Tag Archive for: Passenger

National Passenger Safety Week means double-checking car seats

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COLORADO — The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) is urging the importance of car seat safety during National Passenger Safety Week.

Four out of five car seats are installed and used incorrectly, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation, posing a serious and even deadly risk to children in the case of a car crash. According to CDOT, car crashes are the leading cause of death for children under 12 years old.

Now is a good time to double-check that your child is properly fitting in their car seat and that it is installed securely. Here are recommendations from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to make sure your child is safe in the backseat:

Rear-facing car seats

  • Newborn to three years (use as long as possible)
  • Use until child outgrows the manufacturer’s height or weight requirements
  • Harness at or below child’s shoulders
  • Chest clip at chest/armpit level

Forward-facing car seats

  • Two to five years old
  • Use until child outgrows the manufacturer’s height or weight requirements
  • Install with lower anchors or seat belt and top tether anchor

Booster seats

  • Four to 12 years old (or until adult seatbelt fits properly)
  • Use until child outgrows the manufacturer’s height or weight requirements
  • Shoulder belt across the shoulder (not across neck or face)
  • Lab belt across upper thighs (not stomach)

Adult seat belts (no car seat)

  • Older than eight years old

The NHTSA also recommends all children under 13 years old ride in the backseat due to front seat airbags. These recommendations differ slightly from Colorado’s child retrain law which includes the following:

  • Child Age/Size Statutory Requirement
    Less than 1 year and weighing less than 20 pounds Properly secured in a rear‑facing child restraint system in a rear seat of the vehicle
    1 year to 4 years, and weighing 20 to 40 pounds Properly secured in a rear‑facing or forward‑facing child restraint system
    Children up to 8 years Properly secured in a child restraint system, such as a booster seat, according to the manufacturer’s instructions
    8 to 15 years Properly restrained in a safety belt or child restraint system according to manufacturer’s instructions
    Source: Sections 42‑4‑236 and 42-4‑237, C.R.S.

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Drone flies within 30 feet of passenger jet landing at Heathrow

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Part of a report of a September near-miss between an Airbus passenger jet and a “helicopter drone” very close to Heathrow. (credit: UK Airprox Board)

File this under the category of “drone pilots trying to ruin it for everybody.” According to a safety incident report published by the United Kingdom’s Airprox air safety board, an Airbus A319 landing at Heathrow International Airport last September narrowly avoided a collision with a drone flying at an altitude of 500 feet as the jet was on its final approach. The pilots reported the small hovering helicopter-style drone passed about 25 yards to the left of the cockpit and just 20 feet above the aircraft.

The A319’s wingspan is 112 feet, so that would mean the drone missed the airliner by as little as 30 feet. The pilot reported that there was no time once the drone was sighted to take evasive action. The pilot reported the drone to air traffic controllers, and the police were dispatched. However, the drone pilot was not found. The incident was classified as meeting risk category A—the highest level of incident covered by the reporting system short of an actual collision.

The drone was not detected by air traffic control radar, so the only details of the event and how close the aircraft came to striking the drone are the pilot’s estimate of distance. In the UK, drones are limited to flight below 400 feet and are banned from flying in controlled airspace (like that around Heathrow) without permission from air traffic controllers. As the report noted, UK Civil Aviation Authority rules require a drone to stay within visual line of sight of the pilot—a maximum of 500 meters (1,640 feet) horizontally and 400 feet vertically from the operator.

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Technology Lab – Ars Technica

Passenger puts black powder in checked bag: How’d that decision play out?

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Let’s say for the sake of discussion that the guy – anyone think it’s a woman? – did not place the 10 tubes of black powder in his checked luggage as part of a terrorist plot or amateur sting operation against TSA screeners. The TSA mentions neither in its blog post that notes the incident.

Instead, this adult human being awakened one morning recently, began packing for a trip, realized he needed to transport 10 tubes of an explosive from his home in Utah through Salt Lake City International Airport, and decided the best way to do that would be to place the tubes in his suitcase alongside his shaving kit and underwear.

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Network World Paul McNamara