Business History Books » Business Plans » "Ladies and Gentlemen, Welcome Aboard Air Botswana"
"Ladies and Gentlemen, Welcome Aboard Air Botswana"
Question:
This is the airline Phil C and Richard Muirden should fly…. GABORONE, Oct 11 (AFP) – Passengers dived for cover when a pilot on an apparent suicide mission crashed an Air Botswana passenger plane into two stationary aircraft at the international airport here Monday, witnesses said. The disgruntled pilot, who had been grounded by Air Botswana in July, was killed in the incident at Sir Seretse Khama airport but there were no other casualties — apart from much of the airline. Witnesses said the French-built ATR-42 passenger plane crashed in a fireball after the pilot apparently guided it into two other empty Air Botswana ATR-42s parked on the apron, wiping out almost its entire commercial fleet. "He was grounded because in the view of Air Botswana he was unfit to fly," John Williams, the national carrier’s commercial manager, told AFP. Williams refused to elaborate on the reasons for the decision, until the findings of an inquiry by the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) are released. The crash followed almost two hours of desperate conversation between the emotional pilot and Botswanan officials in the control tower at the national airport, 15 kilometres (nine miles) from Gaborone’s city centre. Williams said the deputy commander of Botswana’s Defence Force, General Tobogo Masire, had led efforts to talk him down as the pilot passed low over the most densely populated area of the southern African country. "We spent two hours trying to get him down on the ground. We had continuous, patient contact with him." The pilot had demanded to speak to Vice-President Ian Khama and "was about to be put through to his office when the plane ran out of fuel," said Air Botswana general manager Joshua Galeforolwe. It was unclear what his demands were. As the drama unfolded, police closed the road leading to the airport. "At that time of the morning (6:00 a.m.– 0400 GMT), there were only a handful of passengers in the terminal building," Williams said. Norwegian businessman Lars Elvenes told AFP of mounting panic inside the terminal building as the 42-seater turbo-prop passenger plane swooped overhead. "I was among between 15 to 20 people waiting to board a plane to Johannesburg. He was going over and over. Airport staff chased everybody out (the immediate possible impact areas). I hid behind a counter." "That was my plane over there," he said, pointing to the tailpiece of an Air Botswana plane about 100 meters (yards) from a twisted mound of wreckage, the remains of three Air Botswana aircraft. After the grounding, the dead pilot continued to be employed by Air Botswana, where he was the flight safety officer, officials said. The DCA official leading the crash inquiry, Olefile Maokofi, responding to questions about how a grounded pilot could gain access to a plane, said: "That is what the investigation is going to be looking at." However, a local private pilot who did not want to be named told AFP: "Security is obviously very lax. The keys were obviously in the plane and he just took it." Monday’s crash will not affect the company’s plans to privatise next year, said Galeforolwe. Insurance payments would cover the cost of the lost aircraft, which had been in commission for several years, he said. Air safety accident investigator Bill Scott told reporters the incident appeared to have been a suicide mission by the pilot. "This does not look like an accident," he said. "It looks like a pre-planned event."
Response:
As has been pointed out before, this article was a pure fabrication on the part of the — ahem — "journalist" who got it published. Worse, she plagiarized much of it from somebody’s book. The newspaper later published an apology (sorry, can’t recall the newspaper) after Air Botswana had a justifiable fit. Not sure what they did to the reporter but she should have been fired. Walt — <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Walt Shiel Author: "Cessna Warbirds: A Detailed and Personal History of Cessna’s Involvement in the Armed Forces" –"An informative and entertaining book." – Flight Magazine —— Web Site: http://www.writeshiel.com (Check out the Aviation Quote of the Day) Subscribe to The Warbirds eXpress (TWX) FREE newsletter at: — http://www.writeshiel.com/twx.html <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Response:
>As has been pointed out before, this article was a pure fabrication on >the part of the — ahem — "journalist" who got it published. Worse, >she plagiarized much of it from somebody’s book. The newspaper later >published an apology (sorry, can’t recall the newspaper) after Air >Botswana had a justifiable fit. Not sure what they did to the reporter >but she should have been fired.
You are confused by an alleged incident with Air Zimbabwe. This one really happened. See the BOPA press releases on this one: http://www.gov.bw/cgi-bin/news.cgi Regards -martin- — vertraag.samen.www Nederlandstalige TaiChiChuan e-post lijst: http://www.xs4all.nl/~zap/taichi.html http://www.pantani.it/ http://surf.to/ziesjoem http://www.beefheart.com/ Suet Fun Creativity Studio – http://www.wxs.nl/~s.f.chan
Response:
It was really Air Botswana who lost mostly all their aircraft!
Response:
: This is the airline Phil C and Richard Muirden should fly…. : Perhaps, perhaps not. Most likely not. It is YOU who should be flying Kamikazi, boofhead. The only reason that cheeky buggers like, Jacko, Cowboy, meself, and others are tolerated is that because we contribute knowledge to this group. YOU CONTRIBUTE NOTHING. do us a favour and either change the approach heading or vere off! — Cheers, Herdy. http://u2.newcastle.edu.au/~mgjdh
Response:
>: This is the airline Phil C and Richard Muirden should fly…. >: >Perhaps, perhaps not. Most likely not. >It is YOU who should be flying Kamikazi, boofhead. >The only reason that cheeky buggers like, Jacko, Cowboy, meself, and >others are tolerated is that because we contribute knowledge to this >group. >YOU CONTRIBUTE NOTHING. >do us a favour and either change the approach heading or vere off!
What’s the matter? Is your boyfriend ignoring you? No sucky sucky today?
Response:
> Not sure what they did to the reporter >but she should have been fired.
And then she would have taken the newspaper off and crashed it on the editor? — Michael Forrest
Response:
> You are confused by an alleged incident with Air Zimbabwe. This one really > happened. See the BOPA press releases on this one: > http://www.gov.bw/cgi-bin/news.cgi
Mea culpa. Falls under the heading of RTFP (Read The F***ing Posting) before replying. In a hurry. Jumped the gun. Fired before confirming target ID. Not bad, though….making it all the way to October before making a mistake this year! <bfg> Walt — <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Walt Shiel Author: "Cessna Warbirds: A Detailed and Personal History of Cessna’s Involvement in the Armed Forces" –"An informative and entertaining book." – Flight Magazine —— Web Site: http://www.writeshiel.com (Check out the Aviation Quote of the Day) Subscribe to The Warbirds eXpress (TWX) FREE newsletter at: — http://www.writeshiel.com/twx.html <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Response:
This is the airline Phil C and Richard Muirden should fly…. GABORONE, Oct 11 (AFP) – Passengers dived for cover when a pilot on an apparent suicide mission crashed an Air Botswana passenger plane into two stationary aircraft at the international airport here Monday, witnesses said. The disgruntled pilot, who had been grounded by Air Botswana in July, was killed in the incident at Sir Seretse Khama airport but there were no other casualties — apart from much of the airline. Witnesses said the French-built ATR-42 passenger plane crashed in a fireball after the pilot apparently guided it into two other empty Air Botswana ATR-42s parked on the apron, wiping out almost its entire commercial fleet. "He was grounded because in the view of Air Botswana he was unfit to fly," John Williams, the national carrier’s commercial manager, told AFP. Williams refused to elaborate on the reasons for the decision, until the findings of an inquiry by the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) are released. The crash followed almost two hours of desperate conversation between the emotional pilot and Botswanan officials in the control tower at the national airport, 15 kilometres (nine miles) from Gaborone’s city centre. Williams said the deputy commander of Botswana’s Defence Force, General Tobogo Masire, had led efforts to talk him down as the pilot passed low over the most densely populated area of the southern African country. "We spent two hours trying to get him down on the ground. We had continuous, patient contact with him." The pilot had demanded to speak to Vice-President Ian Khama and "was about to be put through to his office when the plane ran out of fuel," said Air Botswana general manager Joshua Galeforolwe. It was unclear what his demands were. As the drama unfolded, police closed the road leading to the airport. "At that time of the morning (6:00 a.m.– 0400 GMT), there were only a handful of passengers in the terminal building," Williams said. Norwegian businessman Lars Elvenes told AFP of mounting panic inside the terminal building as the 42-seater turbo-prop passenger plane swooped overhead. "I was among between 15 to 20 people waiting to board a plane to Johannesburg. He was going over and over. Airport staff chased everybody out (the immediate possible impact areas). I hid behind a counter." "That was my plane over there," he said, pointing to the tailpiece of an Air Botswana plane about 100 meters (yards) from a twisted mound of wreckage, the remains of three Air Botswana aircraft. After the grounding, the dead pilot continued to be employed by Air Botswana, where he was the flight safety officer, officials said. The DCA official leading the crash inquiry, Olefile Maokofi, responding to questions about how a grounded pilot could gain access to a plane, said: "That is what the investigation is going to be looking at." However, a local private pilot who did not want to be named told AFP: "Security is obviously very lax. The keys were obviously in the plane and he just took it." Monday’s crash will not affect the company’s plans to privatise next year, said Galeforolwe. Insurance payments would cover the cost of the lost aircraft, which had been in commission for several years, he said. Air safety accident investigator Bill Scott told reporters the incident appeared to have been a suicide mission by the pilot. "This does not look like an accident," he said. "It looks like a pre-planned event."
Response:
As has been pointed out before, this article was a pure fabrication on the part of the — ahem — "journalist" who got it published. Worse, she plagiarized much of it from somebody’s book. The newspaper later published an apology (sorry, can’t recall the newspaper) after Air Botswana had a justifiable fit. Not sure what they did to the reporter but she should have been fired. Walt — <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Walt Shiel Author: "Cessna Warbirds: A Detailed and Personal History of Cessna’s Involvement in the Armed Forces" –"An informative and entertaining book." – Flight Magazine —— Web Site: http://www.writeshiel.com (Check out the Aviation Quote of the Day) Subscribe to The Warbirds eXpress (TWX) FREE newsletter at: — http://www.writeshiel.com/twx.html <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Response:
>As has been pointed out before, this article was a pure fabrication on >the part of the — ahem — "journalist" who got it published. Worse, >she plagiarized much of it from somebody’s book. The newspaper later >published an apology (sorry, can’t recall the newspaper) after Air >Botswana had a justifiable fit. Not sure what they did to the reporter >but she should have been fired.
You are confused by an alleged incident with Air Zimbabwe. This one really happened. See the BOPA press releases on this one: http://www.gov.bw/cgi-bin/news.cgi Regards -martin- — vertraag.samen.www Nederlandstalige TaiChiChuan e-post lijst: http://www.xs4all.nl/~zap/taichi.html http://www.pantani.it/ http://surf.to/ziesjoem http://www.beefheart.com/ Suet Fun Creativity Studio – http://www.wxs.nl/~s.f.chan
Response:
It was really Air Botswana who lost mostly all their aircraft!
Response:
: This is the airline Phil C and Richard Muirden should fly…. : Perhaps, perhaps not. Most likely not. It is YOU who should be flying Kamikazi, boofhead. The only reason that cheeky buggers like, Jacko, Cowboy, meself, and others are tolerated is that because we contribute knowledge to this group. YOU CONTRIBUTE NOTHING. do us a favour and either change the approach heading or vere off! — Cheers, Herdy. http://u2.newcastle.edu.au/~mgjdh
Response:
>: This is the airline Phil C and Richard Muirden should fly…. >: >Perhaps, perhaps not. Most likely not. >It is YOU who should be flying Kamikazi, boofhead. >The only reason that cheeky buggers like, Jacko, Cowboy, meself, and >others are tolerated is that because we contribute knowledge to this >group. >YOU CONTRIBUTE NOTHING. >do us a favour and either change the approach heading or vere off!
What’s the matter? Is your boyfriend ignoring you? No sucky sucky today?
Response:
> Not sure what they did to the reporter >but she should have been fired.
And then she would have taken the newspaper off and crashed it on the editor? — Michael Forrest
Response:
> You are confused by an alleged incident with Air Zimbabwe. This one really > happened. See the BOPA press releases on this one: > http://www.gov.bw/cgi-bin/news.cgi
Mea culpa. Falls under the heading of RTFP (Read The F***ing Posting) before replying. In a hurry. Jumped the gun. Fired before confirming target ID. Not bad, though….making it all the way to October before making a mistake this year! <bfg> Walt — <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Walt Shiel Author: "Cessna Warbirds: A Detailed and Personal History of Cessna’s Involvement in the Armed Forces" –"An informative and entertaining book." – Flight Magazine —— Web Site: http://www.writeshiel.com (Check out the Aviation Quote of the Day) Subscribe to The Warbirds eXpress (TWX) FREE newsletter at: — http://www.writeshiel.com/twx.html <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>