Investigators are trying to determine why both engines of a British Airways plane did not respond moments before it touched down at Heathrow Airport.

Co-pilot John Coward managed to land the stricken Boeing 777 jet just inside Heathrow's fence after the malfunction.

An initial report by the Air Accident Investigations Branch (AAIB) said the engines failed to respond to demands for increased thrust from the crew.

A more detailed analysis of the flight recorder is taking place.

The AAIB is also looking at "the range of aircraft systems that could influence engine operation".

Earlier Captain Peter Burkill, who had been in overall charge of the plane, said Senior First Officer Coward had done a "most remarkable job" in landing the aircraft.

He also praised all the crew for showing "the highest standards of skill and professionalism".

"Flying is about teamwork and we had an outstanding team on board," he said.

The co-pilot's mother said he had been the right man for the job.

"I would put my life in his hands," said Myrene Coward, from her Wiltshire home.



The AAIB report said all had gone normally with flight BA038 until the jet was just two miles from touchdown.

The plane was using an instrument landing system (ILS) approach, which allows pilots to follow a set path and be guided in - in this incident towards runway 27L at Heathrow.

The jet was at a height of about 600ft (180m) when the engines failed to respond to a demand for increased thrust from its auto throttle.

After continued demands for increased thrust, and with the "flight crew moving the throttle levers, the engines similarly failed to respond", the report said.

"The aircraft speed reduced and the aircraft descended onto the grass short of the paved runway surface," it said.

Landing gear on the right broke off from the wing on touchdown, the report said.

All 136 passengers and 16 crew on the British Airways flight survived - one person suffered a broken leg and others received minor injuries during the emergency evacuation.

The report said that during the crash-landing "a significant amount of fuel leaked from the aircraft but there was no fire".

Heathrow is expected to run a normal schedule of flights on Saturday, although passengers are advised to check with their airline before making their trip.

A British Airports Authority (BAA) spokeswoman said: "All operations are returning today, with all terminals returning to normal.

"There are no temporary marquees up, all passengers can resume normal procedures for checking in."

Walt Disney World Resort in Florida has renamed Disney-MGM Studios as Disney’s Hollywood Studios and announced new entertainment for 2008.

Toy Story Mania! is an interactive ride opening this summer, while High School Musical 2: School’s Out! and Block Party Bash are among new parades planned.

Meanwhile, agents can save customers 15% on Disneyland Resort Paris hotel and park ticket packages booked by January 31 for arrivals from January 6 to March 19. New attractions for Paris this year include Twilight Zone Tower of Terror and Stitch.

The end of the one cabin-bag rule passed smoothly on Monday, frustrating the TV news crews that descended on Gatwick and Luton hoping for pictures of angry passengers.

The restriction was lifted at 22 airports, including Heathrow, Stansted, Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow and Edinburgh, but remains at Gatwick, Luton, Bristol, Liverpool, East Midlands and 35 other airports.

A Gatwick spokeswoman said: “Most people didn’t know anything about the rule change so there were no problems.” Luton also reported a quiet day.

EasyJet and Ryanair, the two biggest carriers at Luton, continue to limit passengers to one cabin bag across their networks to minimise confusion.

An EasyJet spokeswoman said: “There were predictions of chaos, but passengers did not really know about the change. But there could be confusion in coming months.”

EasyJet chief executive Andy Harrison warned last week of “massive scope for confusion”. EasyJet will retain its restriction until all 14 of its bases fall into line. At present only seven allow a second cabin bag.

BMI has also retained the limit on economy passengers while allowing two bags to those in business class. But British Airways is allowing Heathrow passengers two pieces of hand luggage while the restriction remains at its Gatwick base. A BA spokesman called for the restrictions to be lifted at Gatwick as soon as possible.

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To confuse matters further, Gatwick is allowing some connecting passengers to travel with more than one cabin bag.

Gatwick aims to have the restriction lifted by Easter (March 21-24), as it installs high-tech scanners and extends security areas. Luton has not set a date for compliance, but is working to win Department for Transport permission to lift the restriction.

Mike Carrivick, chief executive of the Board of Airline Representatives in the UK, welcomed the move. “Airlines will have varying policies and those paying higher fares will tend to enjoy enhanced cabin bag allowances,” he said.

Clients should check with airlines and airports before flying.

Lisbon is to have a new international airport after more than 35 years of debate about the site.

Portugal's prime minister Jose Socrates has identified Alcochete on the south bank of the Tagus river as the government's preferred option for the airport, to be built at a cost of €5 billion.

Only last year ministers suggested the airport would be at Ota, 50kms from the city centre. However, discussion about the site has gone on since the early 1970s. The final go-ahead will depend on a public consultation.

Lisbon's existing international airport at Portela, in a built-up area of the city, is undergoing expansion due for completion in 2010.

The government has been accused od underestimating the cost of the new airport, put privately at up to €9 billion.

RETIRED civil engineer Carson Straughton intends to accuse Allerdale council of deception and corruption over plans to sell land to Tesco.

He has discovered a copy of a public notice issued by the authority in 1992, when it was proposing to dispose of land at New Bridge Road on the Cloffocks, in which it describes it as ‘part of a public park or pleasure ground and public trust land.’

He said: “It is obvious that the council has withheld information and as a resident I take exception to this behaviour and have no alternative but to charge Allerdale Borough Council with deception, corruption of office and acts against public interest.”

He has given council chief executive Gillian Bishop notice of his intention to compile a case for submission to the Secretary of State for Communities.

Copies have been sent to the development panel and Mr Straughton has sent council leader Joe Milburn a list of questions.

He has asked him why the council did not tell the public inquiry, into the status of the Cloffocks, that documentation existed to prove it was public trust land; and why the Cloffocks conveyance document has allegedly disappeared.

Mr Straughton said he would speak to campaign group Save Our Cloffocks this week about taking out an injunction against the council.

“We have enough evidence to stop this application in its tracks,” he said. “It could be the biggest debacle since the Keswick timeshare affair.”

Mr Straughton, of Wordsworth Terrace, Cockermouth, was the council’s project leader for its Derwent Valley Land Reclamation Scheme which was completed nearly 30 years ago. That land is next to the Cloffocks, and he said there were extensive flooded and largely unfilled mineshafts over more than six acres. Mr Straughton has written to Environment Secretary Hilary Benn asking him to have the application determined by government.

Allerdale council said yesterday it had recieved the letter and was considering what action to take.

The last remaining beachfront property at the Waikoloa Beach Resort is on the market.

The Big Island site is zoned for 300 hotel rooms, 500 luxury condominiums and 800 timeshare units -- part of a proposed development estimated to cost $1 billion.

A partnership led by California developer James Ratkovich & Associates has retained New York brokerage firm Eastdil Secured LLC, which began marketing the property last month.

The partnership -- known as Lonomakua Partners LLC -- includes Lehman Brothers Holdings and Michael Dell's MSD Capital LP, which bought three parcels totaling 29 acres adjacent to the 545-room Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort & Spa for $47 million in November 2005.

The property is being marketed for re-capitalization, meaning the partners are looking to change the capital structure of the venture. That could include bring in a hotel operating partner or selling the property altogether, said Steven Clark, executive vice president at Ratkovich & Associates.

The owners are not in exclusive negotiations with a prospective buyer, though there has been significant interest from well-known resort operators -- the names of which he declined to disclose.

"It's the last significantly sized entitled (hotel) property so there's a lot of interest from various groups," Clark said. "We're excited about the prospects. We love Hawaii and this really completes the Waikoloa Beach Resort in many ways."

The proposed development needs several hundreds of millions of dollars of equity to be completed, he said, adding that completing a project of this cost, size and complexity will take about five to seven years.

"Our hopes are that we can kind of get something going within this first quarter and move forward on a business plan," Clark said.

The 1,350-acre Waikoloa Beach Resort on the Kohala Coast includes the 1,240-room Hilton Waikoloa Village, two championship golf courses, luxury residences and the Kings' Shops and new Queens' Marketplace center.

"The Waikoloa site is obviously attractive because of the success of the Waikoloa resort as a destination that's really developed and evolved over the years," said tourism consultant Joseph Toy of Hospitality Advisors LLC. "There aren't very many hotel sites in general throughout the state."

It's strike two for a planned timeshare hotel-resort on Harbor Island, just south of Lindbergh Field. The California Coastal Commission is against allowing timeshares on public land. KPBS reporter Ed Joyce has details.

The Port of San Diego asked the state coastal commission to do something it's never done: Approve a timeshare hotel-resort on public tidelands. The California Coastal Act allows development of low-cost accommodations on those lands, but Coastal Commission Executive Director Peter Douglas told commissioners that private ownership -- the timeshares -- is a bad idea.

Douglas: These timeshare units simply would not be available as hotel rooms to the general public. They're exclusively available to the owners of the timeshare units. So, exclusivity on public trust lands is clearly contrary to coastal act policies.

Commissioners agreed. Before a vote, the Port withdrew its request. It's likely the Port may work with Woodfin developers to revise the plan. The commission previously rejected Woodfin's application for a coastal permit.

Developers say selling timeshares is crucial to finance the project.

The Department for Transport has approved new security arrangements at a number of airports in the UK. This means that at these airports the restriction previously imposed limiting hand baggage to one item per person will no longer apply with effect from 7 January 2008.

However, airlines apply their own operational policies governing the number of items of hand baggage which may be taken in to the aircraft cabin.

Before departing it is strongly suggest you check with your airline on the cabin baggage arrangements for your particular journey.

Airports where the one bag restriction no longer applies are:

Aberdeen

Benbecula

Birmingham

Cambridge

Cardiff

Edinburgh

Glasgow

Heathrow

Inverness

Islay

Kirkwall

London City

Manchester

Newcastle

Plymouth

Prestwick

Southampton

Southend

Stansted

Stornoway

Sumburgh

Wick

The collapse of MAXjet Airways on Christmas Eve may signal a developing downturn but not the end of business-class-only airlines.

The US-owned business-class carrier ceased flying from Stansted after failing in a bid to raise fresh capital, leaving hundreds of passengers stranded.

Chief executive William Stockbridge blamed a combination of the rising fuel price, intensified competition and a decline in business and consumer confidence. But it was the credit squeeze that put additional funds out of reach.

Lawrence Hunt, chief executive of business-class-only rival airline Silverjet, which operates from Luton to New York and Dubai, claimed MAXjet had specific problems and had been driven under by competition. Silverjet has launched a January sale offering 20% off selected flights from Friday and business-class-only rival Eos Airlines is offering free gifts with bookings.

However, a leading aviation analyst said: "The situation for the airline industry is dire. There is too much capacity, the economic indicators are horrendous and the cost of fuel is a real problem."

MAXjet will be liquidated rather than seek a buyer, with shareholders expected to receive nothing.

For more information call 01279 216428 or e-mail info@maxjet.com

A deadline of lunchtime Friday January 4 has been set for offers to buy part or all of failed tour operator Travelscope.

More than 40 parties have shown an interest since the operator went into administration to seek refinancing on December 21 affecting 45,000 customers.

The 15-year-old company sold escorted tours and cruises through reader offers and independent agents. Cashflow problems included a £1.5 million arbitration against the company and £6 million new offices funded out of the company's cashflow.

Urgent talks were held this week to protect future bookings and around seven potential buyers have visited Travelscope's Gloucester offices.

The company could be split into four - air travel, coach travel, river and ocean cruising - to be sold off.

Paul Clark, joint administrator, Menzies Corporate Restructuring, said: "It's never easy to sell a business at this time of year but I'm hopeful at least three or four parties will put forward sensible offers."

There were 10,000 holidaymakers booked to go away over Christmas and New Year, 30,000 booked for 2008 and 5,000 for 2009.

Rival operator Shearings rebooked scores of Travelscope customers on its tours while the Co-operative Travel staff helped out affected customers. It had a "few hundred" consumers booked.

The only trip currently going ahead is a three-month world cruise on the MV Van Gogh, which Travelscope chartered and had 460 passengers booked on. It departs on January 4 thanks to a deal with ABTA and Club Cruise.

An ABTA spokesman said: "It is unusual for us to guarantee a trip but it was the most sensible option and for many holidaymakers it was the trip of a lifetime."

Other passengers can claim refunds. All bookings are protected through ABTA or under the ATOL financial protection scheme.

Meanwhile, 182 of Travelscope's staff were made redundant on December 28, and 53 staff remain in head office.

Tourists have been warned against travel to the Conguillio National Park area in Chile after one of the country's largest volcanoes erupted.

Dozens of tourists were evacuated by the military from the base of the Llaima volcano but there were no reports of injuries or damage.

The 54 people rescued had been stranded overnight after a local river swelled and cut off road access.

The National Emergency Office said in a statement: "Army personnel evacuated 43 people this morning who remained in Conguillio National Park. Another 11 people, park personnel and their family members, were also evacuated."

Director of the the emergency agency Carmen Fernandez advised tourists to avoid the area.

The park remains closed off to visitors today.

GB Airways flights to Sharm El Sheikh, the Canary Islands, Corfu, the Greek Islands and Turkey are now available online with easyJet, which hopes to complete its purchase of the carrier this month.

EasyJet announced it was buying GB Airways, which operates as a franchise carrier for British Airways, in October. The airline continues to fly under BA colours, but BA will cease selling the flights on March 30.

GB Airways operates to 39 destinations from Gatwick, Heathrow and Manchester, including 16 new to easyJet.

Pending regulatory approval for the deal, the low-cost carrier will scrap the base at Heathrow and integrate the rest of GB Airways' operation into its existing business by next winter.

Passengers who booked with BA and do not wish to fly with EasyJet will be offered a refund.

BMI will double its daily flights between Heathrow and Moscow from March 30, but end its daily Heathrow-Inverness service complaining that the increase in air passenger duty has made the route unviable.

Inverness MP Danny Alexander called the decision "disgraceful". But BMI mainline managing director Peter Spencer said: "APD affects domestic travellers in particular and inflation-busting airport-charge increases at Heathrow puts pressure on short-haul services like Inverness. The route is just not a viable proposition."

However, in other changes to its summer timetable, BMI will add an eighth daily flight between Heathrow and Manchester - operating in the early evening - while reducing the Heathrow-Leeds Bradford service to four a day. It will axe the summer-only services to Alicante and Nice.

BMI has flown from Inverness since March 2004. It launched the daily Moscow operation in October 2006, the first of a growing network of medium-haul services.

Passengers with bookings on suspended services will be offered an alternative or a full refund.

The threat of strikes at BAA aiports ended when unions accepted a deal over pensions today.

The strikes would have hit seven airports including Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and Edinburgh. It would have affected 1.3m passengers.

Unions Unite and Public and Commercial Services Union (PCSU) had called for three strikes scheduled to take place on January 7, 14 and 17-18. The first strike had already been cancelled, as travelweekly.co.uk reported earlier today.

Union officials said "proper consultations" over the future of the pension scheme would now take place.

Meanwhile, the first ever strike by Virgin Atlantic looks set to go ahead on Wednesday.

EasyJet passengers will not benefit from relaxation of the one cabin-bag rule at many UK airports from Monday.

The airline will maintain a ban on second cabin bags, arguing the partial relaxation risks confusing passengers.

The restriction will be lifted at Heathrow, Stansted, Manchester, Birmingham and many other airports on January 7. But it will remain in force at Luton, Belfast, Bristol, East Midlands and Liverpool - all of them EasyJet bases.

EasyJet chief executive Andy Harrison said: "There is massive scope for customer confusion where UK airports are adopting different policies."

Harrison also complained that some BAA-operated airports, such as Gatwick, will increase charges to cope with the relaxation and these would have to be passed on in fares if a second bag is allowed.

BMI will also maintain the one cabin-bag restriction on economy passengers, although those in business class will be allowed two bags.

The Federation of Tour Operators' members have extended their travel ban to Kenya until Monday.

The decision taken this morning to extend the previous ban by two days comes due to continued political unrest and rioting following last week's elections which has left more than 300 people dead.

Customers due to depart for Kenya during this period will be offered alternative holidays or refunds instead.

Members of the public already on holiday in the country are returning according to their original itineraries.

The FTO's travel ban has been instigated following the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's decision to advise against all but essential travel to the country in the wake of the ongoing violence.

Virgin Atlantic said it will operate a near-normal service after cabin crew volunteers came forward to offer assistance during planned strike action.

The airline said crew have been emailing and phoning special hotlines to offer their help and it will now run nine out of 10 flights during the strikes which are expected on January 9-10 and 16-17.

Virgin Atlantic chief operating officer Lyell Strambi said: "Virgin Atlantic is committed to resolving this dispute but the only way our cabin crew are going to see any form of pay increase in future is by joining the hundreds of volunteers coming to work on the planned strike days and ensuring our customers get to their destinations."

Earlier this week, Virgin chairman Sir Richard Branson sent a letter out to staff stating that if they wanted more pay than Virgin could afford they should "consider working elsewhere".

The union, Unite has recommended crew accept the two-year pay deal worth 8.3%.

Once the park is operating, Riverhead also would get 3 percent of gross revenue, as well as separate tax payments from the project and its hotel rooms.

The Riverhead Resorts proposal for the land at Enterprise Park features a 350-foot-high man-made ski mountain, an indoor water park, a sports resort, a white-water wilderness resort, a conference center and an equestrian resort. It would have about 2,200 hotel rooms and 2,000 timeshare units.

Morton Weber, attorney for Riverhead Resorts, said that, regardless of the economic conditions when construction begins, Riverhead Resorts has the financial guarantees to build the project.

"The financing is secure, and will be secure," he said.

Before the board voted, there was an hourlong public comment period on the resolution authorizing Supervisor Phil Cardinale to sign the contract. As in numerous previous hearings, a group of auto-racing enthusiasts who support an alternate development plan featuring three racetracks spoke against the sale.

But several town residents also came out and said they do not want the traffic and noise that weekend auto races would bring. Dave Macknee of Riverhead said the idea of building a noisy racetrack near Long Island National Cemetery at Calverton was disrespectful.

"They wouldn't build a racetrack across from Arlington [National Cemetery]," he said.

Mark Lembo of Wading River, who a decade ago opposed the use of Calverton as an active jetport because of the attendant noise and congestion, said this was the same battle. "A racetrack is just a jetport on wheels," he said.

The board vote to authorize the signing was 3-2, with newly elected town board members James Wooten and Timothy Buckley voting against it.

Wooten said he had not had enough time to study the detailed contract. Buckley said a 7,000-foot-long runway at Calverton - left over from when Grumman Corp. used the facility to build and test F-14 Tomcat fighters - would be destroyed and replaced with a man-made lake.

He called it "an irreplaceable resource" that would be lost if the Riverhead Resorts project is not completed.

Issues the project must navigate

The Riverhead Resorts project in Calverton faces a series of environmental reviews and permit applications, which could take two to three years. They include:



Environmental impact. Assessment of the 755-acre resort's effect on local wetlands and the nearby Peconic River.

Height waiver. Riverhead Resorts must get an exemption from the height requirements in the existing Riverhead building code for its proposed 350-foot man-made ski mountain. Riverhead Resorts officials have said that if such an exemption is not granted they would modify that part of the project to meet town height limits.

Sewer service. The county Health Department must approve the sewer system that will serve the complex.

Construction plan. The town Building Department must approve the site plan for the land and actual plans for construction.

Diamond Resorts International® (DRI) announces the addition of 14 new resorts to its North American portfolio, offering expanded choices to its more than 360,000 owners worldwide. The expansion adds new affiliate properties in California, Colorado, Hawaii, Utah, Washington, Canada and 8 resorts in Mexico.

"We made a brand promise to offer more destination choice to our owners," says Stephen J. Cloobeck, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of DRI. "The addition of 14 new resorts to the North American portfolio, and further expansion plans in the works, underscores the commitment to our brand tenets of simplicity, choice and comfort and our ongoing commitment to our owners."

Location is one facet of the additional choice now being offered to DRI owners. The newly affiliated resorts range from boutique hotels, offering an exceptionally personalized vacation experience, to more traditional hotel, lodge and vacation ownership accommodations.

"Our owner surveys have consistently highlighted requests for more choice in two geographic areas, Mexico and North American ski and mountain resorts," says DRI President and Chief Operating Officer Simon Crawford-Welch Ph.D., RRP. "With availability at these new affiliate resorts as of January 2008, we're delivering those vacation spots with a broad selection that meet or exceed our standards of service and comfort. These new affiliations further solidify our position as a pure-play -- 100% timeshare focused -- leader in the vacation ownership industry."

The expanded offerings in Mexico span the continent from the Pacific coast vacation hot spots of Acapulco, Mazatlan and Puerto Vallarta to exciting destinations along the Yucatan Peninsula including Cancun and the island jewel of Isla Mujeres. Strategic locations in the heart of Mexico's Oaxaca region provide the perfect base to explore world-renowned archaeological sites and the rich cultural history of Central America.

For those seeking sports and relaxation at the new resorts in the U.S. and Canada, mountain destinations in Colorado, Utah and Whistler, British Columbia, offer world-class winter sports and diverse summer activities, while additions in Palm Springs and Hawaii expand golf offerings with championship courses nearby.

Diamond Resorts International®, based in Las Vegas, Nev., is one of the largest vacation ownership companies in the world with over 110 branded and affiliated resorts throughout the continental United States and Hawaii, Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Europe. Offering simplicity, choice and comfort to its more than 360,000 owners through the branded-service of more than 5,000 team members worldwide, Diamond Resorts International® is dedicated to providing its guests with effortless and relaxing vacation experiences every time, for a lifetime.

For more information, please visit DiamondResorts.com.

A lake that is used by visitors to one of the region's largest and most popular water parks is being tested for potential contamination.

A local timeshare resort is believed to be the source, WESH 2 News reported.

It doesn't appear to be, but county environmental experts said they have no idea how long there may have been a problem with the sewer system at the resort, or if it may have presented a health risk to visitors at the Wet 'n Wild water park.

Outside the Westgate Palace Resort, a water pump is drawing thousands of gallons from a retention pond and sending it into the nearby sewer system. A resort worker declined to comment.

The pipe is next to Sandy Lake where storm water runoff is allowed, but county environmental engineers are concerned sewage or seepage from the resort might be improperly diverted into the retention ponds and, ultimately, the lake.

It's the same lake used by visitors to the Wet 'n Wild water park on International Drive.

During warmer months, between May and September, the cables are used to pull people around Sandy Lake on knee boards and wake boards.

The results of water testing by Orange County revealed sewage seeping from the Westgate Palace kitchen area as a result of a broken line in the sewer system.

"There's either a break in a wastewater line, or some type of contamination coming from the sewer system around the ponds and therefore leaking into the ponds and eventually into the lake," environmental engineer Julie Bortles said.

The retention pond bacteria count was high, the level in the lake was lower, but still high enough that if it were used for swimming now, it would be closed.

"What we're going to ask for is that the lake be tested again before they reopen just as a safeguard to make sure there is not going to be an issue," David Overfield of the Orange County Health Department said.

The county is directing Westgate Palace to inspect and repair any problems with its sewer system.

Wet 'n Wild is owned and operated by Universal Parks & Resorts.

"The safety of our guests is our first priority. We will take the necessary steps to ensure that at all times," a spokesman said regarding the water quality concerns in the lake.

So far, the Orange County Health Department has received no reports of anyone complaining of becoming sick after being in Sandy Lake.