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Aviation News
The latest global aviation news in English.
Emirates A380
A MID-AIR fight has broken out on board an Emirates jet over a reclined seat.
The two men, aged 18 and 38, had to be separated when they almost came to blows in the aisle of the A380 plane at 12,000 metres, the UK’s Daily Mail reported.
One passenger on the flight from Dubai to Manchester Airport reclined his seat to try and get some sleep while the passenger behind him was eating a meal. After the pair traded insults, the fight escalated, forcing cabin crew to separate them and the pilot to arrange for police meet them at the airport.
Police said both parties admitted they were in the wrong and no further action has been taken. Emirates confirmed there was an “altercation” on board the flight and, although no blow had been exchanged, cabin crew had been called to calm the passengers.
A spokesman for the airline said: “Emirates does not tolerate this kind of behaviour from passengers and safety will not be compromised.”
Last June a United Airlines plane was forced to return to Washington-Dulles International Airport, US, under the escort of two F-16 fighter jets after a fist-fight broke out between passengers.
The brawl began not long after take-off when a passenger reclined his seat “intimately close” to the lap of a man sitting behind him. The man was then allegedly smacked in the head, with a flight attendant and other passengers reportedly diving around the cabin to stop the fight.
According to a CAA report, without extra runway capacity, passengers will face higher fares and reduced choice.
The government has said it is developing “a sustainable policy framework for aviation.”
The CAA argues that unless the UK expands capacity, airports may struggle to keep up with growth in aviation demand boosted by emerging markets such as China, India and South America.
"Aviation should be able to grow, but to do so, it must be able to play its part in delivering our environmental goals and protecting quality of life of local communities," the report said.
CAA chief executive Andrew Haines said consumers and the UK economy would benefit from extra capacity "so long as it is delivered in an environmentally sustainable way".
"However, as we haven't built a single runway in the south east of England capable of handling Boeing 747s and Airbus A380s for over 70 years, the difficulty of increasing capacity is obvious," he added.
"The challenge facing the Government is to create an aviation policy that stands the test of time - not a policy for five years, but one for thirty years."
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Thick smog grounds flights and fouls air
More than 150 flights to and from Beijing were cancelled or delayed Tuesday as a thick cloud of acrid smog shrouded the city, with US figures saying the pollution was so bad it was off the scale.
The national meteorological centre said the Chinese capital had been hit by thick fog that reduced visibility to as little as 200 metres in some parts of the city, while official data judged air quality to be “good”.
But the US embassy, which has its own pollution measuring system, said on its Twitter feed that the concentration of the smallest, most dangerous particles in the air was “beyond index” for most of the morning. The US system measures particles in the air of 2.5 micrometres or less, known as PM2.5, considered the most dangerous for people’s health.
Tuesday’s reading on its air quality index, which rates anything over 150 as unhealthy, over 200 as very unhealthy and over 300 as hazardous, breached the upper limit of 500, at which it stops giving figures.
Meanwhile, the Beijing Environmental Bureau, which currently bases its air quality information on particles of 10 micrometres or larger, known as PM10, said the air quality in the capital was “good”.
A spokesman for the bureau would not comment when contacted.
According to Beijing International Airport’s website, 155 flights were delayed or cancelled on Tuesday. Air France and Lufthansa flights coming from Paris and Tokyo respectively were among those grounded.
The frequent discrepancy between US embassy readings and official data on pollution in Beijing has caused huge public anger as more and more residents worry about their health.
In apparent response to public concern, authorities last week said they would start publishing hourly updates of the PM2.5 measure before the Lunar New Year starting on January 23, but those measurements have not yet begun.
International organisations including the United Nations list Beijing as one of the most polluted cities in the world, mainly due to its growing energy consumption, much of which is still fuelled by coal, and car usage.
Authorities in Beijing said last month they had met their target of “blue sky” days for 2011, with 274 days of “grade one or two” air quality compared with 252 days in 2010.
But the state-run China Daily has said that if PM2.5 were used as China’s main standard, only 20 per cent of Chinese cities would be rated as having satisfactory air quality, against the current 80 per cent.
AFP
The captain and first officer allegedly began feeling unwell soon after Glasgow-bound flight took off on 7 January 2011.
The Daily Mail reported some passengers hearing the pilots panicked messages coming over the PA. One passenger allegedly told a professional pilots website: “A very abrupt and panicked message came over the PA from the pilot.”
The passenger said he then saw flight attendants rush to the cockpit with oxygen cylinders and the plane was soon heading back to Heathrow "at great speed". Members of the cabin crew told passengers the plans was experiencing technical difficulties but the plane was met by paramedics, fire crews and engineers when it landed.
In a statement given by British Airways, it was confirmed that both pilots on the flight felt unwell and followed procedure by putting on oxygen masks and aborting the flight.
The incident is being investigated by British aviation authorities.
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Hong Kong
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