I have always been a huge fan of trains and fascinated by the high speed options now in existence across the globe. The long term high speed rail operators of the world: France’s SNCF and Japan’s National Railways have enjoyed an excellent safety record.For example the JNR Shinkansen service has had no fatalities caused by derailments or collisions in its almost fifty years of service whilst carrying seven billion passengers. The French TGV has not recorded a single fatality due to accident while running at high speed over the last 32 years. The rail accident that is the…
787 fire update- is the plane troubled?
The jury seems divided between those who see Boeing’s 787 as a plane experiencing teething problems or an aircraft that is “doomed”. The media headlines have described the plane as “plagued”, and even “troubled”. This week, US aviation regulator, The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) published an airworthiness directive advising all carriers to remove Honeywell emergency locator transmitters (ELT) from their 787s. Last week, the FAA suggested airlines should inspect the units on their 787s for pinched wires in the casing and/or evidence of heat or moisture. United Airlines is the only US carrier currently flying…
Another Stunt: Ryanair v Aer Lingus -Episode 586!
The soap opera that is the Irish airline war continues… On one side is the lean mean low cost carrier Ryanair that has grown since 1991 to be Europe’s biggest low cost airline. Last year it carried more passenger’s than Air France-KLM on its 300 planes flying to 178 destinations in 30 countries. Their plane pictured above right has an Irish harp on the tail. On the other is the 25 per cent Irish government owned Aer Lingus, the country’s flag carrier which has shrunk services, changed its European model to “low cost”, dropped Business…
Spanish Train Crash Information Contacts
Thinking of all those affectd by the High Speed Train crash in Spain.
Hilarious (and appalling) translator
A CEO has to find someone at the last minute who knows how to speak seven different languages. The result is very funny when Catherine Tate arrives. Ever had a terrible translation experience? Related Posts Funny or Racist? TV reveals wrong Pilot names. Do I look Pregnant in this? Stop the Plane, I wanna get off
Car Rental Clubs
I had a last minute flight to Auckland, New Zealand which arrived at close to midnight. On arrival at the airport, I headed to the Car Rental counters to find every car in Auckland was already out on loan. I explained I was not thrilled especially as I was a member of the Car Rental Company’s Club. As soon as I said this, the woman behind the counter looked more closely at my booking, confirmed my membership and moments later I was driving out of the airport in a shiny new hire car. Being a member…
Ethiopian Fire – Battery Caused?
On July 12 a parked Ethiopian Airlines’ 787 was attended by several emergehcy vehicles at London Heathrow when a fire broke out. The blaze caused extensive damage to the rear of the plane’s fuselage. No one was aboard the plane and there were no injuries. Investigators have found that the fire coincided with the emergency locator transmitter, which is powered by a lithium-manganese dioxide battery. This system operates independently of the plane’s power system. It is also different to the system on the plane that caught fire in Boston earlier this year. The British investigators…
Ethiopian expands through Malawi
Some good news from Ethiopian after their 787 fire. Ethiopian Airlines is determined to stake its claim as Africa’s most significant airline. It announced last week that it has finalised a 49 percent equity shareholding deal in the new Malawian Airlines. 20 percent will be held by the Malawian Government and 31 percent by Malawian private investors. The Republic of Malawi (known as Nyasaland until 1963) is bordered by Zambia to the northwest, Tanzania to the northeast, and Mozambique on its east, south and west. The country is separated from Tanzania and Mozambique by Lake Malawai. The capital is…
Funny or Racist? TV reveals wrong Pilot names.
An anchor for Bay Area KTVU-TV read some supposed names of Pilots involved in the Asiana crash landing at San Francisco on July 7th. The report was accompanied by a slide with the phony names listed next to a photo of the burnt plane. The four names were claimed to be: Captain Sum Ting Wong (something wrong) Wi Tu Lo (We too low Ho Lee Fuk (Holy F***) Ban Ding Ow The station after a short break corrected the “mistake” but by then the Broadcast had spread across the Internet. Now millions of viewers have…
Self serve at home bag tags
In the “old days”, check in would consist of issuing of a Boarding Pass and Luggage Tags. Increasingly boarding passes are printed at home or available on a mobile phone. Air New Zealand have allowed passengers to print their bag tags while checkig in. Qantas do the same. Now Spanish airline Iberia lets customers print their own baggage tags at home. This occurs when checking-in online at iberia.com . Using a single sheet of A4 paper for each tag, you fold it into quarters and place it in a reusable plastic envelopes. These envelopes are…
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