PHUKET – An Australian tourist fell to his death when the coupling on the chute apparently failed while he was parasailing at Kata beach.
An Australian man falls to his death when the coupling on the chute apparently failed while he was parasailing at Kata beach, Phuket on Wednesday. (Photo grabbed from a clip by his Thai wife Budsabong Thongsangka)
The tragedy occurred around noon in full view of his Thai wife, Budsabong Thongsangka, who was videoing the flight.
Roger John Hussey, 71, rose high into the air and then fell free, tumbling to the sea, shortly after the tow boat took off from the shore.
One of the beach crew was seen being pulled up into the air with him while still adjusting the coupling, and then climbing up into the shrouds, before Hussey fell free.
Volunteers at the beach rushed to bring him to shore. He developed breathing problems and was later pronounced dead, said Pol Lt Suwisit Khirirak, a duty-officer at Karon police station. The accident was not reported to police until about 3pm.
Police pressed charges against boat operator and driver Monthian Jandaeng of reckless driving causing the death of the tourist. Another member of the crew, identified as Runroj Rakcheep, was being interrogated.
The couple had been holidaying in Chiang Mai before visiting Phuket. They were scheduled to return to Australia on Friday.
Thai Airways International has grounded part of its Boeing 787-8 fleet owing to turbine replacement issues with the Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engine.
The carrier says it is working with Rolls-Royce on the issue, which it expects to be sorted out by September.
“Due to the shortage of Boeing 787 Dreamliner engine spare parts, it is necessary that some aircraft of this type must be parked and temporarily cannot be operated, which is a problem that affects Thai and other airlines worldwide whose 787 aircraft are equipped with Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines that have turbine blade problems,” says Thai’s acting president, Usanee Sangsingkoo, in a statement.
She adds: “As this problem may affect flight safety, Thai has removed these engines from its aircraft and sent them for repair at the Rolls-Royce technical maintenance center in Singapore earlier this year.”
The Star Alliance carrier has also conducted negotiations with R-R to obtain compensation expenses accruing from the issue.
When contacted by FlightGlobal, R-R said it is working to resolve Trent 1000 issues.
“This is the continuation of work which started last year to upgrade Trent 1000 engines to the latest standard,” says R-R.
“We have a clear service management plan in place with all operators to undertake this work and minimise disruption. The current disruption that we are causing to the Thai fleet is clearly of great concern to us. The Thai and Rolls-Royce teams are working together to minimise this impact and restore full flight operations as soon as possible.”
In September 2016, R-R said it would replace turbine blades in the intermediate-pressure turbine of the global Trent 1000 fleet. The engine-maker said that the existing design was “failing to meet its expected lifespan”, and that it would roll out a global fix.
Media reports from Thailand say that four of Thai’s six 787-8s are grounded. One story shows the image of a parked 787-8 with an empty engine cowling.
Flight Fleets Analyzer shows that the average age of Thai’s 787s is 2.6 years. Thai also has two 787-9s on order, which are to be delivered in September and December.
Sangsingkeo adds that it is using other types on 787-8 routes to ensure passenger service is not affected. FlightMaps Analytics shows that Thai’s 787s operate short and middle-haul routes. Key destinations include Brisbane, Perth, Delhi, Beijing, and Phuket.
Flight Fleets Analyzer shows that there are 213 in-service 787s globally that are powered with Trent 1000s. Of these, 101 are with operators in the Asia-Pacific.
Globally, major users of Trent 1000 powered 787s include All NipponAirways with 59 aircraft, British Airways (24), and LATAM (23).
Lone-wolf radio hoaxer hacks Melbourne air traffic control
Federal police are hunting a lone-wolf radio hoaxer who made 15 illegal transmissions to air-traffic controllers and domestic passenger pilots last month – including one telling a Virgin pilot to abort a landing.
The agencies investigating the incidents believe only one person has made the transmissions by finding a way to tap into the air traffic control frequency and communicate directly with planes and control towers.
AFP hunt for Melbourne air traffic control hoaxer
The Australian Federal Police are investigating a series of hoax calls to air traffic controllers and domestic pilots. Vision courtesy ABC News Melbourne.
Flight data shows the plane came close to the runway at 5.19pm as it approached Tullamarine Airport. Then three minutes later the plane climbed to 3800 feet and started circling over north-west Melbourne – all under orders from the hoax air-traffic controller.
John Lyons, president of Virgin Independent Pilots Australia, said rogue radio transmissions were “a concern” because pilots must obey instructions from air traffic controllers but may not be able to verify who is or isn’t a legitimate controller.A radio hoaxer told a Virgin pilot to abort a landing. Photo: Tian Law
Later that evening, the hoax caller impersonated the pilot of a light aircraft. He issued a mayday call and pretended to be experiencing engine trouble. The ABC have posted audio where air traffic control personnel are trying to assess the mayday call. An air traffic controller then communicates with the light aircraft which the unauthorised individual is pretending to pilot.
“I can see you there now. Roger your mayday. Could you please advise what your situation is,” the air traffic control operator asks.
“Engine failure,” the hoax caller replies. “Descending passing through 4500.”
Mr Lyons said rudimentary amateur VHF radio equipment could be used in such a hoax.
Avalon Airport. Photo: James Davies
“It’s not hard for someone to obtain,” he said. “There’s a lot of people that spend a lot of time observing aircraft at airports, and many of them have radios that monitor frequencies. But most of them just listen.
“In a worst case scenario, an aircraft will be told to go around, but there’s an aircraft on a runway crossing that runway.”
Mr Lyons said rogue transmissions also pose a risk because if someone pretends to be a pilot issuing a distress call, that call gets top priority from traffic controllers.
The union boss, who was a pilot for 48 years, said rogue broadcasters would have to be close to a plane in order to tell it to turn around.
“Normally VHF would require them to be in line of site of the aircraft,” he said.
Mr Lyons said the investigating agencies were doing everything they could to eliminate safety risks.
The Australian Federal police are yet to make any arrests in relation to the incidents. Also investigating are the Australian Communications and Media Authority and Airservices Australia – a government-owned ‘air navigation’ company.
None of the three agencies would comment further last night. Sources said this was for fear of copycat amateur radio operators trying to do the same thing.
However, Fairfax Media understands it is relatively easy to track rogue radio transmissions – but only when the signal is live. It is not known if authorities made attempts to track the rogue transmitter while he was making fake broadcasts.
Police warn the offender could face 20 years in jail. The incidents happened to controllers and pilots at or near Tullamarine and Avalon airports.
The AFP’s head of Crime Operations, acting Assistant Commissioner Chris Sheehan, said today the public could be assured there was no risk to safety.
However the ABC reported on Monday night that a Virgin Australia passenger flight from the Gold Coast to Melbourne aborted its landing only 80 metres from the tarmac on October 27. According to the ABC the incident happened around 5:00pm on October 27. The aircraft changed its altitude and course under the instruction of the unauthorised person transmitting from an unknown location.
“These incidents are being thoroughly investigated by the AFP, with technical support from the ACMA,” says Assistant Commissioner Chris Sheehan.”The airlines have been briefed to ensure the advice has been passed on to their pilots and to ensure appropriate measures are in place.”
Aircraft do not use encrypted frequencies like police because air traffic control need to respond quickly to incidents and have planes coming in from interstate as well as overseas. To move all aircraft in Australia to an encrypted system would be very costly.
At Leeds-Bradford airport in Britain in 2010, investigators from the airport’s anti-terrorism Project Griffin probed two incidents of hoaxers – or ‘pirates’ – trying to communicate with planes which were landing or taking off.
All airlines have individual call signs and all air traffic controllers use special VHF frequencies – but all this information is freely available online.
According to Australia’s Aviation Transport Act, interfering with aircraft navigation facilities or “putting the safety of an aircraft at risk by communicating false information” are in the same class of offence as taking control of an aircraft, damaging an aircraft or planting a dangerous item onboard.
University researchers warn that the virus now seems to be able to sustain itself outside marsupials.
Australia’s Ross River virus has the potential to become a global epidemic, similar to the Zika virus, researchers say.
It was previously thought that the mosquito-borne virus could only sustain itself among marsupials, which kept the disease endemic to Australia and Papua New Guinea.
But research fellow at the University of Adelaide Professor Philip Weinstein said he and his partners at the Australian National University (ANU) found the disease silently planting roots in the South Pacific.
“It’s really only in the last few years [it became apparent] when tourists returning to their home countries … were diagnosed with Ross River virus after travelling in the Pacific,” Professor Weinstein said.
“They’d never been to Australia or New Guinea. That’s when the little alarm bells started ringing that this was perhaps circulating outside Australia.”
Professor Weinstein said the new finding meant that even though there were no marsupials in the Pacific Islands, the virus was seemingly able to maintain itself there anyway.
He warned that if the virus could sustain itself in areas where there were no marsupials, “then it could sustain itself anywhere in the world”.
“That certainly means that it could be another global outbreak like Zika or Chikungunya a few years before that, another mosquito-borne virus that suddenly went global,” he said.
Professor Weinstein said all it could take was a “perfect storm” of a tourist carrying the virus, a set of animals who could harbour the virus, and the right conditions for mosquitos to bite those animals for an epidemic to take off.
In fact, he said, it was possible that was already happening.
“This has probably been chugging along quietly on different Pacific islands for a number of years, but because the symptoms are so general it’s not been identified as a Ross River Virus problem,” Professor Weinstein said.
In January alone 1,174 people were infected nationwide in Australia.
New South Wales Health authorities renew warnings for residents and holiday makers in the state’s Riverina region to protect themselves against mosquitoes after a fivefold increase in the number of Ross River virus infections compared to the average in previous years.
NSW Public Health Director Tracey Oakman said there were 34 cases of the virus in the Murrumbidgee Local Health District in December, five times the average for this time of year.
“The highest number of notifications have been in the 45- to 65-year-old age group and then the next age group most commonly notified is the 25- to 44-year-old age group,” she said.
The city of Griffith has been flagged as a hotspot for the virus, with seven cases reported in the region last month.
Ms Oakman also said a number of holiday makers in the Riverina who contracted the disease were unlikely to have been picked up in the latest figures.
“If we’ve got holiday makers that have been bitten and gone home, they’ll be recorded as having the virus from the postcode that they’re living in,” she said.
Ms Oakman said the numbers were concerning and she urged people to be vigilant, use quality mosquito repellents and wear long clothing.
How is the virus spread?
Ross River virus is spread among humans by the bite of certain types of infected female mosquitoes, which generally pick up the virus when feeding on the blood of infected animals.
Outbreaks can occur when local conditions of rainfall, tides and temperature promote mosquito breeding.
Tips to beat bites
Wear long, loose-fitting clothing
Use effective mosquito repellents containing DEET or picaridin
Control mosquitos with sprays or vaporising devices for inside use, including caravans
Install fly screens
Make sure mosquitos can’t breed by removing stagnant water every week
Empty children’s wading pools when not being used
Limit outdoor activity at dusk and dawn
Source: Department of Health
Ms Oakman said mosquito numbers had flourished after months of wet weather.
“That’s really concerning because we don’t normally see such a high level of Ross River virus in December.
“We normally get higher cases in February, March and April, the tail end of summer.
“Seeing them this early is a real concern,” she said.
Ms Oakman warned that wet conditions were likely to lead to even more people contracting the virus across the region in the coming months. She called on people who became infected to visit the doctor.
“The symptoms … joint aches and pains, headaches, fever, a chill and sometimes a rash,” she said.
“Sometimes the symptoms persist for weeks and even months.
“It’s quite a miserable time for someone who contracts it.”
SINGAPORE: Low-cost carrier Scoot is investigating after sparks were seen coming from the engine of one of its planes on Saturday (Nov 26).
A user on social network Sina Weibo uploaded a video of the incident on Saturday evening and said that a friend, who was on board flight TZ001 travelling from Sydney to Singapore, had sent him the footage. He said a loud bang was heard about 30 to 40 minutes before the plane landed and the engine on the right side of the plane started emitting sparks.
The video, which has been shared about 780 times as of Monday night, has also been reposted on YouTube.
In a statement on Monday evening, Scoot said the plane, which was carrying 338 passengers, encountered “an incident during the descent into Singapore which necessitated a shut-down of the right engine”.
“Our flight crew exercised due diligence and immediately contacted Singapore’s Air Traffic Control while requesting for fire services to be on standby on landing. The aircraft landed as scheduled without incident and fire services subsequently confirmed that there was no engine fire,” a spokesperson for the airline said, adding that the cause of the incident is under investigation.
“Safety is of utmost importance to Scoot and we will spare no effort to ensure the well-being of our guests,” Scoot added.
Australian Government launches Probe launched into Singapore Airlines ‘tail strike’ flight SQ238
Melbourne Airport Air traffic controllers warn pilot of smoke or dust coming from the rear of the aircraft on take-off
Singapore Airlines pilot of the Boeing 777-300, with 282 passengers and crew on board, took the risk to continue to Singapore instead of returning to the airport to check for possible damage
In the event of a confirmed tail strike, QANTAS policy is to turn the aircraft around
Singapore Airlines confirmed that an engineers’ inspection of Flight 238 on its arrival in Singapore had revealed a tail strike with contact with the tail skid system. The aircraft is being repaired.
Australian Transport Safety Bureau is investigating
Australia’s air safety watchdog has launched an investigation into a “tail strike” at Melbourne airport on Sunday where a Singapore Airlines captain flew on to Singapore despite being warned by air traffic controllers of smoke or dust coming from the rear of the aircraft on take-off.
The event has raised debate in the aviation sector about the wisdom of the pilot of the Boeing 777-300, with 282 passengers and crew on board, deciding to not return to the airport to check for possible damage.
A Qantas spokeswoman told The Australian: “In the event of a confirmed tail strike, our policy is to turn the aircraft around.”
A Singapore Airlines spokesman yesterday confirmed that an engineers’ inspection of Flight 238 on its arrival in Singapore had revealed a tail strike, but said it did not risk the integrity of the plane. “The inspection in Singapore confirmed there was no contact with the fuselage, (but) there had been contact with the tail skid system,” he said. “The affected component is being repaired and the aircraft is expected to return to service (today).”
He added: “Safety of our customers is our No 1 priority.”
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau is investigation. The aircraft took off on a day that saw wild winds, and the main runway was closed for 30 minutes as engineers inspected for damage after the accident.
“Following advice from air traffic control that a suspected tail strike had occurred, the captain confirmed there was no aircraft system alert of a tail strike and conducted further checks,” said the Singapore Airlines spokesman. “These checks, undertaken to confirm that all aircraft systems and parameters are normal as according to the tail strike checklist, also showed no indication of a tail strike and as such the decision was made to proceed.”
In 2009 at Melbourne airport, an Emirates Airbus A340-500 struck its tail three times, and sustained $100 million damage as it barely cleared the airport boundary fence before returning to make an emergency landing.
A tail strike led to the deadliest single aircraft accident in history in 1985 when a poorly repaired bulkhead on a Japan Airlines 747SR gave way several years later, leading to the loss of 520 people when it crashed.
JIT: Flight MH17 was shot down by a BUK missile from a farmland near Pervomaiskyi
The Joint Investigation Team (JIT) is convinced of having obtained irrefutable evidence to establish that on 17 July 2014, flight MH-17 was shot down by a BUK missile from the 9M38-series. According to the JIT there is also evidence identifying the launch location that involves an agricultural field near Pervomaiskyi which, at the time, was controlled by pro-Russian fighters. This was announced today by the JIT during a presentation for the relatives of the victims. Members of the JIT, Australia, Belgium, Malaysia, the Netherlands and Ukraine, are working together on the criminal investigation into the crash of flight MH17.
On 28 September 2016, the interim results of the criminal investigation which included the findings regarding the weapon and launch location were presented. The investigation into those responsible for the crash will take more time.
Nederland – The Joint Investigation Team (JIT) is convinced of having obtained irrefutable evidence to establish that on 17 July 2014, flight MH-17 was shot down by a BUK missile from the 9M38-series. According to the JIT there is also evidence identifying the launch location that involves an agricultural field near Pervomaiskyi which, at the time, was controlled by pro-Russian fighters. This was announced today by the JIT during a presentation for the relatives of the victims. Members of the JIT, Australia, Belgium, Malaysia, the Netherlands and Ukraine, are working together on the criminal investigation into the crash of flight MH17.
Today, the interim results of the criminal investigation which included the findings regarding the weapon and launch location were presented. The investigation into those responsible for the crash will take more time.
Scenarios
All forensic examinations, witness statements, telecom information, satellite images, radar data, findings by experts and other supporting evidence point to an attack by a ground based air defence system. In addition, the JIT has also investigated other alternative scenarios.
Of these alternative scenarios, an accident and evidence for a terrorist attack from inside the aircraft have been ruled out. Results from the forensic investigation support the scenario of an attack from outside the aircraft. The scenario that flight MH17 was shot down by a military aircraft was explored and discounted on the basis of radar data, witness testimonies and forensic research. The JIT has obtained sufficient radar data, both from Russia and Ukraine, which – when viewed in conjunction – provide a full picture of the airspace over eastern Ukraine. This shows that at the time of the crash, no other airplanes were in the vicinity that could have shot down flight MH17.
The Russian Federation mentioned last week that they have found ‘new’ primary radar images. Based on those images the Russian Federation concludes also that there was no second airplane that could have shot down MH17.
Weapon
The investigation demonstrated that flight MH17 was shot down by a 9M38 series BUK missile. Investigators have compared parts of the alleged weapon which were found at the crash site with reference material. This involved the dismantling of various types of BUK missiles from the 9M38 series and comparing this reference material with the metal parts recovered from the crash site.
The investigation team had to establish a link between the parts found and the downing of flight MH17. It had to be proven that the parts had not been in the area prior to the crash, and that they had not been placed there by third parties after the crash. The crash site was not fenced off for the purpose of forensic examination. It was clear that persons other than the investigators had access to the crash site.
Two examples of the link were presented:
During the autopsy of the bodies of the cockpit crew, several fragments were found that belonged to the warhead of a 9M38 series BUK missile. One of these fragments found showed traces of cockpit glass on the surface, which was the same unique type of glass that is used for the a Boeing 777. It was determined that the fragment pierced the aircraft from the outside through the cockpit window.
In the frame of one of the cockpit windows a metal piece was found which was identified as a part of a 9M38 series BUK missile. This piece was located in a twisted position in the frame, making it clear that it was shot into the window frame with great force.
The JIT has been able to identify a large part of the route concerning the arrival and the departure of the BUK-TELAR. This was the result of intercepted telephone conversations, witness statements, photographs and videos that had been posted on social media, and a video never shown before which was obtained from a witness. The system was transported from Russian territory into eastern Ukraine and was later transported on a white Volvo truck with a low-boy trailer. The truck was escorted by several other vehicles and by armed men in uniform.
Launch site
The final destination of the BUK-system was on farmland near Pervomaiskyi. Evidence that supports this includes multiple witnesses who saw and photographed the condensation trail of the BUK missile and its movement through the air. Other witnesses were able to link the trail to the BUK-TELAR which they had seen earlier on 17 July 2014.
Witnesses were interviewed who had seen a plume of smoke, the BUK-TELAR at the launch site in Pervomaiskyi, and the missile right after it had been launched.
Journalists have spoken to witnesses who had seen the launch of the missile at a very short distance from the launch location. These witnesses testified that they heard a very loud noise and a high whistling sound.
After the BUK missile had been fired, the BUK-TELAR initially drove off under its own power. A short time later it was reloaded onto the Volvo truck and transported back to the Russian border. During the night, the convoy crossed the border into the territory of the Russian Federation.
Now that we have established what happened, the investigation now focuses on the perpetrators. This will be a matter for the long haul. So far, the JIT has identified approximately 100 people who can be linked to the downing of MH17 or the transport of the BUK-TELAR. The JIT has been investigating these people through various sources, such as intercepted telephone conversations and witness statements.
In addition, an investigation is conducted into the chain of command. Who gave the order to bring the BUK-TELAR into Ukraine and who gave the order to shoot down flight MH17? Did the crew decide for themselves or did they execute a command from their superiors? This is important when determining the offences committed by the alleged perpetrators.
The JIT wishes to emphasise that it continues to seek additional information and evidence, including information from insider witnesses. Ukrainian law provides for lower sentences, and in certain circumstances relief from criminal liability, for those who cooperate with the investigation.
Intercepted telephone conversations
Furthermore, the website www.jitmh17.com now includes a number of intercepted telephone conversations. The JIT is now asking for information about certain people who participated in these conversations. People who can identify these voices are requested to report this to the JIT.
The JIT will be actively involved in the investigation in the coming period and for that reason the JIT agreement was extended yesterday, until 1 January 2018.
AirAsia flight bound for Malaysia landed in Melbourne after pilot error
Pilots abandoned attempt to fly to Malaysia after its pilot entered wrong coordinates of starting position, report says
The error caused the plane to track in the wrong direction after takeoff
When pilots decided to discontinue the flight, plane was diverted to Melbourne
The AirAsia crew didn’t notice the error until after the plane became airborne, an Australian report says.
A flight to Malaysia from Sydney was diverted to Melbourne after its pilot entered incorrect coordinates of the plane’s starting position, an Australian aviation investigation report has found.
Carrying 212 passengers, the AirAsia flight bound for Kuala Lumpur on March 10, 2015, was flying in the wrong direction after takeoff from Sydney, because the pilot had manually entered the wrong coordinates of the plane’s position into the flight’s onboard navigation systems.
Faulty earmuffs prompted the captain and the first officer to swap their preflight duties. The captain usually conducts an external inspection, while the first officer remains in the cockpit to complete preparation procedures.
When manually entering the coordinates of the plane’s position, the pilot incorrectly entered the longitude from a sign outside the cockpit window as 01519.8 east (15 degrees 19.8 minutes east) instead of 15109.8 east (151 degrees 9.8 minutes east), the report said.
“This resulted in a positional error in excess of 11,000 kilometers (6,835 miles), which adversely affected the aircraft’s navigation systems and some alerting systems,” the report said.
The crew had “a number of opportunities to identify and correct the error,” the report said, but didn’t notice the problem until after the plane became airborne and started tracking in the wrong direction. Several message alerts and sounds suggested the error before takeoff, but the crew ignored them, according to the report.
Once the captain and the first officer realized the mistake, they tried to fix the system. But it was too late.
“Attempts to troubleshoot and rectify the problem resulted in further degradation of the navigation system, as well as to the aircraft’s flight guidance and flight control system,” the report said.
As systems failed further, the crew asked to return to Sydney and conduct a landing without the use of navigation systems. However, weather conditions in Sydney forced the plane to land in Melbourne instead.
The plane spent three hours on the ground in Melbourne before eventually departing for the Malaysian capital.
In a statement obtained by CNN, AirAsia X said all aircraft have been equipped with upgraded flight management systems since the incident.
“AirAsia X would like to stress that we have in place robust management systems to monitor and prevent similar incidents from reoccurring,” a representative said.
“We also wish to reiterate that we have regularly passed safety and security audits conducted by various international regulators. … We remain committed to ensuring our compliance to all safety and security regulations.”
Source: By Bianca Britton, for CNN on 7 September 2016
.jpg)
A radio hoaxer told a Virgin pilot to abort a landing. Photo: Tian Law
