You're still much more likely to die in a car accident driving over the North Pole than flying.

Doubling the minimum distance will be a great experiment to see if there was any reason for the restriction in the first place... orrrr see if the restriction actually made a lot of sense. I'll sit this one out for awhile, but please everybody else go for it. :-)

As a result, Boeing 777 and 787 "Dreamliner" twin jets will be able to fly almost anywhere in the world

Boeing has been busy roaming the halls of the FAA again

Gyrfalcon: You always survive the crash, it's the fire afterwards that kills you.

Oh not always. The forces have been known to dislodge eyeballs from their sockets if I recall correctly. That amount of trauma would be nice an fatal. Certainly enough for a sheared aorta.

I remember flying over the pole from London to Tokyo on a 747. I assume that four-engine jets are OK.

Article:

Hard-pressed airlines have been handed the perfect Christmas present: permission to fly twin-jet aircraft over the North Pole, saving millions on fuel costs, opening up new destinations and reducing damage to the environment.

...which will be passed on to the customer, I suppose, right? RIGHT??

Shanna, they bought their tickets, they knew what they were getting into. I say, let 'em crash.

Won't someone please think about Rudolph?

The First Four Black Sabbath Albums: You're still much more likely to die in a car accident driving over the North Pole than flying.

Not if you use the Trans Arctic Tunnel.

:-D

buckler: As others have before you, just remember that your fellow passengers are made of nutritious meat.

So are elves.

Gyrfalcon: You always survive the crash, it's the fire afterwards that kills you.

won't the fire melt the ice and everything just plunge to the bottom of the ocean? seems like a handy way to get rid of the evidence.

LordBollocks: So the survivors will be buried at the North Pole?

Right next to the rooster that laid an egg on the roof peak of the barn.

/You are the bus driver.

Been there, done that!

/19 hours non-stop
//fliers today would go postal when the batteries on their iPad died halfway through

As someone who's gone through two airliner engine failures in his life, one on takeoff, I'm getting a kick out of this.

farkityfarker: As someone who's gone through two airliner engine failures in his life, one on takeoff, I'm getting a kick out of this.

My favorite was a flight (I was on) that was delayed for almost an hour because a fuel pump had failed.

Then the pilot comes on and says, "Fuel pump shmuel pump. We're taking off."

o_O

Tillmaster: I remember flying over the pole from London to Tokyo on a 747. I assume that four-engine jets are OK.

ETOPS, melonfarmer, do you speak it?

/melonfarmer: best nonswear ever
/ETOPS: protocols for *twin* engine craft

buckler: As others have before you, just remember that your fellow passengers are made of nutritious meat.


Bears repeating

buckler: As others have before you, just remember that your fellow passengers are made of nutritious meat.

And if you get cold, just use the body if that morbidly obese jackwagon sitting in the seat next to you was hogging both of the armrests. Just slice up the middle like a Tauntaun and crawl in.

/they smell bad on the inside
//and the outside.

There was something out there I tell ya. It was on the wing over by the engine... What was that?...

Beats flying over Greenland all the damn time. Talk about lack of truth in advertising.

The Cessna 337 Skymaster was flying through the cold night sky over the Arctic when first one engine failed, and moments later, the other. (new window)

Just watch out for the money shot

You're pretty much screwed anyway if SHE'S cavorting on your aeroplane.

/Loves me some terrorist Mandy

relaxitsjustme: As a result, Boeing 777 and 787 "Dreamliner" twin jets will be able to fly almost anywhere in the world

Boeing has been busy roaming the halls of the FAA again

747s and A340s already fly this route, 777 and 787s have just as advanced engines and similar ETOPS tests done.

Mister Peejay: Tillmaster: I remember flying over the pole from London to Tokyo on a 747. I assume that four-engine jets are OK.

ETOPS, melonfarmer, do you speak it?

/melonfarmer: best nonswear ever
/ETOPS: protocols for *twin* engine craft

ETOPS - engines turn or passengers swim

ArcadianRefugee: farkityfarker: As someone who's gone through two airliner engine failures in his life, one on takeoff, I'm getting a kick out of this.

My favorite was a flight (I was on) that was delayed for almost an hour because a fuel pump had failed.

Then the pilot comes on and says, "Fuel pump shmuel pump. We're taking off."

o_O

Jewish pilots from New York are the best.

relaxitsjustme: As a result, Boeing 777 and 787 "Dreamliner" twin jets will be able to fly almost anywhere in the world

Boeing has been busy roaming the halls of the FAA again

Pretty sure I've been in a 777 over the north pole before from NYC to HK. If not right over it, damn close. This was in 2006 / 2007, several times.

Well, looks like if I can't drive there, I'm not going.

/hates flying

The First Four Black Sabbath Albums: You're still much more likely to die in a car accident driving over the North Pole than flying.

If I'm flying over the North Pole, I'd say I'm far more likely to die flying than in a car accident.

But will the TSA still take away my cupcakes ?

I haven't flown since 1991 and see no reason to ever do so again.

As a New Zealander this is highly relevant to my interests. A flight from Auckland to London is one of the longest in the world and since we sit pretty close to 180 degrees longitude, it doesn't really matter if you fly east or west. Flying north over the pole would cut down that flight time pretty radically and a risk I'd be prepared to take.

relaxitsjustme: As a result, Boeing 777 and 787 "Dreamliner" twin jets will be able to fly almost anywhere in the world

Boeing has been busy roaming the halls of the FAA again

Them AND the airlines...It's been that way since 1956.

God, the comments on that artcile made my brain melt.