Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to Nairobi, Kenya, crashed shortly after takeoff on Sunday morning. The airline’s CEO has confirmed there are no survivors from the crash, which took place minutes after takeoff from Addis Ababa. The airline announced there were 149 passengers and 8 crew members on board. The passengers were of 35 different nationalities, including… Read more »
Twenty years have passed since a DC-9 operated by budget carrier ValuJet crashed into the Florida Everglades, taking the lives of 110 people. After months of investigation, the NTSB determined that an illegal shipment of uncapped oxygen generators (secured only by duct tape) fueled a cargo fire which included tires and other ValuJet company materials, and brought down the Atlanta-bound airliner shortly after takeoff from Miami International Airport on May 11, 1996. The NTSB never determined the ignition source that started the fire.
What took so long is an issue for another day, but the FAA has finally acted to keep electronic cigarettes and lithium ion batteries out of checked baggage. Why? No, it’s not because Americans will pack airplanes by the millions this Thanksgiving. It’s because e-cigs can catch fire.
Lasers are actually an old, but an alarmingly increasing, problem, particularly as the price of very powerful lasers has dropped to as low as $20 and they are readily available online and anonymously.
