Travel

The passengers and crew of an EasyJet flight had to quickly leave their aircraft when a lithium fire broke out before the flight’s departure.
This incident took place on Tuesday, the 17th of September, involving EasyJet flight U2-8216, departing from Heraklion International Airport (LGIR) in Crete, Greece. The flight’s destination is London Gatwick Airport (EGKK). EasyJet performs this flight six times per week.
The incident aircraft. Photo: BOSSHEPOn the day of this lithium battery incident, the EasyJet flight reportedly had 236 passengers on board. According to local media, the passengers had boarded the flight when a handbag with two electronic devices started emitting smoke. These devices were a power bank and an e-cigarette.
The event reportedly led to a small explosion, powerful enough for nearby passengers to have to move away, eventually leaving the aircraft. However, at this time, it is not clear if the lithium fire caused an evacuation with slides or if the EasyJe..

The crew of an Alaska Airlines 737 rejected their takeoff at a high speed as a Southwest 737 started crossing their runway in Nashville.
This incident happened on Thursday, the 12th of September. It involved two flights, Alaska Airlines AS-369 and Southwest Airlines WN-2029. Both flights were departing from Nashville International Airport (KBNA).
Another Alaska Airlines 737 MAX-9. Photo: MertbiolThe Alaska flight’s destination was Seattle Tacoma International (KSEA). On the day of the incident, there were 176 passengers and six crew members on board, and the Alaska flight crew were going to use runway 13 for departure.
As the Alaska crew taxied for departure, the Southwest flight prepared to taxi for their departure to Jacksonville International (KJAX) in Florida. They would take off using runway 20C, and getting to it would involve crossing Alaska’s departing runway.
The Southwest aircraft in this incident. Photo: ZLEA, CC BY-SA 4.0Southwest Crosses, Alaska StopsThe Alaska..

Boeing will not fix its safety culture if it continues to have a hostile relationship with its workforce, says NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy.
As of Friday, the 13th of September, Boeing’s 32,000 IAM 751 workers in the Puget Sound area are on strike. The workers voted overwhelmingly in favour of this strike, despite their union’s official recommendation to accept it.
Boeing’s Everett aircraft plant. Photo: BoeingBoth Boeing’s management and the union are keen to restart the talks, which will reportedly resume early next week. However, it is clear that Boeing has nothing like the leverage it enjoyed in previous such negotiations.
A decade ago, Boeing threatened to build the 777X away from Seattle if its workers didn’t agree to painful cuts. Those negotiations took place half a decade after IAM 751’s 52-day strike in 2008, following Boeing’s then-new outsourcing strategy. That era cemented Boeing’s hostile relationship with its workers.
NTSB Chair J..

The 32,000 IAM 751 union members voted overwhelmingly to reject a new Boeing contract and to go on strike, from Friday the 13th of September.
This is a landmark development, as it is the first strike to impact Boeing in 16 years. The previous such strike, in 2008, also involved IAM District 751, and lasted for 52 days. To many in the industry, that strike gave rise to the current hostile relationship between Boeing’s leadership and its workers.
A Boeing 737 assembly line in Renton.But the new Boeing strike didn’t come as a surprise. After the IAM 751 union leadership recommended that its members accept the contract earlier this week, reactions towards the deal were mostly negative.
However, it is hard to judge consensus from social media posts. A contract rejection required 50% plus one vote. A strike required 75% of the votes. And in the end, it wasn’t a close call on both counts.
Boeing’s 737 factory in Renton. Photo: Jelson25, CC BY-SA 3.0Boeing Machinists Vo..

Boeing and its biggest union of machinists and workers in Washington State reached a new contract deal. But is the threat of a strike gone?
September of 2024 was always going to be difficult for Boeing. The IAM 751 is the chapter of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers. It represents 32,000 Boeing workers in Washington State, and its current contract expires later this month.
Boeing’s Everett aircraft plant. Photo: BoeingAs far back as two years ago, IAM 751 had warned its members to start saving for a lengthy strike this September. 10 years ago, IAM 751 members suffered severe losses in their previous contract, being at a severe disadvantage.
Boeing then had all the bargaining power. The manufacturer threatened to move production of the 777X outside the Puget Sound area unless IAM 751 agreed to these painful cuts. Industry analysts widely expected that contract talks would fail this time and that a strike of these Boeing workers was inevitable.
A Boe..

After a streak of international sales of its C-390 military cargo aircraft, Embraer turns its attention to the United States defense market.
What a difference a few years make. Back in 2020, amidst the chaos of the pandemic, Boeing pulled back from its deal for a couple of joint ventures with Embraer in Brazil. The main venture involved Embraer’s commercial aircraft division as a whole.
Photo: EmbraerThe second joint venture had to do with the Embraer C-390 cargo aircraft. Embraer hoped to use Boeing’s sales “clout” as an aircraft manufacturer (and defense contractor) to promote sales of its aircraft worldwide.
Tough Times, Good TimesOfficially, Boeing claimed that Embraer didn’t satisfy the terms of their joint ventures. It is true that Embraer’s value dropped, unbalancing the relationship between the two companies. But most analysts agree that the pandemic, the continuing 737 MAX groundings and Boeing’s overall financial position were greater..

After discovering a broken part that grounded its entire test fleet, Boeing is repairing the 777-9 that is stuck in Hawaii to fly it Home.
As of this writing, none of Boeing’s four 777-9 test aircraft have flown since the third one (WH003) landed back in Hawaii on the 15th of August. That’s when technicians inspecting the aircraft discovered a severed part in the thrust link assembly of one of the aircraft’s engines.
The thrust link is the part in the yellow rectangle, here on a GE90 engine. Photo: Chris Light, CC BY-SA 4.0As we have seen, a thrust link is a component that transfers thrust loads from the front of the engine to the pylon and wing. Each engine has two of them, and each one should be capable of keeping the engine together in case the other fails.
After the first discovery of problems with the 777-9 in Hawaii, Boeing found cracks in two other aircraft in Washington State. The fourth 777-9, WH004, had not flown for many months and didn’t appear to be..

An engine fire indication on a Cathay Pacific Airbus A350 led to the grounding and inspection of multiple A350s, with interesting results.
This sequence of events started with an incident that took place on Monday, the 2nd of September this year, involving Cathay Pacific flight CX-383. The airline performs this flight four times per week, departing from Hong Kong International Airport (VHHH).
The incident aircraft. Photo: N509FZ, CC BY-SA 4.0The flight’s destination is Zurich Airport (LSZH) in Switzerland and it usually takes around twelve-and-a-half hours. So far, neither Cathay Pacific nor the authorities have indicated how many passengers and crew were on board the A350 on the day of the incident.
The flight made a routine departure from runway 07R in Hong Kong, but the flight crew stopped their climb at 9,000 feet. The Cathay Pacific Airbus A350 reportedly gave the pilots a fire indication on its right-hand (No2) engine.
Photo: Isaac StrunaBefore landing, the crew decided to ..

The pilots of a United Airlines 737-900ER decided to divert after encountering severe turbulence, which injured several people on board.
This event involves flight UA-1196, which departs from Cancun International Airport (MMUN) in Mexico. The flight’s destination is Chicago O’Hare International (KORD) in the United States and it typically takes just over three hours. United performs this flight daily, departing from Cancun at 12:20 PM.
On the day of this severe turbulence incident, the United flight had 172 passengers and seven crew on board. The flight departed from Cancun on time, using runway 12R. Its flight crew soon levelled off the aircraft at FL340, heading north.
The United 737 reportedly hit turbulence about one hour and 20 minutes into the flight. Crucially, the “Fasten Seatbelts” sign was switched on when the aircraft hit turbulence. Despite the sign, seven people on board were initially reported as suffering injuries.
Photo: Nick MoralesTurbulence Ca..

Several aviation regulators want ICAO to add turbulence as a category in its 2026 Global Aviation Safety Plan to help reduce injuries.
Turbulence rarely causes deaths, but it certainly can do so, as we saw earlier this year with Singapore Airlines flight SQ-321. This accident happened in May this year, causing injuries to 23 passengers and 7 crew.
The accident aircraft. Photo: N509FZ, CC BY-SA 4.020 people required intensive care treatment, and 7 were in critical condition on arrival. The one fatality involved an individual who reportedly suffered a heart attack. The Singapore Airlines Boeing 777 was in cruise at FL370 at the time of this event.
However, turbulence events typically cause injuries, often serious. Cabin crews generally suffer the worst since they tend to be more mobile than passengers. However, clear-air turbulence can affect an aircraft with little or no warning, causing injuries to anyone not wearing a seatbelt.
Photo: Artturi JalliThe move to add turbulence to ICAO&rs..