Airplane crash in Amsterdam

On the 25th of February, 2009, the Turkish Airlines Flight 1951 left Istanbul, Turkey, heading towards Amsterdam, the Netherlands, but instead of landing at Schiphol Airport, it crashed in the middle of a field, about 1.5 kilometers (a mile) before the runway. Nine people were killed, including the three pilots and one member of the cabin crew, and 86 passengers were injured.

Picture source from Wikipedia.

Crash Investigation

The plane's flight data have been recovered and sent to Paris to be analyzed by experts. Because there was no fire, it was speculated that the plane had some sort of fuel problem, but this was not the case.

Investigators revealed that a faulty altimeter played a big part in the crash. This caused an autopilot to drastically slow down the plane. The plane had been at 1950 foot when its left altimeter, the faulty one, registered an altitude of eight foot below sea level, according to Mr. Pieter van Vollenhoven.

"From the black box it appears that then the pilots immediately gave gas, full gas, however it was too late to recover," Mr. van Vollenhoven said.

Other accidents with Turkish Airlines

Since 1970 there have been nine other fatal incidents with the Turkish Airlines. On the third of March, 1974, Flight 981 crashed in France, and due to explosive decompression, killing all 346 people aboard. Before the Tenerife Airport disaster, it was the deadliest aircraft tragedy in history.

The accident prior to this one, on the 8th of January, 2003, was Flight 634, heading towards Diyarbakir, a city in south-eastern Turkey. The airplane crashed 900 meters before the runway. There were 75 passengers and five crew members on the plane. Only six survived the crash with serious injuries, but one of them, an infant, died the next morning.

Oscar for Heath Ledger

On the 22nd of February, 2009, Heath Ledger received an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor with his role as the Joker in The Dark Knight, becoming the second actor to win an Academy Award in an acting category posthumously, the first being Peter Finch, who won for the 1976's film, Network. Ledger's nomination was announced on the 22nd of January, 2009, the anniversary of his death. His parents and sister accepted the Oscar in his stead.

Short Biography

Born on the fourth of April 1979 in Perth, Western Australia, Ledger had his first acting experiences at the age of ten, in a school production, as Peter Pan. He graduated when he was sixteen and decided to go to Sydney, together with his childhood best friend, Trevor DiCarlo, when he was seventeen. The first film he played in was Clowning Around in 1992, an Australian family film, in which his role appeared in the final ten minutes as an orphan clown who delivers the closing lines. After that followed many different roles.

In 2005 he played in Brokeback Mountain as ranch hand Ennis Del Mar, and was nominated for an Oscar, making him the ninth youngest nominee for a Best Actor Oscar at the age of 26, and a BAFTA. On the set there he met and began dating actress Michelle Williams. Their daughter, Matilda Rose, was born on the 28th of October 2005 in New York City. Their relationship ended in the summer of 2007.

Ledger was found unconcious in his bed by his housekeeper, Teresa Solomon, and his masseuse, Diana Wolozin on the 22nd of Janurary, 2008, around 2:45 p.m. in his appartment in Manhattan. He was pronounced dead at 3:36 p.m.

The Dark Knight

The Dark Knight was released nearly six months after his death on the 16th of July, 2008. He was the first non-American actor to play the Joker. In preparation for the role he said, "I sat around in a hotel room in London for about a month, locked myself away, formed a little diary and experimented with voices". The Joker diary was filled with all sorts of things helpful for the Joker's background, among which a list of things the Joker would find funny (one of them was AIDS).

"The Joker, so far, is definitely the most fun I've had with any character," Ledger said. "He's just out of control -- no empathy, he's a sociopath, uh, a psychotic, mass-murdering clown. And, uh, I'm just thoroughly, thoroughly enjoying it. It's just exceeded any expectations I had of what the experience would be like."

And it shows. His performance was brilliant, absolutely stunning, keeping the viewers on the edge of their seats and glued to the screen.

His parents and sister said they were overwhelmed by the honour and respect he has been given by this award and that they are very proud to accept it on behalf of his daughter, Matilda.

Congratulations, Heath!