Flight Safety Information - August 10, 2026 No. 155 In This Issue : Incident: Cebu Pacific A21N at Butuan on Aug 9th 2026, runway excursion during line up : Incident: Flysafair B738 at East London on Aug 6th 2026, bird strike : Incident: United B738 at San Francisco on Aug 6th 2026, tyre damage on departure : Incident: Egypt B738 at Brussels on Aug 7th 2026, flaps problem : Incident: Delta B752 at Atlanta on Aug 8th 2026, fumes on flight deck : Passenger dies mid-flight on LAX-bound plane after multiple CPR attempts : Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Forced Into 'Lockdown Protocol' After Threat To Take Over Jet : Florida Man Climbs Airport Fence, Falls Asleep Inside Parked JetBlue Jet : Catch him if you can: Ex-flight attendant pleads guilty to posing as pilot for nearly five years : Two helicopter pilots die in crash while battling Widemouth 2 Fire in Utah : Malaysia Aviation Group Orders Drug Testing For 1,260 Pilots : Two workers temporarily stood down after near-miss collision at Sydney airport : The FAA wants to reboot the nation's airspace. This airline shows how it might work : Mount Etna eruption disrupts air travel at Catania airport in Sicily : Calendar of Events Incident: Cebu Pacific A21N at Butuan on Aug 9th 2026, runway excursion during line up A Cebu Pacific Airlines Airbus A321-200N, registration RP-C4120 performing flight 5J-786 from Butuan to Manila (Philippines), was backtracking Butuan's runway 12 for departure when upon turning around to line up the aircraft's nose gear went off the paved surface. The aircraft became disabled. The aircraft is still on the ground in Butuan 14.5 hours later. https://avherald.com/h?article=53d0878d&opt=0 Incident: Flysafair B738 at East London on Aug 6th 2026, bird strike A Flysafair Boeing 737-800, registration ZS-SJJ performing flight FA-379 from East London to Johannesburg (South Africa), was climbing out of East London's runway 29 when the crew stopped the climb at 3000 feet and entered a hold. The aircraft returned to East London's runway 29 for a safe landing about 40 minutes after departure. A passenger reported a bird strike affected the left hand engine (CFM56). The airline reported a technical issue. The flight was cancelled. https://avherald.com/h?article=53d04d2e&opt=0 Incident: United B738 at San Francisco on Aug 6th 2026, tyre damage on departure A United Boeing 737-800, registration N76504 performing flight UA-1189 from San Francisco,CA (USA) to San Jose del Cabo (Mexico), was climbing out of San Francisco's runway 28L when the crew stopped the climb at FL240 and returned to San Francisco for a safe landing on runway 28R about 115 minutes after departure. The airline reported the aircraft suffered some tyre damage on departure. A replacement Boeing 737-800 registration N73275 reached San Jose del Cabo with a delay of about 6:50 hours. The occurrence aircraft is still on the ground in San Francisco about 25 hours after landing. https://avherald.com/h?article=53ced100&opt=0 Incident: Egypt B738 at Brussels on Aug 7th 2026, flaps problem An Egypt Air Boeing 737-800, registration SU-GDA performing flight MS-725 from Cairo (Egypt) to Brussels (Belgium) with 132 passengers and 6 crew, was descending towards Brussels when the crew stopped the descent at 3000 feet and climbed back to 4000 feet advising ATC they had some technical problem, requested vectors, they had to do some more procedures. After working the checklists the crew advised they were in a state of emergency, subsequently the crew declared a state of urgency and radioed PAN PAN advising they had flight control/flaps problems and would need to land at around 190 KIAS. The aircraft landed at high speed (about 200 knots over ground) on runway 25R about 40 minutes later. A ground observer reported the flaps were not deployed. https://avherald.com/h?article=53ceccbc&opt=0 Incident: Delta B752 at Atlanta on Aug 8th 2026, fumes on flight deck A Delta Airlines Boeing 757-200, registration N555NW performing flight DL-2204 from Atlanta,GA to Orlando,FL (USA) with 199 passengers and 6 crew, was climbing out of Atlanta's runway 09L when the crew stopped the climb at about 9000 feet reporting fumes on the flight deck. The aircraft returned to Atlanta for a safe landing on runway 09R about 17 minutes after departure, vacated the runway, crossed runway 09L and stopped clear of both runways. The airline reported the crew declared emergency due to fumes in the cockpit. The aircraft was evacuated via slides on the taxiway. The passengers were taken to the terminal by bus. A new aircraft is going to take them to Orlando. https://avherald.com/h?article=53cf7273&opt=0 Passenger dies mid-flight on LAX-bound plane after multiple CPR attempts A passenger died after suffering a mid-flight fatal medical emergency on Southwest Airlines Flight 958 from Dallas to Los Angeles. A routine flight to Los Angeles descended into horror Friday morning when a passenger died after suffering a mid-flight fatal medical emergency. Southwest Airlines Flight 958 was en route to LAX from Dallas when the victim suddenly suffered a medical episode and stopped responding. Desperate crew members and good Samaritans tried to save the man's life, performing CPR as the plane continued toward Southern California. Emergency responders were waiting on the tarmac as the plane touched down at LAX, but it was too late. Paramedics were unable to revive the passenger and firefighters pronounced him dead at the scene. It remains unclear what triggered the sudden in-flight medical emergency and authorities have not yet released the victim's identity. Southwest Airlines confirmed to The Post a "medical incident involving a customer" had occurred aboard the flight but did not provide further details. https://www.yahoo.com/news/us/articles/passenger-dies-mid-flight-lax-215025693.html Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Forced Into 'Lockdown Protocol' After Threat To Take Over Jet Alaska Airlines flight 305 was unable to depart Miami International Airport (MIA) on Sunday after flight attendants received threats from multiple travelers. In audio shared by Andy Slater via X, the pilots told the tower that the cabin crew had reported that customers had "threatened to take the aircraft over." The Boeing 737-800 was bound for Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA), but it had to be cancelled, as shown in FlightAware logs. CBS News later reported that no credible threat was found, but every passenger was deplaned for an investigation by Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office Airport District deputies. After the cabin crew informed the flight deck of the problem on Sunday's flight, the pilots called the tower for law enforcement support and followed up by stating their intent to put the plane in a 'lockdown.' Instituted after the September 11 attacks, the lockdown protocol in commercial aviation is where the reinforced flight deck door is completely sealed to prevent access to the cockpit. Any threat of violence in commercial aviation is treated with the utmost seriousness given the high risk of a midair emergency. Although the details of the altercation remain unclear, the abundance of caution by the aircrew follows standard operating procedure. In the lockdown state, the bulletproof cockpit door is electronically locked and is not to be opened for any reason. The goal of a lockdown is ensuring that the pilots maintain control of the aircraft to prevent it from being used by hijackers as a weapon. On flight 305, the pilots immediately also set the brakes and shut down the plane's engines after sealing the flight deck because they were still on the ramp. The transcript below is an excerpt from Enhanced Radar of flight 305's call to the tower, according to Paddle Your Own Kanoo: ”Ramp, Alaska 305, we have set the parking brake, and we have a customer disturbance on board right now, with threats coming from customers. We want to go into a lockdown protocol. We are shutting down the engine, and the parking brake is set.” The two disruptive passengers were booked on a separate flight because the Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office formally determined that they posed no credible threat. That left them legally free to travel after their removal from Flight 305 but still face consequences for the disruption to air operations. As of yet, it is not confirmed, but the two travelers were likely banned from Alaska Airlines. Because no criminal charges were pressed by local police, the individuals were legally allowed to fly. However, the company can exercise its right to refuse service, which would likely include being banned from flying on subsidiaries Hawaiian Airlines and Horizon Air as well. Airlines can also sue disruptive passengers in civil court to recover the massive costs associated with the disruption. There are also penalties enforceable under the policies of the Federal Aviation Administration for interfering with flight crews or making verbal threats. FAA fines can reach up to tens of thousands of dollars. If the case is referred to federal authorities, interfering with a flight crew is a federal felony. It can carry a penalty of up to 20 years in prison. "I Have A Detonator With Me": Alaska Airlines Deals With Similar Bomb Scare Nearly 2 Years Apart A recent bomb threat caused significant flight disruptions. Considering that no credible threat was found by the local law enforcement, it is unlikely that the two passengers will face jail time or be put on the no-fly list. Still, it is highly likely that, in addition to airline bans, they will face some form of penalty from the FAA. If there were any physical acts of violence or 'interference with flight crew members' beyond verbal threats, then legal action may be pursued by federal agencies. Once again, since local officers pressed no charges, this does appear to be a case limited to non-violent behavior. The ATC recording serves as an official, unalterable record that the passengers' words directly forced the pilots to abort the flight. While they escaped immediate criminal arrest, the financial consequences of triggering a cockpit lockdown will follow them for years. https://simpleflying.com/alaska-airlines-737-lockdown-protocol-takeover-threat/ Florida Man Climbs Airport Fence, Falls Asleep Inside Parked JetBlue Jet A man in Fort Lauderdale sneaked onto a JetBlue plane at the airport, settled in for a nap in the lavatory, and ended up costing the airline roughly $2,400 in flight delays. A Fort Lauderdale man is facing felony charges after authorities say he scaled an eight-foot, barbed-wire-topped fence at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, snuck onto a parked JetBlue plane, and settled in for a nap in the lavatory. The whole episode ended up costing JetBlue roughly $2,400 in flight delays, according to court documents. Samuel Prescott Lackey, 32, was found sleeping aboard a JetBlue Airbus A320 early Sunday morning by a maintenance crew preparing to move the aircraft. According to New York Post, the plane had been parked overnight at a private hangar operated by JetScape Business Aviation for routine servicing. That's when things got unusual. Investigators say Lackey climbed portable maintenance stairs left beside the aircraft and let himself in through a door that had been left unlocked. From there, he made his way to the restroom and apparently decided it was as good a place as any to catch some shut-eye. Surveillance footage reportedly showed him walking along a nearby service road hours before he was discovered. Lackey now faces charges of burglary of an occupied conveyance, criminal mischief, and interrupting or impairing critical infrastructure. He appeared before a Broward County judge with bond set at $10,000. How He Got Past Airport Security According to the Broward County Aviation Department, Lackey scaled the perimeter fence to reach the secured maintenance area before boarding the aircraft. That raises the obvious question of how someone manages to clear an eight-foot barbed-wire fence and wander around a working airport hangar without anyone noticing until the following morning. Airport officials say they are reviewing how the breach happened, and it's a safe bet the fence and door protocols are getting a hard look this week. A Costly Nap Because the plane needed a full security sweep before it could be cleared for passengers, JetBlue had to pull it from service and swap in a replacement aircraft. That kind of last-minute shuffle isn't cheap, and the airline says the incident tacked on about $2,400 in delay-related costs. Not exactly the kind of wake-up call anyone wants. Mixed Reactions From Travelers Word of the incident spread fast around the airport, and reactions were, let's say, varied. One visitor from Atlanta admitted she "respect[ed] the hustle" even while acknowledging the obvious security gap. A traveler from New York was less charmed, pointing out the very real concern that if one guy can climb a fence and board a jet undetected, security clearly has some homework to do. There's something almost cartoonish about this story, a man hopping a fence just to crash in an airplane bathroom, but the underlying issue is no laughing matter. Airport perimeters exist for a reason, and a $2,400 lesson is a cheap price for finding the gap before someone with worse intentions does. Here's hoping Lackey finds a proper bed, and that airport officials find that unlocked door. https://www.yahoo.com/news/us/articles/florida-man-climbs-airport-fence-160433293.html Catch him if you can: Ex-flight attendant pleads guilty to posing as pilot for nearly five years Pokornik now faces up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. A former flight attendant pleaded guilty to defrauding three major US airlines after posing as a pilot for nearly five years, using a fake identification badge to obtain hundreds of free flights. Dallas Pokornik, 33, pleaded guilty in federal court to wire fraud after exploiting a system that offers discounted or free flights to airline employees, benefits known in the industry as "Non Rev." The tickets are offered to airline employees, and sometimes employees of other companies in the aviation industry, at heavily discounted rates or free of charge, depending on seat availability. Pokornik now faces up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. His sentencing is scheduled for December 8, 2026. As part of the plea agreement, Pokornik also agreed to compensate the three airlines that were victims of the fraud. The exact amount of restitution will be determined at his sentencing hearing. According to court documents, Pokornik worked as a flight attendant for a Toronto-based airline until 2019. During his employment, he was legally entitled to flight benefits. After leaving the airline, however, he used his knowledge of the system to continue flying for free, this time by posing as a pilot, in a scheme reminiscent of the pilot impersonation featured in the film "Catch Me If You Can." Defrauded airlines not named in court documents According to the indictment, Pokornik presented himself as a pilot and asked to be given a seat on a flight. When no seats were available in the passenger cabin, he also asked to use a "jumpseat" in the cockpit, a seat generally reserved for pilots and other authorized crew members. The three airlines Pokornik defrauded were not named in prosecution documents, but the locations of their headquarters were disclosed. The first was based in Honolulu, where Hawaiian Airlines is headquartered, the second in Chicago, home to United Airlines' headquarters, and the third in Fort Worth, Texas, where American Airlines is headquartered. Scheme uncovered in 2024 The scheme was uncovered in 2024 after Pokornik showed the fake pilot badge to an employee of one of the airlines. The employee suspected the badge was fraudulent, photographed it, and reported the incident. An investigation found that Pokornik was not a pilot for the airline he claimed to represent. Authorities began searching for him, and he was eventually located in Panama. After an arrest warrant was issued, he was extradited to the United States. Prosecutors said Pokornik had managed to obtain "hundreds of free flights." It remains unclear exactly when the fraud began, but as part of his plea agreement, he admitted that it continued from January 2020 through October 2024, a period of nearly five years. After Pokornik pleaded guilty, federal prosecutor Ken Sorenson said, "Aviation security protocols help keep citizens and visitors safe, and those who violate them should expect to be prosecuted." https://www.jpost.com/omg/article-904947 Two helicopter pilots die in crash while battling Widemouth 2 Fire in Utah Two helicopter pilots assigned to the Widemouth 2 Fire died after a helicopter crash, according to the Sevier County sheriff and interagency partners of the Great Basin Geographic Area. The pilots worked for Helicopter Transport Services, a Forest Service exclusive-use contract aircraft company. Officials said the pilots’ families had been notified. Their identities have not yet been released. A Sikorsky Skycrane helicopter carrying a pilot and a crewmember crashed at about 10:40 a.m. Aug. 7, 2026, officials said. The crash sparked a fire in the surrounding vegetation. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox mourned the loss of the two pilots in a statement posted on social media. “Today we mourn two helicopter pilots who lost their lives while fighting the Widemouth 2 Fire,” Cox wrote. “They put themselves in harm’s way to protect our state and gave their lives in that service. Abby and I are heartbroken. Our prayers are with their families and the entire wildland fire community.” https://dailydispatch.com/fire-news/wildland/two-helicopter-pilots-die-in-crash-while-battling-widemouth-2-fire-in-utah/ Malaysia Aviation Group Orders Drug Testing For 1,260 Pilots The screening follows the arrest of an off-duty Malaysia Airlines second officer in Indonesia. Malaysia Aviation Group has ordered mandatory drug screening for 1,260 Malaysia Airlines pilots after an off-duty second officer was detained in Indonesia last month on alleged drug-trafficking charges. Testing Required By Aug. 15 The first phase of testing is scheduled to be completed by Aug. 15, according to a Friday statement from MAG reported by Reuters. The company said the mandatory screening will supplement its existing random drug-testing program and eventually expand to all active pilots and cabin crew across the group. MAG also operates short-haul carrier Firefly and pilgrimage airline Amal. “Pilots who do not complete the screening by the stipulated date will not operate flights until they have been cleared in accordance with MAG’s procedures and regulatory requirements,” the company said in its statement. Pilot Detained In Jakarta Indonesian authorities detained the unidentified 39-year-old pilot on July 28 after finding 26 kilograms of MDMA in his luggage following his arrival in Jakarta from Kuala Lumpur. The customs office said subsequent urine testing showed cocaine and methamphetamine use. MAG said the second officer was off duty and traveling in the cockpit jump seat during the flight to Jakarta. The company described the alleged conduct as “completely unacceptable and contrary to the professional standards expected of its personnel.” https://avweb.com/aviation-news/malaysia-aviation-group-drug-tests-pilots/ Two workers temporarily stood down after near-miss collision at Sydney airport Transport minister says improved staff rostering will be in place from next month after ‘unacceptable’ delays and incident involving Qatar Airways and Jetstar planes The transport minister, Catherine King, has said improved staff rostering will be in place at Sydney airport from next month after “unacceptable” delays and a near-miss collision that resulted in two workers being stood down. King called in the Airservices Australia chief executive officer, Rob Sharp, for a meeting in Canberra on Monday, the day after a Jetstar plane narrowly avoided hitting a Qatar Airways plane that was pulled across the runway in front of it. Two staff involved in the incident – an Airservices Australia air traffic controller and the tug driver who was towing the Qatar plane – were stood down while they completed standard post-incident drug and alcohol testing. ‘Not enough air traffic controllers’: safety concerns at Sydney airport after Jetstar and Qatar planes involved in near-miss The temporary loss of an air traffic controller only exacerbated delays at Australia’s biggest airport, where staff shortages had already resulted in days of disruption. Additionally, a cabin crew member onboard the Jetstar plane was injured when the planes stopped abruptly, and some equipment was damaged. The incident occurred less than two weeks after another near-miss relating to air traffic control on the tarmac at Sydney. On 27 July, a Qantas flight was cleared to cross a runway in front of one of the airline’s other planes that had just landed. King on Monday said the delays and disruptions were unacceptable, but she was “confident” that Airservices Australia was “doing everything they can to get on top of this”. “Airservices have committed to implementing improved rostering practices for Sydney’s Air Traffic Controllers that will be implemented from early September,” she said. King said the situation would be “carefully” managed for the rest of August. A new Sydney Tower simulator had also been installed to increase training capacity and enable more air traffic controllers to be trained, she said. “It has been a big focus of ours to encourage more people to enter the profession, and 95 people are expected to be endorsed as air traffic controllers by the end of the year,” King said. “Six controllers are currently training in Sydney Tower, with another 15 expected to commence before the end of 2027.” King said she wanted to “give a shout out” to the air traffic controllers, who are dealing with “a really stressful and difficult job” and “did a very good job over the weekend to try to manage the disruptions as best they could”. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) is investigating both the Sunday incident and the 27 July near-miss involving Qantas aircraft. The head of the ATSB, Angus Mitchell, on Monday said the two incidents were unacceptable. “Planes should not be getting that close and we should never have to rely on, as has happened in both these instances, pilots at the last minute, making an emergency decision to prevent them coming together,” he told ABC radio. Investigators would interview flight crew, tug operators and air traffic controllers, plus other witnesses, and review any CCTV footage, the ATSB said. A source told Guardian Australia on Sunday that initial inquiries suggested the tug vehicle pulling the Qatar aircraft may not have followed instructions. The tug driver was believed to work for Menzies Aviation, a UK-headquartered third party contractor that provides ground staff for Qatar Airways at Sydney airport. A Menzies Aviation spokesperson said in a statement that it had launched a thorough investigation into the incident and was fully cooperating with the ATSB. “We are sorry to hear that a member of the cabin crew was injured and recognise that incidents of this nature can be concerning,” the statement said. “The safety of our people, customers and the travelling public is our highest priority. We will carefully review the findings of both investigations to ensure any lessons identified are fully addressed.” Michael Kaine, the national secretary of the Transport Workers’ Union, which represents air traffic controllers and airport ground crews, said the aviation industry was in “crisis” due to staff shortages and poor conditions. “Across the industry, this revolving-door workforce is understaffed and exhausted,” he said. “We’ve seen another worker hurt from this incident after a horrific string of injuries and a worker killed at Qantas Freight last year.” Qatar Airways was contacted for comment. https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/aug/10/jetstar-plane-qatar-near-miss-aircraft-proximity-event-sydney-airport The FAA wants to reboot the nation's airspace. This airline shows how it might work On a typical day, Alaska Airlines operates roughly 1,500 flights, most of them guided by a team of dispatchers on the sixth floor of an office building near the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport known as "The Hub." The dispatchers sit in a big open room, surrounded by as many as five flatscreen monitors that display real-time information on air traffic, weather, upper-level wind patterns, and more. It's a lot to process. But these dispatchers are getting some help from a software tool called Flyways AI. "It ingests all that information," said Alek Mead, a manager in Alaska's Network Operations Center, "and it really kind of puts us all together in a nice little package for the dispatcher to look at, take some options, maybe play around with some different ideas, and then pick the most efficient and the safest route." When Alaska wanted to optimize its operations, it turned to a small startup called Air Space Intelligence. Now the Federal Aviation Administration has tapped the same company to carry out a major reboot of the entire U.S. airspace. The FAA says it wants to build a brand new air traffic control system that can use software to prevent conflicts, delays and cancellations. Here, passenger jets land and take off at Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C., in March. Last year, the airport saw a tragic midair collision between a regional airliner and a military helicopter. 'We can do better,' FAA head says of work to update U.S. analog air traffic system The FAA wants to use technology — including artificial intelligence — to make the nation's airspace more efficient. And Flyways offers a glimpse of how that might look in practice. Alaska was the first airline to start using the Flyways system back in 2021 to do things that would be challenging, if not impossible, for a human dispatcher working alone. "It doesn't decide the route or waypoints that a dispatcher uses to get an airplane from A to B, but it does help provide suggestions that might be more efficient," explained Captain Bret Peyton, the managing director of Alaska's network operations control. "That's where Flyways is really excelling for us." Alaska says it's saving tens of thousands of hours in the air and roughly a million gallons of fuel per year because of Flyways. The system works by basically crunching data on air traffic, wind, weather and other factors to anticipate what is going to happen during flight before it does. "It's actually a really fundamental change, a massive behavior change," said Phillip Buckendorf, the co-founder and CEO of Air Space Intelligence, the company that built Flyways, in an interview on the podcast Crossing the Valley last year. Buckendorf says his company worked closely with Alaska to build Flyways from the ground up. The company has since expanded to work with Delta Air Lines and United Airlines, as well as the U.S. Army and Air Force. "One of the hardest things is we're dealing with users that have basically made decisions against static displays for like 10, 20 years of their career. And so now they basically make a decision against a predictive picture," Buckendorf said. Federal regulators are betting that predictive analytics can make the entire U.S. airspace work better, too. Airline consolidation now rules the skies. Has it been good for passengers? "I think we've got a real opportunity to do something transformational with AI," said Bryan Bedford, the head of the Federal Aviation Administration, at an industry conference in May. Bedford says the U.S. airspace is safe today because air traffic controllers make sure planes are separated from each other at every stage of their journey. But he says the current system is not as efficient as it could be. "What we're seeing is a system that is woefully unorganized," Bedford said. "We don't have in any of our facilities the ability to see the entire national airspace picture in a unified way." National Crowded planes and airports set records, straining the U.S. aviation system Bedford says predictive analytics can help prevent bottlenecks and congestion before they happen, with relatively small adjustments to schedules and routes. The FAA is so convinced that it recently announced an $875 million dollar contract with Air Space Intelligence to modernize the nation's airspace. The company is tasked with building what the agency is calling the SMART system, short for Strategic Management of Airspace, Routes, and Trajectories. It's part of the Trump administration's ambitious push to deliver a Brand New Air Traffic Control System. FAA officials say the goal is to help air traffic controllers, not replace them. But skeptics wonder if the technology can scale up from helping airline dispatchers to optimizing the entire U.S. airspace, which is the busiest and most complex in the world. Bret Peyton at Alaska Airlines says dispatchers there were skeptical, too. "It took a while for us to convince the dispatch group that it is what we say it is, which is a decision making aid, and not a tool that's going to run rogue and make weird decisions for the dispatcher," Peyton said. "And it happened relatively quickly once dispatchers saw their true results that were pretty immediate." https://www.npr.org/2026/08/10/nx-s1-5872752/airspace-reboot-alaska-airlines-flyways Mount Etna eruption disrupts air travel at Catania airport in Sicily Flights to and from Catania's Fontanarossa airport have faced repeated disruption over the past few days after Mount Etna entered a fresh eruptive phase, sending clouds of volcanic ash into the atmosphere above eastern Sicily. The eruption began on Thursday and intensified over the following days, prompting airport operator SAC to repeatedly close the southwestern air corridor known as sector C1, which lies in the path of the ash cloud. Arrivals were suspended for much of Friday, with a similar shutdown imposed again on Saturday, while departures of aircraft already on the ground continued as normal throughout. By Saturday evening SAC reported that conditions had improved and gradually restored full flight operations, though the reprieve proved short-lived as renewed ash emissions forced another closure shortly afterwards. Fresh disruption On Monday, SAC said that changes in wind direction linked to renewed volcanic activity had led to the closure of a further sector, B2, covering the airspace over the Gulf of Catania. In a statement, Catania airports said arrivals were suspended until 17.00 on Monday as the ash cloud persisted. Passengers have been repeatedly urged by SAC to check the status of their flight with their airline before travelling to the airport, with further updates promised as the situation develops. Mount Etna situation Etna, Europe's largest and most active volcano, erupts frequently, and its ash clouds regularly force temporary closures of Catania airport. According to Italy's National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV), the explosive activity at Etna's Voragine crater has fluctuated, alternating between intense ash emission and lava fountaining, with lava flows also reported in the Valle del Bove and Valle del Leone. The aviation alert level for the volcano has moved between orange and red as the eruption has waxed and waned. A new eruptive vent was also reported to have opened in the Valle del Bove, at an altitude of around 2,550 metres near Monte Rittmann. Travel updates To ease disruption for stranded travellers, Trenitalia has laid on extra rail services linking Catania with Palermo, including a direct train from Palermo airport station and a further service running via Messina, offering additional capacity for passengers unable to fly. Many arriving flights have been diverted to other Sicilian airports, chiefly Palermo, while a significant number of services have been delayed or cancelled altogether. For air travel updates check the official Catania airport website. https://www.wantedinrome.com/news/italy-mount-etna-eruption-disrupts-air-travel-catania-airport-sicily.html CALENDAR OF EVENTS . ALPA's 70th Air Safety Forum -September 14-17, 2026; Washington, DC . ICAO/EASA Third Global RSOO/RAIO Forum for Aviation Safety — September 29–30, 2026, in Georgetown, Guyana., https://www.icao.int/events : NATA Ground Handling Safety Symposium - September 15-16, 2026 Dallas/Fort Worth, TX www.nata.aero/ghss : Aircraft Cabin Air International Conference - 22-23 September 2026 . ISASI - BOSTON 2026 - September 28, 2026 – October 2, 2026 . Global Aviation Conference Frankfurt- 29-30SEP2026 - Frankfurt, Germany . Defence Aviation Safety Conference 2026 — October 5–6, 2026, United Kingdom. . European Aviation Training Summit 3 – 5 November 2026 • Estoril Congress Centre, Cascais, Portugal . 79TH ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL AVIATION SAFETY SUMMIT MONTREAL | NOVEMBER 10-12, 2026. . Airlines 2026 conference - November 11, 2026 (London) . 2026 NBAA Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (NBAA-BACE) Oct. 20-22, 2026 | Las Vegas, NV . Bombardier Safety Standdown (November 10–12, 2026 in Wichita, KS) . 2027 ACSF Safety Symposium - April 6-8, 2027 - ERAU Daytona Beach, FL Curt Lewis