Delta flight hit by firework while landing at Midway Airport on Fourth of July • Hacker News Board

Re: Delta flight hit by firework while landing at Midway Airport on Fourth of July

#311

Post by hylaride » Mon, Jul 06, 2026, 1:17 PM UTC

AstroNutt wrote: post #202

hdgvhicv wrote: post #181

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Today, fireworks are outlawed in much of the US because safety Hang on, fireworks are banned in the land of the free? But every kid should own an assault rifle?

There are some states where you can still buy them year round. Holiday or not. South Carolina comes to mind because I was there a few months ago. They have giant stores all over the state.

As a Canadian, the earliest memories I have of driving into the United States were seeing the giant "fireworks" billboards lining the interstate. I know it depends on the state, but it's one of those things you notice as an outsider.

Re: Delta flight hit by firework while landing at Midway Airport on Fourth of July

#312

Post by rbanffy » Mon, Jul 06, 2026, 1:24 PM UTC

throwaway91827 wrote: post #276

chopin wrote: post #189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But this is none of your business. I live in Germany, where everything is regulated by well meaning people. Going so far to regulate what you ought to say or to watch. It is hellish. I don't recognize the country any more in which I was born and raised.

Have you experienced Silvesterabend (New Year's Eve) in a major German city? It feels like a warzone. In the context of fireworks specifically, this image of Germany as an over-regulated nanny state feels particularly at odds with my experience of Germany.

I am sure they had all their permits and contingencies required perfectly done and everything was executed in perfect compliance.

Re: Delta flight hit by firework while landing at Midway Airport on Fourth of July

#313

Post by rbanffy » Mon, Jul 06, 2026, 1:26 PM UTC

fweimer wrote: post #213

helterskelter wrote: post #188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm fine with idiots blowing their own hands off, I just worry about wildfires.

It's still bad for emergency services if everyone does it on the same day.

They’ll just run triage and tend to people who are easier to fix first and leave the more suicidal ones for later.

Re: Delta flight hit by firework while landing at Midway Airport on Fourth of July

#314

Post by rbanffy » Mon, Jul 06, 2026, 1:27 PM UTC

master-lincoln wrote: post #259

_heimdall wrote: post #252

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is that the line for regulations you're okay with holding on to? If so you better start regulating how many beds each hospital has as well, if bed demand is the bar you must control bed supply.

of course in Germany hospital bed supplies are regulated by the local states via LKHG law

As is any rationally run state.

Re: Delta flight hit by firework while landing at Midway Airport on Fourth of July

#315

Post by jtbayly » Mon, Jul 06, 2026, 1:28 PM UTC

msisk6 wrote: post #63

I recently moved to the St. Louis area for a software job at Boeing. I'm actually in a nice quiet neighborhood in St. Charles right under the flight path for planes landing at Lambert Field. The fireworks last night were insane. All around me folks were setting off commercial grade fireworks bursting hundreds of feet in the air. The house was shaking, my dogs were freaking out, one of them had a seizure. The air was…

Given your statement of "hundreds of feet" I guess I can take the rest of your post with a large pinch of salt, too.

Re: Delta flight hit by firework while landing at Midway Airport on Fourth of July

#316

Post by cyberax » Mon, Jul 06, 2026, 1:30 PM UTC

rlpb wrote: post #221

cyberax wrote: post #204

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Since we're on a wild tangent here, the US house construction is also held back by the sheer momentum of wood-framed buildings. For example, aerated autoclaved concrete has better structural strength, doesn't need additional insulation, completely non-combustible, and is cheaper to build. Yet approximately nobody in the US uses it.

> For example, aerated autoclaved concrete has better structural strength, doesn't need additional insulation, completely non-combustible, and is cheaper to build. Apparently it ages out though and becomes unsafe when it does, resulting in a scandal in the UK: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-66686864 "There is nothing fundamentally wrong with reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) as building material or…

Not really. AAC was used to build floors without enough of additional reinforcement, and this is a bad idea. Just like regular concrete, it's weak in tension and is even more brittle.

If you use it to build walls and then use regular concrete or wood to build floors, it has none of these issues.

It's an amazing material, very light and it can be cut with a special handsaw on site.

Re: Delta flight hit by firework while landing at Midway Airport on Fourth of July

#317

Post by rbanffy » Mon, Jul 06, 2026, 1:32 PM UTC

_heimdall wrote: post #254

inigyou wrote: post #217

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So is the USA. It's comparable.

Our government has absolute power without a constitution binding it and our population is disarmed?

We have seen the “checks and balances” were held together by decorum alone. We are now seeing what happens if decorum is absent and government officials regularly lie and mislead the public and other government officials without facing any consequences.

Re: Delta flight hit by firework while landing at Midway Airport on Fourth of July

#318

Post by rbanffy » Mon, Jul 06, 2026, 1:35 PM UTC

fragmede wrote: post #185

hdgvhicv wrote: post #181

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Today, fireworks are outlawed in much of the US because safety Hang on, fireworks are banned in the land of the free? But every kid should own an assault rifle?

Yes, proper fireworks are banned in much of America. Guns aren't a total free for all, either.

I find it really amusing to see people carrying their assault rifles to grocery stores as if they are expecting a zombie outbreak or an alien invasion anytime now.

Re: Delta flight hit by firework while landing at Midway Airport on Fourth of July

#319

Post by rbanffy » Mon, Jul 06, 2026, 1:39 PM UTC

StefanBatory wrote: post #293

abc123abc123 wrote: post #240

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

As Eastern European - please don't go to Eastern Europe. Keep your bullshit with yourself, we don't want Americans who will then wake up that we aren't their "Conservative, Christian paradise".

As someone living on one of the westernmost parts of Europe, I’d ask them respectfully to not come here unless they are asking for political asylum (which we consider an inalienable human right). And, in their case right now, a very understandable one to want to exercise.

I, for instance, would have done that the first time, in 2016. I wouldn’t wait for the circus to be on fire to leave.

Re: Delta flight hit by firework while landing at Midway Airport on Fourth of July

#320

Post by ButlerianJihad » Mon, Jul 06, 2026, 1:39 PM UTC

msisk6 wrote: post #63

I recently moved to the St. Louis area for a software job at Boeing. I'm actually in a nice quiet neighborhood in St. Charles right under the flight path for planes landing at Lambert Field. The fireworks last night were insane. All around me folks were setting off commercial grade fireworks bursting hundreds of feet in the air. The house was shaking, my dogs were freaking out, one of them had a seizure. The air was…

On Reddit last year, I found a link to a City of Phoenix dashboard that monitors all the county-wide emergency dispatch calls that are not suppressed for privacy/security reasons. I watch it throughout the day and night, especially on holidays like this one.

I counted upwards of 23 fires on the map at any single point in time, between sunset and 11pm. Most of those calls indicated either debris fires, or Dumpster fires, but there were also roof fires and vehicle fires, including one police-involved car accident.

I stayed inside all weekend after attending church on Saturday evening. The Air Force flyover was not visible in my area. I immensely enjoyed the celebrations on live streaming. And singing my heart out, creating new playlists.