Given the sensationalist nature of much modern journalism, maybe the facts are not quite as they are made to appear…I note that the report does not actually say the body was placed next to Mr Trinder, merely that he awoke to find the corpse near(by).

There is no mention of whether or not the body was in any way covered in blankets.

In reality, what else could the flight crew do – place it in one of the few toilets, which might be viewed as disrespectful to the deceased, and which would also reduce the number of toilet facilites on board for the remaining passengers:( ?

Use of a crew rest bunk would probably only be possible on very long haul flights, would a Dehli-London flight have such facilities, and would this risk jeopardising flight crew rest periods needed on the flight?

Maybe the linked Singapore airline option will become more common on long haul airliners – but I guess any lack of revenue-earning seat-space means we all end up paying that little bit more for our flights, simply to give the airlines an “insurance” against what (hopefully:confused: ) is a rare event.

What would you do in such a situation – use of afree couple of unoccupied seats in First class seems the best option to me, so long as the body is not placed directly next to an un-related passenger. At least First class offers a little more privacy for the deceaased and a grieving relative than does cattle class.

Perhaps BA (and others) need to put something in the terms and conditions small print to cover such incidents.

I would hope the passenger involved does not see this as an opportunity to benefit from an unfortunate, and very difficult, situation – too many people look for any opportunity to make a fast buck, even if it stems from someone else’s misfortune, these days:mad: .

Paul F

Great shots, thanks for the link

Great photos, so many memories triggered by those old shots, I’m sure I was at the same shows in some cases.

Love the “racing trio” of the De H Comet, Mew Gull and Miles (Falcon I think?, no doubt I will be corrected very swiftly).

It show show much the display regs have changed, especially regarding minimum display heights:eek:.

Great to see the Rothmans Team Pitts, shame there are no shots of them in their Stampe days prior to flying the Pitts (now I AM showing my age).

It also shows just how varied the display “visitors” to Old Warden (And Dx and Farnborough) have been down the years (wistful sigh – roll on Summer 2007:cool: ).

Paul F

musical talent
________

“Eurovision” and “Musical Talent” are very rarely mentioned in the same sentence these days 😀 (and for good reason!)

I agree it’s not what you’d usually call “good music”, but it might just be what the European masses would call “Eurovision music” – based on their last few years’ choices who knows?

Of course, we all know UK will never win (however good {or not 😉 } our song may be) as we’ve upset too many nations over political matters in recent years, so why worry about the quality of our entry. It’s likely to go down in flames anyway – so perhaps we’d better just fasten our seatbelts and check the locations of our emergency exits:dev2: .

Paul F

Clive Du Corrs K5054 Replica

Hi Daz,

No this is an earlier accident where the starboard u/c leg folds up on landing, and the replica swings off the runway onto the grass and ends up on it’s spinner, starboard wingtip and port u/c wheel.

From memory, (and judging form the clip) damage was fairly minor….

Paul F

Congratulations to all involved, great news! Look forward to seeing her on the show circuit this year.

Who’ll be first to post photos of the event then…..?

Paul F

P.S. Oh, and can I be first to ask, Will she be……:diablo:

Although I never met Alex in person, I have read and re-read “Sigh for a Merlin” and “Flight of the Mew Gull” so often that it feels like I did know him.

So passes the life of the man who has probably flown more Spitfires than anyone else.

Farewell sir, and RIP.

Paul F

Err… Slightly different concept to the helmet discussion I think!

Paul

Why? It’s another case of the nanny state dictating on a matter that should really down to freedom of choice.

As for the argument that smokers run up huge costs for the NHS – then they should be forced to pay for treatment they need for any smoking-related illnesses, thus leaving them to pursue their habit, but not at cost to anyone other than themselves – or duty on each tobacco product sold should be sufficient to cover a suitable proportion of likely cost of illnesses it will contribute to.

I don’t smoke (and never have), and I can choose not to go into public places such as pubs or restaurants if it means I will emerge stinking of stale cigarette smoke.

However, is it not down to the people managing the pubs etc to decide if they want to permit smokers to light-up on their premises? I undertand the argument that people who work in pubs are forced to inhale smoke – however, they have the choice of seeking jobs elsewhere, they are not forced to work in smoky pubs. The law of supply and demand would surely result in the right balance of smoking and non-smoking pubs being provided to suit the population split between smokers and non-smokers -and thus would also provide employment opportunities in the right proportions for smoking and non-smoking pub-staff too?

I have no problem with publicans and restauranteurs being obliged to provide a non-smoking/smoke free zone by law, but to ban smoking from their premises all together seems a step to far – akin to forcing people to wear cycle helmets (and yes, being risk (and pain) adverse I do wear one myself).

paul F

Quite right, Steve.

Rights are inextricably linked with responsibilities and, to my mind, the denial of that crucial linkage is at the root of many of the problems that beset us today.

…………..

The “no blame” culture that pervades the corridors of political and economic power has a lot to answer for.

Grey,

All too correct. The “No blame” culture stems from the fact that by ducking responsibility and passing it on to others, those in power can’t be held accountable for problems or failures, and thus the mistakenly believe they will never be seen as fallible. What most of them fail to realise is that such actions also show them to be the spineless wimps they really are, totally unwilling to take repsonsibility for their own actions.

As the old saying goes “If they can’t stand the heat , then they shouldn’t be in the kitchen…”. Unfortunately too many people in public office see attainment of said public office as a boost for their own ego and status, rather than seeing it as a chance to serve others.

Only when people start taking responsibility for the results of their own decisions and actions will things get any better.

This applies at all levels, even down to the basic roots of society too – if my kids start behaving like yobs, surely I must accept some responsibility for not teaching them right from wrong, or for not teaching them to respect other people and their property – but these days it is all too easy to sit back and blame society, school, pressures of modern life (a politically acceptable term for greed?), popular press, media shows, the “must Have it all now” mentality, etc etc for such behaviour, as this means I do not have to brand myself as having “failed” in some way.

Fortunately Mrs Paul F and I are both of an age where we were taught such basic life skills and morals. As a result we owe no-one anything, and we don’t buy anything we can’t pay for at the time we buy it. This means our kids don’t always get what they want, nor do they wear designer clothes, we don’t go on holidays we can’t afford, nor do we always buy the latest gadget or fashion trend. At Christmas we spend far less then the media reported “average per head”, and we treat others as we would hope to be treated ourselves, and have taught our childen this rule too. At times they have felt that Mum and Dad are too conservative (with a small “c”), and are unnesccearily stopping them fit in with their peer groups who all have the latest mobile phone, i-Pod, Trainers or whatever. However, they have both eventually realised that todays “must have” item is usually tomorrows “must replace” item.

We don’t claim to be perfect, far from it, but when we do make a mistake, we accept responsibility, apologise for it and do our best to put things right, to try and learn from the mistake, and then move on… we certainly don’t try and blame anyone else for our own failures.

I hope our children will take full responsibility for the decisions they make in their lives as they grow up and move on…. if they do then they will find themsleves swimming against the tide of populist opinion even more then we have….I hope they have the courage and commitment to do so.

Sorry – Rant over.:o

Paul F