April 03, 2006

A Delta Airlines passenger jet within seconds of landing at Palm Beach International Airport pulled up sharply to avoid an aircraft on its runway Sunday.

The sudden maneuver startled the 96 passengers, but Flight 1206 from Atlanta to West Palm Beach made a second approach and landed safely at 3:39 p.m. No one was injured, Delta spokeswoman Pat Kennedy said.

"It doesn't happen very often. The pilot was cleared to land and he elected to do the missed approach and go back up and around," Kennedy said.

The pilot made an announcement to the passengers explaining what happened.

No one was available for comment at the air traffic control tower on Sunday night. A supervisor for the Department of Airports had no details. However, he said that the Federal Aviation Administration, which runs the tower, reviews every missed approach.

The US airline safety authority is proposing to impose its maximum fine of $25,000 (£14,000) on British Airways for flying a jumbo jet from Los Angeles to Britain despite the fact that one of its engines had broken down shortly after take-off.

However, the fault meant the plane had to fly at a lower altitude and it burnt far more fuel than usual. By the time it reached British airspace, its tanks were so low that the pilot declared an emergency and landed at Manchester.

By pressing ahead with the flight, the aircraft avoided an estimated £100,000 bill for delay compensation to the 351 people on board.

The FAA has filed a complaint against BA which points out that the plane bypassed "numerous suitable alternative airfields" for a diversion in the US and Canada.

BA is to appeal, vowing to vigorously assert its innocence. The incident has prompted a transatlantic rift. The airline is unapologetic, insisting that nobody was put at risk and that its actions were perfectly within the rules and that it has the support of Britain's Civil Aviation Authority.

The functions of the five-member investigation board include examining the facts surrounding the incident, gathering evidence, determining probable cause and recommending corrective actions. A final report is expected in about one month.

Chairing the board is John Casper, manager of the Space Shuttle Management Integration and Planning Office at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.

Casper is a veteran astronaut who flew on four space shuttle missions. He has also served as director of Safety, Reliability and Quality Assurance at Johnson. In addition to the five voting members, the board is also supported by a number of NASA advisers and administrative support staff.

A company general manager died on the spot after he was hit by a helicopter’s rotor blades at Batu Kawan near here yesterday afternoon.

The victim, Joseph Chan Sum Foo, 41, who was attached to Abad Naluri Sdn Bhd, was assigned to take a group of journalists and photographers for an aerial view ride.

The incident happened at 1.20pm when the helicopter was about to take a group of schoolchildren for a joy ride after several trips were made for journalists.

At that time, the pilot, identified as Kapt Mohd Lukman Abdul Rahman, 45, was checking the right side of the helicopter.

The rotor blades were idling slowly as Chan walked away from the helicopter.

Before he could clear the area, the helicopter’s blades struck the back of his head.

Chan was thrown out and collapsed as he sustained serious head injuries.

The A365 Dauphin helicopter belongs to KL-based Weststar Aviation Services and was chartered by Equine Capital Bhd to fly its chief executive officer Datuk Patrick Lim from Kuala Lumpur to here.

Lim had arrived here to attend a Press briefing on a housing project undertaken by Abad Naluri Sdn Bhd, an associate company of Equine Capital.

Journalists who attended the Press conference were later taken on a helicopter ride to have an aerial view of the project.

When the helicopter landed, several curious villagers and school children approached the aircraft for a closer look.

After checking the door, Chan walked away from the helicopter before its rotor blades struck the back of his head.

Hit Power Lines At Night

The pilot of a Cessna 182D that went down after striking power lines the night of February 23 was talking on a cell phone when the accident occurred, according to the NTSB Preliminary Report released Thursday.

Hickin's friend, co-owner of the accident aircraft, was driving a semi truck on I-81 at the time. Hickin was attempting to fly within sight of the semi, according to Virginia State Police 1st Sgt. Jeff Pearson.

The Waynesboro News-Virginian says a witness told police the plane circled at treetop level three times before going down.

Hickin, a 4,000-hour pilot, was the only person onboard the Cessna. He had taken off from Eagles Nest Airport, and was apparently on his way back to the airport when the accident occurred.

The NTSB has not determined a definite cause or contributing factors in the accident. FAA investigators found no evidence of any pre-impact malfunctions.

NUTLEY, N.J. (AP) -- Pieces of an engine covering from a Federal Express jet flying from Newark to California fell here early Tuesday, authorities said.

No one was injured and the plane was able to land at its destination safely.

Federal Express flight 1020, a DC-10 model aircraft, departed Newark Liberty International Airport at 1:59 a.m., said Arlene Murray, a spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration.

The biggest piece — about 8-feet by 5-feet — fell on a street in this residential community, Murray said. The other pieces were 5-by-3 feet and a narrower, 3-foot-long piece; the fourth has yet to be examined by the federal agency, she said.

Murray said the fourth piece was smaller than the others.

The plane landed safely in Oakland, Calif., she said.

The FAA and the company are investigating, federal and company officials said.

"We're grateful obviously that there was no damage and that the pieces fell harmlessly to the ground," said Sally Davenport, a Federal Express spokeswoman. "We certainly want to get to the bottom of this."

The pilot who flew a Ryanair flight into an Army base was "very embarrassed" by his mistake, the Manager of Derry Airport said today.

According to a statement from Ryanair, the Eirjet pilot mistakenly believed he was on a visual approach to City of Derry. No emergency landing was required.

Seamus Devine, Manager of Derry airport and a former air traffic controller and pilot, said this morning that pilot error in this sort of situation was unusual but not unheard of.

"A pilot is just a human being after all. His instruments may be saying one thing but if he has a visual of the airstrip he may think his instruments are wrong and land it. I spoke to him yesterday and he was very embarrassed".

Losing an extra hour of sleep could affect our ability to focus.

It is just harder to wake up, so people are often running late and rushing to work.

7. Discussing daylight savings time is a good reminder about how important sleep is to good health. The National Sleep Foundation and other health organizations point out that we don’t get as much sleep as we should — and we’re paying the price in drowsiness and fatigue that affect our physical and mental health and threaten public safety. For example, poor or inadequate sleep contributes to memory lapses, trouble learning, mood problems, and medical troubles such as reduced immunity and heart disease.

A sleepless night or two or a short-lived bout of insomnia is generally nothing to worry about. The bigger concern is chronic partial sleep loss — that is, failing to get enough sleep night after night. That can happen because you have a medical condition that interferes with sleep or your hectic lifestyle simply means less time for sleep. Researchers have found that after two weeks, people sleeping four to six hours a night are as cognitively impaired as those who have been awake for two or three days.

Some people have a very rigid internal clock and have trouble adjusting to daylight savings time. If after a few days you find that you haven’t adjusted to your new sleep schedule, talk to your doctor or a sleep specialist.