‘Flight’ was a truly remarkable movie portraying an alcoholic airline pilot named Whip Whitaker, played by Denzel Washington. The movie mainly focuses on character development, which is why Denzel Washington was the shining star for this movie. However, the cast also included impressive actors like Don Cheadle, who plays Whip’s attorney, as well as John Goodman, whose purpose is to act as the comic relief. Whip is obviously the main focus in this movie, but Cheadle and Goodman serve as spectacular supporting actors who help make the movie such a success.

What made the movie a success was Denzel Washington’s emotional portrayal of Whip. He clearly portrayed Whip’s aggression, charisma, flaws, and extreme alcoholism; he causes the audience to develop a love/hate relationship with Whip. The fact that the audience could not make up their mind about whether to like Whip was also an added element that made the movie interesting; most times, the protagonists in movies are either loved or hated, but Whip was both. Whip was definitely a hero, but he was also an intense alcoholic whose illness put others in danger several times and should really be in jail. However, despite Whip’s poor choices and obvious flaws, the audience cannot help connecting to him and ultimately rooting for him to succeed.

The main mystery behind ‘Flight’ was how Whip was able to land a plan and save nearly all of its passengers. The truth is that nobody should have been able to save them. After the crash, simulators were developed for other airline pilots to try to “save” the plane like Whip did, but everybody failed the simulator test. As the investigations unravel, Whip’s alcoholic tendency emerges to the surface and investigators suspect he was under the influence when he landed the plane. Interestingly enough, even though this definitely has some adrenaline pumping moments, mystery, and intrigue, it is not an action movie. The action and suspenseful moments take a sideline to the true purpose of the movie: to portray the life of an alcoholic hero.

Despite the fact that Denzel Washington did a superb job at playing Whip, it was disappointing that the movie was based more on following the life of an alcoholic rather than having more pulse-pounding action sequences. The audience was definitely able to connect with Whip, but it would have been nice to see more action throughout the movie. The movie was also a bit too long when it did not need to be. Despite these minor complaints about the movie, it is still worth seeing because of Denzel Washington’s brilliant performance.

4/5

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Dana Air Flight 992 crashed on a clear and sunny day into a busy neighborhood in Lagos as it approached the runway on June 3, 2012, killing all 153 people on board – 146 passengers and 7 crew members – and at least ten on the street. The plane was a 22-year-old McDonnel Douglas MD-83 purchased by the Indian company Dana Air from Alaska Airlines.

Workers have stopped searching through the rubble for all of the bodies as of 6 June 2012 and are attempting to clean up the destruction. Three days of national mourning have been declared in Nigeria and Dana Air halted all flights on Monday out of respect for the victims and their families. Dana Air has also created a 24 hour hotline for the relatives of the victim to contact for information. Shortly after the crash a torrential downpour and strong winds prevented emergency crews from returning to the crash site.

The exact cause of the crash is unknown. Just before the crash the pilot sent out an emergency signal as he neared the Lagos airport runway. The black box was recovered from the crash site which Nigerian officials hope will provide the answer. What is known is that both engines on the plane failed even though the maintenance was up-to-date.

The Lagos Airport is one of the major flight hubs for West Africa with at least 2.3 million people passing through in 2009 alone. However, this flight came the day after another flight from the Lagos, Nigeria airport crashed in Accra, Ghana, killing ten people. Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan said as he toured the site on June 4, 2012, “we have been working very hard to improve the aviation conditions in this country, so this particular incident is a major setback for us as a people.”

Since August 2010 Nigeria has had a Category 1 status – the top rating – for the US’s FAA, meaning that direct flights between the US and Nigeria are possible. However, this is the fourth crash that has killed more than one hundred people in the last decade in Nigeria.

Victims of the flight include an American family of six from West Hartford Connecticut, and two sisters from Missouri City, Texas. The pilot was also from the US while the co-pilot was from India. Countries around the world have also announced the death of their citizens in the terrible accident, including at least six Chinese nationals, one French national, and two Lebanese.

Nigerian aviation authorities have suspended Dana Air’s operating license as of June 5, 2012.

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On September 7, a plane crashed carrying the entire squad of the ice hockey team Lokomotiv Yaroslavl on the opening day of the KHL season in Russia. It was one of the worst tragedies to happen to Russian sports in history. Out of the 45 people on the plane, only two survived the initial crash that came to a rest on the bank of the Volga River.

Local citizens were the first to arrive at the scene of the crash. They were able to only pull the two survivors out to safety from the flames and debris before the plane was completely burned.

The survivors from the crash included the air mechanic of the plane and hockey player, Aleksandr Galimov. Both men were treated for severe burns and fractures. Galimov, right wing for the Lokomotiv and the Russian National team, was rushed to the hospital in critical condition due to major damage to his respiratory system.

According to an article published Monday on by SOTT.NET, despite the best efforts of doctors in its burn unit at Vishnevsky Hospital, 26-year-old, Galimov, died of the severe burns that covered nearly 90 per cent of his body. After news of the crash got out, fans gathered in rallies, putting their remaining hope in the survival of the last Russian hockey player.

The fans chanted together saying, “Galimov, live for the whole team!” and other slogans dedicated to Galimov.  ”All of Yaroslavl, all of the country, all of the world followed the doctors’ words, believing, hoping, praying that he would defeat death and remain with us,” Yaroslavl Gov. Sergei Vakhrukov said, according to SOTT.NET.

The plane was taking off from the local airport when the pilot attempted to take-off at a low speed, making the plane being more difficult to control. This caused the pilot to then hit a beacon near the runway which led to the crash on the bank of the Volga. Witnesses suggest that a technical malfunction caused the plane to be unable to reach the necessary speed to take-off safely, leading to the crash.

Out of the entire 37-man squad, many of the players had played in the NHL and for their national teams. Some of these players include Slovakian superstar Pavol Demitra, Stanley Cup winning Josef Vasicek, and goalkeeper Stefan Liv.

The first game of the KHL season between Salavat Yulaev and Atlant was stopped in the middle of the second period to inform the crowd that the crash had killed the entire Lokomotiv team. The sellout crowd held a moment of silence for the departed team, and both teams headed to the nearest church afterwards to pay respects to their late friends.

After announcing the news to the sold out crowd, KHL President Aleksandr Medvedev assured everyone that the league “will do our best to keep the high-level hockey in Yaroslavl”. On Thursday, thousands of people gathered in the Slovac ice hockey arena to remember Pavol Demitra — the former national team captain, according to the associated press.

Ceremonies are being held for each hockey player, as family, friends, and fans continue to mourn this great loss.

Image Courtesy of  http://www.flickr.com/photos/tesla314/

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At least 78 people have died when the military airplane Hercules C-130 crashed into a mountain in the Guelmin Province, around 800 kilometers from the Southern Capital Rabat, today at 9 a.m. (0800 GMT).

The cause of the crash is still developing but some explanations can be deducted by the inconvenient climate conditions, and fog”.

Statements taken form the military said that there were three survivors from the crash.

“The crash, due to bad weather conditions, caused 78 deaths and (left) three seriously wounded,” this was the statement by Morocco’s Royal Armed Forces”.

A resident affirm to Reuters that the weather conditions were bad, and the presence of a thick fog was in the area at he time of the crash.

The military confirmed that there were 60 soldiers, 12 civilians and 9-crew member on board. And by now there have been three survivors and a total of 42 bodies taken to the nearest military hospital.

The most recent plane crash in Morocco was in 1994, when a Royal Air Maroc aircraft crash near the city of Agadir, leaving no survivors.

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Saturday, a plane carrying 25 passengers and crew went down in eastern Indonesia, killing everyone onboard according to local radio. “I can confirm that all the passengers were killed when the plane exploded as it crashed into the sea,” a navy officer told ElShinta radio. “The aircraft was smashed to pieces… We found 15 bodies floating on the water and the other passengers are trapped inside the wreckage.”

The crash happened during bad weather and the plane reportedly went into the ocean just short of the airstrip at the port town of Kaimana, in the eastern province of West Papua. The Indonesian archipelago is dependent on its air traffic but has one of Asia’s worst air safety records, according to the BBC. The twin turbo-prop plane, operated by Merpati Airlines, was flying from the coastal city of Sorong, also in the eastern part of West Papua.

The transport ministry initially told The Times of India that 27 people – 21 passengers and 6 crew members – had been onboard the Merpati Airlines MA-60 aircraft, but airline officials confirmed this evening, local time, that the deaths include 16 adult passengers, one child, two infants, two pilots, two flight attendants and two technicians, according to The Jakarta Post.

“The plane crashed as it was trying to make an emergency landing due to bad weather,” the Indonesian government spokesman Bambang S. Ervan said. Later the conditions of the fatal event were further elaborated; “The weather was bad as there was heavy rainfall, which shortened the [pilot's] range of vision. It was also very dark. Thus, the airplane did not reach the runway,” the director general at the Ministry of Air Transportation, Herry Bakti, was quoted as saying by the Jakarta Post.

Indonesia has been plagued by commercial airline crashes in recent years. According to The Times of India’s report, a Twin Otter plane – also operated by the aforementioned Merpati Airlines – crashed into a mountain side in a remote area of Papua in 2009, killing the 16 people onboard. Merpati Airlines was also responsible for the plane which in 2010 overran a runway after landing in Manokwari in West Papua. The craft broke intro three pieces and injured 44 of the more than 100 passengers.

In 2007, the European Union banned all of Indonesia’s airlines, including the national carrier Garuda. This followed a crash by the now-defunct Adam Air in which 102 passengers and crew were swallowed by the deep water off the coast of Sulawesi. No bodies were ever recovered and only fragments of the aircraft were washed up.

The EU relaxed the ban two years later under the reasoning that many of the safety issues had been resolved. Garuda and three other carriers were approved but Merpati Airlines is still on the ban-list.

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