Here’s a tip: teaching your girlfriend to drive on an airport runway is a bad idea

by Karen Walrond on

The Sydney Morning Herald is reporting that the Philippines’ top aviation official, Frisco Santo Domingo, has been suspended because of the hijinks of his son, which resulted in a near collision with a commercial plane.

According to the story, the pilot of the airplane, filled with 80 passengers, was forced to abort a landing, narrowly escaping a collision with the van of the official’s son Luis, as Luis taught his girlfriend how to drive on the runway. Luis, who lives near the airport, admitted that he often used the runway to give his girlfriend driving lessons, and also used it as a shortcut to get back to his home, which is near the airport.

So let me get this straight: a grown man took his girlfriend to an active runway to teach her to drive, causing his airport-executive dad to lose his job? Wow.

Bless his girlfriend’s heart.

Gadling + BootsnAll – Picks of the Week (3.13.09)

by Jeremy Kressmann on

Welcome back to Gadling’s weekly “Picks of the Week” from our friends over at travel site, BootsnAll. Every Friday we’ll be bringing you some of our favorite stories this week from the site. Take a look below and click on through if you find something that catches your interest:

  • Weird Philippines – the Philippines is already an “out there” destination for many travelers, so it goes without saying that those who visit are privileged with some amazing sights and strange local customs. Marseille Markham tells us about her Top 5 Weirdest Philipines sights. Remember that Filipino prison where they dance to Thriller? You can go see it LIVE. Get me a ticket to Cebu immediately…
  • Spanish Lessons in Central America – my first experience abroad was staying with a family in Costa Rica during High School. It was an amazing introduction to the culture and also a great way to wok on my Spanish. Rebecca Brych give us the lowdown on how to study Spanish in Central America for anyone who might be inerested. It’s very comprehensive guide of everything from finding a school to picking classes to figuring out where to stay.
  • High in the Sky – I always associate mountains with travel. But for many people, mountains mean they’re home. Julie Blakley takes a look at the Highest Cities in the World in her latest post. Let me tell you, I’m out of breath just looking the elevations for some of these places. Think Cusco is high? How about La Rinconada, Peru at over 16,000 feet!
  • Feisty Female Travelers – you might know Christine Amanpour, the Chief International Correspondent of CNN, as one woman that’s really set the bar high for solo female travelers, including trips to Iraq, Somalia and Afghanistan. This week Lucy Corne takes a look at six of history’s most famous and well-known female travelers, a tribute to all they’ve done to set a “traveling example” for women everywhere.
  • Gondola Gallery – you pretty much know if you visit Venice, one of Italy’s most famous cities, you’re going to see some gondolas. The iconic boats are pretty much the town’s unofficial symbol at this point. BootsnAll’s Italy blog features some of their favorite gondola photography in this week’s feature.

Hope you enjoyed this week’s Gadling and BootsnAll “Picks of the Week.” We’ll be back next Friday with another week’s worth of great content. Stay tuned.

Photo of the Day (2.1.09)

by Jeremy Kressmann on

It looks like Flickr user wetboxers is having a lot more fun than any of us at the moment. This image of him jumping into the crater lake of Mount Pinatubo is actually a composite of several different time-lapsed shots, which I assume have been stitched together in Photoshop. It’s a fun bit of digital trickery that makes the image that much more interesting. And frankly, between the gorgeous vista behind and him and the energetic activity in the foreground, I think I’m about ready to join in!

Have any great travel shots you’d like to share with the world? Why not add them to our Gadling pool on Flickr. We might just pick one of yours as our Photo of the Day.

Strange New Year’s traditions around the world

by Jeremy Kressmann on

Unlike many holidays, where celebrants are bound by tradition or religion, New Year’s is a holiday that allows each individual to choose his own method of celebration. Some revelers will soak themselves in alcohol, boozing it up with copious bottles of champagne. Others choose to make the evening a quieter affair, settling in for a movie and an early night in bed.

However you personally choose to celebrate New Year’s 2009, people around the world certainly have some wacky ways that they choose to bring in their new year. MSNBC is reporting on some of the more interesting customs. Here’s a look at a few of the more curious:

  • South America – in countries like Brazil and Bolivia, it’s what’s inside that counts. Residents in cities such as Sao Paulo and La Paz ring in the New Year by donning brightly colored underpants. Those who choose red are hoping for an amorous year ahead, those with yellow wish for money. I guess this begs the question of how you tell who is wearing what color underwear. Perhaps that is best left unanswered…
  • Denmark – as if the effects of plentiful New Year’s alcohol were not disorienting enough, many Danish revelers leap off chairs at the stroke of midnight, hoping to banish bad spirits in the year ahead.
  • Philippines – New Year’s celebrations in places like Manila tend to be circular; Filipinos focus on all things round, consuming “round” fruits such as grapes and wearing clothing with round shapes like polka dots. The spherical theme is meant to remind celebrants of the “round” shape of coins and prosperity.
  • Spain – at the stroke of 12, Spaniards begin to consume 12 grapes, attempting to eat the whole bunch by the time the clock stops chiming.
  • Belarus – the new year in Belarus is all about getting hitched. Unmarried women compete at games of skill and chance to determine who will tie the knot in the coming months. One game involves setting piles of corn and a rooster before the potential brides-to-be – whichever pile the bird chooses apparently picks the lucky lady.

You can check out the full list of weird New Year’s traditions here.

Jet circles Zamboanga airport waiting for missing air traffic controllers

by Scott Carmichael on

Unlike our very own Kent Wien, I never trained to be a pilot, but even without those years of training, I can’t imagine it is very comforting to get close to your destination airport and find an unstaffed air traffic control tower.

This is exactly what happened when a jet carrying 156 passengers arrived in the airspace of Zamboanga airport in the Philippines, after a flight from the nation’s capital.

Instead of hearing the familiar commands from the tower telling them they were cleared to land, the Philippine Airlines flight crew heard nothing. It took 30 minutes of circling around the airport for someone to finally make their way to the tower and permit the jet to land.

Of the 5 controllers who were supposed to be on duty that morning, 2 were missing, 2 were late and one was on an approved day off, but their approval note did not make it to the airport administrator. Talk about a total breakdown of communications.

The excuse the remaining 4 controllers presented was that public transport was hard to find the day after Christmas, but officials say the controllers may still have been a little too much in “party mode”. I’m sure that is comforting to hear if you were in the air around Zamboanga that morning.

The newspaper article claims the controllers were fired, but Philippine officials merely say the 5 are currently suspended pending an investigation.

(Via: Sydney Morning Herald)

Other tales from the skies
Amazing and insane stories from a real-life flight attendant and co-pilot