
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Mental exam for armed plane hijacker

Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Mexico to reopen as flu 'contained'
MEXICO is poised to reopen tourist attractions and public venues after claims the country has contained the swine flu epidemic.Health Minister Jose Angel Cordova said restaurants and other points of economic activity could reopen as soon as Wednesday, in an effort to revive a devastated tourism sector.Mr Cordova said the longer restrictions stayed in place, "the more difficult it will be to restore credibility so the tourists return to the tourist sites".Monday, May 4, 2009
Princess Eugenie attacked in Cambodia

Friday, May 1, 2009
Travel advice: Mexico City - swine flu
If you are booked to go to Mexico within the next week then please check these airline policies below for the rules to change your travel dates. If you are not travelling in the next week, it is unlikely that the airline will confirm a policy until nearer the date.If your airline is not listed below, and you are travelling in the next 72 hours, please contact us or your airline to see if your flight is still departing, and what options may be available to you.Air Canada
American Airlines (look for link on page)
British Airways
Delta Air Lines
Iberia (look for the English link at the top of the page)
Lufthansa
United Airlines
Air France-KLM
The above rebooking should be done in line with the following conditions:
One outbound and one inbound flight/date change is permitted free of charge.
Rebooking can only be done on alternate flights/dates, offering availability in the ticketed booking class.
All rebooking and re-issues must be done no later than Friday 08 May 09.
Travel must remain on Air France-KLM flights and partners.
If a customer wishes to travel on a date on which the ticketed booking class is not available, the customer will need to pay the applicable fare difference.
If a customer wishes to travel to a different destination, the new fare used must be of the same or higher value than the original one.
Virgin Atlantic
Please see below for options to passengers travelling with Virgin Atlantic with connections to Mexico. These options are available until 5 May. This policy is under review on a daily basis and may change at any time.The below applies to any ticket type
1. Free of Charge date change
The date change fee will be waived; however seasonal supplements may apply.
2. Re book onto another Virgin Atlantic destination
If the passenger wishes to reroute their flight to another Virgin Atlantic destination, this is permitted; however, any difference in fare, taxes, charges and surcharges will need to be collected. The date change fee will be waived.
Please note:
If the passenger has onward flights and they are booked as part of the same itinerary they will need to contact the other airline directly to discuss their options.
3. Refund only if the fare rules allow
Refunds will only be permitted as per the conditions of the fare.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Department of Foreign Affairs tells Aussies to avoid Mexico

Saturday, April 25, 2009
Pilot of Emirates flight that nearly crashed at Melbourne Airport was sleep-deprived
runway length.But an Emirates source said the March 20 flight - EK407 to Dubai - was set at the "absolute minimum" thrust, leaving little room for error."There was no margin for error," the source said."This is all about the money."Emirates yesterday issued a statement saying safety was a top priority for the airline. "Safety is at the forefront of all operations within the Emirates group," a spokeswoman said.Sources said a report due on Thursday was expected to show the near-catastrophic accident happened after the incorrect weight was typed into the plane's computers, causing it to set an inadequate take-off speed.
Air safety investigators are examining Emirates' staff records, including the work rosters of some of its pilots, to see if there are systemic safety problems within the airline that could have contributed to the near disaster.The Sunday Herald Sun learned that the pilot of the plane was also almost at the threshold of the number of hours he was legally able to fly.Emirates pilots are permitted to fly a maximum 100 hours each 28 days.
Investigators are examining whether pilot fatigue was a factor after being told the pilot had barely slept the day before the flight.Several sources confirmed that Australian Transport Safety Bureau investigators were also looking at whether any other "human factors" needed to be addressed.
The inspection of Emirates' records is part of the bureau's investigation - expected to take up to a year - into the reasons behind the error.The inquiry will investigate issues such as cockpit distractions and crew resource management.A source said it was not possible for one person alone to commit the error."It happens because a range of things come together at the right time," the source said.
An Emirates source said the airline was in a risky situation because it did not have a culture that encouraged people to voice their safety concerns.The source said some Emirates pilots were badly fatigued, but people were afraid to speak out."There is a limit to how far you can push people," the source said. "Those long-haul flights are really, really fatiguing and demanding."But a punitive culture means people are too afraid to speak out."Two things, (flight safety and the punitive culture) in my view, that do not match in 2009 and in a major airline."A very bad cocktail."
It can also be revealed that:THE tail crashed into the runway with such force that passengers heard a loud scraping noise and some saw a heavy shower of sparks.THE impact ripped a hole in the fuselage, causing what appeared to be smoke and dust to swirl into the cabin.THE pilot made three announcements during the next 35 minutes as he circled Port Phillip Bay to dump fuel before returning to land.NONE of the announcements told passengers how serious the situation was and the passengers were not in the "brace position" when the plane landed.THE weight error was made before the plane left the departure gate.
PASSENGERS, including Anita and Ray Chappel, escaped uninjured after the plane landed safely.The two pilots involved in the accident were forced to resign 48 hours after they were flown back to Dubai.Safety Bureau and Civil Aviation Safety Authority officials are thought to be concerned about the action taken against the pilots, but have no jurisdiction to intervene.Emirates pilots, using false names, have flooded the internet to express their concern about rostering, fatigue and the action taken against the two pilots.The men are expatriates and at least one has since returned to his home country.
The United Arab Emirates does not allow unions, so more than 2000 Emirates pilots employed worldwide are not covered by a union.Investigations by the Sunday Herald Sun further revealed the pilot was no stranger to the runways at Tullamarine, flying into Melbourne for almost five years, about once every two months.The pilots - two operating pilots and two augmenting pilots - and 14 crew members returned to their hotel in Melbourne immediately after the accident.The next day, bureau investigators came to the hotel to conduct interviews.The man leading the inquiry is investigator Paul Ballard.
Emirates is sending some of its senior managers to Australia to handle the fall-out from Thursday's release of the preliminary report.Andrew Parker, an Australian now based in Dubai as Emirates' senior vice-president of public, government and environmental affairs, will arrive in Australia this week with Capt Alan Stealey, Emirates' divisional senior vice-president of flight operations.Emirates declined to comment on the March 20 accident because of the bureau's investigation.But the company said it had continuously reached international safety standards and had been a founding member of the Gulf Flight Safety Committee - a Middle East aviation body.
The company denied it had a punitive culture that discouraged open discussion about safety concerns."Emirates has a positive and open safety reporting culture that helps management understand safety issues before they become significant concerns," a spokeswoman said.The company would not answer direct questions about reduced-thrust take-offs, the fate of the pilots and the future of the damaged aircraft.
Friday, April 24, 2009
Australians dream of travelling to outer space, Readers Digest survey shows

Thursday, April 23, 2009
Giant grumpy crocodiles cause plane chaos

Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Woman's neck, back broken in air turbulence on Continental plane

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Tuesday, April 21, 2009
British boy 'too scared to travel' home from Australia

”I'm worried sick,” his father told the UK's Sun newspaper.”Thomas won't fly and our effort to get him home by boat failed miserably. My wife was sobbing hysterically when she phoned to tell me they had to get off the ship.”We had used all our savings to pay STG7,500 ($15,293.64) for a two-month cruise from Sydney to Britain as Thomas said he would go on a boat.”But when he got on the ship he suffered a panic attack and freaked out. The ship's doctor saw him and said he couldn't travel.”
Thomas made the original trip to Australia after being given sedatives before boarding a flight.But two attempts at getting him on a plane to fly back to Britain have failed.The first attempt resulted in Thomas refusing to board, while on the second he jumped out of his seat and started screaming as the plane taxied along the airport runway.Mr Hill said the family had been advised to pay for a doctor to fly business class with Thomas and give him sedatives during the trip.”The cost is enormous and we don't have the money,” Mr Hill said.”Our only glimmer of hope is that some airline will take pity on us and help.”