Tuesday 17 December 2013

December, 16: 1960 NYC air disaster


December 16, 2013, marked the 53rd anniversary of the 1960 New York mid-air collision, which was considered the worst disaster in aviation history at the time.

At 10:21 am, United Airlines flight 826 left Chicago's O'Hare airport and headed for Idlewild airport (later renamed to JFK) in New York.

At around the same time, TWA flight 266 was heading to La Guardia airport from Dayton, Ohio.

On that snowy day, flight 826 flew 11 miles off course over Staten Island. And at 10:30 am, it collided with flight 266.

All 128 passengers on board were killed except for one.

Six people on the ground were also killed.



A young boy, Stephen Baltz, 11, was discovered in a snow bank in Park Slope. He was taken to the hospital where he died 27 hours later.

This event is not only historic for being one of the worst air disasters in history. It also marks the first time black box recorders were used to investigate an aviation disaster.

Tuesday 17 December 2013

http://digitaljournal.com/news/world/today-in-history-1960-nyc-air-disaster/article/364095

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Flash floods kill at least 12 in southeast Kenya


At least 12 people have been killed by flash floods in Kenya's southeastern region, local police reported on Monday.

Divisional police commander Mohammed Farah said the heavy rains have also caused widespread destruction of property and infrastructure in Kajiado County, where the 12 victims died in the past two days.

The county was flooded after seasonal rivers burst their banks in heavy rains.

"Two women travelling from Isinya along the Pipeline road in a Toyota Corolla saloon car were swept by raging floods near Dawamu School on Saturday at Oltepes area near Kiserian," Farah said.

The two were flashed into a raging seasonal river and their bodies were recovered on Sunday evening trapped in their car.

The 10 others lost their lives while travelling on Sunday night in the same region. The police said the victims include seven girls and two boys.

"We retrieved their bodies and took them to Shalom Hospital in Athi River to await postmortem," he said. The local police boss said they were unable to retrieve the vehicle because of the speed of the water flow.

Several parts of the country have been affected by flooding following an increased heavy downpour.

He appealed to residents and motorists in the area to avoid crossing streams at night because it is not easy to determine the speed of the flowing water.

Authorities have put areas near major rivers on high alert and advised local residents to move to higher ground.

Tuesday 17 December 2013

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/xinhua/2013-12-16/content_10829370.html

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Manila bus crash leaves at least 17 dead


A passenger bus plunged off a wet, elevated highway in suburban Manila and fell onto a van passing below Monday morning, killing at least 17 people and injuring some 16 others, police, hospital and mortuary staff said, revising higher tolls.

TV footage showed a number of bodies strewn around the bus wreckage with police officers nearby. The van was an unrecognizable pile of smashed white metal.

The bus veered off the Skyway, as the elevated road is called, and crashed onto the van 9.6 metres below in suburban Paranaque city at dawn, said police superintendent Elizabeth Velasquez.

It wasn't immediately clear what caused the accident but the highway was wet from rain, said Ivy Vidal, a spokeswoman from Skyway Operations and Maintenance Corp.

Irene Sisperes, a motorist who witnessed the accident, said she was driving with her daughter at 80 kilometres per hour when the bus overtook her car. She estimated that the bus was travelling at between 100 and 110 km/hour.

She said it was still dark and it was raining when the accident happened.

"After a few metres, I saw the bus fall and I shouted, `The bus fell, the bus fell,'" she told DZMM radio, adding there were no other cars nearby.

Sisperes said she saw the damaged railing of the highway and some debris and reported the incident at the toll gate.

Velasquez earlier reported 21 died and 20 others were injured but later said there appeared to have been double counting amid the confusion. She said she was verifying reports 17 perished and a several others were injured.

Angelo Dequina, an employee of a funeral parlour, said 17 bodies from the accident were brought to their mortuary from hospitals and from the crash site.

Calls to five hospitals where the victims were rushed showed at least 16 people injured from the accident have been admitted.

Velasquez earlier said the van's driver was killed and the bus driver was in serious condition in a hospital. But Dr. Carmencita Solidum, medical director of the Paranaque Doctors' Hospital, said the two drivers were among the 10 injured who were at her hospital.

The bus driver was critically injured and the van driver had minor injuries, she added

Ryan Bresa, a passenger who survived, said the bus may have been travelling too fast and the driver to tried control the vehicle's swerving before it fell from the highway.

Winston Ginez, chairman of the government's Land Transportation, Franchising and Regulatory Board, said all the 78 buses of Don Mariano Transit Corp. have been ordered suspended for 30 days.

Two years ago a bus from another company also fell from the Skyway near the same area, leaving three people dead and four others injured.

Tuesday 17 December 2013

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/manila-bus-crash-leaves-at-least-17-dead-1.2465393

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