When a passenger jet roaring down the runway toward takeoff at New York’s LaGuardia Airport had to slam on the brakes earlier this month because another plane was still on the runway, Renee Hoffer and all the other passengers were thrown forward in their seats.

Hoffer wound up in the emergency room the next day after the near miss on May 6 because her neck started hurting and her left arm went numb.

“The stop was as hard as any car accident I’ve been in,” Hoffer said.

    • breakingcups@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      The destruction of American ATC has been going on for a lot longer. I follow quite a few ATC incident channels and they’ve been cost cutting and penny pinching, shifting operations from local controllers to remote controllers miles away without proper training.

      Remember, it is illegal for Air Traffic Controllers to strike for better working conditions (or any other reason) and Ronald Reagan fired 11.000 striking workers when they did strike. The damage of that decision took 10 years to repair.

      • baines@lemmy.cafe
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        1 day ago

        clearly we need to hurry up and get AI in there, why are the Democrats stopping Elon from fixing this mess?

  • mercano@lemmy.world
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    At the time that controller was directing the Republic Airways jet to takeoff, a ground controller on a different radio frequency was directing the United plane to a new taxiway after it missed the first one it was supposed to use to exit the runway.

    I thought one and only one controller was supposed to have custody of an active runway.

      • BigMikeInAustin@lemmy.world
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        Airlines keep pushing to get more throughput on the runways; closing the time between planes.

        Not only does it cause chances of being in the wake of the previous plane, there is no time cushion if something happens.

        • modifier@lemmy.ca
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          Slight quibble. Airlines are pushing to upgrade the technology that we use to manage our air space so that we can get more throughput on the runways safely.

          They don’t worry quite so much about bloodying your nose, killing your dog, or destroying your guitar but they do not fuck around with capital S Safety (see Valujet) and you can only consolidate so much before your main competition for takeoffs is you, and the limitations of the system you are working in.

          Cynical? Yes. Does our air traffic technology still need a massive upgrade even to maintain the status quo? Also yes.

    • NatakuNox@lemmy.world
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      Yes, but when your work place is understaffed, you are over worked, and you are working on software and systems from the early 80s… Mistakes happen ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

      Not like hundreds of people’s lives are at stake.

  • RedditIsDeddit@lemmy.world
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    I’ll tell you right now I made the decision a few weeks ago but I’m not getting in another fucking plane until Trump’s out of office

    • Ænima@lemm.ee
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      13 hours ago

      Same. Soon as the headlines had two fatal air collisions in like the same week, I was good to drive or not travel at all. Then the harassment of people by federal enforcement further solidified that decision.

  • aramis87@fedia.io
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    Expanding the systems to more airports is something Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy would like to do if Congress signs off on his multi-billion-dollar plan to overhaul the nation’s aging air traffic control system.

    Oh, the one that Biden tried to pass in 2019 but the Republicans voted down?

  • Darkassassin07@lemmy.ca
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    1 day ago

    “The stop was as hard as any car accident I’ve been in,” Hoffer said.

    Kind of impressive a passenger jet has that kind of braking force. It’s not exactly a light machine + passenger/cargo/fuel weight.

      • Coreidan@lemmy.world
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        Thrust reversers are powerful but they take time to power up and apply force. The sudden jerk throwing passengers forward is 100% from the braking action. The braking action is near instantaneous vs a gradual application of force by the reversers.

        • uuldika@lemmy.ml
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          1 day ago

          imagine how hot those brake pads were, converting that much momentum directly into heat in a flash. glad they didn’t bump into each other, since even a minor crash could turn into an inferno if leaking jet fuel contacts brakes that hot.

          • RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world
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            There is a serious threat of blown fuse plugs or fire. The carbon brakes create a lot of heat really quickly, but it takes a few minutes for that heat to soak into the wheel assemblies. There are plugs that melt to release the tire pressure so they don’t explode and cause further damage, but fire can still be a problem.