Pilot fatigue is like ‘having too much to drink’

Co-pilot Rebecca Shaw traveled all night as a passenger aboard FedEx planes before she got on the commuter plane that nosedived into a house near Buffalo, New York, killing all 49 passengers on an icy February evening. The 24-year-old, with a year of experience, was living in Seattle, Washington, and commuting to Newark, New Jersey — where the fatal Continental Flight 3407 operated by Colgan Air Inc

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Wheel falls off Colgan plane at Buffalo airport

A wheel from the main landing gear of a Colgan Airlines passenger plane fell off and rolled away as the aircraft was landing in Buffalo, New York, earlier this week. On Thursday night, The Toronto Sun posted a video of the incident shot by a passenger on the Q400 Bombardier — the same type of plane involved in a fatal Colgan Airlines crash three months ago, also on approach to Buffalo Niagara International Airport.

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Fatigue cited as possible factor in plane crash near Buffalo

Fatigue affecting the flight crew may have contributed to a plane crash that killed 50 people in February near Buffalo, New York, according to testimony at an investigative hearing. National Transportation Safety Board hearings this week suggested that crews on a number of airlines could be suffering from lack of sleep

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Body found in hunt for prof suspected in killings

Authorities discovered a body Saturday during a search for a University of Georgia professor accused of killing three people, Athens-Clarke County police said. Cadaver dogs searching for George Zinkhan discovered a body about 65 miles northeast of Atlanta, police said. Zinkhan, 56, is suspected of shooting his wife and two other people to death last month at a community theater in Athens, Georgia

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White House plans to release plane flyover report, photo

The White House indicated Wednesday that a report and a photo from the controversial low-altitude New York flyover by a 747 plane used as Air Force One could be released soon. Earlier, White House officials had said that there were no plans to release photos to the public. But the tone seemed to change on Wednesday

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Man United crush Arsenal to reach final

Holders Manchester United remain on course to become the first side to retain the Champions League, as two goals in the first 11 minutes saw them defeat Arsenal 3-1 for a 4-1 aggregate victory and a place in the final against either Chelsea or Barcelona in Rome. A carnival atmosphere at the Emirates Stadium saw the home fans optimistic that last week’s 1-0 defeat at Old Trafford could be overturned, but those hopes were cruelly dashed as two individual mistakes allowed United to take a foothold in the game — a position they never looked likely to relinquish. Arsenal went into the match unbeaten in their last 27 home matches in Europe, since Chelsea defeated them 2-1 at Highbury in 2004, and had yet to taste European defeat at the Emirates, but that proud record always looked in doubt from the moment United took an eighth-minute lead.

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Airstrikes target Taliban inside Pakistan

Pakistan cracked down on Taliban militants within its borders Tuesday, carrying out airstrikes in its northwestern region, a Pakistani military spokesman said. The appeal by Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi at the Criminal Appeal Court in Edinburgh is expected to last four weeks, a court spokeswoman said. Megrahi was convicted of the Lockerbie bombing in January 2001, but he maintains his innocence and fought for the right to appeal

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Lockerbie bomber appeals conviction

The man convicted in the 1988 bombing of a Pan Am jet over Lockerbie, Scotland, began an appeal of his conviction Tuesday in a Scottish court. The appeal by Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi at the Criminal Appeal Court in Edinburgh is expected to last four weeks, a court spokeswoman said

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