bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

sponsorType

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

Charlotte Parsons

Hong Kong Dragon Air has wrested the scepter away from Cathay Pacific in our 'Traumatising Pilots Mid-Flight' competition.

 Cathay management won the last award for sending one of their flight engineers an onboard message informing him he had been made redundant.

 But that was before a Dragonair captain received a message from the tower while approaching Chek Lap Kok airport.

 He was urged to contact ground staff on another frequency. It was urgent.

 He did as he was told, fearing a bomb scare.

 Instead, a voice informed him that his mother had just died.

 Was the pilot going to continue with his next flight that same evening, the voice asked?  If he was not, a standby crew would have to be called in.

 A Dragonair spokesman described the mum's-dead-can-you-work message as 'an isolated and unfortunate incident', adding that measures had been taken 'to ensure it doesn't happen again'.

 Wise move.

 The saga doesn't bode well for an airline that is always harping on about crew members being its 'most valuable asset'.

A crime wave has hit the beaches of Cheung Sha.

 However, don't worry.

 Hong Kong's Finest netted the felons the moment their activities were exposed.

 One of Lai See's myriad undercover agents was reading a book by the sea when a police vehicle disgorged a quartet of uniformed officers on to the beach.

 The enforcers swept past him, eyes patrolling the shoreline.

 Our hero was about to return to his reading when he suddenly had the uncomfortable feeling of being watched.

 He looked up to discover a female officer staring intently - at his sand-coloured swimming trunks.

 She finally tore her eyes away and marched off with her colleagues, leaving the bather vaguely confused, mystified and aroused.

 He later learned that his beach-blending shorts were the source of the policewoman's interest.

 The officers, it appears, were on Frolicking Nudist Patrol.

 They had ensnared four men cavorting in the buff on Lower Cheung Sha beach.

 The gang was arrested, clothed and charged with indecent exposure.

 Sounds like another police cover up.

During a recent stay in Tai Po's Nethersole Hospital, reader Nick Gripein was intrigued to find 'V-CD Services' on the directory of offices, wards and departments.

 Could it be that professional healers had turned to piracy as a lucrative sideline?  'A few weeks later, following a much publicised customs blitz on pirates, I returned to the hospital for a follow-up appointment,' Mr Gripein tells us.

 But it appeared the clinical pirates had covered their tracks.

 A new sign hung on the door.

 'Voluntary Community Development Services,' it said.

Things went a little left of centre at the North Korean Central News Agency yesterday.

 Oh, there was the usual collection of breaking news stories, such as 'Epic in praise of Kim Il-sung', 'Committees for remembering Kim Il-sung formed', 'Library of Kim Il-sung's feats off press', and of course 'Kim Il-sung's immortal poem carved'.

 But in the middle of this daily orgy of dead leader appreciation, one headline stood out: 'Many Triplets Born.'  Intriguing. It seems about 300 sets of triplets have been born in North Korea in the past five years.

 Of course, when an unusually large number of multiple births is recorded, an obvious question is raised: Was former President Kim Il-sung in favour of triplets?  Now that you mention it, it seems he was.

 'The President Kim Il-sung showed deep care and warm love for the triplets in his lifetime,' the news wire informs us.

 'General Secretary Kim Jong-il, who inherited his noble love, has sent them gifts of love to be handed down through generations.'  We are sure that is a relief for the people of North Korea.

 These days, they spend a lot of time fretting over whether or not the nation's triplets have received their souvenir gift sets.



Hong Kong’s Cathay reaches 3,400 pilots this year, with low resignation rate of 2.9%

Hong Kong’s Cathay ‘confident’ of hitting full capacity but union has doubts

Hong Kong must act fast to catch up with Shanghai, Shenzhen, Singapore in flying green

Hong Kong’s Cathay says sorry, removes Family Guy episode with Tiananmen ‘Tank Man’ scene

Cathay Pacific

Pilot stunned by Dragonair's missed approach