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30,000 Domestic Drones to Fill the Sky, Civil Liberties at Risk | Common Dreams
Published on Thursday, February 9, 2012 by Common Dreams
30,000 Domestic Drones to Fill the Sky, Civil Liberties at Risk
FAA Act would raise 'very serious privacy issues'
- Common Dreams staff
A bill has passed in the House and Senate this week that would increase the presence of drones in U.S. civilian airspace. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Reauthorization Act requires the FAA to alleviate many current rules on domestic drone authorization. Drones would now be able to fly in the same airspace as commercial airliners, private planes, and cargo jets. Up to 30,000 drones could be allowed in U.S. airspace by the end of the decade.
The Senate passed the bill on Monday, 75-20 and allots $63.4 billion to the FAA. Obama is expected to sign it into law.
ACLU, among other civil liberties groups, is expressing grave concern for civilian privacy, as the legislation does not restrict drone surveillance activities by police and federal government agencies.
* * *
ACLU states:
As we explained in our recent report, drone technology is advancing by leaps and bounds, and there is a lot of pent-up demand for them within the law enforcement community. But, domestic deployment of unmanned aircraft for surveillance purposes has largely been blocked so far by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which is rightly concerned about the safety effects of filling our skies with flying robots (which crash significantly more often than manned aircraft).[...]
Unfortunately, nothing in the bill would address the very serious privacy issues raised by drone aircraft. This bill would push the nation willy-nilly toward an era of aerial surveillance without any steps to protect the traditional privacy that Americans have always enjoyed and expected.[...]
We don’t want to wonder, every time we step out our front door, whether some eye in the sky is watching our every move. [...]
Here are details on what the bill would do in terms of drones:
Require the FAA to simplify and speed up the process by which it issues permission to government agencies to operate drones. It must do this within 90 days. The FAA has already been working on a set of proposed regulations to loosen the rules around drones, reportedly set for release in the spring of 2012.
Require the FAA to allow “a government public safety agency” to operate any drone weighing 4.4 pounds or less as long as certain conditions are met (within line of sight, during the day, below 400 feet in altitude, and only in safe categories of airspace).Nano Hummingbird Surveillance Drone
Require the FAA to establish a pilot project within six months to create six test zones for integrating drones “into the national airspace system.”
Require the FAA to create a comprehensive plan “to safely accelerate the integration of civil unmanned aircraft systems into the national airspace system.” “Civil” drones means those operated by the private sector; currently it is all but impossible for any non-government entity, except for hobbyists, to get permission to fly drones (for-profit use of drones is banned). Industry groups and their congressional supporters see this as a potential area for growth. Congress specifies that the plan must provide for the integration of drones into the national airspace system “as soon as practicable, but not later than September 30, 2015.” The FAA has nine months to create the plan. The FAA is also required to create a “5-year roadmap for the introduction” of civil drones into the national airspace.
Unfortunately, nothing in the bill would address the very serious privacy issues raised by drone aircraft. This bill would push the nation willy-nilly toward an era of aerial surveillance without any steps to protect the traditional privacy that Americans have always enjoyed and expected.
Require the FAA to publish a final rule within 18 months after the comprehensive plan is submitted, “that will allow” civil operation of small (under 55 pounds) drones in the national airspace, and a proposed rule for carrying out the comprehensive plan.
* * *
TPM reports:
The federal government is also facing a lawsuit from the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a watchdog group that is asking for the FAA to release records on the almost-300 agencies that have authorization to operate drones domestically. Jennifer Lynch, an attorney with the EFF who brought the case, told TPM that this bill makes their suit even more important. “I think the fact that Congress is pressuring the FAA to expand its UAS program through the FAA Reauthorization Act only reinforces the need for these records,” Lynch said. “It’s important that we learn more about how the federal government and state and local law enforcement agencies are already using UASs before we expand their use further. The privacy concerns posed by the use of drones for domestic surveillance are too great to excuse the FAA’s lack of transparency on this issue.”
(Published on Thursday, February 9, 2012 by Common Dreams 30,000 Domestic Drones to... more-
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NASA Confirmation: Satellite Is Down
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NASA...
UARS Re-Enters Atmosphere, Final Location Uncertain
NASA’s Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite fell back to Earth between 11:23 p.m. EDT Friday, Sept. 23, and 1:09 a.m. EDT Sept. 24. The precise re-entry time and location are not yet known with certainty.
_______________________________________
_______________________________________
PREVIOUS NEWS FROM CNN...
CNN...
.
NASA: Pieces of falling satellite may be down
From John Zarella, CNN
updated 2:00 AM EST, Sat September 24, 2011
Click picture to play video
U.S. in falling satellite's strike zone
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
NASA is waiting for confirmation that satellite pieces are down
About 26 pieces, some weighing hundreds of pounds, are expected to survive reentry
It is not clear exactly where the pieces might have landed
U.S. in falling satellite's strike zone
FAA: Pilots watch for falling satellite
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Miami (CNN) -- Pieces of a defunct satellite plummeting toward Earth may have come to rest, NASA said Saturday morning
NASA says "it's possible" that the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite "is down by now," according to the agency's Twitter page early Saturday. But the agency said it is seeking official confirmation with the United States Strategic Command.
About two dozen pieces of the satellite were expected to survive the crash through the Earth's atmosphere.
Late Friday night, NASA predicted satellite parts would pass "over Canada and Africa, as well as vast areas of the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans."
"The risk to public safety is very remote," the space agency added.
It was not immediately clear where fallen pieces may have ended up.
About 26 pieces were expected to survive the descent. Those pieces, made of stainless steel, titanium and beryllium that won't burn, will range from about 10 pounds to hundreds of pounds, according to NASA.
Earlier, NASA said "there is a low probability" surviving debris will land in the United States, but on Saturday morning the space agency tweeted, "The U.S. is very safe from (the satellite) ... It's final orbit did not cross the United States."
Mark Matney of NASA's Orbital Debris team in Houston said there's no way to know exactly where the pieces will come down.
"Keep in mind, they won't be traveling at those high orbital velocities. As they hit the air, they tend to slow down. ... They're still traveling fast, a few tens to hundreds of miles per hour, but no longer those tremendous orbital velocities," he explained.
"Part of the problem is, the spacecraft is tumbling in unpredictable ways, and it is very difficult to very precisely pinpoint where it's coming down even right before the re-entry," Matney said.
Because water covers 70% of the Earth's surface, NASA has said that most -- if not all -- of the surviving debris will land in water. Even if pieces strike dry land, there's very little risk any of it will hit people.
However, in an abundance of caution, the Federal Aviation Administration released an advisory Thursday warning pilots about the falling satellite, calling it a potential hazard.
"It is critical that all pilots/flight crew members report any observed falling space debris to the appropriate (air traffic control) facility and include position, altitude, time and direction of debris observed," the FAA statement said.
The FAA said warnings of this sort typically are sent out to pilots concerning specific hazards they may encounter during flights such as air shows, rocket launches, kites and inoperable radio navigational aids.
NASA said space debris the size of the satellite's components re-enters the atmosphere about once a year. Harvard University astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell noted that the satellite is far from being the biggest space junk to come back.
"This is nothing like the old Skylab scare of the '70s, when you had a 70-ton space station crashing out of the sky. So, I agree with the folks in Houston. It's nothing to be worried about," McDowell said.
Pieces of Skylab came down in western Australia in 1979.
The only wild card McDowell sees is if somehow a chunk hits a populated area.
"If the thing happens to come down in a city, that would be bad. The chances of it causing extensive damage or injuring someone are much higher."
.
CNN's Mike Ahlers contributed to this report.
.. NASA... UARS Re-Enters Atmosphere, Final Location Uncertain NASA’s... more-
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AGAIN?! Plane Crashes at West Virginia Air Show, Killing the Pilot
CNN...
Plane crashes at West Virginia air show, killing pilot
By the CNN Wire Staff
September 17, 2011 10:26 p.m. EDT
A plane crashes at a West Virginia air show, killing the pilot, but it did not injure anyone on the ground.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
No one on the ground was injured
Witness: "You just heard the whole crowd gasp simultaneously"
The incident occurs a day after a crash at an air race in Nevada killed nine people
.
(CNN) -- An aircraft crashed Saturday afternoon during a demonstration at a West Virginia air show, killing the pilot, the West Virginia Air National Guard said.
No one on the ground was injured.
It was not immediately clear what caused the accident at the 2011 Thunder Over the Blue Ridge Open House & Air Show in Martinsburg, West Virginia. The pilot was flying a T-28 aircraft.
CNN iReporter Jennifer Clark took pictures of the 2:30 p.m. ET crash, showing flames and black plumes of smoke rising from the ground.
"We saw a flash of light ... and heard the explosion sound," she told CNN's Don Lemon. "It was scary."
"You just heard the whole crowd gasp simultaneously and everybody just kind of went silent and was just watching what was going on," she said.
The West Virginia crash came one day after another deadly air crash.
A pilot lost control of his vintage plane during an air race in Reno, Nevada, on Friday, plummeting toward thousands of spectators before narrowly missing a grandstand and slamming into box seats. Nine people, including the pilot, died in that accident, according to local police.
.CNN... Plane crashes at West Virginia air show, killing pilot By the CNN Wire... more-
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10 Dead After Plane Crashes at Nevada Air Show | Stunt Pilot Killed | 54 Spectators Hospitalized | Videos of Crash
CNN: 'Mass casualties' after plane crashes at Reno air race
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'Mass casualties' reported after plane crashes at Nevada air show
By the CNN Wire Staff
September 16, 2011 9:30 p.m. EDT
Click photo to play video
Plane crashes at Nevada air show
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
NEW: Show spokesman: "It was clear that (the plane) was pulling up and was in distress"
NEW: National Guard members and NTSB, FAA personnel are on the scene
People are being escorted out of the area with injuries
Are you there? Share your photos, videos from the scene.
.
(CNN) -- "Mass casualties" were reported at an air show after a plane crashed Friday into an area in front of a grandstand at the National Championship Air Races and Air Show in Reno, Nevada, a spokesman for the show told CNN.
Mike Draper said he's been told there are "likely fatalities," but it has not been determined how many or who they may be. The fate of the pilot, who was flying a P-51 Mustang, was not known, he said.
Video from the scene, posted on YouTube, showed a plane plummeting from the sky, sending up clouds of dust and debris.
Shocked spectators rose to their feet.
The P-51 plane, called the "Galloping Ghost," was taking part in a qualifying round in the "unlimited class" division of the air race when it went down around 4:15 p.m. PT Friday, Draper said. The final rounds had been slated for the weekend.
The aircraft was about a lap into the race when the pilot sent out a "Mayday signal" and pulled "out of the lap" before crashing into a box area that is in front of a grandstand at the "very large race field," located about 15 miles north of Reno, Draper said.
"It was clear that (the plane) was pulling up and was in distress," he said.
He added that authorities do not yet know why the aircraft went down.
Besides the Federal Aviation Administration personnel already there to assist the National Transportation Safety Board in any investigation, the show's spokesman said that National Guard members -- who were on-site practicing before the incident -- are helping emergency personnel to clear the area.
"There are people still being escorted out of that area with various injuries," Draper said.
Local fire officials are reporting multiple fatalities and critical injuries, according to Ian Gregor, a spokesman with the FAA.
He said the aircraft did not catch fire, but there was a wide debris field following the crash.
CNN's Mike Ahlers contributed to this report.
_____________________________________________
NTSB has just confirmed that nine people were killed.
09/17/11 - 4:02PM PT
_____________________________________________
.CNN: 'Mass casualties' after plane crashes at Reno air race .... more-
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FAA Looks Into News Corp's Daily Drone, Raising Questions About Who Gets To Fly Drones in The U.S. - Forbes
While drones are now in heavy use by the U.S. military in our wars abroad, and to a certain extent by U.S. law enforcement within our country’s borders, the use of drones by private entities is still a highly-regulated and legally murky area. A big part of the reason for that are the privacy issues raised. Robot guru Ryan Calo, director of the Stanford Center for Internet and Society, has voiced concerns to me (and to American Public Media’s Marketplace) about paparazzi drones that could be used to fly around using facial recognition technology to find and obsessively photograph Brad Pitt.
I started digging around to find out exactly what’s required for a private business to get itself a drone and start buzzing it around. I’ve been going back and forth with the Federal Aviation Administration about “unmanned aircraft” for months. Hobbyists are basically free to use drones as long as they keep them under 400 feet. At this point, civil and commercial use of drones is only allowed for research and development purposes. “Not for compensation or hire” says one FAA notice. To get government permission to use a drone (for non-hobby purposes), a private entity has to jump through hoops including getting an airworthiness certificate — meaning the thing is safe to fly — and an experimental certificate, approving the planned use of the unmanned system (uses are currently limited to research and development, marketing surveys, or crew training).
The FAA told me earlier this year that the Unmanned Aircraft Systems office has issued 83 experimental certificates for 20 different kinds of drones. “Currently, 18 of those experimental certificates are active,” said spokesperson Les Dorr. The FAA declined to identify the companies that hold those certificates (and have not yet responded to a FOIA for those names). “An experimental certificate allows the holder to do tests, training and demos but not for-hire operations. Ops also must be conducted away from populated areas,” added Dorr.
The News Corp’s The Daily has a drone that it’s sent out a few times, as noted by The Observer. After The Daily broadcast some incredible footage of Alabama after it was devastated by storms, UAS Vision reported that The Daily owns a MicroDrone MD4-1000. The Daily sent it out again in June to bring back video from Minot, North Dakota after intense flooding there. (Total non-sequitur: Drones can hack cell phones now, you know.)
Taking footage for news-gathering purposes seemed like a commercial use of a drone, which is a no-no, as I understand it. I followed up with the FAA asking if News Corp was one of the companies with an experimental certificate. The inquiry got lobbed to the FAA’s legal department…
“We are examining The Daily’s use of a small unmanned aircraft to see if it was in accordance with FAA policies,” said Les Dorr in an email today. A Daily spokesperson has not yet responded to an inquiry about ownership and licensing of the company’s drone.(pic at site of mini drone wouldnt post)While drones are now in heavy use by the U.S. military in our wars abroad, and to a... more-
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Caught on Video: Plane Crash Lands at Orange Beach puts Photog into Shock (NSFW Language) - YouTube
This is Don's 3rd crash landing he had to make one emergency landing on the beach
in the 1990s and another about 9 or 10 years ago.
on July 4, 2011 Don Bonner crashed near Walker Island in Perdido Pass
but he and his passenger escaped serious injury.
the plane began experiencing engine trouble so he started
flying toward a U.S. Navy landing strip in Lillian.
Then all of a sudden he started losing power he tried to get
it to Wolf Field, but halfway across the bay, the plane just totally quit.
Bonner said that when he realized he was not going to make it,
he looked for a spot with people close by who could help if the plane flipped over.
He chose Walker Island, the smallest of 3 strips of land in Perdido Pass near Orange Beach.
The plane came down in about a foot of water on the south side of Walker Island.
Tourists made it to the overturned plane quickly, followed about a minute later
by the Alabama Marine Police.This is Don's 3rd crash landing he had to make one emergency landing on the beach... more-
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Rewritten Headlines: Tiger Woods to D.B. Cooper
Why read the news when you can just skim it with Tony D!-
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Oklahoma Senator Fights for the Right to be a Bad Pilot
Senator James Inhofe would like to preserve his right to be an incompetent pilot. After landing on a closed airstrip and nearly hitting ground workers, Inhofe was asked to take remedial piloting lessons. Luckily he can abuse his legislative power to make the rules easier for old, incompetent. rich people that want to continue to fly. Thank goodness we have champions like him taking on the big issues that affect suffering Americans.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/07/10/sen-inhofe-strikes-back-at-faa-after-runway-run-in/?test=latestnews
Rachel has another perspective.
http://www.mediaite.com/tv/rachel-maddow-sen-james-inhofes-war-with-the-faa-is-about-his-horrible-flying/Senator James Inhofe would like to preserve his right to be an incompetent pilot.... more-
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New Air Traffic Control System at Crossroads
New air traffic control system at crossroads
By JOAN LOWY, Associated Press – 2 hours ago
PART ONE...
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Aviation Administration is creating a new air traffic system that officials say will be as revolutionary for civil aviation as was the advent of radar six decades ago. But the program is at a crossroads.
It's getting harder to pry money out of Congress. The airline industry is hesitating over the cost of equipping its planes with new technology necessary to use the system. And some experts say the U.S. could lose its lead in the manufacture of high tech aviation equipment to European competitors because the FAA is moving too slowly.
Seventy-five years ago this week the federal government, spurred by the nascent airline industry, began tracking planes at the nation's first air traffic control centers in Newark, N.J., Chicago and Cleveland.
The original group of 15 controllers, relying on radioed position reports from pilots, plotted the progress of flights using blackboards, maps and boat-shaped weights. Air traffic control took a technological leap forward in the 1950s with the introduction of radar. That's still the basis of the technology used today by more than 15,000 controllers to guide 50,000 flights a day.
Under FAA's Next Generation Air Transportation System program, known as NextGen, ground radar stations will be replaced by satellite-based technology. Instead of flying indirect routes to stay within the range of ground stations, as planes do today, pilots will use GPS technology to fly directly to their destinations.
Planes will continually broadcast their exact positions, not only to air traffic controllers, but to other similarly equipped aircraft within hundreds of miles. For the first time, pilots will be able to see on cockpit displays where they are in relation to other planes and what the flight plans are for those other aircraft. That will enable planes to safely fly closer together.
When planes approach airports, precise GPS navigation will allow them to use more efficient landing and takeoff procedures. Instead of time-consuming, fuel-burning stair- step descents, planes will be able to glide in more steeply with their engines idling. Aircraft will be able to land and take off closer together and more frequently, even in poor weather, because pilots will know the precise location of other aircraft and obstacles on the ground. Fewer planes will be diverted.
Pilots and airline dispatchers will be able get real-time weather information. Computers will spot potential weather conflicts well in advance so that planes can be rerouted. And, controllers will do a lot less talking to pilots. Many instructions now transmitted by radio will instead be sent digitally to cockpits, reducing the chance of errors.
Together, the suite of new technologies and procedures being phased in will significantly increase the system's traffic capacity, FAA officials predict. That's critical if the number of passengers traveling annually on U.S. airlines grows from an estimated 737 million this year to over 1 billion a year in the next decade, as the FAA forecasts.
And, the FAA predicts, NextGen will save significant time, fuel and money. It also will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and noise.
"It really is a revolution in air transportation," Deputy FAA Administrator Michael Huerta said in an interview. "The decisions we're making in the next several years will set the foundation for the next 75 years of air traffic control."
Paying the tab for NextGen — estimated at as much as $22 billion for the government and another $20 billion for the airline industry through 2025 — may be FAA's biggest hurdle. The program has widespread support in the Obama administration and Congress, but it isn't immune to budget cuts in the current climate of austerity. The House wants to reduce FAA's budget authority by $1 billion a year over the next four years, while the Senate has favored higher funding.
Even longtime NextGen supporters like Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee's transportation subcommittee, warn that full funding is no longer automatic.
"We need to see a realistic strategy for funding NextGen," she told FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt at a May hearing. "To date, the FAA has filled its budget request with a laundry list of programs and development activities, and a vague promise that somehow the agency will achieve its goals by 2018. But that approach is not enough this year."
If funding is reduced, some elements of NextGen could be delayed. There is no date for completion of the entire program, which officials say is constantly evolving.
CONTINUED...
.New air traffic control system at crossroads By JOAN LOWY, Associated Press –... more-
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Airlines Positioned for Big Gains in Efficiency
NPR...
Airlines Positioned For Big Gains In Efficiency
by The Associated Press
Chart shows airplane fuel consumption to fly one passenger 1,000 miles
July 4, 2011
Planes are being built out of the same lightweight materials used for Formula 1 race cars. Their engines are being redesigned to squeeze more thrust out of every gallon of fuel. And governments are developing air-traffic systems that will allow airlines to fly shorter routes.
Those and other advances have positioned airlines for the biggest gains in fuel efficiency since the dawn of the jet age in 1958. For airlines, more efficient jets will reduce their biggest expense. For passengers, it means fares won't jump around as much with the price of oil.
"We're seeing 25 years of improvements compressed into 10 years," says Hans Weber, president of TECOP International, an aviation consulting firm.
Airlines' urgency to reduce fuel use is being driven by two trends: soaring oil prices and tougher environmental regulations.
Pressured by airline executives for improvements, manufacturers have pushed the frontiers of technology by building lighter planes and borrowing essential engine-design advances from the auto industry, like automatic transmissions.
Airplane manufacturers have already reduced fuel consumption twice as much as car and train manufacturers have. In 1980, it took an average of 46 gallons of fuel to fly a passenger 1,000 miles. Today, it takes 22, according to an AP analysis of Department of Transportation data. Experts say the coming improvements could bring that number below 18 within a decade.
That can't come soon enough for airlines struggling with the rising price of oil.
U.S. airlines lost a combined $1 billion in the first three months of this year, in large part because of a 24 percent spike in fuel costs. A decade ago, fuel accounted for 15 percent of an airline's operating budget. Today, it's 35 percent.
U.S. carriers with European routes face hundreds of millions of dollars a year of additional costs pegged to their fuel consumption starting next year, when the European Union begins limiting how much carbon dioxide airlines are allowed to emit before paying a penalty. The restrictions are expected to cost airlines worldwide $3.3 billion a year. The U.S. airlines are fighting the law in European courts.
With billions of dollars of aircraft and engine orders at stake, manufacturers are turning designs that were dreams only a few years ago into reality.
Boeing and Airbus are both building long-range jets — the 787 Dreamliner and A350, respectively — with half of their bodies made of carbon-fiber composites. The carbon-fiber weighs 20 percent less than traditional aluminum alloy.
But the real revolution will come from the way planes are powered.
Pratt & Whitney and CFM, a joint venture between General Electric and Safran, are unveiling engines that promise to cut fuel use by 15 percent. These engines are designed for single-aisle planes, which account for more than 75 percent of the 22,000 jets worldwide. The engines should save more than $1 million per aircraft per year.
"For the first time, we're seeing a propulsion horserace," says Richard Aboulafia, an analyst with the Teal Group.
The PurePower engine from Pratt & Whitney will debut on the new Bombardier CSeries in 2013. Its main technological advance is to add gears — similar to a car's transmission — that will allow different parts of the engine to operate at different speeds. That boosts fuel efficiency and provides the same amount of power as a traditional engine but in smaller, lighter housing.
The LEAP-X from CFM has advancements in air flow and temperature-resistant coatings that allow the air passing through the engine core to be at temperatures otherwise hot enough to melt the surrounding metal. Those higher temperatures allow the engine to be more efficient.
Airbus is redesigning its A320 jets to accommodate both engines and says its A320neo, which starts flying in 2016, will cut fuel consumption by 20 percent. Airbus has already received more than 1,000 orders and commitments for future orders.
Boeing plans to offer the new engines on a single-aisle jet but has yet to decide whether it will update the 737, its best-seller, to accommodate them or design a new plane.
Other ways airlines will save on fuel:
— A satellite-based air traffic control system in the U.S., several years away, that could cut fuel consumption by 12 percent. Airlines and the government are fighting over who will pay for it. The current system is based on less precise World War II-era radar, which can force planes to zigzag miles out of their way.
— Aerodynamic improvements to jets, including vertical extensions at the tip of each wing called "winglets" that prevent drag. They've been around for several years but are being deployed on a wider range of planes.
— Carrying less weight inside the plane. American is replacing its 19,000 catering carts with models that weigh 16 pounds less. Southwest is testing seat covers made with lighter fabric. JetBlue chose thinner seats for its new A320s. Every pound removed from a plane saves 30 gallons of fuel a year.
— Replacing older jets faster. American, which has the worst fuel economy among U.S. airlines, is replacing aging MD80s with 737s that use 35 percent less fuel per passenger.
Airlines are cutting costs in other areas as well.
Ten years ago, salaries and benefits accounted for 39 percent of industry expenses. Now they account for 28 percent. Several major airlines filed for bankruptcy and that allowed them to renegotiate labor contracts.
But with oil at $100 a barrel and expected to rise more in the years ahead, analysts say the long-term imperative for airlines is singular: they must dramatically cut their fuel consumption.
"Either they do it," says Darryl Jenkins of the Aviation Consulting Group, "or they go out of business."
———NPR... Airlines Positioned For Big Gains In Efficiency by The Associated... more-
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How the 787 Will Change the Way We Fly
July 4th, 2011
02:13 PM GMT
CNN...
How the 787 will change the way we fly
Posted by:
Business Field Producer, Pamela Boykoff
(CNN) – Japan’s first Boeing 787 Dreamliner arrived with much fanfare. Greeted by reporters, fans and All Nippon Airways staff carrying a “Welcome to Japan” banner, the plane touched down at Haneda airport Sunday morning. Applause broke out as the pilots stepped off the plane, emblazoned with the ANA’s blue and white logo.
Too bad it was three years late to the party.
Boeing originally planned to deliver the world’s first Dreamliner to ANA in May 2008, before a series of technical problems led to repeated delays.
The plane which landed on Sunday isn’t in Japan to stay. Rather it is on a week-long test run. The first permanent delivery of a plane is expected to be in August or September, with the first passenger flight coming a month later, according to ANA.
That will be the true test of Boeing’s long-anticipated aircraft and the first chance to see how the high-tech plane will actually change the passenger experience.
The biggest impact from the Boeing 787 should come from its range. The first mid-size, long range airplane, it will allow airlines to open up routes where they don’t have the passengers numbers to justify a larger plane like a Boeing 737 or an Airbus A380.
“An A380 is only viable with 400-500 people,” says Myles Goeller of aviation consulting group Seabury. “The Dreamliner is fantastic in that it offers very good seat economics in very small aircraft.”
Goeller says in theory that means airlines will be able to provide more flexibility, either by bypassing hubs to offer more direct flights, or adding flight to provide more schedule options. ANA has said the first route will be Haneda-Okayama or Haneda-Hiroshima, though it plans to deploy the plane “across its route network.”
Changes are in store for passenger comfort. Boeing says passengers will feel more refreshed thanks to the higher humidity and higher cabin pressure on-board the aircraft, helping reduce common frequent flier complaints like dry eyes and headaches. There is no way to verify those claims until the first round of travelers come off long-haul flights.
The plane also has bigger windows that can be automatically tinted and bigger overhead compartments. ANA is even installing a bidet-equipped toilet, ever popular in Japan. For a glimpse at ANA’s recently unveiled plans for the interiors, check out their 787 website.
.July 4th, 2011 02:13 PM GMT CNN... How the 787 will change the way we fly... more-
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FAA Security Cameras Reveal Shocking Truth!
It is possible to get too comfortable on the job.-
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What Causes an Airline Fuselage to Rupture Mid-Flight?
PART ONE...
Scientific American...
What Causes an Airline Fuselage to Rupture Mid-Flight? How Can This Be Prevented?
Cracks in the aluminum skin of an aircraft are commonplace, but the hole that opened up in the cabin of Southwest Airlines Flight 812 last week could, and should, have been prevented
By Larry Greenemeier | April 5, 2011
Photo: CHINK IN THE ARMOR: The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has sent this torn piece of the Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-300 that ruptured on April 1 back to its headquarters in Washington, D.C., for further investigation. Image: NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD (NTSB), VIA YOUTUBE
The 1.5-meter-long gash that opened up in the upper cabin of Friday's Southwest Airlines Flight 812 from Phoenix to Sacramento will have a deep impact on the nature and frequency of commercial aircraft maintenance. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a directive on Tuesday ordering about 175 Boeing 737 aircraft—80 of which are registered in the U.S., most of those operated by Southwest—to be inspected using an electromagnetic device that can identify metal fatigue.
The FAA is targeting Boeing 737 series 300, 400 and 500 aircraft that have accumulated more than 30,000 flight cycles (takeoffs and landings) in order to prevent a repeat of the April 1 incident. The fuselage of a 15-year-old Southwest Boeing 737–300 ruptured 18 minutes into the flight at an altitude of about 10,670 meters, forcing the pilots to make an emergency landing at Arizona's Marine Corps Air Station Yuma.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) says its investigators have found cracks in portions of the lap joint running on two lines of riveted joints covering the length of the fuselage of the aircraft involved in the incident. Subsequent Southwest inspections turned up cracks in the lap joints on five other aircraft, grounding them as well. The electromagnetic eddy-current test being performed uses a probe to send high- and low-frequency signals down into the skin of the aircraft. The probe is moved from one rivet to the next. Any crack in the metal changes the current's signal and tips off inspectors to a potential problem.
The riveted joints that failed on Flight 812 were not extensively checked because they were thought not to be susceptible to fatigue, according to the NTSB. "What we saw with Flight 812 was a new and unknown issue," Mike Van de Ven, Southwest's executive vice president and chief operating officer, said in a press release.
Southwest, the largest U.S. domestic carrier with more than 3,400 flights daily, follows a business model that relies exclusively on Boeing 737 aircraft, which for the most part make frequent flights along heavily trafficked regional routes, although the airline has expanded to the Midwest and east coast in recent years. This approach, along with bare-bones service, saves Southwest money but also puts a lot of cycles on its airplanes.
Scientific American spoke with Snorri Gudmundsson, an assistant aerospace engineering professor at Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Fla., about what causes cracks such as those that may have led to the fuselage rupture, what Flight 812 passengers experienced when their airplane opened up, and how neural networks might be able to someday detect cracks before they become a problem. Prior to joining Embry–Riddle, Gudmundsson worked for 15 years as a flight test engineer, structural engineer and the chief aerodynamicist at Cirrus Aircraft in Duluth, Minn.
[An edited transcript of the interview follows.]
CONTINUED...PART ONE... Scientific American... What Causes an Airline Fuselage to Rupture... more-
- EthicalVegan
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Air Traffic Controller Asleep on Duty at Reagan National
Air Traffic Controller Asleep on Duty at Reagan National, NTSB Says
FAA Orders Control Tower Staffing Review, Suspends AWOL Controller
By MATT HOSFORD, JIM SCIUTTO and BRADLEY BLACKBURN
March 24, 2011
An air traffic controller at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport fell asleep on duty early Wednesday morning, leaving the control tower silent and forcing pilots of two commercial planes to land on their own, the National Transportation Safety Board said today.
The controller, who had 20 years of experience, including 17 at Reagan National, was suspended earlier Thursday by the Federal Aviation Administration while its investigation proceeds.
The NTSB report, which does not name the controller, said he had been working his fourth consecutive overnight shift, which runs from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., and that "human fatigue issues are one of the areas being investigated."
"I am determined to get to the bottom of this situation for the safety of the traveling public," FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt said in a statement announcing the controller's suspension.
"As a former airline pilot, I am personally outraged that this controller did not meet his responsibility to help land these two airplanes," he said. "Fortunately, at no point was either plane out of radar contact and our back-up system kicked in to ensure the safe landing of both airplanes."
Pilots of an American Airlines and United Airlines plane each said they had been in contact with regional air traffic controllers before being handed off to the Reagan National tower for approach and landing.
But as the planes radioed their requests to land in the nation's capital early Wednesday morning, all they heard was silence.
"American 1900, just so you're aware the tower is apparently not manned," a regional controller told the pilots of one plane, according to radio recordings obtained by ABC News. "So you can expect to go in as an uncontrolled airport."
The pilot executed an airport flyover -- routine aviation procedure -- before landing on his own without help from the ground.
Fifteen minutes later, United flight 628 from Chicago also was unable to contact the Reagan tower.
"The aircraft went in just as an uncontrolled airport," one regional controller said on the recording. "It's happened before though."
The United pilot also treated the airport as unmanned and landed safely.
Federal transportation officials are now conducting a comprehensive review air traffic controller staffing at airports across the country.
While Reagan National is staffed with multiple air traffic controllers during the day, the overnight shift is managed by just one controller because there are no departures overnight and few arrivals.
But midnight shifts at other major U.S. airports, including New York's John F. Kennedy and LaGuardia, Chicago O'Hare and Boston Logan, all have two controllers on duty.
Richmond, Va., and Andrews Air Force Base are two regional airports that only have one controller in the tower for the midnight shift.
"The reality is that we should probably never have just one controller at a major airport anytime, anywhere," said aviation expert John Nance. "But the fact that it's Washington, D.C., obviously accelerates the questions like this."
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood took the unusual step late Wednesday of immediately ordering a second air traffic controller at Reagan National Airport on the midnight shift.
"It is not acceptable to have just one controller in the tower managing air traffic in this critical air space," LaHood said in a statement. "I have also asked FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt to study staffing levels at other airports around the country."
One veteran air traffic controller contacted by ABC News said the incident would not have presented a danger to passengers, because pilots are trained to land without air traffic control. But he added that it was highly unusual.
"It's a big deal when two aircraft at Washington National Airport are not able to contact the tower," said Dick Marakovitz, a controller for 27 years. "That's a big deal."
American Airlines Flight 1012, a Boeing 737, had 91 passengers and six crew members on board. United Airlines Flight 628, an Airbus A320, had 63 passengers and five crew members.
Reagan National Airport serves some 18 million passengers a year.
ABC News' Devin Dwyer contributed to this report.Air Traffic Controller Asleep on Duty at Reagan National, NTSB Says FAA Orders... more-
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Mysterious Substance Falls From The Sky In NY | ForUsToBe
A mysterious greenish-yellow goo that fell from the sky has splattered homes in Snyder, N.Y., and triggered investigations by the FAA and the town's waste engineer.
http://www.4us2be.com/technology/mysterious-substance-falls-from-the-sky-in-ny/A mysterious greenish-yellow goo that fell from the sky has splattered homes in... more-
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U.S. Western States Facing "All-Day Onslaught" from Massive Winter Storm | Video
Western states facing 'all-day onslaught' from massive winter storm
By the CNN Wire Staff
December 19, 2010 1:04 p.m. EST
California's bleak weekend weather
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
* Up to 10 feet of snow is possible in the Sierra Nevadas
* Lower elevations will see up to 18 inches of rain
* Mudslides are a possibility in southern California
(CNN) -- A huge winter storm was affecting the West Coast on Sunday, poised to dump up to 10 feet of snow in some higher elevations, and causing flooding and potential mudslides in lower spots while impacting driving conditions and air travel, forecasters said.
A winter storm warning remained in effect through Monday afternoon for California's Sierra Nevada mountains, from Yosemite to Kings Canyon, according to the National Weather Service. "Storm totals of 5 to 10 feet above 7,000 feet are likely," the weather service said, and periods of heavy snow will continue through Monday. High winds are also forecast for the region.
"Travel into the high country of the southern Sierra Nevada may be difficult, if not impossible," according to forecasters.
"It's going to be an all-day onslaught," CNN meteorologist Reynolds Wolf said. Areas from Denver westward will see rain, he said.
At lower elevations, heavy rain was causing flash flooding in a number of locations. Flood advisories and watches were posted almost the entire length of California, from Redding to San Diego. Los Angeles had received 2 to 3 inches of rain as of about 2:30 a.m. Sunday, and "more significant rain" was on the way, forecasters said.
Flooding in the San Joaquin valley, which includes Fresno and Sacramento, is a "firm possibility," Wolf said. Footage from Sacramento showed drivers creeping through water on roadways.
And with the heavy rain comes the threat of mudslides, especially in areas near Los Angeles affected by this year's wildfires, where there is no vegetation to hold the soil in place, Wolf said. The soil becomes saturated, and gravity pulls it downward.
"Some minor debris and rock slides have already been reported early this morning," said a Southern California flood advisory issued by the National Weather Service, "and this threat will likely continue through this morning." The threat could also be delayed, meaning it will not abate when the rains stop and could occur later, Wolf said.
The storm -- actually a series of storms -- were triggered by "deep persistent moisture" originating from the subtropical Pacific and surging northeastward, CNN meteorologist Sean Morris said. The phenomenon is often called the "Pineapple Express," he said, because the moisture originates near the Hawaiian islands.
The series will affect the region through Wednesday, with the strongest portions yet to come, Morris said Saturday. Rainfall amounts could reach 10 to 12 inches in some spots and 18 inches in isolated areas, he said.
The storms could be the strongest to hit southern California since January 2005, he said, when up to 32 inches of rain came in a five-day period.
On Saturday, there were more than 260 freeway crashes in Los Angeles County and unincorporated areas because of the rain, said California Highway Patrol Officer Ed Jacobs. That is compared with 48 last Saturday, when it was not raining, he said.
Most of the crashes were "minor fender-benders," he said, but two people died in a crash in Santa Clarita. "We think the driver was just going too fast in that case," he said.
About 5,000 customers lost power in southern California, said Steve Conroy of Southern California Edison, but he noted that is a small percentage of the company's 5.4 million customers.
The biggest problem the company faced Saturday was drivers traveling too fast and sliding into poles, causing some service interruptions, Conroy said. The company serves some of the mountain areas and has crews in place there, he said. "Overall, we're in good shape."
About 2,100 customers lost power early Sunday in the Highland Park area of Los Angeles, but power had been restored as of about 6:30 Sunday morning, said Maychelle Yee, spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. The outages were probably weather-related, she said.
Further north, high winds affected Seattle, downing trees and power lines, and knocking out power to about 100,000 people. Most of those had been restored as of Sunday. Footage from Spokane, Washington, showed drivers crashing as they slid down a snowy hill.
Besides the potential for road closures, air travel could be affected in cities including San Francisco; Los Angeles; Seattle; Portland, Oregon; and Salt Lake City, Wolf said. Those delays could have a ripple effect elsewhere as a busy holiday travel week approaches.
As of 8:20 a.m., the only delay posted on the Federal Aviation Administration's website was in San Francisco, where arriving flights were experiencing a delay of more than an hour.
CNN's Nick Valencia contributed to this report.
http://www.cnn.com/video/weather/2010/12/19/wolf.calif.winter.cnn.640x360.jpgWestern states facing 'all-day onslaught' from massive winter storm By the... more-
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How To Fly Without ID
It's Easy If You Know How!
In the last two years, everyone flying on a commercial airline has stepped up to an airline's ticket counter and heard the agent recite a familiar litany. The monologue goes, "has your bag been unattended; have you accepted gifts from a stranger; can I see your identification please?" The traveler docilely murmurs answers, and produces a driver's license or some equivalent.
As a die-hard Constitutionalist, I believe that we still have an absolute, unfettered, God-given right to travel from point A to point B without permission from the state -- in the air, as well as on land. This Nazi procedure of "your papers, please" has never been appropriate for our country. I have had occasion to travel a good deal in the last several months, and on those trips I decided to research and test this issue about the necessity for producing identification. I have talked with agents, and their supervisors, of several major airlines in cities across America, and have gradually pieced together a rather complete picture of the real legal situation regarding our right to travel.
Next, I tested this finding with several airlines. When asked for identification, I produced only my Sam's Club card, or my travel agent's ID card, or a Costco card. These are all picture ID's, but they are privately issued, and do not even have a signature on them. The airline agents just freaked out, and demanded to see some state-issued ID. They routinely told me that "it was federal law!" The government absolutely required me to cough up an "official" ID card, without which the agent couldn't even THINK of letting me on the plane.
I told the agents that I could not find any federal regulation mandating that type of identification, and then asked them to cure my ignorance and please cite the regulation. Now, at this point, individual airline agents have reacted differently. Some called in their supervisor. Alaska Air employees were the most gracious; Northwest agents were the worst -- they were rude, belligerent and hostile brats. But they all folded, every time. A particularly nasty Northwest employee marched me all the way back to the electronic detection equipment, made me pass through it a second time, and had the guard thoroughly search my carry-on bag. The same airline agent-from-hell actually made rude and demeaning remarks to me as we trudged back to the counter -- and then she let me on the plane.
Alaska Air was much more reasonable -- the agent just issued my seat pass, and commented that some people seem tenaciously to hold the thought that they have the right to travel without producing government ID -- to which I responded, "yes, amazing, isn't it -- and I'm one of them." In Seattle, an agent said AS HE HANDED ME MY TICKET, "you know, if you don't show me any government-issued ID, I can't let you board the plane." I replied, Yes, I understand. But I didn't, and you are. With a smile, he just said, "have a nice trip." So I have flown several times using only my meager privately issued picture ID cards.
Every time I used this strategy, I noticed that the agent put an orange sticker on my checked bags, and also on my seat pass on the ticket. Several agents divulged that this is the policy they are supposed to follow when a person does not show government ID. The bags simply wait in the baggage room until the person presents the matching seat pass as he/she actually boards the plane; then the bags go on board.
On my next trip, I decided to push the envelope even further. When the Alaska Air agent made the usual perfunctory request for identification, I put on my best face, smiled sweetly, and said, "Gee, I'm so sorry, but I just don't have any ID I could show you." To my speechless astonishment, the agent just said, "no problem -- just fill out this simple form, and present it to the counter at the airplane gate." I watched as the familiar orange sticker again went on my bag. I repeated the same scenario with Horizon Air on another trip. I have now flown twice without producing any identification whatsoever.
Northwest was actually instrumental in advancing my education about this issue. I was so aggravated by the insolent and hostile treatment that their employee gave me, (hopefully former employee, after the blistering letter I sent to the company president), that I demanded to see a supervisor on the spot. I then demanded that he produce the relevant federal regulations RIGHT NOW, or face personal liability for authorizing an unreasonable search and seizure, dereliction of duty, fraud, conspiracy, civil rights deprivation and any other legal buzz words I could think of at that moment which would justify a lawsuit against him personally, as well as his employer. Like everyone else, he couldn't show me any statute or regulations. He even admitted that there are none.
However, he did produce a copy of Security Directive 96-05, which the Federal Aviation Agency issued to all airlines in August of 1996. Its wording is very instructive; it reads as follows:
1. IDENTIFY THE PASSENGER -
A. ALL PASSENGERS WHO APPEAR TO BE 18 YEARS OF AGE WILL PRESENT A GOVERNMENT ISSUED PICTURE ID, OR TWO OTHER FORMS OF ID, AT LEAST ONE OF WHICH MUST BE ISSUED BY A GOVERNMENT AUTHORITY.
B. THE AGENT MUST RECONCILE THE NAME ON THE ID AND THE NAME ON THE TICKET -- EXCEPT AS NOTED BELOW.
C. IF THE PASSENGER CANNOT PRODUCE IDENTIFICATION, OR IT CANNOT BE RECONCILED TO MATCH THE TICKET, THE PASSENGER BECOMES A "SELECTEE." CLEAR ALL OF THEIR LUGGAGE AS NOTED IN SECTION 6, BELOW.
6. CLEAR SELECTEE'S CHECKED AND CARRY-ON LUGGAGE, AND SUSPICIOUS ARTICLES DISCOVERED BY THE QUESTIONS ASKED;
A. IF THE SELECTEE IS ON A FLIGHT WITHIN THE 48 CONTINENTAL US STATES, OR TO MEXICO, OR TO CANADA, ITEMS CAN BE CLEARED BY EITHER OF THE FOLLOWING METHODS:
1. EMPTY THE LUGGAGE OR ITEM AND PHYSICALLY SEARCH ITS CONTENTS BY A QUALIFIED SCREENER, OR;
2. BAG-MATCH -- ENSURE THE BAG IS NOT TRANSPORTED ON THE AIRCRAFT IF THE PASSENGER DOES NOT BOARD.
B. IF THE SELECTEE IS ON AN INTERNATIONAL FLIGHT -- CHECKED LUGGAGE, CARRY-ON LUGGAGE, AND SUSPECT ITEMS CAN BE CLEARED ONLY BY THE FOLLOWING METHOD; EMPTY THE LUGGAGE OR ITEM AND PHYSICALLY SEARCH ITS CONTENTS BY QUALIFIED SCREENERS.
This document apparently goes on for ten more pages; the Northwest supervisor gave me only the first page, which contains the information printed above.
The next time I refused to produce ID and the agent freaked, I told her, "just tap up Sec-Dec 96-5 on your computer, and go to Paragraph 1, Section C. Designate me as a 'selectee,' and proceed accordingly. She apparently thought I was an FAA undercover employee, because she said that she was "tired of you federal guys coming around" and literally spying on airline agents, "coercing us into lying to people, and essentially being the 'bag man' for an activity which has no legal requirement." I told her that I could not agree more.It's Easy If You Know How! In the last two years, everyone flying on a... more-
- Darevalo
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China Fired Missile Seen In SoCal: Wayne Madsen
China flexed its military muscle Monday evening in the skies west of Los Angeles when a Chinese Navy Jin class ballistic missile nuclear submarine, deployed secretly from its underground home base on the south coast of Hainan island, launched an intercontinental ballistic missile from international waters off the southern California coast. WMR’s intelligence sources in Asia, including Japan, say the belief by the military commands in Asia and the intelligence services is that the Chinese decided to demonstrate to the United States its capabilities on the eve of the G-20 Summit in Seoul and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Tokyo, where President Obama is scheduled to attend during his ten-day trip to Asia.
The reported Chinese missile test off Los Angeles came as a double blow to Obama. The day after the missile firing, China’s leading credit rating agency, Dagong Global Credit Rating, downgraded sovereign debt rating of the United States to A-plus from AA. The missile demonstration coupled with the downgrading of the United States financial grade represents a military and financial show of force by Beijing to Washington.
The Pentagon spin machine, backed by the media reporters who regularly cover the Defense Department, as well as officials of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), and the U.S. Northern Command, is now spinning various conspiracy theories, including describing the missile plume videotaped by KCBS news helicopter cameraman Gil Leyvas at around 5:00 pm Pacific Standard Time, during the height of evening rush hour, as the condensation trail from a jet aircraft. Other Pentagon-inspired cover stories are that the missile was actually an amateur rocket or an optical illusion.
more at link...
Wayne Madsen=Real JournalistChina flexed its military muscle Monday evening in the skies west of Los Angeles when... more-
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Two Men Arrested at Amsterdam's Schiphol International Airport | May Have Been on a Test Run with Electronic Devices Attached to Bottles | Video | Photos
Source: 2 arrested at airport may have been on test run
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/08/30/netherlands.airport.arrests/index.html?hpt=T1
Dutch arrests may have been dry run, U.S. source says
By the CNN Wire Staff
August 30, 2010 10:20 p.m. EDT
The arrestees had flown from the U.S. to the Netherlands, but luggage from one was on a different plane, an official said.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
* NEW: Men in custody may have been testing security
* NEW: The items included bottles with phones or watches attached
* Arrests follow Chicago-to-Amsterdam flight
* Dutch investigators keep lid on details
(CNN) -- Two men held in the Netherlands may have been trying to test U.S. airport security by putting bottles with electronic devices attached in checked baggage, a U.S. law enforcement source said Monday.
The men were taken into custody after landing in Amsterdam on a flight from Chicago, Illinois, Dutch prosecutors said. Both men were being held at Amsterdam's Schiphol International Airport at the request of Dutch national police, airport spokesman Robert Kapel said.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said they were arrested after "suspicious items" in their luggage raised concern.
"The items were not deemed to be dangerous in and of themselves, and as we share information with our international partners, Dutch authorities were notified of the suspicious items," the U.S. agency said. "This matter continues to be under investigation."
Those items were an empty shampoo bottle with watches attached to it and an empty bottle of a stomach medicine with mobile phones attached, according to the U.S. law enforcement source, who has been briefed on the investigation. That has raised concern that the men may have been testing a future terrorist plot, the source said.
Attempts to sneak liquid explosives aboard jetliners were at the heart of a 2006 plot broken up by British authorities. That case led U.S. authorities to ban all but small quantities of liquids from aircraft cabins.
U.S. law enforcement officials told CNN that the checked bags contained knives and box cutters as well. Passengers have been banned from carrying those items on aircraft since the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington.
The source identified the men aboard United Airlines Flight 908, from Chicago, Illinois, to Amsterdam, as Ahmed Mohamed Nasser al-Soofi and Hezem al-Murisi. Al-Soofi began his trip by boarding a flight in Birmingham, Alabama, and al-Murisi originally flew from Memphis, Tennessee, the law enforcement source said.
Another U.S. law enforcement official said both men were in the United States legally, but their countries of origin were not immediately known. That official said neither of the passengers were carrying items that are barred from aircraft, and federal air marshals were aboard the Chicago-to-Amsterdam flight.
However, the law enforcement source said al-Soofi was ticketed for a flight that went to Washington's Dulles International Airport, with continuing stops in Dubai and Yemen, while both he and al-Murisi were aboard the Chicago-to-Amsterdam flight. Al-Soofi's luggage went aboard the Chicago-to-Washington flight without him, the source said, in what amounted to another violation of U.S. safety protocols.
A U.S. government official said items in at least one of the bags were being examined by law enforcement authorities at Dulles on Monday night.
The official said al-Soofi and al-Murisi were seated near each other on the Chicago-to-Amsterdam flight, but were not seated next to each other. Authorities are still looking into whether the men were traveling together or simply had similar itineraries, the official said.
CNN's Nic Robertson, Jeanne Meserve, Mike Ahlers and Susan Candiotti contributed to this report.Source: 2 arrested at airport may have been on test run... more-
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Exploding storms over Kansas likely cause of severe flight turbulence that resulted in injuries
A flight carrying 255 passengers and 10 crew members from the Dulles International Airport near Washington, D.C. to Los Angeles was diverted to Denver after encountering severe turbulence over Kansas Tuesday night that resulted in numerous injuries.A flight carrying 255 passengers and 10 crew members from the Dulles International... more-
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