text:
There's a few versions of the Drunken Pilot routine on YouTube now and it remains an airshow favourite.
But at the Robins Airshow at Robins Air Force Base in Georgia, Kyle came up with a whole different angle on the stunt: he took the camera into the cockpit!
It starts slow, while the crowd watch Kyle Franklin swig his drink and go running into the airfield. At the two minute mark, though, Kyle swings into the cockpit and takes control. I love the contrast between his drunken waves and his concentration on the aircraft once he is in the air!]]>
BBC News – AirAsia QZ8501: Does bad weather cause plane crashes?
But it's very rare for the weather alone to cause airliners to crash, experts say. Instead, how pilots and crew operate the plane mostly determines whether an incident will end up being a fatal accident, says Sylvia Wrigley, a light aircraft pilot and author of Why Planes Crash.
"I can't think of an accident where weather was the sole cause of the problem," she says. "But there can be a situation where the weather puts the aircraft at a higher risk of going wrong."
The AAIB have just released a special bulletin that shows just badly things can go wrong without the storm being the real danger.
The incident took place in a Saab 200, a twin-engined turboprop with fly-by-wire elevator and rudder control system. The operator was Loganair, a Scottish regional airline which operates scheduled services under a Flybe franchise.
This video shows the aircraft arriving at Glasgow a year ago:
The flight consisted of three crew and thirty passengers. The captain had logged 5,800 flight hours but only 143 hours on type.
On the 15th of December in 2014, the Saab 2000 was flying from Aberdeen to Sumburgh.
Sumburgh Airport serves as the main airport of the Shetlands, situated on Mainland, which rather confusingly is the main island of Shetland. Flybe run scheduled services to Sumburgh Airport from Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness, and Kirkwall (Orkney).
The weather forecasts were bad, predicting thunderstorms with rain, snow, hail and winds gusting up to 60 knots.
As they approached Sumburgh, the first officer checked the Automatic Terminal Information Service (ATIS) and confirmed that Runway 27 was in use, the wind was from 290° at 34 kt, gusting to 47 kt. Visibility was 4,700 metres (three miles) in heavy rain and snow. They accepted vectors for an ILS approach on runway 27.
On the base leg, shortly before final, the air traffic approach controller told them that the visibility had dropped to 3,300 metres (two miles) in moderate rain and snow and that the runway was wet.
The flight crew descended to 2,000 feet nine miles east of the airport. The weather radar on the aircraft showed a "convective cloud cell" as a red patch immediately west of the airport: a thunderstorm.
The captain immediately decided to abort. At that point, the autopilot was engaged with heading select and altitude tracking modes selected. This means that the flight crew can control the aircraft's direction with the heading while the autopilot maintains the altitude selected.
The captain told the controller that they were discontinuing the approach and turned the aircraft onto a southerly heading.
A luminous sphere of "ball lightning" appeared briefly in the forward cabin. Then, just as the aircraft rolled out on the new southerly heading, lightning struck. The lightning entered the airframe at the radome (a weatherproof blister or enclosure that protects the radar antenna) and exited at the auxiliary power unit exhaust in the tail.
The captain called out that he had control. He pitched the nose up but the aircraft didn't seem to respond. He pitched up harder and also used the elevator trim to pitch the nose up. The first officer made a MAYDAY call to air traffic control.
The aircraft finally began to climb in response to the captain's increasingly aggressive inputs on the control column. The first officer also pulled back on the controls and applied pitch trim inputs. The pilots believed they may have lost control of the aircraft. The primary flight displays showed pitch and roll mis-trim indications.
The both thought that the lightning strike might have broken the fly-by-wire elevator controls.
The captain asked the first officer to use the elevator emergency trim switch on the flight deck panel. It had no effect. Their slow climb continued.
Then, as the aircraft reached 4,000 feet, the aircraft pitched nose-down by 19°.
The aircraft began descending at a rate of up to 9,500 feet per minute. The speed increased and soon they were going 80 knots indicated airspeed faster than the maximum operating speed.
Both pilots continued to try to bring the nose up. The Ground Proximity Warning System sounded with SINK RATE, PULL UP warnings. The captain applied full power and pulled back.
At just 1,100 feet above sea level, the aircraft finally began to climb.
The elevator control response still did not feel right to the captain and he asked the first officer to select the pitch control disconnect. This disconnects the two elevator control systems from each other, so that each pilot's control column remains connected to the elevator on his side.
The first officer queried this request, because he said, the pitch control didn't appear to be jammed. The captain disconnected the pitch control himself.
The climb continued. The flight crew tested pitch inputs on both control columns which worked perfectly. After those frightening few minutes, they were now clearly in control of the aircraft. They diverted to Aberdeen and landed safely.
So what happened? The flight data recorder showed that the autopilot was engaged throughout the failed climb and the descent.
The pilots were pulling back on the yoke and through sheer force, they managed to pitch the nose up. The autopilot was set to track the altitude and when the control inputs no longer allowed it to maintain the altitude, the autopilot used the pitch trim function to correct their unexpected climb. Thus, the pilots pulling back on the controls was countered by the autopilot making a prolonged nose-down pitch trim input.
The aircraft is fitted with a Rockwell Collins FCC-4003 autopilot system. This system controls the aircraft in pitch by mechanically moving the control column via an electric servo, and by sending pitch trim signals to the digital control system to move the elevator to offload the servo and allow the column to centralise in trimmed flight. When the autopilot is engaged the letters AP are displayed on the primary flight displays and the autopilot engage lever is in the engaged position.
The autopilot can be disengaged in the following ways:
- pressing the disengage button on either control yoke
- moving the autopilot lever on the centre pedestal to disengaged
- moving the standby trim switches on the centre pedestal
- pushing the power lever go-around palm switches
The point the report is making here is that the Saab 2000′s autopilot doesn't disconnect when control column inputs are made, unlike many other aircraft. Neither does it disengage if the electric trim is adjusted manually, which seems a bit odd.
The captain and the first officer were attempting to fly the aircraft manually but because they never disengaged the autopilot, it continued to try to keep the aircraft at the selected altitude.
When the captain pulled the control column back, he felt a higher resistance than he expected. He was able to force the control column back but the autopilot retaliated by using the trim to pitch the aircraft nose-down and regain the selected altitude. The harder the pilot tried to climb, the greater the autopilot trim inputs were made to counteract him. The captain must have been disoriented because it would seem instinctive to hit the disconnect button for the autopilot when not receiving the expected response. However, he was clearly completely convinced that the autopilot was disengaged: of all the configuration changes he made, pressing the disengage button on his control column was not one of them.
The autopilot finally disengaged as the result of invalid system data during the frightening dive, with the pitch trim set to almost fully nose-down.
The lightning strike had done minor damage to the radome and the Auxiliary Power Unit exhaust. But the elevator control system and the autopilot were not affected and had no faults. The aircraft is now back in service and has not shown any flight control or autopilot problems.
As a response, Saab 2002 published an operator's newsletter which highlighted the incident and clarified the operation of the autopilot.
Manual control inputs will not cause the autopilot to disengage and the main trim switches are disabled when the autopilot is engaged. Consequently, operation of the main pitch trim switches will not have any effect on aircraft trim nor cause the autopilot to disengage.
In addition, Loganair released a Notice to Aircrew advising them to ensure that the autopilot is disconnected if the flight crew experience control abnormalities. Their type rating training now includes a simulation of the situation.
The special bulletin is online here: AAIB Special Bulletin on Saab 2000, G-LGNO – News stories – GOV.UK. The final report is obviously still in progress although the AAIB have made it clear where their focus will be.
Further investigation
The AAIB investigation has not identified any technical malfunction which might account for the incident. The investigation continues; exploring crew training, autopilot design requirements, the human-machine interface, including the autopilot system and other human factors of relevance to the incident.
It's easy to say that the pilots should have known better but the AAIB excels at investigating how to stop such errors being made. The additional training to expose pilots to the symptoms is already a step in the right direction. I wouldn't be surprised if one recommendation in the report will be to have automatic systems work more predictably across a wide range of aircraft. Even if the control inputs didn't disconnect the autopilot, it sure seems like manual interactions with the trim should have.]]>
The aircraft was Pan Am ship #944 (registration N90944), a Boeing 377 Stratocruiser Romance of the Skies. The Stratocruiser was "the ocean liner of the air" with Pullman-style sleeping berths, reclining seats with 60 inches of legroom and a large cocktail lounge. Champagne and caviar were served to start off the meals served on china plates. There were 36 passengers and eight crew.
The round-the-world trips started and ended in San Francisco. Pan Am trip 7 was on its first leg of the flight. On the 8th of November, the Romance of the Skies departed San Francisco normally at 11:51 PST (local time for San Francisco) for its ten-hour flight to Honolulu.
At 16:04, the Captain made a routine position report to the US Coast Guard cutter Pontchartrain, which was located at the halfway point between the mainland and Oahu. The Romance of the Skies was on course and on schedule. This was about the time that the passengers would have sat down for their seven-course gourmet dinner. That radio call was the last contact with the aircraft.
The last position report received was at 01:04. There was no distress call or any indication of trouble, but the aircraft never arrived at Honolulu.
The New York Times, 9 November 1957:
The Coast Guard sent out a search plane to look for the airliner, which carried 36 passengers and a crew of eight. The Coast Guard also alerted crews of two cutters to be ready to take part in the search. United Press International (UPI) reported that submarines USS Cusk and USS Carbonero were the closest vessels to the point where the plane was last reported and were diverted to the search. The last radio report from the plane came when Capt. G. H. Brown made a routine check.
The search and rescue mission grew rapidly until it was reported to be the largest peace time response since Amelia Earhart went missing. Six days later, the US Navy carrier Philippine Sea discovered debris off course: 940 miles east of Honolulu and 90 miles north of the aircraft's intended track.
A flotilla of small boats delivered the bodies and debris to the US Navy carrier. They found a 33-square-mile area of debris. In that area, there were fifteen bodies floating in the water with no shoes on. Most of them wearing life jackets from the aircraft. Three of the bodies were found with wristwatches stopped at 16:26, giving investigators the exact time when the Romance of the Skies impacted the water.
The bulk of the aircraft and remaining passengers and crew had sunk to the bottom of the Pacific and has still not been salvaged.
The state of the passengers meant that they had time to prepare for the aircraft to ditch. In addition, some of them were found to have higher than normal levels of carbon monoxide. However, the wreckage that was recovered had burn marks only above the water line, which means that although there was a fire, it was post crash. There was no evidence of an in-flight fire. The passengers did not die from carbon monoxide poisoning and only a few showed impact trauma; most died from drowning.
This means that the aircraft did not crash into the water at high speed.
This is bourne out that the wreckage was found 90 miles north of track, which implies that the aircraft continued to fly after something went wrong. Investigators believed that the aircraft impacted the water with the nose down and the right wing lowered.
No probable cause was ever discovered and to this day that tragedy that befell Pan Am ship #944 on flight 7 to Honolulu is a mystery. Theories include on-board bombs and faulty propellers. Many believed that the crash was a suicide: an unstable crew member who had been diagnosed with a fatal illness taking the plane out with him. "He was too chicken to go alone," his step-daughter told journalists.
There's also a suspicious passenger: a middle-aged man who took out three life insurance policies, two of them purchased just three days before the flight. The man was an innkeeper but he was discovered to have been a demolitions expert in the Navy. He had previously burned a heavily insured lodge to the ground and collected the payout.
A year before, the sister ship of the Romance of the Skies, Pan Am ship #943, ditched on the last leg of its around-the-world-tour, flying from Honolulu to San Francisco. The 943 had an overspeeding propeller and an engine failure. The aircraft managed to circle until daybreak and then ditched in the same area, next to Pontchartrain. The aircraft and the rescue were filmed. Everyone on board was saved.
Pontchartrain was the same clipper who received the final radio call from the Romance of the Skies. It's possible that the aircraft suffered the same fault: An Airworthiness Directive was issued as it was one of many cases of loss of propeller control but there are some that believe that the directive was never carried out and that a similar overspeed event afflicted the Romance of the Skies. However, it remains odd that there was no mayday call or any sign of distress. In addition, the aircraft continued to fly away from Pontchartrain, making a rescue unlikely even if they were able to successfully ditch.
Between 1962 and 2006, the NTSB have logged 363 instances of vanished aircraft, most of which disappeared over the water.
It's frustrating not to know and tempting to fill in the blanks. But sadly, we will probably never know what happened that day.]]>
This is an explanation of the different people that a pilot may speak to when flying around Europe with real-world examples: me flying November 666 Echo X-ray and trying to stay out of trouble.
Air/Ground Radio Airfields with A/G Radio offer an information service with a radio operator who are not licensed and not under close CAA supervision. They identify themselves by saying the airfield name followed by the word radio. It could just be a guy on a mobile radio with no other support. They will offer a basic information service and report known traffic to you.
"Enstone, this is November 666 Echo X-ray."
No response. I frowned.
"Enstone Radio, this is November 666 Echo X-ray, radio check."
It had been a chaotic day and we were late leaving. And now that finally everyone was bundled up into the plane and ready to go, the youngster on the radio wasn't responding. Technically, I didn't have to request permission to start but it's generally the polite thing to do. The last time I flew from this airfield, the chap called me just as I was entering the runway to let my know my son had left his bookbag in the cafeteria. Service like that is invaluable and so I didn't like to risk upsetting anyone but it was frustrating to be sitting here waiting on someone who'd walked away from the mike.
I called a third time, no response. Had he gone for a cup of tea or what? Cliff frowned at me and I shrugged. I decided to try once more. This fourth call elicited a response: a confused voice came back over the radio.
"Are you talking to me?"
I winced. Who was playing with the radio, for god's sake? That's when Cliff's mum piped up from the backseat.
"I don't understand why you are saying Enstone Radio," she said.
I started to snap back an answer when it sunk in. We were at Bembridge on the Isle of Wight. I'd been flying in and out of Enstone the previous week and we'd be landing there today but right now? We weren't talking to them.
"Bembridge, this is November 666 Echo X-ray, request, uh … geography check."
I could hear the relieved laughter as he responded. "November 666 Echo X-ray, confirmed, you are parked just outside of my window."
"Thanks for that. Request start."
"Nothing to affect," he told me and we were finally on our way.
Flight Information Service Airfields with FIS are an information air traffic support unit staffed by licensed Flight Information Service Officers. They identify themselves by saying the airfield name followed by the word Information. Their function is to assist pilots to operate safely by offering a traffice service and helping with information regarding weather and aerodrome details.
The tricky thing about Information stations is how they let you know what you should be doing without ever actually telling you what to do.
"Shobdon, this is November 666 Echo X-ray, inbound to you."
"November 666 Echo X-ray, this is Shobdon Information, go ahead."
"November 666 Echo X-ray is a PA32 inbound to you, I'm looking to join the circuit downwind for runway 09, right hand."
The response was immediate. "November 666 Echo X-ray we have three in the circuit, recommend an overhead join."
I had already descended to 1,300 feet, too low for the manoeuvre that he was referring to, flying over the runway and then descending on the dead side. I also couldn't see the point, I was perfectly set up to simply turn right and join the circuit in another mile.
He repeated the call. "November 666 Echo X-ray, recommend an overhead join."
As I continued towards the airfield, I felt frustrated and confused: the advice that the Officer was giving me didn't make sense. I didn't like to argue with him, however, and I had to admit it wouldn't make that much difference to me.
"November 666 Echo X-ray is climbing to 2,300 feet for overhead join."
A moment later, it suddenly clicked. I was saying Runway 09 but I had been heading for the join for Runway 27, that is, the same runway going the opposite direction. I couldn't possibly join downwind from my present position which is why he wanted me up and out of the way of his traffic.
I went overhead and joined downwind from a sensible position, much to the relief of Shobdon Information.
Air Traffic Control Airfields with an ATC service have an active control tower staffed by air traffic controllers and are under close CAA supervision. Only ATC are authorised to issue clearances. They identify themselves by saying the airfield name followed by their function (Ground, Tower, Approach, Director, Radar). They offer a variety of services including control, flight information and traffic.
The flight from Guernsey to Alderney was only notable in its simplicity: it took longer to get everyone into the plane than it did to make the journey. Only as we landed did it get hectic.
"Backtrack and exit at Alpha."
I always feel a faint Top Gun thrill at phrases like that which sound so complicated but I now know are simple. "Wilco" I said with a knowing nod.
Except that having spun the plane around, I couldn't find Alpha. There was a bit of a turn-in on my right but it disappeared into grass and with the wet weather I was worried about taking a wrong turn and getting stuck in the mud. I grabbed for my plate with a map of the airfield.
"Turn right," said an impatient voice on the radio. "And expedite, I've got another one coming in." Two planes at the airfield at once, this must be a veritable traffic jam by Alderney standards. I bit my lip and turned the plane right onto the grass and paused.
"Carry on," said the voice again. "Straight ahead, between the two markers. I take it you've never been here before?"
"Affirm," I said in my best professional pilot voice. Followed by "Sorry," blowing away any semblance of radio competence.
"Just carry on straight. And expedite!"
Finally the map and the ground in front of me clicked into place, I wondered if the air traffic controller could see the small light bulb appearing over the cockpit as I made my way to the parking area. I had just chosen a nice easy spot to park when the voice came back.
"Pull forward to the blue markers, then face south and then west."
I frowned as I pulled forward, was he trying to make it difficult?
"Which way is south," I hissed at Cliff as I fumbled to get the map out again.
"Turn left," he said. I turned then tried to picture a map in my head. If I am facing south then I'm looking towards Texas. California is west and on my right. Got it! I opened my eyes and looked around. "So west is to the right now, right?"
Cliff sighed at me. "Just use the Directional Indicator?"
I blushed and turned the plane until the DI pointed west.
"Just park there," said the voice. The other plane had landed and radio silence descended. It would probably be at least an hour before they see any further traffic. I shut the engine down.
Military Air Traffic Zones It goes without saying that you should be unfailingly polite to any controller who has fighter jets to back him up. In the UK, the pilot should contact the controller either 15 nautical miles or 5 minutes flying time from a military boundary, whichever is sooner, requesting penetration. To enter the central area (Aerodrome Traffic Zone) you must receive permission and comply with the controller's instructions.
My first run-in with the military was actually in France.
We had landed at an airfield for refuelling but they were having technical difficulties and informed us that they would not be able to offer fuel for the rest of the day. A quick glance at book showed us another airfield on route that listed AVGAS 100L and so we jumped into the plane and went straight there, plotting the route as we went.
"Cognac, this is November 666 Echo X-ray."
"November 666 Echo X-ray, pass your message."
"November 666 Echo X-ray is a PA32 inbound to you, currently 20 miles to your NW at 4,000 feet, request airfield information and joining instructions."
There was a brief pause.
"November 666 Echo X-ray can you state your intentions."
"We're inbound to you for refuelling."
"November 666 Echo X-ray are you aware that this is a military airfield?"
"Oh. Uh, no. Negative. I was not aware."
"November 666 Echo X-ray I say again, can you state your intentions?"
I bit my lip but silence seemed likely to get a missile aimed in my direction.
"Er, I intend to ask your advice on where we could go for refuelling in the local area?"
The controller was perfectly friendly about it, verifying that I was not in an emergency before recommending that I fly direct to Angouleme and even offering me a heading and a flight information service directly to the airfield. Anything, I guess, to keep me out of his zone.
Using the radio professionally has become an essential requirement in the modern aviation environment. Radio provides the interface between you and others, especially the Air Traffic Service Unit (ATSU) whose frequency you are using. You will make life more comfortable for yourself (and others) if you can use the radio efficiently.
When I first started my PPL, I was told that I had a real knack for using the radio. Getting my radio licence was the easiest part of the entire training. Little did I know that in the meantime, I would manage to mess up speaking to every different type of Air Traffic Service Unit in existence.]]>
How Crazy Am I to Think I Know Where MH370 Is? — NYMag
Obviously, I immediately read it with interest. Even excitement. As soon as I got to his theory, my mood changed to dismay.
The first section is about his own experience, so I'm happy to accept all that as truthful and based on his perception. I particularly liked the reference to Believers: people who had already chosen a single theory as true and wanted to convince the world. I had the same experience after I published The Mystery of Malaysia Airlines flight 370, where readers would mail me (or review me) complaining that the book was a waste of time because it didn't deal properly with the only explanation that made sense. I didn't mind if that was a theory I hadn't covered, that's fair enough. But in most cases, I had discussed the theory: the reader was just upset that I hadn't proved it as true.
This is also an interesting section of Wise's article because in it, he effectively establishes his credentials as understanding the various theories and ability to recognise a crackpot. This sets up legitimacy for the second half. He certainly had my sympathy by this time. It helped that I'd read his blog before and found him interesting and knowledgeable.
But once he started putting forward the pieces of his theory, it fell apart.
For a long time, I resisted even considering the possibility that someone might have tampered with the data. That would require an almost inconceivably sophisticated hijack operation, one so complicated and technically demanding that it would almost certainly need state-level backing. This was true conspiracy-theory material.
For the record, I agree with this. That's not to say it is impossible, but there are easier ways to achieve the same results. Generally, the path of least resistance is the way to go. That doesn't mean it didn't happen and Wise says he found evidence, so lets run with it.
I realized that I already had a clue that hijackers had been in the E/E bay. Remember the satcom system disconnected and then rebooted three minutes after the plane left military radar behind.
Woah, no, wait! I don't remember that at all. This refers to an earlier description in the text:
For about an hour after that, the plane was tracked on radar following a zigzag course and traveling fast. Then it disappeared from military radar. Three minutes later, the communications system logged back onto the satellite. This was a major revelation. It hadn't stayed connected, as we'd always assumed. This event corresponded with the first satellite ping.
The first satellite ping is the only data we had once it disappeared from military radar. The communications system wasn't logged onto the satellite before this and it didn't log onto the satellite at that point. The system pinged the satellite and was refused [see comment below for more on this] because Malaysia airlines had not purchased the satellite service.
So Wise describes a three minute period between disappearing from military radar and the first ping to the satellite and suddenly this is rephrased as Remember the satcom system disconnected and then rebooted.
To be honest, it's the phrasing that made me read more suspiciously. However it was just a sentence later when the whole theory derailed for me.
I spent a great deal of time trying to figure out how a person could physically turn the satcom off and on. The only way, apart from turning off half the entire electrical system, would be to go into the E/E bay and pull three particular circuit breakers. It is a maneuver that only a sophisticated operator would know how to execute, and the only reason I could think for wanting to do this was so that Inmarsat would find the records and misinterpret them. They turned on the satcom in order to provide a false trail of bread crumbs leading away from the plane's true route.
Inmarsat had never released records like this before. No aircraft had ever been tracked like this before. The idea that it was even possible was a major revelation, even to Inmarsat. The data was never intended for tracking purposes.
MH370: Inmarsat details proposal for free flight-tracking – 5/12/2014 – Flight Global
"Now that we know we have these 'pings', why not make use of them?" says Inmarsat senior vice-president for external affairs Chris McLaughlin.
Wise seems to have forgotten this in his excitement. His inconceivably sophisticated hijack operation now is based on seeding false data in the form of pings on a satellite service that had not been paid for. What a crazy amount of effort this is on a hope and a prayer that someone would spot it, realise it was useful data and use it to lead the world in the wrong direction.
Once I threw out the troublesome BFO data, all the inexplicable coincidences and mismatched data went away. The answer became wonderfully simple. The plane must have gone north.
So if he throws away the data that no one expected us to have and accepts that the hijackers spoofed everything, then whatever theory he likes can be fit into the minimal information that remains. This is a mark of a Believer, without a doubt.
Using the BTO data set alone, I was able to chart the plane's speed and general path, which happened to fall along national borders. Flying along borders, a military navigator told me, is a good way to avoid being spotted on radar.
Oh yes, definitely, borders are not at all important politically and most nations pay no attention to them whatsoever. Definitely not covered by military radar…no wait.
What military navigator would say such a thing? I mean, seriously, is this someone who disliked Wise? Of course borders are covered by radar; strategically this is a critical requirement of radar.
There aren't a lot of places to land a plane as big as the 777, but, as luck would have it, I found one: a place just past the last handshake ring called Baikonur Cosmodrome.
If MH370 did land at Yubileyniy, it had 90 minutes to either hide or refuel and takeoff again before the sun rose. Hiding would be hard. This part of Kazakhstan is flat and treeless, and there are no large buildings nearby. The complex has been slowly crumbling for decades, with satellite images taken years apart showing little change, until, in October, 2013, a disused six-story building began to be dismantled. Next to it appeared a rectangle of bulldozed dirt with a trench at one end.
This implies it is some sort of abandoned airfield in the middle of nowhere. He then goes on to show satellite images that show a building being dismantled in October 2013 and a rectangle of bulldozed dirt. He drew in the silhouette of a 777 to show that it is the perfect size.
By March 2014, he says, the building was gone.
Construction experts told me these images most likely show site remediation: taking apart a building and burying the debris. Yet why, after decades, did the Russians suddenly need to clear this one lonely spot, in the heart of a frigid winter, finishing just before MH370 disappeared?
Let's get this absolutely clear: Baikonur Cosmodrome is not abandoned. It is the largest operational space launch facility in the world. There are commercial, military and scientific missions launched from the site. It is the sole launch site for International Space Station missions. Inmarsat launched a spacecraft there just a few weeks ago.
Not a lonely spot. Full of scientists and foreigners and even Inmarsat employees. Are they all in on this?
To the best of my knowledge, this airstrip is the only one in the world built specifically for self-landing airplanes. The 777, which was developed in the '90s, has the ability to autoland.
He's talking about CATIII. This is a category of ILS equipment which allows for auto landing.
I'm not sure what he means by the only airstrip in the world built specifically for self-landing aircraft nor why that would make a difference. Either the airstrip supports CATIII or it doesn't.
Most modern city airports support CATIII and thus allow for self-landing aircraft. Most modern aircraft have the ability to autoland. Baikonur is not special in this respect and the use of "only one in the world" is misleading.
The point of CATIII is to make it possible to land in visibility too poor for a visual landing. Normally, your commercial pilot, flying in bad weather, has to have the runway in sight at a predefined height or else he has to break off the approach. This is known as the decision height.
To autoland, the aircraft knows precisely the aircraft's height above the ground and initiates the landing flare at the correct height for the model, usually about 15 metres (50 feet) above the ground. This means there is no decision height: the runway never has to be in sight.
From a hijacking perspective, this feature allows people who don't have commercial-piloting experience to abscond with an airplane and get it safely on the ground, so long as they know what autopilot settings to input.
Well, yes, with a bit of luck and perfect conditions, this might work. The absconder would still need to reduce the speed as the flaps are are selected and manually activate reverse thrust, at least, but it would be easier to teach a person to autoland than to fly the Boeing 777.
I know I sound a bit grudging there. Quite honestly, by this point, it feels weird when Wise says something logical and factually correct.
Whether the plane went to Baikonur or elsewhere in Kazakhstan, my suspicion fell on Russia.
Again, the phrasing here is a logical fallacy: he's put forward a failed case for Baikonar and then dismisses objections with the assumption that it has gone to Kazakhstan, which he has never shown based on the data he has chosen to accept as correct.
He defends his suspicion of the Russians with a headline that the Russians were responsible for the deteriorating situation in Ukraine. Then Wise points out that there were three suspects on board who match his profile: one Russian and two Ukrainians. He suspects all three of being special forces or covert operatives.
All were in their mid-40s, old enough to be experienced, young enough for vigorous action —about the same age as the military-intelligence officer who was running the show in eastern Ukraine.
Convinced yet? Me neither.
He hired Russian speakers to make phone calls to Odessa and Irkutsk to find out more about the men. Not surprisingly, their families weren't interested in discussing his theory. Nevertheless, he says that the more he discovered, the more coherent the story seemed, as if the existence of 40-something "ethnically Russian" men somehow proved his point. His confidence is meant to lead the reader into nodding along knowingly even though he's never actually justified his logic.
As if that all weren't bad enough, he ends on a completely false note.
Last month, the Malaysian government declared that the aircraft is considered to have crashed and all those aboard are presumed dead. Malaysia's transport minister told a local television station that a key factor in the decision was the fact that the search mission for the aircraft failed to achieve its objective.
Simply not true. The transport minister said no such thing and the declaration specifically says the opposite:
Read Full Statement in English
The underwater search is still ongoing at this time and the exercise is currently being performed by 4 vessels, namely the Go Phoenix, Fugro Discovery, Fugro Equator and Fugro Supporter. To date, the search has covered over 18,600 square kilometres (as of 28 Jan15).
The declaration defined the incident as an accident, which includes aircraft that have gone missing.
I'll tell you a secret: I know what he misread. The declaration talks about the search and rescue mission in the past tense. That's because there's no one left to rescue. There are two points of detail to defend that the search and rescue is completed even though the search is still continuing, but I guess Wise never read that far.
He is clearly convinced that the search is over.
The search failed to deliver the airplane, but it has accomplished some other things: It occupied several thousand hours of worldwide airtime; it filled my wallet and then drained it; it torpedoed the idea that the application of rationality to plane disasters would inevitably yield ever-safer air travel. And it left behind a faint, lingering itch in the back of my mind, which I believe will quite likely never go away.
It's a quick visit to the Australian Transport Safety Bureau to get the latest Operational Update. The search has not (yet) failed and, just last month, Search chief Martin Dolan spoke confidently about finding the wreckage.
I think Dolan be horrified to hear that his accomplishment was to have filled and drained Wise's wallet. And honestly, the application of rationality has absolutely yielded ever-safer air travel. The effects to Wise's mind I leave as an exercise for the reader.
I sure do understand his desire to sell his book. I want to sell mine, too. I have spent the last year discussing Malaysia Airlines flight 370 and wondering what happened to it, just like him. But coming up with hare-brained schemes and using persuasion tactics instead of facts, well, Wise is better than this.
If you are interested in thought experiments about what happened to Malaysia Airlines flight 370, then please consider my book, which takes the leading theories and considers their plausibility. I don't have any simple answers but, quite frankly, neither does Wise, whatever he might claim.
[Edit: added reference to Bill's comment below to the main text]]]>
This is the dashcam video of the aircraft's take off. Please note that it shows the actual impact and may be disturbing.
The Ministry of Transportation and Commercial Aviation in Afghanistan was joined by the American NTSB for the investigation.
The NTSB has now opened a docket on the crash, releasing factual information which forms the basis of the investigation. There is no analysis nor conclusion at this time; the final report has not yet been released. But the documents and photographs are enough to give us a heart-breaking picture of what happened that day.
The full set of files is available here: http://dms.ntsb.gov/pubdms/search/projList.cfm?ntsbnum=DCA13MA081
It's hard not to draw conclusions from the information released so far. I've collected the key facts where they seem to help shed light on the cause.
The Boeing 747-400 registration N949CA was a converted cargo plane operated by National Airlines.
On the 29th of April in 2013, the cargo plane crashed shortly after take-off from Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan. All seven crew members onboard were killed and the aircraft was destroyed.
Bagram Airfield is the largest US Military base in Afghanistan. It is run by US Armed Forces but also occupied by the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and the Afghan Armed Forces.
The airfield was built in the 1950s and played a key role for the US during the Cold War and then in the Soviet war in Afghanistan. In 2007, Bagram Airfield was described as the size of a small town having over 40,000 inhabitants, with traffic jams, commercial shops and dual runway operations.
The original flight schedule was for the Boeing 747 to fly from Chateauroux, France to Camp Bastion, Afghanistan and then continue to the Dubai World Center at Al Aktoum, UAE airport. However, National Airlines couldn't obtain clearance to overfly Pakistan for the flight departing Camp Bastion to Dubai. The dispatcher instead planned for the flight to fly to Bagram, refuel, and continue from there to Dubai.
The aircraft was held up en route to Camp Bastion as a result of indirect fire at the airport from the Taliban. The load manifest shows that the plane was loaded by National Air Cargo. National Airlines transported the cargo but National Air Cargo was responsible for the load planning, cargo/pallet build up and aircraft loading. The Boeing 747 was loaded with 94,119 kgs of cargo, including 5 Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) armoured military vehicles on the main deck. National Air Cargo ground crew told the NTSB investigators that the Dubai offices conducted classes on how to palletize a Stryker, a military vehicle which weighed about 12-13 tons.
Of the five mine resistant armoured vehicles loaded onto the Boeing 747, two were MRAP all-terrain vehicles weighing about 12 tons each. The other three were MRAP Cougars weighing about 18 tons each.
It was the first time that National Airlines had transported the 18-ton military vehicles.
More importantly, it was the first time that National Air Cargo had ever attempted to load an 18-ton Cougar on a National Airlines B747-400.
The National Air Cargo Operations Specialist who was in charge of the pallet build-up for the accident flight load told NTSB Staff he did not have an SOP (standard operating procedure) for any particular load, there was no specific manual that they followed when building the pallets, and he did not know the load capacity of a pallet.
He further said that the only manual he had for reference in Camp Bastion was a dangerous goods manual. National Air Cargo staff did not have a copy of the National Airlines Cargo Operations Manual in Camp Bastion, and did not have a computer to view any manuals online.
There were seven crew. Two captains and two first officers, along with two mechanics and one loadmaster. The aircraft had a rest facility on board, allowing the 747 to be flown with a double crew. The accident Captain was highly experienced and described as "excellent" in his training transcripts and "having great CRM" by crew who had flown with him. The accident First Officer was new to the aircraft but was considered to have strong skills, both monitoring and flying, and was described as very well prepared for the change to the B747-400.
The loadmaster had worked for National Airlines for two and a half years and had been a ground handling supervisor/trainer before that.
Neither the accident Captain nor his First Officer had prior experience carrying mine resistant armoured vehicles. Neither did the loadmaster: he had never worked a National Airlines flight with an MRAP as part of the cargo load before, not even the 12 ton version. No special guidance, strapping diagrams or photos were provided to him.
The Chief Loadmaster was asked if there was a conscious decision by National Airlines to approve the loading of the 18-ton Cougars. He told the NTSB that it was up to National Air Cargo (the company who took the order) and that as the operator the flight, they stuck to "you call, we haul".
The five heavy military vehicles were loaded onto the Boeing 747 and the flight crew continued on their journey to Bagram Airfield.
It's early on in the Operation Chairman's Factual Report that the focus turns to the broken strap that the flight crew found in the cargo bay after they landed at Bagram Airfield.
According to recorded data, at about 0957 while the airplane was still on the ramp in Bagram, the captain was made aware of a broken strap found by one of the other crewmembers, and the cockpit crew had a discussion about a possible shift of the cargo load during landing in Bagram. There was additional discussion on re-securing the load prior to departure.
Here's the transcript of that conversation.
|First Officer
|There's your trouble Brad.
|What is it? What the [expletive] was that from?
|First Officer
|One of those [expletive] straps is busted
|Second Captain
|[unintelligible] tire
|No no, I know that… [unintelligible] No I know, but…
|First Officer
|Give you one guess what was right there.
|What was right where?
|First Officer
|Right here.
|A knot?
|First Officer
|Uh huh.
|That was the one right at the door?
|First Officer
|No… This was at… [unintelligible]
|So you (go on/goin) puttin more straps (on [expletive])?
|First Officer
|(well) it just shifted (apparently/barely)
|Second Captain
|There was a bunch of them first… That first (truck).
|Did it move? … [expletive] moved?
|First Officer
|Yes. Just tightened up on the straps. The truck?
|Second Captain
|[unintelligible] like… Tightened those straps up uh, quite a bit, on the first one
|First Officer
|You know how that… Well you go look at the… Went and looked at them now… all the ones [unintelligble] they had a bunch like this, to keep them from moving backwards… a bunch like this [unintelligble][unintelligble]movin forward? All the one that were keepin em from movin backwards were all [expletive] loose.
|Second Captain
|What the [expletive] do you think's gonna happen when you [expletive] slam it on the runway and slam on the [expletive] brakes and don't use reverse… [said in a joking manner]
|[sound of laughter]
|First Officer
|There ain't nothing you coulda done about that.
|Second Captain
|[unintelligible]I'm putting it on the [expletive][expletive] board. I'm gettin off this plane, I'm scared. [said in a joking manner]
|Throw that out man, that's evidence. [unintelligible] [The Loadmaster] don't want that hangin around either.
|I hope instead of [unintelligible] rather than just replacing that (strap) I hope he's beefing the straps up more
|Just on that one spot.
|First Officer
|All the rest of them are fine.
|First Officer
|He's cinching them all down.
|[break in transcript]
|What's up dude?
|First Officer
|Did you throw that other strap away?
|What did you – Did you put a couple more on? How far did it move… a couple of inches?
|Yeah they just moved a couple inches… cause you know, it's nylon ya know, so.
|First Officer
|(you throw some) numbers (in here)?
|That's scare-… that's [expletive] scary- without a lock (for those big heavy things/[unintelligible] anything). Man I don't like that. I saw that, I was like [expletive], I never heard of such a thing.
|[unintelligible] I'd be kinda interested ta… wish I could put a camera down there and watch it…
|First Officer
|(You'd probably)[expletive] yourself.
|See what they do
|Those things are so [expletive] heavy you'd think though that they probably wouldn't hardly move no matter what
Clearly, the Captain is not happy with the situation. Ultimately, it's the Captain's decision whether it is safe to fly or not, not the loadmaster's. However, in order to declare cargo as unsafely loaded, the Captain has to have the training to make a qualified opinion.
A National Airlines B747-400 Check Airman stated that "the loadmasters have their job–there is very little interaction between pilots and loadmasters." A B747-400 FO stated that pilots at National Airlines "relied on the loadmasters 100% to make sure the load was done and secured properly."
A National Airlines B747-400 Check Airman told the NTSB that there were guidelines on how to strap down cargo in a document referred to as the "loading manual" but pilots were neither trained nor evaluated on that information.
There was nothing included in the National Airlines Flight Operations Training Manual that covered the review of a cargo load by the pilots.
In this company culture, the Captain could not feel supported in going against the loadmaster, even if he accepted that the final decision to fly or not fly rested with him. The Captain quite simply did not have the knowledge or expertise at his disposal to make that kind of decision.
The Captain was, as the National Airlines First Officer said to the NTSB, completely reliant on the loadmaster.
He decided to continue. In fact, it never seemed to have occurred to him that he could do anything else.
Here's what the Captain would have said was a really [expletive] scary thing: loadmasters aren't certified. There's no agreed training, there are no currency checks, there's nothing official.
There was no specific training for the Chief Loadmaster position.
The documents include an interview with Charles Dsouza, Base Support at Camp Bastion and one of the staff who helped with the palletizing and loading.
In the accident flight, he was pushing loads into the airplane. The load had 5 MRAPs, 3 Cougars and 2 smaller MRAPs. The Cougars were 18 tons, and this was the first time they had ever loaded something that large. They used PGF pallets, two together with a sheet of plywood between them. They tied the pallets together with straps, 3 long and wide ways. They were the same straps used on the tie down to the airplane.
He said the pallet could handle the weight of an 18 ton Cougar. He said there's no written guidance on how to build a pallet. They just did it, not by manual, but by working as a team.
He never received training to build and load pallets. No one complained about his load. The load master checks his work, and Ralph was his supervisor who also checked his work. He said if there were any problems with the straps and chains, the load master would correct them, or Ralph would correct him.
The Chief Loadmaster told the NTSB that they'd never needed to replace any straps and there was no training to tell when a strap was no longer safe.
Although the FAA has no regulatory oversight over loadmasters, cargo loading on aircraft is within their jurisdiction. Cargo loading equipment and continuous analysis surveillance are considered "high criticality items" which means that these operations must be surveyed by the FAA every six months.
The Principal Maintenance Inspector from the FAA told investigators that he'd attempted to observe the loading process for National Airlines; however he'd only seen National Airline's B747-400 loaded once, in 2012 when he went to Dubai for five days and they did a ramp inspection.
In Dubai for the one time he observed National Airlines, they loaded only general items and military items. He could not remember if the load was going into Afghanistan, and told NTSB Staff he was not allowed to go to Afghanistan because the State Department would not issue them visas to travel to Afghanistan, and they could only observe the aircraft in Dubai.
One FAA cabin safety inspector out of Minnesota was able to do an enroute cabin inspection, and he said he heard that "there was some fallout from it."
When asked how he would survey an operation overseas like the National Airlines B747-400, he said that "you would just go to DXB [Dubai, UAE] and see what you see," and the one time he went to Dubai, he observed the 757 when it arrived and left.
The Principal Maintenance Inspector said that he didn't observe any of the pallet build ups since that was the Principal Operations Inspector's responsibility. He said that he never had an opportunity to observe the straps.
The Principal Operations Inspector told the NTSB that he didn't know that National Airlines was strapping the heavy vehicles to the seat tracks until after the accident, when he saw photographs of the strapping.
The FAA was not aware of any risk analysis done by National Airlines for the carriage of 18 ton military vehicles, and the FAA was not notified by National Airlines that they were carrying multiple MRAPs prior to the accident.
The FAA did not conduct a risk analysis when it was discovered that National Airlines was hauling heavy military vehicles like MRAPs because, according to the [Principal Operations Inspector], "the manual seemed sufficient," and "if they were following their manual there should not be an issue."
The FAA conducted a review of National Airlines manuals after the accident, specifically because it was unclear whether loadmasters were referring to Boeing or Telair when they discussed the guidance in the Cargo Operations manual. Turned out that National Airlines had combined the Boeing and Telair guidance into the manual to allow for "one stop shopping rather than having to reference separate manuals."
A National Aviation Safety Inspection Program had just run an assessment of National Airlines at the time of the accident. The primary problem identified was that National Airlines were having problems training and hiring loadmasters.
The Director of Safety at National Airlines stated that no risk analysis was conducted for the carriage of heavy, centre-loaded floating palletised loads like the MRAPs. He said he wasn't involved in the decision to begin carrying large, heavy military vehicles and the Safety Department was not asked to prove input.
In other words, no one actually took responsibility for making sure that the cargo transports were safe and the staff had no experience and little or no guidance.
"You call, we haul."
The crew did not take on any additional cargo in Bagram, and only took on fuel for the flight to Dubai. The airplane refueled to 48,000 kilograms of fuel. A National Air Cargo ground crew met the airplane during refueling, and only spoke with the loadmaster at the entrance of the main deck door. The flight release for the Bagram to Dubai leg had been emailed to the captain while the airplane was in Camp Bastion, so there was no paperwork exchanged, and the ground crew did not enter the airplane or cockpit and only spoke with the loadmaster.
The aircraft taxied out normally for departure on runway 03 at Bagram. The take-off roll appeared normal and the aircraft rotated around the Charlie intersection of the runway.
Nine seconds later, the cockpit voice recorder stopped recording. Three seconds after that, the Flight Data Recorder stopped recording. The airborne aircraft pitched up until it appeared to stall, at which point it turned to the right and crashed into the ground just beyond the departure end of runway 03.
Twelve items were recovered from the runway following the accident in the vicinity of Taxiway C which was near the point of takeoff rotation. Eleven were identified as airplane structure and one was identified as being part of an MRAP.
The data and the physical evidence suggest that at least one 12-ton MRAP vehicle broke loose of its restraints and damaged the FDR and the CVR before breaking through the aft pressure bulkhead. That damaged hydraulic systems #1 and #2. The stabilizer jackscrew assembly was displaced and had scuff marks of paint on it, which possibly occurred on impact. However, if the paint was from the MRAP sliding into it and the stabilizer jackscrew was displaced during take-off, safe flight and landing were not longer possible.
That is just key information that I picked up out of the documents; there's a lot more information in the docket. It seems to me that the investigators aren't very far from a conclusion and it's already pretty clear what some of the recommendations will be.
For me, the hardest part of this to read was the CVR transcript. The sound of the crew laughing and joking around is heartbreaking, knowing in an hour they would find themselves in an aircraft that could not be controlled. No report in the world can make that better.]]>
I'm still not sure what to think. I have to concede that it flies but I'm really not sure what to class the contraption as. A rocket-copter? One YouTube commenter calls it an orbital launch vehicle with an in-built centrifugation system which sounds a bit more serious than it looks. Or could this be the future of manned space flight?
It seems to have made it 1,500 feet off the ground, which is an amazing height for what looks like a wagon wheel attached to pyrotechnics. It's one of the most amazing flying objects I think I've ever seen launched from a dirt track.
It is apparently based upon a traditional Thai firework launcher and was almost certainly part of the Yasothon Bun Bang Fai Rocket festival where teams create home-made rockets which are launched on the third (and last) day of the festival.
Rocket Festival – Wikipedia
Sunday competition moves on to the launching of Bangfai, judged, in various categories, for apparent height and distance travelled, with extra points for exceptionally beautiful vapour trails Those whose rockets misfire are either covered with mud, or thrown into a mud puddle (that also serves a safety function, as immediate application of cooling mud can reduce severity of burns).
Well, no mud for this team, their rocket is clearly an unqualified success!
You can see read more and see photographs of the festival here: Gallery: Thailand's wildest event, the Bun Bangfai rocket festival | CNN Travel]]>
The aircraft, registration B-228516, was a twin-engine turboprop made for regional airliners, the ATR 72. It can seat up to 74 passengers and is operated by a two-pilot crew. B-22816 had two Pratt & Whitney Canada PW127M engines and was less than a year old. There were five crew and 53 passengers on board. The flight crew consisted of three extremely experienced pilots. The Captain (Pilot Flying) had 4,914 flight hours and the First Officer had 6,922 flight hours. A flight instructor who was in the jumpseat had over 16,000 flight hours.
The aircraft took off from Taipei and climbed through 1,000 feet. Two minutes after take-off, the flight crew declared an emergency.
|Control Tower
|[inaudible] … wind 100 degrees, 9.9 knots. Clear to take off.
|TransAsia GE235
|Clear to take off, runway 10, TransAsia 235
|TransAsia GE235
|Mayday! Mayday! Engine flameout
|Control tower
|TransAsia 235, please try again. Contact Taipei Approach on 119.7
|Control tower
|TransAsia 235. Control tower. … TransAsia 235, Control tower.
Contact was lost at 10:53 GMT, just two minutes after departure.
Flight 235 passed over the Huangong Viaduct, where multiple cars with dashcams inadvertently recorded the disaster.
TransAsia Airways Flight 235 – Wikipedia
The aircraft, flying level, first cleared an apartment building. Then it rolled sharply, at nearly a 90-degree bank angle, left wing down. As the aircraft flew low over the elevated viaduct, its left wingtip struck the front of a taxi travelling west on the viaduct, and the outboard section of the wing was torn off when it struck the concrete guardrail at the edge of the viaduct. Two people in the taxi were injured.
The following shows the aircraft in its last moments before it crashed into the Keelung River and the wreckage after (caution, may be disturbing).
As of today (6 Feb 2015), 15 people have been rescued. 35 occupants of the aircraft were killed in the crash and eight are missing. Two were injured on the ground when the aircraft hit a taxi on the road but suffered only minor injuries.
The Taiwanese Aviation Council has released some preliminary data from their investigation, specifically the engine plots from the flight-data recorder. All times are given in GMT.
The blue dotted line is the right-hand engine, engine #2, which is the one that had the original fault. The green line is the left-hand engine, engine #1.
10:51:XX TransAsia Flight 235 received take-off clearance
10:52:33 TransAsia Flight 235 handed off to departure
10:52:38 The aircraft had been airborne for 37 seconds and was at 1,200 feet above mean sea level when a master warning showed that the right-hand engine (engine #2) had failed.
10:52:43 The left-hand engine (engine #1) was throttled back
10:53:06 The right-hand engine (engine #2) auto-feathered.
The director of the Aviation Safety Council said in a press event that there was no flame-out. The right-hand engine shifted into idle mode but the oil pressure never changed. It's unclear what triggered this.
10:53:12 Stall warning activated
10:53:18 Stall warning ceased
According to the Aviation Herald, at 10:53:19 the crew discussed that engine #1 had already feathered, the fuel supply had already been cut to the engine and they decided to attempt a restart of engine #1. However, I've not seen a copy of the cockpit voice recorder data or a news report that it is released, so I'm not sure where this information has come from.
However, there's no doubt that at this point, the left-hand engine, that is the working engine, was shut down manually. Now the aircraft has no power.
10:53:21 Stall warning activated
10:53:34 Mayday call while multiple attempts were made to restart the engine
10:54:34 A second master warning activated
Half a second later, all devices on the aircraft stopped recording.
Time line showing flight #GE235 events based on ADS-B data from Flightradar24 and data from flight recorders. pic.twitter.com/OnD3kzNiia
— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) February 6, 2015
The actions of the pilots don't make sense. They clearly believed that an engine had flamed out but even taking this into account, there's no reason to shut down the other one. The ATR 72 can fly on just one engine so losing the right-hand engine would not have necessarily been an issue.
Right now, it looks suspiciously like this tragedy could have been averted if the pilots had done nothing at all. But this is surprising considering how experienced all of the pilots were and I'm still hoping there will be some other explanation.
The Taiwanese Aviation Safety Council is leading the investigation, with the French BEA representing the country of manufacture and the Transportation Safety Board of Canada representing the country of engine manufacture. They expect to release a preliminary report in 30 days.]]>
The SR22 was being flown by a commercial pilot on a repositioning flight from Tracy, California to Maui. It's a long flight and well out of range for a normal Cirrus SR22.
The aircraft was fitted with ferry tanks – extra fuel tanks meant for large water crossings. The flight was uneventful for the first 14 hours or so… until the aircraft was about 900 miles from Hawaii, when pilot realised he was unable to transfer fuel from his aft auxiliary fuel tank. The fuel transfer system had malfunctioned: although the aircraft had plenty of fuel for the remainder of the flight, the pilot was unable to get it to the engine.
The pilot contacted the Hawaiian National Coast Guard and told them that he had only three hours of fuel remaining, not enough to make it to land.
He said he would ditch the aircraft around 320 miles north east of Maui by deploying the Cirrus Airframe Parachute System (CAPS).
The Coast Guard informed him of the cruise ship Veendam which was within his range and asked him to divert towards it. A Coast Guard HC-130 Hercules was deployed from Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point on Oahu to assist and maintain communications. It must have been from there that the video footage was shot.
Once the pilot was near the cruise ship, around 250 miles northeast of Maui, he activated the CAPS and the parachute deployed.
The aircraft seemed to be almost floating as it descended until the impact with the water. If you watch the rocking of the aircraft as the pilot climbs out, you can see just how turbulent the sea was. At the time of the rescue, weather conditions were seas of nine to twelve feet and winds of 21-24 knots (40-45 kilometres or 25-28 miles per hour).
The aircraft sank very quickly after the pilot came free, possibly dragged under by the parachute.
The pilot inflated an emergency life raft and was rescued ("extracted") about 30 minutes later by the crew of the cruise ship Veendam. He was unharmed.
There's also a video taken within the cockpit at the same time. See the comments below for the link to the pilot's video of the event taken on his mobile phone.
The NTSB reports that the investigation is in progress and the final report will be published on the NTSB website: WPR15LA089.
There is no intention to attempt to recover the aircraft. Poor plane…]]>
A lot of these are exactly what you'd expect for a website like mine: searches on specific crashes or questions to do with aviation. Sometimes, though, it gets a little bit odd. Here's the highlights of search terms that lead to Fear of Landing in 2014.
Most common searches
Someone who couldn't quite remember the name of my blog
Multiple searches which led searchers to the wrong site (is this a thing?)
Search that I should know the answer to but don't
A searching question
Searches that will probably never be answered on Fear of Landing
Least useful keywords for a perfectly valid search
Search most likely to end up as an exam question
Search from pilot who is seriously planning ahead
Search most in need of more details
Quiz night search
Most unexpected search
Search pilot should have made BEFORE the flight
Bragging search (My boyfriend has done this too)
Important search that I just can't help with
And finally…
Search most likely to inspire me to write a new article
To be fair, the report results actually show that most of you are sane and interested aviation enthusiasts. But now and then, I have to admit, I have to wonder…]]>


text:
Like most websites we use 'cookies'. If you're happy with that, click 'OK' to close this banner and carry on. Or click 'Find out more'.
Buy wines with real cork stoppers to demonstrate your support
Image: Andy Hay
The increasing use of artificial closures instead of natural corks in wine bottles presents a threat to the cork oak forests of southern Europe and the people and wildlife that depend on this ancient habitat and sustainable industry.
A fall in the demand for cork as a result of the recent and ongoing switch to plastic stoppers and screwcaps in wine bottles would lead to many cork estates being converted to other land uses, such as intensive farming or timber plantations.
If current trends continue, the wildlife-rich montados and dehesas could disappear within 20-30 years.
The RSPB is pleased to be working with APCOR (the Portuguese cork producers' association) to promote the benefits of cork. Artist Robert Bradford has created a sculpture of a Spanish imperial eagle out of the 330,000 wine corks collected by RSPB members and supporters during 2001. The sculpture was launched at the Eden Project in September 2002. It is now permanently exhibited at the Pride of the Valley sculpture park in Churt, Surrey.
The Cork Report – A Study on the Economics of Cork written by Eduardo Goncalves on behalf of the RSPB in December 2000. Both the full report and the summary are available from the RSPB.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
PhotoDirector Mobile Extends to Android Phones
Apr 24, 2014 - CyberLink Corp. (5203.TW), a world leader in desktop consumer multimedia software, announces the availability of PhotoDirector on Android mobile phones. Following the release of PhotoDirector Mobile for Android Tablets in March, CyberLink is now extending the same extensive features to Android phones with an interface optimized for the smaller mobile phone screen.
Cat basketball game for iPhone – Can a cat dunk?
Apr 24, 2014 - A new game Cat Basketball by Manoolgames has been released in App Store. It's a game for those people who like shooting the ball into the basket in a relaxed manner, without time pressure, focusing purely on accuracy of your shots. And it's obviously for those who like cats.
Bitcasa Partners with Huawei, Samsung and Telefónica
Apr 24, 2014 - Strong Momentum in Global Mobile Market Reinforces Demand for Control, Privacy and Accessibility of Digital Content
Power APP updated Number Pad with Bug Fix, new download link
Apr 23, 2014 - Power APP released an update for their app Number Pad for iOS, their app that turns the iPhone or iPad into a separate numeric keypad to use with Mac Computers.
Power APP released Security Update for their App pick PONG
Apr 23, 2014 - Power APP released an Update for their free app pick PONG for iOS, that increases security for the user and disables the possibility to view an unrevealed pick that has been sent.
Award-Winning Productivity App NoteSuite is $0.99
Apr 23, 2014 - 80% Markdown for One Week Only Represents Lowest Price Ever for Best-Selling iPad App
Babonk - new iPhone game released by one man shop
Apr 23, 2014 - Ulf Vikström, a game developer with years of experience in the games industry, decided to leave the cozy corporate comfort and a steady paycheck to develop a game by himself. The result is Babonk, a challenging and rewarding arcade game.
Melesta Games announces new Toy Defense 4: Sci-Fi
Apr 22, 2014 - Melesta Games is happy to announce that the fourth installment in hit game series, Toy Defense, which is played by more than 15 million fans worldwide, - Toy Defense 4: Sci-Fi - will be out very soon! Now users will get a chance to see what fighting the aliens is like and enjoy unique mix of classical tower defense gameplay and science fiction atmosphere. Toy Defense 4: Sci-Fi should appear in the Google Play by the 1st of May.
Clockwise - learn the clock app for Kids and Parents
Apr 22, 2014 - There are few educational tasks that take hours for both parents and kids. One of them is learning to tell time on a clock. While a simple task, its a beginning of interesting math journey - you start understanding what half & quarter is. You learn the intervals like hours, minutes, seconds and how they all work together. Yet - its a cumbersome task to sit with your kid and either draw a clock or play with a real one. Clockwise - a free Android app resolves this for you. Learn the clock today.
Alima's Baby: Baby Virtual Pet
Apr 22, 2014 - Take care of your baby and the little one will grow strong and healthy, but beware if the baby cries or coughs it might be sick, and needing medicine. Make sure the baby takes a bottle of milk when it's time, but be careful, your baby can get skinny or fat depending on how much you feed it. If you take care of your baby properly, you will be rewarded with golden stars, Save them and you can buy clothes, toys, food. Play with your baby and watch it grow.
Sending A Press Release Easy & Intuitive
The process to submit a release was fairly easy. Often times, submitting releases to PR agencies can get cumbersome since each company has a particular process in which their submission process works, however, MobilePRWire made sending a press release intuitive, easy and within minutes.
- AsSeenOnPhone
Zepi:Classic HD Thrilling Update
Lucky competition winners star in m...


text:
Sponsored links
Coffee Roaster and Green Coffee Beans Supplier | Buy Fine Gourmet Coffee by Post
The following information is only an estimate of coffeecompass.co.uk. The webpage's visitors, value, income, position etc can vary heavily from day to day. Our estimation of visitors and income, is only based upon statistics from a specific moment on a specific day. You should visit the site frequently to see if the website increases or decreases in value. Coffee Roaster and Green Coffee Beans Supplier | Buy Fine Gourmet Coffee by Post :-)
Sponsored links
Sponsored links
Ad revenue and visitors
|Daily pageviews
|Daily income
|2 £
|Monthly income
|50 £
|Yearly income
|614 £
|Info last updated:
What is Coffee Roaster and Green Coffee Beans Supplier | Buy Fine Gourmet Coffee by Post?
|Our world sourced coffee selections are roasted to perfection by hand and packed freshly to order prior to speedy courier dispatch, in order that the coffee is received in the very best condition.You can now follow us on Twitter @CoffeeCompass! Find out what we're doing, drinking and roasting live throughout the day! Click Here to go to our Twitter page! Featured Products Latest Products Peru Inambari Mayo - 500g £ 8.95 Out of stock Add to Wishlist Add to Compare Cuban Serrano ...
SEO analysis
|Alexa rank
|48 KiB
|4 KiB
|Content-HTML ratio
|6.4% text VS 93.6% html
|Meta description
|" /> <meta name=
|Meta tags
|Coffee Roaster, Coffee Gifts, Buy Coffee Beans, Roasted Coffee Beans, Gourmet Coffee, African Coffee, Arabica Coffee, Blue Mountain Coffee
|H1-6 tags
|H2: Coffee Compass – Buy Freshly Roasted Coffee Beans Online
H2: Featured Products
H2: Latest Products
H2: UK Gourmet coffee roaster and supplier of fine coffees including fresh roasted coffee beans, green coffee beans.
H4: Compare Products
H4: My Cart
|Onsite links
|Onsite nofollow links
Server analysis
|Latest updates
HTTP/1.0 200 OK Date: Sat, 28 Feb 2015 13:53:44 GMT Server: LiteSpeed Connection: close X-Powered-By: PHP/5.2.17 Expires: Thu, 19 Nov 1981 08:52:00 GMT Cache-Control: no-store, no-cache, must-revalidate, post-check=0, pre-check=0 Pragma: no-cache Set-Cookie: frontend=gauorvrn4sbsqt7b65ie1mrg50; expires=Sat, 28-Feb-2015 14:53:43 GMT; path=/shop; domain=www.coffeecompass.co.uk; HttpOnly Set-Cookie: jm_purity_tpl=jm_purity; expires=Thu, 18-Feb-2016 13:53:43 GMT; path=/ Cache-Control: public, max-age=31536000 Expires: Sun, 28 Feb 2016 13:53:44 GMT Content-Type: text/html; charset=UTF-8
|Is coffeecompass.co.uk down?


text:
Coming up in the next {{countdown}} {{countdownlbl}}
Coming up next:
Skip to this video now
Now Playing:
Related Videos
Now Playing: {{itm.title}}
Play Video
This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.
1 Hurt During School Shooting
Cops say a Georgia student wounded a 14-year-old boy in a school shooting.
Sunny Hostin Leaves World News Now
Sunny Hostin says goodbye to the WNN audience; plus the polka!
Now Playing: 1 Hurt During School Shooting
Now Playing: Sunny Hostin Leaves World News Now
Now Playing: WNN Says Goodbye to One Anchor, Another Comes on Board
Now Playing: 'Downton Abbey' is Coming to an End
Now Playing: Basketball Player Has Embarrassing Moment at Press Conference
Now Playing: Insomniac Theater: "Home"
Now Playing: Tom Kelly Talks About Facing UFC Champ Rhonda Rousey
Now Playing: Friday Rewind: Germanwings Plane Crash
Now Playing: Final Minutes of Germanwings Flight
Now Playing: McDonald's Launches Big Mac Clothing Line
Now Playing: French Alps Crash Investigation
Now Playing: Zayn Malik Leaves 'One Direction'
Now Playing: Germanwings Plane Crash Investigation
Now Playing: 24 Hours After German Airbus A320 Plane Crashes in French Alps
Now Playing: Gentle Giants to the Rescue!
Now Playing: Reactions to Angelina Jolie's Latest Surgery
Now Playing: Family Game Night
Now Playing: Happily Ever After
Now Playing: A Unique Twist On A Seafood Staple


text:
VAT Moss ReturnsMarch 27, 2015
The latest update to KashFlow allows you to create your VAT MOSS return for submission to HMRC. Included in this release: VAT MOSS – You can now generate your VAT MOSS return, available from the reports screen. This includes a breakdown report so you can see which invoices are included.…Read more


text:
new Ipe deck problems
I installed an Ironwood Ipe deck last summer. The deck is 16" to 18" above ground on pressure treated Doug Fir with good ventilation. The boards arrived pretty marked up so I sanded (120 grit). Following the conventional advice, I sealed all cut ends with Anchorseal, being careful not to get the wax on the flat surfaces. I sealed the deck surface (all four sides) with Transparent Redwood Penofin as it was one of the top recommendations by the Ironwood folks. Despite my care in sealing the cut ends, the wax appears to have soaked into the wood to the point that there is an inch or more of discoloration at the ends of many of the boards. The wood turned silver during the winter (before it stopped raining) and now it has mildew stains. I'm planning to use dilute Oxi Clean (non-chlorine bleach) to get rid of the mildew, sand again with a coarser sandpaper (80 grit?), and apply more Penofin (I still have three gallons from last summer). I hope that will eliminate or minimize the wax stains. Any other suggestions? A better cleaner than Oxi Clean? Better stain/sealer than Penofin? All advice appreciated.
If I can chime in with some "homeowner-level" advice and just summize what Ive been reading in these forums...
Most of this is according to PressurePro's, well-respected on these forums...
1- Sanding just before sealing/staining isnt recommended because you are bringing out the oils in the IPE and the stain will not penetrate the wood properly.
2- Oxyclean is ok, but has extra ingredients. Use a sodium percarb solution (Wolmans Deck Brite), followed by a oxyalic acid wash (Wolmans Deck and Fence brightener).
3- Alot of stains have mildew issues because of the linseed oils in them. I heard Penofin was a culprit. For that reason, Im switching to Cabots Austrailian Timber Oil (my deck isnt finished yet). Although im sure that will have some mildew issues as well.
Someone else will probably add more comments about needing to strip the deck of the penofin first. That might be some sodium hydroxide stuff....
Again... Im no expert.... (heck, im not even a novice).. but i did see you have posted about this in multiple threads... I would go out and get some kind of sodium percarb. Although the oxyalic I said in the message above might take care of the stains.... Wait for Ken (pressurepros) to wake up and answer this if you want precise instructions....
I am building an ipe deck. The contractors have been good thus far, but have spilled coke and various other drinks today. I tried soap and water on the spots, and no luck.
The deck also has a screened porch. We replaced our roof and where the new porch roof meets the old, there is a big valley that pours water onto the deck. (I am getting gutter estimates as we speak)
To add to my problems, the roof was taken off one day and tar paper was added. The new shingles were going down the next day. Between the old and new roof that first night, we had a huge rainstorm. Water came down onto the deck heavily, (along with tar paper residue)
I now have coke stains and water/tarpaper stains.
The contractors are leaving tomorrow as their job is nearly complete. My plan is to put the recommended oil on the deck to bring out the natural colors (not sure what to use -- any advice would help) - but what can I do, if anything to get rid of the stains prior to putting oil down?
Time is crucial here, so please advise.
From a novice
The problems are all the fault of your contractors, don't let them leave without fixing your issues. Tar is petroleum based and very difficult to remove. Soda is acidic and has dyes which present another set of problems. I have to use stripper to remove tar and even then had to sand to completely get rid of shadows.
Thanks for the reply. I am certainly going to hold them accountable, I am just afraid they only know how to build a deck and not how to care for it... as I have asked them pointed questions regarding maintaining it etc and they just looked puzzled.
Any advice on what I should get them to do?
Should I get them to replace the actual boards that were damaged?
Thanks for the reply. I am certainly going to hold them accountable, I am just afraid they only know how to build a deck and not how to care for it... as I have asked them pointed questions regarding maintaining it etc and they just looked puzzled.
Any advice on what I should get them to do?
Should I get them to replace the actual boards that were damaged?
I have an Ipe deck that I stained days after it was completed. The sun hits it 90% of the day which has caused it to lose its stain two months later. I'm in the process of sanding and prepping for stain and wondered if anyone can suggest a stain? Also, is there something I should pre treat the wood with and something I should use after the stain is applied? Any suggestions would be helpful.
To answer the original poster, don't us a redwood stain on Ipe. They are 2 different animals. Use a stain formulated for hardwoods. I use Austrailian Timber Oil. Penofin also makes a semi-transparent stain for hardwoods. It is very similar to ATO.
6 weeks to weather driftwood grey is very fast.
Most semi-transparent stains do not last more then a year, in any climate. Despite the claims otherwise.
There are no products that will prevent Ipe from silvering on a sunny deck (unless you seal it every 3 months). I use Penofin, and it looks great when I'm done...but it's only temporary.
Built a pergola over the deck...the more shade, the better
It's amazing the problems and frustations folks are having with their Ipe decking. I see a couple of common threads here. Number one is do NOT trust what the "expert" tells you; just read the label on the can and/or go to the manufacturer's website. We have worked with many of the products discussed on this forum and followed the manufacturers' instructions with no problems. Number two is give the product a chance. Many products will require stripping before reapplication. This is a lot of periodic work and seldom good for the plants. Pick a product that does not cause a build up surface film that must be stripped. Penofin has worked very well for us. Just retreat with it when the Ipe starts to turn 'blonde'. It maybe 6 months the first retreat, and then 12 months after that, and then 18 months after that. Give it a chance.
Penofin has good midecides and fungecides to mimimize mold.
Regarding Cabots' Australian Timber Oil (ATO), we have had to strip it off every Ipe deck we have come accross. It gets shinier and more splochy with subsequent coats and looks horrible. The can tells the user it has to be stripped before recoating, but folks seem to ignore that step.
As one that works with these coatings all the time and has for years, I can tell you with certainty that these manufacturers do change the formulas without any notification. Perhaps at one time ATO was the best around. Nowadays I could hardly agree based on our hands on experience.
Please just read the instructions and if you think you know better than the manufacturer, perhaps you should be using some other product.
Ipe and other exotic hardwoods are not maintenance free or even what I would call low maintenance. Heck Pressure Treated Southern Yellow Pine (PTSYP) is less maintenance than Brazilian hardwood.
If folks out there are building Ipe decks because they expect to save maintenance expenses, they better like it dingy and gray.
It's been a while since my original post (I started this thread) so guess I'll follow up. First of all, the Penofin I used was purchased specifically for use on the Ipe so I assume the vendor gave me the right stuff. Redwood was the color, not the intended wood. Anyway, I was so frustrated with the original results I thought I might try letting it turn silver and see how that looked. Silver might be OK but black is not (mildew) so last summer I washed it with OxyClean (yes, I know, not the best cleaner but I had it on hand so thought I'd try it) and a stiff scrub brush. It worked great, removing the mildew and the old Penofin (came off in a goopy mess) by just rinsing with a nozzle on a garden hose after the scrubbing. I let it dry completely for a few days and in the meantime started researching stains (again). After finding countless conflicting opinions I went to Consumer Reports (been a member for over 20 years and have learned to trust their research) and found the Sikkens products. I applied their Cetol SRD 250 (translucent stain made specifically for use in the PRC). I did one thing not in the directions... I applied a very heavy coat and wiped it down with a stain-soaked rag before it dried completely. It's only been five months so it's too soon to tell but so far it looks good. I'll report back in a year or so. As to the Anchorseal wax soaking into the cut ends of the boards, it is still there in some places, but not nearly as noticeable as it was before I cleaned and restained. A couple of the boards did develop cracks on the ends despite the Anchorseal, but most did not. The deck still looks good (great now that it's restained). One thing that's noticeable is that the boards closest to the house, under the eave, were originally darker than the others (more shade) but now that I've cleaned and restined they are lighter color. That's because the stain soaked in more on the more weathered wood.
This summer a carpenter friend and I built a substantial Brazilian Redwood deck.
I learned allot of things and wanted to posts what I learned to this forum but have not had the time.
Regarding CABOTS ATO, there are two formulas with the same names. The 3000 series is good, the 9000 series is bad. (Example 3459 Mahogany Flame is good, 9459 Mahogany Flame is bad.) The 9000 series does not look the same, takes forever to dry, does not repel water, hides grain, Â.. I have run it three people who have experienced this same series 9000 problem, some with restraining there old decks (they had no problems before) or with new decks both on Mahogany and Brazilian redwood. I only stained three boards with the 9000 series and you can still tell them apart especially when it rains.
On end waxing, I discussed with Cabot's and they felt I should be able to use the ATO in place of the wax. I did and seemed to soak in well to the end cuts. Just for a precaution, I also waxed the ends a couple of hours after the ATO dried. This mitigated any end waxing color problems.
we just paid a company--3 weeks ago--a lot of money to clean and seal our ipe flooring. They used cabot oil-based stain. 10 days elapsed between the cleaning process and the staining process because of the rain. Our deck has now turned black--spotty, but black. Is this in fact mold? Can mold spores get on wood that quickly? They say it's not their fault-help.
I have heard that Ipe can be a challenge to work with. I recently cleaned and stained my Ipe deck with EFC-38 followed by Citralic to brighten the wood. I stained it with Wood Tux. I am very pleased with the results so far (my friends are in awe of the Ipe!) It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be to apply. I will keep you posted as to the durability.
We had an ipe deck installed about 6 years ago. Originally the workers used Silkkens stain, but the following year I asked them to use Penofin. It looked great. Last year, less experienced workers did another coat of Penofin and did not apply it correctly. One area was extrememely sticky where it was very hard to even lift your foot off the deck. We power-washed that area and the misc. debris as well as the stain washed away. So I don't know what to do this year, do I have them sand and start from the beginning again? If so, do you stain right after the sanding or wait? So many people have had different experiences, I don't know what is best. Any advice?
Here is a link to a variety of Pergola Plans.
Here is a link that might be useful: pergola plans
Hello All,
I just joined and am not sure if this thread is still active ...
I have an IPE deck that's about 8 years old with no maintenance. It gets a lot of sun and has grayed quite a bit. There's also blackish dirt on it, and some has a greenish hint where it doesn't get as much sun.
My question is: is there a way to clean it that won't compromise an existing stain/sealant/water-resistance?
My professional installer completed an Ipe deck on my San Francisco Bay Area home and finished it with Australian Timber Oil in early August. We have had one light rain and a couple of days of fog. It is rapidly turning black. Draw your own conclusions.
Here is some info we put together about ipe problems you might have and how to solve. Feel free to let me know if you have any questions.
Here is a link that might be useful: solving ipe deck problems


text:
Mens Shirts & Tees
Our selection of mens shirts and tees are chosen especially for travel and adventure. Whether you're out on safari, exploring canyons or enjoying a cultural weekend break, these shirts will look good and keep you comfortable. They're manufactured in a range of high performance fabrics that are lightweight, easy to look after and suit a wide range of climates.
page 1 of 1
Craghoppers NosiLife Cardenas Short Sleeved Shirt
Craghoppers have produced yet another fantastic insect repellent garment that will perform technically in exotic climates but...
Craghoppers NosiLife Short Sleeved Shirt Mens
This short sleeved shirt from Craghoppers is ideal for travel, safari and other exotic adventures. The light rip-stop fabric...
Jack Wolfskin Diamond Bay Mosquito Shirt
An ideal summer travel shirt. From the Scottish Highlands to Egyptian sands the inbuilt insect repellent properties of the...
RRP £49.99 £44.99offer
Lowe Alpine Capricorn S/S Shirt Mens
This stylish short sleeved shirt is a master of all trades, you can wear it on a safari trek and its Desert Weave high-wicking...
RRP £39.99 £31.99offer
Craghoppers NosiLife Long Sleeved Stretch Shirt
Whether you are relaxing in the hotel bar, going out for a romantic evening meal or travelling for business this smart, long...
RRP £59.99 £54.99offer
Craghoppers NosiLife Long Sleeved Shirt Mens
Light and cool the Mens NosiLife Shirt is ideal for safari, sahara or tropical adventures. And if you are heading for mosquito...
Jack Wolfskin Mosquito Safari Shirt
Keep the mosquitos, ticks and midges away with this longsleeve shirt from Jack Wolfskin. The fabric not only has built insect...
Tilley L/S Bush Shirt Mens
Smart - but just as suitable for bushwhacking or everyday wear. Lots of features to appeal to seasoned travellers, not least...
Tilley Outback Vest
Built for maximum performance, Load it up - it's like travelling with a safety deposit box. Twelve pockets in all, with many...
Tilley VOMP
Probably the most methodically designed and carefully constructed vest in the world. Made from Tilley AdventureCloth and...
Craghoppers NosiLife Sherman Gilet
Don't miss the shot of a lifetime because your head is buried in a bag looking for the right lens. Safari vests like this...
Lowe Alpine Furyo T Shirt
Packed with useful technology for travel and adventure, the Furyo t-shirt from Lowe Alpine might feel like a simple cotton...
RRP £24.99 £19.99offer
Rab Gritstone Tee Shirt
This comfortable cotton tee will make you feel good on the inside and out with its organic 'earth friendly' cotton. Equally...
Salomon Stroll Tee Shirt
This technical t-shirt is super lightweight, ideal for warmer climates and high energy activities. Salomon's Actilite...
Berghaus Short Sleeved Tech Tee
The latest version of Berghaus' signature 'T' is lightweight, comfortable and looks great! The fabric is Argentium which has...
Berghaus Corporate Argentium T Shirt
A great looking and functional shirt, the Corporate Tee is ideal as a single layer on a warm day but equally effective as part...
Berghaus Relaxed LS Crewneck Mens
A must-have for your adventuring wardrobe, this long-sleeved Berghaus Relaxed Crewneck top works well on its own on warm days...
RRP £27.99 £24.99offer
Rab Aeon Tee Mens
Weighing in at only 95 grams, the Rab Aeon tee is the perfect baselayer. It is made from a luxurious silkweight fabric that...
page 1 of 1


text:
Real news. Real funny.
Real news. Real funny.
If you can read this, either the style sheet didn't load or you have an older browser that doesn't support style sheets. Try clearing your browser cache and refreshing the page.
• • •
9933 clicks; posted to Main » on 09 Mar 2013 at 7:03 PM (2 years ago) | Favorite | share: more»
Share this link:
Article Comments close
119 Comments (+0 »)
Archived thread
Displayed 119 of 119 comments
This thread is archived, and closed to new comments.
Submit a Link »
In Other Media
Stories from our partner sites:
The 10 Best Male Rappers of All Time
22 Jump Street's Lord and Miller Turn...
NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio and Assorted...
How New York Comedian Michael Che Wil...
More news at Village Voice »
Calvin Harris -- Taylor Swift is Fine...
Rich Homie Quan -- Dramatic Boat Esca...
Jeremy Piven -- Cubs Will Win It All...
Stars and Scars -- You Be the Judge
More news at TMZ »
Bloodborne Review: A Gothic Vision of...
WATCH: 'Spectre' Official Teaser Trailer
NCAA Bracket & Schedule 2015: The Eli...
Louisville vs. Michigan State: Date,...
More news at Heavy »


text:
TO BUY Last time going into March earnings. He was talking about 4 to 5 bucks, I'm glad I did my DD. Made a ton of money shorting before then. Doing the same now. Easy 100% gain to the downside. You heard it hear first. I PREDICT.... 1.10 In 3 + Weeks. Enjoy the ride shorts.
You can make a hundred screen names. Your not accomplishing anything loser
Your the loser who told people to buy in March at 2.50 only for it to go down to 1.17...... Looks like DEJA VU........ Except this time down to .30 cents fair market value.


text:
Sports CarsTalk0
10,551pages on
this wiki
this wiki
Category page
Sports Cars in the Grand Theft Auto Series. Sports Cars have good performance, and are generally cheaper than Super Cars, but are better than regular road cars. For GTA V Vehicle Class Sports, see Sports Vehicle Class.
Pages in category "Sports Cars"
" The Jefferson is a vehicle in Grand Theft Auto 2 that can only be found in the Industrial...
Media in category "Sports Cars"
Posted in: Stinger
Posted in: Vehicles in GTA 1
Posted in: Pfister
Posted in: Super GT
Posted in: Vehicles in GTA London 1961
Posted in: Vehicles in GTA London 1961
Posted in: Turismo
Posted in: Turismo-GTACW.png
Posted in: V8Ghost-GTALCS-rear.jpg
Posted in: V8Ghost-GTALCS-front.jpg
Posted in: Vehicles in GTA 2
Posted in: Yakuza
Posted in: Yakuza


text:
The Top 10 In Action Sports
01Welcome to Qasr Al-Farid: The Rock With A Door That Will Rock Your World
0218 Things That Will Give Anyone Who Did Duke Of Edinburgh A Serious Flashback
0316 Things That Will Give 90s Skater Kids A Serious Flashback
04This 10 Year Old Kid Just Nailed A Dub Cork 1080... On His Second Attempt
05The 10 Most Spectacular Road Trips on Earth
06Water Slides, Plane Wings and Danny MacAskill: This is Road Cycling Like Never Before...
0724 Reasons Why Snowboarding Was Better In The Early Noughties
08Could Scientists Be About to Build a Terminator? They're Closer Than You Think…
09Win a Holiday for 2 in Chamonix with Three #holidayspam
1017 Holiday Beer Photos That Every Skier Takes to Make Their Friends Jealous
Seb Toots Check out the course at US Open 2013
A Snowboarding video by Mpora - 4,049 views
Seb Toots Checking out the course in Vail at US Open 2013. Filmed with the Red Scarlet and 5D Mark 3 Filmed and Edited by Mathieu Cowan. Instagram/Twitter: @sebtoots @sunsetfilms
What Do You Think?
Get the best in action sports straight to your inbox


text:
Hello every body! I am a new member here! There are some photos taken in TDS for all of you!
Hope you like the pictures!
Hello every body! I am a new member here! There are some photos taken in TDS for all of you!
Hope you like the pictures!
Welcome to Micechat
HI Keithlee, and welcome to our happy little family! Thanks for sharing your TDS. There is always room for more TDS photos here... Lovely place to go visit.
Thank you for the beautiful pictures. They sure brought back many memories.
~ Tokyo DisneySeas Arabian Coast at nighttime ~
Welcome to MiceChat! Always love to see pics of TDS. Thanks.
Hello everyone!
Welcome, your photos are very nice, thanks for sharing!
A little piece of heaven
Wow thanks for posting the pics
Thank you all!!!!!!!I hope hkdl will achive success in the future as TDL,TDS!
I'm certain Hong Kong Disneyland will one day recieve the same suscess its cousins in Tokyo currently do. Its A Small World next year will give it a very nice boost in attendance, as will all the new events that the park seems to be trying more and more. I will be in Hong Kong myself next year in May and look forward to seeing the progress this park is making.
It never ceases to amaze me how much care and detail goes into this park.
Thanks for the photos and welcome too MiceChat Keith!
1st Amendment-Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
I forgot to put this in my first post but great pictures too


text:
We only ordered the burger with fries, and my burger was medium well, and it was perfect. For extra flavor I added the Chimichurri sauce.
Location: The Palms Beach Hotel & Spa Grand Avenues – The Avenues
We only ordered the burger with fries, and my burger was medium well, and it was perfect. For extra flavor I added the Chimichurri sauce.
Location: The Palms Beach Hotel & Spa Grand Avenues – The Avenues
One of the Egyptian restaurants in Kuwait, which serve different type of Egyptian cuisine. The food in average level, though my cousin loved the food more than I did.
Tel: 22264525
Location: Green Island, Gulf Street
Staffed Sausage (2.950 K.D), the skin was rubbery, but the stuffing was very tasty.
Fried Eggplant (1.250 K.D), Very Tasty.
Bessara (1.250 K.D), didn't like it.
Molokhia Plain (1.500 K.D), was good.
Fettah (4.950 K.D), tasty.
Koshari (1.950 K.D), good.
Plus dessert and drinks total: 16.500 K.D
A Multi brand accessories shop located in Al-Salhiya complex, it has beautiful pieces with reasonable prices for gifts.
Tel: 22996575
Location: Salhia, Gate 5 M2 Debenhams the Avenues
I didn't get the chance to take pictures, but the place is pretty. The Staff are very friendly and quite.
What I mostly liked was the seating area, which gives each client a privacy space, plus watching the window instead of watching each other or the door.
I tried two type of treatments, so did my cousin, and all was good. And the cost for both my hand and feet 23.000 K.D
Opining Hours: 10AM – 10PM
Location: Salhiya Plaza | Al Noor Building | M Floor
It was a weekend trip with the Kuwait Airways new Airplane, and the trip was smooth with small turbulence.
We stayed at The Ritz Carlton, which was renewed recently, and I have some notes on it.
We requested sea view room and they informed us it's on availability, but when we reached the hotel they told us its extra charge and not available, which they should say when we did the reservation in the first place.
And when we requested the late checkout, they said it's not possible, and then they agreed as and say it's a favor.
Plus whenever I order milk with teabag on the side they never charged me for the teabag; only with this hotel we've been charged for it. As for the staff and reception they were welcoming and respectful and served us very well.
Indian cuisine located in the hotel, which we had our dinner in on the first day.
Everything was perfect, beginning from the service ending with the food.
New Local restaurant serve different type of local dish and open at 6am. The Chef is young Bahraini who we meet while our visit.
Tel: 97339699962
Location: Jannusan, Bahrain.
I just love this place and it wasn't my first visit, and I make the reservation on phone one week prior to my visit.
Tel: 17305031
Location: locates opposite Saar Cinema
We went for dinner next day and it was very crowded and waited almost one hour to be seated.
Tel: 17715370 – 17003005
Location: Al-Seef Bahrain
Home Furnishings and Decorations Shop, which is a must visited while you are in Bahrain.
Located in Barbar Village, Jawad Dome Mall
My Mother and Grandmother tailor, For women Abaya "عباية"
Location: Al-Muharraq
New restaurant with Kuwaiti theme. I didn't get the chance to try it because I was full, do only tried the Zaatar with Karak, which both were good.
Tel: 77575757
Location: Aali,Riyadat Mall
Working hrs 9am -11pm
Very beautiful and talented young lady transferred her painting to accessories, with reasonable prices.
Location: Riyadat Mall, Ali area