A small plane crashed in Farnborough, Kent, a few miles south London on Sunday, killing five people - all passengers onboard. According to an article on MSNBC, officials announced there were no survivors from the private plane that was headed to France. The plane also completely destroy a house on the ground.

"No survivors were found, but I can confirm that there were no people involved in the houses," said Jim Bascran, of the London fire department.

Police said they would not release any more information on the identities of the dead until their next of kin had been notified.

The private plane crashed into a house in Farnborough in Kent, just south of London, sometime after 2:30 p.m. local time, officials said. The neighborhood, Broadwater Gardens, lies near Biggin Hill Airport, about 12 miles from central London.

The small airport was an important Royal Air Force fighter station during World War II, but now serves private jets and helicopters.

Biggin Hill Airport said the plane, a Cessna Citation jet popular with business travelers, reported difficulties shortly after takeoff.

"The pilot made a call to say he was experiencing a problem and requested permission to land, but unfortunately crashed before reaching the airport," Biggin Hill said in a statement.

Troubles continue at London's Heathrow Airport. Since its new terminal 5 opened on March 27, computer failures has caused issue for baggage handlers. And according to the International Herald Tribune, on Sunday, British Airways canceled another 37 flights down from 67 on Saturday. Overall, the airline has canceled 200 flights and currently has a backlog of over 15,000 pieces of luggage.

The carrier has so far abandoned only short-haul and domestic flights, to cities including Amsterdam and Glasgow, representing about 11 percent of all flights.

About 6 percent of the baggage British Airways has handled in the past four days still has yet to reach its owners, the spokeswoman said. The carrier, Europe's third-biggest, is already Europe's worst airline for lost luggage and the second-worst for delayed bags, according to the Air Transport Users Council.

Terminal 5 took two decades to plan and build at a cost of 4.3 billion pounds, or $8.6 billion, as the UK government battled campaigners who said the building would only add to congestion at Europe's busiest airport. British Airways has said the terminal will ease journeys and help retain passengers disillusioned with Heathrow's overcrowding.

Before the opening of the new terminal, which will have capacity for 30 million passengers annually, Heathrow was handling 68 million people a year in buildings designed for 45 million. Willie Walsh, British Airways chief executive officer, has blamed overcrowding for dissuading travelers from using Heathrow and his airline, which is the biggest occupant at the airport and the sole user of Terminal 5.

Rival carriers including BMI, the second-biggest user of Heathrow after British Airways, and Virgin Atlantic Airways, the third-biggest, have said they have seen a surge in customer bookings because of the problems at Terminal 5.

Here's the best of the aviation news I missed.

Smoky smell in cabin forces Fla. landing

Officials say an American Airlines jet has made a safe emergency landing in West Palm Beach, Fla., after passengers noticed a smoky smell in the cabin. The airline says Friday morning's problem isn't related to inspections of wiring bundles on other MD-80 jets that led the company to cancel hundreds of flights this week. The plane returned to Palm Beach International Airport about 10 minutes after taking off on a flight bound for Chicago. There were 145 people on board.

Colgan To Re-bid EAS Routes In Three States

Citing rising fuel costs, Colgan Air Inc. said Friday that it will re-bid the majority of its Essential Air Service (EAS) routes, but stressed that the move is a "procedural process" that won't alter services in the affected communities. "Because EAS does not have a mechanism to provide for unforeseeable cost increases, Colgan must file to exit the market, followed by a re-bid at a higher rate," the carrier said. The only option, the carrier explained, is to dump the routes and re-bid them.

Air France-KLM Courts Labor Unions

Air France-KLM held firm on plans to lay off 2,100 people as part of its takeover bid of the ailing Italian airline Alitalia, but courted skeptical unions by promising to keep more ground and maintenance staff than originally planned. Air France-KLM is hoping to overcome opposition from powerful Italian unions by offering to keep almost half the staff at Alitalia's ground and maintenance business and extend early retirement, retraining and other welfare measures to workers who are let go.

This month is aviation history features the discovery of Pluto, the first nonstop hot-air balloon around the world, and the death of Sr. Isaac Newton.

March 1, 1932 - The 20-month-old son of Charles Lindbergh was kidnapped.

March 13, 1930 - Clyde W. Tombaugh announced the discovery of the planet Pluto.

March 15, 2004 - Scientists reported the discovery of Sedna, the most distant object in the solar system.

March 16, 1926 - The first liquid-fuel rocket was successfully launched by Prof. Robert Goddard at Auburn, Massachusetts. The rocket traveled 184 feet in 2.5 seconds.

March 18, 1965 - Soviet cosmonaut Aleksei Leonov made the first spacewalk.

March 20, 1999 - Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones became the first to fly a hot-air balloon nonstop around the world.

March 20, 1727 - English physicist/astronomer Sir Isaac Newton died in London at age 84.

March 22, 1997 - Comet Hale-Bopp made its closest approach to Earth in the skies over the northern hemisphere. The comet's next pass is predicted for the year 4397.

March 23, 2001 - Russia's Mir space station ended its 15-year orbit of the Earth, splashing down in the South Pacific.

March 27, 1977 - Pan American and KLM Boeing 747s collided on a runway in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands. The 542 people killed is the highest ever for an aviation disaster.

Thanks Infoplease!

These bright roofs, these steep towers, these jewel-lakes, these skeins of railroad line - all spoke to her and she answered. She was glad they were there. She belonged to them and they to her. . . . She had not lost it. She was touching it with her fingertips. This was flying: to go swiftly over the earth you loved, touching it lightly with your fingertips, holding the railroads lines in your hand to guide you, like a skein of wool in a spider-web game - like following Ariadne's thread through the Minotaur's maze, Where would it lead, where?

- Anne Morrow Lindbergh, 'The Steep Ascent', 1944

According to an article on MSNBC, the US Airway pilot who accidentally fired his gun inside the cockpit, said he was attempting to stow it. The pilot didn't immediately inform air traffic control about the shooting until after he landed.

US Airways Tower Supervisor Nathan Gundlach told police that when he arrived the pilot was on the phone with the Transportation Security Administration. Gundlach contacted US Airways about the in-flight shooting, but police were not notified until an hour later.

"When I questioned Mr. Gundlach about the delay in airport police being notified, Mr. Gundlach apologized and took full responsibility," an airport police officer wrote in the report.

The Federal Aviation Administration also wasn't told immediately about the incident.

"The first we knew about it was when TSA contacted us," FAA spokeswoman Laura Brown said.

US Airways spokeswoman Andrea Rader declined to comment Wednesday, but airline officials have said the accidental discharge did not endanger the 124 passengers and five crew members on board. Greg Alter of the Federal Air Marshal Service said Wednesday it remained under investigation.

Airline experts said the pilot, who was certified to carry the weapon on board, may have reacted appropriately after the accidental discharge.

"If something happens in the air that's not an emergency that's changed the course of action of the aircraft, the priority is to land the airplane," said William Brogan, an aviation expert at Lewis University near Chicago. "It's fly first, communicate second."