For a terrifying nine minute stretch last Thursday, all FAA air traffic control systems over the state of Hawaii went offline and radar scopes went black. Federal officials have said there were no close calls but, then again, who really knows? At least there were no crashes.
The cause of the mysterious computer blackout remains unknown, although a technician was working on the system right before it went down. Hawaii's airspace is relatively uncrowded but has enough regular comings and going to make even a mild outage like this a nail-biter.
Antiquated air traffic control systems are an epidemic in the US and get blamed for just about everything that makes commercial air travel miserable. The Congress has thus far refused to pony up for a much-needed new system, and the FAA is quarreling with airlines and private pilots about who will have to pay for what.
[Alex Salkever is the editor and founder of Hawaiirama.com, a Hawaii travel blog]
The past 24 hours have been filled with some pretty unhappy landings. Earlier this morning in Ormond Beach, Florida, a small passenger plane was forced to make an emergency landing on Interstate 95 after it inexplicably lost power. Southbound lanes on the highway had to be shut down to accommodate the plane just before noon.
And yesterday in Phoenix, a Southwest flight coming in from Austin, Texas caught fire on the runway at Sky Harbor Airport. All 127 passengers aboard the plane had to be evacuated after the back right landing gear burst into flames. A spokeswoman for Southwest said "another plane will be put into service as soon as possible." Good idea!
Sadly for all you pyros out there, this incident didn't result in any cool photos like the ones we saw after the infamous flaming JetBlue landing in 2005.
You probably already know to stick to bottled water when traveling in developing nations. But a recent outbreak of typhoid in the Philippines is really driving this home. Over 2,000 people in a city just 30 miles outside of Manila have become seriously ill, and it's a nasty bug.
According to the World Health Organization, typhoid symptoms include high fever, malaise, headache and rose-colored spots on the chest. Typhoid is a bacterial disease caused by ingesting food or drink contaminated by the feces or urine of infected people. So now you're wondering, how does that get into the water supply? Blame it on the weather, says a WHO official:
Flooding during the wet season and typhoons cause open sewerage drains to spill, enabling effluent to seep into wells and water pipes and spread diarrhea-causing diseases such as gastroenteritis and cholera.
Make sure to look out for tap water in its other, commonly-overlooked form: ice in your drink. Play it safe by brushing your teeth with bottled water as well. And if you want to be really cautious, you should just drink beer the entire trip.
Skiing might sound like an invigorating winter vacation pastime, but some think it's got a dangerous side. Judging by the photos in a Times report out of the UK over the weekend, it's true. They put together a special about ski breaks of a different sort: those in holidaymakers bones.
As well as showing a neat collection of x-rays, the newspaper drew on the info at a website called ski-injury.com, which collates data about ski accidents in Scotland. What worried us the most was that it's not those risk-taking advanced skiers that are most likely to break a bone--it's beginners.
For skiers, the most common damage to do to yourself is injuring a knee, with the head and shoulders also taking a beating. Snowboarders face different dangers, with 25 percent of their injuries being to wrists.
On an across-the-world basis, winter sport enthusiasts will be happy to hear that skiing and snowboarding are really relatively safe. A skier would have to ride for around 1,000 days--nearly three years non-stop--to guarantee an injury, and snowboarders--depending on whose stats you believe--can go 500 days between incidents. The good news is that whichever stats you manipulate, it sure ain't as dangerous as Mom said, so get out there and hit the slopes.
We know, we know. We're really supposed to pay attention to those pre-flight safety demos on planes. And honestly we usually do--though more out of sympathy for the FAs than interest in our own self-preservation. (True story: You'll fare better in a crash if you listen to the spiel.)
Even so, nobody else, it seems, tunes in when the crew is reminding you not to pull down on those red tabs before exiting the aircraft. Delta is making a new safety video to get passengers watching, and Virgin America came out with a witty animated clip awhile back. Still, is a fun video really gonna tear you away from those trashy celeb rags you bought at the airport newsstand?
So back in Rainman days, Dustin Hoffman might've said (more than once) that he wanted to fly the safe airline, Australia's national carrier Qantas, because "Qantas never crashed." But he'd probably be singing a different tune right now, with the Australian media snacking on Qantas's safety record for breakfast these days.
As if the prospect of offshore owners taking control of the "Flying Kangaroo" isn't enough to whip people into a frenzy, there's been the Ralph Fiennes incident and the hair-obsessed baggage handler. On top of that, a recent safety audit of the engineering support in Singapore found problems including control cables that hadn't been replaced when due, plus:
Screws had been left scattered on a wing and the plane had been damaged when a large spare part had been dropped from an overhead crane.
And then last week an Airbus flew from Manila to Sydney without any emergency oxygen, though fortunately there were no passengers on board: just the staff were at risk. Still think you wanna fly Qantas, Rainman?
It's a widely held guidebook opinion that Brazil can be a dodgy place to visit, although the Jaunted experience in Rio suggests sometimes the books' warnings can be over the top. Nonetheless, there's a disturbing new crime that's hit Rio this week: hair stealing.
On a Rio bus recently--and, without fearmongering, we don't recommend you ride those--a 22 year old Brazilian woman with hair down to her waist felt a strange tug. Then she realized that thieves had cut off her ponytail right at the top. They got away with masses of beautiful dark hair that could easily be sold--police suspect--to hairdressers or beauty salons who can charge hundreds of dollars to customers wanting hair extensions. You may not need to pack a gun in Rio, but it might not hurt to bring a hat.
Sorta-good news has arrived for business travelers and their militant anti-baggage checking brethren. The TSA ban on carry-on liquids has been relaxed. Guidelines are still strict, but at least you'll have something to work with. The new rules officially take effect today.
Here's what you need to know. "Most" liquids bought inside secure airport areas are OK. That means you can bring your own water onto your next long haul without bringing tape worm off of it. Toiletries are also OK so long as they are in 3-ounce portions, and so long as your total cache fits inside a clear 1-quart size plastic bag. That means Ziploc just became your new best friend.
The true test of our fabulous new liberties and how they might affect your travel experience will come shortly. As always, the mob at Flyertalk has got your back.
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by ASalkever
