Russian President Vladimir Putin apologized for the deadly Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8243 crash on Christmas but did not take responsibility for causing it as an investigation continues into the matter.

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FedEx’s Bronczek is New IATA Chairman
KLM’s Hartman to Follow in 2011
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced that FedEx Express President and CEO David Bronczek started a one-year term as the Chairman of the IATA Board of Governors. Bronczek succeeds Tony Tyler, CEO of Cathay Pacific Airways, who served as Chairman from June 2009.
Bronczek takes on the IATA Chairman duties as the air transport industry rebuilds in the aftermath of the global financial crisis. “IATA has a crucial role to play. Along with improving safety and effectively managing the industry’s settlement systems, IATA must play a role in laying the foundation for sustainable profitability. We must further reduce costs and improve efficiencies. And we need to continue to lead the industry on climate change. I look forward to supporting the immediate challenge of getting a globally inclusive solution for aviation on climate change at COP-16 and to helping Giovanni define longer-term goals. These are my priorities,” said Bronczek.
A 34-year veteran of the cargo and air transport industry, Bronczek has been FedEx Express CEO since 2000. FedEx is the world’s largest express transportation company and Bronczek also serves on the strategic management committee for FedEx Corp. “I will also bring a cargo perspective to my duties as chairman. I will place a special emphasis on IATA’s two flagship cargo programs of Cargo 2000 and Simplifying the Business. We must improve quality through the Cargo 2000 program and focus our efforts on achieving the cost savings that IATA e-freight can deliver to the cargo value chain as part of Simplifying the Business,” said Bronczek.
Giovanni Bisignani, IATA’s Director General and CEO said, “First, we must thank Tony Tyler for a job well done. His leadership over the past year helped us navigate through one of the most challenging years in aviation history. On top of dealing with the financial crises, under Tony’s leadership IATA was also able to achieve an industry-wide consensus on concrete targets on climate change. And Tony played an instrumental role in developing our industry’s united strategy and targets on climate change. I look forward to working closely with David in the coming year to meet our growing challenges with continued strong industry leadership as we approach COP-16,” said Bisignani.
IATA also announced that the Board of Governors agreed to appoint Peter Hartman, CEO of KLM, to serve as Chairman following Bronczek’s term. The announcements were made as the 66th IATA Annual General Meeting and World Air Transport Summit concluded in Berlin today. The 600 industry leaders gathered for the event discussed the industry’s most important issues, with executive briefing sessions on the environment and ways to manage through the crisis.
Legendary Physicist and Aerospace Pioneer Simon Ramo Receives Goddard Memorial Trophy, National Space Club’s Highest Honor
REDONDO BEACH, Calif., March 3, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Simon Ramo, an engineering pioneer who enabled the United States to become a world leader in space technology and its applications, has been chosen to receive the Dr. Robert H. Goddard Memorial Trophy, the National Space Club’s preeminent award. Ramo co-founded TRW, one of the country’s premier defense electronics corporations which was acquired by Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) in 2002 and is now part of Northrop Grumman’s Aerospace Systems sector.
The Goddard Memorial Trophy recognizes significant contribution to United States leadership in the field of rocketry and astronautics. According to the National Space Club, Ramo was chosen for his “lifetime of engineering and scientific leadership and achievement that has made an unparalleled impact on our nation’s space programs. Among his many accomplishments are many critical early space programs including intercontinental ballistic missiles, the Thor, Atlas and Titan rockets, Project Mercury, Pioneer 1, VIKING 1 and 2, and the Lunar Excursion Model Descent Engine.”
Born in Utah in 1913, Simon Ramo earned a doctorate degree, magna cum laude, from the California Institute of Technology at 23 years of age. He started his career in General Electric’s Research Laboratories where he was the first in the U.S. to produce electromagnetic pulses at microwave frequencies at the kilowatt level, which are basic to radar. When World War II ended, Ramo accepted an offer from Howard Hughes to create a new entity for military electronics and guided missiles. All U.S. military combat aircraft depended on fire control, radar and guided missiles built by Hughes Aircraft where Ramo was responsible for research and development, engineering and manufacturing.
In 1953, Ramo left Hughes to co-found the Ramo-Wooldridge Corporation and was asked to provide the technical staff for President Eisenhower’s unprecedented crash effort to develop a U.S. intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). With Ramo leading the project, the U.S. successfully attained an operational ICBM capability ahead of the Soviet Union.
Ramo’s books on science, engineering and management are used in universities throughout the world and have been translated into eight languages. His book on electromagnetic fields and waves has been the leading text for physicists and electrical engineers for over 50 years.
A year before the USSR’s “Sputnik” launch, Ramo created Space Technology Laboratories (STL) as a subsidiary of Ramo-Wooldridge Corp. STL was the first U.S.company to receive a contract from NASA for a spacecraft, the Pioneer series. Pioneer 1 was the first spacecraft to reach the outer planets and the first to go beyond the solar system into deep space.
Ramo was awarded the National Medal of Science by President Jimmy Carter and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the country’s highest civilian award, from President Ronald Reagan. The recipient of numerous other awards and honorary university doctorates, he was the youngest founding member of the National Academy of Engineering, and is now its only living founder.
The awards will be presented at the 54th Annual Robert H. Goddard Memorial Dinner in the Washington Hilton Hotel on April 1, 2011. Gary Ervin, Northrop Grumman corporate vice president and president of Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems, will accept the award on Ramo’s behalf.
JAL Fights going Belly Up
The formerly state-owned Japan Airlines appears to be planning to file for bankruptcy protection in advance of a restructuring of debt. From April to September, JAL lost 1.5 billion dollars and is anticipating additional governmental assistance to the tune of several billion dollars, as well as JAL’s request for several hundred billions worth of loan forgiveness.
Negotiations between Dutch KLM and US Delta indicate possible future alliances.
Look for an official JAL announcement on Jan 19th.

Watch plane wing catch fire during terrifying landing: ‘Almost just died!’
A passenger captured the terrifying moments a flight in Canada had a crash landing recently.

Survivor of Azal plane crash describes harrowing experience
“They always said that those who God protects won’t be burned by fire. This time I saw with my own eyes how the Almighty protected us,” Azernews reports citin Nurullah Sirajov, a survivor of the plane crash near Aktau city in Kazakhstan, said in a video interview with local media Report.