Latest news with #airplanes
Washington Post
a day ago
- General
- Washington Post
Measles can be a risk during air travel. Here's how to stay safe.
People with measles, a highly contagious disease, are traveling on airplanes, raising concerns about the spread of the respiratory virus as global cases rise and summer travel season gets underway in the United States. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is warning that people can get infected with measles during travel or at crowded events, unless they are fully vaccinated or have had the disease.
Geek Wire
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Geek Wire
With a great view of Mount Rainier and Sea-Tac Airport, a YouTuber's new livestream takes off
Geek Life: Fun stories, memes, humor and other random items at the intersection of tech, science, business and culture. SEE MORE An airplane takes off from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on Friday morning, with Mount Rainier as a backdrop, in a screenshot from the YouTube livestream 'Rainier Aviation.' (Photo via YouTube / Rainier Aviation) Mitch Sutton has always been into airplanes, but things really took off five years ago when he bought a house in Burien, Wash., with a great view of Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and Mount Rainier. The house to the northwest of the airport runway provides a unique vantage point, where Sutton can see planes taxiing as well as taking off and landing all day and night. 'I love airplanes, but it's different when you live under them,' Sutton said, recounting his reservations about buying the house. 'But the airport with the mountain behind it? I was just like, 'I can't pass up this view.'' Mitch Sutton, with Sea-Tac Airport and Mount Rainer over the shoulder, from his home in Burien, Wash. (Photo courtesy of Mitch Sutton) A month into the East Coast native's move, he didn't even hear the planes anymore. And now he's so soothed by flyovers that he leaves a bedroom sliding glass door open so he can hear them at night. To bring that joy to others in some form, Sutton is running a new project called Rainier Aviation which includes a 24/7 YouTube livestream so that other aviation geeks and plane spotters can marvel at aircraft and the mountain that provides Sea-Tac's quintessential Northwest backdrop. He pairs the video with real-time flight traffic control audio. 'Being an enthusiast, I do look for plane-spotting channels, and Sea-Tac just didn't have one,' Sutton said. 'It's something I see every day and appreciate every day, so I just felt like it was time to share that view with everybody else.' Sutton runs the livestream from equipment mounted on a 10-foot rooftop mast that's stabilized with guy wires. He uses two pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) cameras with 600mm zoom, complete with night vision. He's also a budding aviation still photographer, using a Sony DC-10 Mark IV for close-ups of planes taking off against Rainier, which he shares on his website and Instagram. In just a few weeks, Sutton's YouTube channel has attracted a little over 900 subscribers and 23,000 watch hours. The livestream audience peaked on one recent Saturday with about 1,300 people watching at one time. It has attracted some diehards to a live chat where they comment on types of planes, where they're headed, the view of the mountain and the weather. Sutton said people treat him like a forecaster, asking him when the sun is coming out. One of Mitch Sutton's livestream cameras tethered to roof of his house with Sea-Tac Airport in the distance. (Rainier Aviation Instagram) 'I'm learning a lot about lineups and the different runways, which I didn't know before I started the stream,' he said. 'Obviously, I see it every day, but I didn't know, 16 left, 16 right, 16 center. And if they're coming in from the south, it's 34.' Sutton has a day job as a human resources manager for a non-profit. Launching his livestream has been a heavy lift — waking up at 3:30 in the morning to work on equipment set-up and learn how everything works. He said it's been a ton of research. The payoff could be worth it. Other plane-spotting channels on YouTube have attracted sizable audiences, including Airline Videos, a channel that has more than 800,000 subscribers and includes a livestream from LAX. Creator Kevin Ray — and the worldwide fascination around such content — are the subject of a profile this week in The Hollywood Reporter. A 2024 list in Frommers rounded up 15 of the best airplane livestreams. Isaac Alexander, a chief content officer at Hype Aviation and editor of Jet City Star, said it's amazing to see the growth of plane-spotting channels, and that they're a great way to turn non-aviation people into enthusiasts. Along with passenger planes, people can watch cargo jets come and go and get a sense for how much commerce is operating out of the region. Alexander said there is a decent-sized plane-spotting community in the Seattle area, and multiple Facebook groups devoted to the hobby, with hundreds of members each. 'A great feature with this new livestream is that it's angled to have Mount Rainier center screen,' Alexander said. 'Not many airports globally have a mountain/volcano nearby. Something peaceful about seeing airplanes flying with a large mountain in the background.' Sutton didn't grow up in Seattle, but like a lot of transplants he fell in love with the beauty of the place, and the proximity of Mount Rainier. And he appreciates the 'Jet City' history with Boeing, the Museum of Flight and more. 'I don't think any of us see Rainier and aren't just inspired every time we see it, and feel incredibly lucky to have something like that,' he said. 'And I think it's cool that Seattle really is an aviation city. It's a great place to have a livestream that really represents that.'
CBS News
21-05-2025
- General
- CBS News
How these planes are helping in the fight against northern Minnesota wildfires
How airplanes are fighting Minnesota wildfires from the sky How airplanes are fighting Minnesota wildfires from the sky How airplanes are fighting Minnesota wildfires from the sky Investigators believe the Jenkins Creek Fire, which the U.S. Forest Service says has spread to over 16,000 acres, was started by a person. Forest service officials said in an update Wednesday that the fire "is related to human cause," though did not give any additional detail. The Jenkins Creek Fire is 13% contained, officials added. One of the state's most precious resources is pitching in to help. "We can get a lot of water onto a fire in a pretty short amount of time in a magnitude that really outperforms any other method," said Sam Davis, CEO of Bridger Aerospace. Airplanes scoop up and dump the water where it's desperately needed. "When the time came when these conditions started to prevail; and those major fires broke out they reached out to the forest service to make sure they ordered us up and we were able to dispatch as we normally do within 24 to 48 hours," said Davis. North Pier Photography The planes came from Bozeman, Montana. These 1400 gallon tanks can drop hundreds of thousands of gallons of water in a four hour cycle before refueling. Some also drop retardant to quell the flames. "A very dangerous mission these aircraft are flying as low as 100 feet above the ground to be effective and drop water," said Davis. Davis' company Bridger Aero Space has been around the country helping local forces fight fires. "This year alone we've worked from the Carolinas to California on fires. We've been in 11 different states," said Davis. To accomplish their mission here in Minnesota, they're asking people to stay out of the way. "There's already been 18 incidents with drones over fire that have gotten in the way and shut down aerial operations," said Davis.
