airline safety – News Stories About airline safety - Page 4

Dec 15, 2007 9:23 AM CST

Pilots Can Now Fly Until Age 65

New law raises mandatory retirement age from 60

(Newser) - US pilots can now fly until they're 65 instead of being of being forced to retire at age 60. A bill signed into law yesterday raises the mandatory retirement age to reflect the greater physical fitness of today's 60-year-olds, the Chicago Tribune reports. The new law puts an end to...

Bush Shifts Focus to
Small Picture

Nov 24, 2007 11:20 AM CST

Bush Shifts Focus to Small Picture

He's concentrating more on nitty-gritty of domestic issues

(Newser) - With his term winding down, President Bush is putting an increased emphasis on the small picture—domestic issues that have a tangible effect on people's lives, the New York Times reports. While still engaged with weighty foreign matters such as Iraq and the upcoming Mideast summit, Bush has shifted focus...

Airport Screeners Miss Bombs

Nov 14, 2007 8:29 PM CST

Airport Screeners Miss Bombs

Investigators smuggle in explosives in undercover test

(Newser) - Airport screeners fared poorly in an undercover test in which government investigators smuggled liquid explosives and detonators past checkpoints, the AP reports. As a troubling bonus, the investigators learned how to make the explosives on the internet and bought the parts for less than $150, showing that would-be terrorists could...

Tired Pilots Wake Up Just
in Time to Land Red-Eye

Nov 2, 2007 4:40 PM CDT

Tired Pilots Wake Up Just in Time to Land Red-Eye

2004 incident comes to light during Congressional hearing

(Newser) - Two commercial pilots—one of whom had flown three straights nights—fell asleep on a red-eye flight from Baltimore to Denver in 2004 but woke up just in time to land safely, the Rocky Mountain News reports. The plane was coming in much too fast and high, but the captain...

NASA Reconsiders, Will Release Scary Air Survey

Oct 31, 2007 2:46 PM CDT

NASA Reconsiders, Will Release Scary Air Survey

Director regrets appearance of putting airline profits before safety

(Newser) - NASA's director reversed course today in testimony before Congress, saying the agency will release data showing that near air accidents are more common than previously realized. NASA feared releasing the information would upset travelers and hurt airline profits. "I regret any impression that NASA was in any way trying...

NASA Quashes Air-Safety Statistics

Oct 22, 2007 5:22 PM CDT

NASA Quashes Air-Safety Statistics

Feds sit on survey of pilots that reveals danger in the skies

(Newser) - Safety problems and close calls such as near-collisions and bird strikes are much more common on US flights than previously realized, says a NASA survey leaked to the AP by an anonymous tipster. The agency says it is not releasing the results of the comprehensive air safety survey because it...

Fatal Plane Crashes Fall 65%

Oct 1, 2007 10:38 AM CDT

Fatal Plane Crashes Fall 65%

Better equipment and focus on crash prevention makes air travel safer

(Newser) - The fatal domestic plane crash rate has fallen 65% in the last decade. It's not quite the 80% decrease over 10 years the government demanded in 1996 after two crashes killed 375 people, but it's a significant improvement, the Times reports. The decline rests on tighter air traffic control, better...

Death Toll at 88 in Thai Air Crash

Sep 16, 2007 1:08 PM CDT

Death Toll at 88 in Thai Air Crash

Survivor says plane tried to land too fast in torrential rain

(Newser) - The death toll has risen to 88 in the crash of a budget airliner on a Thai island resort today, Reuters reports. Officials said the plane broke up and burst into flames as it tried to land in torrential rain.The 42 survivors are being treated for a variety of...

66 Dead in Thai Jet Crash

Sep 16, 2007 8:30 AM CDT

66 Dead in Thai Jet Crash

(Newser) - As many as 100 people were feared dead yesterday as a Thai plane ripped in two and exploded in flames in heavy rain as it touched down in the popular tourist resort of Phuket island. Some 20 passengers appeared to scramble to safety as smoke engulfed the budget jetliner operated...

Brake Failure, Pilot Panic in Brazilian Jet

Aug 2, 2007 7:29 AM CDT

Brake Failure, Pilot Panic in Brazilian Jet

Frantic cockpit transcripts point to mechanical error in crash that killed 200

(Newser) - Panicked pilots of a doomed Brazilian plane are heard struggling to control the aircraft speeding down a rain-slicked runway in transcripts of a cockpit tape released yesterday. "Slow down! Turn, turn, turn!" screams the co-pilot. "I can't," says the pilot. "Oh my God! Oh my...