8618 replies to this topic

[Missed Approach]

Well speaking of stats, the VAA finally dropped their end of year numbers for 2024.

Domestically -  just a slight 1.5% increase.....

 

https://yyj.ca/wp-co...ector_Stats.pdf

 

More break down of YTD and cargo numbers

 

https://yyj.ca/wp-co...mmary_Stats.pdf

[Kilo95]

Porter launching direct Victoria to Ottawa flights beginning in May.

https://www.ctvnews....a-and-victoria/

[Victoria Watcher]

Embraer is working on an extended version of those planes but needs to work out an auto-take-off measure that prevents tail strikes.

 

 

 

 

Automatic takeoffs are coming for passenger jets and they’re going to redraw the map of the sky

 

 

 

 

 

Today, automatic landing systems are installed on most commercial aircraft and improve the safety of landings in difficult weather or poor visibility.

 

Now, nearly 60 years later, the world’s third largest aircraft manufacturer, Brazil’s Embraer, is introducing a similar technology, but for takeoffs.

 

Called “E2 Enhanced Take Off System,” after the family of aircraft it’s designed for, the technology would not only improve safety by reducing pilot workload, but it would also improve range and takeoff weight, allowing the planes that use it to travel farther, according to Embraer.

 

“The system is better than the pilots,” says Patrice London, principal performance engineer at Embraer, who has worked on the project for over a decade. ”That’s because it performs in the same way all the time. If you do 1,000 takeoffs, you will get 1,000 of exactly the same takeoff.”

 

Embraer, London adds, has already started flight testing, with the aim to get it approved by aviation authorities in 2025, before introducing it from select airports.

 

 

 

 

[...]

 

 

 

Crucially, the system allows the plane to take off as early as possible and more steeply, but without ever incurring a tail strike — a dangerous situation in which the tail of the plane touches the runway or an obstacle as the aircraft lifts off, sometimes as a result of pilot error.

 

“If you’re a pilot, you have to give some room for error,” says Affonso. “But because this system is so precise and consistent, you don’t need the same margins and you can operate closer to the optimum in the initial rotation, as if you were closer to touching with the tail. Except you will not.”

 

Embraer says this optimization allows for an increase in takeoff weight, which means either more passengers or more range — up to 350 nautical miles. This opens up destinations that are precluded with the same combination of airport and aircraft, but without the automated takeoff system.

 

 

https://www.cnn.com/...stem/index.html

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 28 January 2025 - 07:53 AM.

[vortoozo]

Porter launching direct Victoria to Ottawa flights beginning in May.

https://www.ctvnews....a-and-victoria/

 

4 days per week. Looks like some additional Toronto frequency with 11 fights per week starting in May.

 

Schedules:

 

YYJ- YYZ

Depart 12:50pm, arrive 8:27pm (daily)

Depart 11:05pm, arrive 6:42am (M, Th, F, Su)

 

YYZ-YYJ

Depart 9:40am, arrive 11:53am (daily)

Depart 7:55pm, arrive 10:08pm (M, Th, F, Su)

 

YYJ-YOW

Depart 11:50am, arrive 7:35pm (M, Tu, Th, Sa)

 

YOW-YYJ

Depart 8:35am, arrive 10:55am (M, Tu, Th, Sa)

 

The enhanced schedule opens up a lot more connection opportunities over Porter's network.

Edited by vortoozo, 28 January 2025 - 10:17 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

F-35 fighter jet crashes in Alaska; pilot safe

 

The crash happened while landing during a training exercise; the F-35 is the most expensive U.S. defense program and Lockheed Martin’s biggest revenue generator

 

https://www.thehindu...cle69153359.ece

 

 

VIDEO:

 

https://x.com/corbin...406688402505945

 

[Missed Approach]

Saskatoon Airport, one of my favorite airports in Canada under 2 million.

Growing and on the heals of YYJ with 2024 wrapping up with 1.6 millions travelers.

 

https://yxe.ca/yxe-s...h-and-optimism/

[Victoria Watcher]

DC plane crash live updates: Black Hawk collides with American Airlines regional jet

 

An airplane went down in the Potomac River near Reagan National Airport.

 

https://abcnews.go.c...y/?id=118247845

[Victoria Watcher]

DC plane crash live updates: Black Hawk collides with American Airlines regional jet

 

An airplane went down in the Potomac River near Reagan National Airport.

 

https://abcnews.go.c...y/?id=118247845

 

 

 

 

[Victoria Watcher]

A statement from US Figure Skating said: "US Figure Skating can confirm that several members of our skating community were sadly aboard American Airlines Flight 5342, which collided with a helicopter yesterday evening in Washington, D.C.

"These athletes, coaches, and family members were returning home from the National Development Camp held in conjunction with the US Figure Skating Championships in Wichita, Kansas.

"We are devastated by this unspeakable tragedy and hold the victims’ families closely in our hearts. We will continue to monitor the situation and will release more information as it becomes available."

Team USA pair skater Luke Wang wrote on X: 'Praying for all those on the flight from Wichita to DC."

Team USA ice dancer, Ethan Peal, said: "I am in shock. Praying for families and my skating community."

World champion Russian figure skaters Yevgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov are also understood to have been on the plane.

The pair, who were married, won the world championship in pairs figure skating in 1994.

 

https://www.lbc.co.u...es-plane-crash/

[Victoria Watcher]

This sounds very plausible:

 

 

https://x.com/Christ...842913169060120

 

What I think happened in this case:

 

In this case air traffic control calls out to the helicopter and ask them if they see the regional jet. In this case, they called them an RJ, for shorthand. The helicopter confirms that they see the RJ and will pass behind as instructed. But human error, being a main cause, it’s highly likely that the helicopter crew saw the departing regional jet, which can also be seen in this video, with this landing light climbing up from the runway.

 

Misidentifying this aircraft that was further to the right or starboard of the helicopter, they indeed thought they were passing behind that regional jet with plenty of room to spare. What they didn’t know, with their eyes turned to the right, was that there was an aircraft approaching them from the left. The one that they were actually supposed to be looking for. To the airliner, and to any aircraft on a collision course, they can often be impossible to see. Especially considering this was at night, and at low altitude, the anti-collision lights on the helicopter could have easily been lost in the bright lights of the city in the background of the helicopter from the airliners perspective. With the helicopter pilots looking to the right at the wrong regional jet, and the regional jet that was on final, the one that was hit, looking straight ahead at their landing spot, both pilots had a blind spot and weren’t looking in the correct direction.

 

Unfortunately, these things can and do happen. It’s yet another reminder that aviation safety is of the utmost importance, and any confusion at any time when operating in Aircraft should be clarified with air traffic control. Please feel free to ask me anything you want, and any clarification, and I’ll be happy to give it as I can. I’ll be happy to help with media inquiries as well. Prayers for all involved.

[Victoria Watcher]

XB-1 jet breaks sound barrier in bid for "return of commercial supersonic flight" 

 

 

 

More than two decades after the retirement of the Concorde, American aircraft company Boom Supersonic has achieved supersonic flight with its XB-1 prototype in a test flight above the Mojave Desert.

 

Tuesday's test saw the aircraft fly faster than the speed of sound, accelerating to Mach 1.122 (860 miles per hour) in three high-speed runs over the course of 35 minutes.

 

It marks the first time a human-piloted passenger jet has broken the sound barrier since Concorde's retirement in 2003, which Boom Supersonic says is "paving the way for the return of commercial supersonic flight".

 

XB-1 is a prototype for Boom Supersonic's Overture aircraft, which will be about three times the size and aims to be "the world's fastest airliner".

 

The proposed jet will carry between 64 and 80 passengers at Mach 1.7 speeds. That's twice the speed of today's subsonic airliners and, much like the Concorde, could fly from London to New York in 3.5 hours, the company has claimed.

 

Boom Supersonic said it has already received 130 pre-orders for Overture from companies including American Airlines, United Airlines and Japan Airlines.

 

 

https://www.dezeen.c...ic-test-flight/

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 30 January 2025 - 06:37 AM.

[Mike K.]

Awful tragedy.

Give your loved ones a hug and always remember to tell your friends and family how much you appreciate them.

[Missed Approach]

Seattle's Kemmore Air is introducing same plane, one stop service from their Tacoma south south float base to Victoria's inner harbour.

 

 

https://www.southsou...5c481c6e90.html

[Missed Approach]

Porter launching direct Victoria to Ottawa flights beginning in May.

https://www.ctvnews....a-and-victoria/

 

Im really glad those meetings with Porter produced this route and the rumors were true, I've seen other facebook travel pages have comments of YOW base travelers taking up this service. Perfect sized aircraft for the route as well.

[Missed Approach]

Pacific Coastal Airlines has created a Bus  Flight Bridge service when weather ops shuts down the Trail airport.

 

https://www.pacificc...-during-winter/

 

This was a common thing for YYJ, to take fogged out flights into Nanaimo or Comox years ago, and bus them up island, sometimes arriving into Nanaimo or Comox in the wee hours, but at least home.

 

These days, most flights just return to Calgary, etc or land in YVR and wait, and often the crews time out and passengers are stuck for many hours to days now.

 

The bus company that normally did the bus flight bridge on the island is rumored to be struggling or close to shuttering its doors.

[Victoria Watcher]

Cell phone video captured several passengers restraining a man on a Frontier Airlines flight from Denver to Houston.

 

 

https://abc7ny.com/p...cover/15872300/

 

 

But what happened before those dramatic moments is what scared Victoria Clark and her grandmother, Charlotte Jones.

 

"The lady in front of the gentlemen asked to move seats, and right when she did, he started kicking profusely and started punching the window," Clark said.

 

The window was hit so hard that the plexiglass covering it broke.

 

"He was scary," Clark said.

 

Our sister station in Houston was told the flight attendants went on the intercom to see if any law enforcement personnel were on board.

 

That's when Tanner Phillips, who served in the army, and several others stepped in to help.

 

"He was very physical. I picked him up and put him on the ground. It took a couple of guys to get his arms behind him and secured," Phillips said.

To do that, they used the only tools they had available: zip ties and a shoelace.

 

"There's like lots of women and kids on the flight. Obviously, so I just wanted to help as much as I could. We put (our) hands on him and were able to secure him. Someone had zip ties, and someone else took their bootlace off and helped us out."

 

 

 

VIDEO on X:  https://x.com/Dapper...715020261187774

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 06 February 2025 - 09:10 PM.

[Victoria Watcher]

A small commuter plane that crashed in western Alaska on its way to the hub community of Nome was located Friday on sea ice. All 10 people on board died, authorities said.

 

Mike Salerno, a spokesperson for the U.S. Coast Guard, said rescuers were searching the aircraft's last known location by helicopter when they spotted the wreckage. They lowered two rescue swimmers to investigate.

 

The Bering Air single-engine turboprop plane was traveling from Unalakleet on Thursday afternoon with nine passengers and a pilot, according to Alaska's Department of Public Safety.

 

 

https://www.cbc.ca/n...earch-1.7453135

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 07 February 2025 - 11:57 PM.

[Missed Approach]

VAA posted on the last day of January for EOI for RFQ project listed as " Upper Holdroom Expansion CM PM services "

Closes on the 27th of Feb. Might have construction starting this summer or in 2026, or 2027 or ..........

[Missed Approach]

YVR had a very good 2024

 

https://canadianavia...record-in-2024/

[Victoria Watcher]

Calgary > Cranbrook

 

On the 11th of February 1978, Pacific Western Airlines flight 314 faced a toxic cocktail of snowy conditions, inadequate communication and an unexpected obstacle on the runway. But how exactly did this all come together and what choice did the pilots of this Boeing 737 really have other than an incredibly risky go-around?

 

YouTube VIDEO: https://youtu.be/h9D...ZzZYhJjuk9_aZXY