Free Republic

In an extraordinary moment, a heartfelt prayer was offered by an air traffic controller for former President Donald Trump’s plane, Trump Force One, as it departed Milwaukee early Friday morning. This rare event occurred after Trump and former First Lady Melania concluded their presence at the Republican National Convention and Trump’s recent assassination attempt last week. Former President Donald Trump and former First Lady Melania Trump left Milwaukee at approximately 12:30 a.m. on Friday. They boarded Trump Force One, the nickname given to the Trump Organization’s Boeing 757, drawing a parallel to the official U.S. presidential aircraft, Air Force One....

American Airlines, United and Delta have asked the FAA for global ground stop on all flights, according to an alert from the FAA on Friday morning. The FAA is telling air traffic controllers to tell airborne pilots that airlines are currently experiencing communication issues. Meanwhile, flights in the air will stay in the air, but no American, United or Delta flights will take off....

At airports across the U.S., Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents confront flyers as they are boarding flights and ask to search carry-on items. These interactions are supposed to be consensual. But flyers often get the impression that they have no choice but to submit to a search. IJ currently has a class action lawsuit against the DEA and Transportation Security Administration (TSA) over their unconstitutional searches and seizures at U.S. airports. Learn more about IJ's work protecting America’s foundational rights—including the right to be secure from unreasonable searches and seizures: https://ij.org/issues/ijs-project-on-...

Under new ownership, Pan American World Airways has announced the first in a series of planned themed journeys that harken back to its heyday. For decades, the Pan Am brand and its distinctive blue and white logo symbolized the excitement and elegance of air travel's golden age. Even after the airline ceased operations in 1991, memories of its attentive service, gourmet meals, impeccably dressed crew, and spacious seating endure.

A road-going helicopter that handles like a go-kart and drives at highway speeds - Pegasus ==================================================================== It drives at highway speeds, handles like a go-kart, transforms from drive to fly mode in three seconds, takes off vertically, and can fly for up to three hours on a hybrid powertrain. This remarkable road-going rotorcraft is now headed to the USA. Based in Melbourne, Australia – but clearly also with a presence in China – Pegasus is now moving its head office and production facilities to Las Vegas. The company says it's been working on its flying car design since 2009. Indeed,...

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...

The Biden-Harris Administration recently announced a final rule issued by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). This rule requires airlines to promptly provide passengers with automatic cash refunds under specific circumstances. Here are the key points: Canceled or Significantly Changed Flights: Passengers are entitled to a refund if their flight is canceled or significantly changed (as defined by the rule). Significant changes include: Departure or arrival times more than 3 hours domestically or 6 hours internationally. Departures or arrivals from a different airport. Increases in the number of connections. Downgrading passengers to a lower class of service. Connections at different...

Perhaps skip that in-flight negroni.You’ve had a good year. You and your significant other are about to board that long-haul flight to your well-deserved salmon-fishing vacation in Scotland, where you’ll be pampered just like King Charles in a real Scottish castle — with its own river, no less. Your wellies, your waders, and your fishing kit are on the plane. Next stop, Edinburgh and on to the wild Highlands. In the lounge with time to kill, you two decide to toast embarking on this adventure by ordering up a round of delicious Johnnie Walker Black on ice. Scotland, right? A...

...Americans can now know the locations of 45 U.S. cities whose domestic airports have received flights carrying hundreds of thousands of inadmissible aliens the Biden administration authorized to fly over the border into the interior of the country but then determinedly fought to shield from public knowledge....

EDITOR’S NOTE: Barry Bowen of The Trinity Foundation compiled the flight information for this project. In February 2023, MinistryWatch launched a collaboration with the Trinity Foundation to publish a list of all the private planes belonging to pastors and Christian ministries. For several months we updated that list, but – as things sometimes do – the monthly publication of that list went on hiatus. But we’re back! Beginning last month, we will publish a list of planes and some basic information about their usage by pastors and ministries. This month’s list is below. Here are a few highlights: The Trinity...

A private jet that vanished in 1971 with five passengers onboard was miraculously found by an expert during a recent recovery mission. On January 27, 1971, a jet took off on a snowy and cold night from the Burlington International Airport to Providence, Rhode Island. The plane was carrying two crew members and three employees from Cousin's Properties, an Atlanta-based development company. The flight vanished and George Nikita, Donald Myers, Frank Wilder, Richard Kirby Windsor, and Robert Ransom Williams III were never found, despite multiple searches conducted over the last five decades.

70,759 views While flying between New Jersey and New York the Q400 operating as flight 3407 enters an aerodynamic stall and crashes into a house in Clarence Center, New York. Families of the victims lobbied the U.S. Congress to enact more stringent regulations for regional carriers and to improve the scrutiny of safe operating procedures and the working conditions of pilots. As a result, the FAA required some of these regulation changes. Seven years later, an ATR 42-500 operating as flight 661 also stalls in the sky, and the aircraft nosedives into the mountain. Find out what really happened. 16:00...

UPDATE 9:41 AM PT -- The Maryland Transportation Authority tells TMZ ... officers responded to the incident late Tuesday afternoon upon receiving reports of the fight. Officers identified five involved individuals, one of whom suffered minor injuries. Meanwhile, a rep for Spirit tells us four employees of a third-party service they use have been suspended by that company pending an investigation into the brawl. Spirit says they do not directly employ the individuals. The airline adds violence of any kind is not tolerated, and they plan to take appropriate action following the completed investigation. A Spirit Airlines check-in counter spiraled...

Seattle-bound United Airlines flight taking off from Chicago O'Hare aborted takeoff after engine caught fire.. ... The FAA said it has halted arrivals into the airport. ... the plane was towed to the gate, passengers deplaned normally and no injuries were reported. "We are working to make alternative travel arrangements for customers, ... The ordeal came as the John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens, New York issued a ground stop by Air Traffic Control System Command Center.

Two Major FAA Developments May 23, 2024 Update! Two major occurrences recently took place concerning the FAA and we wanted to update you about these important developments. First, on May 16, 2024, FAA Inspector and whistleblower Bruce McGray filed a second addendum to his initial sworn declaration of safety violations and recommendations, originally submitted to the FAA in July 2022. This second addendum was delivered in writing to the FAA administrator Michael Whitaker, and to the Office of the Inspector General for the US Department of Transportation. In this addendum, Inspector McGray reminds the FAA that his duty as an...

A Frontier Airlines passenger forced an entire flight to deboard after she refused to comply with exit row instructions. Video of the incident posted to social media shows the unidentified woman visibly angry with airline employees as fellow passengers pleaded with her to get off the plane.

The WNBA is on the cusp of upgrading its travel logistics. The league is discussing the parameters of all 12 teams flying by charter “as soon as this regular season,” USA Today’s Christine Brennan reported on Tuesday. “Why now? The explosion of interest in the league, business growth and anticipated future revenue from the next media deal,” Brennan wrote on X. WNBA commissioner Cathy Englebert quickly confirmed the report, telling reporters Tuesday that the charter flights will be up and running “as soon as we can get the planes in place.” The WNBA has been in a pickle for several...

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) data is revealing the more than 45 cities in the U.S. that hundreds of thousands of migrants have flown into via a controversial parole program for four nationalities — with the vast majority entering the U.S. via airports in Florida. During an eight-month period from January through August 2023, roughly 200,000 migrants flew into the U.S. via the program. Of those, 80% of them, (161,562) arrived in the state of Florida in four cities: Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, Orlando and Tampa Bay, according to DHS data obtained via a subpoena by the House Homeland Security Committee...

New York, California, Georgia, Texas, and Nevada also received migrant flights. The House Homeland Security Committee subpoenaed documents from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Tuesday detailing a list of 45 cities that thousands of paroled migrants flew into in the past two years via a controversial immigration program. The DHS established the immigration policy in October of 2022, which was intended for Venezuelans to enter the country legally as long as they had an American sponsor, and passed a vetting process. It was later opened to migrants from Haiti, Cuba, and Nicaragua. The program did not secure the...

Southwest Airlines issued a press statement Thursday declaring their intention to fire around 2,000 employees and cancel service to four airports following financial difficulties. “[W]e are implementing cost control initiatives, including limiting hiring and offering voluntary time off programs. We now expect to end 2024 with approximately 2,000 fewer Employees as compared with the end of 2023,” Bob Jordan, the president and CEO of Southwest Airlines ... Jordan also announced that the company was shutting down its service to three airports in the United States and one in Mexico. “[W]e have made the difficult decision to close our operations at...