AI crash pilot shouldn't have been on flight: Son

AI crash pilot shouldn't have been on flight: Son

Airline’s flight rota shows he was not scheduled to fly on the day, claims Captain Glusica's son

The pilot who was at the helm of the doomed Air India Express flight that crashed in Mangalore last year was not suppose to fly, the Serbian captain's son reveals as he demands fresh investigation into the accident.

Claiming that he has discovered new evidence that could clear his father, Alexander Glusica says that according to the airline’s flight rota of that period – a copy of which he has acquired – his father, Captain Zlatco Glusica, was not supposed to fly on that day or the next few days.  He argues that the captain must have been drafted at the last minute and that he might not have been ready.

A leaked report from an Indian Court of Inquiry, published by newspapers across the world earlier this year, held Captain Glusica responsible for the crash. The report also said that the captain had slept for more than half the flight and woke up just before the tricky landing, as a result he was slow to react to the situation.

Dubai-based daily tabloid '7DAYS' quoted 26-year-old Alexander, who is also training to be a pilot, as saying that his father had complained of being overworked and that the airline’s policies not his father alone was responsible for the accident.

“I am 100 per cent sure that he was not planned for the flight. It is wrong to blame my father for everything. The investigation should be reopened and they should look into this vital factor,” Alexander was quoted as saying by 7DAYS.

Alexander says his father had not mentioned anything about flying or being on standby when he spoke the last time with the captain only a few hours before the flight.

The accident on May 22, 2010, which killed 158 people continues to haunt his family and that is one of the reasons he is determined to clear his father’s name.

 “There is a lot of pressure on my family to live with the fact that my father was responsible for the deaths of 158 people. There is an obligation to the victims of the crash to know the truth.”

Alexander’s claim are supported by a leading Indian aviation website, which has also called for the case to be reopened.

Aviation India claims to have obtained a copy of the ‘Flying Programme’ of Air India Express for the period May 17, 2010 to May 23, 2010, and Glusica’s name does not appear on it.

“What if Captain Glusica was informed of the flight only some hours before? What if he had not slept for the previous day not being aware of the sudden change in schedule?” it said.

Abhay Pathak, the Regional Manager for Air India Express’ parent company Air India, said the firm cannot comment on the claims as results of the inquiry have not been officially released.

 

Man falls to death trying to climb to girl friend's flat

Man falls to death trying to climb to girl friend's flat

By

• Staff

Published Wednesday, June 01, 2011

A European man plunged to his death from the sixth level in Kuwait while trying to climb to his girl friend’s apartment after she rebuffed him, a newspaper in the oil-rich Gulf emirate reported on Wednesday.

The unidentified man, on a visit to Kuwait City, had a relationship with the European woman before she decided to dump him following an argument, the Arabic language daily Alanba said.

“He tried to reach her by mobile phone but she did not answer his calls and messages…he went to the door but she did not open,” the paper said.

“Then he decided to climb to her flat in the sixth floor just above his apartment…he used a rope to reach her balcony but lost his balance and fell down. He died of the impact instantly.”

The paper did not identify the woman but said she is from a country near the victim’s homeland. It said the woman told police about their argument.

 

Mobile phone causes brain cancer, confirms WHO

But use of texting and hands-free reduces chances of brain cancer, say WHO experts

Mobile phone users may be at increased risk from brain cancer and should use texting and hands-free devices to reduce exposure, the World Health Organisation's cancer experts said.

Radio-frequency electromagnetic fields generated by such devices are "possibly carcinogenic to humans," the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) announced at the end of an eight-day meeting in Lyon, France, on Tuesday.

Experts "reached this classification based on review of the human evidence coming from epidemiological studies" pointing to an increased incidence of glioma, a malignant type of brain cancer, said Jonathan Samet, president of the work group.

Two studies in particular, the largest conducted over the past decade, showed a higher risk "in those that had the most intensive use of such phones," he said in a telephone news conference.

Some individuals tracked in the studies had used their phones for an average of 30 minutes per day over a period of 10 years.

"We simply don't know what might happen as people use their phones over longer time periods, possibly over a lifetime," Samet said.

There are about five billion mobile phones registered in the world. The number of phones and the average time spent using them have both climbed steadily in recent years.

The IARC cautioned that current scientific evidence showed only a possible link, not a proven one, between wireless devices and cancers.

"There is some evidence of increased risk of glioma" and another form of non-malignant tumour called acoustic neuroma, said Kurt Straif, the scientist in charge of editing the IARC reports on potentially carcinogenic agents.

"But it is not at the moment clearly established that the use of mobile phones does in fact cause cancer in humans," he said.

The IARC does not issue formal recommendations, but experts pointed to a number of ways consumers can reduce risk.

"What probably entails some of the highest exposure is using your mobile for voice calls," Straif said.

"If you use it for texting, or as a hands-free set for voice calls, this is clearly lowering the exposure by at least an order of magnitude," or by tenfold, he said.

A year ago the IARC concluded that there was no link between cell phones and brain cancer, but that earlier report was criticised as based on out-of-date data.

The new review, conducted by a panel of 31 scientists from 14 countries, was reached on the basis of a "full consensus," said Robert Baan, in charge of the written report, which is yet to be released.

"This is the first scientific evaluation of all the literature published on the topic with regard to increased risk of cancer," he said.

But the panel stressed the need for more research, pointing to incomplete data, evolving technology and changing consumer habits.

"There's an improvement in the technology in terms of lower emissions but at the same time we see increased use, so it is hard to know how the two balance out," Baan noted.

The IARC ranks potentially cancer-causing elements as carcinogenic, probably carcinogenic, possibly carcinogenic or "probably not carcinogenic". It can also determine that a material is "not classifiable".

Cigarettes, sunbeds and asbestos, for example, fall in "Group 1", the top threat category.

Cell phones now join glass wool and gasoline exhaust in Group 2B as "possibly carcinogenic".

Industry groups however played down the findings.

Global industry group CTIA-The Wireless Association said the UN agency "conducts numerous reviews and in the past has given the same score to, for example, pickled vegetables and coffee".

It said that "limited evidence from statistical studies can be found even though bias and other data flaws may be the basis for the results."

The French Federation of Telecoms said the health ministry there already took a precautionary approach, but no danger had been conclusively established and more research was needed.

Some consumer advocacy groups however said the new classification was overdue.

"As of today, no one can say the risk does not exist, and now everyone -- politicians, telecoms, employers, consumers and parents -- have to take this into account," said Janine Le Calvez, head of PRIARTEM, a consumer advocacy group concerned with cell phone safety.