British Airways Boeing 737 G-LGTE stops traffic at Gibraltar Airport.
Gibraltar is a British territory located just south of Spain and is less than three square miles. The Gibraltar Airport is the closest airport to a city center (only about 1/3 of a mile) in the world and only five airlines currently serve the airport.
What probably makes it most unique is having the main road connecting Gibraltar to Spain, Winston Churchill Avenue, go right over the runways. Every time a plane takes off or lands, traffic must be stopped.
The airport is in the middle of being renovated. Not only will they be increasing the terminal three fold, they are also constructing a tunnel for vehicle and pedestrian traffic. Although this will make the city and airport run more efficiently, it the airport will lost a little of its unique character.
Normally an airliner is pushed back from the gate with an airplane tug. Once the aircraft is cleared of any obstacles, the tug disconnects and the aircraft moves on its own power down the taxi way and takes off. When there are back ups on the taxi ways, airlines waste fuel and create additional pollution into the atmosphere.
According to research done by Airbus and Israel Aerospace Industries, taxiing at airports will cost about $7billion per year by 2012, will release about 18 metric tones of CO2 per year, and create about $350million per year in debris damage.
Things might change in the future. Ricardo, an engineering company, has successfully created a new tug called “TaxiBot” that connects to an airplane’s wheels, and pulls the aircraft around the airport. The TaxiBot uses the plane’s breaks, but uses its own power, allowing the jet to save fuel.
Ricardo CEO Dave Shemmans said, “We are extremely pleased to have been able to play such a central role in the development of this innovative concept which could dramatically reduce the CO2 emissions of commercial aviation while improving air quality and reducing noise pollution in the vicinity of the world’s major airports.”
Since the TaxiBot has shown its potential, Airbus and ground support equipment provider TLD have agree to help in the next stages of development. The TaxiBot currently requires a driver, but in future designs, it will be operated by the pilot of the plane.
Not for those who have a fear of flying, this video showed the 1984 crash test of a Boeing 707. The video has multiple angles of the test, along with commentary on what happened. The goal was to conduct research on improved crash protection and reduce post-crash fire hazards.
The Boeing 707 was remote controlled and the plane was crashed in the middle of a desert outside Edwards Air Force base in California.
Safi Airways Boeing 767 (YA-AQS) in the Netherlands in March 2009 taking the President of Afghanistan to a conference
This livery is unique, but it seems confused. I like the nice silver base and the blue strips on front. However, the red/orange font doesn’t go too well and the tail seems confused with having strips, gradient, and the logo.
Safi Airways was founded in 2006 and flies between Afghanistan, Germany, Iraq, and UAE. Their fleet has one Airbus A340-300, two Boeing 737-300’s, and two Boeing 767-200ER’s. It is headquartered in Kabul, Afghanistan, with an office in Dubai, UAE.
One of their Boeing 767’s is the official plane for the president of Afghanistan.
Senator Jim DeMint (R from South Carolina) is looking to change the rules about airlines being able to access recordings from the cockpit. He is currently working on a bill, called the “Pilot Professionalism Assurance Act,” that allows airlines to review the cockpit voice recorder when there are cases against the pilots for misbehavior or “to evaluate or monitor the judgment or performance of an individual pilot.”
Currently, labor contracts between pilots and airlines stop an airline from using the data stored in the flight-recorders against the pilots. Airlines can only listen to the voice recorder if there is an accident or major incident being investigated by the FAA or NTSB.
Today, there is an anonymous reporting system, where pilots can report safety lapses to the FAA. This allows the FAA to record statistics and help to fix future issues. There is a fear that there one files a report, then the airline or the FAA will want to listen to the conversations and pilots would be much less likely to report such safety issues.
I have some serious issues with this proposed legislation. I feel the bill (even the name) questions professionalism of the pilots. Yes, there have been some pilots who have been making poor decisions, but as I talked about the other day, a huge majority of pilots are extremely professional and do they do their jobs well. Should people that do their job well be punished? I think not.
What do you think about this proposed legislation? Is reducing the privacy of pilots worth the increased safety? Would you want a voice recorder at your work that your boss could listen to?
