Deadly Alps crash by co-pilot leads to recommendations for changes in aviation regulations

The co-pilot who intentionally crashed a Germanwings flight carrying 150 people into the French Alps on Tuesday had concealed a mental illness from his employer, authorities said Friday. However, the diagnosis and severity of Andreas Lubitz’s condition hasn’t been revealed, reports the New York Times (reg. req.) The 27-year-old reportedly…

Mar 27, 2015 3:50 PM CDT

TSA agrees to stop singling out black women for hair pat-downs at airports

The Transportation Security Administration has agreed to stop singling out black women for airport pat-downs based solely on their hairstyles. The agreement (PDF), announced Thursday in a press release by the ACLU of Northern California, stipulates that the agency will conduct training sessions for TSA agents nationwide, with special emphasis…

Mar 27, 2015 2:46 PM CDT

Prosecutor: Co-pilot intentionally crashed plane into French Alps, killing 150

The crash of a Germanwings flight in the French Alps on Tuesday, killing all 150 people aboard, was no accident, a French prosecutor said at a Thursday news conference. Co-pilot Andreas Lubitz, 28, locked the pilot out of the cockpit when he left to use the restroom and intentionally put…

Mar 26, 2015 9:00 AM CDT

March 9, 1953: A state secrets doctrine is born

Mar 1, 2015 1:10 AM CST

Serial stowaway attempter flies again, is arrested in Florida

A retired legal secretary who reportedly tried to make her way onto multiple California airline flights without a ticket last year, resulting in multiple arrests, is now in Florida. Marilyn Hartman, 63, admittedly took a flight from Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport to Jacksonville, Florida, over the weekend, reports the San…

Feb 10, 2015 10:40 AM CST

Record fine of up to $1.6M imposed on Southwest over planes sitting for hours on tarmac

In the stiffest penalty yet imposed over passenger-filled airplanes stranded for hours on the tarmac during stormy weather, the U.S. Department of Transportation on Thursday announced a fine of up to $1.6 million against Southwest Airlines. However, as part of an agreed consent decree, the government agreed to credit against…

Jan 16, 2015 12:30 PM CST

Drone video posted on YouTube raises safety, privacy concerns for one Illinois town

The posting of a YouTube video recorded by a drone flying low over one Chicago-area town is generating concerns about public safety and privacy. Now city officials in Naperville, Illinois, are exploring what, if anything, can be done on a local level to regulate the operation of such devices, the…

Jan 8, 2015 1:04 PM CST

Close ‘mind-boggling’ loophole, screen airline workers for guns, lawmaker tells TSA

A federal lawmaker from New York and a Big Apple prosecutor jointly called Wednesday for the U.S. to start screening airline workers for weapons on a daily basis. Currently, passengers, flight attendants and pilots are screened, but many employees who work in secure sections of airports aren’t, under what Sen.…

Jan 8, 2015 5:45 AM CST

Amid talk of possible carry-on ban, plane passenger charged with using backpack as dangerous weapon

Concerned about possible airline-focused terrorism targeting flights to Europe during the December holidays, officials in both the United Kingdom and the U.S. have been talking about potential enhancements in security measures as part of a coordinated response. Among the options being discussed in both countries are a complete ban on…

Dec 4, 2014 4:00 PM CST

Billionaire’s fraud suit says lawyer transferred $49M for space flight venture to offshore company

A Japanese billionaire has sued a Texas patent and space law attorney, contending that he was defrauded of $49 million that was supposed to pay for a commercial space flight venture. Instead of spending on the planned space project, alleges plaintiff Takafumi Horie, attorney Art Dula transferred the money from…

Nov 14, 2014 3:40 PM CST

Firms bet on growth potential of drone law

For most people, unmanned aircraft systems—aka drones—are only slightly more popular than Ebola. That’s because when most people think of a drone, they think of the army using video-game controls to fly a sophisticated aircraft that can travel through airspace without being detected while boasting enough firepower to incinerate a…

Oct 27, 2014 10:08 AM CDT

Officials not amused by airline passenger’s claimed Ebola joke, send hazmat team onto plane

Updated: After sneezing Wednesday on a U.S. Airways flight en route to the Dominican Republic from Philadelphia, a passenger allegedly made a joke on a subject that is no laughing matter. Accounts differ as to what exactly the unidentified man said, but it appears he may have stated he had…

Oct 10, 2014 1:00 PM CDT

Flight en route to China from D.C. returns at request of feds because parent may have kidnapped son

Five hours after leaving Washington, D.C., for Beijing a United Airlines flight returned to Washington Dulles International Airport on Thursday because a passenger was suspected of violating a child-custody order by taking her son overseas. Back in D.C., the flight was met by FBI agents and a mother, grandmother and…

Sep 5, 2014 2:55 PM CDT

Serial airline stowaway attempter is now in Arizona, where she has been arrested again

A 62-year-old woman who has repeatedly made headlines this month by attempting to stow away on airline flights is in trouble again. Marilyn Jean Hartman was arrested Tuesday at an airport in Phoenix on suspicion of criminal trespass. Earlier this month, Hartman received a months-long sentence in California for violating…

Aug 27, 2014 3:25 PM CDT

On probation after serial stowaway attempts, woman gets 177 days for returning to airport

Ten days ago, Marilyn Jean Hartman managed to sneak onto a flight from San Jose, California, to Los Angeles without a ticket. Discovered once she arrived in LA on Aug. 4, the 62-year-old San Francisco Bay area resident was arrested, charged with a misdemeanor and released on probation two days…

Aug 14, 2014 11:15 AM CDT