Divers

🛫 On December 2, 2024, an Albastar Boeing 737 from Spain, operating under ACMI for Argentine airline FlyBondi, entered a closed runway at Ezeiza Airport in Buenos Aires without authorization during a Brazilian plane's landing. The incident coincided with airport congestion due to a Copa Libertadores football match. The Spanish plane, scheduled to depart as flight FO5906, missed a taxiway turn, nearly colliding with a landing Gol Airlines 737. Details of subsequent safety meetings and pilot familiarization sessions remain undisclosed.

🌩 Cyclone Garance hit Réunion Island, a French enclave in the Indian Ocean, last weekend, causing significant damage, particularly in the east and north. Red alert lifted, airport resumed operations, but full recovery will take years. Four fatalities occurred despite strong winds. Power outages affected 37% of homes (120,000 residents), 310,000 people left without water, one-third without internet or landline, and mobile coverage reduced to two-thirds. Unusually high wind gusts reached 230 km/h. Infrastructure, including roads and vehicles, severely damaged. Firefighters from mainland France called in for assistance. Beaches closed, hiking banned, impacting tourists during French school holidays.

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✈ Qatar Airways faced criticism for making passengers fly for four hours with a deceased person seated beside them. The airline responded, saying the crew acted "quickly, appropriately, and professionally," following their manual. The complaining couple was moved to different seats, and a crew member sat next to the deceased until landing in Doha. Compensation was offered to the deceased's family and affected passengers. Jennifer Ring, a witness, expressed her dismay on Australian TV, stating that passengers were not allowed to disembark before the body was moved.

🚑 In Barcelona, two buses collided on Avenida de la Diagonal at noon on a Monday, leaving over 50 injured, including four critically, with a minor among them. One bus, from the Juliá group carrying cruise passengers, was parked at Diagonal's official coach stop near Roger de Llúria and Rosselló streets. The other, an Autocares Canals coach with around 50 Italian students, crashed into it. The Juliá bus hit a tree and a lamppost, while the students, staying at a Lloret hotel and visiting Barcelona, all had non-life-threatening injuries. The group's guide remains hospitalized.

💸 An ex-cabin crew member detailed a negative experience after working nearly a year at Ryanair. Promised an annual salary of €27,000, actual pay fell short. Based in Dublin, the employee paid for housing without company coverage. Interpersonal issues were frequent, with tensions among staff and supervisors. Workers from the crew member's training lost over a month of flying due to un-renewed airport ID cards, costing them €70 per non-flying day. Ryanair's low-cost focus was criticized for neglecting employee welfare.

🌏 In Paris, a new attraction at the Eiffel Tower named “Le vertige de la tour” features a 40-meter-long suspension bridge, 60 meters above ground, connecting two pillars of the structure. It opened on February 19 and will only be available until March 9. This urban bridge, the tallest in France, is on the level of the tower's first floor. Visitors must register via a free QR code to cross the bridge within a reserved time slot. The bridge, equipped with double-layered safety nets, can support up to 30,000 kilograms per square meter, ensuring no risk of accidents or dropped possessions.

🛫 In 2024, IATA reported 19 airline closures, the lowest in a decade, while 28 new airlines started operations. Traditional airlines suffered the most with 11 closures, followed by seven low-cost and one cargo airline. The peak of airline bankruptcies was in 2020 during the pandemic, with 53 companies folding. Europe and Asia-Pacific saw the most new airlines, while North America showed few entrants. Economic uncertainty, high operational costs, supply chain difficulties, and geopolitical tensions hindered new competitors in 2024.

🚀 In a tragic incident, an Azerbaijan Airlines flight to Grozny was struck by air-to-ground missiles, mistaking it for a Ukrainian drone, resulting in the aircraft being severely damaged and denied landing in Grozny and a second local airport. The plane was forced to divert to Aktau, Kazakhstan, where it crash-landed, killing 38 of the 67 passengers on board. Survivors Zulfugar Asadov and Aidan Rahimli received medals for merit from Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov for their courage and professionalism during the incident. Kadyrov, a former terrorist, plans to build a memorial in Grozny for the victims. Chechnya has offered financial aid, but Azerbaijan demands an apology and admission of guilt from Russia, which has not happened. Investigations suggest the aircraft, an Embraer, was likely hit by a Pantsir S1 missile, typically used for air defense.

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