Free Republic

Around 1,450 passengers on a luxury cruise ship have been left without toilets for three days, according to people on board. A series of blockages in the plumbing system is said to have led to "mayhem" on board Thomson's Destiny cruise ship. Tour operator Thomson admitted that there have been problems with the vacuum system of the toilets, but said it was bringing in a team of "super-technicians" to fix the system overnight. A spokeswoman said: "The team of 10 experts will be working through the night to ensure that the problem will be sorted." She was unable to confirm...

A jet carrying 180 British tourists was grounded when its pilot announced: "Do not fly with this plane, it is not safe." The holidaymakers were about to take off back to Bristol Airport from Antalya, Turkey, when a strange sound came from the Airbus A321's engines. Then the captain announced: "I am resigning from my job. Do not fly with this plane. It is not safe. Do not fly with Onur Air." The unnamed pilot walked off the aircraft, leaving the passengers in 38C heat without air conditioning. They were eventually told to leave the aircraft, retrieve their luggage and...

THE HAGUE (AFP) - Twelve passengers on a Northwest Airlines flight that returned to Amsterdam's Schiphol airport after the pilot raised an alert over worrying behaviour have been arrested, the Dutch ANP news agency has reported. The plane was flying from the Dutch capital to Mumbai, India, with 149 passengers on board on Wednesday when what the pilot called "behavior of concern" prompted him to return to Amsterdam. The plane was escorted by two Dutch air force jets.

Confiscating hair gel and Starbucks coffee is this year’s equivalent of the banning of nail clippers and lighters. Put another way, the enhanced security measures put into place at airports across the world following this month’s disruption of a plot by British Muslims to smuggle liquid explosives onto several transatlantic flights aren’t making airline passengers feel much safer. Which is why Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff has tried to reassure American travelers about boarding an airplane by reminding them of such protections as the “prohibition on liquids, gels and beverages in carry-on baggage.” The problem is that while possible liquid...

LOS ANGELES An airliner bound for New York was delayed nearly an hour Friday after the crew discovered some passengers had carried on drinks purchased at the airport, and the pilot requested the plane be rechecked by security screeners. American Airlines Flight 40 was scheduled to leave for John F. Kennedy International Airport at 11 a.m. and was being boarded when the drinks were discovered. "The passengers were deplaned at the captain's request," said Nancy Castles, a spokeswoman for Los Angeles International Airport. "The liquids were surrendered or tossed or discarded. They conducted a security check of the plane, and...

WASHINGTON - Beginning Friday, airline passengers will go through double screening to make sure they're not carrying liquids onto planes, the head of the airline industry's largest trade group said. Passengers and their carry-on luggage will be checked not only at the main security checkpoint, but also a second time at the boarding gate. The stepped-up screening in response to a new terrorist threat began Thursday at 25 airports where planes leave for Britain. "It's going to spread across the whole system tomorrow," James May, president of the Air Transport Association, said Thursday. The response to the terrorist threat produced...

French Riviera gang terrorises passengers in two-hour train rampage By Colin Randall (Filed: 05/01/2006) Hundreds of passengers were terrorised by a mob of youths rampaging through a train on the French Riviera. One young woman was sexually assaulted, travellers were robbed of phones and cash, and carriages were wrecked in the two-hour assault, it emerged yesterday. Up to 40 youths involved in the attacks had taken advantage of a special fare of about 80p to travel from Marseilles and Avignon to celebrate the New Year in Nice. They were part of a larger group of 100, many drunk from their...

ARAB RACISM & ISLAMIC JIHAD!!! Are Militant Muslims DECAPITATING Tourists in S. Philippines? IT'S ARAB MUSLIM FANATICS' RACISM + JIHAD!!! Did Sadistic Saddam attack Arab Kuwaiti 'brothers' tortured them horrifically? IT'S ARAB MUSLIM FANATICS' RACISM + JIHAD!!! Did Sadistic Saddam BUTCHER/GASSED/TORTURED HIS OWN PEOPLE? IT'S ARAB MUSLIM FANATICS' RACISM + JIHAD!!! Do Arab Muslim Militant Hamas/Islamic-Jihad/other 'Palestinian' Militants (& often Fatah - connected to the official 'Palestinian' authority) TARGET BABIES, (not as the West targets terrorists) Yes or no? IT'S ARAB MUSLIM FANATICS' RACISM + JIHAD!!! Did Arab Islamists attack French subways? (1985) IT'S ARAB MUSLIM FANATICS' RACISM +...

HALIFAX -- Canada will create its own version of a no-fly list as part of a security program critics say is coming far too late and will do little to shield it from terrorist attacks like those last month in London. Federal Transport Minister Jean Lapierre said Friday that officials will begin devising criteria that would identify people who pose "an immediate threat to aviation security," and will work with airlines to stop those people from flying. Lapierre insisted the new program, called Passenger Protect, will not violate the Charter of Rights or the Constitution. But he wouldn't spell out...

MICHAEL Tuohey "stared the devil in the eyes and didn't recognize him." Now he kicks himself for not having acted, although if he had, our government probably would've punished him for trying to take the devil down. Until recently, Tuohey worked the ticket counter at the airport in Portland, Maine, first for Allegheny Airlines, and then its successor, US Airways. He'll never forget one particular day of his 34 years of employment. It began like any other. This married Army vet had a routine. He'd wake up at 3:30 a.m. and walk to the kitchen to grab a cup of...

In Latvia will fine passengers of drunk drivers Minister of Internal Affairs of Latvia Eric Ekabsons suggests to fine not only drunk drivers, but also their passengers, radio station " Echo of Moscow " informs. " Passengers too are responsible for possible misfortune ", - minister at session of Security Council of traffic of Latvia has told. In general the Latvian ministers compete in an ingenuity how to punish drivers-alcoholics. At the same session minister of the message of Latvia Ajnar SHlesers has suggested to punish drinking drivers 160 hours of forced hard labour. They will be necessary for...

Many men say they drive more carefully if they have a woman as a front-seat passenger. But most women say they don't change their driving style with a male passenger, the German magazine Men's Car reports. In a survey of 500 drivers in Germany, the magazine said, 65 percent of men said they changed their driving style with a woman in the seat next to them, with 44 percent reporting they tried to drive more safely. Only 12 percent of men claimed having a woman as a passenger prompted them to drive more aggressively. Women tend not to be influenced...

Four Puerto Rico Air National Guard members were saluted as heroes at the National Guard Bureau headquarters here March 15, nine days after helping to save the lives of other water taxi passengers in the Baltimore harbor. Master Sgt. David Blakeley and Staff Sgts. Alejandro Gonzalez, Antonio Acosta and Luis Nazario had a day off March 6 and were among 25 people aboard a 36- foot pontoon water taxi, the Lady D, which a rogue wind capsized about 100 yards off shore from historic Fort McHenry. Four passengers drowned in the accident. The noncommissioned officers kept their wits and pulled...

Feb 15, 9:01 AM EST 300 People Fall Ill on Carnival Cruise GALVESTON, Texas (AP) -- A Carnival Cruise Lines ship returned from a five-day cruise to Mexico on Saturday with more than 300 people sick with a gastrointestinal illness. Carnival officials said preliminary tests show the outbreak might have been caused by a norovirus. The virus is spread through contaminated food, contact with infected people or poor hygiene. It can be prevented by regular hand-washing. "They did try to handle it very well, from a cleaning perspective and disinfecting and sanitizing things," passenger Christal Davis said after leaving the...

Top News Crew Rage? Mon, 19 Jan '04 US Airways Passenger Says He Was Poked We've all heard of air rage. In these days of heightened security, long lines and short tempers, it's no longer uncommon to read about passengers who fly off the handle. But crew members? John McLeod was flying from Charlotte (NC) to Tampa Bay (FL) last month when the flight attendant announced it was time to "stow your tray-tables and raise your seats to their upright and locked positions." When he didn't immediately comply, he got a few sharp pokes in the shoulder from a...

Thrill Ride To Dangle Passengers 900-Feet Over Vegas Strip POSTED: 2:28 p.m. EDT October 17, 2003 UPDATED: 4:21 p.m. EDT October 17, 2003 A new thrill ride at the Stratosphere Tower will dangle passengers 900-feet above the Las Vegas Strip, according to a Local 6 News report. Video New Thrill Ride Dangles Passengers Over Vegas Strip The "X-Scream" is designed to give thrill seekers the ultimate adrenaline rush. A video animation shows how riders will slide from one end to the other -- until they literally dangle over the strip. The ride has already been tested in Utah, but...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. airport baggage screeners, displaying seized chain saws, machetes and knives, warned travelers to check their luggage for offensive objects before boarding a flight. Officials of the Transport Security Administration, speaking ahead of this weekend's Labor Day holiday -- a busy travel time -- said that since February 2002 more than 7.5 million prohibited items had been seized. They included 50,000 box cutters -- a weapon said to be used by the Sept. 11, 2001 hijackers -- and 1,437 firearms as well as 2.3 million knives. The TSA officials told a news conference most people with...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 27 — Saying that overloading may have contributed to a fatal plane crash this month in North Carolina, federal aviation officials announced today that thousands of passengers flying on small planes over the next month will have to tell ticket agents how much they weigh, or step on a scale, to check whether existing estimates of average passenger weight are accurate The Federal Aviation Administration is ordering all 24 airlines that operate the small planes to collect weight information from a sampling of their flights. Investigators suspect that a Beech 1900 that crashed on takeoff in Charlotte, N.C.,...

<p>DALLAS (AP) --  Southwest Airlines is under fire for its policy of charging overweight passengers for two tickets if they spill over into their neighbor's seat.</p> <p>The airline says it is trying to provide a comfortable flight for travelers seated next to large passengers.</p>