Chris Smith: The third runway pits government bodies against each other

When the Wright brothers made the first powered human flight 106 years ago, they could hardly have dreamed what a controversial mode of transport it would become. Aircraft were involved in some of the most shocking and memorable incidents of the last century: the second world war, Concorde's crash and 11 September.But this is perhaps the first time in the short history of aviation that its environmental impact has come under such intense scrutiny, as a result of the government's decision to approve...