Tuesday 16 April 2013

Trislander engine failure: the final report

The tail engine of the Aurigny Trislander which blew out 15 minutes into its flight from Alderney to Southampton on 27 March 2012.
Over a year has passed since Richard had to deal with an engine failure on a flight from Alderney to Southampton. Since then, emails have passed back and forth while the engine has undergone investigation and now the final report from the Air Accident Investigation Board has just been released, and so the incident has been rehashed in the local press.

I want to show my wonderful husband off. There have been a few more comments in the press: the managing director of the company said 'The pilot handled the incident in a calm and professional manner and was commended for his actions.'
(The commendation by the former managing director was simply that he had 'avoided turning a drama into a crisis'. High praise indeed. ? )

My favourite quote was from one of the passengers: "The pilot was fantastic. He simply said: 'We've got a technical problem and we are going back to Alderney.' Some people just kept on reading."
I love it.

Monday 1 April 2013

March Madness

March was the strangest month. I've already blogged about the snow - a freak blizzard which brought Guernsey to a standstill for three days.  Skidding into school, it looked as if the worst was already over - just a few grains and a light covering - but then the storm hit. Force 9 winds lashed the islands with hail and snow, which accumulated, in places, in drifts over 8 feet high.
The airport was, of course, closed as heavy machinery struggled to clear the snow.  Fortunately for Guernsey, the airport was already undergoing major work and so the contractor's heavy plant proved to be very useful.
Goodness knows how many trees were uprooted: the total of just the ones which blocked roads was 70, while fallen trees can still be seen in hedgerows or, in one case, fallen across one of the footpaths.
Firewood won't be a problem for a while.
Around the storm, life continued as usual. The pace at school picked up as we struggled to fit in activities before the end of term - sadly, Easter barely got a mention. No eggs or chicks, let alone an acknowledgement of the festival's real meaning.
As well as fitting in our usual church and house group commitments, I enjoyed a fascinating morning listening to a visiting speaker teach on apologetics; we also started teaching a CAP money coaching course; prepared a prayer workshop for Good Friday, with practical activities for reflection; and I contributed a post to another blog site as a guest.
We also caught up with friends, especially from Devon and Dorset; celebrated the school holidays with a fun 'bring and share' and then numerous trips to cafes; and I made the journey over to London for the day, to celebrate my brother's 50th birthday. What a joy to meet up with childhood - and more recent - friends, one of whom I hadn't seen for over 30 years.
And, at the end of the month, wonderful answers to prayer. God is good, ALL THE TIME.
March seemed, before I looked back, somewhat of a 'mini' month. How wrong I was. March demanded maximum effort in every minute.