EVERETT, Wash. – Officials say emergency crews have rescued a worker who was temporarily trapped beneath the tires of a Boeing 787 jetliner at an Everett, Wash., airfield.

via Worker Trapped Under Boeing 787 Tires Is Rescued.

Yikes. Best wishes.

via Drudge.

Dear AA,

I appreciate all the good to great service over the years, so this is why, in the spirit of improving our relationship, I offer this constructive criticism:

For those unfamiliar with DFW, the gates are always related to the terminal. So the terminal being B and the gate starting with D, that’s a disconnect.

I figured it out, but only after asking a terminal B curbside bag fellow which was real, and the answer was that the Terminal B was incorrect, it was supposed to be D.

No harm, no foul. A learning experience. From a friend.

My brother (the Aerospace Genius) is branching out into race engineering consulting.

Think Fast Engineering is his effort, and if you want to go fast, you’re looking for the right fellow. (If you are rolling your eyes in a ‘what’s he done’ mode, have a look at his ‘about page‘, and then pick your jaw up from your chest).

I’m biased, but aside from my Dad he’s the best engineering brain I know. (Dad’s not for hire).

“Speed is money: how fast do you want to go?”

Thank you for your service, Sir. Does anyone know his rank at retirement? I read 5 articles about this and none said. Per @petulantskeptic on Twitter, he retired a Captain (O-6).

CNN — Mark Kelly, the astronaut and husband of U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, formally retired from the Navy on Saturday.Kelly, 47, is a former Navy combat and test pilot who went on to command Space Shuttle flights in 2008 and again in May, several months after his wife, U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, was wounded in a shooting at a constituent event in Tucson, Arizona. He also flew as part of Shuttle crews in 2001 and 2006.

via Mark Kelly, husband of Rep. Giffords, retires from Navy – CNN.com.

Trim tab.

Today the National Transportation Safety Board released its first report on the Reno Air Race crash that killed P-51 pilot Jimmy Leeward and 10 others. We did our own digging, talking to racers and crew members with years of experience at Reno about what went wrong. A small flap’s failure probably caused this deadly crash—but the accident could have been much worse.

via What Went Wrong at the Reno Air Races – P-51 Crash – Popular Mechanics.

Backgrounder on trim tabs here.

Super. Cool.

WASHINGTON WLS – A spacecraft circling the moon has snapped the sharpest photos ever of the tracks and trash left behind by Apollo astronauts in their visits from 1969 to 1972.Images taken by NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter from 13 to 15 miles up show the astronauts’ paths when they walked on the moon, as well as ruts left by a moon buggy. Experts could even identify the backpacks astronauts pitched out of their lunar landers before they returned to Earth.

via WLS 890AM.

There are nicely annotated ‘side by side’ shots, labeling what the objects are as seen during the lunar exploration (from the moon view) and their new overhead view.

Looking froward to the Google Earth version from the little car with the cameras on top.

What talent looks, er, sounds like.

What started as a half-hour jam session for airmen working the night shift in Afghanistan has landed a staff sergeant an audition for the reality show “The Voice.”

Staff Sgt. Angie Johnson has YouTube to thank for all the attention.

Johnson is part of Air Forces Central Command’s band Sidewinder. The band performed a quick acoustic set — without microphones or sound equipment — for 8th Expeditionary Air Mobility Squadron airmen Aug. 8.

The next day, fans posted a video of Johnson belting out Adele’s hit “Rolling in the Deep.” By Aug. 18, the video had logged 900,000 views.

via Staff sgt. offered TV tryout after viral video – Air Force News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq – Air Force Times.

Enjoy:

HolyCoast.com: Discovery Launch As Seen From a Passing Airliner.

Very cool.  The Captain’s overhead announcement is amusing.

This weekend, Dr. Jeremy Hampton, an aviation enthusiast and amateur photographer who is also an emergency medicine specialist at Kansas City’s Truman Medical Center and assistant professor at the University of Missouri – Kansas City School of Pharmacy, will be Boeing’s (NYSE: BA) guest at the debut of the newest 747 passenger plane, the 747-8 Intercontinental.

via Boeing Providing Facebook Fan With the ‘Opportunity of a Lifetime’ — CHICAGO, Feb. 9, 2011 /PRNewswire/ –.

Pretty cool, and smart of Boeing to reward those who advertise for them for free!

Just the facts, ma’am.

CNN — Qantas, Australia’s national airline, grounded its Airbus A380 fleet indefinitely after part of a plane’s engine cover fell off in flight Thursday.

via Qantas grounds Airbus A380 fleet after engine cover falls off plane – CNN.com.

“The engine cover fell off”.  That’s like explaining death as turning very pale, neglecting to mention the heart stopped.

The engine cover fell off because the engine shucked some turbine blades.  One of the pictures in the CNN report is of holes in the top of the wing over then #2 engine which appear to be going up.

Good for Quantas for handling it professionally and safely.

I hope this is a combination of satellite photos of the airport that just happens to have a very busy runway…

Y'all be careful out there...click to embiggen

The Commemorative Air Force airshow is this weekend, in Midland-Odessa. It’s been years since I went and want to go again someday (the only flying B-29 flew today in preparation).

If you’re in driving distance, it’s an amazing event.

HT: Sleepless in Midland

via @AndyLevy on Twitter…

FWIW, an F-18 costs (according to the Internet tubes) between 28-58 Million dollars.

video via Ace

American 777 loses door at D/FW

Deplaning didn't go smoothly Tuesday morning for an American 777.

Apparently, an American Airlines flight arriving at Dallas/Fort Worth Airport lost its door in a Terminal D jetbridge.

via Sky Talk: American 777 loses door at D/FW.

Heh.  And, ow.  Nobody injured, fortunately.  A career or two may have gotten dinged, though…