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The weird, the wonderful, and the wicked

Discussion in 'The Ten Mile High Club' started by KCook, Feb 22, 2013.

  1. Jet News

    Jet News JF News Editor Staff Member

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  2. Jet News

    Jet News JF News Editor Staff Member

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    Tropical Storm Dorian has formed out in the far Eastern Atlantic...this formed from a particular aggressive Tropical Wave that moved off the West African coast about 2 days ago..well this is it now at the moment a 50mph Tropical Storm. Dorian...is moving West North West near 21mph. Pressure has dropped to 1002 indicating strengthening and tightening of the center of the system. You guys in Florida may want to watch this one.
  3. Jet News

    Jet News JF News Editor Staff Member

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    A billionaire Saudi prince was ordered by a British court on Wednesday to pay a USD$10 million commission on the sale of his private jet to Libya's Muammar Gaddafi, in a humiliating legal defeat for one of the world's richest men. Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, a nephew of King Abdullah, had spent two days defending himself in the witness box in a rare public grilling of a senior Saudi royal. Judge Peter Smith rejected the prince's evidence on all key points in the dispute, describing it in his written ruling as "confusing", "unreliable", "hopeless" and "pathetic".

    The prince was being sued by Daad Sharab, a Jordanian businesswoman with close ties to Gaddafi, who brokered the sale of the prince's jet to the Libyan leader between 2002 and 2006. The prince, who is worth between USD$20 billion and USD$30 billion, said he would appeal against the order to pay Sharab USD$10 million. The jet at the heart of the dispute has a history as colourful as its customised interior, which boasted a Jacuzzi, a king-size bed and silver-coloured leather sofas. The ruling said it was sold to Prince Alwaleed in 2000 for USD$95 million by the Sultan of Brunei as part of a fire sale of assets acquired by his brother with misappropriated funds. The Saudi royal then sold it onto Gaddafi for USD$120 million. "Dealing with the likes of Colonel Gaddafi was a Byzantine and tortuous affair... The ability of Mrs Sharab to get to Colonel Gaddafi was clearly a very valued asset," Smith wrote.

    Gaddafi sent the plane to pick up Lockerbie bomber Abdel Basset al-Megrahi when he was freed from a Scottish jail in 2009. It was shown off as a trophy by rebels who toppled and killed Gaddafi in 2011 and posed for the press on the plush sofas. The prince denied agreeing to pay Sharab USD$10 million for her role in the sale. He accused her of stabbing him in the back by siding with the Libyans during the protracted sale process and said that was why in the end she was paid nothing.

    "PLAINLY RIDICULOUS"

    "At the end of the day I simply found his evidence confusing and too unreliable and Mrs Sharab's was more credible on any dispute of fact between them," the judge wrote. He said the prince had "made up" evidence as he went along when it was clear his memory of some of the details was poor. "His attempts to bolster that defect in the witness box were frankly pathetic," the judge wrote.

    He refused permission to appeal, but a spokesman for the prince said he would seek permission from the Court of Appeal. "Prince Alwaleed believes today's ruling is wrong and is not an accurate analysis of all of the evidence," he said. In her own statement, Sharab urged the prince to heed the ruling and pay her the USD$10 million without delay. The prince is number 26 on the Forbes global ranking of billionaires. The US magazine estimates his fortune at USD$20 billion while he says the figure is closer to USD$30 billion.

    Through his Kingdom Holding Company, the prince owns large stakes in Citigroup, News Corporation and Apple, among other companies. He is also the owner or part owner of luxury hotels including the Plaza in New York, the Savoy in London and the George V in Paris. The prince had told the court he had direct access to Gaddafi and did not need Sharab to seal the Airbus deal, but judge Smith wrote that was "plainly ridiculous" on the evidence. "It must have been very demeaning for the prince to realise that despite all his wealth and power he could not produce a result with Colonel Gaddafi," the judge wrote. "The reason for that is plain: Colonel Gaddafi was equally strong-willed."

    The judge also noted that the prince had asserted in the witness box that he did not lie, yet the evidence showed that was not the case. The judge said he had taken this into account in assessing the prince's reliability as a witness. He pointed to a 2003 letter, signed by the prince, trying to persuade Gaddafi to buy the aircraft for USD$135 million. The letter said that represented the price paid by the prince to the Sultan of Brunei to acquire it, plus the cost of modifications. The prince admitted in cross-examination the actual price had been USD$95 million and he had made no modifications, but denied lying. "You call it a lie, I call it a tactic," he said.

    (Reuters)
  4. Jet News

    Jet News JF News Editor Staff Member

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  5. Jet News

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  6. Fishtigua

    Fishtigua New Member

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  7. Jet News

    Jet News JF News Editor Staff Member

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    Woah......
  8. Jet News

    Jet News JF News Editor Staff Member

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    An investigation has begun after a teenager survived a 45-minute flight to Lagos hiding in a plane's undercarriage. The Arik Air flight departing from Benin City Airport reached an altitude of 21,000 feet on its way to the Nigerian city on Saturday. After landing, the stowaway was noticed surfacing from a wheel cavity. Police later arrested and questioned him.
  9. Jet News

    Jet News JF News Editor Staff Member

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  10. Jet News

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  11. Jet News

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    French Airline Union Defends Jailed Falcon 50 Pilots

    A few months ago...the French union of airline pilots, SNPL France ALPA, defended two pilots who were in the cockpit of a Falcon 50 involved in a major drug bust in the Dominican Republic. Bruno Odos and Pascal Fauret, jailed in Higüey for 77 days and counting, are “collateral damage,” the union said in a statement released. The country, as an ICAO member, was responsible for security checks on the luggage that turned out to contain 1,500 pounds of cocaine, the pilot union said.
  12. Jet News

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    Salt Lake City Airport intercepts 30th gun...

    This airport is now officially the worst airport in america, supposedly, for illegal firearms carried by passengers. On Tuesday, the latest gun, a 3.8-caliber Smith & Wesson Bodyguard pistol, was discovered in a passenger's carry-on bag en route to Las Vegas, TSA spokeswoman Lorie Dankers said in a tweet. The weapon was spotted at a screening checkpoint, and was loaded with eight rounds, Dankers added. The firearm is the same as the previous one that TSA agents discovered at the Utah-based airport on Monday. A woman, who had been heading to San Diego, was promptly arrested after this year's penultimate weapon was found in her handbag.
  13. Jet News

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    With US military spending in decline, Boeing and Airbus investors have been counting on record commercial aircraft sales to keep profits rising. Now some industry experts are voicing concern that airliner sales are at risk as economic conditions shift and smaller airlines that placed big orders take on larger rivals. High fuel prices have spurred massive orders for new fuel-efficient planes. An era of low interest rates and export credits have made the new jets unusually affordable. Airbus and Boeing have nearly 10,000 orders - about seven years of production - the biggest backlog ever, and are building jets at historically high rates.

    Boeing is on track to produce up to 645 jets this year, more than at any time in its history. Airbus delivered 295 jets in the first half, up six percent from a year earlier. The prospect of rising interest rates and steady or lower fuel prices could trigger a sea change. Industry experts warn that new orders could taper off sharply and cancellations and deferrals could rise. A slowdown could affect not just plane makers and the tens of thousands of workers they employ, but the global network of suppliers, including engine makers. Shareholders could suffer a sharp reversal in Airbus and Boeing share prices, which have soared 48 percent and 38 percent this year. Investors are counting on high production to bring the long-awaited cash payback from the heavy investments both companies made in new planes over the last decade.

    Some airlines already are positioning to capitalise on the global shakeout.

    Emirates, the fast-growing carrier that connects Asia, Europe, Africa and the Americas through Dubai, said it aims to grab market share as weaker airlines struggle and fail in the next few years. "The gap between the winners and losers - or between the customer focused and the less customer focused airlines - will increase," Thierry Antinori, chief commercial officer at Emirates said in an interview.

    "So we see opportunity."

    DOUBLE COUNTING

    Boeing and Airbus predict the number of commercial aircraft will double over the next 20 years to more than 30,000, worth about USD$4 trillion at list prices. This is just normal industry growth that has averaged about 5 percent a year historically, supporting demand for travel and planes. "All of the data points to a strong and resilient airplane market," said Boeing spokesman Marc Birtel, noting that planes are full and airlines are making modest profits. "There's no indication that the market is slowing down or that there's overcapacity."

    Airbus says the current upswing in the cyclical aircraft business will lead to an "inevitable change in business plan for more than one carrier, ultimately resulting in order changes." Airbus and other forecasters already factor in lost orders, Airbus spokeswoman Mary Anne Greczyn said. Yet some experts say the airlines themselves have been double-counting the demand for travel, and basing massive orders on faulty assumptions. Boeing predicts, for example, that air traffic in the Asia-Pacific region will increase 6.3 percent a year over the next 20 years, driven by 4.5 percent annual economic growth in China and India, and rising middle-class incomes.

    But if each airline expects 6.3 percent growth and buys planes accordingly, they quickly create an oversupply of seats. While that's good for travellers, who will pay lower fares as airlines battle on price, it spells trouble for airlines. "Expectations of unlimited growth are going to have to come down to Earth," said Richard Aboulafia, an analyst at the Teal Group. "There just isn't that much traffic to go around." He said the industry is unlikely to have another decade like the last one, with cheap financing, high fuel prices, a new crop of efficient planes, the rise of Middle East carriers and strong growth in Brazil, India and China.

    Middle Eastern carriers, leasing companies and many other airlines have been ordering jets to meet demand, said Adam Pilarski, a senior vice president and economist at Avitas. "But they forgot to tell all the other airlines to stop buying because they'll be carrying their traffic," Pilarski said. Emirates, for example, notes that two-thirds of the world population is within eight hours flying time of its Dubai hub. It has 193 aircraft on order, including 65 A380s, adding to 35 A380s already in its fleet. Other Middle East carriers such as Qatar Airways and Etihad Airways are ordering jets to serve the same market.

    ORDER CANCELLATIONS

    Airlines typically put a token deposit down when they place an order and pay the bulk on delivery. The large production backlogs at Airbus and Boeing mean airlines must wait years to receive the planes. In that time, interest rates are likely to rise, increasing the overall cost. Airlines won't begin receiving the new fuel-efficient Airbus A320neo and Boeing 737 MAX until 2015 and 2017, for example. "Just as the airplane is going to become more expensive to finance, the people buying plane tickets are going to have more demands on their pocketbooks for basics" such as housing and cars, due to higher interest rates, said George Hamlin, president of Hamlin Transportation Consulting.

    Airlines jumped to buy new planes that offered 15 to 20 percent fuel savings when oil prices were high five or six years ago, and again when the new MAX and neo variants were launched in 2010 and 2011. The need for fuel savings may not be as great two to four years from now when the planes are delivered and payment is due, Hamlin says. So far this year, airline cancellations are holding steady at about nine percent of orders, in line with the average since 2000, according to Boeing and Airbus numbers. Cancellations spiked to 28 percent in 2009, during the financial crisis.

    Pilarski at Avitas said Airbus and Boeing likely booked more orders per year than they can produce, and expect some to be cancelled without cutting production. Much depends on when and on how quickly the capacity bubble bursts. For Emirates, the prospect of some failed airlines in Asia or elsewhere only enhances its outlook. With a fleet of Airbus A380s and Boeing 777s, Antinori said Emirates can afford to take 50 seats on an aircraft and "play the game" with low-cost carriers in India and elsewhere because the costs per seat on a big plane are so low. Other big airlines with good brands that can offer low-cost and premium service also are likely to succeed in the years ahead, as are true low-cost carriers that have experience in running lean operations. "The loss," he says, "will be in the middle."

    (Reuters)
  14. Jet News

    Jet News JF News Editor Staff Member

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  15. Jet News

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    A teenager was killed last week (at the time) when a remote-controlled aircraft he was flying struck him in the head, officials say. Roman Pirozek, 19, was flying his RC helicopter, worth about $2,000, in Calvert Vaux Park in Brooklyn, New York, on Thursday afternoon when the accident occurred. Some witnesses say he was performing "aggressive" maneuvers with the helicopter when it came crashing down on his head.

    Carl, becareful ahah
  16. Jet News

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  17. Jet News

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    Waypoint data entry error led to 777's rapid descent

    ncorrect data entry during a Boeing 777-300ER’s preparations for landing resulted in the crew’s having to deal with an unexpectedly rapid descent and a low-level approach into Melbourne. The aircraft, operated by Virgin Australia from Los Angeles, had been performing the LIZZI 7V standard arrival pattern to runway 34. This arrival pattern, which had been programmed into the flight management computer during cruise, ended at a waypoint designated SHEED, so the crew supplemented the pattern by selecting a visual approach from the database.

    Selecting this option added another pair of waypoints to extend the pattern beyond SHEED: one at the runway threshold and one, fixed by the crew, positioned 2.8nm before the runway. The threshold waypoint’s altitude defaulted to 330ft but the carrier’s procedures advised pilots to adjust this to 380ft, to provide a 50ft threshold crossing height. But investigators state that the pilots instead mistakenly assigned this 380ft altitude to the second waypoint, the height for which was normally automatically calculated by the flight computer.

    As a result, after passing the SHEED waypoint, the aircraft’s autopilot increased the rate of descent from 700ft/min to 1,500ft/min in order to lose height and cross the 2.8nm waypoint at 380ft. This sudden rapid descent surprised the crew, who noted that the aircraft was too low for the approach. The captain disengaged the autopilot and levelled the 777 at 700ft – some 500ft above ground – and flew at this height until precision-approach path indicator lamps showed the jet had intercepted the glidepath. It landed safely. Four flight crew were in the cockpit during the approach. Australian Transport Safety Bureau investigators are still assessing the 15 August 2013 event, adding that the inquiry will focus on how the data was incorrectly entered and “remained undetected”. (FG)
  18. Jet News

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  19. Jet News

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