Yemen jet crashes in Indian Ocean

A Yemeni airliner with 150 people on board has crashed in the Indian Ocean near the Comoros archipelago.

"We don't know if there are any survivors," Comoros vice-president Idi Nadhoim told Reuters news agency.

The Airbus 310 was operated by the Yemeni state carrier Yemenia Air. The details of the flight are not known.

How to make Ocean flying safer after the AF 447 accident

Martin Varsavsky posted this interesting article on his blog:

It is unacceptable to go on sending planes over the ocean without position trackers, real time weather information, ground based support and no satellite phones. It is wrong that in emergency situations pilots can only communicate with, say, Cape Verde control and not with their own airline, or even plane makers such as Boeing or Airbus. It is absurd that we don’t know where planes are when they fly over the ocean and even when they are on the ground we only know it within a few miles range but not exactly where they are because radars are so inaccurate.

Aircraft in transoceanic flights should send location, heading, speed and other relevant data by satellite; automatically and every few seconds. They should be capable of downloading real time weather data to increase the efficiency and safety of flights and pilot autonomy. Weather radar is a very primitive way to fly, especially without ground support. Weather radars from the plane should be contrasted with satellite info received in the aircraft. There should also be a secondary means for voice communication, also by satellite to be able to quickly contact an airliner crossing the ocean. Furthermore, making these flights safer should impact insurance costs, and increases in operational efficiency would lower fuel consumption.

In this post I present a few possible solutions to these problems. Of course, this is only one of many series of measures that can be taken to make these flights safer.

Photo: Relatives of passengers on Air France flight 447 at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris.

Air France tail section recovered

A Brazilian search team recovers debris from the Air France plane that crashed over the Atlantic. [Read ultra-frequent flyer Tyler Brule's reaction to the crash on his latest column here. Salon just posted a theory report here].

Flying Is Safer Than Ever

With the presumed crash of Air France Flight 447 over the Atlantic Ocean on Sunday and other recent airplane incidents, nerves might be set off at the prospect and risks of air travel.

But flying on a large commercial aircraft still remains one of the safest forms of transportation, and statistics suggest it has gotten even safer in recent years. There were 0.2 fatal accidents per 1 million departures in the United States in 2008, compared to 1.4 per 1 million departures in 1989, for example, and a review of the statistics in intervening years shows an improving trend overall.

Virgin America First Airline to Offer Fleetwide WiFi

Airline First to Offer In-Flight Internet on Every Flight; Hosts First Air-to-Ground Skype Broadcast on The Oprah Winfrey Show

San Francisco – May 20, 2009 – Virgin America, the California-based carrier, announced that as of today it is the first and only airline to offer Gogo® In-flight Internet service on every flight. As of today, guests on any of Virgin America’s 100 daily flights have the option to surf the Web, check e-mail, or log on to their corporate VPN – all from the comfort of their seats at 37,000 feet. Virgin America marks this in-flight WiFi milestone with another first for an airline: an air-to-ground Skype video call with Oprah Winfrey which will air this Thursday, May 21 on The Oprah Winfrey Show (check local listings).

“As a new airline, Virgin America is reinventing the typical domestic air travel experience with award-winning service and brand new, beautifully designed planes equipped with the latest technology and entertainment. With power outlets at every Virgin America seat, Gogo® has now turned our planes into WiFi hotspots and home offices in the air,” said Porter Gale, Vice President of Marketing for Virgin America. “Hosting a chat from a plane at 37,000 feet to Oprah Winfrey in her studio is a fun example of how Virgin America is embracing technology and meeting the needs of consumers who want to stay connected.”

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New Star Alliance lounge in Paris

40th anniversary of the jumbo jet

On 9 February 1969, the Boeing 747-100, or jumbo jet, took to the skies for the first time. Forty years later, after countless flights and passengers ranging from George Bush and Barack Obama to the pope and the Spice Girls, the latest addition to the family, the 747-8, is rolling off the production line.