*UNITED AIRLINES will scrap its new program of boarding by rows and return to zoned boarding on June 8. The carrier had adopted CONTINENTAL AIRLINES policy of boarding by rows, with the rear of the plane first, during the ongoing merger process of the 2 carriers. However, the change has led to a longer boarding process, leaving some flights delayed and the carrier's elite members unhappy. United said it would begin the return to zoned boarding this coming Wednesday and will also gradually introduce it on all Continental flights as the year goes on. The zoned boarding system allows elite members, along with members of the military, to board 1st, followed by those in window seats, middle seats and finally, aisle seats.
*A suspicious and noisy package that caused evacuations at an Will Rogers Airport in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, on Friday, contained a bullhorn that played Christmas music, wiring and part of a mobile phone. An Airport spokeswoman said the wiring and mobile phone parts alerted security officials when the taped-up cardboard box arrived on a flight from Houston and sat on a baggage claim carousel. Airport officials called police after hearing sounds coming from the box and everyone was ordered out of the ticket lobby and baggage-claim levels. A bomb squad found the package was harmless. The FBI said the box's owner missed his flight and was apologetic. No criminal charges were filed and officials gave the all clear about 5 hours later. In all, 30 flights were canceled or delayed and about 2500 passengers were affected by the incident.
*A man in Garland, Texas, was arrested Thursday night after he pointed a laser at the wrong plane--an FBI aircraft that was searching for him. The incident began at about 9:30pm on Thursday night, when a SOUTHWEST AIRLINES Pilot reported that someone on the ground was aiming a laser at his jet. The Boeing 737 was near Garland at 5000 feet, and preparing to land at Love Field, when the laser attack took place. Air traffic controllers alerted other planes in the area, including the FBI Pilot, who began to fly over Garland, searching for the laser pointer. "He started directing law enforcement into where the laser was coming from," said an FBI spokesman. The 1st agent to arrive at the man's home, saw the man with the laser still in his hand, pointing it at the federal FBI plane, which was circling overhead. The 45 year old man was arrested on a misdemeanor charge of illumination of aircraft by intense light. He faces up to a year in jail if convicted.
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Argentina's Junta de Investigaciones de Accidentes de Aviacion Civil (JIAAC) has released its Final Report into an incident involving an AUSTRAL MD88 at Ushuaia, Argentina, on July 20, 2008. On that date, the MD88 was on a Charter Flight from Buenos Aires to Ushuaia, with 141 passengers and 6 crew members onboard. Upon landing in heavy snow at Ushuaia, the aircraft veered off the runway after the crew lost control due to snow accumulation on the runway. The aircraft came to a full stop about 3 meters beside the runway. No one onboard was injured and the MD88 suffered no damage. In their Final Report, the JIAAC said the Probable Cause of the incident was: "Loss of control during landing due to snow contaminated runway". The full Report, in Spanish and which details event as they unfolded, can be found on the JIAAC website.
*Argentina's Junta de Investigaciones de Accidentes de Aviacion Civil (JIAAC) has released its Final Report into a serious incident involving an IBERIA A340 at Cordoba, Argentina, on June 20, 2008. On that date, Flight 6843 was on International Service from Madrid, Spain, to Buenos Aires, Argentina, with 349 passengers and 14 crew members onboard. The crew aborted their approach to Buenos Aires's runway 35 with the intention to visually circle for landing on runway 17. The crew then went around and due to the poor weather conditions, ended up diverting to Cordoba. While descending from 35000 feet, about 110 nautical miles from Cordoba, the crew declared an emergency, reporting being low on fuel. The crew then went on to make a safe emergency landing. In their Final Report, the JIAAC said the Probable Cause of the incident was: "During the approach to an alternate airfield, the crew declared emergency due to low fuel and landed below required final fuel reserve probably due to faults in the Safety Management System". The agency said the Contributing Factors were the increased fuel consumption due to a shift of the center of gravity as result of the failure of automatic fuel transfer from trim to main tank, and, poor planning of a long range flight on the availability of suitable diversion aerodromes and adequate fuel reservers in marginal weather conditions. The full Report, in Spanish and which details events as they unfolded, can be found on the JIAAC website.
*AMERICAN AIRLINES Flight 854, an MD83, had to make an emergency return to St Louis, Missouri, yesterday, June 4. The crew declared an emergency on their initial climb, reporting that they needed to shut down an engine for undisclosed reasons. The aircraft landed safely back in St Louis, about 10 minutes after their initial departure and was met by Emergency Services. According to a statement by officials at Lambert Field, the aircraft was then cleared to taxi to the gate, however upon arrival at the gate, the engine ignited. Emergency Services was still in attendance and they foamed down the engine to extinguish the fire. None of the 131 passengers or crew onboard Flight 854 were injured. The aircraft was removed from service for a damage assessment and repairs. The flight to Chicago OHare was then canceled and the passengers rebooked on other flights.
*AIR BERLIN Flight 3392, an A321, had to make an emergency return to Hamburg, Germany, yesterday, June 4. The crew halted their climb out of Hamburg at 5000 feet, reporting a hydraulic failure and unsafe gear due to the hydraulic failure. The crew manually extended and locked the gear and then circled Hamburg for about 2 hours to burn off fuel. The Airbus landed safely back in Hamburg, about 2.5 hours after its initial departure. It was later removed from service for repairs and a replacement aircraft was brought in to complete the flight to Tenerife, CI, Spain.
*KOREAN AIR LINES Flight 935, an A330, had to make an emergency return to Seoul, South Korea, on Thursday, May 26. The incident was just made public yesterday. While climbing thru 10000 feet, the crew shut down the right hand engine after it emitted several loud bangs. The crew halted their climb and returned safely to Seoul, about 40 minutes after their initial departure. A replacement A330 was brought in to complete the flight to Prague, Czech Republic. The Airbus was removed from service for repairs and remains out of service today. According to the carrier, the engine suffered repeated surges and was then shut down. However, media reports say that there was also a fire indication received by the crew and post flight inspection revealed damage to the engine cowling.
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