Over 100 feared dead after Indonesia military plane crashes

Over 100 feared dead after Indonesia military plane crashes MEDAN, Indonesia | By Roni Bintang More than 100 people were feared dead after a military transport plane plowed into a residential area shortly after take-off in northern Indonesia on Tuesday, in what may be the deadliest accident yet for an air force with a long history of crashes. "For the moment we know there were 113 people (on board). It looks like there are no survivors," Air Marshal Agus Supriatna told Metro TV in the Sumatra city of Medan, adding that some of the passengers were air force families. The crash of the aircraft, a C-130B Hercules aircraft that went into service half a century ago, is bound to put a fresh spotlight on Indonesia's woeful air safety record and its ageing planes. Officials said the plane plunged into a built-up area of Medan, one of Indonesia's largest cities. Eye witnesses said it appeared to explode shortly before it smashed into houses and a hotel. An official at a nearby hospital who declined to be named said that 55 bodies had been brought in so far. Black smoke billowed from the wreckage, and crowds of people milling around the area initially hampered emergency services. "We have been using heavy equipment like earth movers to clear the wreckage of the plane," said Romali, chief of Medan's search and rescue agency, who has only one name. "We are still evacuating bodies from the rubble and we hope we can finish the operation tonight," he said in an interview. Related Coverage › Crashed Indonesian military plane had 113 on board: air force spokesman The plane had been on its way from an air force base in Medan to Tanjung Pinang in Riau Islands off Sumatra. Media said the pilot had asked to return to the base because of technical problems. "It passed overhead a few times, really low," said Elfrida Efi, a receptionist at the nearby Golden Eleven Hotel. "There was fire and black smoke. The third time it came by it crashed into the roof of the hotel and exploded straight away," she said by telephone. Related Video Video Military air crash kills dozens in Indonesia PRESSURE TO MODERNIZE According to the Aviation Safety Network, 10 fatal crashes involving Indonesian military or police aircraft have occurred over the last decade. The accidents put under a spotlight the safety record of Indonesia's aviation and its ageing aircraft. Flightglobal, an aviation industry data and news service. The Indonesian air force has now lost four C-130s, reducing its transport reach in an archipelago that stretches more than 5,000 km (3,000 miles) from its western to eastern tips. Air force spokesman Dwi Badarmanto said it was unclear what caused the crash and, until it was, eight other C-130Bs would be grounded. Related Coverage › Indonesia's air force grounds Hercules planes after deadly crash U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby said the United States stood ready to assist the investigation as needed. Although Indonesia accounted for nearly one-fifth of defense spending by Southeast Asian countries last year, as a percentage of GDP the amount was the lowest in the region at 0.8 percent, according to Stockholm International Peace Research Institute data. President Joko Widodo, who took office last year, has said he plans to double military spending to $15 billion by 2020. The transport plane accident could bring pressure on the president to spend more on modernizing the air force. "This incident shows us that we must renew our aircraft and our military equipment," Pramono Anung, a lawmaker and member of the parliamentary commission overseeing defense, said in an interview. "The Hercules is already old, many of our other (weapons) systems are already old. As parliament we will support giving more funding to the military so that they can upgrade." (Additional reporting by Kanupriya Kapoor, Randy Fabi, Aubrey Belford, Nilufar Rizki and Klara Virencia in Jakarta, Siva Govindasamy in Singapore and David Brunnstrom in Washington; Writing by John Chalmers; Editing by Hugh Lawson and Steve Orlofsky)

Water was flowing on Mars 200,000 years ago – scientists

Water was flowing on Mars 200,000 years ago – scientists Published time: April 27, 2014 18:11 Get short URL Photo Credit: NASA Share on tumblrTags Mars, Science, Space New research has suggested that water was flowing across the surface of Mars some 200,000 years ago. The nature of rock formations in a Mars crater suggests the sediment deposits and channels it contained were formed by ‘recent’ flowing water. Swedish scientists from the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Gothenburg identified “Very young …and well-preserved deposits of water bearing debris flows in a mid-latitude crater on Mars,” according to the study published in the journal Icarus. It was previously estimated that liquid water flowed across the Red Planet during its last ‘ice-age’, some 400,000 years ago. However, the young age of the crater means the features signifying water must have appeared since. The scientists drew comparisons between the geomorphological land formations and the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard. The crater had features of areas on earth where debris flow had caused material to be deposited by fast-flowing water. “Our fieldwork on Svalbard confirmed our interpretation of the Martian deposits,” stated Andreas Johnsson, a spokesperson for the research team. “Our study crater on Mars is far too young to have been influenced by the conditions that were prevalent then. This suggests that the meltwater-related processes that formed these deposits have been exceptionally effective also in more recent times,” said Johnsson. “If we find on Mars evidence for a second genesis, that changes everything,” Johnsson added. A debris flow takes place when liquid water soaks through debris lying on an incline to the point that it becomes saturated and heavy, causing it to descend down the incline. On earth, debris flow can result in material destruction and sometimes casualties, depending upon their severity. When the flow stops, new landforms are made, including lobate deposits and paired levees. It is these that Johnsson has identified on the planet. “Gullies are common on Mars, but the ones which have been studied previously are older, and the sediments where they have formed are associated with the most recent ice age. Our study crater on Mars is far too young to have been influenced by the conditions that were prevalent then,” Johnson said.

Indonesian volcano Mount Rokatenda erupts

Indonesian volcano Mount Rokatenda erupts, hot lava kills six people sleeping in village From: AP August 10, 2013 10:24PM Tweet inShare.0 3 .Increase Text SizeDecrease Text SizePrintEmail Share Add to DiggAdd to del.icio.usAdd to FacebookAdd to KwoffAdd to MyspaceAdd to NewsvineWhat are these? Mount Rokatenda volcano spews a huge column of hot ash during an eruption on Aug 10. Hot lava gushing from the volcano has killed six people who were sleeping in a nearby village. Picture: AFP Source: AFP GUSHING hot lava from an erupting volcano killed six people sleeping in a beach village in eastern Indonesia on Saturday, after ash and smoke shot up to 2000 metres into the air, a disaster official said. Mount Rokatenda in East Nusa Tenggara province erupted early Saturday morning, according to the National Disaster Mitigation Agency. Nearly 3000 people were evacuated from the area on Palue island. The volcano has been rumbling since October 2012. The victims included three adults and two children, said agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho. He said the age of the sixth person killed was unclear and that the children's bodies had not been recovered from Ponge beach in Rokirole village. Indonesia, an archipelago of 240 million people, is prone to earthquakes and volcanic activity because it sits along the Pacific "Ring of Fire," a horseshoe-shaped series of fault lines. Read more: http://www.news.com.au/world-news/indonesian-volcano-mount-rokatenda-erupts-hot-lava-kills-six-people-sleeping-in-village/story-fndir2ev-1226694874436#ixzz2berX9j4C