Frankly I am not surprised that a flight attendant finally had enough. These folks routinely get abused by fed up passengers suffering from delayed flights, too small aircraft, ineffective luggage policies and frankly...militant (harassed) flight attendants.  And this is all after having run the TSA gauntlet just to get to these problems. 

I'm surprised fisticuffs were not involved.  At least the guy exited with a little flair.  Using the emergency exit was a guaranteed loss of job plus FAA and legal complications...but hey...the guy got home early. 

This is all dandruff falling from the heads of airline and government management of today's airline market. 

Packing materials used in both freight and express parcel movement are both expensive to produce and eat lots of petro resources.  Not exactly green materials.   

ZDNet has a great video on some new developments in creating biodegradable packaging for ecommerce uses as well as some interesting information on how bio materials are making their way into plastics used in everyday items up to and including automobiles.

Check this link out to the ZDNet site.

On Tuesday, July 27th, 2010, a Lufthansa MD-11 Freighter bound from Frankfurt, Germany to Riyadh, KSA crashed on landing destroying the air frame, however without loss of life.  LH8460 was subsequently scheduled to fly from Riyadh to Sharjah then on to Hong Kong.   Lufthansa only operates the MD-11 as a freighter. 

The MD-11 suffers from a bad reputation given its few numbers built (200 aircraft).   Of the 200 built, now 8 have crashed.   Three of those were FedEx freighters. Compared to other wide body jets this number of crashes is very high.  

Here are some comparisons to other aircraft currently flying.

• MD-11: 8 crashed out of 200
• B744: 3 crashed out of approximately 700 (166 pure freighters built)
• A340: 3 crashed out of approximately 390+
• B777: 1 crashed out of 860+

Previous MD-11 crashes are detailed here.

• 31-JUL-1997 MD-11F N611FE FedEx
• 02-SEP-1998 MD-11 HB-IWF Swissair
• 15-APR-1999 MD-11 HL7373 Korean Air
• 22-AUG-1999 MD-11 B-150 China Airlines
• 17-OCT-1999 MD-11F N581FE FedEx
• 23-MAR-2009 MD-11F N526FE FedEx
• 28-NOV-2009 MD-11F Z-BAV Avient

I'll be honest...if I was a FedEx pilot I'd be working on getting a rating to fly something else.  I have friends who are Delta pilots who "inherited" the MD-11 when DAL purchased other airlines.  There were always complaints that this aircraft was complicated to fly and was less-than-intuitive when it came to systems.  Most were not unhappy to see these birds retired.  

I will say as a passenger, I never liked the MD-11's older sister, the DC-10.  When American had the horrific crash at Chicago ORD many years ago, that crash scared me.   I always flew on the L-1011 because I thought it was a safer bird.   The MD-11 is a derivative of the DC-10. Perhaps the recent crashes are not linked, but as a guy who rides in back...I pay attention.

Lufthansa is still sorting out the freight manifest for this flight and as far as I know, no losses have been formally confirmed to freight forwarders or shippers with freight aboard.  That, I am sure is coming, but so far nothing has been put forward by the airline that I am aware of.

Eric

I've been in a rail fan kind of mood lately and reloaded Microsoft Train Simulator on my PC.  This is an old sim from almost 10 years ago, but being a transportation geek, I enjoy virtually moving trains around, especially Double Stack Trains and the old F and E unit car body locomotives... However, this is a French Duplex high speed train.  Speed to BURN baby.

That looks pretty cool...but this is a game. Check this video out. This is the real deal absolutely screaming across France.

Here's another video that compares the French TGV against the Japanese Shinkansen.  I've had the pleasure several times of riding the Japanese bullet trains.  They are fabulous.

And yes, I have a fairly current gaming computer.  I get over 50 frames per second in this old sim.

Today our newest grand son, Liam Michael Wender, was born!  

Our daughter Claire gave birth to a beautiful, healthy boy weighing 6 lbs, 12 oz, and 17 inches long.  That's a bit smallish for our end of the family, but it's quality we are measuring here, not quantity!

The kid got here fairly quickly and in the rush, my wife Mary managed to lock the doors on our RUNNING automobile.  So, my bride took my car and rushed off to the hospital. 

I stayed and waited on the locksmith.  Liam got here so quickly I missed the "event", but no matter.  I'm waiting for 5 years to go by so I can take this kid fishing.   We only have to wait 3 years for Disney World.  Won't be too long before I have both these young'uns and their Uncle Clint in a boat with a hook wet.  

Here's a quick snap of a happy granddaddy and Liam on first meeting.  Liam gets to meet his 2 year old big brother Gavin tomorrow!  His education on SEC football commences tomorrow as well. 

The freightdawg now has two AWESOME grand sons!!  

Eric

The top railroad conference in North America returns for its 6th year in New York on September 28th and 29th, 2010.   Matt Rose, Chairman, President and CEO of BNSF Railway Co. will be the honored guest, receiving the Railroad Innovator Award, presented by Progressive Railroading Magazine.   Details of the conference are below.

Make plans to be a part of it September 28-29, 2010, in New York City. RailTrends is the rail profession’s reliable source for:

• Industry insights, innovations and advancements
• Executive elbow-rubbing
• Intelligent investment information

Brought to you by two rail-industry authorities, Progressive Railroading magazine and Senior Transportation Analyst Tony Hatch, this two-day summit was carefully crafted to address the issues that matter most to rail professionals. Facilitated by some of the rail industry's most-respected authorities, RailTrends presentations will address all facets of the industry, including:

• Wall Street’s take on the rail industry
• Freight railroad executives’ views on rail in the post-recession economy
• What lenders look for in a railroad
• The Obama Administration’s position on rail policy and high-speed rail

RailTrends provides you with an amazing opportunity to connect with the best of the best from all areas of the rail industry: Shippers, Suppliers, Banks and Financial Organizations, Lessors, Short-Lines and Class Is.

Past heavy-hitter attendees include:
• Vice President, Corporate for Walmart Transportation
• Vice President and Managing Director for GATX Corporation
• Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for Gannett Fleming Transit & Rail Systems
• Senior Vice President and General Manager for Siemens Financial Services Inc.
• Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for Kansas City Southern

You can register for the conference at this link.