NAS Daily 14 JUN 21

airtrainer 13 Jun 21, 23:58

News

Accidents/Incidents

Delta passengers and crew subdue an off-duty flight attendant on LAX-ATL flight
An off-duty Delta Air Lines flight attendant apparently commandeered the intercom on an Atlanta-bound flight Friday night, leading to a scuffle that forced the plane to land in Oklahoma City, an airline spokesman said.
Crew members and passengers of Delta Flight 1730 subdued the man after he assaulted two flight attendants and, according to Oklahoma City police, said he was "going to take the plane down." A passenger said other travelers described the man as strange and that he wore a helmet along with elbow and knee pads.
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Airlines

Air France to serve close to 200 destinations this summer
In line with the gradual reopening of French borders and the lifting of certain travel restrictions, Air France teams at the airport and on board are fully mobilized to help customers reunite with their loved ones or reach their holiday destinations.
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Stobart Air shuts down all operations, will be liquidated
Stobart Air (Dublin) today suddenly announced it was ending its Aer Lingus franchise and ceasing all operations.
In April 2021, Isle of Man-based company Ettyl Limited reached an agreement to buy the Esken shareholding in Stobart Air.
On June 11, 2021, Esken stated it was now clear that Ettyl was unable to conclude the transaction to acquire Stobart Air.
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Air Antwerp ceases operations, could not survive COVID-19
Air Antwerp announced on June 11, 2021 it was ceasing all operations and business activities. The airline operated between Antwerp and London City Airport in the past. It depended on business travel that was severely curtailed during the pandemic.
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Lufthansa deploys the Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental and Airbus A350 to Mallorca due to high summer vacation demand
Lufthansa is taking extraordinary measures in order to respond to a significant increase in booking demand for flights to Palma de Mallorca from both Frankfurt and Munich. The booking figures for the destination “PMI” have increased 25 times between April and the beginning of June 2021: The airline will be operating a Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental from Frankfurt to Palma de Mallorca four Saturdays in a row during the upcoming summer vacation in Hesse.
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Eurowings opens a new base in Prague
Eurowings is expanding its European network: With the opening of a new basis in Prague, the German airline is expanding its services in Central Europe and will initially station two Airbus A320 aircraft in the Czech capital from October 31, 2021.
In the summer of 2022, three aircraft will take off for Eurowings with Prague becoming the 10th Eurowings base in Europe.
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Sudan Airways relaunch hints at lifeline from Lufthansa Consulting
Founded in February 1946, Sudan Airways is the national carrier of Sudan and one of the oldest airlines based on the African continent. Having been established following the Second World War, the Sudanese carrier grew to impressive heights with a fleet of Airbus A300s and Boeing 737s and 707s. Fast forward to the 21ST century, the carrier no longer reprises its former status, having suffered from a combination of US sanctions and flight bans from Europe.
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British Airways puts more employees on furlough despite summer season
The flag carrier of the United Kingdom, British Airways is returning employees back on furlough. The move comes as international borders remain closed due to the ongoing pandemic.
"Like many companies we're using the furlough scheme to protect jobs during this unprecedented crisis,” a British Airways spokesperson told AeroTime News on June 11, 2021.
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Airports

Salvador Bahia retains status as Brazil’s most sustainable airport
For the second running, Salvador Bahia Airport has been named as Brazil’s most sustainable airport by the National Civil Aviation Agency (Anac).
The airport, which is part of the VINCI Airports group, achieved the highest score in its size category in the Sustainable Airports Award.
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Military/Space

Annular eclipse ‘awesome, almost spiritual’ from 39,000 feet
A few dozen lucky eclipse-lovers gathered at the Minneapolis–St. Paul International Airport (MSP) early Thursday morning to climb aboard one of Delta’s A319-100 aircraft (N351NB), sponsored by Sky & Telescope, to view the annular eclipse just after sunrise over southern Canada.
The 3:15 a.m. flight departed on schedule and headed northeast along a carefully predetermined route calculated by astronomer Glenn Schneider, who has chased solar eclipses around the world since the early 1970s and been in the path of totality 33 times.
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Will SpaceX resurrect 1950s plans for military cargo rockets?
When it comes to American military hardware, the data provided in the yearly budget estimates of the US Air Force (USAF) are the perfect fodder for both analysis and speculation.
The figures for the fiscal year 2022, which were revealed in the first week of June 2021, provided several talking points that gained prominence in global bulletins. This included news of the impending collaboration of USAF with Elon Musk’s fan-favorite venture, SpaceX. Specifically, the supposed plan to use the Starship rocket as an intercontinental cargo vehicle, which seems like something conceived specifically to garner attention.
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G7: what did the leaders use to arrive?
Besides the political importance, the 47th summit of world leaders provides a possibility to witness a whole parade of presidential jets from all over the world. What aircraft did the participants use to arrive in Cornwall?
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Aviation Quote

Ladies and Gentlemen, I'd planned to speak to you tonight to report on the state of the Union, but the events of earlier today have led me to change those plans. Today is a day for mourning and remembering. Nancy and I are pained to the core by the tragedy of the shuttle Challenger. We know we share this pain with all of the people of our country. This is truly a national loss.

Nineteen years ago, almost to the day, we lost three astronauts in a terrible accident on the ground. But, we've never lost an astronaut in flight; we've never had a tragedy like this. And perhaps we've forgotten the courage it took for the crew of the shuttle; but they, the Challenger Seven, were aware of the dangers, but overcame them and did their jobs brilliantly. We mourn seven heroes: Michael Smith, Dick Scobee, Judith Resnik, Ronald McNair, Ellison Onizuka, Gregory Jarvis, and Christa McAuliffe. We mourn their loss as a nation together.

For the families of the seven, we cannot bear, as you do, the full impact of this tragedy. But we feel the loss, and we're thinking about you so very much. Your loved ones were daring and brave, and they had that special grace, that special spirit that says, 'Give me a challenge and I'll meet it with joy.' They had a hunger to explore the universe and discover its truths. They wished to serve, and they did. They served all of us.
We've grown used to wonders in this century. It's hard to dazzle us. But for twenty-five years the United States space program has been doing just that. We've grown used to the idea of space, and perhaps we forget that we've only just begun. We're still pioneers. They, the members of the Challenger crew, were pioneers.

And I want to say something to the schoolchildren of America who were watching the live coverage of the shuttle's takeoff. I know it is hard to understand, but sometimes painful things like this happen. It's all part of the process of exploration and discovery. It's all part of taking a chance and expanding man's horizons. The future doesn't belong to the fainthearted; it belongs to the brave. The Challenger crew was pulling us into the future, and we'll continue to follow them.

I've always had great faith in and respect for our space program, and what happened today does nothing to diminish it. We don't hide our space program. We don't keep secrets and cover things up. We do it all up front and in public. That's the way freedom is, and we wouldn't change it for a minute. We'll continue our quest in space. There will be more shuttle flights and more shuttle crews and, yes, more volunteers, more civilians, more teachers in space. Nothing ends here; our hopes and our journeys continue. I want to add that I wish I could talk to every man and woman who works for NASA or who worked on this mission and tell them: "Your dedication and professionalism have moved and impressed us for decades. And we know of your anguish. We share it."

There's a coincidence today. On this day 390 years ago, the great explorer Sir Francis Drake died aboard ship off the coast of Panama. In his lifetime the great frontiers were the oceans, and a historian later said, 'He lived by the sea, died on it, and was buried in it.' Well, today we can say of the Challenger crew: Their dedication was, like Drake's, complete.

The crew of the space shuttle Challenger honored us by the manner in which they lived their lives. We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for the journey and waved goodbye and 'slipped the surly bonds of earth' to 'touch the face of God.'
Thank you.

- President Ronald Reagan - January 28, 1986