airline safety

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Lost Laptop Forces United Flight to Make Abrupt U-Turn

Runaway laptop battery prompts midair return to Washington Dulles

(Newser) - A United Airlines flight from Dulles Airport to Rome was forced to turn back midway through its trip after a passenger's lost laptop vanished into the plane's innards. According to the airline, the computer slipped behind a cabin wall panel on the Oct. 15 flight and found its...

Flight Attendants Report Mid-Flight Assault

Flight was diverted to Boise so woman could be removed from plane

(Newser) - A passenger was arrested after she was accused of assaulting two flight attendants aboard an Alaska Airlines flight, prompting an unscheduled landing in Boise. Authorities said Tracy Barkhimer, 61, of Washington state, was on Flight 1057 from Portland to Dallas late Tuesday night when she began acting erratically and struck...

Don't Be So Quick to Deplane in Turkey

Airline passengers in Turkey could face $70 penalties for early aisle movement

(Newser) - Turkey is taking a stricter stance on airplane etiquette, specifically when it comes to deplaning. Under a recent directive from the country's Directorate General of Civil Aviation, passengers who unbuckle their seatbelts, stand, open the overhead bins, or crowd the aisle before the plane has stopped taxiing—or...

Near Major Airports, Drones Pose a Growing Concern

Two-thirds of near-misses involve them

(Newser) - For air travelers—and, more to the point, for pilots—a slew of recent incidents highlights a growing concern:
  • A commercial airliner was on final approach to San Francisco International Airport in November when the crew spotted a drone outside the cockpit window. By then it was too late "
...

A Strange Thing Is Happening in Airline Safety Videos

The Hustle explains: They've gone big on entertainment, perhaps at the expense of safety info

(Newser) - For an article in the Hustle , Shikhar Sachdev sat through hundreds of airline safety videos. If this sounds like excruciating torture, it's possible you're not clued into a strange phenomenon in this industry niche: Airlines these days aren't making mere safety tutorials, writes Sachdev. Instead, they are...

'Dutch Roll' at 34K Feet Damages Boeing 737 Max

Southwest flight landed in Oakland without injuries

(Newser) - A Southwest Airlines plane went into a rare wobble in midair last month, causing substantial damage to the Boeing 737 Max 8's tail section and prompting a federal investigation. The Phoenix-to-Oakland flight reached its destination without injury to the 175 passengers and six crew members, per CBS News . The...

Ex-Boeing Employees: Don't Fly on the Max

Safety expert says concerns that arose 5 years ago are 'still there'

(Newser) - Boeing sells merchandise with the phrase, "If it's not Boeing, I'm not going." It's a nod to the company's reputation of old, when it was "known for building the safest, most advanced planes in the sky," per CNN . That reputation has dissolved...

This Is the Least Surprising Lawsuit of 2024

Complaint filed on behalf of passengers who were on Alaska Airlines flight when door plug blew off

(Newser) - There was bound to be fallout from the Alaska Airlines plane that lost a door plug last week , and the first of it is here in the form of a lawsuit. As Axios reports, a Seattle firm has filed a proposed class-action complaint Thursday on behalf of six passengers and...

This Is What JetBlue Pilots Saw in Close Call in Boston

NTSB says Learjet took off without permission

(Newser) - Federal investigators said Thursday that the pilot of a charter jet took off without permission, creating a "conflict" with a JetBlue plane that was preparing to land on an intersecting runway at Boston's Logan International Airport in February. A screen grab from video shot from the JetBlue cockpit...

This Is the Safest Airline in the World

Air New Zealand takes top spot in AirlineRatings.com's annual ranking

(Newser) - People are flying again, though the current COVID surge has put a damper on many a winter vacation. If you're going to fly, though, you'll want to make sure your airline of choice is following best practices for safety—which is why AirlineRatings.com's latest ranking comes...

Aboard That Scary Flight: 'Don't Look ... Let's Just Pray'

Investigators trying to understand why fan blades broke, and not for the first time

(Newser) - It's a small miracle nobody was hurt or killed in Colorado over the weekend after an engine blew on a United jet and rained huge pieces of debris on neighborhoods near the Denver International Airport. In fact, one of the engine's fan blades came down on a soccer...

737 Max Has an 'Absolutely Unacceptable' New Problem

Boeing says debris has been found in fuel tanks of several undelivered planes

(Newser) - After two deadly crashes that killed 346 people, the beleaguered Boeing 737 Max has a new problem, and per a company spokesman, it's an "absolutely unacceptable" one. A routine maintenance check on multiple new planes waiting to be delivered turned up in their fuel tanks "foreign object...

38 Southwest Jets Lack Proper Paperwork

Airline is speeding up inspections after FAA raised issues about inspections

(Newser) - Southwest Airlines couldn't produce safety data for 38 jets, which caused the Federal Aviation Administration to consider—but ultimately delay—grounding those jets, the Wall Street Journal reveals. The airline brought 88 used foreign jets into its fleet between 2013 and 2017, and last year an FAA official uncovered...

Aviation Unions on Shutdown: We Can't Calculate the Risk

Reps for air traffic controllers, pilots, flight attendants say air safety system 'deteriorating'

(Newser) - Is it still safe to fly during the government shutdown? That's a question with a potentially uncomfortable answer, at least according to the unions representing more than 130,000 pilots, flight attendants, and air traffic controllers, per the New York Times . In a statement , the presidents of the three...

Traveling in 2019? These Airlines Are the Safest Bet

AirlineRatings.com reveals its top safety picks of 405 airlines

(Newser) - The world's safest airline for 2019 is also the industry's most experienced, according to AirlineRatings.com . The website, which monitors the safety records of 405 airlines worldwide, considered industry and government audits; crash and incident reports; profitability; safety initiatives; and fleet age in coming up with the 20...

Traveling by Plane Was Mind-Bogglingly Safe in 2017

Zero commercial jets crashed

(Newser) - Two separate reports reveal a big find for 2017: zero crashes of commercial passenger jets anywhere in the world, report the BBC and Reuters . The reports come courtesy of the To70 Dutch consultancy group and the Aviation Safety Network , with the latter proclaiming 2017 "the safest year ever, both...

Airline Creates Service to Help Women Flying Alone

'A sincere effort to ensure peace of mind' from Indian airline Vistara

(Newser) - India has earned a reputation as a place that's dangerous for women and girls, underscored by the story of a 10-year-old rape victim now in the news for trying to get permission to get an abortion . Another shocking story from 2012 set off a series of protests across the...

3 Airlines Say US Has Lifted Laptop Ban

Emirates, Etihad, Turkish Airlines exempted

(Newser) - Emirates and Turkish Airways said Wednesday they have been exempted from a US ban on laptops in airplane cabins, joining Abu Dhabi-based Etihad in satisfying American security concerns that had cut into the long-haul carriers' business. It remains unclear how the airlines addressed fears that ISIS or other groups might...

Airplane Phone Restrictions: Safety or Manners?

'Many passengers would prefer that voice calls not be made on airplanes'

(Newser) - Overhearing some loudmouth's phone conversation is bad enough on the street or at a restaurant, but nobody wants to be sitting next to that person for the duration of a flight. And that may be the real reason the FCC continues to ban voice calls on phones, even though...

Man Kicked Off Flight for 70-Pound Travel Companion

John Kaboff says $100K cello was deemed 'safety risk' by American Airlines

(Newser) - American Airlines has hit a sour note with one of its regulars. Per ABC7 , musician John Kaboff was in his seat on a plane, headed to Chicago for work out of DC's Reagan National Airport, when he says both the flight attendant and pilot told him he couldn't...

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