Bodies Found In AirAsia Missing Plane Search

Hunt For Killer Shark As Teen Victim Named

Written By Unknown on Selasa, 30 Desember 2014 | 16.15

Australian officials are hunting a shark that killed a teenager off Australia's southwest coast in the nation's second deadly attack in as many weeks.

Jay Muscat, 17, was spearfishing with a friend on Monday off Cheynes Beach, on the south coast of Western Australia (WA), when he was attacked.

The shark is believed to be a great white measuring between 4m and 5m (13ft and 16 ft) long, said Carlo Vittiglia, spokesman for the state fisheries department.

There is a chance the animal was injured, Vittiglia said, as Mr Muscat's friend is thought to have fired a spear at the shark during the attack.

His friend Matt Pullella wrote on Facebook that "the shark hit me first then attacked Jay", The West Australian reported.

"The shark turned and came for me, I pushed the speargun down its throat and fired the gun!" he wrote.

"This is something no one should ever have to see."

Friends and relatives left tributes to the victim, including on social media.

Rae Batten wrote on Facebook: "So very sad and so hard to believe. Highly respected young man by so many. Thoughts and prayers for the Muscat family."

WA's Department of Fisheries said Cheynes Beach would remained closed while equipment was deployed from boats to try and catch the shark.

If the shark is caught, it will be destroyed.

"One of them (boats) will be setting (drum) lines, the other will be doing patrols in the nearby regions," Department of Fisheries spokesman Rick Fletcher told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

The attack comes two weeks after an 18-year-old man was killed by a shark while spearfishing on the Great Barrier Reef off Australia's east coast.

Sharks are common off Australia's beaches, but fatal attacks are rare.

The country has averaged fewer than two deadly attacks per year in recent decades, but experts say attacks are becoming more common as water sports increase in popularity.

16.15 | 0 komentar | Read More

Al Shabaab Leader Targeted In US Airstrike

The US military has targeted a senior leader of the al Shabaab Islamist militant group in Somalia.

"The strike took place in the vicinity of Saakow, Somalia," Defense Department spokesman Mark Wright said in a statement.

"At this time, we do not assess there to be any civilian or bystander casualties. We are assessing the results of the operation and will provide additional information, when appropriate, as details become available."

The airstrike came after a man identified as a senior intelligence official in the group, which is seeking to overthrow the Somali government, surrendered.

Zakariya Ismail Ahmed Hersi - the subject of a $3m bounty as part of the US State Department "Rewards for Justice" programme - reportedly handed himself over to government and AU troops on Saturday.

He was said to have been hiding out in the Gedo region, which borders Kenya and Ethiopia.

But al Shabaab claimed he had left the group more than a year ago.

"All the information on military set up or plans he knew has been changed since he left, and therefore the so-called defector has no intelligence value to offer to our enemies,"a senior militant was quoted as telling AFP.

Hersi was said to have been close to al Shabaab leader Ahmed Abdi Godane, who was killed in a US airstrike

Al Shabaab - meaning The Youth - grew out of the Islamic Courts Union which controlled Mogadishu and much of Somalia in 2006 before being forced out by Ethiopian forces.

It has since been fighting a bitter war with government troops and the African Union forces. It has also been blamed for attacks in Kenya and Uganda.

16.15 | 0 komentar | Read More

Bodies Found In AirAsia Missing Plane Search

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Bodies have been recovered near where the missing AirAsia plane went missing and a "shadow" has been spotted on the seabed.

The bodies - which were not wearing life jackets - have been brought on board a navy ship, said Indonesia's National Search and Rescue Director SB Supriyadi.

Local television broadcast pictures of the bodies floating in the sea.

"At 12:50 the air force Hercules found an object described as a shadow at the bottom of the sea in the form of a plane," said Mr Supriyadi.

The bodies were found about six miles (10km) from where the plane last communicated with air traffic control.

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Gallery: The Search For Missing AirAsia Plane

Indonesian air force CN295 crew members look from plane windows during a search and rescue operation for missing AirAsia flight QZ8501 over waters near Pangkalan, Central Kalimantan

This aerial view taken from an Indonesian search and rescue aircraft over the Java Sea shows floating debris spotted in the same area as other items being investigated by Indonesian authorities

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Items resembling an emergency slide, plane door and other objects were spotted in the sea during an aerial search

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An aerial view of Belitung, the search area for the missing AirAsia plane

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Officials also confirmed that large items spotted earlier, including items resembling a plane door and an emergency slide, were part of the plane.

AirAsia boss Tony Fernandes said he was rushing to the scene and wrote on Twitter: "My heart is filled with sadness for all the families involved in QZ 8501.

"On behalf of AirAsia my condolences to all. Words cannot express how sorry I am."

The Airbus A320-200 disappeared from radar on Sunday on its way from Surabaya in Indonesia to Singapore.

There were 162 passengers on board, including one British man, Chi Man Choi, and his two-year-old daughter.

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Gallery: History Of The Low-Cost Asian Airline

AirAsia was founded in 1993 by a Malaysian government-owned conglomerate called DRB-Hicom, which is involved in automotive manufacturing

AirAsia Malaysia was established in Malaysia in 2001. It expanded into Thailand in 2003 and Indonesia in 2004. It has also since launched subsidiaries in the Philippines and India

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The aircraft's last request - to climb higher to avoid a storm - was turned down. Minutes later it fell off the radar.

Some 30 ships and 21 aircraft from South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia and Indonesia have been scouring 10,000 nautical miles in the search for the plane.

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Written By Unknown on Senin, 29 Desember 2014 | 16.15

As rescuers prepare to resume the hunt for QZ8501 with first light, aviation experts look at what might have happened to the AirAsia flight.

:: Mechanical Failure:

The A320 has an excellent safety record with only 26 crashes since they were first brought into work in 1988.

According to pilot and aviation expert Gideon Ewers all of those problems were caused by other issues rather than problems with the plane.

The most famous was a bird strike on the US Airlines plane that was forced to ditch in the Hudson River in 2009.

:: Hit By Storms:

The pilot had requested to increase flying height before the plane disappeared from radar to avoid bad weather.

According to aviation expert Captain Mike Vivian storms can tower thousands of feet high and the thunder clouds can cause serious damage to aircraft.

However, the weather conditions are not uncommon in the area and pilots are expert at navigating them.

Mr Vivian said it was unlikely that a sudden weather event caused the plane to go missing.

:: Stalled By Ice:

The plane could have flown into icy conditions which may have caused it to stall and "drop out of the sky", according to pilot Ray Karam Singh, who is familiar with the route over the Java Sea.

He said the pilot of the QZ8501 could have been attempting to fly out of icy conditions by going higher but could have encountered further issues with the ice.

Mr Singh told Sky News he thought ice was the most likely cause, rather than thunderstorms.

:: Deliberate Act:

The pilots of the AirAsia plane maintained communication with air traffic control until the very last minute, according to David Learmount, the operations and safety editor of Flight Global.

The pilot's mantra is to aviate, navigate and then communicate.

Therefore, something distracted them and meant they were unable to speak to air traffic control.

Mr Learmount said: "Something distracted their attention so they were no longer able to keep talking. We don't know what happened at the moment, and it doesn't appear to be a deliberate act."

It is usual in terrorist targets that the group responsible is keen to claim a "victory".

:: Pilot Error:

The Indonesian pilot had 20,000 hours of flying experience, according to the boss of the airline, Tony Fernandes.

Seven thousand of those hours had been with AirAsia.

He would be used to flying the short-haul route and was highly experienced, according to aviation experts.

16.15 | 0 komentar | Read More

Live Updates: AirAsia Flight QZ8501 Search

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Objects Spotted In Sea In Missing Plane Search

An Australian plane has spotted objects in the sea during the hunt for the missing AirAsia flight QZ8501, authorities have said.

Indonesian officials said the search team had made the discovery while searching for the jet which stopped communicating with air traffic control over the Java Sea in the early hours of Sunday morning.

It came after air force spokesman Hadi Tjahjanto said searchers were checking a report of an oil slick off the east coast of Belitung island, near where the plane lost contact.

He also said searchers had picked up an emergency locator signal off the south of Borneo island but had been unable to pinpoint it.

Earlier, the chief of Indonesia's search effort Bambang Soelistyo said that the missing AirAsia passenger plane "is likely at the bottom of the sea".

More than a dozen ships have been sent to the area to try to find the aircraft.

Australia, Singapore and Malaysia have deployed planes to assist in the Indonesian-led search.

The UK, France and the US have offered technology to assist in the search for debris, much of which may not be on the surface.

Search teams are currently scouring an area where the sea is 40-50 metres (130-160 feet) deep, Mr Soelistyo told journalists.

Distraught relatives spent the night in the Indonesian city of Surabaya hoping for news of loved ones.

One, who called herself Intan, called on Indonesia to ask for help from other countries, rather than try to carry out the search alone.

She said: "My hope is Indonesia seeks as much help as possible from other countries. Don't claim 'We have sophisticated technology', just ask other countries because they are better equipped.

"My prayer is I really, really hope that there will be news about the people on board. Whatever it is, what is important is we know where they are now."

Air traffic controllers lost contact with the twin-engine aircraft around an hour after it left Surabaya's Juanda international airport at about 5.35am on Sunday local time (10.35pm on Saturday, UK Time).

The flight had been on its way to Singapore and the pilot had asked for permission to fly higher to avoid bad weather but been refused due to heavy traffic in the area.

One Briton was among the 162 on board, with the rest from Indonesia, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia and France.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott pledged his country would do "whatever it humanly can to assist", but said what had happened was very different to the mystery surrounding the disappearance earlier this year of Malaysian Airlines plane MH370.

A senior Indonesian civil aviation source told Reuters that authorities were waiting for search and rescue teams to find debris before they started their investigation into the cause.

Several storm clouds were along the route of the flight, and Sunday's search for the Airbus A320 was hampered by heavy rain.

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16.15 | 0 komentar | Read More

Search Under Way For Missing AirAsia Plane

Written By Unknown on Minggu, 28 Desember 2014 | 16.15

Search Under Way For Missing AirAsia Plane

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An AirAsia flight carrying 162 people from Indonesia to Singapore has lost contact with air traffic controllers.

Indonesian Transport Ministry official Hadi Mustofa said Flight QZ8501 stopped communicating with the Jakarta air traffic control tower at 7.24am local time.

He said the plane had asked for an unusual route before contact was lost with Indonesia's Juanda International Airport in Surabaya.

The flight was expected to arrive in Singapore at 8.30am local time (12.30am UK time).

:: Follow live updates with Sky News here

An AirAsia statement said there were 155 passengers on board; 138 adults, 16 children and one infant.

Also on board were two pilots and five crew members.

Most of those on board - 156 - were from Indonesia, with three from South Korea, and one each from France, Malaysia and Singapore.

Authorities had initially said that one Briton was aboard the plane.

According to air traffic control website Flight Radar, the aircraft was travelling at 32,000-feet over the Java Sea when contact was lost.

Aviation expert Doug Maclean told Sky News that all the evidence suggests that "something very serious" has happened.

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Gallery: In Pictures: Missing Flight QZ 8501

The A320-200 took off from Juanda International Airport in Surabaya. There are 155 passengers on board the flight. This includes 138 adults, 16 children and one infant

The passengers and crew include one Singaporean, one Malaysian, one French and three South Koreans and 156 Indonesians

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The plane underwent its last scheduled maintenance on 16 November 2014 and the captain in command has a total of 6,100 flying hours

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Contact was lost with the plane around 200 nautical miles southeast of the Singapore-Jakarta FIR (flight information region) boundary

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AirAsia has established an emergency call centre for family and friends of those on board

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A statement on Malaysia based AirAsia's Facebook page said: "AirAsia Indonesia regrets to confirm that Flight QZ8501 from Surabaya to Singapore has lost contact with air traffic control at 07.24hrs this morning.

"At the present time we unfortunately have no further information regarding the status of the passengers and crew members on board, but we will keep all parties informed as more information becomes available.

"The aircraft was an Airbus A320-200 with the registration number PK-AXC. At this time, search and rescue operations are in progress and AirAsia is cooperating fully and assisting the rescue service."

The airline has set up an emergency call centre for family or friends of those who may have been on board the aircraft.

AirAsia co-founder and director Tony Fernandes, who is also chairman of QPR football club and UK-based F1 team Caterham, tweeted a short statement saying: "My only thoughts are with the passangers and my crew.

"We put our hope in the SAR operation and thank the Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysian governments."

A statement issued by the Singapore Civil Aviation Authority said: "The Singapore Rescue Coordination Centre has offered help to the Indonesian authorities. Two C-130s are already on stand-by for this purpose.

"Crisis Management Centres have already been activated. We are working with the airline's crisis management team. A waiting area, and all necessary facilities and support have been set up for relatives and friends of the affected passengers at Changi Airport Terminal 2."

The incident comes at the end of a difficult year for Malaysia's airlines. National flag carrier Malaysia Airlines lost two aircraft this year.

Flight MH370 went missing on 8 March on a trip from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 passengers and crew on board.

On 17 July, Flight MH17 was shot down over Ukraine, killing all 298 people on board.

:: Relatives or friends of those aboard the plane can contact the AirAsia hotline on: +62 212 985 0801.

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Written By Unknown on Sabtu, 27 Desember 2014 | 16.15

Mourners Remember Boxing Day Tsunami Victims

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Survivors and families of victims have gathered across Asia for memorials to mark 10 years since the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami.

Around 230,000 people died after a 9.1-magnitude earthquake off Indonesia's western coast triggered a series of huge waves in the Indian Ocean.

The rising waters caused devastation across the region, striking countries as far apart as Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka and Somalia.

The wave swept the whole of the Indian Ocean's shoreline, also hitting the coasts of India, Myanmar, Malaysia, the Maldives and Bangladesh.

Around six hours after the start of the disaster the coasts of east Africa - Somalia, Tanzania, Kenya - were struck by the wave.

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Gallery: Sri Lanka Marks 10th Anniversary of Indian Ocean Tsunami

Tsunami survivors offer flowers as they pray at a graveyard to commemorate the victims of the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami on December 26, 2014 in Peraliya, Sri Lanka

A Sri Lankan local dancer stands in a graveyard in Peraliya commemorating victims

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Sri Lankan Buddhist monks attend the Alms Giving Ceremony for remembrance and prayer for the victims

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A young Buddhist monk prays for the victims at the Alms Ceremony

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Sri Lanka was one of the worst hit countries of the 9.1 magnitude quake with around 35,000 deaths

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The tsunami caused widespread destruction to many coastal communities.

Thousands of foreign holiday-makers were also killed.

The vast majority of Indonesia's 170,000 victims perished in Aceh province, among them tens of thousands of children.

Some 7,000 mourners gathered on Christmas Day in Banda Aceh for the first of several memorials.

Aceh governor Zaini Abdullah led the event at the Baiturrahman Grand Mosque.

He thanked Indonesians and the international community for their support in the aftermath of the tsunami, which he said had helped the area recover.

Teuku Ahmad Salman, who joined thousands at the service, said: "I cannot forget the smell of the air, the water at that time ... even after 10 years."

Indonesia's Vice President, Jusuf Kalla, led a prayer ceremony where he and other officials placed flowers at a mass grave where thousands of unknown victims were buried.

In a statement released to mark the anniversary, Prime Minister David Cameron praised the "real resilience" of those who have rebuilt their lives.

He said the UK Government had provided almost £300m to support the reconstruction of affected areas.

Some 151 British nationals killed in the tsunami.

"Today we think of all those for whom Boxing Day is no longer a happy festive celebration but the day they lost a loved one in the Indian Ocean tsunami," he said.

"At this poignant time, my prayers are with all those remembering people who were caught up in the disaster, including the 151 British nationals who lost their lives.

"In the face of tragedy and adversity, hundreds of thousands of people have demonstrated real resilience to rebuild their lives and millions more have shown extraordinary generosity to help those affected."

More than 100 survivors, along with bereaved relatives, held a memorial service on a beach in Khao Lak, Thailand.

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Gallery: Photos Taken In Indonesia After The Tsunami

Indonesian rescue workers remove a body from the fence of the Grand Mosque in the city of Banda Aceh

Refugees cover their noses from the stench of bodies

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They walked into the waves and laid flowers in the sea, while diplomats placed wreaths on the sand.

Crowds also gathered and laid wreaths at the country's tsunami memorial park in Ban Nam Khem, a southern fishing village which was decimated.

More than 5,000 people were killed in Thailand, about half of them tourists.

In Indonesia, staff members at the German, Austrian and Swiss embassies held a minute's silence to remember the victims.

In Sri Lanka, the water swept a train from its tracks, killing almost 2,000 people.

The train, including five of the original carriages, decorated with Buddhist flags, symbolically recreated the journey, carrying survivors who mourned the dead and missing.

:: A special documentary, Tsunami: Ten Years After The Wave, can be seen on the Sky News Catch Up service.

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Written By Unknown on Jumat, 26 Desember 2014 | 16.15

Many survivors of the Boxing Day tsunami of 2004 have spent the last decade struggling to deal with grief and trauma, but some chose to channel it into helping others.

In a new documentary to be shown on Sky One this evening, Sky News has spoken to survivors who have set up charities in memory of some of the 230,000 people who died.

Kim and Tristan Peatfield were staying on the south coast of Sri Lanka, in Tangalle, with their five-year-old daughter Isabella when the tsunami hit their hotel bungalow.

Tristan was washed away and Kim was left holding Isabella.

"I think I must have been knocked out and I guess that's when I let her go - because I don't remember letting her go. I would never, never have let her go," she said.

Isabella was later found dead.

Despite their grief, the couple returned to Sri Lanka a few weeks after Isabella's funeral and set up a charity in her name to help Sri Lankan children.

"Anybody who was there would know children there lost everything, they didn't just lose a sibling or a parent or grandparents or a roof over their head - they lost everything," Kim said.

The charity is still going ten years later. In that time they have helped to rebuild Tangalle Children's Hospital and built 10 playgrounds, among other projects.

"It came out of love, not wanting to let her die, and that's what sustained us, that's what keeps the charity going," the Peatfields said.

Luke Simon works full-time on the charity that he set up after the Boxing Day tragedy.

When the wave hit he was staying with his brother Piers and three friends on the island of Phi Phi in southern Thailand.

Phi Phi was hit from both sides simultaneously - and the thin strip of land in between was engulfed.

"The sea beyond was just boiling up in front of me," Luke said.

"The tsunami turned Phi Phi into canals - the little alleyways became two and a half metres of water filled with debris - a lot of people who lost their lives, they didn't drown, they were just hit by debris."

Piers was trapped under the water as he tried to push another friend to safety. It took five days for Luke to find his body.

Luke launched the charity - the Piers Simon Appeal - at his brother's memorial service and two weeks after the tsunami he was back in Phi Phi with £10,000 to help local people.

"The charity really came about because we had received so much goodness from Thai people who helped me to find Piers," he said.

Ten years on, and the charity has now become School In A Bag, which sends schoolbags to children affected by the disaster.

"It was born out of a natural disaster - the sad circumstances of losing my brother. I always wanted to be able to help disaster-affected children, mainly because of the experience that I had picked up in the tsunami," Luke said.

"I still feel like Piers is with me now - I feel as though he's tagging along with me, except he's the reason we are doing it."

:: A special documentary Tsunami: Ten Years After The Wave can be seen on the Sky News Catch Up service.

:: If you have been affected by any of the issues in the show, the following helplines can offer help and support:

Samaritans - anyone struggling to cope can talk to Samaritans on 08457 90 90 90.

Mind - for mental health issues, including post-traumatic stress, call the confidential information and support line on 0300 123 3393 (charged as a local rate call) open from 9am - 6pm Monday - Friday.

Cruse Bereavement Care - promotes the well-being of bereaved people and enables people to understand grief and cope with their loss - national helpline on 08444 779 400.

16.15 | 0 komentar | Read More

Mourners Remember Boxing Day Tsunami Victims

We use cookies to give you the best experience. If you do nothing we'll assume that it's ok.

Survivors and families of victims have gathered across Asia for memorials to mark 10 years since the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami.

Around 230,000 people died after a 9.3-magnitude earthquake off Indonesia's western coast triggered a series of huge waves in the Indian Ocean.

The rising waters caused devastation across the region, striking countries as far apart as Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka and Somalia.

The wave swept the whole of the Indian Ocean's shoreline, also hitting the coasts of India, Myanmar, Malaysia, the Maldives and Bangladesh.

Around six hours after the start of the disaster the coasts of east Africa - Somalia, Tanzania, Kenya - were struck by the wave.

1/7

Gallery: Photos Taken In Indonesia After The Tsunami

Indonesian rescue workers remove a body from the fence of the Grand Mosque in the city of Banda Aceh

Refugees cover their noses from the stench of bodies

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A solemn child survivor surveys the scene

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A worried father tries to cool down his injured daughter

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Hundreds of Acehnese line up for petrol