Airlines on track for a huge year despite new scares in the air

 (NewsNation) — The world’s airlines are on track for another international record year, despite a flurry of scares in the air in recent weeks.  

The Air Transport Association predicts a record 4.7 billion passengers internationally by the end of this year. That’s up from the 2019 record of 4.5 billion.

The latest scare happened Monday “Down Under.” LATAM Airlines is blaming a “technical problem” for a sudden descent during a flight from Australia to New Zealand.

Some passengers said it felt like a “sudden drop” shortly after takeoff, which slammed some people against the ceiling and threw others down the aisles of the Boeing 787.  

Chile-based LATAM says the plane continued its flight and landed in Aukland, where about 50 people were examined and a dozen hospitalized. One person was reported in serious condition. The flight contained 263 passengers and nine crew members.  

We’re also learning about an incident a few weeks ago involving a Batik Air flight inside Indonesia in which both the captain and first officer fell asleep for nearly half an hour. The Airbus A320 veered slightly off course but landed safely in Jakarta.

Indonesian authorities have “strongly reprimanded” Batik Air and called on it to reexamine its policy on crew rest time.

And here in the U.S., the Justice Department’s criminal investigation into the Alaska Airlines door plug blowout is underway.

Both Alaska Airlines and Boeing, maker of the 737 Max 9, have expressed full cooperation with the federal probe. Investigators have reached out to some passengers and crew who were on board the January 5 flight.

It was bound from Portland, Oregon to Ontario, California when a piece of the fuselage, known as the “door plug,” broke off. Nobody was hurt, and the plane turned back and landed in Portland.