United Relaunches 787 Today With Houston To Chicago Service

by Libby Zay on

After four months of testing, the Boeing 787 “Dreamliner” will once again take to the skies in North America today. United Airlines is the first to kick off service, sending the Dreamliner skyward on a flight from Houston to Chicago scheduled for 11 a.m. this morning.

Earlier this year, the federal government grounded all 787 flights due to overheating concerns on the aircraft’s lithium-ion batteries. The grounding hit both Boeing and the airlines hard, causing snags in proposed routes and forcing some airlines to lease planes. According to Associated Press, the grounding hurt United’s first-quarter earnings by as much as $11 million – which is why we questioned whether or not the 787 is ready for flight, or whether the billions of dollars that have already been invested in the planes have caused things to be pushed along a little too quickly.

But according to several sources, passengers don’t seem too worried. United spokeswoman Christen David told Associated Press the company “saw strong demand for the flight from the first weekend it opened for sale.” United is starting slowly with domestic flights, and will then move into international flights in June with a new Denver-to-Tokyo service.

Architects Give Sneek Peak Of Post-Sandy Beaches In New York

by Libby Zay on

Seven months after Hurricane Sandy ravaged New York City-area beaches, construction will begin on replacement pavilions for those that were destroyed in the storm. Here’s a peek at what destinations like Rockaway Beach and Coney Island will look like, courtesy of Garrison Architects, the firm that was asked to create these modular pavilions.

Structures include bathrooms for the public, stands for lifeguards and offices for beach staff, all of which sit on concrete stilts in order to meet standards put in place by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). According to architecture blog Architizer, the materials used to produce the pavilions, like galvanized steel frames, will ensure the structures resist severe weather in the future. The pavilions also have double-ventilated roofs with solar panels on top to save on energy consumption.

According to the architects, the pavilions will be built in Pennsylvania and then transferred via flatbed trucks to New York, where cranes will set them on pile foundations. Ramps and stairs will connect the structures to each other and provide access to the beaches and boardwalks. The new facilities should be put in place just in time for summer.

Check out even more images after the jump.

[via Gizmodo]

Air India Pilot Locked Out Of Cockpit After Bathroom Break

by Libby Zay on

In what would otherwise make for a great comedy sketch, an Air India captain took a bathroom break during a flight Tuesday night and returned to find a jammed cockpit door. But according to a report by USA Today, this was no laughing matter: after all efforts failed to open the door – even from the inside – the co-pilot landed the plane at the nearest airport, where ground maintenance staff fixed the problem. The plane then resumed its flight, which was making its way from New Delhi to Bangalore.

This is the second strange cockpit incident that’s happened with Air India recently; earlier this month, pilots allowed flight attendants to sit in their chairs while they napped, and one of the attendants accidently disengaged the plane’s autopilot function. In both instances, no passengers were injured.

Two Pilots Fired After Brazilian Pop Star Takes Captain’s Seat Mid-Flight

by Libby Zay on

A Brazilian pop star who calls himself Latino has put TAM Airlines in the hot seat after he was allegedly invited to sit in the captain’s chair during a cross-country flight from Recife to Rio de Janeiro. Pictures of the singer in the cockpit of an Airbus A320-200 were circulated on Instagram and posted to the musician’s website the day after the incident, but were later removed.

According to an incident report on The Aviation Herald, autopilot was on and the first officer was in his seat when Latino climbed into the captain’s chair. After a few pictures were snapped, the captain took back his seat and the aircraft continued for a safe landing in Rio.

The news outlet reports the airline initially claimed the photos were taken while the plane was on the ground, but later admitted the aircraft was in-flight, evidenced by engine instruments and navigation displays in the background of the photos. Both pilots have been fired as a result of the occurrence, and Brazil’s Agência Nacional de Aviação Civi – the country’s equivalent to the Federal Aviation Administration in the United States – has opened an investigation.

Forbidden America: Cold War-Era Map Shows No-Go Zones For Soviet Tourists

by Libby Zay on

If you think security is tight now, imagine what it was like for Soviet tourists who came to the United States during the Cold War. Although a select few private Soviet citizens were granted permission to visit the Land of the Free in the 1950s, the U.S. government was very specific about the places these tourists could and could not visit. A map that surfaced on Slate’s new history blog, The Vault, details those forbidden places, which are shaded in green above.

The U.S. barred the admission of all Communists in 1952. According to Slate, tourists had to produce a detailed itinerary and get it approved before obtaining a visa to visit the U.S. Most ports and coastlines were off-limits to these travelers, as well as anywhere near weapons facilities or industrial centers. It seems these restrictions mirrored Soviet constraints on American travel to the USSR after World War II, with the only exceptions being journalists and government officials. These travel restrictions stayed in place until the Kennedy administration lifted them in 1962 as a symbol of the openness of American society.

[via BoingBoing]