a": Shih issue: (Y Tax and fare increases for 2015 ( A look at the Canucks’ 2014 (Y Food waste bins mandatory January 1 And more! Tes » Cause of crash likely due in part to poor weather Angela Espinoza "News Editor | NM news @theotherpress.ca n December 28, Indonesia AirAsia Flight 8501 crashed; the plane was carrying 162, passengers and crew. At least 30 have since been confirmed dead, with the number likely to grow as search operations continue. The plane, which was headed to Singapore, crashed in the Java Sea. In the week since, search teams have been attempting to recover the black box, but have only found large : pieces of debris, including : “chunks” of the plane. Bloomberg revealed on : January 3 that the flight did : not have permission to fly to : Singapore. In addition, the : crash has since been attributed : to bad weather, including : freezing rains. Several other : flights were in the air at the time : : Flight 8501 was, and a recording : from air traffic control has : revealed that the pilot requested : : permission to climb toahigher : : altitude. Bloomberg reported : that permission was eventually : granted to the pilot, although : there is speculation that it was too late by then. As other flights did not : crash that day, recovery of the : plane’s parts is essential to : learning whether or not the : crash was partly due to an issue : with the plane itself: While the : weather is considered to bea : factor, no reports have stated : that the crash was solely a : result of the weather, although : the Wall Street Journal has : claimed that “icing” may have contributed greatly. Ina January 2 report by the Indonesia’s weather agency, : they’ve stated, “The most : probable weather phenomenon : was icing that can cause engine : damage.” The report itself also Have an idea for a story? Let us know! Contact: Angela Espinoza, News Editor Mi news@theotherpress.ca www.theotherpress.ca Search for AirAsia Flight 8501 victims, debris continues et a : states though that it “is not a : final decision about the cause of : ? the incident.” : on the airline but also on the But there also remains the question of why the plane : was permitted to fly that day : despite regulations stating : flights from Surabaya from : Singapore are not allowed : outside of Mondays, Tuesdays, : Thursdays, and Saturdays— : the plane flew on Sunday. In : addition to the tragedy of the : crash, the full cause of which is : unclear, AirAsia Indonesia may be subj ected to investigation for : which since March 2014 has still : not complying with their regular : : flight standards. Founder of Endau Analytics flight crew. : Shukor Yusof told Bloomberg that “the onus falls not only : regulator. “Somebody clearly didn’t do their job,” Yusof added. Despite rough weather : making searching in the Java : Sea difficult, there is hope : that more information will : be recovered, as the general : location of the plane is known. This incident follows the earlier disappearance of : Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, : not been located, along with : all 239 missing passengers and BC AirCare program comes to an end » What the change means for BC drivers Mercedes Deutscher Staff Writer wenty-two years after the BC AirCare program was initiated in 1992, the program ended on January 1. AirCare was dedicated towards reducing the air pollution caused by vehicles. As part of the AirCare program, any driver owning a vehicle was required to pass an their auto insurance if their vehicle was seven years or older. Drivers were responsible for the $45 inspection fee : that came as a result of the : program. In 2012, the BC Government announced that : the AirCare program would be : phased out by the end of 2014. : Over the course of the past : year, inspection rates dropped: : $2 per month for vehicles made : : after 1992, and $1 for vehicles : from 1991 or earlier. In a statement made by the : Ministry of Environment, they : emission test prior to renewing : indicated how successful the : program had proven to be over : its two decades of operation. : “Since the program began in : 1992, emissions from light-duty : : vehicles have decreased 89 per : cent from 149,300 tonnes to : an estimated 16,500 tonnes for : ” : 2014. The Ministry of Environment also stated that : adecreased test failure rate : and improved fuel efficiency : are other reasons the AirCare program is being removed. : In the past seven years, the : inspection failure rate has : dropped from 14 per cent to : seven per cent. AirCare has asked drivers : to have their vehicles repaired : if they are producing more > emission than is otherwise permitted, and asks the public : to assist in reporting vehicles : that pollute excessively. The discontinuation of AirCare also means that over : 100 BC Government and Service : : Employees Union (BCGEU) : members will lose their jobs. Dave Gourley, general : manager of AirCare, has been : an employee of AirCare since : the program’s inauguration. “I : think we all believed in what we : : were doing,” Gourley recounted : : to the Vancouver Sun. “We : always strived to make the : program as effective as it could : be. ... The main message here is : : that it was something that was : necessary at the time.” The Vancouver Sun also : reported in a December 30 : article that as part of AirCare’s legacy, the program is credited : for having “reduced vehicle : emissions by 31 per cent” over : the past 22 years. The program : was also credited with keeping : drivers more environmentally > aware. For now, drivers will be able to save money when they : go to renew their insurance. : However, drivers can expect an : average increase of $36 on their basic insurance plans due to the : removal of the program as a way : to help prevent monitor vehicle : emissions.