Our local Seattle NBC station is very good at covering local aviation. I have grown up watching KING5 and getting all my local aviation news. On Tuesday they did a great 20 minute segment on how weather can affect your airline travel. Jeff Renner, who is the lead meteorologist and many others of the KING5 team take a look at many different aspects of weather and air travel.
In this KING 5 special our weather team shows you how Boeing builds planes to withstand the forces of nature, how Alaska Airlines trains pilots to cope with adverse conditions, and learn how pilots land even when fog blankets the runway below.
My father flew the EA-6B and retired while serving with VAQ-134, the Garudas.
Today is Veteran’s Day and hopefully each of us can take a moment to thank a Veteran and think about those who are spread out around the globe who are serving in the military. No matter your stance of war, there are many people who have and continue to make sacrifices to served in American armed forces. If you know a Veteran, give them a call and tell them you appreciate what they have done. Better yet, give a Veteran a hug.
I grew up as a “military-brat,” but was lucky to not have to move since the aircraft my father flew, the EA-6B, was only stationed on Whidbey Island and in Japan. The EA-6B is being phased out and being replaced by the EA-18G Growler.
Boeing 787 Dreamliner ZA002 at Paine Field on January 27, 2010 before its first flight.
For the last day there are been bits and pieces of information coming from Boeing, inside sources and different media outlets on ZA002’s sudden landing due to reported smoke in the cabin. Boeing has just released an official statement putting some of the rumors to rest and explaining what they know of ZA002’s recent emergency landing in Laredo, TX.
Boeing confirms that ZA002 did lose primary electrical power that was related to an on board electrical fire. Due to the loss, the Ram Air Turbine (RAT), which provides back up power (photo of RAT from ZA003) was deployed and allowed the flight crew to land safely. The pilots had complete control of ZA002 during the entire incident.
After their initial inspection, it appears that a power control panel in the rear of the electronics bay will need to be replaced. They are checking the surrounding areas for any additional damages. At this time, the cause of the fire is still being investigated and might take a few days until we have more answers.
At the time of the incident, ZA002 was completing tests of the Nitrogen Generation System, but Boeing does not feel that test was related to the fire. Until Boeing determines the cause, they have postponed all flight tests on the other 787 aircraft. Boeing does not know if this incident will cause the first delivery of the Dreamliner to be pushed back to a later date.
Is this plane going to the US? TSA says no printer cartridges allowed -- gotta protect America.
I am angry and frustrated at the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) right now. In classic form they have once again over-reacted in an idiotic fashion. I am not saying the recent mailing of bombs in printer cartridges across the world is not serious, but it demands real solutions, not knee-jerk reactions.
In a statement released by the DHS, they state that they are banning all cargo from Yeman. Okay, this makes sense. It is not like we have a lot of imported goods coming from Yemen. However, they are also banning cargo from Somalia. I will give them the benefit of the doubt and assume they have some intelligence that we do not know about. The release also states, “No high risk cargo will be allowed on passenger aircraft.” Okay, so far I am actually with the TSA here. Banning dangerous cargo from certain places in the world until we can figure out the risk actually kind of makes sense.
When reading, I assumed we must be talking about dangerous things like explosives, flammable items and bombs right? Think again. In the next sentence they continue with, “Toner and ink cartridges over 16 ounces will be prohibited on passenger aircraft in both carry-on bags and checked bags on domestic and international flights in-bound to the United States.” Say what?
This is stupid. I hate to call anyone names, but there is just no other way to say it. This no-thought reaction actually makes me feel less safe. This is telling me that the TSA cannot detect a bomb no matter what form it takes. Do they think that terrorist will give up since they can’t figure out anything else to put bombs in? Please. Not that I think there are a heck of a lot of people carrying around large printer cartridges in their baggage, but what’s next?
Since the ban is sort of a shock, you might have missed the part where this is only for flights within and inbound to the United States. So, it is totally fine to fly with a printer cartridge on an airline departing the US, you just can’t bring any back. What sense does that make?
It is easy to ban printer cartridges since they are not common, but what if terrorists start using items that would be difficult to ban? Would the TSA start banning laptops or stuffed animals if terrorists start using them? I wish the TSA would stop wasting time and money with pointless security measures like this. They need to be honest with the public that there is no 100% solution and be smarter about bomb detection. The airline business has seen many good and horrid changes since 9/11. However, in the last nine years 0 Americans have died from terrorism on airlines. Compare that to the about 315,000 Americans who have died in automobile accidents over the same period of time. Some might say that scanning shoes and your toothpaste is related to those 0 deaths, but I say it has more to do with this not being the huge threat the TSA and the media like to play it up to be.
When I got word of this story a few days ago, I tried to contact two different TSA sources, but no one would contact me back (and I was not this snarky). The TSA is proud of their “Talk to the TSA” campaign, but I guess you can only talk to them about stuff they want to talk about. I have tried to get the TSA’s side to things, but they just don’t seem to want to talk, which is greatly disappointing to me. If you are not happy with the body scanners and their crazy knee-jerk reactions, I highly suggest you trying to talk to the TSA. If you get a reply, let me know.
Firefighters and airport officials investigate the scene of an incident involving a Boeing 787 jetliner at the Laredo International Airport Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2010 in Laredo, Texas. (The Laredo Morning Times, Ricardo Santos)
Today, Boeing’s second 787 Dreamliner, ZA002, reported smoke in the cabin and had to be evacuated after landing in Larado, TX.
“The crew continued its approach and landed safely at the airport. Emergency personnel responded. The crew safely evacuated the airplane,” Boeing 787 spokeswoman Lori Gunter said. “We are continuing to gather data regarding this event.”
ZA002 took off from Yuma, AZ at 6:30am today with 30-plus test personnel aboard. Jon Ostower via his blog Flight Blogger is reporting that a fire broke out in the aft electronics bay causing the flight deck primary flight displays (update: it is being reported now that the flight displays did not fail) and auto throttle to fail. During landing, the ram air turbine (photo from ZA003 – provides back up power) was deployed. The Boeing 787 Dreamliner was scheduled to land in Harlingen, TX but landed instead at Laredo, TX just before 3:00pm CST.
Once again, I am sure many people will start to get excited about things going wrong with the 787 Dreamliner and more possible delays, but this is all okay.
I am so happy that some media folks, like Glenn Farley, who is our local aviation specialist on KING5 in Seattle, puts things in perspective. On his report about this latest incident with ZA002 he reminds us, “The bottom line thing to keep in mind here is this is the nature of flight test. That’s why they do it, stuff can go wrong.” He also reminds us of the rapid decompression that the Boeing 777 had during its test flight phase and today most people do not remember it or care.
He is right. This is why they test the aircraft. At this point we do not know many details and should not make assumptions of further delays. I will say again that the 787 Dreamliner is the next generation of aircraft and creating the next generation of aircraft does not come without its challenges.
This will be updated as more information is known.
UPDATE: 8:45pm PST.
Directly from Flight Blogger: “Program sources say all planned flight test for Wednesday have been postponed until Thursday at the earliest. ZA001, ZA005 and ZA006 have been shifted to ground tests as a result of ZA002’s in-flight fire. ZA003 and ZA004 had been previously scheduled to conduct ground testing.”
UPDATE 8:45am 11/10. Flight Blogger is now reporting that 42 Boeing test people were on board ZA002 at the time of the incident. Boeing is also stating that pilots did not lose primary flight displays during landing. I spoke with All Nippon Airways, whose livery is on this test 787 aircraft and Nao Gunji with ANA communications explained that, “ANA was notified of the event on ZA002 by Boeing, and we are coordinating with them. Although the airplane is in the ANA livery, it is operated by Boeing as part of the 787 flight test fleet. No ANA employees were involved in the event. ZA002 is not one of the aircrafts ANA is scheduled to receive next year.”
