Airport security stops woman after finding skeleton in luggage

by Grant Martin on

German officials stopped a woman arriving into Munich earlier this week because of suspicious articles in her luggage: part of a human skeleton. After discovering the contraband inside of the woman’s bags, airport police pulled the woman and her friend aside for questioning, prepared for the worst.

But as it turns out, it’s perfectly cool taking skeletons on an airplane with your luggage! The woman was able to produce the correct documentation to go with the bones, and airport security sent her on her merry way.

Apparently the elderly woman was bringing the bones of her deceased brother back from Brazil. He had died there eleven years earlier and it was his final wish to be buried in Italy.

Now the question is whether the skeleton was in her checked or carry on bags. It sure would creep me out if the woman sitting next to me had some human bones in her bag.

Read the full article, albeit bizzare, at the Arizona Central.

What strange things have been found on planes?


Click the image to read the bizarre story…

Southwest grounds 41 Jets for “Safety related” issues.

by Grant Martin on

Remember the hubbub last week about Southwest Airlines purportedly flying airplanes sans proper safety inspections? Well the problem wasn’t as bad as most media outlets (and politicians) made it sound, but most people agree that there was a bit of an oversight in the testing methods.

Once the airline routed out the bad apples (three employees were put on leave) and hired outside consultants to review their safety measures, they started going back to their maintenance records and inspecting their planes. In the course of their investigation, they determined that 44 of their 188 aircraft needed to be analyzed, five of which were already out for maintenance and one of which was already retired.

Before you flip out, Congressman Oberstar, this doesn’t necessarily mean that the 38 in the skies were going to burst into flames somewhere over Oklahoma, just that a small section of fuselage skin hadn’t recently been checked for flaws. None of the aircraft so far have been found unfit to fly, and Southwest expects to have all aircraft operational by tonight. Until then, you can expect a few flights to be out of schedule, but by the time you read this the inspections will probably already be done.

You can read an article, complete with incorrect data from CBS11 TV, or check out the Newswire post below.

Slowing economy in the UK = good news for budget airlines

by Iva Skoch on

The economy in the UK, much like in the US, has been slowing considerably. Some people–budget airlines for example–are actually pretty pleased about this. Their customers are turning to the cheap, no-frills airlines to keep their holidays on budget.

After it released strong passenger numbers, EasyJet said to The Guardian that the biggest danger facing the airline industry is the global oil price of $100+. Hedging, or betting on the future price of oil, is no longer an option because airlines are unwilling to peg their fuel costs at $100 a barrel. EasyJet has hedged 40% of its fuel needs until September at $75 a barrel. Then what? Things might not be so easy for EasyJet come this fall.

FAA plans to overhaul airplane ‘black boxes’

by Jeffrey White on

Cockpit voice and flight data recorders — known collectively as the black box — are set for a major overhaul.

CNN is reporting that the Federal Aviation Administration plans to mandate that voice recorders record for substantially longer periods than they currently do. Right now, they only capture the last 15-30 minutes of sound in the cockpit. The FAA wants them to record the last two hours of cockpit sound, and then continue recording for nearly 15 minutes more after power is disrupted.

The FAA also wants the recorders built out of more solid stuff: Solid state technology, rather than magnetic tape, CNN says.

The network notes that the FAA has spent the last nine years coming up with these recommendations, which first surfaced when the National Transportation Safety Board recommended in 1999 (after the crash of Egypt Air Flight 990) that improvements be made to cockpit recorders. The FAA hasn’t gone as far as the NTSB wanted, citing considerably costs that outweigh the benefits of some improvements.

For example, the NTSB wanted video cameras installed in cockpits.

The FAA is also requiring all new aircraft to record 25 hours of digital flight data, CNN says.

The network does not venture a guess as to why it’s taken the FAA nine years to come up with these changes.

Why elite status works

by Grant Martin on

I suppose I’ve been a little spoiled over the last few years, flying almost exclusively on one airline and all. After reaching a certain threshold of miles, I’ve been upgraded to first class on 90% of my domestic flights, while the other 10% I’ve spent in either a bulkhead or an exit row seat. It was a novelty at first, but after a dozen or so legs I’ve sort of become used to it.

In that light, I suppose its also good that I’m reminded of my benefits once in a while. On last minute work out in Orange County, I suddenly had to book a flight from New York City to Los Angeles leaving next Monday, the 17th. With such short notice, I wasn’t able to book a competitive flight on my preferred carrier and was forced to book on another, less optimum airline. My seat on the way to Los Angeles? 44B. Back of the plane, center seat. No free alcohol, meals or goodies for me this time.

And this is why people have allegiances to airlines. Many will gladly pay an extra twenty or a hundred bucks to fly on their preferred carrier because they know how they’re going to be treated, where they’re going to sit and what they’re going to get. It’s a crafty marketing strategy created by the travel industry that ropes poor bastards like myself in — and keeps us there.

If you’re interested in subscribing to elite status this year, be sure to check out Gadling’s Guide to Mileage Running.