Flying With Your Heart In Your Mouth By Ehi Brahman. 

Writer:Gabriel





Ehi Brahman speak about Ethiopian Airline crash
These are certainly not the best of times for the global aviation industry with the news of another Boeing 737 Max 8 dropping off the sky recently. An Ethiopian Airlines passenger plane, a
Boeing 737 Max 8 carrying 149 passengers and 8 crew members, crashed last Sunday in Bishoftu, near Addis Ababa.

 the Ethiopian capital, shortly after take-off. It was meant to be a two
hours flight to Nairobi, Kenya – a regular flight schedule — that ended in a tragedy killing everyone on board and the whole world is united in grief.

CNN’s Richard Quest says brand new planes should not be falling off the skies during an interview on the global news network in the aftermath of the crash – this would be the second
crash of a Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft within a space of six months.

This news is not good to the ears and it must be causing Boeing a nightmare and a global PR challenge.

On October 29 last year, a Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft operated by Lion Air, an Indonesian carrier, also suffered the same fate — the plane crashed into the Jakarta Sea 13 minutes after take-off from Soekarno International airport, killing all the 189 passengers and crew on board. It was meant to be a short one hour flight to Pangkal Pinang.

Read: Ethiopian Airline crash With 157 Passengers on Board 

When I checked online resources using Google search, available information on recent plane crashes indicate that the Indonesian carrier, after taking off from runway 25L, made a climbing
left-hand turn after which the crew radioed a request to return to the airport.

 The aircraft then showed an erratic pattern of flight and began losing altitude until it crashed into the sea, nine
miles off the Jakarta coast.

The flight data recorder showed the air speed indicator malfunctioned on the last four flights of the aircraft, a deeply troubling revelation and a matter of
grave concern for aviation authorities and Boeing engineers. Flight ET302 also crashed shortly after take-off last Sunday, and passengers of 35 different nationalities lost their lives including two Nigerians.

Prof Pius Adesanmi, a literary scholar based in Canada and Ambassador Abiodun Bashua, a former UN diplomat.

Expectedly, there have been reactions concerning the design and configuration of the aircraft from China and Ethiopia – both countries, according to media reports, have suspended the operation of Boeing 737 Max 8 which is the latest upgrade in the 737 series.

A lot of travellers around the world are genuinely concerned about the tragedy because Ethiopian airlines (ET) have built a great reputation as an African airline that can be trusted especially as it prides itself as “The New Spirit of Africa”.

ET was founded on December 21, 1945 but commenced operation on April 8, 1946 – 73 years ago. With a fleet size of 108 operating aircrafts and a pending order of 65 aircrafts – some owned and others leased. The airline operates the youngest fleet in Africa and most of the airline’s passengers are Nigerians with very positive feedbacks.

Back home, Air Peace, now in its fifth year and operating about 90 flights daily on its domestic and regional routes, had to issue a press statement to clarify the mixed messages on their
pending order for 10 brand new Boeing 737 Max 8 aircrafts.

Read: US conducts Airstrike after,Somali troops are attacked 

According to Chris Iwarah, corporate communications manager of Air Peace, the airline was closely following and monitoring the developments on issues involving the aircraft that prioritises the safety and well-being of their passengers.

He noted that Boeing and the aviation authorities can satisfactorily address all the challenges posed by 737 Max 8 aircrafts once on-going investigations are concluded. Air Peace is responsible for 75% of all the domestic flights to 14 cities and five regional destinations – Accra, Banjul. Dakar, Freetown and Monrovia. The airline, under the leadership of Barrister Allen Onyeama, is poised to launch its international operations with the Boeing 777 aircrafts in its fleet.

When you visit our local and international airports, what you find are Nigerians – in great numbers – who ready to board the next available flights to their various destinations. The challenges in the aviation sector in Nigeria are legendary and evident for all to see.

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For example, our airport infrastructures are shambolic and nowhere near what you find in other countries; some airports cannot operate at night because they do not have instrument landing systems; airport security can be better; aviation fuel and landing charges, I’m told, are very
expensive! These issues among other bureaucratic bottlenecks such as the politics of relevance and power play by the regulatory authorities pose serious safety concerns and create panic
attack each time passengers are at the airports for their scheduled flights.

I know some people who prefer to travel by road even when you assure them that air travel is still the safest option. One of them, a former congressman, travels by road from Lagos to Abuja regularly; sometimes, he goes as far as Kaduna, Kano and Sokoto. He tells me he’s happy with the road trips because he was lucky to have missed an ill-fated flight several years ago.

To start with, our roads are very unsafe with several bobby traps called pot holes resulting in multiple accidents and deaths of road users. By the time you add the ugly experience of
passengers and drivers who are constantly ‘molested’ by uniformed officers on the highways, and not forgetting the menace of armed robbers, kidnappers and ritual killers, you will discover that road trips can be harrowing.

After so many years of trying, the Lagos – Benin expressway is still struggling to get a pass mark; it ought to have at least four lanes on both sides by now You’re not even sure of the condition of the vehicles on the roads – from their engines to tyres, brakes, break lights, side and rear mirrors and so on.

Speed limits are rarely observed – most accidents are caused by over speeding and when the driver sleeps off. This is the reason why air travel is still an attractive option in Nigeria for busy executives and business people.

Once the doors of the aircraft are shut and the belly lifts up and points skywards, one can only hope for a safe flight; at over 30,000 feet above sea level, there’s little you can do.

When technical problems arise or when the plane flies into a bad weather – which we do not pray for but it happens – pilots have been trained to explore the best options available in the circumstance. I recall a local flight where the pilot asked the cabin crew to sit throughout the flight because of bad weather. Before we took off, it had rained cats and dogs with menacing
dark clouds and intermittent claps of loud thunderstorms.

When we finally landed after spending more time in the air, I remember saying to myself: did we really have to embark on that flight? Turbulent weathers come unannounced and sustained turbulence can be wreck your nerves and make you uncomfortable.

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By the time the plane touches down, there’s a feeling of conquest and the phones go off the hook in a moment of excitement, as we call family, friends and loved ones to announce that the
flight landed safely. Before boarding, the message would have been, “Safe flight”, but after landing, what you hear is, “Thank God for safe arrival”. May we continue to fly in safety an comfort in Nigeria and around the world.

Braimah is a public relations and marketing strategist based in Lagos.

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US conducts airstrike after US, Somali troops are attacked

Writer: Gabriel 

The strike killed eight Al-Shabaab fighters, US Africa Command, which oversees US military operations on the continent, said Tuesday.

“US service members were present during the ground operation in an advisory capacity. All US service members are accounted for and are unharmed,” the statement added.

The US has approximately 500 troops in Somalia, primarily in advisory roles.

At least 244 fighters from the al Qaeda-affiliated Al-Shabaab have been killed in 25 airstrikes so far in 2019, according to figures released by US Africa Command.

The US military estimates that Al-Shabaab commands over 4,000 fighters.

There has been a significant increase in US airstrikes in Somalia since President Donald Trump authorized the military to carry out precision strikes targeting Al-Shabaab in March 2017 in an effort to bolster the Somali government. Prior to that the US military was authorized to conduct airstrikes only in defense of advisers on the ground.

In all of 2018, the US conducted 47 airstrikes targeting Al-Shabaab, killing about 338 militants. In 2017, the US conducted 35 airstrikes, and in 2016 it conducted 15.

A US defense official in Africa told CNN that the recent increase in the pace of strikes is due to successes that local Somali security forces have been having in their counterinsurgency strategy against Al-Shabaab. The Somali forces are compelling Al-Shabaab to fight or retreat, exposing the insurgents to US airstrikes, the official said.

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George Foreman’s daughter found dead in her home 

Reporter: TMZ



Freeda Foreman, daughter of former heavyweight boxing champ George Foreman, was found dead Saturday in her Texas home, TMZ reported.

It said the body of the 42-year-old was found by a relative.

Foul play is not suspected.

Cops went to her Atasocita home to check reports it was suicide, according to click2houston.com. Those reports were unconfirmed.

She had followed in her father into the ring, winning her first five fights but retiring after losing her sixth.

She is survived by her husband, two daughters, three grandchildren, her parents and 11 siblings.

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Ethiopian Airlines crash: Boeing 737 crashes near Addis Ababa

Writer: CNN’s Max Ramsay


The plane, a Boeing 737-800MAX with flight number ET 302, lost contact at 08.44 am local time soon after taking off, at 08:38 am local time, from Bole International Airport in the Ethiopian capital, the airline said in a statement.

The aircraft went down around Bishoftu, southeast of Addis Ababa. The airline believes there were 149 passengers and eight crew members on board.

“At this time search and rescue operations are in progress and we have no confirmed information about survivors or any possible causalities.”

“Ethiopian Airlines staff will be sent to the accident scene and will do everything possible to assist the emergency services,” the airline added.

The airline added that a passenger information center and hotline “will be available shortly for family or friends of those who may have been on flight.”

The Ethiopian government expressed its “deepest condolences to the families of those that have lost their loved ones on Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 on regular scheduled flight to Nairobi, Kenya this morning,” the office of Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said on Twitter.

Ethiopia Airlines has gained the reputation of being one of the best airlines in Africa. It has a good safety record and the newest fleet of planes on the African continent, according to its website.
The Boeing 737-800MAX is the same type of plane as the Indonesian Lion Air jet that crashed soon after takeoff from Jakarta — killing 189 people.

The last major accident involving an Ethiopian Airlines passenger plane was in January 2010, when a flight from Beirut went down, killing 83 passengers and seven crew.

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