Little something funny that I found!

From USATODAY.com

Didn't we learn anything from the Little Rock crash back in 1999???

 

Passenger jet burns after skidding off Toronto runway

TORONTO (AP) — A passenger jetliner carrying about 200 people erupted in flames Tuesday after skidding off a runway while landing in a fierce thunderstorm at Toronto's Pearson International Airport. Black smoke billowed into the air as the wreck burned. Air France passenger jetliner skids off runway at Toronto's Pearson International Airport, Tuesday. Image from television, via AP

A Toronto radio station said some passengers were seen climbing from the plane, and that most of the others had been safely evacuated. (Video: Coverage of crash)

Police said the plane was an Air France A340 from Paris that was trying to land at Canada's busiest airport when it ran into trouble. There was a storm — with lightning and strong wind gusts — in the area at the time.

Police spokeswoman Diane Cossitt said she heard over police scanners that the passengers and crew were evacuated. "That is my understanding from what I've heard but I've got no confirmation one way or the other," she said.

Toronto Fire Services Capt. David Sheen told CNN that he understood some casualties had been taken to hospitals but had no information or their condition. (Graphic: Crash of Air France 358)

AM 680, an all-news station, reported live from the scene that there were two explosions on the plane. The station quoted a police official on the nearby freeway as saying two groups of passengers had been evacuated from the jet.

AM 680 also said some passengers could be seen climbing from the plane and that emergency workers said most of 252 people on board were safe.

The report could not immediately be confirmed.

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Toronto's William Osler hospital was placed on "code orange" to prepare for injuries, according to MSNBC.

A row of emergency vehicles lined up behind the wreck, and a fire truck sprayed the flames with water. A government transportation highway camera recorded the burning plane, and the footage was broadcast live on television in Canada and the United States.

A portion of the plane's wing could be seen jutting from the trees as smoke and flames poured from the middle of its broken fuselage. At one point, another huge plume of smoke emerged from the wreckage, but it wasn't clear whether it was from an explosion.

The flaming ruin was next to the four-lane Highway 401, and some cars and trucks stopped on the roadway after the crash.

Corey Marks told CNN he was at the side of the highway when he watched the Air France plane touch down and crash.

"It was around 4 o'clock, it was getting really dark, and all of a sudden lightning was happening, a lot of rain was coming down," Marks said. "This plane ... came in on the runway, hits the runway nice. Everything looked good, sounds good and all of a sudden we heard the engines backing up. ... He went straight into the valley and cracked in half."

CNN reported the flight was Air France Flight 358, which was scheduled to arrive in Toronto at about 4 p.m. from Charles de Gaulle International Airport near Paris.

"They made an approach in weather that was worse than what they anticipated," John Wiley, a retired Airbus pilot in Toronto, told CNN.

Environment Canada, the Canadian national weather service, had issued a severe thunderstorm warning for the city of Toronto earlier in the afternoon. The warning noted that a rapidly developing thunderstorm was moving south into the area at 3:45 pm, which threatened the area with large hail, torrential downpours and wind gusts of up to 60 mph.

Thunderstorms create the possibility of wind shear, the sudden, dangerous air currents that can dash an airplane to the ground as it takes off or lands.

Toronto's Lester B. Pearson International Airport handles over 28 million passengers a year. Located 17 miles west of Toronto in the town of Mississauga, it has three terminals. Air France operates out of Terminal 3.

The last major jumbo jet crash in North America was on Nov. 12, 2001, when American Airlines Flight 587 lost part of its tail and plummeted into a New York City neighborhood, killing 265 people. Safety investigators concluded that the crash was caused by the pilot moving the rudder too aggressively.

Paris-based Air France-KLM Group is the world's largest airline in terms of revenue. It is the product of the French flagship airline's acquisition last year of Dutch carrier KLM. For the year ended in March, the company earned $443 million on revenues of $24.1 billion.

Air France-KLM operates a fleet of 375 planes and flies 1,800 daily flights, according to the company's Web site. In the last fiscal year, it carried 43.7 million passengers to 84 countries around the globe.

Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

VACATION!!!!!

AAhhhhhhhhhhh....  Vacation....  I am on vacation.

 

For the weekend of the fourth, I went with my boy friend to meet his parents up in northern Michigan.  ROAD TRIP!  It was relaxing not to  have to deal with anything to do with an airport or plane.  Fishing, walking, four-wheeling, star gazing, seems to agree with me.

On the 12th and 13th I will be in Dallas, doing union work.  Union work is something that I really enjoy doing, so it doesn't feel like working to me...

On the 21st I will be going to Florida with my boy friend for the weekend for my 28th birthday!  This will be his first expearience non-reving with me, so it should be interesting.  He has used buddy passes before from a friend of his, so he assures me that he is an expert. 

Then I finally have to go back to work on the 25th at 7am!  OUCH!!!  Des Moines and Atlanta here I come!!!!!!!!!!

FAN Comment of the week!!!

(FROM Did I mention that I hate weather?)

 

OMG I can so relate to that feeling of shut up, sit down and wait, I can't change the GD weather and ORD can't function if there is a raindrop or snowdrop on the field.

2 years ago I had to get back to MSN for a funeral right after the 1st of the year. LAX was jammed with Rose Bowl fans going back to DTW and I was flying UA. There was a snowstorm in ORD and everything was on a ground hold here. We had some great help from the CSA at the check in desk and since I grew up Non Revving on the great Travel with Anxiety airline I just figured we'd wait it out.

We were delayed 3 hours boarding at LAX making us miss our connection on UX to MSN. Finally departed ORD at 2300 and met the family members who had sat at MSN waiting for us for 4 hours. But we made it, and we did what we had to do and flew home safely. I am not shy about going to a gate with an earlier flight and seeing if you can get out on that, The seat is paid for one way or another if it's on that flight or the scheduled one.

I hope the storms abate and you have blue skies and good flights for a while.

magickann
Comment from magickann - 6/14/05 1:16 PM

Shameless Promotion...

 

I just got this movie today in my mailbox.  I have heard  mixed reviews from my coworkers.  I think for those of you out there who want to know what it is REALLY like to be a flight attendant whether out of curiosity or because you want to become a flight attendant, this is the movie for you.  Finally a movie made about flight attendants by a flight attendants.  This is the only movie that gives a realistic view of what our JOB is really like!

CHECK IT OUT!!!!!!

Did I ever mention that I hate weather???

"We appologize for any inconvience the weather may have caused, and we appreciate your patientence ladies and gentlemen..."

 

"We appricate your patience."  What it really means is, thanks for not vocallizing how you REALLY feel, causing a riot on the aircraft and trying to kill the flight attendants, because YOU have a connection to make!

I am sure most of you have heard that more than once on an airplane.  Being stuck on the ground in an airplane because of weather is never fun.  (Especailly NOT for the cabin crew, let me tell you!)  Being held on the ground because of weather brings up all sorts of problems:

1. Frustrated passengers who demand to be taken back to the gate, even though that's impossible.

2. Frustrated passengers who demand that you rebook them on the next flight, even though YOU know that their connection will be delayed.  (I do not have the training to rebook or change anyone's reservation, I pass out coke and pretzels and preform CPR)

3. Frustrated business travelers who travel as much as the crew does, who just wants to act out and make a fool out of themselves.

4. Frustrated once a year travelers who have been planning their dream vacation for ever, and now YOU'VE ruined it because there is a major thunder storm over O'hare.

Traveling is stressful enough without having to throw weather into the mix.  I think my next entry will be how to survive a weather delay on the ground.

News from around the Industry....

2 Men Arrested Allegedly Trying To Board Plane With Guns

Men Allegedly Posing As Police Officers

POSTED: 4:38 pm EDT May 20, 2005

UPDATED: 6:56 pm EDT May 20, 2005

PHILADELPHIA -- Two people were arrested Thursday night for allegedly trying to board a plane with guns at airport.

NBC 10 News has learned, and the FBI has confirmed that the men were just one step away from boarding an American Airlines flight sometime after 8 p.m. Thursday.  Sources told NBC 10 News that Timothy Robinson, of Philadelphia, and Steven Lundy, of Roselle, N.J, cleared the first checkpoint and were headed toward the airplane when an American Airlines representative looked at their paperwork and saw that the men were posing as police officers. The representative felt uncomfortable because she didn't think that they were really police officers, so she called the police department.

FBI agents said that the two men showed airport officials fake badges and fake police identification cards to clear security with the loaded handguns. They also filled out paperwork claiming that they were private police. Authorities said one gun was a 357 Magnum and the second gun was a 9 mm.

The Transportation and Safety Administration launched an investigation and the FBI arrested both men.

Robinson and Lundy were taken to the federal building in downtown Philadelphia. Friday and were arraigned on charges connected to posing as police officers and attempting to board an airplane with firearms.

The investigation is continuing.

Copyright 2005 by NBC10.com