First off there was no intention to use the gun for any “evil” purposes. That being said, it is crazy that this could happen. A USAirways airport employee on Thursday was trying to help someone he knew get a gun from point A to point B. The employee helped get a bag containing the gun through security and the bag was carried on after it cleared.
Others saw the transaction and reported the suspicious activity. The flight had already left the terminal and had to be called back to the gate and searched. Officials found an unloaded 9mm handgun in the overhead bin. Both men have been arrested.
Even though neither person intended to use the gun while on the flight, it obviously raises concerns of how easily weapons can bypass security.
Source: AP Image: mayorgreg
Amazingly all the debris and oil slick that were found in the middle of the Atlantic are reportedly not from Air France flight 447. It is uncertain at this time what they might be from, but the debris doesn’t match what would be on the airliner and the amount of oil found doesn’t match what the jet would be carrying.
This is another reminder that we really do not know what happened to this flight. Seems like there are many different opinions of what could have happened and now that we don’t even know where it went down, the mystery thickens. At this point I think we can only wait for the investigators to do their job and send our thoughts to the families who lost loved ones.
More from the Washington Post
Dang, I wish all airline lavatories looked this good. This is on Emirates A380
A 43 year-old man had a bathroom emergency on a Delta Airlines flight on March 28th that landed him in jail. The passenger, Joao Correa, had a meal earlier that day that didn’t agree with him and by the time he was ready to take action, the food services cart was blocking his way to the back lavatory. He decided to try the facilities up front in Business Class when a flight attendant reminded him he had an economy ticket and needed to return to his seat. When he explained the situation, he was advised to wait a bit and the cart would be moved.
The cart wasn’t moved and Correa was in trouble, so he returned to the front of the plane to plead his case. Correa says he then grabbed the woman’s arm to stabilize himself, though she contends he was twisting her arm. Either way, the flight attendant told the pilot of the situation since Correa wouldn’t return to his seat, and the pilot allowed the troubled man to use the First Class restroom.
The incident landed Correa in jail for 2 days. He currently doesn’t face any charges, and admits he could have handled the situation a bit better.
I know the rules governing the airline class system are there for a reason, however I think in occasions like this, the rules can be twisted. I wonder how this scenario would play out in a one bathroom system that Ryanair is proposing?
Source: AJC Image: TelstarLogistics
United Airlines Boeing 757
United Airlines has been holding off for quite awhile from buying any new planes. They had talked about reducing their fleet, however, now they plan to order up to 150 aircraft by this fall.
As they have been waiting for a good time to buy, their fleet of almost 400 aircraft have aged. Now they are looking to replace their wide-bodied jets and Boeing 757’s with new aircraft. They are also hoping to get rid of their almost 30-strong fleet of Boeing 737’s.
It’s a large order, which gives them tremendous buying power. United Airlines states they are in talks with Boeing and Airbus and only want to purchase planes from one of the two manufacturers. This could be a huge payoff to the winning bidder and will probably create a lot of interesting deals for United to consider. With airlines cancelling orders for aircraft already being built, this could be a better than average boom for either Airbus or Boeing.
Source: KOMO Image: code20photog
Ryanair Boeing 737-800 in March 2005 showing off the airline's first winglets
Normally one has to take whatever Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary says with a grain of salt. He says a lot of crazy things, most likely to get a few news stories written about him. When he first started talking about charging passengers to use the bathroom, I thought it was another crazy publicity stunt, but…
Ryanair plans to add credit card readers to the bathrooms in their Boeing 737-800 jets and even remove two of the three bathrooms to provide more seats. O’Leary is quoted as saying, “We are flying aircraft on an average flight time of one hour around Europe.” Is it crazy for this to start making a little sense to me now? I mean, some people ride buses and trains without bathrooms for longer than an hour on a daily basis.
The airline plans to charge about $1.50 for each bathroom usage and no word on emergency situations for people without credit cards. They plan to have the new system in place within 2 years.
Source: NYT Image: jordi757