Take-offs were delayed, and passengers were delayed at airports. 200 flights were delayed during the 2 1/2 hour outage. On Twitter, passengers complained Tuesday of long lines and other dissatisfaction and issues. Today, the United website is back, with a Weather Summary headline about Hurricane Isaac.

“South – The core of Isaac’s impacts occur from the lower Mississippi Valley to southwestern Alabama and a very small portion of the western Florida Panhandle. Heavy rain and fresh water flooding are likely from Louisiana to western Alabama. Additional rainfall totals of 2 to 10 inches with high spots near 15 inches are likely through tonight. Sustained winds of 25 to 55 mph with gusts to hurricane force are possible across eastern Louisiana and southern Mississippi through this afternoon. A gradual slackening of the wind is expected tonight as Isaac continues to weaken slowly. Persistent onshore flow throughout eastern Louisiana, southern Mississippi, southern Alabama and the western Florida Panhandle keeps the storm surge high today. The water rise in eastern Louisiana, including Lake Pontchartrain should continue to be 3 to 10 feet today. Slow recession of the storm surge begins later today and tonight as Isaac pushes farther inland. The tornado threat is highest in eastern Louisiana, southern Mississippi and southwest Alabama. Other shower and thunderstorm activity caused by the combination of Isaac’s moisture and a weakening cold front is expected across the Southeast. Occasional showers and thundershowers are still possible in Florida.

West – Dry conditions dominate most of the region again today. Scattered thunderstorms are most likely in the Four Corners states and southern Wyoming. Stray thunderstorms are possible in southern Arizona and southeastern California. Stray showers could move through western Washington.”

SRC: http://www.united.com/web/en-US/apps/travel/weather/todaysOperations.aspx

The post United Airlines Tuesday Glitch, Wednesday Weather first appeared on George Hatcher's Air Flight Disaster.

What: Air France Airbus A340-300 en route from Paris Charles de Gaulle to Detroit
Where: Cork
When: May 2nd 2012
Why: While en route, the plane developed a technical problem and had to divert to Cork and make an emergency landing.

The technical problem involved transponder data. After maintenance, the plane was returned to service.

The post Air France Airbus Data Error Leads to Emergency Diversion to Cork first appeared on George Hatcher's Air Flight Disaster.

What: Compass Airlines Embraer ERJ-170-200 en route from Minneapolis to Saskatoon
Where: Saskatoon
When: Nov 20th 2009
Who: 56 on board
Why: On approach to Saskatoon, the plane sent a nose wheel steering warning. The plane landed in Saskatoon incident-free, and inspected the plane without finding a cause or record of the warning. Subsequently, the systems were rebooted.

The post Embraer Warning Error over Saskatoon first appeared on George Hatcher's Air Flight Disaster.

What: Air France Airbus A320-200 en route from Rome Fiumicino (Italy) to Paris
Where: en route
When: Jul 13th 2009
Who: n/a
Why: While en route, the Airbus A320 flew for a minute without speed indications;in fact, all data related indications, autopilot and autothrust systems went offline simultaneously. The Airbus had updated Thales pitot tubes, and was experiencing a “weather” situation. Thales tubes were the brand of pitot tube on Air France Flight 447, albeit an updated model.

George’s Point of View

More questions: is it the tubes alone which are faulty, or is it also the software? Why is there not a setting to automatically shift to Analog systems if digital fails?

The post Airbus Information Stalls…with new tubes first appeared on George Hatcher's Air Flight Disaster.