May 28, 2025 - No. 22 In This Issue : New company report shows large spike in Boeing employees making safety reports : How SpaceX Reinvented The Rocket Engine? (Video) : Boeing Redesigns 777X Thrust Links that Caused 4-Month Delay : Maintenance Error Led to Alaska 737 Gear Collapse : The F-35’s future: The power and cooling competition that could change everything : Inside US Air Force Massive Facility Upgrading Feared B-52 Bombers : Aging Boeing 717 Fleet Still Rules Hawaiian Skies But FAA Flags Concern : “US Jet Flies Without GPS”: Hypersonic Aircraft Gets AI Brain Upgrade to Navigate at Blistering Speeds With Zero Satellite Support : Sikorsky Set To Fly Second Rotor-Blown Wing Design : El Paso brothers bought a broken-down 727 four months ago. They’re still not sure what to do with it. : Survivorship Bias — the logical error of focusing things that survived a process, often leading to false conclusions. New company report shows large spike in Boeing employees making safety reports Safety reports increased by 220% from 2023 to 2024. Author: Kipp Robertson, Bridget Chavez Published: 7:05 AM PDT May 21, 2025 Updated: 7:07 PM PDT May 21, 2025 ARLINGTON COUNTY, Va. — A new safety report from Boeing lays out changes the company says it's making following a string of high-profile incidents over the past several years. The 2025 Chief Aerospace Safety Officer Report shows a 220% increase in total reports through the anonymous "Speak Up" tool from 2023 to 2024. “To herald 220% of what to what?" Rich Plunkett, the director of strategic development for SPEEA, said. SPEEA is the union that represents Boeing's engineers. "And more importantly what is being reported? Because previously there were Speak Up reports that talked about everything from harassment in the workplace to slip and fall issues in the workplace.” Additionally, nearly 160,000 workers have finished training focused on identifying potential product hazards. The video- and web-based training included real-life examples that involved Boeing employees. Plunkett credits Boeing for making that investment but says it still came up short. “I think it’s great but I don’t believe there was enough emphasis put on it and we heard reports of middle managers walking out of the training, not because they didn’t like it but they had to get back to delivering aircraft and that’s part of the problem," Plunkett said. The company conducted safety and quality stand-downs focused on engaging and listening to employees. It is also expanding machine learning in an attempt to flag risks early. In January, Boeing began conducting surprise safety audits at five commercial air sites, in addition to regularly scheduled audits, according to the report. Plunkett said he wasn't aware of the audits until the report came out. “I guess we are surprised we haven’t heard reports about the surprise audits so that tells me it isn’t a big impact on our represented work force," he said. “Normally when something changes dramatically we do get calls but we haven’t had calls on that.” Boeing has faced heavy scrutiny over the past several years. The airplane manufacturer has struggled to come out from under the shadow of two fatal 737 Max 8 crashes in Ethiopia and Indonesia, respectively, which claimed the lives of 346 people. Those crashes resulted in an approximate 20-month grounding of the 737 Max and criminal charges. Family members of the crash victims say the Department of Justice intends to drop all criminal charges against the company. Boeing avoided what would have been the first jury trial related to the Max crashes by settling in April. A door plug blowout mid-flight in early 2024 once again put the spotlight back on the company. Records show four bolts that were intended to help secure a door plug were not reattached after it underwent repair work at the company's Renton facility. How SpaceX Reinvented The Rocket Engine? SpaceX has revolutionized rocket technology, making spaceflight more efficient, powerful, and reusable. But how did they do it? With the Raptor engine, SpaceX introduced methane-fueled full-flow staged combustion, achieving higher efficiency and performance than any engine before it. In this video, we explore how SpaceX reinvented the rocket engine, the breakthroughs behind Raptor, and why it’s crucial for missions to Mars. Could this be the key to humanity becoming interplanetary? Boeing Redesigns 777X Thrust Links that Caused 4-Month Delay The thrust links transfer loads between the engine and wing structure, with the original components experiencing cracks that grounded all 4 test aircraft in the 777X program. By Sakshi Jain May 24, 2025 WASHINGTON- Boeing has redesigned the engine thrust links for its long-delayed 777X widebody aircraft, addressing fatigue issues that caused a 4-month certification testing delay. Aviation Week reports the American manufacturer plans to install the redesigned components later this summer as part of broader design improvements. Photo: Boeing Boeing 777X Redesigns Thrust Links Boeing originally planned 777X certification for 2020, positioning the aircraft as the next generation of the popular 777 widebody series. The manufacturer designed the 777X family to deliver improvements in efficiency, range, and passenger comfort compared to existing widebody aircraft. The certification process began with extensive flight testing using 4 dedicated test aircraft configured to validate the new design’s performance and safety characteristics. However, the certification timeline faced immediate challenges when technical issues emerged during the testing phase. Boeing encountered the first major setback in 2020 when an “uncommanded pitch event” caused the aircraft’s nose to rise unexpectedly without pilot input. This incident resulted in years of certification delays as engineers worked to resolve the flight control system anomaly and implement necessary safety modifications. Photo: Boeing August 2024 Thrust Link Failures The most recent significant delay occurred in August 2024 when Boeing discovered broken thrust links on one of the test aircraft during routine inspections. Further examination revealed similar cracks in the same load-bearing components on other planes in the test fleet. These thrust link failures prompted Boeing to temporarily ground all 4 777X test aircraft, halting the certification process completely. The thrust links transfer loads between the engine and wing structure, with the original components experiencing cracks that grounded all 4 test aircraft in the 777X program. Boeing resumed certification flights in mid-January 2025 after temporarily halting operations in August 2024 following the discovery of broken thrust links. Boeing engineers determined that fatigue issues in the original thrust link design caused the failures, necessitating a complete redesign of these essential load-bearing elements. The grounding lasted four months while Boeing developed and tested the improved thrust link design. Design Improvements The manufacturer resumed certification flights in mid-January 2025 after installing temporary solutions and conducting extensive ground testing of the new thrust link configuration. Aviation Week confirmed that Boeing now plans to install the final redesigned thrust links during summer 2025 as part of a broader package of design improvements. Boeing currently aims to achieve 777X certification by late 2025 or early 2026, with first deliveries expected in 2026. The certification process requires approval from both the FAA and the EASA before commercial operations can begin. Lufthansa (LH) is expected to become the first airline worldwide to receive the 777X once certification is completed, according to Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg. Emirates (EK) expects to receive its Boeing 777X aircraft by the end of 2026, despite expressing earlier doubts about meeting this timeline. Emirates Chairman and CEO Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum confirmed this expectation during a media roundtable at the Arabian Travel Market in Dubai. The airline currently awaits 205 Boeing 777X deliveries, making it the world’s largest customer for the aircraft type. Stay tuned with us. Further, follow us on social media for the latest updates. Maintenance Error Led to Alaska 737 Gear Collapse The NTSB published its final report on the incident. Damaged Alaska 737-800 in Santa Ana (Photo: Orange County Fire Authority) May 23, 2025 4:23 pm ET By Ryan Ewing The National Transportation Safety Board has determined that excessive grinding during maintenance led to the collapse of a Boeing 737-800’s left main landing gear during landing at John Wayne/Orange County Airport in Santa Ana, California. Alaska Airlines flight 1288 experienced “substantial” damage on Aug. 20, 2023, when its left main landing gear failed upon touchdown. None of the 112 passengers and crew members aboard were injured. “The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause of this accident to be maintenance personnel’s excessive grinding of the left main landing gear’s aft trunnion pin during machining, which imparted heat damage to the base metal and led to the fatigue cracking that caused the pin to fracture during landing,” the agency stated in its final report published Thursday. \ The Accident According to the NTSB report, the flight from Seattle encountered moderate rain, shifting winds, and light turbulence during its approach to Santa Ana. The flight crew reported that the aircraft was fully configured for landing and on a stabilized approach before the final approach fix. After visually acquiring the runway at about 800 feet above ground level, the captain, who was the pilot flying, disengaged the autopilot and autothrottle. Flight data recorder information showed that the main landing gear touched down at 11:14:57 p.m., with the nose gear following about one second later. The maximum vertical acceleration recorded at touchdown was approximately 1.71 G. The captain reported feeling a “firm jolt” and noted the aircraft was “pulling reasonably hard” to the left, which he initially attributed to a flat tire. After bringing the aircraft to taxi speed and exiting the runway, the crew noticed the airplane leaning to the left. Upon inspection, they discovered the aircraft was resting on its left engine cowling. Photos show the landing gear strut piercing through the top of the wing. NTSB investigators found that the aft trunnion pin in the left main landing gear had fractured during landing due to a fatigue crack that had grown to a depth of 0.144 inches. The crack was large enough to cause the remaining material to fracture during landing, resulting in the collapse of the gear. Further examination revealed the fatigue crack had initiated from a small intergranular region below the external chromium-electroplated layer of the pin. This region showed an elevated reading from a Barkhausen noise inspection and displayed darker visual contrast following temper etch and metallographic inspections. “The elevated readings and area of visual contrast were consistent with the area being exposed to higher temperatures becoming softer than the surrounding material,” the report stated. “The heat exposure most likely occurred as part of the excessive grinding of the surface, performed during the maintenance overhaul of the pin that occurred on July 5, 2018.” The investigation determined that the overtempered region and surrounding material created an area of intergranular fracture within the material where grinding had occurred. The grinding burn likely happened during machining after the new chromium layer electroplating process was applied. Technical Analysis A fatigue crack analysis performed on the aft trunnion pin fracture surface indicated the crack had been present for at least 797 landing cycles. The maintenance records showed that the left main landing gear assembly, including the aft trunnion pin, had been overhauled approximately 4,710 landing cycles before the accident. “The crack was not present when the pin was overhauled in July 2018 but had likely developed later as a result of the grinding performed during the overhaul,” the report stated. The NTSB noted that most nondestructive inspection techniques used to detect damage to plated trunnion pins rely on identifying cracks, making them ineffective before crack initiation. However, the investigation found that “even relatively mild heat exposure from grinding and/or machining during overhaul can lead to cracking, which can lead to fatigue crack growth and failed landing gear components.” Damage to the 737 (Photo: NTSB) At the time of the left main landing gear assembly overhaul in 2018, the landing gear had accumulated 11,116 landing cycles. The overhauled assembly was installed on the accident airplane on July 17, 2018, and accumulated an additional 4,710 landing cycles before the failure. The aircraft – registered as N516AS – remained out of service until December 2023. The F-35’s future: The power and cooling competition that could change everything [Video] In part two of our F-35 roundtable video series, Breaking Defense takes a look at why the PTMU is so important and gets into how the competition looks going forward. By Breaking Defense Video on May 22, 2025 at 12:45 PM Note: See photos and videos in the original article. The US and its partners are planning on the F-35 flying for decades to come. But for that to happen, the Pentagon has to figure out a way to get more power onto the jet. At the heart of that debate is who will build the F-35’s upgraded Power and Thermal Management Unit (PTMU). Prime contractor Lockheed Martin is running a competition that features incumbent Honeywell Aerospace against RTX subsidiary Collins Aerospace for the much-anticipated upgrade. In part two of our F-35 roundtable video series, Breaking Defense’s Aaron Mehta, Valerie Insinna and Michael Marrow, alongside analyst JJ Gertler, take a look at why the PTMU is so important and get into how the competition is shaping up going forward. And if you missed it, you can watch part one of the series below. Inside US Air Force Massive Facility Upgrading Feared B-52 Bombers Note: See video in the original article. Welcome back to the Fluctus Channel, where we explore the meticulous maintenance and ongoing upgrades carried out on military aircraft like the B-52, as well as U.S. Navy vessels. Fluctus is a website and YouTube channel dedicated to sea geeks. Whenever you are curious or an incorrigible lover of this mysterious world, our videos are made for you ! We publish 3 videos a week on our Youtube channel and many more articles on our website. Feel free to subscribe to not miss any of our updates and visit our website to discover additional content. Don’t forget to follow us on twitter: Please keep the comments section respectful. Any spam, insults or troll will be deleted. To contact us, make sure to use our email in the about section of this channel. See less Aging Boeing 717 Fleet Still Rules Hawaiian Skies But FAA Flags Concern Hawaii Travel News / May 24, 2025 / If you’ve flown between the Hawaiian Islands in the past 25 years, it’s almost a certainty that you’ve been on a Boeing 717. This short, high-cycle jet quietly became the champion backbone of Hawaii’s interisland travel. But now, an incident involving the 717 and its nose gear failure is back in the spotlight. The final safety report and new federal inspection requirements just came out this week. While the incident didn’t happen in Hawaii, the implications are landing squarely on the islands. Why? There’s no other airline in the world that relies on the 717 like Hawaiian Airlines (now Alaska Airlines) does. What happened to a 717 that raised the concern. On June 28, 2023, a Boeing 717 operated by Delta Air Lines was on final approach into Charlotte when its nose landing gear failed to extend. The pilots circled, attempted a manual extension, and ultimately landed the plane on its main gear with the nose entirely unsupported. All 104 people onboard evacuated via emergency slides as fire crews stood by. Thanks to skilled piloting, no one was injured. This week, the National Transportation Safety Board released its final report on the incident, bringing the issue back into the news. Investigators traced the failure to a fractured upper lock link—part of the nose gear system that had previously passed inspection. Tool marks from grinding or filing left micro-scratches that triggered a fatigue fracture, which finally gave out after more than 40,000 flight cycles. FAA directive affects all Boeing 717 planes in the U.S. The FAA responded by issuing a directive ordering repeated inspections of that part across all remaining 717s in the U.S. The directive specifically affects Hawaiian Airlines, which operates by far the most intensively used 717 fleet in the world. Credit for first reporting and continuing to cover the incident goes to The Aviation Herald. Hawaiian’s 717s are in a league of their own. The aircraft that serves as Hawaiian’s interisland shuttle, “Hawaii’s bus” as it were, was never a Boeing original. It began life as the McDonnell Douglas MD-95 and was rebranded as the 717 after Boeing’s merger with McDonnell Douglas in 1997. Just 156 were ever built. Hawaiian owns and operates 19 of them. These planes were designed for quick turnarounds and short flights, but probably not this many. Some of Hawaiian’s 717s fly up to 16 cycles per day. That means taking off and landing roughly every hour, sometimes more. Over the past two decades, that has added up to an extreme level of structural stress. As we explored in this earlier article about high-cycle aircraft in Hawaii, Hawaiian’s 717s have likely already exceeded their original design lifespan in flight cycles. Sentimental value meets structural fatigue. Hawaiian’s 717s have earned a reputation for reliability, and the airline has one of the best safety records in the world. That’s part of why some readers strongly believe the aircraft should be preserved. As one reader named Ricky recently commented, “Re-engine… & re-furbish. Keep ’em flying.” But aircraft safety isn’t about sentimentality. The part that failed in the Charlotte incident had already been overhauled in 2009 and marked compliant. It subsequently cracked nonetheless. The FAA directive now mandates that airlines perform repeated inspections to ensure the same thing doesn’t happen again. Hawaiian has not publicly commented on the directive or any fleet adjustments that might follow. But the scrutiny is now firmly fixed on its fleet. Could anything replace the 717? That’s the real question, and the answer isn’t simple. Hawaiian, under Alaska’s ownership, has announced no formal plan to replace the 717. Any replacement must handle unique and relentless operations, including constant takeoffs and landings, fast turnarounds, short runways, and sometimes high winds, all with minimal downtime and high cargo throughput. Reader MikeJ put it bluntly: “This will be a tough call… Only apparent reasonable option is the Embraer 175E2 that potentially could be used for island hopping and then rotated into Alaska’s mainland regional fleet to finish its life.” Others argue for a more flexible approach. Kyle S suggested the E2 line offers better size options than the larger Boeing 737 MAX 7, which Southwest has struggled with in Hawaii. And reader Norm T pointed out that even small design elements—like the 717’s unique handrail below the overhead bins—make a difference for senior passengers on short flights. Still, most agree that no replacement will perfectly match the 717. At the same time, the aircraft are just plain old. Why the economics matter. While flying aging aircraft may not be a safety issue, it’s definitely an expense issue. Maintenance costs increase with age, especially as inspections become more frequent and parts become harder to source. The recent FAA directive just added one more layer of cost and complexity. At the same time, it’s a trade-off. New aircraft are very costly and hard to come by. However, they do bring fuel savings, lighter carbon footprints, and often more passenger appeal. However, they also come with retraining requirements and the risk of integrating a new type into an already stretched system. As one reader, Goforride, put it: “Anything that doesn’t make money will be history… nothing is sacred, nothing is beyond the axe.” That reality is even sharper now that highly capable Alaska Airlines is in charge. What Alaska might do next. The Alaska purchase of Hawaiian means big decisions could come faster now, as Hawaiian was on the verge of bankruptcy when it was purchased. Alaska already operates a streamlined fleet, where the 717 plays no other role. It’s possible that any future interisland fleet would need to integrate with Alaska’s existing aircraft types and maintenance hubs. They haven’t tipped their hat in that regard. In our earlier story on what Alaska might do with Hawaiian’s short-haul aircraft, readers debated whether the Embraer E175, Airbus A220, MAX 7, or even older A319s might replace the 717. Each has drawbacks—the ability to handle the duty cycles required in Hawaii, cargo capacity, or other factors. And yet, some still hold out hope. One reader said, “We prefer to fly on Hawaiian to Oahu and then take the shuttle to Maui… we like the two seat option. We fly a minimum of three to four times a year.” For them, comfort and legacy still matter. What comes next. The FAA’s directive doesn’t ground the 717. It just makes the costs of keeping it in service harder to ignore. And with the final NTSB report confirming that even “compliant” parts can fail under repeated stress, the message is clear: inspections aren’t always enough. This isn’t about one incident in Charlotte. It’s about how long planes built a quarter-century ago should continue carrying the bulk of Hawaii’s travelers—and what might replace them before more problems arise. In some ways, there’s more than a plane at stake here. For many, the 717 is part of the legacy of the Hawaiian Airlines travel experience. But the clock keeps ticking. And with the FAA just stepping in, that’s getting harder to ignore. “US Jet Flies Without GPS”: Hypersonic Aircraft Gets AI Brain Upgrade to Navigate at Blistering Speeds With Zero Satellite Support In a historic achievement for military aviation, Northrop Grumman has successfully demonstrated GPS-independent navigation using a cutting-edge inertial measurement unit aboard Stratolaunch's Talon-A hypersonic test vehicle, marking a significant leap forward in the development of high-speed air systems. Avi Cohen, May 17, 2025 at 4:03 PM6 Illustration of the Talon-A hypersonic test vehicle achieving GPS-independent navigation. Image generated by AI. • IN A NUTSHELL🚀 Stratolaunch’s Talon-A serves as a reusable hypersonic testbed, achieving significant milestones in GPS-independent navigation. • 🛰️ Northrop Grumman demonstrated a cutting-edge inertial measurement unit (IMU), ensuring precise navigation without reliance on GPS. • ⚔️ The advancements in hypersonic technology are crucial for enhancing the United States’ defense capabilities and maintaining a strategic edge. • 🌐 Collaboration between industry leaders like Stratolaunch and Northrop Grumman is vital for overcoming challenges and driving future innovations. In a groundbreaking stride for military aviation, the Talon-A hypersonic test vehicle, operated by Stratolaunch, is at the center of a transformative development in the Pentagon’s hypersonic prototyping efforts. Recently, Northrop Grumman demonstrated a cutting-edge inertial measurement unit (IMU) aboard the Talon-A, achieving GPS-independent navigation during two crucial flights. These tests, conducted in December 2024 and March 2025, mark a significant milestone in the evolution of high-speed air systems that can operate efficiently at speeds of Mach 5 and beyond. This advancement not only underscores a leap in navigation technology but also highlights the strategic importance of hypersonic capabilities in modern defense systems. GPS-independent Navigation The journey to achieving GPS-independent navigation is a testament to the innovative prowess of Northrop Grumman. Speaking with Defense News, Jonathan Green, the Chief Technology Officer for Emerging Capabilities at Northrop, emphasized the successful performance of the IMU during the Talon-A flights. This achievement represents the first successful reusable hypersonic vehicle missions since the conclusion of the US Air Force’s X-15 program in 1968. The IMU played a crucial role, functioning nominally throughout the flights and meeting all objectives. This advancement is pivotal as hypersonic systems face extreme operational environments, where GPS dependency could be a potential vulnerability. Northrop’s IMU mitigates this dependency by ensuring autonomous navigation even in GPS-degraded or denied environments. Utilizing advanced precision sensors and embedded algorithms, the IMU maintains real-time navigational awareness by tracking the vehicle’s position, orientation, and motion vectors. As Josei Chang, Senior Director for Advanced Technologies at Northrop Grumman, confirmed, the IMU accurately calculated the Talon-A’s trajectory throughout both test events, paving the Sikorsky Set To Fly Second Rotor-Blown Wing Design Brian Everstine May 15, 2025 The Rotor Blown Wing is a hybrid-electric, fully autonomous flying wing aircraft. Credit: Sikorsky NASHVILLE—Sikorsky plans to fly a Group 3 design of its Rotor Blown Wing next month as the company targets U.S. Army, Marine Corps and Navy programs plus international interest in the concept. Sikorsky has been flying its first 115-lb. RBW demonstrator about once per month as it looks to scale it up to a Group 4 size. The company’s slightly larger Group 3 design it began under a DARPA program will fly soon and Sikorsky expects that design to fly about once per month to mature the concept. Sikorsky was one of six companies downselected for Phase 1B of DARPA’s Advanced Aircraft Infrastructure-less Launch and Recovery program. The RBW design is a tail-sitting aircraft that takes off vertically and can tip over to operate as a flying wing. “We’re finishing that one up and it will be flying here next month,” says Ramsey Bentley, the director of Sikorsky’s Advanced Concepts and Innovations. The company has submitted proposals based on its RBW for “multiple programs,” though he did not specify which exact ones, Bentley told reporters on the sidelines of the Army Aviation Association of America conference here. The three U.S. services are potential customers, with the Army for example looking to field similar systems as part of Short, Medium and Long Range Reconnaissance programs. The Marine Corps is looking for autonomous aircraft for supply from ships as part of its Aerial Logistics Connector. Bentley says the RBW design is ideal for operating from ships with small decks, such as Navy frigates and destroyers. Outside the U.S., Sikorsky has also responded to an international solicitation, though Bentley would not identify the country. The concept has also received interest for commercial use, such as operating on oil rigs or assisting in responding to natural disasters. El Paso brothers bought a broken-down 727 four months ago. They’re still not sure what to do with it. by Cindy Ramirez May 26, 2025 Note: See photos in the original article. Crews disassemble a Boeing 727 abandoned at the El Paso International Airport and bought at auction by two El Paso brothers. (Courtesy Ismael Lara) The Boeing 727 that had been long abandoned at El Paso International Airport has lost its wings. And its engines, its tail and its nose. “I know it looks like a scrap yard,” Ismael Lara said, pointing at parts of the airplane scattered around the hangar where he and a small crew of workers are dismantling the metal bird to transport it to its new home. “It’ll be put back together and this area cleaned up.” Over the last few weeks, workers have put the airplane on lift jacks and hauled in cranes and other heavy equipment to detach its engines, remove its wings, and disassemble its nose cone. And, they’ve painstakingly learned the engineering behind the 1966 aircraft is more complex than unscrewing bolts and screws off metal panels. Ismael Lara has, to date, spent thousands of dollars and two months reducing his Boeing 727 plane to parts, May 23, 2025. The plane is being taken apart to move to Lara’s property, where he wants to make it into something the El Paso community can enjoy. “We’re learning as we go,” said Lara, who with his brother John Lara bought the inoperable aircraft in January through an online government surplus auction. They had hopes of giving it new life at a property they own on the Far Eastside, though they didn’t have a specific plan in place. The brothers paid $10,000 for the mid-size, three-engine jet airliner that had sat idle at the airport for nearly 20 years before the city put it up for auction. The plane had been mostly gutted, missing its seats and other major internal components. It had been deemed “not airworthy” and in “derelict condition.” The plane was previously registered to Blue Falcon Corp., whose president, David Paul Tokoph, died from his injuries after another plane he was piloting crashed just outside the Las Cruces airport in 2015. Before that, the plane belonged to the U.S. Marshals Service and was used to transport prisoners. On Friday morning, an area of the hangar appeared like a scene out of “Con Air,” the 1997 Nicolas Cage action movie about the transport of notorious criminals who begin their escape mid-flight and crash land the plane. A wing here, an engine there. The fuselage sat on lift jacks, which in turn raised the rear staircase off the ground, leaving it floating mid-air. Crews disassemble the nose cone off a Boeing 727 abandoned at the El Paso International Airport and sold at auction to two El Paso brothers. (Courtesy Ismael Lara) The cockpit and other parts have been moved to Lara’s East Montana property. He donated parts to a trade school in Ohio. Does he ever ask himself, “What have I done?” “From day one,” he admits. He listed a slew of challenges he’s faced, including having to call hazardous materials crews out to ensure all the fuel, oil and coolant were cleared and needing to take out permits from the Texas Department of Transportation to tow large parts of the plane down Montana Avenue to his property. He credits Sol Contractors of El Paso for stepping up to help at a more manageable cost than dozens of other companies he reached out to. “We’re putting in a lot of work to get it done,” Lara said. Lara wouldn’t say how much he’s spent so far or what the total move might add up to, saying he’s focused on getting the plane out of airport property. He says airport personnel have been graceful and patient, but knows he may be billed for the time he’s kept the plane at the hangar since buying it. Airport officials didn’t respond to requests for comment. An educator and self-proclaimed entrepreneur, Lara said he’s worked with salvage materials before – buying, refurbishing and selling everything from gym lockers to school buses. But this is his biggest purchase and his biggest challenge. “I love to look at a problem and try to solve it myself,” he said. “But this, I couldn’t do alone. It’s been a life lesson.” Lara said he regrets that not everyone in his family has been supportive of his “crazy idea” or of the potential he sees in what some consider nothing more than scrap metal. “It could be so many things, especially something educational and unique,” he said. He’s not sure what the 727 will become. Perhaps he’ll build a food truck park around it. Maybe it’ll be a unique party venue. It could be a static science, technology, engineering and math attraction for children. But he doesn’t want to venture into the restaurant or bar business – popular suggestions by strangers and friends alike. “My brother is very creative and very hardworking so he’s been really focused on getting this done,” said Ismael’s other brother, Frank Lara, a videographer who last week started filming the plane’s dismantling. He plans to make a documentary about the process. Ismael is considering documenting his journey on social media. “So, I bought a plane,” he says might be his video introduction. His journey might not be as relatable as renovating a home, he said, and he’s not sure people would follow his journey without some kind of lesson or message. “What would I say?” he asks. “Don’t buy a plane?” Advance Aviation Institute Survivorship Bias During WWII, the military analyzed the bullet holes on returning fighter planes to determine where to add more armor. The red dots in the image show where the planes that made it back were most commonly hit. Initially, the military considered reinforcing the areas with the most bullet holes — the wings, tail, and outer fuselage. But statistician Abraham Wald pointed out a critical insight: • These are the planes that survived. The hits they sustained were not fatal. • Wald argued that the areas with few or no bullet holes — like the engine and cockpit — were the critical weak points. Planes hit in those areas didn’t return, so those missing data points were crucial. This story teaches us survivorship bias — the logical error of focusing only on the people or things that survived a process while overlooking those that didn’t, often leading to false conclusions. It's a classic case in statistics and decision-making, still taught widely today. Ctto.. Curt Lewis