Flybe plane passengers 'saw wheel fall off'

Passengers who saw a wheel fall off a plane as it took off did not immediately inform the crew, a report has said.

The accident happened in March on a Flybe flight from Exeter to Newcastle.

The captain returned to Exeter and used the emergency brake and "significant amounts of right rudder" to safely land the plane. No-one was injured.

The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) report said the wheel's outer bearing had seized.

A mayday alert was sent to air traffic controllers and after circling the airport for more than an hour, the 39 passengers on board the Bombardier Q400 were "evenly distributed" in the brace position as the captain attempted to land the plane.

The wheel fell off as the aircraft's landing gear retracted after take off
'Left wing down'

As it touched down, it veered to the left but the captain was able to hold the aircraft steady and the passengers were able to disembark through the front left door.

The AAIB report said the wheel's outer bearing had seized and "consequential damage had allowed the wheel to detach".

Some passengers saw the wheel fall as the plane's landing gear retracted just after take off, but "they did not inform the cabin crew at this point", the report said.

Air traffic control contacted the flight crew and when the captain asked the senior stewardess to inspect the right landing gear area, she was then told of the loss by passengers.

The decision was taken to return to Exeter using the "alternate landing gear extension" procedure.

The co-pilot contacted the airline's chief pilot by radio and it was agreed that the crew would use a "left-wing-down" technique ensuring the left main wheels touched down on the runway first, with the remaining right main wheel then being lowered onto the runway as gently as possible.

The AAIB said that the captain had inspected the right main landing gear before the flight and had not noticed any abnormalities.

The report said: "Given the nature of the bearing failure, it is unlikely that any (abnormalities) would have been visible.

Several safety actions had been initiated following the incident, the AAIB report concluded.

India's Kingfisher Airlines considers rescue package

India's beleaguered Kingfisher Airlines is considering proposals, including selling property, to cut its $1.3bn debt by more than 50%, officials say.

Kingfisher has never posted a net profit since it started operations in May 2005

Kingfisher's board is meeting on Monday to finalise its quarterly results.

They are reported to be considering converting loans from its parent company into equity and changing its aircraft leasing terms.

Creditors have asked the company to raise $159m (£100m) in equity so that its debts can be restructured.

State Bank of India Managing Director Hemant Contractor said that the airline must also have a credible business plan before any restructuring takes place.

Kingfisher has cancelled scores of flights over the last 10 days as shares hit a new low amid ongoing debt fears.

India's second-biggest airline is about $1.2bn (£760m) in debt.

If approved, the proposals will help the company to get badly needed bank loans to run its operations.

Cutting flights

Founder and part-owner Vijay Mallya insists the airline will not close but is just cutting losses by "rationalising flights".

Shares in Kingfisher rose by 7.6% on Monday in Mumbai after a fall by as much as as 18% on Friday.

Correspondents say that the airliner has become one of the main casualties of high fuel costs and a bitter price war between a handful of Indian airlines who have all ordered hundreds of aircraft for delivery over the next decade.

The sale of Kingfisher's assets or shares to raise more funds is one of a number of options which the State Bank of India has discussed with Kingfisher.

The bank has a debt exposure of 14 billion rupees to Kingfisher, making it the airline's biggest lender.

Although Kingfisher has never posted a net profit since it started operations in May 2005, its problems have become more acute in recent months.

The airline announced last week that it was cutting its daily operations to 300 flights from the previous 340. It also recently stopped its low fare operations, saying they were unviable.

Alderney aircraft crash: Search called off for man

he search for a man missing since a private aircraft crashed in the English Channel has been called off.

The plane was carrying two people, identified by police as Mr and Mrs Dickinson, both aged 79, from the UK to Alderney when it ditched on Saturday.

Mrs Dickinson was airlifted to a French hospital after being found by a Russian merchant ship, the Jork Rider. She has since been discharged.

The French rescue service called off the search on Sunday afternoon.

Guernsey Police have not released the first names of the couple at the request of their family, but confirmed they were Alderney residents.

Lost radar contact

Mrs Dickinson was recovering in the care of her family after being treated for hypothermia in hospital in Cherbourg, police said.

She was found in a life raft by the Jork Rider.

The Piper Warrior aircraft, which is based at Alderney Flying Training Club, was en route from Lee-on-Solent to Alderney when the crash happened just off the coast of the island at about 15:50 GMT.

Air traffic controllers at Guernsey Airport first raised the alarm after losing radar contact with the aircraft.

Lifeboats from Guernsey, Alderney and Cap de la Hague, French Coastguard helicopters and Channel Islands Air Search were called in as part of the search operation on Saturday night.

Alderney lifeboat coxswain Declan Gaudion said: "By the time we did get to the scene, it was getting dark and the light conditions were not ideal.

"We had to use a search light and night vision equipment, but we did a search as best we could, given those conditions, for approximately three hours."

Plane's wheel found

Royal Navy offshore patrol vessel HMS Tyne assisted in the search on Saturday night.

Lt Cdr Will Peters, from the ship, said that those searching had found what they thought was one of the plane's wheels.

The search was stopped at midnight and had resumed at 07:00 GMT on Sunday, the Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Jobourg, France, said.

It was called off at about midday on Sunday.

No other wreckage has been found.

Officers from the UK Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) are travelling to Guernsey to look at paperwork and speak to air traffic control staff.

Police in Alderney have impounded all of the plane's technical logs to ensure the AAIB has full access to them.