Patrick Smith
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Articles by Patrick Smith
Shruti Gurudanti, Rose Law Group partner and director of corporate transactions, weighs in on what Spirit’s bankruptcy portends for similar airlines
“Spirit Airlines’ bankruptcy highlights growing challenges and diminishing confidence in the viability of the low-cost airline business model.” -Shruti Gurudanti, Rose Law Group partner and director of corporate transactions By Patrick Smith | NBC News Spirit Airlines said Monday it has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after having struggled with losses, growing debt and a failed merger during the post-pandemic travel lull.
Massive IT outage hits airports, businesses and global broadcasters
Major airlines, medical facilities, businesses and police forces around the world are currently being affected by a massive information technology outage caused by a problem with Microsoft's cloud computing services early Friday. CrowdStrike, the US cyber security company behind the bug affecting Microsoft Windows users, says the outage is “not a security incident or cyber attack” and has now released a fix.
Realization of Organocerium-Based Fullerene Molecular Materials Showing Mott Insulator-Type Behavior
RETURN TO ARTICLES ASAPPREVFunctional Nanostruc...Functional Nanostructured Materials (including low-D carbon)NEXT Pragati Pandey P. Roy and Diana T. Vagelos Laboratories, Department of Chemistry, University of Pennsylvania, 231 South 34 Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, United States , Xiaoyu Wang Department of Chemistry, University at Buffalo, State University of New York, Buffalo, New York 14260, United States , Himanshu Gupta P. Roy and Diana T.
At Least 1 Dead After U.S. Military Aircraft With 6 On Board Crashes Into The Sea Near Japan
The coast guard said in a statement that a member of the public called 118, Japan’s version of 911, at 2:47 p.m. (12:47 a.m. ET). The coast guard said it immediately deployed patrol vessels and aircraft to the scene. At 4 p.m. (2 a.m. ET) a rescue team including boats from the coast guard and a local rescue center found “wreckage-like debris” and an overturned life raft, the coast guard said. There were no people in the raft, the coast guard said.
Lucky and Good - LewRockwell
A FLURRY of recent close calls finds us nervous. There were near misses on runways in New York, Boston, and Austin. A United Airlines jet plunged to within 800 feet of the ocean after takeoff from Maui. And so on. The billion-dollar question is, are these incidents symptoms of something gone rotten, or a spate of bad luck? Are they harbingers of disaster, or outliers? Much discussed are staffing woes both at the airlines and air traffic control.
U.S. releases video of Russian fighter jet intercepting drone over Black Sea
The U.S. navy has launched newly declassified video it says exhibits a Russian fighter jet harassing and colliding with an American drone over the Black Sea. The footage, launched Thursday morning by U.S. European Command and filmed from the drone’s on-board digicam, exhibits a Russian Su-27 jet conducting what the U.S. calls an “unsafe/unprofessional intercept of a U.S. Air Drive MQ-9 in worldwide airspace” earlier this week.
Chinese fighter jet confronts US Navy plane with CNN crew aboard as tensions simmer in South China Sea
Kadena Air Base, JapanCNN — The US Navy reconnaissance jet flies at 21,500 feet over the South China Sea, 30 miles from the contested Paracel Islands, a group of about 130 small atolls, the biggest of which are home to Chinese military bases. A voice, saying it’s coming from a People’s Liberation Army (PLA) airport, crackles over the radio of the US Navy P-8 Poseidon as a CNN crew, given rare access aboard the US flight, listens in. “American aircraft. Chinese airspace is 12 nautical miles.
Who's More Experienced? The Co-Pilot or the Captain?
The article below is contributed by Patrick Smith - AskThePilot.com My first job as an airline pilot was in 1990. My first plane was an antique 15-seater with no pressurization or autopilot. I’d just turned twenty-four, and was one of the youngest pilots at the company. I made a thousand bucks a month, flying four days a week, in and out of the awful New England weather. Suffice it to say my salary has improved.
Aloft With the Famous (and Forgotten)
The article below is contributed by Patrick Smith - AskThePilot.com FLY ENOUGH, and every so often you’ll encounter this or that famous — or infamous — person. Maybe it’s a pop star. Maybe a film star. Maybe a newscaster, an athlete, or a washed-up comedian nobody remembers (see below). Maybe it’s 1981 and you’re a ninth-grader, standing in baggage claim at the Los Angeles airport, and the actor known as “Mr. T” walks past you with his entourage.
The Mad, Mad Summer of 2022
The article below is contributed by Patrick Smith - AskThePilot.com If you've been to the airport lately, you’ve experienced the mayhem. Terminals are swamped, planes are overbooked, cancellations are rampant, delays are out of control. I’ve been working quite a bit over the last few months, so I’ve been in the thick of it. “Travel is back,” I wrote in a post back in May.
It's Been 20 Years Since the Last Catastrophic U.S. Plane Crash
Better Training, Technology and Regulation Have Made Flying Safer than When Flight 587 Fell from the Sky We made it. I had my doubts, but we pulled it off. Nov. 12 marks the 20th anniversary of the crash of American Airlines flight 587 in New York City. We have now gone twenty full years since the last large-scale crash involving a major U.S. carrier. This is by far the longest such streak ever. On the sunny morning of Nov.
North, to the Past: Flying the Douglas DC-6 across Alaska’s Final Frontier
MIAMI – It’s Three O’Clock in the morning, Central Daylight Time. Our shuttle bus bounces deliberately along the airport roadway, navigating a seemingly endless labyrinth of heavy machinery. Bag tugs clatter noisily past my window towing long, brushed aluminum tails, their silver containers reflecting the glow of headlights, work lights, aircraft beacons, and, high above, the soft radiance of a full summer’s moon.
Into the Silent Sunset: A Story for My Friend
MIAMI – I gazed listlessly out the side of my airplane, impatiently rubbernecking like an interstate road tripper caught in a long summer traffic jam. It was the last leg of another twelve-hour workday and I was ready to go home. Bumping slowly along the uneven pavement, I kept a solid grip on the metal D-ring handle of my crew hatch, using care to ensure that the compounding gusts of the jet blast from the preceding airliners didn’t rip the door from my grasp.
Preparedness, United 328, and the Trust We Hold Sacred
MIAMI – On Saturday, February 20, United Airlines (UA) flight 328 suffered an engine failure while climbing out of Denver, Colorado. A large section of fan blade measuring over three feet long and weighing in excess of thirty pounds separated from its mount as an apparent result of metal fatigue, causing havoc within the engine’s armored containment ring. Most sensationally, the violence of the failure catastrophically damaged the engine’s outer cowls, raining debris over the countryside.
Unprecedented Times: Reflecting on a Life in Aviation
MIAMI – “United 1 Heavy, contact departure!” Banking gracefully left, the mighty Boeing 777 climbed skyward, roaring past the edge of my bed, over the chest of drawers, and out the bedroom door into the great beyond. Slipping the surly bonds, or, rather, the woven blue carpet fibers of my childhood bedroom was a regular occurrence in those days, but one that never seemed to lose its majesty.
'An exercise in stress:' A pilot describes flying during COVID-19
Mostly, this has been an exercise in stress. I suppose that’s an ambiguous term, so constituently we’re talking about fear, dread, and uncertainty. Not a fear of the virus. Coming down with COVID-19 isn’t what scares me. What scares me is what the airline business might look like by the time things settle out — whenever that might be. Particularly astonishing was the speed at which things went to hell.
'Fog of War' Clouding Assumptions on Returning to Office, Expert Says
As a commercial building owner, you are facing unprecedented challenges in the wake of COVID. Most notably, increased operating expenses and reduced cash flow. This guide reveals 3 strategies to overcome COVID-related challenges while cutting costs and helping tenants return to your properties.
No survivors as plane carrying 107 people crashes in Pakistan
News Prime Minister Imran Khan wrote in a tweet he was "shocked and saddened" by the crash.
Iran denies firing missile that downed Ukrainian jet, calls for evidence
Iran has strongly denied that a Ukraine International Airlines jetliner that crashed in Iran shortly after takeoff earlier this week, killing 176 people, was downed by an Iranian missile by mistake. "What is obvious for us, and what we can say with certainty, is that no missile hit the plane," Ali Abedzadeh, head of Iran's Civil Aviation Organization, said on Friday.
The lost airlines of Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia
This isn’t a simple grab-bag listicle of names. We’re restricting it to what I’ll call “classic” carriers. We can skip the likes of VASP, AeroPeru or Dan-Air, much as they, and many others, are missed. We’ll concentrate instead on carriers of historical significance, and whose presence, in its time, in some way helped shape the business.
The lost airlines of Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia
Welcome to part two of our round-up of airlines from the past, a greatest-hits list of the defunct, demised, and disappeared. In part one we focused on carriers of the United States: Eastern, Pan Am, Braniff, and all the others that went bust, were bought out, or found themselves Frank Lorenzo-ed into the history books. This time we’ll venture overseas. As in part one, this isn’t a simple grab-bag listicle of names. We’re restricting it to what I’ll call “classic” carriers.
Unforgotten: The lost airlines of the U.S.
This is the first article in a two-part series about defunct airlines. Nothing is a more sobering testament to the precariousness and unpredictability of the airline business than going through the long, long list of airlines that no longer exist. It can also be nostalgic and fun, so let’s do it. Below is a look at some of America’s most colorful and influential carriers from the past. We’ll start our timeline in the 1960s, after the advent of the jetliner. And no, not everyone is here.
How the big U.S. airlines managed an unprecedented 18-year safe streak
Eighteeen years ago today, on the sunny morning of Nov. 12, 2001, American Airlines Flight 587, an Airbus A300 bound for the Dominican Republic, crashed after takeoff from Kennedy Airport in New York City. Seconds into its climb, the flight encountered wake turbulence spun from a Japan Airlines 747 that had departed a few minutes earlier.
Why the Boeing 737 will never take the place of the 757
I’m depressed. I’m depressed because the word on the street is that Boeing will not be moving forward with its so-called “new midsize airplane,” or NMA, also known as the 797. That’s the rumor, at any rate. If built, the 797 would bridge the range and capacity gap between the narrowbody 737 family and the much larger 787 and 777 families — a slot occupied by the now-geriatric 757 and 767.
When is economy better than business class? A short-haul surprise on South African Airways
When is economy class better than business class? Never, basically. The distinctions, though, can sometimes be blurry, particularly on shorter flights. Which brings us to a pair of intra-Africa hops I took recently with South African Airways. Logistically the flights were similar. Both were brief international sectors, at about 90 minutes each. The first was aboard a widebody Airbus A330; the second on a much smaller, single-aisle A319.
Why Some Airlines Give Their Aircraft Names
One time I was walking through the concourse when I passed a Lufthansa jet parked at the gate. There on the nose was a single word. “Worms,” it said. What in the world?, I thought. Worms? Worms? Then it dawned on me. Ah, that’s right, Lufthansa names most of its jets after German cities. Worms is the historic, nearly 2,000-year-old town in the Upper Rhineland where, in 1521, Martin Luther was declared a heretic.
All About Airline Call Signs
Maybe you were a fan of United’s old Channel 9, the inflight entertainment option that allowed passengers to eavesdrop on the chatter between pilots and air traffic control. Channel 9 is gone, but online sites like LiveATC.net allow you to listen in on thousands of air-to-ground frequencies around the globe. In the midst of all this back-and-forth you’ll hear some colorful radio call signs.
SFO Crash: It Is Never OK to Grab Your Carry-On Before an Emergency Exit, and Other Notes From a Pilot
SFO’s runways were not to blame; Korean pilots are not poorly trained; and it’s never OK to grab your carry-on before an emergency exit. Ignore what you’re hearing about San Francisco’s airport and Korea’s air safety culture. Photo by Handout/Reuters On Saturday afternoon an Asiana Airlines Boeing 777 crash-landed at San Francisco International Airport, killing at least two passengers and injuring dozens more, many of them seriously.
The many human errors that brought down the Boeing 737 Max
The first sign of trouble appeared just after takeoff. Inside the cockpit of PK-LQP, a brand-new Boeing 737 Max belonging to Lion Air, the stick shaker on the captain’s side began to vibrate. Stick shakers are designed to warn pilots of an impending stall, which can cause a dangerous loss of control. They’re unmistakably loud for that reason. But the airplane was flying normally, nowhere near a stall. The captain ignored it.
How to Become an Airline Pilot
Over the course of the nearly 20 years that I’ve been fielding questions from the traveling public, among the most common queries I receive is the one asking how, exactly, a man or woman goes about becoming a commercial airline pilot.
Airline pilot: Is it still safe to fly in a Boeing 737 MAX? Don't worry about it just yet.
Last October, a Boeing 737 MAX 8, operated by a low-cost Indonesian airline called Lion Air, crashed after takeoff from Jakarta, killing everyone on board. Then, on Sunday, an Ethiopian Airlines 737 MAX crashed near Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, under eerily similar circumstances, killing 157 people from more than 30 countries.
Airline pilot: Is it still safe to fly in a Boeing 737 MAX? Don't worry about it just yet.
Last October, a Boeing 737 MAX 8, operated by a low-cost Indonesian airline called Lion Air, crashed after takeoff from Jakarta, killing everyone on board. Then, on Sunday, an Ethiopian Airlines 737 MAX crashed near Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, under eerily similar circumstances, killing 157 people from more than 30 countries.
Airline pilot: Is it still safe to fly in a Boeing 737 MAX? Don't worry about it just yet.
Patrick Smith, Opinion contributor Published 2:24 p.m. ET March 12, 2019 Recent crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia of Boeing's 737 MAX aircraft have passengers worried. But air travel has actually never been safer. Last October, a Boeing 737 MAX 8, operated by a low-cost Indonesian airline called Lion Air, crashed after takeoff from Jakarta, killing everyone on board.
Airline pilot: Is it still safe to fly in a Boeing 737 Max? Don't worry about it just yet.
Patrick Smith, Opinion contributor Published 1:24 p.m. CT March 12, 2019 | Updated 5:05 p.m. CT March 12, 2019 A Boeing 737 Max 8 crashed in Ethiopia killing everyone on board. The crash of the Ethiopian Airlines plane marks the second deadliest accident involving a Boeing 737 in the past five months. So is there a problem with this particular model? USA TODAY Recent crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia of Boeing's 737 Max aircraft have passengers worried. But air travel has actually never been safer.
Airline pilot: Is it still safe to fly in a Boeing 737 Max? Don't worry about it just yet.
Patrick Smith, Opinion contributor Published 2:24 p.m. ET March 12, 2019 | Updated 9:50 a.m. ET March 13, 2019 A Boeing 737 Max 8 crashed in Ethiopia killing everyone on board. The crash of the Ethiopian Airlines plane marks the second deadliest accident involving a Boeing 737 in the past five months. So is there a problem with this particular model? USA TODAY Recent crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia of Boeing's 737 Max aircraft have passengers worried. But air travel has actually never been safer.
Traveling the World Was Never the Same Once the Boeing 747 Debuted
When the first Boeing 747 rolled from the hangar in Everett, Washington, 50 years ago, onlookers were stunned. The aircraft before them, gleaming in the morning sunshine, was more than double the size and weight of any existing jetliner. An airplane of firsts and superlatives, the 747 owed its instant fame mostly to feats of size.
An airline pilot explains how difficult it would be to steal a plane
Editor's note: Patrick Smith is a commercial airline pilot who currently flies Boeing 757 and 767 aircraft. Smith also runs the blog AskThePilot.com and is the author of the book "Cockpit Confidential." On Friday night at Sea-Tac airport in Seattle, a 29-year-old employee of Horizon Air purloined one of the carrier's Dash-8 Q400 turboprops. Richard Russell, a ground service worker, took the 76-seat aircraft for an hour long joyride before crashing onto an island in the southern end of Puget Sound.
An airline pilot explains how difficult it would be to steal a plane
Richard Russell, who liked to be called Beebo, is seen in an undated photograph from a video he produced for his Youtube channel, obtained August 11, 2018. Youtube/Handout via REUTERS Editor's note: Patrick Smith is a commercial airline pilot who currently flies Boeing 757 and 767 aircraft.
China is buying up US companies, and no one's doing much about it
During the late 1980s, Americans were in a tizzy during the wave of Japanese corporate and real estate acquisitions. Well, here come the Chinese and, in all likelihood, here comes the tizzy. When Americans think of China, here's what comes to mind: What doesn't come to mind is how many businesses and property assets are owned by Chinese investors and wealthy individuals. Chinese purchases of U.S. corporations are setting records, and this isn't a passing phenomenon.
An airline pilot explains how the Southwest engine failed
Editor's note: Patrick Smith is a commercial airline pilot who currently flies Boeing 757 and 767 aircraft. Smith also runs the blog AskThePilot.com and is the author of the book "Cockpit Confidential." Uncontained engine failure is the term you've been hearing, and it aptly describes what befell Southwest Airlines flight 1380 on Tuesday on a flight from New York's La Guardia Airport to Dallas. Basically, a jet engine can fail one of two ways.
An airline pilot explains how the Southwest engine failed
The engine on a Southwest Airlines plane is inspected as it sits on the runway at the Philadelphia International Airport after it made an emergency landing in Philadelphia, Tuesday, April 17, 2018. Amanda Bourman/AP Editor's note: Patrick Smith is a commercial airline pilot who currently flies Boeing 757 and 767 aircraft.
Airline pilot reveals what conditions are really like for pets on planes
Editor's note: Patrick Smith is a commercial airline pilot who currently flies Boeing 757 and 767 aircraft. Smith also runs the blog AskThePilot.com and is the author of the book "Cockpit Confidential." United Airlines is back in the news again. And when airlines are in the news, it's almost never for a good reason. As the headlines have it, United's brutish handling of its human customers seems to be outdone only by the way it treats pets.
An airline pilot reveals a major reason why flights today are less comfortable and frequently delayed
Editor's note: Patrick Smith is a commercial airline pilot who currently flies Boeing 757 and 767 aircraft. Smith also runs the blog AskThePilot.com and is the author of the book "Cockpit Confidential." It's weird, when you think about it. More people are flying than ever before, but they're doing so in smaller and smaller planes. The average commercial jet holds about a third fewer passengers than it did thirty years ago. When I was a kid, widebody planes were the norm on many domestic flights.
An airline pilot reveals a major reason why flights today are less comfortable and frequently delayed
Editor's note: Patrick Smith is a commercial airline pilot who currently flies Boeing 757 and 767 aircraft. Smith also runs the blog AskThePilot.com and is the author of the book "Cockpit Confidential." It's weird, when you think about it. More people are flying than ever before, but they're doing so in smaller and smaller planes. The average commercial jet holds about a third fewer passengers than it did thirty years ago. When I was a kid, widebody planes were the norm on many domestic flights.
An airline pilot reveals a major reason why flights today are less comfortable and frequently delayed
Editor's note: Patrick Smith is a commercial airline pilot who currently flies Boeing 757 and 767 aircraft. Smith also runs the blog AskThePilot.com and is the author of the book "Cockpit Confidential." It's weird, when you think about it. More people are flying than ever before, but they're doing so in smaller and smaller planes. The average commercial jet holds about a third fewer passengers than it did thirty years ago. When I was a kid, widebody planes were the norm on many domestic flights.
Obama is going to leave behind a giant mess in the Middle East
What a dismal week in the Middle East for the Obama administration. In the course of a couple of days, the partial ceasefire in Syria began to fray, the peace talks in Geneva turned stony, and the Saudis pointedly cold-shouldered President Obama when he arrived in Riyadh for talks with King Salman. After what was likely Obama’s last trip to the region, his Mideast legacy is clear: He has broken eggs, but he’s hardly handing his successor an omelet.
A pilot explains what it really means when there's turbulence during a flight
Boeing 777 at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport. Flickr/Maarten Visser Turbulence is generally harmless. It also feels much worse than it actually is. Pilots try to avoid turbulence to give passengers a smoother ride. But turbulence can be unpredictable. Turbulence seems to be getting worse due to climate change. Loading Something is loading.
A Pilot explains how an Air Canada jet nearly caused a major aviation disaster in San Francisco
Editor's note: Patrick Smith is a commercial airline pilot who currently flies Boeing 757 and 767 aircraft. Smith also runs the blog AskThePilot.com and is the author of the book "Cockpit Confidential." On July 7th, an Air Canada jet nearly landed on a busy taxiway at San Francisco International Airport, apparently mistaking the taxiway for runway 28R. Taxiway C, as it’s designated (“Charlie,” pilots would call it, using the phonetic alphabet), runs parallel to the runway on its north side.
An airline pilot explains why planes can't fly when it's extremely hot outside
Editor's note: Patrick Smith is a commercial airline pilot who currently flies Boeing 757 and 767 aircraft. Smith is also a travel blogger and author of the book "Cockpit Confidential." As maybe you’ve heard, flights in the American Southwest are being grounded as a severe heat wave pushes temperatures close to 120 degrees Fahrenheit. (Welcome to the first day of summer, right?) Extreme heat affects planes in a few different ways. First, there are aerodynamic repercussions.
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