Air Canada flight makes abrupt landing in Halifax

An Air Canada plane came off the runway after landing at Halifax Stanfield International Airport in Nova Scotia early Sunday, the airline reported, as passengers and crew were checked for injuries.

The airline said on Twitter that flight AC624 from Toronto "exited runway upon landing at Halifax. All passengers have deplaned, going to terminal."

Air Canada did not say what caused the aircraft to leave the runway after landing, but heavy snow was forecast in the eastern Canadian city. Environment Canada issued a snowfall alert and warned of low visibility.

Halifax Airport said 23 people were taken to hospital for observation and treatment of minor injuries.

There were 132 passengers and five crew aboard the flight, which departed from Toronto at 9:05 pm (0105 GMT Sunday).

Flightaware.com said the aircraft was an Airbus A320.

Several counties in the the eastern coastal province of Nova Scotia were affected by Saturday's winter weather alert.

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Singapore-bound Tigerair flight diverted to Batam

A Singapore-bound Tigerair flight from Hong Kong landed unexpectedly in Batam, according to a woman whose mother was on board the plane. The airline said that a windshear had forced it to make the diversion.

Ms Serena Ng said flight TR2067 was due to land in Singapore at 10.30pm on Saturday night (Sep 20), but a check on Changi Airport's website shows it only arrived at 2.41am.

Ms Ng managed to contact her mother on the phone, and learnt that the plane had landed in "an airfield in Batam." "My mum told me TR2067 attempted to land in Singapore twice, but failed, and she heard loud vibrating sounds from the engine and thunder," Ms Ng said.

Air traffic tracker Flight Radar 24 listed the A320 plane as having landed in Batam at 11.36pm.

Mr Sim Leong Chin, who had waited for his friend at Terminal 2 since 10.30pm, said he did not find it out of the ordinary for the delay. He added he was not worried although he had no information of the plane’s whereabouts until near midnight, when a staff at the airport said the plane was delayed due to bad weather.

But another lady – whose daughter was on board TR2067 - told Channel NewsAsia she was very worried. Speaking in Mandarin, she said: “The information on the arrival timings showed the plane was ‘confirmed’ at around 10.30pm.

“But shortly after that, the information under the ‘status’ column changed to ‘ask airline’. I became worried after that. What if the plane went missing?”

Despite the four-hour delay, passengers Channel NewsAsia spoke with appeared calm, and said they were relieved the plane had landed safely in Singapore.

Tigerair meanwhile, issued a statement saying that at no point during the diversion were the safety and security of passengers and crew compromised.

"Flight TR2067 was delayed due to inclement weather and the presence of windshear - a rapid change of wind speed and direction over short distances - while attempting to land in Singapore," said the airline in a statement. "After making two landing attempts, the flight was diverted to Batam to refuel and await better landing conditions as part of Tigerair's standard operating procedures."

The statement added: "The loud engine noise heard by passengers was due to the plane making a go-around which involved the powering up of the aircraft engine, which was operating optimally. At no point was the safety of our crew and passengers compromised, and the flight landed safely in Singapore at 2.41am today."

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48 killed, 10 survivors in Taiwan plane crash: airline

Taiwan's TransAsia Airways said Thursday (July 24) that 48 people were killed and 10 survived when one of its turboprop passenger planes crashed after an aborted landing during stormy weather.

Flight GE222 was carrying 54 passengers and four crew members on a domestic flight when it crashed on Wednesday at Magong on the Penghu island chain, TransAsia said, clarifying conflicting death tolls given by officials previously. Two French medical students were among the dead, the foreign ministry in Paris said.

The ATR 72-500 was flying from the southwestern city of Kaohsiung to the islands off the west coast and had been delayed by bad weather as Typhoon Matmo pounded Taiwan, according to authorities. It was trying to land for a second time after aborting the first attempt during heavy rain, crashing into two houses near Magong airport and injuring five people on the ground, officials said.

TransAsia said it planned to compensate each family of the deceased with NT$1 million ($33,000), and offer NT$200,000 to each of the injured.

Television images showed firefighters working in torrential rain to douse fires from the plane's wreckage and soldiers deployed to help on the scene. The mother of one survivor said: "My daughter called me. She said 'mum, my plane crashed'. She said she climbed out and borrowed a phone from others."

TransAsia, Taiwan's first private airline, flies domestic routes as well as to China, Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Vietnam. It is due to launch the island's first low-cost airline later this year. An ATR-72 operated by Lao Airlines crashed during a heavy storm in southern Laos in October 2013, killing all 49 people on board.

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Typhoon Rammasun causes SIA plane to hit aerobridge

Singapore Airlines (SIA) confirmed that one of its aircraft parked at the Manila International Airport "came into contact" with an aerobridge due to strong winds from Typhoon Rammasun on Wednesday (July 16).

Responding to queries by Channel NewsAsia, a SIA spokesperson said: "There were no passengers or crew on board at that time and our engineers will assess the aircraft when weather conditions permit.

Alternative travel arrangements are being made for those who were affected as well. "Passengers who are booked on SQ915 for July 16 will be accommodated accordingly in order to minimise disruption to their travel plans," the spokesperson said.

Twitter user @raoulesperas posted an image, and stated that the left wing and engine of the plane were damaged though.

Typhoon Rammasun, locally known as Glenda, caused the Philippine capital to shut down on Wednesday, and authorities said the typhoon claimed at least one life and forced hundreds of thousands to evacuate. Wind gusts of up to 250 kilometres an hour (km/h) were recorded, and intense rain affected those in the city as well as remote fishing villages after the typhoon blew in on Tuesday night.

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Singapore Airlines flight veers off Myanmar airport runway

Singapore Airlines (SIA) has confirmed that one of its planes veered off the runway on Wednesday (May 21) while landing at the Yangon International Airport in Myanmar.

An SIA spokesperson told Channel NewsAsia that flight SQ998, an Airbus A330 that took off from Singapore and which was scheduled to land in Yangon at 9.20am on Wednesday, encountered heavy rain and veered “slightly off” the runway on landing.

There were no reports of injuries. The aircraft was towed to the gate and all passengers disembarked safely, the spokesperson said, adding that a replacement aircraft was sent to Yangon to operate the return flight.

The airport was closed for half an hour due to the incident, Xinhua news agency reported.

Manpower Minister Tan Chuan-Jin, who was on the flight en route to the 23rd ASEAN Labour Ministers Meeting in Nay Pyi Taw, posted on the Channel NewsAsia Facebook wall: "That was the hardest landing I've ever experienced. (The) crew was very professional, steady and reassuring."

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Fog causes 200 flight cancellations in Britain

Thick fog in Britain on Thursday forced the cancellation of nearly 200 flights at London's Heathrow airport, one of the world's busiest.

Most of the flights grounded were heading to destinations in Britain or Europe.

A Heathrow spokeswoman told AFP: "We're looking at 190 cancellations at the moment. They're mostly short-haul -- a mixture of flights to mainland Europe and domestic flights."

The conditions also caused flights arriving at Heathrow to be delayed by an average of one hour, while departing flights were subject to similar delays.

"We expect the fog to last into the evening," the spokeswoman said.

The fog, which was especially thick in southern England, also led to the cancellation of every early morning service at London City, an airport mainly used by business travellers.

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Dutch national carrier KLM cancels flights as storm looms

Dutch national carrier KLM said it has scrapped 84 flights to and from Amsterdam's Schiphol airport scheduled for Thursday after forecasters sounded a "code orange" extreme weather warning for the next 24 hours.

The Netherlands is preparing for heavy storms with surging tides and winds predicted to gust up to 130 kilometres per hour in places in the north.

In the south, the landmark Eastern Scheldt storm surge barrier has been closed off for the first time in six years, public broadcaster NOS reported.

"As a result of the extreme weather expected, we have cancelled 84 flights to and from Amsterdam," KLM (Royal Dutch Airlines) spokesman Joost Ruempol told AFP.

"These are flights going to and coming in from across the continent," he added.

Inter-continental flights will go ahead as scheduled, but travellers flying KLM to European destinations are advised to check for regular updates on the airline's website, Ruempol said.

Schiphol is Europe's fourth-busiest airport with between 120,000 to 140,000 passengers passing through daily.

The storm will approach the Netherlands from the west and was a result of a low-pressure system over Norway, bringing extreme weather to the Dutch coast by Thursday afternoon, a weather website said.

Coupled with a spring tide, high winds could result in a heavy storm surge and in many places, the Dutch have been taking measures including raising dykes and moving vehicles away from piers and quays.

The Eastern Scheldt storm surge barrier, part of fortifications to protect the low-lying Netherlands from the North Sea, has been closed off for the first time since 2007, the NOS said.

The flood barrier is part of the so-called Delta Works which were built after disastrous floods in 1953 which left almost 2,000 people dead.

Back then, sea defences were overwhelmed and dykes broke as a result of heavy storms, putting large swathes of the southern Dutch province of Zeeland under water.

A code orange warning is one level below a "code red alert" - given out by the Royal Dutch Meterological Institute (KNMI) for the worst possible weather conditions.

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Mozambique passenger plane carrying 34 missing

A Mozambican Airlines airplane carrying 28 passengers and six crew members went missing en route from Mozambique to Angola on Friday, the airline said.

Flight TM470 took off from Maputo at 09H26 GMT and had been due to land in the Angolan capital Luanda at 13H10 GMT, but never arrived, the airline said in a statement.

"Initial information suggests it might have landed in Rundu, in northern Namibia near the border with Botswana and Angola."

"LAM airlines, aeronautical and airport authorities are trying to establish contact to confirm the information," it added.

Company spokesman Norberto Mucopa could not confirm the nationalities of the people on board the Brazilian-made Embraer 190 or if they included government officials.

"The last contact was in the north of Namibia," he told AFP.

LAM CEO Marlene Manave told journalists the last contact with the aircraft had been at 1130 GMT.

Heavy rain in the area where it disappeared complicated the search, she said, according to Canalmoz newspaper.

A police commander confirmed the incident to AFP in Namibia.

"We are busy searching. It's dark now and it makes our job a bit difficult," said Olavi Auanga, police commander of the Kavango West region, where the control tower lost signal with the aircraft.

An aviation officer in the area told AFP on condition of anonymity that unconfirmed reports suggested the airplane may have gone down in the Bwabwata National Park around 200 kilometres east of Rundu.

The 6,100-square-kilometre reserve covers the narrow strip of land formerly known as the Caprivi strip, a sparsely-populated area with wetlands and dense forests.

The European Union banned LAM from flying in its airspace in 2011.

"Significant safety deficiencies" led to the blacklisting of all air carriers certified in Mozambique, the EU said at the time.

The concern was about Mozambique's civil aviation authority, rather than the track record of the various airlines.

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Malaysian flights affected by haze

Malaysia Airlines (MAS) has advised its passengers on last-minute flight cancellation and retiming due to the current haze situation.

Its operations director, Izham Ismail, said specific stations were under close watch for possible closure or interruption of certain airports including KL International Airport (KLIA).

“MAS is working closely with the airport authorities in monitoring the situation and will adjust our flight operations into and out of the affected airports when necessary.”

MAS has formed a haze secretariat to monitor the situation on an hourly basis and provide updates three times daily.

The airline also encouraged passengers to check the status of their flights at www.malaysiaairlines.com or call prior to leaving for the airport and for updates.

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That is pretty bad visuals judging by the picture above. The haze has now turned to create havoc in Malaysia after doing it to Singapore the previous week.

No significant delays in flight departures & arrivals: CAAS

The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) on Monday said there have been no significant delays in aircraft departures and arrivals despite the haze situation in the country.

As a precaution, airfield lights are turned on in the daytime to enhance the visibility of runways.

Changi Airport can allow aircraft to land safely when the runway visual range is more than 550 metres.

But with more stringent measures, aircraft can still land if the visual range is between 300 and 550 metres.

The measures include putting on standby secondary power supply for essential equipment, such as runway lights, and allowing more time between aircraft landings and take-offs.

Authorities said with reduced visibility, some delays and disruptions to aircraft operations, including flight cancellations, could be expected.

If the visual range falls below 300 metres, CAAS said Changi Airport will not be able to accept aircraft landings for safety reasons.

But planes can continue to take off safely, in accordance with each airline's policy.

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Judging by this article, it seems that Changi Airport is only capable of ILS Cat 2 landing of RVR 300-550 metres. Well done to the airport controllers and such for a cool handling of the haze situation.

Haze update: SilkAir flight turned back from Pekanbaru due to poor visibility

A SilkAir flight had to return to Singapore on Monday morning, due to the worsening haze condition in Pekanbaru.

The SilkAir flight, MI 252, had arrived at Syarif Kasim II airport in the provincial capital of Riau province at about 8am.

Airport duty manager, Mr Baiquni, told The Straits Times that the flight was unable to land due to low visibility at the airport.

"The haze was thick and the pilot had to circle around the airport to find a way to land the plane.

"His first attempt to land from the west failed. He tried again to land from the north, but again, he couldn't do so. The pilot then decided to return to Singapore," he said.

Mr Baiquni added: "Visibility was only 300 metres this morning. Planes need a visibility level of at least 2,000 metres to touch down or take off."

A total of 11 flights were affected between 8am and 11am today. An AirAsia flight flying in from Bandung had to be diverted to Kuala Lumpur, while a Lion Air flight from Jakarta was diverted to Medan. The rest of the eight flights were delayed either at Syarif Kasim II airport or from their place of origin.

Normal operations resumed at the airport after 11am, when the sky cleared up.

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Haze wrecking havoc in the region, with visuals severely affected and flights are embroiled into the matter. The forests in Sumatra are still burning and the haze situation is not showing any signs of let up. With the wind direction now blowing towards Malaysia, it will affect bigger airports like KLIA. Changi Airport handled the situation pretty well, let's hope the haze will clear up soon. Pray for rain in Sumatra.

CAAS allows more time between flight takeoffs and landings due to haze

The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) said its air traffic controllers are allowing more time between flight takeoffs and landings because of visibility concerns.

Responding to queries from MediaCorp News, CAAS said this is to ensure the safety of flight operations at Changi Airport.

CAAS explained that the Runway Visual Range (RVR) reading has dropped to levels lower than 1500 metres due to the haze shrouding the country.

RVR is a measurement of the horizontal visibility along the runway or the range over which the pilot of an aircraft can see along the runway.

CAAS said a high PSI may cause the RVR value to fall and therefore may impact flight operations.

CAAS added that Changi Airport has facilities and procedures to allow safe landing of aircraft in low visibility conditions in accordance with international standards.

CAAS noted that there have not been any significant delays in flight departures and arrivals even with the added precautionary step taken.

It said during the prolonged period of haze in 1997, the lowest RVR reading at Changi Airport was about 800 metres.

Changi Airport remained open for flight operations at that time.

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Visibility dropping below 1500m is quite a significant change considering Singapore usually experience pretty fair weather. The haze situation here is pretty bad with the forests still burning in Sumatra, and it is expect to continue for the rest of this week. But passengers need not worry, the instruments will be the pilots' eyes, reducing the chance of human error causing any mishap.

Three injured as plane veers off Rome runway

A Romanian plane carrying 50 passengers veered off the runway while landing at Rome's Fiumicino airport on Saturday, injuring three people who were rushed to hospital, authorities said.

The ATR 72 turboprop plane of the Romanian airline Carpatair arriving from Pisa finished up at an angle on grass with its landing gear damaged, emergency services and airport officials said.

One of the three people hospitalised, a Romanian flight crew member, was said to have suffered spinal injuries but his condition was not life-threatening.

Another of those hurt had pelvic injuries.

Investigators were attempting to establish the cause of the accident, with bad weather -- winds and rain may have made the landing difficult -- or pilot error suspected.

A passenger on the plane told Ansa that the plane had touched down twice. "The second time the landing gear was bent out of shape and we ended up off the runway."

He described scenes of panic and screaming.

The Rome airport remained open though one of its runways was closed.

According to Italian media, several recent incidents have shed an unfavourable light on the partnership between Alitalia and Carpatair.

The Carpatair plane involved in Saturday's accident was carrying out an Alitalia flight.

In a statement Alitalia said that "strong winds" had forced the plane off the runway and announced the suspension of all its flights operated by Carpatair from Pisa and Bologna.

Last month, a Carpatair flight between Ancona and Rome made an emergency landing soon after take-off.

Earlier in January, another of the Romanian company's planes was forced to make a U-turn following cabin pressure problems which obliged passengers to use oxygen masks.

On January 10 the company issued a statement, denying any reliability problems and denouncing a "media campaign" against it fuelled by "Italian trade unions and pilots" unhappy with Carpatair's partnership with Alitalia.

Carpatair signed the flight-sharing deal with Alitalia last September.

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Not exactly a smooth landing by the pilots but it is very fortunate that there was no catastrophic consequences. Bad weather landing is never easy and if the pilot doesn't have 100% confidence in landing it safely, then he should have done a go-around. For this case, the "second touchdown" was probably too heavy which broke the landing gear.

All 20 on board Kazakh airliner "killed in crash"

All 20 people on board a domestic flight in Kazakhstan operated by the SCAT airline died Tuesday when their Canadian-made jet crashed on approach to Almaty airport in thick fog, the airline said.

"Twenty people were on board -- five crew members and 15 passengers," the airline said in a statement quoted by the Interfax news agency.

"According to preliminary information there are no survivors," the statement added, saying the aircraft was a CRJ-200 made by Canadian manufacturer Bombardier.

Officials said the victims included one child.

SCAT said the plane went down about five kilometres short of the financial centre's main airport on a flight from the northern steppe city of Kokshetau.

Commercial KTK television said the plane crashed into an Almaty suburb but gave no information of possible casualties or damage on the ground.

The airline itself said the Bombardier had made one approach to the airport and was about to rise again for a second approach when it suddenly veered off course and ploughed to the ground.

"We are forming a commission. We are going to provide help to the relatives of those who died," regional administration chief Kosman Aitmukhametov told Interfax.

The Kazinform news agency reported that officials from both the interior and transportation ministry had travelled to the site of the crash.

Interfax said the plane itself was produced in 2000 and had last undergone scheduled repairs in June 2011. It added that the jet was then certified to fly until its next scheduled maintenance in September this year.

It was the second deadly winter accident to strike the fast-developing Central Asian nation in just a month, underlining the need for careful checks of ageing aircraft.

The accident came just a month after another crash that killed 27, wiping out much of the top echelon of the Kazakh state border service.

That jet also went down in bad weather.

Aviation disasters remain a scourge across the former Soviet Union due to ageing hardware that often has not been replaced since the fall of the Soviet regime, as well as human error.

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Accident caused by low visibility and perhaps pilot error too. They were supposed to make a go-around but I guess something went wrong during the pick up in speed and the plane lost lift, causing it to plough into the ground.

Unfortunate accident. Rest in peace to the casualties.

Snow grounds flights in Britain

Snow swept across Britain on Friday, forcing airports to cancel dozens of flights and more than 2,000 schools to close.

London's Heathrow Airport, one of the busiest in the world, cancelled around 60 flights while the airports in the Welsh capital Cardiff, Southampton in southeast England and Bristol in the southwest were closed completely.

"We've got 24 vehicles clearing the runways," a Heathrow spokeswoman told AFP.

A Cardiff spokesman said the airport was due to re-open shortly, while Southampton said it would be shut until at least 1500 GMT.

British Airways cancelled more than 60 of its flights but said the figure was likely to rise during the day.

Over 2,000 schools were closed across Britain, while the bad weather also caused gridlock on the roads.

Britain's weather agency, the Met Office, issued a rare "red warning" for parts of south Wales, where some areas were expecting up to 30 centimetres of snow.

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As usual, LHR never fails to cancel flights due to the snow during the winter season. Perhaps they should learn from Sweden/Norway/Finland on how to handle snow so as not to cancel flights.