Arbor Update

Ann Arbor Area Community News

Northwest Airlines - Danger in the sky

7. November 2005 • MarkDilley
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from an email:

I hope the media will report these incidents.

There were reports of two incidents involving NW planes at Metro Airport today.

#1. Following is a verbatim report from WWJ News Radio that also appears on its website:

“Tense moments this morning at Detroit Metropolitan Airport after an emergency landing. A Northwest Airlines DC-9, on its way from Traverse City to Detroit, made the emergency landing after reporting minor electrical problems. The pilot called ahead for help as a precaution, but no problems were reported and there were no injuries. An airport spokesman says while such issues are treated seriously, they occur once or twice a day.”

#2. My wife called me from Chicago this afternoon after the captain of the American Airlines flight that had just boarded announced a delay in taking off from O’Hare because of a “disabled aircraft” in Detroit (her flight was delayed by two hours). Apparently the disabled aircraft was a NW flight: AMFA striker Curt Booza, tells me he heard reports that a NW Boeing 757 blew four tires as it landed this afternoon, which would have closed a runway. It’s the second multi-tire blowout on a NW plane since the strike began. Curt said that before the strike he’d never heard of such an incident in his 18-plus years as a mechanic.

There is a safety risk in not having people on the job who know what they are doing, but most importantly have a union to back them up when they hold up a plane for safety checks.