TSA's self-screening trial in Las Vegas' airport should have been the standard checkpoint ages ago //
skeffles
liffie420
3/08/24 11:59am
A 9/11 style takeover became impossible once they started locking the cockpit doors. That was the only real change they needed. //
skeffles
Ryan Erik King
3/08/24 11:05am
The TSA is designed to be noticeable, intrusive, and cumbersome, as a feature and not a bug. If it ain’t creating a whole hassle, then how will the public NOTICE the government is DOING SOMETHING about that terrorism stuff? It is pure theater like that. It is meant to be in your face, and down your pants, by design.
If it just worked, seamlessly and quietly, then nobody would notice it. //
_beveryman
Ryan Erik King
3/08/24 2:26pm
I am going to regret weighing in with this perspective, but I have been mulling over some security theater in computer security (Web Application Firewalls), and unfortunately there’s a parallel here which explains the value of TSA security theater.
WAF’s do not stop dedicated attackers.
...
So too, the TSA. Security theater doesn’t keep the dedicated attackers out, it keeps the volume of attackers lower, especially the less sophisticated ones. WAF’s provide value in the same way the TSA does, and this was a very uncomfortable light bulb to go off in my mind. //
ilya212
_beveryman
3/08/24 10:30pm
You are not wrong, and you are not the only one. The best summary of TSA I had ever seen came from Israeli airport security (and I trust these guys know what they are talking about): It stops stupid terrorists.
The question however is: How much damage can stupid terrorists actually do? And does preventing this rather minor damage outweigh all the frustration, wasted time, and overall societal grief TSA causes? //
ncbo
Ryan Erik King
3/09/24 11:50am
“theater” itself is a deterrent. It’s like how your front door could be made of thin glass floor to ceiling, trivially easy to smash by a 9 year old. But has anyone ever? That small step of having to break something deters 99% of would-be criminals. //
xspeedy
Ryan Erik King
3/09/24 1:41pm
My biggest frustration is the lack of consistent rules between airports. Some have you remove laptops, others don’t. And so one is always guessing.
Take a look at the fastest, smallest, and silliest aircraft to appear in the James Bond franchise.
FROM
Anchorage (ANC)
TO
Rzeszow (RZE)
GREAT CIRCLE DISTANCE
7,645 KM
ACTUAL FLIGHT TIME
11:28
AIRCRAFT
Boeing 747-4B5F
REGISTRATION
N713CK
SERIAL NUMBER (MSN)
32808
An airplane does not instantly recover airspeed lost in a wind shear. That takes time, and it takes a particularly long time when all excess power is being used for climbing. //
It’s common practice in gusty conditions to add some knots to your normal approach or climbing speed. Those knots are often said to be “for grandma”—probably because she was always urging us to be careful—and they seem to come in multiples of five. To be logical about it, we should add airspeed in proportion to the reported gust or wind shear fluctuations. When those numbers are of the same magnitude as the difference between the airplane’s climbing speed and its stalling speed, grandma would become justifiably nervous, and it might be best to honor her by remaining on the ground. If that isn’t possible, favor airspeed over climb rate and, if the nose and airspeed drop at once, push, don’t pull.
Watching the video "America's Top 10 Ugliest Aircraft" from Youtube:
At around 7:40 into the video when discussing the Vought Pirate, there are a few seconds of a picture where the Pirate was flying in formation with another aircraft that I personally find gorgeous. //
The "ugly aircraft" from your video is a Vought F6U Pirate, the aircraft furthest from the camera: you saw it flying in formation with Chance Vought Cutlass F7U-1
A New York-bound Virgin Atlantic flight was canceled just moments before takeoff last week when an alarmed passenger said he spotted several screws missing from the plane’s wing.
British traveler Phil Hardy, 41, was onboard Flight VS127 at Manchester Airport in the UK on Jan. 15 when he noticed the four missing fasteners during a safety briefing for passengers and decided to alert the cabin crew. //
“Each of these panels has 119 fasteners, so there was no impact to the structural integrity or load capability of the wing, and the aircraft was safe to operate,” he said.
“As a precautionary measure, the aircraft underwent an additional maintenance check, and the fasteners were replaced.”
The recent runway collision at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport involving a Japan Airlines (JAL) Airbus A350 has placed a spotlight on the resilience of modern carbon-composite aircraft (Airbus A350, Boeing 787, 777-8 and 777-9) in catastrophic fire scenarios. This incident, which marks the first major destruction of a lightweight airliner by fire, is being closely observed as a critical test case for the new generation of high-tech composite airplanes.
The JAL Airbus A350-900, colliding with a De Havilland Dash-8 coast guard turboprop plane, burst into flames shortly after landing. Despite the severe circumstances, all 379 people aboard the A350 were successfully evacuated, though tragically, five out of the six coast guard crew members perished.
The aviation industry is now keenly focused on how these advanced composite airliners, which have revolutionized long-haul flights and airline economics over the past decade, withstand catastrophic fires. Investigators are currently probing the cause of the collision, with the aviation community awaiting insights into the survivability and durability of these high-tech planes in extreme conditions. //
Composite airframes, as explained by Bjorn Fehrm, a composites expert at Leeham News, offer several advantages over traditional aluminum planes. For instance, carbon fiber can withstand significantly higher temperatures, smoldering and burning away rather than melting. Airbus has previously indicated that the A350 demonstrates “an equivalent level of safety” compared to aluminum planes, showing “increased resistance” to fire penetration.
However, prolonged exposure to intense heat can compromise the structural integrity of composite airframes, even if the outer skin appears unscathed. The lengthy duration of the JAL A350 fire, lasting over six hours, raises questions about whether special firefighting techniques are required for composite jets.
A short while ago, we told the story of the Boeing 757, pound-for-pound the most overpowered twin-jet passenger airliner of the jet age of aviation. It was and still is the kind of jet that can legitimately impress fighter jets with its climb-to-altitude capabilities thanks to two colossal engines. If all that's true, think of the Airbus A340 as the complete opposite. Despite sporting four engines instead of two, the A340 is notorious worldwide for being an absolute pig. For better or worse, the A340 is like a Geo Metro in the sky. //
In time, Airbus's two factions advocating for either a twin or quad-jet arrangement for its new airframe conceded four engines were more marketable internationally than two. The only question remaining was what on Earth would power the new jet. Therein lay the future A340's true weakness, its engines.
The engine in question was the Franco-American CFM International CFM56 high-bypass turbofan engine. With well north of 30,000 examples produced since 1974, the CFM56 is one of the most prolific engines of the jet age. Everything from the DC-8 to multiple Boeing 737 iterations and all of the associated military variants therein have made use of the CFM 56 over the last 50 years. //
The last of the 377 A340s delivered to airline customers was completed in 2012. With the completion of Airbus' A380 jumbo jet program in 2021, it's doubtful whether Airbus will ever again field another wide-body, quad-jet airliner again. With the industry shifting ever more towards more efficient twin-jets, the A340 will forever remain a curious footnote in aviation history. https://www.airbus.com/en/who-we-are/our-history/commercial-aircraft-history/previous-generation-aircraft/a340-family //
it's yet to see a fatal accident in three decades of commercial service.
Certification standards require that airliner manufacturers demonstrate their designs are capable of evacuating all passengers within 90 seconds using half the available exits. Bjorn Fehrm, an aeronautical engineer, told the Financial Times, “The most important part, whether the plane is aluminum or carbon fiber, is that you have protection for many, many minutes from external heat. In this case, the carbon fiber is giving that heat-shield protection.”
Even though carbon fiber will burn at lower temperatures than the 600 degrees Celsius of aluminum, Emile Greenhalgh, a professor of composite materials at London’s Imperial College, said the composite material reacts differently to fire. “As the material burns,” he said, “all the flammable material forms a char layer, so you end up with a barrier against the progression of fire.” //
William Bellinger
January 5, 2024 At 8:58 am
The regulations require the plane has to be evacuated in 90 seconds for certification. I understand the actual evacuation took much , much longer. //
william Lawson
January 5, 2024 At 9:14 am
we must remember that faa evacuations tests are done with healthy, trained, in shape people not the average passenger load with children, old people, over weight out of shape passengers.
if they did the tests with a normal group of passengers they would need to make the aisles wider more room in the seats etc. //
niio
January 6, 2024 At 6:47 am
While the ‘passengers’ in the test must be of ‘normal health’ (no disability that would compromise the test), they are not trained and cannot have been a participant in any previous test within six months. A third of them must be over 50 and 40pct must be female. Three infant sized dolls are included. No one who maintains or operates the aircraft may participate. //
bushwc@hotmail.com
January 6, 2024 At 11:41 am
I read that the flight attendants waited for the pilots to give the ok to open the doors. Back in the 70’s and 80’s I traveled to 59 countries and 48 states, many more than once. I always knew where the exits were and how to open them. I certainly wouldn’t have waited on the ok from the flight crew if there is fire all around the aircraft. I would have found an exit with the least amount of fire, opened the door and gotten out. You can’t depend on the flight crew. They could easily be incapacitated by injuries leaving you on your own to survive. Pay attention to the safety briefing and read the safety card carefully. The life you safe could be your own. //
Uniform Golf
January 5, 2024 At 11:44 am
A few thoughts:
...
JAL’s safety videos stand out for their focus on serious instructions such as evacuations, luggage procedures, and slide usage:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BDIGt8MOD8
3) Yes, composites seem to burn differently. Some of the videos suggest that the firefighters were on scene with the fire largely out on the exterior, with flames in the interior in the aft of the cabin. Between that video and the photo the morning after, it appears that the fire completely consumed the aircraft leaving little of the fuselage. The following article resurrects an article from 2009 about combatting composite airplane fires and discusses findings on the difference of composite aircraft fire fighting demands, toxic smoke and remains, and cleanup considerations:
https://leehamnews.com/2024/01/02/jal-a350-ground-collision-is-first-hull-loss-by-damage-and-fire-of-an-all-composite-airplane/
Japan Airlines flight collides with Japan Coast Guard aircraft in Tokyo
Concorde Turbo-Jet Engine, Complete with Afterburner
A Rolls-Royce Olympus Turbojet engine 593-610, fitted with afterburner.
Complete with serial numbered mobile stand.
Forty-six years ago, the deadliest peacetime aviation disaster in history took place. //
After the crash, it became mandatory for pilots and air traffic controllers in most countries around the world to use standardized, hard-to-confuse terminology. Words such as "OK" were replaced with "Roger" (meaning that the receiving person acknowledges). Phrases such as "We're at takeoff" were replaced with "[Insert Flight Number] is taking off the runway [insert number]" or "[Insert Flight Number] holding short runway [insert number]".
In the moments leading up to the crash, both the first officer and flight engineer were hesitant to question Captain Van Zanten's decision to immediately go for takeoff roll due to his seniority at KLM. In a post-1977 world, airlines began to incorporate playing down the idea of a cockpit hierarchy, choosing to place more emphasis on pilot training based on team decision-making. This idea of "Crew Resource Management" (CRM), has become a mandatory requirement for cockpit crew training in North/South America (FAA) and Europe (EASA) since 2006.
http://www.project-tenerife.com/nederlands/PDF/finaldutchreport.pdf/tenerife-air-disaster-report
Just about everyone has heard of the “black box” on an airplane. The term tends to have strong associations because most of the time when we hear about the black box it’s as a result of an air crash. Here’s a look at how they work.
“Black box” is a common term in popular use but within the industry it is generally referred to as an electronic flight data recorder. That can describe either the CVR (Cockpit Voice Recorder) or the FDR (Flight Data Recorder), or a combination of both. A number of modern black boxes house everything within one unit. Either way, for redundancy’s sake, every aircraft has to have at least two onboard. And they do exactly what they say on the tin: these boxes are essentially heavily fortified hard drives that record everything about a flight on an ongoing basis.
The FDR continuously records a wide array of data (around 700 different parameters) about all aspects of an aircraft as it flies from place to place. The CVR records the conversations on the flight deck and other sounds like radio transmissions and automated alarms, though it deletes all audio older than the most recent two hours of flight. //
Although the hope is always that the data any given black box contains will never need to be retrieved and analyzed, every recorder needs to be able to withstand the worst case scenario: a catastrophic accident. That means they need to be certified as more or less indestructible, at least up to some very high thresholds. They’re tested by being launched at a concrete wall at a speed of 750 kilometers per hour, and they have to withstand loads of 2.25 tons for at least five minutes, temperatures of 1,100 degrees Celsius for an hour and not only be waterproof but withstand the heavy pressure found at depths of thousands of meters underwater. //
Consider the fact that after the crash of Air France flight 447 in the Atlantic Ocean in 2009, the black boxes weren’t found until nearly two years later. The wreckage that contained the boxes was submerged at a depth of almost 4,000 meters. And yet, the data and recordings were successfully recovered and proved invaluable for helping investigators to understand exactly what went wrong.
- Pan Am ceased operations over 30 years ago following more than six decades in the business.
- The airline's history began in 1927 with mail service between Key West and Havana, eventually expanding its routes worldwide.
- Despite its eventual downfall due to fuel prices and deregulation, Pan Am's legacy lives on.
It has been over three decades since Pan American World Airways operated its last flight. The carrier, affectionately referred to as "Pan Am," ceased operations 32 years ago, with its final flight taking place on December 4, 1991.
The airline was known to be a leader in technology and innovation, having operated several aircraft types throughout its more than 60-year history. Next month will mark 95 years since it commenced passenger services.
Pan Am's Pacific Clipper Journey in World War 2 ( written 1999):
The 'Round The World Saga of the "Pacific Clipper" by John A. Marshall
December 7, 1941 - January 6, 1942
The first blush of dawn tinged the eastern sky and sent its rosy fingers creeping onto the flight deck of the huge triple-tailed flying boat as she cruised high above the South Pacific. Six days out of her home port of San Francisco, the Boeing 314 was part of Pan American Airways' growing new service that linked the far corners of the Pacific Ocean. With veteran captain Robert Ford in command, the Pacific Clipper, carrying 12 passengers and a crew of ten was just a few hours from landing in the harbor at Auckland, New Zealand.
The calm serenity of the flight deck early on this spring morning was suddenly shattered by the crackling of the radio. Radio Operator John Poindexter clamped the headset to his ears as he deciphered the coded message. His eyes widened as he quickly wrote the characters on the pad in front of him. Pearl Harbor had been attacked by Japanese war planes and had suffered heavy losses; the United States was at war. The stunned crew looked at each other as the implications of the message began to dawn. They realized that their route back to California was irrevocably cut, and there was no going back. Ford ordered radio silence, and then posted lookouts in the navigator's blister. Two hours later, the Pacific Clipper touched down smoothly on the waters of Auckland harbor. The odyssey was just beginning.
In a conference announcing the deal, Juan Trippe told the press that the decision to buy Boeing's new jet transport, to be called the 747, was his most exciting experience with Pan American since the airline's beginnings almost four decades earlier.
Everything about the deal was big: Biggest commercial jet plane (680,000 pounds gross weight), biggest commercial aircraft order ($525 million), biggest jet engines (Pratt and Whitney JT9D turbofans putting out 41,000 lbs. thrust each), a predicted passenger seating capacity that would more than double any then-existing jet transport. Trippe was betting on a predicted increase in commercial passenger travel that indicated 70% growth in the coming five years, he told reporters. Cargo versions of the 747 - Pan Am was ordering two in the initial order - would carry 214,000 lbs. of freight.
Juan Trippe's long-held belief that inexpensive air travel for ever-greater numbers of people could make the world a more peaceful place was about to be taken to it's highest expression.
Air Traffic Plans and Publications
Here at Flightradar24 we’re big fans of anything in the sky and that includes astronomical photography, but we were pleasantly surprised when we came across Andrew McCarthy’s photo of the 30 August Super Blue Sturgeon moon. Taken in Arizona southeast of Phoenix, the photo captures not only the moon, but an aircraft passing in front of the moon.