USA: American Airlines Will Cancel 115 Flights Daily, Because Of Grounded Fleet Of Boeing 737 MAX Planes

American Airlines announced on Sunday it would scrap some 115 flights per day in the coming months because its fleet of Boeing 737 MAX planes is being grounded until August 19.

America’s leading airline had previously only planned to keep the planes out of commission until June 5, with Boeing facing intense scrutiny after 157 people died in an Ethiopian Airlines 737 MAX crash on March 10, the second deadly crash involving the aircraft in five months.

The global fleet of 737 MAX planes has been barred from flying since mid-March.

These 115 flights represent approximately 1.5 per cent of American’s total flying each day this summer, American Airlines chairman and CEO Doug Parker said in a statement.

But he stressed his confidence in the aircraft overall. Based upon our ongoing work with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Boeing, we are highly confident that the MAX will be recertified prior to this time August 19 he said.

By extending our cancellations through the summer, we can plan more reliably for the peak travel season and provide confidence to our customers and team members when it comes to their travel plans.

Once the MAX is recertified, we anticipate bringing our MAX aircraft back on line as spares to supplement our operation as needed during the summer.

American Airlines had lowered one of its first quarter indicators in light of the Boeing 737 MAX 8 planes being grounded, along with the partial US government shutdown and technical challenges.

Earlier this week, competitor Southwest Airlines said it would operate its 34 aircraft of the same model starting August 5.


Tourism Observer

USA: $5,000 Cheques For Southwest Airlines Passengers

Southwest Airlines sent $5,000 cheques to passengers aboard a flight that made an emergency landing this week after an engine failed, killing a passenger.

The airline confirmed, for passengers it had sent the cheques along with $1,000 travel vouchers. We can confirm the communication and gesture are authentic and heartfelt, the company said in a brief statement on Friday.

Aircraft with CFM56 jet engine on Southwest flight 1380 blew apart over Pennsylvania on Tuesday, 20 minutes after the Dallas-bound flight left New York’s LaGuardia Airport with 149 people on board.

The engine debris shattered a window on the Boeing 737 plane, killing one passenger – first death in a US airline accident since 2009.

The plane made an emergency landing in Philadelphia.

The Federal Aviation Administration(FAA) said, its working to quickly finalise an airworthiness directive within two weeks that had been proposed in August 2017 after a similar engine failure in a Southwest plane in 2016, which it said would apply to 220 engines

National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigators on the scene were expected to wrap up their work in Philadelphia on Saturday, the agency said on Friday.

Southwest said after the incident that it was accelerating its existing engine inspection programme out of an abundance of caution and expected to complete it over the next 30 days.

Plane saw Serious damages as a cause of engine failed and an emergency landing forced.

The company has declined to answer questions about the status of those inspections and whether the engine that failed had previously been inspected or whether the inspections have turned up any evidence of defects or metal fatigue.


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USA: Horizon Air Staff Crashes Plane After Stealing It From Sea-Tac International Airport

Alaska Airlines has confirmed that a Horizon Airlines Bombardier Q400 that had an unauthorized takeoff from Sea-Tac International Airport around 8 p.m. has gone down near Ketron Island in Pierce County.

FAA, FBI and U.S. National Transportation Safety Board officials are investigating the crash of a Horizon Air Bombardier Q400 turboprop in woodland on Ketron Island near Tacoma, Washington, around 1.5 hr after it was stolen by an airline employee, believed to be a ground service agent.

The incident began around 8pm Pacific on Aug 10, when a Q400 made an unauthorized takeoff from Seattle’s SeaTac International airport.

Although details remain scant at this time, operations at SeaTac were temporarily shut down and two Air National Guard F-15Cs, call sign Rock 41 and 42, from the 142nd Fighter Wing in Portland, Oregon, were scrambled to intercept the Q400. A U.S.

Air Force KC-135R tanker was also dispatched from Fairchild AFB to support the F-15s.

Just after 10pm Pacific, Horizon parent company Alaska Airlines tweeted confirmation that a Horizon Air Q400 that had an unauthorized takeoff from SeaTac around 8pm has gone down near Ketron Island in Pierce County, WA.

We’re working to confirm who was on board, we believe there were no guests or crew on board other than the person operating the plane.

Pierce County Sheriff’s Department also tweeted that the suspect is confirmed a suicidal male. Acted alone he is 29-year-old Pierce County resident. We are working background on him now.

Officials indicate the aircraft crashed due to pilot action and was not forced or shot down.

The airline is working to confirm who was on board, but it is believed that there were no passengers or crew on board other than the person operating the plane.

Alaska Airlines believes a ground service agent employed by Horizon Air was the individual responsible for flying the Horizon Q400 without clearance from Sea-Tac International Airport around 8 p.m. tonight.

The plane, which was taken from a maintenance position and was not scheduled for passenger flight, crashed about an hour later in a wooded area on Ketron Island in rural Pierce County.

No ground structures were involved at the crash site.

Military jets were scrambled from Portland, but it does not appear that these jets were involved in the crash of the Horizon aircraft.

First responders are at the crash site. Appropriate government agencies, including NTSB, FAA and FBI, have been notified.

A brief statement from Constance von Muehlen of Horizon Air regarding tonight’s incident:

Good evening, I’m Constance von Muehlen, Horizon Air chief operating officer. I’m sorry to share with you this evening that at approximately 8 p.m., one of our Q400 airplanes made an unauthorized takeoff from Sea-Tac Airport. We believe it was taken by a single Horizon Air employee and that no other passengers or crew were onboard. Shortly thereafter, it crashed on Ketron Island by South Tacoma. Our hearts are with the families of the individual aboard as well as all of our Alaska Air and Horizon Air employees. We will provide more information as it becomes available.

Shortly after he stole an airplane from his employer, Horizon Air ground service agent Richard Russell barreled down a runway, took off and flew the two-engine turboprop above the Puget Sound, flying in dramatic loops before crashing in a wooded area.

Washington State governor Jay Inslee later confirmed the events in a statement. There are still a lot of unknowns surrounding tonight’s tragic incident of a stolen Horizon Air plane from SeaTac Airport.

The responding fighter pilots flew alongside the aircraft and we were ready to do whatever was needed to protect us, but in the end, the man flying the stolen plane crashed on Ketron Island.

The aircraft, registered N449QX, was delivered to Horizon in June 2012, and, according to the flight tracking website Flightradar24.com, had earlier that day operated scheduled flights to and from Victoria, on Canada’s Vancouver Island.

Prior to crashing, the aircraft was filmed conducting extreme maneuvers over the Puget Sound, including a barrel roll and inverted vertical dive culminating in a high g pull-out just a few feet above the water’s surface.


Tourism Observer

KENYA: Kenya Airways Preparing For Flights To New York

Officials from the US security department met Kenya’s aviation regulator last month to confirm that all the safety measures are in place ahead of the scheduled direct flights to New York later in the year.

Transportation Security Administration (TSA) had a session with the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) with the view to ensuring that the measures that were put in place to facilitate direct flights between the two countries are still intact.

KCAA Director General Gilbert Kibe said the officials were impressed with the progress and they have given Kenya a clean bill of health.

Officials from TSA were here to check our compliance in regard to Category 1 status and they were impressed with the measures that have been put in place, said Mr Kibe.

This comes at a time when Kenya Airports Authority is waiting for response on some items that the TSA wanted corrected before the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport is given the Last Point of Departure (LPD) status.

The first audit was done last year in December but Kenya did not pass the test as there were some measures that needed to be put in place to meet the compliance level.

The KAA said early this year that they had carried out corrective measures as requested by TSA, and that they were waiting for their decision.

Some of the things that the audit focused on include documentation of the processes at the airport, security perimeter at the facility and access control measures enacted by the authority.

The LPD status will allow Kenya Airways and any other airline that has been approved by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to fly directly to the US from Nairobi.

The national carrier received exemption authority from the DOT last year, allowing it to commence flights to the United States provided it secures clearance from the FAA and other applicable State agencies.

JKIA was in February last year given Category One status after several audit processes by FAA that had seen Kenya fail to meet a number of reviews, delaying the earlier commencement date of August 2016.

The key item on audit was the security measures that Kenya had implemented to guarantee direct flights between the two countries.

After getting LDP clearance, the last remaining thing will be the granting of Kenya Airways or any other airline an Air Operator Certificate by FAA after inspecting the carrier’s equipment and facilities, which is expected to be this month.



Tourism Observer

USA: Fatal Plane Crash In Akron, Ohio

At least two people are dead after a plane crashed into a home in Akron, Ohio, USA, today at 2:54 pm. The two known fatalities were people inside the 10-passenger plane. Names have not yet been released.

According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the Hawker H25 business jet was on approach to Akron Fulton International Airport when it crashed.

The Akron Fire Department said more than two people have died, but this is all that could be concretely confirmed so far. Ohio State Highway Patrol was not able to confirm if other people were onboard the plane at the time of the crash.

After the plane crashed into the home located at 3042 Mogadore Road near Skelton Road, it then smashed into an embankment. Debris from the crash caused a second home to catch fire. Nobody was home and no one was injured on the ground.

The plane struck power lines before it crashed, which caused a power outage to 1,500 customers in Tallmadge. As of the time of the filing of this article, power was restored to all but 135 homes.