Crew Asked for Doc But Kept Pilot's Death a Secret

Customers can pay to lock in prices

(NEWSER) - Continental Airlines has come up with yet another new fee that's likely to become an industry standard. "FareLock" allows customers to lock into low airfares they find for up to a week with no obligation to buy a ticket, the Houston Chronicle reports. It costs at least $5 to lock the fare for 72 hours and at least $9 for a week. The idea is to draw customers who aren't quite ready to book a flight but don't want to miss out on a bargain. More»

Dunne 175K for locking passengers on delayed flight

(NEWSER) - Three airlines have landed $175,000 in federal fines for stranding 47 passengers in a locked plane on a Minnesota tarmac overnight. The passengers were stuck on a Continental Airlines plane—without a working toilet—after crewmembers were told that passengers couldn't disembark because security staff had left for the night. The fine is the Department of Transportation's first-ever punishment against airlines for leaving passengers stranded on a plane. More»

(NEWSER) - A Continental Airlines flight has landed safely at Newark after its captain died during the flight, CBS 2 TV in New York reports. "The crew on this flight included an additional relief pilot who took the place of the deceased pilot," the carrier said in a statement. “The flight continued safely with two pilots at the controls.” The plane left Brussels at 9:54am local time, and the crew notified authorities of the death at 10:30 EDT. More»

Air France tells families no one survived the crash

(NEWSER) - As Brazilian crews begin retrieving the first pieces of Air France flight 447, the airline has told families that nobody survived, the AP reports. A helicopter pulled a cargo pallet and two buoys from the Atlantic, 340 miles northeast of Brazil's Fernando de Noronha islands. As theories about the crash arrive fast and furious, searchers have not seen any sign of remains from the 228 people aboard. More»

Their training, experience is under scrutiny

(NEWSER) - Pilot error, not icing, appears to have caused the Continental Airlines crash in Buffalo that killed 50 people Feb. 12, an investigation report released today states. When a warning device alerted pilots they were flying too slowly, they pulled the plane’s nose up—rather than down, as pilots are trained to do—and disrupted airflow above the wings, reports USA Today. More»