Safety watchdogs call it a runaway problem on America’s runways that could end in tragedy – the near collisions of commercial aircraft. Now, the federal government is funding millions of dollars in airport construction projects to help address the issue. In an announcement shared first with CNN, the FAA said Wednesday that $121m from agency grants and from a 2021 infrastructure law will be doled out to eight airports from Florida to Alaska. This comes three months after the FAA announced $100m in similar funding for a dozen other airports. The largest outlay in the latest round of funding is $44.9 million “to simplify the airport layout” at Boston Logan International Airport, the FAA said. Logan is where a collision was narrowly avoided this year. In February, a JetBlue flight was 30 feet from touching down on the airport’s runway 4 Left when a Learjet operated by a charter company took off in front of the airliner from an intersecting runway. An air traffic controller told JetBlue’s crew to abort the landing, and the JetBlue pilot climbed the plane to safety, the FAA said. The probable cause of the incident was the Learjet crew “taking off without a takeoff clearance” from air traffic control, the National Transportation Safety Board said in a final report released this month. “In some cases the best way to address safety risks is modifying or reconfiguring existing airfields,” Shannetta Griffin, the FAA’s associate administrator for airports, said. “These grants directly address those situations.” The NTSB is investigating seven runway incursions involving commercial airliners since the start of this year, the board says. The FAA’s announcement follows a Monday New York Times report that found the number of near collisions involving airliners is higher than previously disclosed.<br/>
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Federal authorities are investigating the crash of a twin-engine cargo plane during a training exercise near a small airport in central Maine, which killed both people on board. The Beechcraft crashed in a field in the town of Litchfield at around 5:45 p.m. Tuesday, the Federal Aviation Administration said. The agency said the National Transportation Safety Board would lead the investigation. The plane crashed “under unknown circumstances” about half a mile (0.8 kilometers) from Wales Airport, said Sarah Taylor Sulick, a spokesperson for the NTSB. Authorities had not identified the two dead as of Wednesday. The NTSB was just beginning its investigation on Wednesday, said Ralph Hicks, a senior investigator with the agency. The plane was configured for cargo, but it was being used for flight training at the time of the crash, Hicks said.<br/>
The Embraer executive jet model that crashed in Russia, apparently with Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin onboard, has only recorded one accident in over 20 years of service, and that was not related to mechanical failure. Russian authorities said Prigozhin was listed as a passenger on a private jet that crashed on Wednesday evening, killing all those onboard. Russia's TASS news agency said the plane was a Brazilian Embraer jet. Embraer said it was aware of a plane crash in Russia involving a Legacy 600 aircraft, but it did not have further information about the case and had not been providing support services for the jet since 2019. "Embraer has complied with international sanctions imposed on Russia," the planemaker said. Sanctions block Western planemakers from providing parts or support for planes operated in Russia. Flightradar24 online tracker showed that the Embraer Legacy 600 (plane number RA-02795) said to be carrying Prigozhin had dropped off the radar at 6:11 p.m. local time (1511 GMT). An unverified video on social media showed a plane resembling a private jet falling out of the sky toward the earth. The Legacy 600 entered service in 2002, according to International Aviation HQ, with almost 300 produced until production ceased in 2020.<br/>
A Ural Airlines Airbus landed in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg on Nov. 14 last year. Then it remained grounded on the tarmac. Three days later, a spare part crucial for navigation systems with a declared value of over a quarter of a million dollars, made by U.S. company Northrop Grumman, arrived for the jet, Russian customs records show. A week later, on Nov. 24, the A320 took off for Moscow and has been busy ferrying passengers across Russia and Central Asia ever since, according to flight tracking data. Despite Western sanctions designed to stop Russian carriers from procuring parts for their Airbus and Boeing jets, Ural Airlines has imported over 20 of the US-made devices since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, the customs data show. All told, at least $1.2b worth of aircraft parts flowed to Russian airlines from May last year - when most US and European trade curbs and export bans over Ukraine were in force - to the end of June this year, a Reuters analysis of the customs records shows. The equipment ranged from essential items needed to keep a jet airworthy - such as the Northrop Grumman devices, cabin pressure valves, cockpit displays and landing gear - to more mundane spares, such as coffee makers, flight attendant telephone handsets and toilet seats. The customs records showed the parts made their way to Russia through middlemen in countries including Tajikistan, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Turkey, China and Kyrgyzstan – none of which has endorsed Western sanctions on Russia.<br/>
Dubai International has raised its passenger traffic forecast for the year from 83.6m to 85m, slightly short of the annual traffic levels reached by the airport in 2019. This comes amidst expectations of record-breaking numbers during winter. Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports, said: “We started the second half with strong demand in July, and with the ongoing seasonal peak coinciding with the reopening of schools in August, we’re preparing for an exceptionally busy rest of the year. We’ve readjusted our forecast for the year from 83.6m guests to 85m, just 1.6% shy of DXB’s annual traffic in 2019." For H1 2023, the airport crossed the pre-pandemic level with 41.3 million passengers, 49% higher than the number recorded for the prior year period, the state-owned operator Dubai Airports said on Tuesday. DXB, a major regional hub for international travel, handled 20.3m passengers in Q2, up nearly 43% year-on-year (YoY). May was the busiest month during Q2 with 6.9m passengers. For DXB, India was the top country destination in terms of traffic volume H1 with 6 million passengers.<br/>Saudi Arabia was second with 3.1m passengers, followed by the UK (2.8m passengers) and Pakistan (2m passengers).<br/>
Chinese group tours are back in Japan but anyone banking on them arriving in droves and splashing around cash like they did before the pandemic is likely to be disappointed. An ANA Holdings flight on Wednesday evening brought in the first package-tour visitors from Beijing since China lifted its pandemic-era restrictions on the trips to Japan and other key markets including the United States. But hopes the return of packaged tours will herald big returns for department stores, hotels and restaurants in Japan are clashing with a Chinese economy struggling to post significant growth and Japan's controversial plans to release treated wastewater from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea. "Chinese consumer sentiment is cooler than ever, and the desire to save is increasing," said Sony Financial Group economist Takayuki Miyajima. Before the pandemic, mainland Chinese - who largely prefer to travel abroad in tour groups - accounted for the biggest number of tourists to Japan. They also spent the most. But since Japan eased its own pandemic border controls late last year, the number of Chinese tourists has only recovered to about 20% of 2019 levels, partly because of China's delay in adding Japan to a list of approved nations for tour groups. China, meanwhile, opposes Japan's plan to release the Fukushima wastewater starting on Thursday, and many Chinese have taken to social media to express their alarm about the safety of Japanese seafood and produce.<br/>
When the aviation industry got back to work in 2022, many businesses appeared ring-rusty and short-staffed after two years of pandemic border restrictions. Europe’s busiest airport, London Heathrow, was forced to put a temporary cap on traveller numbers, while across the Irish Sea, Dublin Airport was swamped with complaints as lines of passengers stretched out of terminal buildings and onto pavements. Passengers flying in and out of Singapore Changi Airport, meanwhile, have had the least to worry about, going by number-crunching done by Casago, a US-based holiday property business, which went through passenger review data on air transport monitor Skytrax. Around three in four Changi passengers gave the airport a 4 or 5 star rating out of 5 for queue times - a recognition that followed its winning earlier this year of the World's Best Airport Award for the 12th time. Second was Siem Reap International Airport, gateway to Cambodia’s vast Angkor Wat temple complex, with Cape Town, Tokyo Haneda and Canberra making up the rest of the top 5.<br/>
Boeing said a new manufacturing flaw on its best-selling 737 Max will delay deliveries of its best-selling aircraft, the latest setback as the company tries to hand over more planes. The company said it found fastener holes on the aft pressure bulkhead on some 737 planes were improperly drilled. Spirit Aerosystems, which makes the fuselages, said that because it "uses multiple suppliers for the aft pressure bulkhead, only some units are affected." "This issue will impact near-term 737 deliveries as we conduct inspections to determine the number of airplanes affected, and complete required rework on those airplanes," Boeing said. It will continue delivering 737 Maxes that are not affected by the issue. The defect is the latest in a string of manufacturing flaws Boeing has disclosed on the Max and in other programs while it tries to ramp up production to meet strong demand from airlines short on planes during a travel boom. Last month, the company said it is transitioning to a production rate of 38 a month from 31. Boeing didn't say whether the new issue would change its forecast to deliver between 400 and 450 Max jets this year. Spirit Aerosystems said it would continue to deliver fuselages to Boeing. "We are working closely with our customer to address any impacted units within the production system and address any needed rework," Spirit Aerosystems said in a statement. "Based upon what we know now, we believe there will not be a material impact to our delivery range for the year related to this issue." This year through July, Boeing handed over 309 planes to customers, behind the 381 rival Airbus planes delivered in the same period. The company said the issue, reported earlier by The Air Current, was not related to flight safety and that airlines can continue flying the planes. Boeing added that it has notified the FAA.<br/>