Hijackers forced an airliner to land in Malta on Friday then freed all their hostages unharmed and surrendered after declaring their loyalty to Libya's late leader Muammar Gaddafi. Television pictures showed two men being led from the aircraft in handcuffs. The prime minister of the tiny Mediterranean island, Joseph Muscat, tweeted "hijackers surrendered, searched and taken into custody."

“I have no one and nothing but the clothes I was given when I was released from prison.”

Twice-married Captain Colin Glover, 51, from Dublin, is apparently suspended by the British Airways for taking cockpit sex selfies while flying at 38,000 feet. Shocked? Well, all of us are. Aircraft expert Chris Yates said,"It is very dangerous if the plane is in mid-flight. If you are flying, you can fly into serious turbulence." Wondering how the pictures were leaked? Apparently, The Sun UK magazine revealed pictures showing him masturbating and taking nudes while piloting at 38,000 feet.

The pilot of a hot air balloon that crashed near Austin in July had taken a cocktail of prohibited prescription drugs prior to liftoff before the aircraft struck power lines, killing him and 15 others, according to a published report on Friday. Citing government documents, Bloomberg reported that Alfred "Skip" Nichols had ingested the dangerous mix of drugs that included the opiate painkiller oxycodone. A highly addictive opioid chemical very similar to heroin, oxycodone is largely considered to represent ground zero of the opioid addiction crisis across North America.

Pilots John and Isabella Ordway suffered complete engine failure 80 miles from Nairobi. Writing on Facebook Mr Ordway, from Co Cork, described their terrifying ordeal. "We had a complete engine failure 80 miles from Nairobi (the end part for our vintage air rally) and Had to crash land. Both bella and I are thankfully fine. The plane was destroyed but we walked away without a scratch.

More than 100,000 Lufthansa passengers are facing disruption as a strike by pilots dragged on for a third day. The German airline cancelled about 830 flights on Friday, with long-haul journeys facing disruption over the weekend as the dispute intensifies. Lufthansa has cancelled more than 2,600 flights since pilots first went on strike on Wednesday. The pilots' union said 88 long-haul flights leaving Germany on Saturday would be hit.

The bodies of Poland’s former president and his wife were exhumed Monday evening as part of an investigation into an April 2010 plane crash in Russia that killed the couple — after years of speculation, backed by little evidence, that the crash was not an accident.

Industry in the Podkarpacie region savours the novel taste of success

One of China's first female fighter pilots and a member of the country's air force aerobatics team was killed in a training accident over the weekend, according to Chinese state-run media. Capt. Yu Xu, 30, died Saturday during a routine training flight with the aerobatics team, according to the reports. The Chinese military did not provide details of the accident in Hebei province, but state-run media, citing military sources and witnesses, said Yu ejected from her aircraft after it collided with another during the training.

A Russian MiG-29 fighter jet has crashed into the Mediterranean Sea as it tried to land on the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier, the country's defence ministry has said. The pilot ejected safely from the plane, the ministry said. The Admiral Kuznetsov is part of a group of Russian warships recently deployed near the Syrian coast. Nato had expressed concern planes from the carrier would be used to attack civilians in the Syrian city of Aleppo.

A flying wing – first developed in Nazi Germany – could prove one of the best ways to fly over Mars, Richard Hollingham reports.

Thousands of people flew Allegiant last year thinking their planes wouldn’t fail in the air. They were wrong. By Nathaniel Lash, William R. Levesque and Anthony Cormier.

We’ve learned to tolerate slow, boring air travel. But there’s a compelling case that it should be much, much faster.

Female physicians share their stories. By Mandy Oaklander.

WOW air, an Icelandic low cost airline, has announced transatlantic flights from Cork Airport, via Reykjavik, to eight cities across the US and Canada. The Icelandic low cost operator will also start a new Cork to Reykjavik service next year, with onward connections to major US and Canadian cities including New York, Boston, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Miami, Washington DC, Montreal and Toronto, with fares from €149 each way.

The government has approved a third runway at Heathrow to expand UK airport capacity following a cabinet committee meeting on Tuesday. Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said the "truly momentous" decision would support trade and create jobs. Gatwick airport said it was disappointed with the decision, which was "not the right answer for Britain". The issue has split the Cabinet, with Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson saying a third runway was "undeliverable".

A British Airways flight from San Francisco to London was diverted to Vancouver after members of the crew became ill, the airline says. Twenty-five crew members went to local hospitals as a precaution but were later discharged, said BA spokeswoman Michele Kropf. The crew were not treated for smoke inhalation as reported, she said. The airline did not say what the cause of the problem was or what their symptoms were. There has been no confirmation over how many people the Airbus A380 carried.

Back in 2014, we shared an impressive composite photo by Mike Kelley that combined 8 hours of airplane takeoffs at LAX into a single frame. After the viral success of that photo, Kelley decided to take the idea to major airports around the world. The resulting project is titled, Airportraits.

The Sublime Obsession of Plane Spotting. By Rose Lichter-Marck.

An American airline will begin to weigh its passengers to save fuel after it discovered its average passenger and carry-on luggage was heavier than expected. Hawaiian Airlines will force people to step on the scales if they want to fly the 2,600-mile route between Honolulu and American Samoa, and they will not be able to pre-book seats. Instead, they will be assigned seats when they check in to make sure weight is evenly distributed around the plane.