1. A Sriwijaya Boeing 737–500 lost radar contact following its departure from Jakarta. The 26-year old aircraft, which bears the registration PK-CLC, had 62 passengers and crew onboard. It had been flying a domestic service from the Indonesian capital to Pontianak, numbered SJ182. Unfortunately there were no survivors.
2. Air Canada has announced that it will implement additional capacity and workforce reductions in response to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. The airline has revealed plans to cut network capacity by a quarter, and is estimating around 1,700 jobs to be affected.
Photo Credit: Air Canada
3. A Bombardier private jet lost contact with air traffic control over UK airspace, forcing the Royal Air Force (RAF) to scramble two military jets in response. While intercepting the plane, the two RAF Typhoon jets broke the sound barrier, emanating a sonic boom that was heard across the East of England.
4. Qatar Airways CEO, Akbar Al Baker, has confirmed half his A380s won’t fly for the airline again. Speaking at a CAPA Live event, Mr Al Baker said the A380 was one of the worst planes in the sky when it came to emissions and overall efficiency.
5. And finally for this week, British Airways revealed that it has partnered with Globe-Trotter to launch a new range of limited edition carry-on suitcases. The suitcases will be themed around BOAC. However, as a bonus, each suitcase will contain a piece of one of the airline’s retired Boeing 747 aircraft.
6. A Cessna 421B Golden Eagle II with registration N421DP was flying out of Farmingdale Airport (KFRG) in the New York area. The aircraft was leaving the airspace and the pilot reported that both engines had been lost and he was returning to the airport immediately.
As the aircraft was returning to the airport, it impacted a buildings whilst attempting a landing on runway 14. Only the pilot survived. Another aircraft, Senegal 602, flew over the nearby area to spot the aircraft after instructions from ATC as ATC could not see any smoke, although they saw when he went down. The aircraft’s wings were torn off the fuselage and after the crash, the airport resumed normal operations about 10 minutes later.
-TDZ Staff Writers
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