Suresh Atapattu took this incredible shot from the chase plane while Atlantis was on approach over the weekend. Check out the video below!
• Air France 445, the replacement flight number for Flight 447 that was lost over the Atlantic almost exactly 6 months ago, called Mayday last night over the Atlantic due to severe turbulence. Same aircraft type, same route, and almost the same spot at the same time that her sister-ship mysteriously crashed. The aircraft made it to Paris with no injuries and no known aircraft damage almost 7 hours later. [AirFlightDisaster]
• AIRES Colombia began flights between Bogota and Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood last week using Boeing 737-700s. [Airliners Gallery]
• The best assistant award also goes to the idiot of the week! A woman hoping to help her boss make his Miami-Honduras flight, called-in a bomb threat to delay it. For some reason, in addition to the phone call, she also emailed her threat to American Airlines, which was of course traced. [Gadling]
• Jazz, Air Canada’s regional operator, may be teaming up with a new travel company which might bring five Boeing 737-800s to their fleet. [CBC News]
• Arik Air inaugurated service to JFK from Lagos, Nigeria yesterday, using an Airbus A340-500 on the thrice-weekly flights. [NYCAviation]
• A FedEx MD-10 in Salt Lake City did some slicing and dicing on a Southwest aircraft, removing a winglet after a minor ramp collision. [KSL.com]
• An interesting article showing an example of the effect that air service has on small towns like Rochester, New York, as US Airways passes over the torch of flights to Delta at La Guardia Airport. [Democrat and Chronicle]
• In a new precedent surely to put more pressure on airlines, the FAA dropped a heavy fine on Continental and their regional operator Mesaba, for their role in leaving 47 passengers on an aircraft over after a diversion into Rochester Minnesota. It will set them back $175,000. [EdgeMiami]
• Newark Airport is under the magnifying glass as feds investigate safety issues in regards to several near-collisions due to their runway configurations. [Gothamist]
• Space Shuttle Atlantis returned from orbit on Friday, completing STS-129, with amazing video from the chase plane on approach….
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