Rescuers find 4 large objects in AirAsia crash area

Rescuers have found four large objects in the area of a search for the wreck of a Malaysian AirAsia plane off Indonesia, Indonesia’s Search and Rescue Agency Chief Bambang Soelistyo said on Saturday.
On December 28, an AirAsia airliner A320-200 disappeared from radar screens about 40 minutes after its departure from Indonesia to Singapore, presumably crashing in the area of Kalimantan (Borneo) Island. The jet was carrying 155 passengers and seven crewmembers.

According to Soelistyo, the largest piece found by the rescuers is 18 meters long and 5.4 meters wide, adding that “the fragments are located at a depth of 30 meters. ‘The rescuers, however, have failed to find the black boxes so far,” he said.

Earlier on Saturday, the rescuers found two large pieces of the crashed plane’s debris at a depth of 30 meters in the Java Sea.

The objects were lying not far from the settlement of Pangkalan Bun in the central part of Kalimantan Island. Meanwhile, an oil slick was noticed in the same area.
 [itar-tass.com]
3/1/15
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• Wreckage of Air Asia plane supposedly found in Java Sea (Indonesian rescuers) 

• AirAsia QZ8501 underwater search to begin ...

Wreckage of Air Asia plane supposedly found in Java Sea (Indonesian rescuers)

Rescuers have found what supposedly is the fuselage of the AirAsia plane that went missing on December 28 on the Java Sea bottom, a spokesman for the National Search and Rescue Agency of Indonesia said on Wednesday.
According to the agency, sonar sea bottom images have shown a large dark object resembling a plane fuselage by its shape. It is supposedly lying at a depth of 25 - 30 metres. However, the image does not clearly show what damage the plane got and if its body is preserved.
Earlier Wednesday, rescuers retrieved the bodies of 3 plane passengers. Thus, the number of the found bodies has increased to 6.

The search and rescue efforts are complicated by strong waves and wind. Some types of equipment, helicopters, in particular, cannot be used on the search due to the bad weather. A multi-nation search effort was launched when the plane lost radar contact with Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia and the United States sending ships and planes along with other equipment. China, India and South Korea as well as New Zealand also offered help.

The AirAsia Airbus 320-200 airliner with 155 passengers and 7 crew members onboard disappeared from radars last Sunday (December 28) in the area of the Kalimantan (Borneo) Island some 40 minutes after departure from Indonesia for Singapore.   http://itar-tass.com/en/world/770118
   31/12/14
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• Recovery of bodies, debris of AirAsia flight underway (Indonesia)

• AirAsia QZ8501: 'Six bodies' found in missing plane search ... 

• LIVE BLOG: AirAsia flight QZ8501 day 4

7.30PM: Here's what we know about the two bodies brought to Surabaya - one of them is that of a 1.6 metres-tall woman, and the other is that of a boy, who is 1.4 metres.

7.00PM: Crew on Malaysia's navy ships have helped retrieve four bodies at the QZ8501 debris site, the Malaysian Chief of Navy tweeted. The bodies were brought on board the Royal Malaysian Navy's KD Pahang and KD Lekir.................................http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/live-blog-airasia-flight/1559418.html

Recovery of bodies, debris of AirAsia flight underway (Indonesia)

More than 40 bodies have been recovered by an Indonesian Navy ship as crews worked to mark debris and retrieve swollen corpses floating in the Java Sea from AirAsia Flight QZ8501 that went missing Sunday, Indonesian officials said Tuesday (Dec 30).

"Based on the navy radio, it has been reported that the warship Bung Tomo has retrieved 40 bodies and the number is growing. They are very busy now," Manahan Simorangkir, a Indonesian Navy spokesman told AFP.

Earlier, Indonesia's rescue agency detailed the discovery of debris from the passenger jet and a related sighting of the suspected aircraft on the sea floor.

"At 13:25 ... we spotted a floating object believed to be one of the passengers' bodies," BASARNAS, Indonesia's National Search and Rescue Agency, Air Chief Marshal FH Bambang Soelistyo told a press conference earlier....................http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/indonesia-rescue-agency/1558094.html
30/12/14
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• Bodies and debris seen by teams searching for missing AirAsia plane ...

• Indonesian Rescue Workers Recover More Than 40 AirAsia Victims ...

Russian Navy to hold biggest war games in decades

The four major Russian Navy fleets will hold a joint exercise in late January in the Mediterranean and Black seas. It will be the biggest such event in decades.
­Commands for the Northern, Baltic, Black Sea and Pacific fleets have been preparing for the exercises since December of last year, the Russian Defense Ministry has announced. Warships detached for the event are currently sailing to those regions.


“The primary goal of the exercise is to train issues regarding formation of a battle group consisting of troops of different branches outside of the Russian Federation, planning of its deployment and managing a coordinated action of a joint Navy group in accordance with a common plan,” the ministry’s information department explained.
The exercise will include several scenarios, including the loading of amphibious troops from an unprepared coast in the Northern Caucasus onto transport vessels.
The announcement comes days after the launch of the nuclear-powered submarine Vladimir Monomakh, the third Borei-class strategic submarine cruiser produced in Russia. The vessel, armed with Bulava ICBMs, will become part of the country’s nuclear deterrence force after completing sea trials.
The Russian Navy's five fleets each have their own headquarters. The strongest, the Northern fleet is based in Severomorsk in north-west of the country. The Baltic fleet is based in Kaliningrad, the western Russian enclave on the coast of the Baltic Sea.
The Black Sea fleet is based in Sevastopol, Ukraine, from which Russia rents a naval base. The Pacific fleet is based in Vladivostok in Russia’s Far East. The Caspian flotilla is the smallest in the Russian Navy, but is the strongest naval force in the enclosed Caspian Sea.
Warships from the four main fleets conduct joint naval drills on regular basis to streamline command and control for  operations. Groups of ships detached from different fleets also often sail for joint missions in the high seas. The patrol in the Mediterranean in August 2012 drew worldwide attention amid rumors that the ships would become involved in the Syrian civil war.
 
.rt.com
2/1/13 
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Related posts:

• Silent sub: Russian noiseless Borei class nuclear submarine immersed

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• Ρωσικά πολεμικά πλοία μέσω Αιγαίου στη Μεσόγειο

Silent sub: Russian noiseless Borei class nuclear submarine immersed

 Super-modern, powerful and almost noiseless Russian nuclear submarine Vladimir Monomakh has been put in water to become the third ship of the Borei project. The cruiser is about to begin sea trials and mooring to become fully operational in 2013.
­Vladimir Monomakh was laid down at Russia’s largest shipbuilding complex Sevmash, located on the shores of the White Sea in the town of Severodvinsk in northern Russia on March 19, 2006 – the 100th anniversary of the Russian submarine fleet.

­Borei-class submarine
Length: 170 m
Beam: 13.5 m
Draught: 10 m
Test depth: 450 m
Displacement:
14,720 tons surfaced
24,000 tons submerged
Speed: 29 knots (54 km/h)
Complement: 107 (55 officers)
Armament: 16-20 × Bulava SLBMs
6 × 533 mm torpedo tubes
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It belongs to a class of missile strategic submarine cruisers with a new generation of nuclear reactor, which allows the submarine to dive to a depth of 480 meters. It can spend up to three months in autonomous navigation and, thanks to the latest achievements in the reduction of noise, it is almost silent compared to previous generations of submarines.
The submarine is armed with the new missile system, which has from 16 to 20 solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missiles Bulava (SS-NX-30 by NATO classification). The rocket is able to overcome any prospective missile defense system.
On August 27, 2011, the Russian Defense Ministry reported on a successful test of Bulava to investigate its maximum range. The missile was launched from the White Sea, flew 9,300km in just 33 minutes, and then fell in the specified area in the Pacific Ocean.
All Borei class submarines are equipped with a floating rescue chamber designed to fit in the whole crew.

Nuclear submarine (NS) "Yuri Dolgoruky" undergoing sea trials. (RIA Novosti)

The Borei family

The first and head submarine of Borei class, Yury Dolgoruky, has already completed the test program and is to be officially adopted by the Russian Navy on Sunday. Construction of the missile carrier is approximately estimated at around US$770 million, while other Borei class submarines are believed to cost less.
“The hoisting of the flag and the signing of the acceptance act is to be adopted at the Sevmash shipyard in Severodvinsk on Sunday, December 30,” the Rubin design bureau that designed the submarine said in a statement on Saturday.
Another missile cruiser of this project, the Aleksandr Nevsky, is undergoing tests, according to Borisov. While a fourth, more advanced submarine, the Knyaz Vladimir, with enhanced technical characteristics and increased ammunition is currently being built.
Over the next eight years Russia plans to have built 10 Borei class submarines altogether, according to the state armaments program of 2011-2020. All Borei class submarines are believed to provide a basis of naval strategic nuclear forces of Russia in the coming decades.
 http://rt.com/news/russian

The nuclear submarine (NS) "Yuri Dolgoruky" in the area of the JSC "Sevmash". (RIA Novosti)

8 U.S. sailors sue Japanese gov't, TEPCO for lying about radiation

SAN DIEGO —

Eight crew members of the USS Ronald Reagan are suing the Japanese government and Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) for lying to them about the radiation levels to which they were exposed during rescue operations near the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant last year.
In a suit filed in San Diego this week, lead plaintiff Lindsay R Cooper accused TEPCO of intentionally concealing the dangerous levels of radiation in the environment from U.S. Navy rescue crews working as part of “Operation Tomodachi” off the coast of the Tohoku region following the devastating series of earthquakes and tsunami that resulted in the nuclear disaster of March 11, 2011.

According to Courthouse News Service, the plaintiffs assert that the government and TEPCO possessed data about the radiation leakage that they suppressed, thus willfully exposing Navy rescue workers of the U.S.S Ronald Reagan, a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier based in San Diego, to dangerous levels of radiation. The suit claims that TEPCO covered up data
suggesting that rescue workers would be exposed to the same amount of radiation that resulted in cancer at Chernobyl.
The sailors are each seeking $10 million in compensatory damages and $30 million in punitive damages for fraud, negligence, strict liability, failure to warn, public and private nuisance and defective design, Courthouse News Service reported. The suit also calls for TEPCO to establish a fund of $100 million to pay for the medical expenses of crew who they say face “additional and irreparable harm to their life expectancy, which has been shortened and cannot be restored to its prior condition.”
The plaintiffs said that TEPCO, as a “wholly owned public benefit subsidiary of the government of Japan,” misrepresented radiation levels to give U.S. Navy workers “a false sense of security.” TEPCO’s policy of deception caused U.S. rescue workers to rush into an unsafe area which was too close to the stricken plant.
Although there were 5,500 sailors aboard the Reagan, the lawsuit is not a class action. Of the eight plaintiffs suing the government, six reportedly worked on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier, while the other two worked in air contamination. One of the plaintiffs is also reportedly suing on behalf of her infant daughter.

Japan Today

28/12/12

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• US Navy sailors sue Japan for lying about Fukushima radiation

US Navy sailors sue Japan for lying about Fukushima radiation

American sailors have filed a lawsuit against the Japanese government for allegedly lying about the health risks they faced while assisting in rescue efforts after last year’s Fukushima nuclear disaster.
Crewmembers from the USS Ronald Reagan filed a lawsuit in Federal Court in San Diego, California this week in an attempt to hold Japan accountable for any long-term damage they’ll caused during “Operation Tomadachi,” the spring 2011 relief effort that sent sailors near the coast of Japan to assist in the days after an earthquake and subsequent tsunami ravaged the island nation and caused a level 7 meltdown at three reactors in the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant.

The plaintiffs, eight sailors from the 5,500 or so that were aboard the USS Reagan at the time, say Japan did not act honestly in regards to explaining the severity of the meltdown and the risks they faced in involving themselves in the relief efforts. They are asking the state-owned Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) for $10 million in compensatory damages, as well as another $30 million in punitive damages for fraud, negligence, strict liability, failure to warn, public and private nuisance and defective design, Courthouse News Service reports.
Additionally, the sailors want TEPCO to set up a $100 million fund to pay for any future medical expenses they’re accrue as a result of the relief effort.
Courthouse News claims that plaintiffs say in the complaint that TEPCO, "a wholly owned public benefit subsidiary of the government of Japan," misrepresented radiation levels after the meltdown in order to lull the US Navy "into a false sense of security."
Beginning only one day after the March 11 earthquake, the United States sent eventually 24,000 service members to assist in rescue efforts at a cost cited by the Japan Times as being nearly $90 million.
"Operation Tomodachi has proven the Japan-US alliance can function in an emergency in a well-coordinated manner. US military personnel have proven to the fullest degree they are acting for the benefit of the Japanese people," National Defense Academy Professor Matake Kamiya told the Times earlier this year.
Today, however, sailors from the USS Reagan say they were misled about how severe the situation was.
"TEPCO pursued a policy to cause rescuers, including the plaintiffs, to rush into an unsafe area which was too close to the FNPP [Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant] that had been damaged. Relying upon the misrepresentations regarding health and safety made by TEPCO … the US Navy was lulled into a false sense of security," the complaint states.
"Defendant TEPCO and the government of Japan, conspired and acted in concert, among other things, to create an illusory impression that the extent of the radiation that had leaked from the site of the FNPP was at levels that would not pose a threat to the plaintiffs, in order to promote its interests and those of the government of Japan, knowing that the information it disseminated was defective, incomplete and untrue, while omitting to disclose the extraordinary risks posed to the plaintiffs who were carrying out their assigned duties aboard the USS Ronald Reagan."
The complaint further alleges that TEPCO claimed the levels of radiation the sailors would be subjected to “would not cause any different or greater harm to them than they may have experienced on missions in the past,” though the Americans say otherwise.
"At all times relevant times, the defendant, TEPCO, was aware that exposure to even a low dose of radiation creates a danger to one's health and that it is important to accurately report actual levels,” the defendants say.
"Defendants had actual and/or constructive knowledge of the properties of radiation that would ensure that, once released into the environment, radiation would spread further and in concentrations that would cause injury to the plaintiffs."
The sailors say they have put themselves in a situation where their potential to develop cancer has been enhanced and that they "face additional and irreparable harm to their life expectancy, which has been shortened and cannot be restored to its prior condition."
In August, over a year after the meltdown, fish were found near the site of the Fukushima plant containing with 258 times the level of contamination that the level government deems safe for consumption.
.rt.com
26/12/12