Air accidents - skies getting safer

Last year saw the fewest number of airliner crashes since 1945, when, of course, there were only a fraction of the number of flights we have today.    Altogether there were 23 fatal accidents, killing 475 in aircraft, plus 36 on the ground.

The number involving passenger flights was even lower – just 11.  The year 2012 also saw the longest time to elapse without an accident in modern aviation history – 68 days.  The worst event of the year happened on June 3, when a Dana Air MD-83 crashed on approach to Lagos in Nigeria, killing 153 people on board and 10 on the ground.

Africa remains the least safe continent, accounting for 22% of all fatal airliner accidents even though the continent accounts for only about 3% of all departures.   Airlines from 14 African nations are banned from flying into the EU.

The accident figure has been declining steadily since 1997, and the Aviation Safety Network, which compiles it, says this is a tribute to the continuing efforts of international aviation organisations.

Munitions explosions

At least 146 people have been killed in a huge series of explosions at an arms depot in Brazzaville, capital of the Congo Republic, though some are claiming the true death toll is much higher.

Roofs were blown off houses, and streets littered with debris.   The government says the explosion was caused by an electrical fault.     Last year, more than 150 people were killed when a munitions factory blew up at Jaar in Yemen.

Perhaps the deadliest accidental munitions explosion of all happened at Lagos in Nigeria on January 27, 2002.   It started with a fire at an open air market in a barracks, but it quickly spread to a munitions store.  There was a series of deafening explosions and windows shattered for miles around.

About 20,000 people ran for their lives, and many of those who perished were crushed to death in the stampede.   At least 1,100 bodies were found, but many think the true death toll was nearer 2,000.  For the full story, see A Disastrous History of the World.

(See also my blog of Feb 17, 2011.)

Peacetime ammunition explosions

At least 32 people have been killed in a series of explosions at munitions depots at an army base in Tanzania’s commercial capital, Dar es Salaam. The blasts at the Gongola Mboto base went on for several hours.

Most of those killed were people living near the base, as debris flew through the air. The explosions caused panic because residents had no clear information on what was happening. At least 4,000 are said to be sheltering at the National Stadium.

Two years ago, explosions at the Mbagala army base, near Dar es Salaam, killed more than 20 people.

An even more devastating explosion at an army base was the one that ripped through the Ikeja cantonment, near Lagos in Nigeria, on 27 January, 2002. Houses were flattened, and shells, grenades and bullets set off. Perhaps 2,000 people died. For more details, see A Disastrous History of the World.

*This is a television report that I did in 1975 that has just turned up on the net!

http://www.macearchive.org/Media.html?Title=23148#

Gaza - the EU has the solution! + explosive anniversary

So the EU’s humanitarian aid chief (!) has visited Gaza, seen the murder and destruction described in yesterday’s blog, and got to the bottom of the problem – it’s all the fault of Hamas! The EU, which gives Israel all manner of privileges, dismisses the Palestinians’ democratically elected government as “terrorist”. Now politicians like Mr Michel (a former Belgian Foreign Minister, no less) tend to avoid any definition of “terrorist” so they can use it to describe anyone they don’t like, but surely what it means is someone who kills, injures or terrorises civilians in order to achieve a political objective.

So here’s a little competition (Mr Michel may enter if he wishes). Using the facts from the Gaza massacre – summarised in my blog of yesterday – who better fits the definition “terrorist”. Is it (a) Hamas or (b) Israel ? For people like Mr Michel and Labour in Britain, it is all so very simple. If only the Palestinians would just knuckle down under the occupation, blockade, theft of land, killings, kidnappings or whatever else Israel cares to inflict on them, there’d be no problem. Let me let you into a little secret, Mr Michel and co. It is not going to happen. The Palestinians will continue to resist until they are free. Giving them their liberty is the only route to peace.

On this day.....seven years ago, a huge explosion at a military barracks in Lagos, Nigeria flattened whole streets nearby and sent shells, grenades and bullets flying through the air. People thought it was a military coup, or a terrorist attack and an estimated 20,000 fled their homes. Many were trampled to death in the streets, others drowned in a canal, and perhaps 2,000 were killed altogether. See A Disastrous History of the World for more details.