https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...miles-n1052081
Train derailment & chemical fire in Dupo, Illinois. Area has been evacuated.
The train derailed around 12:45 p.m. local time, which caused a tank car to catch fire, Union Pacific said in a statement. The tank car may have held a flammable liquid in it called methyl isobutyl ketone, used as a solvent.
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-49803068
Victim's families of Boeing's 737 Max crashes to receive $144,500 each.
Boeing's financial assistance fund has set aside $50m for direct payments to families of the 346 people who died in the Indonesia and Ethiopia flights.
The rest of the $100m fund, which Boeing announced in July, is to go to education and development programmes.
The fund has started accepting claims, which must be submitted before 2020.
When Boeing announced the fund in July, attorneys for some families dismissed the response as insufficient.
Many are pursuing the company in court.
Attorney Kenneth R Feinberg, who is in charge of the Boeing fund, said participation is voluntary and will not force families to waive their right to file separate lawsuits against the firm.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-49864964
https://www.boeing.com/commercial/737ng/
Cracks have begun to appear on Boeing's NG line of 737's.
Review of 737 Max Certification Finds Fault With Boeing and F.A.A.
https://nyti.ms/2IEZ556
Review of 737 Max Certification Finds Fault With Boeing and F.A.A.
https://nyti.ms/2IEZ556
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-50461302
American Airlines flight diverted after two members of the crew fell unconscious after smelling an odor. AA claims it was a spilled dish soap that caused the fumes, but an investigation found an oil leak to be the cause.
Yeah, spilled dish soap always causes unconsciousness. Totally buying that story.
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-50750746
The FAA has admitted to knowing that Boeing's 737 Max had fatal flaws and predicted another 15 crashes after the first one.
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-50817124The FAA risk assessment was revealed during a US congressional hearing on Wednesday. Lawmakers are investigating Boeing following fatal 737 Max crashes in Indonesia in October 2018, and Ethiopia in March. The disasters killed 346 people in total.
Air safety officials investigating the crashes have identified an automated control system in the 737 Max 8, known as MCAS, as a factor in both accidents.
The FAA's investigation of the October Indonesia crash called for Boeing to redesign its system, warning of a risk of more than a dozen crashes over the 45-year lifetime of the roughly 4,800 737 Max planes in service.
Regulators also issued an alert to airlines, but the agency did not ground the aircraft until after the 10 March Ethiopia crash, several days after action by other countries.
Boeing staff have also raised concerns that the company was prioritising speed over safety at the factory that produced Max 737s, contributing to the crashes.
Ed Pierson, a former senior manager at the factory, told Congress he repeatedly warned Boeing's leadership of the safety risks caused by what he described as a "factory in chaos", but it had little effect.
He also said that, after the crashes, US government regulators have shown little interest in his concerns.
Boeing will temporally halt production of the 737 Max beginning in January, 2020.
Production of the jet had continued despite the model being grounded for nine months after two deadly crashes.
Boeing had been hoping to have the aircraft back in the air by the end of this year.
But US regulators made it clear that the planes would not be certified to return to the skies that quickly.
The manufacturer said it had 400 of the 737 Max aircraft in storage and would focus on delivering those to customers. While many airlines around the world have the planes on order, delivery was halted to allow Boeing's engineers to develop software fixes.
The suspension of the 737 Max has already cost Boeing around $9bn (£6.75bn). Boeing shares fell more than 4% on Monday amid speculation the manufacturer would announce a production suspension.
A Delta flight Boeing 777 making an emergency landing dumped fuel on top of an LA neighborhood during final approach raining on a few schools that had kids out for lunch break.
I experienced a routine e-landing on a 777 once and recall well dumping fuel. It's just basic aviation practice, but it sucks some of it hit recess.
https://www.mprnews.org/story/2020/0...orts-last-year
https://www.tsa.gov/news/releases/20...2019-5-percent
The TSA seized 4,432 guns at checkpoints in 2019 with 3,855 of those being loaded. It's the most guns seized in 18 years.
"The continued increase in the number of firearms that travelers bring to airport checkpoints is deeply troubling," TSA Administrator David Pekoske said in a statement Wednesday.
He points out that it isn't illegal to bring firearms to the airport, but that there are well-established rules people need to follow when traveling with guns.
"There is a proper way to travel safely with a firearm. First and foremost, it should be unloaded," Pekoske said. "Then it should be packed in a hard-sided locked case, taken to the airline check-in counter to be declared, and checked."
5 of the top 10 by passenger volume not on that list, no LAX, OHare, JFK, SFO, or LAS.
Wtf they took our guns!
https://www.npr.org/2020/01/17/79735...000-for-a-ride
Amtrak charges two customers $25k for $16 tickets because they use wheelchairs.
On Dec. 30, an Amtrak agent for group sales based in Philadelphia wrote: "I received a cost regarding the removal of seats and I've been advised this will be over $25 K. Would you like for me to proceed with the request?"
The answer came back on Jan. 2. "The cost is correct," the agent wrote, citing a new policy for taking out those seats. The agent explained that it's expensive to take out extra seats and that it means taking a car out of service.
"With removal of seats, it can be quite costly," the agent wrote. "In previous years, the removal of seats from the coach cars incurred fees that Amtrak absorbed ... We understand and appreciate your loyalty with Amtrak. Going forward, we cannot continue to absorb these fees. These polices have changed nationwide as of 2019."
NPR contacted Amtrak several times. One spokesperson noted that the policy about reconfiguring seats is not directed at people with disabilities but applies to anyone who makes a request that requires "removing seating or making other physical changes to the service."
The official referred NPR to a page on Amtrak's website. It doesn't mention a new policy for people with disabilities or pulling up seats. At the top of the page it says: "Amtrak is happy to provide accessible transportation to all of our guests."
After publication of the NPR story, Amtrak released a statement reiterating its earlier comments that the charges were part of the company's policy to charge passengers "an additional fee when any group requires reconfiguration of our railcars."
The statement went on to say: "We will contact Access Living and suggest costs could be avoided by using the two separate trains on this route, with each train separated by about three hours and having three spaces for wheelchairs without any reconfiguration. We will also confirm the pricing for a railcar reconfiguration given to this important and valued customer."
Do trains not have seats that flip up like busses or something? For 16$ I'm guessing this isn't for a first class wheelchair accessible private car.
No. The cars do have 3 available wheel chair spaces, but he was trying to get tickets for 5ppl. If they wanted to do 2 separate cars that would be separated by 3hrs, tickets are still $16.
To accommodate 5+ like they've done before, they have to take a car out of service to reconfigure it, which cost them about $25k to do.
They had done it in the past, but changed the policy for obvious financial reasons.
Amtrak isn't being unreasonable and putting a headline up saying they were charged $25k for two tickets is click bait.
Just read it.
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Fuck man. Looking at it again that's shit tier click bait. Headline saying Amtrak is asking for $25k for 2 people. That's simply not true.
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