Pilot who overshot airport denies crew was napping

MINNEAPOLIS – The first officer of the Northwest Airlines jet that missed its destination by 150 miles says there was no fight in the cockpit, neither he nor the captain had fallen asleep and the passengers were never in any danger.

But in an interview with The Associated Press two days after he and a colleague blew past their destination as air traffic controllers tried frantically to reach them, pilot Richard Cole would not say just what it was that led to them to forget to land Flight 188.

"It was not a serious event, from a safety issue," Cole said in front of his Salem, Ore., home. "I would tell you more, but I've already told you way too much."

Air traffic controllers and pilots tried for more than an hour Wednesday night to contact Cole and the flight's captain, Timothy B. Cheney, of Gig Harbor, Wash., using radio, cell phone and data messages. On the ground, concerned officials alerted National Guard jets to prepare to chase the airliner from two locations, though none of the military planes left the runway.

"We were not asleep; we were not having an argument; we were not having a fight," Cole told The Associated Press.

He would not discuss why it took so long for the pilots to respond to radio calls, "but I can tell you that airplanes lose contact with the ground people all the time. It happens. Sometimes they get together right away; sometimes it takes awhile before one or the other notices that they are not in contact."

The Minneapolis Star Tribune, citing an internal Northwest document it said was described to the newspaper, reported that Cheney and Cole began what was to be a five-day flying stint Tuesday with a flight from Minneapolis to San Diego. The newspaper said the pair had a 19-hour layover before Wednesday's return flight.

A police report released Friday said the pilots passed breathalyzer tests and were apologetic after the flight. The report also said that the crew indicated they had been having a heated discussion about airline policy.

But aviation safety experts and other pilots were deeply skeptical they could have become so distracted by shop talk that they forgot to land an airplane carrying 144 passengers. The most likely possibility, they said, is that the pilots simply fell asleep somewhere along their route from San Diego.

"It certainly is a plausible explanation," said Bill Voss, president of the Flight Safety Foundation in Alexandria, Va.

Unfortunately, the cockpit voice recorder may not tell the tale.

New recorders retain as much as two hours of cockpit conversation and other noise, but the older model aboard Northwest's Flight 188 includes just the last 30 minutes — only the very end of Wednesday night's flight after the pilots realized their error over Wisconsin and were heading back to Minneapolis.

Cheney and Cole have been suspended and are to be interviewed by National Transportation Safety Board investigators next week. The airline, acquired last year by Delta Air Lines, is also investigating. Messages left at Cheney's home were not returned.

FAA spokesman Tony Molinaro said in general, an unsafe condition created by a pilot could lead to the suspension of the person's pilot license and possibly a civil penalty.

With worries about terrorists still high, even after contact was re-established, air traffic controllers asked the crew to prove who they were by executing turns.

"Controllers have a heightened sense of vigilance when we're not able to talk to an aircraft. That's the reality post-9/11," said Doug Church, a spokesman for the National Air Traffic Controllers Association.

NTSB spokesman Keith Holloway said fatigue and cockpit distraction will be looked into. The plane's flight recorders were brought to the board's Washington headquarters.

The pilots were finally alerted to their situation when a flight attendant called on an intercom from the cabin.

Voss said a special concern was that the many safety checks built into the aviation system to prevent incidents like this one — or to correct them quickly — apparently were ineffective until the very end. Not only couldn't air traffic controllers and other pilots raise the Northwest pilots for an hour, but the airline's dispatcher should have been trying to reach them as well. The three flight attendants onboard should have questioned why there were no preparations for landing being made. Brightly lit cockpit displays should have warned the pilots it was time to land.

"It's probably something you would say never would happen if this hadn't just happened," Voss said.

___

AP Airlines Writers Joshua Freed in Minneapolis and Harry R. Weber in Atlanta and AP Writers Joan Lowy in Washington, Amy Forliti in Minneapolis and Dave Koenig in Dallas contributed to this report. Cain reported from Salem, Ore.

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U.N. slams North Korea over human rights

UNITED NATIONS (CNN) -- Nearly 40 percent of North Koreans are starving, and a shortfall in international aid means that a fraction of those people will receive food donations, a U.N. rights expert said.

The World Food Programme will be able to reach fewer than 2 million of the communist country's 9 million hungry people, said Vitit Muntarbhorn, the U.N. special human rights investigator for North Korea.

Aid has been limited by global reaction to North Korea's recent nuclear and missile tests and the government's priorities are misguided, he said.

"The country is not poor, and yet the money is not spent on the people," Muntarbhorn told reporters Thursday after delivering his latest report before the U.N. General Assembly.

"People should be entitled to a fair share of the budget and the benefits from trade in terms of access to sustainable development."

North Korea's exports amounted to several billion dollars last year. The country also has a greater abundance of natural resources than its southern neighbor, Muntarbhorn said.

He urged the U.N. Security Council to step up as North Koreans face worsening conditions.

The United Nations regards the North Korean government as one of the most restrictive and repressive in the world. The Security Council has slapped the reclusive nation with multiple sanctions, though the United Nations does not tend to intervene in a country's humanitarian affairs.

"Let's make good use of the international system," Muntarbhorn urged. "I need the Security Council."

Muntarbhorn, who has been denied access to North Korea for six years, described a downturn of human rights in that society, saying that North Koreans live in constant fear of abduction, arrest, abuse and even public execution.

He reported that women continue to be highly discriminated against -- they are barred from trading and are forced to wear skirts and dresses even while bicycling as necessary transportation.

Freedom of information also remains restricted. Communication has progressed somewhat, now that cell phones are legal -- even to the non-elite -- but Muntarbhorn said phones are not permitted near the border. Possessing a computer is illegal for North Koreans.

Currently, there is no U.S. aid going into North Korea, though the World Food Programme is allowed access under the watch of North Korean military. According to North Korean military rules, food organizations must announce their visit a week before arrival.

The North Korean constitution recently was amended to acknowledge human rights, and references to communism were removed, Muntarbhorn said.

However, he said, the government has replaced communism with "their own brand of socialism," which ranks government authority very high and regular citizens very low.

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Airliner overshoots airport; controllers feared hijacking

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A Northwest Airlines flight from San Diego, California, to Minneapolis, Minnesota, overshot the Minneapolis airport by about 150 miles Wednesday evening, and federal investigators are looking into whether the pilots had become distracted, as they claimed, or perhaps fallen asleep.

Air traffic controllers lost radio communication with the Airbus A320, carrying 147 passengers and an unknown number of crew, when it was flying at 37,000 feet, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. There was no communication with Flight 188 for more than an hour as it approached the airport, the board said.

When air traffic controllers finally made contact with the pilot, his answers were so vague that controllers feared the plane might have been hijacked, according to a source familiar with the incident.

The controllers in Minneapolis, Minnesota, ordered the pilot to make a series of unnecessary maneuvers to convince them the pilots were in control of the flight, the source said, adding that fighter jets were poised in Madison, Wisconsin, but were never deployed.

Controllers tracked the aircraft on radar as it flew over its intended destination -- Minneapolis-St. Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain Airport -- and continued northeast for about 150 miles over the next 16 minutes. The airport's controllers then re-established communication with crew members, who said they had become distracted, the safety board said.

"The crew stated they were in a heated discussion over airline policy and they lost situational awareness," the board said in a news release.

A federal official, who asked not to be identified, told CNN that air traffic controllers in the Denver, Colorado, area had communicated with the pilot, but the pilots were "nonresponsive" during a subsequent communication. The plane was handed off to controllers in Minneapolis as a NORDO, the designation for "no radio communications."

The Federal Aviation Administration contacted the airline and had its dispatcher try to reach the pilots, the federal official said.

Doug Church, spokesman for the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, said numerous controllers were involved in efforts to contact the plane, including text messages, and that "concern escalated" as the pilot neared the airport "without making any effort to descend."

Ultimately, controllers contacted two other Northwest planes, asking them to try to reach Flight 188 through its last known frequency. One of those planes succeeded, prompting the pilot to contact Minneapolis, Church said.

"It was pretty good ATC (air traffic control) detective work," he added.

An NTSB spokesman said the agency is examining all possible explanations for the incident, including whether the pilots might have fallen asleep.

The safety board said it is scheduling an interview with the crew and has secured the plane's cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder for examination. The recorders capture cockpit conversations and other noises.

Reported instances of two pilots falling asleep are rare. In August, the safety board concluded its investigation into a February 13, 2008, incident in which two pilots aboard a Go airlines flight fell asleep and traveled 26 miles beyond the destination of Hilo, Hawaii, before waking and contacting air traffic controllers.

Northwest Airlines is part of Delta Air Lines, which issued a statement Thursday, saying it is "cooperating with the FAA and NTSB in their investigation, as well as conducting our own internal investigation. The pilots have been relieved from active flying pending the completion of these investigations."

It said Flight 188 landed safely in Minneapolis just after 9 p.m.

Delta suffered another major embarrassment this week when a Delta pilot landed a passenger jet on a taxiway at Atlanta-Hartsfield International Airport instead of the runway. The NTSB also is investigating that case.

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‘Doomsday’ blast kills 41 near Pakistan bazaar

Suicide car bombing levels passing minibus, injures more than 100

PESHAWAR, Pakistan - A suicide car bomber detonated his vehicle along a road near a well-known market in Pakistan's northwest city of Peshawar on Friday, killing 41 people and underscoring militants' ability to strike in major cities despite U.S.-backed military offensives pressuring their networks.
The attack in the Khyber Bazaar area came as Pakistan's army prepares for another major operation in the al-Qaida and Taliban stronghold of South Waziristan tribal region. The militants have threatened bombings if the army doesn't back off, but the U.S. has continued to prod Pakistan to take action against insurgents using its soil to fuel the insurgency in neighboring Afghanistan.
Television footage showed the charred skeleton of a bus flipped on its side in the middle of a major road. Twisted remains of a motorbike lay alongside the bus. A nearby vehicle was in flames.
Noor Alam saw the vehicle explode, and suffered wounds on his legs and face.
"I saw a blood soaked leg landing close to me," Alam told The Associated Press at the overwhelmed Lady Reading hospital. "I understood for the first time in my life what a doomsday would look like."
Blast levels passing minibusPeshawar Police Chief Liaqat Ali Khan said the attacker was in a car packed with "a huge quantity of explosives and artillery rounds." A minibus apparently carrying passengers nearby was also leveled in the blast.
It came days after a suicide attack killed five at a U.N. office in the capital, Islamabad and two weeks after another explosion killed 11 in a Peshawar commercial area.
It was the deadliest attack in Pakistan since a suicide bomber demolished a packed mosque near the northwestern town of Jamrud in March, killing about 50.
Provincial Health Minister Syed Zahir Ali Shah said 41 people were killed and more than 100 wounded Friday.
"Death has to come one day, but we will keep chasing these terrorists, and this attack cannot deter our resolve," Provincial Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain said as he visited the bloody scene.
Arrest in attack on U.N. officesAlso Friday, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said a suspect had been arrested in Monday's suicide attack at the office of the U.N.'s World Food Program in Islamabad. Malik says the man was alleged to have given the attacker shelter, but gave few details.
Militants in Pakistan also have targeted trucks carrying supplies for U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan.
Early Friday, militants ambushed a tanker carrying fuel for the Western troops at a gas station near Peshawar, torching it, said Fazal Rabi, a police official. No injuries or deaths were reported.
U.S.-Pakistan tensions risingThe attacks come amid growing tensions between the U.S. and Pakistan over a multibillion-dollar U.S. aid package that is aimed at helping Pakistan's economy and other nonmilitary sectors.
Pakistan's army has raised concern over strings attached to the aid, bolstering critics who say it will invite U.S. interference.
The debate over the proposal also has exposed rifts between Pakistan's military and its weak civilian government.
The government has hailed the package, which would provide $1.5 billion a year over the next five years. But the measure, which awaits President Barack Obama's signature, makes U.S. aid contingent on whether Pakistan's government maintains effective control over the military, among other conditions.
The army, which has ruled Pakistan for around half its 62-year existence, raised "serious concern" over the conditions, while the government said nothing in it was against Pakistan's interests.

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Basic Eye Anatomy

Basic Eye Anatomy
Light enters the eye through the cornea, the clear layer covering the front of the eye. The cornea works with the lens of the eye to focus images on the retina. The upper and lower eyelids protect the eye from injury, with the eyelashes forming a protective barrier.

External and Internal Eye Anatomy
The cornea allows light to enter the eye. As light passes through the eye, the iris changes shape by expanding and letting more light through. Or, it constricts and lets less light through to change the size of the pupil. The lens then changes shape to allow the accurate focusing of light on the retina. Photoreceptors in the eye transmit nerve signals through the optic nerve to the brain. The brain processes these nerve impulses into sight.



Lateral Eye Anatomy

The cornea is the clear watch glass covering in the front of the eye. The cornea works with the lens of the eye to focus images on the retina. The retina captures the image and sends it to the brain to be developed. The retina is normally red due to its rich blood supply.


Anatomy of the Eye Lens
The lens is responsible for making sure light rays come to a sharp focus on the retina. The lens of the eye is normally clear. If the lens becomes cloudy or is opacified, it is called a cataract.

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Retinoscope

Retinoscope

An eye doctor looks into your eye with a retinoscope.
A retinoscope is used to shine light into a patient's eye for an eye doctor to observe the reflection off the retina. The light is moved back and forth across the pupil. A retinoscope is especially useful in prescribing corrective lenses for patients who are unable to give oral feedback to the eye doctor. It is also useful for determining how well the eyes work together, or accommodate, to see clearly.

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Direct Ophthalmoscope

Direct Ophthalmoscope

A direct ophthalmoscope is a hand-held instrument.

A direct ophthalmoscope is a hand-held instrument used for examining the interior structures of the eye, especially the retina. It consists of a mirror that reflects light into the eye and a central hole through which the eye is examined.

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Lensometer

Lensometer

A lensometer determines the prescription of a pair of eyeglasses.

A lensometer is an instrument used to measure the power of an existing lens. An optician uses a lensometer to determine the prescription of a patient's eyeglasses.

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NEPAL: Zenisha Moktan is Miss Nepal 2009

NEPAL: Zenisha Moktan is Miss Nepal 2009


KATHMANDU: “I’m speechless. I can’t believe this. God! I’m Miss Nepal 2009. My dream has come true.” After staying amazed in excitement for more than ten minutes the new Fem Miss Nepal 2009 Zenisha Moktan finally opened up.
Amidst the hassles the beauty pageant faced early in the afternoon in front of the main entrance of Army Club in Bhadrakali, Fem Hidden Treasure Miss Nepal 2009, however, commenced peacefully inside the auditorium on Thursday evening.
Zenisha Moktan 20, who participated in Miss Nepal competition last year too, was disappointed when the pageant could not be held owing to the protests and allegations of women´s exploitation by different political wings. Moktan came back this year and, in her own words, was pretty sure of winning the crown.
“All I dreamt since my childhood was to be treated like a princess and to adorn a wonderful beauty pageant crown. Finally my dream has come true. But there’s more that I have to achieve. I guess, I’ll be fully satisfied if I succeed in bringing home the crown of Miss World 2009,” said Miss Nepal Moktan.
Kunchhang Moktan became the second runner-up and Richa Thapa Magar took home the title of first runner-up. With that, Richa will soon be heading to vie for the Miss Earth beauty pageant to be held in Philippines and Miss Nepal Zenisha Moktan will now go through an intensive grooming to prepare her for the Miss World beauty contest.
Miss Nepal Moktan promises to fulfill all her responsibilities that now she is as a newly crowned Miss Nepal.
“For the moment, please let me feel pampered,” she gushed.
The panel of judges included socialites, entrepreneurs, makeup artistes, bankers, academician and economist. Organized by Hidden Treasure, Fem Hidden Treasure Miss Nepal 2009 was choreographed by Rachana Gurung Sharma.
Other title winners:

Dabur Special Miss Beautiful Hai: Padmini Jha

Sony Miss Photogenic: Aayusha Karki

Dabur Best Smile: Punam Thapaliya

Blay Miss Best Walk: Zenisha Moktan

New Road Pashmina Miss Personality: Richa Thapa Magar

Dabur Vatika Miss Best Complexion: Aayusha Karki

Nagarik Miss Friendship: Ashmita Agrawal

Real Miss Talent: Richa Thapa Magar

Miss Public Choice: Akriti Shrestha

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MISS WORLD TANZANIA 2009

MISS WORLD TANZANIA 2009
It was a busy weekend in East Africa! Miss World Tanzania 2009 was held on Friday. Miriam Gerald, 20, of Mwanza, won the title. She also was named Miss Photogenic. First runner-up in the glittering ceremony was Beatrice Lukindo, and second runner-up was Julieth William.

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