howwwzattt... more added to the stable...

MAS and Airbus sign MoU for orders of up to 25 A330-300s

Malaysia Airlines and Airbus signed a Memorandum of Understanding today covering the order of 15 A330-300 and acquired purchase options for another 10.

The total cost of the 25 aircraft is USD5 billion at list prices. The aircraft which will be delivered from 2011 to 2016 will serve the growing markets of South Asia, China, North Asia, Australia and Middle East.

Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer, Tengku Dato’ Azmil Zahruddin said, "The A330 will complement our incoming fleet of 6 A380 and 35 B737-800. The new fleet will create a strong platform for us to profitably grow – the A380 will serve key long haul destinations such as London and Sydney, the A330 for medium haul markets while the B737-800 will be used to strengthen our domestic and regional routes.

“By 2016, all the aircraft we have ordered will be in and we expect to have one of the youngest, most fuel efficient and environmentally friendly fleet in Asia. This will further strengthen and build upon our award-winning service and passenger value. “

He added, “Our strategy is to transform from a 100% leased fleet to owning at least a third of the aircraft in our core fleet. We will fund the purchases through a combination of a proposed rights issue and borrowings. This will give us the flexibility to refresh the aircraft on a needs basis to provide our customers with the latest product.”

When the 15 A330 aircraft are received, Malaysia Airlines expects to gain annual savings of RM300 million.

Airbus Senior Vice President Sales, Customer Affairs Asia, Thomas Friedberger said, “Airbus has never stopped innovating and improving on the A330 family by integrating the experiences and knowledge that we have gained through other Airbus programmes. The continual investment by Airbus into the A330 Family ensures its competitiveness as an efficient and cost effective aircraft for medium haul routes.

“MAS will definitely benefit from the lower operating cost the new A330 fleet does offer”.

Malaysia Airlines is ordering the new version of the A330-300 which offers significantly expanded capabilities from cabin comfort to aircraft performance. The improved comfort for passengers include state of the art cabin offering better seat comfort, audio video on demand for all classes, and better mobile connectivity.

Taken from MAS Engineering & Maintenance Portal

howwwzattt... sicko...

Had watched this docu-drama by Michael Moore on early morning the day before. It was really an eye opener on how such things were commercialized in the the land of freedom (read United States of America).

Like this statement made by one of their citizens; The government should fear and take care of their people instead of the other way around.

Imagine this. In France, the government will provide an assistant/nanny for free for four hours a day prior you gave birth.

In Cuba, the price of an inhaler (Ventolin I guess) is just about 5 cents compared in the US which is USD120.

All those cost were absorbed by the government that really care for the health being of their citizens though like Cuba, they were label as the enemy by the US.

Later on Michael Moore and a few of the US citizens that need medical attention but couldn't afford to pay took a boat ride to the Guantanamo Bay where the most secured and high tech prison located.

This prison has the most advance medical facility in the world and the irony was, they treated the most dangerous prisoners/criminals (according to them) just for free.

In France, Moore visits a hospital and interviews the head of obstetrics and gynaecology and a group of American expatriates. Moore rides with the "SOS Médecins", a 24-hour French medical service that provides house calls by physicians.

Moore discovers that the French government provides many social services, such as health care, public education (including universities), vacation and day care for $1 an hour and neonatal support that includes cooking, cleaning, and laundry services for new mothers. (more here)

I think if there are more re-runs on Astro, you guys should watch it.

Source from Astro & Wikipedia.

howwwzattt... i dare you to dare me...

MAS vs AA: Dato' Tony given his speech and was looked
upon by the MAS Cricket Club President, Mr. Paramananthan.
FYI, that lambchop leftover was mine...

Kuala Lumpur, 16th December, 2009 – "Bring it on, the sexier the better." That was the response from Tony Fernandes to Sir Richard Branson's challenge over the loser in the Formula 1 stakes having to dress up as an airline stewardess on the winner's airline - AirAsia or Virgin Atlantic.

The Lotus F1 Racing team, of which Fernandes is Team Principal, has even taken the liberty to pick out a lovely crew uniform for Branson. "It's quite fitting, don't you think? Our passengers will be delighted to be served by a Knight of the Realm. But knowing Richard, the real challenge will be to prevent him from asking our guests "coffee, tea or me? That would be scary," said Fernandes, who is a founder and Group CEO of AirAsia, which is Asia's largest low-cost carrier.

Yeahhh Tony, that's what I like most out of you. You never back up from any challenges. By the way, who's this Richard Branson? Sorry for my ignorance. Of course la Tony, I know him...

Dear Tony. I've met you on several occasion and believe me I have my highest regards upon you.

Why?

Remember when we had this little cricket match amongst ourselves? You, as the CEO of AA, just threw away all the protocols and all that shit just to be with your staffs.

In that, I salute you.

Well Tony, that was just it. Nothing more and nothing less...

howwwwzattt... my hump my hump my hump my hump... or was it my bump...

Since the opening of SkyPark T3 in Subang, traffics were a nightmare especially during the evening where everybody rushed home from work.

One of the contributing factors were, the numbers of housing estates surrounding the Kampung Melayu Subang such as Subang 2, Subang Mahsing, Puncak Alam, Kayangan Height, Sungai Buloh, Kota Damansara and many more.

The other factor was, speed humps. There were 3 of them if I’m not mistaken. These lead to traffic crawl as early from the BP petrol station until the last hump near the immigration office (former terminal 2).

It was a nightmare for me at least just to reach my workplace, inched my way from there onwards.

Well, today is different.

The authority had decided to remove all the humps last night and guess what, no more traffic crawl as of this evening.

It was a simple solution and I don’t know why it had taken these long for the geniuses with the local council to come up with the idea.

I praised the brain behind it.

Their characteristics

1. 3" tall by 12’ long in the direction of travel
2. Extend the entire width of the street
3. 12" painted reflective white stripes across
4. Spaced 250’-350’ apart
5. Designed to be driven comfortably at 30 kph

Advantages

1. Decrease average speed 10 – 20 kph
2. Sometimes can decrease the number of cars using the road but in our country it may be resulted to traffic congestion if placed in major road
3. Works 24 hours a day, 365 days a year
4. Cost is reasonable but once again may ballooned to tenfold figures if the works is to be sub-contracted to local contractors

Disadvantages

1. All drivers must drive over them; speeders and non-speeders
2. Traffic noise from: rapid braking, rapid accelerating, objects bouncing in truck beds
3. Drivers might drive "around" them, onto shoulders, sidewalks, or landscaped areas
4. Street sweepers may leave some dirt and debris residue at humps
5. Some rainwater may be retained
6. They are not aesthetic, some people object to their appearance

References were taken from City of Scotisdale

howwwzattt... Air France Crash Remains A Mystery...

Investigators are unable to establish what caused a fatal June Atlantic plane crash but searches for the flight recorders will resume in February, the head of the French aviation accident investigation authority said.

"We remain unable to determine the causes and circumstances of the incident," Jean-Paul Troadec, head of the BEA accident investigation authority told French radio on Sunday.

Flight AF 447 from Rio de Janeiro to Paris crashed into the Atlantic on June 1 after flying into stormy weather, killing 228 people.

The 'black box' flight recorders are still missing and only small parts of the Airbus A330's wreckage have been found.

The French authority is due to issue a report on Thursday which will recommend ways to help locate black boxes more easily, sources close to the incident have said.

"Normally, these recorders are made to resist significant shocks," Troadec said. "There is still a chance that they are in a good shape and readable."

Troadec was in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday to meet the victims' families.

He said the authority was making calculations to determine where the plane might have crashed and where its debris might have drifted.

Without the black boxes, he said investigators could not fully explain the incident.

Asked if this week's report would contain new elements, Troadec said: "Yes, namely recommendations in terms of security which were not in the first report."

A July report identified problems in handing responsibility for the aircraft between controllers but said it was too early to say what caused the plane to hit the ocean.

"I don't expect much new concrete information on the cause of the crash," a source familiar with the investigation said.

A second source familiar with the incident concurred, saying the report would add little to an inconclusive preliminary report issued in July.

MORE BEACONS

Speculation has focused on the possible icing of the aircraft's speed sensors, which appeared to give inconsistent readings and may have disrupted other systems.

Safety authorities ordered checks on the sensors known as 'pitot probes' and restricted the use of the type installed on the plane, made by France's Thales.

But investigators are not expected to pin the blame on any one issue, one source close to the investigation said.

Instead, the BEA is expected to make at least three recommendations on general aircraft safety, the source said.

These include extending the life of locator beacons attached to the flight recorders to 90 days from 30 days.

Regulators could also be asked to consider ordering further beacons to be attached to important parts of the aircraft structure to assist in locating wreckage in the event of a crash. Such beacons would need to be active for 30 days.

Plane makers may also be asked to study the feasibility of installing monitoring systems that send information on basic parameters such as position, course and altitude back to an airline's maintenance base even when operations are normal.

The crash fueled a debate in the aviation industry over whether more data should be streamed via satellite but the cost of communications has so far been deemed prohibitive.

Some safety officials are meanwhile calling for scientific research to be carried out into weather conditions at high altitudes in turbulent zones such as the equator.

(Reuters)

howwwzattt... close encounters of the third kind...

Close encounters of the third kind. It is far from the 1977 sci-fi movie by Steven Spielberg and my encounter with this third kind was not even close enough with the green beings but I did experienced encounters with other beings. Was it green anyway?

Some 30 odd years ago where the luxury of having electricity and water running out from pipes are far from our reach, there were many spooky things happened in my kampong.

I remember one night when I was about 6 or 7 years old, the whole family heard a shrieking laughter coming from the “pokok kekabu” behind the house. According to my late abah, it was the “langsuir”. The sound of it went higher and higher until it just vanish.

We heard the “langsuir” quite frequently until my late abah became so fed up with it and chopped down the tree. Since then, we never heard the thing perhaps that being just move on to another strategic tree I guess.

During my days in the boarding school, I don’t remember came across with that type of beings except for a few hysteria cases.

The closest encounter happened when I was 19, where I was this Mat Rempit in Ipoh. Well past midnight on my motorbike on my way to my friend’s house which happens to be in a rubber estate.

I noticed that something been following me from above but strange though, I did not feel any fear whatsoever.

As I glanced behind, I saw this huge ball of fire following me but strange enough, the surrounding darkness didn’t affected by the intense glare by this great ball of fire.

What did I do? Maximum throttled my way and that third kind just vanishes into thin air once I reached my friend’s house.

Talk about gung-ho during those days...

** Errr FYI, I just watch the movie last night...

howwwzattt... air disaster that shook us (revisited)...

The memorial site is situated at Jalan Kebun Teh, Johor Bahru,

Malaysia. It is known as Tanjung Kupang Memorial.

For the benefit of those who may not know - on 4 December 1977 (32 years ago), flight MH653 went down in Tanjung Kupang, Johor.

On this tragic day, we lost all 93 passengers and 7 flight crew.

THE HISTORY

Malaysia Airlines Flight 653 (MH653), a Boeing 737-2H6 aircraft registered as 9M-MBD (delivered September 1972 as 9M-AQO), crashed at Tanjung Kupang, Johor, in Malaysia on the evening of 4 December 1977.

It was the first and deadliest fatal accident for Malaysia Airlines, with all 93 passengers and 7 crew killed instantly.

The flight was apparently hijacked as soon as it reached cruise altitude. The circumstances in which the hijacking and subsequent crash occurred remain unsolved.

Flight Number MH653

Currently, Malaysia Airlines uses flight 653 as a flight from Penang to Singapore which operates daily, departs 13:15 and arrives at 14:35. The opposite is flight 652 as a flight from Singapore to Penang which operates daily, departs 11:05 and arrives at 12:25.

Flight MH653 departed Penang's Runway 22 at exactly 1921 hours for Kuala Lumpur's Subang Airport (now known as Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport). Passengers included the Malaysian Agricultural Minister, Dato' Ali Haji Ahmad, Public Works Department Head, Dato' Mahfuz Khalid, and Cuban Ambassador to Japan, Mario Garcia. The pilot in command was Captain G.K. Ganjoor.

Sequence of Events

At approximately 1954 hours, while at an altitude of 4,000 feet over Batu Arang and descending toward Subang's Runway 33, captain G.K. Ganjoor reported an "unidentified hijacker" onboard to Subang Tower. The tower immediately notified the authorities, who made emergency preparations at the airport.

A few minutes later, however, Captain Ganjoor radioed: "We're now proceeding to Singapore...". Flight MH653 never touched down at Singapore.

At 2015 hours, all communication with flight MH653 was lost.

At 2036 hours, the residents of Kampong Ladang, Tanjong Kupang in Johor reported hearing explosions and seeing burning wreckage in a swamp. The wreckage was later identified as Flight MH653. The plane hit the ground at a near-vertical angle at a very high speed. There were no survivors and not one recognizable body was found.






Aftermath

The aircraft cockpit voice recorder was recovered and the following was established:

After seizing control, at a point shortly before the crash, the offender locked himself in the cockpit with the two pilots. From the conversation, it appeared that all tension was gone, the hijacker talking amiably to the pilots. Suddenly, two gunshots occurred in rapid succession, followed a short time later by a third and final shot.

At this stage, the aircraft was on autopilot in a stable flight altitude. Noises suggestive of the cockpit door being broken into are heard, along with screaming and cursing.No noises are heard from within the cockpit to indicate any of the three occupants were conscious.

The autopilot disconnected, possibly due to a pitch input by someone entering the cockpit and trying to control the aircraft without knowing how to do it properly. An investigator speculated that someone pulled back on the column, causing a pitch up, done in such a fashion that positive feedback occurred; e.g., reaching over a pilot unsupported and falling back as the plane pitched up; i.e., a pilot-induced oscillation. This rapidly developed into a high amplitude phugoid oscillation, resulting in the near-vertical impact into the swamp.

The hijacker spoke with a Japanese accent. It has been claimed that the Japanese Red Army was responsible for the hijacking.

All recovered remains were x-rayed in an attempt to discover evidence of a projectile or weapon. No weapon or bullet was ever found. The remains of the victims were interred in a mass burial.

Taken from MAS Engineering & Maintenance Portal

howwwzattt... cycle of life...

Having teenagers leaving under the same roof as yours is a nightmare. Having teenagers whose happen to be your daughter leaving under the same roof as yours, is a total headache.

If there are crash courses for this dilemma, I think I would be the first to enroll for such classes.

I can't imagine how my mother brought the three of us up which is me, my brother and my younger sister. And now it is my turn to feel the heat.

Well, between the three of us, I'm the most delinquent of all and until today I still have the feeling that I'm pretty much under the ever watchful eyes of my mother even within another 2 years I'll be celebrating my 40th birthday.

In that sense, I think that I'm quite special if compare to my other siblings no?

When dealing with boys, I believe in the old school ways of teaching them but come to these young ladies, ladies apart from their mother, I'm clueless...