Page 51 - Disaster Accident
Satellites, spy planes roped in to locate missing AN-32
ISRO satellites and Naval P-8I spy planes have been pressed into service to locate the wreckage of the missing AN-32 aircraft which went missing Monday afternoon with 13 IAF personnel on board."Satellites of the ISRO and other agencies have been pressed into service over parts of Arunachal Pradesh and Assam to locate the missing An-32 transport aircraft with 13 people on board. Su-30MKI, C-130J Super Hercules and other assets are continuing search operations in cloudy weather," sources in IAF said here.Meanwhile, the Navy said that it's Long Range Maritime Reconnaissance aircraft P8I took off from INS Rajali in Arakonam, Tamil Nadu, at 1 pm for joining the search and rescue operation.Officials said the wreckage of the AN-32 transport aircraft which went missing on Monday in Arunachal Pradesh has not been sighted so far.Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has been apprised of the situation by the Air Force.The Antonov AN-32 with 13 personnel including seven officers and six air warriors on .
AAI signs pact with Boeing to modernise air traffic management in India
The Airports Authority of India (AAI) and aerospace major Boeing on Tuesday announced the signing of a technical assistance agreement to develop an air traffic management roadmap which will improve airspace utilisation and help maintain efficient aircraft operations.The comprehensive 10-year communication, navigation and surveillance/air traffic management (CNS/ATM) modernisation roadmap spread over 18 months is being undertaken with a grant from the US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA).The objective of the agreement is to develop a roadmap based on global and local best practices to optimally utilise airspace capacity, enhance communications and invest in navigation, surveillance and air traffic management."The implementation of modern technologies and global practices will allow India to increase its airspace capacity significantly by improving communications, enabling flexible use of airspace and allowing the safe processing of additional flights using air navigation ...
Hungary: Death toll rises to 8 after tourist boat capsizes, 18 remain missing
At least eight bodies have been retrieved from the Danube River after a tourist boat carrying 35 people, including 33 South Korean nationals and two Hungarian crew members, capsized last week, the South Korean foreign ministry confirmed on Tuesday.The sightseeing boat had sunk after being hit by a larger Swiss cruise ship last Wednesday, according to Yonhap News Agency.Search and rescue efforts are ongoing as 20 people, including the two Hungarians, are still missing. Seven people were rescued immediately after the mishap.The death toll rose after divers retrieved two bodies from the water body, out of which one was identified as a South Korean man in his 60s. His body was found by the rescue team around 132 kilometres away from the site of the incident, the ministry added. The other body is yet to be identified.Rescue operations had been previously hampered due to high waters, strong currents and poor underwater visibility, as per the South Korean news agency.The captain of the ...
Search ops continue for missing IAF aircraft in Arunachal
A massive search operation was underway on Tuesday to locate a Russian-origin AN-32 transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force, a day after it went missing around Menchuka in Arunachal Pradesh, officials said. The aircraft, with 13 people on board, went missing Monday afternoon around 33 minutes after taking off from Jorhat in Assam for Menchuka near the border with China. A fleet of fixed wing aircraft and choppers have been deployed to locate the missing Antonov AN-32 aircraft, officials said. They said ground troops have also been deployed to carry out search operation in the mountainous terrain in the region. The IAF said the aircraft took off from Jorhat 12.27 pm for the Menchuka advance landing ground in Shi-Yomi district in Arunachal Pradesh, and its last contact with the ground control was at 1 pm. "Some ground reports were received on possible location of a crash site. Helicopters were routed to the location, however, no wreckage has been sighted so far," the IAF said in a ...
Rare snowfall hits sub-tropical Australia
Icy conditions have swept across eastern Australia, bringing rare snowfall to subtropical areas of the country, weather officials said on Tuesday.
US Congress gives final approval to long-delayed disaster aid
The US Congress gave its final approval to a long-delayed disaster aid package, ending an impasse that has stymied efforts to send billions of dollars in relief to ongoing recovery efforts from a series of natural disasters.
Japan ends search for crashed F35 fighter jet
Japan called off its search for an F-35A on Tuesday, almost two months after the stealth jet crashed into the sea sparking a scramble to recover the pilot and secrets onboard. Defence Minister Takeshi Iwaya told reporters the search had been halted but that his teams were still investigating the cause of the crash, adding that F-35A operations in northern Japan had not yet resumed. The ministry would also keep monitoring a wider area with underwater cameras "for the purpose of protecting classified military information," Iwaya said. Experts say Japan and the US are keen to prevent sensitive debris from the plane being recovered by Russia or China, and Iwaya himself has admitted there were "a significant amount of secrets that need to be protected" on the jet. Some debris have been recovered, including the jet's tail, but neither the pilot's body nor the flight data recorder have been found. The state-of-the-art fighter jet went missing on April 9 while flying 135 kilometres east of ...
US House passes USD 19.1 billion disaster relief bill
After months of negotiations and a week-long recess, the US House of Representatives on Monday cleared a USD 19.1 billion disaster relief bill aimed at providing funds to areas hit by earthquake, hurricanes, flooding, and wildfire.The bill, which passed in the House by a 354-58 vote, would provide approximately USD 900 million for US' unincorporated territory Puerto Rico, which is still recovering from 2017's Hurricane Maria, reports Sputnik."When disaster strikes, we shouldn't let a zip code dictate our response. And Americans across the country have been waiting far too long for the relief and recovery assistance they deserve," House Appropriations Committee Chair Nita Lowey asserted before the vote.The bill will now be sent to the White house for Trump's signature. The US President has supported the legislation in the past and was quick to hail the passage of the bill in the House.In a now-deleted tweet, Trump wrote, "House just passed the 19.1 Billion Dollar Disaster Aid Bill. ...
Grounded 737 MAX jets should fly by 2019 end, says Boeing CEO
Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg said on Monday that the company expects to get a clearance from US' Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to resume services on its grounded 737 MAX aircraft by the end of this year.The statement, made at an interview with CBS and reported by Xinhua News agency, came just a day after a joint investigation by the FAA and Boeing found that some of the 737 aircraft, including the grounded 737 MAX planes of the world's largest aircraft manufacturer, might have faulty parts on their wings.The newly discovered issue affects 148 slat tracks produced by a Boeing supplier. The FAA said that a complete failure of a leading edge slat track would not bring down an aircraft, but could damage the plane in flight.Yesterday's development was a further blow to the company trying to return its grounded 737 MAX aircraft to commercial service.In the interview, Muilenburg did not specify when the U.S. top aircraft manufacturer would get a green light from the FAA but did ...
Two more victims of Hungary tourist boat disaster found
Hungarian police confirmed Monday the discovery of two more victims of a sightseeing boat's collision with a river cruise ship in Budapest last week raising the toll to nine tourists killed. Only seven of the 35 people on board have survived so far, leaving 19 still missing with the prospect of finding any more passengers alive seen as very slim. The Mermaid boat carrying mainly South Korean tourists overturned and sank last Wednesday seconds after colliding with the Viking Sigyn cruise ship on a busy stretch of the river in the heart of the Hungarian capital. Seven victims were recovered from the water within hours of the accident, but strong currents and a water level swollen by weeks of rain have hampered the search for those missing and had prevented divers from reaching the Mermaid which lies some nine metres below the surface. But South Korean divers helped by their Hungarian counterparts were able to bring another victim to the surface from the sunken vessel Monday, according ..
Dust storm brings respite from heat in Chandigarh
A dust storm in Chandigarh and its surrounding areas late Monday night brought some respite from hot weather conditions. The storm, accompanied by high-velocity winds and rain, hit the Union Territory and its neighbouring Mohali and Panchkula around midnight. There were reports of disruption of power supply at some places. Punjab and Haryana have been witnessing intense heatwave conditions for the past several days, with the mercury remaining above the 40-degree mark in most parts of the states. The Meteorological Department had forecast some relief from the heat from Tuesday onwards.
Over 250 shanties gutted in massive fire in Jammu
A massive fire fuelled by high intensity winds gutted over 250 shanties of labourers in the city's Trikutanagar area early Monday, officials said. No casualties were reported in the blaze, they said. The fire broke out in the Maratha cluster near Trikutnagar Railway Station area around 0100 hours and rapidly spread to the entire area due to high intensity winds, according to locals. The Army distributed food and relief material to over 150 civilians, an official said. The Maratha cluster mainly housed migrant labourers from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, besides some Rohingyas. "Suddenly flames started erupting from the Bengali shanties at around 1 am. They spread fast due to winds and turned into a massive fire", Raju, a labourer hailing from Bihar said. Sarojni Devi of West Bengal, who lost all her possessions in the blaze, said there are over 400-500 shanties in the area. The fire was doused after over three hours, the officials said.
A month after Fani, 1.64 lakh families still in darkness
More than five lakh people of 1.64 lakh households in Odisha's coastal districts continue to struggle with hot and humid weather conditions due to lack of power restoration though one month has passed since the cyclone Fani made landfall near Puri on May 3. The worst affected was Puri district where only 1,51,889 out of 2,91,171 affected electricity consumers (52 per cent) have got back power so far, an official said adding, Fani had completely damaged power infrastructure in the district. The cyclone had affected a total of 1.65 crore people in 14 districts of the state. At least 64 persons including 39 from Puri district alone were killed in the calamity. The official said of the total 25,01,131 affected electricity consumers, power has been restored to 23,36,584 consumers. The affected districts were Angul, Dhenkanal, Cuttack, Puri, Nayagarh, Khurdha, Kendrapada, Jagatsinghpur and Jajpur. There has been significant improvement in the drinking water, banking, telecom ..
Unesco condemns TV reporter's killing in Chad
Paris, June 4 (IANS/AKI) United Nations cultural organisation Unesco chief Audrey Azoulay on Monday deplored the killing of television cameraman Obed Nangbatna in Chad last week an attack reportedly staged by Boko Haram jihadists.
Hungary: Body recovered from site of sunken Danube tour boat
Divers have recovered a body from near the sunken tour boat carrying South Korean tourists that capsized last week after a collision with a river cruise ship, Hungarian officials said Monday. The agency leading the salvage operations said that Hungarian divers found a body in the water Monday morning during an inspection of the wreck and it was brought to the surface in the afternoon by Korean divers also assisting in the search and recovery efforts. The identity of the victim wasn't immediately released. If confirmed as one of the victims of Wednesday night's collision on the Danube River, 20 others are still missing. Seven people were rescued after the sinking and seven others were confirmed dead. During Monday's search and recovery efforts, relatives of some of the missing South Korean tourists briefly watched the maneuvers from the bridge above the scene of the last week's mishap. The Hableany (Mermaid) capsized and sank after colliding with a much larger river cruise ship, the ...
Karnataka: Five dead after being struck by lightning in Kalaburagi
At least five were killed and one was injured after being struck by lightning in Kalburagi district on Monday, said police.The deceased were identified as Gamu Rathod (32), Suresh Pawar (30) and Yuvraj Chetan (24), Abdul Ghani (12) and Suresh Digambar (17).Three of the deceased including the injured hailed from Madbool village of the district, while the rest were residents of Aland village.Injured person Sitara Pawar (35) is being treated in a hospital in the vicinity, Kalaburagi SP Iada Martin Marbaniang confirmed.
Free travel not linked to women's safety, say experts
Experts in the field of public transport expressed mixed reactions on the Kejriwal government's proposal to make commute for women in public transport buses and Metro trains free, saying there was no direct link between safety and free rides. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced the proposal on Monday, saying that the move, which will boost women's safety, will be implemented in two-three months. "Safety of women is not linked to free rides for them in public transport. For women's safety, you also have to invest in modernisation of public transport systems," Anumita Roy Chowdhury, Executive Director (Research and Advocacy) at the Centre for Science and Environment, said. Safety comes from the operation of buses and upgradation through a systemic change keeping in mind that 35 per cent Delhiites do not find public transport affordable, she said. "This (move) is not helping us address the fundamental issue of shifting urban commuters to a modern, reliable and affordable public ...
IAF rescues 4 foreign climbers from Nanda Devi; 8 still missing
The Indian Air Force (IAF) is conducting search and rescue missions to rescue a 12-members international expedition team which went missing while climbing the Nanda Devi peak in Uttarakhand.Four members have already been evacuated by the Air Force."IAF has responded swiftly and undertaken life-saving search and rescue missions on request from District Magistrate Pithoragarh from June 1 onwards. Two Advance Light Helicopters of the Indian Air Force have been conducting missions to search and rescue a 12 member international expedition team," a Defence Ministry release said.The international expedition team comprised of nationals from the USA, UK and Australia. The Indian Air Force helicopters have flown a total of five missions and evacuated four UK nationals, including the Deputy Leader from an altitude of 4500 m.The search for the rest eight members continues along the trek route.
Missing AN-32 jolts memories of IAF transport plane that had disappeared over Bay of Bengal in 2016
The disappearance of an Indian Air Force's AN-32 aircraft on Monday brought back agonising memories of another plane of the transport fleet going missing over the Bay of Bengal in 2016. The Russian-origin plane with 29 people on board, including six crew members, had gone missing in June, three years ago, while flying from Chennai to Port Blair. In 2009, the IAF had lost another AN-32 aircraft which crashed near a village in West Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh, killing all the 13 defence personnel in the mishap. Antonov AN-32 is a twin-engined military transport aircraft that can fly for up to four hours without refuelling. The AN-32 aircraft that went missing in June 2016 had taken off at 8:30 am from Tambaram in Chennai and the last time it was contacted was 16 minutes later, defence sources had then said. A few months after the incident, a Court of Inquiry had concluded that those on board the missing aircraft of the IAF were to be "presumed dead". Defence Ministry ...
No wreckage sighted so far, says IAF on missing An-32 aircraft
Indian Air Force (IAF) on Monday said while reports of possible location of the crash site were received, no wreckage of the An-32 transport aircraft which went missing earlier in the day in Arunachal Pradesh has not been sighted so far."Some reports of possible location of the crash site were received, however, no wreckage has been sighted so far," IAF said in a series of tweets."IAF is coordinating with the Indian Army, various government and civil agencies to locate the missing aircraft. Search operations will continue from the air and by ground parties of Indian Army through the night. Efforts are on to establish the whereabouts of the aircraft," it added.Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has been apprised of the situation by the Vice-Chief of the Air Force, Air Marshal Rakesh Singh Bhadauria. Air Marshal also informed the minister about the steps taken by the IAF to find the missing aircraft."Spoke to Vice Chief of @IAF_MCC, Air Marshal Rakesh Singh Bhadauria regarding the ...