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News about the United States by Reuters.
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Nose section of Asiana Airline Flight 214 cockpit #Asiana 214. pic.twitter.com/KVtUjAwvH1
by NTSB via twitter 7/9/2013 9:55:28 PM -
Pilots union says probe of Asiana crash revealed too much, too fastBy Alwyn Scott
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The world's largest pilot union rebuked the federal agency handling the investigation of Saturday's passenger jet crash in San Francisco, saying it had released too much information too quickly, which could lead to wrong conclusions and compromise safety.
Releasing data from the flight's black boxes without full investigative information for context "encourages wild speculation" about the cause of the crash, the Air Line Pilots Association International said in a statement late on Monday.
The criticism came after the National Transportation Safety Board gave a detailed account of the flight's final minutes in a regular daily update on the crash.
The NTSB is the lead investigator of Asiana Airlines flight 214, a Boeing 777 that broke apart and burned after crash-landing short of the runway. Two teenage Chinese passengers were killed, and more than 180 other people were injured in the first fatal accident involving a 777 since the plane was introduced in 1995.
Answering ALPA's criticism, NTSB spokeswoman Kelly Nantel said the agency routinely provided factual updates during investigations.
"For the public to have confidence in the investigative process, transparency and accuracy are critical," Nantel said.
Continue reading: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/09/us-usa-crash-asiana-pilots-idUSBRE9680YK20130709
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Students of the Jiangshan Middle School light candles to form a heart shape and initials (below), of the victims Yang Mengyuan and Wang Linjia of the Asiana Airlines crash, in Quzhou, Zhejiang province July 8, 2013. The Asiana Airlines Boeing 777 that crashed at San Francisco's international airport was flying 25 percent below its intended air speed before slamming into the ground, U.S. safety officials said on Monday as attention increasingly focused on the actions of the pilots. The two victims, Ye and Wang were friends from the Jiangshan Middle School in Quzhou. Picture taken July 8, 2013. REUTERS/Stringer
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ASIANA AIRLINER WAS WELL BELOW TARGET SPEED BEFORE IMPACT -NTSB
By Kristina Cooke and Jonathan Weber
SAN FRANCISCO, July 8 (Reuters) - The Asiana airlines plane that crashed on Saturday at San Francisco airport was traveling at 103 knots seconds before it hit the seawall in the front of the runway, far below the target speed of 137 knots, according to a flight data recorder recovered by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). NTSB Chair Deborah Hersman told reporters on Monday that three seconds before impact, the plane's engine was at 50 percent power, and engine power was increasing. At impact, the flight speed was 106 knots. -
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National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Chairman Deborah Hersman reports that the lower portion of the tail cone is in the rocks along the sea wall, along with debris in the water that is visible in the water and along the landing strip on land.
Hersman also reports the NTSB is working with FBI to investigate the crash scene.
Hersman also noted that ground scars and "witness marks" are consistent with the twisting behavior that was reported earlier. -
The flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder retrieved from the wreckage of Asiana Airlines Flight 214 sit in National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)'s Washington, DC lab in this July 6, 2013 handout photo. U.S. officials examined flight information recorders and began investigating the crash of the Asiana Airlines Boeing 777 that burst into flames upon landing in San Francisco, killing two teenaged Chinese students and injuring more than 180 people, officials said on Sunday. REUTERS/NTSB/Handout
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A mix of English and Korean is heard on the cockpit voice recorder, NTSB reports, saying they will have translators to transcribe the audio. 1400 different parameters are measured by the recorder, a NTSB spokesperson says. A second recorder, a quick access recorder (QAR), will also be reviewed.
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PHOTO: the parents of Wang Linjia, one of the two girls killed during the Asiana Airlines plane crash on Saturday, leave for San Francisco from Shanghai Pudong airport, July 8, 2013. An emergency vehicle rushing to the scene of the Asiana Airlines crash at San Francisco's international airport may have run over one of the two teenage Chinese girls killed in the incident, the local fire department said on Sunday. REUTERS/Aly Song
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'It was boom!' inside crashing plane in San Francisco
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The crash site smelled like diesel fuel, and the plane was burning. The tail and landing gear had been ripped off during the crash of Asiana Airlines flight 214 from Seoul. Other fire trucks were heading toward the site when San Francisco Fire Department Lieutenant Dave Monteverdi and his crew scampered up an emergency evacuation chute, into the plane.
"We entered the aircraft and it smelled like burnt plastic," Monteverdi said in an interview. Despite the fire, they didn't need a flashlight to see towards the back of the plane. The tail was gone and doors were open.
Pilot Lee Kang-kook was at the controls of Boeing 777 as it approached San Francisco International Airport at about 11:30 a.m., at the end of a 10-hour flight.
The airport had turned off for the summer a navigation system that would have suggested the best descent, and while the weather was excellent, Lee was in training, making his first flight in a 777 to San Francisco. He had nearly 10,000 flying hours, but only 43 hours on a 777, Asiana said. Next to him was co-pilot Lee Jeong-min, with over 3,000 hours on a 777.
There was no word of warning from the cockpit during the approach, but several passengers said they sensed the plane was coming in too low. While the cabin began to hum with a murmur of pleasant anticipation prior to landing, Eugene Rah began to brace for disaster.
"I knew the plane was flying too low," Rah told NBC's "Today" show. The plane was approaching over San Francisco Bay, and Rah said the water was too close. "I was really prepared, and I thought, 'we're going to have a big crash.' And bang, that's what happened."
The crew did not ask the control tower for help, National Transportation Safety Board Chair Deborah Hersman told a news conference, describing flight data and cockpit voice recordings from the plane and control tower recordings.
The plane was coming in significantly slower than the target 137 knots, and seven seconds before impact, one of the flight crew called for a burst of speed. Three seconds later, the plane's control stick began to shake in a warning that a stall was near. The throttles revved, and the Pratt & Whitney engines responded immediately, the recorders show.
One and a half seconds out, one of the crew suggested to the others to abort the landing, to make a "go around" and try again. It was too late. The plane hit tail first, passengers said. "The aircraft hit the sea wall," Hersman said.
Continue reading: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/08/usa-crash-asiana-boom-idUSL1N0FD0CR20130708
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PHOTO: An aerial view of an Asiana Airlines Boeing 777 plane is seen after it crashed while landing at San Francisco International Airport in California on July 6, 2013. Two people were killed and 130 were hospitalized after the plane crash-landed at San Francisco International Airport on Saturday morning, San Francisco Fire Department Chief Joanna Hayes-White said. The figures cited by Hayes-White leave 69 people still unaccounted for in the accident. The Boeing 777, which had flown from Seoul, South Korea, was carrying 307 people. REUTERS/Jed Jacobsohn
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PHOTO: The interior of the Asiana Airlines Flight 214 that crashed at San Francisco International Airport in San Francisco, California is shown in this U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) handout photo released on July 7, 2013. The Asiana Airlines Boeing 777 that crashed at San Francisco's airport on Saturday was traveling "significantly below" its intended speed and its crew tried to abort the landing just seconds before it hit the seawall in front of the runway, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board said on Sunday. REUTERS/NTSB/Handout
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PHOTO: U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) photo shows the wreckage of Asiana Airlines Flight 214 that crashed at San Francisco International Airport in San Francisco, California in this handout released on July 7, 2013. The Asiana Airlines Boeing 777 that crashed at San Francisco's airport on Saturday was traveling "significantly below" its intended speed and its crew tried to abort the landing just seconds before it hit the seawall in front of the runway, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board said on Sunday. REUTERS/NTSB/Handout
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Pilot of crashed Asiana plane was in 777 training
Asiana Airlines Boeing 777 is engulfed on the tarmac after crash landing at San Francisco International Airport in San Francisco, California on July 6, 2013 in this photo courtesy of passenger Eugene Anthony Rah released to Reuters on July 8, 2013. REUTERS/Eugene Anthony Rah/Handout via ReutersSAN FRANCISCO/SEOUL (Reuters) - The pilot of the Asiana plane that crashed at San Francisco International Airport was still in training for the Boeing 777 when he attempted to land the aircraft under supervision on Saturday, the South Korean airline said.
Lee Kang-kuk was the second most junior pilot of four on board the Asiana Airlines plane. He had 43 hours of experience flying the long-range jet, the airline said on Monday.
The plane's crew tried to abort the descent less than two seconds before it hit a seawall on the landing approach to the airport, bounced along the tarmac and burst into flames.
It was Lee's first attempt to land a 777 at San Francisco airport, although he had flown there 29 times previously on other types of aircraft, said South Korean Transport Ministry official Choi Seung-youn. Earlier, the ministry said Lee, who is in his mid-40s, had almost 10,000 flying hours.
Continue reading: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/08/us-usa-crash-asiana-idUSBRE9650E220130708
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Retired firefighter reacts after placing a sign outside Fire Station No. 1 in Prescott, Arizona on June 30, 2013. A team of 19 elite firefighters were killed battling a raging wildfire stoked by record heat and high winds, marking the greatest loss of life among firefighters from a single U.S. Wildland blaze in 80 years. REUTERS/Joshua Lott
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'Perfect storm' of fire kills 19 Arizona firefighters
By Tim GaynorPRESCOTT, Arizona (Reuters) - Nineteen elite Arizona firefighters were killed in a "perfect storm" of wildfire stoked by record heat and high winds in the biggest loss of life battling a U.S. wildland blaze in 80 years, officials said on Monday.
The crew known as the Granite Mountain Hotshots from the Prescott, Arizona, Fire Department was killed on Sunday when the fast-moving wildfire trapped them near Yarnell, a town about 80 miles northwest of Phoenix.
"It had to be a perfect storm in order for this to happen. Their situational awareness and their training was at such a high level that it's unimaginable that this has even happened," Prescott Fire Department spokesman Wade Ward told ABC's "Today" program.
The blaze is raging unchecked after burning about 8,400 acres of tinder-dry chaparral and grasslands. It was sparked by lightning on Friday, Arizona state fire officials said in a statement.
U.S. President Barack Obama joined a chorus of condolences over the deaths, whose exact cause was under investigation.
Ward told ABC's "Good Morning America" the men had put up fire shelters, a tent-like safety device designed to deflect heat and trap breathable air, in a last-ditch effort to survive.
Prescott Fire Chief Dan Fraijo said late on Sunday one member of the 20-man crew had been in a separate location and survived. There was no immediate information on his condition.
Continue reading: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/01/us-usa-fires-arizona-idUSBRE96003520130701
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NASA Announces Memorial Service for Astronaut Neil Armstrong
NASA will honor the life and historic achievements of astronaut Neil Armstrong during a memorial service at 10 a.m. CDT Thursday, June 20, at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. Armstrong made history on July 20, 1969, when he became the first person to walk on the moon as commander of Apollo 11.
JSC Director Ellen Ochoa, fellow Apollo 11 astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins, family members and longtime associates will pay tribute to Armstrong. He was 82 when he died on Aug. 25, 2012, in Cincinnati.
Armstrong made two trips into space. He made his first journey in 1966 as commander of the Gemini 8 mission. On July 16, 1969, Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins launched in Apollo 11 on a mission that went down in the history books. Four days later, the world watched as the lunar module "Eagle" separated from the command module and began its descent to the lunar surface. About 6.5 hours after landing on the moon, Armstrong, at age 38, became the first person to set foot on the moon, uttering the now-famous phrase:"That is one small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind."
A tree dedication ceremony at the Memorial Tree Grove will follow the service. -
U.S. astronaut Neil A. Armstrong, commander of the Apollo 11 Lunar Landing mission, is pictured in this undated handout photograph obtained on September 13, 2012. Armstrong, who died on August 25, 2012, following complications resulting from cardiovascular procedures. REUTERS/NASA/Handout
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From Armstrong's official biography: as a research pilot at NASA’s Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, Armstrong was a project pilot on many pioneering high speed aircraft, including the well known, 4000-mph X-15. He flew more than 200 different models of aircraft, including jets, rockets, helicopters and gliders.
Armstrong transferred to astronaut status in 1962. He was assigned as command pilot for the Gemini 8 mission. Gemini 8 was launched on March 16, 1966, and Armstrong performed the first successful docking of two vehicles in space.
As spacecraft commander for Apollo 11, the first manned lunar landing mission, Armstrong gained the distinction of being the first man to land a craft on the moon and first to step on its surface.
Armstrong subsequently held the position of Deputy Associate Administrator for Aeronautics, NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C. In this position, he was responsible for the coordination and management of overall NASA research and technology work related to aeronautics.
He resigned from NASA in 1971. -
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Building Collapse: Perimeter now 20th St to the River, Ben Franklin Parkway to Chestnut. Avoid the area New map below http://pbs.twimg.com/media/BMBI7kyCQAIjLxW.jpg
by Eric Gripp via twitter 6/5/2013 6:54:33 PM -
Building Collapse: Perimeter now 20th st to the River, Ben Franklin Parkway to Chestnut. Please avoid those areasby Philadelphia Police via twitter 6/5/2013 6:38:52 PM -
Avoid the area from The Ben Frank. Parkway to Walnut, and from 18th to the Schuylkill. Click for a map http://pbs.twimg.com/media/BMBBRwTCEAMGMp2.png
by Philadelphia Police via twitter 6/5/2013 6:21:10 PM -
At least one dead: Fire fighters have carried one victim out of the Salvation Army store in a body bag. #inqby Mike Newall via twitter 6/5/2013 5:59:28 PM -
Rescue efforts stop Salvation Army debris pile have calmed. #inqby Mike Newall via twitter 6/5/2013 5:40:36 PM
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Rescuers bringing scent sniffing dog into Salvation Army store #inq pic.twitter.com/H3J4JjaSe5
by Mike Newall via twitter 6/5/2013 5:31:27 PM -
66-year-old female pulled from Salvation Army store breathing with stable vitals, officials say #inq pic.twitter.com/WIhoNBvQR4
by Mike Newall via twitter 6/5/2013 5:26:50 PM -
Fire fighters have passed a rescue board into debris of Salvation Army store #inq pic.twitter.com/dKqu4UV0AX
by Mike Newall via twitter 6/5/2013 5:26:28 PM -
A photo from today's building collapse at 22nd & Market Streets. pic.twitter.com/Xbqjo5sPuT
by Philly Inquirer via twitter 6/5/2013 5:16:43 PM -
More photos from today's collapse at 22nd & Market. pic.twitter.com/Mp0At8lUyp
by Philly Inquirer via twitter 6/5/2013 5:16:26 PM -
Correction: The victim just pulled from the building collapse at 22nd & Market was actually a woman. One person remains in the rubble.by Philly Inquirer via twitter 6/5/2013 5:16:20 PM
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Map showing collapse perimeter in Philadelphia. 18th to Schuylkill River. Walnut to Ben F. Parkway pic.twitter.com/qODUU9KN3K
by 6at4 via twitter 6/5/2013 5:15:28 PM -
@margafret Will do. have a few more shots - no one getting close anymore. pic.twitter.com/WasePE5M1R
by liznealon via twitter 6/5/2013 4:57:34 PM -
by liznealon via twitter 6/5/2013 4:57:32 PM
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Mayor Nutter and Fire Commissioner Ayres addressing the media about the building collapse at 22nd and Market Streetsby Eric Gripp via twitter 6/5/2013 4:33:42 PM
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Mayor Nutter and city officials to address the media about building collapse at 22nd and Market in 4 minutesby Philadelphia Police via twitter 6/5/2013 4:26:06 PM
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NEW PHOTO: Firefighters huddle amidst rubble during search of Philadelphia building collapse - @RonniePhilly pic.twitter.com/qqLBgqeSXO
by NewsBreaker via twitter 6/5/2013 4:23:11 PM
If Baghdadi death confirmed, next IS leader likely to be Saddam-era officer
BAGHDAD If Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is confirmed dead, he is likely to be succeeded by one of his top two lieutenants, both of whom were army officers under late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
