20 injured in turbulence over Russia

KLM on Thursday confirmed that 20 people were injured when one of its aircraft hit heavy turbulence a few hours after it took off from Amsterdam to Japan.

17 passengers and 3 crew were injured when a sudden drop in air pressure over St Petersburg (Russia) caused the Boeing 777-200ER (PH-BQA) to drop 50 metres.

Pilots of the aircraft carrying 262 passengers and 14 crew, noticed a cloud front and immediately urged passengers to return to their seats and tie their seat belts. The crew was serving dinner at this time and was not able to do so as well.

But the turbulence began quicker and was heavier than expected and within seconds, the aircraft dropped and trolleys with coffee and tea rolled through the plane, a spokesman said.

Several passengers and crew sustained burns when hot meals scattered, hot drinks spilled and glasses were shattered.

Despite the incident, pilots continued the journey and Flight 867 landed at Kansai International Airport in the western Japanese city of Osaka at 9.17 am (0017 GMT), nearly 11 hours after takeoff.

Reports said pilots had decided to proceed to Japan after the incident because all the injuries were minor. 9 passengers and 3 crew were taken to nearby hospitals and released within a few hours. 1 passenger suffered serious burns.

The Dutch carrier has offered to reimburse passengers for damages they may have suffered due to the turbulence and provided emergency phone numbers for passengers wanting psychological assistance.

KLM and the Japanese Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry on Thursday said checks at Osaka showed the aircraft had suffered no damage and the Boeing began its return flight to Amsterdam.

Finnair Takes Delivery Of Its First Airbus A340-300E

Finnair took delivery from Airbus today of its first long-range A340-300E (E for Enhanced), the first of an initial order of three placed in December 2005. Since, Finnair has increased its order for Airbus long haul aircraft, adding seven A330/A340s and 11 A350XWBs. The A350XWB is Airbus’ latest medium capacity long range airliner and will join Finnair’s fleet in 2014.

The A340-300Es will replace Finnair’s MD11 fleet and will be put into service on its long-haul destinations to Asia. Finnair’s new A340-300E will accommodate 269 passengers in a very comfortable two-class cabin configuration (42 in Business, 227 in Economy).

Finnair started operating a pre-owned A340-300 in June 2006.

“With the new A340-300E in our fleet, we will be able to cope with our traffic growth and develop our Asian destinations while safeguarding a seamless transition towards the new generation A350s,” said Jukka Hienonen, CEO of Finnair.

“Finnair and Airbus’ partnership goes back a long time,” said John Leahy, Airbus Chief Operating Officer Customers. “It has been gratifying to witness Finnair’s development throughout the years and we thank them for their continued confidence in our products.”

Finnair already successfully operates a fleet of 30 Airbus Family aircraft, including 11 A319s, 12 A320s and six A321s and one pre-owned A340.

The A340-300E incorporates the newest technologies developed for the most recent Airbus long-range programmes: it features the latest flight deck equipment, provides increased passenger comfort and is equipped with four CFM International
CFM56-5C4 engines, significantly decreasing fuel burn and emissions.

A380 World Tour – Dates – Japan, Australia, Taiwan

Like posted recently, Airbus continues the Airbus A380 World Tour into the Asia-Pacific region.
Now here are the exact dates for the “MSN7” (F-WWJB) visits to Narita (Japan), Sydney (Australia), Taipei (Taiwan).

  • 4th – 6th June Narita (Japan)
  • 6th – 8th June – Sydney (Australia)
  • 8th – 10th June – Taipei (Taiwan)

Make sure to have your cameras ready! 😀

Further Information – Sydney
Parked at Hangar 96
June 06: Arrival 7.00 p.m
June 07: Departure 1pm – Return 2.30pm
June 08: Departure 8am

Swarm of bees downs British aircraft

A thick cloud of bees forced a passenger jet pilot to abandon a holiday flight and ground passengers for 11 hours, an airline executive said on Saturday.

A Palmair Boeing 737 travelling from Bournemouth, on the southern English coast, to Faro, in Portugal, was forced to turn back when a swarm of the insects was sucked into an engine.

“The pilot experienced an engine surge about an hour into the flight,” Palmair managing director David Skillicorn said. “He returned to Bournemouth and we found what appeared to be a large number of bees smeared inside the engine.”

Skillicorn said a huge cloud of the insects was seen off the Bournemouth coast shortly before the flight on Thursday. “Some witnesses claimed there were around 20 000 bees,” he said.
Around 200 passengers were delayed while the company carried out repairs and eventually replaced the aircraft, Skillicorn said. -AP

Video – Snowbirds – 431 Air Demonstration Squadron

Once again an awesome video was posted at airshowbuzz.com. This video features the Canadian Forces 431 Air Demonstration Squadron “Snowbirds”.
The 1942 formed 431 (Bomber) Squadron was 1978 officially turned into an aerobatic team. Since then, the Snowbirds have become an icon of Canadian aviation. On this year May 18th a Snowbird crashed during practice, killing the pilot.

New Italian low-cost airline launched

A new european low-cost airline is being launched this summer.
The Verona based airline “Air Italy” is offering cheap flights to Verona in Italy from Barcelona, Berlin-Tegel, London-Stansted, Madrid, Moscow, Praha, Sophia, Warsaw for as little as €35 including taxes, from June 1st 2007.

“The city’s focal point, the arena, is the largest Roman amphitheatre in northern Italy and it plays host to an array of superb concerts throughout the year. The highlight is the Verona Opera Festival which sees hundreds of music lovers from across the globe flock to the city for a series of summer events,” the airline explained.

More info: http://www.airitaly.eu/

Man with 700 snakes arrested at airport

CAIRO, Egypt (AP) — Customs officers at Cairo’s airport detained an Egyptian man who was trying to smuggle 700 live snakes on a plane to Saudi Arabia.

The slithery stowaways were discovered in a carry-on bag after officers asked the man to open it. He told them the bag contained live snakes and warned them to stay back.
Among the various snakes hidden in small cloth sacks were two poisonous cobras, authorities said.

The suspect said the snakes are wanted by Saudis, who display them in glass jars in shops, keep them as pets or sell them to research centres. Police confiscated the snakes and turned the man over to the prosecutor’s office, accusing him of violating export laws and endangering the lives of other passengers.