UK leisure airline Jet2 has banned a disruptive passenger from its flights for life and billed her for £85,000 ($105,000) in costs. The carrier cites an incident on a 22 June flight to Dalaman which was diverted back to London Stansted. The Royal Air Force scrambled two Eurofighter Typhoons to escort the aircraft. Jet2, owned by Dart Group, says the passenger "displayed a catalogue of aggressive, abusive and dangerous behaviour on the aircraft", including an attempt to open the doors during flight. The sonic boom created by the RAF fighters as they rushed to the aircraft alarmed local residents, the airline notes. Jet2 chief executive Steve Heapy describes the episode as "one of the most serious cases of disruptive passenger behaviour that we have experienced". He states that the passenger "must now face up to the consequences of her actions", adding: "We will vigorously pursue to recover the costs that we incurred as a result of this divert, as we do with all disruptive passengers."

Source: FlightGlobal

The captain of an Air Niugini Boeing 737-800 that crashed while attempting to land at Chuuk on 28 September 2018 became fixated with trying to land the aircraft, ignoring several automated warnings that the aircraft was below the glidescope and had an excessive sink rate. The final report into the fatal accident of the aircraft, registered P2-PXE, by Papua New Guinea's Accident Investigation Commission (AIC) concluded that the aircraft was unstable in its approach, and the co-pilot should have taken control of the aircraft and initiated a missed approach, in accordance with the operator's standard operating procedure manual. It notes that the pilots failed to respond to 16 aural alerts from the enhanced ground proximity warning system (EGPWS), "pull up" visual warnings at the bottom of the primary flight display, and indications from the PAPI that the aircraft's approach angle was too high, choosing instead to continue the unstable approach. The pilot-in-command also reported that there was no visibility for the last 30 seconds of the flight due to encountering a small storm cell. As a result, the aircraft impacted the water of Chuuk Lagoon around 1,500ft (460m) short of the runway threshold, deflecting across the water several times and turning clockwise before coming to rest partially submerged.

Source: FlightGlobal

Airbus has introduced a temporary revision to A321neo flight manuals intended to prevent the possibility of the aircraft reaching excessive pitch attitudes. The European Union Aviation Safety Agency has disclosed that the revision follows analysis of the re-engined type's elevator and aileron computer. It has not elaborated on the situation beyond stating that "excessive" pitch could occur under certain conditions and "during specific manoeuvres". EASA cautions that this could result in "reduced control" of the aircraft. Airbus has issued temporary revisions to the aircraft's flight manual incorporating operational limitations. EASA has ordered operators of the A321neo to amend the flight manuals accordingly, within 30 days.

Source: FlightGlobal