Flight BA31 was 35,000ft over Turkmenistan when the Boeing 777-200 aircraft was turned back to London on Sunday, according to data from tracking site FlightRadar24.

The flight reportedly landed at Heathrow just before 8am local time, more than 11 hours after its departure.

In a statement, the airline: “The flight returned to London Heathrow as a precaution due to a minor technical issue.

“It landed safely and customers disembarked as normal. We’ve apologised to our customers for the disruption to their journey.”

Unfortunately Flight BA32 was beset by more problems later on Sunday – as it was diverted to Budapest three hours into its journey due to an onboard medical emergency.

It is not the first time a British Airways plane has taken a “flight to nowhere” in recent weeks.

Earlier this month a flight from Heathrow to Texas had to turn back just as it reached North America, landing back in London more than nine hours after taking off.

Read the full story originally published at – standard.co.uk

The post British Airways passengers heading from Heathrow to Hong Kong suffer 11-hour ‘flight to nowhere’ appeared first on Aviation Figures.

Analysing 385 global airlines, the research looks at a range of factors to determine which full-service airline comes out on top.

This includes crashes over the past five years, as well as any serious incidents in the last two years.

Government audits, the age of the airline’s aircraft and the depth of crew training are all considered as well.

Conducted by AirlineRatings.com since 2013, the airline to come out on top was Air New Zealand, followed by Qantas and Virgin Australia.

Qantas and Air New Zealand frequently place as the top two, with their positions flipped last year.

The only UK airline to make the top 25 was British Airways, coming in 15th place.

However, this is up two places from last year, where it came in 17th place, and an improvement from 2020 where they didn’t place in the top 20.

The safest budget airlines were also revealed – with easyJet and Ryanair coming in second and third place respectively.

They were only beaten by Australian carrier Jetstar.

Top 20 safest low-cost airlines 2024

1. Jetstar
2. EasyJet
3. Ryanair
4. Wizz
5. Norwegian
6. Frontier
7. Vueling
8. Vietjet
9. Southwest
10. Volaris
11. Flydubai
12. AirAsia Group
13. Cebu Pacific
14. Sun Country
15. Spirit
16. Westjet
17. JetBlue
18. Air Arabia
19. Indigo
20. Eurowings

Editor-in-Chief Geoffrey Thomas explained that while airlines have incidents every day, often minor, it is how crew handle the incidents that determine a “good airline from an unsafe one”.

It comes just weeks after a Japan Airlines plane caught fire on the tarmac after colliding with another plane – with both crew and passengers praised for their swift evacuation.

Mr Thomas added: “Our top 25 safest airlines 2024 are always at the forefront of safety innovation, operational excellence, and the launching of new more advanced aircraft such as the Airbus A350 Boeing 787 and 777-9.”

“Airlines such as Emirates launched the 777-300ER and the 777-9 and are the biggest operators of the A380.”

However, airlines including United have been affected by the recent grounding of Boeing 737 Max 9 planes, after a section of an Alaskan Airline plane using the model was ripped off mid-flight.

Around 170 planes have been grounded following an investigation into the aircraft.

Top 25 safest full-service airlines 2024

1. Air New Zealand
2. Qantas
3. Virgin Australia
4. Etihad Airways
5. Qatar Airways
6. Emirates
7. All Nippon Airways
8. Finnair
9. Cathay Pacific Airways
10. Alaska Airlines
11. SAS
12. Korean Air
13. Singapore Airlines
14. EVA Air
15. British Airways
16. Turkish Airlines
17. TAP Air Portugal
18. Lufthansa/Swiss Group
19. KLM
20. Japan Airlines
21. Hawaiian Airlines
22. American Airlines
23. Air France
24. Air Canada Group
25. United Airlines

Read originally published story at here

The post World’s safest airlines revealed – check where the Brit-favourite airlines came… the results may surprise you appeared first on Aviation Figures.

The FAA’s enhanced oversight of Boeing will continue in the coming months, with weekly meetings and quarterly exchanges between the heads of the company and the U.S. regulator. The planemaker was barred in February by the FAA from boosting production of its best-selling plane after a door panel blew out during a Jan. 5 flight on a new 737 MAX 9.

FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker said he did not expect Boeing to win approval to increase production of the MAX “in the next few months” and has had no discussions with Boeing yet about the issue.

He said the FAA would monitor Boeing over the coming months to understand its quality and safety improvements “to give us a fundamental picture of whether they are in the right zone… We want to make sure the system is running as safely as it should.”

Boeing late on Thursday released an 11-page executive summary of its improvement plan based on findings from FAA audits and feedback from employees among other sources, including six critical, safety-focused production areas it will address.

The key performance measures include employee proficiency, the number of hours to address issues, including the total number of rework hours per airplane, and supplier shortages.

Boeing said the data “will provide real-time insights into production system health, enabling the company to identify and remediate potential quality and thus potential safety hazards before they fully mature.”

Production of the 737 MAX airplane is vital to the company’s finances. Last week the planemaker’s top finance executive said they will burn rather than generate cash in 2024 due in part to delayed deliveries.

Boeing said in a statement that its plan covers four categories including investments in workforce training and eliminating defects. “Many of these actions are underway and our team is committed to executing on each element of the plan,” Calhoun said in a statement.

The FAA said earlier that Boeing had committed to release more details of the plan “in the interest of transparency and public confidence.”

Boeing shares closed up 0.6%.

737 PRODUCTION SLOWED

The three-hour meeting was Calhoun’s second high-profile meeting with Whitaker this year as Boeing seeks to have costly production limits lifted by the FAA after soaring quality concerns compelled the regulator to slow its rapidly increasing 737 production schedule.

Boeing is currently producing significantly fewer than the 38 737 MAXs per month it is permitted under the FAA directive. Boeing has not requested relief from the cap and they have not even had preliminary discussions about it, Whitaker said.

Calhoun is due to leave the company by the end of the year as part of a broader management shake-up announced in the wake of the Alaska Airlines incident, but Boeing has not yet named a replacement.

The meeting included other senior Boeing leaders including Stephanie Pope, the new head of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, Boeing’s head of quality Elizabeth Lund and Mike Fleming, Boeing senior vice president and general manager, airplane programs, the sources said.

The post FAA will not allow Boeing to boost 737 MAX production yet appeared first on Aviation Figures.

Numerous places saw wind gusts peak well over 70 mph, with DFW Airport even reaching 77 mph.

The winds at the airport appeared to be strong enough to move an American Airlines Boeing 737-800 away from its gate.

Check out the video below:

American Airlines 737-800 pushed away from its gate at DFW Airport during severe weather Tuesday morning. pic.twitter.com/ZoccA1mw7A

— Breaking Aviation News & Videos (@aviationbrk) May 28, 2024

American Airlines released a statement saying the winds affected several parked, unoccupied aircraft and that there were no injuries.

Maintenance teams are working to conduct inspections and make any necessary repairs, according to the airline.

The post Video shows Powerful winds pushed American Airlines plane from its gate at DFW Airport appeared first on Aviation Figures.

The Boeing 737-300 carrying 78 passengers suffered serious damage when a failed takeoff attempt sent it careening off the tarmac and into the bush at Blaise Diagne airport near the capital city Dakar.

A clip taken by one horrified traveller showed a female customer sprinting away from the scene of the wreckage as flames poured from the 737’s left engine, lighting up the night sky.

More images later showed the plane, operated by Senegalese carrier Transair, nestled in the dirt with a gaping hole in the left engine that was covered in firefighting foam in the aftermath of the blaze.

Emergency crews rushed to evacuate the passengers, eleven of whom were injured, four seriously so – though no deaths have been reported – as flights from the airport were suspended.

Authorities are now trying to establish the cause of the incident that comes just one day after another Boeing aircraft – a 767 cargo plane operated by American postal service FedEx – performed an emergency landing in Turkey after its landing gear failed.

The crashes will only compound woes for the company which is already facing intense scrutiny amid a string of mishaps and controversy over safety concerns – not to mention the deaths of two whistleblowers just two months apart.

That flight took off from Paris’ Charles de Gaulle airport early yesterday and was headed for Istanbul when the pilot realised the landing gear was malfunctioning.

Unsettling footage showed the moment the plane attempted an emergency landing, touching down into the runway and scraping its nose along the concrete.

Sparks flew from the plane’s tattered fuselage as it crunched along the tarmac with smoke billowing from behind.

Fortunately, firefighters and rescue teams were already waiting at the scene, with Turkey’s transport ministry having dispatched emergency teams as soon as it learned that the pilot’s landing gear was not working.

The first responders flocked to surround the plane as it ground to a halt and immediately doused it with firefighting foam to prevent any potential fire from sparking.

No one was injured in today’s incident and the crew safely evacuated the aircraft, said Abdulkadir Uraloglu, Turkey’s transportation and infrastructure minister.

The runway where the plane landed was closed off while the aircraft was being removed, he said.

‘IGA Istanbul Airport Rescue and ARFF continues its efforts to move the aircraft to a safe area and open the runway to flight traffic. Flight traffic and operations continue smoothly on all other runways, including the spare runways,’ a statement read.

Boeing is already under the microscope amid mounting controversy over safety problems, suspected quality control issues and the deaths of whistleblowers.

The US’ Federal Aviation Administration said Monday it has opened an investigation into the company after workers at a South Carolina plant falsified inspection records on certain 787 planes.

In an email to Boeing’s South Carolina employees on April 29, Scott Stocker, who leads the 787 program, said a worker observed an ‘irregularity’ in a required test of the wing-to-body join and reported it to his manager.

‘After receiving the report, we quickly reviewed the matter and learned that several people had been violating Company policies by not performing a required test, but recording the work as having been completed,’ Stocker wrote.

No planes have been taken out of service, but having to perform the test out of order on planes will slow the delivery of jets still being built at the final assembly plant in North Charleston, South Carolina.

Boeing must also create a plan to address planes that are already flying, the FAA said.

‘The FAA is investigating whether Boeing completed the inspections and whether company employees may have falsified aircraft records,’ a statement read.

Read the full originally published story at dailymail.co.uk

The post Moment terrified Boeing 737 passengers scramble to escape from burning jet after it skids off runway in Senegal in latest disaster for plane maker a day after FedEx 767 landed without nose gear appeared first on Aviation Figures.

Samantha Fox has been charged with a public order offence and being drunk on a plane.

The 57-year-old star – who enjoyed chart success in the 1980s with songs including Touch Me (I Want Your Body) and Nothing’s Gonna Stop Me Now – was on a flight to Germany in January when the incident took place. Earlier reports revealed that the star was arrested at Heathrow Airport after she had used threatening, abusive or insulting words to cause harassment, alarm or distress on board a British Airways flight.

All passengers were forced to abandon the flight at the time as take-off was delayed meaning the flight wouldn’t be able to land in time for strict air travel laws in Germany. All the other passengers were put up in a hotel and moved to flights the following day – while Sam reportedly spent the night in a cell instead.

Now the Metropolitan Police have confirmed she has been charged with a public order offence following her arrest two months ago. The singer is now scheduled to appear at Uxbridge magistrates’ court, West London, later this month.

When asked for details over the charge, a Metropolitan Police spokesperson confirmed to The Mirror: “A woman has been charged in relation to an incident on a plane on Sunday, 3 December 2023. Samantha Fox (15.04.66) of Waltham Forest, was charged via postal requisition with a public order offence (S4a) and being drunk on an aircraft. She will appear at Uxbridge Magistrates’ Court on Friday, 22 March.”

When news reports emerged of Sam’s arrest on 21 January, the star issued a grovelling apology. She said at the time, via The Sun, that she was: “deeply sorry for any disruption caused”. Reports said she was helping the police with their investigation.

Sam, who rose to fame as a glamour model in the 1980s before becoming a pop star, married her partner of six years Linda Oslen in 2022, with a lavish ceremony in Essex. The former Celebrity Big Brother star and Linda announced their engagement in March 2020, four years after they first struck up a romance in 2016.

During an appearance on Loose Women, Sam revealed that it was Linda who proposed, after panellist Frankie Bridge asked Sam if she was surprised when it happened. “Kind of, I did hint!” Sam admitted, before adding: “I mean I’m getting on a bit now. When I met her, I knew I was completely in love with her and wanted to be with her forever.” Recalling the moment she first dropped some wedding hints to her now-wife, Sam added: “I was doing a concert in Slovakia and we stayed in a 16th century castle and I said, ‘wouldn’t it be lovely to get married here?’ She waited until Valentine’s Day 2020 to ask me to be her wife. She got down on one knee and it was all very traditional, I cried, she cried.”

Read the full story originally published at mirror.co.uk

The post Samantha Fox charged with public order offence after bust-up on British Airways flight appeared first on Aviation Figures.

“At approximately 11:35 a.m., United Flight 35 departing to Osaka lost a portion of landing gear tire during takeoff,” a United representative said.

The tire debris landed in one of the airport’s employee parking lots. There were no injuries reported, but SKY7 was over the scene, where police placed caution tape around cars that appeared to be hit by the tire.

In a statement, United Airlines said the flight was diverted to LAX where it landed safely. The company says crews are now working to arrange a new aircraft to take passengers to Osaka on Thursday evening.

United said the flight had 235 customers, 10 flight attendants and four pilots — for a total 249 people on board.

“The 777-200 has six tires on each of its two main landing gear struts. The aircraft is designed to land safely with missing or damaged tires,” the airline said.

Officials say the runway was briefly closed to clear debris, but was soon reopened, with no further impact to airport operations anticipated.

An eyewitness is describing what he saw after the tire fell and damaged several cars.

“At the speed and velocity that it was coming down, it would have crushed somebody like a grape,” said Gary Glass.

He described to us what it looked like watching that tire. The plane it fell from had just taken off at SFO, seen on video that was recorded by Cali Planes on YouTube. Glass was driving near the rental car facility and just 50 feet away as he watched the tire hit nearby vehicles.

“I look up and it’s a tire spinning at a rapid speed. It bounced in the staff parking lot and it bounced onto a car, a small compact car and I thought that it was going to crush that car and stay there but it actually bounced again really high, and tires still spinning and then landed on a red Tesla and completely totaled and crushed the red Tesla,” said Glass.

Multiple cars were damaged but no one hurt.

“I’ve never seen anything like that, I was in shock for about 15 or 20 minutes,” he added.

The plane, that was initially headed to Japan, rerouted to LAX where it landed safely. Those in the Bay are just a bit taken back after what happened.

“I knew it was a plane tire right away because they are huge, right? They are like the size of the entire wheel well of a car. When it hit that Tesla, I just remember the glass, the metal crunch and the shatter of the glass – was just really a lot,” said Glass.

Aviation experts said planes losing tires is a rare occurrence and not indicative of a larger safety issue.

“In aviation, we never want to have single points of failure if they can be avoided, and this is a case in point,” said Alan Price, a former chief pilot for Delta Air Lines.

“The remaining tires are fully capable of handling the load,” he added.

Read the full story originally published at abc7news.com

The post Tire falls off United flight departing from San Francisco, crushing several vehicles in parking lot, company says appeared first on Aviation Figures.

The plane was en route to Nashville from Mount Sterling, Kentucky, when it crashed about 3 miles from Nashville’s John Tune Airport, Aaron McCarter, an NTSB air safety investigator, said at a press conference Tuesday.

The flight had originated from Ontario, Canada, before it made stops in Erie, Pennsylvania, and Mount Sterling, McCarter said. All passengers on board were Canadian nationals and the NTSB is working with the Canadian government to identify the deceased passengers.

During the flight, there were no reports of any mechanical irregularities or anomalies. However, upon approaching John Tune Airport, the plane ascended and passed overhead at 2,500 feet before reporting a catastrophic, complete loss of engine power, according to McCarter.

The control tower at John Tune Airport received the message about the plane experiencing engine and power failure at around 7:40 p.m., with the pilot requesting permission to land, which was granted, according to Don Aaron, public affairs director for the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department.

Air traffic control, which was in communication with the pilot, declared an emergency on behalf of the pilot and offered assistance in landing at the airport. The plane then made a U-turn and crashed into the road on Interstate 40 East, between mile marker 201 and 202, McCarter said.

After the crash, it then tumbled, stopped on a hill and burst into flames, killing all the passengers on board, McCarter said.

The pilot contacted the tower and said the aircraft was not going to make it before the crash, according to police.

The plane wreckage is now being transported to a facility in Springfield, Tennessee, where the investigation will continue to determine what caused the engine failure.

Witnesses told police the plane was in distress as it came over the interstate, Aaron said. The plane crashed behind a Costco just off the eastbound lanes of I-40, he said.

Read the full story originally published at abcnews.go.com

The post Small plane crash kills 5 after pilot reported loss of engine power appeared first on Aviation Figures.

Images of the gaping fuselage hole that nearly caused disaster went viral — and the suing passengers told new terrifying stories of their experience after filing suit, including of a teen’s shirt nearly getting sucked out.

“We took off fine and then just five minutes, and we heard the loud pop,” passenger Kyle Rinker told KGW News, referring to a door plug blowing off, creating a gaping hole in the 737 MAX 9 plane.

“We were just sitting there trying to relax and then, that thing just happens. The oxygen masks come down, just like, ‘Oh, wow, something’s going on. We got to get these on.’”

“The wind just came rushing it. It was very, very cold all of the sudden, obviously, because you’re flying up there at 16,000 feet,” he added.

Rinker and his girlfriend Amanda Strickland, along with another passenger Kevin Kwok, late last month filed the lawsuit in Multnomah County, Oregon, on behalf of passengers aboard Alaskan Airlines flight 1282.

It alleges the defendants ignored obvious warning signs and that fight should have never taken off.

Rinker and Strickland, both of Portland, sat two rows behind 15-year-oldJack, who lost his shirt during the snafu.

During the flight, Rinker posted images on X of the chaos.

“This is mostly about the systemic problems at Boeing, which is jeopardizing the lives of the entire traveling public who travel on Boeing aircraft,” said the plaintiffs’ lawyer Jonathan Johnson. “They should not be trusting luck to avoid a planeload of people being killed.”

Johnson said that although the aircraft manufacturer acknowledged their role in the blowout and vowed to fix such problems from happening in the future, the lawsuit will push both companies to prioritize safety.

Read the full story originally published on nypost.com

The post Alaska Airlines, Boeing sued for $1B over horrific mid-air blowout that sucked away teen’s shirt appeared first on Aviation Figures.

Flight UA883 left Heathrow on Friday morning and was due to land at Newark, but instead was diverted to Bangor International Airport.

In an emailed statement to the BBC, United Airlines said police removed the two passengers after landing.

The customers will be banned from future United Airlines flights.

After a seven-hour journey across the Atlantic, FlightRadar shows flight UA883 on a path toward New York before making a sharp detour south-east toward Bangor.

“United flight 883 landed in Bangor this morning after two passengers, who appeared intoxicated, became disruptive,” the airline said in a statement.

“Law enforcement officials removed the two passengers and the flight has already re-departed for Newark Liberty International Airport. The customers will be banned from future United flights while we review this matter.”

The flight – which had 150 people on board and 10 crew members – left London at 07:52 GMT and landed safely in Maine at about 10:00 local time (15:00 GMT), the Federal Aviation Administration added in a statement.

It described what happened on board the Boeing 767 as a “passenger disturbance”.

Bangor Police Department said their officers assisted Customs and Border Protection and the FBI, who are now handling the investigation, in removing the two passengers.

Read the originally published story on bbc.com

The post United Airlines flight from London to New Jersey diverts to Maine over two ‘intoxicated’ passengers appeared first on Aviation Figures.