Faa

News

9/11 Airline Recordings Are The Most Horrifying Thing I’ve Heard

11:10AM September 9, 2011 | Sam Biddle

9/11 is a mostly visual terror. Photos of exploding towers are synonymous with the day. But the fear, desperation and confusion captured in this chatter between pilots, the FAA, military and terrorists themselves are unbelievably chilling. More »

News

Technology Is Making Airline Pilots Dumber

12:49AM August 31, 2011 | Adrian Covert

The rise of autopilot and other automated technologies in commercial airliners are rendering pilots into incompetent drones. Drones who don’t know what to do when a plane’s systems malfunctions. Airline officials are calling this looming disorder “automation addiction”. Lovely! More »

News

US Airlines Are Robbing You

1:51AM July 27, 2011 | Casey Chan

Right now, you should be saving $US25 to $US50 when you buy an aeroplane ticket in the US. Why? Because Congress didn’t approve a bill to keep the US Fedaral Aviation Administration running, which means the FAA doesn’t have the authority to collect taxes on airfare, which should mean no taxes for you! Too bad the airlines are pocketing the difference. More »

Cars

Terrafugia Transition Flying Car May Finally Take Flight

12:27PM July 6, 2011 | Kelly Hodgkins

The Terrafugia Transition Flying Car has been around for more than five years. Everyone hoped it would debut in 2009, but that never happened. Now in 2011, the car is inching closer to its first real flight. More »

Computing

Alaska Airlines Moving To iPads For Flight Manuals

5:00AM May 29, 2011 | Kwame Opam

Alaska Airlines has become the first US airline to move away from paper to the iPad for their flight manuals. The measure will save money on paper and fuel while allowing pilots to play with Leafsnap during long trips. [Engadget]

News

Air Traffic Controllers Go From Napping To Movie Watching

12:20AM April 20, 2011 | Seth Abramovitch

The Federal Aviation Administration, the country’s top federal agency for documenting instances of unauthorised nappy time, has yet another embarrassing incident on its hands. This time, the air traffic controller wasn’t asleep – he was just watching a terrible Samuel L. Jackson movie. (But not the one about the snakes on the plane. We were disappointed, too.) More »

News

Why Does The FAA Wait For Planes To Break?

1:40AM April 19, 2011 | Sam Biddle

This month, the roof of a Southwest flight ripped off. Terrifying. The culprit? Possibly metal fatigue – the gradual weakening of a plane’s structure as it flies and ages. It’s a known problem – so why doesn’t the FAA hunt it harder? More »

News

New FAA Rule Turns Aeroplane Lavatories Into Deadly Traps

5:08AM March 11, 2011 | Jesus Diaz

Air Worthiness Directive 2011-04-09. That’s the name of the new FAA rule that may kill you one day. It dictates that all emergency oxygen masks should be removed from lavatories in every commercial plane in the United States. More »

Software

Some Pilots Can Now Use IPad Apps Instead Of Paper Maps

2:00PM March 1, 2011 | Rosa Golijan

Despite all the technological advances made over the years, pilots are still frequently relying on paper maps when it comes to navigation. That’s about to change though. More »

Mobile

Mobile Phones Don’t Crash Aeroplanes

9:00AM February 4, 2011 | Kyle VanHemert

No one wants their plane to crash, and no one wants to cause a scene during a flight. So, diligent passengers that we are, we turn off our gadgets when we’re told to. But no one’s dying if you don’t. More »