Alaska Airlines and Olympic speed skater Apolo Ohno unveiled a specially-themed Boeing 737-800 Tuesday (Nov. 17th) at Sea-Tac Airport, painted with a larger-than-life image of the celeb athlete and telling people to “follow Apolo.”
Also, to celebrate Ohno’s race for gold, passengers boarding the “Follow Apolo” jet received Ohno trading cards, copies of Ohno’s signature bandana and press-on faux facial hair (faux facial hair??? dang…now we’re sorry we missed this photo op!).
While we certainly don’t know any humans who’ve actually sprouted wings and can fly on their own, the unique design features a huge painting of the Seattle native on the aircraft’s fuselage and also promotes his new Alaska Airlines-sponsored website www.followapolo.com as he pursues winter gold in Vancouver, BC during the upcoming Winter Olympics.
“It’s an honor to be featured alongside Alaska’s trademark Eskimo and have the support of my hometown airline for the most important race of my life,” said Ohno, after seeing the plane for the first time.
A team of Seattle-area youth speed skaters aspiring to follow in Ohno’s path accompanied the athlete onboard the aircraft as it was unveiled at Sea-Tac Airport Tuesday. The skaters are members of Pattison’s Team Extreme and train at Pattison’s West Skating Center in Federal Way, where Ohno trained as a teen:
Apolo Ohno and members of Federal Way's Pattison's Team Extreme.
A native of the Seattle area, Ohno began his speed-skating career at age 14 in Seattle and Vancouver. He went on to become the youngest skater to win a World Cup event title in December 1999. Ohno has since won 11 national champion, 18 world champion and five Olympic medals.
If you’d like to “Follow Apolo,” you can either grow wings and attempt to fly behind (or alongside) his cool new airplane, or you can just click here and check out his website.
(Photos courtesy Alaska Airlines)
Wednesday morning (Nov. 4th), the Port of Seattle and Alaska Airlines conducted a full-scale snow removal and anti-icing exercise to prepare for the upcoming winter season.
Photographer Michael Brunk risked his life on Sea-Tac Airport’s tarmac to get these photos:
During the 2008-2009 season, SeaTac Airport experienced just over 23 inches of snow, compared to an average of 12 inches. While airport operations continued during the higher than normal snowfall, some improvements are being made for the 2009-2010 season.
Alaska Airlines has added eight new de-icing trucks to their fleet and three “nurse trucks” that will shuttle fluid from storage tanks to the new de-icing trucks. The new de-icing trucks feature an enclosed operator cockpit that allows them to operate safely around aircraft while the aircraft engines are still running. This feature coupled with new procedures will allow Alaska Airlines to de-ice an aircraft much more quickly and efficiently using central de-icing pads that will use a “car wash” model.
The Port of Seattle — which is responsible for clearing snow and ice from runways, taxiways and the ramp areas — has also taken delivery of several new vehicles that were already on order prior to last year’s unusual snow event. Using several snow plows followed by snow brush trucks one runway can be plowed and cleared in 30-45 minutes.
by Most residents of the Pacific Northwest would think that Boy Scouts participating in a day-long event to earn a merit badge on a mostly sunny Saturday in late October would be hiking in the Cascade Mountains or exploring the Puget Sound shoreline.
But such was not the case on Oct. 24, when 160 scouts packed classrooms at the Alaska Airlines Flight Operations Center in SeaTac and visited the company’s hangar at Sea-Tac International Airport for a close look at a Boeing 737-700 – inside and out.
The first Aviation Merit Badge day, sponsored by Alaska Airlines in partnership with the Chief Seattle Council of the Boy Scouts of America, was by all accounts an overwhelming success, with many more scouts wanting to participate than there was space to accommodate.
During the day, Boy Scouts were introduced not only to the dynamics of flight and the basics of flying an airplane, but also to airport management, flight operations, air traffic control, and careers in aviation.
Aviation Merit Badge day came about, said Brad Tilden, president of Alaska Airlines (and an Eagle Scout and Highline High School graduate), because “we love to support the Boy Scouts.”
But a golfing auction that the airline sponsored to support scouting wasn’t quite the thing since “there are not a lot of golfers here.” The merit badge idea surfaced as company officials looked for new ways to support the scouts.
“Most of us in aviation remember something that sparked our interest,” Tilden said. “We hope this merit badge event is the spark for some of these scouts. We hope we have fun and that the scouts learn something about aviation.”
Noting that he felt the “energy” while walking around the Flight Operations Center and observing the scouts, Tilden added that he would “love” to do another aviation merit badge day for scouts – perhaps expanded to include girls next time.
Pat Craven, director of development and marketing for the Chief Seattle Council, said the event – “a first for the Boy Scouts and a first for Alaska Airlines,” which he described as “a great friend and partner of scouting” – was “really unique.”
Craven called it “an overwhelming success. We allotted space for 140 scouts, then expanded it to 160, and we still had a waiting list. Alaska is already talking about doing another one next year.
“We’re so excited that Alaska has done this for Boy Scouts. It’s such an exceptional opportunity for them to get an introduction to aviation and aviation careers. They’re still running an airline today, yet they have so many volunteers here doing this.”
The Seattle P-I reports that at least 32 passengers on Alaska Airlines Flight 528 (to Burbank) were sickened after fumes from a liquid de-icer got into the cabin as it was on the tarmac Wednesday morning (12/24).
Apparently the main complaint was eye irritation.
Read the full story here.
| Apr ’08 |
| 22 |
| 7:30 am |
If you’re like most people, you probably have some old, unused computer gear sitting around collecting dust.
But did you know that PC (and TV) monitors and other elements of those old “megahertz” dinosaurs have dangerous toxins lurking inside them?
To wit:
- Monitors with Cathode Ray Tubes contain 4 to 8 pounds of lead in the radiation shielding of the glass and in lead solder on wires and connections. Barium is also used in the glass shielding. There is phosphorus in the inside coating of the faceplate. Hexavalent chromium is applied on galvanized steel parts for corrosion protection.
- PC chassis contain hexavalent chromium, which is used on steel plates to prevent corrosion.
- Polybrominated diphenylethers (PBDE) are used as flame retardant in computer plastics. Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) components, when burned, give off dioxin fumes.
- Most manufacturers use lead solder to connect semiconductors and other components and wires to motherboards and integrated chip sets. Beryllium is commonly found on boards and connectors. Printing wiring boards contain mercury. Cadmium can be found in semiconductors and resistors.
Well fear no more, as the Alaska Air Group will hold an “E-cycle” event where local residents and workers will be able to responsibly dispose of computers and other electronics they no longer need for free or a nominal charge.
Residents will also have the opportunity to donate their useable computer equipment to a local charity.
The event is scheduled for Earth Day, April 22, 7:30am to 6pm, at the Gold Coast Center parking lot, 20833 International Blvd. in Seatac (see map below).
All computers (any age or type) will be accepted for free. All computer monitors will be accepted for a $10 fee. Many other computer peripheral parts, cell phones, CDs, diskettes and other items will also be accepted for free. For more information, call (206) 392-5439.
Computers and peripheral equipment that still work will find a new home after they are refurbished by InterConnection (http://www.interconnection.org/), a Seattle-based non-profit that fixes up computers and donates them to underserved people and communities located both locally and abroad.
More details available by calling (206) 392-5439
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