US Airways pilot’s gun discharges while in flight

by Grant Martin on

If there’s one thing that fires people up besides shirts with the F word on it, it’s guns.

At issue is whether or not pilots should be allowed to carry weapons in the cockpit. While it’s a definitive way to reinforce security at 30,000 feet, the presence of a firearm onboard increases the potential for accidents — and disaster.

That’s what happened last Saturday when a US Airways pilot’s gun accidentally went off in the cockpit during the flight. Nobody was injured and the aircraft landed safely, but wow, they were lucky.

Suppose that bullet went through the front window instead of somewhere into the fuselage. At that altitude could the pilots withstand explosive decompression? Would the entire cabin decompress and the pilots be killed?

According to the TSA, the pilot in question was trained under the Federal Flight Deck Officers program and last certified in November. Details are still sketchy on how the firearm was stored and what caused it to discharge in the cockpit, but I’m pretty sure that with the safety on and without a bullet in the chamber a weapon shouldn’t accidentally fire.

I suppose if it were up to me and on my flight, I would prefer the pilot to have a gun and thwart a terrorist at the small risk of having an accident. While flight deck doors are locked from the inside these days and any instigator would have a really difficult time getting access, the extra layer of security does supply a grain of comfort. I’m glad everyone was safe on the US Airways flight.

Do children on planes bother you?

by Grant Martin on

I have to admit, every time I used to fly overseas I was afraid of sitting in the proximity of children. Usually I’m one of the first people to board, so after getting my electronics and reading material in order, I used to nervously watch passengers boarding, terrified that a couple with a newborn child was going to sit next to me and that the child would wail across the entire ocean.

This has happened to me more than once, and it really really sucks. But over the past few years I’ve come to terms with the frustration a bit. I try to think that couples traveling with children need to be on the road, perhaps for a family function or emergency and that they’re doing everything in their power to see to their children. Hopefully, they’re sensitive to the passengers around them and we in turn can be flexible for that.

As it turns out, I’m not the only person sensitive to screaming kids in my cabin. Our friends over at Airfarewatchdog recently posted a survey asking whether families with children should be put in a different section of the aircraft, concentrating the ruckus into one portion of the plane. Perhaps this would result in more peace for the other passengers.

Surprisingly, well over 90% of the polled readers said that they would support another cabin for families with children. That’s a pretty definitive result.

Not that something like that will ever happen. Airlines wont discriminate against families traveling with children and even if they could, it would be a political and bureaucratic nightmare to implement. But it’s in interesting idea.

Be sure to check out and vote in AFWD’s and check out the data yourself.

What’s your preferred seat position?

by Grant Martin on

I’m curious as to what people consider an appropriate position for their seat while they are cruising America’s skies. I’ve always been in the school of thought that I don’t want to encroach on the space of the person behind me. From personal experience, I know that working on a laptop is next to impossible with a reclined seat in front of you. Even reading the newspaper or anything on your lap can be really difficult.

What I’ve found so far is that people are sorely divided on the topic. Some people don’t feel the least bit awkward about leaning back into the next seat – others refuse to recline out of respect for the person behind.

I don’t mean to say that anyone who reclines their seat back on an airplane is a terrible person and hates the person behind them. What I’m most curious about though is what space you prefer: the space you recline into or the space that the person in front of you doesn’t recline into. What do you think?

%Poll-9953%

Bits of the Concorde to be Auctioned Off

by Neil Woodburn on

Were it not for the iconic bent, needle nose, the Concorde would probably have been just another airplane. Sure, it flew at supersonic speeds and featured only First Class, but it was that funky bent nose that really hammered this extraordinary plane into the public psyche.

The Concorde, however, was finally retired in 2003 and with it disappeared a little piece of aviation history.

But not entirely.

Like any vestige of history these days, nostalgia has its value. Airplane enthusiast will be happy to learn that bits and pieces of the plane are to be auctioned off to the public; air speed indicators, oxygen masks, and landing gear, are just a few of the items for sale. Gadling readers will be excited to learn that a Concorde toilet seat will see the gavel as well. Sorry, but the needle noses were already sold a few years ago.

America’s Most Miserable Airports

by Willy Volk on

US News & World Report recently looked at the 47 largest hub and non-hub airports in America. After analyzing data that included on-time performance and average load factor (i.e., how crowded the airplanes are), they assigned an “Airport Misery Index” to each airport. The more tardy the airport and the more crowded the airplane, the higher the Misery Index.

Guess which airport is the most miserable:

This list represents only the top 10 “most miserable” airports in the US. For the entire list, see US News & World Report. Some things of note about the results:

  • JFK ranks as the airport with the greatest percentage of flights delayed.
  • Honolulu is the best at maintaining on-time departures.
  • Honolulu has the highest average load factor.
  • Houston’s Hobby Airport has the lowest average load factor.