TransportGooru

On-board systems intended to keep airliners from colliding in midair have been triggered more than 45 times this year in the skies over the Washington as the air traffic controllers who guide planes to and from the region’s airports have made dangerous mistakes at a record-setting pace.

Two of the closest calls this month involved four airplanes carrying a total of 589 people, including one in which a Delta 737 was turned into the potentially deadly turbulent wake of a United 757 as the two planes flew along the Potomac on final approach to Reagan National Airport.

The team found that “more than 45 such events have been documented this calendar year” in which the avoidance systems have been triggered in Washington airspace, according to an internal FAA summary. The systems, required on all planes carrying 19 or more passengers, kick in and order pilots to take evasive action when their sensors indicate a potential midair collision. Read more at www.washingtonpost.com

The charmingly named, 31-foot-long MQ-8B Fire Scout Vertical Takeoff and Landing unmanned aerial vehicle was flying at an altitude of 2,000 feet on August 2 when the Navy completely lost control of the craft due to, they say, a “software issue.” It continued, guided only by its own probably-evil robot brain, for about half an hour, flying 23 miles into restricted airspace. The Navy re-established control when the drone was just 40 miles from the nation’s capital. Read more at gizmodo.com

See more at tv.gawker.com

All this poor 29-year-old from Melbourne, Australia wanted was to recycle a barbecue he’d seen wasting away on the side of the road. Sadly, you can’t do something this ridiculous and not become an internet sensation and police target.

Kiwi Michael Wiles saw the discarded BBQ on the side of the road and decided it would make a nice addition to his home. Driving only a motorcycle, he had to fit the BBQ over his body by actually wearing it. Putting his body through the lower storage area sort of makes sense, but wearing the grill itself on his helmet seems to have sparked the most trouble. Read more at jalopnik.com

In 2007, the New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA) awarded a 10-year communication infrastructure contract to Transit Wireless LLC — a conglomerate of construction and wireless companies — that would bring mobile phone and Wi-Fi service to the 277 stations within the city’s subway system. NYCTA’s parent, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, approved the contract in September 2007 but did not give the official notice to proceed until July this year. The project stalled due to lack of sufficient funding, but was restarted after financing was provided by Broadcast Australia, a Sydney-based multinational that also installed wireless in Hong Kong’s subway. Broadcast Australia, in turn, is controlled by the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board in a convoluted chain of ownership. Under the terms of the original 2007 deal, the NYCTA would earn in excess of $45 million from an estate lease over the 10-year term; Transit Wireless will cover all network construction costs and generate revenue from mobile carriers such as AT&T, Sprint and Verizon, who would provide cellular service over the Transit Wireless network.

The whole roll-out is expected to cost around $250 million including the payments to the NYCTA; work will commence on the first six stations in Manhattan by September, with live service expected in all six within two years. The remaining 271 stations will be completed within the next six years, although a spokesman for Transit Wireless stated that up to 15 stations a month could be outfitted during the rolling program. Phone and Wi-Fi coverage will be available only in the stations, on platforms and part-way into adjacent tunnels; the contract does not stipulate contiguous coverage throughout the subway system. In addition to consumer services, the Transit Wireless solution will serve public safety organizations by providing the source of a cell phone’s signal within a station, improving incident response times. Read more at www.masstransitmag.com

If you’ve ever paid to have your bicycle serviced or repaired, you know a bicycle is worth more than the sum of its parts. Over the eight years I had my last bicycle, I probably paid for it three times over in tune-ups, tires and, most recently, a new drive train and other service that set me back significantly, even after my discount for being a member of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition.

If you have ever felt inadequate when taking your bike in for repairs, you are not alone. Fortunately, San Francisco has a wealth of resources for people looking to learn bicycle maintenance skills. Between sporting goods stores and your neighborhood bike shop, it’s easy to find classes and seminars that fit your schedule – for free or on the cheap – including:

This nonprofit storefront provides employment and job training for at-risk youth and offers free in-store clinics – including a lecture and demonstration – geared to the experience and needs of the participants. Clinics cover basic topics such as flat repair, bike maintenance, bearing adjustment and wheel repair. 3085 21st St. (415) 641-1264, www.pedalrevolution.org.

The Bike Kitchen is a do-it-yourself bicycle resource run by volunteers. On the second and fourth Fridays each month from 6-9 p.m., the group offers classes for “women, trans/gender queer folks, femmes, or anybody else that has had gender be a barrier to learning mechanics.” No one is turned away. The Bike Kitchen also has basic and advanced classes for nominal fees. 650H Florida St., (415) 647-2453, www.bikekitchen.org. Read more at www.sfgate.com

On Tuesday, the United Nations said 800,000 people could be reached only by air, and it called for 40 more helicopters from the international community to help take aid to people isolated by the flooding.

“These unprecedented floods pose unprecedented logistical challenges, and this requires an extraordinary effort by the international community,” John Holmes, the United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator, said in a prepared statement.

Reinforcing its call for more helicopters, the United Nations cited the destruction of access roads and bridges in Pakistan’s north, particularly the Swat Valley in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, the Gilgit-Baltistan region and the Pakistani-administered part of Kashmir. The flooding has also isolated people in the country’s Punjab and Sindh Provinces, according to the World Food Program, a United Nations agency that specializes in delivering food aid to areas affected by crises. Read more at www.nytimes.com

Despite this nation’s rise as a technology titan with some of the best engineering minds in the world, its full economic potential is stifled by potholed roads, collapsing bridges, rickety railroads and a power grid so unreliable that many modern office buildings run their own diesel generators to make sure the lights and computers stay on. It is not for want of money. The Indian government aims to spend $500 billion on infrastructure by 2012 and twice that amount in the following five years. The problem is a dearth of engineers — or at least of civil engineers with the skill and expertise to make sure those ambitious projects are done on time and to specification. Civil engineering was once an elite occupation in India, not only during the British colonial era of carving roads and laying train tracks, but long after independence as part of the civil service. These days, though, India’s best and brightest know there is more money and prestige in writing software for foreign customers than in building roads for their nation. Read more at www.nytimes.com