Tag Archives: Crash

Egypt finds belongings, debris from plane crash at sea

Pilots of an Egyptian military plane take part in a search operation for the EgyptAir plane that disappeared in the Mediterranean Sea

By Ahmed Aboulenein

CAIRO (Reuters) – The Egyptian navy said on Friday it had found the personal belongings of passengers and other debris floating in the Mediterranean, confirmation that an EgyptAir jet had plunged into the sea with 66 people on board.

The military said it had found the debris about 290 km (180 miles) north of the port city of Alexandria and was searching for the plane’s black box flight recorders.

Egypt’s President Adbel Fattah al-Sisi offered condolences for those on board, amounting to Cairo’s official acknowledgement of their deaths.

The defense minister of Greece, which has also been scouring the Mediterranean, said Egyptian authorities had found a body part, luggage and a seat in the sea just south of where the signal from the plane was lost.

Although suspicion pointed to Islamist militants who blew up another airliner over Egypt just seven months ago, no group had claimed responsibility more than 24 hours after the disappearance of flight MS804, an Airbus A320 flying from Paris to Cairo.

Three French investigators and a technical expert from Airbus arrived in Cairo early on Friday to help investigate the fate of the missing plane, airport sources said.

Egyptian Prime Minister Sherif Ismail said on Thursday that it was too early to rule out any explanation for the disaster. The country’s aviation minister said a terrorist attack was more likely than a technical failure.

Friday’s announcement that debris had been found followed earlier confusion about whether wreckage had been located. Greek searchers found some material on Thursday, but the airline later said this was not from its plane.

SUSPICION FALLS ON MILITANTS

While there was no official explanation of the cause of the crash, suspicion fell on the militants who have been fighting against Egypt’s government since Sisi toppled an elected Islamist leader in 2013. In October, the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for blowing up a Russian jetliner that exploded after taking off from an Egyptian tourist resort. Russian investigators blamed a bomb smuggled on board.

Last year’s crash devastated Egypt’s tourist industry, one of the main sources of foreign exchange for a country of 80 million people, and another similar attack would crush hopes of it recovering.

While most governments were cautious about jumping to conclusions, U.S. Republican candidate for president, Donald Trump, tweeted swiftly after the plane’s disappearance: “Looks like yet another terrorist attack. Airplane departed from Paris. When will we get tough, smart and vigilant?”

Later in the day, his likely Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, also said it appeared to be an act of terrorism, although she said an investigation would have to determine the details.

Officials from a number of U.S. agencies told Reuters that a U.S. review of satellite imagery so far had not produced any signs of an explosion. They said the United States had not ruled out any possible causes for the crash, including mechanical failure, terrorism or a deliberate act by the pilot or crew.

Amid uncertainty about what brought down the plane, Los Angeles International Airport became the first major U.S. air transportation hub to say it was stepping up security measures.

“LIVES ARE SO CHEAP”

The plane vanished just as it was exiting air space controlled by Greece for air space controlled by Egypt. Greek Defence Minister Panos Kammenos said the Airbus swerved radically and plunged from 37,000 feet to 15,000 before vanishing from Greek radar screens.

According to Greece’s civil aviation chief, calls from Greek air traffic controllers to MS804 went unanswered just before it left Greek airspace, and it disappeared from radar screens soon afterwards.

There was no official indication of a possible cause, whether technical failure, human error or sabotage.

Ultra-hardline Islamists have targeted airports, airliners and tourist sites in Europe, Egypt, Tunisia and other Middle Eastern countries over the past few years.

The aircraft was carrying 56 passengers, including one child and two infants, and 10 crew, EgyptAir said. They included 30 Egyptian and 15 French nationals, along with citizens of 10 other countries. A320s normally seat 150 people. The plane had made scheduled flights to Tunisia and Eritrea on Wednesday before arriving in Paris from Cairo.

At Cairo airport, a man sat on a brown leather couch crying with his hands covering his face on Thursday. “How long will Egypt live if human lives are so cheap?” he said.

The mother of a flight attendant rushed in tears out of the VIP hall where families waited. She said the last time her daughter called her was Wednesday night. “They haven’t told us anything,” she said.

(Writing by Lincoln Feast and Peter Graff; editing by David Stamp and Peter Millership)

Philadelphia Train Crash: Train Sped Up Before Derailment

Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)  say the Amtrak train that crashed in Philadelphia accelerated from 70 to over 100 miles per hour as it entered the curve where it jumped the tracks.

At 106 miles per hour, the train was over twice the 50 miles per hour speed limit for the curve.

The discovery was made after reviewing a video taken from a camera facing the front of the train according to the NTSB.

NTSB board member Robert Sumwalt says he’s hopeful the engineer will be able to give clarity as to why the train accelerated into the curve.

“What I believe is a very good way to interview people is, honestly, to not ask them questions, to basically give them a figurative blank sheet of paper and ask them what they recall,” Sumwalt said Thursday. “Really, we want to know his account of what he recalls leading into this tragic accident.”

Robert Goggin, attorney for engineer Brandon Bostian, says that his client cannot remember anything about the crash.

“He remembers coming into the curve, he remembers attempting to reduce speed, but thereafter he was knocked out just like all the other passengers on the train,” Goggin said on ABC’s “Good Morning America” program.  He said Bostian suffered a concussion and gash on his head.

“We will have to wait for his memory to come back or for other facts to be ascertained by the NTSB,” the lawyer said.

Eight people died in the accident after the remains of the eighth victim were found today by cadaver dogs.  All 243 people on board the train have now been accounted for by Philadelphia officials.

Train Crash Kills 7 In Philadelphia

Officials in Philadelphia are attempting to find the cause of a train crash Tuesday night that left 7 people dead and more than 200 injured.

Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter said that seven cars of the Amtrak train bound for New York jumped the tracks and that over 200 people are in area hospitals.  Eight victims are in critical condition.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the train was going 100 miles per hour at the time it jumped the tracks at a curve, more than twice the speed limit for that portion of track.  Investigators are focusing on that excessive speed as the cause of the derailment.

That belief was backed by an Amtrak official who told a conference call that excessive speed was a focus of the investigation.

Mayor Nutter said the “black box” data recorder of the train has been recovered and is in the hands of the National Transportation Safety Board.

The President issued a statement sharing his shock about the accident.

“Michelle and I were shocked and deeply saddened to hear of the derailment,” Mr. Obama said in a written statement. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families and friends of those we lost last night, and to the many passengers who today begin their long road to recovery.”

Witnesses say the crash was very violent with people being thrown around the rail cars.  Andrew Brenner told the WSJ that seats were ripped from the floor.

“I got thrown like a penny,” said Mr. Brenner, who said he weighs 250 pounds. “That is how violent this was.”

Germanwings Airliner Crashed On Purpose Killing 150

Investigators have found that the co-pilot deliberately crashed Germanwings Flight 9525 into the French Alps.

The “black box” voice recordings have shown investigators that Andreas Lubitz, 28, was in total control of the plane and spent eight minutes descending the plane into a mountain.

“He voluntarily … allowed the loss of altitude of the plane, which he had no reason to do. He had … no reason to stop the pilot-in-command from coming back into the cockpit. He had no reason to refuse to answer to the air controller who was alerting him on the loss of altitude,” Marseille prosecutor Brice Robin said to reporters.

Robin said that most of the passengers had no idea what was happening until the very end.  The plane was descending at a speed where the entire craft was pulverized by the impact and death would have been instantaneous for everyone on board.

“Only towards the end do you hear screams,” he said. “And bear in mind that death would have been instantaneous … the aircraft was literally smashed to bits.”

Police are searching the home of the co-pilot looking for any clues as to his motive for crashing the plane.

TransAsia Plane Crashes In Taiwan On Takeoff; At Least 26 Dead

Local officials say it’s a miracle anyone survived the crash of a TransAsia flight in Taiwan on Wednesday that left at least 26 people dead.

A man driving on Taiwan’s National Freeway No. 1 captured the crash on video which made it appear the engines failed causing the plane to fall out of the sky.  The plane barely missed the main highway before clipping a taxi and the edge of a bridge on the way into a river.

Officials say that 18 people are still missing in the river but that 15 people were rescued and rushed to hospitals including a toddler.  The driver of the taxi and passenger were also injured in the incident.

Local Taiwan broadcasters played a recording of the plane’s last contact with the control tower where the pilots repeat “Mayday” three times.  The pilots offered to details as to what may have caused the crash.

TransAsia director Peter Chen told reporters that plane was one of the newest in their fleet and had been in service for less than a year.  The pilot reportedly had 4,900 hours of flight experience, leading officials to say it’s likely mechanical failure was the cause over pilot error.

Man Credits God For Saving Life In Fiery Crash

A truck driver involved in a horrific crash in New Jersey is crediting God for saving his life.

“I don’t know that to think,” Mario Quiroz, 53, told CBS News. “I just think that God gave me another chance to live.”

Quiroz was driving a truck full of mulch on a highway in Union, New Jersey.  James Pinaire, 24, drove his car into the path of a fuel tanker carrying over 9,000 gallons of gasoline.   The tanker than slammed into Quiroz’s truck.

Pinaire was pronounced dead at the scene.  The tanker driver is in critical condition at Robert Wood Johnson Community Hosptal.

Quiroz’s truck was engulfed in flames.  His driver’s side window would only go halfway down but somehow he could squeeze through it.

And his only wound was a small cut.

“When I look at the video, I think, … my dad had an angel over him,” Quiroz’ daughter stated. “God gave him another chance to live. … He feels blessed.”

Myles Munroe Killed In Plane Crash

The senior pastor of Bahamas Faith Ministries International Fellowship is dead after a plane crash in the Bahamas.

Myles Munroe was killed along with his wife, daughter and six others when their plane struck a construction crane in a shipyard next to the airport and crashed into a junkyard.  No one on the plane survived.

Munroe was leading a Global Leadership Forum that included world leaders such as ambassadors to the United Nations.

“He was indisputably one of the most globally recognizable religious figures our nation has ever produced,” Bahamian Prime Minister Perry Christie said of Munroe. “His fame as an ambassador for the Christian ministry preceded him wherever in the world he traveled, whether in the Caribbean, North America, Asia, Europe or Africa.”

The Associated Press says that severe weather had an impact on the crash.