Letters to the Editor
jfldevaney
Published Letters: 6 Editor's Choice: 1
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Editor to editor
[Read the article: Labor's love lost]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Please!
It's not Pearl Harbour, and neither is it the Labor Party (except in Australia).
I wouldn't bother whinging, but it's in the headline.
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Why Mom's tomato sauce is a risk
[Read the article: Ask the pilot]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Patrick,
If your America-hating parents had thought this through, they could have packed 200ml of glycerine, 200ml of sulphuric acid and 200ml of nitric acid, then snuck off to the toilet mid-flight, cooked up nitroglycerin in a cup cooled with melting pasta sauce, and blown a large hole in the plane!
I am, or course, kidding. But the security checks I've seen in the EU would not have picked up the explosives ingredients. Working backwards: behavioural observation, checking against names and images of known terror suspects, tracking of suspects, security checks on ticket purchases, security checks on applications for passports and visas, monitoring of sales of potential explosives ingredients, and discreet observation of those considered sympathetic to terrorists, should be more than enough to catch anyone before they try to blow up a plane. And none of it has to violate anyone's human or constitutional rights.
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A few words in defence of LHR
[Read the article: Ask the pilot]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]LHR is my local airport and I've been through every terminal, I think. I'm not going to argue that it's one of the best, but I do think it's rather put-upon.
It processes more international passengers than any other airport, which means they all go through the rigours of our new paranoid security screening and, sullen though some may be, the staff get the job done without too much prison-camp guard attitude.
More positively: all terminals are reasonably well connected to the Tube, which will get you into Central London for about £5 (top tip, go to the counter and get a pay-as-you-go "Oyster Card" and pay local prices). The Heathrow Express will get you there quicker, at a premium; taxis even more so; and Virgin's taxi-motorbikes are the ultimate in really-can't-wait bling.
I don't want a shopping mall, but at least LHR's departure lounges give you something to do and more choice than a newstand and bar (Newark, I'm thinking of you). At the right time of year there are bargains to be had on clothes and the bookshops present real choice.
Terminal Three was like a set from Brazil (the movie) for a long time, with plastic and plywood partioning covering the source of deafening construction noise, but the upgrade is complete and now it's light and airy (if not tranquil and beautiful).
And lastly... it's not Gatwick.
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Before you go back to reassuring...
[Read the article: Ask the pilot]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Patrick, can you unpack the expression "dread"?
Which scenarios do you fear will happen without warning and no matter how well prepared you are? I guess birds come into that category?
And, when all risks with terrible consequences have been minimized as much as possible, which ones remain most likely? In other words, which ones have been most resilient to risk mitigation? From previous columns, I would guess combinations of mechanical failure, human error or natural disaster... when more than one thing happens at once.
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Nothing to say about Heathrow T5?
[Read the article: Ask the pilot]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]While hundreds of flights were cancelled in the US, several hundred (I think) more were cancelled from and to the brand new, British Airways flagport, Heathrow Terminal 5.
I know it's a baggage thing and not an airplane thing, but with air traffic still growing, is it not worth a mention that mundane support services such as baggage handling, ticketing, people moving and local transport are as vital, if not safety critical, to airlines as the planes and crew?
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Similarly...
[Read the article: Ask the pilot]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]My first arrival in America was on a Pan Am 747 much like the one that blew up over Lockerbie. Someone had smelled smoke in the cockpit and we had an escort of fire trucks and other emergency vehicles at JFK.
We almost all spoke English, but the pilot didn't say anything about the smoke, so the cavalcade came as a big surprise. Similarly, though, it didn't become an inferno.
Talking of which, I look forward to your take on the Sudan airplane fire.
And on a different note, did you hear about the Polish aircrew who couldn't understand ATC commands on leaving London Heathrow, took a random tour around the skies above us and returned, almost selecting the wrong runway? I thought any pilot that flew internationally had to be ready for all eventualities in English.