New Zealand’s Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) called upon the expertise of the country’s Wool Testing Authority and US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) to determine the origin of a rag found in the electronics and equipment compartment area under the flightdeck of a Qantas Boeing 737-800. Link
UK-based aviation journalist John Walton has spoken to DW about the probable fallout on Europe’s air industry after the Germanwings disaster that killed 150 people in the French Alps. Link
The Russian government has approved a bill to reduce the value-added tax (VAT) from 18% to 10% for airlines operating domestic flights. Link
Sunday 29 March represents the start of the northern hemisphere’s “summer season”. This is when airline schedules are significantly adjusted to cope with the seasonal changes in demand, and when European airlines typically launch the bulk of their new routes for the year. Link
Germanwings has drafted in 11 planes from other airlines to cater for 40 of its flights today as mourning crew members are declared “unfit to fly”. Link
The largest airline in the world seems willing to let dead people aboard its jets because the carrier appears reluctant to abide by its own policy and issue refunds to families of those who’ve died after booking a flight. Link
Germanwings crash scene (AFP/Denis Bois/Gripmedia/AFP TV) Latest developments: One of the pilots on board Germanwings Flight 9525 was locked out of the cockpit when the plane crashed Tuesday, a senior military official told The New York Times, citing evidence from the cockpit voice recorder. Helicopters have airlifted some victims’ remains from the site of the…
It is possible for one pilot of an Airbus A320 to lock the other pilot out of the cockpit to the extent that he cannot regain entry, even if the aircraft is in a fatal dive, says an Australian pilot of an A320. Link
As officials struggled to explain why a jet with 150 people on board crashed in relatively clear skies, an investigator said evidence from a cockpit voice recorder indicated one pilot left the cockpit before the plane’s descent and was unable to get back in. Link
French investigators reached the scene of the Germanwings Airbus A320 accident late in the afternoon local time and have recovered one of the aircraft’s two recorders, although whether it was the flight data recorder or the cockpit voice recorder was not announced. Link