All posts tagged: Federal Aviation Administration

SpaceX eyes March 14 for next Starship test flight

SpaceX eyes March 14 for next Starship test flight

Published by skeptic

SpaceX is aiming to launch its massive Starship rocket for the third time as soon as March 14, the company confirmed in a social media post Wednesday. SpaceX is still awaiting regulatory approval from the Federal Aviation Administration for the launch, without which Starship will remain grounded. But even though the FAA has yet to give SpaceX the green light for the next mission, there are signs that the company has been anticipating receiving it — soon. Just this past weekend, teams at the Starbase facility in southwest Texas completed a critical “wet dress” rehearsal for launch, loading the nearly 400-foot-tall rocket with more than 10 million pounds of propellant and practicing the countdown sequence to T-minus 10 seconds. The FAA further confirmed late last month that it had completed its investigation into SpaceX’s second Starship launch, with regulators saying at the time that the company had to complete 17 “corrective actions” before issuing a modified license for launch. Provided that those are rubber stamped within the next week or so, the company should make …

FAA completes investigation into SpaceX’s second fiery Starship test

FAA completes investigation into SpaceX’s second fiery Starship test

Published by skeptic

The Federal Aviation Administration has concluded its review of SpaceX’s investigation of the second Starship launch in November, with the regulator saying Monday that it accepted the “root causes and 17 corrective actions” identified by the company. While this means the investigation is now closed, SpaceX must implement all the corrective actions and apply for a modified launch license before it can fly Starship again. “The FAA is evaluating SpaceX’s license modification request and expects SpaceX to submit additional required information before a final determination can be made,” the regulator said in a statement Monday. SpaceX’s second orbital flight test of the nearly 400-foot-tall Starship rocket in November went farther than the first test by a huge margin: all 33 of the Raptor engines on the Super Heavy booster powered on successfully and none failed in the course of the nearly three-minute ascent burn. The company also pulled off a spectacularly difficult “hot-stage separation” for the first time, wherein the Starship upper stage lit up to push away from the booster. But like the first …

Florida plane crash: 2 dead after emergency landing on interstate

Florida plane crash: 2 dead after emergency landing on interstate

Published by skeptic

NAPLES, Fla. (AP) — Two people have died after a small plane attempted to make an emergency landing on Interstate 75 in southwest Florida on Friday afternoon, colliding with a vehicle and bringing traffic to a halt as a massive plume of black smoke rose into the air. The crash landing happened near the Pine Ridge Road exit in Collier County, just north of where the interstate heads east toward Fort Lauderdale along what is known as Alligator Alley. Brianna Walker saw the wing of the plane drag the car in front of hers and slam into the wall. “It’s seconds that separated us from the car in front of us,” she said. “The wing pulverized this one car.” Walker and her friend spotted the plane moments before it hit the highway, allowing her friend to pull over before the crash. “The plane was over our heads by inches,” she said. “It took a hard right and skid across the highway.” Walker said an explosion of flames then burst from the plane with a loud …

FAA approves inspection process that could clear the way for grounded Boeing planes to fly again

FAA approves inspection process that could clear the way for grounded Boeing planes to fly again

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Federal regulators have approved an inspection process that will let airlines resume flying their Boeing 737 Max 9 jetliners, which have been grounded since a side panel blew out of a plane in midflight earlier this month. The head of the Federal Aviation Administration said Wednesday that his agency’s review of the scary incident on board an Alaska Airlines Boeing jet gave him confidence to clear a path for the planes to fly again. The official, Mike Whitaker, said the FAA would not agree to any Boeing request to expand production of Max planes until the agency is satisfied that quality-control concerns have been addressed. “This won’t be back to business as usual for Boeing,” Whitaker vowed. The production limits will apply only to the Max, of which there are currently two models, the 8 and the 9. Boeing builds about 30 a month but has wanted to raise production for some time. Boeing said it will work with the FAA and the airlines to get the grounded planes back in the air. “We will …

Boeing reports latest safety incident after plane’s nose wheel falls off during Atlanta take-off

Boeing reports latest safety incident after plane’s nose wheel falls off during Atlanta take-off

Published by Sam

A Boeing 757 passenger jet operated by Delta Air Lines lost its nose wheel as the plane was lining up to take off from Atlanta’s international airport on Saturday. The nose gear “popped off and rolled down the hill” when Delta Air Lines Flight 982 was preparing to take off for Bogota in Colombia, according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) notice filed on Monday. The report noted that none of the 184 passengers or six crew members were injured during the incident at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. “One of your nose tires just came off,” a controller is heard alerting the pilot, according to the air traffic control audio included in the FAA report, according to ABC news. “It just rolled off the runway behind you.” It landed on the south side of the runway, according to the outlet citing the details of the FAA report. The passengers were boarded on a separate flight, reported The New York Times, quoting a Delta spokesperson. Boeing did not immediately issue a statement on the incident. The FAA …

Federal officials recommend that airlines inspect door plugs on some older Boeing jets as well

Federal officials recommend that airlines inspect door plugs on some older Boeing jets as well

Published by skeptic

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Aviation Administration recommends that airlines inspect the door plugs on certain Boeing 737s that are older than the Max 9 jetliner that suffered a blowout of a similar panel during a flight this month. The FAA said door plugs on one older version of the 737, called the 737-900ER, are identical in design to those on the Max 9, and some airlines “have noted findings with bolts during the maintenance inspections.” The FAA issued a safety alert late Sunday. As soon as possible, airlines should visually inspect four places where a bolt, nut and pin secure the door plug to the plane, the agency said. The door plugs are panels that seal holes left for extra doors when the number of seats is not enough to trigger a requirement for more emergency-evacuation exits. From inside the plane, they look like a regular window. The FAA said that 737-900ERs have logged 3.9 million flights without any known issues involving the door plugs. By contrast, the Max 9 that suffered the blowout …

What’s Gone Wrong at Boeing

What’s Gone Wrong at Boeing

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When, last week, a panel called a door plug blew off a Boeing 737 Max 9 plane in mid-flight, leaving a gaping hole in the plane’s fuselage, air travelers everywhere no doubt felt a shudder of horror—even though the aircraft was able to turn around and land safely. But in a sense, the startling thing was how unstartling the news was. In the six years since the Max—an updated version of the long-running 737, Boeing’s most popular plane—made its debut, the aircraft has been plagued by quality problems. The most dramatic of these resulted in two catastrophic crashes, in 2018 and in 2019, which together killed 346 people. Those crashes, caused by a faulty flight-control system, led to the Max being grounded for almost two years. Even after it returned to service, additional issues cropped up. Last April, deliveries of the Max 8 version of the plane were delayed because of problems with one of Boeing’s key suppliers’ installation of brackets joining the rear of the fuselage to the plane’s tail fin. A few months …

SpaceX Is Holding Up America’s Lunar Ambitions

SpaceX Is Holding Up America’s Lunar Ambitions

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The second liftoff of Starship, SpaceX’s giant new rocket-and-spaceship system, went beautifully this morning, the fire of the engines matching the orange glow of the sunrise in South Texas. The spaceship soared over the Gulf Coast, with all 33 engines in the rocket booster pulsing. High in the sky, the vehicles separated seamlessly—through a technique that SpaceX debuted during this flight—and employees let out wild cheers. The booster soon exploded, but the flight could survive that. What mattered was that Starship was still flying. It could still coast along the edge of space, and then plunge back to Earth, crashing into the Pacific Ocean off of the coast of Hawaii, as SpaceX planned. But then, as SpaceX mission control waited to hear a signal from Starship, there was only silence. Something had gone wrong after the ship shut off its engines in preparation to coast. The self-destruct system kicked in, and Starship blew itself up, according to SpaceX’s commentators, who were narrating the livestream. A “rapid unscheduled disassembly,” as SpaceXers call it. SpaceX can certainly …

Space Tourism Is Getting More Secretive

Space Tourism Is Getting More Secretive

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Of all the high-flying tourism ventures spawned by space-obsessed billionaires, Virgin Galactic, founded by Richard Branson, offers perhaps the most unconventional approach. It doesn’t use big rockets or gumdrop-shaped capsules. Instead, an airplane takes off with a spacecraft strapped to its wing. The spacecraft, shaped like a plane itself, holds the paying customers and more pilots. When the airplane reaches a certain altitude, it releases the spacecraft. The spacecraft’s pilots then ignite its engine, and the vehicle soars straight up, to the fuzzy boundary that separates us from the rest of the universe, before gliding back down and landing on a runway. The spaceplane experience is a stark contrast to Blue Origin’s suborbital jaunts and SpaceX’s orbital missions, but Virgin Galactic’s passengers still have a few surreal minutes of weightlessness, and they get to see the planet gleaming against the darkness of space. Those passengers have included the first former Olympian to reach space, as well as the first mother-daughter duo, and, most recently, the first Pakistani. In the midst of all that, Virgin Galactic …