3:45PM AST Update - Islands Of the Lesser Antilles urged to brace for Tropical Storm Force winds or higher

Bridgetown, Barbados 26th September 2016

A broad area of low pressure located approximately 930 miles to the southeast of Barbados continues to become more organized as it moves west-northwestward at around 15 to 20 miles per hour. Further development is expected within the next 12 to 48 hours and will subsequently become Tropical Storm Matthew once development continues as projected. Hurricane hunters have been dispatched to the area and are expected to fly into the storm late Tuesday Afternoon. Residents of the following countries are urged to closely monitor their local meteorological offices for subsequent updates for this system.

Barbados
Trinidad & Tobago
Grenada
St.Vincent and the Grenadines
St.Lucia
Martinique


Invest 97L
As of 18:00 UTC Sep 26, 2016:

Location: 9.9°N 48.6°W
Maximum Winds: 25 kt  Gusts: 35 kt
Minimum Central Pressure: 1008 mb
Environmental Pressure: 1010 mb
Radius of Circulation: 200 NM
Radius of Maximum Wind: 80 NM

Latest Alert From the National Hurricane Center

1. Showers and thunderstorms associated with a broad area of low
pressure pressure located about 950 miles east-southeast of the
Windward Islands have increased and become slightly better
organized since yesterday.  Environmental conditions remain
conducive for development, and a tropical depression is likely to
form during the next day or two while the system moves westward to
west-northwestward at 15 to 20 mph.  Interests in the eastern and
central Caribbean Sea, including the northern coast of South
America, should monitor the progress of this system.  Regardless of
development, heavy rains and strong gusty winds, possibly to
tropical storm force, are expected to spread over the Windward
Islands and portions of the southern Lesser Antilles beginning
late Tuesday or Wednesday. An Air Force Hurricane Hunter aircraft is
scheduled to investigate this disturbance on Tuesday afternoon.
* Formation chance through 48 hours...high...70 percent
* Formation chance through 5 days...high...90 percent

Please remember in making decisions always consult your local meterological

office for updated and accurate information.

Notes:

>>>To avoid the long lines preceding a Tropical Storm/ Hurricane....

stay updated with your local Meteorological office

and news broadcasting companies and try to stock up on the necessary

 supplies days ahead of the storm as it will avoid 

the hassle and injury involved with crowded supermarkets and stores.

>>>Basic Disaster Supplies Kit










Recommended Supplies 


A basic emergency supply kit could include the following recommended items:

Water, one gallon of water per person per day for at least three days, for drinking and sanitation
Food, at least a three-day supply of non-perishable food
Battery-powered or hand crank radio and a NOAA Weather Radio with tone alert and extra batteries for both
Flashlight and extra batteries
First aid kit
Whistle to signal for help
Dust mask to help filter contaminated air and plastic sheeting and duct tape to shelter-in-place
Moist towelettes, garbage bags and plastic ties for personal sanitation
Wrench or pliers to turn off utilities
Manual can opener for food
Local maps
Cell phone with chargers, inverter or solar charger

3:45PM AST Update - Islands Of the Lesser Antilles urged to brace for Tropical Storm Force winds or higher

Bridgetown, Barbados 26th September 2016

A broad area of low pressure located approximately 930 miles to the southeast of Barbados continues to become more organized as it moves west-northwestward at around 15 to 20 miles per hour. Further development is expected within the next 12 to 48 hours and will subsequently become Tropical Storm Matthew once development continues as projected. Hurricane hunters have been dispatched to the area and are expected to fly into the storm late Tuesday Afternoon. Residents of the following countries are urged to closely monitor their local meteorological offices for subsequent updates for this system.

Barbados
Trinidad & Tobago
Grenada
St.Vincent and the Grenadines
St.Lucia
Martinique



Invest 97L
As of 18:00 UTC Sep 26, 2016:

Location: 9.9°N 48.6°W
Maximum Winds: 25 kt  Gusts: 35 kt
Minimum Central Pressure: 1008 mb
Environmental Pressure: 1010 mb
Radius of Circulation: 200 NM
Radius of Maximum Wind: 80 NM

Latest Alert From the National Hurricane Center

1. Showers and thunderstorms associated with a broad area of low
pressure pressure located about 950 miles east-southeast of the
Windward Islands have increased and become slightly better
organized since yesterday.  Environmental conditions remain
conducive for development, and a tropical depression is likely to
form during the next day or two while the system moves westward to
west-northwestward at 15 to 20 mph.  Interests in the eastern and
central Caribbean Sea, including the northern coast of South
America, should monitor the progress of this system.  Regardless of
development, heavy rains and strong gusty winds, possibly to
tropical storm force, are expected to spread over the Windward
Islands and portions of the southern Lesser Antilles beginning
late Tuesday or Wednesday. An Air Force Hurricane Hunter aircraft is
scheduled to investigate this disturbance on Tuesday afternoon.
* Formation chance through 48 hours...high...70 percent
* Formation chance through 5 days...high...90 percent

Please remember in making decisions always consult your local meterological

office for updated and accurate information.

Notes:

>>>To avoid the long lines preceding a Tropical Storm/ Hurricane....

stay updated with your local Meteorological office

and news broadcasting companies and try to stock up on the necessary

 supplies days ahead of the storm as it will avoid 

the hassle and injury involved with crowded supermarkets and stores.

>>>Basic Disaster Supplies Kit










Recommended Supplies 


A basic emergency supply kit could include the following recommended items:

Water, one gallon of water per person per day for at least three days, for drinking and sanitation
Food, at least a three-day supply of non-perishable food
Battery-powered or hand crank radio and a NOAA Weather Radio with tone alert and extra batteries for both
Flashlight and extra batteries
First aid kit
Whistle to signal for help
Dust mask to help filter contaminated air and plastic sheeting and duct tape to shelter-in-place
Moist towelettes, garbage bags and plastic ties for personal sanitation
Wrench or pliers to turn off utilities
Manual can opener for food
Local maps
Cell phone with chargers, inverter or solar charger

Hurricane Center Urges Governments of the Lesser Antilles to "closely monitor this system"

Bridgetown 25th September 2016
A tropical system which developed just west of the African coast is steadily moving westward at around 20 mph . Models have been showing this storm will past roughly south of Barbados and are subject to change. Additionally, the National Hurricane Center has given this system an 80% chance of development into a named storm within the next 1-2 days. This means islands such as Barbados, St.Lucia, Grenada, Trinidad & Tobago, Antigua, Martinique , St.Vincent, Dominica and Guadeloupe , as well as Montserrat should closely monitor this storm as tropical storm force winds or higher can be expected within the week. Below is the current satellite loop for the system and is updated automatically.

Invest 97L (system is not strong enough to be named)
As of 12:00 UTC Sep 25, 2016:

Location: 8.2°N 37.7°W
Maximum Winds: 20 kt  Gusts: N/A
Minimum Central Pressure: 1012 mb
Environmental Pressure: 1014 mb
Radius of Circulation: 150 NM
Radius of Maximum Wind: 80 NM

British Airways flight from LAX to Heathrow was forced to divert to Iceland after off-duty cabin crew worker ‘slit their wrists’

A BRITISH Airways plane was diverted after a member of airline staff tried to kill himself at 38,000ft.

The cabin crew worker is understood to have slit his wrists in a cabin toilet on BA Flight 282 from Los Angeles to London.

There was horror on board the giant Airbus 380 when staff made the grisly discovery of their colleague.

It is not known what he used to cut himself. He was found slumped on the toilet seat after executive passengers noticed the cubicle had been locked for a long time.

Emergency medical help was given to the off-duty steward and the plane diverted to Iceland.

One British Airways worker told The Blog: “This was a terrible incident, everyone was upset.

“There was blood and tears. It was truly shocking.”

The plane was full of Hollywood executives headed for the Cannes Film Festival.

Stan Rosenfield, a publicist whose clients include George Clooney, told how one of the toilets was locked for ages.

He said: “Earlier, I remember going to the bathroom and it said occupied.

“I didn’t feel like going to another section. A little while later, the same thing happened, so I just went to another bathroom.

“Then there were a series of beeps — I’ve never heard anything like it. All the flight attendants converged in the galley where the bathroom was and drew the curtain.”

A flight attendant told the passenger sitting next to Rosenfield – in Cannes to join Clooney for the premiere of his movie Money Monster – that a man had been found slumped in the toilet.

He was said to have locked the door before cutting his wrists.

The aircraft took off 20 minutes late from California at 3:50pm local time (11:50pm GMT) on Monday and was due to land at London Heathrow at 10am Tuesday.

The Airbus A388 eventually landed in the Icelandic capital Reykjavik at 7:44am.

The BA worker was immediately rushed to hospital.

The plane then departed Reykjavik just over two hours later and was en-route back to London where it landed at around 1:20pm.

Film and music executives from US giants Fox and Sony were on the flight.

Mr Rosenfield told the Hollywood Reporter: “It’s very upsetting in retrospect when you consider what was going down.

“Apparently, they knocked down the bathroom door when there was no response, or they had a key.”

Mr Rosenfield, along with other business-class customers, was interviewed on touchdown by police about anything they might have seen.

He said: “I asked the officer if he was okay. He said he had been discharged.”

British Airways declined to comment on the man’s condition and insisted on referring to him as a “customer”

An airline spokesman said: “Our Los Angeles to Heathrow service was diverted to Iceland so that a customer could receive medical assistance.

“The customer was taken to a hospital locally and the flight continued to Heathrow after a two-hour delay.”

The BA suicide worker is understood to have been discharged from hospital.

One scared woman had taken to social media after learning that the flight with her parents onboard had been diverted.

Twitter user @beccay216 tweeted: “@British_Airways any reason why flight BA282 LAX-Heathrow was diverted to Reykjavik? Worried for my parents. Will they be departing soon?”

But she was relieved when the airline responded posting: “@beccay216 Hi Rebecca. The flight was diverted due a passenger requiring medical assistance. The flight is due to arrive in to Heathrow at 13.23 today. I’m sorry for the delay to their flight.”

A relived Rebecca replied: “@British_Airways thanks for this I completely understand I am just glad they are safe. I see they are back in the air now.”

BOEING AND AIRBUS MAY REPORT - Airbus gaining speed but plagued with problems

Airbus (EADSY) deliveries are down this year as Boeing (BA) is gaining speed.

Airbus delivered 177 planes from January to April behind Boeing’s 230 deliveries. Airbus has seen slow deliveries of its new A320neo and A350 aircraft.

Boeing shares climbed 2.1% to 134.91 in the stock market, moving aback above its 200-day moving average. Airbus shares were up 2.1% to 15.75.

The A320neos — which adds an acronym at the end of its name to denote a “new engine option” — have been plagued with problems on those very motors from Pratt & Whitney, a division ofUnited Technologies (UTX). Meanwhile, the A350s have issues with their cabin equipment. Airbus has only delivered six A320neos and six A350s so far this year.

United Tech shares rose 2.2%.

April orders were up for Airbus, helping push the European aerospace giant to 117 orders between January and April. But Boeing still leads with 174 gross orders.

Last month, Boeing reported a 4.3% drop in first-quarter commercial deliveries to 176 planes on lower demand for its larger 767 and 747 jets. Its backlog includes 5,700 commercial orders valued at $480 billion. But it’s been losing market share to rival Airbus.

Airbus "shooting for the stars" with the Perlan 2 Space Glider

It’s been 40 years since an American spy plane, the Lockheed SR-71 “Blackbird,” flew 85,069 feet above the surface of the earth, setting a record for sustained altitude that stands today.

But records are made to be broken, and it looks like the Blackbird’s is about to fall.

A new aircraft, the Airbus Perlan 2, is expected to be soaring soon at an altitude of 90,000 feet – 17 miles above the earth, nearly a full mile above the Blackbird’s record – where the temperature is 94 degrees below zero and the air pressure is less than 2 percent of what it is at sea level, almost as thin as the atmosphere on Mars.

But, unlike the Blackbird, a powerful beast that also holds the absolute speed record of 2,193.2 miles per hour – more than three times the speed of sound – the Perlan 2 will achieve speeds of only about 400 mph.

Want to know why? 

IT HAS NO ENGINE !

The Perlan 2 is a glider – a pressurized sailplane that weighs less than a ton, has an 85-foot wingspan and is powered by air currents alone. Though it is designed to carry a pilot and co-pilot most efficiently at 50,000 feet, its designers plan to take it to 90,000 feet to explore the science of giant mountain waves that help create the ozone hole.

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JetBlue's Newest Barbados Route From South Florida Now on Sale

New Daily Round-Trip Service Connects Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood, Fla. and Barbados Beginning April 28, 2016

BRIDGETOWN, BB--- JetBlue (NASDAQ: JBLU) announced today that its new nonstop service between Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL) and Barbados' Grantley Adams International Airport (BGI) is now out for sale. JetBlue will operate once daily round-trip service between the two cities beginning Thursday, April 28, 2016, subject to receipt of government operating authority. Introductory fares are available beginning today starting at $99 one way (a).

The new route, announced in October by JetBlue President & CEO Robin Hayes at the Caribbean Tourism Organization's State of the Industry Conference, will offer customers a convenient direct link to South Florida. It will also allow for even more convenient connection options to Barbados from across the existing JetBlue network, including western U.S. destinations like Los Angeles, San Francisco and Las Vegas.

"Barbados has proven to be one of the most popular destinations in our expanding Caribbean network and we are so pleased to offer JetBlue customers even more ways to get to this great destination," said Dave Clark, vice president network planning, JetBlue. "This route not only reaffirms our commitment to Barbados, but also to our Fort Lauderdale focus city where JetBlue's presence continues to grow with an expanding list of nonstop flights."

This year JetBlue will operate nearly 100 daily flights at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport to more than 40 destinations including 8 new destinations in 2015 from the South Florida focus city with three more beginning in 2016.

JetBlue first began operating flights to Barbados in 2009 from New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK). The airline launched service between Boston Logan International Airport (BOS) and Barbados this month and also introduced its acclaimed Mint experience on routes between New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) and Barbados.

FLL-BGI Flight #385	BGI-FLL Flight #386
8:00 a.m. - 11:49 a.m.	12:45 p.m. - 4:50 p.m.