We’re back with our weekly airport update and here are the topics for this week:
- Atlanta’s partial shut-down after bomb threats
- The best airport bars uncovered
- Jet Blue’s scary aborted take off
- Airport carpet makes news
The first story we’re going to cover is also the most recent one. It’s even still developing but according to the New York Times parts of the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) were closed on Saturday while the authorities investigated bomb threats against commercial jetliners passing through the airport, the world’s busiest. Furthermore an F.B.I. spokesman said officials would search two planes: one belonging to Delta Air Lines and another operated by Southwest Airlines. According to the Guardian the aircraft were each accompanied by a pair of North American Aerospace Defense Command (Norad) F16 fighter jets as they landed at the airport.
Airport delays surely are annoying, but it helps if you know where to go. This week Fox News compiled a list of the best airport bars you can find in airports around the world. Some of them we even covered in our reviews (i.e. Singapore or Munich) others are surely great additions to your repository of places to go to. You’ll find the full list on the news website.
The next news story brought some shivers down our spine. According to ABC’s Eyewitness News a passenger-packed JetBlue flight headed full throttle down JFK‘s runway while at about the same time, Caribbean Airways Flight 526 had just landed. Air Traffic Control gave it instructions to hold short, meaning to stop before crossing the active runway. The Caribbean Pilot never answered because as Eyewitness News has learned, he was on the wrong frequency and never heard tower instructions to stop, nor repeated calls from the tower. Fortunately, the JetBlue pilots saw the other plane crossing in the night and slammed on their brakes. An FAA investigation is underway.
And to finish off the week, we’ve got this one from Portland International Airport (PDX) in Oregon, USA. There, according to USA Today, a carpet sporting a geometric pattern is making a bit of a story. Inspired by the airport’s intersecting north-south runways it was for years an ignored part of the airport décor. But then Portland began celebrating its core weirdness, social media became the big thing, and the rug became a hip symbol of home celebrated on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. PDX carpet fandom gave rise to souvenirs ranging from socks, caps and water bottles to T-shirts, mugs, tote bags and bike helmets. Now this very carpet is scheduled to be replaced over the course of this year. A limited number of 1,000 square yard sections of the old carpet will be distributed to applicants. You can find out more on the airport’s website.
That’s all for this week – safe travels!
[Photo Credit: North Dakota National Guard via Compfight cc]