Huge Duststorm Hits Phoenix (Video)

A massive 50-mile-wide dust storm blew through Phoenix late on Tuesday; videos show a gray wall sweeping across the city. Winds reached 60 miles per hour, severe thunderstorm warnings were issued, and visibility was so reduced that flights to Phoenix from Los Angeles and Las Vegas were canceled until 9 p.m. Tuesday. The high winds are expected to continue for several days.

All I can say is, Wow!

How About Sitting Next to this Guy on Your Next Flight

It's true, U.S. Airways let this guy fly on a flight from Ft. Lauderdale to Phoenix last week.

The man flew six days before University of New Mexico football player DeShon Marman was arrested on a US Airways flight at San Francisco airport following allegations he refused to pull up his pants.

US Airways spokeswoman Valerie Wunder defended the airline's decision to let the man fly, saying employees acted correctly.

"We don't have a dress code policy," Wunder said. "Obviously, if their private parts are exposed, that's not appropriate...So if they're not exposing their private parts, they're allowed to fly."

Ash Cloud Clears, Flights Resume for Australians

Australian airlines struggled to move a backlog of tens of thousands of passengers on Wednesday after an ash cloud from a Chilean volcano, which had grounded flights across the country's eastern and southern states, cleared.

The ash cloud has circled the earth twice to disrupt Australian airlines for a second time, costing Qantas an estimated A$20 million before the latest disruptions and the tourism industry more than A$15 million in two weeks.

Australia's Bureau of Meteorology's Volcanic Ash Advisory Center said long-term modeling suggested the ash cloud would not pass over Australia for a third time and disrupt airlines.

Volcanic ash can be extremely dangerous to aircraft and cause engine failure or engine damage.
Qantas said it had resumed flights from Melbourne and Sydney, the country's two main terminals, while Virgin Australia had also resumed flights. Qantas low-cost subsidiary Jetstar and discount carrier Tiger Airlines were all also gradually resuming flights.

"There's possibly some hope that Thursday will start to return to normal," said Civil Aviation Safety Authority spokesman Peter Gibson.

The majority of international carriers continued flights to and from Australia on Wednesday, with airlines including Singapore, Thai, Etihad and Emirates landing in Sydney.

Ash Cloud Goes Around the World in 14 Days

Ash from a Chilean volcano that has been erupting for nearly two weeks has circled the globe and come home again.

The cloud — which has disrupted flights in Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Australia and New Zealand on its around-the-world trip — on Friday forced Chilean officials to cancel domestic flights for the first time since the Cordon Caulle volcano began erupting June 4.

LAN airlines suspended flights to the cities of Puerto Montt, Coyhaique and Punta Arenas in the far south of the South American country. While ash from Cordon Caulle has wreaked havoc with air travel abroad, it had left Chile's internal flights largely untouched until Friday.

On Thursday, the government of the Argentine province of Neuquen declared an economic emergency to aid towns where falling ash from Chile's volcano is endangering livestock and keeping tourists away.

The decree by Gov. Jorge Sapag will mean that those affected can receive tax benefits, among other measures.

The ash has blanketed towns across the border in Argentina.

In the area of Villa La Angostura up to one foot of ash has accumulated on the ground. The eruption came just as resorts in the mountain towns were preparing for ski season.

Argentina's regional airports in Patagonia have also been shut down for more than a week due to the cloud of fine grit, which can damage airplane engines.

United Airines Computers Working After Overnight Glitch

United Airlines says its computer systems are back up and working Saturday morning after going down for more than five hours overnight.

Thousands of United passengers at Chicago's O'Hare and airports across the country have been affected. Many were still trying to get to their destinations Saturday.

The problems began Friday night just after 7 p.m. By 1 a.m. Saturday, United announced on its Twitter page its systems were running again.

In addition to departures, the computer outage also affected airport processing and reservations.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) says because of the glitch, United passengers could not check in for their flights.

For many passengers at O'Hare, the experience was a nightmare.

"Well, we've been here for quite a while and they kept us hanging on and hanging on, and they finally let us know about 20 minutes ago that they're cancelling our flight. They were letting flights out to the United States but none that went to Canada, none that were international," passenger Louise Mackey said overnight.

United Airlines had not announced later Saturday morning what caused the computer problems or how many flights or passengers were affected.  They also don't know when they will be back operating on schedule.