Just saw on the news ticker that an Air France jet has gone missing over the ocean near Brazil. It is now overdue landing in Paris by hours. Really hope this is some sort of mistake and maybe they managed to force a landing somewhere out of radar coverage and radio range.
The worst aspect of this is, if something has indeed gone very wrong, and the plane is lost, this is not some mickey mouse third world airline. Thoughts aare with the crew, passengers & their families.
Showing posts with label turbulence. Show all posts
Showing posts with label turbulence. Show all posts
June 1, 2009
April 18, 2009
Hey people, yes I'm aware I've been quite slack in the posting department. Not that there hasn't been fun stuff going on, I just haven't felt like posting due to the computer hassles, among other things.
At the moment my airline is threatening to axe a whole heap of jobs, so of course we are all just a little bit worried at the moment. As someone who started within the last 2 years, I definitely fall within the 'axe-able' category. It would suck, but I've decided there's no point stressing about it as I won't be able to change the outcome if it's already been decided.
So, if it should happen, my plan is to go back to studying, and re-apply for Etihad when recruitment picks up again in September/October.
I've pretty much decided to pick up a mini netbook on the interest free plan to tide me over while my laptop gets repaired. Seeing as it's now been over two months, I'm not holding my breath to get it back anytime soon. I've been wanting a lighter one for travel anyway, and at least I can get stuff done in the downtime, especially if I need to look for work or study. Seeing as they run on average for about $500, paying that amount over 2 years interest free is almost nothing. So, may as well! Any recommendations? I know Heather just did a post about hers.
Ok, I'm off to take my little cousin to the movies!
At the moment my airline is threatening to axe a whole heap of jobs, so of course we are all just a little bit worried at the moment. As someone who started within the last 2 years, I definitely fall within the 'axe-able' category. It would suck, but I've decided there's no point stressing about it as I won't be able to change the outcome if it's already been decided.
So, if it should happen, my plan is to go back to studying, and re-apply for Etihad when recruitment picks up again in September/October.
I've pretty much decided to pick up a mini netbook on the interest free plan to tide me over while my laptop gets repaired. Seeing as it's now been over two months, I'm not holding my breath to get it back anytime soon. I've been wanting a lighter one for travel anyway, and at least I can get stuff done in the downtime, especially if I need to look for work or study. Seeing as they run on average for about $500, paying that amount over 2 years interest free is almost nothing. So, may as well! Any recommendations? I know Heather just did a post about hers.
Ok, I'm off to take my little cousin to the movies!
April 11, 2009
Not Again!
Hey people! I have a piece of rather frustrating news. After waiting around 6 weeks to have my laptop fixed, after one day of fuss-free operation it has decided that it wasn't fixed after all and is acting so stupid I could just throw it at the wall.
I'm a little suspicious that they didn't actually replace the logic board like they said, mainly because the computer is exhibiting the same crazy symptoms of squiggly lines across the screen and randomly shutting down- same as before. My theory is, had they actually replaced the part, it would have gone longer than a day before it crapped out.
I'm thinking maybe I just want to call them, rant about how I waited 6 weeks (or whatever it was) for this to be fixed, then was without my laptop over the easter weekend and couldn't do my bids!
I going to ask for a refund/new computer as they've tried to repair it once and I'm sure the laws here say that after repair I have the option to choose repair or replacement. Replacement it is!!!
So am typing this on flatmate's computer so hopefully can still get my planned posts done.
I'm a little suspicious that they didn't actually replace the logic board like they said, mainly because the computer is exhibiting the same crazy symptoms of squiggly lines across the screen and randomly shutting down- same as before. My theory is, had they actually replaced the part, it would have gone longer than a day before it crapped out.
I'm thinking maybe I just want to call them, rant about how I waited 6 weeks (or whatever it was) for this to be fixed, then was without my laptop over the easter weekend and couldn't do my bids!
I going to ask for a refund/new computer as they've tried to repair it once and I'm sure the laws here say that after repair I have the option to choose repair or replacement. Replacement it is!!!
So am typing this on flatmate's computer so hopefully can still get my planned posts done.
March 24, 2009
Airport Security in the Spotlight- Again
Just weeks after a security scare involving two young kids transporting bagfuls of weapons on flights across the country, the ugly side of Sydney's gang warfare has exploded in the public areas of Sydney Airport.
Yesterday, members of two rival bikie gangs got into a brawl in the domestic airport terminal, bashing each other with metal barrier bollards and resulting in one man dead, with many bystanders injured and airport workers & passengers deeply traumatised.
Of course, the incident has raised questions about airport security, namely- what if these had been 20 gun-toting terrorists, and they had got away with a rampage through the terminal for the same 10 minutes, but targeting any and all, not just one victim?
Obviously there is going to be a huge investigation on this. Now as usually happens, the police were the first to be criticised. I think, if anything, this highlights just how under-resourced and underpaid they are. Even the four or 6 uniformed specialist airport cops one regularly sees in the departures area couldn't have stopped this. So it begs the question- just how much is enough? Some commenters mention airports such as Changi, Chek Lap Kok and Heathrow, with machine gun-toting anti-terrorist officers as an example.
It will be interesting to see how it all actually panned out, if/when the CCTV footage is released.
In other sad news for aviation, a FedEx MD-11 has crashed at Tokyo's Narita airport, killing both flight crew on board. I suppose the only 'good' thing about it is that it was a cargo jet, and not full of passengers. Still, very sad. I thought the video was a fake when someone emailed it to me. I'm not going to post it here, but you could probably Google it if it interests you to see it. All I'll say is, there are sure some interesting last moments for the investigators to look at.
Yesterday, members of two rival bikie gangs got into a brawl in the domestic airport terminal, bashing each other with metal barrier bollards and resulting in one man dead, with many bystanders injured and airport workers & passengers deeply traumatised.
Of course, the incident has raised questions about airport security, namely- what if these had been 20 gun-toting terrorists, and they had got away with a rampage through the terminal for the same 10 minutes, but targeting any and all, not just one victim?
Obviously there is going to be a huge investigation on this. Now as usually happens, the police were the first to be criticised. I think, if anything, this highlights just how under-resourced and underpaid they are. Even the four or 6 uniformed specialist airport cops one regularly sees in the departures area couldn't have stopped this. So it begs the question- just how much is enough? Some commenters mention airports such as Changi, Chek Lap Kok and Heathrow, with machine gun-toting anti-terrorist officers as an example.
It will be interesting to see how it all actually panned out, if/when the CCTV footage is released.
In other sad news for aviation, a FedEx MD-11 has crashed at Tokyo's Narita airport, killing both flight crew on board. I suppose the only 'good' thing about it is that it was a cargo jet, and not full of passengers. Still, very sad. I thought the video was a fake when someone emailed it to me. I'm not going to post it here, but you could probably Google it if it interests you to see it. All I'll say is, there are sure some interesting last moments for the investigators to look at.
December 28, 2008
Rock'n'Rollin'
Reading other FA blogs, and talking to fellow crew- it's not just me. It really HAS been unusually bumpy in the skies this last week. First up we had a short sector where we sat down almost the whole way, and couldn't feed anyone or serve any drinks.
Many of my fellow crew also reported it being unusually bumpy on their flights as well. We had a tremendous bout of turbulence out of Sydney, big enough that we had to sit in between passenger's feet and hold on to the seats! (This is a common procedure for us if there are no empty passenger seats, and we are unable to get safely back to crew jumpseats.)
Later on the captain told us that he suspected we'd run into the wake of another aircraft.
Yesterday en-route to Brisbane we again had long periods of sustained bumpy travel, to the point it was impossible to walk and coffee slopped out of the pots in their holders.
The Sydney Morning Herald had an article about a woman injured on a Virgin Blue flight when the crew were thrown suddenly sideways and hot water was spilled over her lap. It sounds like the crew did all they could, after all, they can hardly tak her to the galley and give first aid if that would put them in danger. Unfortunately it wasn't safe to get up or let the passenger get up, so in my opinion they did the right thing.
This was the culprit on our flight yesterday:
So, just as a reminder passengers- even if it's smooth as the baby's bum up there, keep your seatbelt on when you're sitting down- it can't hurt, in fact, leaving your seatbelt off is what hurts. If the pilots do it, then isn't it a good indication that we all should too? And yes, I mean you crew, too. All the times you're sitting in the back galley eating your meal (well, wolfing it down is much more likely) But the times you DO get to sit, just remember... we're not in an office here, and it COULD happen. So please look after yourselves out there, we all want to get home in one piece.
In other news, I'm in love:
I wanted these shoes but sadly they didn't have my size... *sniffle*
Many of my fellow crew also reported it being unusually bumpy on their flights as well. We had a tremendous bout of turbulence out of Sydney, big enough that we had to sit in between passenger's feet and hold on to the seats! (This is a common procedure for us if there are no empty passenger seats, and we are unable to get safely back to crew jumpseats.)
Later on the captain told us that he suspected we'd run into the wake of another aircraft.
Yesterday en-route to Brisbane we again had long periods of sustained bumpy travel, to the point it was impossible to walk and coffee slopped out of the pots in their holders.
The Sydney Morning Herald had an article about a woman injured on a Virgin Blue flight when the crew were thrown suddenly sideways and hot water was spilled over her lap. It sounds like the crew did all they could, after all, they can hardly tak her to the galley and give first aid if that would put them in danger. Unfortunately it wasn't safe to get up or let the passenger get up, so in my opinion they did the right thing.
This was the culprit on our flight yesterday:
So, just as a reminder passengers- even if it's smooth as the baby's bum up there, keep your seatbelt on when you're sitting down- it can't hurt, in fact, leaving your seatbelt off is what hurts. If the pilots do it, then isn't it a good indication that we all should too? And yes, I mean you crew, too. All the times you're sitting in the back galley eating your meal (well, wolfing it down is much more likely) But the times you DO get to sit, just remember... we're not in an office here, and it COULD happen. So please look after yourselves out there, we all want to get home in one piece.
In other news, I'm in love:
I wanted these shoes but sadly they didn't have my size... *sniffle*
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