Tag: air travel

Risk of COVID-19 exposure on airplanes low, study shows

The risk of COVID-19 exposure onboard an aircraft is “virtually non-existent,” according to a new study.

The study by Boeing, United Airlines and the Department of Defense looked at results from 300 tests conducted in a little over 6 months with a mannequin on a United plane, ABC News reported.

The study involved a mannequin equipped with an aerosol generator to reproduce breathing and coughing at a heavy level. Researchers then studied the way the mannequin’s air particles moved inside the cabin, comparing with a mask on vs. without a mask. The study showed 99.99% of particles left the interior of the aircraft within 6 minutes, due in part to “aggressive ventilation,” United Airlines Chief Communications Officer Josh Earnest told ABC News.

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New High-Speed Propulsion System Paves Way for Hypersonic Flight up to Mach 16

We humans have a wonderful ability to keep developing, innovating, and engineering bigger, better, and faster contraptions. Close to Earth, we’ve been soaring through the skies in airplanes since 1903 thanks to the Wright brothers, and we’ve been launching spacecraft into space since 1957 when the Soviet Union rocketed the Sputnik satellite above our heads.

So why not try even further, and even faster using less energy and fuel? How does a flight from New York to Los Angeles in a mere 30 minutes instead of six hours spent sitting next to a stranger in cramped conditions sound? This may soon be possible thanks to a team of engineers from the University of Central Florida.

The team discovered a way of stabilizing detonation for hypersonic propulsion by creating a hypersonic reaction chamber for jet propulsions.

This breakthrough allows for a potential way to develop, and integrate ultra-high-speed detonation technology that allows for hypersonic propulsion, and advanced power systems, as the team explained in its study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

They’re not the only ones working on such technology. For example, in late 2020 China was testing a hypersonic jet engine that’s able to go 16 times the speed of sound in a one-of-a-kind wind tunnel in Beijing. If this jet engine, called sodramjet, was used, you’d be able to travel anywhere on Earth in just two hours. 

Other agencies, companies, and governments are focusing their energy on the future of hypersonic flight, not only for fast commercial travel across the world but to also improve how spacecraft engines launch up into space.

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American Airlines Flight Makes Emergency Diversion, Two Passengers Arrested After Racial Slur Heard Onboard

An American Airlines flight originally scheduled to depart from Dallas, Texas and arrive at Los Angeles, California was diverted to Phoenix, Arizona last week after airline staff became aware of an onboard altercation that involved the use of an unspecified racial slur.

Two Hispanic women from the Bronx neighborhood of New York – Leeza Rodriguez, 29, and Kelly Pichardo, 30, – were arrested after the flight landed safely in Phoenix.

“Witnesses reported that the two women were using racial slurs when a male passenger asked them to stop using that language. Kelly Pichardo became upset and allegedly spit at the male passenger who had asked her to stop using that language,” Phoenix police spokeswoman Mercedes Fortune told The Arizona Republic.

When the man began filming the incident with a cell phone camera, Rodriguez allegedly struck his hand in an effort to make him drop the device.

Pichardo was charged with disorderly conduct and Rodriguez was charged with assault and disorderly conduct.

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Most major US airlines ban guns in luggage for DC flights

Airlines and airports say they are stepping up security before next week’s presidential inauguration, with Delta and other major airlines saying they will prohibit passengers flying to the Washington area from putting guns in checked bags.

The moves follow the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol by supporters of President Donald Trump and politically tinged confrontations on some flights.

Delta Air Lines was the first to announce Thursday that it will prohibit checking guns to Washington-area airports and was soon followed by United, Alaska and American. All said their bans will start Saturday and run through Inauguration Day until Jan. 23.

“We are all on high alert based on the events over the last couple weeks up in Washington,″ CEO Ed Bastian said Thursday on CNBC.

The airlines also announced other measures. American Airlines is bringing back a ban on serving alcohol on flights to and from the Washington area — flights go dry starting Saturday through next Thursday. Several airlines are moving crews out of downtown Washington hotels for their safety.

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