Non-Military Aviation

[Shyster]

If it were Boeing or Airbus or even Bombardier or Embraer, I would certainly agree that an SST would be more of a demonstrator. But the handful of companies that are doing it are basically "start ups" that have no other lines of business. Which is why I am quite dubious at their prospects.

The FAA in the post-MAX era is taking forever to approve new commercial passenger aircraft. Yeah, letting the manufacturer basically certify itself sure as heck didn't work out well for the MAX. But the FAA has basically flipped to an excruciatingly hands-on and detailed approval process, which is why we're still waiting on the MAX 7 and 10 and the 777X after literally years of testing for both. Both of those are variants of existing models. A clean-sheet SST? At the current rate the FAA is working, it would probably take a decade to get certified.

[tifosi77]

Isn't Lockheed Martin building the NASA-funded low-boom prototype? A company that's notoriously thin in its commercial/civil portfolio. I don't think the FAA really factors into what they're doing, and once the grunt work is done in flight testing, once the concept is proved (or disproved, as the case may be), then I think it might be a more inviting environment for commercial endeavors.

Maybe it takes ten years, maybe it's a shorter timeline. The goal doesn't get any closer if you never start the journey.

[Shyster]

LM is building the aircraft, but I think they're just doing it for the fat fedgov contractor paychecks. I don't think they have any plans to do anything commercially. It would be others that would run with the idea if NASA proves that "low boom" SSTs are technically feasible.

[dodint]

Wow.

Richard McSpadden, senior vice president of the AOPA Air Safety Institute, died in a plane crash today. He is the guy that does the AOPA accident breakdown videos on YouTube, amongst other things. He was the right seat pilot on a Cessna 177RG that lost the engine on takeoff, they didn't make it back.

[Shyster]

Ugh, that's terrible. It really highlights the risks of aviation. McSpadden was the best; he was a former commander and flight leader of the Thunderbirds. If he can die in an accident, then anyone can die in an accident.

Fair winds and clear skies, Colonel. RIP.

[tifosi77]

A couple years ago, the Navy's high time F-14 pilot (Dale "Snort" Snodgrass) passed away in a civil aviation mishap in which he made an error during preflight of his Marchetti. Snort was regarded by most who met him as one of the finest pilots they'd ever known, but he made a super basic mistake before ever leaving the ground, and it cost him his life.

Same idea as when Jim Clark died at Hockenheim in 1968. Drivers were spooked, because if Jimmy could get got.....

[NTP66]

[shafnutz05]

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/rcna121681

An off-duty Alaska Airlines pilot has been charged with over 80 counts of attempted murder after he allegedly attempted to shut off a plane's engines midflight on Sunday, causing the flight to divert to Portland.

Flight 2059 took off from Everett, Washington, and was bound for San Francisco, Alaska Airlines said in a statement. It was operated by Alaska Airlines subsidiary Horizon Air, but was diverted due to a “credible security” threat linked to a person in the cockpit’s flight deck jump seat.

"The jump seat occupant unsuccessfully attempted to disrupt the operation of the engines," the airline said. "The Horizon Captain and First Officer quickly responded, engine power was not lost and the crew secured the aircraft without incident."

[Shyster]

Post-incident ATC audio:

[dodint]

If anyone else has Smithsonian Channel, On the Fly: Adventures at Altitude has been a really cool watch. Each episode is about 45 minutes and covers 3-4 stories about people doing aviation-adjacent stuff. I like that it's a reality show that doesn't have any negative vibes or a 'beat the clock' gimmick. Just people doing cool stuff.

In the first few episodes, they had:
-female skydivers trying to set a world record for linking up 100 divers
-glider competition
-A guy restores an aerobatic plane and flys it for the first time
-A wing-walker training family business
-South American dog rescue
-A functional jet pack.

It records with no commercials, I've been watching them as an end of day zone out kind of thing and have been caught getting emotionally invested in a few of the stories.

[Shyster]

More of a west-coast thing, I guess, but interesting news that Alaskan Airlines is going to buy Hawaiian Airlines. The plan is to keep both brands under a common operating company. The press release says that "Honolulu will become a key Alaska Airlines hub." Sounds like Alaska plans to use Hawaiian as its long-haul and trans-Pacific brand.

[shafnutz05]

That looks fun @dodint, thanks for the rec

[Shyster]

Good.

[NTP66]

I brought my drone over to my parents' house yesterday so that I could just have a little fun during the day. Get it all setup, launch the app... they're in an authorization zone. Even if I set limits on my drone for distance, it just doesn't allow flight. Sucks, but I get it. You can apply for a license, but you have to have some sort of approval from a number of places to even apply, and it's not worth it to me.

[dodint]

Sorry you're affected but I'm glad those restrictions exist.

[NTP66]

Yeah, I'm glad the restrictions exist, too. Just didn't realize that their house was in the zone.

[tifosi77]

Right when I joined PlayStation there had been a few incidents of people flying drones over our campus. There was suspicion that it was more than just some goofball joy flying, but then someone chimed up that we were only 7 miles from SFO and flying a drone there should be looked into. So it became like a whole FBI thing.

[Shyster]

Holy crap. Reports are that a Japan Air Lines Airbus A350-900 collided with a Japanese Coast Guard DHC-8-300 on the runway at Haneda. Early reports are that all 379 people on board the JAL aircraft are accounted for, but five of the six people on the Coast Guard aircraft are reported as still missing.

Based on the number of people aboard, I think this would be one of JAL's "high density" A350s that it uses for intra-Japan flights. This flight originated from Sapporo New Chitose Airport. Sapporo ⟷ Tokyo is a major airline route in Japan because the two cities are relatively distant and there isn't a Shinkansen line that runs the whole way (the Hokkaido Shinkansen is under construction but won't be open to Sapporo until 2030).

[Shyster]

Reports are that five of the six crew on the Coast Guard Dash-8 are deceased, with the sixth seriously injured.

Not a good start for the year for Japan. First the major earthquake on the Noto Peninsula, and now this. The Coast Guard aircraft was carrying earthquake-relief supplies.

[dodint]

That's going to make for a compelling episode of Air Disasters. Glad it wasn't a lot worse.

[NAN]

Amazing that no one else died. Only 4 people on the passenger plane were sent to the hospital after non feeling well. Just crazy (and lucky)

[dodint]

Imagine if that happened in the US. 300+ would be in hospitals with their PI attorney on speed dial.

[tifosi77]

[Shyster]

[tifosi77]

There does not appear to be a departure clearance or even a "use 34R" taxi instruction in there....................

It also looks like the Coast Guard aircraft might have been on the active for almost 2 minutes prior to the mishap?