Good luck figuring out which airline serves what on which route. As startling as this heist seems, airport robberies are not unheard of in Brazil, and Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro airports in particular have suffered from rather high crime rates in recent years. No, not because they were under the threat of attack, but because they had a complete communications failure. Officials at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport requested help last Tuesday after losing contact with an Air France Boeing 747 traveling from Miami. The French air force sent a Mirage 2000 fighter up to find and then escort the 747 to a safe landing.
Early reports are the jumbo lost communications after being struck by lightning.
Makes you wonder why they don't equip airline cockpits with inexpensive handheld com radios for just such scenarios. A Cessna 170 pilot flying two passengers from Washington State to Williams Lake, B.C., last week radioed that he had become disoriented in bad weather, was low on fuel and was contemplating using a local highway as a runway. Luckily, the 170 was intercepted by a private helicopter and a B.C. Air Ambulance helo which had been dispatched to clean up whatever mess might have been created if the aircraft had an abrupt encounter with the local countryside. The disoriented 170 pilot finally followed the helos through a mountain pass to a small airport where he landed safely. The positions will be added at three of the airline's hubs, which will also receive their very own, brand new, air-conditioned vans to transport the animals and their new support teams.