EZEtoGRU

Seemingly not so easy to fix. Dreamliners are still grounded and most airlines that operated them have completely removed them from their forward schedules until August at the earliest......for planning purposes. Boeing have also started laying off people from the 787 production line. First Dreamliner test flight by Boeing was last week and the aircraft included the "fix" to the battery. My understanding of the "fix" is that it is a much more substantial casing around the lithium battery so that when the battery catches fire it will be well-contained within the casing. I understand that they have not yet diagnosed the root problem of why the battery is prone to catching fire and how to prevent that from happening.....although I am willing to be corrected on that statement if someone else has other information. It's also worth noting that Airbus has decided it will not utilize the lithium battery in the A350 as it had previously planned. At this point, Boeing seems to still be commited to the battery type for thee 787. Will that change with time?? Who knows? No clear view on when the FAA will re-certify the plane and under what circumstances. Some suggest that the the FAA could re-certify the aircraft but greatly reducing the ETOPS profile......meaning no long over-water flights. That would seriously undermine the value proposition of the aircraft for the airlines that have or are purchasing them. This story gets uglier by the week. Lastly, BVB asked me on another thread if I would go on the Dreamliner again once it is up and flying. My answer would be that yes I would do a domestic flight on one in the lower 48 as its pretty easy to find a diversion airstrip to land on quickly in the event of an emergency. On the other hand, I don't think I would be doing any long-haul overwater flights on a 787 for the next few years until Boeing's current or future battery "fix" is truly proven out.

I love rimming and being rimmed but find I almost never rim anymore. Too afraid of hepatitis and other nasty bugs.

Looks like the 787 Dreamliner grounding is going to continue for quite a bit longer. My interpretation is that the current battery arrangement will be de-certified and an alternative will need to be developed. Who knows how long it will take Boeing and its suppliers to develop a more reliable and safer battery. http://news.yahoo.com/ntsb-studying-certification-batteries-boeings-787-162918663--sector.html?.tsrc=yahoo

....well we are a week on from the ANA 787 incident. Focus is clearly on the lithium battery. A quick investigation indicates the ANA 787 battery in the last incident had not been "over-charged" thereby ruling out a charging error. It is starting to look like this issue could take months to resolve as the use of highly flammable lithium batteries on the 787 is now under scrutiny. In addition to the unprecedented FAA grounding and investigation, the French and Japanese have investigations underway as well. As I predicted, this may get very ugly. If Boeing is smart, they are well into planning a non-lithium battery alternative....Which will be challenging given the amout of electric power a 787 requires.

I'm quite happy to leave the flying to you. Business management assessments & decisions for an airline or aircraft manufacturer? No way.

Wrong again. It is indeed the first time in many many years that the FAA has issued a directive effectively grounding an entire aircraft model. The situations you describe often related to a single airline due to issues related to that airline....... or the groundings related to a subset of a aircraft model. It's interesting how some techincal types (think engineers, pilots, etc) often think they are capable at making accurate business assessments of a situation. In my experience,good at they are in their technical field, those folks make awful businesspeople. I faced those sorts of folks endlessly in the corporation. Leave the business strategy, evalution, and tactics to the professionals please.

Here is a thoughful article on the troubled history of the 787 development program and its certification......and the problems continue now with the FAA grounding (first grounding by the FAA in 39 years BTW). No doubt that Boeing can get to the bottom of the problems and ultimately fix them. The question is how long will this take? If it takes more than a few months and the planes stay grounded, look for consumer and airline loss of confidence in the aircraft and serious financial consequences for Boeing. If they can get it diagnosed and sorted in circa 30 days, the situation can still be rescued. At what point do the airlines start filing lawsuits against Boeing? ANA now has 17 of these aircraft grounded and, no doubt, it is really affecting the airline's ability to operate at full schedule. As an aside, I was transiting NRT yesterday and saw a bunch of ANA 787 aircraft at a remote parking spot. Sad.....really sad. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-01-18/boeing-787-plane-of-future-struggles-to-overcome-past.html

.......oh yes......and thanks to Glutes for having the foresight to start this threat to begin with. He was always spot-on with his intuition.

The A380 was never grounded by the FAA if I recall correctly. Singapore Airlines and Qantas inidividually decided to ground the aircraft. In my view, the FAA issuing instructions to ground the US fleet (albeit a very small one) of the 787 takes this beyond what has happened with the A380. This is yet another problem on top of many problems and delays with the dreamliner. If Boeing can't get to the crux of the issue pretty quickly, this could have devastating affects on the company. Two potential lithium battery fires in the cargo hold of the 787 is no small matter. Luckily one happened on the ground in Boston and the other on a very short domestic Japanese flight where the aircraft was able to return to an airport very quickly. It's appropriate for these aircraft to be grounded until the battery issue and fuel leak issue can be dealt with. That could take days/weeks/months. If you think that cannot be very very problematic to Boeing, you're fooling yourself. I don't see anyone on this board "freaking out"......but concern is a normal reaction. I have been on the UA Dreamliner twice. I would go on one again for a domestic trip (where a quick emergency landing is possible) but, at this point, I would not take one on a transoceanic flight. I guess its all moot anyway since most of the worlds fleet of this aircraft are now grounded and rightly so.

Channing Tatum Jamie Foxx (sorry but the cock is too big to ignore.....even if he is an asshole). Gerard Butler

It's funny I have never given Foxx a second thought when I have seen pictures of him clothed. However his bod is very hot once stripped down to his birthday suit. I am now a fan. BTW, pic #1 has been around on the Internet for more than a year now. A self-photo in front of his bathroom mirror. Me thinks he wanted to let the nude photo get out there to garner further publicity....and maybe some more girls. LOL.

Of course you are right BG. It is much more likely the killer was not an escort. There was a time 10-15 years ago when some well known gay activists were being brutally murdered in Mexico City. I knew one if them. I'm not sure the murders were ever solved...but it was long suspected the police were behind the killings.

Seems the hotel did have security cameras. Police have made an arrest after reviewing security camera tapes as well as tracking the FA's stolen iPhone. No information yet on the suspect or if he was an escort.

This is a news story today. I copied from the Examiner.com. Don't know if an escort was involved but it seems there was a sexual angle to this. In another story I read, it seems he was found naked. RIP to the individual. All take care please. QUOTE A flight attendant for US Airways was found strangled in his Mexico City hotel room, Mexico City police said Saturday. The flight attendant, who was identified as Phoenix-based Nick Aaronson, did not report for his 6AM lobby call on Saturday morning. Noticias Mexico (article in Spanish) reports subsequent calls to his room went unanswered, and hotel employees found Aaronson beside his bed with his hands and neck bound, after which they immediately notified local authorities. Aaronson was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics. Mexico City police are investigating the case as a homicide. The AFA, the union that represents US Airways flight attendants, reports that although a preliminary investigation found hotel security not at fault for the incident, crews have been relocated to another hotel for Mexico City layovers until the the investigation is completed. "It's tragic. We are caring for our co-workers," Deborah Volpe, president of AFA Council 66 told the Arizona Republic. "Our co-workers are struggling." Volpe added that Aaronson was "very popular" and "very loved." US Airways and the AFA have dispatched the Flight Attendant Incident Critical Response Team and made grief counseling available for employees affected by the incident. More information on this developing story will be shared as it becomes available. UNQUOTE

Oh yes....he was hot for his time. My crush was Sean Connery in Diamonds Are Forever. I was 11 or 12 at the time and I kept wondering why I was sooooooo interested in this man. FWIW, my female crush was on Raquel Welch in the One Million BC bikini. She still looks pretty good today for her age......as does Sean Connery.

Probably no data....but I would venture to guess that Brazil would be in the top five. Maybe even number one for rounder curvy asses. The Brazilian butt is famous worldwide.

Well interesting link. I don't know if a serious study was done or not, but I find so much of the ranking so wrong, I think this must be a leg puller. The only thing I find directionally correct is that Asia has the smallest on average. For the rest of it (especially as it relates to Latin America....a region I am very familiar with), it is mostly laughable: * Mexico bigger than USA. No way this is true. * Bolivia has bigger than Brazil. Huh?? I have been to both. Simply not true. * Chile is roughly same as Argentina? Impossible. I lived in Chile and they are renowned for being amongst the smallest in South America......and my experience there validates that view. * Ecuador has the second largest in the world?? I called my gay friend who had lived in Ecuador working for Texaco for five years to tell him this. He had to hang up the phone cause he was laughing so hard. Anyone that travels to Ecuador looking for big stuff as a result of this reports will be seriously disappointed. Anyway, it would be fun if a credible study of global penis sizes was available, but I don't think this is it.