The Worst Air Disaster in Aviation History

I had just finished watching the 3rd episode of the 16th season of Mayday/Air Crash Investigation. I can’t believe that the show has been running for sixteen seasons already! Time flies so fast. I can still remember back in my early days in college when I would stay up late just to binge watch this on YouTube. Did I mention that our DSL connection that time wasn’t really that fast? So it was really a struggle to catch up with the latest episodes and seasons of this show. For some, watching ACI is scary especially when you’re a frequent flyer but for me, it really is an informative show and I learned a LOT of things which eventually helped me in building my career in air traffic control.

The third episode of the latest season of Mayday/Air Crash Investigation is all about the infamous Tenerife accident, the deadliest accident in aviation history. Shortly after 5PM, two Boeing 747s -- Pan Am and KLM Royal Dutch Airline -- collided on the runway. 583 lives were lost in an instant. This is a summary of what really transpired on that fateful day.

Supercell in Tacloban

Two weeks ago, a supercell developed 3 miles northeast of the airport. It went viral on social media because the netizens thought it was a huge funnel cloud/tornado. LOL if it really was a tornado, judging from what I saw, it could easily pass as an EF5 tornado. I'd be one of the few survivors (because... masamang damo lol) if it went straight to the airport.

Anyway, this is just a supercell, a rotating thunderstorm. This is relatively small compared to what we always see on TV in America's midwest aka the notorious tornado alley. Minutes after this photo was taken, it rained so hard but it only lasted for forty-five minutes. The wind was packing up to 35 knots, blowing to the north.

The supercell quickly dissipated.

Seeing this in real life rekindled my obsession in extreme weather. HAHAHAHA

West Philippine Sea VS South China Sea

Yesterday, in a unanimous decision at The Hague, the Philippines won the arbitration case vs. China over South China Sea. Many rejoiced, thinking that we now finally own the whole Spratly Group of Islands. Or so they thought.

I have been following the conflict between China and the Philippines since 2012. This was after a Chinese vessel bullied the Filipino fishermen who were just doing their routine job within the EEZ (Exclusive Economic Zone).  Same thing happened to Vietnamese and Indonesian fishermen.

Some key points before we proceed:

The EEZ (Exclusive Economic Zone) is defined as an area 200nm from the baseline. According to the international law, we can only claim sovereignty 12nm of the territorial waters from the baseline. Beyond 12nm, we only have sovereign rights and limited jurisdiction. Hence, our local laws are only limited to building artificial islands, maritime exploration and research, resource exploitation, and preservation of the marine ecosystem. No more, no less.

I just want to emphasize that the decision made by international court wasn't about awarding the whole South China Sea (or West Philippine Sea, as what the previous Aquino administration calls it) to the Philippines, but rather it is about condemning the atrocious behavior of the Chinese not just to the Philippines but also to neighboring countries who share the same EEZ (Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, and Indonesia).

Airbus A321 in Tacloban

Just to prove that Tacloban's Daniel Z. Romualdez Airport is capable to handle Airbus A321-200. Although, this type of aircraft is only allowed to park at either Bay 1 and 3 and the north or south taxiway is closed respectively due to the A321's length.

Took this photo yesterday using my Canon EOS 1100D camera, 50mm f/1.8.

PS: My panning photo sucks. Need to practice my panning skills. Used to be an expert. I guess that kind of photography skill wears out easily.