A plane crashed just off the Caribbean coast of Honduras on Monday night minutes after taking off from Roatan Island, killing seven people, while 10 others were pulled out from the wreckage alive, authorities said. The Jetstream aircraft operated by Honduran airline Lanhsa was carrying 14 passengers and three crew members, according to the country's transport minister, who said the wreckage was found about 1 kilometer (0.6 mile) off the island's coast. According to the flight manifest shown by local media, the passengers included a U.S. national, a French national and two minors. The plane was scheduled to fly to La Ceiba airport on the Honduran mainland. Roatan fire captain Franklin Borjas confirmed the death toll, while both police and fire officials detailed the rescue efforts underway. Well-known Garifuna musician Aurelio Martinez Suazo was among the dead, according to fire officials. Dramatic video uploaded to social media by the national police showed officers and other rescue workers carrying survivors onto a rocky coastline, some in stretchers, as a nearby boat shone a bright light amid the darkness. The cause of the crash was not immediately clear. The airline did not respond immediately to a request for comment. Borjas told Reuters the survivors were transported to a nearby hospital, while also confirming that the crash took place shortly after the plane's takeoff from the island. Roatan, the largest of the Bay Islands just off the Honduran coast, is a popular tourist attraction and famed for its vibrant coral reefs.<br/>
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The pilots’ union for Canadian vacation specialist Sunwing Airlines is calling on parent WestJet Group to reconsider its planned closure of Sunwing’s base at Quebec City Jean Lesage International airport. The Air Line Pilots Association, International (ALPA) said on 17 March that closing Sunwing’s base in Quebec City would cause “severe economic and cultural” impacts in the region. “WestJet purchased Sunwing with the intention of expanding services in eastern Canada and increasing vacation offerings from regional hubs,” says Mark Taylor, chair of the Sunwing ALPA master executive council. “Closing or relocating the YQB base undermines this corporate strategy and the company’s own stated goals.” Taylor asserts that abandoning the base in Quebec’s capital city would damage WestJet’s reputation among the francophone community, as well as reduce its ability to respond to operational uncertainties. “Having local crews means quicker responses in cases of mechanical issues, crew illness or staffing shortage problems, which is beneficial for the airline,” he says. In May 2023, WestJet closed a deal to acquire Sunwing and its vacations business, subsequently indicating plans to close Sunwing’s base in Quebec City and transfer displaced pilots to Montreal. A firm date for the base’s closure has not been set but WestJet has indicated that its outpost at Quebec City will cease operating sometime this spring, according to ALPA. “We recognise that Sunwing has a long-standing presence and commitment in the province of Quebec, and we can confirm that the province remains an integral strategic pillar for the WestJet Group,” WestJet tells FlightGlobal. <br/>
It was the site of the worst aviation disaster on South Korean soil. Now the terminal at Muan International Airport serves as a community center for grieving relatives of the 179 people who perished in the crash. Families gather here to talk, eat together — some even stay overnight in tents. It was in that cavernous building in southwestern South Korea that the families waited anxiously for news after Jeju Air Flight 7C2216 crash-landed on Dec. 29. Then there were tears and outbursts of anger as officials periodically read out the names of the dead, many identified by DNA tests. “We’re a family now,” said Son Joo-taek, who lost his son in the accident and was among around 20 people who sat around a row of folding tables that held water and snacks on a recent Saturday. “The people here understand what others just can’t.” Lately, the talk among some of the grieving families has turned toward action: They want to find out what caused the crash. The jet — carrying mostly vacationers home from a year-end trip to Thailand — belly-flopped onto the runway and sped along until it hit a concrete berm and exploded into flames, leaving just two survivors. Relatives of those killed say they are unhappy with the trickle of information from officials, and the refusal to release records, including transcripts from the control tower. They want to know more about the reports of a bird strike a few minutes before the landing, how the jet came down without its landing gear, and why the berm it hit was not designed to give way. In desperation, some have turned to books and videos to learn about aviation safety, including how flight recorders, air traffic controllers, localizers and jet engines work. They are also looking into airport design. “The families’ first priority is to get the truth,” Son Ha-yang, the daughter of Son, said at the airport where her brother and his girlfriend were killed. “Otherwise, we’re only relying on the investigators, who often use jargon.”<br/>