NAIROBI, Kenya (AFP) — Rescue teams on Wednesday were looking for a small plane with 10 people on board that went missing north of the Kenyan capital Nairobi, the aircraft owners and the national disaster agency said. The plane, operated by East African Safari Air Express, took off from the western town of Kitale in the late afternoon Tuesday. It disappeared off the radar screens at Nairobi international airport, its final destination, around 80 minutes […]
Tag: Aviation
Court rejects arrest of Korean Air ‘nut rage’ matriarch
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — A Seoul court has turned down a request from prosecutors to arrest the matriarch of the troubled Korean Air dynasty over multiple assault charges, sparking public anger. Lee Myung-hee, the wife of Korean Air chairman Cho Yang-ho, was released from police custody late Monday after the Seoul Central District Court refused to issue an arrest warrant for her. It was a rare piece of good news for the family, who […]
Australia concern as Qantas to list Taiwan as part of China
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Qantas is poised to list Taiwan as part of China on its websites, sparking concern Tuesday from Australia’s foreign minister who said private firms must be able to conduct business “free from political pressure”. The Chinese Civil Aviation Administration sent a notice to 36 foreign airlines in April, asking them to comply with Beijing’s standards of referring to Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau as Chinese territories. Despite Taiwan’s having been governed […]
MH370 search under review, may be scrapped: Mahathir
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AFP) — The hunt for missing flight MH370 is being reviewed and may be scrapped, Malaysia’s prime minister said Wednesday, as the country’s new government seeks cuts in public spending. The Malaysia Airlines jet disappeared in March 2014 with 239 mostly Chinese people onboard while en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. No sign of the plane was found in a 120,000 square kilometers (46,000 square mile) sea search zone and […]
Random ID checks at Australia airports amid terror fears
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Australian police will be able to conduct random identity checks at airports under sweeping new security laws, the government said Tuesday, amid heightened terror fears following an alleged plot to bring down a plane. There has been growing concern over attacks by radicals inspired by Islamic State and other groups, with a failed effort last year in Sydney to target an Etihad flight with a crude bomb. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull […]
Helicopter taxi apps offer escape from traffic-choked megacities
by Elizabeth Law with Harry Pearl in Jakarta Agence France-Presse Within minutes of using an app to book a ride, Agostino Fernandes was looking down on lush greenery from a helicopter taxi high above Bangalore — one of several Uber-style chopper services taking off to help commuters tackle increasingly congested megacities. In under 30 minutes — a quarter of the time it would have taken from downtown Bangalore by road — Fernandes was strolling through […]
Nine aboard US military plane destroyed in fiery crash
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — An aging US military cargo plane carrying nine troops was destroyed in a fiery crash Wednesday as it made its final scheduled flight before being mothballed, officials said. The C-130 “Hercules” cargo plane from the Puerto Rico Air National Guard crashed around 11:30 am (1530 GMT) near the Savannah airport. Footage of the crash showed it falling from the sky then exploding in a fireball. Officials at first said five […]
Korean Air boss apologizes as hot-tempered daughters resign
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — Korean Air Chairman Cho Yang-ho on Sunday apologized for the “immature” behavior of his two daughters and said they would both immediately resign from their company posts following separate controversies. Cho Hyun-min, the younger daughter who is marketing executive at the South Korean flag carrier, is under police investigation for assault after she was accused of throwing water into a man’s face at a business meeting. Four years ago her older […]
NASA hires Lockheed Martin to build quiet, supersonic plane
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — NASA has inked a deal with Lockheed Martin to develop a supersonic “X-plane” that could break the sound barrier without a sonic boom, officials said Tuesday. The $247.5 million contract allows for the design, building and testing of a plane that would make its first test flight in 2021, NASA said. The experimental plane “will cruise at 55,000 feet (16,764 meters) at a speed of about 940 mph (1,513 kph) […]
Winter storm hits northeast US, halting over 2,500 flights
NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — The second winter storm in less than a week struck the northeastern United States Wednesday, with around 2,500 flights canceled as the region braced for heavy snow. Around 550 flights arriving and departing from John F Kennedy International Airport — nearly 42 percent of the total scheduled — were canceled by 7:00 pm (2400 GMT), along with 700 flights from New Jersey’s Newark airport and also from La Guardia, […]
WATCH: Onboard the €6,000-a-ticket zero-gravity plane
(AFP) — Since his return from the International Space Station last year, French astronaut Thomas Pesquet has been training to fly the Airbus “Zero-G” plane, which recreates the weightless conditions of space flight. As he prepares to start his new job he took part in a special flight with members of the public who’d paid 6,000 euros per ticket for an out-of-this-world experience. https://youtu.be/apcPtEXJ2SA
Canada to accept bid from Boeing for new fighter jets
OTTAWA, Canada (AFP) — Canada said Thursday it was allowing Boeing to submit a bid to replace the country’s ageing F-18 fleet, after an earlier trade dispute between the American manufacturer and Ottawa. The announcement came a month after the US International Trade Commission rejected a complaint filed by Boeing against its Canadian rival Bombardier, demanding nearly 300 percent anti-dumping duties on the C Series passenger plane. Boeing, which makes the Super Hornet, is one […]
