When I fly, particularly over expanses of water, I too check the aircraft, not the manufacturer but how many engines the beast has and I still decline to fly an ocean with anything less that 3 engines strapped to the beast.
I'm not speculating but Airbus do seem to have a 'tail' problem, the tails are made of composite materials. An American Airlines Airbus had a serious tail problem and only this past few days the tail of AF447 has been found but not the fuselage which would seem to indicate that the tail detached from the aircraft at altitude, perhaps at cruising altitude, and came down by itself. Nothing wrong with their avionics, just the airframes that the avionics form part of!
I'm not a fan of Airbus but then I wouldn't be because I'm British, Airbus are French, and it is well known regarding the mutual feelings that exist between the British and the French and Airbus are the b@stards, in cahoots with Frog Air (Air France), Air France didn't want to operate it any longer so they made darn sure that nobody else was going to operate it, that bought an end to Concorde's commercial life :) The British, being British, did things properly and disabled their Concorde's before parking them in museums but Airbus/Air France went underhand and they've kept a Concorde in semi airworthy condition and it resides at Airbus's HQ in Toulouse, just Google Earth for 'LFBO' and then 'Avenue Jean Monnet' and there it is parked. There were rumours that it would fly again for the 'Paris' 2012 Olympics but 'us' Brits scuppered that plan :)
Don't get me started on slating off Scarebus :)
But then I'm not a fan of Boing, sorry I mean Boeing, either, their quality control is sh1te, Douglas made the best aircraft, brick sh1thouses compared to Boeing's tin cans, but then Boeing eliminated that competition.
funny thing. When I was stuck in NYC for a night there was a flight crew from Hong Kong in the hotel lobby getting ready to leave for airport. Every one of the nicely dressed flight attendants was wearing a surgical mask. It looked odd. Yet the paranoia was there. Although not necessary it is an option to relax her fears. But it can also create a more heightened awareness to the issue hence more anxiety. But it is an option.
I would like to know more about RF travel to these places. I was told the trip I already paid for to Hawaii is "not a chance" for my RF friend by an immigration person. It waas suggested I change to another destination.
T-dude....I think most flights from Paris to DR are on 777's. I would think girl would be worried about the recent crash as opposed to type of aircraft. I have flown several times on AF across the pond with no problems, in fact with your own TV screen makes the 10 hour flight from LA to Paris much more bearable.
By the way TD, first girl buys ticket to DR, then I thought I read you were off to ?? another place, now back to DR....were these just thoughts?? Did you book your travel flight/hotel? I checked prices both ways, her travel flight/hotel and mine and for some reason it was cheaper to book her travel with hotel. For me it is easier to go to DR but I am more likely to end up in italy with girl, just have to figure semantics on how, going to ask GD on that.
Frog Air have had problem(s) in the past with their 777's also, they've had one or few in-flight single engine shut downs and that leaves a hell of a lot of people up there hoping that the remaining fan keeps turning!
Aside from the two below there was a third one, that I know of, that did a dirty dive in to St Petersburg (of the Russian variety) airport on one engine. Two engined aircraft, over expanses of water, operate under 'ETOPS' which, basically, translates to Engines Turning Or Passengers Swimming!
A Boeing 777 aircraft operated Air France made an emergency landing in Siberia on 17 December.
The aircraft, which was on its way from Seoul, South Korea, to Paris, France, made the emergency landing after one of its engines malfunctioned. According to the airline, none of the 246 passengers or 17 crew members were injured.
Air France 777 unscheduled diversion cause inflight shutdown
Lajes (Azores/Portugal) - An Air France plane makes an uncheduled diversion to Lajes international airport (Terceira Island), in Azores, due to engine mechanical troubles on one of the two engines of the plane during a flight over Atlantic Ocean.
The aircraft, a Boeing 777-300ER, registration number F-GSQT, flight number AF620, which was supposed to operate between Paris-Orly (France) international airport and Pointe-à-Pitre-Le Raizet (Guadeloupe/France) international airport with a total passengers number not know at this present time, took-off around noon and was over the Atlantic Ocean when an engine incident occurred. The pilots requested an emergency diversion to Lajes.
The plane landed without further incident and no injuries. No more information were released by the company about the engine problem. The passengers have been disembarked and placed in some hotels to wait for the next departure, the day after.
So Martin....which aircraft do you fly on? Or is it just the airline? Take away boeing and airbus, what is left? I am speaking mostly of long haul flights.
It is still safer to fly in an airplane than to get in a car and drive.......that doesn't stop anyone from driving.....does it?
Flying is said to be safer than crossing the road. Sure, many of us drive but I wouldn't be seen dead driving a BMW, likewise people have preferences regarding aircraft manufacturers and indeed sizes of engine capacity.
More recently I have only flown short to medium haul, my local international airport is, mainly, served by regional aircraft and by such operators as KLM (who are Frog Air under a different label), Frog Air, Luftwaffe, SN Brussels Airlines, SAS, Swiss etc.
My favoured airline, from this airport, are Swiss because there crews are ultra friendly, their aircraft cabins are ultra clean and they operate BAe146 aircraft (British crap but 4 engines) on the route, if not the BAe146 then they sub-charter in Fokker 100's on the route and Fokker 70's & 100's are, perhaps, my favourite aircraft to fly in. I've also flown, recently, in such aircraft as Airbus A319/320/321, B737, Saab2000, Bombardier CRJ, Fokker 70 and MD87 (another fine Douglas beast).
For long haul, over expanses of water, I would happily fly on an Airbus A340, as Richard Branston (as in pickle) of Virgin Atlantic has, or had, on the side of his aircraft '4 engines for long haul', I have flown long haul, upper deck, on B747's but when one looks at the route the emergency slides take to get out and down it's time to order another gin & tonic, I would fly long haul over water on B747's and likewise on Douglas MD11's despite Swissair having a (modern technology) MD11 'nasty' off the US eastern seaboard some 10 or 11 years ago.
But I refuse to bow to accountant's commercial pressure to fly oceanic on anything less than 3 engines, modern day pilots may tell you it's safe but they're not pilots, they're computer operators and any 'old school' pilot is likely to say otherwise!
I'm from the old school and before accountants started running companies, commercial pressures have permitted 2 engined aircraft to fly over expanses of water and whilst modern engines may be more efficient it is only a matter of time!
On the subject of planes ... I'm a wall-to-wall geek, and have read through a small library of books on aviation safety.
As a strictly personal matter, I'm more comfortable with Boeing's attitude toward cockpit controls than Airbus' (I've a cousin who is an aerodynamicist at Boeing, who told me that unless the company changes its philosophy, you'll never see a joystick replace the control yoke in a Boeing airliner).
And I've kept track of accidents and incidents in which aggressive Airbus attitude toward automation has been a big contributing factor (unfortunately, the list is long).
You won't be surprised that I've been closely following the Air France disaster, and in trying to imagine what happened in the cockpit, I've considered the possibility that their automation systems played a sad part.
But having said all this... when I board an Airbus, I don't give safety a second thought. Western-made airliners are "safe as houses," to borrow a phrase from the Brits. They get the passengers safely to their destination with amazing reliability. Nothing in the world can compare. Years ago, somebody calculated that you flew continuously on American jet airliners (and European statistics compare well), boarding another flight as soon as you landed, it would take you an average of 80 years to be involved in a fatal accident (and even then, there's a good chance you would survive). Because accident rates have improved since then, today's figure would probably be more than a century.
On the other hand, I've made several flights on Russian-made airliners... in 06 (I think), a Russian Tu-154 crashed in Ukraine (in a bad storm), a crash that probably would not have occurred, if the plane had been certified to US/European airworthiness standards. Having made several flights on Tu-154s of that airline, I thought, "hey, there's a good chance you rode on that ship before." Domestic flights in Russia on Russian-built airliners (with Russian crews under the guidance of Russian Air Traffic Control) really are a lot less safe. An Air France A330, I'd fly tomorrow without worries. (And by the way, from New York, Air France often has competitive fares to Kyiv, there's no price penalty for one-way tickets, and if a seat is available, you can book tomorrow's flight at a good price.)
So happy landings, one and all! And for Christ's sake, watch out for the drivers over there when you're crossing the street. Drivers in Ukraine are comparatively civilized, but Russian drivers are f**king aggressive. In Kyiv, when a driver is especially out-of-control, they say (in Russian or Ukrainian, of course) "he drives like a Russian!"
P.S. If you do take a ride in a Tu-154, the cabin doors are shorter than those of western-made jets. I keep bumping my head.
You are right, the flight from Paris to DR is on 777. I think she is more worried about the overall trip being 14-15 hours for her and the logistics
of going from Samara to Moscow to Paris to DR. We did talk about other places like Egypt, Turkey, Thailand but overall she wanted an all inclusive beach vacation and DR was best place for that. I made all reservations including her trip. She used a travel agent there when she went to Turkey and wanted to
use her but I said I would do it and she said O.K.
Martin, I agree. I flew Swiss from Miami to Zurich a few times and they were all good trips.
You talk of automated controls Airbus incidents but is the cause the advanced technology or the pilots error of understanding and controlling that technology, i.e. the incidents could be pilot error rather than crappy areoplane.
I recall way back when the US Navy received their first deliveries of the (British :) Harrier aircraft, they had a number of incidents because the technolgy was difficult for them to grasp, the aeroplanes were good, well they were good until the US Navy got their hands on them, it's the pilots that were inadequately trained or just crap :)
Direct on Swiss's website there can be some real bargain fares to be had, I don't 'do' low cost carriers and why should I if Swiss are cheaper and offer such an exemplary cabin service and another perk with Swiss is that one can buy duty free's with their Lufthansa Miles & More points.
...On the other hand, I've made several flights on Russian-made airliners... in 06 (I think), a Russian Tu-154 crashed in Ukraine (in a bad storm), a crash that probably would not have occurred,...
Tell me about it durak....I had a flight on one of those TU-154's less than 2 months after that crash in summer 06', yet it was only from moscow to st pete's. It is no wonder when flying with a plane load of russians that when plane touches down there is a roar of clapping knowing they have dodged a bullit. :-)) Want to know the difference between east and west.....in the west we EXPECT to land a plane safely...............
T-dude, If you wanted the 'resort' type place and you had some bucks, you could have tried Maldives.
That is shorter trip for girl. Trip from Paris to DM is less than 9 hours, not bad, as well as 4 hour flight from moscow to paris but connections are usually pretty tight in paris. Good luck, I am still trying to arrange a DM trip. Excellence seems to be nice resort with good reviews. It is important that restaurants have good food when staying in an all-inclusive.
And anyone that's had the experience of jumping down one of these escape slides, well next time on a B747 view the emergency card to see the route the upper deck slides take.
I'm scared of heights, I've jumped down an Airbus A300/A310 slide, it's barely visible from the door, one's bum makes contact with the slide some halfway down and before reaching the end one has to find it in themselves to sit upright to avoid flying off the end ..... I enjoyed it so much the first time I ran up and jumped down it again :)
But as for getting out of the upper deck of a B747, well it's downright scary and as for the upper deck of an Airbus A380, well phuck that for a game of soldiers :)
Just got back from Punta Cana. Had a great time. Accommodations were great and the beaches are fantastic.
Easy time for my Russian girlfriend. She traveled from Moscow to Paris to Punta Cana. The only thing required in Punta Cana is a tourist travel card.
You pay $10US and they print the card and then they throw it away. I was expecting to find more Russian people but not one at our resort. My girlfriend
met one Russian girl on the plane but she was staying at another resort. Everything at the resort was in English so it was easy. I recommend it!
I am about to book a flight to Dominican republic for September. Flying from either Birmingham ,Heathrow or Gatwick.
I want to avoid using Airbus.
Does anyone know what type of aircraft are used for these schedules?
thanks.
So dude...where did you end up staying? Did you get the private taxi for transfers?
I've been checking trip advisor for reviews on different resorts. What comes up quite often is food problems or some language problems.
Any excursions?