A British Airways plane carrying 76 passengers suffered a major electrical failure just after taking off, an official accident report said. In what accident investigators described as "a serious incident", the Airbus A319 lost a number of important systems having just left Heathrow for Budapest. The crew reported an audible "clunk" and the flight deck suddenly became very dark as the aircraft was approaching 20,000ft, said the report from the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB).

Heating devices are being blamed for three fires in a six-hour period Wednesday night into early Thursday, prompting state fire officials to urge residents to use caution as the winter season gets underway.

Another fire, this one on Sherwood Place in Ocean View. The fire started on the second floor of the 45 unit building. Fire officials determined that there was an electrical problem in one of the walls. It's an issue the city codes inspection office is also looking into.

Almost none of the 116 000 Amsterdam electricity poles are safe as they are not grounded. Solving this problem is the responsibility of the municipality which has not yet made any commitment to do so.

According to state wildlife official Sunil Kumar, the drunken pachyderm electrocution incident took place last Friday in Chandan Nukat, a village some 240km west of Meghalaya state's capital Shillong. Kumar said: "There would have been more casualties had the villagers not chased them away."

Staying safe inside your home can come down to some simple common sense precautions, Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative President Randy Hee said Friday.

According to the U.S. Fire Administration,* home electrical problems accounted for an estimated 67,800 fires and $868 million in property losses in 2003. Electrical fires also cause an estimated 485 deaths annually and injure almost 2,300 more individuals. For this reason, the Electrical Safety Foundation International (ESFI) suggests that homeowners consider installing AFCI protection in general purpose circuits throughout the home.

"No one thinks the fire is going to happen to them, and I don't know the exact statistics," said Donald McCullough of AFD. "But there's a fire fatality like every two-and-a-half hours in the United States, but because it's, you know, outside your media view, they think it's always happening somewhere else, somewhere else."

What is the purpose of surge protectors? I heard two of the recent fires in the area were caused by overloaded surge protectors. I have a new surge protector with six plug-ins.

Government statistics show that 10 to 20 people die and 190 are hurt annually by fires caused by faulty blankets.

A small electrical fire last month at the Falls Mill Residential Condominium complex sparked a wave of fire- and building-safety inspections that discovered numerous violations city officials are now ordering to be corrected.

Another domain where different cultures have a very different approach is electrical safety. Each time I travel to the US, in particular with my kids, I feel somewhat unsafe when I look at the electrical equipment there compared to what is routinely found in Europe.

Electrical Safety Answers

If an inexpensive electrical device were properly installed in every household, nearly 70 percent of the approximately 240 electrocutions that occur every year in the US would be prevented.

Now, in a bid to prevent a repeat of this tragedy, close friend Michelle Winfield is calling for all electrical and gas appliances at homes for sale to receive an independent inspection so their safety can be certified.

Central Maine Power says thieves who steal copper wire from its substations are putting electrical workers at risk.

MORE than 80 per cent of Londoners have had an electric shock in their own home. Dodgy electrical appliances are the chief culprit, accounting for more than a fifth of all shocks, and 17 per cent of Londoners got a jolt while using cutlery to unblock a toaster.

More or less nice cafés are abundant, as would be expected in a reasonably sized city, but in how many of these have I so far found access to electricity? One.