unaligned

A 28-year-old man in southeast China was ordered to pay CNY120,000 (U$17,200) in damages to Lucky Air for throwing coins at a plane in the hope of a safe journey last year. Yixiu District People’s Court handed down the order in July, but it was only made public recently, when the court posted the ruling online. The flight – from Anqing to Kunming, Yunnan province – was cancelled after airline staff found two yuan coins on the ground near one of the plane’s engines. All passengers had to leave the plane and it was grounded while it underwent safety checks. Lucky Air had to arrange accommodation for stranded passengers and replacement flights as a result of the incident and incurred losses of more than CNY123,000. The man was detained for 10 days on charges of disturbing public order. <br/>

Nigerian specialists have disclosed that a serious depressurisation incident involving a Med-View Airline Boeing 737-500 was not reported to the country’s investigation authority. The aircraft had been cruising at 32,000ft en route from Abuja to Lagos, with 34 occupants, July 23. The aircraft was cleared to descend to 16,000ft and hold over Lagos, according to the first officer, who was handed control of the jet so the captain could brief passengers about the arrival delay. As the captain was informing passengers, the cabin-altitude warning horn sounded and he put on his oxygen mask before instructing the first officer to set the pressurisation mode to ‘manual’ and close the outflow valve. Lagos approach control initially vectored the aircraft for delay sequencing but the crew declined, citing weather conditions. <br/>