Free Republic

Search... Huge. If. TRUE --> Just Guess What United's Woke, DEI-Supporting CEO Likes to Do With His Free Time Sam J. Ok, so it's bad enough that United's CEO, Scott Kirby, cares more about sex, color, creed, and persuasion than he does skill when hiring people in his industry... you know, an industry where pilots are responsible for millions of lives every day. CEO of @united says he takes race and gender into account when hiring and laments that there’s too many white males in the airline industry. pic.twitter.com/NSEPzAuqZS — Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) January 15, 2024 But if this...

Competency is no longer the primary requirement considered for employment in the airline and commercial aircraft manufacturing industries. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As a commercial pilot, I had hoped the new year would usher in a wave of renewed sanity, safety, and a brighter future for my industry. Sadly, just a week or so into 2024, the industry is off to a horrific start. One year ago, LifeSiteNews published a commentary I penned expressing great concerns that I and other pilots share about the direction in which the Biden administration has taken our industry. In my article, I outlined the effects of forced...

During an emergency press briefing, Jennifer Homendy, the chair of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), disclosed that the cockpit voice recorder on the Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX, which experienced a door plug loss mid-flight, had been completely overwritten. Homendy said, “The cockpit voice recorder was completely overwritten. There is nothing on the cockpit voice recorder.” She continued, “There was a lot going on, on the flight deck and on the plane. It’s a very chaotic event. The circuit breaker for the CVR (cockpit voice recorder) was not pulled. The maintenance team went out to get it, but it...

After an emergency exit-sized hole opened in the side of Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 at 16,000 feet, a separate chaotic episode erupted when the cockpit door mysteriously flew open. That meant the pilots were subjected to the deafening wind and noise from the back of the plane—and also made the cockpit accessible to anyone inclined to try to force their way in. What the flight crew didn’t know at the time, federal investigators said Monday, was that it was supposed to happen that way. What the flight crew didn’t know at the time, federal investigators said Monday, was that it...

Investigators say a door plug on Alaska Airlines 1282 came loose from fittings meant to hold it to the plane ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ United Airlines and Alaska Airlines have discovered loose parts on Boeing BA -1.41%decrease; red down pointing triangle 737 MAX 9 jets that they have inspected after a near-catastrophe on a flight Friday, signaling Boeing’s issues go beyond the aircraft that made an emergency landing. The disclosures came shortly before investigators at the National Transportation Safety Board said that dangerous episode on an Alaska Airlines jet occurred because an emergency exit-sized door plug blew out at around 16,000 feet after...

Federal investigators said that Boeing didn’t make pilots aware that when a plane rapidly depressurizes, the cockpit door will fly open ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The cockpit door aboard last week’s troubled Alaska Airlines flight surprised the flight crew by swinging open seconds after the fuselage suffered a potentially catastrophic rupture, according to the chair of the federal agency investigating the incident. National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy said during a news briefing Monday that the cockpit doors flew open immediately after the paneled-over exit door popped off of the fuselage. A flight attendant had to try three times to get it...

Last week, passengers on board an Alaska Airlines flight were rattled by a terrifying incident involving a "door plug" being ripped out of the Boeing 737 MAX 9 jet that was taking them from Portland, Oregon, to Ontario, California. The following "violent explosive decompression event," as National Transportation Safety Board chair Jennifer Homendy later described it, forced pilots to return back to the ground — though luckily, nobody got seriously injured. As regulators pore over the data — the offending door plug has since been recovered alongside a fully intact iPhone from one of the passengers — new questions have...

A Portland man recovered a cell phone, which is believed to be owned by a passenger of Alaska Airlines flight 1282 after it was sucked out of the plane when the door plug blew open. Writing on X, the man, Sean Bates, posted a photo of the phone: “Found an iPhone on the side of the road,” he wrote. “Still in airplane mode with half a battery and open to a baggage claim for #AlaskaAirlines ASA1282.” Bates found the phone when he was out walking before posting it on social media, which also showed what appeared to be an Alaska...

An anonymous source from the airline industry reportedly approached conservative pundit Ashley St. Clair with some unsettling information. Following this secret exchange, St. Clair has asked United Airlines a tough question. If her implications, backed by her source’s revelations, prove to be true, it could be a bomb that rocks the entire aviation industry.Thanks to her source, Ashley is raising questions about a specific incident that took place last summer: a July 29th flight that ended with the airplane nearly totaled. She’s inquiring about who was operating the plane because her source claims the co-pilot was actually an unqualified hire...

Update: United Airlines confirm inspections have found loose bolts on the 737 MAX 9 “Since we began preliminary inspections on Saturday, we have found instances that appear to relate to installation issues in the door plug – for example, bolts that needed additional tightening.”

The cockpit voice recorder data on the Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 jet which lost a panel mid-flight on Friday was overwritten, U.S. authorities said, renewing attention on long-standing safety calls for longer in-flight recordings. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) chair Jennifer Homendy said on Sunday no data was available on the cockpit voice recorder because it was not retrieved within two hours - when recording restarts, erasing previous data. The U.S. requires cockpit voice recorders to log two hours of data versus 25 hours in Europe for planes made after 2021. The industry has been wrestling with the...

A horrifying series of videos shared Friday showed the moment a window panel off an Alaska Airlines flight, and it turns out there were already concerns over the aircraft before takeoff. ... there was a significant concern over the aircraft’s safety well before the incident occurred, ... The aircraft was not being used for flights to Hawaii because a warning light already indicated there were pressurization problems on three different trips before the one where the door panel blew off. Alaska Airlines had apparently restricted longer flights over water so it “could return very quickly to an airport” if the...

Prices in the U.S. have been rising across the board, but the increase in airfares has been particularly acute. Part of that is due to a significant pilot shortage. A new report from the Oliver Wyman consulting firm finds that North America has about 90,000 pilots, falling approximately 8,000 pilots short of demand. And the problem is only getting worse, projected to rise to a shortage of 30,000 pilots over the next decade. We can blame three coalescing events: regulatory changes enacted under President Obama, vaccine mandates, and forced pilot retirements as airlines scrambled to stay afloat during the pandemic....

What is is about airline disasters turned miracles, and for that matter, tsunamis, happening around this time of year? Japan got both in the last two days, but the latter story appears to be truly miraculous: Take a look at this video and imagine the odds of anyone on it surviving:blockquote> #BREAKING | Japan Airlines aircraft in flames after collision with coast guard plane on Tokyo airport's runway#Japan #JapanAirlines #TokyoAirport #Haneda #TokyoHanedaAirport #Airplane #Airplanecrash #Tokyo #Breaking #Airplane #JapanEarthquake #JapanTsunami pic.twitter.com/Y7uDzUpdio — Neha Bisht (@neha_bisht12) January 2, 2024 All 400 crews and passengers on board have evacuated according to NHK news....

coastguard plane with 367 people on board Japan Coast Guard plane involved in the collision with Japan Airlines airplane had 6 on board, 1 ejected and 5 are unaccounted for

In a dramatic incident at Tokyo’s Haneda airport, a Japan Airlines plane caught fire upon landing, with flames visible from the windows and beneath the aircraft. The alarming scene was captured by NHK, showing a runway ablaze. According to Tokyo’s fire department, the fire may have resulted from a collision between the JAL plane and a Japan Coast Guard aircraft.

Delta Air Lines employee followed through on his threat by calling police on transgender influencer and actress Tommy Dorfman. This comes after a tense confrontation that resulted from Dorfman’s allegations of being ‘misgendered’ by airline staff. A video going viral Tuesday shows a hard-working Delta employee named “Tristan,” putting a transgender actor in his place just three days before Christmas. Tommy Dorfman, a biological male who identifies as female and uses she/her pronouns, posted a TikTok video showing himself at LaGuardia Airport on December 22. He was waiting to board a flight to his hometown of Atlanta, presumably to celebrate...

A married gay couple had a huge airport meltdown and swore at a wheelchair-bound woman after accusing American Airlines staff of keeping them from their pet dogs.

Amid the bustling holiday travel season, as travelers navigate the shift from Christmas to New Year's, major airports are keeping pace. But the story doesn't always end at the baggage claim. For some, their belongings embark on an unexpected journey to a small Alabama town. At the Unclaimed Baggage Center in Scottsboro, Alabama, lost luggage finds a new lease on life. This unique store stretches over a city block, filled with items from unclaimed airline baggage. Visitors here can find anything from a glitzy Rolex and a 1980s-style keyboard guitar to rare movie props, ancient violins and designer clothes....

Texas may be getting the last laugh in a show-down with Chicago officials over transporting migrants away from beleaguered border towns to the Windy City after flying asylum-seekers from El Paso to Chicago last week. Despite strict ordinances penalizing charter buses loaded with migrants heading into Illinois, buses and planes with migrants are bound for Chicago as we speak, El Paso officials confirmed to DailyMail.com. El Paso has sent 139 buses to Chicago in recent months with the help of state officials, according to the City of El Paso's migrant dashboard. Last week, the Texas Division of Emergency Management or...