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Aseismic shift has occurred in the Trump administration’s new defense spending plan that is just emerging when it comes to the USAF’s airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) predicament. The service’s E-3 Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft are dwindling in number and rapidly aging into unsupportability. The proven and in-production E-7 Wedgetail, based on the Boeing 737 and serving with multiple allies, was supposed to bridge the gap between the E-3’s retirement and pushing the sending part of the mission to space-based distributed satellite constellations. You can read all about this here. Now, if the administration gets...

The U.S. Justice Department said Friday that it has reached a deal with Boeing to avoid prosecution over two crashes of the plane maker’s 737 Max that killed 346 people. The so-called non-prosecution agreement would allow Boeing, a major military contractor and top U.S. exporter, to avoid being labeled a felon. The decision means Boeing won’t face trial as scheduled next month, as crash victims’ family members have urged for years. The Department of Justice met with crash victims’ family members last week to discuss the potential deal. In a court filing on Friday the DOJ said it “is the...

FAA regulations require Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting units to be on site at all commercial airports when a pilot declares an emergency... DENVER — Federal investigators are working to determine what caused an engine fire on American Airlines Flight 1006 at Denver International Airport, which forced passengers to evacuate onto the wing. The fire broke out after the Boeing 737-800 landed and was taxiing to the gate Thursday, prompting a chaotic evacuation that has raised questions about why passengers had to go out onto the wing, why emergency responders were not in position when the plane touched down and...

Smoke rising after Jeju Air Flight 2216 crashes in South Korea Jeju Air Flight 2216. The Boeing 737-800 was flying from Bangkok to Muan

An American Airlines Boeing plane that was headed from Chicago to Las Vegas was forced to divert back following a mid-air emergency. On Sunday, a Boeing 737-800 jet has to return to O’Hare airport after receiving multiple door warning light indications. The airline stated that the return was the result of a “possible maintenance issue.” “Flight 1047 returned to ORD for a possible maintenance issue,” an American spokesperson told Fox Business. “The flight landed safely and taxied to the gate.” According to Flightaware, the flight took off a second time for Harry Reid International Airport just after noon, and was...

New details suggest that there were communication issues between the pilots of a charter flight and the control tower at Montreal's Mirabel airport when a Boeing 737 made an emergency landing on Wednesday(opens in a new tab). The over-the-air broadcasts reviewed by Noovo Info(opens in a new tab) reveal that the control tower wasn't aware that the plane had experienced a mechanical issue before approaching the runway. The issue was detected after Flight NRL 662, operated by Nolinor, took off from Quebec City's Jean Lesage Airport Wednesday morning en route to Wabush airport in Newfoundland and Labrador, with a stop...

Total Linhas Aereas 737-400 freighter destroyed by a cargo hold fire after making an emergency landing at Sao Paulo Guarulhos International Airport in Brazil.. Three vehicles from the airport's own fire brigade and another five from the Fire Department worked to fight the flames on the airport runway. At around 7 am, firefighters were already doing the rescue work and removing the cargo from the plane. The Center for Investigation and Prevention of Aeronautical Accidents (Cenipa) said it will investigate the causes of the fire and forced landing. No injuries reported during the accident. ... Would be interesting to see...

The Federal Aviation Administration issued a safety alert to airlines regarding Boeing 737 airplanes equipped with certain rudder components. The air-safety regulator said Tuesday the operators of Boeing 737 NG and 737 MAX airplanes with SVO-730 rudder rollout guidance actuators should instruct flight crews that the rudder control system could potentially become jammed or restricted in flight or during landing. Boeing said in a statement it has reminded operators of the proper actions that flight crews should take if they encounter rudder restriction, and has also shared technical guidance from its supplier.

(The Epoch Times)—A federal agency on Monday warned that dozens of foreign plane operators may be using Boeing 737s with suspect rudder control parts that could pose potential safety risks. The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)’s chairwoman, Jennifer Homendy, said that 271 impacted parts could be installed on aircraft in service operated by at least 40 foreign air carriers. Sixteen of the impacted parts may still be installed on U.S.-registered aircraft and up to 75 such parts may have been used in aftermarket installation, she wrote in a Sept. 30 letter to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). On Sept....

A Korean Air Boeing 737 Max 8 experienced a sudden emergency shortly after taking off from Incheon International Airport, plummeting 26,900 feet before making multiple erratic loops before stabilizing. The plane, which departed from Incheon International Airport at 4:45 p.m. local time on Saturday, suffered issues with its pressurization system while flying over South Korea’s southern resort island of Jeju. According to data from Flight Radar, the plane began descending sharply, dropping nearly five miles in 15 minutes. Commercial jet airliners typically cruise at altitudes ranging from 30,000 to 40,000 feet. So, assuming the aircraft was flying at the upper...

....50 minutes into the flight, the B737 MAX experienced a sudden uncontrolled decompression. According to FL360aero, the message “pressure s ystem (pressure control function of the aircraft) abnormality” was displayed while flying over Jeju Island. As per standard procedure during a sudden loss of cabin pressurization, the flight crew made an emergency descent. According to data from the flight tracking website Flightradar24, the aircraft dropped about 26,900 feet in around 15 minutes. The aircraft, carrying 125 passengers, was able to return to ICN Airport at approximately 19:40 local time. One of the passengers onboard the flight captured footage inside the...

A Boeing 737 aircraft suddenly plummeted to less than 500 feet of the ground over Oklahoma, terrifying residents who feared the jet was going to crash. Southwest Airlines Flight 4069 was still nine miles away from Will Rogers World Airport just after midnight on Wednesday, when records show it dived to between 400 and 500 feet as it flew over a high school in the City of Yukon. Doorbell camera footage showed the Boeing 737 MAX-8 then hovering above houses, before it flies out of frame. A resident was startled awake by the plane's engine and wondered if the aircraft...

A Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft suffered a mid-air emergency on Friday after it plunged 16,000 feet, coming just 400 feet of the Pacific Ocean off the coast of the Hawaiian island of Kauai due to adverse weather conditions. According to a Southwest Airlines memo to pilots, Southwest Flight 2786 from Honolulu International Airport to Lihue Airport in Kauai dropped from nearly 16,000 feet to an altitude of 409 feet.

Boeing violated a 2021 settlement that protected it from criminal charges tied to the fatal 737 Max crashes, opening the company up to potential U.S. prosecution, the Department of Justice said Tuesday. Federal prosecutors said in a court filing in Texas they are still determining “how it will proceed in this matter” and that Boeing will have 30 days to respond. In January 2021, Boeing agreed to pay $2.5 billion to settle a conspiracy charge with the Justice Department. After a roughly two-year probe, the DOJ accused the company of concealing information about its Max plane that had been involved...

Panicked passengers were forced to flee the burning wreckage of a Boeing 737 when it skidded off the runway in Senegal early Thursday, video showed. Eleven people were injured – four of them severely – when the Air Senegal flight headed from Bamako, Mali, crashed mid-lift off from Dakar’s Blaise Diagne airport shortly after 1 a.m. local time, the BBC reported. One of the 78 passengers was seen scrambling away from the Boeing 737-300 aircraft as it went up in flames, one clip from the scene showed. The plane – which Air Senegal chartered from the Senegalese carrier Transair –...

The terrifying moment a wheel feel of a Boeing 737 fully loaded with passengers was caught on video, adding to a long list of incidents. The footage showed the plane grinding along the runway after being forced to make an emergency landing shortly after takeoff. Airport safety staff at OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg, South Africa noticed the FlySafair aircraft had damaged its undercarriage on takeoff. The airline said the plane made a low pass over the airport so technical teams could view the landing gear. Upon inspection, engineers found one of four rear wheels had been clipped during...

Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 flight to Houston returns to Denver after engine cover tears away during takeoff

Boeing whistleblower John Barnett “didn’t seem depressed” at dinner on the evening before he was mysteriously found dead in his car ... Lawyers, family friends and witnesses all say the 62-year-old was upbeat about finishing off giving testimony against his former employer in Charleston, South Carolina, and raised suspicious as to whether he’d take his own life. An employee who works at the Holiday Inn where Barnett was found dead in the parking lot told ... seemed fine on the evening of Feb. 8.... He didn’t seem upset at all,” ... Barnett was due to give a third day of...

Discovery of Missing Panel on Boeing 737 Causes Closure of Medford Airport Runways Earlier today, an inbound United Airlines 737-824, Flight UA433, prompted the full closure of both runways at the Rogue Valley International Medford Airport (MFR). The incident, while causing a temporary disruption, concluded with no reported injuries. Upon its safe landing, all passengers disembarked at Gate 5 without any complications. However, ground crews observed a missing panel on the Boeing aircraft. Details regarding the specific panel remain undisclosed at this time, but Medford Alert can confirm it was towards the bottom of the aircraft. Amber Judd, the Director...

United Airlines Boeing 737 Max 8 suffers gear failure upon landing at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Texas