Articles by Victoria Bryan and Jamie Freed

Airlines Urged to Use Predictive Models, Data Sharing to Keep Skies Safe

Global airlines, coming off a record-low accident rate in 2017, need to guard against complacency over safety as heavy growth in travel demand stretches the air transport system, industry leaders warned at a conference this week. There were no jet …

Airlines Banning, Safety Agency Investigating Hoverboards Over Fires

Hoverboards may be on many people’s Christmas lists but they present a conundrum for airlines, which are mulling the best way to transport the popular devices that could present a fire risk. The three largest U.S. airlines, American Airlines Group …

Germanwings Offers Emotional Damage Payments to Crash Victims’ Families

Germanwings is offering €25,000 ($27,833) compensation payments to close relatives of those killed in the March 24 plane crash for their pain and suffering, it said on Tuesday. Evidence shows co-pilot Andreas Lubitz locked the captain out of the cockpit …

Airlines Debate How to Assess Pilots’ Mental Health after Germanwings Crash

Pilot screening and mental health measures aimed at preventing a recurrence of the Germanwings crash are rife with complications that will make them tough to implement, airline industry executives said this week. International Air Transport Association (IATA) Director General Tony …

German Aviation Authority Didn’t Know Crash Pilot’s Medical History

The German aviation authority did not know about co-pilot Andreas Lubitz’s medical background prior to the Germanwings crash that killed 150 people, it told Reuters on Sunday, raising more questions over medical oversight of pilots. Lubitz, believed to have deliberately …

Families of Germanwings Crash Victims Must Prepare for Differing Payouts

Families of those killed aboard the Germanwings flight are likely to receive vastly different payouts depending on their nationality, where they bought the ticket, and how much they earned, even though they all shared the same fate, lawyers said. Claims …

Cyber Attacks, Drones Pose Threat to Plane Safety: Allianz

Cyber attacks and commercial drones pose a growing risk of commercial airplane crashes, a major insurer said, running counter to a long-term decline in fatal accidents and insurance premiums. Technical advances in aircraft design and navigation systems have reduced the …