This wouldn't be the first time Qantas has blamed passengers' gadgets for an in-flight mishap; in July, a Bluetooth mouse was said to have resulted in a Qantas jet's autopilot being thrown off course. Passengers on Tuesday's ill-fated altitude drop will now be questioned regarding what electronics they may have been using at the time of the incident.

The issue of whether everyday personal electronics can actually cause any significant problems on board an airliner is clouded, to say the least. On one hand, it's hard to see how such common devices that meet FCC and UL interference standards can affect airliners that are designed to be able to withstand lightning strikes—critical components on a commercial jet are shielded to prevent any kind of interference getting through. On the other side, claims of the insulation degrading in older jets making them more susceptible to interference make sense. Then of course there is the perfectly rational "why chance it" argument.

This Wiki page delves into the issue in more detail, and Patrick from Ask the Pilot, one of my favorite online columns, gave the issue a characteristically sober and level-headed look earlier this year (verdict: interference technically possible but highly unlikely). So why Qantas would be making a push for this line of reasoning is kind of a mystery.

[UPDATE: Nick from Giz OZ has let us know that this story may be in fact a result of a misunderstanding—apparently a reporter got the jet's onboard computers (for navigation, etc) mixed up with the computers of actual passengers in his original report. The NTSB is still not ruling out interference from passenger gadgets, though.]

What about you guys? Do you heed the warnings to turn off everything, or fly in the face of danger with iPod blaring away during takeoff. Must admit I've been guilty of the latter, occasionally.

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[NZ Herald via Slashdot, Photo: Daquella Manera/Flickr]

This amazing system can also show you a view forward from the nose, and straight down beneath the plane. I'm pretty sure if you're trapped in a center-aisle seat it may well make up for your lack of window view. And it's a great chance to freak out (just a little bit) your nervous-flyer partners or parents... well, if your Mom is like mine, anyway. [Irintech via New Launches]

The Emirates A380 model has been placed at the Heathrow Airport roundabout previously known as the Concorde Roundabout—because it had a replica of that plane. It's not made of Lego bricks, but given the fact that it is bigger than my apartment, I won't mind living in one. [Emirates]

That extra 1,000 pounds of water (25% more than usual) means the aircraft will have to carry more fuel, which may weigh heavy on your environmental conscience. Or maybe lying in your massage bed in the private first class room, with remote-control doors and mini bar will make you forget your woes. [Mail on Sunday]

With that amount of bricks, and knowing how long my Falcon is taking, I'm not surprised that it took 600 hours for the entire team of professional Legoland model builders to assemble this beast. [Giz's Lego Trip]

According to the always entertaining Richard Quest, the delays have been caused precisely by the new technologies and manufacturing strategies that Boeing is using for the 787. Mainly, the biggest problem seems to be with the carbon fiber modules being manufactured all through the world, which then have to be brought and put together at Boeing's Everett factory in Washington, using their gigantic cargo Dreamlifter.

But as Quest points out, there will have to be major changes to this process because, at the end of the day, "the reality is that they have discovered they can't do it" in this way. One of these immediate and most serious changes, will likely require a redesign of the 787's wingbox.

As a result of these troubles, Boeing has ended with "new revised schedules" and an "extraordinary embarrassment" comparable to the humiliation that EADS had as a result of the multiple delays on the Airbus A380.

The even-worse thing is that, while it's understandable that companies like Boeing and EADS may have setbacks in the construction of these giant next-generation machines, the problem doesn't end in the technological embarrassment: Boeing will have to pay compensation to the airlines who have already bought 850 Dreamliners—which is "far more than any other aircraft at this stage"—and were expecting them on time.

Nightmareliner indeed. [CNN]

!We offer you a business idea at its finest!

If you even before you come in a cocktail bar, you can then in a real airplane ambience in the first-class seats and swing are just out of the daily routine.

You will be doers of style stewardesses served and get in front of it flies in the holiday.

For Hawaiian (or just what you like) Music you start you to relax.

The clouds are flying only way to the windows of passing (obviously, this requires the intake of extra substances, J.) ... to realize with a Endlosposter, which has two roles held.

If you read the whole thing to make huge hits you, you have installed a hydraulic plate below and let the whole story with a little froze every half hour off and land.

The entire course will be displayed on the Angurtdisplays.

Sun offers an opportunity to all cases not so quickly, so without prejudice to!

Enjoy offer!

Needless to say, we've already placed our bid. [eBay —thanks Johannes]

You see, in order to offer every first-class passenger a shower, the airline will have to add one metric tonne of water to its payload, dragging a carbon cost of around 50,000 lbs. per trip.

All part of the luxury experience, right? No one has seen photos of the upcoming A380 first-class cabin, but it is allegedly something on par with the "seven star" Burj Al Arab hotel in Dubai, and that it makes Singapore Airlines' front end—with double beds and dining "environments"—look like a dog's backend.

Sure, an in-air shower might negatively impact the earth in catastrophic and irreversible ways, but think about it this way: the only people who will make use of it come from oil wealth, so they probably wouldn't give a shit to begin with! [Times UK via Luxurylaunches]

That could mean a "stretch" Airbus A380 could be adjusted to hold as many as 1000 passengers depending on the carrier. Airbus will begin developing the larger version after the standard plane reaches full production in 2010. Dubai-based Emirates Airline, the company's biggest client, has already shown interest, saying it would buy a new model when they become available. [Kansas via Luxist]

"So they'll sell you a double bed, and give you privacy and endless champagne — and then say you can't do what comes naturally?" asked Tony Elwood, a 76-year-old passenger who booked the suite with his wife, Julie. "Seems a bit strange."

Let's not forget that Singapore Airlines is based in a country which still deems it okay to smack people with a rattan cane for even the slightest transgression, so you'd better keep that johnson in your pants, big boy. "There are things that are acceptable on an aircraft and things that aren't, and the rules for behaviour in our double beds are the same ones that apply throughout the aircraft," proclaims Stephen Forshaw, a Singapore Airlines official. He warns, "If couples used our double beds to engage in inappropriate activity, we would politely ask them to desist."

Since the doors close on the suites, how on earth are Singapore Airlines flight attendants going to know who is engaging in the old in/out and who isn't? It's always so noisy in aircraft anyway, you could be screaming to high heaven and no one would ever know.

We're thinking one of the most difficult temptations to resist aboard a Singapore Airlines double-bed flight is avoiding asking one of those gorgeous flight attendants, known as "the Singapore Girls," to join us inside the comfy suite. But then, for the $14,320 price for two tickets in one of the suites, we'd hope a good swift caning would be included in the ticket price. [Times Online, via Fleshbot (NSFW)]

What is it with this fever for lavender all of a sudden? First the iPhone iPod nano, now Korean Air's first-class livery. Ick. [Aving USA]

Right now, crew can set the devices to silent mode, which amounts to a data-only mode for EV-DO. But the notion of a plane full of yapping business dudes is terrifying, and this doesn't restrict people from using VoIP. Frankly, the only time I am not blogging or thinking about work is on a plane, so I'm not looking forward this.

What do you think?

While the ink on Joseph Lau's order of a $153 million Dreamliner VIP is still wet, an anonymous billionaire has just reserved a gigantastic Airbus A380 for his private use. The eight-story-tall airplane will be converted into a luxurious flying mansion that will include everything you can imagine, even the obligatory whirlpool bathtub for romantic sessions with half a dozen Playboy bunnies. The secret buyer will have to pay $475 million if it ever gets delivered, as it's currently number 157 in line to get the two-year delayed winged pachyderm, and all I can ask is...

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– Jesus Diaz

Billion Air: How Much Would You Pay for a Flying House? [Wired]

While I really don't mind Chantal picking on my carrot cake, I would certainly prefer to have Lau's battalion of sexy cyborg ninjas resting on king-size waterbeds, having swan-feather pillow battles all over the place or taking a hot bubbly bath in a full-size english tub. Or something like that. Lau's VIP Dreamliner, just the 7th to be ordered in the world, costs $153 million at today's list price.

And if you prefer to have even more space, you can order a 747 VIP to enjoy its 4,786 square-meter cabin.

These new interiors, which include a new SkyLoft area, were presented yesterday in Geneva, at the European Business Aviation Conference & Exhibition. – Jesus Diaz

Product page [Boeing Business Jets]

Boeing has started building their new flagship: the 787 Dreamliner. The cool thing about the 787 is that it only requires them to put together six big composite parts to build the final airframe, and operators don't have to use huge tools and overhead cranes: All the parts can be slid along on the construction floor and put together like giant LEGO pieces. Check the gallery for pictures of the delivery and assembly of the sections and hit the jump for more details.

The six huge finished parts, the forward, center and aft fuselage sections, the wings, the horizontal stabilizer and the vertical fin, are going to be carried in their huge Dreamlifter from factories in Japan, Italy, South Carolina and Kansas. The Boeing Dreamlifter, as you can see in the gallery, is one of the largest cargo planes in the world.

According to Boeing, they will complete their first 787 in July 8, 2007 while everyone at Airbus is still scratching his head wondering what the heck happened with their ill-fated and permanently delayed world's largest-flying gadget. The 787 is the "fastest-selling airplane in aviation history," and even while I'm European, I'm happy to see it rolling out the factory for two reasons: one, because I like great airplanes and two, because those Eurocrats at Airbus needed a kick up the butt. – Jesus Diaz

The monstrous double-decker Airbus A380 made its maiden voyage to the United States yesterday, landing at New York's JFK airport, and a few minutes later, another one landed at Los Angeles's LAX. While these were not the first flights of the world's largest passenger airplane—that happened in April of 2005—it is the first time the plane has flown to the United States.

It's part of a publicity tour of the Airbus A380, showing people that this gigantic tin can stuffed with 300 miles of wires inside and a wingspan the size of a football field can actually fly. Airbus officials may feel a little antsy because none of the planes have been bought by U.S. airlines, which prefer smaller planes carrying fewer passengers on more nonstop flights. But yes, the gargantuan flying machines actually made it to the U.S.; Check out the video and see one of them landing at LAX for yourself. – Charlie White

World's largest passenger airliner comes to L.A. [native intelligence]

Pictured above is a relaxing area for business meetings and general partying, and many of those seats can be converted into beds. Click through the gallery below for pictures of its huge board room and a luxo-sport bar for carousing at 35,000 feet, as well as generic pics of the Airbus 380 exterior. We just want to see a picture of that 600-square-foot master bedroom with its miraculously quick draining whirlpool tub. – Charlie White

Update: The picture of the dining room/boardroom in the gallery is designed by Edése Doret, the others are possible designs for the Airbus A380 created by Lufthansa Technik.

Airbus A380 VIP 'Flying Palace' Interior Design Unveiled [Space.com, via Born Rich]

An Arab oil magnate is spending $300 million on an Airbus A380, with another $100 million earmarked for the interior. What does that kind of scratch buy you? Peep this.

New York-based jet-interior expert Edése Doret who will be designing the A380 for the customer says it will include two dining halls, one 600 foot master bedroom, game room, lounge with giant curtains that will mimic tents of the Arabian desert, and a fiber-optic mosaic that will depict a shifting desert scene. Plas include a whirlpool tub (first in the air) with a rapid drainage system that can empty the standing water in seconds to a tank in the cargo hold and a missile defense system too.

Amazingly flashy WSJ video on the jet after the hop.

–Adam Frucci

Wall Street Journal [via New Launches]

I didn't invent standing airline seats, but some believe that I have. Maybe the only way to clear this up is to post a picture of the seat that someone recently sent to me.

Who knows where this little .gif file came from, but who are we going to believe? A New York Times reporter, or an embarrassed French airline maker in cahoots with greedy, money-losing and passenger-hating airlines around the world?

Taking a stand [ellipses, via The Consumerist]

It's not enough that the average space between economy class seats (or "pitch," as it's known in industry parlance) has lost three inches since 1978. Trying to offer relief was Boeing, introducing its 787 Dreamliner with recommended eight-abreast seating. But no. More than half the airlines (probably mostly US carriers) who ordered the plane will cram nine seats into that same space. For their next trick, we predict the greedy, loser US airlines will issue each passenger a bale of straw, a pee bucket and a ladle of corn mush.

Balance Between Economics and Comfort [NY Times]

Don't hold your breath for this to appear on US airlines, which will probably be coming out with a bare lightbulb and straw on the floor for its updated aircraft interior design.

Airbus A350 with BMW interiors [Newlaunches]