Southwest wingtip at Seattle. I am cheating, this is an older photo, but there are no Southwest planes at gates right now at SEA.
The air show of the year is going on right now in Oshkosh, WI and I can’t miss it. I am once again back at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (and loving their free Wi-Fi) waiting for my Southwest flight to Chicago (MDW). Then tomorrow, Southwest will be flying a special flight to Oshkosh from Midway just for the day. Only having one day to look around might be very, very hard, but I am excited to be going. I need to make a list of MUST-SEE’s.
Last time I flew Southwest, I slacked and ended up in the B-group. However this time I was vigilant and got in to the much coveted A-group. Window seat, here I come!
On Sunday I was looking at FlightAware and noticed that the Boeing 787 Dreamliner ZA001 (the first one) was set to make a visit to Paine Field. Since I live close by, I decided to go check it out and caught it doing a low fly over. The video isn’t the best since I was trying to video and take pictures on my iPhone (bad idea), but it works.
Oh please! Are the airlines to blame for everything now-a-days? Well it sure seems passenger Jean Barnard thinks so, since she sued Qantas for, “physical and mental suffering, medical expenses and loss of income,” because a three year old passenger screamed into her ear on a QantasLink flight from Alice Springs to Darwin.
Don’t get me wrong, the hearing loss seems real. Barnard had to be taken off the plane and taken to the hospital for permanent ear damage. There is some question if she had previous hearing damage, but getting the blood-curdling scream into her ear, surely didn’t help.
However, how can this be seen as Qantas’ fault? In court, Qantas argued that they are not responsible for a child’s actions and, “Flight attendants cannot predict when children aboard an aircraft are about to scream. There is no evidence that the child was screaming in the terminal, or on board the aircraft prior to the particular scream which allegedly caused the damage.”
Qantas must have felt her argument or the idea of bad press was too great and (confidentially) settled with Barnard out of court. That is too bad, since I feel that Barnard was more out to make a few bucks than to really change how an airline operates. Other than putting a muzzle on every child, what could Qantas have done? If Barnard was walking on the street and a child did the same thing, what would she have done then? Sued the city that owns the street?
At the beginning of the 20th Century, Man began to take over the skies. Birds had dominated for millennia, but now planes started to usurp the atmosphere.
At first it didn’t seem a problem. Man and bird managed to share the airways. However, as planes became more predominant, birds became more of a hindrance to the flight of humans.
Collisions between birds and planes cause damage to the planes and on rare occasions, planes are downed. According to the FAA, twenty-three people have been killed and 209 injured by bird strikes. Not huge numbers. However the financial cost has been estimated at a total of $400 million. Of course the fatality to birds has been great. Since there are 5,000 bird strikes per year and 80% are not reported,many of our avian friends are lost. They have no chance when it comes to encountering a plane! Interestingly, the first bird strike was reported in 1905 by Orville Wright!
Since birds cannot solve this problem, it is up to Man to create a way for birds and planes to share the sky. Since the majority of strikes occur below 3,000 feet and during take-offs or landings, most of the research centers around airports, both civilian and military.
To discourage birds from hanging around airports, there have been experiments with electromagnets, ultrasonic devices, scarecrows and other predator effigies and noisemakers. None of these methods have been endorsed by the FAA. And even though there is still hope that someday there will be a “magic box” having to do with microwave alarms, the common wisdom as of now is much more simple.
According to Matt Klope, a civilian biologist at NAS Whidbey Island, “…the best management practice is to identify the problem species… and modify/alter the airfield habitats to encourage the birds to go somewhere else.” This stategy is also echoed by other experts.
In other words, birds need a habitat that includes, food, water, shelter and a place to raise their young. Birds are attracted to airports that provide some or all of these needs. Thus, if the airport eliminates them, the birds will leave.
So, airports need to minimize water at runway ends, close landfills and other food sources.If prey birds are discouraged from airports, predators won’t have food. An additional tactic is to introduce predators and dogs to keep the much more numerous prey birds away. Gulls and pigeons are the most common birds in strikes.
Airports also continue to experiment with random explosions and fireworks as well as gas cannons. As a birder, I am encouraged with the efforts to keep my feathered friends away from those huge metal avians. And I am realistic enough to concede that human life and financial considerations trump the lowly bird who once inspired Man.
Hopefully, Man will continue to find ways to keep these two fliers apart!
If you have been following the Colton Harris-Moore saga recently, you know he was caught and flown via “Con Air” from Miami to Seattle. Even though he had stolen some planes to fly himself and had a huge love for aviation, this was his first flight on an airliner. Seeing the photo of the MD-80 taking him across country, it made me wonder what the real “Con Air” is like versus seeing it in movies and I decided to check it out.
It is much different than what’s portrayed in the movie Con Air or the flight sequence on US Marshals. Due to FAA regulations, passengers cannot be locked into their seats or in cages. However, this doesn’t mean they get a nice ride. Inmates have their legs and hands locked together and depending on the situation, could be wearing a full face mask. There is no meal service and having to use the restroom means you get escorted by a few guards.
In 1995 the air fleets of the Immigration and Naturalization Services (now known as ICE) and the US Marshals were combined under the new name Justice Prisoner and Alien Transportation System (JPATS). The JPATS transports criminals all over the country for a court appearance or to be transferred to a new facility. They also conduct deportation flights, taking deportable illegal aliens to their home country. In 2009 JPATS moved 345,862 prisoners and almost 200,000 were transported via air.
A prisoner is not told of his flight until the last possible minute and schedules are kept secret. This limits someone’s ability to mess with the flight and the passenger’s ability to formulate an escape plan. Guards are not able to carry guns or even mace. They are trained in proper security procedures to make sure the flight gets to its destination and keep the criminals properly in their seats.
Most of the prisoners flying JPATS are federal detainees and illegal aliens moving between US Marshal offices, Federal Bureau of Prisons correctional facilities and international destinations for the removal of deportable aliens. But JPATS also offers to move military, state and local prisoners through cooperative agreements for a cost. In 2005, the cost for an out side agency to fly a prisoner one way was about $1150.00 and they don’t even get peanuts. But they do get security and possibly temporary housing until being picked up at their destination if needed.
I had a hard time trying to track down the current JPATS fleet, but found luck when speaking with Scott A. Wilhelm Cheif of Flight Operations for JPATS. He told me, “We (JPATS) currently operate the following owned/leased aircraft: 6 MD-83, 2 Hawker 800, 1 Saab 2000 and 1 BE-99.” The smaller aircraft will be used for the best of the best criminals who are deemed too dangerous to fly with the general population.
So if you think your next flight is like being in a cattle car, you might want to think about the fine folks flying on a JPATS flight. They might be free for the passengers, but they won’t have nearly as much fun at their destination.
