There’s nothing better for a timid flyer than to land safety at their destination after a bumpy, turbulence-filled flight. But before you press those hands together in an exuberant clap, you might want to reconsider. Turns out, some pilots don’t like to receive rousing applause. [More]
planes
Pilotless Planes Could Save Airlines $35B — If Anyone Is Willing To Fly In Them
By 8.7.17
While we’ve been getting used to the idea of driverless cars over the last few years, would you be willing to slip into an autonomous vehicle that’s, uh, quite a bit larger? Like the size of a jetliner, perhaps? [More]
American Airlines Backtracks On Plan To Take Away Even More Legroom
By 6.13.17
American Airlines recently unveiled plans to give economy-class passengers even less legroom with its next wave of new planes. Following backlash to this news, the carrier has decided to scrap that idea. [More]
Airbus Happy To Squeeze Another 80 Seats Into World’s Largest Jet
By 4.4.17
The Airbus A380 is already the largest passenger plane in the world, holding around 550 passengers in its typical configuration, but Airbus says it can make this “superjumbo” jet even more jumbo by reconfiguring it to squeeze in another 80 seats. [More]
American Airlines Regional Plane Returns To Runway After Striking Deer
By 2.15.17
Occasionally, we’ll hear of a plane returning to the airport after colliding with a bird or birds upon takeoff –including one incident that resulted in a two-foot dent in a nose of an aircraft — but you don’t often hear about flights returning after other animal strikes. Yet, that’s what happened today when an American Airlines regional jet struck a deer on the runway and began leaking fuel. [More]
Feds Announce Airplane Ban For All Samsung Galaxy Note 7 Phones
By 10.14.16
The Department of Transportation, along with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), have officially issued an emergency order to ban all Samsung Galaxy Note 7 smartphones from air transportation in the U.S., deeming the devices “forbidden hazardous material.” [More]
Amazon Showing Off Its First Branded Freight Plane
By 8.5.16
It’s not enough for Amazon to sell folks anything from tablets to kitty litter, streaming video to bendy straws — it wants to be in control of its own shipping, too. To show off what the latest step in that plan looks like, Amazon is unveiling its first freight plane, emblazoned with the company logo on the side so no one can mistake who’s in charge. [More]
Man Gets Entire Plane To Himself After Fellow Travelers Catch Other Flights
By 6.23.16
It’s not every day that the average traveler has an entire row of seats to take over, much less an entire plane. But one Delta passenger flying home this week got to experience the sweet sensation of being the only person on his flight when his fellow travelers opted to take other flights. [More]
American Airlines Flight Turns Around After Bird Strike Leaves 2-Foot Dent In Plane
By 4.28.16
A bird might be small compared to a jetliner, but get a whole bunch of them together and they can do some pretty serious damage. Passengers on an American Airlines flight out of Seattle found that out yesterday, when the plane was forced to turn around after a bird strike left a two-foot dent in the nose of the aircraft. [More]
FedEx Employee Falls Asleep Loading Plane In Tennessee, Ends Up In Texas
By 4.15.16
Falling asleep on the job is a big no-no. It can end with a reprimand — or worse, a firing — but for one FedEx employee, an on-the-job catnap earned him a flight to Texas. [More]
Airplane Seat Maker Files Patent For First Class Airbags
By 4.7.16
Travelers willing to shell out the big bucks for seats in the business class cabin typically get a few extra perks: dinner, free drinks, more legroom, and the first crack at boarding. But should they get an airbag when their fellow passengers don’t? That appears to be the idea behind a recently filed patent. [More]
Plane’s Emergency Slide Falls 2,800 Feet, Lands Outside Arizona House
By 3.31.16
Remember last year when an airplane door panel fell from the sky, landing on a North Carolina golf course? While that was certainly an unusual and scary situation, an Arizona woman can now top it: an airplane emergency slide dropped from the heavens and landed outside her house. [More]
FBI: American Airlines Flight Attendant Deliberately Set, Put Out Fire In Plane’s Bathroom
By 3.3.16
Federal law enforcement officers have arrested an American Airlines flight attendant accusing him of deliberately starting a fire in the plane’s lavatory, and then extinguishing it himself in a supposedly heroic action. [More]
JetBlue Cutting Legroom, Revamping Entertainment System By Adding Larger Seatback TVs
By 1.25.16
Following through on a nearly two-year old plan, JetBlue announced Monday that it will try to capitalize on the space inside some of its planes by stuffing more seats into the cabin, which in turn means less legroom for travelers. [More]
Your Hoverboard Is No Longer Welcome On 3 More Airlines
By 12.10.15
Hoverboards: they’re self-balancing scooters that are currently a hot toy in the sense that they’re very popular, and a hot toy in the sense that they keep bursting into much-publicized flames, sometimes while in use. Airlines all over the world have asked customers to kindly leave their hoverboards on the ground. [More]
Lawmaker Questions Airlines, Plane Manufacturers On Cybersecurity Measures
By 12.2.15
Eight months after a government report found that airplanes with WiFi connections may be vulnerable to cyber attacks and seven months after a hacker claimed to have commandeered a United Airlines flight via the plane’s in-flight entertainment system, one lawmaker wants to know just what airlines are doing to protect their computer systems — and passengers. [More]
Feds Investigating After 20 Laser Strikes Aimed At Aircraft Reported Across The U.S. In One Night
By 11.12.15
Federal investigators have been kept busy this year investigating laser strikes at the nation’s airports, but in just one night, their workload jumped by quite a bit: more than 20 laser incidents were reported overnight between Wednesday at Thursday, at airports across the country. [More]
Southwest Airlines Plane Grounded After Pilots Report Suspicious Object
By 10.16.15
Anyone who has traveled through an airport in the last decade will recognize the common loudspeaker announcement to be on the lookout for and to report any unattended, suspicious baggage or activity. It was one such item that caused Southwest Airlines to ground a flight and move passengers to another plane on Thursday night.
[More]
