The challenges inherent in getting a 162,000-pound aircraft off the ground and landing it safely are pretty obvious to most observers. But at cruising altitude, above 10,000 feet, pilots face a different critical challenge: staying focused."You can't read a novel, but you could read a manual about procedures or about the airplane," the former Boeing 767-400 pilot said. "You can't read a newspaper. You can't use a laptop. That's strictly prohibited." However, some airlines make documents, including manuals, available only ...

For the 18th year in a row, the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday voted to condemn the 47-year embargo against Cuba by the United States."You can't read a novel, but you could read a manual about procedures or about the airplane," the former Boeing 767-400 pilot said. "You can't read a newspaper. You can't use a laptop. That's strictly prohibited." However, some airlines make documents, including manuals, available only in digital form and provide company laptops for pilots to ...

Federal investigators on Monday may interview flight attendants from a Northwest Airlines jet that overshot the runway at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport last week by 150 miles, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.The report identified the pilot as Timothy B. Cheney and the first officer as Richard I. Cole. "The pilot ... indicated they had become involved in conversation and had not heard radio communications," the report said. "They indicated there had been no involvement from anyone in the ...

Federal investigators have interviewed the pilots of a Northwest Airlines flight that overshot the airport in Minneapolis, Minnesota, last week, a National Transportation Safety Board spokesman said on Sunday.

The co-pilot of a Northwest Airlines flight that overshot the Minneapolis, Minnesota, airport by 150 miles says he and the pilot weren't asleep and they weren't arguing.

The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating how an international flight into Atlanta's major airport landed on a taxiway instead of a runway early Monday. FAA spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said Delta Flight 60, from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, was cleared to land about 6:05 a.m. Monday on Runway 27R but landed instead on Taxiway M, which runs parallel to the runway. The flight had 194 passengers and crew aboard, according to CNN affiliate WXIA. No other ...

A Swiss court has refused a request from director Roman Polanski to be released on bail, saying he poses a high flight risk, according to court documents. The Swiss Criminal Court said measures such as revoking Polanski's travel documents and requiring him to report daily to the police would not reduce the possibility that the director would flee. Polanski was arrested in Switzerland last month on a U.S. arrest warrant stemming from a 1977 sex case. He is fighting extradition ...

A former U.S. government scientist who served in sensitive positions on classified aerospace projects has been arrested and charged with trying to deliver classified information to someone he thought was an Israeli intelligence official. Stewart David Nozette of Chevy Chase, Maryland, was taken into custody Monday by FBI counterespionage agents of and was expected to appear in a federal courtroom in Washington on Tuesday. The criminal complaint does not accuse the government of Israel of any violations of ...

A man accused of playing a role in the 1968 hijacking of a Pan Am flight from New York to Puerto Rico was captured Sunday, federal officials said. Luis Armando Pena Soltren, 66, surrendered to federal authorities at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport after exiting a flight from Havana, Cuba, officials said. It's the same airport from which Pan Am Flight 281 took off more than 40 years ago. Additional details on Soltren's apprehension were not provided by ...

Like many things in Japan, the message is subtle. At least Japan's All Nippon Airways hopes it is, now that the nation's second largest airline has started quietly asking passengers in Japanese to use the bathroom before boarding 38 domestic flights and four international flights between Tokyo and Singapore. The request is part of the airline's "ecological flight" program, now in its fourth year, to reduce its carbon footprint by lightening planes' loads and reducing fuel consumption. Through ...