Federal officials on Saturday ordered the immediate grounding of Boeing 737-9 Max jetliners after an Alaska Airlines plane suffered a blowout that left a gaping hole in the side of the fuselage.
[…]
An Alaska Airlines jetliner blew out a window and a portion of its fuselage shortly after takeoff three miles above Oregon late Friday, creating a gaping hole that forced the pilots to make an emergency landing as its 174 passengers and six crew members donned oxygen masks.
No one was seriously hurt as the depressurized plane returned safely to Portland International Airport about 20 minutes after it had departed, but the airline grounded its 65 Boeing 737-9 Max aircraft until they can be inspected. The National Transportation Safety Board said Saturday it will also investigate.
For so many reasons, including this one, I am never flying again unless I have no other choice. I have not had a good experience flying since I was on a trip to Italy in in 1984 when I was 7. And that was because I was 7.
New username: WalkingSquid.
Keep in mind that aviation travel is ultra safe high risk. What that means is that it’s extremely safe due to the number of failsafe and redundancy built into the aircrafts. The high risk portion is due to the fact that in the event of a critical failure, the risk of death is high.
In the event of a critical failure it is ultimately up to the pilot to determine the aircraft is safe to fly during all the pre flight checks that need to be completed before takeoff. An incident rarely ever is a simple source but a layer of bad oversights. Most incidents can be prevented by doing the job correctly.
I’m a GA pilot (general aviation) and this stuff had been drilled into us for even private pilot certifications. Safety, safety, safety. I think that some newer aircraft maybe need more thorough testing before being released to fly. I also think that airline companies need to listen to the pilots more than they say they do.
I have a different anecdotal experience! I love flying, and I rarely have a bad experience.
I do hate those 737Max monstrosities, though.
Do you always fly first class or something? I’m average height and just the lack of legroom in coach alone is unpleasant after hours.
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Tricks to flying. Fly first class it is better.
Really thought things that help me
Pay for the extra legs room seats
Either buy the overpriced drink or sneak a shooter on. One or two drinks can really take the edge off.
Have a good entertainment plan. Have a few different things to read, watch, and listen to. Sometimes you need to switch it up during the flight.
Get an aisle seat. It makes it easier to get up and walk to the bathroom even if you don’t need to go it lets you move for a second.
Leave your seatbelt on and just barely snug. That way it is comfortable but if you hit a pocket of dead air you will get bumped around less. During heavy turbulence keep it on as tight as you can.
Oh and when you can buy a ticket on the largest plane on the route they are more comfortable. The planes are planned out months ahead of time. If you look up flight numbers you can usually find out what plane is planned for the route.
“Pay more money for it to be tolerable” should not be the solution to air travel issues.
I agree, but there are ways to be smart about it. Paying up front for first class usually means you get fucked, but if you upgrade just before the flight, you can often get a steep discount on first class depending on how booked the flight is. Airlines will let you look at a seat map, and that will give you an idea of how full the plane is and how many seats are available. Sometimes you will just have bad luck and the upgrade costs are similar to full price, but more often than not I’ve upgraded for pretty cheap, and a few times the cost of the checked luggage is the same as first class where checked is bundled.
It depends, and it’s stupid that there’s so many hoops, but in their infernal quest to fuck customers over, they created their own loopholes.