Pilot mistook road for runway
Pilot mistook road for runway
A pensioner attempting to land a plane on a road after mistaking it for the runway.
An accident report says he only noticed his mistake when he hit a speed bump, reports Sky News.
The pilot believed he’d found the landing strip despite noticing “a kerb to the side and lamp posts to his left”.
The 68-year-old, who has not been named, was an experienced private pilot who had clocked up more than 1,000 hours in the air.
However, he had flown for just four hours in the three months before the accident on August 24 2006 and only landed at the Shobdon Aerodrome three times before.
The accident happened during a solo flight from Coventry, the monthly bulletin from the Air Accidents Investigations Branch reports.
“When close to touchdown, the pilot noticed that the airfield was different from what he remembered,” it states.
“Shortly after touching down, the aircraft ran over a speed bump which caused it to veer left and leave the road.”
The plane’s left wing hit a tree and its right was almost entirely sheared off after colliding with a lamppost.
The pilot managed to escape from wreck unscathed. The road, near Leominster, Herefordshire, was free of traffic as it had only just been built.
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from Ananova
Xerox Inkless Printer
The personal computer revolution of the 1980s brought with it the hope of the paperless office as there was a shift from the old-fashioned typewriters to viewing and editing documents on computer screens. But this dream vanished quickly as people realized that their monochromatic cathode ray tube (CRT) displays were uncomfortable to watch for long periods of time. Aggravating the problem was the introduction of the low-cost office printer, capable of making dozens of copies of each document (an ability which was limited until that time to large and expensive photocopying machines).
As years passed by it seemed that the introduction of the personal computer not only did not reduce the amount of paper produced in our offices, it actually increased it.
Man crossed river to avoid ‘bank charges’
Man crossed river to avoid ‘bank charges’
A Canadian rescued from a rubber raft in near-zero conditions told rescuers he was paddling to the US to avoid bank charges.
Wayne Kingwell, 40, ended up spending five hours on the Niagara River before he was rescued, reports Buffalo News.
US Attorney Terrance P Flynn said investigators were trying to determine the validity of the bizarre explanation he gave.
He claimed he regularly crosses from his home in Fort Erie, Ontario, to Buffalo – using a small aluminum boat or the raft – to do his banking.
“He said he was coming across the river to pay off the balance of his credit card,” Flynn said.
Kingwell claimed he was charged an $85 fee if he mails the payment, so he crosses the river each month instead.
There is a bridge – but Mr Kingwell claimed he was not allowed to use it because of a legal dispute with the Canadian government.
When he was rescued, authorities said, Kingwell was carrying more than $3,000 cash – enough to pay off a credit card bill that he really does owe.
Border Patrol spokesman Michael Przybyl said: “I was surprised that he’d try this on one of the coldest days of the year.
“It’s not the first time that this has happened. We’ve had attempted entries in the middle of winter. But this is the coldest that I can remember someone trying to cross on the water.”
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from Ananova
Serbian village to erect Rocky statue
Serbian village to erect Rocky statue
A Serbian village is planning to erect a huge statue of Rocky Balboa because locals are fed up with only making the news when their village gets flooded.
The village of Zitiste has suffered regular heavy flooding and landslides in recent years, and has gained a disaster-prone reputation.
But authorities now want to unveil the statue using Rocky as a symbol of the “abilty to bounce back every time you are knocked down”.
They have also asked for help from officials in the US city of Philadelphia, where a monument to Sylvester Stallone’s film character already exists, local daily Kurir reported.
A spokesman for the newly created Association of Rocky Balboa in the village said: “We want to create a new image of our village because up to now Zitiste has only ever been talked about when we have floods or disasters here.
“We thought long and hard about what would represent our new image, and we came up with Rocky Balboa. He is a character who never gives up and even when he looks to be beaten he picks himself up and wins through.”
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from Ananova
A Digital Life
New systems may allow people to record everything they see and hear–and even things they cannot sense–and to store all these data in a personal digital archive
Human memory can be maddeningly elusive. We stumble upon its limitations every day, when we forget a friend’s telephone number, the name of a business contact or the title of a favorite book. People have developed a variety of strategies for combating forgetfulness–messages scribbled on Post-it notes, for example, or electronic address books carried in handheld devices–but important information continues to slip through the cracks. Recently, however, our team at Microsoft Research has begun a quest to digitally chronicle every aspect of a person’s life, starting with one of our own lives (Bell’s). For the past six years, we have attempted to record all of Bell’s communications with other people and machines, as well as the images he sees, the sounds he hears and the Web sites he visits–storing everything in a personal digital archive that is both searchable and secure.
Philosopher to live in barrel
Philosopher to live in barrel
A Dutch philosopher is planning to live for a week in a barrel.
Eric Hoekstra wants to follow the example of the ancient Greek philosopher Diogenes, reports GVA.
Mr Hoekstra says he wants to prove that man doesn’t need very much in order to be happy.
“Above all I want to bring the philosophy of the old Greeks back into the light,” he said.
He will live in a 6ft wine barrel during a Philosophy Week of at Leeuwarden University from March 30 to April 7, apart from the occasional toilet break.
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from Ananova
Gym to offer naked sessions
Gym to offer naked sessions
A gym in Holland is to offer naked fitness sessions for naturists on Sundays.
The Dutch Naturist Federation says the fitness centre in Heteren will be the first in the country to cater for naturists.
Gym owner Patrick De Man said: “People undress for taking a sauna, why not for exercising?”
He came up with the idea after two naturists joined the gym and asked about nude sessions.
Mr De Man said he had received a lot of reactions from other gym users, some of them worried about hygiene.
“Of course hygiene will be a major point of interest. Every gymnastic equipment will be disinfected after each session and we will use covers for the exercise bike saddles,” he said.
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from Ananova