A cargo plane that veered off course and narrowly avoiding hitting a Hong Kong mountain by just 204 metres last month had been warned of the danger at least three times within two minutes, a report has shown. The findings, disclosed in a preliminary report of the “serious incident” on Monday, prompted the Civil Aviation Department to launch a formal investigation regarding the Atlas Air flight from America. The US NTSB was also informed by the Hong Kong authority as the Boeing plane was designed, manufactured and registered there. According to the report, the aircraft carrying four flight crew deviated to the right of its planned route at 3.44pm on September 24, soon after it took off from Hong Kong International Airport, and headed east toward the high ground at Lo Fu Tau on Lantau Island. The mountain was less than 10km from the airport. Story has further details of incident.<br/>
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EasyJet plans to open a new base in Bordeaux as part of its French growth strategy, the company said Monday. EasyJet said it would operate three A320 aircraft from the Bordeaux base, its sixth in France, when it opens in spring 2018. The carrier plans to offer new routes from the base for both business and leisure travel, CEO Carolyn McCall said.<br/>
A pilot revolt at Ryanair is threatening to undermine the penny-pinching credo that’s made the Dublin-based carrier Europe’s most valuable airline. A stand-off that’s simmered since mid-September, when the airline abruptly canceled more than 20,000 flights because of botched planning, escalated Friday after flight crew at London Stansted airport rejected an offer for increased pay. An ad-hoc council demanded salaries be doubled and extended across the airline’s European bases, according to a document sent to pilots on Sunday. The unofficial group, called the European Employee Representative Council, is seeking a salary increase to GBP150,000 for captains from GBP64,000 currently, and pledged to organize strikes if a deal can’t be reached. “This is a further tightening of the screw, further acknowledgement that Ryanair is on the backfoot,” said Padraic Regan, an aviation strategy professor at Trinity College Dublin. “The share price has been impacted, and shareholders are getting irked by that." The rogue pilots council, created after the bout of cancellations last month, is seeking to establish a collective bargaining group across the carrier’s 86 bases. The move is a challenge to the long-standing divide-and-conquer approach to labor relations at Ryanair, which has shunned company-wide employee groups. The demands, which would be retroactive to Sept. 1, include requiring Ryanair to cover the cost of uniforms, training, health care, on-board drinks and snacks, and ground transport and accommodation while working from an alternative base. The plan also calls for permanent contracts for pilots currently working as contractors and would grant shares in the company tied to seniority.<br/>
A Pennsylvania man who fondled a sleeping woman during a flight from Las Vegas pleaded guilty Monday to a federal assault offense that carries a lighter sentence than his original charge. Wei-Ming Shi, 59, of Mount Lebanon, pleaded guilty to simple assault on an aircraft during flight and has agreed to a $5,000 fine. A federal judge in Pittsburgh also can impose up to six months in jail and probation when Shi is sentenced March 16. The original, most serious charge of unlawful sexual contact could have put him behind bars for up to three years. That charge alleged the woman was sleeping and therefore was unable to consent. A second count alleged the woman simply didn't consent to being touched. It carries up to two years in prison. Shi's attorney told the judge the incident stemmed from "flirting" between Shi and the 20-something victim who sat next to him aboard the Southwest Airlines flight from Las Vegas to Pittsburgh on Aug. 18, 2016. A prosecutor disputed that account. "There's more to this, judge, that we'll talk about at sentencing," defense attorney Patrick Thomassey said after U.S. District Judge John Walton called Shi's actions "repulsive behavior."<br/>
A JetBlue plane from Boston to Las Vegas that struck some birds shortly after takeoff has made a safe emergency landing in New York. JetBlue spokeswoman says Flight 877 landed safely at John F. Kennedy International Airport just before 7:30 p.m. Monday. She says the plane was diverted to JFK "out of an abundance of caution." She says all passengers will be re-accommodated on another aircraft. The plane struck the birds late Monday afternoon after taking off from Boston Logan International Airport. It was then diverted to New York. JetBlue did not say if the plane suffered any damage.<br/>