Oscar winning sound mixer Gregg Rudloff dies of possible suicide
Los Angeles, Jan 10: Veteran sound mixer Gregg Rudloff, who bagged Oscars for his work on "Mad Max: Fury Road", "The Matrix" and "Glory", has died at the age of 63.
The Los Angeles County Coroner's office is treating his death as a possible suicide.
"It was reported to us possibly as a suicide," a spokeswoman for the coroner's office told Deadline.
"His body was found at his residence in Sherman Oaks on January 6. A call was made, and during the call it was reported as a possible suicide. We won't know for sure until the autopsy is completed," she added.
Rudloff was an illustrious name in Hollywood with a career spanning 35 years.
He also received Oscar nods for "American Sniper", "Argo", "Flags of Our Fathers and The Perfect Storm" and bagged a 1986 Emmy for sound mixing on "An Early Frost".
He was a longtime collaborator of director Clint Eastwood; his first job being Eastwood's "Honkytonk Man" in 1982.
Rudloff's earlier credits include "Risky Business", "Footloose", "This Is Spinal Tap", "The Princess Bride", among others.
He later worked with Eastwood on "J Edgar", "Invictus", "Changeling", "Gran Torino", "Letters From Iwo Jima", "True Crime" and "Absolute Power", along with "Flags of Our Fathers" and "American Sniper".
With over 200 credits, his recent work includes "The Girl on the Train", "Fences", "Molly's Game" and "Captain Phillips".
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AI, IndiGo, SpiceJet seek ATF price relief; say airline industry on verge of 'stopping operations'
Mumbai (PTI): Air India, IndiGo and SpiceJet have told the government that the country's airline industry is under extreme stress and on the verge of "stopping operations", as they sought revision in ATF pricing and financial support.
The West Asia turmoil has pushed up oil prices, and airspace restrictions have increased airlines' operating costs, especially on long-haul routes. Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) accounts for around 40 per cent of a carrier's operational expenses.
Against this backdrop, the Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA) has written to the civil aviation ministry, seeking steps to extend the same fuel pricing mechanism uniformly across both domestic and international operations as was done in the past with the establishment of the crack band.
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With an unprecedented rise in jet fuel prices and exorbitant crack/differential between crude and ATF, the federation said the operation of airlines is being challenged in totality.
"... any ad hoc pricing (domestic vs international) and/or irrational increase in the price of ATF will result in unsurmountable losses for airlines and will lead to grounding of aircraft, resulting in cancellation of flights," the federation, which represents Air India, IndiGo and SpiceJet, said.
"In order to survive, sustain and continue operation, we request your urgent intervention for immediate and meaningful financial support to tide over the current situation," it said in a letter on April 26.
Also, the airlines have sought temporary deferment of excise duty on ATF, which is at 11 per cent.
"With the abnormal increase in ATF prices from the pre-crisis period, adding rupee depreciation to the increased prices, the 11 per cent excise duty also increases manifold for the airlines and adds to the ATF price as a big impact on airlines," they said.
Last month, the government limited the hike in ATF price to Rs 15 per litre for domestic operations, but for international operations, the price rose by Rs 73 per litre.
The airlines said the situation has practically made international operations, along with domestic operations, completely unviable and resulted in significant losses for the aviation sector in April.
Seeking urgent intervention on the current ATF ad hoc pricing, FIA said the current situation is creating a severe imbalance in domestic and international operations and rendering airline networks unviable and unsustainable.
"The airline industry in India is under extreme stress and is on the verge of closing down or of stopping its operations."
The federation has pitched for a transparent pricing framework under the crack band mechanism (USD 12–22/BBL) that was implemented in October 2022, saying there was a fair and reasonable margin for Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs).
According to FIA, the country's largest aviation hub Delhi has the second-highest value-added tax (VAT) of 25 per cent on jet fuel, while the highest rate is 29 per cent levied in Tamil Nadu.
"The other major aviation cities, viz. Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, and Kolkata range between 16 per cent and 20 per cent. These 6 cities cover more than 50 per cent of airlines' operations within India," the federation said.
