Attan

Welcome aboard, Michael. Hope to hear more from you.

Love to see how the pax walked after the ordeal

Sorry to hear that. It's really tragic coming after the crash.

There could be many things wrong that day: 1. Communication/language problem? 2. Radio/weather effects on radio problem? 3. Fast weather changes from good to bad? 4. Running low on fuel? 5. No weather radar? Under normal circumstances, the crew would be constantly talking to the controllers on the weather conditions. However, the message regarding good weather was received from Rostov which could be a long way from Sochi. If that's really the case, they should have exercised more caution. I would describe this as an unfortunate accident.

Iggy, Norman, Syakir, thanks a lot for the superb pics. Love them all.

Love the All Nippon livery. Good catch of the GE Testbed.

Love your #4, Liau.

Chaity, love those takeoff shots.

The best from the best.....well done TK. Your D200 berbaloi (worth the expense) lah.

It's bad enough their job is highly stressful, now they also have to be alert for assassins

My condolences.

Voted "yes". It's a dog-eat-dog world out there with fuel cost the major factor. Those who know how to hedge the fuel cost and keep other costs low will win. However, the long run outcome will be different from the short-run. In the long run, pax satisfaction, route network and financial management will differentiate the winners from the losers. In the short run, government assistance (permits, subsidies, etc.) and lots of cash up front may help for those fortunate enough to receive them. Splurging on new aircraft and routes may however bring more problems than revenue.

That means more pics from you, LeeCH.

Finns do very well on slippery roads - most of the rally champions come from Finland. Even F1 has its fair share of Finns - Mika and Kimi, for instance.

Well done, cockpit and cabin crew.

Maybe a planned disaster? Interesting article here: http://www.serendipity.li/wot/911_a_hoax.htm Want to read more? Visit: http://www.johnkaminski.com

Nice read. Thanks, Ed.

Thanks Iggy, that's a new angle for WMKF. What a nice view. We prop guys never get to see that as it is above our Sempang control zone limit of 1,500ft.

All lovely shots, Azman. Love my Iberia best. Ricky, I think they use the air brakes for landing most of the time. Seen TUDM's F-28 do it regularly. Probably allow them to keep their engines spooled up and yet have the speed down - very useful for go-arounds (aborted landings).

Raj & Naresh, thanks for the wonderful shots. Keep them coming.

Excellent pics, Liau. Love that silhouette.

Eric & Pieter, it would be a very colourful one indeed from you guys. I can't imagine the range of aircraft you will be covering. Good decision.

From what I know, the runway is 5,400 feet long end to end. With the current threshhold displacement on the 22 end, the usable length may have been reduced to only 4500 feet or less. The latest AIP will probably have the actual data.

Gorgeous pics, Fairul. Hope to see more from you. Some of the best night shots I've seen.

Many thanks, Pak Brahim. Very useful info.