Russian plane goes missing in Indonesia

Russian plane goes missing in Indonesia
A Sukhoi Superjet 100 with 50 people aboard disappears during a promotional flight for prospective buyers. Search yields no clues so far.

A relative of a passenger aboard the missing Russian jet waits at Halim Perdanakusuma Airport in Jakarta, Indonesia. (Mast Irham / European Pressphoto Agency / May 9, 2012)

By Sergei L. Loiko, Los Angeles Times
May 9, 2012, 5:59 p.m.
MOSCOW — A new Russian passenger plane with 50 people aboard went missing Wednesday during a demonstration flight over Indonesia, officials said.

The Sukhoi Superjet 100, on a South Asian promotional tour, disappeared from radar screens 20 minutes into its second flight from Jakarta. The crew last spoke to ground control while over Mt. Halimun Salak National Park in West Java province, the Rossiya 24 television network reported.

"Before communication was lost with the plane, there was no information about the malfunction of the systems," said Vladimir Prisyazhnyuk, president of Moscow-based Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Co. "The plane has conducted about 500 flights with the overall flight time over 800 hours [and] has passed all kinds of necessary preparation."

A search by Indonesian helicopters found no sign of the aircraft before the effort was halted for the night because of dense clouds and heavy rain.

Those on board the plane included eight Russian crew members and 42 representatives of prospective buyers from at least four countries, Rossiya 24 said.

The jet is the first plane produced by a civilian company spun off from the Russian defense firm whose combat jets make up the bulk of the Russian air force. Built with the assistance of French, Italian and American companies, it was designed and certified to meet current Western standards. It has room for 95 passengers.

"It is supposed to be the best Russian plane of its class and should be an exclusively reliable machine," Igor Korotchenko, a defense industry expert and editor in chief of National Defense magazine, said in an interview.

Prisyazhnyuk said the flight commander was the chief pilot of the company and had taken part in the entire cycle of testing for the plane.

The firm has already struck almost $3.5 billion in deals with companies in Southeast Asia and Mexico, the RIA Novosti agency reported.

Russian aviation specialists were on the way to Indonesia to take part in the investigation.

sergei.loiko@latimes.com
Copyright © 2012, Los Angeles Times

No More Lost Luggage? Airline Introduces Electronic Tags to Locate Baggage

No More Lost Luggage? Airline Introduces Electronic Tags to Locate Baggage
May 2, 2012 by Yi Chen for PSFK On Mashable


According to reports, 29 millions bags were either damaged, delayed or lost in 2010. Australian airline Qantas plans to reduce this staggering figure with electronic tags that can be easily attached to luggage and monitor its whereabouts and status after check-in.

The “Q-Bag tag” looks like a normal luggage tag, but it can be scanned to retrieve passenger information and the flight destination. In turn, the tag can be located anywhere in the world. With tech innovations like this, it would certainly make losing a bag one less thing to worry about when flying.
This article originally published at PSFK here.




Source: Mashable.com

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The future of airport security: Thermal lie-detectors and cloned sniffer dogs

By George Webster, CNN November 25, 2011 -- Updated 1357 GMT (2157 HKT) | Filed under: Innovations

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Airports exploring new, high-tech security measures
• Thermal lie-detection detects variations in facial temperature in response to questioning
• Super-clone sniffer dogs, and Bluetooth passenger tracking are being trialled

(CNN) -- After the EU's announcement that it will ban "backscatter" x-ray body scanners, airports may have to look harder at alternative security measures. From Bluetooth tracking to thermal lie-detector cameras, we take a glimpse into the weird and wonderful future of airport security.

The check-point of the future

Earlier this year, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) demonstrated its vision for the "checkpoint of the future" -- a series of neon-lit tunnels, each equipped with an array of eye-scanners, x-ray machines, and metal and liquid detectors.

Heralding an end to "one size fits all screening," the association says that passengers will be assigned a "travel profile" and ushered into one of three corridors accordingly.

"Known Travelers," (those who have completed background checks with government authorities) for instance, will cruise through the light blue security corridor with little more than an ID check, while those guided through the yellow "Enhanced" corridor will be subjected to an array of iris scans and sensitive contraband detectors.

Although still at the proof of concept stage, the IATA is hoping to have these colorful checkpoints installed in airports within the next five to seven years.

Thermal lie-detection

Feeling guilty? Got something to hide? A team of UK-based researchers claim to have developed a thermal lie-detection camera that can automatically spot a burning conscience.

The system could be used during customs interviews and at passport control to check whether people entering the country are giving a true account of themselves.

The thermal-imaging camera captures variations in facial temperature in response to questioning. "When someone is making something up on the spot, brain activity usually changes and you can detect this through the thermal camera," said professor Hassan Ugail, who leads the research.

At present, the UK's Home Office and HM Revenue & Customs are sponsoring the system's development, but will not reveal the name of the airport where it's being tested.

Bluetooth passenger tracking

Finland's largest airport is harnessing the tracking potential of a device already carried by most passengers: their mobile phones.

The new system at Helsinki-Vantaa Airport monitors Bluetooth signals to examine passenger movement around the terminal, and uses this information to predict waiting times in front of the security gate.

For now, the technology is simply helping airport operators with crowd management at busy periods, while providing "opted-in" passengers with accurate waiting-time estimates, lit-up in front of them on flight information display screens.

Further down the line, Amor Group -- which developed the technology -- says that the system could track any passenger as soon as they enter the car park or bus station and, in time, be used to create "passenger profiles" -- detailing the behavior of individuals to create "targeted retail activity and process optimization."

'Super clone' sniffer dogs

Professor Byeong-chun Lee, who established his reputation in 2005 as the driving force behind the world's first ever dog clone, has bought a new breed of super-sniffers to South Korea's Incheon Airport.

They may look like an ordinary pack of golden Labrador Retrievers, but these dogs are all genetically identical to "Chase," a dog whose legendary snout kept him top of Incheon's drug-detection rankings right up until his retirement in 2007.

While, on average, only three out of 10 selectively bred sniffer dogs trained by the airport's security staff have the nostrils for the job, every single one of the new clone recruits have made the grade -- providing Incheon with one of the world's most formidable teams of drug detectors.

But it's not just contraband smugglers who should fear the arrival of this sniffing super-breed. Lee's next clone will be a high-performance "quarantine dog" -- gifted with an enhanced capacity for detecting the presence of disease in humans.

Behavioral Detection Officers

In the United States, the Transport Security Administration (TSA) is not just relying on fancy gadgets and genetically enhanced nostrils to improve security: it's turning to good old-fashioned human instinct.

Behavioural Detection Officers (BDOs) have been trained to engage passengers in casual conversation in an effort to weed out suspicious behavior.

According to the TSA, the pilot scheme aims to stimulate the "involuntary physical and physiological reactions" that people display when they are fearful of being discovered.

BDOs are currently operating at approximately 161 airports nationwide. So next time an airport official starts talking about the unseasonably good weather, chances are they think you've got something to hide.

The International Air Transport Association's "Checkpoint of the Future."