The skidding of a Pegasus Airlines plane off the runway at Trabzon airport in Turkey this week, resulting in the Boeing 737 ending up nose-down on the edge of the Black Sea, fortunately saw the safe escape of 162 passengers, two pilots and four crew, all thankfully unhurt.
Two weeks ago, two Jet Airways pilots were sacked after allegedly getting into an argument on a flight from London to Mumbai on New Year's Day. The female pilot, who is believed to have been captaining the flight, is said to have been slapped by her male colleague, before leaving the cockpit in tears. He then apparently also left the cockpit, leaving the flight on auto-pilot. A spokesperson for the airline told The Times of India: "A misunderstanding occurred between the cockpit crew of a Jet Airways flight. However, [it] was quickly resolved amicably and the flight with 324 guests including two infants and 14 crew continued its journey to Mumbai, landing safely."
Such incidents keep the spotlight on an industry which depends first and foremost on safety and security for public trust, while all the time having to adapt to changes in technology, growth, congestion, staffing, infrastructure, weather patterns and evolving threats such as terrorism and the use of drones. Yet it's reassuring to remind ourselves that when you look at the records of fatal accidents between 1946 and 2017, and compare them to flights and passenger numbers over the same period, there is an inverse relationship between the growth of scheduled flights and the number of accidents.
Yes, like any mode of transport, there are some accidents. In 2017, the aviation industry saw 44 fatalities on board aircraft and 35 on the ground. Yet this was one of the best years ever: no mean feat, considering that there are more than 100,000 scheduled flights every single day. Compare these figures to the 1.25 million road traffic deaths in 2013 (the latest figures available from the World Health Organisation).
But what is perhaps even more surprising is that this almost impeccable safety record is achieved through the consensus and co-operation of the 192 members of the UN's civil aviation body, the ICAO.
Rather than being a global regulator, the ICAO simply defines standards which individual countries must meet or exceed. Each country has its own aviation regulator, and of course standards differ from country to country. But under the ICAO's "No Country Left Behind" initiative, members are helped to implement ICAO standards and recommended practices as uniformly as possible, "to help insure that implementation is better harmonised globally so that all states have access to the significant socio-economic benefits of safe and reliable air transport."
It is this culture of collaboration and oversight across multiple borders which has led to success, and the UAE, regulated since 1996 by the GCAA, is a good example of this. A relatively late entrant to the global aviation scene, there has from the start been close co-operation between the UAE and the ICAO, and in less than 35 years the country has two of the world's largest and safest airlines.
The highly visible Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme ensures that there is a very public spotlight on the safety focus of member states, covering 8 key areas: legislation, organisation, licensing, operations, airworthiness, accident investigation, air navigation services and airports.
One of the biggest ongoing challenges, is the growing complexity of technology and the interaction between that and the people using it. The global airline industry is held together by the remarkable hard work of thousands of individuals, day in day out. For many aviation experts, it’s now not just about “no country left behind” but “no people left behind.”
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Read more:
2017 safest year yet for commercial jet airliners
World's safest low-cost airlines revealed
World's least safe airlines 2018 revealed
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The%20specs%3A%202024%20Mercedes%20E200
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Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
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The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
RESULT
Aston Villa 1
Samatta (41')
Manchester City 2
Aguero (20')
Rodri (30')
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
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NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
Fifa%20World%20Cup%20Qatar%202022%20
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Ballon d’Or shortlists
Men
Sadio Mane (Senegal/Liverpool), Sergio Aguero (Aregentina/Manchester City), Frenkie de Jong (Netherlans/Barcelona), Hugo Lloris (France/Tottenham), Dusan Tadic (Serbia/Ajax), Kylian Mbappe (France/PSG), Trent Alexander-Arnold (England/Liverpool), Donny van de Beek (Netherlands/Ajax), Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Gabon/Arsenal), Marc-Andre ter Stegen (Germany/Barcelona), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal/Juventus), Alisson (Brazil/Liverpool), Matthijs de Ligt (Netherlands/Juventus), Karim Benzema (France/Real Madrid), Georginio Wijnaldum (Netherlands/Liverpool), Virgil van Dijk (Netherlands/Liverpool), Bernardo Silva (Portugal/Manchester City), Son Heung-min (South Korea/Tottenham), Robert Lewandowski (Poland/Bayern Munich), Roberto Firmino (Brazil/Liverpool), Lionel Messi (Argentina/Barcelona), Riyad Mahrez (Algeria/Manchester City), Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium/Manchester City), Kalidou Koulibaly (Senegal/Napoli), Antoine Griezmann (France/Barcelona), Mohamed Salah (Egypt/Liverpool), Eden Hazard (BEL/Real Madrid), Marquinhos (Brazil/Paris-SG), Raheem Sterling (Eengland/Manchester City), Joao Félix(Portugal/Atletico Madrid)
Women
Sam Kerr (Austria/Chelsea), Ellen White (England/Manchester City), Nilla Fischer (Sweden/Linkopings), Amandine Henry (France/Lyon), Lucy Bronze(England/Lyon), Alex Morgan (USA/Orlando Pride), Vivianne Miedema (Netherlands/Arsenal), Dzsenifer Marozsan (Germany/Lyon), Pernille Harder (Denmark/Wolfsburg), Sarah Bouhaddi (France/Lyon), Megan Rapinoe (USA/Reign FC), Lieke Martens (Netherlands/Barcelona), Sari van Veenendal (Netherlands/Atletico Madrid), Wendie Renard (France/Lyon), Rose Lavelle(USA/Washington Spirit), Marta (Brazil/Orlando Pride), Ada Hegerberg (Norway/Lyon), Kosovare Asllani (Sweden/CD Tacon), Sofia Jakobsson (Sweden/CD Tacon), Tobin Heath (USA/Portland Thorns)
Heavily-sugared soft drinks slip through the tax net
Some popular drinks with high levels of sugar and caffeine have slipped through the fizz drink tax loophole, as they are not carbonated or classed as an energy drink.
Arizona Iced Tea with lemon is one of those beverages, with one 240 millilitre serving offering up 23 grams of sugar - about six teaspoons.
A 680ml can of Arizona Iced Tea costs just Dh6.
Most sports drinks sold in supermarkets were found to contain, on average, five teaspoons of sugar in a 500ml bottle.
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
SQUADS
Bangladesh (from): Shadman Islam, Mominul Haque, Soumya Sarkar, Shakib Al Hasan (capt), Mahmudullah Riyad, Mohammad Mithun, Mushfiqur Rahim, Liton Das, Taijul Islam, Mosaddek Hossain, Nayeem Hasan, Mehedi Hasan, Taskin Ahmed, Ebadat Hossain, Abu Jayed
Afghanistan (from): Rashid Khan (capt), Ihsanullah Janat, Javid Ahmadi, Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Asghar Afghan, Ikram Alikhil, Mohammad Nabi, Qais Ahmad, Sayed Ahmad Shirzad, Yamin Ahmadzai, Zahir Khan Pakteen, Afsar Zazai, Shapoor Zadran
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