Month: August 2016

Southwest Plane Engine Blows Apart at 10,000 feet

Passengers post pictures of plane’s engine ‘blown apart’

@smillerddd3 tweeted pictures of the plane's engine

A plane in the US had to make an emergency landing after a major problem with one of its two engines.

The Southwest Airlines flight was travelling from New Orleans to Orlando when passengers noticed a problem with the engine.

Pictures posted online appear to show that part of the engine had blown apart.

A Southwest spokesperson said there was no explosion.

Stephanie Miller was onboard Flight 3472 and spoke to ABC News.

“We heard a loud boom at about 10,000 feet.

“Sounded like an 18 wheeler tire blowing and we started smelling smoke.”

Flight data showed that the plane descended from an altitude of 30,000 feet to 10,000 feet in just over eight minutes.

The flight was diverted to Pensacola in Florida where it landed safely.

None of the 99 passengers or five crew members on board were injured.

The aircraft has now been taken out of service.

Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board are now looking into what happened.

Airline consultant Michael Boyd said it’s rare for Southwest or any other major airline to have such serious engine trouble.

“It’s a one-off, almost unheard of.

“Southwest has an outstanding safety record because it spends a lot of money on maintenance.”

Source: BBC on 28 August 2016

Drunk Pilot suspended by Sri Lanka Airlines just before flight from Frankfurt to Colombo

In what may have prevented yet another tragic flight crash, Sri Lanka’s national carrier Sri Lanka Airlines suspended a “visibly drunk” airplane captain who failed a breathalyser test just before he was due to fly 274 passengers and crew from Frankfurt to Colombo, the airline said Sunday.

“Upon receiving the results (of the test) SriLankan Airlines took immediate steps to suspend the services of the said captain and took alternative measures to operate the flight to Colombo,” the airline said in a statement.

An airline source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Flight UL554 was held up at Frankfurt airport for more than 15 hours on Friday as staff scrambled to find another captain for the Airbus A330, according to France 24.

The crew raised the alarm after noticing that the captain was visibly drunk, the source, who has direct knowledge of the matter, told AFP. The airline said an internal investigation was underway into the incident and it would cooperate with any probe by German authorities.

The cash-strapped airline is due to stop its flights to Frankfurt from October as it slashes routes to European destinations. It is also planning to lease out some of its A330 planes to other airlines in an attempt to raise cash. Suffering from an accumulated $1-billion loss, it is seeking a foreign partner to take over its management.

Source: Zero Hedge on 21 August 2016

Delta Airlines Cyber Attack – all Delta systems are down everywhere – a system failure worldwide, all planes grounded. No passengers being checked in.

Suspected computer bug cripples Delta airline: another case of cyber attacks beating cyber security?

As technology continues to become a constant and dominating global presence, the regularity and crippling effect of cyber attacks will increase

A suspected system wide computer bug has brought the US airline Delta (and resulting other airlines) to its knees.

“Delta experienced a computer outage that has impacted flights scheduled for this morning,” it said in a statement.

Thousands of passengers are stranded.

On Twitter, Delta told passengers: “Our systems are down everywhere.”

The airline has said en route flights are unaffected, but passengers awaiting departure are currently delayed.

The bug has had such an effect that it is not possible to rebook passengers on other airline carriers.

It is a system wide failure.

This is the latest security breach following a year where smart city transport, seismic sensors, healthcare providers and a host of other ‘secure’ systems have been hacked (or have proven to be susceptible to hacks).

As technology continues to become a constant and dominating global presence, the regularity and crippling effect of cyber attacks will increase.

The digital economy and computer-controlled transport systems are two examples of how society is becoming more reliant on technology.

As we become more reliant, the effects of malware will become exponentially more severe.

The mayhem following the computer bug at Delta, which has affected many other airlines, is the latest example of this.

Source:  http://www.information-age.com/technology/security/123461807/suspected-computer-bug-cripples-delta-airline-another-case-cyber-attacks-beating-cyber-security