Saw this post on the Clarinet BBoard. 
Yamaha announced today that it was recalling all of its clarinets, and particularly those in the "Cobalt" line, marketed to schools in the American Red States, to correct a dangerous defect in the attachment of the thumb rest.
The thumb rests normally work fine, said Lirpa Loof, a Yamaha spokeswoman. However, if a player hangs a decoration on it, or uses a heavy rubber pad, the thumb rest can fall off at unpredictable moments. This has happened on several important solos and at least twice at parades where the band marched directly in front of the elephants, which flattened the clarinets to a thickness of less than 1". Unfortunately, one player tried to rescue a clarinet but misjudged the distance and was also flattened. Yamaha settled the claim for an undisclosed sum said to be well into seven figures.
In other news, it is thought that no clarinets were lost in the disappearance of Indonesia Flight 370. Pira Flool, the Secretary for Clarinet Disasters of the International Clarinet Association, said "We have combed the passenger list and our records, but we can find nothing to show that any clarinetists or clarinets were aboard Flight 370. While we of course mourn for the victims, we take some satisfaction in the continued safety of our members, in spite of this disaster."
Ken Shaw
Yamaha announced today that it was recalling all of its clarinets, and particularly those in the "Cobalt" line, marketed to schools in the American Red States, to correct a dangerous defect in the attachment of the thumb rest.
The thumb rests normally work fine, said Lirpa Loof, a Yamaha spokeswoman. However, if a player hangs a decoration on it, or uses a heavy rubber pad, the thumb rest can fall off at unpredictable moments. This has happened on several important solos and at least twice at parades where the band marched directly in front of the elephants, which flattened the clarinets to a thickness of less than 1". Unfortunately, one player tried to rescue a clarinet but misjudged the distance and was also flattened. Yamaha settled the claim for an undisclosed sum said to be well into seven figures.
In other news, it is thought that no clarinets were lost in the disappearance of Indonesia Flight 370. Pira Flool, the Secretary for Clarinet Disasters of the International Clarinet Association, said "We have combed the passenger list and our records, but we can find nothing to show that any clarinetists or clarinets were aboard Flight 370. While we of course mourn for the victims, we take some satisfaction in the continued safety of our members, in spite of this disaster."
Ken Shaw
