When mice take the Mickey out of airline…

Posté le 10 septembre 2011 de Toni G.

Mouse in commercial aircraft — Mouse - Photo © George Shuklin, Wikimedia.org

It first happened on Monday September 5, 2011. A Nepal Airlines flight was cancelled at Tribhuvan International Airport, Kathmandu.

Do you guess why? The flight attendants spotted a stowaway mouse onboard their B-757 bound to Bangkok! The small rodent fled from the galley’s pantry, and rushed from a box of drinks to the back of the cabin although the 113 passengers did not notice the tiny stowaway.

The mouse was finally caught thanks to a glue trap. The jetliner was grounded for more than eleven hours.

Then, the same Boeing 757 – this time bound to Kathmandu – was grounded at Hong Kong International Airport on Tuesday September 6, in the evening.

The reason: the pilots spotted a mouse in the cockpit just before the airplane departure. The aircraft has not been cleared to take off because this mouse was trapped but then escaped, and would still be on the loose. The 84 passengers were rerouted on a Dragonair aircraft.

As far as flight safety is concerned, an aircraft cannot take off with a mouse moving freely onboard as it can gnaw the wiring, and therefore represents a potentiel danger.

It can only be caught or trapped. However, NAC (Nepal Airlines Corporation) could not poison any mouse for a small animal can damage an airplane even if it is dead somewhere, and particularly if in contact with a vital part of the plane.

Special thanks to Mr Hermas, and LadyEleanorA who buzzed this piece of news.

Russian hockey team perish in plane crash

Posté le 8 septembre 2011 de Toni G.

Poor quality fuel possible cause of Yak-42 crash – aviation source

02:15 08/09/2011 Poor quality of aviation fuel could be one of possible reasons for why the Yak-42 plane crashed in Central Russia on Wednesday, killing more than 40 people.>>

Other news of the day

PASSENGER STUNG by SCORPION … on a PLANE!

Posté le 28 juillet 2011 de Toni G.

Yes, you have well read. This unbelievable story happened on a commercial aircraft, on a red-eye flight (a flight taking off late at night and landing early the next morning) from Seattle to Anchorage a month ago. Video report – it starts with basket-ball players, then these flights stories:

South-Korea – Airliner almost shot down by the military!

Posté le 18 juin 2011 de Toni G.

NEWS ALERT – The South-Korean Marines would have fired 99 rounds from Gyodong island at an Asiana airliner flying over the border area.

Happily, the soldiers did not manage to shoot down the plane, a South-Korean Airbus A321 on which 119 passengers had departed from Chengdu Airport in China. Thanks to its flight altitude, the aircraft could not be reached. Measures shoud be taken so that the soldiers can recognize a North-Korean bomber from a civilian commercial aircraft.

Watch the video:

AIRBUS VISIONARY PROJECT – TRANSPARENT AIRLINER

Posté le 16 juin 2011 de Toni G.

Airbus has just unveiled a revolutionary concept through images of a transparent airliner design.

This aircraft of the future will use the latest technology – bionic structure; blended airframe; enhanced laminar flow and noise reduction; blended V-tail; biomorphing seats; leading-edge relaxation systems; human body thermal recycling; dramatic panoramic view; round of golf; etc.

Airbus will showcase their project called Concept Cabin during the Paris Air Show, at Le Bourget Airport. A movie – Airbus Future of Flight – will also be shown in a 360° planetarium at the Musee de l’Air et de l’Espace from 20 to 26 June 2011. Watch what travelling by plane could be… 40 years ahead:

Special thanks to Thierry HERMAS – Aeronautical English teacher at the French Air Force Academy (EOAA, Salon de Provence) – who passed the video link on. Thank you very much indeed.