Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Monday, May 28, 2012
US Behind Russia Superjet 100 Plane Crash: Russian Military Intelligence
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| Unveiling the Superjet for the first time, September 26, 2007 |
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| Crash site of the Superjet 100 on a nearly vertical slope in Jakarta. Indonesia |
The Superjet, which was crucial to Russia's hopes of becoming a major player in the modern aviation market, took off from an airport in the capital Jakarta on May 9 on a demonstration flight, but it lost radio contact and vanished from radar screens 50 minutes later.
The general further noted that the electronic jamming of the jet’s onboard equipment is the most plausible explanation for the plane’s slamming into the side of a dormant volcano in the Indonesian province of West Java.
Russian intelligence forces have long been watching the activities of US military electronic experts at the Jakarta airport, the senior GRU officer added.
The examination of the aircraft’s black box cockpit voice recorder has reportedly shown that there was no systemic problem or functional failure during the minutes before the crash.
The most curious question about the incident is why the plane’s pilot, Alexander Yablontsev, who is one of Russia's most experienced test pilots, asked for permission to reduce altitude amid a rainstorm in a dangerously mountainous area, and why a ground controller in Jakarta gave the go-ahead.
“On the other hand, we don't rule out the possibility that this was deliberate industrial sabotage to drive our aircraft from the market," said an unnamed official with the jet’s manufacturing company, Sukhoi.
The demonstration flight in Jakarta was part of an Asian tour to promote the aircraft. Sukhoi Superjet 100 had been to Myanmar, Pakistan, and Kazakhstan, and was due to visit Laos and Vietnam after Indonesia.
Such accusations have on certain occasions been borne out by facts. In 2004, a former member of the United States Air Force who was a special advisor to former US President Ronald Reagan disclosed in a book titled At the Abyss, An Insider’s History of the Cold War, that in the 1980s, the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) engaged in cyber warfare to sabotage the project of a pipeline that transferred gas from the former Soviet Union to western Europe.
Source: MAB/AS/HJL
The AirplaneNut
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Ornge Air Ambulance Blamed For Highway Fatality
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| Ornge Helicopter on the ramp at Toronto Island Airport |
TORONTO - It's clear air ambulance services in Ontario haven't improved since the government cleaned house at Ornge and installed new leadership, opposition critics charged Thursday.
Both the Progressive Conservatives and New Democrats say Ornge's failure to respond to a fatal collision north of Toronto is yet another sign that the publicly funded organization isn't able to do its job.
The emergency call came in at 6:44 a.m. Wednesday, but Ornge said it couldn't send a helicopter because the incoming crew — who had worked overtime the day before — wasn't available until 7:15 a.m., due to federal rules requiring time off between flights.
The injured man was transported by land ambulance from the crash scene in Whitchurch-Stouffville and later died in hospital.
Interim Ornge CEO Rod McKerlie and Health Minister Deb Matthews have "embarrassed themselves with defensive excuses" for Ornge's inability to respond to the emergency, Tory Frank Klees told the legislature.
He was referring to McKerlie's comments that Ornge is required to provide minimum rest periods and that it would take another six pilots at Ornge's bases across Ontario to cover the gaps — which is expensive.
McKerlie also said that Ornge is scheduling flights as best as possible given its tight budget.
That's no excuse, Klees said.
"Apparently, the minister and Mr. McKerlie didn't think to ask why the night shift crew that was scheduled to be on duty until 7 o'clock didn't respond to the call," he said.
The government has been warned many times that Ornge is facing a staff shortage, Klees said. Its previous contractors, Canadian Helicopters Ltd., would have paid a penalty if they failed to respond to an emergency.
Matthews, who accused Klees of "politicizing" the tragedy, pleaded for patience as the ministry reviews what happened.
That work must be completed before any action is taken, she said. The coroner may decide to conduct an inquest as well.
"We want people to get air ambulance service if they need it," Matthews said outside the legislative chamber.
"There are, of course, limitations to that — a finite number of helicopters and planes, a finite number of resources. But we want to make sure that we do the very best we can do to get people the care they need in their time of need."
But Matthews couldn't say why the overnight crew at Ornge didn't work overtime to cover the gap in service.
"Those are the operational issues," she said. "Those are questions that I think we deserve answers to and I'm not going to speculate on what those answers are."
McKerlie's job is to ensure that air ambulances are available and accessible when people need them, said NDP health critic France Gelinas.
"I wanted to believe that things were changing for the better at Ornge," she said. "Unfortunately ... it has not changed."
Ornge has lost qualified pilots and paramedics in the transition from old management to the new government-appointed managers. But if Ornge can't do its job, then something is seriously wrong and Matthews needs to do something immediately, she said.
"I know they're going through a tough time, but to simply say, 'Oh, there will be times when we will fail' — I will never accept this," she said.
"(McKerlie) owes it to us to do better than this. He owes it to us to say, 'We will go back, we will do whatever we can, but I will promise you that we will be there when you need us.'"
The incident is the latest blow to Ornge, which is already under a criminal investigation for "financial irregularities." It receives about $150 million from the government to provide a non-profit air medical rescue and transport service.
Ontario's auditor general, who released his report on Ornge in March, said there was a "real culture of fear and intimidation" among paramedics and other lower-level staff not to step out of line before the government took control of the organization.
Critics say that's driven out many qualified personnel who are desperately needed to maintain services.
Barry McLellan, who sits on Ornge's new board of directors, testified before a legislative committee that the service is still suffering from a lack of qualified pilots and acute-care paramedics.
He said he's also heard that some northern hospitals are reluctant to call Ornge because it didn't respond to their calls in the past.
Source: The Canadian Press
The AirplaneNut
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Monday, March 19, 2012
Why social media could help bring back the romance of air travel
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| Air New Zeland's Rico |
Imagine posting a message on your Facebook page saying ‘bored – want a holiday’ and next thing you know an airline has tweeted you with a great special deal to your favourite city and also told you that your long-lost friend will be in town at the same time. Checking in – you are allocated seats next to someone who has same interests and likes and the IFE system even suggests movies and TV shows you had forgotten you loved.
Far fetched – not really. This concept, enabled by social media, aims to bring Amazon-like personalisation to the air travel experience – bringing back the romance of flying. The concept from Sergio Mello, ceo of Satisfly, allows airlines and passengers to tap into rich publicly available social media networks. For the passenger, this, in the initial stages, would allow them to be allocated a seat next to someone with similar views or tastes (or even to someone who wanted no talk at all!). Meanwhile, for the airlines, this would allow them to build up highly personalised passenger profiles – allowing social media to evolve from communication tools, to actually help drive business profits.
Like ‘Amazon’ which learns over time which books, films and games you like, so would airlines be able to better serve their passengers by drawing on the vast online networks such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn that people now connect to. Sergio reports that after being almost ‘laughed out’ of conferences only three years ago – airlines are now sitting up taking close interest. He is already in negotiations with several airlines to implement this and become a launch customer.
Source: Royal Aeronautical Society
The AirplaneNut
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Bombardier Q400 NextGen En Route To WestJet For A Formal Demonstration
Source: Bombardier Videos
The AirplaneNut
Sunday, March 4, 2012
AH1 Cobra Helicopter Falls Two Hundred Feet To The Ground: (VIDEO)
A historic helicopter (AH1 Cobra) crashes to the ground in what looks like it could be a tragic disaster.
Astonishingly both people on board were able to walk away from Thursday's crash with hardly any injuries.
The footage was captured by a cameraman who happened to be shooting near the scene of the accident in Coolidge, Arizona. Steve Esparza managed to film the exact moment the AH1 Cobra started to fall to the ground.
The former military helicopter was being flown by a pilot and mechanic from the Army Aviation Heritage Foundation.
t was apparently filming a car on the ground as part of a stunt for the Korean version of television show Top Gear.
The aircraft had been hovering at no more than 200ft when a mechanical failure forced it to the ground.
Mr Esparza told My Fox Phoenix he knew he was going to capture something extraordinary when he caught sight of the helicopter.
'My heart was pounding, and I knew I was going to witness something, and I just followed it with the camera,' he said.
'I think the thing that shook me up the most was, I thought the pilots were dead. I turned the camera off - I didn't want to roll on what I thought I was about to see.'
But the helicopter's occupants simply shut off the engine and exited the wreckage.
The local police chief said the pilots had been saved thanks to the helicopter's safety features and their own precautions.
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| Mechanic and Pilot on board were able to walk away from the wreckage with no serious injuries |
Source: Daily Mail Reporter
The AirplaneNut
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Air Crash Investigation - Stalled In The Sky (FULL)
A Bombardier DHC8-402 Q400 operating as Flight 3407 departed late from Newark on February 12, 2009, at 9:20 p.m. EST. Shortly after the last communication by the flight crew with approach control at 10:17 p.m. (03:17, February 13 UTC), the plane stalled less than a mile northeast of the locator outer marker while on an ILS approach to Runway 23 and crashed into a house in the northeast Buffalo suburb of Clarence Center.
The AirplaneNut
Source: Air Crash Investigation
The AirplaneNut
Source: Air Crash Investigation
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Friday, December 30, 2011
Second Bird Strike For Southwest Airlines In 2 Days
A bird struck a Southwest Airlines 737 landing at Sacramento International Airport Thursday night, becoming lodged in the plane's right wing flap.
An airport source said the cockpit crew was unaware of the bird strike until after the plane was safely on the ground and the aircraft underwent a routine post-flight inspection.
Southwest Airlines flight 2983 from Burbank arrived at 7:19 p.m.
The source said supervisors were examining the wing to see if it was safe to keep the aircraft in service.
The blood pattern in this photograph of the bird strike obtained by News10 suggested the bird hit the right wing flap when the flaps were deployed during the final approach to the airport, then was pinched in the hinge when the pilot retracted the flaps after touchdown.
On Wednesday, a departing Southwest Airlines flight was forced to return to Sacramento International Airport following a bird strike.
Sacramento International Airport lies within the Pacific Flyway and experiences more bird strikes than any other airport on the West Coast.
Source: George Warren, News10/KXTV
The AirplaneNut
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
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