Word: 747s
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...business. Musk already has a working business, operating SpaceX since 2002 out of a warren of old repair shops and warehouses in El Segundo, Calif., an area with a long aerospace history. He plans to move soon to nearby Hawthorne, into a cavernous plant that once turned out 747s. He has set aside half of his $200 million PayPal payout and has hired close to 250 people, from such outfits as Boeing and Grumman as well as from Silicon Valley...
...there is one part of the air safety system that has proven stubbornly resistant and where mistakes continue to occur: on the ground. The deadliest crash in aviation history occurred in 1977 when two Boeing 747s collided in the Canary Islands, killing 583 people. And even the best airlines in the world have had problems on the ground - in 2000 a 747 flown by Singapore Airlines on its way to Los Angeles crashed on takeoff in Taipei, Taiwan, when a pilot headed down what was a closed runway and plowed into construction equipment. Planes don't run into each other...
...passengers aboard the 747SR, a short-range version of the jumbo. JAL and All Nippon Airways are the only airlines that fly this model, which is structurally strengthened to absorb the jolts of the frequent takeoffs and landings required by shorter routes. As part of its fleet of 49 747s, the largest of any carrier in the world, JAL operated ten of the short-range types, which can accommodate more seats. The flight to Osaka (pop. 2,625,000), a commercial center 250 miles southwest of Tokyo, was sold...
...Tench, recently retired chief inspector of accidents at the Royal Aircraft Establishment in Farnborough, said he knew of cases in which it took three years before a crack became visible after an aircraft was heavily jolted. Japan's Ministry of Transport promptly ordered that the tail areas of all 747s registered in that country be re-examined, with special attention to the link holding the fin to the fuselage...
Shortly afterward, Boeing sent a worldwide advisory from Seattle suggesting that all carriers using 747s "may wish" to follow the Japanese example by visually inspecting the tail fin and rudder structures on these planes. The company also suggested an inspection of the rear bulkhead. A spokesman for the U.S. Air Transport Association said that "everybody will follow those recommendations to a T." The procedure, which should take about two hours, can be done between flights and during refueling stops...