Americans and Australians Believe they have found MH370

After 2 weeks, plus calculations of final location from satecom pings, followed by a satellite search of area has found 2 distinct pieces of potential MH370 debris, and now sorties of a US P-8 and an Aussie P-3. A live abcnews report minutes ago from onboard the P-8, relays that the crew picked up significant radar hits and have taken photos to be analyzed once back. Australian ships are heading out. This is the most promising prospect in finding the missing plane. (www.usatoday.com) More...

Southwest Fires Pilot Over LaGuardia Nose First Landing

Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV) said it fired the captain who was at the controls of a plane that landed nose first at New York’s LaGuardia Airport in July, injuring nine people and snarling air traffic for hours. The action came as Dallas-based Southwest completed its probe of the accident, Linda Rutherford, an airline spokeswoman, said today by e-mail, without giving details. Southwest ordered the first officer to undergo more training, Rutherford said. (www.bloomberg.com) More...

United Actually Enforcing Carry-on Size Limits

A major airline finally seems to be cracking down on passengers who board planes with carry-ons the size of dumpsters, or who try to game the system at the gate. United has begun enforcing its rules on the size of carry-on luggage, even turning back some passengers at security checkpoints and requiring them to return to the counter to do what they should have done in the first place. (www.usatoday.com) More...

Boston Logan Airport fire drill with heavy fire and billowing smoke on 9/11 just plain dumb

A fire drill today at Logan International Airport that sent smoke billowing into the sky was called “dumb” by Gov. Deval Patrick who lashed out at Massport for staging the event on the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks all while grieving families attended remembrance ceremonies around the city. “I didn’t know it was going to happen. It’s just dumb,” Patrick said of the drill, which TV news footage showed featuring heavy fire and billowing smoke at the seaside airport. “The… (bostonherald.com) More...

Airbus Wins First Order From Japan Air in Blow to Boeing

Airbus SAS (EAD) won its first order from Japan Airlines Co. (9201), securing a commitment for as many as 56 wide-body planes in a market that Boeing Co. (BA) has almost monopolized for decades. The order consists of 18 A350-900 aircraft and 13 larger A350-1000s, Airbus Chief Executive Officer Fabrice Bregier said on a conference call today. The firm commitment has a value of $9.5 billion at list price, while customers typically secure rebates. Japan Air has an option to purchase 25 more. (www.bloomberg.com) More...

Airliner Tracking to Become Norm

Prompted by the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, government and aviation-industry officials are set to announce global standards calling for airliners to automatically report their position at least every 15 minutes, according to people familiar with the details. Taken together, the moves are intended to put in place the first truly universal, real-time tracking system for commercial aircraft operating over water, isolated polar regions or other areas lacking ground-based radar… (online.wsj.com) More...

Video: Flight Instructor Proposes over Hudson with Checklist, Returns to MacArthur Watergun Salute

A Long Island flight instructor took his marriage proposal to new heights -- and the sky was no limit. Mike Nelson, 22, took his girlfriend Jessica Rispoli for a flight over the Hudson River in Cessna 172. Mid-flight, he asked her to read off a checklist for his autopilot, his GoPro video shows. The final item on the list was his proposal. They touched down at MacArthur Airport to a salute by the local fire department, where Nelson is a volunteer EMT. Rispoli accepted the proposal. (www.nbcnewyork.com) More...

NTSB releases Preliminary Report for Near Midair Collision at Newark Liberty

The local controller recognized that the spacing was insufficient and instructed the B737 to go around. He provided traffic advisories to both the B737 and the ERJ145 pilots and instructed the ERJ145 pilot to maintain visual separation from the B737. The ERJ145 pilot responded that he was going to keep the aircraft's nose down. The B737 overflew the ERJ145 at the intersection of runways 29/4R. (www.ntsb.gov) More...

Pilot loses instrument panel, uses iPad to navigate, then lands at Grand Junction

Pilot lands plane using iPad after entire instrument panel/ inflight navigation system/ radio fails. - The navigation system on Raymond Cody's single-engine plane failed not long after take-off on Tuesday morning. - He was able to use his cellphone to speak to a TSA agent (who acts as a human radio interconnect with tower) at the airport, and an app on his iPad to track his flight path. (www.dailymail.co.uk) More...

Raw to Ready: The Making of a Passenger Jet (Bombardier)

With an average of one take-off every three seconds, short-range regional jets are the backbone of domestic air travel. To withstand this high volume of flights, these jets need to be comfortable, durable, and fuel efficient, just like the Bomardier CRJ-1000. Raw materials come together to make these planes succeed in the mission to provide safe, comfortable and affordable travel to the one hundred passengers on each flight. Premieres November 6, 2013. Check Local Listings to see when it's… (video.pbs.org) More...