Air Crash Summary : Turkish Airlines Flight 981/ American Airlines Flight 96

It was the worst crash of its time. On 3 March 1974, the Turkish Airlines flight 981 which was scheduled  to fly from Paris to London loses communication with Air Traffic Controllers and vanishes from radar 12 minutes after take off. The ruins were eventually found in the Ermenonville Forest, in the commune of Fontaine-Chaalis, Oise. It was one hell of a mind bugling sight. Investigators reported it was difficult to even recognize the passengers or crew members. 346 lives (including crew) were lost in the crash that made global news coverage.

The National Transportation Safety Board(NTSB), an organization responsible for the investigation of plane crashes discovered that the crash was caused by the blowing open of the cargo door due to force from pressurization of the aircraft. Also from the investigation, they found that the cargo door was improperly shut by cargo handlers. The large force produced from the cargo door being blown away caused the seats underneath the cargo area to collapse and cut through important wiring for aircraft hydraulics(controls the vertical and horizontal movement of the plane). Without the ability to control the plane, the pilots hopelessly tried everything possible to gain control and remove the plane from an accelerating steep dive until it eventually forcefully hits the ground.




The McDonnell Douglas DC-10 aircraft had just been introduced by the American aircraft manufacturer McDonnell Douglas. The company had spent more than a billion dollars developing it. But one thing about the cargo door was that it was designed to open outwards. It was locked by four C-shaped latches that pins down the bar. A lever from the outside of the cargo door is pushed to hold the bar with the latches. It was discovered that this itself was a design flaw in sense that the pins sometimes failed to hold down the bar. And it was also difficult to be sure if the cargo doors were safely locked.

The Chief Investigator realizes that a similar incident occurred two years before that time on the American Airlines Flight 96. The pilots of the plane heroically made an emergency landing in the nearest airport considering they still had little control of the aircraft. No lives were lost and the NTSB investigated the incident to avoid another occurrence. Being the chief investigator of the Flight 96, he made a complaint about the cargo door. And reportedly warned the FAA(Federal Aviation Authority) about it. An air worthiness directive had to be passed for the cargo doors of all previously manufactured Mcdonnell DC-10 aircrafts be replaced by the manufacturer. It was reported that an air worthiness directive was not issued, as reported on the National Geographic Series(Mayday), a so called gentleman's agreement between the head of FAA and the head Mcdonnell Douglas stopped the directive from being issued.



The major cause of the Turkish Airlines crash was due to the fact that no air worthiness directive was issued to change the cargo doors. Most crashes have occurred making profit simply becomes more important than the lives of people. Mcdonnel Douglas assured the FAA that they would voluntarily fix the cargo door problem simply because a public airworthiness directive would degrade the new MD-DC-10 aircraft and would lower the value in the market. A peek hole was drilled with warning signs written right below it, so baggage handlers could make sure the latches were properly locked. But the instructions were mainly written in English. The Baggage Handler didn't understand and could not read English. Paperwork for the completion of the cargo door fixes were also discovered with no fixes done on them. Also, there was a memorandum from the manufacturer of those doors to Mcdonnell Douglas written right after the American Airlines incident warning them of problems with the doors and the protective structure underneath the airplane seats. It was also discovered that Mcdonnell Douglas knew about this problem even during the development of DC-10 but the design of the cargo doors stayed the same.

McDonnell Douglas was later acquired by Boeing manufacturing company after years of multiple legal suits. McDonnell Douglas payed over 80 million dollars for damages after the Turkish Airline Crash. A monument was built in memory of those that died in the Turkish Airline Crash.


References : Air Crash Investigation ("Behind Closed Doors")
                     Wikipedia

Movie Review : Captain America : Civil War (No Spoilers)

 

   I must say, the Russo brothers(Anthony and Joe Russo) just made DC Universe and Warner Brothers pictures shit their pants. They set the bar in Captain America: Winter Soldier, cleared the bar square and flat, thereby setting another bar for the next Avengers Movie. I must commend everyone that worked on this movie. It's going to be a classic for us comic book fans. From the short comical phrases, to the action sequences, and also the screenplay. For those that read the comics, this isn't just the story from the civil war comic issue, it's an even more better version that stays in line with the prequels and sequels of the marvel cinematic movies.

      I'll try as much as possible to reduce spoilers. Every loyal comic book fan deserves the opportunity to see this movie without the spoilers. It got me at the edge of my seat right from the beginning to the very last unpredictable ending.

Appearances from Iron man(Robert Downey Jr), Captain America(Chris Evans), Black Widow(Scarlett Johanssen), Falcon(Anthony Mackie), War Machine(Don Cheadle), Hawkeye(Jeremy Renner), Black Panther(Chadwick Boseman), Vision(Paul Bettany), Scarlett Witch(Elizabeth Olsen), Spiderman(Tom Holland), Antman(Paul Rudd), and even the Winter Soldier(Sebastian Stan), leaving out Hulk and other Marvel Cinematic Super Heroes which I believe would have appearances in the Infinity war series.

     The acting performances as expected were priceless. Even greater performances from the new additional marvel cinematic casts Spiderman and Your Highness----Black Panther. There were fight sequences that got my adrenaline pumping. And the Cinematography even made it more exhilarating; the quick movement of the camera trying to keep up with over the top action from actors. And lastly, we definitely wouldn't want to leave out the priceless Stan lee cameo.

      The Movie acts as a prequel to the Winter Soldier / Avengers : Age of Ultron / Iron Man Series  and also a sequel to the Avengers : Infinity War Series. So audiences who haven't read the comics or seen the other Marvel Movies might not fully appreciate the movie's storyline.

      This is definitely a movie worth waiting for. And I really hope the Russo Brothers are given the privilege to direct the Avengers Infinity War series. As Promised, no spoilers or movie summaries. You just have to experience this movie first hand. Based on my personal review, Story - 5/5, Acting performances - 5/5, Production - 5/5, Special effects - 5/5, Cinematography - 4.8/5, Costume - 4.5/5 All in all, my final review puts this movie at 5/5.

Movie Review : Southpaw (Spoilers Ahead!)

                             

                                                


            I've recently discovered a new interest in movies with this genre. Just like the Rocky series ( including the new Creed movie), and the Never Back Down series. They're pretty good movies to watch especially when you're struggling through certain adversities. They serve has that extra motivational push to take charge of whatever situation you find yourself in. The story-lines are pretty much similar, the protagonist finds himself/herself struggling after losing everything he once had (Or like the Rocky movies), an underdog fights his way to the top through sheer determination and hard work. It isn't just about the fighting, it's the pain. the training, the tears and that moment you've almost given up. We have all experienced that down moment. When life hits you so hard and you find it difficult to get back up

            The director (Antoine Fuqua) who brought us movies like Tears of the Sun and Equalizer brings us this movie about protagonist Billy Hope (Played by Jake Gyllenhaal), a professional light weight boxer with years of experience and more than 40 wins to his name. He has everything a pro-boxer would ever dream of, a title to his name, a loving wife and kid, and much wealth. Everything is lost when his wife Maureen (Played by Rachel Anne McAdams ) is shot dead during an unexpected fight with another boxer Escobar (Played by Miguel Gomez), who tried to provoke him into setting up a boxing fight with him. Billy Hope, who's known to have a short temper disregards his wife's warning not to listen to Escobar's provocative words thereby fighting and causing a uproar.

            Everything else goes south from then on. He loses his house, friends, career and even his daughter (taken by child services for his inability to care for her). He also gets betrayed by his manager (Played by 50 Cent), who leaves to go manage the Boxer who causes the death of his wife. Realizing he needs to get back in shape and change his lifestyle to get his daughter (Played by Oona Laurence) back, he goes to trainer (Played by Forest Whitaker ) who trained the only opponent who has ever given him a tough time in the ring.

          After going through so much adversity, he gets an opportunity to fight again. Against the boxer that caused the death of his wife. With good training lessons from his new found trainer, Billy Hope defeats the undefeated boxer after a gruesome 12 round boxing game. After having winning back his title and daughter. The movie ends in an all similar Tragedy-Comedy sequential screenplay.

             I have to give credit to Jake Gyllenhaal's acting in this movie. He allows you share the character's experience. I also commend the action and boxing fight sequences. It gives you that adrenaline with all the bleeding and violence that comes with boxing. My personal rating for this movie would be a 3.8/5.

Book Summary : 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (Part One) - Stephen R. Covery

 Paradigms and Principles

           In this part, the author introduces us to the basic principles and paradigms that make up the Habits of Highly effective people. He also explains how important they are to changing and creating new habits which in turn increases our effectiveness. He writes about the foundational structures that holds the habits of effectiveness in place. The Character ethic has been since replaced by the Personality ethic. The character ethic which promotes traits like  integrity, humility, fidelity, courage, patience, etc.  required to live a successful life as been replaced by the Personality ethic which promotes getting a good public image; getting people to like you, manipulation of other people through various skills and techniques, "you can achieve if you believe", etc. The personality traits did appear to be effective but still turned out to be temporary success. People in this category still experienced deep emptiness in their lives in relation to work, family, business and social lives. Strategies and Techniques won't make you fully effective. It's like cramming your way through school, you might pass all exams and get good grades through the skills and techniques, but if you don't study and develop an educative mind, you will never achieve true mastery of the subjects. Many people with secondary greatness -- that is, social recognition for their talents -- lack primary greatness or goodness in their character.

            He also talks about the power of paradigms and perceptions. Paradigms are like maps; they are not the territories but they explain the territories. They're the way we interpret and perceive the world around us. The character and the personality ethics are examples of social paradigms. We all have different perceptions about the things around us. He gave an example of paradigms with the picture below. The young, pretty lady in that picture can also be viewed by others as an old ugly looking woman. It depends on your understanding and perception. The more aware we are of our basic paradigms, maps, or assumptions, and the extent to which we have been influenced by our experience, the more we can take responsibility for those paradigms, examine them, test them against reality, listen to others and be open to their perceptions, thereby getting a larger picture and a far more objective view.

        The author also talks about how we experience paradigms shifts in our everyday lives. Explaining that moment when people discover there's another way to perceive a situation. That "AHA AHA" moment as he calls it He gave examples of various paradigm shifts, from when the sun  (and not the earth) was discovered to be at the centre of the universe, when germs were discovered to be the cause of diseases in man. He also explains that paradigm shifts sometimes mean breaking laws that already exists even though there are huge repercussion for the actions. Some paradigm shifts are also negative, like the shifts from the character ethic to the personality ethic. Many people experience a similar fundamental shift in thinking, when they face a life-threatening crisis and suddenly see their priorities in a different light, or when they suddenly step into a new role, such as that of husband or wife, parent or grandparent, manager or leader. We could spend weeks, months, even years labouring with the personality ethic trying to change our attitudes and behaviors and not even begin to approach the phenomenon of change that occurs spontaneously when we see things differently. It becomes obvious that if we want to make relatively minor changes in our lives, we can perhaps appropriately focus on our attitudes and behaviors. But if we want to make significant, quantum change, we need to work on our basic paradigms.
      
           In all of life, there are sequential stages of growth and development. A child learns to turn over, to sit up, to crawl, and then to walk and run. Each step is important and each one takes time. No step can be skipped. This is true in all phases of life, in all areas of development, whether it be learning to play the piano or communicate effectively with a working associate. It is true with individuals, with marriages, with families, and with organizations. Every step must be taken. You can't skip to level 5 if you don't complete levels 1 to 4. There are quick fixes to skip growth stages but it's temporary and brings about disastrous after-effects. There's a saying that goes,  "A thousand-mile journey begins with the first step". Similarly,  If you don't let a teacher know what level you are -- by asking a question, or revealing your ignorance -- you will not learn or grow. The admission of ignorance is often the first step of learning.

            My favourite section of this part is when he explained habits and how habits can be changed. He starts off with the saying,  "Sow a thought, reap an action; sow an action, reap a habit; sow a habit, reap a character; sow a character, reap a destiny". He explained that habits can be formed with Knowledge, Skill and Desire. Knowledge is the theoretical paradigm, the what to do and the why. Skill is the how to do. And desire is the motivation, the want to do. Happiness can be defined, in part at least, as the fruit of the desire and ability to sacrifice what we want now for what we want eventually.

         He also talks about Dependency and Interdependency. Dependent people need others to get what they want. Independent people can get what they want through their own effort. Interdependent people combine their own efforts with the efforts of others to achieve their greatest success. He writes in this section, that we need to learn to be independent before we can become interdependent.

          He finally explains the P/PC Balance, which means product and production capability. He explains this term with an old fable about the story of a poor farmer who one day discovers in the nest of his pet goose a glittering
golden egg. The egg is pure gold! The farmer can't believe his good fortune. He becomes even more incredulous the following day when the experience is repeated. Day after day, he awakens to rush to the nest and find another golden egg. He becomes fabulously wealthy. But with his increasing wealth comes greed and impatience. Unable to wait day after day for the golden eggs, the farmer decides he will kill the goose and get them all at once. But when he opens the
goose, he finds it empty. There are no golden eggs -- and now there is no way to get any more. The farmer has destroyed the goose that produced them. The product was the golden egg and the product capability was the goose. In other to get more golden egg, we need to take good care of the goose. It can be applied in all forms of life, Physical belongings, relationships, business, etc.

           So far, Stephen Covery as explained the basis of effectiveness and after reading this, I've been given an insatiable hunger to keep reading. I'm inquisitive about the 7 habits and how it can be applied in our various lives. I apologize for the length of the post. The Link to the summary of the next part can be gotten below; in this part, He talks about the first Habit of Highly Effective people.