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JUNEAU, Alaska – Anyone who has ever stepped foot on an airplane in Alaska is keenly aware of the dangers that lurk in every mountain pass and cloud on the horizon.

Ted Stevens was so mindful of the risks that he once called plane crashes an occupational hazard for politicians in Alaska, and he spoke from experience. He survived a plane crash in 1978 that killed his wife.

The crash that killed Stevens and four others on a salmon fishing trip this week has served as another tragic reminder about just how dangerous flying is in Alaska.

Full Story at CNN.com

(CNN) — Investigators will be on the scene Wednesday of a plane crash that killed former U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens and four others. Also, autopsies are expected to be completed by the end of the day.

Brutal terrain and bad weather on the remote Alaska mountain kept survivors waiting 12 hours for rescue after the crash, officials and witnesses said Tuesday.

“The weather was very challenging for those responding,” said Deborah Hersman, chairwoman of the National Transportation Safety Board.

Full Story at CNN.com

London, England (CNN) — A solar-powered aircraft, which a team hopes will one day circle the globe, completed a 26-hour test flight in Switzerland at 9 a.m. (3 a.m. ET) Thursday.

Solar Impulse took off shortly before 7 a.m. Wednesday from an airfield in Payerne, 80 miles northeast of Geneva.

The plane was piloted by Andre Borschberg, who flew to a height of nearly 28,000 feet (8,500 meters).

“I’ve been a pilot for 40 years now, but this flight has been the most incredible one of my flying career,” Borschberg said, according to the New York Times.

Full Story at CNN.com

(CNN) — A man who was arrested at an airport in Pakistan with shoes that contained batteries, a circuit board and an on/off switch said Monday that he did not know the materials were in his shoes.

Faiz Mohammed said he had worn the same shoes while traveling from Muscat, Oman, where he worked as a construction supervisor, to Karachi, Pakistan, in February.

Investigators in Karachi arrested Mohammed on Sunday after a scanner sounded an alarm as he prepared to board a Thai Airways flight to Muscat. They said they did not find explosives.

Full Story at CNN.com

New York (CNN) — A naturalized U.S. citizen from Pakistan arrested overnight in the Times Square bombing investigation will appear in a Manhattan federal courtroom Tuesday morning to face formal charges.

Faisal Shahzad, 30, was arrested at JFK International Airport in New York at 11:45 p.m. E.T. Monday as he prepared to board a flight to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said early Tuesday from Washington.

Full Story at msnbc.com

AMSTERDAM – Major airlines that sent test flights into European air space found no damage Sunday from the volcanic ash that has paralyzed aviation over the continent, raising pressure on governments to ease restrictions that have thrown global travel and commerce into chaos.

Is it safe to fly yet? Airline officials and some pilots say the passengerless test flights show that it is. Meteorologists warn that the skies over Europe remain unstable from an Icelandic volcano that continues to spew ash capable of knocking out jet engines.

Full Story at CNN.com

London, England (CNN) — European countries extended their airspace restrictions on Saturday, choking international air travel and stranding thousands of passengers, as an Icelandic volcano continued to spew ash into the atmosphere.

Airspace over the United Kingdom and Belgium will be closed until Saturday night, according to the British air traffic control provider NATS and the Brussels Airport.

British Airways canceled all flights to and from London for all of Saturday. Several flights from North America due to arrive at British destinations Friday night were headed to Scotland instead, the airline said.

Full Story at  msnbc.com

LONDON – The European air navigation agency says air traffic disruptions because the volcanic ash cloud will last at least another day.

Eurocontrol said in a statement that it expected only about 11,000 flights in European airspace Friday, compared with about 28,000 normally. On Thursday, there were 20,334 flights, it said.

The cloud’s impact, it said, “will continue for at least the next 24 hours.”

Full Story at msnbc.com

The Obama administration is abandoning its policy of using nationality alone to determine which U.S.-bound international air travelers should be subject to additional screening and will instead select passengers based on possible matches to intelligence information, including physical descriptions or a particular travel pattern, senior officials said Thursday.

Full Story at CNN.com

New York (CNN) — “Unauthorized and unprofessional” is how an internal memo describes the conduct of an air traffic controller, who allegedly allowed his two young children to speak with pilots on an air traffic control frequency, and his supervisor, who allegedly allowed it to happen.

The memo, dated February 25, was written after the facilities manager for the air traffic control tower at New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport learned about the incident, a source familiar with the investigation told CNN.

Full Story at msnbc.com

WALL TOWNSHIP, N.J. – A small plane trying to land broke apart and tore through a snowy field next to a runway Monday afternoon, killing all five people aboard, including a teenager and a child, and scattering debris over 200 feet.

The crash was reported at 3:45 p.m. at Monmouth Executive Airport, about 35 miles east of Trenton, said Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Jim Peters. The weather was overcast, but no precipitation was falling.

Full Story at CNN.com

Washington (CNN) — With the first of its flights touching down in earthquake-devastated Haiti late Wednesday afternoon, the U.S. began deploying military planes, ships and ground troops to the Caribbean nation.

One of two planes carrying a 30-person assessment team arrived at Port-au-Prince airport about 5:30 p.m. Wednesday. The team will assess what Haiti needs to cope with the immediate aftermath of the disaster.

One of the team’s first jobs is to get the airport working to a point where it can handle all the flights coming in from around the world filled with people and supplies to help the victims of the quake.