Scared passengers boycott airline after being asked to help “balance the plane”

by Scott Carmichael on

Seventy terrified passengers refused to board their Thomas Cook plane in Mallorca, Spain this week because the airline had asked them to all sit in the back of the plane.

During its time on the ground, baggage workers were unable to open the rear cargo door of the plane, and had to load all the luggage in the front – requiring passengers to act as ballast in the rear to keep the plane balanced.

The seventy passengers were afraid that the stuck cargo door would pop open during the flight, and many of them paid 100’s of pounds to fly home with other airlines. One passenger paid $1000 to fly his family home.

Adding to the “horror” of the incident were passengers who had arrived on the same plane, who told departing passengers that they had just experienced “the worst flight of their lives”.

The airline said it was a normal operating procedure and that it was disappointed to hear that passengers decided not to travel, despite reassurances from the crew and captain.

Paris Air Show 2009: A sense of scale

by Grant Martin on

Covering the Paris Air Show is like trying to cover a football field with a napkin. There is so much space, depth and gravity to each display that you could spend a week going through each exhibit hall and still not get the full picture.

The above photo is a great example. This landing gear will be part of the new Airbus A350 aircraft, a model that still hasn’t been fully developed, but that’s generating a lot of buzz.

Standing right next to the gear you get a sense of the size of that aircraft. Each of the wheels comes up to your chest, which means the entire system is over 15 feet tall. And this is one corner of one display, in one corner of hall 3. It adds up quickly.

Engines have the same effect, with Pratt and Whitney, United Technologies and GE all bringing out the big guns for jaw dropping passers by. Check out one of the GE GENex engines that’ll be used on the Boeing 787 (with composite fan blades!) on display after the jump.

The Disposable Memory Project

by Kraig Becker on

Disposable cameras have become a very popular way of capturing images in the digital age. They’re cheap, take relatively decent photos, and can be found in just about every discount store the world over. But one organization has taken the disposable camera off the guest tables at every wedding, and sent them out into the world to capture images from around the globe.

The concept behind the Disposable Memory Project is simple. Pass out disposable cameras to travelers, have them take a few photos and then pass the camera along to someone else. Eventually the disposable cameras get returned, at least in theory, and the photos are published online for everyone to share. So far, the project has placed 164 cameras in 42 countries around the world. To date, 42 of those 164 cameras have been found, and 11 have been returned, carrying a record of their journey with them.

The Disposable Memory Project website has a comprehensive list of each of the cameras and the places where they’ve been released into the wild. You can use the page to see if there is one close to where you are, and if you find it, you can claim it, snap a few photos, and pass it along. Eventually, once the memory on the camera is full, you simply contact the good folks at the Disposable Memory Project and they’ll arrange to have the camera picked up, and get the images developed and posted on the web, passing the link along so you can check out your photos.

What an interesting and fun project! There are still quite a few cameras that have been found and are still bouncing around the globe, and dozens more that have yet to be discovered at all. If you want to join the fun, go find a camera that has been released in your area, and if there isn’t one, perhaps you can release a camera of your own.

Hiker trampled to death by cattle

by Sean McLachlan on

While the English countryside is generally a safe and relaxing place to hike, tragically a woman has died after being trampled by stampeding cattle. The incident occurred along the popular Pennine Way in Yorkshire on Sunday. The victim was crossing a field in which there was a herd of cattle, a common enough occurrence on English country walks. The cattle apparently panicked at the sight of her two dogs and attacked.

This is the second such death in as many years. Last year a woman was killed in Suffolk in the same manner, and two weeks ago former Home Secretary David Blunkett was injured by a cow after it was startled by Blunkett’s seeing eye dog.

Late spring and early summer are popular times for hiking in England, but it is also the time of year that cattle give birth to calves and will become aggressive if they think their young are threatened. As I continue my series on English country walks, keep in mind that hiking always has its dangers and check out these safety precautions from the Ramblers, England’s premiere hiking organization. For cattle, it recommends that you should never get between a cow and her calf, and if they go after your dog, to let it off the leash. The dog can generally get away and the cows will go after the animal, allowing you a chance to escape.

Photo of the Day 6.22.09

by Karen Walrond on

Last week, I finally joined the 21st century, and bought myself an iPhone. This is the first phone I’ve ever owned with a camera in it; since I have a few regular cameras that I avidly use, what, I reasoned, would I need a camera phone for?

I have to say, I’m becoming a convert, especially when I see amazing shots like the one shared by Arachide, above, taken in Prague with his iPhone, and applying a toy camera application. It’s like a vintage photograph — so beautiful.

Looks like I’m going to have to take my iPhone out for a spin.

If you’ve got some great travel shots you’d love to share, be sure to upload them to the Gadling pool on Flickr. We might just pick one as our Photo of the Day.