Is this really Jakarta?

The Jakarta Post, Nurhayati,  Jakarta, Mon, 12/26/2011

Is this really Jakarta?: Jl. Sudirman in Central Jakarta looks relatively
empty  on Monday following the Christmas holiday. In normal days, the street is
fully packed with cars and other vehicles. (JP/Nurhayati).

Thai Army: Mystery bang mid-air explosion

Bangkok Post, 22/12/2011

Metal debris were scattered over an area in Si Sa Ket on Dec 22, 2011

 following a mysterious loud bangs. The army reckons the loud bangs 

were from an unidentified mid-air explosion. (POST PHOTO)

The mysterious loud bangs heard near the Thai-Cambodian border in Si Sa Ket this morning were from an unidentified mid-air explosion, 2nd Army chief Lt Gen Thawatchai Samutsakhon on Thursday.

He said there three or four reports of loud bangs about 11am.

They occurred about 10,000 feet above tambon Sao Thongchai in Kantharalak district.

Metal debris was later found scattered over the area. No one was injured, Lt Gen Thawatchai said.

Two or three similar incidents had previously been reported in this area but the cause remained unknown. He did not believe the explosions indicated an attack by Cambodian troops.

The reports triggered panic in the communities in this border tambon as the villagers assumed it was another shelling by Cambodian artillery.

Shortly after the explosions were heard, a piece of metal about 1 metre long and half a metre wide was found in a field at Phumsarol Witthaya School, said Chokchai Saikaeo, president of tambon Sao Thongchai administration organisation.

The same school was hit by artillery fire during the fighting between Thai and Cambodian forces earlier this year.

Mr Chokchai also said several more bits of similarly burned yellowish metal were later found in nearby spots in the tambon.

Troops who went to investigate the reports said the metal debris could be from a satellite, reports said, but  there was no confirmation.

According to Space.com, Russia's troubled, toxic fuel-loaded Phobos-Grunt spacecraft, which is stuck in low-Earth orbit due to an engine failure rather than on its way to Mars, appears to be doomed, with small pieces of the wayward probe already falling to Earth. There was no confirmation that the incident in Si Sa Ket was linked to this.

The satellite was expected to fall back to Earth in January.

Metal debris were scattered over an area in Si Sa Ket on Dec 22, 2011

 following a mysterious loud bangs. The army reckons the loud bangs 

were from an unidentified mid-air explosion. (POST PHOTO)

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Mind the sleigh! Airlines given permission to fly over North Pole for the first time slashing the hours to exotic destinations

Daily Mail, by Ray Massey, Transport Editor, 24 Dec 2011

• Long-haul flight times reduced by up to 50%
• 'Whole new world opened up,' says Branson

Air passengers will be able to cut the times of long-haul flights by as much as half and fly faster to exotic destinations under a new relaxation of aviation rules.

It could also mean cheaper and cleaner flights for British holidaymakers.

The new rules will allow carriers operating in the South Pacific, to take a 'short cut' over the North Pole for the first time.

Shorter flights: A British Airways Boeing 777 which will be able to
take a 'short cut' over the North pole

While passenger jets from Australia to South America will be able to fly the most direct routes.

FLIGHTS FROM LONDON

• Fiji (10,000 miles) - current time via Los Angles or Seoul: 24 hours. New time: 18 hours non-stop using 'polar express' short cut.
• Tahiti (9,600 miles) via Los Angeles: 23 hours. New time: 17 hours.
• Honolulu (7,300 miles) via Los Angeles: 18 hours. New time: 13 hours.
• Anchorage (4,500 miles) via Seattle: 16 hours. New time: 8 hours

Until now, Boeing’s 777 and the new 787 ‘Dreamliner’ jets had for safety reasons to stay within a  three hour range (180 minutes) of the nearest diversion airport.

Under the new rules, that has been nearly doubled to five and a half hours, (330 minutes) taking account of improvements in aircraft and engine  technology.

It means, for example, that planes from the UK  will be able to take a non-stop flight - dubbed 'Santa's short cut' - over  the North Pole to destinations such as Hawaii, Alaska or French Polynesia.

It also means shorter journeys, cheaper flights, less fuel, and lower emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) - the so-called greenhouse gas’ blamed for global warming.

The ‘extended operations’ rules define the time that an aircraft is permitted to be from an emergency landing site in case of an engine failure and is applied to two-engine jets.

It follows a decision  by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration to allow up  to 330-minutes ‘extended operations’ for Boeings'  777 fleet.

Frozen: An aerial view of the North Pole which passenger carriers
will now be able to fly over to exotic destinations

It allows airlines operating Boeing  777-300ER (extended range), 777-200LR (longer range), 777 Freighter and 777-200ER models equipped with General Electric engines to fly up to 330 minutes from a potential ‘diversion’ airport.

Approval for the Boeing 777-200ER equipped with British Rolls-Royce and American Pratt & Whitney engines is expected to follow over the next few months.

The first airline to take advantage of the new longer ‘extended operations’ option is Air New Zealand which earlier this month flew from Los Angeles to Auckland.

Capt. David Morgan, chief pilot for Air New Zealand said: ‘What this means is that the aeroplane  is able to fly a straighter route between pairs of cities and that's good for the environment.

‘Less fuel is burned and less carbon dioxide is emitted into the atmosphere. It's also good for customers because flights are potentially shorter and passengers could arrive sooner at their destinations.’

Virgin Atlantic airline president Sir Richard Branson said: 'This new development really does open up a whole new world.

'Our new fleet of 787s could well be flying to Honolulu or even Fiji one day.'

Last October The European Aviation Safety Agency granted a 207-minute rating after receiving an application from Air France to fly a 777-300ER from Los Angeles to Papeete, Tahiti. The European agency is also  expected to adopt the 330-minute rule.

Planes once flew over the North Pole during the Cold War in the 1950s to avoid Communist Bloc airspace.

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Aviation could switch to low-carbon fuel 'sooner than thought'

Richard Branson said the airline industry should aim for 50% sustainable
fuels by 2020. Photograph: Mark Lennihan/AP

.

INDONESIA: BMW starts assembling 5-series in Indonesia

Just-Auto, Tony Pugliese, 15 December 2011

BMW has begun assembly of its 5-series in Indonesia, at the PT Gaya Motor plant in Jakarta which is owned by its local distributor PT Astra International.

The plant, which also makes the 3-series model as well as vehicles of other brands, has an initial capacity of four 5-series units a day. This will be increased to eight in early 2012. Around 80% of local 5-series sales are expected to be assembled at the plant.

BMW sold 1,399 units in the January-November period of 2011, including 496 3-series and 394 5-series.

Aviation could switch to low-carbon fuel 'sooner than thought'

Richard Branson says aeroplanes have few 'filling stations' compared with other transport, making it easier to supply them

guardian.co.uk, John Vidal, environment editor, Monday 5 December 2011 

Richard Branson said the airline industry should aim for 50% sustainable
fuels by 2020. Photograph: Mark Lennihan/AP

The world's 7,000 airlines could switch to low-carbon jet fuels much faster than other transport because aeroplanes have very few "filling stations", says Richard Branson.

"Unlike cars where there are millions of filling stations, there are only about 1,700 aviation stations in the world. So if you can get the right fuel, like mass-produced algae, then getting it to 1,700 outlets is not so difficult," Branson said in an interview with the Guardian from the British Virgin islands.

Branson, who announced last month he hoped Virgin would soon be able to use waste gases from industrial steel and aluminium plants as a fuel, said the industry should aim for 50% sustainable fuels by 2020.

"I would be very disapointed if not. Once the breakthrough takles place, getting to 50-100% is not unrealistic. Aviation fuel is 25-40% of the running costs of airlines so the industry is open to new fuels."

Branson, whose Virgin group owns 51% of Virgin Atlantic Airways, was speaking in advance of the launch in Durban of RenewableJetFuels.org, an open access website that assesses and updates the progress of companies planning to produce commercial-scale renewable fuel for aviation.

It suggests that of the 40 companies claiming to have the potential to deliver large-scale amounts – about one third of them are "credible" from an economic, scalable and sustainability perspective in their current state.

In the next five years, according to the website published by business NGO Carbon War Room and academic publisher Elsevier, some renewable jet fuel companies "could be producing enough renewable fuel to replace 10-20% of the fuel of a typical mid-sized airline".

The data, said Branson, should allow airlines to accelerate linkups with fuel companies.

"Producers can continually update and re-submit data. This is then reviewed by experts, enabling RenewableJetFuels.org to be the independent, gold standard for investors and airlines in the market," said Suzanne Hunt, head of operations at Carbon War Room.

"Trying to address climate change makes business sense", said Branson, whose Virgin airline spends around $3bn a year on jet fuel.

"The jet fuel industry can charge what they like at present. New fuels will compete. You could finds the price of aviation fuel comes down."

Three years ago Virgin flew a plane to Holland on coconut fuel and no one took it seriously, said Branson. "The industry thought it was PR. BA was pretty dismissive, saying planes will never fly on bio-fuels. But it actually kickstarted thinking. Since then, even BA has started investing in new biofuels.

"We're heading in the right direction. The industry could go from one of the dirtiest to one of the cleanest in 10 years. We are investing in different companies and really beginning to see traction".

The five leading alternative jet fuel companies identified by Carbon War Room are Lanzatech, SG biofuels, AltAir, Solazyme and Sapphire.

FAA chief resigns over drunk drive charge

Reuters, WASHINGTON, Tue Dec 6, 2011

Federal Aviation Administration head Randy Babbitt is 

seen in this Fairfax County Sheriff's booking

 photograph released to Reuters on December 5, 2011. 

(Reuters/Fairfax County Sheriff's Office/Handout)

Related Article

• US aviation boss on leave over drunk driving arrest

(Reuters) - The top U.S. aviation safety official resigned on Tuesday over a drunken driving charge.

Federal Aviation Administrator Randy Babbitt said in a statement that his resignation was accepted by Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.

Babbitt, 65, was arrested on Saturday in Fairfax, Virginia, and charged with driving while intoxicated.

A former pilot and union official, Babbitt has led the FAA since 2009.

(Reporting by John Crawley)

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