May 19  2006
Recent OZ media attention has been focussing on the Governments handling of contracts for the Navy's Sea Sprite helicopters and grounding of the aircraft due to technical problems with software that made the choppers unsafe to fly in conditions other than VFR (visual flight rules)
 
Reports have the Government needing an extra $100M to rectify the problem or scrap the project now worth an estimated $1 billion

News Desk Comment

If you think that's bad enough for OZ'es spare a thought for the poor Canadian Taxpayer
 
Over the past 3 years the Canadian Air Force spent $39M training 145 'ghost' pilots that did not exist...
..."Canada's National Defence signed a 20-year $3.4 billion contract in 1998 and the auditor general found that in 2002 the department had already lost $89 million in training costs because the facility is not capable of meeting its target"

 May 16  2006
258 passengers and crew on board a Lufthansa Boeing 747 had to disembark the aircraft after the nose-wheel collapsed onto the 'push-back' tow-truck

   
The Boeing 747-400 was preparing to depart Frankfurt airport for New Delhi when the 'mishap' occurred ...no reports are available on the outcome of the tow-truck or driver