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World's Leading Independent Aviation News Service Volume 25, Number 48a November 26, 2018   View Online | Forward This Email help

Lion Air Crash: Pilots Struggled To The End   Paul Bertorelli     As lawsuits swirl around last month’s crash of a Lion Air 737 MAX8 into the Java Sea, Indonesian investigators say the crew struggled to control the aircraft right up to the moment of impact. And a member of Indonesia’s National Transportation Safety Committee confirmed to The Guardian that the aircraft had experienced similar problems on its previous flight.   Read more Remembering ATC's Secret Weapon   Paul Bertorelli   You may think ATC runs on sophisticated radar and powerful computers that track every gnat in the sky. But it's the people who make it work.   Read more

Flight Gear Battery Pack Trial   Larry Anglisano     The typical flight bag has a variety of gadgets that might need to be charged on the fly, but not all aircraft have USB ports up to the task. Sporty's has a solution with the Flight Gear battery pack and what's unique about it is the variety of output ports and the pack's charging capacity. To see if it's worth the $79.95 selling price, Aviation Consumer Editor Larry Anglisano ordered one and prepared this field report.   Read more 737 Clips Light After Cockpit Typo   Russ Niles     Favorable geography and fortunate civic planning were cited in allowing a charter aircraft the chance to continue its flight from Belfast to Corfu on July 21, 2017, after a typo in the cockpit.   Read more

Teens Arrested After LSA Joyride   Russ Niles     Two adolescent boys, aged 14 and 15, were arrested Thursday in Utah after allegedly taking a light sport aircraft for a Thanksgiving joyride.   Read more JAL Sets 24-Hour Booze Ban For Pilots   Russ Niles     Japan Airlines has tightened its rules regarding alcohol consumption by employees in the wake of series of incidents that have caused flight delays and led to the arrest of one pilot.   Read more

Plane Propelled By Ionic Wind   Russ Niles     MIT engineers have developed an aircraft propulsion system with no moving parts. A team led by Steven Barrett, an MIT professor of aerospace engineering, flew a five-pound model the length of a gymnasium using “ionic wind” to maintain flight after an initial push using bungee cords.   Read more Report Sheds Light On Thunderbirds CO Removal   Kate O'Connor     The problems that led to the removal of former commanding officer of the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds, Lt. Col. Jason Heard, from squadron leadership included “aggressive physical contact towards his subordinate” and violating regulations, according to the Air Force Times, which recently obtained a report on the investigation into Heard’s behavior via the Freedom of Information Act.   Read more

Russia In Electric Airliner Race   Russ Niles     Russia has announced it’s in the race to develop an electric airliner and it’s claiming it’s ahead of other countries in the pursuit.   Read more

Top Letters And Comments, November 23, 2018     This week's letters brought comments from readers about old navigation techniques, how much pilots need to know about an aircraft's automated systems and the renewal process for flight instructors.   Read more Short Final: Team Rivalry   I was approaching Gainesville, Florida, the week after the Florida Gators were destroyed by the Nebraska Cornhuskers in a bowl game and I listened to the ATIS. The code was Gator. When I called the tower I thought I would be cute so I said I had Cornhusker.   Read more

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