Free Republic

Where’s Hollywood star Samuel L. Jackson when you need him? EasyJet passengers were left sitting more uncomfortably than usual after a snake was discovered on board a flight heading to England from Israel. A wacky traveller sneaked the slithering reptile past airport security in Tel Aviv in a ‘small takeaway box’ before the alarm was raised mid-flight. He was then arrested upon the plane landing at Luton airport. ‘No Samuel L, but an actual snake on a plane. Police about to meet @easyjet arriving from Tel Aviv to Luton,’ wrote one passenger on Twitter. ‘My plane is being met by...

SIERRA VISTA — Hopping out of several different private planes at the Sierra Vista Municipal Airport, a group of third-graders from Imagine Charter School at Sierra Vista couldn’t wait to compare experiences. They started chattering back and forth, some jumped up and down. “It was so awesome.” “I got to fly.” “I almost puked.” That last statement came from third-grader Juaduan Perez, who discovered on Friday that he is most comfortable on the ground. “It felt weird,” Juaduan said, of his first flight in an airplane. Judging from the reaction of his peers, Juaduan was the exception and not the...

(CNN) -- Israeli warplanes struck a military base near the Syrian port city of Latakia on Thursday, an Obama administration official told CNN. An explosion at a missile storage site in the area was widely reported in the Israeli press, but an attack has not been confirmed by the Israeli government. The target, according to the Obama administration official, was missiles and related equipment the Israelis felt might be transferred to the Lebanon-based militant group Hezbollah. The official declined to be identified because of the sensitive nature of the information. When asked for comment, an Israel Defense Forces spokeswoman told...

"If a dry run is occurring, the attack will shortly follow." That's according to Wolf Koch, a Boeing 767 pilot for Delta Airlines and an official at the Air Line Pilots Association International, who was discussing common terrorist tactics in the run-up to devastating attacks like those on 9/11. That is an extremely worrying thought given a memo leaked this week from the U.S. Airline Pilots Association, which warns of "several cases recently…of what appear to be probes, or dry runs" of such attacks.

Orlando, Fla. — Terrorists are in the midst of practice runs in preparations for an attack on U.S. airlines. (snip) The pilots say the most recent dry-run occurred on Flight 1880 on September 2. The flight left Reagan National Airport in Washington D.C. and headed to Orlando International. Crew members say that shortly after takeoff, a group of four "Middle Eastern" men caused a commotion......continues

THOUSANDS of planes coming in to land at Britain’s busiest airports are being endangered by a wave of potentially deadly laser attacks from the ground. Police helicopters chasing criminals over densely populated areas are also regularly hit. In most cases the beams are being shone by mindless youths, but pilots and security experts worry terrorists could also use them.

Two passengers have reportedly been kicked off a plane for complaining about a "flirty" flight attendant. The men were set to travel on a Saudi Airlines flight from Riyadh to Jeddah last week when the incident occurred, Saudi newspaper Sabq reported. Khaled bin Abdulrahman al-Mahyzaa, reportedly a Muslim cleric, claims the hostie was "showing little respect for traditional customs" by flirting with a foreigner.

Just Aircraft Founder Gary Schmitt wasn’t sure anyone else would be interested in the no-compromises bush airplane that he wanted to own and fly. But in the year since the South Carolina firm introduced its SuperStol, the company has shipped 38 kits, added staff, and is backlogged until April of next year. “It turns out there are quite a few people who want to do the same kind of backcountry flying that I like to do,” Schmitt said. “It’s come as sort of a surprise to us.” The two-seat SuperStol has leading-edge slats that deploy automatically at high angles...

DAYTON, Ohio – A plane carrying a wing walker crashed at an air show and exploded into flames Saturday, killing the pilot and stunt walker instantly, authorities said. The crash of the 450 HP Stearman happened at around 12:45 p.m. at the Vectren Air Show at Dayton International Airport. No spectators were hurt. A video posted on WHIO-TV shows the plane turn upside-down as the performer sits on top of the wing. The plane then tilts and crashes to the ground, erupting into flames as spectators screamed. Ian Hoyt, an aviation photographer and licensed pilot from Findlay, was at the...

Two Middle Eastern women were pulled off an arriving flight at JFK Airport late this afternoon when a passenger claimed she heard one make a comment about “taking down America,” law-enforcement sources told The Post.

Maybe just because I'm a bit of a trainspotter/planespotter geek, I really dig this site: charts all commercial aircraft in the air worldwide in real time (except unfortunately US carriers on 5 min. delay due to unique American security concerns). Elsewhere -as I recently did in Europe- you can glance at FlightRadar24 when you hear a roar, get the flight #/carrier online and bingo there it is on the tailfin overhead 30 seconds later. Users can click on any plane (moving) over any chosen worldwide flight radar map and get flight #, carrier, plane type, basic stats, flight info,...

In February 1933 the Boeing Aircraft Company -today enduring an extremely difficult period- flew a groundbreaking new plane for the very first time- the Boeing 247. This design could be called the first true airliner, as it featured major innovations -plus the safety and power of twin engines- that made commercial long-range air travel feasible: all-metal construction (no wood frame), retractable landing-gear, variable-pitch propellers, pneumatic de-icing system- even autopilot. With a top speed of 200mph/cruising at 189, the Boeing 247 was able to run a NYC to Los Angeles route in an impressive 20 hours (including 3 fuel stops),...

Let's look at experts. Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727) was a mathematician and scientist. Newton has to be the greatest and most influential scientist who has ever lived. He laid the foundation for classical mechanics, and his genius transformed our understanding of science, particularly in the areas of physics, mathematics and astronomy. What's not widely known is that Newton spent most of his waking hours on alchemy; his experiments included trying to turn lead into gold. Though he wrote volumes on alchemy, after his death Britain's Royal Society deemed that they were "not fit to be printed." Lord William Thomson Kelvin...

Question....why would an airport redirect it's flights? I am a smoker and live in a smoke free apt. So I go outside to smoke my butt. I noticed tonight, just this past 20 minutes ALL flights have been flying over our home. They were so low, which is why I noticed the 1st one. Then 3 more came. I stayed after I finished my butt to see how many came over. It was constant. I have lived here over 7 years and have never seen such a thing. Is it normal for airports to "reroute" their planes in such a...

ANOTHER piece of evidence we are living in a world of sissies: watching the NFL today, just saw a commercial for Southwest Airlines that showed their ticket sellers and flight attendants PLANTING STRAWBERRIES or something like that. What the hell? How about boasting about better service? Or a great new lower fare structure? Nope. In the age of the fruitiest Oval Office occupant since James Buchanan, we see businesses talking about their green thumbs. Pathetic.

There are two interesting numbers that can be put together here. 1) Apparently, past security checks have indicated that TSA fail to detect knives and guns about 70 percent of the time. 2) Also this year "Nationwide, more than 1,100 firearms have been discovered at TSA checkpoints from January through September." If you put those two numbers together, you get the implication that more than 3,422 firearms improperly made it on to flights in the US this year (=1,110 * (70/30) * (4/3)). That seems like a lot of guns on planes, yet how many problems arose from all these...

A Russian-made passenger plane crashed into a steep cliff on a long-dormant Indonesian volcano during a demonstration flight to potential buyers and journalists. Its wreckage was spotted by helicopters today, but there was no sign of survivors among the 47 people on board. Search and rescue teams are now on their way to the crash site. Family members, many of whom spent a long, sleepless night at the airport, broke down in tears on hearing the news today. Others stared blankly ahead in disbelief.

The U.S. Air Force is pulling nine cargo aircraft from military operations to support President Barrack Obama’s stepped-up visits to campaign events. The five medium-capacity C-130s and four heavyweight C-17s will be used to ferry security vehicles, armored limousines and communications gear into cities ahead of Obama’s campaign appearances. In the months before November, the president is expected to fly into multiple cities per week, and speak at multiple sites per day. On Mar. 8, for example, the president will fly to Richmond, and then drive over to a Rolls-Royce aircraft-parts factory. That evening, he’ll fly down to Houston, Texas....

White House coy on reported Israeli request for bombs, planes By Olivier Knox | The Ticket – 3 hrs ago Call it a classic "non-denial denial." The White House tap danced Thursday around questions about news reports that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked the Obama administration for massive "bunker-buster" bombs and long-range refueling planes that could play a role in a strike on Iran. Israeli media accounts said that Washington agreed in return for a pledge that any such attack would not happen in 2012. "In the meetings the president had, there was no such agreement proposed or reached,"...

Air Traffic Controllers Caught On Video Updated: Friday, 24 Feb 2012, 6:13 PM EST FOX 5 INVESTIGATIVE REPORT MYFOXNY.COM - Westchester County Airport is a growing destination for seven different commercial airlines, from JetBlue to U.S. Airways and its one of the busiest airports in the country serving the corporate world. Seven days a week, from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m., air traffic controllers guide flights serving nearly 2 million passengers a year. Sometimes 100 planes take off and land in an hour. A source, that Fox 5 News is not identifying, says, "I'm upset and extremely concerned with things...