Air NZ receives $76m ‘crash cash’

sent by a reader

$76m payout? Not bad for an aging flying coffin!

One interesting news item this week was the report of NZ$76m [USD40m] payout to Air New Zealand, [the world’s sub-aqua airline]

The first point of interest was age of the plane, only 2 years old according to New Zealand’s Herald on Sunday, which wrote:

Last month insurers for Air NZ – which owned the Airbus A320 but had leased it to the German airline XL Airways – paid out [only 😉 ] $76m on the two-year-old aircraft. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10561736

The tailfin of the doomed Air New Zealand A320 is seen floating in the Mediterranean Sea. Photo / AP/ via NZHerald. Image may be subject to copyright

Now,  EADS, the company that owns Airbus, the maker of the plane, had earlier reported that  the downed Air NZ plane was more than 4 years old in a press release:

Accident Near Perpignan, France – Media Information on A320 flight accident (Issue I) – Toulouse, 27  November  2008

Airbus regrets to confirm that an A320 operated by XL Airways Germany and owned by Air New Zealand was involved in an accident this afternoon. The aircraft was operating a flight from Perpignan, France with seven passengers on board.

The aircraft involved in the accident was MSN (Manufacturer Serial Number) 2500, delivered in July 2005. The aircraft had accumulated approximately 7000 flight hours in some 2800 flight cycles. It was powered by IAE V2500 engines. At this time no further factual information is available.  . . .
http://www.eads.com/1024/en/investor/News_and_Events/news_ir/2008/20081127_airbus_perpignan_a320.html

What’s the difference?

The residual value of the aircraft! If the doomed Air NZ plane was only 2 years old, it’s ‘re-sale’ value would have been about  80-90 percent of replacement cost of a new plane [about US$50m, depending on the cabin design and type of engine used.]

However, a 4 to 5-year-old Airbus A320 would be worth no more than about 60 – 70 percent of cost of the replacement, assuming average condition.

Here’s when things get more interesting

• Cost of new Airbus A320-200:  ~ NZ$95m
• “Re-sale” value of MSN2500 (the crashed aircraft) :  ~ 65% x NZ$95m [cost of new plane]  NZ$61.75m  [Say, NZ$62m ]
• ‘Crash Cash’ received in settlement:  NZ$76m
• Unexplained additional ‘bonus’ paid out by the insurers to Air NZ ~ NZ$14m [at this rate, Air NZ could make a fortune ditching all their planes in the Mediterranean sea.]
  

NZherald went on to say:

Whatever the amount, it is unlikely to approach the multi-million-dollar settlements traditionally awarded by American courts after air crashes.

You’d better believe it!

An Air NZ spokesman said the company had yet to decide if it would replace the Airbus.

It’d be very interesting to learn the outcome of their decision. The odds look like 14,000,000 to 1 against a replacement!

On the issue of compensation for the victims, NZHerald wrote:

But compensation for the families of the five New Zealanders who died – pilot Brian Horrell, 52, aircraft engineers Noel Marsh, 35, Michael Gyles, 49 and Murray White 37, and Civil Aviation Authority inspector Jeremy Cook, 58 – is likely to be a more complex issue.

Well, will they or won’t they? [The victims’ families hitting the jackpot.] That depends on a number of factors

• Was is not pilot error that caused the Air NZ Airbus300 to crash, as France’s Bureau d’Enquetes et d’Analyses (BEA) suggested in their report?
• Were the pilots poorly trained/ incompetent/ tired/ flying under the influence/etc?
• Is Air NZ in the business of ripping off insurance companies, only to hand over the settlement cash to the victims’ families?
• Did the ailing Air NZ sabotaged its own unneeded/ no longer viable to maintain aircraft for the insurance money?
• Other factors not stated here.

NZHerald article is posted at: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10561736

[That said, Air new Zealand was ass-lucky not to have had any Israeli passengers on-board because they would have taken the airline to the cleaners! Moderator]

Related Links:

• Air New Zealand Flying Coffin Crashes in the Mediterranean
• Come Fly Air New Zealand! Chose where you want to crash: The Antarctic, or Mediterranean sea.
• Pilot Error Downed Air New Zealand Airbus!

Related News Links:

• Five NZers given no hope of surviving plane crash
• Airbus the largest New Zealand-owned aircraft to crash
• Small aircraft accidents
• Another Near Miss For Air NZ Flying Coffins
• Flying Coffins

New Zealand MRSA Infections Up 3500 pct

sent by FEWW

Global Health Alert (Health Bulletin # 26): Explosive Rise in MRSA Infections in New Zealand

New Zealand Cases of antibiotic-resistant superbug methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) have exploded since 2004.

Infections have risen from 12 case in 2004 at least 420 reported cases in 2008  (a rise of 3500 percent), according to figures released by NZ Ministry of Health.

Group A streptococcus bacterium, which causes rheumatic fever and can lead arthritis and heart damage, is immune to common antibiotics. In some cases patients infected with the bacterium do not survive.

Unfortunately, New Zealand Government has hidden this information from the professionals and failed to warn the public for nearly 5 years.

In an outbreak at Wellington Hospital in 2004 three babies died and at least 30 others infected. Health workers also revealed an outbreak of group A streptococcus bacterium, which had infected at least 32 children in Kaikohe, New Zealand. However, the government prevented any follow-up information on that case from being released.

Bacterial cells of Staphylococcus aureus, which is one of the causal agents of mastitis in dairy cows. Its large capsule protects the organism from attack by the cow’s immunological defenses. Magnified 50,000X. (Source)

“A new, virulent superbug has established itself in New Zealand ,”  NZ Green Party health spokesperson Sue Kedgley reportedly said today.

Kedgley said New Zealand Government, in response to her written questions, had confirmed that the superbug USA300 had taken hold, with cases rising from 12 to 420 in the last four years, the report said.

“This strain is contagious, easily misdiagnosed and resistant to many antibiotics,” she said.

“It is a cause of huge concern overseas because it is virulent and contagious and is associated with serious skin infection outbreaks, particularly amongst sports teams.”

“This strain of MRSA is contagious, easily misdiagnosed and resistant to many antibiotics,” said Ms Kedgley.

“It is a cause of huge concern overseas, because it is virulent and contagious, and is associated with serious skin infection outbreaks, particularly amongst sports teams.”

“The Government has failed to set up a national surveillance system that the Green Party secured funding for last year. The weekly monitoring programme for the superbug MRSA was stopped in 2005. It appears that DHBs have been left to cope in isolation with this new outbreak,” Ms Kedgley said.

What is Staphylococcus aureus? [Source: CDC]

Staphylococcus aureus, often referred to simply as “staph,” is a bacteria commonly found on the skin and in the nose of healthy people. Occasionally, staphylococci can get into the body and cause an infection. This infection can be minor (such as pimples, boils, and other skin conditions) or serious and sometimes fatal (such as blood infections or pneumonia). Staph. aureus is a common organism and can be found in the nostrils of up to 30% of persons. Person-to-person transmission is the usual form of spread and occurs through contact with secretions from infected skin lesions, nasal discharge or spread via the hands.

What is MRSA?

MRSA are staphylococci that are resistant to the antibiotic, methicillin, and other commonly used antibiotics such as penicillin and cephalosporins. These germs have a unique gene that causes them to be unaffected by all but the highest concentrations of these antibiotics. Therefore, alternate antibiotics must be used to treat persons infected with MRSA. Vancomycin has been the most effective and reliable drug in these cases, but is used intravenously and is not effective for treatment of MRSA when taken by mouth.

More information on MRSA from CDC:  Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus

In 2005, MRSA killed 19,000 people in the United States—more than 1.5 times as many people than died of AIDS that year.

Related Links:

• Outbreak of Dangerous Group A Streptococcus Bacterium in NZ
• Urgent Health Warning: Outbreak of Staphylococcus aureus
• Baby died after infection breakout
• Stuff New Zealand
• High levels of dangerous bacterium in Kaikohe

• MRSA: ACT II
• Should We Be Afraid of MRSA?

For Recent New Zealand Health Warning Click Here

Epidemic Violence and Bullying in NZ Schools

Fear of bullying is stopping some children getting an education —Children’s Commissioner

In an occupied country, bullying is the occupiers’ “survival” policy. Remove Bullying from New Zealand Schools, and pakeha will have to pack their bags and go home.—Moderator TEAA

“Bullying is a problem in all schools,” Commissioner  said in a report which will be released at a school violence summit in Wellington, March 16, 2009.

The report was prepared amid “indications from all quarter”‘ that school violence was affecting the welfare of a many students, she said.

“Calls to my office, our engagement with children and young people, the Office’s Young People’s Reference Group and media coverage of some severe incidents indicated it was timely to do an independent inquiry into peer bullying, violence and abuse,” she said.

The report recommends changes to the school system and offers a “comprehensive guide to understanding and successfully dealing with bullying and violence in schools”, Kiro said.

Bullying transcends beyond the school gate by way of Internet and cellphones., she said.

The following excerpts are from her comments on the report:

“Students cannot learn effectively if they are physically or verbally abused, victims of violence or bullying, or if their school is unsafe,” she said.

“The extensive reach of these forms of bullying often mean the victim gets no respite and the bullying is not restricted to time at school but is ongoing.”

“This report is not to blame and shame. While there are indications that some schools are not dealing with this problem appropriately, more schools than not are committed to providing a safe environment and have clear whole school policies and procedures to ensure the issue of bullying is addressed,” she said.

“This inquiry is focused on the way forward, with solutions and equipping teachers and schools with information on how to deal with bullying when it happens.”

“We stress that aggressive, violent and bullying antisocial behaviour will only be effectively reduced when the intervention involves an ongoing commitment at multiple levels,” Dr Kiro said.

“New Zealanders have a high tolerance for violence and while schools cannot be responsible for the ills of society, schools can make a difference in how violence is dealt with.”

Education Ministurd Anne Tolley reported said  that there was no easy solution to bullying, however she has read the report “with interest”.

Relate News Links:

• Kiro Report highlights serious nature of bullying

Related Links:

• Bullying in New Zealand Schools Highest in OECD

Killed by train, plane , automobile … and Mr Wolfie

sent by a reader

A 12-hr snapshot of murder, plane crash, train smash, road kills … in New Zealand

Mobil Mart Service Station Murder

A woman was viciously attacked and murdered on a Mobil Mart Service Station forecourt in suburban Johnsonville, Wellington, New Zealand at  about 11.55pm last night [March 14, 2009.]

The victim was found lying on the forecourt with “significant injuries.”

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/2263412/Woman-killed-in-service-station-attack

Papatoetoe Train Smash

A pedestrian was killed this morning after being hit by a train in Papatoetoe, Auckland, NZ, nincompoop police said.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/2263609/Pedestrian-hit-by-train

Plane crash on the West Coast kills one

A light plane crashed  in the Inangahua area on the West Coast killing the “unlucky”  Pilot at about 11am, this morning.

Nincompoop police from Reefton and Westport attended the scene to take photos, while the Civil Aviation Authority, which was also advised, said they were still too busy “investigating” the hang-glider crash.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10561810

Automobile Crash

Awaiting the report of car crash that killed two people  near Wanganui last night.

Meanwhile,  body of a 16-year-old youth was found in a street in Ngaruawahia, 20km northwest of Hamilton, this morning.

A passing motorist discovered the body lying in Herschel Street near Ngaruawahia Fire Station, where a window was smashed.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/2263575/Body-found-in-Ngaruawahia

One killed, two [three] seriously injured, possibly fatally, in Taupo crash

One person was killed and two seriously injured after a crash on State Highway 1 near Wairakei, 10km north of Taupo at about midday today.

The two injured were airlifted to Waikato hospital, a police infector with northern police communications said.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10561815

A later report said:

“A 22-year-old woman died after a Toyota and Honda collided head-on about midday on State Highway 1 at Maroa, 20km north of Taupo, Sergeant Dave Frazer of Taupo police said.

“The woman, who was an overseas student studying in Auckland, had been a passenger in the Toyota .

“Its driver, a 21-year-old woman who was also an overseas student studying in Auckland, was seriously injured, as were two women who were in the back of the vehicle.

“All three were airlifted to Rotorua Hospital, Mr Frazer said.

“A 27-year-old man who was the front seat passenger was treated at the scene for minor injuries.

“The driver of the Honda, a 28-year-old man from Putaruru, was airlifted to Rotorua hospital where he was in intensive care in a serious condition.

“Two Putaruru men aged 33 and 35, who were passengers in the Honda, were taken to Taupo Hospital with moderate injuries.

http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/top-stories/5391712
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10561888

The above was the 2009 Road Death # 104 [at least!]

Related Links:

• A Day in the Life of Murder