Plane

Diplomats poke fun at Donald Trump while Madonna loses her corset off the back of a golf buggyThe one upside to a rolling international crisis is that it can give backroom people a rare chance to shine. Witness, this week, the breakout stars of the Iranian diplomatic corps, who from two different diplomatic missoverions managed to poke fun at Donald Trump while maintaining the base-level decorum that so eludes the American president. Continue reading...

FAA investigates event of one jet flying too close to another, though both crews responded to alerts and landed safelyThe US Federal Aviation Administration said on Tuesday it was investigating a close call ​at New York’s John F Kennedy international airport ‌between two passenger jets.“The crew of Republic Airways Flight 4464 performed a go-around at John F. Kennedy International Airport after missing the ​intended approach path and flying too close to ​Jazz Aviation Flight 554, which was cleared to ⁠land on a parallel runway. Both flight crews responded ​to onboard alerts,” the FAA said in a statement about ​the Monday incident. Continue reading...

Passengers on flight from Chicago to New York exited via slides as FBI, bomb technicians and K-9 unit responded Sign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxA United Airlines flight bound for New York City was forced to land and evacuate in Pittsburgh on Saturday morning after crew members reported a “possible security issue”, a spokesperson for the Federal Aviation Administration said.United flight 2092 took off from Chicago O’Hare airport and had been en route to LaGuardia airport in New York. The plane diverted to Pittsburgh international airport as a result of the reported threat. Continue reading...

Two sides tested one another’s resolve but timeframe meant it was probably unrealistic to expect deal Middle East crisis – live updatesIt was if the two delegations in the Iran-US peace talks in Islamabad hoped that the sheer number of negotiators flown into Pakistan could overcome the handicap of having only a finite number of hours in which to settle a 20-year dispute over Iran’s nuclear ambitions, now overlaid by complex new issues such as future control of the strait of Hormuz and US compensation for its attack on Iran.Iran sent two planeloads of negotiators, including many members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) present to ensure that no gains made in the field were relinquished at the diplomatic table. Diplomats fanned out across political, legal, security, economic and military files. One Iranian-drafted technical explanation on nuclear facility safety ran to more than 100 pages. Continue reading...

Wildlife film pioneer has died aged 74 ‘immersed in nature and surrounded by friends’, his representatives have saidAn award-winning wildlife cameraman renowned for his work with David Attenborough has died aged 74 while trekking in Nepal.Doug Allan, described as a “true pioneer” of wildlife film-making, won several Bafta and Emmy awards and was principal camera operator on a number of BBC series including Planet Earth, Frozen Planet and The Blue Planet. Continue reading...

Information on drones and other threats being shared but defence chief confirms crew taking ‘active steps’ to only contribute to defensive actionsGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAustralian personnel operating a state-of-the-art surveillance plane are filtering information gleaned from the Middle East war to ensure intelligence is not shared with the United States for offensive purposes, the defence force chief says.As the federal government extended the deployment of the E-7 Wedgetail aircraft on Thursday, the chief of Defence, Admiral David Johnston, said the crew were taking active steps to only contribute to defensive operations. Continue reading...

With some misgivings, families and aviation enthusiasts bring stepladders and picnics to the perimeter fenceIt was a 4.40am start for the Wilkinson family. They packed their car with gear you might take on a trip to the seaside – folding chairs, blankets, a picnic. But instead of heading to the coast, they drove 80 miles from their home in Hampshire to Gloucestershire and set up camp close to the perimeter fence of RAF Fairford to watch American warplanes take off and land.“It’s definitely cheaper than a trip to a theme park,” said Jonathan Wilkinson, who was there with wife, Katie, and three sons, aged seven to 12. “The sights and sounds are impressive. But it’s a bittersweet thing. These planes are only here because of war. We have to keep that in mind.” Continue reading...