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A flight attendant on board an American Airlines Boeing 767 who had an expired pilot’s license had to assist and take over for a sick co-pilot. The flight attendant then helped to land the AA Boeing 767 at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport.

The Boeing 767 was flying from San Francisco to Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport when the co-pilot became ill with a stomach bug. Help was requested from the flight deck from any passengers with a pilot’s license. Flight attendant Patti DeLuna, stepped forward as she was a commercial pilot in the past, and took over for the ailing first officer – The flight’s purser also had flight experience, but the captain eventually chose DeLuna.

DeLuna’s first question to the captain was, ‘Where are the brakes?’”

According to media reports, Patti DeLuna, has been a flight attendant for 32 years, had a commercial pilot’s certificate in 1970, and has about 300 flight-hours flying a small Cessna but had not flown since for about 20 years.

The plane, carrying 225 passengers and 7 crew, landed safely at Chicago O’Hare. The sick co-pilot was taken to hospital, treated and released.

An American Airlines spokesman said the Boeing 767 can be flown by only one pilot if required and is actually so sophisticated it can even land itself thanks to the Auto-Land system.

The British Airways test flight which was conducted yesterday seems to have landed wihout any evidence of damage from volcanic ash. The BA Boeing 747 jumbo landed at the British Airways maintenance facility in Cardiff with BA chief executive Willie Walsh on board. The aircraft flew for more than two hours, up to an altitude of about 40,000 feet which would be approximately the standard cruising altitude of this aircraft. No damage has been found in the engines due to the ash cloud and a more detailed technical analysis is being undertaken to confirm the initial findings of the BA Test Flight. However NATO say that F-16 jets which flew through the ash cloud had suffered engine damage.

Commercial airlines around Europe are now looking at the British Airways test flight to see if this may see flights resuming again in European Airspace which is costing about €150m per day and some airlines might have to close as a result of this major issue, combined with the recent recessionary problems faced by the European airlines.

This is now longer than the 9/11 closure of airspace and it is really unusual to look into the sky and not see any contrails.

The decision to close airspace was made in the interest of customer safety, but could the aircraft have flown below 20,000ft or could there have been reduced altitude short haul flights from Dublin to lets say Manchester or Liverpool, London to Paris in order to to ease the burden.

There are probably many people wondering “When can I fly again?” but with the weather set to change on Friday hopefully this will push the ash to the East and clear some airspace around the UK and Ireland. But with the possibility of the volcano continuing for months or even years this air dissruption will be just another thing to get used to.

Continuing on my series if reviews on Lanzarote I have outlined a few places which are good for eating , shopping and drinking in Lanzarote. Most of these are in Puerto Del Carmen but I have some from Playa Blanca also.

Best Island Tours of Lanzarote

Grand Tour, Last Minute Travel;
Takes in the national park, lava fields, the caves and some extra stops including wine tasting. Lunch is included. Takes about 8 hours.

César Manrique Tour, Last Minute Travel;
Takes in areas of the island which have buildings or sculptures designed by local artist Cesar Manrique. You get great views if the island, a chance to enter caves created by a 20m year old lava flow, you can see his house and visit a cactus garden with 10,000 plants. Lunch is included. Takes about 8 hours.

Other Tours
If you are in a group the Rancho Texas evening would be great fun but it is not something for couples as you end up sitting with 6 strangers … Forced conversation can be difficult. Food was nice and lasso / whip demo was excellent. End of show cabaret including songs from show turkeys such as “Annie get your gun” and “Calamity Jane” was not for my taste.

Diners & Restaurants in Puerto del Carmen

American Indian Diner, located on the main strip in Puerto Del Carmen, the American Indian Diner has live music every night on stage with rock band “Question, 3 video screens with the best in rock and pop and live soccer from the Permiership, great food & cocktails including American burgers, steaks, delicious starters from only €2.80 as well as English breakfast, sandwiches and more from 8.00 a.m. – Great Atmosphere and we came here about 3 nights running.

Universo, located 2 doors down from the American Indian Diner. If you are looking for real food, if you are sick of fast food and burgers, this place will certainly deliver. Great food at reasonable prices. We were well impressed here.

New World Chinese Restaurant. A great Chinese, check out my full review on this restaurant. click here.

Indian Aroma,  Located about 5 min walk from the Fariones shops, this Indian is authentic, great starters and nice food. Indian Restaurants abroad are not 100% like Indians in Ireland, but are more like Indians in the UK. Sauces are thicker and a bit spicier. But we really enjoyed here and the food was very good.

Shopping in Lanzarote

Biosphera Shopping Centre. Located at the top of the hill in  he old town there are plenty of good shops and cafes, there is also  a Hagen Daz ice cream parlour if you get too hot from shopping. This is also where the #6 bus to Playa Blanca departs from.

Shopping in Playa Blanca. Playa Blanca is very good for shopping. Away from the main centre of tourism, Puerto Del Carmen, Playa Blanca seems to give a bit better value. Cosmetics, Perfumes, Electrical Items and Cameras are all good value. Don’t forget to haggle – if you are offered 200, say its too expensive and start to walk, you will be offered 170 and you might just say that you thought it would be cheaper, before you know it you will be offered 155 if you are lucky.

Overall, Lanzarote is a great place for shopping but it can be easy to get ripped off if you are not careful. Forewarned is forearmed – so enjoy if you are going !

In one of my final posts regarding Lanzarote I used an excellent transfer service from a company called ‘Canal Travel’ from Arricife Airport and basically said I would share a good review via the blog.

A very reliable service provided Canal Travel and the owner Rafael was excellent in helping us on our arrival as our travel agent in Waterford had let us down by not booking transfers for us. On departure they were right on time (they were actually there in advance) at our hotel and took our bags from the lobby which helped make departure from the hotel that bit easier.

I was well impressed and certainly recommend them.

Canal Travel
Website: www.canaltravel.com

I was recently in Lanzarote and visited the New World Chinese Restaurant located opposite the Fariones Shops in Puerto del Carmen. The staff were very welcoming and the interior has excellent decor with Chinese paintings and sculptures adding to the atmosphere.

There are a wide range of starters including the usual favourites but I went for their Dim Sum which is excellent (#4 to be exact) followed by fish in mushroom and bamboo for the main course (only €5.95 for the main)

I have eaten here twice in the past 2 years and each time I come away happy. The food here is excellent matched also by the service. 2 starters , 2 mains and 2 soft drinks came in at under €30… If only you could get the same value in Ireland!

If you are in Puerto del Carmen this is a must visit restaurant!