Air France jet flew well beyond radar range — scores of other oceanic flights do the same
Air France 447 was flying in a region outside of radar range although not out of voice contact. Many commercial flights make this trek every day.
Air traffic controllers lost contact with the jet just as it was entering a band of violent thunderstorms and heavy turbulence that stretched along the equator.
Since thunderstorms can tower to altitudes of more than 60,000 feet, where passenger planes cannot climb over them, pilots will often weave left and right to find a route that avoids the worst of the weather.
Some analysts have speculated that the pilot may have been trying to return to Fernando de Noronha, about 220 miles off Brazil’s northeastern coast, when disaster struck.
Branson: Unlikely all big U.S. airlines will survive
Richard Branson, founder and president of Virgin Atlantic Airways says in an interview that “he believes it is unlikely that all big U.S. airlines will survive the next 12 to 18 months.”
“I don’t think that the American government will yet again put more billions into the airline industry. They’ve learned their lessons from the car industry,” Branson told Reuters in an interview in Tokyo.
“I just happen to believe it is unlikely that all the big American carriers will survive the next 12 to 18 months,” he said, adding that at least two airline companies are vulnerable.
He never said which two are vulnerable.
Virgin America and Google team up for “a day in the cloud” scavenger hunt
Virgin American and Google are teaming up for “an online puzzle challenge that can be played on the ground and in the air. ”
Their “day in the cloud” is scheduled for June 24th and will let players on the ground compete with people flying with Virgin America. For this event, access to the Gogo Inflight WiFi service will be free.
Prizes include free flights on Virgin America, HP Netbook computers and a 1TB of “Google account storage” for email and photos.
If you want to participate, go to the website and register.
