Results tagged “sfo”

For anyone who might be reading this before heading to the airport, expect delayed flights today. Although the FAA's Atlanta-based computer system is back up after an earlier system crash, they expect a ripple effect of residual delays throughout the day. Earlier this morning, all Bay Area flights were stacked at the gate, so it will be slow going today, folks.

Local kook Stanley Hilton is suing San Francisco International Airport for $15 million for creating noise and smog that led to his divorce. He's also suing the real estate agent for selling him the San Mateo county house in 2003 for $1.4 million, saying that everything went down hill after he and his wife moved there. Hilton is representing himself in the case, and despite being an experienced trial lawyer, he was "deemed ineligible" to practice law back in August, right around the time he sued a building for $20 million after he got stuck in an elevator. Needless to say, 85% of NBC Bay Area readers are laughing at him.

We don't know the larger wisdom behind this effort, but several flu shot kiosks have been set up at SFO dispensing H1N1 vaccinations to those 18 and older for the reasonable (by airport standards) fee of $35. Even though most reports we've read say that viral immunity doesn't begin for ten days after the shot, the dispensary clearly believes that their effort will generate both comfort among travelers and quick profits. Visit one on your way out of town, in case you didn't get to it beforehand, between the hours of 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. on weekdays, 8 to 1 on Saturdays, and 11 to 7 on Sundays.

A frustrated customer at the Philippine Airlines ticket counter at SFO's International Terminal, when told he was going to have to pay for a full round-trip fare, became so incensed that he held up his cell phone and suggested that he was going to blow up the whole goddamn plane. He's now in jail in lieu of paying $50,000 bail.

by Chris Jones

Back in September, a certain baggage handler by the name of John Emil Victoria, age 21, fucked with the wrong man's luggage. A retired San Francisco police officer checked his custom-made handgun in his luggage, and it disappeared. This led to an undercover sting operation in which two other baggage handlers, Andrew Balamiento and Tauailapalapa Laulu, were also convicted of swiping expensive items from peoples' luggage. Balamiento and Victoria will both serve several months for felony embezzlement and Laulu will serve one month and two years of probation for misdemeanor embezzlement. Phew! You are now safe to check your custom handguns in your luggage again.

A Northwest flight going from San Francisco to Tokyo had to turn back to SFO yesterday afternoon after one of its engines stalled. Yikes. "The A330 Airbus took off from SFO around 1:30, but soon had problems with one of its two engines and was forced to turn around," reports KCBS. Thankfully, no one was injured. This comes on the heels of the Air France crash's black boxes being deemed unretrievable by U.S. Air Force authorities. (Aside: if black box recordings interest you, pick up a copy of . It's a fascinating read. Just be sure not to use for light reading while you're waiting for your plane to board.)

This glorious shot comes to you from noted photographer exxonvaldez. He captures "[r]unway 1 departures from San Francisco International Airport between 10:22pm and 11:38pm on June 27, 2009, as seen from Brisbane Marina."

Swine flu-fearing travelers exit from the international terminal with their faces covered with masks at the SFO on Tuesday.

Named after the duffel bag in which he was abandoned, "Duffy" was discovered by residents in Burlingame near the Embassy Suites at SFO on April 5. Although he was left there for more than eight hours, the cat is reportedly fine and ready for a loving, caring home. Humane society spokesman Scott Delucchi said, "We're assuming that whoever dumped the cat didn't know animal abandonment is illegal. (Another thing the unidentified animal abuser didn't know: that they will burn for eternity in the lower circles of hell.) If you would like to adopt "Duffy" (and who wouldn't?!) or any other pet who needs a safe home, please contact the Peninsula Humane Society at 650-340-7022. But remember, pets are neither accessories nor home accents. Please use caution before deciding to adopt. UPDATE: Duffy has been adopted. Yay! But, remember, there still plenty more fuzzy faces out there that need homes.

More than twenty pounds of sweet, pain-alleviating opium were discovered "wrapped in plastic and concealed inside false walls of drums" arriving from Thailand, found at SFO. The incident, which happened in "mid-February," prompted San Francisco Area Port Director John Leonard to boast, "Diligent work by CBP officers locally and across the nation helps to keep this narcotic from getting to the general public. [Too late, it's here already. -- SFist] In addition to our primary role of preventing terrorists and terrorism-related articles from entering the U.S., CBP takes active measures to interdict narcotics at the gateways to our country." So just to be clear: pot, good; opium, bad. (Last link NSFW.)

Oh wow. We need to get in on this racket. See, San Francisco International Airport plans on installing carbon-offset kiosks, so guilt-ridden travelers can donate to saving the Earth and stuff. It works like this: Travelers enter their flight info at the green kiosk, which figures out how many puppies and kittens will die as a result from the carbon dioxide emitted from their flight. A cost for offsetting your environment-crippling flight plans will then be deducted from your credit card, then sent to one of several carbon-reducing projects. While this sounds like an inspired idea, it could have corruption written all over it.

Jameth found this and sent it our way. And sure, it's fake. But it's stuff like this that would have us flat on our back for Gav -- well, more than any we already are, that is -- if Newsom's handlers and PR team had a touch better sense of humor. Same goes for most of the politicians cum celebrities on the Board of Supervisors as well.

Airports simply aren't given to happy surprises. It's the way it is.

Gotta go, gotta do, gotta git. It's a funnel, a gilded chute, a holding pen. A set of obstacles, checkpoints, and fetch-quests. It's something to be overcome, not enjoyed.

But what if someone went out of their way to lace a usually-crappy process with the crisp surprise of basic joy?

by Tiffany Maleshefski

American Flight 442, bound for Miami, made an emergency landing at LAX today after the pilot "reported smoke and the smell of fuel in the cockpit." Egads.

Southwest Airlines, the cattle-car service of affordable air transportation, resumed flights this morning after yesterday's maintenance SNAFU grounded "approximately 4 percent" on Tuesday night. It seems that many of their airplanes failed to have safety checks last year, which resulted in yesterday's Southwest Airlines schedule meltdown and a drop in their stock price. But today, Thursday, "the majority of the planes removed from service have been returned" spokeswoman Christi Day tells CBS 5.