A Tesla Model S P85 parked at twilight. Photo: Bernie Leighton | AirlineReporter.com
I am a proud owner of a Tesla Model S and I am sick of people asking me if my car has caught fire yet. It was not funny the first time, and it has not changed the roughly five thousand times I have heard the same quip since.
The car has recently run into some fire issues causing some wide-spread media attention. The first time it happened, a man was driving his Tesla Model S in Kent, WA, when he hit road debris at an unconfirmed high speed. The battery was punctured by the gigantic, pointy, piece of metal – but the car maintained integrity long enough for the driver to pull over before the stricken Tesla’s battery pack overheated and ignited.
Soon people started comparing the Boeing 787 Dreamliner fires to the Tesla’s, and I felt that things were getting out of control.
What viewers of The WestJet Channel might be watching – the ramp crew waves goodbye to a
departing WJ 737-700 at Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier International Airport. (YOW)
Earlier this month, WestJet Airlines launched a new way to connect with prospective customers, reaching TV viewers in the Canadian provinces of Ontario, New Brunswick, and Newfoundland.
The WestJet Channel is now available to approximately 2.2 million subscribers on Rogers Cable Channel 206. The 24/7 content includes video of WestJet’s vacation destinations, including Grand Cayman, Bermuda, Puerto Plata, Holguin, and St. Martin-St. Maarten. I wonder – will they have shots from Maho Beach of their 737s landing at SXM?
Tied in to the channel’s 13-week run, viewers will be able to enter three Twitter contests (#TweetTheBeach) for a chance to win a trip for two with WestJet. For Canadian AvGeeks, The WestJet Channel also includes coverage of the airline’s ramp operations.
There wasn’t a note in WJs press release to suggest that the ramp ops would be live, but we can hope. Watching ops at YYZ or YYC on a wintery January afternoon might be a perfect way to zone out in front of the TV for a couple of hours.
Outside the Boeing 737 factory in Renton, WA. The air frames of the 737 arrive via train. Photo: David Parker Brown
This summer I was excited to take a tour of Boeing’s 737 factory, located in Renton, Washington, with my colleague Chris Sloan over at Airchive.com. Over the past few months we have shared some pretty amazing stories and now I want to give you a photo tour of the facility and walk you through our adventure.
One of my favorite aspects of the facility is the parking lot – yes, that is right. Well, not the lot itself, but the fact that the Boeing 737 actually starts at Spirit AeroSystems in Wichita, KS and the fuselage is transported by train to Renton.
If you like planes and trains (which I do), nothing beats catching a glimpse of one of the 737 fuselages riding on a train to the Renton 737 factory before it is dropped off in the parking lot [this photos shows a bit better how close the plane is to cars].
My latest trip into the factory was my third visit, but the first where I was allowed to bring a camera. Unlike Paine Field, which offers public tours, the 737 factory is closed to the public. For last year’s Aviation Geek Fest, we were very lucky to bring our entire group through the factory – something that will not soon be forgotten.
This is the Boeing 737-500 (VQ-BBN) involved in the flight 363 crash. Image: Osdu / Flickr
Earlier today, a Tatarstan Airlines’ Boeing 737-500 (reg VQ-BBN) crashed in the city of Kazan, killing all on-board. Flight 363, which took off from Moscow’s Domodedovo International Airport (DME) and was heading to Kazan International Airport (KZN), had 44 passengers and six flight crew.
A Russia’s Investigative Committee said in a release that the plane, “hit the runway and burst into flames.” The aircraft aborted one landing attempt and then crashed during the second. At this time, it is unknown what caused the crash and why the first landing attempt was aborted.
Just-launched Boeing 777-8X & 777-9X, ordered in record numbers at the Dubai Airshow – Image: Boeing
The first day of the 2013 Dubai Airshow kicked off with a bang. As we slept, Boeing racked up 225 new orders for their newly-launched 777X program. With the existing 34 orders from Lufthansa, the official launch of the plane comes with huge order support from customers. “We are proud to partner with each of these esteemed airlines to launch the 777X ’“ the largest and most-efficient twin-engine jetliner in the world,” said Boeing Commercial Airplanes President and CEO Ray Conner. “Its ground-breaking engine technologies and all-new composite wing will deliver unsurpassed value and growth potential to our customers.”
Night-time rendering of Boeing 777-9X – Image: Boeing
The 777X program wasn’t the only Day One winner for Boeing, however. Etihad also booked orders for 30 787-10s, which brings their total Dreamliner orders up to 71 – making them the largest airline customer for the 787 and pushing the program over 1,000 orders. Mideast short-haul carrier flydubai also made an order for 100 Boeing 737 MAX8 birds.
