The inventors estimate a test-flight could take place in less than a year and a half with final certification by 2010.

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The standard would significantly expand the FAA's so-called "sterile cockpit rule, " which prohibits pilots from engaging in non-flight-related conversations during take-offs and landings.

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The fanfare over the release of its A380 was dampened by a variety of production issues, including cabin wiring issues, cracks that appeared inside some of the wings, and an engine that blew apart during the take-off of a Qantas Airways flight departing Singapore in 2010.

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Check-in staff said he had to pay to take the flag on the flight.

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SpaceShipII is expected to take passengers to an altitude of 68.3 miles in just a two-hour flight that includes a four-minute period of weightlessness.

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Each flight leg will take 20 to 25 hours, with 10-day stops in each city.

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Libes has formed a new accelerator for mission-driven companies in Seattle called Fledge (as in fledgling bird about to take flight).

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Each flight leg will take about 19 to 25 hours, with 10-day stops in each city.

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Lewis will take on two challenges in Talinn - achieving the qualifying mark for Paris, and helping Britain return to the top flight of multi-event athletics.

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