Fourteen people were killed in a plane crash in the Colombian plains province of Meta on Saturday, the country's civil aviation agency said. The Special Administrative Unit of Civil Aeronautics said there were no survivors of the crash, which occurred after the DC-3 aircraft made a distress call at 10:40 a.m. local time (1540 GMT). The plane, which is owned by Laser Aereo airlines, was en route from the southern city of San Jose del Guaviare to central Villavicencio, the agency said. It crashed about midway through its flight, in San Carlos de Guaroa municipality. The airline said it had no immediate comment. In a later statement, the agency named those who had died, including the mayor of a small town in the jungle province of Vaupes. The aircraft's navigability permissions were up-to-date, as were the medical certifications of its crew, the agency added.<br/>
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The FAA on Friday warned Southwest and its mechanics union that their bitter fight could hurt the airline's safety programme. The FAA's top safety official sent a terse letter to the airline and the union saying that a breakdown in their relationship raises concern. He urged both sides to cooperate in complying with FAA safety standards. However, the dispute appeared to escalate Friday. The leader of the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association said his union filed a defamation lawsuit against Southwest and the airline's COO. It was the union's response to Southwest, which sued AMFA last week in federal district court in Dallas over what it claims is an illegal work slowdown aimed at pressuring Southwest during bitter contract negotiations. Southwest charges that mechanics are writing up minor maintenance items, leading to a surge in the number of planes taken out of service for repairs. It said write-ups include missing seat row numbers and other cosmetic flaws. The airline has been cancelling flights each day because the number of grounded planes has jumped from the normal 14 per day to as many as 62 one day in February, according to Southwest's lawsuit. Union officials charge that Southwest pressures mechanics to overlook safety issues in managers' zeal to keep planes flying.<br/>
Japan Airlines has revealed that Zipair Tokyo will be the name of its new medium- and long-haul, low-cost carrier that will launch in the summer of 2020. The startup has also filed its application for an air operator’s certificate on March 8, which specifies that it will operate Boeing 787-8s initially on routes from Tokyo Narita to Bangkok Suvarnhabhumi and Seoul Incheon airports. Tokyo-based creative agency Six Inc developed the airline’s logo, and JAL says that the name brings together the English phrase "to zip", and also references travelling to various zip codes. Tokyo was added to the name, “as the airline will be based in one of the most advanced cities in the world.” Zipair's first two 787-8s will come from JAL, after which it plans to take two 787-8s annually for the next four years, bringing it to a fleet of 10 aircraft. It plans to target US west coast destinations from Narita, but will initially focus on shorter routes in Asia.<br/>
Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey briefly closed its runways March 9 after the pilot of an Air Transat Boeing 737-800 requested an emergency landing because of reports of smoke or fire in the aircraft’s cargo hold. Air Transat flight 942 diverted to EWR while en route from Montreal to Fort Lauderdale, landing on Runway 4R at 8:28 a.m. local time. Firefighters responded to the aircraft, and passengers evacuated to the runway via emergency slides, the FAA said. The airline reported that 189 passengers and six crew were on board the flight, and that “no one was injured.” It said another aircraft was sent to Newark to resume operating the flight to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. EWR reported two minor injuries “unrelated to any smoke condition.” Flights resumed at around 11 a.m., according to the airport. A spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates EWR, said there was a report of smoke that “originated in some luggage in the cargo hold,” but he had no further information.<br/>