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Dreamliner Use of Hazardous Battery Like Whack-a-Mole
American Airlines seats on A B737Two breaking news stories that have consumed my attention recently seem on the surface to be unrelated, beyond the obvious - both are about air safety. The first is the...
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What's In A Name? At Canberra Airport, No Black Box References
From every single angle the Dreamliner is a sensational story. The world is riveted to the mystery and the drama, the politics, the economicsand the engineering. So what do you say we take a break from...
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What's Sexy About Certification Review? Plenty.
Over the phone, I could hear reporters' eyes glazing over during the latest Dreamliner teleconference when NTSB chairman, Deborah Hersmansaid these oh-so-unsexy words; "certification review". Alright,...
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Is Delta's Advantage Over Distracted American Soon To End?
Nobody likes a diversion, least of all the airline. But despite their desire for destination-focused business plans, for the last few years, United, American Airlines and US Airways have had their...
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Upside Down Air Accident Investigation Down Under
Pel-Air medical evacuation airplane. Photo from ATSBI am not one to encourage politicians to start sticking their noses into matters of aviation safety. It is WAY too tempting for them to grandstand....
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Boeing's Bad Battery News A Re-Occurring Nightmare
UPDATED February 20thThe Japan Transportation Safety Board has rapid-fire found and diagnosed a surprise second battery problem on the All Nippon Airways Dreamliner that made an emergency landing on...
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ANA Dreamliner An Odd Exception to Boeing Design
Japanese investigators are making a remarkable claim in the most recent update into the burning battery on an All Nippon Airways Dreamliner; the ship, JA804A was one of only three Boeing 787s to retain...
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Dreamliner in the Rear View Mirror for Some United Pilots
Back in 1980, singer Mac Davis had a hit with his song Texas in My Rear View Mirror and I'm guessing down at the Continental United base in Houston a few pilots are feelin' that way about their...
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Sully Gets His Retirement Watch
Note Sully's JEANRICHARD watch.These are the days of the celebrity endorsement, so it should not come as a surprise that to the list pilot/hero/author/motivational speaker Chesley Sullenberger is now...
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Does Boeing's Fire Containing Box Meet the Fed's Mandate?
Who knows if the Federal Aviation Administration will allow Boeing to put its Dreamliners back in the air equipped with a box to contain any pesky fires that may erupt from the plane's two lithium ion...
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Etihad Ad Shows Beautiful People Doing Beautiful Things
Emirates Training College in DubaiFor a story I wrote for The New York Times in the summer of 2011, I spent a week training to be a flight attendant with Emirates. Every day I walked from my hotel in...
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Ahhh, Boeing, About Those Hours of Battery Testing
A curious thing emerges from the five hundred plus page report issued by the National Transportation Safety Board on Thursday, as I reported here for APEX Editors Blog. Despite all its talk about...
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B787 Battery Can't Meet 1 In a Billion Standard Experts Say
The Federal Aviation Administrationannounced this afternoon that it has approved Boeing's modified plan to fly the Dreamliner again with its lithium ion batteries on board, the "first step in the...
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787 Battery Box Has Boeing Confined
Battery from ANA Dreamliner. Photo courtesy JTSBThe materials engineers at Boeing are probably already calculating the size and shape of the new box that will confine the Dreamliner's lithium ion...
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Thermal Runaway Like Porn, You Know It When You See It
In discussing the ongoing problems with two lithium ion batteries on Dreamliners, top engineers at Boeing are taking the Justice Potter Stewart approach. Deliberating on whether the American right to...
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Señora's No Shaky Reason For Aviation
Boston Logan knows how to display airlinersOne can't be immersed in aviation without forming all sorts of opinions about its impact. How one defines the reason for aviation can be roughly...
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United Prepares for the Resurrection of the 787
After nine and a half weeks of uncertainty, and with timing appropriate to the Easter season, United Airlines has set the last week of April as the date it anticipates resurrecting the first of its...
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Patty Wagstaff Sky High But Down to Earth Air Show Star
Patty Wagstaff provided photo When she wows crowds on the air show circuit, pilot Patty Wagstaff often pulls her airplane nose high. But when it comes to her personal interactions, she is a...
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PR Can't Disguise United's Smelly Last Place Finish
I never thought I'd be writing these words, but here I go, United take a lesson from American Airlines and learn how to say "Sorry." P {line-height: 22px; font-family: Georgia, Arial; text-indent: 0;}...
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Air Ambulance Pilot Demonstrates How Deadly Distraction Can Be
The pilot of an emergency medical helicopter was text messaging before and during the flight that ended in disaster near an airport in Mosby, Missouri in 2011. His actions and his distraction were...
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