Aviation

Days before Boeing’s deferred prosecution agreement over 737 Max crashes would’ve expired, a door plug blew out during an Alaska Airlines flight, and the case was reopened. Now, attorneys for family members of the crash victims have been told federal prosecutors will seek a guilty plea from Boeing to resolve a criminal fraud charge, which one lawyer called “another sweetheart deal.”

Seattle Times:

The plea deal would include a $244 million fine, a three-year probation and an independent monitor appointed to oversee the company’s progress on safety and quality improvements.

NASA has pushed back the capsule’s return to Earth from the ISS to examine helium leaks and a valve issue. The Starliner ran into multiple delays before finally launching earlier this month.

The agency is targeting a return “no earlier than” June 22nd, and plans to hold a teleconference at 12PM ET on June 18th to talk over details of the delayed departure.

NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick, who’s been on the International Space Station since March, seems to enjoy sharing his camera settings. For the picture of the Boeing Starliner below, he followed up:

For the photography nerds: 1 second exposure, f 1.4, ISO 2000, 24 mm lens.

With just 3 minutes and 50 seconds to go, one of three redundant ground computers involved in the launch was slow to respond, triggering a hold and the call to abort liftoff, United Launch Alliance CEO Tory Bruno said during a press conference today.

The next target for launch is 12:03PM ET tomorrow.

The recently passed bill to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration contains a whole section on “advanced air mobility,” which is an industry term for electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft. According to The Air Current, the bill contains provisions that would make it much easier for first generation eVTOL operators like Joby, Archer, Supernal and Beta — all of which have been spending crazy money on lobbying in Washington — to launch commercial airtaxi operations.

In 1973, scientists intercepted the leading edge of a total eclipse’s shadow in a Concorde jet over Mauritania and flew with it for 74 minutes straight to study the sun’s corona. I have two videos for you.

One, an 8-minute video from the Primal Space YouTube channel, shows the flight modeled in 3D. Embedded below, Airways Magazine shows actual footage.

The mission will launch “hopefully the first of May,” according to Commander Barry “Butch” Wilmore, who was joined by fellow astronaut Suni Williams during a NASA press conference yesterday.

NASA postponed the first crewed Starliner flight test last summer over safety concerns. When the mission launches, Wilmore and Williams will dock with the International Space Station for up to two weeks before returning to Earth.

The Department of Transportation announced the “first industry-wide” review of the ten largest airlines to insure passengers’ sensitive personal information is not “improperly monetized” or shared with third-party data brokers.

The agency is requesting information from the carriers around how they collect and handle people’s personal data, as well as complaints that information was mishandled in violation of the law. USDOT did not say specifically what incident prompted the review.

The automaker (parent company to Jeep and Dodge) announced a purchase of 8.3 million shares in eVTOL company Archer, in a deal roughly worth over $39 million. Stellantis already has a deal to manufacture Archer’s electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, which are set to launch in 2025. Today’s open market stock purchase is meant to signal “Stellantis’ continued confidence in Archer’s plans” to bring its aircraft to market. Despite numerous layoffs, trade secret disputes, and company shutdowns, the eVTOL true believers are still racing to get something in the air to prove all this cash burn has been worth it.

The US Department of Justice’s (DOJ) investigation will consider whether Boeing complied with its 2021 settlement with the DOJ in light of an Alaska Boeing 737 Max that recently lost a chunk of fuselage mid-flight, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Alaska Airlines reportedly called such investigations “normal.” In February, an investigation revealed that four bolts were missing from the door plug when it left Boeing’s factory.

So said TSA executive director of checkpoint tech Melissa Conley of airports’ use of facial recognition, in a New York Times story today.

70 percent of worldwide airlines may use biometric security by 2026 according to a report cited in the article. Yet the ACLU told the Times the tech still presents surveillance and discrimination concerns. That’s not to mention it could fail to work for tens of thousands of travelers every day.

...because Carl Icahn is on the board now. I expect the flying experience is about to get a lot more unpleasant in the name of maximizing shareholder value.

A man was booking an Air Canada flight and asked for a reduced rate because of bereavement. The chatbot assured him this was possible — the reduced fare would be a rebate. When he went to submit the rebate, the airline refused to refund him.

In February of 2023, Moffatt sent the airline a screenshot of his conversation with the chatbot and received a response in which Air Canada “admitted the chatbot had provided ‘misleading words.’”

He took the airline to court and won.

Sure, the checked bag fees play a role in the lack of overhead bin space but they aren’t the whole story! The rise in hardsided cases that can’t squish, as well as too-large or oddly-shaped luggage, contribute to the problem. So does traveler impatience.

Two experts told The Atlantic what I’ve already told you: Check a bag, you glamorous beast.

Joby’s agreement with Dubai’s Road and Transport Authority gives the startup exclusivity to run its electric air tax services for six years. Part of the deal with Dubai includes a contract with Skyports to design, build, and operate four “vertiports” for vertical takeoffs and landings.

Joby recently performed a few exhibition flights in Manhattan (shown below) and plans to start flying commercial passengers in cities like New York and Los Angeles in 2025.

The National Transportation Safety Board’s report describes the defect that prompted immediate aircraft groundings as the FAA scrambled to investigate a nightmarish January 5th Alaska Airlines flight.

As reported by CNBC, it says “four bolts that prevent upward movement of the MED plug were missing before the MED plug moved upward off the stop pads.”

So said Cornell Beard, the president of a union chapter representing Wichita factory workers for Spirit AeroSystems, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Spirit makes fuselages for Boeing’s 737 Max planes, and according to people the Journal interviewed, the company overworks its employees and ignores safety issues — a problem that may have led to the Alaska Airlines mishap that saw a hole blown in a mid-flight plane earlier this month.

The Federal Aviation Administration issued a statement about the emergency airworthiness directive it sent to airlines today following what the directive termed a ‘rapid decompression’ of an Alaska Airlines flight on Friday.

Operators like Alaska will have to inspect “both left and right cabin door exit plugs, door components, and fasteners” and correct any problems they find before the planes can fly again (subject to FAA approval).

The New York Times writes that Flight 1282 made an emergency landing at Portland International Airport 20 because a wall blew out. Thankfully, all 171 passengers survived.

In a statement yesterday, Alaska Airlines said it would inspect the 65 grounded planes over “the next few days.” Today, the airline updated the statement, saying it’s inspected over a quarter of the fleet and saw “no concerning findings.”

Two planes collided on a runway in Japan. Only 11 people were injured on the larger plane— and hundreds managed to evacuate safely. How? Good engineering, and a good flight crew. On the smaller plane, five people died.

Near-misses have been on the rise in the US. Let’s hope this crash inspires some changes to our systems.

Earlier this year, European regulators found that a London company called AOG Technics was using forged documents to sell thousands of uncertified engine parts that have been installed in older Airbus and Boeing jets.

Bloomberg reports that the US Department of Justice is now investigating the issue,