Air Force to FIght Wildfires with Water Balloons

No joke. Boeing is developing the Precision Aerial Fire Fighting System. Currently wildfires are fought from the air by dropping massive amounts of water and suppressants over a wide area.
With the PAFF, fires would be fought with precision strikes. The Air Force will be dropping water balloons from C-17 aircraft.
Using current deployments techniques, C-17 aircraft will deliver pallets of biodegradable "beach balls" each unit containing 50 gallons of water. Multiple hot spots can be attacked. More water could be delivered with fewer missions. Accurate deliveries can be made at safer altitudes and speeds.

So how does a beach ball do the trick? The system uses up to 2,800 biodegradable, faceted spheres stacked on pallets within cardboard containers. This delivery technique is similar to the way U.S. Air Force C-17s airdropped yellow humanitarian ration packages to Afghanis in 2001.

The unit's spherical shape minimizes airflow resistance. Each sphere contains 50 pounds of water and easily remains intact while it falls true to target. The spheres burst on impact at the heart of the fire. A single C-17 PAFF mission could airdrop 140,000 pounds of water on multiple "hot spot" targets—equivalent to nearly 100 helicopter deliveries.

Boeing 777 Crashes at Heathrow

17 JAN 2008.
An British Airways Boeing 777 has crashed at Heathrow Airport, London, U.K. It is the first crash of Boeing newest airliner. All of the 136 passengers and crew survived the mishap. 19 were injured, many suffering minor injuries.

Flight BA038 was on final approach to the runway when the aircraft suffered a total loss of power.

Captain Peter Burkill calmly announced to his co-pilot: "I'll just have to glide it in." Burkill and his crew managed to keep the 777 airborne as they flew over houses, schools and offices - clearing Heathrow's perimeter fence by just five feet before crash-landing into a field 500 yards short of the runway. The aircraft came to rest with major damage to its landing gear and engines.

Statement by British Airways chief executive Willie Walsh:

"We are very proud of the way our crew safely evacuated all 136 passengers on board. The captain of the aircraft is one of our most experienced and has been flying with us for nearly 20 years," he added.

They showed great courage and professionalism in landing the aircraft safely. All of the crew did a fantastic job evacuating the 136 passengers. They are all heroes and everyone at British Airways is very proud of them.

An investigation is being conducted by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch so it would be inappropriate to speculate about the likely cause of this incident."

An airport worker was quoted as saying, "It's a miracle he managed to land it. The man deserves a medal as big as a frying pan. He has done a fantastic job."

The UK Air Accident Investigation Branch will lead the inquiry into the crash landing. A team from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board is also heading to London, accompanied by representatives from Boeing and the Federal Aviation Administration.

The 777 first entered service in 1995 and is currently being flown by 32 airlines around the world.

U.S. NSTB Records of all Boeing 777 mishaps. Use "Boeing 777" as make and model.