Weird news - Unwilling to claim large planes

This particular case may be driven totally by economics, but it is really weird no matter whether it is logical. People are loath to give up items of value, and would consider leaving anything of value with somebody else as something to be avoided. Even if the item is not working, it could still be scrapped. And then you read this article where planes have been left at an airport with nobody willing to claim them. The concept being that the pending charges for these planes (including airport charges and others) would be so bad that the owners are not showing up to claim these planes. However, it is weird that the airport has no paperwork or documentation to track who actually owns these planes, and these are massive planes (link to article):

The operators of Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) have placed a bizarre advertisement in a Malaysian newspaper seeking the owners of three 747-200F aircraft apparently abandoned there. "If you fail to collect the aircraft within 14 days of the date of this notice, we reserve the right to sell or otherwise dispose of the aircraft" under Malaysian regulations, said the ad which ran in Monday's edition of The Star. The notice was addressed to the "untraceable owner" of the planes.

Weird news: Bees attack aircraft, prevent delays

Well, not in the type shown in horror films where a supposed swarm of killer bees would attack the aircraft and through whatever means, get inside the aircraft and attack the passengers, biting many to death. More of a kind where it was not safe for the plane to take off with so many bees all around. If a bee got into the plane, it would be unsafe, similarly, if a bee got into the wiring or anything like that, it would be unsafe. As a result, the flight had to be delayed until the bees were removed and there was no threat to either the passengers or the flight because of the bees (link to article):

The bees flew from under a wing, some attached themselves to the wing, while others covered windows of the Airbus-319. Two ambulances were called to the plane amid fears that the bees might get inside the cabin. Airport staff then 'efficiently and quickly' removed the bees from the plane's fuselage, 'metro.co.uk' reported. The flight was delayed by slightly under an hour. It is not the first time bees have caused problems for an aircraft.

Weird news: 2 year old has cardiac arrest on a plane

A heart attack or any kind of cardiac problem is a matter of great distress to the affected person as well as to relatives and friends, but it is even more problematic when this happens in a kid. The incidence of heart problems is much lower in children, unless they are born with some of those problems, but yet, it is painful to see children in such a state. This is even more problematic when an incidence such as cardiac arrest happens on a plane, where there may not be the required specialized equipment or medical personnel; in such cases, one can only hope that things become better soon (link to article):

Authorities say a 2-year-old reported in cardiac arrest on a JetBlue flight from Pittsburgh to Boston was rushed to a hospital after landing at Logan International Airport. Massachusetts State Police Trooper Matthew Guarino says an ambulance met Flight 1786 about 5:40 p.m. Thursday after the pilot reported the medical emergency. Emergency responders blocked road intersections to rush the child to Massachusetts General Hospital. A state trooper drove the child's father and brother to the hospital.

Weird: Recruiting more ladies to reduce weight to save fuel costs

Fuel costs are high, and airlines claim that they are bleeding costs for a long time. So, over a period of time airlines have done a number of cost saving measures - these include reducing the amount of weight allotted to a person (many years back flights to and fro the US allowed 64 kg, which is now down to 20 kg), more and more flights are now charging for other services such as seats on the emergency exits (which have more leg space), and low cost airlines would even start charging for going to the rest room on the flight. So, there is a lot of focus on trying to find new places where money could be saved, but this airline has taken an interesting turn. Carrying more weight on board the flight means that it takes more in fuel charges, and fuel is expensive, so the airline is actually now preferring to hire females rather than male attendants because they tend to be 10-15 kg less in weight (link to article):

An Indian airline has hit on possibly the worthiest excuse yet for hiring slim women as cabin crew -- it saves fuel and therefore money. While some airlines admit to hiring women for their sex appeal, budget carrier GoAir has told The Times of India it will be hiring predominantly female flight attendants in future because they are 15-20 kilos lighter on average than men. The airline estimates each extra kilo on board costs Rs3 ($0.05) per flying hour, and the new policy will save it up to $500,000 annually. A spokesman for the airline denied to CNN that it had implemented a gender-biased recruitment policy. But he confirmed that the airline's male-female cabin crew ratio of 40:60 was among the most male-heavy in the industry in India.

Maybe this is also an opportunity for the most slim people to come forward and claim a preferential right when applying for jobs in airlines. :-)

Weird news - Man gets kicked off plane for taking photos

Nowadays security on planes is getting very strict. When people make a nuisance of themselves on planes, there have been recent cases where the captain of the plane has deplaned them, and there has never been any action against the crew of such planes, even when there has been a lot of hue and cry about the actions of the crew. This has positively gone up manifold since the events of 9/11, and at this point, with the security situation as it is, you could just make a joke on a plane and if somebody misreads the joke, then you could be pointed out as a security concern, and would be evicted from the flight.
Consider this case, whereby an avid airline blogger and photo enthusiast was taking some photos on a flight. It was standard policy that nobody should take photos on the plane, but this was one of those policies that were there on the list and nobody followed, and in most cases, the crew on the flight would not have insisted. However, in this specific case, when the person was taking a photo, the crew objected and he stopped taking flights. However, later he did point out to the crew member that he was not a terrorist and used to take such photos for the blog earlier; and apparently this was enough for the crew to decide that they did not want him on the flight, and got him evicted (link to article):

I looked at the FA, smiled, but said nothing, putting my iPhone away. To be clear, I did not take any more pictures—not a single one. Meanwhile, another passenger was taking pictures behind the curtain and the FA ran over to him and demanded that he stop as well. This passenger had a lively discussion with the FA, though I did not hear the resolution. Naturally, the FA's warning bothered me and I felt the need to explain myself. I signaled for her to come back and asked her to hang my coat. I then said this verbatim— "I want you to understand why I was taking pictures. I hope you didn't think I was a terrorist. Here is my business card [offering her one]. I write about United Airlines on an almost-daily basis and the folks at United in Chicago are even aware of my blog." She took my jacket but refused to take my business card saying, "No, that's okay," then saying, "I did not know that" after I explained my reason for taking pictures. I again emphasize, I took no more pictures.

Weird news - Family defy no-smoking warnings on plane, forced to get off

There was a time when smoking was considered fashionable, and there were very few restrictions on smoking. It was only in the past few decades that the health problems of smoking became clear, and the restrictions on smoking started growing. Of particular concern was the impact of smoking on those who did not smoke themselves, this being called as 'second hand smoking', and more restrictions implemented to ensure that people who did not smoke did not get affected by those who did so. As a result, there were more laws passed to ensure that if people did smoke, they were prevented from doing so in a way that the smoke would impact others; one of these was about ensuring that smoking is totally banned on planes.
Given the closed environment of an aircraft, there was no way to ensure second hand smoking prevention, unless smoking was totally banned on a flight. Now it is strictly enforced, and there are warning messages that come on in aircraft, calling out that people cannot even smoke in the bathrooms (and in fact, there would be smoke detectors meant to prevent people from smoking there). Combine this with the fact that in this age of aircraft security, any unrest or disturbance on a plane is treated as a security problem and if the situation gets out of hand, then the plane can even land and the concerned people handed over to security (link to news article):

A family of three -- a father, a mother, and a son -- were arrested after they refused to stop smoking inside a plane, forcing the aircraft to land in the island nation of Bermuda. The flight from Halifax in Canada to the Dominican Republic landed in Bermuda, and police boarded the plane and arrested the three passengers, the Daily Mail reported.

Such a diversion can be pretty bad for the schedule of everyone concerned, since this causes delay in the transit of everyone, and if the time takes longer, then people may even need to stay overnight.

Weird news - Man sucked into a plane engine at maintenance bay

Once in a while, you would have seen stories of how powerful a jet engine is, and in an occasional movie, you would see a fight between a hero and villain (typically in a plane) being terminated by somebody or something being sucked into the engine of the plane. You might wonder about whether such a thing really exists, and can people really be sucked into a plane engine.
You need to consider that a plane engine has so much power that it pushes out gases at such a high speed that it can propel a heavy plane at very high speeds. To this effect, it sucks in air from the front part of the engine, and this creates a powerful sucking force when the engine is at full operating speed (article).

SAFE Air did not detail how the man died but Fairfax Media said it was informed by sources that the man was sucked into the engine of a C-130 Hercules. The engine had been removed from the aircraft and was installed in the airline's testing bay.
The man had apparently walked into the testing bay while the engine was running, Fairfax reported.

Pilot dies while flying a Qatar Airlines flight, flight diverted to safety

When a flight is in the air, the only thing standing between the passengers and danger is the skill of the pilot, keeping the plane flying or landing safely. Towards this end, the pilot needs to be in perfectly good health, quick to react, able to think quickly, and very skilled. But, what happens when some sudden misfortune strikes the pilot ? There is a co-pilot who can take over, but typically the pilot has a much higher level of skill than the co-pilot. Consider the tragedy that occurred to this pilot, and the danger to the passengers of the Qatar Airlines flight (link to article):

Qatar Airways diverted its Manila-Doha flight to Kuala Lumpur early yesterday after the pilot suffered a massive heart attack on board and later died. The co-pilot flew the plane (Flight No QR645), with roughly 260 passengers on board, to Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) for emergency landing. He requested the KLIA authorities for permission to land after the pilot complained of chest pain, and urged that a medical team be kept ready so that the pilot could be provided medical care.
But the medical team declared the pilot dead after the flight landed at KLIA. The passengers on board were not told about the pilot’s condition, it is learnt. The deceased, Ajay Kukreja, was an Indian in his early forties. The flight took off from Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport early yesterday.

Weird news: Newborn baby left in the trash bin of an aircraft

Sometimes we come across some news stories that can shock even the most hard person. Stories about how babies are left are shocking, but we mostly come across cases where the baby has been left at the doorstep of some sort of orphanage, or left where they can be found quickly and the appropriate care given. However, in extreme cases (such as where the mother fears social pressures or the threat of physical violence) the baby may even be abandoned in such a situation where the baby may die quickly. This is also a sad reflection of social mores where the mother feels so pressured that she would rather abandon a baby like this. In this case (link to article), the baby was found in the trash of an aircraft, probably born during the flight, and found by a security officer who detected movement in a bag:

Philippine authorities on Monday tried to identify the mother of a baby born on a commercial flight from West Asia and found abandoned in the airplane’s trash, evoking pity and outrage among Filipinos.
The baby — still attached to the placenta — could have died had a security officer on the tarmac not noticed the movement in one of the trash bags unloaded from the aircraft. When he opened the bag and dug through the rubbish, the officer was stunned to find the baby, which was brought to an airport clinic, airport press officer Connie Bungag said.