AN Air passenger jet has plunged into the Mediterranean Sea off France, with officials saying there is no hope that any of the seven people on board survived.The wreck of the Airbus A320 has been located off the southern city of Perpignan, where it had been undergoing maintenance.Rescuers found the bodies of two crew members, but five others were missing this morning.However, Dominique Alzeari, assistant prosecutor at Perpignan, said there was “no hope of finding survivors”.The plane was on a flight to check that it was operating normally when it fell from the sky, said other officials in Perpignan.A surveillance plane, two rescue helicopters and five ships were scouring the seas around the crash site 3.5 nautical miles (2.5km) from the shore.Five of those on the plane were from New Zealand and the two pilots were German.The aircraft was owned by Air New Zealand but had been on lease to XL Airways for the past two years.
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Monthly Archives: November 2008
AUSTRALIAN airlines are offering short-term fare waivers as they continue to cancel or reroute flights after civil unrest closed the second airport in .Protesters forced the closure of Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport on Tuesday, stranding 3000 tourists and throwing the travel plans of thousands more into chaos.Airlines were unsure yesterday when the airport would reopen but said it would be closed until at least 11 o’clock last night.There was little sign of a breakthrough last night as both sides in the dispute defied a call from the army chief to end the turmoil.Instead, protesters blockaded Bangkok’s second airport, at Don Mueang, which now serves domestic routes but had been used by some international flights.
EAST Timor officially launched its first national airline Thursday, Timor Air, with plans to fly to and Australia.The airline will start flying from the East Timorese capital to the Indonesian holiday island of Bali and the northern Australian city of Darwin in February next year, founder Jeremias da Sousa told reporters.Timor Air will initially operate one 94-seat Embraer E190 seven days a week, with 10 business class seats, said the businessman, who has lived in Australia since fleeing Indonesia’s 1975 invasion of East Timor.”I’m not interested in competing with anyone, I’m interested in the development of my country,” da Sousa said.
: A MUSEUM recounting the story of the doomed Titanic will be built in Northern Ireland after ministers gave the green light to a massive funding package.The museum will be in Belfast, on the site of the shipyard where the ship – which sank in 1912 after hitting an iceberg in the Atlantic Ocean, killing some 1500 passengers and crew – was built nearly 100 years ago.The £100 million ($235 million) Titanic Signature Project is likely to be a big draw in the city, which is undergoing regeneration after being ravaged by several decades of sectarian violence.The plan was agreed by the devolved government in Belfast today, 10 days after politicians reached a deal to resume power-sharing in the British province following a four-month deadlock in a row over policing and justice powers.
TERRORIST attacks in the Indian city of Mumbai continue as grave fears a second Australian has been killed are yet to be confirmed.The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed a 49-year-old NSW man died in the attacks by Islamist militants, which began in India’s financial capital late on Wednesday night.Prime Minister Kevin Rudd warned there could be more Australian casualties.”There are reports of hostages being held in various locations across Mumbai, including at the Oberoi/Trident hotel,” DFAT said in a statement.While the situation remains “fluid and ongoing”, DFAT said it could confirm 101 people had been killed in the attacks, and over 250 injured.Of those injured, three are from Australia.”The department has been in contact with their families in and is providing consular assistance in Mumbai,” DFAT said.
THE cockpits of the nation’s fighter planes and commercial Qantas aircraft will be staffed from a shared pool of pilots under an extraordinary plan to combat a desperate shortage of military manpower.The Daily Telegraph can reveal the blueprint for the future of Australia’s military as it seeks to establish a sharing of personnel to stop poaching.Under arrangements being considered by the Federal Government, the pool of pilots would be able to travel freely back and forth between the public and private sectors.The move is aimed at addressing a series of damning internal audits that showed ’s fighter planes and pilots are not meeting basic air flight hours due to a lack of personnel both in the air and on the ground.The audits reveal a similar shortfall with Navy ships and sailors.
TWO giraffes in special crates? Check. 100kg of hay? Check. 25kg of animal pellets and 60kg of veggies? Check and check.With the logistics in place, brother-and-sister giraffes Ntombi and Forrest’s four-day voyage across the Tasman from Auckland ended yesterday at Port Botany.Special open-topped crates on the freighter ANL Yarrunga allowed the pair their first glimpse of Australia, where they will become vital members of Taronga Zoo’s breeding program.It’s a tall order moving giraffes but the transfer from Auckland Zoo was meticulously planned.Keepers had been familiarising Ntombi and Forrest with the crates for months before the voyage.Their adventure then moved from ocean to highway, with Ntombi and Forrest being driven to Taronga Western Plains Zoo at Dubbo yesterday on a low loader semi-trailer in their travelling crates, complete with police escort through .
TOURISTS, luxury hotels and a series of historic buildings have been targeted in co-ordinated attacks across Mumbai, India.Gunmen were reported inside the Taj Mahal Hotel and the Oberoi Hotel, two of the city’s luxury hotels, specifically targeting British and tourists.Fifteen foreigners are reported to have been taken hostage in the Taj, while three tourists, including a Belgian and an Indonesian, are reported to have been taken in the Trident hotel, which is connected to the Oberoi.The top floor of the Taj Mahal Hotel was set a blaze, believed to have been caused by a bomb, with the fire spreading along the side of the old part of the building. The lobby of the Oberoi was also reported to be in flames.
THAI protesters today tightened their grip on ’s international airport, where two people were hurt in a blast and thousands of travellers left stranded by anti-Government demonstrations.Grenade attacks elsewhere in the city deepened the sense of lawlessness after demonstrators stormed the showpiece airport yesterday night, dramatically escalating their campaign against Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat.Suvarnabhumi Airport – a $US3bn ($4.61bn) hub for travel throughout Asia – was shut for the rest of the day as guards from the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) protest movement blocked access roads.”I have been informed by Thai Airways that 3000 passengers are stranded at the terminal now,” airport director Saereerat Prasutanont told said, adding that 78 outbound and incoming flights were cancelled.”Protesters refused to negotiate with anyone except the prime minister.”
A LEADING British newspaper has pleaded with Australians living in the UK not to head home amid concerns a looming recession and plummeting pound are fueling an exodus.The Times praised the cultural contribution of famous people of who have made Britain home, including Barry Humphries, Clive James and Germaine Greer as well as the generations of Antipodeans who have flocked to the “old country”.But in its editorial yesterday, the Rupert Murdoch-owned daily voiced alarm at new figures showing record numbers of Antipodeans are leaving Britain and its economic gloom for better job opportunities back home.”This is largely a vote of no confidence in the old country,” The Times said.
