Let me just check with the tower first:
"Study, kept secret, cites fatigue in control towers" by Joan Lowy Associated Press August 11, 2015
WASHINGTON — Air traffic controllers’ work schedules often lead to chronic fatigue, making them less alert and endangering the safety of the national air traffic system, according to a study the government kept secret for years.
The video games and porn during periods of boredom must not be helping.
Federal Aviation Administration officials posted the study online Monday, hours after the Associated Press reported the findings, noting that agency officials had declined to furnish a copy — despite repeated requests over the past three months, including a demand made under the Freedom of Information Act.
After seven years of transparency?
The AP was able to obtain a draft of the final report dated Dec. 1, 2011. The report the FAA posted online was dated December 2012, although the findings appear to be nearly identical to those in the draft....
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So where has all the money gone?
"Indonesian airliner crashes, with 54 aboard" by Niniek Karmini Associated Press August 17, 2015
JAKARTA, Indonesia — An airliner carrying 54 people crashed Sunday during a short flight in bad weather in Indonesia’s mountainous eastern province of Papua, officials said.
A search plane spotted wreckage, officials said, and villagers reported finding wreckage after the jet struck a mountain.
Looks like a new episode coming.
********
The Papua city of Oksibil, which is about 175 miles south of Jayapura, was experiencing heavy rain, strong winds, and fog when the plane lost contact with the airport minutes before it was scheduled to land, said Susanto, the head of Papua’s search and rescue agency.
Residents of Okbape village in Papua’s Bintang district told local police that they saw a plane flying low before crashing into a mountain, said Susanto, who like many Indonesians goes by one name.
He said about 150 rescuers were heading to the remote area, which is known for its dense forest and steep cliffs.
Much of Papua is covered with impenetrable jungles and rugged mountains. Some planes that have crashed there in the past have never been found.
Dudi Sudibyo, an aviation analyst, said that Papua is a particularly dangerous place to fly because of its mountainous terrain and rapidly changing weather patterns.
‘‘I can say that a pilot who is capable of flying there will be able to fly an aircraft in any part of the world,’’ Sudibyo said.
Indonesia has had its share of airline woes in recent years. The sprawling archipelago nation of 250 million people and some 17,000 islands is one of Asia’s most rapidly expanding airline markets, but it is struggling to provide enough qualified pilots, mechanics, air traffic controllers, and updated airport technology to ensure safety.
From 2007 to 2009, the European Union barred Indonesian airlines from flying to Europe because of safety concerns.
Last December, all 162 people aboard an AirAsia jet were killed when the plane plummeted into the Java Sea as it ran into stormy weather on its way from Surabaya, Indonesia’s second-largest city, to Singapore.
That disaster was one of five suffered by Asian carriers in a 12-month span, including Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, which went missing in March 2014 with 239 people aboard during a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing....
What are the odds on that, huh?
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All part of the patrol, I guess.
Related: Plane Truths
Also see: Plane crashes in N.Y., Calif. kill 6
I suppose a balloon wouldn't have been any better.
Maybe the best thing to do would be take a bike:
"Cyclists take to Bangkok streets for queen’s birthday" Associated Press August 17, 2015
BANGKOK — Thailand’s crown prince led thousands of cyclists through the streets of the capital Sunday on a 26-mile tribute to his mother, Queen Sirikit, to mark her 83d birthday.
The high-profile event, carried live by all public television stations, was also an exercise in palace public relations at a time of concern about the royal succession in Thailand.
All roads were closed along the route of what was dubbed “Bike for Mom,” which transformed typically traffic-clogged Bangkok, for a day at least, into a biker’s paradise. Among the riders were the prime minister, his Cabinet, celebrities, and other VIPs. Similar rides took place in provinces nationwide, led by local officials.
The event took place a few days after the queen’s Aug. 12 birthday, which is also a national holiday and is celebrated as Mother’s Day in Thailand.
It was billed as the largest organized bicycle ride ever conducted in Thailand, and Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said authorities hoped to set a world record for a national bike parade. Organizers said 40,000 people registered for the event in Bangkok.
“The event will also showcase to the world how devoted Thais are to their queen,” Prayuth said.
Thailand’s revered monarch, 87-year-old King Bhumibol Adulyadej, and his wife are both in declining health. Bhumibol, who was born in Cambridge, Mass., took the throne in 1946 and is the world’s longest-reigning monarch.
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Related: Globe Reporter Bike Ride
I'll bet he sleeps good at night.
Now it's starting to sink.
NEXT DAY UPDATES:
"Bangkok stunned after blast at shrine kills 20, injures 123" by Thomas Fuller New York Times August 18, 2015
BANGKOK — A bomb placed inside a Bangkok religious shrine frequented by tourists exploded Monday evening, hurling body parts onto the pavement, shattering building windows, and creating panic in one of the city’s most popular districts.
A bike bomb?
At least 20 people were killed and 123 wounded in what Thailand’s top police official and others called a vicious act targeting helpless civilians.
The explosion came at a particularly busy time of day at the Erawan Shrine, an important tourist attraction in Bangkok’s main shopping area. The area was filled with tourists, office workers, and shoppers.
But Thai officials offered no clue as to who might have been responsible for the blast, which appeared to be the worst by far in a series of explosions that have occasionally disrupted the country since the Thai military seized power in a May 2014 coup.
I have some idea.
As of early Tuesday there was no claim of responsibility.
Would seem to indicate some sort of false flag with western intelligence involvement.
Police discovered at least two additional devices they suspected were unexploded bombs inside the shrine and said other bombs may have been placed in the area, yelling at bystanders: “Get out! Get out!”
Some Thai media reported later that the suspicious devices did not appear to be bombs.
The Bangkok Post reported on its website that the shrine bomb, apparently placed just inside the fenced Erawan compound, detonated at 6:55 p.m. The explosion set vehicles in the adjacent intersection ablaze and bowed the iron fence of the shrine.
Debris and at least five motorcycles were scattered in the intersection, including one in flames, as dozens of emergency vehicles arrived.
The head of Thailand’s national police force, Somyot Poompanmoung, said on television that whoever was responsible knew there would be innocent victims at a busy time for the shrine, describing the attack as “vicious and ruthless.”
Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha promised to find the bombers, according to the Associated Press.
‘‘This is the worst incident that has ever happened in Thailand,’’ he said. ‘‘There have been minor bombs or just noise, but this time they aim for innocent lives. They want to destroy our economy, our tourism.’’
The one that is heavily dependent on the child sex trade?
Thai officials said it was premature to conclude the attack had been politically motivated. The capital has been mostly quiet since protests followed the military coup in May 2014, but activists have criticized recent government statements that elections may be delayed until 2017.
A Defense Ministry spokesman, Kongcheep Tantrawanich, was quoted by the newspaper as saying the bombing was “the work of those who have lost political interests and want to destroy the ‘happy time’ of Thai people.”
Officials said a citizen of the Philippines and a Chinese person were among the dead, without specifying a nationality.
Authorities placed white cloths over human remains at the Ratchaprasong intersection, the same area where a protest that stretched for months was dispersed by the military in 2010.
Charoen Sida, 37, a security guard who was preparing to start a 7 p.m. shift at a shopping mall next to the site, witnessed the immediate aftermath.
“Everyone was screaming and running,” he said. “There was a huge fire coming from a motorcycle. No one dared to go into the intersection.”
Winai Petploy, a rescue worker who carried away the remains of the dead, said bodies were torn apart by the blast. “I carried one out and then I carried the other half out,” he said.
A police officer at the scene said authorities were focused on a possible suspect who was seen arriving at the shrine around 15 minutes before the explosion. She placed a bag at the shrine and then left. The officer, who declined to be named because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said the woman was overheard speaking Thai.
Gotta be ISIS.
More than two hours after the blast, police led teams of dogs through the area in a search for other explosives.
The Erawan shrine itself appeared not to have suffered extensive damage. Shards of shattered glass littered the immediate area, but a small pavilion inside the shrine compound looked largely intact.
Hmm.
The Hindu shrine is popular with both Thais and foreign tourists, especially ethnic Chinese visitors from Singapore, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. The shrine is believed to hold mystical powers and those who pray for good fortune include students, job seekers, and couples who have trouble conceiving.
Hmmmmmmm.
Given what has just happened in China.... ???
In 2006 a man described by authorities as deranged was beaten to death after he partly destroyed the shrine.
There have been at least four bombings in Thailand since the military seized power last year. But none came close to the power of the shrine bomb.
The military has come under increasing criticism in recent months, as Thailand’s economy has faltered and as a timeline for restoration of democracy has become increasingly vague.
Nonetheless, overt opposition to the military has been muted and the army still retains considerable support among the Bangkok elite.
Where the print ended.
The generals in charge of Thailand have on several occasions claimed that organized attempts to subvert their rule are threatening the nation, but critics say the military has not built a convincing case that would justify an indefinite continuation of its rule.
Despite its political troubles, Thailand remains one of the most popular tourist destinations in Asia, especially with a growing contingent of mainland Chinese tourists.
That leads me to this:
BANGKOK BOMBS; INSIDE JOB; CIA
Looks like orange shirts to me, and not the jumpsuits given to poor patsy slobs that need to be tortured to maintain the narrative.
Regarding past treatment in the propaganda pre$$, they have been pro-Red with denigrating articles regarding new military junta; however, playing both sides is standard operating procedure for the globe-kicking empire builders, so who knows? The breaking up of countries across the planet, however, is an on-the-ground fact.
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Maybe Indonesia can fly in some aid:
"Crashed Indonesian plane carried government aid for the poor" by Joe Cochrane New York Times August 18, 2015
JAKARTA, Indonesia — Indonesian rescue teams on Tuesday reached the crash site of a commercial aircraft that went down over the weekend in the remote eastern region of Papua, killing all 54 aboard, officials said.
‘‘The plane was totally destroyed and all the bodies were burned and difficult to identify,’’ National Search and Rescue Agency chief Henry Bambang Soelistyo told the Associated Press. ‘‘There is no chance anyone survived.’’
He said that so far 38 bodies had been recovered.
“Right now, they are preparing equipment for the evacuation process and also building a helipad,” Soelistyo added.
An Indonesian spotter plane had located and photographed debris from the flight Monday, an official said, but the search for the Trigana Air Service plane, which vanished Sunday in stormy weather, was then halted because of darkness.
The photographs, which the Indonesian National Search and Rescue Agency made public Monday at a news conference, showed debris in a heavily forested area of the Bintang Mountains district in Papua province, said Heronimus Guru, deputy director of operations for the agency.
The civilian rescue team, supported by the Indonesian military, had been battling through mountainous jungle to reach the site, said Zainul Thahar, a spokesman for the search agency.
The missing short-haul airliner left Jayapura, the capital of Papua province, Sunday afternoon bound for Oksibil, about 170 miles to the south. The plane lost contact with air traffic controllers about 30 minutes after takeoff, said Toha, a spokesman at the command center of the National Search and Rescue Agency in Jakarta, the Indonesian capital.
The plane was carrying 49 passengers, including two children and three infants, along with five crew members from Trigana, said Toha, who like many Indonesians goes by one name.
Four postal workers aboard the plane were escorting four bags containing $468,750 in government cash that was to be distributed to poor families to offset a rise in fuel prices, the Associated Press reported. The money was from the Indonesian Social Affairs Ministry, Franciscus Haryono, head of the post office in Jayapura, said.
Indonesia has had many commercial and military aircraft disasters in recent years, including two deadly crashes in the past eight months, raising questions about the safety of the industry.
On Dec. 28, an AirAsia flight bound from Surabaya, the capital of East Java province, crashed en route to Singapore, killing all 162 people aboard. On June 30, an Indonesian military C-130 transport plane crashed shortly after takeoff in the northern city of Medan, on Sumatra Island, killing all 122 people aboard and at least 21 people on the ground.
Trigana has had three fatal episodes since it began operations in 1991, including a crash in 2006, also in Papua province, that killed all 12 passengers and crew, according to the Aviation Safety Network, an online database.
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Wait a minute:
"The Rhode Island branch of the American Civil Liberties Union on Monday denounced the participation of the T.F. Green Airport in a federal ‘‘behavior detection’’ program, designed to spot passengers who are potential threats. The ACLU says the Transportation Security Administration’s Behavior Detection and Analysis Program encourages racial profiling. The TSA trains and deploys some employees to watch passengers for behaviors the government associates with stress, fear, or deception. The behaviors can lead to further investigation. The ACLU says the Rhode Island Airport Commission approved the program for the Warwick airport in June. It’s unclear whether the program has begun. A message left for an Airport Commission spokeswoman was not immediately returned (AP)."
They pulled me out of line, but you go on ahead and get on the plane.
Related: Invisible Ink: Headless TSA
Also see: Norwegian Air expands Logan presence
Good luck getting through customs.
