We have seen what happens when someone calls or emails a bomb threat to an airline or airport. With the popularity of Twitter, it was only amount of time before someone tweeted a threat.
Paul Chambers, a finance supervisor living in England was not happy about Doncaster’s Robin Hood airport not staying open because of snow. Like many he showed his anger on Twitter, but he might have gone a little too far. “Robin Hood airport is closed,” he tweeted. “You’ve got a week and a bit to get your s#@* together, otherwise I’m blowing the airport sky high!!!”
It is easy for someone tweet an opinion without really thinking about it. Sitting in a robe, ranting, forgetting others (ie police) can be reading. Someone tipped off the South Yorkshire Police who took Chambers’ tweet very seriously. He was arrested and questioned for seven hours before being released on bail. He has been suspended from his job and had his iPhone and laptop confiscated. He is also not welcome at the Robin Hood Airport for life.
Now, people should know that even a joke isn’t taken lightly, but should the police have reacted so aggressively towards Mr. Chambers? Or was he just blowing off a little steam and took it one step too far?
Oh man. An Eastern Airlines commercial with a Boeing 720, Boeing 727, DC-8 and L-188 Electra? Yes please. This commercial is from 1965 and has the tagline, “Eastern. An airline with a big day’s work to do.”
Air Jin was the hardest to find a good picture of their livery. I guess they are pretty new, starting in 2008, only fly to two destinations (Seoul and Bangkok) and they only have four Boeing 737-800’s. I think the extra work was worth the effort.
I really like the neon green with the teal and purple. They have a few butterflies on their website (careful, it seems to only like Internet Explorer) that matches quite well.
Jin Air is a low cost airline based in Korea and subsidiary of Korean Air. Although they currently have only 2 destinations, they are hoping to expand to Macau and Guam in the near future.
Habib Hussain moved to Medina, Saudi Arabia six months ago to get a job providing airline services through a private agency. Hussien was working aboard an Air India Airbus A330 prepping to head to Jaipur, India. He was not happy with his current situation and wanted to go home, however the company he worked for had his passport. He decided to lock himself in the bathroom and catch a free and illegal flight back home.
About 30 minutes into the flight he came out of the bathroom and sat down in a vacant seat. On a normal flight he might have been able to blend in, but this was a special Haj flight and he stood out in his overalls. Once he was detected he was frisked by airline personal and found not be a safety threat. The pilot decided to continue on to their final destination, however officials were waiting for Hussain once the plane landed.
Every international flight is supposed to thoroughly checked the aircraft and complete a headcount. Air India has stated it is not a common practice to check for stowaways.
“Only authorized personnel enter an aircraft for maintenance after clearing security checks in the sterile airport zone. Pilots announce before takeoff that all ground personnel must deplane. There is no practice of checking toilets or under seats to look for hidden passengers. The boarding card stub taken from passengers at the aircraft ladder is used to do a headcount with people seated inside. This is what airlines do,” said Air India spokesman Jitendra Bhargava.
Hussain was checked by security to be able to work on the aircraft. It is most likely Hussain will stay in India, but might face charges for his bathroom stunt.
