Tag: air travel

Trump’s ‘Doomsday Plane’ Left Nebraska And Flew East Across America – Nobody Is Saying Why

The Air Force’s E-4B “Nightwatch,” the airborne command post built to run a nuclear war, took off from Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska on Thursday and flew east across the Midwest on a mission nobody has explained.

Flight-tracking data reviewed by the Daily Mail shows the jet crossing Illinois and Indiana into Ohio, where it was tracked at about 2:41 p.m. Eastern at 31,000 feet and a ground speed of 573 knots, roughly 660 mph. It then turned south over northern Virginia, west of Washington. The tracking images listed no destination, and the route alone does not show where it was headed or why. The purpose of the flight and the identities of anyone aboard have not been publicly confirmed, the Mail reported.

The E-4B is the National Airborne Operations Center: a modified Boeing 747-200 meant to let the president and senior military leaders direct U.S. forces, nuclear forces included, if ground command centers are destroyed. The Air Force flies four, all based at Offutt, and the Mail noted that one is kept ready around the clock when the president is in the country.

That keeps the innocent explanation in play. The same jets fly routine training and readiness missions, and a flight out of their home base is not in itself a sign of an emergency.

The airframes are a 1970s design, and the Air Force is paying for their replacement. In April 2024 it gave Sierra Nevada Corp. a contract worth about $13.08 billion to build the Survivable Airborne Operations Center, with work expected to run until July 10, 2036, according to The Aviationist. The aircraft type has not been announced.

The sighting comes as the Pentagon is working on continuity plans of its own. As we reported, it is planning for its major bases to survive 90 days without the power grid.

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Florida Poly makes history with first flying police vehicle

The Florida Polytechnic University Police Department has become the first law enforcement agency in the nation to integrate an electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) vehicle into its operations.

The manned aircraft, dubbed Astro in a double nod to science and the dog from the classic Jetsons cartoon, marks Florida Poly’s entry into the rapidly developing field of advanced air mobility (AAM), creating new opportunities to explore how the emerging technology can support public safety.

“Advanced air mobility is a technology on the rise, and we can either choose to be proactive or reactive as it develops,” said Aaron Murray, the University’s police chief. “We want to stay at the forefront of this technology and understand how it can be used to advance public safety and airspace safety altogether.”

Florida Poly is in the final stages of seeking approval from the Federal Aviation Administration to use the aerial patrol vehicle in its operations. Murray said Astro can enhance the department’s ability to monitor campus and surrounding acres, reach areas difficult to access by traditional vehicles, assist with post-storm recovery efforts and deliver emergency supplies quickly when needed.

The University Police plans to collaborate with law enforcement agencies throughout the region to deploy Astro in support of emergency response and other public safety operations.

First in the U.S.

Stéphan D’haene, CEO of Jetson, said the California-based company fast-tracked Florida Poly’s order of the Jetson ONE vehicle despite a three-year waiting list because of the University’s STEM focus and the police department’s public safety purpose, both of which reflect Jetson’s goals for the future of safe flight.

“In our business plan and in alignment with our mission, we have always been looking for the use case beyond the recreational intent,” D’haene said. “We believe that this project is so important and aligns so much with what we want to do that we made it a priority.”

A new educational horizon

Beyond its public safety applications, Astro will become a hands-on learning and research tool for Florida Poly students and faculty. The University launched its new aerospace engineering degree this fall, providing students an immediate opportunity to study emerging flight technology in a real-world setting.

“At Florida Poly, we want our students working with emerging technologies before they become commonplace,” said Dr. Brad Thiessen, Florida Poly’s provost. “Astro gives our students and faculty a living laboratory where they can analyze real-world data, tackle new engineering challenges and help shape the future of advanced air mobility.”

Faculty and students are already coordinating efforts to use real-time operational data from Astro for academic research and senior capstone design projects.

“Connecting an educational component to this technology is a big deal,” Murray said. “We are a technology university, and this aerial vehicle delivers more opportunities to learn, build partnerships and explore ways to keep our airspace safe, while connecting the work of our police department directly with our students.”

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Report Finds “Significant Weakness” in the TSA’s Handling of Biometric Data

A recent Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Inspector General audit found that the TSA has been mishandling sensitive biometric data collected at airports.

An unclassified summary of the report explains the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) audit, which was intended “to determine the extent to which the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) facial recognition and identification technologies enhance security screening to identify persons of interest and authenticate flight traveler information while protecting passenger privacy.”

“Significant weakness”

To the TSA’s credit, the audit determined that TSA personnel delete photos of passengers moving through airport checkpoints in a timely fashion and in accordance with federal regulations. However, the audit also identified a “significant weakness” in their operations. The issue concerns Credential Authentication Technology (CAT-2), which the TSA uses in its biometric facial recognition system. That system is apparently insecure. According to the OIG, CAT-2 allows the TSA contractor providing it to access passenger data, including driver’s licenses and passport photos. This sensitive information was available to the contractor during “system troubleshooting and enhancements” without the TSA’s knowledge. According to the audit summary:

“TSA lacked clear policies, did not track when this data was extracted, could not verify that extracted information was properly deleted, and did not notify passengers when their biometric and biographic information may have been stored. As a result, although passenger information was generally protected during routine operations, weaknesses in vendor oversight created a risk that sensitive personal information could be retained or exposed.”

The vendors in question appear to be two firms: Idemia Identity and Security USA, LLC. According to a 2023 TSA announcement, the agency awarded $128 million to these two contractors to develop the CAT-2 system. In that release, the TSA touted CAT-2, noting that this second-generation technology would “allow for automated identity verification with an integrated camera for biometric and self-service capabilities.” The agency noted the system’s scale, adding that their “new contract with Idemia [would] enable TSA to test, manufacture, procure and deploy over 1,500 new CAT-2 systems to airport security checkpoints nationwide.”

This is the system the OIG audit singled out for compromising passenger privacy. While Security USA LLC has a limited paper trail online, Idemia has a well-documented and problematic record (Idemia Identity is one wing of the Idemia corporation).

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UK Airports Begin Replacing Passport Checks With Facial Recognition

In the UK, the government is now selling a switch to contactless facial recognition at airports as a time-saving measure for travelers.

And a major time-saving it is not – five seconds shaved off the previous 20 to 25 seconds it took to use an eGate.

The process of scanning your face instead of your passport is now in place at East Midlands Airport, and will be expanded to 13 airports by early 2027, the Home Office has announced.

The way it works is that your face is photographed as you approach the gate, and this is then compared to a gallery of passport photographs that the airlines have sent to border control.

But don’t think you can leave your passport at home – the government has made sure to inform citizens that they should keep it with them at all times.

This new “convenience” is available to British citizens first, with other nationalities to be onboarded in the coming months.

And what a win it is – for the government, that is. “This is a win for travelers coming to our brilliant country,” said Phil Douglas, Director General of Border Force.

He added, “Our digital transformation also builds on our work this summer to extend eGates to children aged eight and above, making life a little easier for families.”

The eGates are now available to children as young as eight, provided they are at least 120cm tall, and are traveling with an adult who is using the automated gates.

The government’s announcement was met with enthusiasm by the airports, with East Midlands Airport Managing Director Steve Griffiths declaring his facility to be “delighted” to be the first to introduce contactless eGates.

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Air Traffic Control Captures Moments Before Plane Traveling From Bermuda to Boston Mysteriously Vanishes

Per The New York Post: “Crews from the Boston-based Coast Guard cutter William Sparling rushed to the scene off the coast of Massachusetts and were sifting through wreckage to identify parts of the downed aircraft, a USCG spokesperson told The Post Saturday night.”

A Canadian medical plane traveling from Bermuda to Boston, carrying six people, vanished very early Saturday morning.

No Americans were on the doomed plane, according to ABC News.

The Gulfstream G-100 departed Bermuda at approximately 12:40 Saturday morning and plunged 10,000 feet before it lost communication with the FAA shortly after 1:20 am.

The FAA issued a Search and Rescue alert, according to Fox News.

Air Traffic Control Audio captured the moments before the plane vanished.

The US Coast Guard is currently searching for the missing aircraft.

Four Canadians and two Bermudians were reportedly on the flight.

“You’re coming in blind. Is that what you said?” the Air Traffic Controller said to the pilot.

“You’re coming in a little weak so I didn’t hear what your response was, if you were declaring an emergency or not,” the air traffic controller said.

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Israeli PM Netanyahu Makes Most Of FlyDubai Terror Attack As Elections Approach

It is too early to determine whether Iran was behind Monday’s alleged attempt to sabotage Flydubai Flight FZ1073, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in overnight media interviews.

However, the Israeli premier said his country would help determine the motives of the attacker and any other accomplices. Netanyahu spoke to Fox News’s Sean Hannity and CNN in the interviews, given overnight, after he had told the media earlier in the day that a co-pilot had stabbed the captain of the Boeing 737, which was carrying 174 people, including 174 Israeli citizens, and attempted to crash the plane over Israel.

He described the incident as “an extremely serious security incident” that had been averted by the “heroic” actions of the passengers and crew on board, preventing what he termed “a 9/11-type disaster.” Flight FZ1073 took off from Dubai’s Airport on Monday at 1:15 p.m. Local time, and had been en route to Tel Aviv, in Israel, when it suddenly began plummeting downwards, issuing a distress signal, as it dropped some 14,000 feet in less than half a minute, according to the flight-tracking service, Flightradar24, cited by the news service Reuters.

The plane managed to make an emergency landing at the Al Mulayah Airfield in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia. All 174 passengers, including the majority of Israeli citizens on board, were safely returned to Israel.

The two pilots on board, including the captain, Smit Machchhar, an Indian national, were hospitalized for wounds sustained during the attempt to sabotage the plane. The captain is reported to be in stable condition, according to the Indian Embassy in Saudi Arabia.

A Shin Bet delegation is set to travel to the UAE in order to conduct security talks with the Emirates’ authorities, ahead of the return of the hundreds of Israeli travelers who were stranded in Dubai following the Flydubai suspension of all flights to and from Israel pending an investigation into the causes of the near catastrophe.

In his initial assessment of the attempted sabotage, Netanyahu said that a pilot who was identified as the co-pilot of FZ1073, an Omani national, had attacked the captain with a weapon, in an attempt to bring down the plane carrying 174 people over Israel. The stabbed captain had managed to open the cockpit door and the passengers and crew, including another pair of pilots from Flydubai who were traveling on the plane as passengers, had collectively managed to overpower the co-pilot and take control of the plane in order to land safely in Saudi Arabia.

Netanyahu said that he had spoken with Saudi authorities and that they had arrested the pilot and were questioning him in connection with the attempted sabotage of the plane carrying 174 people, mostly Israelis, on Monday. An Israeli passenger, Yaniv Hayun, had entered the cockpit and subdued the attacking co-pilot with the help of another crew member, enabling the two other pilots from Flydubai to take over the plane, in order to land safely with all 174 passengers on board, the premier said, hailing the heroic actions of the passenger and the two pilots in saving the lives of 174 people.

Netanyahu had written on his social media pages earlier in the day, saying that he had met the heroic Yaniv Hayun and captain Machchhar, who had fought back against his attacker and opened the cockpit door, enabling the passengers to overpower the co-pilot and take control of the plane in order to save 174 lives. The premier wrote that “we will get to the root of this attacker, whether he had accomplices, whether Iran was behind it.

It is too early to say.” In his interview with Hannity, Netanyahu said that he had spoken with UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and that the two leaders had agreed that Israel would join the investigation into the cause of the attempted sabotage. The premier said that he had received no specific warning or intelligence about any possible threat to the flight, although there were threats of possible attacks by Iranian jihadist proxies against Israelis abroad, which were generally known to Israeli security services.

As a result of the attempted sabotage, Netanyahu said that he had instructed all relevant security institutions to prepare and to increase security in order to deal with any possible “worst case scenarios” that may arise, as well as to tighten checks on pilots flying into Israel.

The incident was described by Defense Minister Israel Katz as an “attempted jihadist attack” that had been thwarted by heroic Israeli passengers. Flydubai has suspended all flights to and from Israel, pending an investigation into the causes of the near disaster, and cautioned against speculating about the possible causes of the attempted sabotage of the plane.

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Iran Vows To ‘Paralyze’ Regional Airports Which Prevent Its Flights From Landing

Facing crippling US sanctions against its aviation sector as part of the Trump/Bessent Economic D-Day initiative, Iran is warning that if regional countries join the sanctions action, their own airports could be targeted.

Iran’s Supreme National Security Council has on Wednesday put neighboring states who are allies of Washington on notice. The statement warned their airports will be “paralyzed” if they cooperate with US attempts to prevent the landing of Iranian airliners.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent declared on Monday that by Wednesday. Sept. 23, “all the Iranian airlines will be shut down around the world.“

He warned that any airports or companies providing fuel, landing, and ticketing for sanctioned Iranian entities risk dollar-system exclusion.

Already Turkey has taken the dramatic action of canceling all flights in the foreseeable future for various Iranian carriers.

According to more of the Iranian Supreme National Security Council statement, delivered via its chief, Mohsen Rezaei, “We ask all the countries of the region not to join America’s adventure. If they do not allow Iranian aircraft to travel, their own airports will not be able to have flights either.”

“You are our friends, but you should not join America’s ranks. You should prevent the war from spreading,” he added. Throughout the prior seven months of war with the US, Iran has shown a willingness to target major civilian hubs, particularly in neighboring Kuwait.

Iran is defiantly planning to press forward with its commercial airline operations. While some countries are complying with the US order, China is clearly not…

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Bessent Declares All Iran Airlines To Be ‘Shut Down Around The World’ Wednesday

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent declared on Monday that by Wednesday Sept. 23, “all the Iranian airlines will be shut down around the world.“

“If they land, you cannot provide them with fuel, you cannot provide them with landing services, you cannot sell them tickets, or you will be knocked out of the dollar system,” he described.

The new warning and ‘promise’ was issued after the US earlier this month imposed sanctions on “all remaining Iranian airlines” which had yet to face such penalties – thus Bessent’s new declaration is that these entities are about to collapse under the weight of Washington actions, which now is to include secondary targeting.

The Treasury Department has also lately targeted Iranian companies and industries supporting Iran’s aviation sector.

Some 27 airlines have already been sanctioned – also most recently the major Mahan Air has faced expanded sanctions (after first being targeted by Washington all the way back in 2011).

The Treasury has famed all of this as part of efforts to deny the Iranian government the ability to move “weapons, personnel, and illicit cargo”.

Bessent stated to CNBC that all Iranian airlines will be shut down globally on Sept. 23 – given that any fuel, landing, and ticket providers involved with the companies risk dollar-system exclusion.

Ironically, Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian and his delegation is expected to fly into New York City just the day prior, on Tuesday – to attend the UN General Assembly. He is set to give a formal address to the UN body on Wednesday.

This will provide rare opportunity for potential White House diplomacy to take place on the sidelines, which could happen as early as Tuesday.

As for the heavily sanctioned aviation industry, in recent years the Islamic Republic has suffered some significant aerial disasters, which included the May 19, 2024 death of President Ebrahim Raisi. His military helicopter went down in a rugged, mountainous area of northwestern Iran.

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Trump Declares an End to Selling Canada’s Bombardier Planes in the US Unless They Build in the US as Trade War Escalates

President Trump on Monday escalated the trade war with Canada, announcing that Bombardier, a Canadian airplane manufacturer, will no longer be allowed to sell its jets in the United States unless they build in the US.  

Last month, Trump slapped 50% tariffs on about $20 billion of Canadian goods. Canada’s Mark Carney, in response, reportedly announced plans to impose tariffs of 15% to 50% on American goods.

Now, Trump is threatening to decertify Canadian business jets if manufacturing isn’t moved to the United States.

“NO MORE SELLING BOMBARDIER IN THE UNITED STATES! Their products aren’t good enough!” Trump said, accusing the company of “treating America like a piggybank.”

“Over 50% of their revenue comes from the United States — They live off American Buyers, American Companies, American Airports, and American Service — All while Canada blocks our GREAT American Banks, and Companies, throughout the U.S.A.”

“BUY AMERICAN. FLY ON AMERICAN AIRLINERS. ENJOY AMERICAN LIQUOR AND BEVERAGES. SAIL ON LAKE AMERICA. AMERICA FIRST!” Trump added.

NO MORE SELLING BOMBARDIER IN THE UNITED STATES! Their products aren’t good enough! Over 50% of their revenue comes from the United States — They live off American Buyers, American Companies, American Airports, and American Service — All while Canada blocks our GREAT American Banks, and Companies, throughout the U.S.A.

They even blocked Gulfstream Aerospace from doing business in Canada — Completely unjust and unfair! That Era is OVER! If they want our Market, they must build here, and stop treating America like a “piggybank.”

BUY AMERICAN. FLY ON AMERICAN AIRLINERS. ENJOY AMERICAN LIQUOR AND BEVERAGES. SAIL ON LAKE AMERICA. AMERICA FIRST! Thank you for your attention to this matter. President DONALD J. TRUMP

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Zelensky Threatens To Make Russian Airspace Unsafe For Civilian Aviation

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky issued a warning to airlines, their insurers, and airport operators around the world Monday — saying Ukraine’s drone campaign over Russian territory has made it too dangerous for commercial flights to enter Russian airspace.

The statement was notable for its candor. Zelensky insisted Ukraine was not threatening civilian aircraft — but then made clear that Ukraine’s drone operations would intensify to a point where civilian planes simply have no safe place in Russian skies.

“Drones in Russian skies will be such that this must be taken into account. There are no more safe moments in Russian skies. Civilian aviation has no place among drones.”— Volodymyr Zelensky

Zelensky added that Russian airspace “will de facto be closed — the war Russia started is closing its skies.” The framing offers political cover, but the operational reality is plain: Ukraine is deliberately escalating drone operations over Russian territory in ways that endanger commercial aircraft, and Zelensky is telling the world to plan around it.

Ukraine’s foreign ministry announced it will brief international aviation bodies including ICAO, pressing for a formal airspace closure designation. The move affects dozens of airlines — primarily from Asia and the Middle East — that have continued routing flights over Russia to save fuel costs. Zelensky is now putting them on notice: fly over Russia at your own risk.

The warning came the same day Ukraine launched what Russian officials described as a 516-drone assault across multiple Russian regions. Some of those drones crossed into Estonian airspace — NATO territory — prompting a scramble of alliance fighter jets. Ukraine also struck Ust-Luga, Russia’s largest Baltic Sea oil export terminal.

Whether framed as a warning or a threat, the effect is the same. Zelensky is deliberately creating conditions in which civilian aviation cannot safely operate over Russian territory — and using that as a weapon of economic and diplomatic pressure. The airlines, insurers, and regulators who ignore that signal do so at their own risk.

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