Explosion on Northwest Airlines Flight

A 23-year-old Nigerian man named Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab, apparently tried to light a powdery substance aboard a Northwest Airlines flight before landing in Detroit this afternoon. Initial reports said that a man had tried to light either firecrackers or fireworks but it now appears that it could have been much worse.

There are rumors circulating on CNN and other news networks that he could have terrorist ties.

From CNN:

A passenger ignited fireworks Friday at the end of a Northwest Airlines flight from Amsterdam, Netherlands, to Detroit, Michigan, a Delta Air Lines spokeswoman said.

The passenger was immediately subdued, according to Susan Elliott, spokeswoman for Delta, Northwest’s parent company. The incident resulted in some minor injuries, Elliott said.

A passenger was later placed in custody, the Transportation Security Administration said in a statement.

President Obama, who is spending the holidays in his home state of Hawaii, was briefed on the incident during a secure phone call with aides and “instructed that all appropriate measures be taken to increase security for air travel,” White House spokesman Bill Burton said. The president made no changes to his schedule, Burton said.

The Department of Homeland Security issued a statement Friday saying that air passengers “may notice additional screening measures put into place to ensure the safety of the traveling public on domestic and international flights.”

Air France Flight Fell Apart On Impact

According to reports this morning, the Air France flight that crashed last month with 228 people aboard did not break up during the flight.

From CNN:

“The plane went straight down … towards the surface of the water, very very fast,” air accident investigator Alain Bouillard said.

Based on visual study of the physical remains of the Airbus A330 that have been recovered, “we were able to see that the plane hit the surface of the water flat. Therefore everything was pushed upwards — everthing was pushed from the bottom to the top” of the plane, he said.

The 228 people killed in the crash “had no time to prepare,” he said.

More Air France Crash Debris Found

Searchers found more debris today from an Air France jet that plunged into the Atlantic Ocean earlier this week.

From CNN:

Two debris fields were found Tuesday, with the wreckage identified as coming from Flight 447.

The Airbus A330 carrying 228 people went down about three hours after beginning what was to have been an 11-hour flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris, France.

Among the debris found Wednesday were various objects in a circular 5-kilometer (3-mile) area; one object with a diameter of 7 meters (23 feet); 10 objects, some of which were metallic; and an oil slick that extended as far as 20 kilometers (12 miles), said Brazilian Air Force spokesman Jorge Amaral.

The latest debris was found about 90 kilometers (56 miles) south of Tuesday’s discovery, Amaral said. The earlier debris was about 650 kilometers (400 miles) northeast of the Fernando de Noronha Islands, an archipelago 355 kilometers (220 miles) off the northeast coast of Brazil.

Air France Flight Missing

A missing Air France jet carrying 228 people from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to Paris, France,  ran into lightning and strong thunderstorms over the Atlantic Ocean.

I heard that the plane reported a technical difficulty before disappearing but I’m sure we’ll learn more throughout the day.

From the Associated Press:

Air France Flight 447, an Airbus A330, left Rio on Sunday at 7 p.m. local time (2200 GMT, 6 p.m. EDT) with 216 passengers and 12 crew members on board, company spokeswoman Brigitte Barrand.

About four hours later, the plane sent an automatic signal indicating electrical problems while going through strong turbulence, Air France said.

The plane “crossed through a thunderous zone with strong turbulence” at 0200 GMT Monday (10 p.m. EDT Sunday). An automatic message was received fourteen minutes later “signaling electrical circuit malfunction.”

Brazil’s Air Force said the last contact it had with the Air France jet was at 0136 GMT (9:30 p.m. EDT Sunday), but did not say where the plane was then.

Brazil’s air force was searching near the archipelago of Fernando de Noronha, about 300 kilometers (180 miles) northeast of the coastal city of Natal, a spokesman said, speaking on condition of anonymity in keeping with department policy.

The region is about 1,500 miles northeast of Rio.

Probe Begins in US Airways Crash

Investigators are making preparations to pull the crashed US Airways jetliner out of the Hudson River and begin a probe into the cause of the crash.

From the Washington Post:

Investigators positioned a giant marine crane and a barge at the site in Lower Manhattan where the Airbus A320 lies largely submerged in the river, tethered to a pier until it can be hauled out for detailed inspection. The barge sat beside the downed plane, of which only the tail section and one wing were visible above the water.

Meanwhile, investigation teams led by the National Transportation Safety Board gathered at a downtown hotel to plot out the initial phase of the investigation. Authorities have not yet announced the cause of the crash, but preliminary indications were that it probably hit a flock of birds shortly after takeoff from New York’s LaGuardia Airport en route to Charlotte.

In a news conference to honor first responders, as well as the five-member crew of Flight 1549, New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said the prompt and efficient rescue effort showed “the indomitable spirit of our city,” adding, “No matter how bad things get, New Yorkers can get through anything.”

“This is a story of heroes,” he said. “This is something right out of a movie script.”

Bloomberg said he was holding onto a golden key to the city to be awarded to the plane’s crew until he can present it personally. He said the captain, Chesley B. “Sully” Sullenberger III, is enjoined from speaking publicly about the accident while the NTSB is investigating. Sullenberger, co-pilot Jeff Skiles and three flight attendants not yet publicly identified have been widely hailed for their actions in ditching the plane safely in the frigid waters of the Hudson and safely evacuating the 150 passengers.

Airbus Crash Kills 2 in Europe

An Airbus A320 passenger plane crashed off France’s southern coast during a maintenance flight Thursday, killing at least two of seven people on board.

From the Associated Press:

The airplane had undergone checks at the EAS Industries aircraft maintenance center in the French city of Perpignan, near the border with Spain. It was being leased by German charter airline XL Airways and was due to return to service for Air New Zealand next month, officials from those companies said.

The jet plunged into the Mediterranean as it was approaching the Perpignan airport, from which it had taken off on a circular flight an hour earlier, France’s civil aviation accident investigation bureau said.

French and German investigators, as well as civil aviation officials and Airbus experts, were heading to the crash site about 20 kilometers (12.5 miles) off the coast, it said.

Two bodies were recovered at sea, the local government said, without identifying the victims.

Five launches, two helicopters and a patrol airplane were searching choppy seas for the other five people who were on board, the regional center for Mediterranean rescue operations said.

“The fuselage has been located. The rescue operations will determine if there are any survivors,” said First Officer Sandrine Parro, with the center.

The airplane — owned by Air New Zealand — has been operated by XL Airways under a 2006 lease, the German charter company’s spokesman Asger Schubert said in Frankfurt. The maintenance checks were part of plans to hand the plane back to its owner.

The crew included two German pilots, Schubert said.