Press Articles 2003

The Charlotte Observer, "Trends In Maintenance, Inspections, Cost-Cutting Pose Threat, Experts Say"

          Airlines are spending less to maintain their planes. Mechanics are checking them less often. And federal oversight is stretched thin as regulators struggle to keep up with the growing use of outsourced service work and repairs.
          The safety of one of the world's most reliable aviation systems is at stake. More...

Seattle Post-Intelligencer, "High-Tech Anxiety At 36,000 Feet Twice In Two Years, Crews Flying 747s Inexplicably Had Their Flight Display Screens Go Dark"

          It's the kind of airplane incident one might expect to find in stories about flights through the Bermuda Triangle.
          But it happened on modern jetliners flying between Sydney and Singapore.
          Two Boeing 747-400 passenger jets, operated by the same airline two years apart, suffered unheard of failures of all flight display screens in the cockpit - high-tech anxiety at 36,000 feet. More...

USA Today, "In-flight entertainment systems linked to scores of jet 'difficulties'"

          As a Boeing 757 airliner climbed to 14,000 feet in March, a routine takeoff suddenly became an emergency. Sparks and smoke came out of the passenger cabin's in-flight entertainment system, cockpit instrument lights lit up, and the rudder and control wheel moved.
          The pilots, who reported the incident to a government safety database, said they returned for an "uneventful" landing. The database doesn't identify the airline involved or the U.S. airport the flight diverted to, but the timing of the event was significant. More...

Crain Business Report, "Recent rulings on airline liability a mixed bag"

          Airlines and aviation industry manufacturers walked out of many courthouses last year with important victories, but a couple of rulings could open up some liability problems for them, according to a commercial aviation attorney.
          Courts sided with aviation industry defendants on claims arising from unruly passenger behavior, damaged cargo and product liability.
          But courts issued inconsistent rulings on whether airlines' failure to warn passengers about a particular flying-related health risk can be considered accidents for which passengers can seek damages under international airline liability conventions.
          Courts also disagreed about whether turbulence claims are covered by the conventions.