Northwest Flight Makes Emergency Landing

by Josh Lew on

Visitors to an air show at Dayton Int’l Airport got more excitement than they paid for when a Northwest Airlines flight was forced to make an emergency landing on the runway during the festivities.

The flight originated in Tampa and was bound for Detroit. The crew decided to land when one of the computers connected to an engine failed. The pilot landed at the nearest airport, which happened to be Dayton, as a precaution.

No one was injured.

The air show was stopped for about half-an-hour while the plane landed. Spectators were made aware of the situation over the air show’s public address system. They applauded when the plane landed (and no doubt had something extra to talk about on the way home).

The plane’s passengers were not able to hang around for the end of the show, however. They were whisked away to Detroit by bus.

Actually, the successful emergency landing might have been a welcome event for Northwest’s public relations department. They finally have something to talk about besides bankruptcy and their recent merger with Delta.

Photo: Flickr user Sakurako Kitsa

The Farnborough Airshow begins

by Grant Martin on

Just outside of London, the Farnborough Airshow kicked off its biennial air show yesterday, starting a week of fun filled aviation spectacles and sales. Along with the Paris, Dubai and Berlin air shows, industry leaders use the Farnborough Airshow to feature some of their latest technology, designs and concepts as well as ink deals for large aircraft orders.

You can always tell when an air show is in full swing when checking out the travel wire — every several hours Boeing or Airbus or Embrarer will anounce another deal with another rich country or magnate for a few dozen aircraft; today, FlyDubai bought 50 737s and Emrarer sold 22 jets to Consorcio Aeromexico SAB.

It’s also a good time for airframe manufacturers to update the world on what’s going on with their newest creations, namely “Why is the 787 so behind schedule?” and “Can you really fit a schoolbus inside of an A380?”, so keep an eye out for announcements along those lines and your shares of stock to follow the news.

I, personally, was thinking about going this year, but unfortunately ran out of time off at work with which I can enjoy such pleasures as long weekends in London.

No worries. I’m saving myself for the Paris Air Show, THE place to be for airplane debauchery, delight and excitement (only held on odd years). See you in Paris on the 15th of July next year!

Dubai Air Show set to soar in the Emirate

by Abha Malpani on

It is easy to be oblivious to events happening in Dubai, simply because of the number of them happening throughout the year. Most of them are hyped in the media to give you nausea (e.g.GITEX), or they are events that you go to just to be seen (e.g.Dubai World Cup).

One exception is the Dubai Air Show. This year, it will be held from November 11-15 and will host: 850 exhibitors from over 50 countries;140 aircrafts on display across 117 indoor and outdoor pavilions, and a mind-blowing display of fighter planes zooming across the sky, making the event a dream come true for anyone remotely interested in the aviation industry.

Unless you are in the corporate sector, it’s actually quite hard to get hold of passes for the show — they are normally sold out in advance. This year (the 10th), the biannual show will run for the last time at the Airport Expo, and Diana Ross has been invited to perform at the gala dinner. However, unlike other events, unfortunately there is no raffle to win a plane yet (it’s normally easier with computers and cars), but I will not be surprised if they introduce that in the years to come.

In 2009, the air show will move to grounds of Dubai World Central — the US$33 billion, 14-square kilometer aviation hub currently under construction. When that happens, Dubai will yet again add another few superlative tags to its list as then it will be the world’s largest air show, and the aviation hub will be the world’s largest international airport.

[Via Gulf News]