On this episode of AvTalk, we float through the stratosphere with a Chinese spy balloon and break down the data on multiple accidents and incidents. From FedEx and Southwest’s very close call in Austin to the Coulson 737 Fireliner crash in Western Australia to the incident involving a departing Qatar Airways 787 we just learned about, this week was a busy week—and not in a good way.

Ballon go over, balloon shot down

A Chinese stratospheric spy balloon floated across the United States last week. It wasn’t trackable on Flightradar24, but many people mistook a separate high altitude research balloon for the Chinese balloon. Fast forward a few days and the US military closed airspace off the coast of South Carolina and shot the balloon down.

A few more feet and we’re having a very different discussion

A FedEx 767 landing in Austin and a departing Southwest Airlines 737 came within 100 feet of each other in Austin over the weekend.

Coulson 737 Fireliner crashes in Western Australia

A Coulson Flying Tankers 737-300 Fireliner crashed in Western Australia while fighting bush fires there. Incredibly, both pilots walked away from the crash.

Down instead of up

A Qatar Airways 787 descended to just 800 feet after climbing to 1,850 feet after take off from Doha. The flight occurred in January, but just came to light this week.

Yeti Airlines 691 update

Investigators in Nepal are focusing on why the propellers of both engines of the Yeti Airlines ATR 72 were moved to the feather position before the crash.

MHI pulls the final plug on the Space Jet

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is liquidating the Space Jet program. Originally the Mitsubishi Regional Jet, the Space Jet had trouble getting off the ground.

Universal Hydrogen gets the green light for test flights

The FAA granted Universal Hydrogen a Special Airworthiness Certificate to begin flight testing its hydrogen-powered Dash 8-300. Flights are expected “soon” at Moses Lake in Washington.

Listener mail: what’s up with Air Greenland’s A330-200?

Gabriel Leigh stops by to answer a listener question about the fate of Air Greenland’s A330-200.

British Airways finds a new South African partner

British Airways will partner with Airlink for codeshares in South Africa, but don’t expect to see Airlink planes in British Airways livery any time soon.

Flybe administrators want a temporary license

If at first (or second) you don’t succeed, try and try again.

Qatar Airways is suing American Airlines for $11m

Qatar is suing American for $11m and change for an incident that happened in New York a few years ago.

Spirit Airlines is upset over Geared Turbofan engine reliability

Spirit says its costs are up due to issues with the Pratt and Whitney Geared Turbofan engines on its A320neo fleet.

FAA seeks $1.15m fine from United

United standardized pre-flight checklists between the 777 and 787 a few years ago and left off an important item from the 777 list—at least as far as the FAA is concerned.

Thank you for listening!

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Please click here for a transcript of this episode.

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