It’s the 1950s, and you’re the Soviet Union. Your deepest rivals, the Americans and their corporations, are all preparing the latest and greatest jet airliners to fly them all over the world. And you’ve got… pretty much nothing. But you do have a huge bomber ready to deliver the apocalypse. The Tupolev Tu-95 was just …
Category: planelopnik
Airline Fatalities Are Up 900 Percent This Year
Photo: AP It’s been a record year for air travel. In 2018, airlines transported 4.5 billion passengers on 45 million flights—both pretty damn impressive numbers on their own, and ones that have exceeded the number of passengers and flights in past years. But with increased flights comes increased danger. Airline fatalities have increased by 900 …
Here’s What Those White Spirals Inside Airplane Engines Are For
If you’ve ever traveled on a commercial airplane, there’s a likely chance you’ve noticed those little white swirls in the center of those engines on the wings. It may seem straightforward: to keep people on the ground advised when the turbofan is spinning, right? But that doesn’t explain everything. To learn more about nosecone spirals—also …
Drone Grounds Flights at Gatwick Airport in ‘Deliberate Act’ of Disruption: Police
More than 750 flights in and out of Britain’s Gatwick airport have been disrupted or cancelled due to the frequent presence of drone flights over the airport, Sussex police are reporting. Authorities say the majority of more than 110,000 holiday travelers will be disrupted. Local police reported industrial-style drones have been frequently flying over the …
Heart Was Left By Courier]
I’m just going to spare you all of the “I left my heart…” jokes and let your own, capable brains fill those in yourself, because this story is just too damn weird to even waste time with that. A human heart was left aboard Southwest Airlines flight 3606 from Seattle to Dallas, when the heart …
Millions of Chinese Nationals Are Barred From Booking Flights Under the Social Credit System
Photo: Chiang Ying-ying (AP) Despite the fact that China’s controversial “social credit” system isn’t scheduled to be fully implemented until 2020, many areas are already rolling it out as a way to monitor the country’s 1.3 billion citizens. Plenty of folks are already reporting that their ability to travel is being impacted. As the Independent …