Faulty Brakes May Have Caused Russian Plane Crash

Faulty brakes may be to blame for the Red Wings airliner sliding off the runway and crashing onto a highway near Moscow, killing five people, a member of the crash investigation team said.

Investigators said they were examining the black boxes to try to determine the cause of Saturday's crash, which cracked the wings off the Tupolev-204 plane and split the fuselage into three pieces.

If they find bad brakes were at fault, it would match a warning issued to the state-owned Tupolev by Russia's aviation authority to fix problems with the brakes that may have caused a Tu-204 with 70 people onboard to go off a Siberian runway on December 21.

Any sign that the catastrophe during peak holiday travel could have been avoided will worsen concerns over the country's poor air-safety record, despite President Vladimir Putin's calls to improve controls.

Four Dead In Russian Airliner Crash Landing

A Russian airliner flying without passengers broke into pieces after it slid off the runway and crashed onto a highway outside Moscow upon landing on Saturday, killing four of the eight crew on board and leaving smoking chunks of fuselage on the icy road.

The crash during peak travel ahead of Russia's New Year's holiday, which runs from Sunday to January 9, cast a spotlight on the country's poor air-safety record despite President Vladimir Putin's calls to improve controls.

The Red Wings Tu-204 involved in the fatal crash.

Television footage showed the Tupolev Tu-204 jet with smoke billowing from the tail and the cockpit broken clean off the front.

Some witnesses told state channel Rossiya-24 they saw a man thrown from the plane as it rammed into the barrier of the highway outside Vnukovo airport, southwest of the capital, and another described pulling other people from the wreckage.

Alitalia Denies Tie-up With Italian Rail Company

Alitalia, still reeling from financial troubles in 2008, denied media speculation about a possible tie-up with Italian state rail operator Ferrovie dello Stato.

"Since rumours continue to appear on the front pages of newspapers, we are forced to utterly and strongly deny any idea of an agreement between Alitalia and Ferrovie dello Stato," Alitalia said in a statement. "No such plan is being considered."

On Sunday Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera reported that Ferrovie dello Stato was considering investing in Alitalia as part of an eventual turnaround plan that would involve an industrial partnership with Air France-KLM.

Alitalia returned to profit in the third quarter after reporting losses in the first half, but it is losing ground to high-speed train operators such as Ferrovie dello Stato and private newcomer Nuovo Trasporto Viaggiatori.

Saudi Awards Qatar And Gulf Air Local Licenses

Saudi Arabia's General Authority for Civil Aviation has awarded carrier licenses to Gulf Air and Qatar Airways, the Saudi state news agency reported on Friday, the first foreign airlines to win such a license in the kingdom.

The license, which 14 companies had applied for, is to operate both local and international flights, GACA has previously said.

Until now only the national carrier Saudi Airlines and budget airline National Air Services have serviced a domestic market of around 27 million people.

With Saudi Arabia's price cap on domestic flights, private airlines have struggled with their profit margins.

Saudi Airlines, which is undergoing a slow privatisation process, receives fuel at subsidised prices unlike private carriers, allowing it to offset the limits of the ticket cost ceiling.

Flights Cancelled As Snow Hits US Northeast

A powerful winter storm responsible for wind, snow, tornadoes and a flurry of traffic accidents battered the US Northeast on Thursday, with hundreds of flights cancelled.

A Southwest Airlines jet skidded off the runway on Thursday at Long Island MacArthur Airport, about 50 miles (80 km) east of New York City, as it taxied for takeoff, Suffolk County police said.

None of the 134 people aboard Tampa-bound flight 4695 was injured, police said.

"It's been undetermined at this time if weather was a factor," a police spokeswoman said.

The storm dumped a foot (30 cm) of snow on parts of the United States with the heaviest snow falling across northern New York and into northern New England, the National Weather Service reported.

The service issued coastal flood advisories from New York's Long Island to southern Maine and winter storm warnings for parts of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and New England.

Airlines cancelled 548 flights on Thursday after 1,500 US flights were cancelled on Wednesday, according to FlightAware.