Posts with the tag ‘airports’


A Century Later The Same Old Thrill

July 10, 2014

The first time I flew in an airplane, I was six. It was an Eastern Airlines flight from Miami to Newark, probably in a DC-8, but I can’t say for sure. I do remember that a flight attendant strung a cardboard bib in the shape of a Teddy Bear around my neck with my name and other information printed on it, and off I went. If my parents worried about me, I was unaware of it. Many years later when I bundled my own 8-year old daughter off to see her grandparents in Connecticut, I worried some, but I’d already done it myself. Try to… Read More…


Bumps Not Unexpected En Route to First Ever Star Alliance Terminal

May 30, 2014

At Newark the night of my departure for London Writing from London — When I arrived at Newark Liberty International Airport earlier this week for my United Airlines flight to London, the check in agent had bad news; while a reservation appeared in her system, the ticket processed by Lufthansa, had not been generated. To fix this, I’d have to walk to the next terminal and get Lufthansa to sort it out.  Forty-five minutes later the problem was solved. Only the exceedingly pleasant demeanor of the United agents mitigated my frustration at the disconnect between these two airlines, who are supposed to be thisclose as… Read More…


A Flying Club With Storied Past and an Uncertain Future

April 14, 2014

Everywhere you go there are Malaysian airliners, on the makeshift sympathy signs dotting the town, on a magnificent mosaic hidden in a highway underpass, on the back of (some) 20 ringgit notes. I’ve already written how the tragic mystery of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 has engaged the people who live here. Now that I’ve finished reading the history of the Royal Selangor Flying Club, I understand that a little better. The airline and the club grew up together and can even be considered products of the same parents. But as aviation soars, especially in this part of the world, the once formidable 85 year old… Read More…


Time to Explore Failure of Malaysian Radar to Note Missing Jet

March 26, 2014

Writing from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia — Lost in the conversation about what could have caused Malaysia Flight 370 to go missing on March 8th during a routine flight to Beijing, is any discussion over the calamity that could have occurred, a mid air collision over one of Malaysia’s populous urban centers.  When the transponder stopped working on the Boeing 777 jetliner, it was flying in the dark of night and headed Lord knows where. In the same air space at the time were at least two Malaysia Airlines wide body jets and several other airliners. A medical charter jet, piloted by Richard Fulton out of… Read More…


Australians May Have Spied Wreckage from Missing Plane

March 20, 2014

Writing from Kuala Lumpur — It’s great to know people who can do math. My friend Steve Hart creates a picture of the task facing those who are searching the Indian Ocean for the missing Malaysian Flight 370. To find a piece of the Boeing jumbo jet’s wing, in an area of the sea that is 190,000 square miles is the equivalent of searching the state of Rhode Island for something the size of a bathmat.  Yes, it seems overwhelming but promising news is emerging from Australia today as the nation’s prime minister told reporters satellite photos from the Indian Ocean southwest of Perth, reveal two pieces… Read More…


Wrong Taxi by BA 747 Crew Takes a Bite Out of Building

December 23, 2013

And I’m guessing the wing on this airplane doesn’t look too good either. Right. In what might be the most consequential error in their career, the flight crew of British Airways Flight 34 appears to have taken the wrong taxiway while maneuvering for takeoff from Johannesburg’s’s OR Tambo International Airport on Sunday night. A statement from the South African Civil Aviation Authority said it had confirmed “that the air crew got instructions from the Air Traffic Control to taxi using taxi way B. The crew continued onto taxi way M which is narrower resulting in the aircraft impacting on an office building behind the SAA… Read More…


What a 10 Thousand Foot View Can Reveal

December 16, 2013

It was going to be a disappointing ride; two and a half hours on a bus traveling between Klagenfurt, Austria to the Alpine ski community of Kals. The bus would take me through spectacular scenery but I would not be able to appreciate it either way because both drives would be madein the dark. Such is what happens when late evening and early morning flights are booked. As the airport bus dropped us at the boarding stairs for Austrian Flight 934, the tarmac was wet from the mist and fog that had settled over tiny Klagenfurt Airport. Prospects for a view from the air seemed… Read More…


Marriage of the Minds At Anniversary Airport Getaway

November 15, 2013

Lacinda and Spud Homfeld at the Hangar Hotel When an aviation geek says, “Let’s go somewhere where we can watch airplanes take off all day”, and the non aviation geek partner says, “Yeah, let’s do that”, the couple is probably headed to the Hangar Hotel at Gillespie County Airport in Fredricksburg, Texas. Earlier this week, Lacinda and Spud Homfeld chose to celebrate their 36 years of togetherness by pursuing their separate interests with a two night stay at the aviation-themed hotel.  For a few hours each day, Spud and Lacinda could sit in the sun on the hotel’s outdoor balcony overlooking runway 14/32 and watch… Read More…


South African Airways: Entertainment Before, During and After the Flight

June 1, 2013

Saturday afternoon I flew from OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg to Cape Town on South African Airways Flight 347, to attend the International Air Transport Association Annual General Meeting. I was pretty sure it would be an on-time flight since Monwabisi Kalawa, the airline’s new chief executive was on the plane. Of course he was in business class and I was back, way back in seat 27F.   What I did not know was what a great vantage point that seat would give me for all the goings-on before, during and after we landed in Cape Town. Here are some of the highlights with photos to… Read More…


What’s In A Name? At Canberra Airport, No Black Box References

February 2, 2013

  Most children are happy when their homework assignment gets them a good grade, but after writing a report about David Warren, the Australian who invented the black box,  11-year old Eve Cogan of Sydney, Australia, set her sights on convincing the executives of her country’s capital city airport in Canberra to name the airport after him. For her assignment to research a famous Australian, Eve could have studied Peter Blamey, of Bionic Ear fame. But having spent many an evening watching air crash documentaries with her dad, the child found the late David Warren a more interesting choice. “I’ve seen a lot of episodes of air crash investigation and a lot of the time it’s the… Read More…


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