Small Businesses [ SMEs ] have no choice but to use the Cloud Computing

The cons of the Cloud are the same for all companies, but Small Businesses can't afford the traditional-IT alternative

What's interesting is that small and larger businesses cite the same complaints around the use of cloud-based platforms, particularly regarding the lack of control. Security is always a concern, but I've yet to hear about people running off with cloud data, even when it occurs daily in enterprises on traditional systems.

However, small businesses really have no choice but to use the cloud. A traditional approach to IT typically means a high overhead cost. Saddled with such costs, small businesses wouldn't be able to compete in a market where their counterparts are paying half as much on IT to chase same amount of revenue.

Thus, most small businesses have few options other than cloud computing. They can certainly complain about the lack of control and security perceptions, but the benefits hugely outweigh the deficits. In fact, the use of the cloud should be exciting for small businesses: New businesses can start up on a shoestring now that most IT resources can come from the cloud.

Still, there will always be the good with the bad. Cloud computing is not at all perfect, but it will continue to evolve to better service businesses -- small businesses now, perhaps larger businesses in the future.

Small businesses have no choice but to use the cloud InfoWorld I always pay attention to business publications, such as the Wall Street Journal, when they write about cloud computing. Their writing is very reflective of how business sees this technology and will ultimately play a part in the success of cloud ... See all stories on this topic »

Disk Or No Disk - Cloud Computing Services Not Taxable In Virginia Mondaq News Alerts (registration) If you are located in Virginia and use a cloud computing service, and you (or your cloud provider) received a disk, manual, or other incidental tangible property in connection with your purchase of the service, you may have been spooked by a ruling ... See all stories on this topic »

Cloud Computing Has Officially Brought The Global Cyber War To The US ... Business Insider Last week Nicole Perlroth of The New York Times reported that a recent cyber attack on major U.S. banks were so powerful because they were directed through hijacked data centers (i.e. the cloud) around the would instead of individual computers. See all stories on this topic » Business Insider

Picking the Right Cloud Storage Solution Technorati Finding the right cloud storage provider is now easier with small business and consumer review site NextAdvisor.com, who announced a cloud storage category offering consumers its top picks. It also allows visitors to compare cloud storage services like ... See all stories on this topic » Technorati

Cloud Computing and Security: Cloud Vendors Still Need to Resolve the Sticky ... Formtek Blog (blog) The move of businesses to the cloud is occurring at a remarkable speed. While estimates of the truecloud market size are all over the map, everyone seems to agree that we're talking about many billions of dollars. Forrester estimates that by 2020 the ... See all stories on this topic »

Google Postini Alternatives: Excel Micro, Reflexion Ink Cloud Deal Talkin' Cloud Excel Micro, a top Google Apps (NASDAQ: GOOG) channel partner and clouddistributor, remains loyal to the search giant. But Excel Micro also continues to diversify its revenue stream and SaaS product portfolio for resellers. The latest example: Excel ... See all stories on this topic » Talkin' Cloud

9 Questions to Ask When Negotiating a Cloud Computing Contract Becker's Hospital Review Cloud computing is fairly new to the healthcare industry and for this reason, providers and users are still trying to figure out the best way to negotiate contracts for cloud services, according to a Forbes report. According to an article recently ... See all stories on this topic »

Channel Partners Poised to Help Enterprises Build Software-Defined Networks CIO Australia This flexibility dovetails with initiatives such as cloud computing, with its dynamic provisioning of resources. Anthony Robbins, vice president of federal sales at Brocade Communications Systems, described SDN as an opportunity to address outmoded ... See all stories on this topic »

Cloud revenues to triple in next five years to $72.5b by 2015 gulfnews.com “Oracle is ramping up its efforts to promote its cloud portfolio and is committed to the cloud with embedded social element,” Hurd said. He estimates that by 2014 around 14 million more jobs will be created due due to cloud computing. The technology ... See all stories on this topic »

Xform Computing, the Leader in Cloud-Powered Apps for Mobile Devices, Rolls ... PR Newswire (press release) SANTA BARBARA, Calif., Jan. 15, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Xform Computing, leader in cloud-powered apps for mobile devices, announces its VirtualChrome iPad app is available in the iTunes App Store . Using the power of cloud computing, the VirtualChrome ... See all stories on this topic »

U-M professor Shaun Jackson dies from burns suffered in plane crash

Outer Banks plane crash victim ID'd as Raleigh man The Virginian-Pilot Authorities have released the name of the pilot killed when his small plane crashed into the Croatan Sound earlier this week. Authorities say Gregory F. Carlisle of Raleigh died when the plane came down Sunday morning. Dare County Regional Airport ... See all stories on this topic »

Plane crashes at Norridgewock airport; pilot uninjured Press Herald A Winthrop man escaped injury today when his plane crashed at the Norridgewock Airport, authorities said. click image to enlarge. Photo courtesy of Maine State Police. Select images available for purchase in the. Maine Today Photo Store. The man ... See all stories on this topic » Press Herald

News blooper: Chicago news team reports fake plane crash WTOP But apparently that detail didn't raise concerns for a Chicago news team when they reported a smallplane had crashed on a city road and aired footage of the scene. Midway through their report, the anchors learn the scene was actually staged for a TV ... See all stories on this topic »

U-M professor Shaun Jackson dies from burns suffered in plane crash AnnArbor.com William Shaun Jackson, a professor at the University of Michigan School of Art and Design, died Tuesday from burns suffered in a small plane crash last weekend near Sarasota, Fla. Thumbnail image for William_Shaun_Jackson.jpg. William Shaun Jackson ... See all stories on this topic »

Jenni Rivera Plane Crash: Brother Pedro Trying to Exploit Singer's Death for ... Latinos Post As fans, family and friends struggle to cope with the death of iconic singer Jenni Rivera last month in a plane crash, one unlikely person close to her may be trying to take advantage of the superstar's untimely passing for financial gain: Pedro Rivera ... See all stories on this topic » Latinos Post

Investigation continues in fatal plane crash Paris News The National Transportation Safety Board continues to investigate a fatal plane crash near Glory on Saturday, according to Keith Holloway, public affairs officer with the NTSB. A pilot and two passengers in a Piper Meridian owned by Celtic Bank of Salt ... See all stories on this topic »

For Coast Guard crew, closure Boston Globe In November 1942, a US Coast Guard plane set forth on a daring rescue over the frozen tundra of Greenland, in search of a US Army Air Forces crew who had crashedduring a search mission. In a single-engine Grumman Duck aircraft, Lieutenant John... See all stories on this topic » Boston Globe

Small plane crash near Dover kills pilot FireEngineering.com A small plane crashed in Dover, Del., killing the pilot, who was the only person on board, officials said. Emergency crews were alerted to the disappearance of the plane at about 7:10 p.m., Sunday, the Dover Post reported. A Delaware State Police ... See all stories on this topic »

Kingfisher Airlines Ltd’s employees On a hunger strike from 21 January

 A section of Kingfisher Airlines Ltd’s employees has planned a hunger strike from 21 January demanding salaries unpaid since June, two employee representatives said.

Another group is planning legal action seeking closure of the airline, while a third is demanding a meeting with the chairman and promoter Vijay Mallya ahead of his meeting with lenders on 18 January.

Kingfisher’s operating licence was suspended in October by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, India’s aviation regulator, following a strike by the airline’s employees. The licence has since expired.

“We have met Kingfisher Airlines’ executive vice-president Hitesh Patel on Monday and sought a meeting with Dr Mallya before 18 January,” said a senior Kingfisher Airline Pilot, requesting anonymity. “We are fed up and we need to know what is happening. If possible, we also wanted to meet lenders to know whether there is hope left for us.”

Dr Mallya in a presentation made last year to lenders had said Kingfisher would resume operations with seven aircraft and increase it to 21 in four months. At its peak, Kingfisher Airlines was flying 66 planes to 68 locations, including eight international destinations, with 374 flights a day, and accounted for 20% of the market.

And in a 10 January letter to employees, Mallya reassured employees that the airline would begin flying by summer with a Rs.650 crore infusion from the parent UB Group.
“The limited restart plan, which we target for the beginning of the 2013 summer schedule, requires funding of approximately Rs.650 crore, which is committed to be provided by the UB Group and associates,” Mallya said in the letter to Kingfisher employees.
Analysts have previously said the grounded airline needs between Rs.3,000 crore and Rs.5,000 crore to fly again—in any meaningful way.
Shares of Kingfisher Airlines were trading 1.46% lower at Rs.14.18 in morning trade on BSE Ltd, while the Sensex was 0.07% higher at 19,920.84 points on Tuesday.

One day in the last week of December, Vijay Mallya , the flamboyant chairman of the UB Group, met bankers at a south Mumbai hotel.
Mallya—known as much for his love of the good life and the popular Kingfisher calendar as for Kingfisher beer, India’s largest selling brew, and the grounded Kingfisher Airlines Ltd—was accompanied by Sanjay Aggarwal, chief executive of the airline; Ravi Nedungadi, president and chief financial officer of the group; and A. Harish Bhat, deputy president, corporate finance.
The always-articulate Mallya made a PowerPoint presentation in which he meticulously charted the future of the airline, the licence of which was suspended in October by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), India’s aviation regulator, following a strike by the airline’s employees. The airline’s operating licence has since expired.

According to the proposal presented by Mallya—based on a revival plan submitted by the airline to DGCA—Kingfisher would restart operations with seven aircraft and increase it to 21 in four months. At its peak, Kingfisher Airlines was flying 66 planes to 68 locations, including eight international destinations, with 374 flights a day, and accounted for 20% of the market.
Mallya’s audience—representatives of a consortium of 14 banks that have a Rs.7,000 crore exposure to the troubled airline—gave him a patient hearing. At the end of it, one of them asked Mallya a question: what’s in it for the lenders? Mallya didn’t have an answer.
Still, the meeting wasn’t entirely unproductive. It ended with the formation of a core group to assess the airline’s proposal to restart operations and identify ways for lenders to recover their money. The members of the core group are State Bank of India (SBI), Punjab National Bank (PNB), Bank of Baroda, Bank of India, IDBI Bank Ltd and United Bank of India.
The group met in Bangalore on 4 January but made no headway. With Diageo Plc of the UK buying a 27.4% stake in UB Group company United Spirits Ltd for £660 million (this will be followed by an open offer to buy another 26% from the public shareholders of United Spirits), the bankers went into that meeting hoping Mallya would come up with a concrete plan to take care of their interests.
Their belief was strengthened by an offering Mallya made on 18 December, his birthday, at Hindu god Venkateswara’s shrine in Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh—3kg of gold worth close to Rs.1 crore.
But Mallya did not oblige.
Lenders’ largesse
The core group will meet again in Mumbai on 18 January, possibly to take a final call on the money owed by Kingfisher Airlines—arguably the most high-profile bad asset Indian banks have ever had on their books.
The banks can’t be blamed; if anything, they have been far too patient and much too generous.
They first restructured Kingfisher’s debt in November 2010. To infuse life into the airline, ailing even then, banks in the consortium converted Rs.1,355 crore of debt into equity, at a 61.6% premium to the market price of Kingfisher Airlines’ stock. Following this, banks own 23.21% of the airline’s equity. The promoter, too, converted Rs.648 crore of debt into equity. Apart from this, the bankers also stretched the period of repayment of loans to nine years with a two-year moratorium, cut the interest rates, and sanctioned a fresh loan.
The idea was to bring down the debt of the airline, push up its equity-debt ratio, and improve its cash flow. Since its inception in 2005, Kingfisher has never returned a net profit. And its losses zoomed after it acquired low-cost airline Deccan Aviation Ltd in 2007. Between fiscal 2008-09 and September 2012, its accumulated losses reached Rs.8,015.8 crore.
The bankers agreed to throw good money after bad money in the belief that this would improve the health of the airline and ultimately help them recover their dues. Now, they regret it.
Interestingly, some of them admit there were more than just commercial interests at play in their generosity. In private, some bankers hint at pressure from certain quarters to restructure the loan. Mallya has been a member of the Rajya Sabha, the Upper House of India’s Parliament, since 2002.
Still, whatever forces may have been at work, the bankers insisted on a safety net.
Since most airlines lease aircraft, banks do not get planes as primary security for loans given to airlines. So what do the bankers have as collateral? They took fresh collateral from Mallya during the restructuring—two properties in Mumbai and Goa worth Rs.70 crore, two helicopters worth Rs.84 crore, and shares of United Spirits and Mangalore Chemicals and Fertilizers Ltd worth Rs.450 crore at current market prices. They also took the first charge on fixed assets such as coaches that ferry passengers to the tarmac and tractors, worth Rs.150 crore. In case of a default, lenders with a first charge have the option to seize the assets.
The banks also received a corporate guarantee from United Breweries Holdings Ltd, the holding company of the group, and a personal guarantee from Mallya. Finally, they also took as collateral the Kingfisher brand, valued at Rs.3,000 crore by audit firm Grant Thornton India.
Personal guarantee
In an indication of the kind of sway he once exerted over the bankers, Mallya charged the banks Rs.98 crore for offering a personal guarantee. Once the banking regulator Reserve Bank of India (RBI) got to know of this, it asked the banks to recover the money. The amount was initially debited from Kingfisher Airlines’ liability to banks in its 2010-11 profit and loss account, but the next year the entry was reversed, thus doing away with the fee. Now, the banks seem determined to take their dealings with the airline to their logical end—one that could well mean the end of the airline, too.
Mallya is willing to bring in money to make the airline operational and have a limited restart in the summer of 2013. In a 10 January letter to employees, he promised to infuse Rs.650 crore to do this. The money will come from the UB Group and its associates. Among Kingfisher’s dues are unpaid salaries, and payments to oil marketing companies and private and public airport operators, and the Rs.650 crore will be used to meet these obligations, at least partially.
The banks are unlikely to allow this to happen. They want around Rs.800 crore on the table for themselves—half of which is technically called an “irregular amount”, or the dues not paid. This means Mallya would need to bring in at least Rs.1,450 crore to restart operations (that is if Rs.650 crore is enough to take care of other obligations at this point).
If indeed he does that, technically the banks will have scope to restructure the account once again—this is within the realm of the possible—through the so-called corporate debt restructuring (CDR) route. If Mallya does not bring in the money for the lenders, he won’t be able to restart the airline because the aviation regulator, DGCA, will seek a no-objection note from banks and that might not be forthcoming.
The banks can afford to be aggressive as they have nothing to lose. Technically, the Kingfisher debt account turned bad in 2009 even before the first restructuring happened. This is because when a restructured loan turns bad, RBI norms mandate that the lenders backdate it to the time before the restructuring exercise was taken up. Most banks have already set aside money to cover the bad loan, and every rupee recovered from Kingfisher will add to their profits.
SBI, the leader of the consortium, has the maximum exposure at Rs.1,600 crore, followed by PNB (Rs.800 crore), IDBI Bank (Rs.800 crore), Bank of India (Rs.650 crore), Bank of Baroda (Rs.550 crore), United Bank of India (Rs.430 crore), Central Bank of India (Rs.410 crore), Uco Bank (Rs.320 crore), Corporation Bank (Rs.310 crore), State Bank of Mysore, an SBI associate bank (Rs.150 crore), Indian Overseas Bank (Rs.140 crore), Federal Bank Ltd (Rs.90 crore), Punjab and Sind Bank (Rs.60 crore) and Axis Bank Ltd (Rs.50 crore). Overall, their exposure is Rs.6,360 crore, and once the unapplied interest is added, it becomes Rs.7,000 crore.
There are other lenders outside the consortium. They are Srei Infrastructure Finance Ltd (Rs.430 crore), Jammu and Kashmir Bank Ltd (Rs.80 crore) and Oriental Bank of Commerce (Rs.50 crore).
A debt fund operated by Kolkata-based Srei Infrastructure Finance bought ICICI Bank Ltd’s exposure to the airline in July 2012. The non-banking financial company and Jammu and Kashmir Bank has shares of United Spirits and McDowell Holdings Ltd as collateral. The current market value of these shares is about Rs.350 crore—more than their exposure. The consortium has an arrangement with these two entities to get hold of the additional shares and sell them to recover their dues.
Recalling the loan
At least one lender claims to have sent a recall notice to the company some time back, but claims it could not follow up because of pressure from a certain quarter. A senior executive of the bank said he received a call from a bureaucrat from Delhi asking him to follow the leader of the consortium and not to do anything outside that.
But things have changed in the Capital as well, and it now looks like there will not be any pressure from any quarter and banks can chart out their course.
What can they do?
They can move for liquidation of Kingfisher. And for this, they do not need to take legal recourse. Under the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act, secured creditors can move a debt recovery tribunal to recover their money.
A sale of the Mumbai and Goa properties, two helicopters, other fixed assets and shares of UB Group companies can generate around Rs.1,000 crore, roughly 15% of the money that Mallya owes banks.
By virtue of holding the Kingfisher brand as collateral, the banks can prevent United Breweries from using it for its beer, which is sold in 52 markets and accounts for more than one-third of the Indian beer market. And if indeed the banks become aggressive—as they are planning to be—Mallya will have to stop printing the Kingfisher calendar, too, a prestigious project since 2003 in which ace photographer Atul Kasbekar shoots models and film actors on the beaches of Mauritius, the Maldives and the French Riviera.
The corporate guarantee of United Breweries Holdings will also come in handy.
Finally, the banks can play havoc with Mallya’s personal guarantee by seizing all his assets. If Mallya transfers his personal assets to others in his family for fear of losing them to the banks, the banks can move criminal proceedings against him.
As if these are not enough, if banks choose to declare Mallya as a “wilful defaulter”, none of his group companies will be able to access bank funding.
All this is in theory, and I am not convinced the banks will be able to stick to their guns, but at this point, one thing is certain—they are fast losing their patience. With no pressure from other quarters to throw another lifeline to the airline, they are expected to firm up a plan of action by the end of January and start executing it before the fiscal year ends in March.
Their position will change if Mallya is able to offer money to them in addition to generating funds that he needs to make the airline operational in a modest way.
If he fails, banks can remove him from the cockpit and hijack his entire empire. They are not as vulnerable as they seem to be.

Kingfisher says working on plan to restart by Feb end Livemint Mumbai: Kingfisher Airlines Ltd is working out a plan to restart operations by the end of February, and the airline has made seven small ATR planes ready for inspection with small set of pilots retrained to support the plan, according to two airline ... See all stories on this topic » Livemint

Kingfisher CEO to meet DGCA today Livemint Kingfisher's previous turnaround plan submitted in late December was junked by the regulator on grounds that it was not reliable. The same plan was reiterated last week by promoter Vijay Mallya to the airline's 3,000 employees, who have not been paid ... See all stories on this topic » Livemint

Banks sell Kingfisher shares at lower prices Business Standard The uncertainty surrounding the revival of grounded Kingfisher Airlines Ltd appears to have persuaded a few banks to reduce their stake in the carrier by selling the shares acquired through a loan conversion, at lower prices. The move is aimed to limit ... See all stories on this topic »

Would staff manage Kingfisher better than Mallya? Firstpost New Delhi: The fate of Kingfisher Airlines hangs by a thin thread which could well snap before the week ends, if lenders decide to pull the plug. While this may bring some perverse relief to Chairman Vijay Mallya who seems quite uninterested in running ... See all stories on this topic »

Kingfisher staff demand meeting with Mallya before 18 Jan Livemint “We have met Kingfisher Airlines' executive vice-president Hitesh Patel on Monday and sought a meeting with Mallya before 18 January,” said a senior Kingfisher Airline pilot, requesting anonymity. “We are fed up and we need to know what is happening. See all stories on this topic » Livemint

Kingfisher CEO likely to meet DGCA today Hindu Business Line Another attempt could be made on Wednesday to get Kingfisher Airlines back to flying with the airline's Chief Executive Officer Sanjay Agarwal set to meet the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). This meeting comes days before a crucial meeting ... See all stories on this topic »

Dream

7 Aircraft and 7000 Staff, What an Idea Sir Ji :-)

Kingfisher Airlines saga is like an Indian TV soap opera, endless and singing (almost) the same tune. Dr Vijay Mallya, the Airline’s Chairman  was announcing to disgruntled employees that it planned to restart operations by the beginning of the 2013 summer schedule in a limited way with seven Aircraft. 

The new Kingfisher will then progressively gain in power to finally put back into operations up to 21 aircraft in the next four months. Globally, the summer schedule of airlines starts from March and extends till October. Kingfisher hopes to be back on its feet with a fleet of 57 aircraft within 12 months of recapitalization. 

However, newspapers also reported that Kingfisher Airline’s plans could tumble as senior government officials indicated to doubt the airline’s plans to invest Indian Rupees 6.5 billion to restart operations, as it might not guarantee efficient and reliable services.

“The revival plan, which was submitted by the airline, had lots of issues regarding lenders and staff payments which we felt may not lead to reliable services,” a senior Government official said to the Hindu newspaper. 

The revival plan submitted to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) also has no provisions for paying airport operators, the officer said. Also payment of staff salaries and wages in a phased manner could lead to a situation where the airline may not be able to provide reliable services because if its staff were not paid, they may stop working again and this could inconvenience passengers.

Another major difficulty for Kingfisher is also to find private investors into the ailing carrier. Etihad Airways, mentioned at some points to take over the carrier- categorically denied to be interested. India’s UB Group has however indicated to be willing to provide up to IRs 6.5 billion necessarily to restart the carrier’s operations. Last Friday, the Hindu newspaper indicated that a group of six banks met in Bangalore to discuss the viability of a restart plan presented by the airline. “They were however not enthused by the proposed plan as it did not have any firm commitment from the promoters on fund infusion in the Airline,” according to the newspaper.

Kingfisher has difficulties to convince with its revival plans TravelDailyNews Asia-Pacific NEW DELHI- Kingfisher Airlines saga is like an Indian TV soap opera: endless and singing (almost) the same tune. Vijay Mallya, the airline's CEO was announcing to disgruntled employees that it planned to restart operations by the beginning of the 2013 ... See all stories on this topic »

Kingfisher Centre has supported charities to the tune of £160000 in last year Redditch Advertiser THE Kingfisher Shopping Centre in Redditch is thrilled to announce that in the last year, it was able to donate more than £160,000 worth of promotional space to local charities to make shoppers aware of their causes. The donation, which took the form ... See all stories on this topic »

Kingfisher engineers plan winding-up petition against company Deccan Herald Employees of grounded Kingfisher Airlines, whose salaries have remained unpaid for the past eight months, are again in a defiant mood with the pilots today deciding to launch a hunger strike next week. Its engineers would also meet in Delhi on January ... See all stories on this topic »

Kingfisher: Gourmet buffet The Wenatchee World Online Dining at the Kingfisher is truly unique, however. The lodge-style restaurant and its gourmet buffet is open to the public for breakfast and dinner. Reservations are a good idea because the restaurant also caters to those who stay at the resort ... See all stories on this topic »

Utah plane crashes in Texas, killing three

Three people killed in single-engine plane crash south of Paris, Texas ... Dallas Morning News (blog) Three people were killed in a fiery plane crash about 10 miles south of Paris Saturday morning. The single-engine Piper PA-46 was flying from Cox Field Airport in Paris to Austin when it crashed at about 9 a.m., FAA spokesman Roland Herwing said. See all stories on this topic »

Utah plane crashes in Texas, killing three Salt Lake Tribune A plane registered to a Utah bank crashed in Texas killing the pilot and two passengers, all of whom were from Utah, Texas police and bank officials said Saturday. The Piper PA-46 crashedabout 9:35 a.m. south of County Road 13850, near Glory, Texas, ... See all stories on this topic »

4 businessmen die in Nebraska small plane crash Hutchinson News OMAHA, Neb. - Federal investigators on Saturday combed through the wreckage of a small planethat crashed in a remote area of central Nebraska, killing all four people onboard, including the pilot whose Kansas construction company owned the aircraft. See all stories on this topic »

One killed, one injured in small-plane crash Sarasota Herald-Tribune SARASOTA - One person was killed and another badly burned in when an experimental plane crashed and caught fire on New College campus west of the Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport about 3:30 p.m. today, according to witnesses at the scene. See all stories on this topic »

Three Killed In Lamar County Plane Crash COM) - Three people were killed Saturday when their small plane crashed just after takeoff from an airport in Paris, authorities said. FAA spokesman Lynn Lunsford confirmed the three deaths in an interview with CBS 11 News. He identified the aircraft ... See all stories on this topic »

Plane crash near North Platte kills 4 businessmen Omaha World-Herald Plane crash near North Platte kills 4 businessmen. By Nancy Gaarder WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER. Omaha World-Herald. Share. Editor's note: This post was updated at 5:56 p.m. Saturday. Four businessmen active in agricultural construction died ... See all stories on this topic »

Men from York, Kansas killed in plane crash Lincoln Journal Star The plane crashed shoErnzenrtly after taking off from North Platte's airport and was headed to the airport in York, about 170 miles east, Tom Latson, the National Transportation Safety Board's lead investigator into the crash, told the AP by phone ... See all stories on this topic »

Atchison Business Owner Dies In Plane Crash WIBW NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (WIBW) - A plane crash has killed four people including an Atchison business owner. Mark Bottorff, who owned Bottorff Construction, died Friday when the plane he was flying crashed east of North Platte, NE. The twin engine plane ... See all stories on this topic »

Plane crash victims identified North Platte Telegraph The four people who died in a plane crash near Maxwell on Friday have been identified. They include Mark Bottorff, the pilot of the plane and owner of Bottorff Construction in Atchison, Kan. That's according to Jerry Ernzen, vice president of ... See all stories on this topic »

Plane crash kills four in Lincoln County Scottsbluff Star Herald Authorities say four people are dead following a plane crash that occurred in Lincoln County late Friday afternoon. Killed in the crash were the pilot, Mark Bottorff, president of Bottorff Construction in Atchison, Kan., and passengers Ken Babcock ... See all stories on this topic »