Aviation

The Airline Seat of the Future Will Clean Itself

According to Bloomberg report — The microbes lurking in airplane seats, hotbeds of infectious diseases, could soon be history.

Recaro Aircraft Seating GmbH, whose customers include Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd., says it’s developing a seat infused with a disinfectant that destroys almost every germ on contact within seconds. It’s a response to studies that consistently show almost everything inside an aircraft cabin is festering with bugs.

Tomorrow’s airborne chairs — at least in business class — will be a digitized and customized living area, Hiller said by phone from Hong Kong. As well as being sanitized, Recaro’s seats will give massages and predict backaches. Eventually, they might even have their own bar.

“Individualization is really the key,” said Hiller, 45. The goal, he said, is to create “a hotel room in the sky.”

These business-class seats won’t just cleanse themselves, but will also somehow inform each incoming passenger how well it has done the job, Recaro Chief Executive Officer Mark Hiller said in an interview. The seats may debut within a year or two.

Aviation

Lost Tool Found in Qantas A380 After 34 Flights

An Australian Transportation Safety Bureau (ATSB) investigation recently revealed that a Qantas A380 operated 34 flights with a 1.25-meter nylon tool lodged in one of its engines.

This turning tool, used during borescope inspections to rotate the intermediate-pressure compressor, was left behind during scheduled maintenance at Los Angeles on December 6, 2023. It remained inside the engine until it was discovered by maintenance staff during a subsequent check at Los Angeles on January 1, 2024.

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The ATSB report highlights two critical lapses. First, maintenance engineers failed to notice the tool during final checks for foreign objects after the borescope inspection. Second, the lost tool procedure was not activated when the tool was identified as missing.

The certifying engineer ultimately cleared the aircraft for service without accounting for the misplaced tool. During the time qantas films the tool was inside, the A380 completed 34 flight cycles, accumulating nearly 294 hours without any noticeable effect on engine performance.

Although the tool was deformed by high-energy airflow within the engine, there was no reported damage to the engine itself. ATSB Chief Commissioner Angus Mitchell commented.

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“This incident underscores the importance of following established maintenance protocols. Engineers missed the tool during foreign object checks, and the required lost tool procedure wasn’t started after realizing the tool was missing.”

Following the investigation, the airline issued a safety directive, urging all engineering and tool storage teams to adhere strictly to these protocols to prevent similar incidents in the future.

A qantas spokesperson stated, “While the tool didn’t impact engine performance, we take this incident very seriously. It is critical to follow the correct lost tool procedures.”