In the late 1920s, early 1930s, before radio navigation was widely used, pilots of small planes were forced to use familiar landmarks on the ground as a way to find the runway they would hopefully land safely on.

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Above is the recently extended runway at Funchal Airport in Portugal. The original 1400m runway was notoriously short and, as a result, sometimes dangerous for landing planes.

The runway extension won the iabse’s ‘outstanding structures award’ and rightly so: due to an obvious lack of land, engineers have supported the extension on 180 pillars, each 70m high.

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Fishermen and pleasure boats got a treat after a member of the US Navy Blue Angels aerial aerobatic team made a high-speed pass right in front of them.

The manoeuvre sent a huge water vapour cloud radiating from the F-18 fighter during an air show in the San Francisco Bay area.

The Blue Angels' mission is to enhance Navy and Marine Corps recruiting efforts and to represent the naval service to the US and foreign nations.

The team is stationed at Forrest Sherman Field, Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida during the show season and are due to fly 66 shows in the United States during the 2007 season.

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Mandy Bailey is planning on taking her 1-year-old conjoined twin daughters Emma and Taylor on their first plane ride on Delta Air Lines to a family get-together in Maryland.

Because the twins, who are joined at the chest and share a heart, have their own lungs, Delta told Bailey they must buy two seats because both children need access to an oxygen mask in case of an emergency, according to Bailey's account of her dealings with Delta.

According to Ian Gregor, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration, two regulations come into play, dealing with oxygen supply and child seating.

An airline must provide emergency oxygen for every passenger. But with the two girls on their mother's lap, there would be a shortage of oxygen masks, Delta told Bailey.

FAA regulation states that a child under the age of 2 can be held in an adult's lap.

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This is a shot of a yellow plane nose diving into the ground, it was snapped a few microseconds before the impact. Through the window you can see the pilot and co-pilot bracing themselves for the inevitable collision with the ground.

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