NewsThree Arrests Over Air France Drug HaulVenezuela has arrested three National Guard officials for alleged involvement in smuggling 1.3 tonnes of cocaine on an Air France flight from Caracas to Paris, the South American nation's public prosecutor's office said. The seizure of the cocaine haul valued at EUR€200 million (USD$270 million) comes as Washington is again accusing Venezuela of failing to adequately fight trafficking of cocaine from Colombia. Public prosecutors will charge a first sergeant, a second sergeant and a first lieutenant for "allegedly committing crimes established by Venezuelan law," the prosecutor's office said, without offering details of the charges.
LinkSingapore Airlines Sets Sights On IndiaAlmost 13 years after exiting its last attempt to enter the Indian market, Singapore Airlines is taking another stab at the country by again teaming up with the Tata Group as part of a broader strategic shift. Last week, the two companies applied to set up a new New Delhi-based full-service carrier, pledging a combined USD$100 million to get it going. This follows an unsuccessful attempt to do the same in the mid-1990s and a failed attempt to buy state-owned Air India in 2000.
LinkAllegiant Grounds MD-80s For Slide InspectionsAllegiant Air, a low-cost carrier that provides service to leisure destinations, is grounding 30 of its aircraft, or roughly half of its fleet, to inspect emergency evacuation slides in response to an FAA request for information. In a statement on Friday, Allegiant cited a "compliance issue" that will necessitate prompt inspections of the evacuation slides in its MD-80 aircraft. It added that the move would lead to delays and cancellations, and said the process was expected to be completed by the end of this month. The Federal Aviation Administration said on Friday it directed Allegiant to report on the status of the slides on its MD-80s after it investigated an emergency evacuation of Allegiant flight 436 at Las Vegas McCarran Airport on Monday.
LinkUK Police Arrest Two For Endangering AircraftBritish police arrested two men for endangering an aircraft on Friday evening after a Sri Lankan Airlines flight was diverted from London's Heathrow Airport to nearby Stansted. A police spokeswoman said the Airbus A330 landed shortly after 7:30 pm local time and police officers boarded the plane and arrested two men. "Passengers have been removed safely and inquiries are ongoing," the spokeswoman said.
LinkRyanair Unveils New 'Be Nice' StrategyRyanair has promised to transform its "abrupt culture" in a bid to win customers from costlier rivals, admitting for the first time that a reputation for treating its passengers badly might have become a problem. The Irish firm, this week voted the worst of the 100 biggest brands serving the British market by readers of consumer magazine Which?, said on Friday it would become more lenient on fining customers over bag sizes and overhaul the way it communicates. "We should try to eliminate things that unnecessarily piss people off," chief executive Michael O'Leary told the company's annual general meeting, after several shareholders complained about the impact of customer service on sales.
LinkWaypoint data entry error led to 777's rapid descent Incorrect data entry during a Boeing 777-300ER’s preparations for landing resulted in the crew’s having to deal with an unexpectedly rapid descent and a low-level approach into Melbourne. The aircraft, operated by Virgin Australia from Los Angeles, had been performing the LIZZI 7V standard arrival pattern to runway 34. This arrival pattern, which had been programmed into the flight management computer during cruise, ended at a waypoint designated SHEED, so the crew supplemented the pattern by selecting a visual approach from the database.
LinkEmirates working to finalize commercial terms for 777X order Emirates is closing on a deal to be a launch customer for Boeing’s 777X but still has “a lot of work to do” around the commercial negotiations, says the airline’s president Tim Clark. “We spent the summer working through the technical side of the aeroplane and from what I can see it looks very good. We will now look at the pricing and commercial aspects. So far so good, but there’s still a lot of work to do,” he says. Clark says Emirates has only recently been given definitive pricing information on the twinjet, and that the timing of any contract with Boeing will be “when it suit us – it may be the Dubai air show [in November], but if we’re not ready we won’t be doing it”.
LinkChina aircraft carrier flight tests gather steam China’s first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, has returned to its home port after its longest sea trial to date, during which over 100 sorties with its Shenyang J-15 fighters took place. In a statement on its web site, China’s defence ministry announced what appears to be rapid progress in flight testing with the ship, which it has designated as a platform for researching carrier operations. “During the tests, the ship-borne J-15 fighters made 100-odd sorties in all, conducting the tests of such subjects as taking-off with maximum payload along the long and short runways on the aircraft carrier, arresting-cable-controlled landing with maximum payload, and multi-weapon configuration take-off and landing.”
LinkF-35 inducted into USAF air logistics centerHill AFB, Utah, hosted a ceremony on 20 September marking the arrival of the first Lockheed Martin F-35A Joint Strike Fighter to a depot facility for upgrading. Industry sources say the aircraft had arrived at the US Air Force’s Air Logistics Complex on 13 September. “This aircraft was designed from its inception to evolve through modifications and upgrades so that our warfighters can continually outpace their opposition,” says Lorraine Martin, Lockheed’s F-35 vice-president and general manager.
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