World air travel in confusion

11.00 am - By TONY VERDON

Air travel around the world was in chaos today by an unprecedented wave of emergency restrictions on flying triggered by the attacks on New York and Washington.

United States air space was closed just after 3 am New Zealand time, stranding hundreds of thousands of passengers and creating chaos in airports throughout the world.

One Air New Zealand plane was stranded in Los Angeles, and another in London, while two overnight flights were diverted in mid-flight, the first arriving back in Auckland just after 8 am.

The passengers were among thousands thrown into turmoil by the grounding of all flights over the US and increased security at airports around the world, including Auckland.

The United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) grounded commercial aircraft at 3.06 am New Zealand time, flights over London were banned, and airports worldwide began filling with dumbstruck passengers.

"There will be short-term chaos. There always is after such incidents," said Philip Baum, an aviation security expert in New York.

Air New Zealand has one Boeing 747-400 "secured on the ground" in Los Angeles, as flight NZ15 from Los Angeles to Sydney was cancelled. Flight NZ1 from London to Los Angeles and Auckland was also cancelled and the plane remains in London. An Air NZ Boeing 767 due to fly from Rarotonga Los Angeles was grounded early today in Tahiti, and flight NZ2 from Auckland to Los Angeles, arrived back in Auckland just after 8 am.

Seven further Air NZ flights scheduled to fly through Los Angeles today were cancelled, while four Qantas flights from Australia to Los Angeles were cancelled.

US military jets this morning escorted a China Airlines passenger jet into the Vancouver International Airport, which is receiving flights from Asia diverted from the United States. The China Airlines was one of 33 flights from Asia diverted to Vancouver after they were barred from landing in the United States.

Planes lined up on the tarmac of Canadian airports today as aircraft were diverted from US airspace. From Vancouver on the west coast to the remote Goose Bay air base in Labrador, wide-bodied aircraft from around the world landed amid tight security, and passengers emerged stunned by events south of the border.

A passenger on a Detroit-bound Northwest Airlines flight from Tokyo said the pilot told them mechanical problem had forced the aircraft to divert to Vancouver, but then apologised for not telling the truth.

"He apologised. Said it was the worst day of our lives, and he would remember it forever," said Lee Manchen, of Detroit.

Inside terminals, passengers milled around or sought out airline officials. Some scurried for telephones to call home, while others queued to find accommodation, only to be turned away as hotels filled up and rental cars ran out. Domestic airlines canceled all flights.

Canadian air traffic controllers said they would not give clearance for any takeoffs except for humanitarian, search and rescue, police, military or Transport Canada business. "Transport Canada is on its highest alert," said Transportation Minister David Collenette.

American Airlines said it had accounted for all its aircraft except for the two planes hijacked and used in the attacks in New York and Washington, DC.

"American Airlines is now confirming that all remaining airplanes in the American Airlines system, including TWA and American Eagle, have been accounted for and are safe," spokesman Dale Morris said in a taped message.

"There are no take-offs or landings," FAA spokesman Bill Shumann said.

Canada's airlines cancelled all flights.

Police and the military would be a common sight at international airports at least in the short term, experts said.

But they warned that improved passenger screening and baggage checks may not be the key to better air safety.

"It is not passenger screening but intelligence that can prevent such incidents reoccurring," Baum said.

Aviation analysts described getting on an internal flight in the United States as like getting on a bus anywhere else in the world, security was so lax.

All four planes reported lost in the United States on Tuesday were domestic flights.