Letter from a US Airline Pilot

 

                                             Letter from a US Airline Pilot
 
Can it happen in India!!! When will our greedy,chair-hungry politicians ever learn!!!

Letter from a US Airline Pilot

He writes:
My lead flight attendant came to me and said, "We have an H.R. On this flight." (H.R. Stands for Human Remains.)

"Are they military?" I asked.
'Yes', she said.

'Is there an escort?' I asked.
'Yes, I already assigned him a seat'.

'Would you please tell him to come to the flight deck. You can board him early," I said..

A short while later, a young army sergeant entered the flight deck. He was the image of the perfectly dressed soldier. He introduced himself and I asked him about his soldier. The escorts of these fallen soldiers talk about them as if they are still alive and still with us.

'My soldier is on his way back to Virginia ,' he said. He proceeded to answer my questions, but offered no words.

I asked him if there was anything I could do for him and he said no. I told him that he had the toughest job in the military and that I appreciated the work that he does for the families of our fallen soldiers. The first officer and I got up out of our seats to shake his hand. He left the flight deck to find his seat.

We completed our pre-flight checks, pushed back and performed an uneventful departure. About 30 minutes into our flight I received a call from the lead flight attendant in the cabin. 'I just found out the family of the soldier we are carrying, is on board', she said. She then proceeded to tell me that the father, mother, wife and 2-year old daughter were escorting their son, husband, and father home. The family was upset because they were unable to see the container that the soldier was in before we left. We were on our way to a major hub at which the family was going to wait four hours for the connecting flight home to Virginia .

The father of the soldier told the flight attendant that knowing his son was below him in the cargo compartment and being unable to see him was too much for him and the family to bear. He had asked the flight attendant if there was anything that could be done to allow them to see him upon our arrival. The family wanted to be outside by the cargo door to watch the soldier being taken off the airplane. I could hear the desperation in the flight attendants voice when she asked me if there was anything I could do.
'I'm on it', I said. I told her that I would get back to her.

Airborne communication with my company normally occurs in the form of e-mail like messages. I decided to bypass this system and contact my flight dispatcher directly on a Secondary radio. There is a radio operator in the operations control center who connects you to the telephone of the dispatcher. I was in direct contact with the dispatcher. I explained the situation I had on board with the family and what it was the family wanted. He said he understood and that he would get back to me.

Two hours went by and I had not heard from the dispatcher. We were going to get busy soon and I needed to know what to tell the family. I sent a text message asking for an update. I saved the return message from the dispatcher and the following is the text:

'Captain, sorry it has taken so long to get back to you. There is policy on this now and I had to check on a few things. Upon your arrival a dedicated escort team will meet the aircraft. The team will escort the family to the ramp and plane side. A van will be used to load the remains with a secondary van for the family. The family will be taken to their departure area and escorted into the terminal where the remains can be seen on the ramp. It is a private area for the family only. When the connecting aircraft arrives, the family will be escorted onto the ramp and plane side to watch the remains being loaded for the final leg home. Captain, most of us here in flight control are veterans... Please pass our condolences on to the family. Thanks.'

I sent a message back telling flight control thanks for a good job. I printed out the message and gave it to the lead flight attendant to pass on to the father. The lead flight attendant was very thankful and told me, 'You have no idea how much this will mean to them.'

Things started getting busy for the descent, approach and landing. After landing, we cleared the runway and taxied to the ramp area. The ramp is huge with 15 gates on either side of the alleyway. It is always a busy area with aircraft maneuvering every which way to enter and exit. When we entered the ramp and checked in with the ramp controller, we were told that all traffic was being held for us.

'There is a team in place to meet the aircraft', we were told. It looked like it was all coming together, then I realized that once we turned the seat belt sign off, everyone would stand up at once and delay the family from getting off the airplane. As we approached our gate, I asked the co-pilot to tell the ramp controller we were going to stop short of the gate to make an announcement to the passengers. He did that and the ramp controller said, 'Take your time.'

I stopped the aircraft and set the parking brake. I pushed the public address button and said, 'Ladies and gentleman, this is your Captain speaking I have stopped short of our gate to make a special announcement. We have a passenger on board who deserves our honor and respect. His Name is Private XXXXXX, a soldier who recently lost his life. Private XXXXXX is under your feet in the cargo hold. Escorting him today is Army Sergeant XXXXXXX. Also, on board are his father, mother, wife, and daughter. Your
entire flight crew is asking for all passengers to remain in their seats to allow the family to exit the aircraft first. Thank you.'

We continued the turn to the gate, came to a stop and started our shutdown procedures. A couple of minutes later I opened the cockpit door. I found the two forward flight attendants crying, something you just do not see. I was told that after we came to a stop, every passenger on the aircraft stayed in their seats, waiting for the family to exit the aircraft.

When the family got up and gathered their things, a passenger slowly started to clap his hands. Moments later more passengers joined in and soon the entire aircraft was clapping. Words of 'God Bless You', I'm sorry, thank you, be proud, and other kind words were uttered to the family as they made their way down the aisle and out of the airplane. They were escorted down to the ramp to finally be with their loved one.

Many of the passengers disembarking thanked me for the announcement I had made. They were just words, I told them, I could say them over and over again, but nothing I say will bring back that brave soldier.

I respectfully ask that all of you reflect on this event and the sacrifices that millions of our men and women have made to ensure our freedom and safety

Foot note:
I know everyone who has served their country who reads this will have tears in their eyes, including me. I cannot recall who sent this to me; this post is a copy of that mail.

First posted 7th March 2013 by NOEL MOITRA

THE EIFFEL TOWER

THE EIFFEL TOWER

            The French people were decried as acrophobic because none of their landmarks had any height. Look at what Waterloo did to Napoleon and Notre Dame to poor Quasimodo! Deep down in their hearts, they knew they were being reviled and came up with a monumental suggestion when told that they were to host the 1889 World Fair. “Let’s make the entrance arch so high that visitors with their heads stuck upwards won’t mind the steep entrance fee,” they said. They found an engineer Gustave Eiffel and asked him to do the honours. He agreed, even though he had the devil of a time getting workers.

            Money is a great incentive and Eiffel’s company designed, built the tower and named it after him. Also called the ‘La dame de fer’ or ‘iron lady’ well before Margaret Thatcher was born, it quickly dominated the Parisian skyline. Since millions of bohemian artists and wine drinkers visited Paris every year, it soon became one of the most recognizable and painted structures in the world. When they got round to counting visitors to monuments globally in 1900, they found that the tallest structure in Paris was the most-visited paid monument in the world.

            The canny French authorities had added a clause to Eiffel’s contract. People were to be given access to the top. So they added a staircase, but the average person found he had to stop three times to regain his breath. Voila….the resting places had restaurants built around them in no time. But the topmost spot tended to make people dizzy, so Eiffel built himself an office where nobody could get at him. Alarms were sounded when a large number of people fell over and were killed. The gendarmes shrewdly called them suicides, but safety nets were erected to catch jumpers. Elevators were built to make it easy for the obese and wine-besotted. Strangely, Hitler did not venture up top. Was he acrophobic? Too late to ask him now, pity.

            The approximately 10,000 tonne lattice tower is 320 metres (1,050 ft) tall and holds an interesting record-its miniature replicas are the highest selling Objets d'art globally. About 265 million people have visited it till date. On clear days, the view from the top is truly panoramic. At night, flashlights added to usher the millennium in lit up on New Year's Eve 1999 and, with four high-power searchlights, are a daily quasi-lumiere show. In winter, only about 100 metres of the tower can be seen.  

            The tower was to stand for 20 years only and the authorities wanted it dismantled in 1909. Its commercial viability soon put this contract to bed. It was, is and will remain the most prominent symbol of both Paris and France.

                   

Excellent Single Malts

 SOME SUPERB SINGLE MALTS

I've been lucky to savour almost 150 single malts, including a few single singles. I'll tell you one thing-it keeps a grumpy 62 year old tied down in smoky fumes while waxing eloquent about the positives of barley, water and yeast. See what a good single can do to simple writing? Complicate it and join the 'Haves' of this contra-rotating antithetic malt world!
And the tidbits that follow to tickle you a tad, if you've had a bath.
 
Scotch drinkers like to keep things simple. Most Scotch drinkers want to enjoy the smoky flavour unadorned except perhaps for water. Scotch drinkers are trying to find the top distilleries in Scottish towns from the Highlands to the Lowlands that produce the best Single Malt Scotch. Rest assured that my list includes whiskies from the Scottish Isles that are hard to pronounce, but these are all names worth knowing. Enjoy my selection of Top 10 Single Malt Scotch Whiskies.

                                                           
1. Glenmorangie.  A wonderful Highland malt that comes in a variety of excellent finishes - Portwood, Madeira, and Sherry. I'd like to try the Sauternes finish, which sounds wonderful. Somebody help, please. Best of all: the '97 Nectar D'or, which I prefer to the very expensive Signet. Prices were fine before LVMH took it over and jacked up costs threefold. Shaft them!

2. Laphroaig. Islay's best-known malt. The fifteen-
year-old is possibly the optimal value for cost.  Perhaps best of all is the sherry-finished thirty-year-old - an unusual but beautiful balance between sweet sherry and smoky peat.Even the Laphroaig 10 is super. I got one from Cyprus, on sale.

3. Ardbeg. Another excellent Islay malt, especially delicious in its older bottlings. Try the Ardbeg 10, the good old peat example, or Provenance, cut with a little water to bring out the flavour and soften its near 56% ABV or 98 proof. I had my first Ardbeg in Osaka's Bar Satoh way back in '99, in the best whisky bar in the world as my ADC, one Capt. Saito, told me and the taste of Ardbeg always takes me back there. The
Uigeadail and Ardbog are mighty good too.

4. Glenfiddich 18. Luxe and easy-sipping. Look for enticing notes of butterscotch, baked pear, cinnamon and clove on the nose and palate, swathed in just the right amount of smokiness. 

5. The Glenlivet 12. Yes, the 12 YO and not the 15 or 18 YO expressions from The Glenlivet, matured in French Limousin Oak casks notwithstanding. Limousin Oak is a popular choice for maturation of Cognac.

Nose: Light fruits, of course. I get grape flesh and fresh almond slivers, at first. Accenting this freshness is something plant-like/leafy or even "piney", like dried pineapple. There's also an impression of yellow apple and butter. (Lesser influences of vanilla, butterscotch, toasted coconut, and rose.) Palate: A butter-smooth entrance welcomes... but quickly transforms to sour white peach, rather gingery. Then to tannic, purple grape skins and something menthol-y, like pine. Finish: Butter and yellow apples emerge, rescuing the prickly palate. But the youth can't hide, and the finish closes with pine and powdered ginger. Vanilla/underripe peach lightly occupy the background.

The Glenlivet 12 is light and nondescript. It is not objectionable, and just served a good purpose: improving my flight by giving me something interesting to focus on for a short while. There is quite an atmosphere to overcome, and it does so suitably. I am therefore grateful for its availability. No wonder it is one of the best selling malts in the world, well-worth re-visiting. I would probably add a case to my lower-altitude cabinet. 

6. The Macallan Cask Strength. The Macallan brand is synonymous with top-tier Single Malt Scotch, and the unsung hero of their portfolio is their cask strength. This malt hails from the Easter Elchies House of Macallan overlooking the River Spey. This cask strength has a sherried finish making it bright, rich and accessible; it explodes with caramel, brown sugar, toffee and vanilla so complex and intertwined it drinks like a dessert. It’s well balanced on the palate with a sweet, tawny port and cinnamon bouquet. At this price point, I think it's a steal. Make that "The Steal". 

7. Talisker 18. The wonderful bouquet includes scents of seaweed, smoke, peat, iodine, kippers and pipe tobacco. The palate entry is briny and intense; the midpalate is oily with traces of anise, butterscotch and linseed oil. Finishes vibrantly with tastes of salted butter, oil and brine. Highly idiosyncratic: for lovers of robust, seaside malts. I rate it very highly. Alternate: Talisker 10.

8. Aberlour A'bunadh

Speyside cake. ABV: 59%.Colour: Amontillado Sherry.If you like fruit cake, chocolate pot, creme brulee, marshmallow, banana mousses, pecan pie, apple strudel, Christmas cake, marzipan, toffee fudge sprinkled with icing sugar. YOU WILL like this gem of a scotch.The flavors are so intense and layered, making this whiskey a fun experiment where you can add little bit of water each time to see just how the complexity of its flavors unfold. It also has a lovely rum tone to its noise, amazing

9. Cardhu

Cardhu has a warmth and cleanliness of taste - often described as sleek, a popular taste known and liked globally. Served from its classy decanter, high end Cardhu is the classic Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky. The Cardhu 12 year old has the flavor of luscious rich fruit, sweet honey and nut all smoothly balanced by a delicious dry freshness, bottled at 40 per cent ABV. “It is gold and honey to look at, its nose powered by heather and sweet honey and nut. It is enticing yet intriguing, harmonious but softer with water; malt-cereal; spicy wood, moorland and faint traces of wood-smoke. Its body is soft, pleasing, medium while its palate is well balanced, smooth mouth-feel; sweet and fresh, then drying. Moorish. Enjoyable with a little water or ice. The FINISH is quite short. Lingering sweet smoke in the attractive, drying aftertaste (Jim Murray).”    

                                

10. Balblair 1997.

This is one of Scotland's best 'hidden gems' from a distillery up on the North East coast . It is a Starburst fruit bowl with fresh citrus and green fruit notes and just enough earthiness to stop it from being cloying. This full-bodied malt is fused with the citrus aromas of pineapple, apricot and lemon to create a long-lasting sweet finish. On the nose, the American oak barrels, used in the distillate's maturation, produce an inviting, spicy fragrance.

11. Bowmore. Another Islay malt, but different from most. "The whiskies of Bowmore are between the intense malts of the south shore and the gentlest extremes of the north. Their character is not a compromise but an enigma…". Best value: Bowmore Legend. Best taste: any of the twenty-five + bottlings. I managed two from eBay.de when I was last in der Vaterland in 2011. 

12. The Singleton of Glen Ord 18 YO

13. On the nose, a gentle waft of beeswax opening up to honey, followed by distant yet distinct flavours of cinnamon, basel, Sinhalese pine, lemon peel, quince and vanilla. Chilly powder. Palate: Big. Waxen and chocolate malt-sugar sweet. Clotted cream, Italian lemon, dried fruits - nectarines, apricot, Asian gooseberries and tangerines. Mirabelle jam. Half a teaspoon of water highlights the multi-sherried wood, wax, honey, and vanilla, but depresses the fruit. Traces of armagnac. Finish: Long and luxurious. Doesn''t lose anything. Just glorious. Punchy yet divinely elegant. Rajasthani Asha liquor, Asian kitchen mash. Maybe that’s why it’s sold in Asia only! 
14. Johnnie Walker Island Green NAS Blended Malt

  It is made with whiskies from four different distilleries, each from different regions of Scotland - Caol Ila distillery in Islay, Clynelish distillery in the Highlands, Glenkinchie distillery in the Lowlands, and Cardhu Distillery in Speyside. This whisky is bottled at 43% ABV. 

Color: Amber

Nose: Nice smoky start… Not as strong as an Islay expression but still very definitive… light and fresh aromas, like a morning walk in the park, fruits, flowers and grass… presence of malty wood notes… honey and vanilla with a healthy amount of wood spices… peppery…

Palate: Complex but not so balanced flavors… Heavy on the smoky and spicy side… sweetness from pears… honeyed malt cereals and vanilla with hints of citrus… faint notes of chocolaty bitterness…

Finish: Medium but warm finish… very spicy …  leaving behind some bitter, tar like flavors on the tongue…

Island Green is a great ‘blend’ expression as someone would expect from Johnnie Walker. But if you are a real Islay lover, this bottle will not quench your thirst of smoke and peat. On the other hand, if you like lightly peated whiskies or just starting to explore the wonderful world of smoky whisky, this may be the perfect dram to start things of.

Experts advise you to drink Single Malt whisky neat or with a tiny bit of water. The water supposedly ‘Releases the Serpent’ from the whisky.

If there is a serpent, there is also an Angel. As it ages, 2.0-2.5 % of the whisky maturing in a barrel is lost to evaporation every year. Distillers refer to this as the ‘angel’s share’.

But the Devil has the last word. The larger the barrel used to mature whisky, the more the spirit that is absorbed by the wood and lost, called by distillers the ‘Devil’s Cut’.

The most expensive country in which to buy Scotch is where it’s made, the UK. 

 18,000 liters of Scotch whisky worth over $800,000 (£ 500,000) were accidentally flushed down the drain at Chivas Brothers’ Dumbarton bottling plant of in March 2013. 

Earlier, Glen Catrine Bonded Warehouse in Catrine village had spilled 6,600 liters of whisky on 6 September 2011− mostly into the River Ayr. They were fined £12,000.