Government tells airlines to keep two crew in cockpit

The government in Ottawa has directed Air Canada and other Canadian airlines to follow a two-crew in the cockpit policy. Presumably, in a case where there are only two persons capable of flying the plane on board, the third person would be the from the complement of flight attendants and stewards. It is a reasonable order as far as it goes but it cannot make flying much safer than it is. The Germanwings case, if the version now current is found to be the truth, reveals how easy it is for anyone who has a position of trust to sabotage airline safety. Trust is essential where people are responsible for the safety of  the public and it seems impossible to ensure absolute safety where it any staff member can betray it.

Massive sale of contents on Rumsey Road this weekend

rumseyThis weekend will see what is being called a massive contents sale of a collectors/hoarders house in Leaside. The sale is organized by Sorel Contents Solutions and will take place at 30 Rumsey Road. The home sits just south of Bessborough Drive. The company’s release provides a long list of interesting items for sale. As the information says, they include but are not limited to a huge selection of antique furniture, including: dining table and chairs, mirrored sideboard, multiple secretary desks, bedroom furniture, magazine racks, solid oak grandfather clock and other clocks, cedar and shipping trunks, sewing stand, stools, tea wagon, chairs and all kinds of accent furniture! Mirrors, pictures, paintings, prints and lamps! A stunning Queen Anne highboy, beautiful lingerie chest and vintage hand-made carpets! Some china, crystal, Canadian pottery, sterling and silver plate! Musical instruments, including: guitar, violin and bow, bugle, mandolin and tambourine! All kinds of collectibles and memorabilia relating to trains, planes, automobiles and boats, including: model jet fighters, vintage motorcycle helmets, toy cars, yachting flags, navigation charts and train set! All kinds of vintage games, including Meccano items! A big selection of other collectibles, including: various vintage tins, a percussion rifle, fencing sword, vintage surveyors equipment, vintage radios, typewriter, opera glasses, binoculars, cameras, bronze bookends, knives, marbles, bed warmers and to many others to list! A selection of costume and other jewelry! All appliances including: like new LG fridge, LG bar fridge, Frigidaire chest freezer and Maytag washer and dryer! Electric fireplace! Vintage children’s and other books! Bedding and linens! Chinese items! A massive selection of house ware, tableware, kitchen items! A selection of hand and power tools, including: Milwaukee drill press, Milwaukee band saw and vintage Beaver power planer and other vintage tools like planes, levels and hand drills! Garage and garden items: including, leaf blower, hedge trimmer, rakes, shovels, ladders, hose etc. Vintage bike, boat anchors, vintage 1973 Johnson 3hp motor and fiberglass canoe. It is a fascinating collection and buyers are advised to arrived early. and everything is sold on as is, no money back basis.  It runs Saturday,  March 28, 2015 from 7:30 am to 4:00 pm and Sunday, March 29, 2015  from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm. The garage portion of the sale will begin at 7:30 am; the actual sale will begin at 8:00 am. Release 

South Bayview dollar shop stays busy three years later

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Bayview Ave. Dollarama is always busy

Canadians seem fascinated with the retail phenomenon known as Dollarama. It is a great success story and despite much poo-pooing in 2012 as it was being installed on South Bayview the local store is always busy. When Dollarama was founded 23 years ago the promise was to sell everything for a dollar. Since then the forces of inflation have caused Dollarama to sell some items for $2. Now CEO Larry Rossy warns that sooner or later many things will be priced at $3. “We’ll hold on as long as we can, but you’re going to see some inflation I would say in Canada, unavoidably,” Mr. Rossy said Wednesday in a conference call to discuss strong fourth-quarter results. The discount retailer said it has absorbed some of the currency headwinds through lower margins, but has been forced to raise prices, for example, by adding 25 cents to some $1 items. “I think at $1 we’re struggling to get good value for the client today,” he said. Dollarama believes Canada can support about 1,400 stores, compared with the 1,200 maximum in its prior forecasts. Dollarama now has 955 stores following the addition of 81 locations last year including 27 in the fourth quarter. Dollarama said it is feeling no pressure on sales in Alberta or elsewhere because of energy prices.

Hydro cost to rise $120 a year for everyone says Minister

Energy Minister Bob Chiarelli has announced what has to called a complicated series of reductions and increases in Ontario hydro rates. His best bet it seems from all of this is that homeowners will pay as much as $120 moire a year for power. This results largely from the Liberal government’s decision to eliminate the Clean Energy Benefit, which provided an average monthly reduction of $17 a month. “We are expecting (hydro) to go up less than $10 a month,” Mr. Chiarelli acknowledged to reporters after announcing two other moves to cut costs for customers, the elimination of a debt retirement charge and a new program to cut prices for low-income families.  Chiarelli said the proposed Ontario Electricity Support Program will slash the monthly electricity rate for a low-income family by $20 to $50 a month. Under the plan, a family of four with an annual income of less than $28,000 would be eligible for a $38 monthly ‎credit for a total of $456 per year. “It a shell game,” said Tory energy critic John Yakabuski.“No one is arguing that low-income families don’t need a break but what this government doesn’t understand is that the cost of electricity is becoming unaffordable for everyone,” Yakabuski said.

What was co-pilot thinking as he sent plane into descent?

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The horrifying turn of events in the Germanwings air disaster has left airline authorities speechless. The president of Lufthansa, owner of the discount airline, said he was stunned by the idea that a co-pilot would purposely crash an aircraft full of passengers. Nonetheless, evidence from the cockpit recorder suggests this is exactly what happened. But there is nothing in the background of Andrea Lubitz, 28, to support this insane turn in his behaviour. It will no doubt be part of the investigation to learn as much about this young man’s psychiatric state as possible.

“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

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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.