Given the news that an Alaska Airlines passenger was arrested yesterday at Portland International Airport after attempting to open an emergency exit door on-board Alaska Airlines flight 132, from Anchorage, this seems like a good time to revisit the issue of aircraft doors being opened in-flight. Can a passenger open a jet airliner’s door in…
Tailhooks on military aircraft are a common sight … although we tend to only think of them as being part of aircraft landing on aircraft carriers, not those landing on runways. This Reader Mail comes from Damian Willis in the Great White North (aka: Canada) who asks, “I recently spent some time watching US Air…
All aircraft undergo routine maintenance checks at specific life cycle intervals, these checks range from a light A-Check through a heavy D-Check. An A-Check for a commercial aircraft is typically performed around 800 flight hour cycle and often conducted during an overnight layover at an airport, requiring 20 man-hours maintenance. The B-Check is conducted…
For years my favorite aircraft paint-job has been flying on an Alaska Airlines’ Boeing 737-490, the livery know as the Salmon-Thirty-Salmon took to the skies in October 2005. The Salmon-Thirty-Salmon, pained in support of the Alaskan Seafood Industry depicts a realistic image of s salmon from nose to tail. Now, earlier this month, seven…
Today’s reader mail comes from James O’Connor, in Glasgow, Scotland. James asks, ” I have just realized that I always board my flights from the front left door. Do all planes board from the left side? If so, is there a rationale for this?” James, the answer is “mostly yes.” Today all commercial airliners…
Having grown up watching planes fly over my house, all day and night, and having spent the last 27 years (of my 37 years on this Earth) generally found with a camera in my hand, it is only natural that I can at times be found shooting photos of airplanes. Over the years I’ve shot…
(For Disclosure: American Airlines Granted Me Access To The Flights & Facilities Of My Choosing Beyond What ‘The General Public’ Would Be Allowed Or Offered. AA & Its Parent Company AMR Have No Input Into What I Am Writing) Â When an airline is in financial crisis and in bankruptcy the shift of views on…
Before I dive back in and flip the ‘on-switch’ again to get going, I’d first like to thank all you folks who dropped me an email, Tweeted me or found me on Facebook to ask if I was OK.  Your concern was very much appreciated … however I simply took a break to step back…
Iran Air has masterfully kept an aging fleet in the air, despite economic and politics sanctions that prohibit the airline from dealing directly with Boeing and Airbus to maintain and update their aircraft. With strict sanctions in place, Iran Air has previously found ways to update its fleet, most recently in October 2010 when…
Yesterday morning, just after 9:00am, the air was chilly in Boston, but there was a sense of anticipation in the air. At first glance the profile of the aircraft approaching Boston Logan International Airport’s Runway 22L could have been nearly any aircraft, possibly a Boeing 767 or even an Airbus A330, but as the aircraft…
