*The heat was turned up in contract talks between AIR CANADA and its customer service and sales staff as the union representing the workers gave 72 hour strike notice Friday. In response, the Airline tried to minimize the potential impact of job action. "Air Canada left us no other choice, we obviously still have major concessions facing us at the table," said the lead negotiator for the Canadian Auto Workers, the union representing the 3800 workers. The notice clears the way for the workers to walk out at 12:01am on Tuesday, but the union hopes to not have to resort to job action. Talks will continue over this weekend.
*The cloud of ash from a volcano erupting in Chile has now forced QANTAS to cancel flights scheduled for tomorrow to Tasmania and New Zealand. The Puyehue volcano began erupting on June 4, with the initial ash plume reaching above 50000 ft. This evening, local time in Australia, strong winds had carried the main part of the cloud towards New Zealand, the head of the Bureau of Meteorology's Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre in Darwin said. "We are expecting all of New Zealand to be covered by that cloud," he said. "The cloud should progress along the length of the South Island, and over the North Island." Parts of Tasmania were expected to be affected from about 4:00am on Sunday, and southern Victoria on Monday. Meanwhile in Argentina and Uruguay, are hoping that air service can begin to return to normal today, after a week of mostly canceled flights. Flights from the Argentine capital Buenos Aires, and Montevideo in Uruguay, remained grounded yesterday. Argentina's Patagonia region suffered major disruptions and officials expect that region may still be heavily affected today. In addition, many flights from Airports in the Southern Brazilian cities of Porto Alegre and Florianopolis, were also cancelled on Friday.
*Today, June 11, is the 50th anniversary of what could have been a disaster for all of those onboard a KLM ROYAL DUTCH AIRLINES DC-7C. On June 11, 1961, the DC-7C was on Charter Service from Windsor Locks-Bradley International Airport in Connecticut to Glasgow, Scotland, and then on to Amsterdam, The Netherlands. The aircraft departed Connecticut at 10:26pm with 73 passengers and 8 crew members onboard. At 7:15am, UK time, the aircraft was cruising overhead the Atlantic at 17000 feet, when heavy vibration occurred in the No.1 engine and propellor. The DC-7C lost speed and started to descend. The crew declared an emergency and was preparing to ditch the aircraft in the water, when suddenly at 7:30am, the No.engine broke loose and fell into the sea. The crew was able to keep the aircraft airborne and continue on to Glasgow, where they safely landed at 8:45am. The cause of the engine problem, which led to its separation, was later determined to be the failure of the forward propeller shaft bearing on the No.1 engine. The aircraft was repaired and continue in service for KLM and other carriers, for many more years. The incident aircraft, registration PH-DSN, is pictured in the foreground above in 1964, still in service for KLM.
*COMMUTAIR Flight 8757, a Dash 8-200 on service for CONTINENTAL AIRLINES, had to make an emergency return to Flint, Michigan, yesterday, June 10. Shortly after departure for Cleveland, Ohio, the crew declared an emergency and requested return, reporting an indication of smoke in the cargo hold. The Dash landed back in Flint, about 20 minutes after its initial departure, and was met by Emergency Service. No trace of heat, smoke or fire was found. Post flight inspection, pictured above in Flint, revealed that indication was mostly like false. The flight to Cleveland was canceled and passengers placed on other flights.
*UNITED AIRLINES Flight 941, a Boeing 757, had to make an emergency landing in San Francisco, California, yesterday, June 10. While on approach to SFO, the crew declared an emergency, reporting a medium amount of smoke in the forward galley area of the passenger cabin. The 757, which was inbound from Las Vegas, Nevada, landed safely and turned off the runway onto a taxiway, where the aircraft was met by Emergency Services. The aircraft was removed from service to determine the cause of the smoke.
*AIR CANADA Flight 761, an A319 enroute from Montreal, QC, Canada, to San Francisco, California, had to divert to Winnipeg, MB, Canada, yesterday, June 10. While enroute overhead Southern Minnesota, the crew notified ATC that the Captain's cockpit windshield had cracked. The crew elected to turn North and divert to Winnipeg, where they landed without incident. The Airbus was removed from service for repairs to the windshield, pictured above on the ground in Winnipeg. A replacement aircraft was dispatched to continue the flight to SFO.
*DRAGONAIR Flight 877, an A320, had to make an emergency return to Shanghai, China, on Wednesday, June 8. Shortly after takeoff for Hong Kong, the crew declared an emergency and requested return, reporting a hydraulic failure. The Airbus safely landed back in Shanghai without nose gear steering. After the aircraft was towed to the gate and passengers offloaded, it was removed from service for inspection and repairs. A replacement aircraft was dispatched to continue the flight to Hong Kong.
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