Week 4 - Transasia airway plane crash Penghu

Transasia airway plane crash Penghu

                    Forty-eight people are dead and 10 injured after their plane crashed while trying to land at a Taiwanese airport on Wednesday evening, hours after typhoon Matmo battered the region.

                   The transport minister Yeh Kuang-shih said TransAsia Airways flight GE222 had been attempting an emergency landing, which the airline said was necessary because of bad weather. The Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) said conditions on Penghu, an island between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan, had been suitable for incoming flights.

                   The crash left wreckage tangled in the remains of a badly damaged building. The flight had taken off from Kaohsiung, in the south of Taiwan, bound for Penghu's Magong airport.

                   Two people aboard the plane were French citizens and the rest Taiwanese, said the transport minister, Yeh Kuang-shih. The plane had been carrying 58 passengers and crew.

                   The Taiwanese president, Ma Ying-jeou, said via a spokesman that it was "a very sad day in the history of Taiwanese aviation".

                   Jean Shen, director general of the CAA, said Magong air traffic controllers had lost contact with the flight during its go-around, when it was around 300 feet above the ground. She added that two flights had arrived safely just before GE222.

                   Taiwan's Central News Agency (CNA) reported that the pilot had been asked to wait until 7.06pm before being allowed to make his first attempt at landing. It is not clear what caused the delay or why his initial attempt failed.

                   The twin engine turboprop ATR-72 was due to take off at 4pm and arrive at Magong at 4.35pm, but did not leave Kaohsiung until 5.45pm, according to CNA. It was another hour and 20 minutes before it made its initial landing attempt.

                   The country's Aviation Safety Council called an emergency meeting to look into the cause of the accident. Its head, Wang Hsing-chung, told CNA it was unclear whether bad weather or human error was to blame.

                    In its statement TransAsia Airways said it was providing assistance to passengers and their families. It had also begun assisting the CAA and ASC investigation.

                    It added that the plane had been in use for 13 years. It was in the hands of pilot Lee Yi-liang, who had 22 years of experience and almost 23,000 flying hours on his record, and co-pilot Chiang Kuan-hsing, who had two and a half years of flying experience and just under 2,400 hours. The flight had 54 passengers and four crew on board.

                   According to the Flightradar24 website TransAsia Airways had cancelled almost all of its flights on Wednesday, presumably because of the bad weather.

                  The defence department dispatched 200 troops to the scene to assist, Taiwan's Now News reported.

                  Kaohsiung municipal government told Now News it had been in touch with TransAsia and requested the detailed list of passengers and crew members. A team from the CAA, aviation experts and relatives of the victims are due to fly to Magong on Thursday.

                  Taiwan's weather agency said typhoon Matmo had brought gusts of up to 67mph (108km/h) as it blew through on Wednesday, knocking out power to more than 30,000 homes, before moving towards south-east China. Forecasters had warned heavy rains would continue into the evening.

                  On the mainland, Fujian province officials said they had evacuated 300,000 people, but the typhoon weakened to a tropical storm as it reached the area.

                  In 2000, 83 of the 179 on board a Singapore Airlines flight died when it attempted to take off from the wrong runway at Taipei's Chiang Kai-shek international airport as a typhoon approached.

                  In 1998, a China Airlines jet a China Airlines jet from Bali failed in a first attempt to land at Taipei because of rain and fog, then stalled during the go-round and crashed into houses. All 196 on board and seven people on the ground died.

                  In 2002 all 225 people on board a China Airlines flight died when it crashed en route from Taipei to Hong Kong in good weather. The wreckage was found 45km off Penghu and investigators said the plane had broken up in mid-air.

Source : http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/23/taiwan-transasia-airways-plane-crash-penghu-island-typhoon-matmo

Where : Penghu's Magong airport

When :Thursday 24 July 2014.

Who : Forty-eight people are dead and 10 injured.

What : TransAsia Airways flight GE222 had been attempting an emergency landing, which the airline said was necessary because of bad weather.

Why : According to the Flightradar24 website TransAsia Airways had cancelled almost all of its flights on Wednesday, presumably because of the bad weather.

How :Kaohsiung municipal government told Now News it had been in touch with TransAsia and requested the detailed list of passengers and crew members. A team from the CAA, aviation experts and relatives of the victims are due to fly to Magong on Thursday.

Week 3 - Malaysia Airlines MH317 missing event

          Malaysian Airlines sure is in trouble; a few months back the flight MH370 mysteriously disappeared with 239 passengers onboard and now another of its flight MH 17 has crashed. We have compiled a list of information that we know and don’t about this mishap.

1. Flight Details

          The Malaysian Airlines Plane was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur and was named MH 17.

2. The Plane

         The plane in question was Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777—200ER. The plane had taken off from Amsterdam at 12:15 pm local time and was scheduled to land at Kuala Lumpur International Airport at 6:10 am local time.

3. Passengers

           The flight had a total of 280 passengers and 15 crew members, all of who have passed away. 154 Passengers were Dutch citizens according to Huib Gorter who is the senior Vice President of Malaysian Airlines. There were a total of 43 Malaysians (including the crew members), 27 Australians, 12 Indonesians, 6 from UK, 4 Germans, 4 Belgians, 3 from Philippines and 1 Canadian. 47 Dead passengers are yet to be identified. Most of these passengers were headed to attend the 20^th International AIDS Conference in Melbourne.

4. Last Contact

          According to the Malaysian Airlines, the Ukrainian Air Traffic Control lost contact with the Flight MH17 at 1415 GMT at 30km from Tamak waypoint, almost 50 kilometers away from the Russia-Ukraine border.

5. The Crash

         As reported by locals; the plan crashed near the town of Grabovo with the debris spreading out for kilometers.

6. Cause

         There are different statements with Ukrainian officials pointing towards Russia and Russian officials pointing towards Ukrainian officials for shooting down the plane. Apparently, the plane was shot down with a missile. There are audios and videos surfacing of pro-Russian militants talking about taking down a plane. However, no confirmation has been given yet nor has anyone accepted the responsibility for it.

7. Possible Weapon Used

         Since this was a high altitude flight there was some advanced weaponry used of course. According to a statement by US Embassy, Russian made SA-17 Grizzly or BUK-M2 could have been able to take down the plane. However, this is still only a speculation.

8. Reaction of Governments

         There is still no clear indication how will the governments react to this act of mass murder. However, most of the countries have stepped forward with their deepest condolences. European Union has demanded immediate and thorough investigation. Malaysian Prime Minister said; ‘We must, and we will, find out precisely what happened to this flight. No stone will be left unturned. If it transpires that the plane was indeed shot down, we insist that the perpetrators must swiftly be brought to justice.’ Ukraine’s President office said; ‘President Petro Poroshenko expresses the deepest and the most sincere condolences to families and friends of those who died in this terrible tragedy.’ Russia says that Vladimir Putin, President Russia, has requested Malaysia Prime Minister to ‘to convey his deepest sympathy and support” to the families of those aboard the Malaysia Airlines jet.’ Obama said; ‘Crash looks like it may be a terrible tragedy’ and offered his prayers to the families of the victims, ‘wherever they call home.’

9. International Aviation

        International Aviation has closed down the airspace at the eastern Ukraine with questions popping up that why wasn’t it done before? Although this airspace was prone to threats the possible reason why this route was chosen was to save fuel perhaps.

10. Strange Coincidence

        Here’s a strange coincidence 9M-MRD made its first flight on 17^th July 1997. 9M-MRD crashed on 17 July 2014 when flying as MH17 exactly 17 years after first flight.



Source :  http://wonderfulengineering.com/10-important-things-we-know-and-dont-know-about-mh-17-crash/



Where : The plan crashed near the town of Grabovo with the debris spreading out for kilometers.

When :Crashed on 17 July 201.

Who : A total of 280 passengers and 15 crew members.

What : The Malaysian Airlines Plane was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur and was named MH 17

Why : According to a statement by US Embassy, Russian made SA-17 Grizzly or BUK-M2 could have been able to take down the plane. However, this is still only a speculation.

How : More and more people afraid of taking planes now....

Week 2 - Who Bring Laughter are in Pain - In Memoriam: Mr. Robin McLaurin Williams

                   On July 21st, 1951, a talent was born in Chicago, IL, a talent who would one day emerge as a comedic giant. A man who would one day bring laughter to millions around the world, or to just a handful of people by just entering a room. This man, who became part of the entertainment fabric of America, and later to become regarded as Hollywood Royalty, would become known by many names characterized by the plethora of his memorable silver screen and stage performances.

                   Mr. Williams works will live on in infamy, as those who are regarded as Hollywood Legends works often do. Nonetheless, the incredible sadness felt throughout the world today at his passing, from the immediate pain reflected by his lovely wife, Susan Schneider, the incredible sense of loss and sadness most assuredly felt by his children and immediate family, to those who worked with Robin, and to those of us who admired the man and his works over several decades, it just doesn’t seem to make any sense.

                   Now, there will be the usual panels of talking heads that debate the realness of this disease called depression. There will be those that want to dig into “what really happened” to cause Mr. Williams to presumably end his own life. There will be those that question where were his family and friends and why was he not entered into a facility that could have treated this silent assassin? There will be those that attempt to question all aspects of his life, from his relationship with his wife and children, to his financial health and well-being, all in the sake of ratings. To all of them I would say, whatever you do, whatever you think you have to say, irrespective of how much of an expert you feel you may be, or how intelligent you feel you are, let this man finally rest in peace, and let his family and friends have whatever time is needed to mourn the tragic loss of this man who brought such joy and laughter to the world.

                    To Mr. Williams, while your works will live on, the memory of the man that you were, through all your personal struggles, and through your triumphant victory’s over those struggles, know that we, your admiring fans, love the way you loved your craft, and that the example of your works and influence on our culture is reflected by the millions of people around the world who mourn your loss.

source: http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-1161359

Lead :  Robin McLaurin Williams dead in his home on August 11, 2014.   He had acted many kinds of movies during his lifetime, but he always lived in depression. Although he leaved us, but we’ll never say goodbye to you Robin, but for now, we’ll just say, “Good Night, and Rest in Peace”  He is a excellent comedian forever !

When: On August 11, 2014, at approximately 11:55 am.

Where: He was found dead in his California home.

Who: Robin  Mclaurin  Williams.

What: he Sheriff’s Office Coroner Division suspects the death to be a suicide due to asphyxia.

Why: He has been battling severe depression of late. This is a tragic and sudden loss.

How: We lost a famous actor in the blockbuster