heat, smoke or fire. The aircraft was removed from service for inspection.

*DELTA AIRLINES Flight 1402, an MD82, had to make an emergency diversion to Orlando, Florida, yesterday, May 15. While on their initial climb out of Daytona Beach, the crew reported problems with the left hand engine, possibly engine failure. The climbed to 3000 feet and requested diversion to Orlando. They then reduced the engine to idle due to possible compressor stalls. The MD82, which was enroute to Atlanta, Georgia, safely landed in Orlando and was met by Emergency Services. Following an inspection, Emergency Services cleared the aircraft to taxi to the gate and offload passengers. The aircraft was removed from service for repairs.

*AIR FRANCE Flight 406, a Boeing 777, had to make an emergency medical diversion to Lisbon, Portugal, yesterday, May 15. While enroute from Paris, France, to Santiago, Chile, and overhead the Atlantic at 31000 feet, about 400 miles West of Lisbon, a 1 year old child suffered an open fracture of a finger. The crew requested diversion, and the 777 landed in Lisbon about 1 hour later. The child was transported to hospital and after a delay of about 2.5 hours, the aircraft continued on its flight to Santiago. No details were released on the child's condition or the circumstances surrounding the injury.

*AIRTRAN Flight 501, a Boeing 717, was delayed in departing Minneapolis/St Paul, Minnesota, on Saturday, May 14, after the Captain was arrested. According to media reports, a security staff member smelled alcohol on the Pilot's breath and called Airport Police. The Captain was removed from the aircraft and Police reported that the Pilot's blood alcohol level measured at 0.05%, just over the FAA limit of 0.04%. The incident occurred just before the scheduled 5:45am departure of Flight 501 to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The plane was delayed for 35 minutes while another Pilot was brought in. The FAA, Aiport Police and AirTran are all investigating.

*RYANAIR Flight 449, a Boeing 737, reported an unruly passenger onboard while enroute from Liverpool, England, to Dublin, Irelan, on Saturday, May 14. According to media reports, while enroute, a 22 year old male passenger threw a bottle, that hit another passenger. The flight crew notified controllers in Dublin, and upon their arrival, law enforcement boarded the aircraft and arrested the passenger. No other details were released.