Aviation News

Smoke was found in the cabin of Cathay Pacific Airways flight CX365

Three passengers sustained minor injuries and 351 passengers were evacuated from the smoking cabin of an airplane at the Shanghai Pudong International Airport on Friday morning.

Police told Xinhua that smoke was found in the cabin of Cathay Pacific Airways flight CX365 scheduled to fly from Shanghai to Hong Kong prior to takeoff. 

“Smoke was found when the airplane was on the runway and prepared for takeoff,” an official with the airport’s frontier inspection department said, adding that a preliminary investigation found that the smoke had been caused by an equipment failure.

All passengers were successfully evacuated.

The three injured persons were sent to hospital and the Shanghai Pudong International Airport continued normal operations.

Further investigation is underway.

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Actor Alec Baldwin has published a detailed account of what happened on an American Airlines flight this week that saw him asked to leave the plane.

Writing in the Huffington Post, the 30 Rock star claimed he had been “singled out” for using his phone by a flight attendant “in the most unpleasant of tones”, while other passengers did the same thing and were ignored as the plane sat at the gate.

Baldwin was ordered off the flight on Tuesday after refusing to turn off his smartphone as the plane was preparing to leave Los Angeles airport, and said afterwards he would never use American again.

He wrote that the increased security in the wake of the September 11 attacks had been used by airlines and airports “as an excuse to make the air travel experience as inelegant as possible”.

Baldwin slammed US airlines in general, writing that “the level of service on US carriers has deteriorated to a point that would make Howard Hughes red-faced. Filthy planes, barely edible meals, cuts in jet service to less-traveled locations”.

While Baldwin apologised for disrupting his fellow passengers, he offered no apology to the airline.

“The lesson I’ve learned is to keep my phone off when the 1950s gym teacher is on duty,” he wrote.

On Wednesday, American Airlines slammed Baldwin as “extremely rude” after he took to his Twitter account to complain about having been thrown off the flight.

In a series of tweets on Tuesday — which were later unavailable as Baldwin had deactivated his Twitter account — the actor said he was playing a popular smartphone game when he was told to leave the plane.

“Flight attendant on American reamed me out 4 playing WORDS W FRIENDS while we sat at the gate, not moving,” Baldwin tweeted.

But in a statement Wednesday, American Airlines retorted, saying Baldwin had ignored a request to turn off his phone — and stormed off to the lavatory, slamming the door shut and alarming the pilots.

“Since an extremely vocal customer has publicly identified himself as being removed from an American Airlines flight… we have elected to provide the actual facts of the matter,” it said.

Recalling the rule that cellphones and electronic devices must be turned off when the plane doors are closed and seatbelt lights on, American continued: “This passenger declined to turn off his cell phone when asked to do so.

“The passenger ultimately stood up (with the seatbelt light still on for departure) and took his phone into the plane’s lavatory.

“He slammed the lavatory door so hard, the cockpit crew heard it and became alarmed, even with the cockpit door closed and locked. They immediately contacted the cabin crew to check on the situation.

“The passenger was extremely rude to the crew, calling them inappropriate names and using offensive language. Given the facts above, the passenger was removed from the flight and denied boarding.”

Baldwin’s spokesman Matthew Hiltzik said the star had been unfairly singled out.

“Alec was asked to leave the flight for playing ‘Words with Friends’ while parked at the gate. He loves WWF so much that he was willing to leave a plane for it,” he said after the initial incident.

In a new reaction after the AA statement he claimed that the plane was already delayed half an hour at the gate, and Baldwin was simply whiling away the time playing on his cellphone.

“Alec was clearly singled out by a flight attendant who behaved in an inappropriate manner,” he said in an email.

“Other passengers who tweeted flagrantly violated these rules without any repercussions, proving that they were obviously selectively enforced,” he said, accusing the airline of changing their story.

“The more flack AA is getting for this incident, the more their story keeps changing.

Baldwin received some support from another celebrity, boxing legend Oscar De La Hoya, who was also on the flight. “I think the flight attendant overreacted,” he tweeted.

Baldwin’s Twitter account meanwhile remained inaccessible, saying simply, “Deactivated.”

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au

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MOSCOW—Russia, once a global aviation power, has become the most dangerous country in which to board an airliner.

Investigations of nine commercial plane crashes this year, including one that killed an entire professional hockey team, found a raft of gross violations and errors, such as drunk or sedated flight crews, forged safety documents and panicked pilots. In one crash, the navigator used the wrong guidance equipment and aimed his jetliner at a tree, far from the runway.

“I don’t know what else has to happen for the recognition of this systemic crisis to reach the entire aviation community,” said Deputy Transport Minister Valery Okulov, a former chief executive of national airline Aeroflot, at an emergency industry meeting in October, according to a report in a state-run newspaper. A ministry spokeswoman declined to confirm that account and said Mr. Okulov wasn’t available for comment.

Russian fatalities and crashes, adjusted for air-traffic volumes, this year exceed those in less developed countries with longstanding safety problems, including Congo and Indonesia, according to aviation consultants Ascend in London.

Eight of the nine crashes involved Soviet-era planes. But many safety experts say the real problem isn’t aging equipment but ineffective regulation, inefficiently small airlines and poorly trained pilots not following modern safety procedures.

Just two years ago, Russia appeared to be an air-safety success story. Following a string of crashes early last decade, the government in 2006 accepted international help to boost safety at its biggest global carriers like Aeroflot and Transaero. By 2009, Russia had no fatal crashes. Since then, accidents have surged amid rising traffic at small, domestic airlines that were largely overlooked by the safety campaign.

The Russian air crashes highlight a nagging problem for the global aviation industry and show the limits of generally successful efforts to cut the danger of air travel. A major reason for the world-wide drop in accidents over recent years is that most big countries cut their tolerance for safety lapses—at their own carriers and on foreign airlines. A critical weakness in this system of nations watching each others’ backs, experts concede, is domestic aviation in countries where people tend to overlook risks.

In heartland Russia, for example, many pilots and airplane mechanics show little concern for basic safety rules that have become second nature elsewhere. Domestic carriers operate under national regulations that are much weaker than global rules that Russia’s international carriers face. Falsification is common, down to widespread use of counterfeit spare parts, Russian officials say.

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A MAN whose father died while he was holidaying in the United States was told to pay $2246 to buy a new Air New Zealand ticket to get home for the funeral.

Javas Carter, from Picton in the Marlborough region, found out his father had passed away while in Los Angeles.

He immediately contacted the airline to request an earlier flight home, but was told he would have to buy a new ticket because he had booked using United Airlines points.

Mr Carter’s original flight was due to depart on Sunday night, but it would have arrived too late to guarantee he could attend his father’s funeral.

Mr Carter and his friends made several phone calls to Air New Zealand, but it was only after the media contacted the airline that a seat was found for him to return in time.

“Both the airlines tried to blame each other,” Mr Javas told the NZ Herald.
“Air New Zealand were saying ‘you need to call United’ and United would say ‘no, you need to call Air New Zealand’.”

“They never gave me an answer, they just directed me to other people.

“All I wanted to do was get home as soon as I could. I’m sure they hear excuses all the time but it was just disgusting and appalling.

“Can’t they just be human for a moment and try to comprehend a certain situation? I’m 23 years old and my dad passed away yesterday morning and I’m just trying to get home as fast as I can.”

Air New Zealand said the airline does have a bereavement policy, but insisted Mr Carter was a United Airlines customer.

Mr Carter had not ruled out taking legal action against both airlines.