(Sources: Washington Post, FAA, & WSJ)

The Federal Aviation Administration plans to order immediate inspections of older-model Boeing 737 jetliners that are the workhorse of domestic air travel, a precaution after a hole opened in the hull of a Southwest Airlines plane flying at 34,400.

The FAA on Monday announced (See FAA press release below) a speedy, but limited, response: It said it intends to issue an emergency safety directive calling for stepped-up structural inspections affecting about 170 of aircraft giantBoeing Co.’s workhorse 737s world-wide.

Image Courtesy: WSJ.com

FAA Presser

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The FAA will issue an emergency directive tomorrow that will require operators of specific early Boeing 737 models to conduct initial and repetitive electromagnetic inspections for fatigue damage. This action will initially apply to a total of approximately 175 aircraft worldwide, 80 of which are U.S.-registered aircraft. Most of the aircraft in the U.S. are operated by Southwest Airlines.

“Safety is our number one priority,” said Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. “Last Friday’s incident was very serious and could result in additional action depending on the outcome of the investigation.”

“The FAA has comprehensive programs in place to protect commercial aircraft from structural damage as they age,” said FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt. “This action is designed to detect cracking in a specific part of the aircraft that cannot be spotted with visual inspection.”

The FAA airworthiness directive will require initial inspections using electromagnetic, or eddy-current, technology in specific areas of the aircraft fuselage on certain Boeing 737 aircraft in the -300, -400 and -500 series that have accumulated more than 30,000 flight cycles. It will then require repetitive inspections at regular intervals.

Last November, the FAA published a rule designed specifically to address widespread fatigue damage in aging aircraft. The rule requires aircraft manufacturers to establish a number of flight cycles or hours a plane can operate and be free from fatigue damage. The rule requires aircraft manufacturers to incorporate the limits into their maintenance programs.

Click here to read more.

(Source: Think Progress)

As Montana’s legislators are debating this week on a series of bills related to Driving Under the Influence (DUI) laws, including one that wants to count older DUI offenses against a defendant in sentencing, this gem of an argument was made by a legislator arguing against the bills.  How responsible!

Earlier this week, Republican Rep. Alan Hale took to the floor of the Montana legislature to slam these bills. The legislator — who actually runs a bar in Basin, Montana — declared that the new DUI laws are harming small businesses and destroying a way of life:

HALE: These DUI laws are not doing our small businesses in our state any good at all. They are destroying them. They are destroying a way of life that has been in Montana for years and years.

Editor’s note:  Was he really thinking before uttering these words?  I suspect a DUI (Delivering Under Influence) here.  Come on, Rep. Hale.  You can’t be advocating for your community’s well being only from an economic perspective.

(Source: Jalopnik)

The story goes like thiss:  Back in the 70s Libya’s new-embattled ruler – Gaddafi – pays millions of dollars for some 8 US built planes. He never got full possession of the machines due to various geo-political games that got played over the decades, leading up to the machines rotting away in an airfield in Georgia. Now the dictator wants his money back and the US is saying a big, Thanks but No Thanks. Read up the full story here.

Eight U.S.-built C-130 Hercules military transports bought by Libya are sitting in a field on the grounds of Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Georgia. Moammar Gaddafi bought the planes but, when politics shifted, the U.S. military grounded them. Now the crazy dictator wants a $70 million refund.

The planes are the ultimate ran-when-parked proposition, appearing to have not been used in the last 30+ years. Though they technically belong to the Libyan government, who purchased them in the early 1970s, the current military action in the country and the “no fly zone” make it unlikely they’ll be leaving any time soon.

(Source: Imgur via Reddit.com)

Apart from being grossly offensive and filled with egregiously flawed language, I also noticed that this mobile museum of conservative ideology is held together with a lot of  tape.  Yeah, I mean there is a lot of tape.. enough to wrap the entire planet.. Would be great to have an interview with the owner and the community that allows parking for this vehicle.  Also, I wonder aloud if there is any statute that prohibits operating a vehicle with so many offensive things slapped on it..Oh, well.  American politics never gets boring.  Thanks, Reddit.  I could not have find such artful expressions elsewhere..

To say the least, it is very inspiring .  Watching this I came to a conclusion – you don’t really need millions of dollars and big name community leaders to change some of our trouble communities and rid them of crime while trying to keep the young men from straying away from schools.

Oh, here are some requirements for you to be a member of Scrapertown:

• Be a resident of Oakland, CA.
• Be at least 7 y/o or older.
• Retain A 3.0 Grade Point Average (GPA),
• Create your own Scraper Bike (It Has To Be Amazing, Or Else You Can’t Ride.)

Here are some other requirements as outlined by the ruler of Scrapertown, Mr. Scraper Bike King:  “A single-file line when riding. After 10 rides The Scraper Bike King and his Captains will decide if your bike is up to standards and if you can follow simple guidelines. After your evaluation we will consider you a member and honor you with an Original Scraper Bike Team Shirt. Only worn when Mobbin’ Stay posted to our website for all upcoming Scraper Bike Rides…”

Awesome .

Related articles

• Friday Fun: Scrapertown (thecityfix.com)
• Scraper Bike Team of Oakland documentary (boingboing.net)
• The First Annual Youth Bike Summit (streetfilms.org)

(Source: Engadget)

This new documentary, produced by AT&T, one of the leading telecom services provider in the US, strings together a set of  stories told by accident victims and their  families and friends.  The documentary, at times high on the emotional quotient, offers a compelling message to any/all drivers, let alone the teenagers, to hang up their cellphones while operating the motor vehicles.  There is no blood or gory mess splashed across the windshield but the stories along with the photos of mangled metal and shattered lives is quite riveting.  Kudos to AT&T and other public and private agencies who have been actively engaged in promoting awareness among teens about the dangers of texting while driving.

Related articles

• AT&T releases dramatic anti-texting while driving documentary (engadget.com)
• AT&T Releases anti text-driving documentary (techburgh.com)
• AT&T Mini Documentary on Dangers of Text Messaging and Driving (laughingsquid.com)

(Source: Al Jazeera News)

This above video was a part of an Al Jazeera news story of migrants experiencing violent deaths in the hands of drug cartels during their journey northwards towards United States from their homelands in South America.  We in the western world often read stories over the years about this tough journey of migrants, who often pay thousands of dollars for their smugglers/handlers and risk their lives while traveling through what’s one of the worst, violence-ridden narco corridors in the entire world. For the first time, I had an opportunity to visually experience this monumental struggle of life and death experienced by the migrants through a recent movie, Sin Nombre by Cary Joji Fukunaga. It was a very painful portrayal of migrant life and the dangers these people face making the trek northwards, while dodging the brutal world of narcotics smugglers.  This above video story from Al Jazeera is not much different than what is shown on the movie, but the only difference here is there are no actors in real life and no-retakes if something were to go wrong.  Here is a trailer of Sin Nombre, that gives you a candid window into the difficult life of a migrant on the road, making it not just a journey in search of a decent livelihood, but also one where he/she often risks life riding those deadly rails.

(Source: Boston Globe)

Boston MBTA’s General Manager Richard Davey was headed to Ashmont on the T’s Red Line for the unveiling of banners created by youth artists from Dorchester when he spotted the scofflaw attempting to climb over the fare gates at the lesser-used Winter Street entrance to Park Street.

He walked up the evader and confronted him for jumping over the turnstiles.  Caught by surprise and enveloped in shame, the  scofflaw retreats back. This is where it gets better.

“He kind of fumbled around, and he did not have the CharlieCard (aka the fare card) and had just a couple of bucks on him, so I actually offered to pay for him,” Davey said. “He declined and said he would get his own ticket.”

Oh well, at least the young man had the pride to pay for his own ticket after getting caught red handed.  Good job, Richard Davey.  MBTA should be proud to have a vigilant man at the top running the show.

(Source: Popular Mechanics)

Image Courtesy: Popular Mechanics

As well as being the largest jet in commercial service, the Airbus A380 represents a bid by Europe’s EADS to take from America’s Boeing the title of world’s most advanced commercial aircraft manufacturer. Critical to that endeavor is the aircraft’s ability to not crash, come apart in midair, or generally imperil the lives of the public. Unhappily for Airbus, Qantas A380 was taking off from Singapore on November 4, 2010, when its number two engine exploded with a loud bang. Flying shrapnel punched a hole in the wing and injured two people on the ground, but the plane was able to land safely. Was the engine’s failure a one-in-a-million coincidence, or a result of a fundamental engineering flaw? The fate of billions of dollars worth of aircraft orders may ride on the answer.

Popular Mechanics looked into the investigation preliminary report into the accident and offers an easy to understand explanations in plain English for us not-so informed average citizens. In short, the report notes that the accident happened due to a fatigued metal element inside the engine, which resulted in oil seepage there by leading to a fire and eventually exploding the internal parts of the engine.  Great explanations along with the reference to the preliminary report makes for an interesting read (at least that’s what my techy brain says). Click here to read the full analysis.

Related articles

• “Qantas Airbus A380 uncontained engine failure: ATSB preliminary report” and related posts (aircrewbuzz.com)
• Qantas to resume Airbus A380 flights (ft.com)
• Airbus A380: facts and figures (telegraph.co.uk)
• Engine problem grounds Airbus A380 at LAX (abclocal.go.com)
• “Airbus A380 operations back in flight” and related posts (instantriverside.com)
• Qantas Grounds Airbus A380 Fleet After Emergency Landing (dailyfinance.com)
• Engine Blow-Out Grounds Qantas Airbus A380 Fleet (npr.org)
• “Should Qantas Airways ask Rolls Royce for compensation as it restarts Airbus A380 flights?” and related posts (ceoworld.biz)
• About the Air Bus A380 (brighthub.com)
• Factbox: Airbus A380, the world’s biggest passenger jet (reuters.com)
• Airbus A380 engine woe wipes £1bn off Rolls-Royce (telegraph.co.uk)

(Source: The Guardian, UK)

Tube worker says station manager at King’s Cross refused to let him take bandages from control room to treat victims

A London Underground worker who was among the first to arrive at one of the bombed tube carriages on July 7 was told to “piss off” by his superior when he rushed back to collect more first aid equipment to treat the injured and dying, he said today.

Imran Chaudhury fought back tears as he said one of the duty station managers at Kings Cross, Ken Leach, tried to obstruct him from collecting bandages from the station’s control room, despite the fact that his clothing was covered in blood and injured passengers could clearly be seen on CCTV emerging from the ruined train.

Leach’s superior, group station manager Peter Sanders, had also been in the room but had said nothing, said Chaudhury, which still “haunts” him, he told the inquest into the deaths of the victims of the bomb attacks. Fifty-two people died in the attacks, 26 were killed in the Kings Cross blast.

Click here to read the entire story

Note: It scares me to think how ill-prepared many of our U.S. transit systems across the country are even after such a coordinated mass-casualty event occurred in one of the busiest and well-policed systems around the world.  In Washington, DC I see so many security lapses day in and day out when I ride the system but given the complexities of the system and its vast network, it is definitely difficult to have a 100% fool-proof security.  While it is not possible to put a policeman in every station every hour of the day, I can see a lot of vigilant riders who help keep a watch on the system.  The system riders are sensitized to such dangers and have been repeatedly requested over the PA system, over the years, to inform station managers or authorities if they spot an unattended bag or any object that looks suspicious. As I write this, I can feel that stern lady voice over the DC Metro’s PA system: “Hi, Is That Your Bag?”, a part of the “See it Say It” public safety campaign, suggesting people to report any suspicious object they spot while riding the trains or on the Metro facilities such as stations and parking lots.   At times, I can’t help but feel over a period of time after listening to the announcements a gazillion times,  I feel like I have a part to play in keeping the system safe and secure.  The sense of alertness goes up when I read about a bomb threat or a situation regarding transportation security (the downside of being in transportation business). At times I feel that any failure on my part,  as a rider and user heavily-dependent on the system, to be vigilant may result in a possible strike keeps me alert (I admit sometimes it’s hard to stay awake after a long day at work).   I assume this social policing (rather social conditioning/sensitizing) initiative involving our public definitely has helped the transit police.  It will be great  to know if the if the Metro has ever compiled an evaluation report of sorts explaining how many calls were received and how many threats (minor and major) were averted/prevented/addressed since this campaign went into effect.

Related articles

• 7/7 inquest: Passengers showed ‘remarkable heroism’ after London bombings as pics revealed of carnage (mirror.co.uk)
• Metro calls for vigilance by riders and employees – Washington Post (news.google.com)
• 7/7 inquest: staff tell of devastation (guardian.co.uk)
• Feds: Man Sought to Blow Up DC Metro Stations (abcnews.go.com)
• US: Man arrested over “plot to bomb Washington DC metro” (teaandpolitics.wordpress.com)
• 7/7 inquest: Phone calls reveal chaos – listen here (mirror.co.uk)
• 7/7 inquests: Aldgate manager ‘didn’t want to cause panic by mentioning bomb’ (telegraph.co.uk)
• 7/7 footage at inquest shows final bomber Hasib Hussain (guardian.co.uk)
• 7/7 inquest: Tube refused first aid kit (guardian.co.uk)
• You: Confusion after King’s Cross 7/7 blast (guardian.co.uk)
• 7/7 officer tells of frustration over firefighters (independent.co.uk)
• Firefighters delayed entering 7/7 tunnel (independent.co.uk)
• You: 7/7 bombers were seen ‘celebrating’ (guardian.co.uk)
• 7/7 inquest hears recordings of tube staff following blasts (guardian.co.uk)
• A.M. Top News: Washington DC Metro stations are allegedly targeted in terror plot (nj.com)
• Passengers showed ‘remarkable heroism’ after bombings (independent.co.uk)
• 7/7 inquests: firefighters refused to follow police onto tracks (telegraph.co.uk)