Three years after Malaysia Airlines Flight 370’s unresolved disappearance sparked efforts to implement new flight-data recorder technology, the global aviation community is deadlocked over the best way to ensure investigators will have timely access to vital clues in future crashes. Technical, marketing and jurisdictional disputes—pitting Boeing and US regulators against Airbus and European authorities—have blocked consensus over prospective changes to today’s “black boxes” that help unravel accidents. The most prominent disagreement involves “deployable” recorders. Boeing’s position is that the deployable technology is unnecessary partly because there are so few crashes of big jets, and the recorders are expensive to maintain and potentially hazardous. <br/>
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Russia has once again slapped major restrictions on Tajikistan-based private carrier Somon Air in the latest instalment of a long-running saga. The Transportation Ministry in Moscow said that it adopted the measure in a tit-for-tat response to Tajikistan’s refusal to grant landing rights to Russia’s Yamal Airlines. The dispute stems from a pretty disagreement over what airlines are allowed to operate which routes and has been rolling on since early November. Dushanbe fired the first salvo by refusing to give clearance to flights arriving from the Zhukovsky airport in the Moscow region, to which Russia reacted by threatening a complete halt to all flights to Tajikistan. After multiple rounds of bickering, Tajikistan agreed to allow Yamal Airlines to fly once a week to Dushanbe and the northern city of Khujand. <br/>
The head of the Arab Air Carriers Organisation is urging ICAO to seek clarification on the nature of the threat that prompted the US and UK ban on electronics in the cabin. The new security rules, implemented in March with little notice or explanation, apply mostly to Arab airports and countries. In all cases, passengers are prohibited from including electronics larger than smartphones in their carry-on bags; electronics such as laptops, e-books and tablets must be placed in checked bags. However, the targets of the US and UK rules differ. The US targets certain airports, including Abu Dhabi International, Dubai International and Doha Hamad International. The UK’s ban list applies to countries, specifically Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia and Turkey, and all flights from those countries to the UK. <br/>
Australia will increase security screening measures for passengers flying to the Middle East, but has stopped short of implementing the laptop bans that have come into force in the US. Transport minister Darren Chester said that the “precautionary changes” will include random passenger and explosive detection screening, and “targeted screening” of electronic devices at the aircraft gates. The changes will be implemented from April 10. “Our changes are in line with the UK, which recently announced that people travelling from Doha, Abu Dhabi and Dubai will be subject to random explosive trace detection screening,” says Chester. “There is no ban on the carriage of electronic devices on flights to Australia at this stage.” The enhanced screening will affect flights operated by Qantas, Emirates, Qatar Airways and Etihad Airways. <br/>