Alps Plane Crash: The Lines Of Investigation

Written By Unknown on Kamis, 26 Maret 2015 | 12.14

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Air crash investigators are working around the clock to establish what caused the Germanwings A320 plane to crash in the Alps, killing all 150 people on board. Here are some of their likely lines of inquiry.

The Black Box

The black box – which records cockpit conversations and flight data – was recovered between Barcelonnette and Digne in the French Alps.

French interior minister Bernard Cazaneuve said that the box is damaged but still "useable", and should shed light on what happened in the moments before the plane plummeted.

Investigators are reportedly taking the box to Paris to extract the data.

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Gallery: Rescue Teams Resume Search After Plane Crash

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier (3R) arrives near the crash site of Germanwings Airbus A320 near Seyne-les-Alpes, France

Gendarmerie and French mountain rescue teams fly in a helicopter near the site of the Germanwings plane crash near the French Alps

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Television news satellite vehicles are seen in front of the mountains

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Search and rescue operations restarted the day after a Germanwings Airbus A320 smashed into the French Alps, killing all 150 people on board.

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Gendarmerie and French mountain rescue teams arrive near the site of the Germanwings plane crash

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Possible Engine Failure

Sources suggest that the speed of the plane shortly before the crash - about 350mph (300 knots) - might indicate engine failure as a cause of the crash.

This is because 350mph is the speed a pilot would aim to reach before trying to "relight" the engines after a double engine failure.

The Descent

Flight 4U 9525, which left Barcelona for Dusseldorf at 10.01am (local time), had started descending one minute after reaching its cruising height.

It then plummeted from 38,000ft to 6,000ft in less than eight minutes, before it crashed.

French aviation authorities said the plane did not issue a distress call.

Autopilot Problem

According to Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf, airline KLM sent a message to all other Airbus customers warning about a problem with the autopilot system on board the A320 aircraft.

Dusseldorf Servicing

Reports in German media suggested that the plane had been grounded for a few hours on Monday due to technical issues.

Germanwings said the plane had a routine service in Dusseldorf, adding that it had its last major check-up in summer 2013.

Marseille prosecutor Brice Robin says French, Spanish and German authorities would formally request information about the plane's maintenance and the conditions of its flight.

Terrorism Speculation

It seems unlikely that terrorism was the cause of the crash, Mr Cazaneuve has said.

While he said it is too early to rule it out completely, the possibility of foul play appears to be slim.

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Written By Unknown on Rabu, 25 Maret 2015 | 12.14

A number of British nationals are thought to have been on board the Germanwings aircraft which crashed in the French Alps, says Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond.

All 150 people on the jet are thought to have been killed after it plummeted into a remote mountain range and "disintegrated".

Recovery teams have been flown in by helicopter and one of the black box flight recorders - crucial in piecing together what happened - has been found.

The debris appeared to have been spread over a wide area. Pictures showed many fragments as well as a wheel and part of a fuselage thought to be from the aircraft.

No survivors have been found and the recovery operation was later called off as night fell. It will resume in the morning.

The Airbus A320 plane was en route from Barcelona in Spain, to Dusseldorf, Germany, when it came down on Tuesday morning less than an hour into its flight at Meolans-Revels, between Barcelonnette and Digne.

A total of 144 passengers, including two babies, as well as two pilots and four cabin crew were on board the 24-year-old jet, operated by Lufthansa's budget airline.

Officials said flight 4U 9525, which took off at 10.01am (9.01am UK time), had started descending one minute after reaching its cruising height.

It then plummeted from 38,000ft to 6,800ft in eight minutes before crashing.

French aviation authorities said the plane did not issue a distress call and had lost radio contact with air traffic controllers at 10.53am.

Germanwings said the plane had a normal service at Dusseldorf on Monday and its last major check-up was in the summer of 2013. Experts have said the A320 has a relatively good safety record.

Meanwhile, some Lufthansa crews are refusing to fly "for personal reasons" which has led to a number of flights being cancelled, the airline admitted.

The company said it was working on the assumption that the crash was an accident and any other theory was "speculation".

German foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier was flown over the the site and called it "a picture of horror".

Gilbert Sauvan, from the local council, told Les Echos newspaper: "The plane is disintegrated. The largest debris is the size of a car."

And Jean Louis Bietrix, a hiker who was accompanying a rescue team to the site, said: "There are no pieces anymore, there is nothing, there is nothing. The plane has totally disappeared."

Mr Hammond said: "It is sadly likely that there were some British nationals on board the flight. We are providing consular assistance and will give further help as more information becomes available."

There were believed to be 67 people from Germany on the aircraft, including 16 students and two teachers from the same school in the town of Haltern. The youngsters had been returning from a school exchange in Spain.

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Gallery: School Head Weeps After 16 Students Die

Mourners gathered outside Joseph-Koenig in the German town of Haltern after news 16 children and two teachers from the school died in the French Alps plane crash.

School Principal Ulrich Wessel grieves with students in front of the secondary school.

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12.14 | 0 komentar | Read More

Mystery Of Doomed Jet's Eight-Minute Descent

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A black box belonging to the passenger plane which came down in the French Alps has been found - as the cause of the crash remains a mystery.

French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve says one of the two recording devices was found at the crash site between Barcelonnette and Digne.

Weather has already been ruled out by experts as a cause, and US officials say terrorism is also unlikely.

Investigators hope the black box from the Germanwings airliner will provide clues and a number of possibilities, including engine failure, are being considered.

Sources suggest that the speed of the plane shortly before the crash - about 350mph (300 knots) - might indicate engine failure as a cause.

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Gallery: Rescue Teams And Relatives Wait After Plane Crash

French Police and Gendarmerie Alpine rescue units gather on a field as they prepare to reach the crash site of an Airbus A320, near Seyne-les-Alpes, in the French Alps

French fire brigade rescue units gather in a field near a farm building as they prepare to reach the crash site

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Opera singers Maria Radner and Oleg Bryjak were among the passengers

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As were 16 students and two teachers from the Joseph-Konig secondary school in the German town of Haltern am See

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School Principal Ulrich Wessel grieves with students in front of the secondary school

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This is because 350mph is the speed a pilot would aim to reach before trying to "relight" the engines after a double engine failure, experts told Sky News.

Flight 4U 9525, which left Barcelona for Dusseldorf at 10.01am (local time), had started descending one minute after reaching its cruising height.

It then plummeted from 38,000ft to 6,000ft in less than eight minutes, before it crashed.

French aviation authorities said the plane did not issue a distress call and lost radio contact with air traffic controllers at 10.30am.

At a press conference this afternoon, a Lufthansa spokeswoman said that the plane departed nearly 30 minutes late.

The plane had undergone routine technical checks,, the spokeswoman added.

Reports in German media suggested that the plane had been grounded for a few hours on Monday due to technical issues.

"We do not want to speculate about what happened aboard that flight - we do not have the information at the moment," the spokeswoman added.

Conditions in the region of the crash were not out of the ordinary, with no significant storms in the area.

Dr Rob Thompson, a meteorologist at the University of Reading, said: "The weather conditions in the area of southern France where the crash is reported to have occurred look like nothing out of the ordinary for this time of year.

"Wind speeds on the ground showed breezy conditions, although this does not indicate the conditions higher up in the atmosphere.

"Available satellite imagery shows there were not any significant storm systems locally.

"Data from lightning detectors show the nearest electrical storms were occurring in Sardinia, some 186 miles off the south coast of France, which would be much too far away to cause any issues to air traffic."

Airbus said a team of its technical advisers has been sent to the scene to help the French air accident investigators.

They are trying to establish what triggered the plane's eight-minute descent before crashing.

The A320 aircraft is one of the most popular passenger planes in the world, used by most airlines.

Known for its efficiency and advanced technology, more than 11,000 orders for planes from the A320 family have been made since its launch in 1987.

Aviation safety expert Alex Macheras told Sky News: "The A320 is used almost by every airline that has short-haul operations, from British Airways to easyJet and American airlines.

"Every airline which operates the short flights goes for the A320 because they are a very efficient aircraft, modern and up-to-date and they have the latest technology on the flight deck which makes flying them a treat."

Captain Mike Vivian added: "It is a very good plane. They are operating all over the world and they are intrinsically a short-haul aircraft and have a very good safety record."

The A320 aircraft family is made up of narrow-bodied short to medium range twin engine jets. The first flight took place on 22 February 1987.

There have been 60 incidents known as "aviation occurrences" since the aircraft family was introduced, resulting in 789 fatalities up to 23 March.

One of the best-known incidents involving an A320 aircraft was the so-called Miracle on the Hudson in which a plane crash-landed in New York's Hudson River. All 155 people on board survived.

The AirAsia plane which crashed into the Java Sea in December was also an Airbus A320.

The Airbus A320 which crashed in France on Tuesday is operated by Germanwings, a budget airline which is wholly owned by Lufthansa. The aircraft was manufactured in 1991.

Germanwings has 81 aircraft operating out of Cologne, Bonn, Hamburg, Berlin and Dusseldorf.

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Written By Unknown on Selasa, 24 Maret 2015 | 12.14

By Sherine Tadros, Middle East Correspondent, Southern Iraq

Iraq's vice president Iyad Allawi has told Sky News that Iran's involvement in his country is unacceptable and is failing to push Islamic State fighters back.

Speaking from his office in Baghdad, Mr Allawi said he was very concerned about Iran's increasing influence on the militias fighting the war against IS in Iraq.

He said: "I think the role of any regional power or any power in Iraq's affairs is unacceptable."

Mr Allawi went on to explain that Iran's role "doing what they are doing and sending officers to fight and to lead, and declaring that Baghdad is becoming the capital of the Persian empire, is unacceptable".

There are dozens of different Shia militias fighting IS in Iraq right now.

They may have the same enemy, but that doesn't make them friends. There's a history of animosity.

In a cemetery in the southern city of Najaf, more than 50 fighters are buried every day, according to gravediggers there.

Where you are buried though depends on which militia you fought with.

The graves marked with a yellow logo are for the Hezbollah Battalions, a militia active in Iraq for over a decade and on the US terror list since 2009.

In another part of the cemetery we found the white flags of the League of the Righteous. Their leader is out fighting but his grave lays here dug up as a sign that he's not afraid of death.

What many militias do have in common though is Iranian backing. Iran is providing weapons, funding and has recently carried out airstrikes to support the militias.

The strong Iranian influence in Iraq is not new but just how visible it has become is quite staggering.

Pictures of Iran's supreme leader - Ali Khamenei - are plastered all over the country.

There is no doubt Iranian help is key to defeating IS but many have serious concerns over what this may mean for the future.

Mr Allawi says the posters of Khamenei send chills up his spine and there will be a high price to pay for Iranian involvement.

For him, the main threat to the country's stability is the militias.

He said: "As far as I'm concerned these clusters of militias, whether Sunni or Shia, are the main threat and indeed the governments and regional powers who support these groups are the biggest threat to Iraq and to the future of Iraq."

Mr Allawi also warned: "The failure of this country means the failure of the whole region. That's why it's very important to keep Iraq as a united, federal, democratic country and to get reconciliation on the ground and to build a viable state."

As the battle to free Iraq from IS continues, the larger war between those fighting on the ground - and their backers elsewhere - is becoming increasingly clear.

Iraq's future, and the stability of the region, hangs in the balance.

12.14 | 0 komentar | Read More

British Special Forces Pull Out Of Yemen

By Alistair Bunkall, Defence Correspondent

UK Special Forces have pulled out of Yemen because of the deteriorating security situation in the country.

Sky News understands they were airlifted from the capital Sana'a over the weekend.

They had been operating in the country alongside US counterparts, who have now also been withdrawn.

US forces evacuated al Annad airbase near the southern city of al Houta, which was captured by al Qaeda militants on Friday.

Jeff Rathke, US State Department spokesman, said in a statement: "Due to the deteriorating security situation in Yemen, the US government has temporarily relocated its remaining personnel out of Yemen."

The UK Government has not commented on the withdrawal of British troops.

Last month, Washington, London and Paris closed their embassies as the country teeters on the brink of all-out civil war.

Yemen has become increasingly unstable amid a power struggle between Iranian-backed Shia rebels, known as Houthis, in the north and UN-recognised President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.

Mr Hadi fled to the southern city of Aden in February after escaping from house arrest in Sana'a.

The Houthis have taken control of the capital and six provinces.

On Friday, Islamic State affiliates claimed responsibility for two bombs at mosques in Sana'a. As many as 150 people were killed in bomb blasts in the capital last week.

If the group was behind the attacks, it would mark its first large-scale foray into the country and could raise the prospect of a bloody Shia versus Sunni conflict.

The CIA and US military have carried out drone strikes against insurgents in Yemen for many years.

A 2011 strike killed influential cleric Anwar al Awlaki, who was the motivator behind many terrorist attacks against the West and is said to have influenced the Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris.

12.14 | 0 komentar | Read More

IS Posts 'Kill List' Of US Military Personnel

Written By Unknown on Senin, 23 Maret 2015 | 12.15

A group calling itself the "hacking division" of Islamic State has published what it says are the names and addresses of 100 US military staff and urged IS supporters to kill them, a monitoring group says.

SITE Intelligence said the allegedly hacked details about members of the air force, army and navy included pictures, addresses and ranks of personnel.

The hackers said the staff had targeted IS in Iraq, Syria and Yemen, and called upon its "brothers residing in America" to attack them.

The group, which referred to itself as the "Islamic State Hacking Division", said it had hacked several military servers, databases and emails and made the information public so "lone wolf" attackers can kill them.

A US defence official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said: "I can't confirm the validity of the information, but we are looking into it.

"We always encourage our personnel to exercise appropriate OPSEC (operations security) and force protection procedures."

Officials from the Defense Department and the FBI told The New York Times they were aware of the threats and were investigating.

The US Marine Corps said it was visiting all staff affected, and urged caution online.

Lieutenant Colonel John Caldwell said: "Vigilance and force protection considerations remain a priority for commanders and their personnel.

"It is recommended Marines and family members check their online/social footprint, ensuring privacy settings are adjusted to limit the amount of available personal information."

Lt Col Caldwell added the threat remained "unverified".

A defence source told The New York Times that most of the information is available in public records and did not appear to have been hacked from government servers.

The newspaper quoted officials as saying the list appeared to have been drawn from people mentioned in news articles about airstrikes on IS, which controls large parts of Iraq and Syria.

NATO commander Philip Breedlove claimed it was an attempt by IS to divert attention away from military setbacks.

He said: "What we have seen across the last several months is that every time they take a defeat on the battlefield, or every time they are under great pressure on the battlefield, they come out with kind of some big splash like this.

"This caliphate, I think, is under great pressure and so they try to divert attention from what is happening on the battlefield."

IS has claimed responsibility for hacking attacks in the US in the past, including against Central Command, which oversees the air campaign against the group.

In January, the Centcom Twitter feed was hacked by a group claiming to be IS sympathisers.

Images were posted showing documents containing the contact details of current and retired military officers, including home addresses and email accounts.

12.15 | 0 komentar | Read More

Iran Involvement In Iraq 'Unacceptable'

By Sherine Tadros, Middle East Correspondent, Southern Iraq

Iraq's Vice President Iyad Allawi has told Sky News that Iran's involvement in his country is unacceptable and is failing to push Islamic State fighters back.

Speaking from his office in Baghdad, Mr Allawi said he was very concerned about Iran's increasing influence on the militias fighting the war against IS in Iraq.

He said: "I think the role of any regional power or any power in Iraq's affairs in unacceptable."