unaligned

A deadly plane crash at Nepal’s international airport was the fault of the pilot, who had been “extremely upset” and chain-smoked and wept in the cockpit during the flight, an investigation report said. The US-Bangla Airlines flight from Dhaka to the Nepali capital in March crashed on landing in Kathmandu and caught fire, killing 51 of the 71 people on board, in the Himalayan nation’s worst aviation disaster for 26 years. Parts of a draft report by a Nepali government-appointed panel said the captain, Abid Sultan, had been “extremely upset and hurt” by a female colleague who raised questions about his reputation as an instructor in the airline. “He was very much under stress due to this particular issue,” the report said. “This mistrust and stress led him to continuously smoke in the cockpit and also suffer an emotional breakdown several times during the flight,” it said. “The captain was ‘crying and sneezing’ on several occasions during the flight,” the draft said, citing recorded conversation between the cockpit and air traffic controllers. The first officer was constantly trying to console him, it added. The captain, a former Bangladesh air force pilot, failed to follow instructions from air traffic controllers to land from a southern approach and took a more difficult northern approach to the single runway. He was unable to align the plane before landing, the report said. The plane skidded off the runway onto the grass around it. The captain was among those killed.<br/>

JetBlue Airways is raising fees for checking a bag or changing a ticket, a move that could prompt other airlines to raise their fees. New York-based JetBlue posted the increases online. They apply for all trips booked on or after Monday. Passengers who buy the lowest of JetBlue's three fare classes for tickets will pay $30 to check a bag and $40 for a second bag, a $5 increase for each bag. American, Delta and United still charge $25 for the first bag and $35 for the second, with exceptions for elite customers and those who use an airline-branded credit card. Southwest is the only large US carrier that lets any passenger check up to two bags for free. "Unfortunately, all it takes is one major airline to raise their prices or change their policies for the rest to follow," said John DiScala, who runs the travel site JohnnyJet.com. George Hobica, founder of the travel site airfarewatchdog.com, also predicted that others will match JetBlue's increase and expressed surprise that airlines had not raised bag fees before now. He suggested that airlines might eventually base the fees on distance traveled, with higher charges for longer flights. JetBlue will also increase its fee for overweight or large items from $100 to $150, and fees on some sporting equipment like surfboards and bikes will rise, too.<br/>

Passengers on a flight to eastern China feared for their lives on Sunday afternoon when their plane suddenly lost altitude. The 146 passengers and nine crew members were around 20 minutes into their journey on board Capital Airlines flight JD5158 from Kunming, Yunnan province, to Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, when they heard loud noises, quickly followed by the pilot’s announcement that the cabin was losing pressure and oxygen masks would be lowered, according to Chinese media reports. One of the passengers said that he saw and smelled smoke and felt a “strong loss of gravity” as the plane rapidly descended. Children were crying and a nearby passenger was recording their last words on a mobile to the family, he said. Passengers said the plane steadied after a while and they were told they would return to the Kunming airport. A statement from the airline to People’s Daily said the flight returned to Kunming due to mechanical problems. It landed safely at about 3.30pm and no one was injured.<br/>

Start-up California Pacific Airlines plans to commence service from the McClellan-Palomar airport near Carlsbad, California, on 1 November. The airline will initially operate 12-times weekly to San Jose, California and four-times weekly to Reno with 50-seat Embraer ERJ-145 aircraft, it says. It will add three-times weekly service to Las Vegas on 15 November. "Today's announcement marks the culmination of a multi-year effort that will bring significant convenience in air travel between San Diego's North County and the top western-region destinations," says Ted Vallas, chairman of California Pacific. "Our initial set of cities will address the needs of both business and leisure travelers from nearby McClellan-Palomar airport." California Pacific will operate flights under the US FAA operating certificate of Aerodynamics Inc (ADI). The carrier acquired Aerodynamics and its certificate in late 2017, according to reports. Aerodynamics operates scheduled essential air service routes between Denver and Pierre and Watertown in South Dakota, as well as charters. Its operations will be rebranded under the California Pacific name on 1 September.<br/>

Kuwaiti hybrid carrier Wataniya Airways has been told by the country’s regulator to improve its standards of service or potentially face closure, according to a report from state-run news agency KUNA. The Aug. 25 report said that Kuwait’s Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has told the airline, which started operations in 2017, that it has until Sept. 6 to resolve recurrent flight delays and cancellations. Failure to do so would result in its operating permit being suspended for three months as an initial penalty. Continued failure to solve the problems would result in it being permanently stripped of its licence, according to the report. KUNA said that the DGCA had issued several previous warnings to Wataniya regarding the problems, without effect. Wataniya currently operates a small fleet of four Airbus A320ceos to more than a dozen destinations. <br/>