Ramblings of an Emergency Physician in Texas
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.
Pretty cool, and smart of Boeing to reward those who advertise for them for free!
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.
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.
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.
Heh. And, ow. Nobody injured, fortunately. A career or two may have gotten dinged, though…
I’m a sucker for the Mercury and Apollo programs (nothing wrong with Gemini, I just didn’t read as much about that).
Here’s 30 seconds of liftoff of Apollo 11 at 500fps, so it takes 8+ minutes. Good narration. Very entertaining!
Apollo 11 Saturn V Launch (HD) Camera E-8 on Vimeo on Vimeo
HT: The Aerospace Genius.
Recently SSG Matthew Kinney was named Flight Medic of the Year at the DUSTOFF Association and AMEC Conference for his actions on Oct. 16, 2008, and for which he was also awarded the Silver Star.
via Soldiers’ Angels Germany: DUSTOFF Association Flight Medic of the Year.
Wow. Just reading the citation impressed me. There are heroes in this world.
via Mudville Gazette
Astrodocs: For these physicians, space is their workplace
Since 1973, 23 U.S. physicians have launched into space. They have taken part in spacewalks, treated fellow crew members and conducted medical research.
Good article, and I had no idea this many physicians had been into space.
Read the cautionary tale, though of 128 days in space requiring years of rehab…
On the morning of March 2, 1949, Lucky Lady II, an Air Force B-50 Superfortress, touched down at Carswell Air Force Base in Fort Worth, becoming the first airplane to fly nonstop around the world.Lucky Lady II had departed Carswell midday Feb. 26 with a crew of 14 under the command of Capt. James Gallagher. The plane traveled 23,452 miles in 94 hours and 1 minute, flying an average ground speed of 239 mph at altitudes ranging from 10,000 to 20,000 feet.
via First nonstop around-the-world flight began, ended in Fort Worth in 1949 | Nation | News….
I did not know that. Neither did you!
Air Accidents Investigation: G-YMMM Report Sections.
January, 2008 a Boeing 777 landed short (300 meters) of Heathrow. No deaths, fortunately. The aircraft looks like a write-off from the damage description, but I’d be interested to know if I’m wrong.
Here’s the official British report: it’s well written and understandable. If you’re interested, ‘synopsis’ gives the why, and ‘conclusions’ gives a clinically chilling look at the crash and its cause.
HT: reader Glen
Tokyo, Japan (CNN) — A body was found in the landing gear bay of an airplane that arrived at Tokyo's Narita Airport Sunday, the airport announced.
The dead man was not carrying a passport or personal belongings, airport police said.
via Body found in plane’s landing gear bay in Japan – CNN.com.
JFK to Narita. Someone was able not just to approach this aricraft without appropriate ID, but was able to climb into the landing gear bay (under the wing structure, next to the fuel tanks) and hide there.
FWIW, stowing away in a wheel well is a bad way to die. If you’re not crushed to death by the landing gear coming up (it’s hydraulic, powered to lift a couple of tons against high airspeeds, there’s not any ‘extra’ room in the wheel well*), there’s not enough oxygen to survive at cruising altitude, even if it were heated, which it’s not. So, don’t try it.
Now, substitute the word bomb for body. Someones’ security isn’t good enough. By far.
*Dad was an airline mechanic; back in the Good Old Days, kids could go to work with their dads and watch their dads work on them (and occasionally I got to empty out ash trays and arrange seat belts). I learned a lot from that.
Update: the BBC report is much better (many thanks to reader Melissa!)
CNN has a (marginally B+) interview with Amsterdam native Jasper Schuringa, the man who subdued the Northwest Airlines terrorist and put out the fire (sustaining burns on his hand in the process).
If you can get through the interview, please watch it.
Interestingly, he said they moved the terrorist to First Class and stripped him looking for more explosives, which seems a very heads-up move.
The courage to act. He’s a hero in my book.
