A Malaysian Airlines 'plane has been shot out of the sky over Ukraine!

On Thursday evening we had the shocking news that a Malaysian Airlines Boeing 777, carrying 298 passengers and crew had crashed over the Donetsk area of eastern Ukraine. It was suggested that the aircraft had in fact been shot out of the sky, possibly either by a ground-to-air missile or by a jet fighter and today Barack Obama, President of the United States, announced that in all probability it was the result of the former, which he suggested originated in the pro-Russian rebel held eastern part of Ukraine. However, it appears that the Russian Government (or those perhaps acting on its behalf) have taken issue with certain aspects of how this outrage is being reported, by 'editing' the dedicated Wikipedia page for this incident, according to an article in the Telegraph. It may therefore be that establishing a widely-accepted analysis of what occurred will be very political as well as technical. The fact, however, that a British journalist working for the Russian government-funded RT television channel decided today to resign from her job because of what she alleges is political manipulation in the way this story is being reported is perhaps an indication that the Russian government has its "dirty hands" (e&oe) all over this! This Guardian report indicates that Ukraine rebel forces, thought to be responsible for this atrocity, are hastily covering up traces of their actions, whilst denying international access to key evidence which might establish the truth.

The Malaysian Airlines flight (MH17) was on a regular route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur; for around 100 of those passengers this was apparently to be merely a transit point for an onward flight to Australia where they were scheduled to attend an AIDS conference. Latest information is that around 200 of the passengers were of Dutch nationality, with nine or ten other nationalities represented, including Australian, British, Canadian and American. Apparently there were 10 British nationals aboard, according to the latest information I have seen.

It may be recalled that another Malaysian Airlines flight (MH370), flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing (edited on Monday 11th August 2014 - I had originally and erroneously mentioned this was a flight originating in Bangkok, I've no idea why I made this elementary mistake), disappeared some months ago, so far without trace, so the reason for its disappearance remains a mystery. This later incident is quite different in nature, but it seems that this may nevertheless be factored into potential future passengers' willingness to fly with this airline, to the extent that it is being suggested that it may not survive, given that it has apparently been loss-making for some years; many national or quasi-national airlines are loss-making, so Malaysian Airlines is not particularly unusual in this respect, but when potential customers begin to lose confidence in their likelihood of surviving a flight with it, the game is just perhaps up! Harsh undoubtedly, but understandable.

Finally, and distressingly (at a personal level), I had an exchange yesterday with a regular Twitter correspondent based locally (in Nairn) in the course of which he seemed to assume automatically that this whole tragedy was in fact a plot by the US and it was somehow responsible for it - a more deluded load of tosh I find it difficult to imagine! You can examine this whole exchange in my Twitter timeline if you have the inclination and stomach for it. I am under no illusions about the faults of US (specially under the last if not the current) administrations, but even the baleful Presidency of former President G W Bush had slightly more credibility than that of former KGB operative and current Russian President Vladimir Putin; I do occasionally watch the RT television 'propaganda' channel, but apart from sometimes interesting nature programmes, I place little credence in anything I see there. But those of a left-wing persuasion in the UK and US and some other western countries seem to be unusually gullible when it comes to the propaganda pumped out by the gangster regime which governs Russia. The resignation today of a British journalist at that channel is not the first time a western journalist working for it has found it impossible to continue to acquiesce in the lying propaganda it specialises in; only a few months ago another western journalist (of US origin on that occasion) reached her limit and decided she could no longer work for this outfit. Useful idiots have been a regular feature of those reporting or working for the former USSR and now the Russian Federation over many decades - it may not be the total "evil empire" alluded to by former US Presdient Ronald Reagan in a whimsical not-for-broadcast aside which was perhaps inadvertently spoken into a live microphone, but I am nevertheless amazed and appalled at the credulity of some left-leaning westerners who seem prepared to place credence in the most absurd notions concocted by the USSR/Russian propaganda machine, specially when it gives an opportunity to attribute the most base motives to their own [western] governments - I am not saying that western governments don't indulge in their own misinformation propaganda of course, I'm sure they do this regularly when it suits them, but is it too much to expect these left-wing stooges to apply a bit of critical analysis to the propaganda regularly pumped out by RT? I'm torn between disgust, despair and incredulity at the credulity of some of these people!

Now THAT'S a model aeroplane!

Incredible footage of a model jet aeroplane being prepared for take-off, then flying off around for a lengthy flight before being brought back in to land safely:

"Crazy pilot" forced out of cockpit by co-pilot

No, it would appear this is NOT an early "April Fools" day jest, but a deadly-serious and no doubt (for those involved or who know the stricken pilot) a very troubling event:



According to The Telegraph: "Passengers on-board a US flight from New York to Las Vegas are forced to subdue the plane's captain after he suffered a "meltdown" and began shouting about a "bomb"."
- a most alarming event and illustrative perhaps of the fact that human mental stability can be somewhat fragile. There but for the grace of ...

"The Tories open fire on Unite"

Excellent article in today's Coffee House from The Spectator, exposing the malign influence of Charlie Whelan's (*) Unite union on Labour and on national politics, indeed on the government of this country - hell-bent on wrecking havoc on BA - although it's just possible that 'ditherer Brown' has been panicked into begging his Unite-paymasters into some kind of climb-down, or at least a slightly more reasonable posture.

(*) As an aside for any Nairn readers, the editor of the Spectator, Fraser Nelson, is a worthy product of Nairn; Charlie Whelan apparently lives in the area, and was trumpeted recently by Nairn's bottom-feeding 'blogger-in-chief' for having walked on Nairn beach with his dog - big deal! Charlie Whelan walking on anyone's beach is not, in my humble opinion, anything to be proud of or to trumpet loudly. It's all a question of priorities and, dare I say it, judgement in what what one chooses to blog about; I've been discreet about my views on this matter (the lack of judgement of Nairn's 'blogger-in-chief') until now, and there are a number of documented examples that spring to mind, but I have grown tired of my reticence - that is now over!

The lovely and elegant new 787 jetliner from Boeing takes to the air

I saw the report of the new Boeing 787 'Dreamliner' taking its maiden-flight a few days ago, but thanks to a typically-brief mention in InstaPundit I came across this video-clip of the event:



through the NYCAviation and PopularMechanics blogs. You can see some of the interior layouts and enhancements that Boeing offers clients here.

As with the recently-launched and much larger Airbus A380, the 'Dreamliner' made its maiden-flight considerably later than its original target-date, but its revolutionary composite material composition and light-weight promises fuel savings of roughly 20 per cent over comparable existing aircraft apparently. It'll no doubt be a few years before significant numbers of this aircraft start rolling off the production line, but with a record 600 pre-launch orders this is likely to be a commercially-successful venture for Boeing, provided there are no further 'glitches' in its -roll-out schedule.

I for one look forward one day to flying in this elegant new aircraft!

Inverness-Dusseldorf flights summer 2009

(Note: this post has been heavily-amended since I first wrote it)

I had missed the announcement last October that there are to be direct flights between Inverness and Dusseldorf weekly on Saturdays, operated by Lufthansa, during the summer months (July-September) of 2009; however, I did spot this today - workshops designed to help local businesses in the north of Scotland make use of the new route to Europe's wealthiest country; businesses need all the help they can get even at the best of times, but during the current recession/depression it may well be vital.

As for passenger traffic, I did a few sample journeys on the Lufthansa website and whilst the costs are quite high (about GBP250- to GBP270- depending on date, for a return journey), it involves a journey time of less than two hours and the flight times seem pretty convenient (mid-morning/early-afternoon). With luck these summer flights might help to bring in additional tourists from Germany and other nearby areas (in the Netherlands or Belgium most likely) to the north of Scotland and there will undoubtedly be those from here who could make use of this route, too, for trips to that part of Europe.

Even using Ryanair or easyJet to fly at that time of year (from Inverness via Luton or East Midlands) the costs would probably not be very much lower and the journey times would certainly be longer. NB/ However, closer study of these two websites shows their flights are completely impractical - where they exist - because either one would have to spend a night in transit, or get oneself to a UK airport not served from Inverness, eg. London Stansted.

PS/ I've just been checking the flybe website and indirect flights (via various places such as Manchester, Birmingham and Southampton) are available between Inverness and Dusseldorf for less than GBP100- in June this year; generally much longer journeys times, of course, than for a direct flight and naturally you have to contend with flybe's reliability record when considering the wisdom of some of the connecting flights.

Spain mourns victims of the aircrash at Barajas Madrid airport

Madrid yesterday declared three days of mourning in memory of the 153 killed in the Spanair air disaster at Barajas Airport Madrid. Madrid Council also observed five minutes of silence in the Plaza de Cibeles yesterday.

So far 49 of the 153 victims of the crash have been identified by forensics teams and it is hoped to identify the remainder over the course of the next few days. It is hoped to hold an official funeral sometime next week for all the victims, once all or most of them have been identified.

I offer my deepest condolences to the families and friends of all those who perished in this disaster. I hope too that at least some of the few who survived the crash will be able to recover from their injuries, some of which I understand to have been extremely severe.

It's the only way to fly ...

... and pack your lead-lined shorts!



Read more here.