The Bulldog

“Action on the altitude controls can only be deliberate”

The French prosecutor in the Germanwings investigation is saying the co-pilot took deliberate action to send the aircraft into a descent. “At that moment, the co-pilot is controlling the plane by himself. While he is alone, the co-pilot presses the buttons of the flight monitoring system to put into action the descent of the plane. “This action on the altitude controls can only be deliberate.”  “The most plausible interpretation is that the co-pilot through a voluntary act had refused to open the cabin door to let the captain in. He pushed the button to trigger the aircraft to lose altitude. He operated this button for a reason we don’t know yet, but it appears that the reason was to destroy this plane.” BBC

Now co-pilot said to have deliberately crashed plane

Speculation among authorities and air experts is running wild Thursday morning over whether Germanwings Flight 9525 was deliberately crashed or whether the lone pilot in the cockpit was medically incapacitated. A French prosecutor is saying the co-pilot, Andreas Lubitz , 28. intentionally locked himself in the cockpit and was “alive at the time of impact.”  How this is known is not stated in the report. A more detailed speculation is offered by CNN’s Richard Quest who asks questions not raised in the wire reports CNN. 

CNN man speculates medical emergency caused crash

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Richard Quest

Richard Quest, the CNN correspondent, is speculating on the astonishing news of tonight that one pilot was locked outside the cockpit and unable to get an answer from his colleague still inside. He believes that the pilot inside suffered a medical emergency. Quest said that explanation seems more likely, although it does not exclude, the possibility that the pilot committed suicide with 150 people aboard the plane. As reported below, the cockpit voice recorder apparently reveals that one pilot left the cockpit for reasons unknown. This is not unusual. On his return, the pilot was unable to raise his associate inside or even get an answer. In the end, he is heard trying to break down the cockpit door. Quest comments on policy regarding a second person in the cockpit at all times. There was none in this case it seems. The medical emergency explanation would also lend itself to the normal flight behaviour of the aircraft until it crashed into a mountainside.

Shocking events on Airbus as one pilot locked out of cockpit

In a shocking revelation, recorder evidence shows that one of the pilots on the German Airbus A320 plane left the cockpit and was unable to return before the plane went down, killing everyone on board. The evidence was recovered from a cockpit voice recorder, as reported by the New York Times. “The guy outside is knocking lightly on the door and there is no answer,” an unnamed investigator told the Times.“And then he hits the door stronger and no answer. There is never an answer.”“You can hear he is trying to smash the door down,” the investigator added. The reason for the pilot leaving the cockpit is not yet known.

Ontario to subsidize hydro for some, charge others more

power lines
Ontario will effectively establish two hydro rates at the beginning of next year — one for households earning $28,000 or less a year and one for everyone else. The cost of lowering the effective rate for those specified will be paid by the users in the upper tier at an average surcharge of 70 cents a month. This revelation was made Wednesday evening by CTV News which did not offer a source for the information. But the report was quite detailed. The plan will come into effect on January 1, 2016 CTV said. The number of households designated for the lower tier will receive a monthly decrease in their bill of $30 a month. According to CTV, the number of such families is judged by the government to be about 500,000. Monthly hydro charges vary throughout the South Bayview area but it is not uncommon for households to see bills of $450 to $500 a month. It’s estimated there may be as many as 5,000,000 households among the province’s 13,000,000 people.

Umbrella sends a beep to your phone if you leave it behind


Here’s an umbrella that will warn you when you are about to walk off without it. Sorry it’s so rainy.

Rosedale resident Gordon Lightfoot has food poisoning

Music legend and Rosedale resident Gordon Lightfoot has food poisoning. See Entertainment and Lifestyle. Scroll.

Mayor Tory plans “ranked ballot” reform for 2018 election

Mayor Tory has said that he will work to implement so-called ranked ballots for the 2018 municipal election. Premier Wynne has announced the government will introduce legislation that permits municipalities to use this form of voting before then. Ranked ballots permit second third and subsequent ranked choices for a candidate which then permit an “instant runoff” vote. If the candidate with the most votes does not have a majority, the runoff (or runoffs) establishes a majority winner. Toronto’s diverse population sometimes creates election slates with 15 or 20 candidates. The result is frequently a winner who has a small percentage of the popular vote. Some proponents of ranked ballots believe the system will create a more racially diverse City Council. The suggestion is that there are too many white men. This is a question for the voters but it seems apparent that ranked ballots will not necessarily achieve that goal. It’s interesting to speculate how John Tory might have fared under ranked ballots. He won with slightly more than 40 percent of the vote. The dynamics of the campaign suggest to many that Tory would have been a huge winner since he was probably second choice of many who voted either for Olivia Chow or Doug Ford.

Watch your step! City repairs water leak on South Bayview


Repair work is being finished up as a crew fixes a small leak on the west side of Bayview north of Millwood Rd. that suddenly appeared a couple of days.

BBC report with the latest on Germanwing crash

Expert speaking to the BBC says it appears to him that the blackbox (cockpit recorder) is in good enough condition that it should reveal important details of what happened.

Globe say Bell Media boss meddled in news at CTV

Globe and Mail 

H.J. Heinz and Kraft will merge to form food behemoth

Kraft Foods Group and H.J. Heinz Co. with help from its owner 3G Capital Partners L.P. and Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway have agreed to merge in a deal that would create the world’s fifth largest food and beverage company. The combined company, which will be called the Kraft Heinz Co., will have revenue of about $28 billion and include well-known brands like Jell-O, Maxwell House coffee and Planters nuts. The deal comes as Kraft and other major U.S. food makers struggle with changes in consumer tastes that have hampered their ability to sell packaged, processed food. Wall Street Journal  (There’s still Neal Bros and Manning Canning of Leaside)