Tag Archives: Aviation/Space

Flytenow Shuts Down After Court Rules Against Flightsharing Startups

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“Airplane ridesharing startup Flytenow today announced that it is shutting down after a court recently upheld the FAA’s power to regulate what does (and does not) constitute a commercial aviation operation.  This is pretty much the end of the road for services like Flytenow. Ridesharing startups like Uber were able to muscle their way into virtually every city, even when local regulations didn’t always allow them to operate there. Unsurprisingly, the FAA wasn’t going to just let this one go. Even though the Flytenow team says it plans to look into ways to appeal this decision, it seems rather unlikely that the FAA’s rules around flightsharing will get disrupted anytime soon.”

http://techcrunch.com/2015/12/22/flytenow-shuts-down-after-court-rules-against-flightsharing-startups/

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Drone owners must register with FAA, starting December 21

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“The Federal Aviation Administration said Monday that US residents must register hobbyist drones by February 19 at its drone registration website. Registration opens December 21 and is free through January 20, the agency said. After that, the FAA will charge $5 for registration.  Accepting the guidance of an advisory panel, the FAA said registration is required for any hobbyist drone weighing between 0.55 pounds and 55 pounds. That weight limit includes even relatively small drones like the $549 Parrot Bebop 2, not just the serious $1,000 hobby-oriented models from companies like DJI. The FAA’s registration rule (PDF) applies only to hobbyist drones.”

http://www.cnet.com/news/faa-to-open-drone-registration-on-december-21/

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Failed Windows 3.1 system blamed for shutting down Paris airport

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“Paris Orly airport had to close temporarily last Saturday after the failure of a system running Windows 3.1—yes, the operating system from 1992—left it unable to operate in fog.  This use of ancient systems is apparently not unusual. Vice quotes Alexandre Fiacre, the secretary general of France’s UNSA-IESSA air traffic controller union, as saying that ‘The tools used by Aéroports de Paris controllers run on four different operating systems, that are all between 10 and 20 years old,’ with Windows 3.1 being joined by Windows XP and unspecified UNIX systems. Fiacre says that the systems are poorly maintained as well.”

http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2015/11/failed-windows-3-1-system-blamed-for-taking-out-paris-airport/

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Airbus patents plane that could fly from Paris to Tokyo in three hours

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“Airbus has won a patent for a hypersonic passenger plane, but Concorde’s hydrogen-powered successor is unlikely to leave the drawing board any time soon.  The proposed aeroplane would cut the journey time from Paris to Tokyo from 12 to under three hours. The idea, first published in 2011, is to use three different kinds of engine power to jump above the atmosphere while still using regular runways for takeoff. It has now won approval from the US Patent Office.  The concept comes as commercial space companies such as Virgin Galactic pursue plans for low-level space flights. Airbus’s proposed plane has ‘gothic delta wings’ that echo the elegant curves of Concorde.”

http://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/aug/05/airbus-patents-hypersonic-plane-paris-tokyo-three-hours

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Student changes name by deed poll to avoid £220 Ryanair admin fee

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“A student has changed his name by deed poll because it was cheaper than paying a ‘ridiculous’ Ryanair charge for a booking error.  Adam Armstrong, 19, was presented with a £220 administration fee after his girlfriend’s stepfather mistakenly reserved a seat to Ibiza for him with the budget airline under the surname of West. Armstrong, who is studying for a foundation degree in digital marketing at Leeds City College, changed his name to West for free and drove to Liverpool to rush through a new passport for £103.  Several airlines charge more than £100 to make minor changes to bookings as highlighted by the Guardian in the past.”

http://www.theguardian.com/money/2015/jun/05/student-changes-name-by-deed-poll-to-avoid-220-ryanair-admin-fee

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FBI behind mysterious surveillance aircraft over US cities

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“For decades, the planes have provided support to FBI surveillance operations on the ground. But now the aircraft are equipped with high-tech cameras, and in rare circumstances, technology capable of tracking thousands of cellphones, raising questions about how these surveillance flights affect Americans’ privacy.  The surveillance equipment is used for ongoing investigations, the FBI says, generally without a judge’s approval.  The FBI confirmed for the first time the wide-scale use of the aircraft, which the AP traced to at least 13 fake companies, such as FVX Research, KQM Aviation, NBR Aviation and PXW Services.”

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/4b3f220e33b64123a3909c60845da045/fbi-behind-mysterious-surveillance-aircraft-over-us-cities

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Airbus confirms software configuration error caused plane crash

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“An executive of Airbus Group has confirmed that the crash of an Airbus A400M military transport was caused by a faulty software configuration. Marwan Lahoud, chief marketing and strategy officer for Airbus, told the German newspaper Handelsblatt on Friday that there was a ‘quality issue in the final assembly’ of the components of the aircraft engine.  As Ars reported on May 19, Airbus had issued a warning to its military customers about a potential software problem in the engine control software for the A400M. The release of the exact cause of the crash, however, had been delayed because a Spanish magistrate placed the flight data recorders from the aircraft under seal.”

http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2015/06/airbus-confirms-software-configuration-error-caused-plane-crash/

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TSA Overlooks 95% of Weapons In Security Checkpoint Tests

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“An internal investigation of the Transportation Security Administration revealed security failures at dozens of the nation’s busiest airports, where undercover investigators were able to smuggle mock explosives or banned weapons through checkpoints in 95 percent of trials, ABC News has learned.  The series of tests were conducted by Homeland Security Red Teams who pose as passengers, setting out to beat the system.”

https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2015/06/tsa_not_detecti.html

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Did a hacker really make a plane go sideways?

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“Roberts pointed to weaknesses in the security of systems on board the Boeing 737 he was flying on, including exploitable holes in the in-flight entertainment and avionics systems. Shortly after his arrival in Syracuse, N.Y., Roberts was escorted from a United flight and questioned for more than two hours by local FBI agents.  Computer equipment in his possession, including an Apple MacBook and iPad and portable storage devices, were seized by the FBI for forensic analysis, prompting the request for a search warrant.  For Roberts, the question is why the FBI is suddenly focused on years-old research that has long been part of the public record.”

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Passcode/2015/0518/Did-a-hacker-really-make-a-plane-go-sideways

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Despite fever, CDC cleared Ebola-infected nurse for airline flight

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“A federal health official says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cleared a nurse who has Ebola to fly from Cleveland, Ohio, to Dallas.  CDC spokesman David Daigle says now-infected Amber Joy Vinson spoke with the CDC official responsible for monitoring her health before she boarded the flight Monday.  CBS News reported that Vinson called the CDC several times before flying, saying that she did have a fever with a temperature of 99.5 degrees.  One health official told CBS News that ‘somebody dropped the ball.’  Vinson is the second Dallas nurse to become infected after treating a Liberian man who died of Ebola last week.”

http://www.wbtw.com/story/26799067/cdc-cleared-now-ebola-infected-nurse-for-air-travel-with-a-fever

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