Paying Attention To Hotel Fire Safety

Over the years, I’ve had to evacuate a hotel because of fire alarms at least three times that I can remember. None of those incidents involved a serious fire — the causes were along the lines of overheated coffeemakers —  but it might have made me think.

It didn’t, really. My fire safety precautions have consisted only of locating the stairways when I stay on a high floor and always having a small flashlight in my luggage.  I’ve never tried to find out when choosing or checking into a hotel whether it has sprinklers in the guest rooms. But after reading a recent Associated Press story on the subject, I’m going to pay a lot more attention to that detail.

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On Exit Rows, Fees And Discrimination

Continental Airlines started charging passengers for exit row seats last month, an idea I hated even before a recent case in Britain  illuminated the conflicts that arise when an airline confuses a safety feature with a revenue source.

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Lessons From AA Runway Overrun

The Associated Press has a  photo gallery with pictures of the severely damaged American Airlines A330 that ran off the end of a runway at Kingston, Jamaica, last night. It’s a wonder that everyone survived. 

When I first heard about this, it sounded like a rough landing. When I saw the pictures, it looked like a crash. According to one passenger, “it was like being in a car accident.”

This illustrates again why passengers need to wear seat belts and be aware of evacuation procedures. Stop worrying about what to do if your plane falls out of the sky because there wouldn’t be much you could do. Instead, start figuring out what you do in case of severe turbulence and hard landings, survivable events where you need to keep your seat belt on and your wits about you.

Deja Vu Over The Atlantic

An Air France A330-200 flying from Rio de Janeiro to Paris encountered heavy turbulence over the Atlantic, about four hours after departure on Nov. 29. Sound familiar? 

The circumstances are nearly identical to those surrounding Air France Flight 447, which was lost on June 1, killing 228 people.

The Nov. 29 flight rode out moderate to heavy turbulence and proceeded safely to Paris, the Associated Press reports. French authorities are examining this case, hoping it will shed light on what happened to Flight 447.

Boredom And Lapses In The Cockpit

The story of the two Northwest pilots who flew over Minneapolis has caused a lot of talk about automation and boredom in the cockpit, and a lot of that talk is wrong, writes Patrick Smith in his Ask the Pilot column on Salon.com. Read it if you want to understand the issues at play.

Egregious Pilot Errors

I don’t know what I think about the pilots who flew past the Minneapolis airport . Except it’s not easy to be a pilot, and these ones are in a lot of trouble and somehow I just don’t feel like piling on.

Last week a Delta flight landed on a taxiway at Atlanta, and it now appears that the pilots were not entirely at fault. CNN reports that “approach lights and a ground-based instrument that helps pilots line up with the runway were off.”

Whether there’s any reasonable excuse in the Minneapolis case, which the pilots reportedly blamed on a heated discussion in the cockpit, remains to be seen. If not, they’ll lose their jobs. 

Maybe they should. But the fact is that pilots are human, and the little mistakes that you and I make when we miss an exit or take a wrong turn can end their careers — or their lives, and ours.

Oops! Jet Lands On Taxiway At Atlanta

A Delta Boeing 767 cleared to land at Atlanta with a medical emergency on board touched down on a taxiway Monday, the Atlanta-Journal Constitution reports.

The flight from Rio de Janeiro was cleared to land on runway 27R but landed instead on a parallel taxiway. There was no traffic on the taxiway, and the jet came to a stop safely.

The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating.

Engine Trouble Diverts Flight From Bradley

A turbo-prop flying 14 passengers from Bradley to Montreal diverted to Burlington, Vt., on Wednesday because of an oil leak in one engine, the Burlington Free Press reports.

The Beechcraft 1900D, flown by Air Georgian on a code-share with Air Canada, left Bradley at 4:42 p.m. and landed at Burlington at 5:29 p.m., according to FlightAware.com. A replacement aircraft finally brought the passengers to Montreal, landing at 11:08 p.m., according to the site.

That must have been pretty frustrating for the passengers because Montreal is a two-hour drive from Burlington.

AP: Problems With Airspeed Systems Widespread

The pitot tubes that measure air speed in Airbus A330 aircraft have malfunctioned more often than previously believed, the Associated Press reports. Problems with the tubes are believed to have contributed to the Air France crash into the Indian Ocean in June.

Dozens Injured By Severe Turbulence

A Continental 767 flying from Rio de Janeiro to Houston diverted to Miami this morning after it hit severe clear-air turbulence that injured 26 people, the Miami Herald reports. Fourteen people were taken to hospitals and four were in serious condition. All I can say is: buckle up, folks.