ReportWire

Tag: Plane crashes

  • Ukraine says Russia is refusing to turn over the bodies of plane crash victims

    Ukraine says Russia is refusing to turn over the bodies of plane crash victims

    [ad_1]

    KYIV, Ukraine — Russia has refused Ukrainian requests to hand over the bodies of scores of prisoners of war whom the Kremlin claims were killed in the downing of a Russian military transport plane by Kyiv’s forces, a Ukrainian intelligence official said.

    Andrii Yusov, the spokesperson for Ukraine‘s military intelligence, in televised remarks late Thursday reaffirmed Kyiv’s call for an international probe into the Jan. 24 crash inside Russia that would determine whether the Il-76 transport carried weapons or passengers along with the crew.

    Russia accused Ukraine of killing its own men, while Kyiv dismisses Moscow’s assertions as “rampant Russian propaganda.”

    Kyiv has neither confirmed nor denied that its forces shot the plane down, and Russia’s claim the crash killed Ukrainian POWs couldn’t be independently verified. Ukrainian officials emphasized that Moscow didn’t ask for any specific stretch of airspace to be kept safe for a certain length of time, as it has for past POW exchanges.

    Some Western intelligence assessments have suggested the plane was shot down by a missile from Ukraine, although they could not confirm the presence of POWs on board.

    A French military official told The Associated Press that the country’s military concluded that Ukrainian forces used a battery of Patriot surface-to-air missiles to shoot down the Il-76, firing from about 50 kilometers (about 30 miles) away.

    The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to divulge the intelligence findings, said the Ukrainian battery apparently managed to stay hidden while getting closer to the target and then switched on its radar “just long enough to hit them.”

    Another Western official also said the plane was downed by “a missile strike rather than any kind of mechanical failure,” and it’s almost certain the missile was fired from Ukrainian territory. The official said “it’s not yet clear” whether it was carrying Ukrainian POWs.

    Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the state RIA Novosti news agency on Friday that the Kremlin hadn’t received a Ukrainian request to hand over the bodies. Asked if Russia would be willing to hand them over, he later told reporters that the official investigation into the incident was continuing and it would be up to Russian law enforcement agencies to consider such a request.

    President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that Russia wouldn’t only welcome but would “insist” on an international inquiry into the plane’s downing that he described as a “crime” by Ukraine.

    Yusov, the Ukrainian intelligence spokesperson, said some of the Ukrainian POWs who were meant to be part of an exchange on the day of the crash were swapped Wednesday when about 200 Ukrainian prisoners returned home.

    Russia’s Investigative Committee, the main state criminal investigation agency, said Thursday its probe of the crash found that the Il-76 was brought down by one of the U.S.-made Patriot air defense systems, which Western allies — namely the U.S., Germany and the Netherlands — have supplied to Ukraine. The U.S. has provided the Patriots with the understanding that they not be used outside of Ukraine

    Russian officials claimed there were 74 people on board, including 65 Ukrainian POWs, six crew members and three Russian servicemen. All were reported killed when the plane hit the ground and exploded in a giant fireball in the Belgorod region near Ukraine.

    The Investigative Committee said investigators have found over 670 body fragments and identified all of the crash victims.

    The committee said it also has recovered 116 pieces of two missiles that were fired from a Patriot system from near the village of Lyptsi in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region. It showed a video that purported to show some missile fragments lying in the snow with visible markings.

    Ukraine previously claimed credit for a May 2023 cross-border strike with Patriot missiles.

    Ukrainian air force spokesman Yuriy Ihnat said in an interview in November the Ukrainian military used Patriots to down two Russian warplanes and three helicopters over Russia’s Bryansk region in May in what he called a “brilliant” operation.

    With the 1,500-kilometer (930-mile) front line remaining largely static as the war approaches the two-year mark, Russia has continued to pummel Ukraine with long-range strikes.

    In Kryvyi Rih, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s hometown, a drone attack damaged an energy infrastructure facility, leaving 100,000 people without electricity and 113 coal miners stranded underground for a time, according to Mayor Oleksandr Vilkul. All the miners were brought to safety after power was partially restored, he said.

    Another Russian strike Thursday killed two French aid workers in the town of Beryslav in the southern Kherson region, Gov. Oleksandr Prokudin said. French President Emmanuel Macron denounced the attack as “cowardly and outrageous.”

    ___

    John Leicester in Paris and Jill Lawless in London contributed.

    —-

    Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Small plane that crashed off California coast was among a growing number of home-built aircraft

    Small plane that crashed off California coast was among a growing number of home-built aircraft

    [ad_1]

    LOS ANGELES — A small airplane that crashed into the ocean off the California coast on Sunday was constructed piece by piece over nearly a decade, one of tens of thousands of home-built aircraft that are part of a high-flying hobby taking off across the country.

    Federal investigators said they believe four people were aboard the single-engine Cozy Mark IV when it went down in the evening just south of San Francisco. No survivors were found and only one body had been recovered from the waters near Half Moon Bay and identified as of Thursday.

    The names of the pilot and two other passengers were not released. The plane was registered to an Oakland-based company called Winged Wallabies, Inc., according to Federal Aviation Administration records.

    There have been no official indications of what went wrong, but a witness reported hearing an engine losing power and cutting out.

    Thane Ostroth, a retired dentist who began building the aircraft in 1999 and flying it in 2008, said he sold the plane last year to a young, experienced and enthusiastic pilot from Australia for around $100,000, which is about what he estimated went into the project over the decades.

    Ostroth said the buyer, in his late 20s, knew a lot about planes. He landed the plane perfectly on his first test flight, which is not easy to do.

    “I told him, ‘That was well done,’” Ostroth recalled. “He said, ‘Thank you. I’ll buy the plane.’”

    Authorities have not said whether the plane’s owner was among those on board.

    Ostroth said he heard about the crash in an online chat group for pilots and builders of Cozy aircraft, a class of planes constructed by individuals rather than mass-produced by companies.

    He said it was “traumatic” to know the plane he had spent so much time on had crashed with people on board.

    “It’s just a horrible feeling,” Ostroth said.

    Like commercial aircraft, all home-built planes are required by the FAA to be inspected annually for air worthiness. Cozy aircraft have the same safety record as commercially built planes of similar size, said aeronautical engineer Marc Zeitlin, who consults with the National Transportation Safety Board on crash investigations involving Cozy aircraft, including this one.

    More than 33,000 amateur-built aircraft are licensed by the FAA, a figure that has tripled since the 1980s.

    The administration designates any non-commercial, recreational aircraft as “experimental.” Those can include planes built from kits with some prefabricated parts or from plans in which the builder buys or manufactures and assembles all the parts.

    The four-seat Mark IV, at just over 16 feet (5.1 meters) long with a 28-foot (8.5-meter) wingspan, is a popular plane among the growing number of aviation hobbyists who build their own aircraft. Zeitlin owns one himself that he takes on day trips and cross-country voyages.

    “The misconception is that these are put together by baling wire and glue,” said Zeitlin, CEO of California-based Burnside Aerospace. “But they are built using aircraft methodology.”

    The Mark IV has a “canard” design, with a small forewing placed to the front of the main wing, making it reminiscent of a duck stretched out in flight. It is lightweight, only about 1,050 pounds (475 kilograms) empty, with the parts fitted together with epoxy.

    With a top speed approaching 200 mph (322 kph), it is fast, stable and fuel-efficient, Zeitlen said.

    “Like a sports car in the sky,” he said. “Very fun to fly.”

    Ostroth said he bought the plans for his Cozy for about $500 and started putting it together in a friend’s basement in Michigan. Eventually they moved construction to the home’s garage and then built a barn in the backyard for the final steps.

    “The plans come with a list of authorized suppliers of parts,” said Ostroth, who now lives in Florida. “You buy foam, you buy fiberglass, you buy metal parts from all the manufacturers. And you slowly piece it together.”

    Help can be found from other enthusiasts who post tips and advice in online forums.

    Ostroth flew the aircraft regularly for 15 years. He called it “a wonderful little plane.”

    Sunday’s crash was reported around 7 p.m. by a 911 caller who said the plane was in obvious distress and appeared to go down toward the water near Ross’ Cove, according to the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office.

    The U.S. Coast Guard said a helicopter and boat crew looked in a 28-square mile (73-square-kilometer) area for nearly six hours before calling off the search around mid-morning Monday. A few hours later, a woman’s body was found by a commercial fishing boat crew. The San Mateo County Coroner’s Office identified her as Emma Willmer-Shiles, 27, of San Francisco.

    The National Transportation Safety Board said its investigators arrived on scene Tuesday to document the wreckage and interview witnesses. A preliminary report is expected within 30 days.

    ___

    Associated Press writer John Antczak in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Emergency crews searching for airplane that went down in bay south of San Francisco

    Emergency crews searching for airplane that went down in bay south of San Francisco

    [ad_1]

    MOSS BEACH, Calif. — An airplane crashed into the Pacific Ocean near an airport south of San Francisco Sunday evening, authorities said.

    Sgt. Philip Hallworth of San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office said crews were searching for the plane that went down in Half Moon Bay around 7:15 p.m., KRON-TV reported.

    The crash occurred a few miles from the Half Moon Bay Airport on the Cabrillo Highway, Hallworth said. The airport is located in Moss Beach, about 22 miles (35.4 kilometers) south of San Francisco.

    The U.S. Coast Guard, California Highway Patrol and fire crews also responded to the crash site, KRON reported.

    There was no immediate information about the number of people on board the plane, possible survivors or the type of aircraft involved in the crash.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Emergency at 3 miles high: Alaska Airlines pilots, passengers kept calm after fuselage blowout

    Emergency at 3 miles high: Alaska Airlines pilots, passengers kept calm after fuselage blowout

    [ad_1]

    PORTLAND, Ore. — The emergency began with a bang three miles above Oregon.

    The first six minutes of Friday’s Alaska Airlines flight 1282 from Portland to Southern California’s Ontario International Airport had been routine, the Boeing 737 Max 9 about halfway to its cruising altitude and traveling at more than 400 mph.

    As the plane climbed, the cabin’s air pressure steadily increased, a normal occurrence in comparison to the rapidly thinning air outside. The plane’s four flight attendants and 171 passengers sat strapped in their seats, nearly filling its 178-passenger capacity.

    Then boom.

    A 2-foot-by-4-foot piece of fuselage covering an unoperational emergency exit behind the left wing blew out. The force of the cabin air being sucked outside in a deafening rush twisted the metal bracing holding the seats next to the hole and ripped off their headrests — which by fate, were two of the few unoccupied seats.

    The near-vacuum also ripped open the locked cockpit door, sucked away the pilots’ one-page emergency checklist and pulled off the co-pilot’s headset. More than a dozen other seats, some far from the hole, were damaged by the force. Some passengers had their cellphones ripped from their hands and sucked out. Passengers said one teenager had his shirt ripped off. Dust filled the cabin.

    Kelly Bartlett was seated in row 23 — three rows in front of the blowout — and said the captain had just told passengers they could use their devices again when she heard a loud explosion and the cabin filled with cold air and rushing wind. At first she didn’t know what happened.

    “The oxygen mask dropped immediately,” she told the AP on Monday. “You know what happens if the oxygen mask comes down? You put it on. And no one ever thinks they’re going to have to use that advice and follow those instructions.”

    She next saw a flight attendant walking down the aisle toward the affected row, leaning forward as if facing a stiff wind. Then flight attendants began moving passengers from the row where the blowout occurred and helped them move away. One, a teenage boy, was moved to the seat next to Bartlett. He wasn’t wearing a shirt, she said, and his skin was red. He had some cuts on his body.

    “His shirt got sucked off of his body when the panel blew out because of the pressure, and it was his seatbelt that kept him in his seat and saved his life. And there he was next to me,” she said, adding that his mother was reseated elsewhere.

    “We had our masks on, and the plane was really loud so we couldn’t talk. But I had a … notes app on my phone that I was typing on. So I typed to him and I asked him if he was hurt,” Bartlett said. “I just couldn’t believe he was sitting there and what he must have gone through, what he must have been feeling at the time.”

    The pilots and flight attendants have not made public statements and their names have not been released, but in interviews with National Transportation Safety Board investigators they described how their training kicked in. The pilots focused on getting the plane quickly back to Portland and the flight attendants on keeping the passengers safe, and as calm as possible.

    “The actions of the flight crew were really incredible,” NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said at a Sunday night news conference. She described the scene inside the cabin during those first seconds as “chaos, very loud between the air and everything going on around them and it was very violent.”

    Bartlett echoed that praise, saying the entire time she felt like the plane was under control even though the roaring wind was so loud she couldn’t hear the captain’s announcements.

    “The flight attendants really responded well to the situation. They got everyone safe and then they got themselves safe,” she said. “And then there was nothing to do but wait, right? We were just on our way down and it was just a normal descent. It felt normal.”

    Inside the cockpit, the pilot and co-pilot donned their oxygen masks and opened their microphone, but “communication was a serious issue” between them and the flight attendants because of the noise, Homendy said. The pilots retrieved an emergency handbook kept secure next to the captain’s seat.

    The co-pilot contacted air traffic controllers, declaring an emergency and saying the plane needed to immediately descend to 10,000 feet, the altitude where there is enough oxygen for everyone onboard to breathe.

    ’We need to turn back to Portland,” she said in a calm voice that she maintained throughout the landing process.

    In the cabin, the flight attendants’ immediate focus was on the five unaccompanied minors in their care and the three infants being carried on their parents’ laps.

    “Were they safe? Were they secure? Did they have their seat belts on or their lap belts on? And did they have their masks on? And they did,” Homendy said.

    Some passengers began sending messages on social media to loved ones. One young woman said on TikTok that she was certain the plane would nosedive at any second and she wondered how her death would affect her mother, worrying that she would never recover from the sorrow.

    But she and others said the cabin remained surprisingly calm. One passenger, Evan Granger, who was sitting in front of the blowout, told NBC News that his “focus in that moment was just breathe into the oxygen mask and trust that the flight crew will do everything they can to keep us safe.”

    “I didn’t want to look back and see what was happening,” he said.

    The pilots circled the plane back to Portland. Video taken by passengers showed flight attendants moving down the aisle checking on passengers. City lights could be seen through the hole flickering past.

    Smith told reporters the descent and landing were loud but smooth. When the plane touched down at Portland International about 20 minutes after it departed, the passengers broke into applause. Firefighters came down the aisle to check for injuries, but no one was seriously hurt.

    “There were so many things that had to go right in order for all of us to survive,” Granger told NBC.

    Homendy said that if the blowout had happened a few minutes later, after the plane reached cruising altitude, the accident might have become a tragedy.

    On Sunday, a passenger’s cellphone that had been sucked out of the plane was found. It was still operational, having survived its three-mile plunge.

    It was open to the owner’s baggage claim receipt.

    ___

    Spencer reported from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. AP videographer Manuel Valdes in Seattle contributed to this report.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Boeing jetliner that suffered inflight blowout was restricted because of concern over warning light

    Boeing jetliner that suffered inflight blowout was restricted because of concern over warning light

    [ad_1]

    PORTLAND, Ore. — The Boeing jetliner that suffered an inflight blowout over Oregon was not being used for flights to Hawaii after a warning light that could have indicated a pressurization problem lit up on three different flights.

    Alaska Airlines decided to restrict the aircraft from long flights over water so the plane “could return very quickly to an airport” if the warning light reappeared, Jennifer Homendy, chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, said on Sunday.

    Shares of The Boeing Co. tumbled 9% at the opening bell Monday, the first day of trading since the incident occurred. Shares of Alaska Airlines slid 4% and Spirit AeroSystems, which builds the fuselage for Boeing’s 737 Max, plunged 14%.

    Homendy cautioned that the pressurization light might be unrelated to Friday’s incident in which a plug covering an unused exit door blew off the Boeing 737 Max 9 as it cruised about three miles (4.8 kilometers) over Oregon.

    The warning light came on during three previous flights: on Dec. 7, Jan. 3 and Jan. 4 — the day before the door plug broke off. Homendy said she didn’t have all the details regarding the Dec. 7 incident but specified the light came on during a flight on Jan. 3 and on Jan. 4 after the plane had landed. Alaska ordered additional maintenance to look at the light, but it was not completed before Friday’s incident, she added.

    “We plan to look at that more and we’ve requested documentation on all defects since delivery of the aircraft on Oct. 31,” she said.

    The NTSB said the lost door plug was found Sunday near Portland, Oregon, in a the backyard of a home. Investigators will examine the plug, which is 26 by 48 inches (66 by 121 centimeters) and weighs 63 pounds (28.5 kilograms), for signs of how it broke free.

    Investigators will not have the benefit of hearing what was going on in the cockpit during the flight. The cockpit voice recorder — one of two so-called black boxes — recorded over the flight’s sounds after two hours, Homendy said.

    At a news conference Sunday night, Homendy provided new details about the chaotic scene that unfolded on the plane. The explosive rush of air damaged several rows of seats and pulled insulation from the walls. The cockpit door flew open and banged into a lavatory door.

    The force ripped the headset off the co-pilot and the captain lost part of her headset. A quick reference checklist kept within easy reach of the pilots flew out of the open cockpit, Homendy said.

    Two cell phones that appeared to have belonged to passengers on Friday’s terrifying flight were found on the ground. One was discovered in a yard, the other on the side of a road. Both were turned over to the NTSB.

    The plane made it back to Portland, however, and none of the 171 passengers and six crew members was seriously injured.

    Hours after the incident, the FAA ordered the grounding of 171 of the 218 Max 9s in operation, including all those used by Alaska Airlines and United Airlines, until they can be inspected. The airlines were still waiting Sunday for details about how to do the inspections, but the cancellations of flights involving Max 9 aircraft at both airlines have begun.

    Early Monday, Alaska Airlines was forced to cancel 20% of all flights, 141 in all. United cancelled 221 flights, or 8% of its total flights scheduled for Monday.

    Alaska Airlines, which has 65 Max 9s, and United, with 79, are the only U.S. airlines to fly that particular model of Boeing’s workhorse 737.

    Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun called for a companywide webcast to talk about the incident with employees and senior leadership on Tuesday.

    “When serious accidents like this occur, it is critical for us to work transparently with our customers and regulators to understand and address the causes of the event, and to ensure they don’t happen again,” Calhoun wrote in a message to employees Sunday. “This is and must be the focus of our team right now.”

    Alaska Airlines flight 1282 took off from Portland at 5:07 p.m. Friday for a two-hour trip to Ontario, California. About six minutes later, the chunk of fuselage blew out as the plane was climbing at about 16,000 feet (4.8 kilometers).

    One of the pilots declared an emergency and asked for clearance to descend to 10,000 feet (3 kilometers), where the air would be rich enough for passengers to breathe without oxygen masks.

    Videos posted online by passengers showed a gaping hole where the paneled-over door had been. They applauded when the plane landed safely about 13 minutes after the blowout. Firefighters came down the aisle, asking passengers to remain in their seats as they treated the injured.

    It was extremely lucky that the airplane had not yet reached cruising altitude, when passengers and flight attendants might be walking around the cabin, Homendy said.

    The aircraft involved rolled off the assembly line and received its certification two months ago, according to online FAA records. It had been on 145 flights since entering commercial service Nov. 11, said FlightRadar24, another tracking service. The flight from Portland was the aircraft’s third of the day.

    The Max is the newest version of Boeing’s venerable 737, a twin-engine, single-aisle plane frequently used on U.S. domestic flights. The plane went into service in May 2017.

    Two Max 8 jets crashed in 2018 and 2019, killing 346 people. All Max 8 and Max 9 planes were grounded worldwide for nearly two years until Boeing made changes to an automated flight control system implicated in the crashes.

    The Max has been plagued by other issues, including manufacturing flaws, concern about overheating that led FAA to tell pilots to limit use of an anti-ice system, and a possible loose bolt in the rudder system.

    ___

    Koenig reported from Dallas. Associated Press reporter Terry Spencer in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, contributed to this report.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Runway at Tokyo's Haneda airport reopens a week after fatal collision

    Runway at Tokyo's Haneda airport reopens a week after fatal collision

    [ad_1]

    TOKYO — Tokyo’s Haneda airport is almost back to its normal operation Monday as it reopened the runway a week after a fatal collision between a Japan Airlines airliner and a coast guard aircraft seen to have been caused by human error.

    The collision occurred Tuesday evening when JAL Flight 516 carrying 379 passengers and flight crew landed right behind the coast guard aircraft preparing for a take off on the same runway, both engulfed in flames. All occupants of the JAL’s Airbus A350-900 airliner safely evacuated in 18 minutes. The captain of the coast guard’s much smaller Bombardier Dash-8 escaped with burns but his five crew members died.

    At the coast guard Haneda base, colleagues of the five flight crew lined up and saluted to mourn for their deaths as black vehicles carrying their bodies drove past them. The victims’ bodies were to return to their families Sunday after police autopsies as part of their separate investigation of possible professional negligence.

    Haneda reopened three runways the night of the crash, but the last runway had remained closed for the investigation, cleanup of the debris and repairs.

    Transport ministry said that the runway reopened early Monday and the airport is ready for full operations. Television footage showed domestic flights taking off as usual from the coastal runway.

    The collision caused more than 1,200 flights to be canceled, affecting about 200,000 passengers during the New Year holiday period. The airport was crowded with passengers Monday. All scheduled flights have resumed except for 22 JAL flights cancelled through Tuesday.

    The investigation focuses on what caused the coast guard flight crew to believe they had a go-ahead for their takeoff while the traffic control transcript showed no clear confirmation between them and the traffic control. Traffic control staff assigned to the runway apparently missed an alert system when it indicated the unexpected coast guard entry.

    The Haneda airport traffic control added a new position Saturday specifically assigned to monitor the runway to step up safety measures.

    A team from the Japan Transport Safety Board was interviewing traffic control officials Monday as part of their investigation. The six-member team has so far interviewed JAL flight crew members and recovered flight data and voice recorders from both planes, which are key to determining what led to the collision.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Runway at Tokyo's Haneda airport reopens a week after fatal collision

    Runway at Tokyo's Haneda airport reopens a week after fatal collision

    [ad_1]

    TOKYO — Tokyo’s Haneda airport is almost back to its normal operation Monday as it reopened the runway a week after a fatal collision between a Japan Airlines airliner and a coast guard aircraft seen to have been caused by human error.

    The collision occurred Tuesday evening when JAL Flight 516 carrying 379 passengers and flight crew landed right behind the coast guard aircraft preparing for a take off on the same runway, both engulfed in flames. All occupants of the JAL’s Airbus A350-900 airliner safely evacuated in 18 minutes. The captain of the coast guard’s much smaller Bombardier Dash-8 escaped with burns but his five crew members died.

    At the coast guard Haneda base, colleagues of the five flight crew lined up and saluted to mourn for their deaths as a black vehicle carrying their bodies drove past them. The victims’ bodies were to return to their families Sunday after police autopsies as part of their separate investigation of possible professional negligence.

    Haneda reopened three runways the night of the crash, but the last runway had remained closed for the investigation, cleanup of the debris and repairs.

    Transport ministry said that the runway reopened early Monday and the airport is ready for full operations.

    The collision caused more than 1,200 flights to be canceled, affecting about 200,000 passengers during the New Year holiday period. The airport was crowded with passengers Monday.

    The investigation focuses on what caused the coast guard flight crew to believe they had a go-ahead for their takeoff while the traffic control transcript showed no clear confirmation between them and the traffic control. Traffic control staff assigned to the runway apparently missed an alert system when it indicated the unexpected coast guard entry.

    The Haneda airport traffic control added a new position Saturday specifically assigned to monitor the runway to step up safety measures.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • What to know about the Alaska Airlines 737 Max 9 jet that suffered a blowout

    What to know about the Alaska Airlines 737 Max 9 jet that suffered a blowout

    [ad_1]

    NEW YORK — An emergency landing by an Alaska Airlines jetliner has prompted U.S. federal authorities to ground some Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft, adding another episode to the troubled history of Boeing’s Max lineup of jets.

    Here is what to know about the Max 9 plane involved, and what comes next.

    WHAT HAPPENED?

    An Alaska Airlines jetliner blew out a portion of its fuselage seven minutes after takeoff 3 miles (4.8 kilometers) above Oregon Friday night, forcing the pilots to make an emergency landing. None of the 171 passengers or six crew were seriously injured but the rapid loss of cabin pressure caused oxygen masks to drop from the ceiling. National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy said the two seats next to the part that tore off were unoccupied.

    HOW ARE FEDERAL AUTHORITIES RESPONDING?

    The Federal Aviation Administration ordered the grounding of some Boeing Max 9 operated by U.S. airlines or flown into the country by foreign carriers until they are inspected. The emergency order affects about 171 planes worldwide.

    The NTSB has begun an investigation that is likely to last months and focus on the paneled-over exit door that blew off. The so-called door plug is installed on some jets with fewer seats instead of an emergency exit panel. The jets ordered grounded by the FAA all have those panels installed.

    Authorities are still searching for the door plug, which likely landed near Oregon Route 217 and Barnes Road in the Cedar Hills area west of Portland.

    HOW ARE AIRLINES RESPONDING?

    Alaska Airlines has grounded its entire fleet of 65 Max 9s for inspections and maintenance. The airline initially kept 18 of its Max 9s in service Saturday because they had received in-depth inspections as part of recent maintenance checks. But the airline pulled those jets from service Saturday night to comply with an FAA directive for all operators of Max 9s to conduct specific inspections.

    Alaska Airlines said the groundings had resulted in at least 160 flight cancelations by Saturday evening and disruptions will last through at least mid-week. The airline has said passengers whose flights are canceled will be moved the next available flight but they can also request a change or a refund without incurring fees under a flexible travel policy.

    United Airlines, the world’s biggest operator of Max 9s, grounded its entire fleet of 79 Max 9s and is seeking to “clarify the inspection process and requirements for returning” them to service. United said it canceled 90 flights because of the grounding Saturday and about 180 Sunday. The airliner said it was working to accommodate passengers on other flights, and had avoided canceling some 85 flights Sunday by switching to other types of planes.

    Alaska and United are the only two U.S. passenger airlines that operate Max 9 aircraft. The companies operate nearly two-thirds of the 215 Max 9 aircraft in service around the world, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium. Six other airlines use the Max 9: Panama’s Copa Airlines, Aeromexico, Turkish airlines, Icelandair, flydubai, and SCAT Airlines in Kazakhstan, according to Cirium.

    Copa said it had temporarily suspended 21 Boeing 737 Max 9s to comply with the FAA’s order.

    HOW SAFE IS IT TO FLY ON ONE OF THESE PLANES?

    Federal officials and airline executives regularly tout the safety of air travel. There has not been a fatal crash of a U.S. airliner since 2009, when a Colgan Air plane operated for Continental crashed near Buffalo, New York, killing all 49 people on board and one on the ground. However, a surge in close calls between planes at U.S. airports in the past year prompted the FAA to convene a “safety summit” last year, in which officials encouraged airlines and pilots to redouble their attention to careful flying.

    The incident has also renewed questions about the safety of Boeing’s Max aircraft, which the newest version of the company’s storied 737. There are two versions of the aircraft in service: the Max 8 and the Max 9, which is the larger of the two.

    Regulators around the world grounded Max 8 planes for nearly two years after a Lion Air flight crashed in Indonesia in 2018, and an Ethiopian Airlines Max 8 crashed in 2019. Boeing changed an automated flight control system implicated in the crashes.

    Last year, the FAA told pilots to limit use of an anti-ice system on the Max in dry conditions because of concern that inlets around the engines could overheat and break away, possibly striking the plane. And in December, Boeing told airlines to inspect the planes for a possible loose bolt in the rudder-control system.

    However, those past issues are unrelated to Friday’s blowout, which are exceedingly rare in air travel.

    Anthony Brickhouse, a professor of aerospace safety at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, said it’s too soon to say whether the blowout involved an issue with Max 9s or that specific flight. Brickhouse said passengers should feel confident that regulators and airlines will make sure the grounded Max 9s are safe before returning them to service.

    Brickhouse said it it was lucky that the emergency occurred shortly after takeoff when passengers were all seated with their seatbelts on. But he said that doesn’t mean passengers should feel scared to leave their seats once the pilot turns off the “fasten seatbelt” sign because it’s so unlikely for holes to open in the fuselages of airliners.

    In 1988, a flight attendant for Aloha Airlines was blown out of the cabin of a Boeing 737 over the Pacific Ocean after an 18-foot-long chunk of the roof peeled away. Metal fatigue was blamed in that case, which led to tougher rules for airlines to inspect and repair microscopic fuselage cracks.

    “When passengers board a flight they should feel confident that the aircraft they are flying on is safe,” Brickhouse said.

    In 2018, a passenger on a Southwest Airlines jet was killed in when a piece of engine housing blew off and shattered the window she was sitting next to. That incident involved an earlier version of the Boeing 737, not a Max.

    WHAT IS BOEING’S RESPONSE?

    The company, based in Arlington, Virginia, issued a brief statement saying “we deeply regret the impact this event has had on our customers and their passengers.” Boeing said it supported the FAA’s decision to require immediate inspections and said it was providing technical help to the investigators. The company has declined to make an executive available for interviews.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Alaska Airlines again grounds all Boeing 737 Max 9 jetliners as more maintenance may be needed

    Alaska Airlines again grounds all Boeing 737 Max 9 jetliners as more maintenance may be needed

    [ad_1]

    PORTLAND, Ore. — Alaska Airlines again grounded all of its Boeing 737 Max 9 jetliners on Sunday after federal officials indicated further maintenance might be required to assure that another inflight blowout like the one that damaged one of its planes doesn’t happen again.

    The airline had returned 18 of its 65 737 Max 9 aircraft to service on Saturday following inspections that came less than 24 hours after a portion of one plane’s fuselage blew out three miles above (4.8 kilometers) above Oregon on Friday night. The depressurized plane, which was carrying 171 passengers and six crew members, returned safely to Portland International Airport with no serious injuries.

    The airline said in a statement that the decision was made after receiving a notice from the Federal Aviation Administration that additional work might be needed. Other versions of the 737 are not affected.

    “These aircraft have now also been pulled from service until details about possible additional maintenance work are confirmed with the FAA. We are in touch with the FAA to determine what, if any, further work is required before these aircraft are returned to service,” the airline said.

    The FAA had ordered the grounding of some 737 Max 9s on Saturday until they could be inspected, a process that takes about four hours. The world’s airlines are currently operating about 171 737 Max 9s globally.

    The aircraft make up about 20% of the Alaska Airlines’ fleet. As of midday, Alaska had canceled about a fifth of its Sunday flights, according to FlightAware.com. United Airlines, which also grounded its Max 9s, had about a 10% cancellation rate on Sunday.

    The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating Friday’s accident and is still looking for the door from the paneled-over exit that blew out. Some planes, due to smaller capacity, panel over what would have been an exit door.

    The NTSB has a good idea of where it landed, near Oregon Route 217 and Barnes Road in the Cedar Hills area west of Portland, NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said at a news conference late Saturday.

    “If you find that, please, please contact local law enforcement,” she said.

    It was extremely lucky that the airplane had not yet reached cruising altitude, when passengers and flight attendants might be walking around the cabin, Homendy said.

    “No one was seated in 26A and B where that door plug is, the aircraft was around 16,000 feet and only 10 minutes out from the airport when the door blew,” she said. The investigation is expected to take months.

    There has not been a major crash involving a U.S. passenger carrier within the country since 2009 when a Colgan Air flight crashed near Buffalo, New York, killing all 49 people on board and one person on the ground. In 2013, an Asiana Airlines flight arriving from South Korea crashed at San Francisco International Airport, killing three of the 307 people on board.

    Flight 1282 took off from Portland at 5:07 p.m. Friday for a two-hour flight to Ontario, California. About six minutes later, the chunk of the fuselage blew out as the plane was at about 16,000 feet (4.8 kilometers). One of the pilots declared an emergency and asked for clearance to descend to 10,000 feet (3 kilometers), the altitude where the air would have enough oxygen to breathe safely.

    Videos posted by passengers online showed a gaping hole where the paneled-over exit had been and passengers wearing masks. They applauded when the plane landed safely about 13 minutes after the blowout. Firefighters then came down the aisle, asking passengers to remain in their seats as they treated the injured.

    The aircraft involved rolled off the assembly line and received its certification two months ago, according to online FAA records. It had been on 145 flights since entering commercial service Nov. 11, said FlightRadar24, another tracking service. The flight from Portland was the aircraft’s third of the day.

    Aviation experts were stunned that a piece would fly off a new aircraft. Anthony Brickhouse, a professor of aerospace safety at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, said he has seen panels of fuselage come off planes before, but couldn’t recall one where passengers “are looking at the lights of the city.”

    He said the incident is a reminder for passengers to stay buckled in.

    “If there had been a passenger in that window seat who just happened to have their seat belt off, we’d be looking at a totally different news story.”

    The Max is the newest version of Boeing’s venerable 737, a twin-engine, single-aisle plane frequently used on U.S. domestic flights. The plane went into service in May 2017.

    The president of the union representing flight attendants at 19 airlines, including Alaska Airlines, commended the crew for keeping passengers safe.

    “Flight Attendants are trained for emergencies and we work every flight for aviation safety first and foremost,” Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants, said in a statement Saturday.

    Two Max 8 jets crashed in 2018 and 2019, killing 346 people and leading to a near two-year worldwide grounding of all Max 8 and Max 9 planes. They returned to service only after Boeing made changes to an automated flight control system implicated in the crashes.

    Last year, the FAA told pilots to limit use of an anti-ice system on the Max in dry conditions because of concern that inlets around the engines could overheat and break away, possibly striking the plane.

    Max deliveries have been interrupted at times to fix manufacturing flaws. The company told airlines in December to inspect the planes for a possible loose bolt in the rudder-control system.

    ___

    Koenig reported from Dallas. Bohrer reported from Juneau, Alaska. Associated Press reporters Terry Spencer in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and Audrey McAvoy in Honolulu, Hawaii, contributed.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Japanese air safety experts search for voice data from plane debris

    Japanese air safety experts search for voice data from plane debris

    [ad_1]

    A team of transport safety officials searched for a voice recorder from the severely burned fuselage of a Japan Airlines plane Friday, seeking crucial information on what caused a collision with a small coast guard plane on the runway at Tokyo’s Haneda airport.

    Meanwhile, JAL also started using heavy machinery to remove some of the debris for storage in a hangar to allow the runway to reopen.

    Six experts from the Japan Transport Safety Board, walked through the mangled debris of the Airbus A350-900 that was lying on the runway searching for the voice data recorder.

    JTSB experts have so far secured both the flight and voice data recorders from the coast guard’s Bombardier Dash-8 and a flight data recorder from the JAL plane to find out what happened in the last few minutes before Tuesday’s fatal collision.

    All 379 occupants of JAL Flight 516 safely evacuated within 18 minutes of landing as the aircraft was engulfed in flames. The pilot of the coast guard plane also escaped, but its five other crewmembers were killed.

    New details have also emerged from media footage at Haneda airport. NHK television reported footage from its monitoring camera set up at the Haneda airport showed that the coast guard plane moved on to the runway and stopped there for about 40 seconds before the collision.

    In the footage, the coast guard aircraft is seen entering the runway from the C5 taxiway, then shortly after the passenger plane touches down right behind and rams into it, creating an orange fireball. The JAL airliner, covered with flames and spewing gray smoke, continues down the runway before coming to a stop.

    Transcript of the recorded communication at the traffic control, released by the transport ministry Wednesday, showed that the air traffic controller told the coast guard plane to taxi to a holding position just before the runway, noting its No. 1 departure priority. The coast guard pilot repeats the instruction, then offers thanks for the No. 1 slot. There was no further instruction from the control allowing the coast guard to enter the runway.

    The pilot told police investigators that his aircraft was struck just as he powered up the engines after obtaining clearance to take off.

    The small lights on the coast guard aircraft and its 40-second stop might have made it less visible to the JAL pilots and air traffic control. NHK also said that air traffic control officials may have missed an alert system for unauthorized runway entry while engaging in other operations.

    The JTSB investigators on Friday planned to interview seven JAL cabin attendants to get their accounts, after their similar interviews with the three pilots and two other attendants the day before.

    As aircraft manufacturer, Airbus officials are also joining the investigation, a requirement under international aviation safety rules, according to the board.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • A jet's carbon-composite fiber fuselage burned on a Tokyo runway. Is the material safe?

    A jet's carbon-composite fiber fuselage burned on a Tokyo runway. Is the material safe?

    [ad_1]

    The fuselage of the jetliner involved in a collision on a Tokyo runway was made from carbon-composite fibers, and the incident is renewing concern about the challenges of putting out fires involving the material.

    The fire is shaping up as a key test of the safety of composite materials compared with conventional airplane fuselages made of aluminum.

    Investigators appear to be focusing immediately on communication between the pilots of both planes and air traffic controllers at Haneda Airport. A transcript released Wednesday indicated that the landing Japan Airlines A350 had permission to use the runway but the Japanese coast guard plane did not.

    Safety experts are praising the airline’s crew after everybody was able to escape the burning jetliner. Five people on the coast guard plane were killed.

    Composites have been used for many years inside commercial planes, such as the floorboards and other structures.

    Boeing built the first commercial plane with a fuselage and wings made from composites reinforced with carbon fibers, the 787. The plane went into airline service in 2011, and about 1,100 have been produced.

    Airbus followed in 2018 with the A350 — like the two-year-old plane involved in Tuesday’s collision — and has sold about 570 of them.

    In airplanes, composite materials contain carbon fiber to give more strength to plastic and other materials. According to Boeing, they produce weight savings of about 20% compared with aluminum — a significant amount, considering how much less fuel a lighter plane will burn.

    The strength of composites was tested during certification by regulators including the Federal Aviation Administration, and Boeing said it made changes in the 787 as a result, but experts say there are limits to our understanding of the material’s performance.

    “There has always been a concern about composites if they catch fire because the fumes are toxic,” said John Goglia, a former member of the National Transportation Safety Board, which investigates accidents in the United States. “That threat continues as long as the airplane burns — actually after, because those little fibers might be floating around in the smoke.”

    While the Japan Airlines plane caught fire, filling the cabin with smoke, all 379 passengers and crew members were able to escape.

    “That fuselage protected them from a really horrific fire — it did not burn through for some period of time and let everybody get out,” said safety consultant John Cox. “That is a positive sign.”

    Goglia said there is no real-world evidence on whether composite skins are any better or worse than aluminum at resisting fire and heat long enough to give passengers a chance to escape.

    Aircraft manufacturers are supposed to show that their planes can be evacuated in 90 seconds with half the exits blocked, although skeptics question the accuracy of U.S. government-run tests.

    On Tuesday night, video captured a fireball on the JAL plane as it continued down the runway after the crash.

    “The flammability issue is something they have to look at, but obviously nobody (on the jetliner) burned to death,” said aviation attorney Justin Green. “It seems the fuselage and the seats (made of fire-retardant material) and everything else protected the flight crew and the passengers.”

    Passengers on the Japan Airlines plane said the cabin filled with thick smoke within minutes. Videos posted by passengers showed people using handkerchiefs to cover their mouths and ducking low as they moved toward the exits.

    There has long been concern about toxic smoke released when carbon-reinforced composites burn.

    As far back as the 1990s, the Federal Aviation Administration said the main health hazards from composites present in plane crashes and fires were sharp splinters from exposed material, fibrous dust, and toxic gases generated from burning resins.

    “From early reports, it appears that there was a significant amount of smoke in the cabin, and it is not yet clear if any of the smoke was from burning composites,” said Todd Curtis, a former Boeing engineer who is now a safety consultant.

    Curtis said a key follow-up for investigators and regulators will be monitoring whether passengers or firefighters were injured by exposure to toxic smoke from the burning composite.

    Those injuries could take a long time to show up, said Steven Marks, an aviation attorney. He said passengers involved in accidents are usually in shock and often don’t immediately recognize the severity of their injuries.

    Another concern, experts said, was the amount of time it took firefighters at Haneda to extinguish the blaze, and the risk to the first responders.

    Curtis, the former Boeing engineer, said both in the Haneda crash and a 2013 fire on an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 787 that was parked at London’s Heathrow Airport, “putting out the fire took much more effort than with a typical airliner fire.”

    The official report said the fire at Heathrow started with crossed wires in the plane’s emergency locator transmitter, but added, “The resin in the composite material provided fuel for the fire, allowing a slow-burning fire to become established in the fuselage crown.”

    Curtis said that incident made him worry about fuselage fires on the ground and in the air back in 2013, “and these concerns have not gone away.”

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • NHK TV says 5 crewmembers found dead on coast guard plane involved in crash at Japanese airport

    NHK TV says 5 crewmembers found dead on coast guard plane involved in crash at Japanese airport

    [ad_1]

    NHK TV says 5 crewmembers found dead on coast guard plane involved in crash at Japanese airport

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • What to stream this week: 'Society of the Snow,' 'Night Court,' 'Good Grief'

    What to stream this week: 'Society of the Snow,' 'Night Court,' 'Good Grief'

    [ad_1]

    “Night Court” and “Schitt’s Creek” star Dan Levy’s directorial debut, “Good Grief” are some of the new television and movies headed to a device near you.

    Also among the streaming offerings worth your time as selected by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists are some new game shows on Fox and “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts” stomping onto Amazon Prime.

    — Director J.A. Bayona knows his way around an agonizing survival story. In 2012, he gave audiences a harrowing look at a family’s experience during the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, and now he’s back with “Society of the Snow,” about the Uruguayan Air Force Flight that crashed in the Andes mountains in 1972. The disaster has been recounted and studied in many books and movies over the years, including Frank Marshall’s 1993 film “Alive.” But Bayona was inspired to take another look after reading Pablo Vierci’s “Society of the Snow.” Bayona has said that he wanted to tell the stories not only of the survivors but of those who didn’t, in a “documentary style.” The Spanish-language film was selected to represent Spain in the Oscars and has been shortlisted for best international film. “Society of the Snow” begins streaming on Netflix on Jan. 4.

    Netflix also has Dan Levy’s directorial debut, “Good Grief” coming on Jan. 5. Levy, who also wrote, co-stars alongside Luke Evans, Ruth Negga and Himesh Patel as a widower who has recently lost his husband and takes his friends to Paris for some soul-searching.

    — The Criterion Channel has several treats for January, including a series on cat movies (from “That Darn Cat” to “Inside Llewyn Davis”), an ode to Ava Gardner (including “The Barefoot Contessa” and “Pandora and the Flying Dutchman”) but perhaps the most January of all the collections is James Gray’s New York. The films include his 1994 debut “Little Odessa,” in which Tim Roth plays a hit man who has come back to Brighton Beach and the intoxicating romance “Two Lovers,” with Joaquin Phoenix and Gwyneth Paltrow as the beguiling Michelle. And if that wasn’t enough Joaquin for you, they’ll have “The Yards,” “We Own the Night” and “The Immigrant” as well.

    — And over on Prime Video are two movies that didn’t get the best reviews, but if you’re intrigued and have an Amazon Prime account they’re there for the sampling. First there is the globetrotting action pic “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts,” which centers on the charismatic stars Anthony Ramos and Dominique Fishback who travel from Brooklyn to Peru. Directed by Steven Caple Jr., it is technically a sequel to “Bumblebee.” There’s also Garth Davis’ “Foe,” a sci-fi psychological thriller with Saoirse Ronan and Paul Mescal. Both start streaming on Jan. 5.

    — AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr

    Fox is adding some new game shows to its roster in the new year. Rob Lowe executive produces and hosts a new trivia show called “The Floor” beginning Jan. 2 while Anthony Anderson and his mother Doris Bowman co-host the musical “We Are Family” beginning Jan. 3. The latter was originally intended to star Jamie Foxx and his daughter Corinne but the Oscar winner, who experienced an undisclosed medical condition in 2023, will now executive produce. Both shows will also stream on Hulu.

    — The acclaimed Hulu series “Only Murders in the Building” comes to broadcast television in early 2024. The comedy whodunit stars Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez as neighbors in a posh New York apartment building who start their own true crime podcast after another resident is murdered. The first three episodes of season one begin airing on ABC on Tuesday, Jan. 2.

    — Season one of NBC’s rebooted “Night Court” ended on a cliffhanger, with the return of original series regular Marsha Warfield in an unexpected spot. Season two, which launches Tuesday and arrives the next day on Peacock, picks up where last season left off. The rebooted show stars series original John Larroquette and Melissa Rauch as the new night court judge.

    — Alicia Rancilio

    ___

    Catch up on AP’s entertainment coverage here: https://apnews.com/entertainment.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • What to stream this week: 'Society of the Snow,' 'Night Court,' 'Good Grief'

    What to stream this week: 'Society of the Snow,' 'Night Court,' 'Good Grief'

    [ad_1]

    “Night Court” and “Schitt’s Creek” star Dan Levy’s directorial debut, “Good Grief” are some of the new television and movies headed to a device near you.

    Also among the streaming offerings worth your time as selected by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists are some new game shows on Fox and “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts” stomping onto Amazon Prime.

    — Director J.A. Bayona knows his way around an agonizing survival story. In 2012, he gave audiences a harrowing look at a family’s experience during the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, and now he’s back with “Society of the Snow,” about the Uruguayan Air Force Flight that crashed in the Andes mountains in 1972. The disaster has been recounted and studied in many books and movies over the years, including Frank Marshall’s 1993 film “Alive.” But Bayona was inspired to take another look after reading Pablo Vierci’s “Society of the Snow.” Bayona has said that he wanted to tell the stories not only of the survivors but of those who didn’t, in a “documentary style.” The Spanish-language film was selected to represent Spain in the Oscars and has been shortlisted for best international film. “Society of the Snow” begins streaming on Netflix on Jan. 4.

    Netflix also has Dan Levy’s directorial debut, “Good Grief” coming on Jan. 5. Levy, who also wrote, co-stars alongside Luke Evans, Ruth Negga and Himesh Patel as a widower who has recently lost his husband and takes his friends to Paris for some soul-searching.

    — The Criterion Channel has several treats for January, including a series on cat movies (from “That Darn Cat” to “Inside Llewyn Davis”), an ode to Ava Gardner (including “The Barefoot Contessa” and “Pandora and the Flying Dutchman”) but perhaps the most January of all the collections is James Gray’s New York. The films include his 1994 debut “Little Odessa,” in which Tim Roth plays a hit man who has come back to Brighton Beach and the intoxicating romance “Two Lovers,” with Joaquin Phoenix and Gwyneth Paltrow as the beguiling Michelle. And if that wasn’t enough Joaquin for you, they’ll have “The Yards,” “We Own the Night” and “The Immigrant” as well.

    — And over on Prime Video are two movies that didn’t get the best reviews, but if you’re intrigued and have an Amazon Prime account they’re there for the sampling. First there is the globetrotting action pic “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts,” which centers on the charismatic stars Anthony Ramos and Dominique Fishback who travel from Brooklyn to Peru. Directed by Steven Caple Jr., it is technically a sequel to “Bumblebee.” There’s also Garth Davis’ “Foe,” a sci-fi psychological thriller with Saoirse Ronan and Paul Mescal. Both start streaming on Jan. 5.

    — AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr

    Fox is adding some new game shows to its roster in the new year. Rob Lowe executive produces and hosts a new trivia show called “The Floor” beginning Jan. 2 while Anthony Anderson and his mother Doris Bowman co-host the musical “We Are Family” beginning Jan. 3. The latter was originally intended to star Jamie Foxx and his daughter Corinne but the Oscar winner, who experienced an undisclosed medical condition in 2023, will now executive produce. Both shows will also stream on Hulu.

    — The acclaimed Hulu series “Only Murders in the Building” comes to broadcast television in early 2024. The comedy whodunit stars Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez as neighbors in a posh New York apartment building who start their own true crime podcast after another resident is murdered. The first three episodes of season one begin airing on ABC on Tuesday, Jan. 2.

    — Season one of NBC’s rebooted “Night Court” ended on a cliffhanger, with the return of original series regular Marsha Warfield in an unexpected spot. Season two, which launches Tuesday and arrives the next day on Peacock, picks up where last season left off. The rebooted show stars series original John Larroquette and Melissa Rauch as the new night court judge.

    — Alicia Rancilio

    ___

    Catch up on AP’s entertainment coverage here: https://apnews.com/entertainment.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Jeff Bezos' rocket company launches experiments in first flight since 2022 crash

    Jeff Bezos' rocket company launches experiments in first flight since 2022 crash

    [ad_1]

    Jeff Bezos’ space company successfully launched a rocket carrying experiments on Tuesday, its first flight since engine trouble caused a crash more than a year ago.

    The New Shepard rocket soared from West Texas, lifting a capsule full of tests, many of which were aboard the failed Blue Origin launch in September 2022. No one was aboard that flight or this latest one.

    This time, the capsule made it to the fringes of space, exposing the experiments from NASA and others to a few minutes of weightlessness, before parachuting back down to the desert. The rocket landed first, after releasing the capsule. It reached an altitude of 66 miles (107 kilometers) during the 10-minute flight.

    During last year’s failed launch, the rocket started to veer off course shortly after liftoff, prompting the escape system to kick in and catapult the capsule off the top. The capsule landed safely, but the rocket came crashing down.

    The problem was traced to an overheated rocket engine nozzle that broke apart. Design changes were made to the nozzles and combustion chambers.

    Blue Origin has been launching from this remote area, southeast of El Paso, for almost 20 years. The company launched its first experiments for NASA in 2019 and its first passengers in 2021 that included Bezos and his brother. The second crew, a few months later, included “Star Trek” actor William Shatner.

    Altogether, Blue Origin has launched six times with 31 passengers, interspersing the 10-minute flights with research hops.

    “Following a thorough review of today’s mission, we look forward to flying our next crewed flight soon,” said launch commentator Erika Wagner.

    Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket, designed to reach orbit, has yet to fly. The company is aiming for a debut sometime next year from Cape Canaveral, Florida. It’s named after John Glenn, the first American to orbit the world. New Shepard is named after Alan Shepard, the first American in space.

    ___

    The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Small plane crashes into power lines in Oregon and kills 3, police say

    Small plane crashes into power lines in Oregon and kills 3, police say

    [ad_1]

    INDEPENDENCE, Ore. — A small plane crashed into power lines in Oregon late Saturday afternoon and killed all three people on board, police said.

    Polk County emergency services received the report of the single engine plane crash in Independence around 4:55 p.m., the Independence Police Department said in a statement posted on social media.

    Police said the initial investigation found the collision with electrical power lines resulted in a small brush fire and a power outage in the community about 12 miles (19.3 kilometers) southwest of Salem.

    Pacific Power said at least 375 customers were without power in Independence after the crash, the Statesman Journal reported.

    The Independence police and the Federal Aviation Administration are investigating, police said.

    A possible cause of the crash and the names of the deceased were not immediately released.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Japan suspends its Osprey flights after the fatal crash of a US Air Force aircraft

    Japan suspends its Osprey flights after the fatal crash of a US Air Force aircraft

    [ad_1]

    TOKYO — Japan suspended flights by its Osprey aircraft Thursday, officials said, the day after a U.S. Air Force Osprey based in Japan crashed into the sea during a training mission.

    Tokyo said it also asked the U.S. military to ground all Ospreys operating in Japan except for those joining the search operations at the crash site. At least one of the eight crew members aboard was killed, but the status of the others was not yet known.

    But the Pentagon said U.S. Ospreys continue to operate out of Japan. The deputy press secretary, Sabrina Singh, said she was not aware of an official request from Japan to freeze Osprey flights.

    A senior defense ministry official, Taro Yamato, told a parliamentary hearing that Japan has suspended flights of Ospreys until details of the crash and safety are confirmed. The cause of Wednesday’s crash was not yet known.

    The U.S.-made Osprey is a hybrid aircraft that takes off and lands like a helicopter but can rotate its propellers forward and cruise much faster, like an airplane, during flight.

    Ministry officials said a planned training flight Thursday at the Metabaru army camp in the Saga prefecture in southern Japan was canceled as part of the grounding of all 14 Japanese-owned Ospreys deployed at Japan’s Ground Self-Defense Force bases.

    “The occurrence of such a major accident causes great anxiety to the people of the region and it is truly regrettable,” Defense Minister Minoru Kihara said in a parliamentary hearing Thursday. “We have requested the U.S. side to conduct flights of Ospreys deployed in Japan after their flight safety is confirmed,” he said. His language was vague and did not clearly say that all Ospreys should be stood down.

    Defense officials said they hoped the U.S. side got the message, but NHK national television said a number of Ospreys flew in and out of a U.S. air base on Okinawa. One U.S. Osprey has joined the rescue operation off Japan’s southern coast, defense officials said.

    A U.S. defense official said if there was a pause in flights, it could also be to allow the small Air Force Special Operations Command community in Japan time to process its unit’s crash, the official said. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive details about the crash.

    The coast guard, as well as Japanese troops, searched through the night, and on Thursday the coast guard started using sonar to search underwater for the broken aircraft, which might have sunk to the sea bottom, at a depth of about 30 meters (100 feet).

    Ospreys have had a number of crashes, including in Japan, where they are used at U.S. and Japanese military bases, and the latest crash rekindles safety concerns and controversy over the deployment in Japan. In Okinawa, where about half of the 50,000 American troops are based, Gov. Denny Tamaki had said he would ask the U.S. military to suspend all Osprey flights in Japan.

    On Thursday, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa met with U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel at her ministry, asking the United States “to promptly provide information to the Japanese side.” Emanuel said the focus now is the search for the missing crew members and he thanked Japanese troops, coast guard and local fishermen for “being side by side.”

    NHK public television and other news outlets reported that the aircraft had requested an emergency landing at the Yakushima airport about five minutes before it was lost from radar. NHK quoted a Yakushima resident saying he saw the aircraft turn upside down, with fire coming from one of its engines, and then an explosion before it fell into the sea.

    U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command said the CV-22B Osprey was one of six deployed to Yokota Air Base, home to U.S. Forces Japan and the Fifth Air Force, and assigned to the 353rd Special Operations Wing.

    The aircraft had departed from the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni in Yamaguchi prefecture and crashed on its way to Kadena Air Base on Okinawa, Japanese officials said.

    Last year, Air Force Special Operations Command ordered a temporary stand-down of its Osprey fleet following back-to-back safety incidents where the Osprey clutch slipped, causing an uneven distribution of power to its rotors.

    The Marine Corps and Navy have reported similar clutch slips, and each service has worked to address the issue in their aircraft, however clutch failure was also cited in a 2022 fatal U.S. Marine Corps Osprey crash that killed five.

    According to the investigation of that crash, “dual hard clutch engagement” led to engine failure.

    Separately, a U.S. Marine Corps Osprey with 23 Marines aboard crashed on a northern Australian island in August, killing three Marines and critically injuring at least five others who were taking part in a multinational training exercise.

    ___

    Lolita Baldor contributed to this report. Baldor and Copp reported from Washington.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Japan suspends its own Osprey flights after a fatal US Air Force crash

    Japan suspends its own Osprey flights after a fatal US Air Force crash

    [ad_1]

    TOKYO — Japan suspended flights by its Osprey aircraft Thursday, officials said, the day after a U.S. Air Force Osprey based in Japan crashed into the sea during a training mission.

    Tokyo says it has also asked the U.S. military to ground all Ospreys operating in Japan except for those searching for victims of the crash.

    A senior Defense Ministry official, Taro Yamato, told a parliamentary hearing that Japan has suspended flights of Ospreys beginning Thursday until details of the crash and safety are confirmed.

    The U.S.-made Osprey is a hybrid aircraft that takes off and lands like a helicopter but can rotate its propellers forward and cruise much faster, like an airplane, during flight.

    Ministry officials said a planned training flight Thursday at the Metabaru army camp in the Saga prefecture in southern Japan was canceled as part of the grounding of all 14 Japanese-owned Ospreys deployed at Japan’s Ground Self-Defense Force bases.

    Japanese officials say they also asked the U.S. military to suspend all Ospreys in Japan until the crash is fully examined and safety confirmed, except for the purpose of joining the ongoing search and rescue operations at the crash site. One U.S. Osprey has joined the rescue operation since the crash, Japanese defense officials said.

    “The occurrence of such a major accident causes great anxiety to the people of the region and it is truly regrettable,” Defense Minoru Kihara said in a parliamentary hearing Thursday. “We have requested the U.S. side to conduct flights of Ospreys deployed in Japan after their flight safety is confirmed,” he said. His language was vague and did not clearly say that all Ospreys should be stood down.

    Defense officials said they hoped the U.S. side got the message, but NHK national television said a number of Ospreys flew in and out of a U.S. air base on Okinawa.

    The U.S. Osprey crashed Wednesday off Japan’s southern coast, killing at least one of the eight crew members. The cause of the crash and the status of the seven others on board were not immediately known.

    The coast guard, as well as Japanese troops, searched through the night, and on Thursday the coast guard started using sonar to search underwater for the broken aircraft that might have sunk to the sea bottom, at a depth of about 30 meters (100 feet).

    Ospreys have had a number of crashes, including in Japan, where they are used at U.S. and Japanese military bases, and the latest crash rekindles safety concerns and controversy over the deployment in Japan. In Okinawa, where about half of the 50,000 American troops are based, Gov. Denny Tamaki had said he would ask the U.S. military to suspend all Osprey flights in Japan.

    On Thursday, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa met with U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel at her ministry, asking the United States “to promptly provide information to the Japanese side.” Emanuel said the focus now is the search for the missing crew members and he thanked Japanese troops, coast guard and local fishermen for “being side by side.”

    NHK public television and other news outlets reported that the aircraft had requested an emergency landing at the Yakushima airport about five minutes before it was lost from radar. NHK quoted a Yakushima resident saying he saw the aircraft turn upside down, with fire coming from one of its engines, and then an explosion before it fell into the sea.

    U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command said the CV-22B Osprey was one of six deployed to Yokota Air Base, home to U.S. Forces Japan and the Fifth Air Force, and assigned to the 353rd Special Operations Wing.

    The aircraft had departed from the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni in Yamaguchi prefecture and crashed on its way to Kadena Air Base on Okinawa, Japanese officials said.

    Last year, Air Force Special Operations Command ordered a temporary stand-down of its Osprey fleet following back-to-back safety incidents where the Osprey clutch slipped, causing an uneven distribution of power to its rotors.

    The Marine Corps and Navy have reported similar clutch slips, and each service has worked to address the issue in their aircraft, however clutch failure was also cited in a 2022 fatal U.S. Marine Corps Osprey crash that killed five.

    According to the investigation of that crash, “dual hard clutch engagement” led to engine failure.

    Separately, a U.S. Marine Corps Osprey with 23 Marines aboard crashed on a northern Australian island in August, killing three Marines and critically injuring at least five others who were taking part in a multinational training exercise.

    ___

    Copp reported from Washington.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Flight data recorder recovered from US Navy plane that overshot the runway in Hawaii

    Flight data recorder recovered from US Navy plane that overshot the runway in Hawaii

    [ad_1]

    Officials have recovered the flight data recorder from a U.S. Navy airplane that overshot the runway near Honolulu

    ByThe Associated Press

    November 25, 2023, 4:06 PM

    This photo provided by U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Navy Sailors with Company 1-3, Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit 1, retrieved the aircraft flight recorder from a downed U.S. Navy P-8A Poseidon and are debriefed in waters just off the runway at Marine Corps Air Station Kaneohe Bay, Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Thursday, Nov. 23, 2023. The flight data recorder has been recovered as the military continues to plan for the aircraft’s removal.(Lance Cpl. Hunter Jones/U.S. Marine Corps via AP)

    The Associated Press

    KANEOHE, Hawaii — The flight data recorder of a large U.S. Navy plane that overshot a runway and ended up in the water near Honolulu this week has been recovered as the military continues to plan for the aircraft’s removal.

    The Navy’s Aircraft Mishap Board is investigating on scene at Marine Corps Base Hawaii in Kaneohe Bay, trying to determine the cause of the accident and any contributing factors, the Navy said Friday in a statement.

    Sailors from a mobile diving and salvage unit retrieved the data recorder Thursday and conducted a hydrographic survey to assess the P-8A plane’s structural integrity.

    The survey also assessed the coral and marine environment around the plane, which will aid them in minimizing impact during its removal, the Navy said.

    Kaneohe Bay residents have expressed concerns about possible coral reef damage and other potential harm from fuel or other chemicals in the area, which is about 1.5 miles (2.4 kilometers) from an ancient fishing point.

    The Navy said it has put primary and secondary containment booms around the airplane, along with other absorbent materials. Specially trained personnel are monitoring the area 24 hours a day.

    There were no injuries to the nine people aboard the plane during Monday’s accident at the base, which is located about 10 miles (16 kilometers) from Honolulu on Oahu.

    The P-8A is often used to hunt for submarines and for reconnaissance and intelligence gathering. It is manufactured by Boeing and shares many parts with the 737 commercial jet.

    The plane belongs to the Skinny Dragons of Patrol Squadron 4, stationed at Whidbey Island in Washington state. Patrol squadrons were once based at Kaneohe Bay but now deploy to Hawaii on a rotating basis.

    Another crew from Washington state, the VP-40 Fighting Marlins, arrived Thursday to assume homeland defense coverage, the Navy said.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Pilot tried to pull out of landing before plane crashed on the doorstep of a Texas mall

    Pilot tried to pull out of landing before plane crashed on the doorstep of a Texas mall

    [ad_1]

    A Federal Aviation Administration incident report says the pilot of a small plane that crashed and burned on the doorstep of a strip mall in Texas was trying to pull out of a landing before the accident

    ByThe Associated Press

    November 23, 2023, 12:15 PM

    PLANO, Texas — A pilot who died when the small plane he was flying crashed and burned on the doorstep of a strip mall in Texas was aborting a landing, according to an incident report released Wednesday.

    Plano police on Wednesday identified the pilot of the single-engine Mooney M20 as 87-year-old Elzie Monroe McDonald, of Arizona, The Dallas Morning News reported. McDonald was the only person on board when the plane crashed Tuesday.

    The National Transportation Safety Board is still investigating the crash. But a Federal Aviation Administration incident report says McDonald was pulling out of a landing before crashing.

    Photos from the scene showed the wreckage in a parking space next to a nail salon and diner just outside of the shopping center in the Dallas suburb of Plano.

    The crash caused a parked car to catch fire. No one was inside the vehicle, and no bystanders were injured, authorities said.

    [ad_2]

    Source link