Boeing 757 runway excursion incident at Jackson Hole, WY

30 DEC 2010

The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB ) has opened an investigation into an incident in which a Boeing 757 passenger jetliner departed the runway while landing at Jackson Hole Airport in Wyoming.

At about 11:38 am MT on December 29, American Airlines flight AA2253, inbound from Chicago O’Hare International Airport, ran off the end of runway 19 while landing at Jackson Hole Airport. No injuries were reported among the 181 passengers and crew on board.

The aircraft came to rest in hard packed snow about 350 feet beyond the runway overrun area. The weather was reported to be snowing at the time of the incident. No damage to the aircraft has been reported. Runway 19 is a 6300 ft asphalt runway. Â A video made by a passenger during landing shows the thrust reversers were deployed when the airplane was approximately abeam the terminal building, which is about 4000 feet down the runway.

The airplane involved in the mishap was N668AA.

More information:

• Accident description with a video that a passenger shot during landing.


• Jackson Hole Airport (KJAC) diagram (PDF)

Tagged: Boeing 757, excursion, Jackson Hole, N668AA, NTSB, overrun

2012 Pagani Huayra Official Photos and Info – Auto Shows

According to Pagani, its new supercar is about to whip up one hell of a storm.

Pagani has unleashed a maelstrom of photos and info on its new supercar, the Huayra. (And here we thought “Touareg” was hard to pronounce.) The name is taken from Huayra Tata—the god of wind among the Aymara people of South America—and here is the car in an electrifying nutshell: 690 hp, 738 lb-ft of torque, enough exotic materials to build five Ferraris, and looks that are, well, remarkably restrained for Pagani.

Keep Reading: 2012 Pagani Huayra Official Photos and Info – Auto Shows

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2011 Lamborghini Gallardo LP550-2 Bicolore – Auto Shows

This two-tone, two-wheel-drive Lambo will come to the U.S.

While debuting a super-fuel-efficient VW concept may have seemed out of place in Qatar, using an auto show in the land of the oil-rich to unveil a special-edition Gallardo seems just about right. The two-tone Gallardo Bicolore will be offered only with all-wheel drive as an LP560-4 in other markets, but the version that makes it to us will drive just the rear wheels—à la Gallardo Valentino Balboni—and be dubbed LP550-2. (Yes, that means our cars will make 10 fewer horsepower.)

Keep Reading: 2011 Lamborghini Gallardo LP550-2 Bicolore – Auto Shows

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Toyota Teases FT-86 II Concept Ahead of Geneva Show

Toyota has released a teaser image of the FT-86 II sports car concept, which the automaker confirms will debut at the Geneva auto show in early March. The FT-86 II is, of course, a sequel to the FT-86 that was shown at the 2009 Tokyo show, and it’s still officially in concept status. The same goes for its Subaru brother, a concept of which is also set to bow in Geneva, but bear in mind that neither is far removed from the production designs that will eventually arrive in dealerships.

Thanks to the magic of Photoshop, we’ve lightened Toyota’s teaser image for a clearer look at the car. The pic reveals squinty headlights and a big mesh lower grille that resembles our earlier rendering of the FT-86. The company promises this car demonstrates its “reborn passion” for sporty cars, something that has been missing from Toyotas of late.

Both the Toyota and Subaru versions of the car may bow in production form on their home turf at the Tokyo auto show this December—two years after the original Toyota FT-86 concept first saw the light of day. While we know the cars will use boxer engines and rear-wheel drive layouts, many questions remain, including whether turbocharging or all-wheel drive are on the agenda for either. For the Toyota, we’re expecting a final name that somehow includes the number 86, especially in light of the company’s recent trademark filing for a boxer-engined “86″ logo.

Keep an eye out during our coverage of the Geneva show for more information on the FT-86 II and Subaru concepts and—hopefully—the production versions, too.

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Volkswagen XL1 Concept – Auto Shows

Volkswagen unveils a turbo-diesel plug-in hybrid that could return incredible fuel economy.

In the battle for the sky-highest fuel-efficiency figure, Volkswagen continues to hone its superweapon. The XL1 concept, unveiled today at the Qatar auto show—foolishly, we neglected to put a man on the scene—is a plug-in hybrid boasting triple-digit fuel economy. It builds on prior super-high-efficiency concepts from VW, namely the 1-Liter that debuted in 2002 and the L1 concept that appeared in 2009. The former used a tiny diesel engine and was designed to travel 100 kilometers on a single liter of fuel, hence the name; the L1 added a plug-in hybrid system in pursuit of a more marketable approach to the same goal.

Keep Reading: Volkswagen XL1 Concept – Auto Shows

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At Least You Aren't Shoveling Snow Today [Extra Extra]

• Tragic. The i love you so much mural on the side of Jo’s Hot Coffee on Congress was tagged by a wanker, and had to be painted over. Click thru to the coffee shop’s Facebook page to commiserate with mourners.


• Austin musician paralyzed after diving into underfilled apartment pool is awarded $6.2 million in damages in a Travis County trial.


• This soda fountain in Rosenberg looks awesome enough to warrant a road trip! (The cherry phosphate sounds scrumptious.)


• Great pictures of bikers visiting the Capitol.


• Here’s a virtual tour of the NFL Experience that just opened in Dallas. Visiting this link won’t cost you the 20-plus smackeroos that visiting the real thing will!


• Austin baby’s foot featured on the Tree of Life poster. The baby is now 3 years-old!


• Ironically, even if you have a Super Bowl Championship ring…it’s nearly too heavy to wear.


• Interesting angle on why the TV shows filmed in Texas might not have done well with viewers outside the state.
[ more › ]

WSJ weekends in our town

Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and, yes, even Monday make a sojourn in Austin with a full schedule presented on the front page of the Off Duty section of today’s Wall Street Journal (“Take Monday Off: Austin,” byline Kate Bolick).

The on-line version is illustrated by ranks of boots from Allens, but the print version shows, in addition, a delectable entree from Fonda San Miguel, an exterior shot of the Broken Spoke, a western-themed suite in the Driskill, and a half-dozen more (view the slide show).

There’s that word “mosey” again, along with an anonymous reference to a person who can only be Leslie. This piece tries to cover all bases, from some C&W flavor to urban trendy. Coming in for mentions are Hotel San Jose, Uchi, Jo’s, Uncommon Objects, the Continental Club, Waterloo Records, and many, many more destinations.

There’s quite a lively page of commentary, some of it discouraging people from visiting Austin or contemplating living here. Someone cites two of my favorite disadvantages in this context (heat and respiratory allergies), but I don’t see mention of the third repellent, which is the giant cockroach, unfamiliar to people from many parts of our great nation and truly horrifying to them on first sight.

This is really one of the better Austin once-overs; in case inspiration should fail during SxSW, tear this one out and have your house guests play pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey to fill those little gaps in the schedule.