Ballantyne Transportation Service | Helicopter crashes in Seattle, killing 2

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                   Ballantyne Transportation Service

By : John
Source : philly.com
Posted By : (450) 669-1886

SEATTLE - A news helicopter crashed into a street and burst into flames Tuesday near Seattle's Space Needle, killing two people on board, badly injuring a man in a car and sending plumes of black smoke over the city during the morning commute.

The chopper was taking off from a helipad on KOMO-TV's roof when it went down at a busy downtown intersection and hit three vehicles, starting them on fire and spewing burning fuel down the street.

Kristopher Reynolds, a contractor working nearby, said he saw the helicopter lift about five feet off the low-rise building before it started to tilt. The chopper looked like it was trying to correct itself when it took a dive.

"Next thing I know, it went into a ball of flames," Reynolds said.

Witnesses reported hearing unusual noises coming from the helicopter as it took off after refueling, said Dennis Hogenson, deputy regional chief with the National Transportation Safety Board in Seattle. They also said the aircraft rotated before it crashed near the Seattle Center campus, home to the Space Needle, restaurants and performing arts centers.

Mayor Ed Murray noted the normally bustling Seattle Center was relatively quiet at the time. Had it been a busier day, "this would have been a much larger tragedy," he said.

Murray added the city will review its policies about permitting helicopter pads in response to the crash.

Investigators were working to document the scene and clear the wreckage, and will examine all possibilities as they determine what caused the crash, Hogenson said. A preliminary analysis is expected in five days, followed by a fuller report with a probable cause in up to a year.

KOMO identified the pilot as Gary Pfitzner, of Issaquah. The other man killed in the crash was Bill Strothman, a former longtime KOMO photographer. Both men were working for Cahokia, Ill.-based Helicopters Inc., the leasing company that operates the Eurocopter AS350 helicopter.

KOMO is a block from the Space Needle and is surrounded by high-rise office and apartment buildings. Workers at the station rushed to the window when they heard the crash. KOMO reporters were then in the position of covering their colleagues' deaths.

One of them, Denise Whitaker, said on the street shortly after the crash: "It is definitely a tragic scene down here. It is a difficult time for all of us this morning."

Source : philly.com | Helicopter crashes in Seattle, killing 2

Huntersville Transportation Service | Gravity cameraman collects Hollywood honour

Huntersville Transportation Service | Call: (704)-493-3671

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By:John
Source: bbc.com
Posted By:  www.access-clt.com
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The chief cameraman on Oscar-winning film Gravity has won an award for his work at a ceremony in Los Angeles.

Peter Taylor was named camera operator of the year ahead of a field of nominees including cameramen who worked on American Hustle and Saving Mr Banks.

The Society of Camera Operators (SOC) also paid tribute to Sarah Jones, who was killed by a train in the US while working on the film Midnight Rider.

The 27-year-old's parents accepted an honorary membership on her behalf.
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Her father Richard said: "I know she is looking down with a smile. Her enthusiasm is contagious and I hope it lives on."

The crew of the film had laid down a bed on a railway line in Georgia before the collision, which injured several other members of the crew.

The SOC's David Fredrick urged the 500 people attending the awards to sign a pledge calling for greater safety on film sets.

In accepting the award for his work on Gravity, Peter Taylor dedicated it to the film's camera and grip crew.

He also thanked the film's cinematographer, Emmanuel Lubezki, for employing him.

Lubezki was among members of the film's team who were honoured at the Academy Awards for their contributions.

The film, which charts an accident in outer space and stars Sandra Bullock and George Clooney, won technical prizes for film editing and sound mixing among its haul of seven statuettes.

Its most high profile prize was best director for Alfonso Cuaron.

The SOC awarded the best camera operator in television to Don Devine for Mad Men.

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Source: www.bbc.com/entertainment-arts

Charlotte Hotels Transportation Service | Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain withdraw envoys from Qatar

                                                                                              

                                                                                                                   Charlotte Hotels Transportation Service

Charlotte Hotels Transportation Service

By-Adam
Source-edition.cnn.com
Posted by- www.access-clt.com


(CNN) -- Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain announced Wednesday the withdrawal of their ambassadors from Qatar because Doha had not implemented an agreement among Gulf Arab countries not to interfere in each others' internal affairs.

The three countries, which are all part of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) along with Qatar, announced the unprecedented move in a joint statement.

They said GCC members had signed a deal November 23 that included "a security agreement and a commitment to the principles that ensure non-interference in the internal affairs of any of the GCC countries, either directly or indirectly, and not to support any activity that would threaten the security and stability of any of the GCC countries from organizations or individuals, including support for hostile media."

GCC foreign ministers met in Riyadh Tuesday to try to persuade Qatar to implement the agreement, the statement said.

"Saudi Arabia, UAE and Bahrain hoped that the agreement will be implemented, however, after more than three months after the signing of the agreement, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Bahrain feel that the State of Qatar did not take the necessary actions to put it into practice," a statement on the Charlotte Hotels Transportation Service Saudi Foreign Ministry Facebook page said.

"Therefore Saudi Arabia, UAE and Bahrain regret to announce that they will take what they deem to be the appropriate steps to protect the security and stability of their nations by withdrawing their ambassadors from Qatar."

Tensions

Qatar expressed "regret and surprise" at the decision and said it would not reciprocate with the same move, a cabinet statement published on the state Qatar News Agency said.

It said it would remain committed to "preserving and protecting the security and stability" of the GCC countries.

Tensions between Qatar and the rest of the GCC have increased in recent years.

Wednesday's announcement is the clearest sign yet of a rift between Gulf Arab nations and Qatar, a perceived supporter of Islamist groups such as Charlotte Hotels Transportation Service, the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and elsewhere in the Middle East -- which are viewed with suspicion or outright hostility by some fellow GCC members. Qatar denounced last year's ouster of Egypt's Islamist President Mohamed Morsy, who hails from the Brotherhood.

The GCC, formed in 1981, consists of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Oman.


Source- edition.cnn.com/world/meast/gulf-qatar-ambassadors

Transportation Service Charlotte | Apple announces new in-dash system

Transportation Service Charlotte

Transportation Service Charlotte

By- Bruce Simon
Source- mercurynews.com
Posted by-access-clt.com

In another move along the road to weaving smartphone technology into your driving experience, Apple announced Monday that select car manufacturers will soon begin offering CarPlay, a system that brings iPhone features and its Siri voice-activation system right into the dashboard.

The move, announced at the Geneva International Motor Show, is an aggressive foray by Apple in the growing battle with Google and others to make mapping, messaging and music as much a part of the automotive zeitgeist as honking the horn. With 80 million new vehicles sold each year, the automobile represents a potential gold mine for any tech company that can dominate the space. Earlier this year, Google announced its Open Automotive Alliance to work with automakers to bring Android technology to cars.

Apple says CarPlay will allow users to access the iPhone's features by touching icons on an in-dash console or activating Siri through a button on the steering wheel. Billed by Apple as "the best iPhone experience on four wheels," CarPlay will debut later this year in vehicles from Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz and Volvo, with other carmakers such as Ford and Honda joining the pack "down the road," according to a news release.

"CarPlay has been designed from the ground up to provide drivers with an incredible experience using their iPhone in the car," Greg Joswiak, Apple's vice president of iPhone and iOS product marketing, said in a news release. "iPhone users always want their content at their fingertips and CarPlay lets drivers use their iPhone in the car with minimized distraction."

Apple's announcement raised more questions than it answered. Most significant, it's unclear whether the new cars that feature CarPlay will also allow a driver to use an Android or Windows device, or whether a buyer might select one system over another as an add-on option. While Apple did say that CarPlay would work with a variety of third-party apps, including Spotify and Beats Radio, it did not say whether only iOS-generated content would appear on the console.
Apple’s new CarPlay system will integrate iPhone features, including Siri, into select cars. (Apple photo)
Apple's new CarPlay system will integrate iPhone features, including Siri, into select cars. (Apple photo)
Some news reports said the technology would work only with an iPhone, but Apple wouldn't comment. And while a Volvo spokeswoman said it was too early "to discuss such specifics," the company's news release seemed to suggest the new XC90 SUV would handle only iOS devices.

Volvo said CarPlay at first will require the user to plug the iPhone in with a cord, but that Wi-Fi connections are "coming in the near future."

CarPlay is essentially a re-branding of Apple's operating system iOS in the Car, a product first unveiled last year at the Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco.

"This is another big step in connecting different technologies together," said analyst Avi Greengart with Current Analysis. "If you bought a new car in the past few years, you could connect your smartphone to the sound system but it was often a lousy connection. With CarPlay, Apple is trying to provide that connection in a smoother and more standardized way."

The reason, said Greengart, is to stake a claim in a burgeoning new profit center.

"We're clearly moving toward a digital car," he said, "and the dashboard is the main focus."

Once CarPlay rolls out in cars with Apple's initial three partners, 13 other manufacturers expect to feature the technology in the future, including Ford and GM.

Noticeably absent from the third-party apps that CarPlay will accommodate is Pandora Media, the Oakland-based streaming-radio pioneer that has worked hard to integrate its product with automobiles.

"At this time, Pandora is not integrated with Apple CarPlay," Pandora said in a statement, pointing out that "there are more than 130 vehicle models that include a native Pandora integration available from 26 major auto brands."

Contact Patrick May at 408-920-5689; follow him at Twitter.com/patmaymerc.

About Apple's CarPlay

Features: Make calls, use Maps, listen to music, access messages.
Controls: Touch the in-dash console or push-and-hold steering-wheel button to activate Siri.
Devices: Works with Lightning-enabled iPhone 5S, iPhone 5C and iPhone 5
Partners: Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz and Volvo, followed later by others, including BMW Group, Ford, General Motors and Honda.
Third-party apps: Spotify, Beats Radio, iHeartRadio and Stitcher.
Debut: 2014

Source-mercurynews.com/apple-announces-new-dash-system-bring-iphone-features