Boeing Jet Forced to Turn Back After ‘Losing Part of a Wing'
Passengers aboard the Boeing 787-9 reported hearing 'noticeable vibrations' around half an hour after departing Newark Liberty International Airport in New York for Cape Town in South Africa, aviation news outlet Simple Flying reported Wednesday.
The captain then informed passengers the plane had 'lost part of a wing,' specifically a portion of the rear spoiler. They subsequently turned back toward the mainland, dumping fuel reserves as a precaution before landing at Newark Airport at a 'higher-than-normal speed.'
The plane then remained grounded for 37 hours, before returning to normal scheduled service as of Wednesday morning.
The Daily Beast has reached out to United Airlines for comment on the incident, which follows just weeks after the tragic Air India crash in Ahmedabad claimed the lives of all aboard another Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft.
Simple Flying adds the same United Airlines plane that encountered difficulty on Sunday, and which at less than five years in service remains relatively new, also suffered a fault in its electronic cooling system earlier in July, again prompting a return to Newark Airport after less than an hour into its route to Delhi Indira Gandhi International Airport in India.
The latest incident in turn follows just days after another United Airlines Boeing 787 experienced an engine failure just minutes after takeoff from Washington Dulles International Airport en route to Munich in Germany.
In a statement issued to The Independent, the airline confirmed that flight had been forced to make an abrupt return 'to address a mechanical issue,' and that alternate travel arrangements were made 'to take customers to their destination as soon as possible.'
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Washington Post
an hour ago
- Washington Post
Forty-four hours in a Long Island parking lot? For golf? ‘We're all insane.'
FARMINGDALE, N.Y. — Adam Farrell and his friends began mapping out their dream golf trip months ago — driving routes, flight times, all the necessary provisions. It was a logistical puzzle, for sure, but if everything fell into place, they knew they would find themselves on the first tee of the acclaimed Bethpage Black course just a few weeks before the best golfers on the planet teed off there. Bethpage, which has hosted two U.S. Opens and a PGA Championship, is unique among the country's elite golf venues in that it is a true public course: open to anyone and relatively affordable. The longtime friends knew that even with golf's next mega-event — the Ryder Cup — descending on Long Island in September, mortals such as them could get on if they arrived early enough and waited their turn. There was no way to know, however, that their wait would amount to 44½ hours in a parking lot, that they would have to spend two nights sleeping in a car, or that they would find themselves immersed in a pop-up community of like-minded golf nuts eager to play the Ryder Cup course — and that when it was all over, they would do it again in a heartbeat. 'No regrets at all,' Farrell said. Many of America's top courses and major tournament hosts are available only to small coteries of wealthy members — think Augusta National, Shinnecock Hills, Pine Valley. Those that are public are hardly accessible: A round at Pebble Beach now tops $700, plus the price of a room on property. But Bethpage is still available to anyone off the street, provided they do what it takes for a tee time. Out-of-staters pay as little as $140 a round; New York residents, just $70. But it takes a lot — especially now. For years, golfers have navigated phone, online and in-person reservation systems that seemed designed to light golf bucket lists afire. This summer, to cut down on foot traffic on the course, park officials began limiting the tee times and cut off the online reservation system July 8, meaning the only way to play it has been to camp out. Tee times are available each day only from 8 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. And the course closes to the public entirely after Aug. 17, giving PGA of America officials more than five weeks to finish preparations before the Ryder Cup begins Sept. 26. Anyone who wants a preview of the Ryder Cup splendor must show up early and jostle for one of the numbered spaces. Tee times are awarded each morning by 5 a.m., starting with the lower numbered parking spots, and for years, golfers have arrived in middle of the night to secure a time. With the Ryder Cup weeks away, Ferrell, 37, thought he was playing it safe. He and his friend Joe Welton, also 37, piled into a car in Michigan on Monday and drove 13½ hours, while their buddy Michael Penny, 34, hopped a flight Tuesday morning in Chicago to meet them. They arrived around 11:30 a.m. Tuesday and found more than 50 cars ahead of them, hundreds of golfers lined up to play a course so hard it greets them with a red-lettered caution sign: 'WARNING: The Black Course Is An Extremely Difficult Course Which We Recommend Only For Highly Skilled Golfers.' They knew the math: Only 104 golfers get to play the course each day this summer. The first 26 parking spaces are safe. The next 5-10 are precarious. Anyone higher than 35 had better have another change of clothes. They had planned to stay only one night before returning home. But not playing the Black was not an option. So they changed their flights and ate the cost of a hotel room. They would park their silver Hyundai rental and sleep and wait and then hope that after two nights of car snoozing, they would get finally their ticket to the first tee box. 'It's a bucket list item,' Farrell said, 'so what's another night? It is what it is. It'll be worth it.' THE PARKING LOT WAS, they soon discovered, a fast-forming community of quixotic duffers from Canada to Florida and all points between. A makeshift village was humming with life: Canopies with generators running flat-screen televisions. Music blaring from Bluetooth speakers. DoorDash drivers buzzing in and out with fast-food sustenance. Many stayed up past midnight before retiring to tents with blow-up mattresses, posh Mercedes-Benz Sprinter vans or, mostly, their cars. 'It definitely has a college tailgate vibe,' Penny said. Despite the loose atmosphere, everyone knew the rules: You're supposed to be backed into your spot; at least one person must remain with the car; anyone who plans on playing must be present when tickets are awarded early each morning. And when park employees say early, they mean early. They arrived at the lot around 4:30 a.m. Wednesday, passing out tickets — similar to what you might receive at a deli — to golfers in the lowest-numbered spaces, whose cars then graduated to the lot near the clubhouse. Those who didn't get a ticket immediately started jostling for position, resulting in predawn chaos. One van rolled over a curb and went off-road to get a coveted low-number spot. 'Like 'Lord of the Flies,'' Penny said. And they were that day's survivors. They had set an alarm for 3:30 and strategically positioned their car. So while they missed a chance at a tee time, they managed to swoop into space No. 1. The lot was quiet most of Wednesday morning, as new cars steadily trickled in, one stunned driver after another. 'You came all the way from Michigan? Holy s---,' Bob Moesch, a 37-year-old chemist from Buffalo, said through his window as he pulled in. 'My girlfriend was right: We're all insane.' He had left his home the previous day, spent the night in Syracuse, then hit the road around 4 a.m. to arrive at Bethpage around 9:45. 'If you don't know golf, there's probably no way to understand it,' he said. 'But this is part of the lore — coming here, camping out, walking up. That's part of the Bethpage experience.' Evan Virno, 21, and Jack Gerard, 20, both college students, weren't far behind. They had decided the night before to drive from Patchogue, about 45 minutes away, eager for an adventure before reporting back to school. They did their research and thought they would get a prime parking spot if they arrived around 10 a.m. On the drive, Gerard told his friend, 'I just hope we're not, like, spot 30, or we might have to sleep over a second night.' They got spot 29 and would spend the day fretting over their tee time fate, reminding themselves why they made the trip in the first place. Not far away, workers were busy prepping the course for the Ryder Cup, its signage, tents and infrastructure impossible to miss. 'It's going to be cool when we're watching on TV in a few weeks and we can be, like, 'Oh, I played that,'' Virno told his friend. FARRELL AND FRIENDS WERE THE ENVY of the lot, with some golfers even gauging whether their coveted spot might be for sale. (It was not.) To prep for a second night in the elements of Long Island, they hit up a Wal-Mart for a mattress topper, towels, water and beer. 'The bare essentials,' said Welton, a high school teacher and football coach back in Chelsea, Michigan. Around 2:30 p.m., a white Chevy Silverado pickup pulled into spot No. 55. The occupants, on Day 1 of a five-day golf road trip, were surprised to learn that after 4½ hours of driving from Boston, they had little chance of getting on the next day. They parked and debated their options. 'There's the red course,' said Will Rice, 33. 'Maybe we'd get on that one.' 'Man, I mean, we're here. I'll do it if you guys really want to,' said Jon White, 30. 'I'm not sleeping two nights in the truck,' said Mike Gooberman, 33. They would spend the afternoon grilling, tossing a football and inching their truck closer to the front of the line. As course employees and caddies left for the day, valuable real estate in the lot became open, and the white pickup moved from spot 56 to 54 to 43 to 41. By nightfall, the Boston trio had made it all the way to spot 34 — which promised either heartbreak or elation. 'I'm still pessimistic,' said Rice. 'It would take some luck.' It's an ad hoc system Bethpage tries to lightly police. Around 12:30, a park employee made the rounds to pass out bracelets and record license plate numbers, an effort to limit space-savers and line-hoppers. They came through again at 5 to check wristbands and plates. By then, the grills and Yeti coolers and cold beers were emerging from trunks and truck beds. A poker game started on a folding table near spot 21, not far from the cornhole boards, and the golfers in spot 1 played Euchre with their spot 2 neighbors, a couple that drove more than 11 hours from New Brunswick, Canada. Music blared, and some campers got wise and practiced chipping in the grass, before an evening drizzle sent most into their cars by 9 p.m. THE SLEEP WAS SHORT and, predictably, bad. The lot was bustling again by 4 a.m. Thursday, everyone anxiously milling in front of cars, searching the dark for the Bethpage gatekeeper and his prized tickets. 'It's basically Christmas morning,' Penny said, 'at least for people who like golf.' Two employees arrived in a golf cart at 4:31 a.m., and the campers were told to get back in their cars and drive toward the lot exit to receive their bracelets and tickets (if they were getting on that day). The previous night's chaos had inspired another new system. 'This is a magical moment,' Penny said when he received his bracelet, guaranteeing the trio the day's first tee time. The procession of cars inched through the lot. The white Silverado pickup from spot 34 finally reached the front at 5 a.m., claiming three of the day's last available bracelets. The truck nearly shook when the group let out a collective sigh — a nail-biting 15-hour wait that paid off. 'Let's gooooo!' White bellowed into dark, as the pickup moved toward the next parking lot. At 8 a.m., Farrell and his friends stepped onto the first tee, staring down the same fairway that awaits Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler & Co. next month. Nerves mixed with excitement for a round that was 44½ hours in the making. Back in the parking lot, a new group of campers had already settled into place and pulled out camping chairs, knowing they still had at least 24 hours to go. The first 26 spots were already filled, all dreamers who were certain the payoff would be more than worth the wait.
Bloomberg
an hour ago
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How Disney Learned to Love Its Adult Superfans
AJ Wolfe's early-20s New York experience was in many ways typical, one we have come to romanticize thanks to shows like Friends and Sex and the City. She shared a cramped apartment with a roommate, struggled with the chaos of the city, and wondered if she would ever achieve the traditional hallmarks of adulthood. But rather than cope by drinking overpriced cosmopolitans or complaining to her friends over brunch, Wolfe sought refuge in the safety of Disney World — a place that was 'clean and predictable,' where everyone she met was 'kind and hospitable.' Wolfe spent her morning commute poring over Disney guidebooks, escaping into cozy childhood memories of spring break trips to Florida and car-seat singalongs to the soundtrack that plays on a loop at Epcot. She stayed late at the office so she could print out Disney message boards and read them on the way home. 'I didn't really have a life — friends, partners, outings — other than Disney trip planning,' she writes. As soon as she returned from a pilgrimage to Orlando, she would begin fantasizing about the next one, a habit that eventually landed her in $17,000 of credit card debt. 'It was almost like a drug,' she writes. 'It was very expensive, but I couldn't wait to take another hit.'
Wall Street Journal
2 hours ago
- Wall Street Journal
Delta and Alaska Air Square Off in Battle for Seattle
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