Sounds like poor planning on an Air France dispatcher and/or the pilot. If his original destination was Beirut and he only had enough fuel to make the 20 minutes flying time to Damascus, then he didn't have much of a fuel reserve. Knowing what the situation is in the eastern Mediterranean area, common sense would have said to have enough of a reserve to make it to Amman, Jordan to the south-east, Tel Aviv, Israel to the south, Nicosia, Cyprus to the west, or Adana, Turkey to the north. Hell, he could have also diverted to RAF Akrotiri, Cyprus. England and France are both NATO and EU members, and given the situation, I am sure that the RAF would have let him land there and give him a few liters of petrol.

(Written on 2012年08月19日)(Permalink)

What a week for space!! Save your money and buy stock in VirginGalactic and SpaceEx. We are witnessing the birth of two new industries that will never die off - passenger and cargo businesses in space.

(Written on 2012年06月01日)(Permalink)

I agree it doesn't fall on TSA, but does fall on airport management. I am sure that the airport operator has their own internal security organization that should have noted the faults in the building design and made corrections/changes.

(Written on 2012年05月30日)(Permalink)

I was 12 years old and living in Bronx, NY (a few miles away) when this accident happened. Correct me if I am wrong, but, I believe one cause of the accident was a passenger listening to a local FM radio station during the descent. This caused interference with the aircraft's avionics which, to this day, we are required to turn off all electronic devices prior to take-off and landing.

(Written on 2012年01月16日)(Permalink)