I got this from the roleigh_for_web mail listserv and have been unable to confirm. What do you think?

>SUNDAY TIMES 09.01.2000 > >http://www.sunday-times.co.uk/news/pages/Sunday-Times/frontp >age.html?999 > >'Millennium bug' hits aircraft > >A SUSPECTED millennium bug fault has struck a British >Airways jet. The Boeing 777, en route to Dubai from London, >was stranded on the runway at Heathrow yesterday after the >cockpit computer crashed and defied attempts to restart it. >BA said the incident was just a glitch. Up to 200 passengers >waited for five hours before the aircraft was replaced with >another Boeing 777. > > > >------- End of forwarded message -------

-- PA Engineer (PA Engineer@longtimelurker.com), January 09, 2000

Answers

These are the contents of the 'News in Brief' section of the London SUNDAY TIMES for January 9th, 2000. If you have difficulty accessing the current edition, go to this LINK and select January 9th as the edition you wish to view]

January 9 2000 BRITAIN

French to renew lorry blockade

MILITANT French transport unions plan to cause renewed disruption at Channel ports from tomorrow as lorry drivers block British and European competitors in protest at a 35-hour working week being imposed in France. The chief agitators behind the new strikes are Reni Petit, president of the FNTR road transport union, and Jean-Paul Deneuville, his secretary-general. Deneuville said that up to 3,000 French lorries were expected to form the blockade.

IRA to order dumping of arms

THE IRA is prepared to order its members to "dump arms" as a prelude to decommissioning, according to sources in Northern Ireland. The terrorist organisation will make the offer this week to John De Chastelain, the retired Canadian general overseeing decommissioning. He is expected to give a start date, possibly in the week beginning Monday, January 31.

'Millennium bug' hits aircraft

A SUSPECTED millennium bug fault has struck a British Airways jet. The Boeing 777, en route to Dubai from London, was stranded on the runway at Heathrow yesterday after the cockpit computer crashed and defied attempts to restart it. BA said the incident was just a glitch. Up to 200 passengers waited for five hours before the aircraft was replaced with another Boeing 777.

Pbti warning

THE health department has advised visitors to the Continent not to eat Rillets or Langotines pbti. The warning comes after two people died in France of suspected listeria poisoning from eating pbti.

Seven lottery bids SEVEN bidders intend to bid to run the national lottery from next year. They include Sir Richard Branson. Camelot, the current operator, has teamed up with the Post Office in its attempt to retain the licence.

Pigeon shoot death

A field sports enthusiast accidentally killed his friend with a shotgun during a pigeon shoot near Stapleford Tawney in Essex. The 34- year-old victim, who had not been named, died instantly from head wounds.

Welsh MP resigns

THE Plaid Cymru MP Cynog Dafis is quitting parliament to concentrate on his membership of the Welsh assembly. A by-election in his Ceredigion seat in west Wales is likely next month.

Border curbs

BELGIUM is to tighten its border controls to keep out illegal immigrants during a temporary amnesty for those already in the country.

Twins for MP

TESS KINGHAM, 36, Labour MP for Gloucester, has given birth to twins. The boy and girl are called Karl and Natasha.

Seeing the light

THE council in Hove, East Sussex, has moved its sunshine measuring instrument out of the shade after a resident complained it was giving bafflingly low readings.

Familiar voice

A MIDDLE-AGED Italian man from Trento who called an erotic chatline discovered that the woman at the other end of the line was his wife.

Coma mystery

IRISH and Peruvian authorities are trying to identify a man in a coma in Lima. He was injured in a hang-gliding accident. He is thought to be Irish having uttered the word "Patrick".

Animal attraction

BRIGITTE BARDOT, the actress, has offered to help the Russians draw up animal welfare laws.

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[ENDS]

-- John Whitley (jwhitley@inforamp.net), January 09, 2000.

Thanks for the help!

-- PA Engineer (PA Engineer@longtimelurker.com), January 09, 2000.

Who says it's a Y2k bug?

The fact that another aircraft of the same model was able to operate contradicts this.

Mikey2k

-- Mikey2k (mikey2k@he.wont.eat.it), January 09, 2000.

Just because another aircraft of the same model worked means nothing - the chipsets inside the computer may have been different, causing one to fail and one not. Seem to have been several aircraft crashes the past few weeks that cannot be explained...

-- Keith (cherrygrovetech@yahoo.com), January 09, 2000.

Oh Mickey2k, you are soooo right. Such a sharp man you are. C'mon somebody, give Mickey2K a cookie for being so intellectual and so, um, contrary ? Wanker.

-- Suprise (cantcha@guess.who), January 09, 2000.

The cost of developing and certifying software for avionics applications can exceed that of developing the hardware on which it runs.

Keith, unless you can give me an example of two chipsets which are software compatible and one of which has a hardware calendar which is non-Y2k compliant, I'll have to say that you are speculating. Also, what are the other unexplainable aircraft crashes you mention?

I'd also want to understand why such a date problem would cause the computer to crash. Not saying it couldn't happen, but I seriously doubt it. And I'd need more data than this newspaper article to accept it. The airline didn't say it was Y2k related, so WHO is the person close to the situation who suspects it as a Y2k bug? The reporter?

I think that some people want Y2k bugs to surface to sharpen their own axe. While I think that Y2k bugs will surface, I'd rather they didn't as I like my modern lifestyle. I think that most failures will be due to the normal things-going-wrong and only a minority will be due to Y2k. Surprise, just because I'm offered something doesn't mean that I'll eat it. (Get it?) Since you're asking for a guess as to whom you are, I'd say one of those predicting marshall(sic) law on Dec. 28th.

Mikey2k

-- Mikey2k (mikey2k@he.wont.eat.it), January 09, 2000.

Err, might I add my two cents of non knowledge, but over twelve months ago, maybe eighteen, I called a programmer, who had programmed in the 80's on a.c, who after thought, said, yes there might be a problem in the landing gear, and in the infra-red. Their words, not mine, goes along with the hazards of Fluoride. I didn't dream it up, I didn't write it, I asked, or read it. Not my words, but the words of someone, who had the experience or expertise. While you are at it, try the different search engines on Fluoride, and open your mind.

-- God Help (us@allfortruth.com), January 10, 2000.