The Sky Is Falling: Two Planes Go Down in Less 24 Hours

As airlines try to explain their dedication to diversity, equity, and inclusion, otherwise known as the three-head hydra of DEI, Thursday and He’Friday saw two instances of airborne calamities.

Southern Airways Express Flight 246, a private flight from Dulles Airport in Virginia, one of the airports that serves the Washington D.C. region, made a crash landing on the southbound lanes of the Loudoun County Parkway Friday. There were no injuries.

BREAKING REPORT: ⚠️ Southern airways express flight CRASH LANDS on Loudoun County Parkway..

The aircraft, a Cessna 208B reached an altitude of over 800 feet before beginning an emergency landing in Virginia.

Multiple emergency agencies and other personnel are currently… pic.twitter.com/xZojb7lPdB

— Chuck Callesto (@ChuckCallesto) January 19, 2024

The plane reached an altitude of only 800 feet before it came down on the highway. The flight was en route to Lancaster, Pa. The cause of the emergency landing is unknown at this time.

CARBON FOOTPRINT-O-RAMA! Lancaster, known as a hub for the Amish community, is a mere 111 miles from Washington D.C., or roughly a 2.5-hour drive.

Traffic in northern Virginia was locked up as rescue crews worked to remove the plane from the roadway.

Less than 24 hours earlier, at roughly 10:30 p.m. on Thursday, Atlas Air Flight 95, a cargo plane from Miami headed to Puerto Rico’s Luis Muñoz Marin International Airport, had an engine burst into flames midair.

“Mayday, mayday…We have an engine fire,” an audio recording captured. “Request access back to the airport. No, we’ll go ahead and land. We have five souls onboard.”

In this video below you can see flames spewing from one of the plane’s engines.

#BreakingNews: Last night, sparks and flames shot out of Atlas Air flight 95, a Boeing 747-8 after it departed from #Miami International Airport. The #plane circled back and landed with no injuries. #USA pic.twitter.com/Dki9L3nXiv

— Kris H (@Kris_H86) January 19, 2024

The plane, a Boeing 747, was found in a post-flight inspection to have a softball-sized hole in the engine that caught fire. 

This comes on the heels of an Alaska Airlines MAX 9 plane — also manufactured by Boeing — that had a mid-air hole rip through the plane roughly 20 minutes after take off, sucking the shirt off of a teenager in the process.

FACT-O-RAMA! Boeing has a page on its website to all things DEI.

The near tragedy resulted in 171 planes being immediately grounded for inspection and 1,500 flights delayed or canceled. 

Boeing has since been called on the carpet, resulting in increased inspections of their planes. There are also numerous lawsuits against Boeing and Alaskan Airlines.

A message to all Boeing employees calls for moves to “strengthen quality” which is hard to do when a company’s hiring policy is based on skin tone and “gender identification” rather than talent and experience.