Russians to Fly Superjet 100 in May

You say what is so exciting about the Russians flying a new plane? Well it just happens to be Sukhoi's Superjet 100, the fruit of almost a decade of efforts by Russia's largest warplane maker -- with big hopes to re-enter the global market for commercial aircraft (fat chance). According to Reuters, the Russians will perform the long-delayed test flight in the first half of May.

The Superjet 100 is designed to seat 75-95 passengers. The flight was originally scheduled to take place in late 2007, but was moved to 2008 for unknown communist reasons.

Also, see the comparison photo of the Boeing 787 to the Superjet 100 -- and in my opinion there really is no comparison...but interesting nonetheless.


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Phenom 300 First Flight Video and Pictures

Embraer's Phenom 300 had its first flight yesterday, pretty exciting. Check out the pictures and video of the event below. The first Phenom 300, serial number 99801 is expected to enter service in the second half 2009.

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Guy Gets Rolled by Hot Air Balloon

Funny video of a bunch of people trying to stop a hot air balloon and losing.

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Spectacular Earthrise Photos

These are some amazing shots captured using the onboard High Definition Television of the lunar explorer "KAGUYA " (SELENE) on April 6, 2008. The KAGUYA is currently flying in a lunar orbit at an altitude of about 100 km. An "Earth-rise," or the rising Earth over the Moon, was first captured by the NASA Apollo project.

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Clinton Gets Bigger Jet

The Hillary Clinton campaign recently upgraded its chartered plane from a Boeing 717, to a larger McDonnell-Douglas MD-81.

The longer, yet older aircraft offers seating for 143 passengers, versus a mere 88 seats on the smaller 717-200. The larger aircraft also provides Senator Clinton with her own entrance at the front of the plane, as well as a separate lavatory; on the 717, she had to stoop to using the same facilities as the press, at the back of the plane -- gasp. And she says Obama is the elitist.

Members of the media also now will use the rear entrance to the aircraft rather than the forward entrance on the 717. Like the 717, the new/old aircraft was chartered from Midwest Airlines, which configured the MD-81 to charter sports teams and the seats also offer increased legroom over those on the 717.

I am a bit stunned that Al Gore hasn't blasted the Clinton campaign for selecting the far less efficient MD-81 over the 717. And yes, the picture is of the actual aircraft she flies on: N805ME.

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TNT 737 Lost Gear Thanks to Distracted Crew

Poor airmanship is to blame for an accident that happened during a night time approach which occurred when a TNT Airways Boeing 737-300 lost one of its main landing gear during a balked go-around two years ago. The aircraft was on a actual instrument conditions Cat IIIA approach when air traffic control passed a company message to the crew requesting a diversion to Liverpool. The captain attempted to reply but inadvertently disconnected both autopilots.

The 737 then descended rapidly as the captain tried to re-engage the autopilots and belatedly tried to execute a go-around, but the aircraft struck the ground at 300 feet to the left of the runway centerline.

Even after the right main landing gear was gone, the aircraft became airborne again. To make matters worse, the aircraft's right and left trailing-edge flaps were stuck at 40° and 32° respectively and its messed up gear remained extended. It then diverted to Birmingham for an emergency landing, which is shown on the above video. The accident happened on June 16, 2006 and the UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch accident report was just released.

Also revealed in the report was that it was the Captain's first Cat IIIA approach in actual instrument conditions since being promoted from first officer four months prior. Further, the first officer did not appear to understand that he could make the go-around call. The first officer made the go-around call as the aircraft struck the ground...nice timing.

Thankfully no one on-board the aircraft was injured.

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Airbus "Reviewing" Ramp Up in A380 Deliveries

Airbus CEO Tom Enders said Airbus is reviewing its delivery targets for the A380 and they might make it happen -- raising those pesky possibilities of further delays. Airbus' targets called for 13 deliveries of the world's biggest passenger aircraft in 2008 and 25 in 2009.

The bad thing for Airbus is that it builds aircraft that are primarily with European products purchased with the Euro and a large portion of their aircraft are purchased with US Dollars, which puts it at a disadvantage to its US rival Boeing.

We will see if Airbus makes it all happen. Oh yeah, and for those of you who haven't heard, there will be hot showers available for some wealthy first-class passengers aboard Emirates A380s.

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Sweet A10 RC Airplane

Looks so real, only 1/5 the real A10 size. The $12,000 beast has with two jet turbines, three on-board microprocessors, 24 servos, a 1" OLED display in its cockpit, and a fully-functional gatling gun. At first glance, you might mistake it for a real A10.

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Crazy Fighter Jet Crash

This is an interesting video of a MiG 29 crash taken at an airshow from multiple angles, pretty amazing.

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787 Comes Out to See the World...Briefly

Over the weekend, Boeing rolled out a couple of the production 787s on a special day. The rollout marked the one year anniversary since major structural components began to come togther to make this beauty. See all the hi-res pictures below:


Images: Charles Conklin

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Drunk Passenger Duct Taped to Seat

Lesson to be learned...don't attack a flight attendant, especially when drunk. This man did not get the message though. He attacked a flight attendant and was then wrassled back into his seat by a group of passengers and crew during a United flight (#862) flight last week from Hong Kong to Los Angeles.

The unruly man was then duct-taped to his seat by several passengers aboard. Yes, he was duct taped and I think that adds another use to the already existing 1001 known uses. Needless to say, he was arrested when the plane landed in LA.

To add to his criminal charges, he injured a number of the passengers who were trying to restrain him after his outburst. There were 329 passengers, 15 flight attendants, and 4 pilots on board the United B747 flight. The name of the passenger was not released, but I've learned that he was from the Orange County, California area.

Update 3:27pm: For those of you who are concerned, this is not the picture of the dude who was strapped to the aircraft seat...it was used for illustrative purposes only. If you are so concerned, where was your concern for this post, do you think this is actually the pilot?

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SnoPo bound!

Well, I'm off to the land where Buffalo Wings were created for the 42nd Annual Snow Symposium this week. Better known as the SnoPo, this annual event is the pinnacle for aviation nerds like myself who engage the evil art of airport snow removal. While I'm in Buffalo I'll have some sketchy connections to the internet and PointNiner. If I come across anything major, I'll give it the ole' college try to post it up, otherwise Aaron will be left at the helm.

See you on Friday (hopefully),

Steve

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Lockheed flips the switch on first F-35B

Lockheed Martin announced today that they successfully completed the first power-on test of the F-35B which is the STOVL (Short TakeOff and Vertical Landing) variant of the upcoming Joint Strike Fighter. This milestone gets them even closer to a first flight scheduled sometime around early June. The test, which actually took place on April 18th, was the first time that the Pratt & Whitney F135 engine has ran while integrated to an F-35B airframe. BAE test pilot Graham Tomlinson was at the controls for the engine run that took the F135 all the way up to full military power without afterburner. Tomlinson, a Brit, will also be the first for fly the F-35B. Program officials were quite pleased with the engine run that lasted nearly one hour and included opening and closing the shaft-driven lift fan doors. Can't wait to see this baby hover.

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You Wanna Fly My Dinghy?

Always wanted a flying boat? Well step right up because here is your chance. For a mere $32,300 you can have a flying dinghy boat. Or you could go get the parts your self and risk ultimate death, which you probably are either way, and go get yourself a dinghy, handglider and a large engine with a propeller attached to the shaft. Rather than flying dinghy, the preferred name is FIB (Flying Inflatable Boat).


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How to nearly kill yourself in a F-16

Saw this one on Military.com today. Not really sure when this happened, but the video does give you a nice little introduction to the incident and there's a narration by the pilot himself. This is one lucky joystick jockey who probably had to wash out his G-suit after this incident.

Oh yeah, if you actually listen to the background music, you'll find that it's pretty amusing as well.

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Thales gives a sneak peak at I-Deck, the Airbus A350 flightdeck

At least they didn't try to call it the iDeck. That moniker is a little played out. These pictures were just released by French avionics manufacturer Thales showing its I-Deck cockpit prototyping and simulation platform. Thales will use the platform to help develop the Airbus A350 flightdeck. While this is not exactly what you may see in the actual A350, it is a start to the 6 identical 15" LCD displays that Airbus wants in the new aircraft. The actual layout will be released when the A350 design is frozen in October.


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Kid Flies RC Airplane into Cousin's Head

The video pretty much speaks for itself, but it is really funny to see this. It is not quite as dramatic as the UAV filming its own demise though.


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NASA Urges Caution Amid Soyuz Reports

In a nice politically correct move, NASA cautioned against speculation ahead of the facts after a the Russians reported the three crew members aboard Soyuz TMA-11 were in grave danger when it re-entered the atmosphere on April 19.

Reportedly, the Soyuz vehicle entered the atmosphere facing the wrong direction and suffered severe heat damage to its hatch. In a post-landing press conference, one astronaut said she was frightened by the heating glow she could see out the window. No big deal, just facing the wrong direction as you re-enter the unforgiving atmosphere. Some unnamed Russian sources said that the crew was lucky they survived. Further, the crew is suspected of experiencing over 8Gs of force due to the Soyuz capsule's ballistic trajectory, when the normal max force is 5Gs.

A similar problem occurred on TMA-10 flight, but when that capsule re-entered, the TMA-11 was already docked at the International Space Station, so nothing could be done other than to determine what caused the TMA-10 malfunction and have the crew check it out on the TMA-11 capsule. It was suspected that the TMA-10 capsule had a control cable problem.

But according to NASA, we should not believe those Russians. I suppose they would like us to not believe Russia took out that Georgian UAV too.

In the pictures: top picture is of the Soyuz TMA-11 capsule on its side after re-entry; second one is a photo of the TMA-11 capsule parachuting in after its rough re-entry; bottom one is the spent TMA-10 capsule.


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Pimped out airport vehicles tear it up to sell chocolate

My sister actually sent me this one from the land of Cadbury, who attempts to use this advertisement video to sell their chocolate? Anyway, it is pretty funny if you've ever worked at an airport or operated Ground Support Equipment and airport vehicles. These guys go ripping down the runway in a race for what, I don't know. Maybe chocolate. I guess we all know now what happens at night when all the airplanes go to sleep. Got to hand it to those Brits and the Cadbury company, this is something you'd never see on TV in the US.

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Jet engine used to melt car in another pointless video

This video definitely joins theTeddy Bear pilot video and the TSA Macbook Air video in the competition for PointNiner's Most Pointless Video Award. It's a bit too long (2 min) for what you really need to see, but it shows what happens when you let loose the full afterburner of a military turbojet on a piece of crap old car. Enjoy.

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Northrop Grumman wins again, this time for BAMS

Northrop Grumman has done it again. After a highly contentious victory over Boeing for the KC-X program, Northrop Grumman has won another high profile, high dollar contract with the Pentagon, this time with the US Navy for the Broad Area Maritime Surveillance (BAMS) aircraft. Northrop, with its sweet Global Hawk proposal, beat out Boeing once again on this one along with a Lockheed Martin-General Atomics team following a grueling 89 month competition. The $1.16 billion contract will initially provide the Navy with two Global Hawks equipped with the BAMS suite of electro-optical and 360 degree Multi-Function Active Sensor (MFAS) active electronically scanned array capabilities. This will give the Navy what it likes to call maritime Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) data. Another follow-on phase could include additional aircraft for the Navy.

I've gotta say, I have been a huge Global Hawk fan from the beginning. I've been truly impressed with it's abilities such as 24 hour loiter time and 60k+ foot ceiling. Plus, it just looks menacing. This is just another notch in the belt of Northrop Grumman who seems unbeatable right now.

Click here for a sweet BAMS video produced by Northrop Grumman.

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So You Want to Be an Astronaut

Well now is your chance. The European Space Agency kicked off a new campaign to expand and renew the European Astronaut Corps. EAC head Michel Tognini said the ESA is wanting to add four new astronauts and four backups to the EAC.

This new campaign is all thanks to the several existing astronauts busy with the Columbus orbital lab and the first of EU's Automated Transfer Vehicles (ATV) space boats docked at the ISS. Step right up.

The campaign is being directed at preparing the ISS for a full six astronaut operation and to begin human exploration of infinity and beyond the moon and Mars.

Please note you must be between 27-37 years old and be a resident of one of the ESA's 17 member states. If you feel that you meet those qualifications, please visit the application website. It is expected that 20,000-30,000 will apply, so get going.

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Mini F-15 just as lethal

I laughed out loud the first time I saw this video this morning. Check out this RC (remote controlled) F-15 as it takes off in a grass field. I'm not sure if the plane goes in the wrong direction or if the crowd is in the wrong location, but either way, it gets very interesting very quickly. One guy nearly looses his head before the tiny wonder buzzes the rest of the crowd. Must have a Predator pilot at the controls. Good stuff.

On another note, it's been quite a day for videos on PointNiner.

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Air Force 2 gives media a mouthful of jet blast

Having worked several "VIP" airport visits and dealing with the media during them, this video makes me laugh and feel all warm inside. On April 11th, this group of local media photographers and reporters got a little lesson in Pratt & Whitney power as Dick Cheney's ride taxis out for departure. Never found out where this happened though.

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Hawker 4000 (Horizon) Deliveries Imminent

Without giving an exact date, the officials over at Hawker Beechcraft indicated that deliveries of the Hawker 4000, formerly Hawker Horizon, would begin "soon." It was first reported that the deliveries would begin in 30 to 45 days, however, that story was retracted, probably because it was too accurate or not vague enough. Either way, to give you an idea of how long it takes from product announcement to delivery...the Hawker Horizon program was announced in 1996 and was officially renamed the Hawker 4000 when it was first on display in November 2005 at the NBAA convention. And now, 12 years later, Netjets, among others, will be flying this cool bird.

Here are some specs:

• Crew: 2 pilots
• Capacity: 8 passengers typical, 12 maximum
• Length: 69 ft 2 in (21.1 m)
• Wingspan: 61 ft 9 in (18.8 m)
• Height: 19 ft 7 in (6.0 m)
• Empty weight: 23,500 lb (10,659 kg)
• Loaded weight: 26,000 lb (11,793 kg)
• Useful load: 16,200 lb (7,348 kg)
• Max takeoff weight: 39,500 lb (17,917 kg)
• Powerplant:Pratt & Whitney Canada PW308A turbofan, 6,900
• Maximum Speed: Mach: 0.84 (482 kn)
• Cruise speed: Mach 0.82 (470 kn)
• Range: 3,280 NM (6,075 km)
• Service Ceiling: 45,000 ft (13,716 m)

UAV Films Own Demise as Russian MiG Shoots it Down

In this video a Russian MiG-29 fighter aircraft shows up, squeezes off an little air-to-air missle and blows a Georgian UAV out of the sky... on camera.

So we have a Russian MiG taking out a ex-Soviet Georgian unarmed UAV that was doing basic surveillance over Georgian soil (according to the Georgians). Whether that is true or not, I would imagine the political fallout over this incident could get ugly. Seems that there is a bit of unrest over there to begin with. But we can give a big thanks to the Russians and Georgians for this nice video.

Oh, and the Russian's response: "Nonsense. What would a Russian jet be doing over Georgian territory?"

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Aircraft Struck by Lightning in Mid Air

I found this video taken at the right place and right time. The video shows an aircraft being struck by lightning in mid air. If you look closely, it looks like the lightning strikes the tail, then travels forward along the fuselage, ending at the nose, and continuing on to the ground. You can also see a little "spark" trail off the aircraft's tail after it is struck.

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RAF Instructor Fined for Buzzing Pro Golfers

Royal Air Force (RAF) flight instructor Flt. Lt. Rodriquez (pictured above) plead guilty last week during a court martial hearing regarding his low altitude stunt flight with a student pilot on board over an Open golf championship at Carnoustie in Scotland. Reportedly, Rodriguez brought his Grob trainer to around 400 feet AGL and buzzed 30,000+ people who had gathered to watch the golf action. The area was protected by a temporary "no fly" zone, although Rodriguez was conveniently unaware of said restriction (regardless shouldn't common sense kick in?).

Rodriguez was no slouch pilot either, he had accumulated over 1600 flight hours, including time logged as part of a refueling coalition over Iraq. Also, it turns out Rodriguez was an avid golfer. He was fined 1,500 British pounds ($2951.40 USD). The funniest part is that, unknown to Rodriguez, a spy satellite was tracking his flight and recorded every movement, cementing his fate.

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Lancair Legacy Crash

Lancair Legacy that departed the Sun 'n Fun Fly-in and airshow at Lakeland, Fla., April 13 may have done so with an open canopy, as you can see in the above picture. The Legacy (N1177M) departed Lakeland on runway 27 in VFR conditions. Witnesses said that the pilot and sole occupant appeared to have difficulty closing the canopy. One witness even saw the canopy moving up and down between six and twelve inches. Shortly after takeoff, nearly 1/4 mile from Lakeland airport, the engine apparently lost power and the aircraft continued straight and level before pitching down 40 degrees and crashing beyond a tree line.

The pilot, Gerard Scholnik, died as a result of the accident and post-crash fire. Truly sad. The other crazy thing is that the EAA had just given that aircraft an award for Outstanding Homebuilt Aircraft for 2008.

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Pelican shatters Aussie F-111

There is no way that General Dynamics designed the F-111 to fly like this. And certainly by all accounts, the flight crew of this aircraft should have bit the hard one after it struck a pelican at 3,000 ft during a mock bomb run last Friday on April 11. It sure does give you a clear picture, though, of what hitting a 30 lb bird at 340 mph can do. This Royal Australian Air Force F-111 had its nose cone completely shredded by the impact leaving an interesting unwoven fiberglass wicker Gonzo nose in it's place. The pelican then hit the leading edge of the right wing before becoming ingested in the #2 engine causing a subsequent flameout. Rough day. The crew is being heralded by the RAAF as heroes for maintaining control of this wicked shimmy after the incident, which occurred just West of Brisbane. News.com.au is reporting that the aircraft could fly again by next month. Nice job, mates.







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Even more sweet new Delta logos (hopefully)

If you liked the post on Tuesday of what the new Delta could look like after the proposed merger with Northwest, check these babies out. Again, the Delta widget and Northwest compass are blended together just nicely to preserve each airline's heritage. Delta would have to be crazy not to go with these very high quality conceptions by artist J.R. Heilig.



The first one shows a NWA 747-400 repainted in a beautiful new Delta livery.



This second one is what a Delta 777 would look like repainted in the new colors.

I happen to love them both, which means Delta will go a completely opposite direction with a new livery.

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The real truth behind flight delays

This was actually from an edition of The Onion last year, but I thought it would be pretty relevant given recent events with the airlines. And to think, we haven't even hit the busy season yet.

Enjoy.

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Airbus Files Trijet Patent

Airbus filed a patent application for a commercial trijet aircraft, bringing back all those fond feelings from Boeing's 727, McDonnell Douglas' DC-10, and Lockheed's L1011 -- otherwise known as the ghosts of trijet past. Though some of the above aircraft still operate, airline manufacturers have not designed a trijet in over 20 years due to the increased power, reliability, and efficiency of turbofan engines.

The patent was filed on March 27 and it shows (as you can see above) a new trijet design featuring that distinctive (and not very pretty) noise shielding tail structure. Noise was another reason the trijet faded away, that engine mounted over the rear of the aircraft made the aft passenger cabin rather noisy. Also, the third engine was just another gas guzzler at the time. Airbus seems to think that because they will be able to use three smaller engines as opposed to two larger engines, it will have a competitive fuel burn with any modern two engine aircraft.

Don't go thinking that Airbus will be rolling out the A370 tomorrow or anything, as patents are usually filed to protect a company's engineering designs that may or may not ever take shape in the real world.

Image: Flightglobal

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Airline threw a Jew for plane prayer

The ACLU is going to eat this one up. According to the local NYC ABC affiliate, United Airlines booted an Orthodox Jewish man off a plane at JFK Wednesday night because he was saying his prayers during passenger boarding. Before the flight to San Fran even left the ground, the "suspect" moved to the back of the plane to say his prayers. The Flight Attendants apparently didn't like this and asked him to return to his seat. The man, unfazed by the demands, didn't stop praying. A few of the man's friends explained to the crew that once he started his 2 minute prayers, he couldn't stop them. Though he explained afterwards that he was fulfilling his religious rituals and not trying to be rude, the airline still booted him from the flight. United put the man on another flight the next day.

As a 1/8th Jewish man myself, I call upon the Hebrew Hammer for some Jew Justice up on this.

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Shoot a Gun in the Cockpit, You're Fired

Remember Capt. James Langenhahn, the pilot who accidentally discharged his firearm in the cockpit of a US Airways aircraft prior to landing at Charlotte, NC? If you don't, read this first.

Well it turns out he will be fired, but not without a fight. Langenhahn maintains it was a mere accident, nothing intentional, and further it did not damage the anything crucial on board the aircraft (other than that small puncture wound of the hull, you know, nothing important).

Langenhahn is 55 years old and did not disclose how long he has been a pilot for US Airways, but he described himself as a veteran pilot. Maybe the better alternative for US Air to take would be to require that Langenhahn drop out of the Federal Flight Deck Officer program, ergo, no gun, and still let him do his original job. After all, he is only 5 years away from mandatory retirement anyhow.

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F-16 friendly fire incident...in Utah!

This is really the type of story you'd expect to hear about in Iraq or Afghanistan, not Utah. An F-16 from Hill AFB in Utah was involved in a friendly fire incident when the pilot opened fire on an SUV with two Army soldiers in it during a night training mission in the Utah Test and Training Range according to the Salt Lake Tribune. The incident, which occurred on April 8, happened while the F-16 pilot was practicing attacks on ground targets. It is common practice for the Air Force to leave abandoned vehicles and old military equipment on the range for Viper drivers to shoot/fire missiles/drop bombs on. The two Army soldiers received minor injuries during bailout of their Avis rental SUV (which subsequently crashed) while the F-16 strafed it with its 20 mm cannon. An investigation by the 388th Fighter Wing is underway to ascertain whether the soldiers were in the wrong place at the wrong time, or if the pilot fired upon the wrong vehicle. The soldiers are a part of a Joint Terminal Attack Control unit from Fort Lewis, WA who were supposed to be directing aircraft fire to ground targets. The best part of this story is that the two Army soldiers combat duties include working to prevent "friendly fire" mishaps. Whoops.

This F-16 unit has now entered the pool with the Oklahoma ANG F-16 unit, who bombs Tulsa apartment complexes, in the running for the annual FUBAR cluster championship.

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Pilots Say Forced to Fly with Low Fuel

Numerous reports from pilots of major U.S. airlines are flowing in regarding being forced to fly their aircraft with too little fuel. To set this up for all the readers, FAA regs mandate that a commercial aircraft/air carrier operating under FAR Part 121 carry enough primary fuel to reach its destination and to reach the filed alternate airport (in certain weather conditions) AND carry enough reserve fuel to fly for 45 minutes beyond that point.

Also, it is the captain's final call as to if he/she feels that the aircraft needs additional fuel and some captains have reported that the dispatchers are challenging them when it comes to making that ultimate call. This is all allegedly a reaction of airlines in response to escalating fuel prices. American Airlines said they will spend $9.3 billion on fuel this year, a 39 percent hike from last year.

Now if this is truly the case and a few pilots are not just trying to create some drama, then I would say we have a serious problem. Next thing we know, there will be a serious accident due to fuel starvation and then the FAA will have to do another one of its now infamous review of every airlines books. Of course, the airlines call these allegations absurd, but what else would they say at this point?

Below are a few excerpts from what some of the pilots have reported in their NASA Aviation Safety and Reporting System forms:

One:
With the fuel they gave me I had to declare minimum fuel on arrival in Miami and dispatch had to request help from Miami ATC. This was also discussed with dispatch prior to my departure. It’s almost like a contest to see how far we can spread this company thin, and when an accident happens, we’ll start reintroducing the safety elements we once had. Congratulations to all who got us to this point.

Two:
It is obvious to me that in order to save the high fuel price at MROC we were dispatched with a minimum fuel load. Dispatchers often cut it so close to save a couple hundred dollars and risk a diversion with the expenses of more fuel, missed connections, out of base customs, and longer crew days. ... I am all for saving money but I do not believe we should make the margins so narrow.

Three:
This was poor judgement in decision-making and a serious disregard for safety from the beginning. We (flight crew and dispatcher) were being pushed into a compromising position and a potential fuel emergency, which is then the pilot-in-charge’s responsibility.

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Bat Inspired Spy Plane

Pretty simple, but very interesting. This is a spy plane modeled after a bat. It can be launched by a soldier and he/she can get a bird's eye view of the combat zone.

Hopefully it won't cause Predator Pilot Syndrome.

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Study shows Predator pilots face more fatigue, emotional exhaustion, burnout, and video-game thumb

A new study from the Naval Post Graduate School has shown that pilots in Predator UAS squadrons suffer more from "significantly increased fatigue, emotional exhaustion, and burnout" when compared to traditional flight crews. A previous report showing similar results had prompted the Air Force to readjust their crew schedules, but according the new study there has been little change to the outcome. Another issue found with these drowsy pilots is that their home life and marriages start to go down the tubes as well due to their work environment. The root of the problem has been unidentified as inadequate manpower, but the new study failed to produce any other ideas to solve it. Perhaps they should place the entire Predator control system on XBOX Live.

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New Uniforms for TSA Screeners

Well another tax day has come and went and I'm sure everyone is happy to know that a portion of your hard earned tax dollars will be spent to provide all TSA federal agents screeners with a new police-esque uniforms. Yes, they got their blues and no more embroidered "TSA" on the back of their shirt. They even got a REAL metal badge, no more sewn on badges for these screeners. This must be a reward for catching 2 our of 22 test bombs sent through a checkpoint.

Go on over to the TSA Checkpoint of the Future, and you can also check out a 360 view of the new uniforms. When you go, please note the wider belt and the "high-quality" tie. Move over Barney Fife, there's a new sheriff in town and it's the TSA.

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Congo DC-9 Crash Pictures (Hewa Bora Airways)

These are a few photos I found of the Hewa Bora Airways DC-9 crash in Congo. Several people actually survived the crash with injuries and several others could have have been in harms way when the DC-9 crashed into a crowded market area near the airport. Very sad. Note the second picture down where the man is trying to break a cockpit window with a rock.

On a side note, last week European officials banned Hewa Bora Airways from flying into the 27-nation union over safety concerns.

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50-year old Aerocar...now with FADEC (for real)

From the folks over at AVweb comes this video of Ed Sweeney's Molt Taylor AEROCAR that is now flying with Full Authority Digital Engine Control (FADEC) similar to what you'd find in a Boeing or Airbus commercial jetliner. Instead of ripping it up with a jet engine though, Sweeney is running an O-360 which cruises his aerocar at a breakneck 100 mph in the air and a burning 56 mph on the ground. Vvvrroooooomm. Sweeney claims much better fuel consumption and engine handling with the FADEC. Video was taken by AVweb at Sun-n-Fun 2008.



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Magic Dragon Space Capsule

We have found some details on the UK's first commercially designed and built manned space capsule that was delivered to Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) in 2005, but never flew. SpaceX had grand plans to launch it on top of its Falcon 5 rocket.

Up to this point, this has been a rather secret operation and no actual pictures were ever seen of this smaller capsule, referred to as the Magic Dragon. The MD was to designed for a three-day journey to take crew or cargo to the International Space Station and also act as an ISS emergency return vehicle. Since 2005, SpaceX has replaced its Falcon 5 rocket with the Falcon 9.

As you can imagine, the designer, Andy Elson, ran into some difficulties when it came down to getting dimensions for the ISS common berthing module (CBM) as it is not exactly information NASA is just putting on a ISS informational pamphlet or in History Channel documentary. Also, another reason it never got off the ground is because SpaceX decided it wanted a seven person capacity capsule rather than the MD's three person capacity.

The MD has been redesigned, as you can see below, and now has the desired seven person capacity. After a couple test flights in 2009, it is scheduled for launch and docking with the ISS in 2010. Also, it is just referred to as the "Dragon" now. Don't screw it up.


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What the new Delta/Northwest will look like

We're not likely to hit too much on the Delta and Northwest merger announced last night here at PointNiner, but I did want to submit this picture I found on Modified Airliner Photos a few weeks ago of what the new airline could look like. By the way, the Delta names stays and the Northwest name disappears. The amateur artist did a nice job with this 787 to combine the best of the two. He took the famous Delta widget and made it the point in the Northwest compass. Who knows if this is what they'll end up doing though, but it would be nice to retain some heritage from both airlines in the new livery.



The above picture from Flightblogger does a nice job of showing you what the two airline's current fleets look like. It will be interesting to see what stays and what goes. Dear Delta, please axe the Diesel-9s.

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Whale Ship

The FAA has accepted the big beautiful Aeroscraft Aeros ML866 for certification. The aircraft is classified not as an airship, dirigible, helicopter, or airplane (or UFO), but rather as a "buoyancy assisted air vehicle." Don't get too excited because its first flight is at least 3 years away, which really means 4-5 years if we account for traditional delays, especially given the unique nature of this "aircraft." But you can start saving because I can't imagine it will the your average $300 airfare to Chicago.

The ML866 is a 3000+ mile range, 210-feet-long, 5,000-square-feet cruise liner of the skies. It boasts a top speed of 138mph (not too bad for what it is) and the ability to hover, take-off and land vertically, complete autonomy from airports, not to mention incredible aerial views. Aeroscraft will not say who their potential customers are, but they were generous enough to provide the pictures and a video.

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Another Larger Person Forced to Buy Second Seat

An Arab man recently booked a Dubai-Zurich-Dubai flight via Belgrade at the European airline's office in Dubai. He had no problems boarding the aircraft from Dubai, but the passenger next to him complained that he was not comfortable. The complaining passenger was moved to business class (I'm going to do this next time I fly regardless of the size of the person next to me).

Then the poo hit the proverbial fan. On the way back from Zurich, this passenger was asked to pay an extra $381USD (1400 Dirham) to buy an adjoining seat in accordance with the airline's policy, because his weight exceeded the set limit for passengers. He was denied boarding until he paid. The big man noted that he caused no inconvenience to the passenger next to him on this flight and informed the pilots and flight attendants of this.

He then asked if the airline would reimburse him the extra amount and, naturally, the airline said negatory as it was against "their religion policy." After a complaint was filed with the Consumer Protection Department the airline and a long battle regarding the airlines policy on said big people, the money was refunded.

Comment with your thoughts on any airlines second seat policy. I would tell the man to stick with Emirates and get a shower.

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Live ATC Feeds from United States

Before I get a lame vote, listen up, this is a link to almost 200 ATC (air traffic control) feeds from all over the United States. And they work. Why do I even bother with this? Well I know that its pretty sweet to sit there in your seat on a United Airlines jet and listen to the pilots talking to Center and whenever I would try and find a good site that had links to ATC feeds at home, 8 times out of 10 the links wouldn't work. This site so far has good links and they tell you if they are down. You can also click on "listen" and it will automatically put the feed into iTunes so you don't have to always go back to the site to listen to your favorite feed(s).

Just go check it out. You can find your favorite controller...over at OMA we have Crystal Ball and I'm not joking. LiveATC.net

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Caterer Dies After Falling from Qantas 747

Sadly a 63 year old female catering employee fell from a Qantas 747-400 over the weekend. From what I've learned, she fell from the lower deck height and died at the scene. The accident occurred yesterday in Australia at 8:15am (AEST).

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A-10 gear up landing pictures

This incident actually happened almost 3 weeks ago, but this is the first time I've seen any pictures of it. An A-10 Warthog from Moody AFB performed this belly landing at Edwards AFB on March 25 after the pilot declared an in-flight emergency during a Green Flag sortie out of Nellis AFB (that's a lot of AFBs). The pilot was unharmed, but the aircraft and the runway have some issues to work out.

Note how they have the right main chocked. Where's it going to go? And what happened to the gun barrels?




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Weekend Edition: D.C. warbird flyover makes for some sweet air to air shots

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE VIDEO



A rare sight was available this last Thursday if you were in the Washington D.C. area when 3 historic warbirds made flyovers at some area landmarks. The flight included a B-17 Flying Fortress, a P-51 Mustang, and P-40 Warhawk and was organized by the American Air Museum in Duxford, England on behalf of US Airmen who lost their lives flying out of Britain during WWII. The flight of three originated from Andrews AFB and made low passes at Reagan Airport and the new Air Force Memorial near the Pentagon. It's cool to see the three sitting on the same ramp as Air Force 1. The video has some nice footage from the ground and the air, if you like that kind of thing.


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Air Force drone washes up on shore, big deal for locals

Here's a video of an Air Force targeting drone that washed up on shore recently at Fort Morgan, Alabama. It seems to have caused quite a stir for the local yocals. No comment from the Air Force. Nice security though, huh?

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Bloodbath 2008: Chapter 11 doesn't quite kill Frontier...yet

Unlike the other victims of Bloodbath 2008, Frontier Airlines has decided to try and stay afloat after it filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy late last night by not shutting down operations. The AP writes that Frontier said "its filing … came after an unexpected attempt by its principal credit card processor to start withholding significant proceeds from the sale of Frontier tickets, which threatened to hurt Frontier's liquidity." The airline's CEO is confident that while under Chapter 11 protection, they will be able to find additional financing and enhance their liquidity. I hope they didn't throw out all of those "pre-approved" credit card offers. They may need one.

Frontier is the first airline in the last several weeks with severe financial difficulties not to stop operating unlike those other quiters. They'll keep chugging along like everything is normal, for now. But for how long can they stay above water? I'm willing to take bets on this one.

Oh yeah, earlier this week I predicted that Frontier would be the next to go down. They haven't quite gone down, but I was pretty close in that prediction.

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787 engine test-bed aircraft strikes taxiway sign at Boeing Field

The Boeing 747-200 that Rolls Royce is using as an engine test-bed was involved in a little accident today at Boeing Field in Seattle, WA. The aircraft, N787RR, is currently testing the Trent 1000 engine which is one of two options that will power the Boeing 787. According to the preliminary FAA report, the 747 struck a taxiway directional sign with an egine cowling while taxiing and damaged the cowling. No report if it was the Trent 1000 engine that was damaged, but judging by the picture, it's obviously the closest thing to the ground hanging off the wings (hint, it's the big one). As if the 787 program didn't have enough problems right now.

Photo: Charles Conklin, care of Airliners.net

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What a Wrecked $1.2 Billion B-2 Looks Like

Remember that B-2 (Spirit of Kansas) that crashed in Guam back on February 24, 2008? Well this is the aftermath. A nice 1.2 billion dollar piece of metal. A tragedy to see such a beauty all burned up.

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Teddy Bear RC Pilot video hits new levels of cuteness, pointlessness

This video from Cue Air shows you what you can accomplish with an RC airplane, a teddy bear, and a couple of tiny cameras. Check out how the bear moves his head and the control yoke. Nice loops too. These guys have way too much time on their hands. Of course, I guess so do I if all I do is look this kind of crap up all day.

Not sure if this from the people who brought us the Tiddy Bear.

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Urinals On Board Airbus A380

The Airbus A380 will soon be an even more unique aircraft as it will be fitted with space saving military-style male urinals.

Speaking at the Aircraft Interiors Expo 2008 in Hamburg, Arndt Schoenemann, managing director of Dasell Cabin Interiors let loose that it would be providing two separate urinal/washroom units for use alongside convention lavatories. He did not tell us, however, which A380 customer will be getting the military-style urinals. If I had to guess, I would say Emirates was getting the urinals to go along with their expensive golden showers.

Why don't we just give all the males the Little John and females the Little John tank with the Lady J adapter and call it good.

Please note there is a metal handle above the urinal for those moments when you are caught mid-stream in a bit of light chop or worse turbulence.

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Launch Customer Upset Over 787 Delays

Boeing 787 launch customer All Nippon Airways (ANA) upset with Boeing over the latest delays to the new aircraft program and is complaining publicly that it has yet to receive a blessed delivery schedule.

As you may know, and if you read the blog yesterday you would (and if you did not, shame on you), Boeing announced a third major delay to the 787 development program, which will now push first deliveries back to the third quarter of 2009. ANA was originally due to have received the first 787 next month.

ANA is (still) to be the first operator of the 787 and gave a great boost to the program with its 50 firm orders for the 787, split between the 787-8 and the short-haul version 787-3. To make matters worse, Boeing has told both ANA and Japan Airlines (JAL), the only airlines to order the short haul -3, that this version is delayed even more than the initial -8 and the stretched -9.

Both airlines expected to receive their first -3s in 2010, but Boeing has put the kabash on this and informed them it will be the second version to be produced. The stretched -9 will now be the first version and its first delivery is scheduled to take place in 2012, rather than 2010.

JAL has 35 787s on order plus 20 options, however, it has not revealed what its split will be between the -3 and -8.

Boeing has a storm a-brewin' and they'd better not screw up anymore.

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Video: P-51 Mustang crashes in textbook accident

This is by far the best step-by-step video of an aircraft accident that I've seen in a long time. After a landing gear failure at the RAAF Base Williams, Point Cook, Victoria, Australia, this WWII Mustang brings it in with the CFA firefighters ready to roll. Very well produced, with excellent footage and analysis.

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Southwest Laptop Areas Get USB Power

The friendly people over at Southwest Airlines have added USB power ports at Phoenix Sky Harbor airport. Now you can charge your phone, other USB junk, or you could bust out your USB powered pole dancer. At least you will have a charged phone before your out-of-inspection SWA 737 has structural problems.

Cessna 152 Crash at Gillespie Field

A student pilot crashed a Cessna 152 last week at Gillespie Field in El Cajon. You can see the pictures below. Apparently it was the student pilot's second solo (so he probably had between 10-15 hours flight time) and while practicing his controlled crashes touch and gos.

The C152s gear collapsed and the prop struck the pavement, which sparked the fire. Somehow the pilot, in his 20s, was not hurt in the accident.

This would be classified as a flight instructors worst nightmare. I used to let my students solo and I would go hide in the hangar and just listen.


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Bloodbath 2008 - International Edition: Oasis Hong Kong bites it

Oasis Hong Kong called it quits today by suspending all flight operations and liquidating their assets as the result of plaguing financial difficulties and the inability to find new financiers. The low-cost/long-haul carrier based out of, you guessed it, Hong Kong, flew a tiny fleet of gigantic aircraft between its base and London Gatwick and Vancouver. Oasis Hong Kong operated a fleet of five 747-400s in what I thought was one of the coolest liveries out there. They had high hopes of adding additional aircraft and additional destinations to Australia, Europe and the US, but the investors never quite got on board. I guess US carriers aren't the only ones feeling the pinch. Oh well, so long baby.



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Lufthansa lightning strike picture

This is a nice picture of lightning strike damage to a Lufthansa 737 in Sofia, Bulgaria. The aircraft had just taken off from Sofia to Frankfurt on Saturday April 5th when lightning struck the horizontal stabilizer. The flight crew elected to RTB and rightly so. That's a nice little chunk missing there. Engineers are working on getting the 21-year old aircraft airworthy again. Nothing a little 100 mph tape could fix, right?

Photo: BGSpotters.net

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Boeing Revises 787 First Flight and Delivery Plans

Yes, it's official the 787 program has come upon another delay as Boeing is trying to let us down easy by adding slack in their delivery schedule to avoid any other delays. PointNiner brought you this information weeks ago when a "large purchaser" of the 787 reported upcoming delays due to retrofits of the center wingbox.

To put it in Boeing's terms: the first flight has been rescheduled because of slower than anticipated completion of work that came from all over via the Dreamhauler into Boeing's final assembly line, unanticipated rework (wingbox), and the addition of margins into the testing schedule.

The new (revised) delivery schedule is based on a more conservative production plan developed with all of the 787 partners. Boeing now expects to have a first flight of Airplane #1 in the fourth quarter 2008 (instead of the second quarter 2008), with a first delivery planned for the third quarter 2009 (instead of the first quarter 2009). That schedule now targets approximately 25 deliveries in 2009.

Don't get me wrong, I do like the 787 and Boeing aircraft, however, what has happened here is simply this: Boeing used to have balls and they have lost them. They have lost their way.

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Woman's dog gets squished by Delta

WARNING: THIS STORY IS NOT FOR ANIMAL LOVERS, SQUEAMISH, OR THE FAINT OF HEART. An Auburn, New Hampshire woman was on her way to Logan Airport in Boston on Saturday to pick up a new puppy, when she received a call from Delta Air Lines that the pooch had been accidentally crushed to death in Atlanta. Her new $800 West Highland Terrier was being shipped by the airline from a breeder in Arkansas when the accident took place at the dog's connecting city of Atlanta. That's where a ramp rat placed the dogs crate on the apron next to a vehicle being used to load an airplane. The vehicle somehow moved, and well, I think you get the idea from the picture. The puppy's would be owner wants Delta to hold the ramper responsible and wants the airline to review its animal handling policies stating. "I just don't want this puppy to die in vain." Delta is investigating the incident.

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BA bans Naomi Campbell in a slap to unattractive black female British supermodels everywhere

Supermodel Naomi Campbell has been officially banned from flying on British Airways according to Reuters a week after she was accused of assaulting a police officer and removed from a flight at Heathrow Airport. The spoiled 37 year old was released on bond and was hoping for an amicable solution to the dispute. A spokeswoman for Campbell was quoted as saying, "Naomi has been flying with British Airways for nearly 30 years and has been a good customer." I'm sure she was a good customer, when she was 7 years old. Apparently the entire dispute was the result of Campbell's baggage being misplaced in the fiasco that is now Terminal 5 at Heathrow. Actually, I think this is the first good thing to come out of T5.

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Expedition 17 launches on hope, 1960s Soviet technology

The crew of Expedition 17 lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan this morning headed for the International Space Station on board their Soyuz TMA-12 spacecraft to start their 6 month stay in space. Expedition 17 is carrying two Russian Federal Space Agency cosmonauts and one Korean female astronaut as part of the Korean Astronaut Program. Among other things, she'll be bringing an experiment of 1,000 fruit flies to the ISS, so it will be easy to identify whose fault it is when flies start turning up all over the place on the station. The TMA-12 spacecraft will return the Korean astronaut and two Expedition 16 astronauts to Earth next week. I'm glad to see the Soyuz rocket and Soyuz spacecraft still chuggin along after 40 years of dedicated service. Take that, America and your fancy new Orion spacecraft!

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Lancair Evolution Public Debut

This video shows the Lancair Evolution in its public debut. Pretty cool bird. See PointNiner's previous article on the Lanair Evolutions first flight here.

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Cessna Citation Mustang First Biz Jet to Get SVT

Cessna announced today that its Citation Mustang will be receiving the Garmin G1000 based Synthetic Vision Technology. This will make the Mustang the first business jet to be equipped to handle the new cool tech.

In other news, so long as you have flown a successful flight on Flight Simulator X, Cessna wants you to be a test pilot.

Click here for more information on the Synthetic Vision Technology.

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FAA inspection manager gets "reassigned" after SWA faux pas

The FAA has "reassigned" one of its regional inspection managers according to USA Today, following a rather embarrassing set of testimonies last week in front of a congressional panel on airline maintenance compliance oversight. Thomas Stuckey, former FAA Southwestern Regional Chief of Inspectors, was accused of being too lenient when it came to airline inspections due to his cozy relationships with the airlines. This led to the debacle with Southwest Airline's uninspected 737s and the now hefty $10.2 million fine for the airline (which is like chump change to Southwest). What's funny is that Stuckey was given "unspecified new duties" a mere 4 days after the hearing. I'm going to assume that "unspecified new duties" means he is in one of the following capacities now:

1. Wiping vulture poop off of the glideslope tower at the Death Valley Airport
2. Manning a VOR station in Nome, Alaska
3. Cleaning the men's restroom at the NY TRACON (as seen in the picture)

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Diamond Aircraft Readies Synthetic Vision

Diamond Aircraft has installed Garmin's G1000-based Synthetic Vision Technology (SVT), and it will be unveiled at Sun 'n Fun today. Garmin announced the system had been certified on yesterday and apparently did not want to waste any time showing it off.

A Diamond DA40 with the system installed will be on display at the announcement. It will be offered on all new aircraft from Diamond as an option for just under $10,000, a fraction of the price when compared to SVT on a business jet.The system provides a 3D depiction of terrain and hazards on the PFD with water, land, and sky. If it senses a hazard, it tells you that you are going to die colors the terrain in the appropriate colors and obstacles grow larger as they get closer. Air traffic is also depicted and the SVT system produces highway in the sky "rectangles" to fly through.

So now flying on an SVT display is no different than trying to accomplish an achievement on Flight Simulator X or Star Fox. Now we will have more non-instrument rated private pilot flying through the soup because they think they can play video games. Great.



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SportairUSA gets tornadoed for squashing too many words together without a space

Light Sport Aircraft manufacturer SportairUSA was gearing up for the annual Sun-n-Fun (also too many words squashed together), when a tornado swept through and demolished their hangar at the Little Rock Airport on April 3rd and did to one of their Sting Sport display aircraft what they've been doing to their name. Another hangar at the airport was completely removed from it's foundation. Fortunately, Bill Canino, SportairUSA's CEO was in an unharmed hangar at the time. The company still plans on being in attendance tomorrow for the opening ceremonies of Sun-n-Fun in Lakeland, FL and pressing on with their operation minus their hangar.


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In Flight Use of Cell Phones???

You got it, our European friends have just passed a law that will allow for the in-flight use of cell phones. With that winning vote, travel has become 10x more annoying. It's bad enough having to listen to someone in the terminal, but on the plane, the last place of some solitude? May the lord be with you should you be sitting next to a loudtalker, I may have a hard time not pressing the end button.

For the Eurpoeans, the only saving grace is that it will not be cheap to phone home from 37,000 feet up. According to the BBC, the service will start appearing as early as next month, starting with Air France—which apparently is ready for deployment—and following with low cost airline Ryanair. I hope this never happens in the US and if it does, I hope it is $10/min to keep most yahoos off their phones.

See the simplified technical drawing below.

Buy your very own aircraft interior

Ebay has some great things for sale. Head over there to check out an auction where someone is selling the interior of an aircraft, including everything but the trolley dollies: first class double seats, two fully-equipped airplane toilets, kitchenette, storage lockers, and onboard in-flight video equipment. See the pictures below and visit eBay for the auction.





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Bloodbath 2008: Skyway gets severed like John Wayne Bobbit

We've reached victim numero cinco on our Bloodbath 2008 Watch as Midwest Air Group (the parent company of Midwest Airlines) lopped off Skyway Airlines like a cheating appendage. Employees, family members, and fans of the tiny airline used for Midwest Connect services were there as Skyway flew it's last flight into its home in Milwaukee, WI on Saturday. Midwest Air Group chose to scrap Skyway in favor of farming out their flying to Skywest (no relation) in an attempt to stay above water in this sinking economy with it's outrageously high fuel prices. Skyway, known for flying it's fleet of Dornier 328Jets and Beech 1900s, was actually hardly known, unless you lived in the Great Lakes region. Midwest Air Group will eventually sell off their aircraft. RIP, Skyway-X.

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GAO Throws Out Motions to Dismiss Boeing's Protest Claim

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has decided to review Boeing's protest against the well-known KC-X contract award, while all other parties involved KC-X program continue to bicker over the details of the US Air Force selection process.

One month after the USAF awarded the long term contract for the KC-X program to Northrop Grumman/EADS North America's KC-45A, the GAO rejected separate motions by the Air Force and NG/EADS to throw out Boeing's protest claim. The GAO has until mid-June to adjudge Boeing's case for overturning the contract award. Currently, the GAO is awaiting the USAF's response to Boeing's claims, due on April 16.

Meanwhile, Boeing and NG have teams of lawyers stationed at the GAO's offices reviewing thousands of pages of official USAF documents, seeking to dig up new details to support their respective cases.

Those discoveries have prompted Boeing to submit three updates to its original protest document, submitted in mid-March, which are naturally not being disclosed. Boeing's original protest focused on two points - that the USAF selection team "unfairly" rejected some of Boeing's cost estimates, and that "last-minute" changes to a software-based evaluation model biased the outcome of the competition in favor of NG/EADS offering.

Surely there is more to come in the following days, stay tuned to PointNiner.

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Delta 777-200LR in flight pictures

The below seven pictures were taken from a Learjet flying in formation. The aircraft in question is a Boeing 777-200LR, a work of art if you ask me.

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Malaysia Airlines Delays A380 Delivery

Malaysia Airlines has substantially pushed back the delivery dates for the six Airbus A380s it has on order.

MA A380s were originally due for delivery between January 2007 and December 2008, however, delays in the A380 program meant it was no longer able to receive the aircraft as scheduled. MA recently reached an agreement with Airbus for delivery of its A380s between January and August 2011.

There was even some speculation that MA would not even want to continue the A380 order, after it publicly announced that it was having a difficult time filling the 747-400s. Further, MA just ordered 35 Boeing 737-800s, with options for 20 more, due for delivery in September 2010.

In other news, a Cessna 152 was recently scared by a 747-400 landing that was nearly 50x its size.

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Iran Air commerical, from before they hated our guts

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I just ran across this Iran Air TV commercial from the 1970s that was aired in the US. It features an Iranian man discussing his flight from New York to Tehran in what is, I guess, English although sometimes it sounds like Spanglish. Hard to believe they wanted us infidels to be tourists in their land before it became so hard core. Funny slogan at the end, "Iran Air, we take you there, we take you back." They must not want us to stay.

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Bloodbath 2008: Skybus the youngest victim yet

Aloha, Champion, ATA, and now add Skybus as the latest airline to die a miserable death within the last week at the hands of rising fuel costs and an economy in the dump. Last night the Columbus, Ohio based airline said it would file Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Monday after shutting down all operations today. Not even making it a full year of operation, Skybus had the shortest life of any of the recent airline fatalities and hadn't even come close to it's prime. With only 11 of it's 60 ordered A319s and serving only 11 cities with scheduled service, I don't think too many people are going to notice them missing in action. Well, maybe their 450 employees will.

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Update to B-1 crash: never happened, I'm an idiot

I guess that's what I get for running with a breaking news story. It turns out the B-1 didn't "crash" in Qatar this afternoon as earlier indicated by most media outlets who sucker fools like me into believing them. Now it appears that the aircraft merely caught fire while taxiing after landing at al-Udeid Air Base. All 4 crewmembers safely escaped. The only casualty, my pride.

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Breaking: B-1 goes down in Qatar

Not a lot of details on this one yet, but a US Air Force B-1 bomber has crashed at the al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar today according to an Air Force spokesman. There are no reports yet on injuries or casualties, or whether or not the aircraft was on a combat sortie. We'll try to fill you in as this story develops.

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Heathrow T5 mess to cost BA $32M, pride

We haven't really hit much on the debacle British Airways is wading through with the opening of Terminal 5 at London Heathrow, mainly because we've been waiting to see what happens. Well today, Reuters is reporting that the chaos should be winding down for BA sometime next week. Of course, that's after the entire fiasco will have cost the airline GBP 16 million or about 32 million US dollars. The highly anticipated opening of T5 came with much pomp and circumstance after a very lengthy development. But after just 2 weeks of fumbled operations, BA has had cancel nearly 300 flights in and out of T5. The PR nightmare has also left thousands of passengers wondering how T5 could have swallowed up their allegedly missing luggage.

So far, all of BA's flights out of T5 have been short-haul. The carrier intends on moving all of it's long-haul international operations to the new terminal by April 15. Deutsche Bank is forecasting that this could create problems leading into the summer months with total price tag of GBP 150 million as the result of the SNAFU that is T5. Willie Walsh, CEO of BA, has already shot down the notion of stepping down from this FUBAR mess. I guess he's never heard of the ancient Japanese ritual of seppuku.

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Aloha parks it

This nice picture from Airliners.net was taken Wednesday, the day after Aloha Airlines shutdown their operations. Honolulu International Airport is now littered with their old fleet. Aircraft are parked in every little nook and cranny available at the airport as their fleet of 28 Boeing 737s await their new fate.

Photo: David Sperry

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Welcome to the new PointNiner.com!

We are very proud to announce the unveiling of our revamped blog PointNiner and its new web address, www.pointniner.com. We've recently overhauled this blog site to make it the best we can for you, the visitors. This is still a work in progress, and you may see more changes in the near future. If you've bookmarked the old address, www.pointniner.blogspot.com, thanks for being a repeat offender and don't worry, the old Contact Ground .9 URL will redirect you to the new address.

Don't forget to bookmark this page and check it frequently as we are constantly updating the blog with the latest and greatest, and sometimes not so late and great news, info, pics, and video from the aerospace world.

Thanks again for your patronage and if you have any comments or suggestions on how to make this blog even better, please don't hesitate to contact us.



Thanks,

The PointNiner staff

C-17 the latest Boeing product with fatigue cracking

It seems as though the Southwest 737 is not the only Boeing aircraft flying around with fuselage cracks. The US Air Force announced during a testimony to a House subcommittee, that Boeing is working on repairing an unknown amount of C-17 Globemaster IIIs with stress cracking underneath and forward of the wing root. The cause has been identified as use of the aircraft's powerful thrust-reversing system on its giant F117 turbofan engines. A source with the Chicago-based aerospace giant was quoted to say "The cracks are a minor occurrence, and don't pose a safety hazard for the aircraft or flight crews. There's no impact on the operational readiness of these planes and the cracks are being fixed during regularly scheduled maintenance with a simple technique." I guess the Air Force must have purchased the extended warranty on these babies to get Boeing to fix them.

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Citation 2 Accident Video

I stumbled upon this Citation 2 crash footage. The video is not really of the crash, although you see the aircraft landing, downwind in strong winds, but it is the aftermath that makes this video really interesting. I'm not sure how this was caught on tape, but it's about 5 minute video from landing to the aftermath. Be sure to watch the whole video because what happens is unbelievable. And, for the record, everyone was ok.

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Cessna Citation X Crash at JFK

A Cessna Citation (N750WM) arriving from Orlando, Florida crashed at JFK last night (4/3/08) at 8:17pm EDT. According to initial reports, one of the main landing gear collapsed upon landing. The pilot blamed it on faulty hydraulics.

The aircraft is registered to William Aviation of Charlotte, North Carolina. Fortunately, no one was seriously injured. The pilot and a passenger reportedly had minor injuries. The accident, however, caused ground stoppages and delays across the country. The aircraft, as you can see in the pictures, did not fare as well as its occupants.

See other pictures of the crash below.



Images: WABC

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Boeing begins final assembly on Navy's first P-8 Poseidon

The US Navy got one step closer today to replacing its fleet of nearly 50 year old P-3 Orions, when Boeing began final assembly today on the first P-8A Poseidon. The Navy intends on purchasing 108 of the new aircraft to start phasing out the Orions. The first flight of the Poseidon is slated for 2009, the same year they intend on delivering the first test aircraft to the Navy. In all 5 test aircraft will be built, 3 for flight testing, and 2 for ground testing. The P-8A, based off the 737-800 airframe, will dramatically boost the Navy's ability to conduct anti-submarine, anti-surface, intelligence, surveillence, and reconnaissance operations when they reach operational capability in 2013.

Photo: Boeing

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Happy 20th Birthday Airbus A320

It was March 28, 1988 that the first Airbus A320 was delivered to Air France for testing and training and it entered into service on April 18, 1988. So, really, this is an ongoing birthday celebration from March 28 - April 18, 2008 as there is not really a "born on date" like with humans or Bud Light beer bottles.

Please note that me posting a Happy Birthday message to the A320 does nothing to make me like Airbus any more than I did previously, I am simply reporting the interesting news of the day to our faithful readers. Airbus lovers (unlike myself, did I make that clear) laud the A320 as the one that got Airbus in the commercial aircraft manufacturing game.

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Europe finally sticks it with Jules Verne

It's been over five months since I last tipped my hat to the boys in Europe, but today I'll have to do it again as the European Space Agency finally docked their Jules Verne ATV to the ISS this morning in the world's first autonomous space docking. The coolest part about the ATV is it's use of "frickin' laser beams" for it's computerized docking. Jules brought 7,500 lbs of cargo and supplies to the station today along with a heaping of EuroHope and aspirations for the ESA's sometimes struggling space program. The Automated Transfer Vehicle program will give Europe an in for the ISS and space exploration, at least until we scrap that floating test tube in the sky. It will definitely help with space station supplies as NASA plans on wrapping up shuttle flights here in the next couple of years to prepare for the Constellation Project. The ESA is planning on building 8 more ATVs, each of which will burn up on reentry after servicing the ISS. Wait a minute, shouldn't we try to shoot them down then??

I'm working on uploading a video of the docking on this post, so check back again soon.

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Four Unnamed Airlines Under Investigation by FAA

Four U.S. airlines are being investigated for failing to comply with FAA regulations. Funny thing is that the FAA is not naming the four specific carriers by name, but I am willing to bet it is not Southwest, United, Delta, or American...so why did they call out those airlines and not these new four who had similar problems?

The FAA announced the audit of airline maintenance records after the whole Southwest snafu and has found 3 of the 4 carriers missed inspection deadlines. FAA officials said that one of the airlines failed to comply with airworthiness directives (ADs) for landing gear wiring. Another carrier failed to comply with a required plan and the other remaining airlines had aircraft overdue for inspections.

In true shoot from the hip reactionary form, the FAA will launch a new reporting system to provide employees an additional way to raise safety concerns they feel aren't getting necessary attention or response from management. Ah, more internal whistle blowers who cannot release their identity in fear of retaliation, that must be the answer.

Oh but don't worry, the FAA says we should still feel safe flying around even though, by my estimation, we have 7-8 U.S. airlines that have effed up.

MAYBE, just maybe, someone should be investigating the FAA as well. Remember those "record fines" ($10+ million) that the FAA was threatening Southwest with??? I'm beginning to think the FAA let this go, with full knowledge of the violations, and is now coming after the airlines with fines to help pay for the next generation ATC system? What's that you smell -- oh just a little rottenness, that is all.

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Round and round we go: ATA bites the dust now

Aloha, croaks last week; Champion crashes and burns on Tuesday (figuratively, of course); and now this. ATA announced this morning that they have filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy and ceased all flight operations effective immediately. Another Third-rate Airline ATA is claiming they are the latest victim in a string of murders by the evil rising prices of jet fuel. The Indianapolis based charter and scheduled airline also states it has lost out on a key military charter contract for 2009. FedEx, the team leader for an arrangement with the DOD and Air Mobility Command, officially booted ATA from the team next year. Apparently this team, of which ATA has been a part of for nearly 20 years, was just about the only thing that kept them flying with a nice little injection of military funding. That, coupled with the ridiculous spike in fuel prices, was enough to nail down the coffin on ATA. I guess this officially ends their code-sharing agreement with Southwest, who by the way has enough problems of their own.

P.S. If you have already purchased a ticket on ATA for the future, it will make a nice origami swan, as your ticket is now worth the equivalent of an origami swan. Your SOL. Sorry, buddy.

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Aloha to Aloha Airlines -- Final Flight

Aloha Airlines completed its last flight On Monday (March 31) after 61 years of operation. Officials from the airlines say they simply ran out of time to find a qualified buyer or to get more $$ to keep operating. They blamed "unfair competition" from Mesa Air Group's go! airline that started operations in Hawaii in 2006 and offerred inter-island fares as low as $19 each way. Yay capitalism.

The last flight, as I'm sure was planned, was from Kahului with Aloha's most senior pilot and most junior pilot at the controls.

The airline's worst accident occurred in 1988, when a part of the fuselage ripped away in flight. See Hollywood's best reenactment of said incident below. Love the acting.

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Whisleblowers saying Southwest tried to put the kibosh on them, hide problems

Just when things couldn't get any worse for Southwest Airlines, CNN is now reporting that two FAA safety inspectors are claiming the beleaguered airline tried to hide its safety inspection problem and pressured the FAA to keep the inspectors out of their business. Even worse, when Bobby Boutris and Douglas Peters tried to tell their superiors at the FAA about the lack of compliance, nothing was done according to them. Boutris is claiming that the Southwest Airlines Airworthiness Compliance leader even requested that Boutris be removed from the inspection, a request the agency granted. I'm sure now, they'll wish they hadn't done this, or grown so lovey-dovey in their relationships with the airlines they are tasked to regulate.

Of course, Southwest doesn't want to comment on this, their newest faux pas in a round of stupid moves part and parcel to their impending sit down with a congressional panel in the House of Representatives today about these issues. Over at the FAA, however, acting administrator Bobby Sturgell is stepping up and gearing up for his lashings by commenting, "We had a breakdown in the system with Southwest Airlines. It was a two-way breakdown." He'll have a lot more to talk about along with Southwest's chairman, Southwest's CEO, Boutris, and Peters at the panel. The FAA is still pushing its $10.2 million on Southwest over this ordeal, but somehow I think Southwest won't be then only ones getting their peepees slapped on this one.

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Please pardon our dust

We're working hard here at Contact Ground .9 to bring you the best of aviation brought to you by the two guys who should probably be doing other things. With that in mind, you'll probably be seeing some changes to this site in the next couple of days, but don't worry, they should be good changes. Some may even be temporary to test the waters. We'd like to enhance the whole experience here for the users, because that's reason we even do this crap. If you have any comments or suggestions on how to improve this blog, please contact us.

Thanks,

Aaron and Steve

727 Lands at Meigs Field

This is a cool video I stumbled upon of a 727 landing at Meigs Field in 1992. It was not a mistake, rather the aircraft was going to be used on display at the Museum of Science and Industry, located nearby what was, at one time, Meigs Field. Don't get me started on Meigs Field and its 2003 dethroning by the douche bag mayor of Chicago.

I think the pilot was a bit nervous, judging by the shakiness of the landing, the bounce and subsequent forcing of the 727 on the runway.

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Space Shuttle fleet to get moving maps, catch up to GA

NASA is set to roll out it's final software update for the Space Shuttle fleet before their pending retirement and no it isn't Vista SP1. The 33rd Operational Increment, or OI33, as it is called will give the shuttle pilot and commander a top-down view of the orbiter and locations for abort sites during ascent and orbital insertion. Endeavour, just freshly back from it's jaunt on STS-123 last week, will be the first shuttle to receive the upgrade in time for it's October launch on STS-126. The new capability will vastly improve situational awareness and the ability to handle the potential for a Main Engine shutdown during ascent, even though that has never happened, ever. I'm glad to see our nation's most expensive pride and joy when it comes to aerospace engineering finally getting the same moving map capability that you can find in a Cessna 172.

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United is Next Victim of FAA Inspections

United Airlines temporarily grounded 11 percent of its fleet today, while it tested several of its 777s to make assure components of a cargo fire suppression system were operating effectively.

This is continued fallout from the snafu at Southwest Airlines. United said it would be testing 52 777s over the next 36 hours. By midmorning today, 12 777s had be inspected and cleared to fly. To put it in perspective, United has about 460 aircraft in its fleet.

These inspections were prompted by a review of maintenance records which showed a test on one of five bottles in the fire suppression system had not been performed. United was proactive and turned themselves in rather than awaiting the FAA to learn of said negligence and assessing a large fine.

United carried out unscheduled maintenance on seven of its Boeing 747s last month but found no safety-related issues.

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At Flybe, we'll pay you to fly!

Again, not an April Fools joke. British airline Flybe is paying 172 people to fly all over England in order to meet a quota of delivering 15,000 passengers to Norwich Airport. The point? If Flybe can meet that goal, they'll receive a 280,000 pound ($550,000) rebate from the airport. When the airport rejected the idea of a partial rebate if Flybe was close to the goal, the airline went out and found people they could pay 30 to 40 pounds each to fill these flights and meet the goal. They even through in free in-light bar and entertainment. Needless to say, airport management at Norwich is less then thrilled. Managing Director Richard Jenner called the move "ludicrous" and said the target had to be met by "paying passengers". Well isn't that what Flybe is doing? Paying passengers? We'll see who wins this one.

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Faulty Landing Gear Parts? Not April Fools

This is not a really comforting story and maybe we could say "April Fools!" but we cannot. The FAA is investigating a Miami, Florida maintenance firm (AAR) that allegedly sent out rusty (spoons) substandard landing gear parts used on hundreds of Boeing's wide body aircraft. The FAA's notice details more than 300 instances when the firm shipped "unapproved" parts for use on a Boeing aircraft in recent years.

Also, the FAA said the landing gear parts failed to comply with maintenance manuals and a 2001 safety directive. Fortunately, no accidents have been caused by the affected parts, but US Airways, also an AAR customer, voluntarily removed several parts after one of its B757 had a partial landing gear failure in October 2007 which was apparently officially classified as an incident.

Apparently, the problem is that the parts were painted with enamel paint to structural components, which is against FAA regs. The reason paint is not supposed to be applied to these certain parts is because the paint can hide potential corrosion which could then lead to a accident from a concealed defect.

For the second time today, I smell more inspections. What is the deal with all the uncovering of missed inspections, bad parts, wiring issues, and nipple rings? Maybe the Feds were taking a nap or need additional help.

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New CRJ-1000 pics

Bombardier has again dropped some new photos of their CRJ-1000 regional jet. And no, your screen does not need to be adjusted, these pics are not strecthed to fit. This is really how long and skinny the plane will be. The fine French Canadians are anticipating a 2009 4Q delivery.




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First KC-45 already set for mods?

Very sneaky Northrop Grumman, or should I say...Airbus! After being a bit coy about the current status of any A330 already being prepped for tanker conversion, the team has apparently let the cat out of the bag by indicating that ship D-1, the first KC-45, has already arrived at EADS' passenger-to-cargo conversion shop in Dresden Germany. It had mainly been kept under wraps until late last week due in part to the current protest over the tanker contract award by Boeing. Dresden is just the first stop for D-1. After there it will fly to CASA's Madrid shop for it's refueling systems, then on to Northrop Grumman's Melbourne, Florida facility for defensive systems. All these mods plus assembly should take place at the new Mobile plant when the program finally gets rolling. The KC-45 team is still speculating a 2010 first flight, protest pending. Would it really take that long? Check out the picture below...don't the flags have you fooled?



Photos: Northrop Grumman

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United Finds Airbus A320 Problems

It seems that Airbus has been bulletproof over the past couple months, being rewarded the KC-45A deal over its across the pond rival Boeing and all the news with the A380 (with showers).

Well all good things must come to an end (and this may not even be Airbuses fault). United discovered improper wiring connected to the landing gears in two of its Airbus A320 aircraft. The fault may have led to a pair of runway accidents, one in Jackson Hole, Wyoming in late February, and one at Chicago O'Hare four months later. Now, U.S. investigators are researching whether inadequate testing procedures by Airbus or mistakes by UA mechanics are to blame.

United allegedly has been evaluating the "anti-skid" functional test and has inspected the entire A320 fleet. I smell the FAA investigators pulling a surprise inspection in the wake of Southwest's overdue inspection snafu and AA and Delta's 300+ cancellations.

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Champion Air the latest victim of fuel prices

Just a week after Aloha Airlines announced it would be shutting down due to high fuel prices, Champion Air is now the latest to fall under the same axe announcing their intentions of ceasing flight operations on May 31st according to a company press release. President and CEO of Champion, Lee Steele, indicated in the release that, “This is a sad day for the entire Champion family,” and a sad end to an 11 year old airline hitting what they claimed to be the "perfect storm" of economic downturn and tight credit. The airline will fulfill any commitments to customers between now and shutdown, but the 550 employees of Champion are undoubtedly already looking for other jobs. I'm not sure what they were expecting with the fuel prices when they operated a 16 aircraft fleet of all 727s. That aircraft could hardly be considered "green" when it comes to fuel consumption.

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