Remembering Pan Am Flight 103

34 Yrs ago today Pan Am 103 blew up over Lockerbie killing everyone on board.

Pan Am Flight 103 was a regular scheduled transatlantic flight from Frankfurt to Detroit via London and New York. At 19.03 on the 21st December 1988, N739PA, (the aircraft operating the fight) was destroyed by a bomb, killing all 243 passengers and 16 crew in what became known as the Lockerbie bombing. Large sections of the aircraft crashed onto a residential street in Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 11 people on the ground. With a total of 270 people killed, it is the deadliest terror attack in the history of the United Kingdom. Following a three-year joint investigation by Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary and the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), arrest warrants were issued for two Libyan nationals in November 1991. In 1999, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi handed over the two men for trial at Camp Zeist, Netherlands, after protracted negotiations and UN sanctions. In 2001, Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, a Libyan intelligence officer, was jailed for life after being found guilty of 270 counts of murder in connection with the bombing. In August 2009, he was released by the Scottish Government on compassionate grounds after being diagnosed with prostate cancer. He died in May 2012 as the only person to be convicted for the attack. In 2003, Gaddafi accepted responsibility for the Lockerbie bombing and paid compensation to the families of the victims, although he maintained that he had never given the order for the attack. Acceptance of responsibility was part of a series of requirements laid out by a UN resolution in order for sanctions against Libya to be lifted. Libya said it had to accept responsibility due to Megrahi's status as a government employee.  Some relatives of the dead, including the Lockerbie campaigner Dr Jim Swire, believe the bomb was planted at Heathrow airport and not sent via feeder flights from Malta, as the US and UK claim. A cell belonging to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (General Command) had been operating in West Germany in the months before the Pan Am bombing.

After a three-year joint investigation by the Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary and the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation indictments for murder were issued on November 13, 1991, against Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi, a Libyan intelligence officer and the head of security for Libyan Arab Airlines (LAA), and Lamin Khalifah Fhimah, the LAA station manager in Luqa Airport, Malta. United Nations sanctions against Libya and protracted negotiations with the Libyan leader Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi secured the handover of the accused on April 5, 1999.
On January 31, 2001, Megrahi was convicted of murder by a panel of three Scottish judges, and sentenced to 27 years in prison. Fhimah was acquitted.



The same aircraft was involved in another incident 18yrs earlier on the 4th November 1970.

Pan Am Flight 114 was operating from John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), New York to  Orly Airport, Paris, France. There were 148 passengers and a crew of 15 aboard the flight. The takeoff at 21.17 EST was uneventful. The flight had been cleared to 31,000 feet, and experienced turbulence during the climb at approximately 27,000 feet. It was described by the flight crew as an occasional “nibble.” At approximately 21:46 EST, the aircraft encountered moderate to severe turbulence as it passed Nantucket, Massachusetts. During the encounter, which lasted approximately 4 minutes, 21 passengers and 2 stewardesses sustained injuries which ranged from minor to serious. The seatbelt sign was on at the time of the encounter and had been on since takeoff.  At 22:07 EST, the flight crew requested clearance back to JFK Airport and later requested and received preferential air traffic control handling. The aircraft landed on runway 31R at 23:39 EST. 

Aircraft Information.

The aircraft was a Boeing 747–121, registered N739PA (CN 19646) and was named "Clipper Maid of the Seas". It was the 15th 747 built, it first flew on the 25th January 1970 and was delivered in mid February 1970. It had PW JTD-7A engines
The aircraft was 18yrs old at the time of the Lockerbie incident.

THE 747

• 1556  built
• 18th loss
• 12th fatal accident
• 4th worst accident (at the time)
• 5th worst accident (currently)

Hawaiian Airlines flight hits severe turbulence

HAWAIIAN AIRBUS A330-243 N389HA (MSN 1316)

Dozens of people were injured after a Hawaiian Airlines flight travelling from Phoenix (PHX/KPHX) to Honolulu (HNL/PHNL) encountered severe turbulence before landing at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport on Sunday.

The call came in at 11:06 a.m. The flight, HA35, experienced the severe turbulence roughly 30 minutes outside of Honolulu, at about 36,000 feet and just before it began its final descent.

On scene, paramedics and emergency medical technicians with both Honolulu Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and American Medical Response (AMR) treated 36 patients, of those 20 patients -- ranging from adults to a 14-month old -- were taken to the hospital.

Three flight attendants were among the injured, according to a Hawaiian Airlines spokesperson.

The initial triage at the hospital reported some patients as being in critical condition but officials said a later triage at the hospital upgraded the conditions to serious.

Officials confirmed 11 patients were taken to the hospital in serious condition and nine patients were taken in stable condition with minor injuries. Of the injured, 13 patients were taken by ambulance to the hospital while seven others took a city bus.

Patients’ injuries included serious head injury, lacerations, bruising, and loss of consciousness. Other reported injuries included nausea and dizziness, officials said.

The plane, an Airbus A330, will require maintenance before it is allowed to fly again. Most of the damage sustained to the aircraft was internal, according to a spokesperson with Hawaiian Airlines.

A spokesperson with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued the following statement about this incident:

“Hawaiian Airlines Flight 35, an Airbus A330, reported severe turbulence with injuries to crew and passengers on its flight from Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport to Daniel K. Inouye International Airport around 10:35 a.m. Hawaii Standard Time Sunday, Dec. 18.”

The FAA is investigating this incident and says it will post a preliminary report soon.

Aircraft Information:

Airline: Hawaiian Airlines:

Code: HA/HAL

Aircraft: Airbus A330-243

Registration: N393HA

Serial Number: 1422

Engines: 2 x RR Trent 772B-60

First Flew: 03/06/2013

Age: 9 Yrs 5 Mts

Scoot's Pokémon calls into OOL

On a recent trip to Singapore, we got to see Scoot's Pokemon jet twice, but neither of those occasions were very favorable. The first time it taxied in behind us as we taxied in, then hoping it would park next to us it went around the other side of the building out of site. The second time was a little better. We were heading home; I was inside the terminal. The light was fading fast, and it taxied past in the distance.

SCOOT BOEING 787-9 9V-OJJ (MSN 37131)

Knowing it was coming into Coolangatta (OOL/YBCG) I decided to make the hours' drive to the coast to see it depart so I could finally get some up-close photos in good light.

Korean Air briefly returns to Brisbane

KOREAN AIR AIRBUS A330-323 HL-8027 (MSN 1647)

Korean Air will return to Brisbane in early 2023, restoring the pre-pandemic route to three days a week between the 1st of January and the 27th of February.

A spokesperson for the airline has confirmed the change, with the airline’s timetable now listing the following schedule for the Airbus A330:

• KE407 will depart Seoul at 7.45pm on Sunday, Wednesday and Friday reaching Brisbane at 6.15am the following day.
• KE408 will depart Brisbane at 8.50am on Monday, Thursday and Saturday arriving in Seoul at 5.40pm

These A330s feature Korean Air's Prestige Class business suites, arranged in rows of 2-2-2 – the unique staggered layout lets each passenger enjoy direct access to the aisle.

Korean Air says it will not be temporarily suspending its Seoul-Sydney service, despite reports this was flagged in an update shared with travel agents last month.

As it happens, the skies between Sydney and Seoul have become a lot more crowded as Jetstar launched a thrice-weekly flight from the 2nd of November and Qantas followed with four flights a week on 10th of December.

Bonza still awaiting CASA approval to fly

Australia's newest airline, Bonza, is still awaiting CASA approval to fly, with no set date for starting flights

New budget airline Bonza is promising some of the cheapest flights in Australia, but more than six months after it hoped to have planes in the sky, the company's take-off date is still unclear. Plans for the start-up carrier were revealed in October 2021 with hopes it would be operating by the middle of this year.

But after repeated delays, the airline is still navigating regulatory approvals with the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) to obtain its Air Operator's Certificate.

Bonza chief executive Tim Jordan said he was unsure when flights would begin but was confident demand would be there when they did.

"This is the first new high-capacity airline in Australia for 15 years, and obviously the process associated with signing that off is quite thorough," Mr Jordan said.

"Once we believe we are ready, we will reach out to the regulator and ask for them to come and make sure that is absolutely the case."

Bonza will offer a 27-route network across 17 mostly regional locations in Queensland, New South Wales, and Victoria.

The company's third Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft touched down at its base on the Sunshine Coast this week.

Mr Jordan said the airline would acquire up to eight aircraft in its first year of operation.

"Our significant point of difference really is that of our initial 27 routes, 25 of them are not flown by the other operators," he said.

"We will be offering very low fares in the market and it's something which is desperately wanted across many, many regional areas."

"We would expect approximately that cost of flying for passengers shouldn't be much more than about $50 an hour."

Virgin Australia launches first-ever Cairns-Haneda service

VIRGIN AUSTRALIA BOEING 737-8FE VH-YIU (MSN 40699)

Virgin Australia has capped off a huge year, announcing a new international route with a daily return Cairns (CNS/YBCS) - Tokyo Haneda (HND/RJTT) service taking off on the 28th of June 2023. 

The highly anticipated route, operating for the first time ever, is being launched in partnership with the Queensland Government and Cairns Airport through the Queensland Government’s Attracting Aviation Investment Fund.

To celebrate the announcement, Virgin Australia has launched a ‘Hello Tokyo’ sale with return fares from as low as $699 (Australian) Economy Lite return, on sale until midnight the 20th of December 2022 or until sold out.

Virgin Australia Group Chief Executive Officer, Jayne Hrdlicka said the announcement of Virgin Australia’s new Cairns-Haneda service wraps up a huge year for the airline, which has significantly expanded its short-haul international network over the last year.

Since international borders re-opened 12 months ago, the airline has resumed flights to Bali, Fiji, and Queenstown, with Vanuatu, Samoa and Tokyo commencing in the first half of 2023. A few days ago, the airline also celebrated the first flight from Adelaide to Bali departing at 5:50pm local time, with plans to commence Australia’s first ever Gold Coast to Bali service on the 29th of March 2023.

“I’m thrilled to announce the launch of our brand-new daily, year-round Cairns-Haneda service with VA77 taking off on the 28th of June next year an airline spokesman said. We’re excited to offer our guests access directly into and out of Tokyo’s Haneda Airport, on new fuel-efficient aircraft,” she said.

“We know the Japanese market is hugely important to trade and tourism in Far North Queensland and the Sunshine State and our service will result in more international visitors arriving in Cairns every year, having a very positive impact on the State’s economy.”

“The announcement is a huge development for our region’s tourism industry and economy as we continue our post-COVID recovery. It is also further evidence that long-range, narrow body aircraft such as the 737-8 are game changers for our region, bringing destinations such as Japan closer with more cost-effective and fuel-efficient operations,” he said.

Tourism Tropical North Queensland, Chief Executive Officer, Mark Olsen said the connection to Tokyo’s Haneda Airport was the key to growing international travel to Cairns as it delivered connectivity and consistency through a trusted brand.

“Virgin Australia will fly daily from 28 June and is in partnership with ANA, the Japanese carrier that taps into national travel trends coming in and out of Japan through the airport that frequent Japanese travellers are used to travelling through,” he said.

“Our tourism industry is very excited about this connection as are our Japanese trade partners who sell Cairns as the closest gateway to Australia with just one-hour time difference and summer all year round.”

• Flight VA77 is scheduled to depart Cairns at 1.15pm local time and arrive at Haneda at 8.00pm local time.
• VA78 is scheduled to depart Haneda at 9.45pm local time and arrive in Cairns at 6.15am local time.

Aussies ditching major airlines for private jets

Aussies are reconsidering how they travel as flight prices continue to soar, with some making a surprise move against major airlines like Qantas.

The ACCC reported this week that consumers are paying almost 30 per cent more for domestic flights compared to before the pandemic, resulting in a 15-year-high as they forecast the first profitable financial year since Covid hit three years ago.

“Airfares have risen due to strong demand for travel and constrained supply as airlines have scaled back their schedules in response to high jet fuel costs and operational challenges,” ACCC commissioner Anna Brakey said.

And with rising airfares, long security lines, flight delays and cancellations and baggage drama, Aussies are looking to alternatives.

Many are opting for road trips, while some corporate companies and executives are ditching commercial flights altogether and turning to charter planes instead.

Paul O’Brien, who is the founder of Avmin, a high-profile Brisbane-based air charter company, said he was running “upwards of 80” charter flights per week for clients.

He said this time in 2019, he was putting on about 30 or 40 flights per week, with some corporates actually saving money when making group bookings by opting for a charter over a commercial carrier.

“If we look at Qantas fares for example, it’s $1600 on business class per person one-way to fly out of Sydney on a 6am flight to Melbourne,” Mr O’Brien said.

“That’s $3200 per person return based on the current figures and if we have four people travelling on a charter flight return it is comparable, if not cheaper.

He said it can cost anywhere between $10,000 to $12,000 for a four-seater jet.

“And four people travelling on the current advertised pricing of a commercial carrier is $12,800.”

“Charter aircraft don’t need to go in and out of terminals – they have their own private terminal and only need to turn up 15 minutes prior to departure,” he said.

“And you are avoiding things like long security lines. People just don’t want to be around other people while Covid is coming back into the equation.”

As a result, he said people are looking to the commercial viability of charter aircraft.