We marked the anniversary of the 1952 Farnborough Air Show tragedy last September, but a YouTube user has just uploaded a short segment from a BBC documentary, Jet! When Britain Ruled the Skies (which can also be viewed on YouTube in its entirety), about the accident which killed 29 spectators plus the two people onboard the aircraft. After the injured were evacuated and the dead bodies and debris were removed, the air show went on:
Was texting to blame for a helicopter crash?
The Associated Press is reporting that a medical helicopter ran out of fuel and crashed, killing four people, because the pilot was distracted by text messages. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is still trying to determine the cause of the August 2011 crash near Mosby, Missouri, but it appears to be the first fatal commercial crash where texting has been implicated.
Apparently, the pilot exchanged 20 text messages, mostly with a coworker, over a span of less than two hours before running out of fuel and crashing in a field a mile from the airport. Investigators believe the pilot missed out on several opportunities to see just how low he was on fuel.
According to the accident timeline being put together, three of the text messages were sent and five were received while in flight, but none were sent during the final 11 minutes before the crash. Text messages were also exchanged while the helicopter was on the ground, including messages about the helicopter being low on fuel, even though the company which owned the helicopter had a policy of banning the use of electronic devices by pilots during flights.
With that in mind, the pilot may have been distracted from his duties – such as performing necessary safety checks and checking the amount of fuel on board before taking off (despite a briefing the aircraft would be low on fuel because it had been used the previous night for a training exercise).
During the flight, the pilot radioed that he was lower on fuel than he had initially thought and investigators also think he may have lied about how much fuel he had to cover up previous omissions. In addition, a low fuel warning light could have alerted the pilot, but it was set on “dim” for nighttime use while a pre-flight check (if one had in fact been conducted) should have revealed the light was set in the wrong position.
The AP article also noted the October 2010 incident where two Northwest Airlines pilots overflew their destination by 100 miles because they were too busy working on flight schedules on their laptops in the cockpit.
British Airways rolls out its first painted A380 livery
Last weekend, the first fully painted Airbus A380 for British Airways rolled out of the Airbus’ paint shop in Hamburg. The Rolls-Royce Trent 900-powered aircraft has 469 seats and will be flown to Toulouse for final checks before handover.
The livery is the first of 12 A380s for British Airways that are scheduled to be delivered in July. The aircraft will initially be used on shorter training flights before being used for long haul services to Hong Kong and Los Angeles starting in October and November.
Apparently, it took some 10,000 individual dots on the tailfin to produce the Union flag and some lucky worker had to peel off the thousands of little dots from a stencil.
Source: The Bangalore Aviation blog
Who would you choose…?!!
Allegedly heard on a Southwest Airlines flight:
Welcome aboard Southwest Flight XXX to YYY. To operate your seatbelt, insert the metal tab into the buckle, and pull tight. It works just like every other seatbelt, and if you don’t know how to operate one, you probably shouldn’t be out in public unsupervised.
In the event of a sudden loss of cabin pressure, oxygen masks will descend from the ceiling. Stop screaming, grab the mask, and pull it over your face.
If you have a small child traveling with you, secure your mask before assisting with theirs. If you are traveling with two small children, decide now which one you love more.
How to get rid or aircraft cabin odor
The Sell That Plane blog, which is focused on tips, tricks and tactics for selling an aircraft, has a useful post about getting rid of aircraft cabin odor which is well worth reading even if you aren’t trying to sell your aircraft.
The post began by noting the lack of air conditioning means you are sweating in those seats – either due to summer heat or perhaps because your flight has gone down to the minimums. Then there always the chance of a passenger loosing their lunch while flying with kids can make the aircraft cabin smell like a “typical minivan.”
Since smells can linger in fabrics, Sell That Plane suggests getting the most mild scented Fabreze to spray down the seats or carpets. Then buy a can of Ozium and spray it in the cabin, closing the door. After sitting overnight with both Fabreze and Ozium in the cabin, airplane cabin odor should be history.
For a more severe aircraft cabin smell issue, the Sell That Plane blog suggests wiping down all cabin surfaces, cleaning out any doors or seat pockets, vacuuming or steam cleaning the carpets (either by renting a machine or having a professional do it), steam cleaning the seats and filling the aircraft cabin with Ozium and just letting it sit awhile (Ozium also works good about an hour before any perspective buyer shows up to look at the aircraft). In other words, taking care of your aircraft cabin and any odor problem in it is no different than taking care of any similar problems in your vehicle.
Finally, the Sell That Plane blog notes that a professional aircraft cabin cleaning (at least in the USA) should not cost more than $75 while a can of Fabreze and Ozium won’t cost more than $20 – small prices to pay if you are trying to sell your aircraft or just don’t want it smelling like your first training aircraft!
Brits beat out Russians as the biggest in-flight drinkers
Here is a big surprise (or perhaps not!): British holidaymakers were voted the biggest alcohol drinkers by international cabin crew followed by Russians for second place in a survey conducted by Skyscanner of 700 cabin crew members who were polled via cabincrew.com. Apparently, just over half (54%) of Brits admitted to kicking off their holiday with a stiff drink in either 
the airport or onboard their flight.
Ironically, 41% of Brits surveyed said they would rather book an alcohol-free flight if such flights were offered by airlines while a quarter (24%) said their motivation for dry flights was to avoid drunken passengers ruining their holiday experience. Ironically, younger Brits surveyed were strongly in favor of banning alcohol on flights with Brits aged 18-24 being the biggest supporters of a ban while only 18% claimed to enjoy in-flight drinking.
The survey results showed that alcohol free flights would be popular as no doubt many passengers have had bad experiences sitting next to a passenger (or two) who had one too many. In fact, Russian officials have already called for an alcohol ban on all flights to prevent drunken behavior on board aircraft.
However, the surveyed also revealed that holidaymakers from the North East were the most strongly against getting rid of alcohol.