Yeah, I’m close to someone onboard the emerg. divert to PBIA. From reports I’ve seen online (a copy of the NTSB’s recommendation to the FAA), it appears that the FAA was having some “minor” conflicts with Boeing… apparently, they were having trouble with the “language” which was to be used on issuing airworthiness directives or safety bulletins or something like that – stuff that should’ve been done a longggg time ago, and which should’ve helped to resolve the problem. I say SHOULD’VE. Thank God Flt. 1738 landed safely despite circumstances which NEVER should have been ALLOWED to have happened. If you know of any civil way to get the FAA and Boeing to get their acts together and resolve this deadly issue, please let me know. I don’t want something like this to happen to any other innocent lives. This was way too close for comfort, and I’m angry that “bickering” put lives at risk. The lights went out; it was not clear if the landing gear would be working (they weren’t sure if there was an electrical problem); there was a cracked (and then shattered) windshield; smoke in the cockpit with fumes throughout the plane; and the pilots had to wear O2 masks and goggles (and at least one of the pilots was injured from the glass shards; others were taken to the hospital, as well), while trying to land this jet with limited visibility. They were about 90 mins. away from land, over the Atlantic, and the passengers were repeatedly instructed on how the emergency evacuation would work. Yeah, it was that close. The crew was “awesome”, according to my daughter, and I’m very grateful. Thank God for His safety. Sounds to me that there should be a lot less bickering between the organizations and a lot more action in trying to fix this problem. Sorry, this mom is still hyperventilating…
