United Airbus catches fire at Chicago, airport halts all flight operations
The Seattle-bound United A320 flight 2091 was towed back to a gate and all 148 passengers and five crew safely deplaned. The mishap held up flight operations at O'Hare.
The disruption compounded the travel chaos caused by a bevy of twisters in most places upsetting a Memorial Day** weekend that was expected to kick off a busy summer season.
CHICAGO, May 28: A United Airlines Airbus caught fire while taxiing at the
Chicago O'Hare International Airport on Monday afternoon. Thick smoke was gushing
out of one of its engines that burst into flames and the take-off was aborted.
The mishap halted all flight operations at the airport.
Nobody was hurt in the incident. The plane was towed back to a gate to evacuate
the passengers and the crew. They all safely deplaned. But the mishap played
spoilsport to Memorial Day** weekend celebrations for many passengers as the
United mishap held up other flights too, adding to the mayhem created by the
thunderstorms elsewhere.
The Seattle-bound United A320 flight 2091 with 148 passengers and five crew
on board was halted around 2 pm Monday, according to the Federal Aviation Administration
(FAA). An engine caught fire, it confirmed.
The cause of the engine fire is still under investigation, and the passengers
were accommodated on alternative flights.
A passenger, Ivan Paloalto, said he heard an explosion when the plane was about
to take off. “I felt the impact on my window. As I looked, the engine was on
fire and smoke was coming out,” he said.
Ground crew and emergency responders 'immediately addressed' the issue.
Meanwhile, the John F Kennedy International Airport in Queens, New York, was
issued a ground stop on Monday afternoon by the Air Traffic Control System Command
Center, a part of the FAA, in view of the severe thunderstorms battering most
of the US. JFK airport is one of the most bustling airport hubs in the US.
All flights were grounded at New York's JFK on Monday - an occurrence attributed
to ongoing thunderstorms seen across much of the US, the FAA said.
The travel chaos comes as citizens in Texas, Arkansas, Kentucky, Missouri and
Tennessee were all hit over Memorial Day weekend by a bevy of twisters, heavy
winds and flooding, which, so far, have killed at least 21 people, reported
Daily Mail. In fact, Memorial Day weekend was expected to kick off a busy summer
travel season.
Yet, the US Transportation Security Administration said it screened 2.95 million
airline passengers on Friday, the highest number ever on a single day. United
Airlines too had forecast it would handle 3 million travellers during the Memorial
Day travel period.
**What is Memorial Day: It was started as Decoration Day in 1860s after
the Civil War in remembrance of those Americans who sacrificed their life, but
post-World War the day is observed to honor all American soldiers who died in
any war. In 1971, Congress renamed the holiday as Memorial Day and changed its
observance to the last Monday of every May, from May 30. As Christians usually
celebrate the dead, the long weekend is widely used for travel and revelry.
Living veterans, however, advise the countrymen not to say "Happy Memorial Day"
as it is a solemn day to remember the fallen.
Veterans Day: There is also a Veterans Day holiday alongside, on every
November 11, which is, instead, a celebration of all veterans, living and dead.
Both are Federal holidays in the US. If Veterans Day falls on a Saturday, the
Federal offices are closed on Friday, November 10, and if it falls on a Sunday
they are closed on Monday, November 12.
OPPOSITION WAKES UP ! The Opposition accused the Prime Minister, who seems to insist he alone will inaugurate everything in the country, of "hurriedly inaugurating" an "incomplete terminal" in March last for publicity on the eve of the general elections. At that time he had also laid the foundation stone for 15 other airport projects across the country. He was also accused of inaugurating an incomplete Ram temple in Ayodhya in January which started leaking in the first downpour last weekend.
It is also puzzling why every few years airport buildings are demolished in Delhi and new plans are made for new constructions and nobody seems to take notice! (Because the airport itself is tucked away in a far corner, not easily accessible to the discerning, with a web of roads going only round and round like a tape around a spool, as if not reaching anywhere!)
Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge accused the Modi Government of "corruption and criminal negligence" in the name of infrastructure projects (launched every other day) in the last 10 years. Kharge also said Modi has been keen on indulging in ribbon-cutting ceremonies.
Trinamool Congress leader Saket Gokhale asked, "Why shouldn't PM Modi be charged with culpable homicide?"
COMMENT: A simple question but difficult to understand is why the people should be concerned about whether an NTA director is sacked for paper leakage or a DGP is removed for law and order breakdown. The people have nothing to do with the elite appointments nor their conduct. They are the cousin-brothers of the political dispensation. If not barred by fixation, kindly take a look at other countries!
“What I want to do and what I will do is, you graduate from a college, I think you should get automatically as part of your diploma (two-year programs or doctoral degrees) a green card to be able to stay in this country” permanently, the presidential candidate said. Asked if he would promise to allow the “best and the brightest around the world to (come to) America,” Trump firmly replied: “I do promise.”
COMMENT: Could Biden visualise a better immigration formula to build a still stronger America? Will Kamala Harris, in charge of migration, and struggling for ideas, take note?
Delhi has recorded the hottest night (35+ deg C), unheard of since the beginning of time! For 30 consecutive days the maximum temp is above 40 deg C and in the nights too the mercury stayed high as there is hardly any earth around to absorb and dissipate the day's heat. Add on to the nightmare the acute water shortage in the national Capital due to the power-hungry, low-grade politicians squabbling for one-upmanship. More than 200 people died in Delhi-NCR in the past two days. Most of them are poor people, labourers, the homeless, beggars.
An anatomy of NEET 2024: From the start till finish NEET will stay put as a conundrum jinxed as it is. What if it was thought angels would come down from the heaven to conduct the entrance exam if done at the Centre and if in the States, they would be conducted by the corrupt mortals. So NEET was born... It's 'guaranteed' that no party will ever be able to do what is required to be done in the country. Because of their genetics. Frauds will only multiply. Is there anything worse? Yes. Shoot the messenger!
A video shows the terrifying scene of the chopper swirling and dropping nose down mid-air around the helipad. In fact, the rear rotor had gone for a toss and the pilot was performing autorotation for a crash-landing. He pulled it off! Congrats!
True or false, Savitri claimed her husband had told her to throw Vinod into the canal as all that he does is eat. "How much torture can my son endure?" She picked him up when he was asleep.
Marking a decisive stage in the ongoing tussle between Governors and the Governments in some States, the Governor of Bengal has thrown down the gauntlet to the State police, asking the Raj Bhavan staff to refuse any enquiry from the cops in the sexual harassment case filed by a woman employee against him.
COMMENT: In many a case complaints can be frivolous, made under certain circumstances. So it is more in the interest of the accused that there is an investigation to clear his name. Denial may only mean acceptance of the guilt. Besides, quoting Constitutional immunity in sexual harassment cases is nothing short of a vulgarity of the feudal landlord. Nobody is above the law.
While the universal apprentice scheme will enable the educated youth to stand up (literally) in a country where the people are trampled by wretched politicians, and look about for avenues to earn a living confidently, the provision of student credit cards of up to Rs 10 lakh will ensure each and every student of this country receives equal opportunities to fulfil their aspirations of higher education irrespective of their financial conditions. It will be a game changer. These are on the lines of what US Vice-President Kamala Harris visualised to be happening to the Third World when she hailed Ajay Banga as a transformative World Bank President.
Peter Higgs is the father of the mysterious Higgs boson, otherwise called 'God Particle', which gives mass to all elementary particles, and created our universe. His contribution helped other scientists understand how the Big Bang created something out of nothing 13.8 billion years ago. The equations of particle physicists which did not have a leg to stand on till then, the 'God Particle' came as a Godsend. The theories so far to describe the universe did not hold water.
It was only by 2012, after 50 years of the boson discovery, that scientists at CERN could make the big announcement that they had finally found a Higgs boson using the Large Hadron Collider.
Higgs instantly broke into tears, tears of profound satisfaction, in the lecture hall where the announcement was made.
LEGAL REMEDIES: Last year, on the directive of the Supreme Court, the Governor granted assent to one Bill, and referred seven Bills to the President. The petition against the President also challenges the Governor's action of referring the Bills to her.
The unprecedented step by the State may also establish that it always upholds the Constitution and the rule of law in order to pre-empt any eventuality of getting dismissed on flimsy grounds invoking provisions of the Constitution later on; and, also provide a thrust to an emerging platform of regional forces pitted against the ongoing centralisation of every subject and activity in the country under one umbrella where the States will ultimately 'wither' away (for some time).
OPINION: Made to happen as it does just weeks ahead of the general elections, the arrest may signal, if not the cause of, far-reaching consequences in the course of Indian politics. The Opposition charges that the ruling party at the Centre has unleashed the police to catch a leader every other day for corruption allegedly indulged in in the present or the remote past in order to incapacitate any concerted opposition to the ruling dispensation.
The “My way or the highway" man, Trump has predicted 'apocalypse' for Americans if he is not elected the President in the upcoming election. He sounds “extremism, affection for violence." As always, he is also seeing what others don't, and repetitively using words like "(2020) election was stolen"! And that's a symptom! Delivering a no-holds-barred speech at a rally in Ohio, he also predicted the US won't see another election if he did not win the November battle against the incumbent President. With his savage push against the God-fearing Catholic, and the heap of criminal cases pending in the courts, the unpredictable Trump's nomination exposes a season of drought of leadership of calibre in the United States.
The much-touted 'one-nation, one-election' argument was purportedly to prevent wasteful expenditure of the people's money, manpower and deceleration of development, but the committee report when implemented will end up paving the way for holding more elections than currently being held. Because of the logistics and democratic limitations involved, the committee was not expected by commonsense to be out of a loose end either! Those who are alive at that time, and further for ten more years thereafter, can count the rounds and compare with the present numbers. Therefore, either the agenda is different or the 8-volume presentation is faulty/made-up!!!
The manager has defended himself saying that dry ice got mixed with mouth freshener by the negligence of the staff...After taking the mouth freshener the customers felt a burning sensation and started vomiting blood. Five of them were hospitalised. Two are in critical condition.
Harmful effects of dry ice: Ingested, dry ice can burn your mouth, esophagus and stomach as it sublimates on contact with the moisture of the organs and turns into CO2, apart from other damaging physical and chemical changes it induces. The pressure building up in the stomach due to sublimation can also rupture the stomach muscles. It turns lethal. In normal direct handling it leads to frostbite due to the cold temperature.
One of them is seen in CCTV being shot at close range. The motive is suspected to be personal enmity.
TAILPIECE: Almost every other day we hear of shootings in one place or other in the country. India will very soon replace the US as the world's No 1 in the incidence of mass shooting. It will eclipse terrorism as a source of concern. Who can help? At least, has it occurred to anyone's mind?
'This Moment' of Shakti fusion won the Best Global Music Album at the Grammys. Zakir Hussain has won two other awards too. In a great victory for Indians, five of them have won the Grammys this time. In other sections, Taylor Swift got her fourth Album of the Year award and Miley Cyrus got an award for the first time.
The Government scheme provides ₹ 51,000 per wedding of which ₹ 35,000 goes to the girl, ₹ 10,000 for wedding materials and ₹ 6,000 towards expenses for the ceremony.
“Two activists from the environmental movement ‘Riposte Alimentaire’ sprayed pumpkin soup on the armoured glass protecting the Mona Lisa, this Sunday, January 28, 2024, around 10 am (4aET),” a statement from the museum said.
It is not understood how undesirable elements are allowed to get so close to her
and play havoc with the artwork. Several times over this has happened in the
past, deranged minds masquerading as tourists and cultists venting their frustration.
A Spicejet passenger had a harrowing experience inside a tiny claustrophobic lavatory aboard a Mumbai-Bengaluru flight when he found to his bewilderment that the door was not opening.