Received a surprise email from an anonymous friend this early afternoon regarding a 787 Dreamliner landing at YVR this morning. Owned by ANA (All Nippon Airways) and registered as JA813A, the plane touched down at 10:05 AM and departed at 12:03 PM.
So what was it doing here? Upon more research through FlightAware, the flight was assigned as NH1078, NRT-SEA (Narita, Tokyo to Seattle), a scheduled commercial flight. Scheduled to touch down at 09:50 on the stripe of SEA, the flight was diverted to YVR (reason unknown yet). The flight took off and was scheduled to continue on to the initial origin SEA by 12:33, a 31 minutes flight.
Though I've seen many 787s at Paine Field, I'm excited to know that it stopped by YVR. Despite the fact that I missed it, knowing that it came already made my day, especially on a sunny Sunday. Thanks again to my "Anonymous" friend for forwarding the info and some photos! Hope some scheduled 787 flights to YVR will happen soon. A potential carrier is JAL, which could replace its current 767 fleet for the NRT-YVR route. Of course, Air Canada will receive its 787 orders in 2013 or 2014, and I'm sure a few will be scheduled to and from YVR.
** Photo Credit:Anonymous Friend's Friend **
NH 1078 (ANA 787) parked by the YVR De-icing Apron (Again, Photo credit to Anonymous friend's friend)
As part of my recent long weekend Portland road trip, I've secretly planned a quick swing-by at Paine Field (KPAE) to check out what's new in Boeing's flightline. It was a secret plan as it would have probably been decline by my friends, who will question, "what is there to see? It's just a plane!". Well, I can go for on a billion page essay proving that a plane is not just a plane, but an amazing innovation that connected the world ...
Anyways, and so I exited Hwy 5 and by the time they were awake, I was already driving by the Boeing hangars, specifically right when I was passing the last hangar - the 787 assembly line. You know, a point of no return ;) I mean, how can I not at least stop by when it is part of the route down to Portland, diverted just a few minutes off Hwy 5?
It was cloudy, windy and chill. For their courtesy, I tried my best to spotand grab a few shots as quickly as possible. Compared to my last visit in April and even the several visits within this past year, there was definitely a significant change to the flightline. It used to be full of JAL and ANA 787s, and CX 748Fs, and currently, as many of the Japanese aircraft were delivered, there are now more carrier mixtures to be seen.
787 Flightline by the Far Apron From Left to Right: Altas Air 748F, ANA 787, Unpainted, ANA, Air India, Unpainted, Air India
Apron by 16R - Outside of Paint Hangar Dreamlifter and Polar (DHL) 748F
Flightline Parallel to 16R-34L United 787, CX 748F
Flight line Parallel to 16R-34L Ethiopian 787
Flightline Parallel to 16R-34L Qatar 787, Nippon Cargo Airlines (NCA) 748F, United 787
Flightline Parallel to 16R-34L Lufthansa 748i (unpainted)
Apron by 16R - Outside of Paint HangarLAN Airlines 787
I can't wait till Air Can's 787s are parked along the flightline; even seeing them in the assembly line would make me excited! The next time I'll actually stay and catch some movements would probably be the first flight of Air Can's first Dreamliner! Another reason why I love Vancouver so much as a Canadian city is the fact that it's so close by one of the largest aircraft manufacturer in the world! (And I'll say the same if it was Airbus or Bombardier - I love them all!) Amazing heh!
Can't believe I missed the live broadcast of the A350 XWB Final Assembly Line Inauguration Ceremony! In Recent years, we were extremely lucky to witness the birth of several major new aircraft, nurturing innovative changes and improvements. The A380 marked one of the first milestones, taking off its first flight test in April 2005, followed by the first flight of Boeing's Dreamliner 787s in December 2009. Though encountered major delays and technical "resolutions", I believe that these manufacturers and production members should be well recognized for the innovative changes that make flying better for the future! Regardless of who invented the first jetliners, or who has a longer history in aircraft manufacturing, I believe all manufactures have tried their best, putting outstanding efforts, research and development, manpower, spirit and enthusiasm in aviation!
Here are some highlights of the A350's Assembly Line ceremony! Especially note the shot starting at 02:36 if you wish the see the partially assembled A350 fuselage, or MSN001 test aircraft!
Assembly of the first A350 XWB - Test Aircraft MSN001 (Photo from Airbus.com)
Ahead of us are the first fligths of Bombardier's new Cseres and Airbus' A350 XWB (Xtra Wide Body). What will be next?
A year ago during the 2011
Aviation Leadership Forum in Vancouver, the topic on "how to attract
passengers pay attention to inflight safety demonstrations" was brought
up at my discussion table. In my opinion, abnormal demonstration is
the key to catching attention, even if it takes away a slight bit of
aboslute professionalism. Why do inflight safety demonstration always
have to be a standard, straightforward, "talk" and "show"? There are
lots of great ones out there, mind you, and Air New Zealand (NZ) always
oustands among the greatest ones. To me, this version is so far, the
most perfect, most attention grabbing version, even if you have
absolutely no idea what the Hobbit or The Lord of the Ring is about.
NZ's 773ER Safety Demonstration - Lord of the Ring Version
Espeically like starting 02:33, when it starts to lose attention half way through, the sudden lightening and black-out grabs it back! Good signal for more attention!
Has it taken away
professionalism? Yes, but does it makes want to you watch and gives you
clear and concise messages ... yes, indeed! Isn't that the whole
purpose of inflight safety demonstrations? I mean, what is the point of
making it so professional, so perfectly ironed and tailored uniforms,
well groomed and postured, plus a warm smile and mind-releasing
background music throughout the whole video? Do passengers care? Would
they rather look at the inflight magazines or out the window, or chat?
Yes! The whole point is to send the right "safety message" to all
passengers so that if an emergency happens, they will have a general
idea of what to do. Of course, no one can memorize all the procedures;
it is more to create a photographic memory of the overall big picture.
Another
airline that has really brought the attention of the passengers is Cebu
Pacific. Though there had been debates over its' "hot/sexy dancing
safety demonstration" being overly distracting male or female
passengers, I believe that it has at least got the passengers to all "look up".
Have you ever seen so many passengers around you look up for a safety
demonstration? I mean, ususally, regardless if the video is attractive,
I am alwanys one of the very few who would actually have the safety
instruction card in front of me, follow through the demonstration, and
look at where the flight attendants are pointing to the emergency exits.
Cebu Pacific Air's Safety Demonstration - Female Dancer Version
Regardless if the passengers are truly paying attention to the safety procedures, at least they are looking up. I'm sure there will be some sort of picture memory left in their mind.
Cebu Pacific Air's Safety Demonstration - All Male Dancer Version
Pretty sure this little girl is looking, and even if it is an all guy crew, all passengers were looking! The debate about passengers being attracted by "hot girls dancing" may not be sostrong afterall ...
Of course, the "effectiveness" of these dancing videos is still debatable. The details of the safety procedures are definitely not
delivered clearly and concisely. The life jacket, for example, I'm
pretty sure most passengers would have missed how to function the life
jacket; the dance movement and shaky body made it hard to pay attention
to where to blow and pull.
I
did mention about getting the big picture, but these are some details
that make it so important for the big picture. The video below of Air
Tran's evacuation training drill is an excellent example of why you
should know "the drill" before it really happens ...
Air Tran Cabin Fire & Water Ditching Drill
Please especially start looking from time frame 02:55. Do you think this would be a good time to "start" figuring outwhere to go and how to get your life jacket working? Better prepare yourself is the way to go ...
Overall,
I think that many air carriers have tried to make it more attention
cataching, but I believe NZ has been developing great ones, in fact,
extremely effective ones. While some carriers continue to use the
traditional "professional" style, I believe it would definitely serve as
proactive actions under SMS (Safety Management System) to find ways to
attract passengers to pay attention to inflight safety demonstrations
... in the case of an emergency!
