Free Republic

<p>A group of Muslims was detained Wednesday at Orlando Sanford International Airport, apparently because of a misunderstanding over an Islamic cleanliness ritual, authorities said.</p> <p>The captain of Allegiant flight No.625 from Allentown, Pa., radioed ahead and asked airport police to meet the plane when it landed about 8:30p.m., said Larry Dale, airport director and commander of its 11-member police force.</p>

A cat escape caused a four-hour delay for an Air Canada flight Thursday as airline staff in Halifax struggled to get the feline from its hiding place in cockpit wiring. (Jan. 27) [Associated Press]

'FDR: American Badass': The @#$% truth behind our werewolf-fighting president -- NSFW [Frank Drebin LIVES!] by Anthony Breznican Don’t watch this trailer around your kids. Or your boss. (Unless they’re awesome.) And don’t watch this if you believe the man who steered our nation out of the Great Depression, helped lead the Allies to victory over fascism in World War II, and strengthened America’s social safety net with Social Security and Medicare deserves to be treated with only total, unwavering respect. But if you like your history served with a hefty helping of crack, then by all means — enjoy...

Part of article from St. Pete Times after Sept 11. "Robert C. Cooper, president of National Aviation Flight School and Aviation Rentals, stressed that the extra security cannot be done at the expense of those of Middle Eastern descent. "I don't want to get involved in profiling," he said. "I have faith in my government. I have to work on the belief that my government has basis to allow them into the country and show them proper respect." end of article. Cooper is head of National Aviation Holdings that owned A/C. Many Florida flight schools train Arab students. Wonder if ...

STOL (short take off and landing) competition. Who needs a helicopter? These bush planes are amazing.

A RYANAIR plane with 200 passengers on board had to turn back after tape used to patch up a pilot's window came loose. Passengers watched in horror as ground crew put the tape around the edge of the windscreen shortly before take-off from Stansted, Essex, to Riga, Latvia.

NASA has awarded a Pennsylvania company a $1.35 million prize for developing an ultra-efficient electric airplane. The Taurus G4 airplane won the prize by flying 200 miles from Charles M. Schulz Sonoma County Airport in Santa Rosa, Calif., in less than two hours. CNN reports that the airplane was created by Pipistrel-USA.com of State College. There were 14 airplanes in the competition, but the Pipistrel won easily. It nearly "doubled the fuel-efficiency requirement" for the contest. The requirements were to fly 200 miles in two hours or less on less than a gallon of fuel (or the equivalent in electricity)...

wo South African companies are attempting to elbow their way into the global defense market with an unusual new aircraft developed on home soil. Paramount Group and Aerosud Holdings Ltd. on Tuesday will unveil the Ahrlac, a compact plane that they say merges the capabilities of a drone, an attack helicopter and surveillance aircraft. "There's nothing like it in the marketplace," says Paul Potgieter, managing director of closely held Aerosud. The Ahrlac—short for Advanced High Performance Reconnaissance Light Aircraft—aims to fill a niche left by less-versatile and more-expensive rivals. Most countries on the continent rely on modified cargo planes or...

A plane crash near the city of Yaroslavl in Central Russia has claimed the lives of at least 36 people. Some reports have the death total at 42. The majority of victims are believed to be members of the Kontinental Hockey League club, Lokomotiv. The crash occurred at 12 noon Moscow time. Eight crew members are also among the dead, according to reports. According to Russian aviation officials, two passengers survived the crash, but are in critical condition. According to Sov Sport, Locomotiv has confirmed that the entire main roster, plus four players from the youth team, were on the...

Peep this new roadable aircraft, the last creation of legendary aerospace designer Burt Rutan. Scaled Composites unveiled their new flying car to Aviation Week this week. The Model 367 BiPod is a dual-fuselage, hybrid electric car-plane, which engineers at Scaled took from a preliminary design to first flight in just four months. It made its maiden trip March 30, just before Rutan’s official retirement. The company says it has made several short jaunts off the runway at Mojave, Calif., building up enough speed with the drive train to take off without propellers, which have not been installed yet. The roadable...

Stephen D. Anthony, the special agent in charge of the Cleveland Division of the FBI, and Chief Michael McGrath with the Cleveland Police Department announced Saleh Ali S. Alramakh, 21, was arrested after he repeatedly disobeyed orders from flight attendants Friday and his behavior eventually escalated to shoving, kicking and spitting. The trouble allegedly began when Alramakh, of Akron, went into the restroom and used an electronic device during taxi in Chicago. Flight attendants asked that he immediately turn off the device and return to his seat. At first Alramakh refused, but eventually complied. Right after take off Alramakh returned...

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - An Oregon man got a big surprise on a commercial flight from Seattle to Anchorage, Alaska, when he was stung by a scorpion while sitting in his plane seat. Jeff Ellis of West Linn said he was trying to sleep on a red-eye Alaska Airlines flight June 17 when he felt something in his sleeve and tried to brush it away. He said he felt the crawling again, looked down and saw the culprit. "I picked my hand up and said, `Oh, my God. That's a scorpion,"' Ellis told KPTV.

A passenger jet crash-landed Monday on a desolate stretch of road in northwest Russia, killing at least 38 people, the country’s state news agency reported. The plane reportedly took off from Moscow and contained 48 passengers and five crewmembers. It is unclear what brought the plane down about 2 miles from Petrozavodsk airport, its destination, reported Itar-Tass. But the Tupolev-134 plane caught fire and the fuselage was reportedly completely destroyed. Those injured were considered in serious condition. Authorities began an investigation into the crash; early signs point to a mechanical error, Itar-Tass reported, citing a source.

'Doomsday Plane' Would Save President and Joint Chiefs in Apocalypse Scenario By MICHAEL MURRAY June 7, 2011 In the event of nuclear war, a powerful meteor strike or even a zombie apocalypse, the thoroughly protected doomsday plane is ready to keep the president, secretary of defense, Joint Chiefs of Staff and other key personnel in the air and out of danger. It may not deflect a Twitter photo scandal, but it can outrun a nuclear explosion and stay in the air for days without refueling. The flight team for the E-4B, its military codename, sleeps nearby and is ready to...

A woman took over the controls of a small airplane when her pilot-husband started having trouble breathing and speaking on a flight from California to Colorado, authorities said. The Federal Aviation Administration released details and audio of the incident Thursday, which happened on a trip from San Bernardino, Calif. to Colorado Springs May 17. Ground controllers in Colorado and a Great Lakes Airlines pilot in another plane helped her guide the smaller craft. The specifics of the man's medical problem weren't available. An air traffic controller in Longmont, Colo., noticed the 70-year-old pilot appeared to have difficulty breathing during a...

REPORT: Plane off the runway at Sedona Airport.

WASHINGTON – An air traffic controller has been suspended for watching a movie when he was supposed to be monitoring aircraft, deepening the Federal Aviation Administration's embarrassment following at least five cases of controllers sleeping on the job. In the latest incident, the controller was watching a movie on a DVD player early Sunday morning while on duty at a regional radar center in Oberlin, Ohio, near Cleveland that handles high-altitude air traffic, the FAA said in a statement Monday.

Why not- this home was built from a scrap-price ($2000) Boeing 727.... $4000 to move then $24K for renovations- not bad considering the amount of custom wood and windows. Pretty fly pad (sorry) for thirty grand... There's a personal Jacuzzi in that cockpit- with 6' tall window replacing the front emergency escape door. Nice view, too... Woodsterman... did you have a hand in this? Location not disclosed, presumably to deter sightseers-  but the environment and Venezuelan flag would be hints. And just steps to the beach More today at Reaganite Republican Enjoy your day, FReeper patriots~

Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) said Wednesday that she would reimburse the government $88,000 for flights chartered from a company she jointly owns with her husband. McCaskill's office said she had not profited from the flights and that she was returning the money out of concern for how the arrangement might appear. "Sen. McCaskill has been very careful flying on taxpayer dollars," said Maria Speiser, a spokeswoman for McCaskill. "She has only paid for the use of her plane as required by the Senate rules, and there has been no profit to her or her family. She's glad there's transparency -...

Enjoy this video. http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=W6tB8Lf7YoU

Egyptian intelligence warned American officials about a week before Sept. 11 that Osama bin Laden's network was in the advance stages of executing a significant operation against an American target, it will be reported on Tuesday (in the NY TIMES)... MORE... A senior U.S. intelligence official denied the warning was received...

AIRPLANE! is a remake of ZERO HOUR, the 1957 movie. Here are some scenes from the two films.

Tampa International Airport's main runway is closed for repairs due to changes in the earth's magnetic pull. "Who over-thought this? And why?" asked one passenger, waiting for a flight. "It's a joke," said another. But it's no joke. Runways are aligned according to points on a compass and scientists say the Earth's magnetic North Pole is constantly shifting. That means Tampa's main runway is now six degrees off. The discrepancy could cause pilots to lose their sharp focus. "When a pilot navigates he needs to find which is the correct runway to land and takeoff on," said Airport Director Robert...

In an interview on the local Pittsburgh TV station this morning, a Pittsburgh Carnegie Mellon startup has found a way to to identify and purchase unused or empty return space on private charter aircraft. Interestingly, it uses algorithms developed by DARPA and used by the U.S. air force. (Would also avoid TSA gropes). BTW, I have no relationship with the startup. But, I think it is a neat idea by a local Pittsburgh startup using DARPA technology. In any event, the company is at flyRuby.com. If interested in it or want to bookmark the site: http://flyruby.com/statics/charter101 From the site:* Using...

BOISE, Idaho - You hear the woes of holiday traveling: packed, delayed and stranded flights. Police said a Boise man lost his cool on a flight home from Vegas for a very different reason.Passengers and the flight crew told police that while the plane was preparing to take off in Vegas, Russell Miller punched a 15-year-old after he refused to turn off his iPhone.Police said the teen was playing games and listening to music when the flight attendants announced their final approach to land and all powered devices needed to be turned off. Police said the teen was playing games...

A month after the mangled body of a North Carolina teenager was found in a quiet Milton neighborhood, Norfolk District Attorney William R. Keating said yesterday that evidence indicates he stowed away in the wheel well of a plane and fell from the sky as the landing gear came down on the approach to Logan International Airport. A shirt stained with what appeared to be grease used in airplanes and believed to be Delvonte Tisdale’s was recovered yesterday, along with sneakers, scattered along the flight path, Keating said. The items were found about a half-mile from where the 16-year-old’s body...

Just for fun, how about we stump each other with exotic or unusual airplane photos. Upload to Tinypic so no one can cheat by looking at the image source. I'll go first. What is this aircraft?

He gave the world a lot of laughs, and now many around the world are mourning Leslie Nielsen. The Regina-born actor who went from serious drama to inspired bumbling in "Airplane!" and the "The Naked Gun" comedies, died yesterday at the age of 84. He passed away at a hospital near his home in Fort Lauderdale, Florida where he was being treated for pneumonia. Nielsen's nephew, Doug Nielsen, says his uncle died in his sleep with his wife Barbaree by his side. Though his Canadian roots ran deep -- his father was a Mountie and his brother, Erik, a Yukon...

Not that there's anything wrong with it, but some mild embarrassment for Michigan Rep. John Conyers, who was secretly caught reading Playboy on a plane. (Video via Detroit News and Sal Armuk) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZ09sKVFI7k&feature=player_embedded

Police are investigating the possibility that Tisdale stowed away in a jet wheel well and fell to his death when the doors opened on the jet's approach to landing last week in Boston, according to an airport spokesman.

Investigators trying to solve the mystery of how the mutilated body of a 16-year-old from North Carolina ended up dropped on a posh Milton lawn are asking Logan International Airport officials to probe if the boy stowed away on a jet. “We’ve been requested to look into the possibility of that,” Logan spokesman Phil Orlandella told the Herald this morning.

A STOWAWAY crocodile on a flight escaped from its carrier bag and sparked an onboard stampede that caused the flight to crash, killing 19 passengers and crew. The croc had been hidden in a passenger's sports bag - allegedly with plans to sell it - but it tore loose and ran amok, sparking panic. A stampede of terrified passengers caused the small aircraft to lose balance and tip over in mid-air during an internal flight in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The unbalanced load caused the aircraft, on a routine flight from the capital, Kinshasa, to the regional airport at...

United Airlines 747 flies low over the Golden Gate Bridge

How are you spending you weekends? Gabriel Nderitu, an I.T. specialist in Kenya, has been spending his building an airplane, from scratch, in his backyard. The only question is: Will it fly? Nderitu's plane should be taking its first test run sometime in the next few days, according to this news story from Kenya Citizen TV. If it's successful, he'll be the first person in Kenya to build an airplane. He spent the last year working on weekends with the help of a few men he employed as welders. It's spent most of that time in the backyard of his...

SNIPPET: "According to police, three baggage handlers were loading luggage on to a flight bound for Bermuda around 10:56 a.m. when two of the handlers noticed a third was not wearing an identification badge. When questioned about it, the third man took off and has yet to be found by police." SNIPPET: "Investigating agencies include the Philadelphia Police, the F.B.I. and Homeland Security."

ROMULUS, Mich. SNIPPET: "Delta Air Lines Inc. spokesman Kent Landers said flight 1721 left the Detroit airport in Romulus at about 7:30 p.m. Friday and returned about an hour later. He said the passenger was removed from the plane. FBI spokeswoman Sandra Berchtold said the female passenger wasn't arrested but wouldn't be allowed back on the plane."

A plane just crashed near SFO in San Bruno, CA. Prayers to all affected.

Two months after an attempt to break Israel's naval blockade on Hamas ended in bloodshed, international “free Palestine” activists are at it again, this time planning a larger flotilla accompanied by an airplane, according to Channel 2 News. The activists are collecting money in San Francisco to fund the new, bigger flotilla. The airplane is to carry aid in an attempt to portray the journey as a humanitarian mission, despite the fact that aid to Gaza can be transferred by land with Israel's assistance. The stated goal of the Free Palestine group is to force Israel to hand over Gaza...

A Michigan pilot says while presidential flight restrictions are nothing new, they have recently expanded. And while intended to thwart security breaches, the restrictions instead thwart his ability to make a living.

The Department of Justice is seeking to hire linguists fluent in Ebonics to help monitor, translate, and transcribe the secretly recorded conversations of subjects of narcotics investigations, according to federal records. A maximum of nine Ebonics experts will work with the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Atlanta field division, where the linguists, after obtaining a “DEA Sensitive” security clearance, will help investigators decipher the results of “telephonic monitoring of court ordered nonconsensual intercepts, consensual listening devices, and other media” The DEA’s need for full-time linguists specializing in Ebonics is detailed in bid documents related to the agency’s mid-May issuance of a request...

SEATTLE -- F-15 fighter jets scrambled from Portland to deal with an unknown aircraft that had entered restricted air space over Western Washington caused two sonic booms that were heard across a wide swath of the region, the FAA reported Tuesday. Several calls from worried residents from Olympia to Seattle flooded emergency dispatchers and the KOMO Newsroom reporting two distinct explosions that rattled windows and shook homes. The FAA had restricted a large area to aircraft over Seattle due to President Obama's visit. A spokesman with the Oregon Air National Guard said two F-15s from their 142nd Fighter Wing were...

<p>TV reporting a NY flight bound for Los Angeles was diverted to Albuquerque due to "something about someone lighting matches."</p>

A Toluca Lake woman was recently kicked off a Delta Airlines flight after reporting that she thought she had smelled alcohol on the captain's breath. Angel said the captain spoke to her and the three other passengers. After he walked away, said Angel, another passenger asked if they had smelled alcohol on the pilot's breath. Angel said she volunteered to talk with the head flight attendant once aboard the plane. "I told her that I didn't know what protocol is, but I believe I smelled alcohol on one of the pilots' breath," said Angel. Angel said the flight attendant immediately...

TAMPA - Handguns used by pilots to fight terrorism can accidentally go off inside cockpits -- that's despite a government report that first warned of the danger more than two years ago. The Federal Flight Deck Officer Program was launched in the wake of the 911 attacks and provides pilots who volunteer with extensive training -- at the pilot's expense. But we've learned there have been two incidents of handguns accidentally being discharged in the cockpit and a third during training. Capt. Steve Sevier, National Security Chairman for the U.S. Airline Pilots Association, said the problem stems from a holster...

If one of your pilots gets ill, you never know who else on the plane might be able to help land the aircraft safely. On Monday, it was a flight attendant with an an inactive pilot's license who helped land an American Airlines jumbo jet after the co-pilot became incapacitated because of stomach flu. Patti DeLuna, a 61-year-old flight attendant with American Airlines, helped the captain safely land the Boeing 767 with 225 passengers on board.

Note: Video included at link. SNIPPET: "Now, law enforcement officials appear increasingly concerned Al-Shabaab members are trying to come back to America. But these members aren't disenchanted young men like Hassan, seeking to escape the terrorists' hold. Rather, the concern is that they are returning either to recruit more members or perhaps to plot attacks here." SNIPPET: "Al-Shabaab represents a "threat to the whole nation, all of the world," Ahmed told the IPT. "Everywhere they could recruit somebody they will try – Europe, North America, Australia, Africa…And they want to disrupt world peace." Ahmed warned that Al-Shabaab's main focus in...

SNIPPET: "An Aeromexico plane flying to Mexico City from Paris had to land late Sunday afternoon at Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport in Montreal to remove a passenger whose name is on the U.S. no-fly list, Radio-Canada reported. The man was escorted out of the plane and taken into custody by the RCMP."

NEWARK, NJ -- Federal prosecutors say a New Jersey man sexually assaulted a sleeping female passenger on flight from Hong Kong to Newark. Ramesh Advani is charged with abusive sexual contact.

Obama amputates our nuclear arms By: Charles Krauthammer ...snippet...Under President Obama’s new policy, however, if the state that has just attacked us with biological or chemical weapons is “in compliance with the Non-Proliferation Treaty,” explained Gates, then “the U.S. pledges not to use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against it.” Imagine the scenario: Hundreds of thousands are lying dead in the streets of Boston after a massive anthrax or nerve gas attack. The president immediately calls in the lawyers to determine whether the attacking state is in compliance with the NPT. If it turns out that the attacker...

TOKYO, May 19 (AFP) - SNIPPET: "The pilot of the Boeing 747-400 with 407 passengers and crew bound for Minneapolis turned around late Monday about three hours into the flight from Tokyo's Narita airport after crew found the two men who refused to leave the cabin bathroom. Reports said the pair, who identified themselves as Chinese citizens aged in their 20s, had boarded the flight during an earlier stop in Shanghai. Japanese immigration officials were questioning the men, who said they did not have passports."