Taylor Swift‘s The Eras Tour concert film will premiere across the UK and Europe next month following its success in America.

Following record-breaking demand for screenings of the fly on the wall film, ODEON Cinemas group revealed that the movie will also be screened in Europe.

Tickets are now live in the UK, Ireland, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Spain, Italy, Germany and Portugal and the release is slated for October 13.

In a nod to Taylor Swift’s 1989 album and her favourite number, 13, tickets in the UK and Ireland will be priced at £19.89 for adults and £13.13 for children.

The first incredible screening kicks off at 6pm on 13 October the concert film will play multiple showtimes at cinemas on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays to meet the anticipated demand.

The history-making concert was a phenomenon during the first leg of its US run, and the UK and European leg of the tour is due to kick off on 9 May 2024 in Paris and wrap up on 17 August 2024 in London. 

Fans across the UK and Europe will now be able to see the incredible tour experience on the big screen at the same time as fans in the US, Canada and Mexico, before the tour itself reaches the continent.

The ticket release in the U.S, Canada and Mexico set a new record at ODEON’s parent company AMC as it made $26 million in ticket-sales revenue.

ODEON are expecting similarly high demand for this cinematic experience.

The tour, in which Taylor runs through hits from her 17-year career, is on track to make a projected gross of $2.2 billion in North American ticket sales alone,’ TIME previously reported.

According to TIME, industry analysts said that the performer’s lucrative tour should surpass $1 billion in revenue by March of 2024, when she is slated to be overseas.

The numbers would make it the most-profitable tour ever, surpassing the $939m Elton John made on his The Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour, according to the outlet.

Taylor’s career continues to soar, but in her private life she is reportedly been hanging out with Kansas City tight end, Travis Kelce.

They have apparently  been spending time together under the radar for months before they were spotted together in public for the first time on Sunday.

The pop superstar supported the sports start as his team beat the Chicago Bears, and afterward the enjoyed an ‘affectionate’ dinner together, but that was reportedly just their most high-profile get-together so far.

Sources with direct knowledge of the couple claimed to TMZ on Monday that the two have hung out together ‘several times’ over the past few months.

It’s not clear exactly when the two began seeing each other in person, but Travis had revealed on his New Heights podcast in July that he had hoped to introduce himself to Taylor when he attended one of her Eras Tour stops.

‘I wanted to give Taylor Swift [a bracelet] with my number on it,’ the tight end shared, but he learned that the singer’s devotion to putting on the best performance possible made it impossible to chat with her.

‘I was disappointed that she doesn’t talk before or after her shows because she has to save her voice for the 44 songs that she sings, so I was a little butt-hurt I didn’t get to hand her one of the bracelets I made for her,’ he said.

Taylor amped up the budding courtship at Sunday’s game when she arrived alone — aside from her usual bodyguards — to cheer on Travis from a box.

However, the sources explained to the outlet that the Lavender Haze singer’s earlier meetings with the NFL star were in a ‘very private setting’ so as to not attract attention.

It appears that she’s moving toward a more open relationship with Travis now, though the sources also stressed that the two are not ‘officially’ dating, even though things are clearly heating up between them.

Another sign that Taylor the Kansas City Chiefs star are growing closer was that she met his parents at Sunday’s game.

The hitmaker could be seen cheering on Travis while standing next to his mother Donna, and Travis’ father Ed was also in attendance.

Meeting parents for the first time is often stressful, but the sources shared that the first meeting went ‘very well,’ and Taylor seems to have particularly won over Donna, who called her a ‘lovely person.’

Although she has now met Travis’ parents, Taylor has yet to meet his brother Jason Kelce, who plays for the Philadelphia Eagles and co-hosts the New Heights podcast with his sibling.

Although Taylor and Travis appeared to keep the PDA to a minimum while heading to the Prime Social Rooftop in Kansas City after the game on Sunday, eyewitnesses spotted them holding hands once they were inside the restaurant.

The PDA escalated when Taylor reportedly sat on the football players lap at one point.

The dinner was only somewhat private, as Travis’ family, including his mother Donna, also showed up, and some of his teammates dropped by as well.

An eyewitness previously told Entertainment Tonight that it was Travis who had bought out the restaurant for the afterparty.

‘Taylor arrived, wearing a denim dress, and was seen snacking, having some cocktails and dancing alongside Travis,’ they said.

Another diner told ET that restaurant staff told them there would be a ‘hard close’ at 8 p.m., and the wait staff handed out to-go boxes ahead of the deadline while letting them know that they would need to leave the premises before that time.

However, they were offered free drinks at the restaurant’s sister venue to cut down on the inconvenience.

Although some of the patrons apparently asked if the closure was related to Travis and Taylor, the staff reportedly were stiff-lipped.

By Ted Thornhill, Mailonline Travel Editor

Published: 11:32 EDT, 25 September 2023 | Updated: 11:37 EDT, 25 September 2023

A fuming traveller claims £1,000 ($1,200) worth of items went missing after an airline ‘lost’ her luggage for two months – despite her AirTag tracker revealing that it was at the airport.

Sarah Waite, 25, travelled from Los Angeles to Athens, with a layover in Paris.

But when she landed in the Greek capital, she discovered her suitcase had not made it on to the plane and would arrive later.

A week later, Sarah, who is originally from Los Angeles, received a notification from her AirTag, a tracking device by Apple, saying her bag had left Paris and was finally in Athens.

When she went to pick it up, she claims Air France staff told her they didn’t have it despite the AirTag showing its location at the airport.

The registered nurse spent two months without her luggage after the flight on May 14.

And when she was finally able to retrieve it, Sarah claims her suitcase had been damaged and £1,000 ($1,200) worth of items were missing, including shoes and makeup.

Sarah described the whole experience as ‘horrible and traumatising’.

It was the trip of a lifetime for Sarah, who travelled to Athens to pursue her dream of learning modern and ancient Greek literature.

So her dream trip wasn’t off to a good start when she landed in Athens with no luggage. 

She said: ‘I went to claim my luggage and almost all of the passengers were informed that it was arriving later.

‘We all had to make a claim at the Air France desk at 2am local time.

‘There were probably about 60 people that stayed to file the claim, me being one of them.’

In the hope of speeding things up, Sarah filed a claim online while waiting in the physical queue.

At 5am in the morning, three hours after landing, she finally left Athens International Airport – without her luggage.

Sarah had an AirTag inside her suitcase so she could see that the item was in Paris, where she’d had her layover.

She said: ‘Luckily I had an AirTag inside my luggage so I could see that Air France was not lying and it really was still in the Paris airport.’

Sarah kept in touch with airline staff over the next few days but found the communication difficult.

She said ‘I kept in contact with Air France about my claim and they were not communicative at all, leaving me on hold for long periods, not connecting me with someone who spoke English.’

A week later, on May 20, Sarah’s AirTag sent her a notification revealing that her luggage had left Paris Charles de Gaulle and was finally in Athens.

She decided to make her way to the airport but when she arrived, she was unable to reclaim her belongings.

Sarah said: ‘I went to the help desk and then finally to the lost and found with lots of effort and back-and-forth argumentation about my claim number.

‘It was not there and there was nothing I could do, even though my AirTag said it was there.’

As she found herself without her suitcase, Sarah, who suffers from Graves’ disease, had to buy a number of items including her thyroid medications.

The condition is an autoimmune disorder that can cause hyperthyroidism or overactive thyroid.

She said: ‘I lost hope but I continued my communication with the airline every day, sending them receipts of the items I had to purchase.’

Two months later, on July 20, Sarah was still able to track her AirTag, so she made a final attempt and travelled to the airport again.

When she arrived, Sarah went to the airline desk and confronted the staff. 

She said ‘The people helping me were very rude, yelling at me when I expressed frustration, telling me there is nothing they can do even though they work at the airport and can take me to the AirTag location.

‘They even threatened to call the police on me because I started video recording the situation.’

A video shows the interaction between herself and the staff, where an argument breaks out.

According to Sarah, the staff eventually agreed to take her to the lost and found where she was finally able to retrieve her luggage.

When she was reunited with her suitcase, Sarah claimed that it was clear it had been damaged and items lost.

She explained: ‘I got my bag, but again with extreme frustration.

‘I went to the help desk and got permission to access the lost and found.

‘I went to the lost and found and then the other lost and found but my bag was not there.

‘I finally broke down and cried in front of the entire staff and that is when someone said, “Oh we called you, okay stay here.”‘

She added: ‘It took extreme emotional expression to get the people to understand who I was and that I was contacted, even though I was telling everyone who helped me out that my name is Sarah Waite and I was called because my bags were found.

‘A young man took me to the customs area where my AirTag was tagged and I got my bag.

‘My luggage was completely ripped open, shoes were gone, makeup gone, bags were missing and the original lock on the zippers is not on it.

‘I am devastated still, but at least my medication, which is in a liquid form, if you have Graves’ disease then you know, is viable.’

Sarah documented her lost-luggage frustrations on TikTok, revealing on one clip that she received $600 (£485) in compensation.

Air France has yet to respond to requests for comment. 

In a clearing in a forest, a gravel path gives way to a square of tarmac that is about the size of a football pitch. It is all that is left of what was once the runway at Munich-Riem airport. It was from a point near there that the Busby Babes began their final journey on February 6th 1958.

There are two thick white lines running down the middle of the tarmac, the remnants of airport markings. But there is not much else to identify it. Even those lines are stained by tyre tracks, tell-tale signs of kids finding a hidden spot to spin cars in roaring circles, doing doughnuts after dark.

The echoes of the saddest moments in Manchester United’s history whisper at you as you stand there, gazing into the distance where the runway once led. ‘It’s now or never,’ Roger Byrne, United’s skipper, said as the British European Airways twin-engine Elizabethan sat there on the tarmac, preparing to make its third take-off attempt.

When Sir Bobby Charlton, the last living survivor of the disaster that killed eight Manchester United players, regained consciousness as he lay in the snow amid the plane’s wreckage at the other end of the runway, he saw Byrne still strapped in his seat and realised straight away that he was dead.

The old control tower, an ochre outlier beside the glass frontages of the shopping mall and the international congress centre that have been built on the old airfield, is the only other remnant of Munich-Riem. To stare up at it is to imagine the horror that gripped the people who occupied it that February evening and saw the Elizabethan ploughing through the snow.

It is still hard to reconcile the horrors of those moments 65 years ago with the everyday life that unfolds around the crash site now. In late afternoon on Monday, boys spilled out of primary school on their scooters and sang and laughed as they made their way home. One stopped briefly and reached up to pull fruit from the low-hanging branches of a quince tree.

It rained in squalls on Monday afternoon. At the crash site, a bouquet had been placed at the foot of the plinth that commemorates the 23 footballers, club staff and journalists, who died. The little square, which sits at the edge of a ploughed field, was renamed Manchesterplatz in honour of those who did not come home.

There was no one else there on Monday, Cars hurried past on a busy road but it is still a peaceful place. The plinth, and a display case filled with tributes to the ‘Flowers of Manchester’ sheltered from the rain beneath the kindly and noble boughs of four lime trees.

More will visit on Tuesday and more still on Wednesday, the day when the successors to Byrne and Charlton and Eddie Colman and Harry Gregg and David Pegg and Duncan Edwards and the rest of them take on Bayern Munich in their first match of this season’s Champions League group stage.

This is a place of pilgrimage for United fans, a place where you can still feel the soul of the club as well as the sorrow of what happened and the way the memory of those who died here drove United on to win the European Cup at Wembley ten years later.

Everyone whose family comes from Manchester has a story about the Babes and the crash and how it touched them. My mother’s family lived in Denstone Avenue in Urmston and, in the days before footballers lived behind the locked gates of mansions, Dennis Viollet and his family lived in a club-owned terraced house opposite them.

When the plane crashed, Viollet’s wife, Barbara, was desperate for news but the club had not provided them with a phone line. My grandmother and grandfather relayed what news they could. Finally, she was able to make a call from their house that told her Dennis had survived relatively unscathed.

My dad’s story was more straightforward. He rode his bike from Stockport up to Ringway Airport and waited by the side of the road to pay his respects as the coffins of the dead players were taken by car into Manchester city centre.

The modern United was built on the legend of Matt Busby, who was gravely injured in the crash, and of those brilliant young players who perished. They built the club that became the biggest in the world, and Sir Alex Ferguson nurtured it before things began to change so that now supporters wonder what has happened to their club’s soul.

Out here in Bavaria, with the memories of the boys who died, sometimes feels like as good a place to locate it as any. ‘We’ll Never Die,’ the words written on a scarf in the display case under the lime trees say and for all the sadness of this spot, there is something wonderfully uplifting about it, too.

As United prepare to play Bayern, reeling from scandal after scandal with Mason Greenwood, Antony and Jadon Sancho, struggling to come to terms with the manner of their defeat to Brighton at the weekend, starting to ask questions about Erik ten Hag, lost in anger at the dereliction wrought by the Glazers, this place stands for something else.

Sure, United will be desperate to win in the Allianz Arena on Wednesday evening and others will be delighted if Harry Kane puts one over on the team that that had flirted with buying him in the past and should be regretting not doing so amid all the mediocrity they have injected into the side.

But what is left of the old airfield at Munich-Riem is not the place for such worries and fretting. There is a timelessness about this place that make rivalries seem petty and inconsequential. There is a Manchester City scarf among those in pride of place in the memorial display. There are pictures of players immortalised by what happened here.

The world of film has its picture of James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause as its version of a star who never got old. Football’s James Dean is Duncan Edwards, his chest puffed out, standing at the end of the line of United players before a European Cup tie against Red Star Belgrade, their last before the crash. For all of us who never saw him play, he will always be a 21-year-old hero, a player who could have been the greatest ever.

Edwards died at the Rechts der Isar Hospital in Munich 15 days after the crash and this month, the hospital’s in-house magazine published an interview with Elisabeth Weber, one of the nurses who treated the injured United players and Busby and became known as The Angels of Munich.

When Elisabeth spoke to the interviewer, the interviewer noted that she was wearing a United scarf with the words ‘Lest we Forget’ emblazoned on it. She, and others, were honoured by the Queen for the care they gave to United’s stricken team.

And so there will be rivalry when the clubs meet on Wednesday but there will be something deeper that is shared, too, something which is always shared when United visit this beautiful city whose name looms so large in its history.

‘Thank you to the wonderful citizens of Munich for 60 years of respect and compassion,’ a message from United fans reads at the crash site. Underneath the limes, there is a bench with a plaque on it, too. ‘To the Munich citizens in thanks,’ it says, from the ‘supporters of MUFC.’

Ukraine destroyed a state-of-the-art Russian air defence system in an overnight drone and missile attack in annexed Crimea, Kyiv has claimed.

Kyiv‘s security service (SBU) managed to blind the S-400 ‘Triumf’ system by firing a series of drones at its radar and antenna before the Navy fired two its newly-developed Neptune cruise missiles at the system’s launch complexes, a Ukrainian intelligence source said.

Video footage showed powerful explosions and a plume of smoke rising in the night sky near the western town of Yevatoriya, which is where the Russian facility is located.

The strikes on the S-400 is significant since the state-of-the-art air defence system and associated radar should detect and nullify drones and missiles over some 200 miles.

And it illustrates yet again the success of Ukraine’s Neptune anti-ship missile, which has been modified to attack ground targets, military analysts say. 

Last month, Ukraine detonated a modified subsonic Neptune missile in Crimea, destroying another of Russia‘s S-400 Triumf air defence systems in a spectacular explosion that also took out Russian troops.

Initial speculation was that Kyiv had used a British or French supplied Storm Shadow missile with pinpoint accuracy in last month’s deadly strike on Olenivka at Cape Tarkhankut in northwest Crimea. 

But a Ukrainian official confirmed that the attack was ‘100 per cent carried out by a modified Neptune’. 

Russia has yet to comment on the latest attack on the S-400 Triumf system. Instead, Moscow said its air defences shot down 11 attack drones overnight over Crimea, which Russia seized and annexed from Ukraine in 2014. 

Debris from the Ukrainian drones was found in Yevpatoriya, said Russian reports, while locals reported hearing 15 explosions that caused buildings to shake.

The S-400 ‘Triumf’ system is designed to destroy aircraft, cruise and ballistic missiles, including medium-range missiles. It can also be used on ground targets. 

Separately in the Russian region of Saratov, near the village of Krasny Oktyabr, a huge explosion on a major gas pipeline sent flames shooting into the sky today. 

The cause of this giant blast was not immediately clear and an investigation is underway, but Russia is facing a rising tide of sabotage attacks. 

In the Black Sea, Russia’s defence ministry claimed its forces had repelled a concerted attack by five kamikaze marine drones on patrol ship Sergei Kotov.

The ship had used its weapons to destroy the sea drones, according to Russian sources.

Meanwhile, three aircraft-type aerial drones were downed in the Bryanak region close to the Ukrainian border, say the Moscow authorities.

Ukraine has stepped up its attacks on Russia – and Putin-held territory – in recent weeks. 

On Wednesday, Ukraine launched missiles at the Crimean port of Sevastopol, home to the Russian navy’s Black Sea Fleet, in an attack that signalled Ukraine’s growing missile capabilities.

The missile attack on the Sevastopol Shipyard caused heavy damage to a large Russian landing ship and submarine, commercial satellite imagery showed. 

Kyiv said on Wednesday the two vessels were likely beyond repair after the pre-dawn missile attack on the port city while Russia’s defence ministry confirmed the strike, but said the vessels would be fully repaired and return to service. 

Overhead images of the shipyard taken by the Black Sky company the day before and the day of the September 13 attack showed two vessels in dry dock were visibly damaged.

‘The Minsk Project 775 Ropucha-class landing ship and the Rostov-on-Don Kilo-class submarine vessels… sustained damage,’ the company wrote on the X social media platform late on Wednesday, publishing the images.

The strike was seen by military analysts as the biggest attack of the war on Sevastopol, which is home of the Russian navy’s Black Sea Fleet. 

Meanwhile, Ukraine has continued to use its newly-developed Neptune missiles in the war – as was the case in today’s overnight strike. 

The new missile is now designed to hit ground targets, with modifications including changes to its GPS system and a vastly extended range. 

One of the anti-ship missiles famously sank the Moskva flagship of Vladimir Putin’s Black Sea Fleet last year. 

Kyiv has had to turn to the development of its own long-range missiles after allied nations supplying munitions stipulated that they could not be used outside of Ukraine’s territory.

By Ted Thornhill, Mailonline Travel Editor

Updated: 10:08 EDT, 4 September 2023

Levels of harmful air pollutant nitrogen dioxide increase since introduction of Scotland’s first low-emissions zone

• The amount of nitrogen dioxide rose in Glasgow after older cars were banned 

By Krissy Storrar and Danya Bazaraa and Tom Eden

Updated: 08:17 EDT, 4 September 2023

Air-fryers are without a doubt the must-have kitchen gadget at the moment, with  celebrities from Sir Mo Farah to Drew Barrymore confessing their love for them. 

The appliance uses hot air rather than hot oil to cook foods, offering a quick and healthy alternative to deep-fat fryers. 

While many of us use our devices to cook frozen treats such as chips or chicken nuggets, there are a range of surprising foods that work an absolute treat in the air fryer. 

‘Air fryers can be useful for quickly cooking and crisping up frozen foods,’ Which? said, but added that you can ‘get away with cooking almost anything’ in the device. 

From hard ‘boiled’ eggs to steak, here are seven foods you probably didn’t know you could cook in an air fryer.     

Hard-boiled eggs

Speaking to MailOnline, Liana Green, a blogger who has written countless air fryer guides, explained how to create the perfect hard ‘boiled’ eggs in the air fryer. 

‘Air frying boiled eggs might sound counterintuitive, but the air fryer offers a consistent temperature, making it easier to achieve perfectly cooked eggs every time,’ she said. 

‘Plus, you eliminate the need for boiling water.’

Ms Green recommends air frying at 150°C for eight minutes for a runny yolk, or for 12 minutes for a harder centre.

However, she added: ‘You might need to experiment with your air fryer a bit.’

Donuts

A food blogger has revealed how to make doughnuts in an air fryer with just two ingredients.

Known as The Suga Fix on social media, Emma, from London, posted a recipe on Instagram on how to make the delicious-looking sweet treats.

To make the stripped-back recipe you will need 200g of self raising flour and 250ml of Greek yoghurt – plus butter and caster sugar to finish them off, and Lotus Biscoff spread if you want a dip.

Emma said: ‘Mix together the yoghurt and flour until a shaggy dough forms. Knead on the counter for 3 mins, add flour if it’s sticky. Use a spoon to cut small pieces of dough, then roll into balls.

She added: ‘Spray your air fryer basket with vegetable oil, then put in 12 balls. Fry at 200c for 12-15 mins (if the inside is doughy they are not done yet).

‘Brush the dough holes with melted butter, roll in sugar & enjoy!’

Ravioli

Unsurprisingly, you can’t use an air fryer to cook dried pasta, since you need to put it in boiling water. 

However, fresh ravioli crisps up beautifully in the appliance, and can serve as a quick and easy starter for your next dinner party, or simply a delicious snack. 

Just coat your ravioli in beaten egg and breadcrumbs, before placing them in the air fryer at 175°C for 10 minutes, flipping half way through. 

Your ravioli should be crispy on the outside and soft and gooey on the inside! 

Halloumi

While frozen cheese products such as breaded cheese bites or mozzarella sticks are fine to cook in the air fryer, it’s best to avoid using any fresh cheese.

Most fresh cheese has a low melting temperature, which means it can quickly burn. 

The only exception to this rule is halloumi, which is safe to cook in the air fryer thanks to its higher melting point. 

‘The air fryer’s high heat crisps the halloumi’s outside to perfection while keeping the inside deliciously soft,’ Ms Green said. 

‘Drizzle with a little honey to get that amazing Mediterranean taste. I air fry at 200°C for 8 to 10 minutes.’

Steak

Many food puritans will recoil in horror at the thought of cooking steak in the air fryer. 

And while Ms Green agrees that the applicance probably won’t replace your grill or pan, she says it ‘does an admirable job of cooking steak.’

‘The circulating hot air seals in the juices and flavours, giving you a steak that’s both tender and full of flavour,’ she told MailOnline. 

‘Just make sure to preheat the air fryer and don’t overcrowd it to get the best results.’

How long you air fry your steak for depends on both the cut and how well done you like it. 

For a sirloin steak, Ms Green recommends pre-heating your air fryer at 200°C. 

Three to four minutes on each side is perfect if you like your steak medium-rare, while she recommends four to five minutes on each side if you prefer it medium. 

And if the idea of any pink meat gives you the ick, a well-done steak can be achieved with five to six minutes of cooking on each side.  

Garlic

Whether it’s a pasta dish or a vegetable side, if you’re following a recipe that calls for roasted garlic, forget using the oven. 

Roasting garlic in the air fryer takes half the time, and involves virtually no preparation. 

Simply slice the botom off the garlic bulb and place it on a piece of alumnium foil. 

Drizzle with olive oil before sealing the foil and placing it in your air fryer at 200°C. 

Check your garlic after 20 minutes – it should turn golden brown when it’s ready! 

Fried rice

Cooking rice from scratch requires water, so the air fryer just isn’t suitable.

‘An air fryer isn’t a go-to appliance for boiling and steaming – you’re better off sticking to a slow cooker or a pot on the hob,’ Which? said. 

However, if you have leftover cooked rice, you can make delicious fried rice with the appliance. 

For the best results, mix your leftover rice with cooked scrambled egg, frozen vegetables, soy sauce and oil before cooking it in your air fryer at 175°C for 10 to 15 minutes. 

‘Radar contact lost.’

Former air traffic controller Robin A. Smith reveals in his memoir that he once had to utter that dreaded phrase – one that no one in the profession ever wants to say.

He recounts in the riveting tome the sequence of events that led up to him saying it. And how for a brief time, he thought a disaster involving an airliner and four military aircraft was imminent.

The account underscores that when an air traffic controller has a bad day at work, it can be truly hair-raising.

The ‘radar contact lost’ drama played out in August 1992 over Tucson in Arizona when Smith worked in the Tucson terminal radar approach control (Tracon), which was housed on the city’s Davis-Monthan Air Force Base and oversaw plane movements for the base and the international airport four and a half miles to the southwest.

The day in question had begun positively, Smith recalls – he drove to his 6am to 3pm shift under cobalt blue skies.

But ominous signs that a big storm was approaching appeared around 10am. Puffy clouds were forming and it was over 100F – that ‘drives an elevator that lifts moisture into the sky’.

Smith writes in Life With A View – Memoir of an Air Traffic Controller: ‘As with the fast-food rush, we anticipated the adverse effects of the monsoon and were prepared to adjust accordingly.

‘The radar scope resembled a teenager with acne, becoming increasingly cluttered with building thunderstorms.’

At 2pm Smith was assigned a final shift on the departure sector.

He writes: ‘Looking at the radar for the first time after a 20-minute break I was astonished at how quickly the storms had matured. Previously isolated thunderstorm cells had congealed… positioning themselves on the west side of both airports.’

The drama, Smith recalls, was kickstarted by a voice from Tucson tower, saying: ‘Northwest 551, Boeing 727, taking the runway for departure.’

Smith was shocked that the captain had decided to take off, given the intimidating weather.

He reveals that air traffic controllers cannot deny take-off clearance ‘because the weather looks bad’ – but can put an airport ‘on hold’.

Smith, in the moment, didn’t think pausing the airport was necessary, because he could ‘issue an immediate right turn’ for the aircraft belonging to Northwest [which merged with Delta Air Lines in 2008], which would take it around the storm.

But there was a caveat. This plan would only work if no aircraft took off from Davis-Monthan airport.

He writes: ‘[Hopefully] the air force pilots at Davis-Monthan had enough sense to look out of their window and opt for another Coke in the ready room.’

But the worst-case-scenario began to unfold, with the tower at Davis-Monthan announcing the departure of ‘Simon 22’ – the codename for four navy A-7s.

Smith, however, reasoned that he could turn the Northwest B727 over the top of Davis-Monthan and the departing A-7s.

His confidence came from the knowledge that announcements regarding commercial aircraft taking off were normally made as the flight was turning onto the runway, while military flights normally run through a checklist at the start of the runway.

He writes: ‘For a flight of four, as in Simon 22’s case, the taxi onto the runway and run-up process would easily take three to four minutes, and by that time, Northwest 551 would be… 20 miles northeast of Tucson and passing through 10,000 feet.’

He adds: ‘At least, that’s what would have happened on a perfect day.’

Next, Northwest checked in, revealing that it was ‘climbing out of 3,700ft… ‘

Seconds later, Simon 22 announced that it was ‘climbing out of 3,600ft… ‘

Smith writes: ‘As all five aircraft climbed into the thunderstorm I watched the storm change size and shape like an amoeba in a high-school science movie.

‘Each passing sweep of the radar emphasised the inevitable, and time slowed. I was not comfortable.’

‘As expected’, Northwest 551 requested ‘an immediate right turn for weather’.

Smith writes: ‘My worst-case scenario had just become very real because I had violated the cardinal rule of air traffic control. I didn’t have a way out.’

He explains that his only option was to restrict Simon 22 to 6,000ft, the minimum altitude to clear the mountains ahead, and send the B727 over the top of the A-7s after it had hit 7,000ft – ‘thereby ensuring the minimum one thousand feet of vertical separation required by ATC’.

The problem? ‘By the time Northwest 551 had the necessary altitude for the turn,’ writes Smith, ‘forward momentum would put all five aircraft in the worst part of the thunderstorm.

‘In the next few seconds, Northwest 551 would rapidly encounter severe turbulence, forcing crew members to wrestle with controls. The loss of control would be compounded by hail, which would sound like rocks hitting the cockpit windshield. Microbursts, extreme downdrafts of air present in mature thunderstorms, would compound the difficulties.’

What did Smith do next?

He replied: ‘Northwest 551, unable immediate right turn, traffic directly off your right side, four miles, four A-7s leaving Davis-Monthan. They will be stopped at 6,000ft, leaving 7,000, turn right heading zero-four-five.’

He continues: ‘The next response from Northwest 551 sent a chill down my spine. “Northwest 551 is declaring an emergency and starting an immediate right turn, northeast bound.”’

Once a pilot declares an emergency, Smith explains, ‘the book and all its rules go out the window’, because ‘the pilot in command is free to do whatever is necessary to ensure the safety of the aircraft, crew and passengers’.

Smith adds: ‘From a strictly statistical view, the chance of hitting one of the A-7s was lower than the chance of losing a wing or an engine in the black cloud so, a right turn it was.’

The worst-case scenario wasn’t finished with Smith just yet though – because Simon 22 announced that they had lost visual contact with each other.

Smith writes: ‘I now had five aircraft in the middle of a severe thunderstorm who were unable to see each other and unwilling to accept my instructions as they approached downtown Tucson and flew directly over the University of Arizona.’

What’s more, the storm had become so dense that the ATC radar could no longer penetrate it and pick up the aircraft.

Smith was forced to raise his hand to summon his supervisor for assistance.

‘Seconds passed with no information from my radar or voices from the cockpits, and in this case, no news was not good news,’ he writes.

On the fifth sweep of the radar – some good news. It had picked up a plane heading northeast – then the 727 answered a call for a radio check, Smith reveals.

Another radar sweep picked up two A-7s, then the third was picked up, before the flight leader checked in and said that he’d made radio contact with the fourth A-7.

Smith writes: ‘The fourth Simon 22 member was radar-identified, and I issued headings to join them as a flight again.

‘As quickly as it had begun – it was over. And all aircraft were separated.

‘I issued headings commensurate with the aircraft’s original flight plans and sent them on their way.

‘The weather was now north of both airports, leaving behind shaken aircrews, a confused controller, and a city full of people who would not read in the morning paper about an incident in southern Arizona that had claimed a bunch of lives.’

Smith admits that he could have put both airports on hold for a few minutes and averted the situation. But that was a solution that only presented itself with hindsight.

His supervisor scolded him for not initiating ‘radar contact lost’ procedures, but Smith argued that ‘he didn’t have time’.

His final thought? Because no aircraft had ‘scraped paint’, in the world of air traffic control ‘it was a perfect day’.

Life With A View – Memoir of an Air Traffic Controller, by Robin A Smith and published by iUniverse, can be ordered from Amazon for £9.95 ($9.20). 

Smith spent nearly 38 years in the aviation industry, serving as a domestic and international controller at two Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) towers in the U.S, as well as being a certified radar approach control instructor in Oklahoma City.

A British holidaymaker has been banned by an airline after he was arrested on suspicion of sexually assaulting an air stewardess and spitting on her boss during a flight to Ibiza.

The 42-year-old, who is thought to be from Oldham, was held by police yesterday morning after reaching the island on a Jet2 flight from Manchester.

The airline has since confirmed that it has banned the passenger, who they named as Rizwan Sabri Raja, from flying with them.

The Civil Guard also said it would be asking the airline operating the flight to refuse to accept the passenger on the return flight he had booked back to the UK.

Responding to the reports of the arrest this afternoon, a spokesman for the airline named and shamed the problem passenger and confirmed he had been banned from flying with Jet2 for life.

It went on to describe his behaviour in a hard-hitting statement as ‘absolutely appalling’ and said it would be supporting the authorities ‘fully’.

The company said: ‘We can confirm that disruptive passenger, Rizwan Sabri Raja, was offloaded by police at Ibiza Airport on August 24 following a catalogue of absolutely appalling behaviour towards our crew.

‘We will not tolerate such behaviour and will support the authorities fully with their enquiries.

‘As a family-friendly airline, we take a zero-tolerance approach to disruptive passenger behaviour, and we can confirm Mr Raja has been banned from flying with us for life as a result of his deplorable actions.’

Confirming the arrest today, a spokesman for the Civil Guard said: ‘Officers have arrested a British man as the suspected author of a crime of sexual assault on an air stewardess on a flight from Manchester to Ibiza.

‘Yesterday morning officers were asked to head to a plane which had just touched down.

‘The pilot informed the officers that a passenger had refused to obey the crew’s instructions during the flight, as well as groping the bottom of one of the air stewardesses and spitting at her boss.

‘He was immediately arrested.’

It was not immediately clear today if he has already appeared in court for a hearing where a judge would have to decide whether to remand him in custody or release him on bail pending an ongoing criminal probe.

As well as prosecution, the unnamed Brit is also facing a heavy fine.

The Civil Guard spokesman said: ‘He will also be reported to the Spanish Air Safety and Security Agency (AESA) for his alleged behaviour during the flight.

‘And the Civil Guard at Ibiza Airport will be asking the airline concerned to refuse to accept this passenger on the return flight he had booked back to Britain.’

AESA is the state body that in Spain ensures civil aviation standards are observed in all aeronautical activity in Spain.

It has powers to fine offenders for breaches of a Spanish air safety law, with fines for ranging from around £50 to nearly £40,000.

In September last year a British man was arrested after assaulting a female passenger in the seat next to him on a Ryanair flight from Liverpool to Majorca.

Air stewards radioed police from 35,000ft after the woman, also British, complained he had touched her breasts and asked her to have sex with him in the toilet.

He was held when the plane touched down at Palma Airport.

Reports at the time said the unnamed Brit had been fined £2,500 after being hauled to court for a speedy trial.

The woman at the centre of the extraordinary mid-air incident is said to have been sexually abused moments before the plane touched down after the male passenger had engaged in unwanted sexual innuendo with the young Brit.

Ryanair said in a statement at the time of the incident: ‘The crew of this flight from Liverpool to Palma requested police assistance after being made aware of an individual behaving inappropriately towards another passenger.

‘The crew moved the passenger away from this individual for the rest of the flight and police removed him from the aircraft upon landing. This is now a matter for local police.’