Aviation

How Much TSA Abuse Is Enough?

"What on Earth does the TSA have to do to bump up against some serious resistance? If you feel like you've been sexually molested, you can go and cry on YouTube, like Miss USA did, but that's about as much sympathy as you're gonna get. You were molested for everyone's protection. And let's not forget the recent firing of 400 TSA agents for massive theft. If Americans are OK with a genital grab here and there, why not expand it to other places besides the airport? The longer that this goes on, the more emboldened the state will get, and that's exactly what they'll (slowly, of course) start to do." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHow Much TSA Abuse Is Enough?

Sweden’s small Arctic town of Kiruna plans to offer commercial space flights

"Sweden’s small Arctic town of Kiruna has a surprisingly international airport with regular flights to London and Tokyo, but it has even bigger plans: to offer commercial space flights. The idea is that space tourists would take off for a maximum two-hour trip into space aboard futuristic spacecraft currently undergoing testing, which resemble a cross between an airplane and a space shuttle and which can carry between one and six passengers. The sub-orbital flights will send passengers 100 kilometres (60 miles) above Earth and allow them to experience five minutes of weightlessness." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSweden’s small Arctic town of Kiruna plans to offer commercial space flights

SpaceShipTwo edges closer to powered flight

"A long-awaited major milestone for a leading suborbital vehicle developer—the first powered flight of Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo—is a little bit closer to taking place after a test flight Wednesday. Virgin Galactic reported SpaceShipTwo flew its first glide flight in 'powered flight configuration', with its rocket motor system, including tanks and nozzle, installed. The flight also featured the first flight with thermal protection material installed on the vehicle’s leading edges, components needed for high-speed powered flight." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSpaceShipTwo edges closer to powered flight

10-Year Veteran TSA Screener Busted for Stealing iPads at JFK

"A Transportation Security Administration screener has been arrested on charges he swiped iPads and other electronic devices from passengers' luggage at John F. Kennedy Airport. Port Authority spokesman Steven Coleman said Wednesday that 32-year-old Sean Henry, of Brooklyn, was nabbed in a sting operation using decoy bags in cooperation with the TSA. Coleman says Henry was arrested after leaving work carrying in his backpack two planted iPads and other electronic devices. He says stolen items were also found in Henry's home." Continue reading →

Continue Reading10-Year Veteran TSA Screener Busted for Stealing iPads at JFK

TSA Creates New Watchlist Of Those Who Failed Pre-Check Applications

"The Federal Register for Monday, November 19, 2012, quietly advises that 'TSA also is creating and maintaining a watch list of individuals who are disqualified from eligibility from TSA Pre✓TM…' Millions of frequent flyers have applied to PreCheck in the hope of mitigating the abuse they suffer at the airport. But now, with breathtaking irony, the TSA discloses that anyone it rejects winds up on yet another of the police-state’s watchlists, his agony at the airport even worse than before." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTSA Creates New Watchlist Of Those Who Failed Pre-Check Applications

The TSA Meets Independent Media – Opt Out And Film Week

"On day one of the 'Opt Out And Film The TSA' campaign, Dan Dicks of Press For Truth and Ashley Jessica went to the Buffalo International airport to help raise awareness about the intrusive and invasive TSA procedures. We were immediately surrounded by members of the TSA and also the Buffalo Transit Police who tried various intimidation tactics on us but ultimately failed to deter us from taking part in this important campaign." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe TSA Meets Independent Media – Opt Out And Film Week

Man with strange watch arrested at Oakland airport

"A bomb squad arrived within five minutes and determined there were no explosive materials in the watch, Nelson said. The checkpoint was closed while officers secured the area. McGann was taken to Santa Rita Jail in Dublin where he was charged with possessing materials to make an explosive device, sheriff's officials said. He was still in custody Friday night and could not be reached for comment. McGann told Transportation Security Administration officers that he's an artist and the watch is art, Nelson said." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMan with strange watch arrested at Oakland airport

Pilots Know More Than Just How to Fly Planes

"The Airline Pilots Association sure understands the importance of government regulation to create benefits for a small group and the value of limiting supply. According to WSJ, new regulations require newly hired pilots to have at least 1,500 hours of prior flight experience. That number is that is six times the current requirement. At the same time a large number of pilots are going to be forced to retire because they are bumping up against the current mandatory retirement age of 65." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPilots Know More Than Just How to Fly Planes

Crooks steal $1.5M in iPads from JFK

"It beats waiting in line at an Apple Store. A pair of brazen crooks punched another hole in the lax JFK security when they stole a trove of new Apple iPad minis — worth $1.5 million — from the same cargo building that was the site of the 1978 Lufthansa heist featured in 'GoodFellas,' The Post has learned. The crooks struck shortly before midnight on Monday and used one of the airport’s own forklifts to load two pallets of the tablet computers into a truck, according to law-enforcement sources." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCrooks steal $1.5M in iPads from JFK

Maker of Airport Body Scanners Suspected of Falsifying Software Tests

"A company that supplies controversial passenger-screening machines for U.S. airports is under suspicion for possibly manipulating tests on privacy software designed to prevent the machines from producing graphic body images. The TSA sent a letter Nov. 9 to the parent company of Rapiscan, the maker of backscatter machines, requesting information about the testing of the software to determine if there was malfeasance. The company previously had problems with a 'calculation error' in safety tests that showed the machines were emitting radiation levels that were 10 times higher than expected." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMaker of Airport Body Scanners Suspected of Falsifying Software Tests