He also stood down as chairman of satellite broadcaster BSkyB, which owns Sky News, part of the News Corp. empire, earlier this month.

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The news comes only two days after James Murdoch -- the son of media magnate Rupert Murdoch -- stepped down as chairman of satellite broadcaster BSkyB, which owns Sky News, part of the News Corp. empire.

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With problems appearing in a forward electrical compartment on Wednesday's All Nippon Airlines (ANA) 787 emergency landing, aviation historian Courtwright, author of "Sky as Frontier: Adventure, Aviation, and Empire, " worried the situation is more serious than simply problems confined to the aft electrical bay.

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