Nice one! But April 1st would have been better.

(Written on 03/04/2021)(Permalink)

Kyle, I am with you - you can only jerk around with a 100-seat design from the 1960s (when did the 707 fuselage first fly?) so many times before something stretches too far. The Royal Air Force has a long-standing principle for FAI proceedings - "only blame a dead pilot if you are absolutely certain that there is no other possible cause". I hope that your wife carries life assurance (I hope that I am summarising this correctly, without insulting anyone's professionalism). Boeing were desperate to get the MAX into airlines, without needing any more training than "read a manual and play a DVD". The decision-making process which enables airlines to optionally delete half of the indicators (including ones which would alert drivers to failed Pitot tubes or "MCAS is activated" will go down (sorry!) in history alongside the 1912 assessment that "it's only an iceberg". Two years later, with the FAA doing what it should have done beforehand, along with Boeing being (slightly les

(Written on 02/04/2021)(Permalink)

A happy outcome from an unplanned event. A similar event at Manchester airport here in the UK (co-incidentally also involving a B757) is a regular on YouTube; ingested a bird at rotation, proceeded onwards and upwards trailing smoke and flame from the starboard engine; happy outcome later. Compliments to the training, the aircrew - and the second engine.

(Written on 02/04/2021)(Permalink)

I remember seeing the 767-400 prototype at the SBAC Farnborough airshow, some decades ago. What always stayed in mi memory was the "EXPERIMENTAL" painted above the L1 entry door! And I think that (for once) toe early comments here may be a little harsh on Boeing. it is the ENGINE which went "bang" - and the nacelle did *almost* contain the shrapnel! Best of all, everyone lived to tell the tale to the FAA - with 4k HD full-motion video to back up the story! For once, I'd cut Boeing (a little bit of) slack on this. After all, it was only one engine!

(Written on 02/04/2021)(Permalink)

Surely, surely: Charlotte-Douglas airport announced their vaccination drive with sufficient advance warning for this little airline to look at its crew rostering? Please tell me this wasn't a last-minute thing? FFS, this is the biggest threat/crisis to hit this planet since (insert suitable analogy here...) and vaccination has been a stunning success so far - to the point where, here in the UK, we are looking on in bemused wonderment at the European Union screwing up its vaccine logistics and cheering on the USA as you gear up.

(Written on 02/04/2021)(Permalink)

Yeah - remember the Gimli Glider!

(Written on 26/03/2021)(Permalink)

Very pragmatic and practical - thanks for posting.

(Written on 26/03/2021)(Permalink)

Thanks both, for a discussion without parallel. (Sorry folks, it's been a quiet morning here in the UK).

(Written on 26/03/2021)(Permalink)

Most airframers will charge for anything they can get away with. Such as, making the "MCAS is active" indicator an option on the glass cockpits which the LCCs chose to delete from their orders for a new version of some other manufacturer's workhorse. Or wiring sensitive software to just one pitot tube. It's business - until someone goes too far, an option is deleted and aircraft start falling (or diving) out of the sky. The A220 is relatively young in its lifespan, having started as a clean-sheet for Bombardier. This kind of open evolution is inevitable and speaks to an industry which will continue to seek improvements. I regard the development as positive.

(Written on 26/03/2021)(Permalink)

"This approach is consistent with other fleet types where we do not have different safety cards for sub-fleets". Hmm, so how do you handle the extra escape door , just behind the ring on the "8-200" cattle-truck variant which Ryanair is betting the farm on? Whenever I board a plane, I count the seat rows to the nearest hole in the fuselage - fore and aft. The absence of a door, shown on "standard type-wide cards" would probably spook a few passengers as they look around to familiarise themselves during briefings. The standard passenger response - for a few years at least - would be "A 737 (*any* 737) - how do I get off if this thing heads south?" The advertisement tag-line (“Flown by Boeing test pilots. Do not attempt”) is just gold-dust. I really hope these things stay in the air. Mike

(Written on 20/11/2020)(Permalink)