American Airlines flight makes emergency landing in Las Vegas

by Kraig Becker on

An American Airlines Boeing 757 was forced to make an emergency landing at Las Vegas‘ McCarran International Airport earlier today after pilots detected smoke in the cockpit.

AA Flight 431 was traveling from Miami to San Francisco, and was over Utah, when the crew diverted from their course to make the landing. They touched down at 11:10 AM Pacific time and were met by emergency crews who assisted with the evacuation of the plane. All 159 passengers and six crew, exited without incident or injury.

A spokesperson for American Airlines said that the emergency landing is standard procedure for pilots after smoke is detected on a plane, and that the crew was just acting properly to ensure the safety of all those on board.

At this time, it is unclear as to the cause of the smoke, but investigations by AA flight mechanics and the FAA are ongoing. In the meantime the company is working to re-book all the stranded passengers and get them back on their way to San Francisco.

Las Vegas airport wants you to start getting boozed up at the baggage claim liquor store

by Scott Carmichael on

McCarran airport in Las Vegas is like most other airports in the nation – they are hurting quite badly. Visitor numbers are down, ad revenues are down, and because you can no longer smoke in their airport, even gambling revenues are down.

But what do you do as the main airport for Sin City? Well, you come up with innovative ways to make more money. And what could be more appropriate for Las Vegas than a baggage claim liquor store?

According to airport officials, visitors to Vegas often have their cab or limo driver stop at a local liquor store anyway, so why not make access to booze even easier?

One county commissioner is not too thrilled about the concept, and had the following to say:

“What’s next? Airport strip clubs? Topless bars? Is that appropriate for county property? I mean, that’s ‘out-of-the-box’ thinking, too.”

Well, yeah – those would probably do quite well at the airport. In fact, add some tables and hotel rooms and people won’t even need to leave the terminal building.

The planned liquor store is still in its early stages, but the airport has already determined that the store would be legal. So, next time you are in Vegas, you may be able to grab your bags and a couple of cases of beer.

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(Image credit: Getty)

Airlines Complain about Vegas Airport’s Plan

by Josh Lew on

Despite seeing a decrease in the number of arrivals, construction of a new terminal will go ahead as planned at McCarran Airport Las Vegas. Though the 2 billion dollar project will not be completed until 2012, some airlines are questioning the timing of the project. It’s not secret that airlines are struggling. Arrivals are down almost 5% at McCarran since last year. A drop of as high as 15% is forecast for next year.

Southwest Airlines has been the biggest critic of the expansion. Over 30% of Las Vegas arrivals fly Southwest. But the airline has been trimming back its service to Sin City. The airport expansion will mostly be funded by an increase in the fees that airlines pay to use the airport and its gates. No one wants to hear talk of higher prices right now, especially at a bread-and-butter location like Las Vegas. After the rapid growth that the city has been experiencing, no one seems to want to look at the facts. But things are slowing down. I guess McCarran is gambling that things won’t be so slow in a couple of years.