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Qantas' New Video Asks Olympians to 'Brace, Brace'

We told you about the newest safety video from Air New Zealand, and now we will pop over to Australia because Qantas is also sprucing up their in-flight intros. The airline's latest idea to creatively inform passengers how to buckle their seat belts doesn't use celebrity voices, but instead uses home grown Olympic athletes.

The Red Roo has enlisted famous Australian Olympic and Paralympic athletes to demonstrate brace positions and how to find an exit in the event of an emergency. Since the airline sponsors the entire team of runners, swimmers and other sports people, it make sense to highlight their accomplishments. All the athletes don the national green and gold uniform and, frankly, it clashes with the eyes a bit too much.

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Videos / Air New Zealand / Airline News / Airline Safety / Airline Safety Videos / New Zealand Travel / → All Tags

The Newest In-Flight Safety Video from Air New Zealand

When you think of Air New Zealand, you're supposed to think about a sleek white airplane winging its way over blue waters to very, very far down under. Alas, thanks to Air NZ's media efforts, you're now just as likely to picture Richard Simmons in a bedazzled tank top or blonde Playboy models pouting.

These would be a couple of the stars of their recent in-flight safety videos and commercials, and now there's two more to add to the mix: Ed O'Neill (Modern Family, Married with Children) and Melanie Lynskey (Two and a Half Men, Up in the Air), who lend their voices to the illustrated (!) safety video that's brand new for this season.

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Bad Ideas / Airline Safety / Lasers / FAA / LGA / Crimes / → All Tags

Aiming a Laser at an Airplane is Not Cool. In Fact, It's Dangerous.

In 2005 there were 283 US incidents in which pilots coming in for landings had lasers aimed at their eyes. By 2010 the number had risen to 2,836 incidents per year. By October of this year we had already had 2,795 reports, which means we're easily going to clear the 2010 figure.

Another six incidents were reported at LGA just last weekend. The laser strikes were done with the relatively new and significantly more powerful green-color lasers, which are extra-dangerous. The FAA, suffice it to say, has declared itself to be unamused.

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Bad Ideas / British Airways / PHX / LHR / Booze Travel / Alcohol Travel / In-Flight Cocktails / Drinking Travel / Airline Safety / → All Tags

Don't Be That Guy: Angry Drunk Threatens to Stab British Airways Pilot Mid-Flight

As a site that tracks the best in-flight cocktails on a monthly basis, we like to think that our credibility on booze travel is pretty good. While we do occasionally post the random teetotaling dispatch, on the whole you're more likely to find Jaunted posts with phases like "Avion Tequila" and "Eucalyptus Liquor". We are not uninclined toward mixing travel with fine spirits, is what we're saying.

That's why it's so frustrating to have to write about people like this douchebag, who got so drunk he threatened to stab a British Airways pilot with a shard of glass after flight attendants cut him off.

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Airline Safety / Airline News / Pilots / FAA / Flight Attendants / → All Tags

Pilots and Flight Attendants May Have to Study Harder to Pass FAA Tests

Uncle Sam is pretty good about ensuring that pilots have plenty of training before they’re allowed to fly us all around the globe. However, there’s really no such thing as too much training, so that’s why we’re glad the Federal Aviation Administration is thinking about adding even more tests, quizzes, and exams to the nation’s pilot training. It won’t just be for pilots either, as even the flight attendants are going to need to study hard to pass these new tougher tests.

Apparently the new changes are going to be the biggest update in like a couple of decades, as the FAA wants more flight crews to actually demonstrate their skills and abilities during potential issues and problems. That means a lot more time in the flight simulator for the pilots, as well as increased rides down the emergency exit slides for flight attendants.

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Airline News / Airlines / Southwest Airlines / Southwest / Airline Safety / Travel Hell / Boeing / 737 / → All Tags

The Latest on the Southwest Airlines Issues, Delays, and Cancellations

Alright, so in case you missed it over the weekend, a Southwest Airlines plane had to make an emergency landing at a military base in Yuma, Arizona due to a 3' hole in the airplane. The good news is that the pilots and flight attendants kept passengers calm and got everyone back on the ground safely, but the bad news is that this could actually even happen.

Following the incident, Southwest sent a portion of their fleet in for extensive checks, examining their fuselages for cracking. So far they’ve giving the go ahead for around 19 planes to join their friends back in the air and they’re still busy reviewing the rest of the planes to ensure that they’re good-to-go.

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Airport News / Airports / Air Traffic Control / Airline Safety / Pilots / → All Tags

Forget About Napping; Some Air Traffic Control Towers Are Totally Empty At Night

At this point you’ve probably heard all about the air traffic controller snoozing on the job while two planes tried to land at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. We’re thankful everyone is fine, and that the pilots for each airline were awesome in such a situation. We’re also pretty glad that we weren’t the ones that fell asleep—because heads are going to roll.

This might come as a surprise, but apparently some airports don’t even have air traffic controllers. We always thought that an air traffic control tower was filled with many workers—and for some reason, probably lots of cigarette smoke—but it’s not. Some airports just have a couple workers directing flights in and out of the airport, but after hours that isn’t always the case.

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Richard Simmons and Snoop Dogg: Coming to an Air New Zealand Flight Near You

If there is one video you watch today, please let it be this one. Introducing the newest in-flight safety video from Air New Zealand, a short film in its own right, which continues what's becoming a tradition of AirNZ viral videos.

Mashable went so far as to call it the "best in-flight safety video ever." It's great and got us bopping a bit in our seats, sure, but if you're a frequent AirNZ flyer, then we can imagine several Simmons' peppy workouts a week equals annoyance. It's not the best thing ever; their bodypaint in-flight safety vid really started them on this roll, so that should get some credit:

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Social Media / Airline Safety / Twitter / Facebook / Travel News / NTSB / → All Tags

The NTSB Launches a Blog About Employee's Feelings or...Something

Imagine that you're in charge of a government agency, and you've heard about this social media thing, and you figure you should get some of that too. So instead of reading our posts about how there are appropriate and inappropriate uses for new technology, and maybe rethinking your idea, you start a blog.

But there's a problem. Since you don't really have any use for a blog—again, you're just doing this because some consultant told you its best practices¡you aren't really sure what kind of content you're supposed to post. That would make you just like the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), which just launched their new Wordpress blog SafetyCompass on a free account.

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Airline Safety / Airline News / JetBlue / Airlines / FAA / New Routes / → All Tags

Better Flight Tracking and a New Caribbean Route In the Works at JetBlue

For quite some time there’s been talk about the Federal Aviation Administration—or since we know them so wel,l the FAA—starting up some kind of newfangled fancy pants way to track planes in and around the country. Well it seems that they’re slowly moving forward with some of these satellite based tracking plans, and JetBlue is going to be one of the first airlines to help them out.

As many as 35 of their Airbus A320 aircraft will be getting the new technology at some point in 2012, and this will allow air traffic controllers to pretty much see where the planes are all the time and in real time.

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Airline Safety / Delta / MSP / FAA / Airline News / Airports / Airport News / Winter Travel / → All Tags

Delta Plane Gets Lost in Snow, Ice Skates Off Runway

It was nothing as dramatic as that airplane that split into three parts in Colombia, but a Delta flight decided to challenge a blizzard at MSP last Friday, and the blizzard kind of won. The pilots landed in the thick snow, they got a little disoriented while taxiing, and the airplane ended up skidding off the runway, lurching sideways, and getting stuck in the grass.

What might have been a pretty dramatic incident a few years years ago subsequently ended with the airplane being towed to the gate, and everybody disembarking with no injuries.

We mention these incidents both because they're airline news and because we never tire of reminding people how safe and routine flying has become. American civil aviation continues to post simply ungodly safety numbers, while internationally 2009 was the second safest year ever.

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The FAA is Thinking about Cracking Down on Airplanes Past Their Prime

With all the bad news about brand new airplanes it might be a wise move to stick with flying some of the older, proven birds. That’s a good idea—as long as the planes aren’t too old—so that’s why the FAA has begun to look into planes that are past their prime. Concerned with things like metal fatigue and other old age issues the FAA is seeking to set some limits on a plane’s longevity.

In addition to their countless directives and other safety paperwork, the agency is now looking to create a specific number of take-offs and landings per airplane. They’re thinking that a specific amount of flight hours would limit the risk to passenger and crew safety, and once a plane hits that magic mark it would be taken out of service. However, it does sound like they’re leaving some loopholes open just in case an airline wants to request an extension—we’re looking at you Delta with some of those older than dirt DC-9s.

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