Air India flight delayed after spat over pilot's lunch box

NEW DELHI, India—An Air India pilot and a cabin crew member are being investigated after an argument over a lunch box delayed a flight by more than 2 hours, an official said Wednesday.

Passengers had already boarded Monday's flight from Bangalore to Kolkata when the purser refused to wash the box containing food that the pilot had brought from home.

In full view of passengers, they nearly came to blows before other crew members intervened and both men were taken off the aircraft.

They have now been grounded and are being investigated.

Media reports said cabin crew often complain about haughty pilots demanding special service.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Global software 'glitch' leaves Air India passengers stranded

NEW DELHI, India - Thousands of Air India passengers were stranded at airports across the world Saturday, after a software "glitch" left those traveling with the state-run airline unable to check in, officials said.

More than 80 domestic and international flights were delayed for six hours because of a problem with the company's check-in software that brought operations to a halt, causing further flight delays across the globe. 

"Our check-in software experienced a glitch following a routine software upgrade. It was resolved after six hours," Air India spokesman Praveen Bhatnagar told AFP. 

Bhatnagar said most of the delays were on its domestic circuit and they were "doing everything possible to clear the backlog". 

There were no flight cancellations and the airline expects operations to be back to normal by early evening, the spokesman said. 

India's aviation industry is in choppy waters after one of the country's largest private carriers, Jet Airways, last week halted its operations indefinitely following refusal by lenders to pay it cash to run day-to-day operations.

The state-owned loss-making Air India operates more than 450 fights a day across the globe, with a majority of them domestically.

Hundreds of furious passengers took to social media to complain about the widespread disruption, posting pictures and videos of passengers waiting at check-in counters. 

"Thousands stranded at the airport for over 3 hours. No updates. No one to talk to. Terrible service," a traveler posted on Twitter from Delhi International airport. 

Saturday's software malfunction is a repeat of a similar outage in June last year that caused flight delays globally. 

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Air India plane hits building at Stockholm airport

STOCKHOLM - An Air India plane carrying 179 passengers struck a building at Stockholm's Arlanda airport with its wingtip as it taxied to gate on Wednesday, but no injuries were reported, police said.

"The 179 passengers could disembark from the plane on a mobile staircase and thereafter enter the terminal," police wrote in a statement.

The cause of the accident was not immediately known, police said.

It occurred at 5:45 pm (1645 GMT), about 50 meters (yards) from Terminal 5, the main terminal for international flights.

Pictures from the scene showed the Boeing aircraft parked on the runway with the very tip of its left wing stuck in the side of a building.

Several police cars and fire trucks were parked by the plane.

According to airport operator Swedavia's website, the flight had originated in New Delhi.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

'Rat on a plane' forces Air India flight to turn back

A "suspected rat sighting" in the cabin forced an Air India plane carrying more than 200 passengers to return to Mumbai almost three hours into a flight to London, the airline said Thursday.

Air India said it had decided to turn back the flight "keeping passenger safety in mind," even though the rodent's presence was not confirmed.

Rats pose a serious threat to the safety of flights as they can chew through wires and damage internal controls.

"Air India gives utmost importance to safety. Our engineering team is investigating the incident," an airline statement said.

"A standby aircraft was made available to fly the passengers to London. The aircraft with the suspected rodent will be fumigated as per procedure in such cases of rodent sighting."

An airline official who did not want to be named put the number of passengers at over 200.

It is not the first time an Air India flight has been grounded over rodents.

In July, a plane en route to Milan had to return to Delhi after a suspected rat sighting.

India's state carrier has not made a profit since 2007.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Lady Gaga lettuce dress proposal; Michael Jackson, this year's biggest earner

MAILA, Philippines – First it was the meat dress. Now will Lady Gaga be wearing one made of lettuce soon?

That’s what Indian animal rights activists have been asking Lady Gaga to do as the pop superstar visits India this weekend to grace the unveiling of the country’s first Formula 1 race.

PETA India is hoping that the “Born This Way” singer would honor India’s reverence for animals by turning vegetarian for the duration of her visit and to pose for photos in a lettuce gown to promote the importance of refraining from eating meat.

Lady Gaga, in one of her more outrageous fashion statements, famously wore a dress made of meat at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards.

“If she agrees, we’ll make her a dress entirely of lettuce and held together by pins and threads. It will be a full length gown, and we’ll make sure it looks sexy. The dress would be constructed leaf by leaf [on] the singer’s body, taking some five to six hours and someone will be on hand to spray water on the lettuce so that it doesn’t wilt.” said Sachin Bangera of PETA India.

Lady Gaga will be performing at an invitation-only show in a five-star hotel in New Delhi as one of the highlights after the country holds its first ever Formula 1 Grand Prix race.

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Michael Jackson is number one in life and in death.

For a second straight year, Michael Jackson racked up enough earnings to be hailed as the world’s top dead earner. This according to a list compiled by Forbes magazine of stars whose earning power remains beyond the grave.

The “Thriller” singer, who died two years ago at the age of 50, brought in $170 million for his estate for the past year. This places him ahead of almost every pop music act, both living and dead, as the biggest earner. Jackson only fell short of beating super rock band U2.

The King of Pop beat the King of Rock & Roll, Elvis Presley, who came in second at $55 million because of his song catalog and a hit Las Vegas stage production featuring his songs by Cirque De Soleil. Coming in at third was eternal hottie Marilyn Monroe, who earned $27 million in earnings over the past year.

Forbes consulted agents, lawyers and other experts to come up with the year's 15 deceased top earners.

The list also contains cartoonist Charles Schulz of “Peanuts” characters fame while another rock and roll legend, John Lennon of the The Beatles, and screen legend Elizabeth Taylor both earned around $12 million in revenues.

Completing the macabre Forbes list is theoretical physicist Albert Einstein, children’s book author Theodor “Dr. Seuss” Geisel, guitar legend Jimi Hendrix, writer Stieg Larsson, actor Steve McQueen, composer Richard Rodgers, who all also earned substantially.

Beatle George Harrison, American pin-up girl Bettie Page and pop art creator Andy Warhol rounds up the list.

source: mb.com.ph

Air India Crash

Air India plane which arrived from Dubai crashed when coming in to land at Mangalore airport It happened early morning of May 22, at 6:00am It was carrying 163 passengers and nine crew members when it crashed outside the city of Mangalore. The plane tried to land about 6:00 am Saturday, it exceeds the runway and crashed.

According to reports there are six to seven survivors and they are are currently being treated at local hospitals.

The victims’ list has not been released to public, but the passenger list can be accessed by relatives by calling 001 2565 6196 or 001 2560 3101.