R.I.P. Germanwings Flight 9525. Flying seems no longer that safe anymore.

One after another. This is something no one wants to see or hear of but unfortunately, it’s happening again and again. Aviation industry is in its darkest in recent years when more and more planes were involved in saddening tragedies lately. Last year alone, we witnessed the disappearance of MH370, then shooting down of MH17, crash of QZ 8501, and several others. Just when we hoped no major airline disaster would happen in near future, we were left shocked again.

Yesterday, a Germanwings Flight 9525 en-route from Barcelona, Spain to Dusseldorf, Germany crashed in the French Alps region, killing all 144 passengers and 6 crew members on board. The reason for the crash is still unknown, and is currently under investigation. What we all knew now is that the plane descends to quite a low altitude and then crashed in the middle of the flight with no distress signal issued. The crash site is in a very remote area within the mountains at French Alps and the plane had disintegrated into a pile of wreckage so heavily that you can barely recognize it was a plane.

I express my sincere condolences to all the family, relatives and friends of those on-board the ill-fated flight. My thoughts and prayers for them and to the deceased. Rest in Peace, Flight 4U 9525.

Now, we cannot avoid ourselves from asking this question; ‘Is flying no longer seems to be that safe anymore?’. I believe the answer now is ‘Yes’. I was once told that the probability of an airline accident is one in a billion. Now, I don’t think that figure is right. I used to take flights for at least twice a year for my oversea holiday trips annually. Now, I don’t enjoy flying anymore, but still longing for holiday abroad. But you can’t do that without flying?! It’s the only efficient mode of transportation to travel over countries. So, I will still have to take flight in future but with a heavy heart, worrying and always-thought-of-prayer attitude from now on.

In the meantime, I do hope that the worldwide aviation industry would look seriously into all possible angles and measures to prevent airplane disasters from happening again (or at least not that frequent). Have a check and be strict, updated and fully prepared on all aspects from pilot training, airport management and security, air traffic control, plane tracking system, plane maintenance, etc. Please remember that our lives are on you when we are in flight. Wouldn’t want to comment further since I’m no expert in this field.

 

Sometimes, we couldn’t prevent such unfortunate events from happening, but at least we can work out to reduce its possibility to assure for a bright and promising flying experience for all in the future.

(Images in this post are from various sources throughout the world wide web)

MH370, a year later…still no sign of the plane?!

That remains as the biggest aviation mystery in recent years. Exactly a year ago on this day (8th March 2014), a Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 bound to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur disappeared with 227 passengers and 12 crew members inside. I think I don’t need to explain further details of this disappearance that went on to become major news headlines across the world last year for at least a month.

And the most surprising thing is that even after a year, there is still not a single sign or trace of the plane at all. This is getting really mysterious. Where are you, MH370? Anyway, we are still hopeful that MH370 will be found soon. The search operation by Australia and Malaysia is still underway at the Indian Ocean, the last location of the plane as believed from the satellite readings. However, finding a plane in an ocean as big as that is a very challenging job and will not pays off result easily. What we can do now is just to wait for its conclusion, and send our thoughts and prayers for those affected.

(Image source: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LBFfwA7CH4I/)

Up until now, there are still many rumours and allegations going around on to what actually happened to the plane on 8th March 2014 when it disappeared. It changed route and flies without radar detection to Indian Ocean without any known reason yet. There are still many questions unanswered, and we do sincerely hope all that would be resolved soon. The family of the passengers on board the ill-fated plane deserved to know the answer, and we truly felt their lost.

Also let’s not forget on how bad our authority and Malaysia Airlines company were handling the situation when the incident first broke out to the world. They were slow and not organized. While the world felt sympathy to the next-of-kin of the MH370 passengers, China was fuming towards our authority on the very poor way on handling the matter. Criticism received, and I do not even want to stand on our authority’s side. They were really bad, and not worth my support (also the company losses millions of ringgits every year and government spent our money to save it all these while).

It’s a year anniversary from the day MH370 disappeared mysteriously. We still remember you, and please come back, MH370. We miss you. The world miss you.

Through the last day of the year with sorrow, for Malaysian flood victims and QZ8501.

This is it. Today is already the last day of the year. Perhaps, we are currently not in the mood to celebrate the arrival of a new year this time as our country is once again felt into trouble. In March this year, our plane MH370 disappeared without any trace or clue till now, and then in July, our plane MH17 was shot down. Now, our country made headlines in global news again from the current flood tragedy which is the worst in the nation’s history.

The flood that started many days ago had affected majority of the states in Peninsular Malaysia, particularly from north east region of West Malaysia. There was a point of time when the flood water rises over second floor of buildings situated on low-lying land. More than 200 000 people are evacuated and left homeless. Till now, there are about nine deaths reported from the flood which is said to be the worst the country has ever witnessed. Fortunately, our country stand united to contribute all sort of assistance to the flood victims currently, and things can still considered to be in control. However, more works are expected after the water recedes to rebuild homes and bring back normal lives to the affected people. Now, I do hope that the flood will be over really soon.

Our emotion could not be made worse after receiving news of another plane disappearing on last Sunday’s morning. That is an AirAsia Indonesia plane labelled QZ8501, en-route from Surabaya, Indonesia to Singapore with 162 people on board. We do frequently catch up and hope for miracle from this disappearance as the plane is owned by Malaysia-based low-budget airline; AirAsia. We are somehow related to this aviation disaster too. And now we were updated with more heartbreaking news that the plane is confirmed to have crashed into Java Sea and the crash site has been determined when bodies and debris were located from yesterday onwards. It’s certainly painful to accept this, even for us, who have no family member or relative on board that ill-fated flight. I hereby express my deepest condolences to the next-of-kin of all the people on board the plane. R.I.P. QZ8501.

What I am capable of doing now is just to hope for a much positive year ahead. 2014 is seriously been a very bad year particularly on aviation disasters. Five in a single year, with two and a half (considered that AirAsia incident as half) of them involving my country, Malaysia. How sad and tragic it is. I also sincerely wish that everything for MH370, MH17 and QZ8501 will be resolved very soon to leave no question unanswered for justice to all. I hope 2015 would be the year for all that to be solved with no more delays.

It’s the New Year’s Eve today. Time to say goodbye to 2014. What’s my new year resolution? I do have some challenging objectives on my mind for the year 2015; go for active exercising, finish a puzzle I bought like a year ago, commence my post-graduate Master study (preferably oversea), reached a certain amount of saving, find a girlfriend (haha…depends on fate), etc. Hope I can deal with all that smoothly. Time to list down your new year’s resolution too, so that you can start year 2015 brightly like me with aims and goals ahead!

Hmm…still couldn’t believe that there is now only few hours left to bid farewell to 2014. It’s been very fast and sad year for Malaysia. Looking forward to much better year ahead, and that’s you; 2015!

(Images in this post are from various sources throughout the world wide web)

National day of mourning tomorrow for MH17.

Tomorrow, 22nd August 2014, has been declared as Malaysia’s national day of mourning for the MH17 plane that was brought down on 17th July 2014 which killed all 298 people on board. 43 of the deceased are Malaysians. A special flight carrying twenty identified remains of the Malaysians will touch down at Kuala Lumpur International Airport tomorrow morning from Amsterdam. More remains will be brought down to Malaysia on the following days.

 

A dignified reception will be conducted for the return of the Malaysian remains. The country will also observe a minute of silence as a show of respect to the victims of this tragedy while national flags will be again flown at half mast tomorrow. Eventhough tomorrow is not declared as a public holiday, but let us take a short time off from your work or anything and extend our heartfelt prayers to the victims of MH17. It’s not going to be a happy Friday tomorrow, but let us make tomorrow a united Friday for all Malaysians to pay our last respect. Can we?

The official outcome of the investigation into the tragedy is still pending eventhough the plane’s black boxes had been recovered and sent for analysis earlier. I have to stress again that whoever found responsible of bringing down the ill-fated plane should be responsible and be taken to justice no matter what. But at least, I believe this case will be brought into a conclusion soon, unlike the MH370 incident, another aviation disaster early this year for Malaysia Airlines. The plane vanished on March 8th, 2014 and till now, no trace or anything of the plane is found. Really weird and unbelievable. Hoping that everything will be resolved very soon for both MH370 and MH17.

The annual Independence Day celebration is near (will fall on 31st August). This year’s national celebration for the Independence Day will be toned down as a mark of respect too. No government-organized countdown events or fireworks this year. Expect a much quieter night on the Merdeka’s eve. However, the National Day Parade is still on, as we still need something to mark our country’s 57th anniversary of independence that we first gained on 1957. 57-57. Very meaningful indeed. The spirit of patriotism shouldn’t fades away, and let us take these as a testament for us to stay strong and united for Malaysia.

Last but not least, I would like to take this opportunity to extend my deepest condolences again to the family and friends of the victims on board MH17 flight. My thoughts and prayers for MH17.

(Images in this post are from various sources throughout the world wide web)

R.I.P. MH17

‘Before writing further, I would first like to express my heartfelt and deepest condolences to the families, relatives and friends of all the 298 victims on board the ill-fated Malaysia Airlines MH17 flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur on 17th July 2014. And my sincere thoughts and prayers to the deceased. Rest in peace, and may God be with you.’

The world is currently overwhelmed with news of a Malaysian plane found to have crashed at Ukraine, near Russian border yesterday. What’s further shocking from that saddening statement is that the plane went down not because of any technical failure or accident but is now believed to be shot down by military. This has been widely called as an act of cruelty and terrorism. While the Ukrainian and Russian governments are now blaming on each other for the crash in this time when there has been dispute and war at the borders between these two nations, an international investigation has been called on by United Nations to find out the exact truth behind this.

The plane is a Boeing 777, and carried 283 passengers and 15 crew members (over 10 nationalities). It was believed to be shot down when it was cruising at about 30 000 ft altitude. Some local people witnessed and even captured videos showing moment when the plane crashed onto the ground with thick plume of smoke coming off seen far away on a field. I was deeply saddened and traumatized after seeing some of the images and watching some of the clips showing the crash site. Highly disturbing. If it is indeed confirmed that the plane was shot down, the perpetrators should be brought to justice without any question. All involved or affected nations (Russia, Ukraine, Malaysia, United States, Netherlands, United Kingdom) should cooperate to get to the bottom on this matter.

This is the second aviation tragedy for the Malaysia Airlines in this year alone, as this crash came not long after an incident on March 8 this year when another Malaysia Airlines plane MH370 flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing disappeared. The plane was presumed to have crashed on the Indian Ocean,but till now, no wreckage or any sign of the plane has been found yet, and everything remains a mystery. I hope the truth will be revealed very soon to both MH370 and this recent MH17 tragedies as the world needs the answer, particularly the next-of-kin of the passengers on board the two doomed flights. Malaysia Airlines is in very deep trouble this year.

I couldn’t believe this happened. Another tragic aviation-related news in this already tragic year for Malaysia. This is horrifying and shocking. Now, unfortunately, Malaysia is becoming the headlines of all major news organizations around the world for the second time this year alone for something this devastating again. This Friday and weekend is no longer happy for all of us. We felt the pain, we felt the sadness, we felt the tragedy. Now, we share a moment of silence for MH17.

 

Rest in peace, MH17. 

(Information and images in this post are from various sources throughout the world wide web)

 

Plane MH370 ‘ended in the southern Indian Ocean’

We were all feeling very anxious and shocked yesterday when the Prime Minister called for a sudden media conference at night. He must have had something very important to inform to the local and international media on the latest status in locating the plane MH370, a Malaysia Airlines flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing that went missing on 8th March 2014 (early this month). And yes, it was a heartbreaking news announced yesterday since it went disappeared for almost three weeks ago.

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, informed yesterday that based on convincing findings and calculations from UK investigators and British satellite firm, Immarsat, it is confirmed that plane MH370 went down in the middle of the southern Indian Ocean, west of Perth. It is a very remote location far from any possible landing sites, further dashing hopes of particularly the families and relatives of the passengers on board the ill-fated aircraft. Most Malaysian newspapers today were in black and white on front cover in tribute to the MH370 and its 227 passengers and 12 crews.

I am truly saddened by this latest update. It’s seriously hard to accept but I believe many had already expected the worst. While currently, there were various reported sightings of floating objects at the Indian Ocean, but none of them were confirmed to originate from the plane as of today. The global search and rescue (rescue is no longer in programme as it is impossible to survive on the rough ocean for over two weeks by now) operation by 27 nations is to continue till the debris and the black-box are found. The most likely cause of the crash according to my own opinion now after this recent announcement is suicide attempt. But I won’t speculate any further.

Today, I heard that a huge protest or demonstration is held in front of Malaysia’s Embassy at Beijing by the families, relatives and friends of the passengers whom are now concluded to have perished along with the aircraft. They were angry and demanding for clear answers. Yes, I agreed that Malaysia should take the responsibility for its inefficient way of handling the matter but it should not be blamed as the ‘murderer’ as some reported. No one wanted this to happen. I seriously understand the feeling of the passengers’ next-of-kins but kindly calm down and think reasonably. I believed everyone tried their best to locate the plane now, and gives everyone the answer.

I was quite depressed today, as my mind couldn’t get off from this very sad news. Now, the only thing we can hope for is that the plane’s wreckage and its black-box could be found very soon and that all questions are to be answered clearly. Wishing for miracle too (survivors, maybe?) but to be honest, the possibility is almost zero. The passengers’ families and relatives shall move on. My deepest condolences to them. Rest in peace, MH370.

(Images in this post are from various sources throughout the world wide web)

MH370 still undiscovered after being missing for over 100 hours.

It has been over 100 hours since the Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 reported missing, and yet there is still not a single clue, trace or sign of the ill-fated plane till today. The flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing carried 227 passengers and 12 crew members departed KLIA 40 minutes past midnight on 8th March 2014 and lost its radar about two hours later. It should have reached destination on 6.30am the same day. But no. And since then, this incident had been making the headlines of all local and international news. Malaysia had never been in global spotlight to this scale.

But putting the country into fame through this way is something not to be proud of. It is instead saddening and I hoped not to have it happened at all. It’s now already the 5th day of the plane gone missing, and despite multi-national search and rescue operations going on, there isn’t any outcome at all, neither positive nor negative. Over 10 countries joined in the effort to search for the plane, to investigate the cause, and also to uncover more details of the incident. Malaysia do appreciate their assistance as our country is never capable of doing this task on our own.

I have been staying closely to the updates, particularly from the media conference held daily. There had been many rumours circulating from irresponsible parties and I do hope that kind of act should ceased immediately. Stop spreading false news. I also do understand the reasoning behind reports of the flight passengers’ family members and relatives being emotionally angry to Malaysian authorities’ inefficient way of handling the matter. There are many reports putting the blame on Malaysian authorities. It’s fair and I do agree, but let’s put our focus back to search for the plane first before going elsewhere. Remember, no one wanted this to happen in first place.

The latest case of the bomoh (shamans) performing rituals at KLIA recently to locate the plane is truly embarrassing. They purposely did this at KLIA to attract attention and to get their faces captured in global news. I understand you guys came with good hearts and objective, but you can do it privately without the need of showing off to the whole world like what you had done now. This certainly tarnished the image of the country at this time of crisis. More and more negative remarks to the country. Haiz…

Missing for over 100 hours, it is obvious that hope fades. But let’s be positive and still pray for MH370 to come back. Search area is now expanded to include Strait of Malacca from previous effort to only locate the plane at South China Sea. Its’ disappearance remains a big mystery. I truly hope that it will be found soon.

 

(Images and information from this post are from various credible sources throughout the world wide web)

Pray for MH370.

Really a heartbreaking news today. Woke up this morning to hear my dad calling home to inform that a Malaysia Airlines’ plane had gone missing on its route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. From that moment onwards, I kept refreshing several pages of local and international online news portal the whole day to look for latest updates of the tragic incident in hope that nothing bad will happen to the plane.

The plane departed from Kuala Lumpur International Airport on 12.40am in 8th March 2014. It is supposed to arrive at Beijing International Airport on 6.30am. However, the signal from the plane is lost at about 1.30am or some says 2.40am in the midnight. From the time onwards, the plane is officially missing at the South China Sea between Malaysian and Vietnamese water. The search and rescue effort is still on-going as no sight of the plane or its wreckage is found so far.

There have been a lot of false rumours spreading today including news of the plane having made a safe emergency landing at Nanning, China. The Vietnamese authority also reported that the wreckage has been discovered near one of its islands but this had not been confirmed yet. Kindly stop spreading lies and check the truth first before sharing. It is now almost 20 hours after the ill-fated plane is reported missing. This is really sad as many had expected the worst already.

What angers me is that the airline department and authority here did very little things or acted very slow in the first few hours which are very critical to determine the fate of the plane and the 239 passengers on board (227 passengers and 12 crew members). Shameful. Fortunately, now, we have search and rescue teams also from various countries. Really appreciate their emergency assistance.

This tragedy had been making headlines as breaking news in various international news including CNN, BBC, etc as this is a major event, but of something extremely saddening. Will update this post when the discovery of the plane is known. Pray for MH370.

Now, Malaysia have its own A380

After years of waiting and delay, Malaysia finally had its A380 plane landed today in Kuala Lumpur International Airport from Toulouse, France. A380 is the world’s largest and fuel efficient aircraft in the world. MAS is the eighth carrier in the A380 club, the others being Singapore Airlines, Emirates, Air France, Qantas, Lufthansa, Korean Air and China Southern Airlines. Singapore Airlines is the first in the world to use the aircraft for flight, while Emirates has the highest number of orders; 90 for this aircraft at this moment.

The 73m-long A380 can carry up to 494 passengers and offers one of the best seating arrangements of the industry for its first class cabin. It will take to the skies for commercial flights on July 1 on the lucrative Kuala Lumpur-London-Kuala Lumpur daily route. A second A380 will be added to the system by August, with delivery expected in July. MAS, in 2003, ordered six A380 aircraft and the first delivery was scheduled for 2007. However, there was a five-year delay by the aircraft manufacturer.

It’s good for our country to have the world’s largest aircraft. But wait a minute, isn’t that our Malaysia Airlines currently suffer huge amount of losses every year, and yet still has the money to buy A380 which I believed would be very expensive looking at its massive size and lavish interior? Our government has to put in a lot of money to support our national flight company every year, and if the finance problem continues, those money which would be much more beneficial for other purposes would have to be wasted and be given to Malaysia Airlines. I would rather not to have that A380 which is bought just to show that our country is capable of having that aircraft.

Since it has been bought already and even had landed today in the country, I have no things to say. It’s here to serve for flights beginning July. But still, I wouldn’t have the opportunity to get on board this aircraft any time soon as it would be used for very long flights (for international long haul). It would be used for flights only to London, Amsterdam and Sydney as planned. I’m not the one that keeps getting on plane and I think I wouldn’t be going to that three places any time soon, but I can say that I’m good enough to have at least board a plane twice or more every year for oversea trips. Hmm…I couldn’t imagine how large this aircraft is compared to the others because I have not seen it from my own eyes with other planes. I also wonder how comfortable would it be sitting on this plane. Ticket to this aircraft must be more expensive than the usual rate, I guess….Hope I can take a look at this big baby of KLIA by this coming August when I would be taking a flight to Vietnam for a trip…but too bad, not by this plane.

A380, a journey of epic proportions, the pride of our nation.