AVIATION NEWS BRIEFS

*A DELTA AIRLINES Pilot was arrested and fined for allegedly being drunk as he was preparing to fly Flight 35 from Amsterdam, The Netherlands, to Newark, New Jersey. Police say they arrested the Pilot in the cockpit of the plane yesterday, after an anonymous tip. A breath test found he had a blood alcohol content of 0.023%, just above the legal limit in the Netherlands. The Pilot was fined about $900 and released, according to a statement from police. Delta had to cancel the flight saying that a crew member appeared "unfit for duty". The Pilot has been suspended and the Airline has opened an internal investigation.

*SPICEJET has fired a Pilot who has been accused of sexually assaulting a female Flight Attendant in the cockpit on September 4. According to media reports, an internal investigation concluded that the he was guilty and then terminated his employment. In a brief statement, the Airline said that there had been previous complaints about the Pilot. No criminal charges have been filed.

*A new report says that years of Israeli failure to deal with civil aviation safety issues led directly to the US FAA's January 2009 downgrading of the country from Category 1 safety status to Category 2. In the report, Israel's state comptroller said: "It is clear that despite the deficiencies mentioned in many reports issued by Israeli and foreign experts, the relevant government ministries did not act to improve the situation. This is grave in my view as lives of passengers can be in danger." The report found that relevant ministries and the civil aviation authority did not act in accordance with Israel's commitment to international standards as a signatory to the Chicago Convention and in light of international warnings in recent years. It concluded that until recently the civil aviation authority did not have the proper tools to deal with the increased traffic and that it could not function properly due to poor organizational structure. Israel is preparing legislation to change its safety oversight system structure in a bid to regain Category 1 next year.

*SOUTHWEST AIRLINES Flight 778, on Domestic Boeing 737 Service from Ft Lauderdale, Florida, to Austin, Texas, with 87 passengers and 5 crew members onboard, had to make an emergency diversion, yesterday, September 14. While inflight at 40000 feet, near Fort Myers, Florida, the crew declared an emergency due to the loss of cabin pressure. The crew performed an emergency descent, reading 11000 feet within the next 8 minutes. The 737 was then diverted to Fort Myers, where it landed without incident and was allowed to taxi to the gate, as seen in photo above. 3 passengers were transported to local hospitals for undisclosed reasons, 7 others were treated and released from the scene. The aircraft has been removed from service for a full inspection and the FAA has opened an investigation.

*AIR CHINA Flight 967, on International A340 Service from Shanghai, China, to Milan, Italy, had to make an emergency diversion, yesterday, September 14. The A340 was diverted to Beijing, China, due to unspecified mechanical problems. The aircraft is currently out of service undergoing repairs.

*DENIM AIR Flight 114, on Domestic Fokker 50 Service on behalf of FLYORISTANO, from Oristano to Rome, Italy, had to make an emergency return to Oristano, after the cockpit windshield cracked, on Monday, September 13. The aircraft was then removed from service for repairs, causing multiple cancelations for Denim Air.

*EASYJET Flight 540, on International A319 Service from Basel, Switzerland, to Berlin, Germany, with 129 passengers and crew onboard, had to divert while enroute, on Sunday, September 12. While inflight at 34000 feet, near Leipzig, Germany, a cockpit windshield cracked. The A319 was diverted to Leipzig, where it landed without incident. The aircraft was removed from service for repairs.

*CROATIA AIRLINES Flight 422, on International A320 Service from Split, Croatia, to Dusseldorf, Germany, had to reject takeoff, on Wednesday, September 8. The crew rejected takeoff after colliding with a flock of pigeons, several of which were ingested into the right hand engine. The crew was able to stop the aircraft on the runway. The A320, which suffered damage to the radome, right engine and right wing, has already been repaired and returned to service.

*AIR CANADA Flight 756, on International A319 Service from San Francisco, California, to Toronto, Canada, had to divert while enroute, on Tuesday, September 7. While inflight at 37000 feet, overhead Minnesota, the crew declared an emergency, reporting that the left hand windshield had cracked. The crew then descended to 23000 feet and was diverted to Minneapolis/St Paul, Minnesota, where they landed without incident 1 hour later. The A319 has since been repaired and returned to service.