3rd world America

[metalman]

in this thread we track evidence of the usa descending into 3rd world status... starting with old airplanes that pass faa inspection then crack open in flight...

Southwest Hasn’t Found Flaws in 737 Checks After Hole in Jet

July 14, 2009 (Bloomberg) -- Southwest Airlines Co. said it has found no flaws so far during inspections for metal weakness on all 181 of its Boeing Co. 737-300 jets after a hole about a foot wide opened in a plane’s fuselage, forcing an emergency landing.

The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board investigators will examine the jet, said Les Dorr, an FAA spokesman. The agency will check whether Southwest complied with any safety directives regarding the area of the plane with the hole, which appears to be about 1 foot (0.3 meter) by 1 foot, he said.

“There’s really no way to speculate on what caused it right now,” Dorr said. “It certainly is an unusual occurrence.”

two years later...

Fuselage hole forces Southwest emergency landing

PHOENIX -- April 2, 2011 — A “gunshot-like sound” woke Brenda Reese as her Southwest Airlines flight cruised at 36,000 feet. Looking up, she could see the sky through a hole torn in the cabin roof.

The Boeing 737 lost cabin pressure after the hole developed Friday, prompting frightened passengers to grope for oxygen masks as the plane made a terrifying but “controlled descent.”

note to self... do not trust the faa. do not fly in 737s that are more than 10 yrs old.

[mmr]

Re: 3rd world America

Your odds on 737s are better than on commuter airlines.

House approves amendment opposed by Flight 3407 families

WASHINGTON — The House this afternoon narrowly voted to place tough new restrictions on the federal government's ability to impose aviation safety regulations, dealing a huge blow to the Families of Continental Flight 3407, who last year pushed to passage a new law calling for such tougher safety measures.

In a 215-209 vote, the House approved an amendment sponsored by Rep. Bill Shuster, R-Pa., which would require the Federal Aviation Administration to consider drawing up separate flight safety rules for commercial, cargo and charter airlines.
In addition, the Shuster amendment imposes a series of tough new procedures that the FAA must follow in writing new flight safety rules.

The amendment passed despite a strong push against it from Western New York lawmakers and the Flight 3407 families.

"You can try to dress this up however you like, but we all know which special interests that [the amendment] is attempting to help and what it's attempting to do for them, which is make it more difficult for the FAA to do its job and regulate them," said Susan Bourque of East Aurora, who lost her sister, 9/11 activist Beverly Eckert, in the February 2009 crash in Clarence that claimed 50 lives.

...

But the families had little impact on Shuster, a five-term conservative from
southwestern Pennsylvania who has received $115,750 from the aviation industry over his career.

Speaking on the House floor Thursday night, Shuster insisted his goal was not to undermine the new rules aimed at controlling pilot fatigue and boosting pilot experience, which were key parts of the bill the Flight 3407 families lobbied into law last year.

He said his amendment is intended to make sure that federal aviation regulations "are not overly burdensome or cumbersome" and that federal officials writing them "also consider issues of economic competitiveness."

Shuster said the amendment was not intended to affect current efforts to draw up new safety rules, such as those stemming from the Flight 3407 crash. But Rep. Jerry F. Costello of Illinois, ranking Democrat on the Aviation subcommittee, said his legal staff has said those efforts would be affected.

Costello asked Shuster to withdraw his amendment and work with staff on new language that would make it clear that the Flight 3407-related regulations would not be affected.

Shuster, without explanation, refused.

[BiscayneSunrise]

Re: 3rd world America

Given that the fatality rate among US airline travelers is virtually zero (in 2010 it was, in fact, zero) one shouldn't concern themselves too much with what kind of airplane or operator one is traveling on.

Airlines have historically been pretty rigorous in their dedication to safety and understanding root causes so as not to repeat accidents that were due to the same reasons. Up until recently most of the safety research revolved around understanding accidents. In other words, researching why an accident happened and changing protocols to prevent it from happening again. But now, the industry has instituted a Safety Management System (SMS) that analyzes all different kinds of real time data in order to identify trends BEFORE they result in an accident. If a trend looks disturbing, then protocols are changed beforehand in order to nip the nascent trend early. A zero fatality rate just didn't happen by coincidence.

As for the fatigue issue on the 737, Boeings seem a little more prone to this than other airplanes. Early 707's and 727's were built out of iron; lately, not so much. 757's have had some fatigue and structural issues as well. Just not so widely publicized.

To MM's point, yes, the US airline fleet is getting older as we all try to squeeze as much utility out of our capital investments as possible. Money that used to be set aside for capital improvements is now just going to pay the fuel and health insurance bills.

[Jim Bruno]

Re: 3rd world America

Sorry to steer away from aircraft, but you may wish to read the Epidemic of Ignorance. http://www.declineoftheempire.com/20...ignorance.html

[BiscayneSunrise]

Re: 3rd world America

note to self... do not trust the faa. do not fly in 737s that are more than 10 yrs old.

if you are tryng to rank concerns by aircraft type I'd be most leery of Airbus products. Especially older ones. Again, odds are strongly in favor for a safe flight but keep an eye on the reports coming out of the A320 incident in New Orleans today. The MSM media is getting it all wrong, as usual. They are making a big fuss about 737 metal fatigue but the bigger problem is electrical problems among new generation airplanes. (remember the 787 electrical fire a few months ago?) there is a trend there that is very disconcerting.

http://www.maggiesnotebook.com/2011/...ctronics-gone/




United Flight 497 Shudders, Smoke Fills Cockpit – All Electronics Gone: United Makes New Orleans Emergency Landing

April 4, 2011
By Maggie 3 comments
A United Air Lines flight left New Orleans with 115 people aboard and immediately turned back to the airport. Within minutes the cockpit reported smoke and the passengers said the craft was shuddering. The landing was rocky. The cockpit had no electronics, and landed using a backup system. The flight left the runway on touchdown, stopping some 2,000 feet beyond the pavement with a blown tire. Everyone made it safely off the Airbus A-320.