Investigators say a pin broke inside the left landing gear of an Alaska Airlines jet that came to rest on one of the engines after landing in California last month. The two pilots discussed the need for a “firm” landing during Tropical Storm Hilary, and the captain felt a “firm jolt feeling” when the plane touched the runway at John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana, California. Data from the plane indicated, however, that the touchdown force was within the airline’s limits, the National Transportation Safety Board said in a preliminary report Monday. The pilots told investigators that cockpit indicators showed both main landing gear and the nose gear were in the down and locked position. After the plane landed, the captain told the co-pilot that it felt like the plane had a flat tire on the left side, and the crew noticed the plane listing to the left. When the captain stopped the plane on a taxiway, he opened a window and saw the plane resting on the housing surrounding the left engine. The pilots shut down both engines, and passengers exited on the taxiway. No injuries were reported among the 106 passengers and six crew members on the Aug. 20 flight, the NTSB said. The NTSB said its examination found that a trunnion pin in the left landing gear had broken, and the gear assembly punched through the top of the left wing. The board said it will continue to investigate the incident.<br/>
oneworld
Qatar Airways has leased three slot pairs at London Heathrow from Air Mauritius as the latter is moving its London operations to London Gatwick. According to Airport Coordination Ltd records, Qatar Airways secured the Winter 2023/24 season slots for flights from Doha Hamad International on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. It plans to use the B777-300(ER) on these services. The Mauritian carrier chose to move its operations to Gatwick to provide daily, consistent connectivity to London, replacing the current 5x weekly service to Heathrow. On top of its three owned slots at Heathrow, now due to be used by Qatar Airways, Air Mauritius leases the other two slot pairs it currently uses from Royal Brunei Airlines. The ch-aviation schedules module shows that Qatar Airways currently operates daily to Gatwick and up to 7x daily to Heathrow.<br/>
Cathay Pacific has unveiled plans to resume flights to Chennai, India after a hiatus of four years. Scheduled to take off on 2 February 2024, the Hong Kong-based airline will operate thrice weekly non-stop flights using 368-seat Boeing 777 aircraft configured in a three class layout with 40 seats in Business Class, 32 in Premium Economy and 296 in Economy Class. Flight CX641 is slated to depart Hong Kong (HKG) every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at 21:50, arriving in Chennai (MAA) at 01:00 the following day. Cathay Pacific Boeing 777-300 reg: B-HNM. Picture by Steven Howard of TravelNewsAsia.com Click to enlarge.Cathay Pacific Boeing 777-300 reg: B-HNM. Picture by Steven Howard of TravelNewsAsia.com The return leg, flight CX632, is scheduled to leave MAA every Wednesday, Friday and Sunday at 02:20, arriving in Hong Kong at 09:55. “We are delighted to once again serve the residents of Chennai. As a group, we have had a long-standing history with the city and now we will be taking to the skies thrice a week to and from Chennai International Airport on 2 February 2024,” said Anand Yedery, Cathay Pacific's Regional Head of Customer Travel and Lifestyle, South Asia, Middle East and Africa. <br/>
The head of Qantas’ information division has resigned, as the business grapples with the fallout after a torrid three weeks which culminated with the shock departure of Alan Joyce on Tuesday. Sam Charmand had worked at Qantas for nearly 16 years and is the second senior leader to quit the embattled airline business since it became embroiled in legal action launched by the consumer watchdog over allegations it falsely advertised and sold tickets on cancelled flights. Qantas on Monday confirmed the resignation, which was first reported in the Australian Financial Review. The Qantas group was forced to unwind the expiry dates on refunds for flights affected by COVID-19 last week, following backlash from consumers, politicians and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. Qantas is bracing for a High Court verdict on Wednesday, following a last-ditch appeal lodged by the airline business over its outsourcing of 1700 ground handling staff during the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic. Qantas lodged the High Court appeal following a 2021 decision in the Federal Court which found the airline business had contravened the Fair Work Act when it stood down employees working at 11 airports during the pandemic in November 2020. The Full Federal Court then upheld this decision in 2022, but the courts did not force the group to reinstate the affected employees. The embattled business has since engaged strategic management consultancy group Boston Consulting to help newly minted boss Vanessa Hudson transform its reputation. Qantas stood down the ground staff in November 2020 and began using third-party providers including Dnata, Menzies and Swissport, which are also used by other global airlines including Emirates and Etihad. The decision led to Federal Court action lodged by the Transport Workers’ Union. The Federal Court was not satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that Qantas was motivated only by commercial reasons and could not rule out that the carrier group also may have been trying to avoid future industrial action.<br/>