Emergency Landing

WASHINGTON - The crowded US Airways flight from Paris to Charlotte, N.C., had just reached the northeastern tip of Canada when one of the passengers, a French citizen who was born in Cameroon, handed a flight attendant a cryptic note that said she had something hidden inside her body. Alarmed that the woman could be carrying a surgically implanted bomb, the crew notified authorities. U.S. f ighter jets were scrambled, and the pilot was told to make an emergency landing in Bangor, Maine.

WASHINGTON - The crowded US Airways flight from Paris to Charlotte, N.C., had just reached the northeastern tip of Canada when one of the passengers, a French citizen who was born in Cameroon, handed a flight attendant a cryptic note that said she had something hidden inside her body. Alarmed that the woman could be carrying a surgically implanted bomb, the crew notified authorities. U.S. f ighter jets were scrambled, and the pilot was told to make an emergency landing in Bangor, Maine.

Reporting from Beirut — A Russian-made passenger airplane caught fire during an emergency landing in northeastern Iran this morning, injuring dozens of people aboard in the latest in a string of Iranian civil aviation and transport mishaps. All 157 passengers and 13 crew members aboard Taban Air Flight 6437 survived as the Tupolev-154 aircraft caught fire on the tarmac of Mashhad International Airport, local media reported. At least 45 people were hospitalized. Experts say poor maintenance and management as well as international sanctions on Iran over its nuclear research and development program have taken a toll on Iran's civil aviation sector.

NEW YORK -- A Jet Blue flight headed for Florida made an emergency landing minutes after takeoff from a New York-area airport when it collided with birds in the air, the second such incident in six days in a region where birds forced a jet to ditch into the Hudson River three years ago. Nobody was injured in Tuesday night's incident involving JetBlue Flight 571, which left Westchester Airport just north of New York City at 6:45 p.m. with...

The Angels' charter flight from Kansas City to Orange County was forced to make an emergency landing late Wednesday at Los Angeles International Airport after the pilot reported possible hydraulic problems. According to several reports, the crew was unsure it would be able to bring the plane to a safe stop, so the Delta charter, carrying 51 players and staff, was diverted to LAX, which has longer runways. The Boeing 737 landed without incident just before 9 p.m., according to Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor.

Boeing 787 jetliner on a test flight over Texas made an emergency landing Tuesday after smoke was detected in the main cabin. It was the latest of several setbacks in the development of the new plane. The plane landed safely in Laredo and the crew was evacuated, Boeing spokeswoman Loretta Gunter said. Boeing is still gathering information about the incident, she said. The smoke appeared in the rear cabin of the plane, farthest from the cockpit, said Lynn Lunsford, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration.

A Delta Air Lines flight bound for Los Angeles was forced to make an emergency landing moments after leaving New York City, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration in New York City said Thursday. The incident is being investigated as a possible bird strike, he said. Delta Flight 1063 reported an engine problem and returned to the airport after 3 p.m. EDT,  the spokesman said by telephone. The plane reportedly carried 172 passengers and seven crew members.

A Southwest Airlines flight with 118 passengers made an emergency landing Friday in Yuma, Ariz., after a rapid loss of cabin pressure, and the crew found a hole in the top of the fuselage, according to the airline and the Federal Aviation Administration. Photos: Hole opens up in plane during flight A flight attendant was slightly injured during the steep descent, but no passengers were hurt on Flight 812 from Phoenix to Sacramento, the airline said. The Boeing 737 landed safely at 4:07 p.m. at Yuma International Airport, according to the FAA. The pilot "made a rapid, controlled descent" from 36,000 feet to 11,000 feet after the loss of cabin pressure.

A KLM Boeing 747 developed landing gear problems on a flight from Los Angeles and made a successful emergency landing Tuesday, an airline spokesman said.

A Marine Corps helicopter was forced to make an emergency landing Tuesday evening off Ortega Highway five miles east of Interstate 5, the California Highway Patrol said. Nobody was injured in the incident, which was reported about 7:45 p.m. The helicopter, out of the Tustin Marine Corps Helicopter Air Station, landed in an open area east of San Juan Capistrano. The cause of the incident was not immediately known.

The voice of the Delta Air Lines captain on Flight 1063 on Thursday sounds beyond calm as he informs air traffic controllers: " Aaaand Delta 1063 has had an engine failure on the right engine, declaring an emergency due to a bird strike. " (Check out the audio above, posted online by NYC Aviation. ) The rest of the conversation tracks the emergency landing of the flight that had just taken off from New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport and was bound for Los Angeles.

A Delta Air Lines flight bound for Los Angeles was forced to make an emergency landing moments after leaving New York City, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration in New York City said Thursday. The incident is being investigated as a possible bird strike, he said. Delta Flight 1063 reported an engine problem and returned to the airport after 3 p.m. EDT,  the spokesman said by telephone. The plane reportedly carried 172 passengers and seven crew members.

Federal authorities on Wednesday charged a Jet Blue pilot whose midair meltdown on a New York-to-Las Vegas flight forced his co-pilot to lock him out of the cockpit and make an emergency landing while passengers restrained the distraught captain. The pilot, Clayton Osbon, was charged with interfering with a flight crew by the U.S. attorney in Amarillo, Texas, where the plane made its emergency landing, the Associated Press and Amarillo.com reported. A Jet Blue spokeswoman, Sharon Jones, told The Times that Osbon, who lives in Georgia but is based in New York City, had been taken off duty pending an investigation into Tuesday's incident on Flight 191. The airline refused to comment on whether Osbon would continue to receive his salary during the suspension, but Jones said that "he is still employed with Jet Blue.

A Jet Blue pilot who began ranting and acting erratically as his flight headed from New York to Las Vegas -- forcing the co-pilot to lock him out of the cockpit and make an emergency landing -- has been described as a seemingly content family man who once hoped to be an astronaut. Jet Blue identified the pilot as Clayton Osbon, who lives in Georgia but who maintains an apartment in the New York City borough of Queens because his flying base is New York. In a statement Tuesday night , it said that the captain of Flight 191 was receiving medical treatment.

The National Steinbeck Center in Salinas celebrates John Steinbeck's 110 th birthday on Feb. 26 , with author talks, book signings, reading circles, cultural presentations and more. For info or tickets, call (831) 775-4721 or click here . . . . Spend New Year's Eve overlooking San Francisco Bay, at the The Claremont Hotel Club & Spa . Tix are $129 per person. For info, click here . . . . The 23rd annual Palm Springs International Film Festival will present Jessica Chastain with the Spotlight Award and composer Howard Shore with the Frederick Loewe Music Award Jan.  7, at the Palm Springs Convention Center .

The Angels' charter flight from Kansas City to Orange County was forced to make an emergency landing late Wednesday at Los Angeles International Airport after the pilot reported possible hydraulic problems. According to several reports, the crew was unsure it would be able to bring the plane to a safe stop, so the Delta charter, carrying 51 players and staff, was diverted to LAX, which has longer runways. The Boeing 737 landed without incident just before 9 p.m., according to Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor.

Jet fuel was pouring from the bullet hole when the Los Angeles Police Department helicopter struck by sniper fire Sunday in Van Nuys made an emergency landing, authorities said Monday. The pilot "heard a loud thump outside the aircraft and took evasive action," said Robert Price, chief pilot for the police Air Support Division. "He knew the fuel tank had been hit — he could smell the fuel and some of it got on the windshield. " The names of the pilot and observer aboard the A-Star American-Eurocopter AS350 B2 were not released.