Free Republic

In a statement, Delta Air Lines said Flight 1425 was diverted “after receiving an indication of an issue with one of the aircraft’s engines.” An earlier statement from Delta called the failure a “possible incident” — an instant classic in corporate understatements. The company declined to say whether passengers were in danger or describe what went wrong. Media reports indicated Delta offered passengers $30 food vouchers as they waited for a flight out of Raleigh, and CNN reported the plane was back in service Wednesday after the engine was replaced. The aircraft involved is an MD-88, the oldest in service...

In 71 days, American Airlines will retire its remaining MD-80 aircraft. At one point, the MD-80s, also known as the Super 80 and nicknamed the "Mad Dog," made up more than half of AA's fleet. American Airlines called the aircraft the "workhorse of the airline's fleet throughout the 1980s and beyond." But decades since they first took flight, the planes tend to burn more fuel and require more maintenance than the Airbus aircraft and Boeing 737s that have replaced them. Monday, American Airlines released the schedule for their last passenger flights, which will take place on Sept. 3 and Sept....

The final Boeing 717 was rolled out of the former Douglas Aircraft production site at Long Beach, California just before dawn today in preparation for the start of flight tests and delivery to AirTran Airways in May (pictured below). The last aircraft officially marks the end of commercial aircraft manufacturing on the site and emerged from the now empty Building 80 assembly line that over the past 48 years has produced 976 DC-9s, 1,191 MD-80s and 115 MD-90s. A further 556 DC-8s, 446 DC-10/KC-10s and 200 MD-11s were also produced in the adjacent Building 84. The final 717 is the...

Alaska jet repaired after accident 06:47 PM PST on Thursday, December 29, 2005 By GLENN FARLEY / KING 5 News SEATAC, Wash. - A gash in an Alaska Airlines jet caused by a baggage handler has been fixed, according to the airline, but experts Thursday offered some perspective on the forces that came to bear on the plane when the hole popped open at 26,000 feet. No one was injured in the incident, which included cabin depressurization and a rapid descent to 10,000 feet so passengers could breathe. The plane is not yet back in service as the airline continues...

Hole found in Alaska plane 05:30 PM PST on Tuesday, December 27, 2005 KING5.com Investigators: Problems spike after ramp work outsourced SEATTLE – An Alaska Airlines plane was forced to return to Seattle Monday after a gash in the plane’s fuselage caused the aircraft to lose pressurization. The incident began when a ramp worker hit the plane with a baggage cart or baggage belt machine, according to National Transportation Safety Board spokesman Jim Struhsaker. The accident created a crease in the skin of the plane which opened up into a hole when the pressure on the plane changed at 26,000...

CARACAS, Venezuela, Aug. 16 -- An airliner carrying 160 passengers and crew members crashed into a mountain in northern Venezuela early today after reporting engine trouble, killing all aboard, aviation authorities said. The plane, an MD-82 made by McDonnell Douglas and operated by West Caribbean Airways of Colombia, was carrying French vacationers to Martinique from Panama when the pilots reported engine problems to Venezuelan air-traffic controllers at 3:07 a.m., the authorities in Venezuela said. Ten minutes later, the controllers lost radio contact. The plane crashed in the Sierra de Perija mountain range just inside Venezuela's rugged northwestern border with...