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Monday, February 23, 2026

Tag: air
January 21, 2024
News

Maintenance Left a Flashlight In An F-35 Jet Engine. It Cost $14M & Totaled the Aircraft.

A flashlight, mistakenly left in the engine of an F-35 fighter jet on a U.S. Air Force base in Arizona, was inadvertently sucked into the aircraft’s engine, causing irreparable damage valued at $14 million. This incident occurred on March 15, 2023, during a routine maintenance ground run at Luke Air Force Base outside Glendale, according to a newly released branch report.

The 19-page document, issued Thursday, explained that the crucial blunder occurred when a maintainer used and overlooked a flashlight inside the engine inlet during an inspection. After the examination, the jet’s engine was fired up for five minutes, testing for potential fuel leaks. The foreign object was not detected until after the engine was switched off and the maintainer reported hearing an unusual noise from the decelerating engine.

Further probing led to the startling discovery of “significant damage” to the $14 million engine, forcing the maintainer to concede, “I believe I just ingested a flashlight.”  No injuries were reported in the incident, and investigators concluded that the maintainer “failed to clear the inlet of foreign objects after completing the required inspections for an engine run after they exited the aircraft inlet.”

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A flashlight, mistakenly left in the engine of an F-35 fighter jet on a U.S. Air Force base in Arizona, was inadvertently sucked into the aircraft's engine, causing irreparable damage valued at $14 million. This incident occurred on March 15, 2023, during a routine maintenance ground run at Luke Air Force Base outside Glendale, according to a newly released branch report. show more
November 14, 2023
News

Flight Diverts After Horse Gets Loose in Plane.

A charter flight operated by Air Atlanta Icelandic had to return to New York’s JFK Airport due to a loose horse in the cargo hold, according to a YouTube video from the account ‘You can see ATC’. The incident, believed to have occurred on November 9th, happened shortly after take-off on flight number CC4592 bound for Liège, Belgium. As per the video narration, the pilot reported the issue at about 31,000 feet and requested permission for an immediate return to JFK, stating the crew’s inability to secure the animal.

The pilots, upon dumping 20 tonnes of fuel, managed to land safely back at JFK. At the airport, they requested veterinary assistance citing the horse was “in difficulty”, with no explicit details about the animal’s condition. Flightradar24 records show that the flight took off again at 6.35pm local time (11.35pm GMT) and concluded its journey in Liege approximately six hours later, at 6.49am local time (5.49am GMT) on the morning of November 10th.

In July, an in-flight passenger feud demanded a plane fly 700 miles off its intended course. In October, a flight headed to Tampa had to circle back to Panama due to an adult diaper mistaken for a bomb. Earlier this month, an Air New Zealand flight was compelled to return four hours into its course as a response to a technical glitch.

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A charter flight operated by Air Atlanta Icelandic had to return to New York’s JFK Airport due to a loose horse in the cargo hold, according to a YouTube video from the account 'You can see ATC’. The incident, believed to have occurred on November 9th, happened shortly after take-off on flight number CC4592 bound for Liège, Belgium. As per the video narration, the pilot reported the issue at about 31,000 feet and requested permission for an immediate return to JFK, stating the crew’s inability to secure the animal. show more
Make Flying Unaffordable
July 31, 2023
Jake Welch
News

30,000 Pilot Shortage + Union Demands Will Make Flying Unaffordable.

Flying in the United States is set to become unaffordable for normal Americans with a combination of severe pilot shortages and increasingly-demanding pilot unions causing ticket prices to soar.

It is estimated that airlines across North America will suffer shortages of around 30,000 pilots over the next decades, as the U.S. is failing to train enough, with others opting to retire early.

“The supply of new pilots will grow, but not enough to offset a continuing wave of retirements,” states the management consulting firm, Oliver Wyman.

Pilot unions are doubling down as a result of the increased leverage and are able to drive a hard bargain in negotiations with airlines. Pilots working for United Airlines, for example, look set to receive a 34.5 to 40.5 percent pay increase over the next four years, with United having to offer other perquisites, including job security and retirement packages, and better benefits and work-life balance assurances. Pilots employed by American Airlines, too, are pushing for better pay and working conditions to match those of United, causing the companies to increase ticket prices to make up for the shortfall.

Though increasingly unaffordable, Americans will still at least have the option to fly. France, by comparison, recently announced a ban on all short-haul flights under two-and-a-half hours in an effort to “reduce carbon emissions.”

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Flying in the United States is set to become unaffordable for normal Americans with a combination of severe pilot shortages and increasingly-demanding pilot unions causing ticket prices to soar. show more