NewsAccidents/Incidents
Laptop Catches Fire On Alaska Airlines Boeing 737
On August 2nd, an Alaska Airlines 737-900 flying from Newark (New Jersey) to San Francisco (California) was forced to divert to Columbus (Ohio) due to a laptop battery’s thermal-run-away. The aircraft was on the ground for several hours before resuming its journey to San Francisco.
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Brawl Over Face Masks On KLM Flight Sends 2 Passengers To Jail
A fight broke out on a KLM flight Friday morning after two passengers refused to wear a face mask. Spanish authorities met the flight from Amsterdam on its arrival in Ibiza, and the two passengers were arrested. The nationality of the passengers involved has not been confirmed. However, footage of the fight filmed by another passenger appears to show two English-speaking passengers brawling.
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Emirates Boeing 777 Slide Accidentally Deploys In Sydney
Oops – another airline has had an embarrassing case of ‘accidental slide deployment!’ The incident appears to have taken place on the evening of August 1st at Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport in Australia and involves an Emirates Boeing 777-300ER.
LinkCommercial
Virgin Galactic Enters The Supersonic Flight Race With Mach 3 Aircraft
Virgin Galactic is eying a place in the race to realize supersonic flight. The space travel company today revealed the initial design of its proposed Mach 3 aircraft. Simultaneously, a memorandum of understanding was signed with the British propulsion company, Rolls Royce.
LinkAirlines
Wizz Air Hungary Becomes The First Airline To Receive An EASA AOC
On August 1st, Wizz Air Hungary became the first airline to obtain an Air Operator Certificate (AOC) from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). The carrier has taken advantage of a relatively new regulation it believes will support its “multinational expansion” across the EU.
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Lufthansa Is Adapting To The Challenges Posed By COVID-19
Lufthansa has been adapting to the challenges thrown at it by the COVID-19 pandemic. By changing procedures, and increasing digitization, the airline is ensuring that it gets its network up and running again as safely and efficiently as possible.
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Southwest Stops Cleaning All Surfaces Between Flights
As travel demand increases over the summer months, most airlines are upping their cleaning measures between flights to ensure passenger and staff safety. However, the increase in demand means Southwest Airlines is now trying to return to standard turnaround times. The result is that starting from August 1st, extra cleaning precautions will no longer take place between every flight. A deep clean will take place every evening instead.
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Bankrupt Adria Is Selling 20 Aircraft Models For €1500 To Raise Funds
Assets belonging to the former flag carrier of Slovenia, Adria Airways, continue to be put on sale. The bankruptcy administrator is now selling 20 airplane models of Adria Airways CRJ900 aircraft in a single package. The auction starting price is €1,500 ($1,750), and all bids must be submitted within the next 14 days.
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Japan Airlines Reports A $885 Million Loss Due To COVID-19
On Monday, Japan Airlines (JAL) published its financial results for the first quarter of the fiscal year of 2020. In the three months from April to June, the carrier reported losses of JPY 93.7 billion ($885 million). While the airline expressed cautious optimism over the return of domestic market demand, the pandemic is gaining new momentum in regions of Japan – including Tokyo.
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Rumor: Amazon Behind New International Airline In Brisbane
Amazon Prime aircraft are a familiar sight in the United States, shipping deliveries from the e-commerce giant around the country. But their planes are not so familiar elsewhere. However, that could soon change. It appears Amazon may be gearing up to operate their own planes in Australia. If correct, it would coincide with a substantial ramping of Amazon infrastructure in the country.
LinkMilitary
Russian planes bomb rebel-held area in Syria
Russian warplanes bombed Syrian rebel-held mountainous areas in the western coastal province of Latakia on Monday as Syrian government forces hit the area with artillery and rocket fire, an opposition group and a war monitor said. The Syrian army and allied forces also clashed with rebel fighters while trying to advance on a frontline town near the strategic Jabal al-Akrad mountain range, said Jaish al-Nasr and the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
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U-2 Datalink: Passing data from F-35s to...
The venerable U-2 took another step toward the Pentagon's vision of 21st-century warfare, thanks to a recent demonstration in which it relayed sensor data from F-35 aircraft through Lockheed Martin communications gear to an Army missile-command system, company officials said Monday. In a July Orange Flag demonstration at Edwards Air Force Base in California, the high-flying spy plane acted as an airborne communications node, collecting targeting data from Air Force F-35As. The F-35s also sent the data via a ground station to Lockheed’s Airborne Sensor Adaptation Kit to a surrogate Integrated Air and Missile Defense Battle Command System, or IBCS, a command system for Army missiles such as the PAC-3 interceptor or HIMARS artillery rockets.
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China’s Kashgar airbase: Underground vaults
An underground vault construction in China’s Kashgar airbase months before the India-China standoff started in Ladakh shows how People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) has been ramping up infrastructure for air power, satellite images analysed by India Today’s OSINT team suggest. The underground construction that could be used to conceal nuclear warheads is among the many strategies adopted by China taking an aggressive stand against India including the deployment of its H-6 bomber aircraft in Kashgar. Thr H-6 bomber aircraft was recently part of war games by in the South China Sea.
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Aviation Quote
A squadron commander who sits in his tent and gives orders and does not fly, though he may have the brains of Soloman, will never get the results that a man will, who, day in and day out, leads his patrols over the line and infuses into his pilots the 'espirit de corps.'
- Brigadier General William 'Billy' Mitchell, USAS.
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