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20051229

Military - Auto- Airplane - "Corps pays $100K for retooled jeep." ... "The Marine Corps is paying $100,000 apiece for a revamped Vietnam-era jeep as part of its program to outfit the hybrid airplane-helicopter V-22 Osprey, Pentagon records show." ... "That's seven times what a deluxe commercial version of the vehicle costs. It's also three times what U.S. Export-Import Bank records show the Dominican Republic paid four years ago for a military version of the vehicle, called the Growler, a recycled version of the M151 jeep." -By Steven Komarow -USATODAY

20051223

Travel - Terrorism - Law Enforcement - "Airport security changes create little noise: Guidelines that now allow small scissors, sharp objects have little effect on travelers." ... "New airport security guidelines that allow passengers to carry small scissors and other sharp objects were implemented Thursday at airports nationwide, including Houston." ... "Security personnel will now focus on detecting explosives rather than confiscating small sharp objects." -By Armando Villafranca -HoustonChronicle.com

20051221

Florida - Business - Disaster - Water - Divers- "Chalk's grounds fleet for inspection after fatal crash off Miami Beach." ... "An airline voluntarily grounded its fleet Wednesday for inspection after investigators said cracks in the support beam of a wing apparently caused it to fall off a seaplane that then crashed, killing all 20 people aboard." ... "Chalk's Ocean Airways operates four other seaplanes, all the same model that crashed. The grounding came the same day federal investigators said they were trying to determine why the airline had apparently not discovered the cracks." ... "Salvage crews and divers worked for a second day Wednesday to haul up the plane's wreckage from about 35 feet of water in a channel off the southern tip of Miami Beach [Florida], where it went down Monday." -By Curt Anderson -Sun-Sentinel via -Newsday.com

20051209

Illinois - Transportation - Disaster - "Southwest plane slides off Chicago runway, 1 dead." ... "A Southwest Airlines plane landing in a snowstorm in Chicago slid off a runway on Thursday and crashed through a fence and onto a busy road, colliding with two cars. A boy in one of them was killed." ... "The Boeing 737, which had flown to Midway Airport from Baltimore with 98 passengers and five crew, ended up in an intersection with its nose on the ground after the front gear collapsed, a Federal Aviation Administration spokesman said." (1, 2) -By Andrew Stern -Reuters

20051207

Florida - Airline - Terrorism - "Man who threatened to blow up bomb killed by federal marshal." ... "As dozens of passengers exited from an American Airlines flight at [Florida's] Miami International Airport this afternoon, one male passenger who threatened to blow up a bomb in the gateway was shot and killed by a federal air marshal, a government official said." ... "The 44-year-old U.S. citizen, whose name was not immediately released, claimed he had the bomb in a carry-on bag and tried to run away from a team of federal air marshals after they ordered him to the ground, according to the Transportation Security Administration." ... "One of the air marshals opened fire as the man reached into the bag." -AP -MercuryNews

20051206

Iran - Military - Disaster - "More than 100 killed in Tehran plane crash." ... "At least 110 are dead after an Iranian military aircraft crashed into a 10-storey building in a densely populated district of Tehran [Iran] on Tuesday." ... "According to reports, the C-130 transport plane crashed into the building while trying to make an emergency landing at Mehrabad international airport and exploded in a ball of fire." -CTV.ca

20051205

US - Pakistan - Egypt - Terrorism - Intelligence - Aircraft - Robots - "Drone said to have killed Al Qaeda's No. 3: If true, Abu Hamza Rabia would be the third to hold the post and be taken out." ... "In the dead of night, the US Predator aircraft swooped in over the [Pakistan] hamlet of Haisori, locking in on an abandoned house five travelers had quietly entered just hours before, according to neighbors. Then, they say, the drone fired on the stone and mud dwelling for about eight minutes, reducing it to rubble." ... "Pakistani officials say the airstrike, which took place last Thursday in tribal region of North Waziristan, killed five people, including Al Qaeda's No. 3 man, Egyptian Abu Hamza Rabia. Conflicting reports cast some uncertainty on Mr. Rabia's death and his exact rank, however." ... "If Islamabad's account holds true it would represent the third Al Qaeda "No. 3" to be killed or captured in as many years. Taking out the terrorist network's operations manager represents an intelligence victory with obvious short-term gains in disrupting terrorist planning, but also points to Al Qaeda's ability to bounce back from these losses in the past, say analysts." -By Gretchen Peters -CSMonitor

20051130

Pakistan - Earthquake - Disaster - Flying - "Pakistan Earthquake Aid Flights Interrupted by Winter Storms." ... "Winter storms in Pakistan's mountainous Kashmir region forced relief organizations to interrupt helicopter flights bringing aid to more than 3 million people left homeless by last month's earthquake." ... "Flights carrying supplies to villages above 1,500 meters (5,000 feet) were suspended over two days beginning on Nov. 26, the International Organization for Migration said in an e-mailed statement late yesterday from Pakistan's capital, Islamabad. More bad weather is forecast for the rest of this week, it said." -By Khalid Qayum and Paul Tighe -Bloomberg

20051109

Hawaii - Military - Flying - Intelligence - "Stealth engineer facing federal indictment." ... "A federal grand jury in Honolulu has returned a six-count indictment against a B-Two stealth bomber engineer already accused of selling U-S military secrets to foreign countries." -AP via KPUA

20051026

Florida - Airline - Hurricane Wilma - "Most of South Florida without power." ... "Power failures caused by Hurricane Wilma left 6 million people across Florida without electricity Tuesday and disrupted airline traffic at the third-busiest U.S. airport for international traffic. Officials said some areas could be in the dark for several weeks." ... "Florida Power & Light, which provides electricity for almost all of South Florida, said Wilma had affected more of its customers than any other natural disaster in FPL's history. It said one in three Florida residents were without power." -By Tony Bertuca and Wendy Koch with contributions by Donna Leinwand -USATODAY

20050914

- - Hurricane Katrina - "Delta, Northwest Airlines File for Bankruptcy." ... "The nation's airline crisis took a stunning turn for the worse today when Delta Air Lines Inc. and Northwest Airlines Corp. both filed for bankruptcy in the face of massive losses, meaning that four of the seven largest U.S. carriers are now flying in Chapter 11 bankruptcy." ... "Delta and Northwest, the third- and fourth-largest airlines respectively by passenger traffic, joined United Airlines and its parent UAL Corp., along with US Airways Group Inc., in seeking protection from its creditors in Bankruptcy Court." ... "The price of fuel — an airline's second-biggest expense after labor — surged above $2.30 a gallon after Hurricane Katrina disrupted the Gulf Coast's refining operations, and it helped push Delta and Northwest into bankruptcy. Before the storm, fuel cost less than $1.90 a gallon." -By James F. Peltz -LAtimes

20050830

Religion - - "Air Force Bans Leaders' Promotion of Religion." ... "The Air Force issued new religion guidelines to its commanders yesterday that caution against promoting any particular faith - or even "the idea of religion over nonreligion" - in official communications or functions like meetings, sports events and ceremonies." ... "The guidelines discourage public prayers at official Air Force events or meetings other than worship services, one of the most contentious issues for many commanders. But they allow for "a brief nonsectarian prayer" at special ceremonies like those honoring promotions, or in "extraordinary circumstances" like "mass casualties, preparation for imminent combat and natural disasters."" -By Laurie Goodstein -NYTimes

20050824

PA - IL - Tennessee - - - - "3 states suing Pentagon to stop Air Guard relocations." ... "Pentagon proposals to relocate some Air National Guard aircraft have infuriated governors who say the federal government cannot reassign Guard units without their permission." ... "Among the states that object, Pennsylvania, Illinois and Tennessee have sued in federal court to stop the Pentagon from moving aircraft and personnel to other states. The Base Realignment and Closure Commission has gotten legal opinions, including one from the Justice Department, saying it can take the action, although its own general counsel says it cannot." -By Martha T. Moore -USATODAY

20050809

- "Sudan launches Garang crash probe: A Sudanese committee has been formed to investigate the death of vice-president and southern rebel leader John Garang, the government says." ... "President Omar al-Bashir has asked for an initial report by the start of September, says Sudan's news agency." ... "The committee includes aviation experts, government officials and members of Mr Garang's former rebel SPLM group, the agency says." -BBC /News

20050730

- Uzbekistan - - "U.S. Evicted From Air Base In Uzbekistan." ... "Uzbekistan formally evicted the United States yesterday from a military base that has served as a hub for combat and humanitarian missions to Afghanistan since shortly after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Pentagon and State Department officials said yesterday." ... "In a highly unusual move, the notice of eviction from Karshi-Khanabad air base, known as K2, was delivered by a courier from the Uzbek Foreign Ministry to the U.S. Embassy in Tashkent, said a senior U.S. administration official involved in Central Asia policy. The message did not give a reason. Uzbekistan will give the United States 180 days to move aircraft, personnel and equipment, U.S. officials said." -By Robin Wright and Ann Scott Tyson-WashingtonPost

20050630

Gordon Smith - Corporate - Politics - Sports - Vacations - Jets - Accounting - Telecommunications - Energy - Lawmakers - Ore - Nev - Ind - Fla - Mich - Ky - Va - - - - - "Amid much scrutiny, mixing pleasure and politics goes on." ... "Even if lawmakers are more sensitive these days about teeing up [golfing] with lobbyists at posh resorts, one would never know it by witnessing a scene at Dulles International Airport on Sunday night when lobbyists returned from the Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, a high-end course in southwestern Oregon. One lobbyist from Accenture, an accounting firm, even disembarked sporting a long-sleeve Bandon Dunes polo shirt." ... "[Oregon Republican Senator] Sen. Gordon Smith (R-Ore.[Republican-Oregon]) held the fundraiser, an annual event for his political action committee Impact America. A score of telecommunications, financial-services and energy lobbyists paid $3,000 to $5,000 apiece to join him for the promise of unfettered access for a weekend with the second-term Oregonian and member of the Finance and Commerce, Science and Transportation committees." ... "Smith paid Bandon Dunes $14,472 last year to reserve the resort for his guests, according to disclosure reports filed with the Federal Election Commission (FEC). Bandon Dunes charges $175 per person for a round of golf and at least $300 for rooms during the peak season, from May to October." ... "Smith, the heir of a frozen-foods fortune, seems to have no qualms about his close ties to the business community. He readily admitted that he flew to the event on FedEx’s corporate jet and returned via Union Pacific’s plane." ... "[Nevada] Republican [Senator] Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.[Republican-Nevada]) also flew out for the event, as did [Indiana Republican Representative] Reps. Chris Chocola (Ind.[Indiana]), [Florida Republican Representative] Ander Crenshaw (Fla.[Florida]) and [Indiana Republican Representative] Steve Buyer (Ind.[Indiana])." ... "[Michigan Republican Representative] Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.[Republican-Michigan]) is hosting a golf tournament in July at the Oakland Hills Country Club [in Michigan], the home of the 2004 Ryder Cup matches and the 2008 PGA Championship. [Kentucky Republican Representative] Rep. Harold Rogers (R-Ky.[Republican-Kentucky]), a cardinal on the Appropriations Committee, will hold an event in August at Pebble Beach, the world-famous coastal golf course in California." ... "In the winter, several lawmakers including [Virginia Republican Representative] Chief Deputy Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.[Republican-Virginia]), hosted trips to exclusive skiing resorts in Colorado, Idaho and Wyoming." ... "“You wonder how long Republicans can bifurcate their message to mainstream America with this gross display of wealth,” the lobbyist said." -By Jonathan E. Kaplan -TheHill.com

20050629

- - - - "17 Aboard Downed U.S. Copter Feared Dead." ... "U.S. military officials said Wednesday they feared all 17 troops aboard a special operations helicopter were dead after hostile fire downed the craft and it slid or rolled into a rugged mountain ravine in eastern Afghanistan." ... "Stormy weather hampered rescue efforts after the MH-47 helicopter crashed Tuesday while ferrying in reinforcements for troops already on the ground pursuing al-Qaida militants near the border with Pakistan." ... "On May 31, U.S.-led coalition soldiers gave the 8,000-strong NATO force responsibility for security in much of western Afghanistan. The International Security Assistance Force, currently under NATO command, already maintains security in the capital, Kabul, and other parts of the nation." -AP via -SFGate.com
- - - - "Fighting Prevents U.S. From Learning Fate of 17 on Copter." ... "Nine helicopters have been lost to various causes in Afghanistan since the Taliban were ousted from control of Kabul, the capital, in 2001." ... "The helicopter was the second Chinook to go down in Afghanistan this year. Fifteen American military personnel and three civilians were killed in April when their helicopter crashed in a sandstorm while returning to the airbase at Bagram. So far this year, 38 members of the American military have died in Afghanistan, including 13 in combat, according to Pentagon figures put out before the latest crash. In all of 2004, 52 Americans died in Afghanistan." ... "Kunar, the area where the chopper went down on Tuesday, borders Pakistan and for the last three years has been one of the provinces most troubled by insurgent activity." -By Carlotta Gall -NYTimes

20050527

- - Memorial Day - - Florida - Nevada - New York - "Holiday Exodus In Full Stride." ... "Anyone who took an early flight for a Memorial Day getaway has already gotten a taste of what summer air travel will be like: full planes, crowded airports and weather delays." ... "Airlines said they carried more passengers than usual Thursday, the kickoff of the summer season." ... "Despite rising prices, the travel industry predicts Americans will be traveling in record numbers this summer with Florida, California, Nevada and New York the top preferred destinations." (1, 2) -AP / -CBSNews

20050519

- - "America West, US Air tie the knot: America West CEO to run carrier called US Airways." ... "America West Holdings and bankrupt US Airways Group teamed up Thursday, announcing a merger that the two carriers say gives them a better shot at surviving brutally high jet-fuel prices and cutthroat competition in the overcrowded field." ... "The new airline will operate as US Airways but will be run by America West Chief Executive Officer Doug Parker. He will be at the helm of a Tempe, Ariz.-based nationwide carrier capable of earning a profit even with oil prices above $50 a barrel, the companies said in announcing the merger." -By August Cole -MarketWatch

20050518

- - - - - "U.S. Arrests Cuban Exile Accused in Deadly '76 Airline Bombing." ... "Immigration officials arrested Luis Posada Carriles, a Cuban exile suspected in a deadly airplane bombing and other attacks, on Tuesday, weeks after he slipped into the United States and shortly after he withdrew an application for political asylum." ... "The Bush administration, which had been mostly silent about Mr. Posada's presence and until Tuesday denied knowing if he was even in the country, faced growing pressure from Cuba and its ally Venezuela to extradite him. Critics had questioned why the United States would not root out a suspected terrorist, even one hailed by Cuban exiles as a freedom fighter against Fidel Castro." (1, 2) -By Abby Goodnough with contributions by Tim Weiner and Terry Aguayo -NYTimes

20050516

- - "Carrier looking for help: Brazil airline in talks to sell up to 20% stake." ... "Brazilian flagship airline Varig is negotiating terms of a rescue plan with Portugal's state-owned airline to prevent the South American carrier from getting crushed by debt, the companies said Monday." -AP via -HoustonChronicle.com

20050512

- North Carolina - - - - - "D.C. Scare Puts Alert System to the Test: Washington's Terror Alert System Put to the Test by Plane Scare; Ridge Praises Quick Response." ... "The terror alert system in the nation's capital was put to the test by a small plane that flew within three miles of the White House [Wednesday, May 11th], leading to the frantic evacuation of government buildings." ... "Alert levels at the White House and Capitol were raised to their highest state Wednesday when the Cessna 152 crossed into restricted air space and failed to respond to a Homeland Security helicopter scrambled to stop it. Military jets fired four warning flares at the single-engine aircraft, which was carrying a pilot and a student pilot flying from Pennsylvania to North Carolina, before it turned away from the national landmarks." (1, 2, 3) -By Lara Jakes Jordan, Mark Scolforo, Erin Gartner and Mark Sherman -AP via -ABCNEWS.com

20050510

- - - - "Judge clears United Airlines pension takeover." ... "A federal judge ruled Tuesday in Chicago that United Airlines can walk away from 6.6 bln usd worth of retirement obligations to 119,000 current and former union employees, handing the program over to the government in a move the company argues is essential to getting out of bankruptcy." ... "The ruling also paves the way for the federal Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp's biggest retirement plan takeover yet and will result in lower benefits for thousands of workers. The PBGC caps annual payouts at 45,600 usd a year." -AFXNews via -Forbes

20050509

- - "Japan Airlines Boss Quits." ... "Japan Airlines said Monday its chairman is resigning, an announcement that came a day after a drop in cabin pressure forced a JAL flight from New York to Tokyo with 355 people aboard to make an emergency landing." ... "Isao Kaneko, will resign at the end of the month to take responsibility for a string of safety lapses at Japan's largest carrier, company spokesman Teiji Murayama said." -AP via -CBSNews

20050427

- - "Airbus A380 lands after making aviation history." ... "The world's largest passenger plane, the Airbus A380, completed its maiden flight Wednesday, a milestone for aviation and for the European aircraft-maker's battle with American rival Boeing Co." ... "The flight capped 11 years of preparation and $13 billion in spending. Spectators camped out by the airport to be there for what some said was Europe's biggest aviation event since the first flight of the supersonic Concorde in 1969." -AP via -USATODAY

20050420

- "America West and US Airways in merger talks." ... "America West, the low-cost airline, is in advanced talks to merge with US Airways, the bankrupt carrier." ... "A deal would combine the eighth and sixth-largest US domestic carriers to create the fourth-largest airline in the US. The two carriers would be a good fit US Airways' operations are on the east coast, while America West is based in the south and west although the combined entity could remain financially feeble. Both airlines are loss-making and have weak balance sheets." -By Caroline Daniel -FT.com

20050416

- - Robots - "Robot Space Mission Fails In Orbit." ... "A mishap ended the mission of a computer-controlled NASA robotic spacecraft prematurely after it came within 300 feet of a Pentagon satellite, officials said Saturday." ... "The DART spacecraft — short for Demonstration of Autonomous Rendezvous Technology — was mounted and launched from an aircraft Friday morning." -AP via -CBSNews

20050414

- - Robots - Connecticut - "Robot misses contest after being banned from plane." ... "Students from the University of Evansville [Indiana] were unable to compete in a contest in Connecticut because airline security refused to let them board a plane with a small robot they built." ... "Students Bruce Rahman and Chris Miller and engineering professor James Reising had planned to fly to Hartford, Conn., on Saturday for the Trinity College Firefighting Home Robot Contest, an annual competition with more than 100 teams from several countries."-AP via -ABCNEWS.com

20050411

Tom DeLay - - - - - - - "DeLay under fire: What's at stake." ... "DeLay has been admonished more by the House Ethics Committee than any sitting member of Congress." ... "Last year, the bipartisan panel — the only House committee with equal numbers of Republicans and Democrats — unanimously criticized DeLay for three things. It said a golf fundraiser with executives of an energy company created the appearance that he was giving donors special access. It said he improperly tried to have the Federal Aviation Administration find Texas legislators who were hiding in Oklahoma to thwart action on his plan to redraw the state's congressional districts. And it said he promised a retiring House Republican he would endorse the man's son to succeed him if he voted for Bush's Medicare drug plan." ... "In 1999, the committee warned DeLay after he threatened the Electronic Industries Alliance, a trade group, for hiring a former Democratic congressman as its president. And it cautioned him in 1997 about creating the impression that campaign contributions would bring "official action or access."" ... "In addition, two investigations — one in Texas, the other in Washington— are targeting close DeLay allies." -By Kathy Kiely and Jim Drinkard with contributions by Jill Lawrence -USATODAY

20050407

- - - "Death Toll in U.S. Afghan Helicopter Crash Likely 18." ... "A U.S. military helicopter crash in Afghanistan on Wednesday is likely to have killed 18 people, a U.S. military spokeswoman said on Thursday as hopes of finding two missing servicemen alive faded." -Reuters

20050404

- - - Robots - "Robot aircraft to take videocam into battle: A flying video camera could soon be part of a soldier's field gear--just the sort of thing you need if you want to know whether there's someone around the corner with a grenade launcher." ... "Electronics giant Honeywell is testing the Micro Air Vehicle, a flying robot with two cameras that deliver live video feeds to soldiers on the ground. Designed for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, it stands about 17 inches tall on its landing gear and can be carried in a backpack." -By Michael Kanellos -CNETNews via -ZDNetNews

20050329

- - - - "[U.S.] Troops in Kyrgyzstan Focus on Afghanistan." ... "When revolution hit the capital of Kyrgyzstan, U.S. soldiers at this nearby air base hunkered down and got on with their jobs -- focusing on another troubled Central Asian country, Afghanistan" ... "For the 800 U.S. troops providing support to planes and troops going in and out of Afghanistan, it was impossible to completely ignore the chaos that broke out in Kyrgyzstan after last week's forced ouster of its longtime leader." ... "Ganci Air Base is only 19 miles northwest of the capital, Bishkek, where throngs of protesters stormed the presidential headquarters Thursday and forced longtime leader Askar Akayev to flee." -By Mara D. Bellaby -AP via -Newsday

20050322

- - - - "DeLay at center of political storm." ... "In September, three political fund-raisers tied to DeLay were indicted by a Texas grand jury in a case involving a political committee that DeLay helped create. The committee is accused of illegally using corporate donations for political purposes. Documents in a related civil trial suggest DeLay played a substantial role in the group's corporate fund raising." ... "Then the House ethics committee admonished DeLay for pressuring a congressman to vote for a Medicare bill by promising to support his son's run for Congress." ... "A week later, the panel again rebuked him for enlisting the Federal Aviation Administration in a search for Texas Democratic lawmakers during a battle over a redistricting plan he engineered. He was also admonished for creating the appearance of favoritism when he discussed pending energy legislation with lobbyists at his fund-raising golf outing." -AP via -CNN

20050317

- "More than one billion U.S. air travelers forecasted for 2015." ... "More than 1 billion people a year will be boarding planes in the United States within a decade, nearly half again as many as those now using an aviation system showing signs of being overburdened." ... "The Federal Aviation Administration, which released the forecast Thursday, faces spending cuts for runways, air traffic control equipment and buildings." -AP via -USATODAY

20050313

- - "Lufthansa Negotiating to Take Over Swiss International Air Lines." ... "Lufthansa of Germany is in negotiations to take over Swiss International Air Lines in a deal that would mark a step toward consolidation among European carriers that are still largely organized along national lines." ... "The purchase of Swiss, which was valued at 547.8 million Swiss francs, or $476.4 million, at the close of business on Friday, would complete the transformation of Switzerland's lone major carrier, which as Swissair went bankrupt in 2001 before being reborn as Swiss the following year." -By Carter Dougherty -IHT.com via -NYTimes

20050311

- - "Discount airline Jetsgo seeks bankruptcy." ... "Discount Canadian airline Jetsgo sought bankruptcy court protection and abruptly canceled all its flights Friday, stranding an estimated 17,000 passengers, many of whom were heading out on spring break." -AP via -USATODAY

20050309

"Mount St. Helens releases large ash plume." ... "Mount St. Helens made its most significant emission in months, sending a gritty ash cloud drifting slowly to the northeast [Tuesday, 20050308]." ... "The National Weather Service issued an ashfall advisory Tuesday evening after pilots reported spotting ash higher than 30,000 feet, said National Weather Service meteorologist Danny Mercer. The advisory was canceled early today." -AP via -HoustonChronicle.com

20050308

- "Boeing Fires CEO for Affair With Exec: Boeing Fires CEO Stonecipher for Violating Code of Business Conduct Via Relationship With Exec." ... "Boeing Co. CEO Harry Stonecipher, brought back from retirement 15 months ago to boost the aerospace manufacturer's tainted image, has been forced out because of a new ethics scandal involving an affair he had this year with a female company executive." ... "Chairman Lew Platt said the affair by itself did not violate the code of business conduct at the company, where a string of defense scandals has raised questions about the way Boeing obtains its lucrative contracts. But an internal investigation that started because of an employee's complaint discovered "some issues of poor judgment" involving Stonecipher, who is married." (1, 2, 3) -By Dave Carpenter -AP via -ABCNEWS.com

20050307

- "CIA Jets Fly the War on Terror: Rendition Program Ships Suspects Abroad." ... "It is supposed to be top secret, but ABC News found plenty of people who said they knew the true purpose of the airplane hangars at the end of a private two-lane road in rural North Carolina." ... ""That's the CIA hangar," said one airport maintenance worker, pointing out one of the two operating bases in North Carolina for the executive jets used by the CIA to move dozens of suspected terrorists over the last few years to countries well-known for using brutality and torture." ... "The two jets, one a Gulfstream V and the other a Boeing 737, have been spotted at airports around the world, and flight logs shown to ABC News show trips to Afghanistan, Iraq, Egypt, Morocco, Libya, Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, and Uzbekistan." ... "The CIA would not officially comment on its operation, known as "extraordinary rendition." The program began under an executive order signed by President George H.W. Bush in December 1992. Former senior government officials say the program initially involved only a select few terror suspects, but was vastly expanded after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks." (1, 2) -By Brian Ross with contributions by David Scott, Vic Walter and Hoda Osman -ABCNEWS.com

20050213

- - - - - "U.S. Uses Drones to Probe Iran For Arms: Surveillance Flights Are Sent From Iraq." ... "The Bush administration has been flying surveillance drones over Iran for nearly a year to seek evidence of nuclear weapons programs and detect weaknesses in air defenses, according to three U.S. officials with detailed knowledge of the secret effort." ... "The small, pilotless planes, penetrating Iranian airspace from U.S. military facilities in Iraq, use radar, video, still photography and air filters designed to pick up traces of nuclear activity to gather information that is not accessible by satellites, the officials said. The aerial espionage is standard in military preparations for an eventual air attack and is also employed as a tool for intimidation." -By Dafna Linzer-WashingtonPost

20040422

- - - "UK court to review EU flight delay rule: Airline trade association IATA asked Britain's High Court to review pending EU rules that would force carriers to reimburse passengers for delays, even if caused by security measures or snowstorms." ... "The rules set a baseline of between two and four hours for permissible delays, depending on the length of journey, with anything above that forcing carriers to reimburse passengers."-Reuters via -CNN

20040421

- - "Cubans Sentenced in Miami for Plane Hijacking."... "A U.S. judge sentenced six Cuban men to prison terms of 20 years or more on Wednesday for hijacking a Cuban airliner in the Communist Caribbean nation last year."... "The Cubans were convicted in December of air piracy for commandeering a 1940s-era Aerotaxi DC-3 after it took off from Cuba's Isle of Youth and forcing it to Key West on Florida's southern tip on March 19, 2003. The incident was the first in a series of hijackings in Cuba last year." -By Jim Loney -Reuters

20040201

- - - "Senator: Flight cancellations necessary." ... " A key member of the Senate Intelligence Committee said Sunday the United States has no defense against threats to release biological weapons inside airplanes except to cancel suspect flights." ... "Asked about reports that a biological or chemical agent might be used in an attack on a U.S.-bound airline, Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-West Virginia, said the United States would have no way to counter such moves." -CNN

20040128

- "9/11 panel hears crew member's call: Calm voice told how hijackers terrorized flight." ... "The tape of Betty Ong's voice yesterday, urgent yet amazingly calm, describing through the background buzz how a group of hijackers had stabbed two of her fellow flight attendants and taken over the first plane that slammed in the World Trade Center, silenced the congressional hearing room." ... ""The cockpit is not answering the phone. Someone's coming. Another one got stabbed. Our first class gal's stabbed, our purser has been stabbed. We can't get inside the cockpit," Ong, 45, who lived in Andover, told an American reservations specialist in a call from the rear phone aboard American Airlines Flight 11." -By Laura Sullivan -BaltimoreSun via -Boston/Globe

20040123

- - "Two U.S. pilots die when chopper comes down in northern Iraq." ... "A statement said the Kiowa helicopter came down at about 8:30 p.m. (1730 GMT) northwest of Qayara, but that the cause of the crash was not known and an accompanying helicopter did not mention any hostile activity." -Reuters
- "Military Copter Crash Kills 4 in Calif." ... "A military helicopter crashed during a training mission at this [Camp Pendleton] base north of San Diego, killing all four people aboard, officials said." ... "The UH-1 Huey, a cargo-type helicopter, crashed about 7 p.m. Thursday, Maj. T.V. Johnson said." -AP via -ABCNEWS.com

20040113

- - - Civil Liberties - "Airport color-coding called 'illusory security': Privacy groups outraged at anti-terror move." ... "Travelers would be classified into one of three groups: green for good to go, yellow for investigate further and red for stop from flying." ... "The Transportation Security Administration, part of the Department of Homeland Security, confirmed a Washington Post report Monday that the data-mining plan will start this summer after a testing period within the next few months. While the government says the plan will improve screening for potential terrorists, organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union denounced it as "dragnet profiling" that would discriminate against minorities and the poor." ... "The plan, called Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System, or CAPPS II, would require all airline travelers to provide full names, home addresses, phone numbers and dates of birth when they book flights." -By Carolyn Said with contributions by Charlie Goodyear and Steve Rubenstein -SFGate.com

20040108

- - "U.S. helicopter goes down near Fallujah; nine killed." ... "A U.S. Black Hawk medivac helicopter crashed Thursday near a stronghold of the anti-American insurgency, killing all nine soldiers aboard, the U.S. military said." ... "Also Thursday, a U.S. soldier died of injuries suffered in a mortar attack a day earlier that wounded 33 other troops and a civilian west of Baghdad." -AP via -USATODAY

20040106

- Egypt- Water - "Crews Find 'Black Box' From Egypt Plane Crash, Says Item Is Too Deep for Immediate Retrieval." ... "[French] Rear Adm. Jacques Mazars told reporters at the popular resort [city of Sharm el-Sheik, Egypt] that more advanced equipment was needed to retrieve the box, which was believed to be 1,970 to 2,620 feet below the sea's surface." ... "A robot submarine sent by the French can operate no deeper than 1,320 feet. The seabed in the area drops at one point to about 3,300 feet." -AP via -ABCNEWS.com

20040104

Egypt - "148 die as plane crashes in Red Sea: Terrorism discounted; mechanical failure cited." ... "An Egyptian charter plane carrying French tourists plunged into the Red Sea yesterday, killing all 148 people on board, in a crash officials in Cairo attributed to a mechanical failure." ... "The Boeing 737 took off from the Egyptian resort town of Sharm el-Sheik at 5 a.m. in clear weather and went down a few minutes later. Egyptian officials said the pilot tried to turn the plane around when he sensed something was wrong but did not send a distress signal." -By Dan Ephron -Boston/Globe

20031230

- - "Ridge: U.S. tightens security for New Year's." ... "With New Year's on the way, security efforts across the United States have been "ramped up in an unprecedented way" through the end of the week, Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said Tuesday." ... "The U.S. government will keep the terror threat alert level at orange -- the second-highest on the five-tiered, color-coded scale -- for the rest of the week as officials remain concerned about airline security, Ridge said." -CNN
- - - - "US expands air marshal plan abroad: Foreign flights must comply if request issued." ... "The Department of Homeland Security announced yesterday that it will require all foreign air carriers to place an armed guard on any flight over United States airspace if counterterrorism officials ask them to do so." ... "The move, described as an "emergency" rules change that is effective immediately, reflects growing concern that the Al Qaeda terrorist network may try to exploit foreign carriers as a gap in US air security by hijacking their planes and flying them into populated areas or high-risk industrial sites." -By Charlie Savage -Boston/Globe

20031217

- - "Groups Around the Nation Re-enact the Wright Brothers' First Flight." ... "One hundred years ago, a telegram arrived in Dayton, Ohio, at the home of the Rev. Milton Wright." ... ""Success four flights thursday [sic] morning all against twenty one mile wind," it began. "longest 57 seconds inform Press home Christmas." It was signed with the misspelled name of Orville Wright." ... "It makes history's first airplane flight sound almost easy — as if the Wright Flyer had leapt into the air. But in fact, the Wrights crept forward. The first flight was only 120 feet, and the plane broke several struts when it landed." -By Ned Potter -ABCNEWS.com
- "US Airways pilots union wants CEO, CFO out." ... "Pilots union leaders at US Airways on Tuesday called for the removal of airline CEO David Siegel and Chief Financial Officer Neal Cohen. Management's "failed business strategies," not high labor costs, are behind the airline's continued losses since emerging from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, union leaders charged." -By Daniel Reed -USATODAY
- - - - - - "EU Agrees to Share Airline Passenger Data." ... "The European Union has agreed to share information about its airline passengers with the United States, in a deal announced yesterday that ends year-long negotiations over a new U.S. law intended to fight terrorism." ... "International airlines will turn over data about their U.S.-bound passengers, such as a traveler's name, e-mail address, telephone number and credit card number to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Customs and Border Protection unit." -By Sara Kehaulani Goo -WashingtonPost

20031207

- - "U.S. Airstrike Kills Nine Afghan Kids: U.S. Plane Mistakenly Kills 9 Afghan Children in Airstrike Targeting Wanted Taliban Commander." ... "Children's hats and shoes littered a bloody field cratered by gunfire Sunday after a U.S. airstrike, aimed at a wanted Taliban commander, mistakenly killed nine children in an Afghan mountain village." ... "The American warplane was targeting Mullah Wazir, once a local commander for the hard-line Islamic militia. U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and a U.S. military official said Wazir was killed in the attack, but residents and local officials said Wazir escaped or was not in the village at all." -By Stephen Graham -AP via -ABCNEWS.com
- - - "Passing on the lessons from Pearl Harbor: Those who lived through the attack and WWII reflect on impact of war." ... "On Dec. 7, 1941, six Japanese aircraft carriers positioned 200 miles north of Oahu launched 181 attack planes toward the slowly waking port of Pearl Harbor and at U.S. military airfields elsewhere on the island. The two- stage attack killed 2,403 Americans, including 68 civilians -- men, women and children." ... "The attack destroyed or damaged 21 ships of the U.S. Pacific fleet and 347 airplanes. The Japanese lost 29 planes." -By Matthew B. Stannard -SFGate.com

<Pearl Harbor -[News]>

20031202

- - "Pentagon freezes Boeing contract: The US military has put an $18bn deal to buy Boeing tanker aircraft on hold." ... "The Defence Department said the deal would be frozen pending an inquiry into Boeing's links with a former Pentagon procurement official." ... "The official, Darleen Druyun, discussed a possible job with Boeing before she had disqualified herself from government service." ... "Ms Druyun was involved in the Pentagon's decision to award the tanker contract to Boeing." -BBC/News

20031201

- - "Boeing CEO Condit resigns From Staff and wire reports." ... "Boeing (BA) Chairman and CEO Phil Condit resigned unexpectedly only days after the huge aerospace manufacturer fired two other Boeing officials for an alleged ethics breach." ... "The departure of Condit, 62, follows last week's firing of Chief Financial Officer Michael Sears for discussing job possibilities with Darleen Druyun while Druyun was still working as a top Air Force procurement official and was helping Boeing win support for a major Air Force contract." -USATODAY

20031119

- Paul Wellstone - "Pilot error caused Wellstone crash." ... "Pilots flying too slowly on a landing approach caused the charter-plane crash that killed Sen. Paul Wellstone, the pilots and five others last year, the National Transportation Safety Board concluded Tuesday." ... "By voice vote, the five-member board also adopted staff findings that the pilots lacked proper training in crew coordination and were probably so inattentive or distracted that they didn't react to the speed drop until too late." ... "Mild icing from a light snowfall did not affect the descent of the twin-prop King Air A100 before it crashed on Oct. 25, 2002, 2 miles southeast of the Eveleth-Virginia Municipal Airport, in northern Minnesota, the panel concluded." -By Greg Gordon -StarTribune.com

20031116

- - "17 soldiers die as 2 US helicopters crash in Iraq." ... "Two US Black Hawk helicopters collided in the Iraqi city of Mosul yesterday, killing at least 17 soldiers and injuring five in in the military's deadliest disaster since the war began." ... "One US officer at the scene said that one of the helicopters had been struck in its tail by a rocket-propelled grenade, and witnesses said they collided and then went down. If that report is confirmed, the aircraft would be the fourth and fifth US helicopters to have been shot down in Iraq in three weeks." -By Robert Schlesinger -Boston/Globe
- - "U.S. probes deadly helicopter crash." ... "The U.S. military on Sunday was investigating whether insurgent groundfire caused the crash of two U.S. helicopters, killing 17 American soldiers, the worst single loss of U.S. life since the start of the Iraq war." ... "All the casualties were from the 101st Airborne Division, which controls northern Iraq. Five soldiers were injured." -AP via -MSNBC

20031107

- - "6 Soldiers Die in Helicopter Crash in Iraq: 2 Others Killed in Separate Attacks in Mosul." ... "A U.S. Army UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter crashed Friday morning near the Tigris River in northern Iraq after it was apparently struck by ground fire, killing all six soldiers on board, military officials and witnesses said." ... "It would be the second U.S. military helicopter shot down by Iraqis in less than a week and provided another example of the growing sophistication and lethality of guerrillas, who have escalated their campaign along an arc that stretches north and west of Baghdad." -By Anthony Shadid and Vernon Loeb -WashingtonPost

20031103

- - "Missile hits U.S. helicopter in Iraq, killing 16 troops." ... "Guerrillas shot down an Army CH-47 Chinook transport helicopter packed with soldiers headed for a short-term break on Sunday morning, killing 16 and wounding 20 in the deadliest single attack to date on U.S. forces in Iraq, military officials and witnesses said." ... "A shoulder-fired missile streaked from a date palm grove through a clear blue sky and struck the dual-rotor helicopter in its rear about 9 a.m. as it was ferrying soldiers from bases in western Iraq to Baghdad's international airport." ... "The attack took place just southwest of Fallujah, a city 40 miles west of Baghdad where resistance to the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq has been particularly intense." -By Theola Labbe and Rajiv Chandrasekaran-WashingtonPost via -StarTribune.com with contributions from -AP and -NYTimes

20030905

- - - - "Costly aircraft lease stirs ire in Congress: Air Force says deal for in-flight refuelers makes sense. Critics see $5.7 billion giveaway to Boeing." ... "At issue is a replacement for the Air Force's aging KC-135 aerial tankers, those gas stations in the sky that enable bombers and fighters to attack targets halfway around the world (Afghanistan, for example) and return home without having to land." ... "Boeing and the Air Force are pushing a deal to convert 100 of the aircraft company's 767-model airliners into tankers. The controversy starts with an agreement to lease - rather than buy - the big jets." -By Brad Knickerbocker -CSMonitor

20030902

- - - "U.S. to boost number of air marshals: 5,000 more armed law enforcement agents to be added." ... "Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge will announce plans on Tuesday to make 5,000 more armed law enforcement agents available to act as federal air marshals, officials said."-Reuters via -MSNBC

20030811

- - - "Get Your #@%!$ Paws Off My PDA!" ... "Traveling tech aficionados are agitated, even outraged, that airport security workers will be pawing through their belongings to more carefully scrutinize electronic devices." ... "Portable computers, cameras, PDAs, MP3 players and other gear are now subject to increased security checks at airports, in response to government warnings on Tuesday that terrorists may be planning to conceal weapons or bombs in electronic devices." -By Michelle Delio -Wired

20030724

- - - "Air Force punishes Boeing by taking 7 contracts." ... "Handing down some of the harshest penalties ever against a defense contractor, the U.S. Air Force on Thursday stripped Boeing (BA) of seven rocket-launch contracts and also indefinitely suspended Boeing's rocket defense units from competing for military contracts." ... "The penalties cap a yearlong Air Force probe into allegations that Boeing, the nation's No. 2 defense contractor after Lockheed Martin, used thousands of pages of stolen Lockheed documents in 1998 to beat its rival for contracts to build a military satellite-launch rocket." -By Edward Iwata -USATODAY

20030716

- - "U.S. military plane fired at over Iraq: Other attacks kill U.S. soldier and 3 Iraqis." ... "Suspected pro-Saddam Hussein insurgents fired a surface-to-air missile at a U.S. military aircraft approaching Baghdad on Wednesday — a day in which another U.S. soldier was killed, along with an Iraqi child and a mayor and his son. The missile missed the C-130 transport plane, but the attack marked a new level of resistance, which until now had relied largely on ground attacks." ... "The soldier killed Wednesday was the 33rd to die in hostile action since President Bush declared an end to major hostilities on May 1." -AP and -Reuters via -MS-NBC

20030615

- "Paper finds Air Force Academy negligence." ... "The board overseeing the Air Force Academy heard reports of sexual assaults and misconduct 20 years ago, but its yearly reports remained positive, The Denver Post reported in Sunday editions." ... "A review of 25 years of records by the academy's 15-member Board of Visitors, charged with presiding over morale and discipline at the academy, found that members did not pursue reports of sexual assaults and asked few questions." -AP via -USATODAY

20030526

- - - - "Spanish Peacekeepers Killed in Turkey Plane Crash." ... "A plane carrying 62 Spanish peacekeepers returning from Afghanistan crashed in Turkey early on Monday and all aboard, including 13 crew, were killed, officials and Turkish media said." ... "The Ukrainian Yak-42 crashed as it tried to land in thick fog near Turkey's Black Sea city of Trabzon." ... "The soldiers were mostly members of an engineers regiment based in Burgos and had been in Afghanistan serving with the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) monitoring Kabul for four months, Spanish newspaper El Mundo's Web Site said." -By Enis Yildirim-Reuters

20030427

- - "You Have a Voice in Bringing Executive Pay Back to Earth." ... "It appears the directors of AMR Corp., parent of American Airlines, are shocked -- shocked! -- that the millions the company lavished on chief executive Donald J. Carty and other top executives enraged the workers from whom the company was demanding major wage and benefit concessions." ... "One director, the only one talking late last week, seemed to be saying that Carty should have been fired, had he not resigned, for failing to tell the unions about the executive package while letting the board think he had." ... "Other than the moral malodorousness of it all, an executive compensation system that detaches pay from performance to the extent that you get a bonus if you lead your firm into bankruptcy does not seem likely to function in investors' best interests." -By Albert B. Crenshaw -WashingtonPost

20030420

- - "American union scuttles wage cuts." ... "The prospect of bankruptcy for American Airlines regained new urgency Saturday after enraged leaders of the flight attendants' union -- angered over the discovery of undisclosed pension and bonus plans for top executives --said they're scuttling their agreement to accept wage cuts." ... "Outside analysts said American's secretive compensation plans for executives reflect a growing trend --particularly in troubled industries such as airlines -- toward executives earning millions regardless of how their company or employees fare." -Knight Ridder via -WCFCourier.com

20030418

- - "American scraps executive bonuses: Union uproar forces changes in compensation." ... "After sharp criticism from its unions, American Airlines dropped a plan Friday to award bonuses to top executives if they stay at the embattled airline until 2005." ... "The bonuses and a plan to shield some executive pension funds had caused an uproar among American employees, who earlier this week approved sharp cuts in their wages and benefits — savings the company said it needed to avoid bankruptcy." -MSNBC

20030417

- - - "Under Fire: Colo. Rep. Criticized for 'Watered Down' Air Force Academy Rape Inquiry." ... "Stunned victims and members of Congress are sharply criticizing Rep. Joel Hefley, R-Colo., for altering language in a bill calling for Air Force Academy leadership to be held accountable in the upcoming inquiry into the prestigious military institution's sexual assault scandal." ... "By changing seven words of a relatively small amendment to the $80 billion Iraq war-costs bill, critics charge Hefley has single-handedly changed the direction and strength of the upcoming independent investigation." -By Ed O'Keefe with contributions by Linda Douglass -ABCNEWS.com
- - "American Airlines deal in jeopardy: Disclosure of executive pensions outrages one union." ... "The Transport Workers Union, which represents 35,000 American Airlines ground staff, said Thursday it would not sign a deal to help save the ailing air carrier after finding out about a special pension arrangement that would preserve some of top executives’ pensions even if the airline went bankrupt. The decision could force the airline to file for bankruptcy, which it had already threatened to do earlier in the week." -By Jon Bonné -MSNBC

20030406

- - "U.S. [C-130] Plane Lands at Baghdad Airport." ... "A U.S. military cargo plane landed at Baghdad's international airport late Sunday, the first known U.S. aircraft to arrive in the Iraqi capital, the U.S. Central Command said." -AP via -SeattlePI.NWsource

20030403

- - - "Airport Seized: Baghdad Airport Seized by U.S. Forces." ... "U.S. ground forces have swept into Baghdad's international airport under cover of darkness, securing it with tanks and other armored units. They encountered almost no opposition from Iraqi forces." ... "Reporting from the tarmac of Saddam International Airport, ABCNEWS' Bob Schmidt, embedded with the 3rd Infantry Division, said the airport was in pitch darkness as coalition tanks entered the facility." ... "He reported seeing Iraqis waving and cheering as U.S. tanks rolled toward the airport which is just 10 miles from central Baghdad." -Contributions by Richard Engel, Ted Koppel, Bob Schmidt, Mike Cerre, Jim Sciutto, Aditya Raval, John McWethy, and Brian Hartman -ABCNEWS.com
- - "From One Bomb, A Swarm of Tank Killers: U.S. Uses New, Smarter Cluster Bombs Against Iraqi Tanks." ... "As the bomb falls, it splits open in midair — and releases 10 smaller units, each of which descends under a small white parachute." ... "As they approach the ground, those units split as well, each one ejecting four armor-piercing explosives." ... "The result, say sources: one bomb drop causes 40 explosions, spread out over 15 acres or more." ... "The CBU-105 is a heat-seeking weapon. Its sensors look for engines of tanks, personnel carriers and other sources of high temperature. As the bombs descend, they can be steered by small fins, to get closer to their targets, and to counteract the force of the wind." -By Ned Potter -ABCNEWS.com

- - "US battling outside Baghdad: Copter down; 7 Americans believed killed." [Latest reports are saying six soldiers were killed from a downed Black Hawk helicopter]. ... "A two-pronged battle against Republican Guard divisions outside Baghdad yesterday brought US ground forces to the outskirts of the capital city." ... "But Iraqis shot down an Army Black Hawk helicopter and a US Navy F/A-18 Hornet south of Baghdad. Seven soldiers on board the helicopter were believed killed and four were rescued when it crashed after being hit by small-arms fire near Karbala, Pentagon officials said." ... "The officials said a surface-to-air missile struck the Navy fighter, which was flying from the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk. There was no immediate word on the fate of the pilot. It was the first US jet downed in the war." -By Anne E. Kornblut and Anne Barnard -Boston/Globe

20030331

- - "Fire From the Skies: ‘Historic Bomber Package’ Pounds Iraq; Ground Units Probe Toward Baghdad." ... "An "historic bomber package," of B-1, B-2 and B-52 bombers have delivered a simultaneous firestorm of ordnance from the skies in a push to destroy and disable Iraqi defenses and pave the way for coalition ground forces advancing toward Baghdad." ... "U.S. Central Command officials today said overnight air raids used a combination of the three bombers to pummel targets in Baghdad as U.S. Army scouts ventured miles closer to the capital than the previous 49-mile distance from the city to see if the area was safe for the Army's 3rd Infantry Division to move forward, ABCNEWS reported." -Contributions by Richard Engel, Aditya Raval, Linda Albin, John McWethy, Lisa Sylvester, Brian Hartman, and John Donvan -ABCNEWS.com

20030329

"2,250 American Airlines workers agree to pay cuts." ... "American Airlines reached tentative agreements with several small labor groups to reduce wages Saturday as a key union leader warned workers that the cuts will be deeper if the world's largest airline fails to avoid bankruptcy." -AP via -USATODAY
- - "Ground forces regroup near Baghdad: U.S.-led airstrikes pounded targets in Baghdad on Saturday, while ground forces nearest the capital were regrouping. Field commanders said supply shortages had led to an “operational pause” in their advance, while NBC’s David Bloom reported from the front that U.S. forces were reviewing plans after Iraqi Republican Guard units south of Baghdad were repositioned. U.S. officials said the regrouping did not reflect a change in strategy or widespread supply problems." ... "... coalition airstrikes have increased dramatically in recent days, many of them targeting Republican Guard positions. Some 1,700 precision-guided bombs and 75 cruise missiles have been fired since Thursday, McChrystal said. Up until that time, 4,300 precision bombs and 400 cruise missiles had been fired." -Contributions by David Bloom, Dana Lewis, David Shuster, Qatar, and Jim Miklaszewski, Jeannie Ohm, Preston Mendenhall With -AP and -Reuters via -MS-NBC

20030327

- - - "U.S. Force Plans Taking Kirkuk Oil Fields." ... "After falling out of the sky and sleeping in the mud, American paratroopers grabbed a strategic air base on Thursday and began plotting how to cross 80 miles and thousands of Iraqi troops to seize invaluable oil fields in northern Iraq." ... ""Kirkuk is key," said Maj. Mike Hastings of the Army's 173rd Airborne Brigade. "The Iraqis want it, the Kurds want it, the Turks want it and various other ethnic groups also want it." ... ""What this drop means is that we can secure it until we are relieved by other forces," he said. Nearly 50 percent of Iraq's vast oil supplies are pumped in the northern fields of Kirkuk and neighboring Mosul." -By Jonathan Ewing and Brian Murphy -AP via -SeattlePI.NWsource
Search Iraq News - Search Google:

<Kirkuk -[News]>
<Kirkuk Iraq -[News]>
<Mosul -[News]>
<Mosul Iraq-[News]>
<173rd Airborne -[News]>

- - "Coalition steps up bombing raids in Iraq." ... "U.S.-led invading forces flew more than 600 bombing missions over Iraq on Thursday, stepping up the air campaign that had slowed because of bad weather, defense officials said." ... "They were hitting Republican Guard formations around the capital, Baghdad." ... "Powerful sandstorms had forced the cancellations of a couple hundred planned bombing missions on Wednesday. That weather --along with unexpectedly strong resistance spurred by Iraqi paramilitary forces in central and southern Iraq in recent days -- had created a drag on coalition troops and forced them to focus on those pockets of resistance." -By Matt Kelley -AP via -Salon
- - - "U.S. airlifts troops for northern front: British forces face opposition outside Basra." ... "The U.S. military Thursday began airlifting troops, tanks and equipment for the U.S. Army's 1st Infantry Division into northern Iraq after about 1,000 paratroopers secured a key airfield in the country's Kurdish-controlled zone." ... "Paratroopers from the Army's 173rd Airborne Brigade parachuted under cover of darkness into the area, which U.S. military officials described as "semi-permissive," meaning it was not hostile." ... "Securing the airfield also will open the way for humanitarian efforts to begin in the north." -CNN /World

20030326

- - "Warplanes attack Basra column: Coalition warplanes are attacking a huge convoy of tanks and armoured personnel carriers which are heading south-east from Basra towards the al-Faw peninsula." ... "BBC correspondent Clive Myrie is close to the area and says the movement of Iraqi armour may be a counter-attack to recapture ground lost over the last two or three days, or possibly a tactical retreat from Basra because of the possibility of an uprising in the north of the city." ... "British radar spotted the column of between 70 and 120 vehicles following the coast road along the Shatt al-Arab waterway and a number of fighter jets were scrambled to engage the column."-BBC/News
- - "4 Top Officers at Air Force Academy Are Replaced." ... "The Air Force is replacing the four top officers in charge of its academy in Colorado Springs, officials announced today, after a scandal in which dozens of women attending the academy said they were raped and accused the institution of systematically punishing victims who came forward." ... "The decision to remove the academy's top officers so publicly surprised even critics of the Air Force, who have been watching as accusations accumulated that the academy failed to protect women from sexual assault and instead investigated the victims for wrongdoing. Three military investigations of the academy are being held, and the response to the women who said they were raped is to come under public scrutiny in Congressional hearings." (1, 2) -By Diana Jean Schemo -NYTimes via -Google-News
- - - "British ring Basra, could move in: ‘Confusingsituation’ inside city, U.S. says." ... "British troops were ringing Basra Wednesday, trying to keep Iraqi forces from entering or leaving as they waited for possible orders to move into Iraq’s second-largest city following disturbances there Tuesday night. U.S. warplanes had earlier bombed targets in the city, and Central Command said the local headquarters of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein’s Baath Party had been destroyed." -By David Shuster -MS-NBC with -AP and -Reuters
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<Basra Iraq -[News]>

20030325

- "Top Brass's Handling of Air Force Sex Assaults Criticized." ... "The goal is to ensure a standard of zero tolerance for sexual assault, academy officials say, and the safety of the 16 percent of the academy's 4,000 cadets who are women." ... ""We are working diligently to create a culture at the academy that will identify and eliminate those who fail to meet this standard, and we are absolutely committed to supporting victims and prosecuting offenders when criminal acts are reported," says a letter recently sent to parents of cadets, signed by James G. Roche, the Air Force secretary, and Gen. John P. Jumper, the Air Force chief of staff." ... "However, many of the women who say they have been assaulted insist that it is the academy's own leadership that needs to be scrutinized, in addition to campus culture, support services and judicial processes." -By Lee Hockstader -WashingtonPost

20030324

- - "U.S. Apache Helicopter Downed in Iraqi-Held Territory: Cause of Helicopter's Crash Not Clear." ... "The Iraq war's first deep assault by attack helicopters turned into a frenzied battle early this morning as U.S. pilots came under intense fire from anti-aircraft artillery and individual Iraqis with rifles, pilots said. One AH-64 Apache Longbow helicopter went down in Iraqi-held territory, due either to enemy fire or mechanical failure." ... "The pre-dawn attack was aimed at tanks and other armament of President Saddam Hussein's elite Republican Guard around Karbala, south of Baghdad. Col. Bill Wolf, commander of the Army's 11th Aviation Regiment, said the air assault by Longbows crippled four or five Iraqi tanks and several light vehicles." -By Mary Beth Sheridan-WashingtonPost
Search Iraq News - Search Google:

<AH-64 Apache Longbow -[News]>

20030322

- - - "U.S., British Forces Push Toward Basra." ... "Leaving throngs of captured Iraqis behind them in razor-wire pens, U.S. and British forces advanced toward southern Iraq's largest city Saturday while air strikes pounded far-flung targets across the country. The U.S. commander boasted that the overall campaign will be "unlike any other in history."" ... "U.S. aircraft bombed Iraqi tanks holding the bridges near Basra, a city of 1.3 million, and Marines captured the airport after a gunbattle. To the north, U.S. infantry and airborne units pushed over the desert toward central Iraq on the second day of the ground offensive." -By David Crary -AP via -WashingtonPost
- - "Pentagon: 500 Cruise Missiles Hit Iraq." ... "American forces have crossed the Euphrates River and made their way 150 miles into Iraq, halfway to Baghdad, the Pentagon said Saturday." ... "American ships and warplanes also have pelted Iraq with 500 cruise missiles and several hundred precision weapons over the past day, said Maj. Gen. Stanley McChrystal of the Joint Chiefs of Staff." ... "Warplanes flew 1,000 missions from aircraft carriers and air bases in the region, he said at a Pentagon news conference." -AP via -Guardian.co.uk
- - "Navy Launches 320 Cruise Missiles at Iraq." ... "The U.S. Navy launched about 320 Tomahawk cruise missiles against Iraq from ships in the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea during a heavy barrage Friday [20030321 8:40 p.m.local time], senior officers said." -AP via -Guardian.co.uk
- - - - - "Germany to quit AWACS patrols if Turkey joins war." ... "Germany said on Saturday it would withdraw its aircrews from NATO AWACS planes patrolling the airspace over Turkey if Ankara became a belligerent force in northern Iraq." ... "[German Foreign Minister Joschka] Fischer and [German Defence Minister Peter] Struck said that they had so far received no information that Turkey's position had changed from a defensive posture. They said Germany's BND intelligence agency had not uncovered any evidence Turkish soldiers had advanced." -By Erik Kirschbaum-Reuters via -AlertNet.org/Newsdesk
- - "Aerial Pounding Intended to Push Iraq's Government Toward Brink." ... "The thunderous airstrikes the United States military carried out tonight [20030321] were intended to destroy Saddam Hussein's ability to control his forces and to push his government to the brink of collapse." ... "This is the attack that Pentagon officials have talked about for months: a strike that would be concentrated and devastating. More than 1,300 cruise missiles and bombs were used, and most of the targets were in and around Baghdad." ... "The Baghdad strikes were carried out by B-2 Spirit bombers, F-117 Nighthawk stealth fighter-bombers, Tomahawk sea-launched cruise missiles and air-launched cruise missiles launched from B-52 bombers. Most of the bombs were 2,000 pounds, some specially designed to penetrate concrete bunkers where Iraqi officials might be trying to hide." -By Michael R. Gordon -NYTimes via -Google-News
- - - - - - - - "U.S. identifies four Marines killed in helicopter crash: Maj. Jay Thomas Aubin [36, Waterville, Maine], Capt. Ryan Anthony Beaupre [30, was from Bloomington, Illinois], Cpl. Brian Matthew Kennedy [25, Houston, Texas] and Staff Sgt. Kendall Damon Watersbey [29, Baltimore, Maryland] were the four Marine crew members killed aboard the U.S. CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter that crashed early Friday in Kuwait, according to a statement from the Department of Defense." ... "The eight British military personnel aboard also were killed in the crash, which occurred as the helicopter was flying through heavy wind and a sandstorm" ... "Watersbey's father angrily blamed President Bush for his son's death." ... ""George Bush, take a good look at this man, cause you took my only son away from me," Michael Watersbey said, holding up a picture of his son." -CNN
- - - "7 Killed As British Navy Copters Collide." ... "Two British Royal Navy helicopters collided Saturday over the Persian Gulf, killing all seven [six British] on board including a U.S. Navy officer, military officials said." ... "The two Sea King helicopters were not struck by enemy fire, said Group Capt. Al Lockwood, a spokesman for British forces in the Gulf." -By Ed Johnson -AP via -WashingtonPost

<Sea King helicopter-[News]>

20030321

- - - - - "Schröder wins parliamentary backing over German troops." ... "Chancellor Gerhard Schröder's government yesterday won an emergency parliamentary vote concerning the involvement of German troops in Nato missions in Turkey yesterday." ... "The opposition liberal Free Democrats argued in its motion that the parliament should pass a resolution on the deployment of German troops in Awacs surveillance aircraft used to patrol Turkish airspace." -By Hugh Williamson in Berlin -FT.com
- - - - "Massive air raids rock Iraq: United States and British forces have launched massive aerial assaults on targets in Baghdad and beyond in a major escalation of the war." ... "Bombs rained down on the Iraqi capital, as the US unleashed what it calls its "shock and awe" strategy." ... "Several hundred targets would be hit in the coming hours, the US Defence Department said." ... "The BBC's Paul Wood in Baghdad says the targets there included President Saddam Hussein's palaces." ... "Several explosions have also been reported in another northern city, Kirkuk, where American forces are trying to secure control of vast oilfields."-BBC/News
- - "U.S. Hits Baghdad, Says Saddam Govt. Losing Control." ... "The United States launched massive airstrikes on Iraq on Friday and promised more in the hours ahead in its effort to destroy Saddam Hussein's control of the country and convince his defenders to surrender." ... "Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a Pentagon briefing there would be more airstrikes coming, saying several hundred military targets would be hit in the "coming hours."" ... "Myers said ground forces had pushed about 100 miles into Iraq and had met "sporadic resistance."" -By Steve Holland and Charles Aldinger-Reuters via -WashingtonPost
- - "Massive airstrike on Baghdad marks beginning of ``shock and awe''; ground troops advance through southern Iraq." ... "U.S.-led forces unleased a mighty air assault on Baghdad Friday, commencing their promised campaign of "shock and awe" after ground troops captured a key port city, two airports and scores of surrendering Iraqi prisoners." ... "The sounds of massive explosions rattled the capital city for the third time in two days. Fire, smoke and red tracers lit up the night sky." ... "Officials in Washington had said the ferocity of their "shock and awe" campaign -- intended to stun Iraqi troops -- would depend on the success of ongoing U.S. surrender talks with senior Iraqi officials." -By David Crary -AP via -SFGate.com
- - - "Turkey, U.S. deadlocked over Iraq overflights." ... "Turkey delayed opening airspace to U.S. aircraft as war raged in neighbouring Iraq on Friday, demanding close control of overflights and greater freedom to dispatch its own troops over the border, sources said." ... "Diplomatic sources said Turkey was demanding detailed information of every overflight, its timing and nature of the aircraft and its load. The United States considered the degree of detail went beyond the demands of safety." ... "Other diplomats said Turkey wanted a joint memorandum of understanding linking the overflights to broad Turkish freedom to operate in northern Iraq." -By Zerin Elci with Jon Hemming -Reuters -AlertNet.org /Newsdesk
- - "Targets in Baghdad left in flames: Planning Ministry reported ablaze; Saddam’s home apparently hit." ... "Serenaded by the screech of air raid sirens, the sky over the Iraqi capital flared with the flashing light of anti-aircraft fire Thursday as U.S. and allied forces pursued a second day of precision strikes that emptied the city’s streets and left the nation’s Planning Ministry in flames." ... "NBC News’ Jim Miklaszewski reported from Washington that dozens of U.S. bombs and missiles rained down on Iraqi leadership targets in just 10 minutes Thursday night. Other" -By Jim Miklaszewski, Robert Windrem, and Laura Saravia -MSNBC with -AP & -Reuters
- - - - "12 killed as U.S. chopper goes down: No hostile fire involved in crash inside Kuwait." ... "A U.S. Marine Corps helicopter crashed Friday morning inside Kuwait, killing all of the 12 U.S. and British troops on board, defense officials said. Officials told NBC News that the incident did not involve hostile fire." ... "The helicopter, a CH-46E Sea Knight, went down about nine miles south of the Iraqi border in Kuwait about 3 a.m. (4 p.m. ET Thursday), U.S. Central Command said in a statement from Camp Commando in Kuwait." -By Alex Johnson with Jeannie Ohm in Washington -MSNBC

20030320

- - - "Marines storm key peninsula: · 3 Commando Brigade seizes Red Beach area · US and UK marines hold Iraqi border town · Back troops, Blair urges Britain." ... "The ground war began in Iraq last night as British and US marines stormed beaches on the Gulf coast in an assault of the south-eastern city of Basra." ... "Royal Marine Commandos launched an assault on the strategically vital Al Faw peninsula - the area known as Red Beach - on the Iranian border, after an intense bombardment from Kuwait." ... "Initial reports suggested that when the marines reached the beach, Iraqi resistance was light or non-existent. The amphibious and air assault on Red Beach was the most significant confirmed land activity so far by British troops in the 24 hours since President George Bush announced the start of military action against Saddam Hussein's regime. Reports say that the Commandos invaded the beachhead making way for a mine-clearing operation. The area is now reported to be occupied by the Scimitar tanks of the Queen's Dragoon Guards." -Guardian.co.uk
- - "'Shock and awe' phase of Iraq war put on hold: Defense secretary says Saddam's days are numbered." ... "The U.S. is holding off on its plan to deliver a punishing aerial bombardment of Baghdad while it assesses the state of Iraqi leadership, Pentagon officials told CNN Thursday." ... "The United States is waiting for evidence the Iraqi regime may be collapsing and that major defections could obviate the need for a full-scale attack." ... "But the officials say the so-called "shock and awe" phase of the U.S. war plan could be ordered at any time, including as soon as Thursday night, if turns out Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is alive and in control of his military." -By Jamie McIntyre -CNN
- - - - "Turkey's Parliament OKs U.S. on Airspace." ... "Turkey's parliament on Thursday voted to allow the U.S. military to use Turkish airspace for a war in Iraq, a decision that took on added urgency now that U.S. bombers have begun striking Iraq." ... "The United States for months has been pressing Turkey, NATO's only Muslim member, to allow in 62,000 soldiers to open a northern front against Iraq. But as the date for an Iraq war drew closer, Washington requested the urgent use of Turkish airspace for overflights." -AP via -Guardian.co.uk

- - - "Turkey says Britain asks for overflight rights." ... "Britain has asked its NATO ally Turkey to allow its warplanes to use Turkish airspace for attacks on Iraq, Turkish diplomatic sources said on Thursday." -Reuters -AlertNet.org/Newsdesk
- - - - "US, Turkey wrangle over last pieces of war plan: Turkey could approve US overfly rights Thursday, but N. Iraq remains stumbling block." ... "US officials have entered a stretch of last-minute maneuvering to secure two missing components of the Bush administration's war strategy: permission to fly over Turkey on the way to a northern assault against Saddam Hussein's forces, and an agreement to keep Turkish troops from unilaterally invading northern Iraq." ... "The Turkish government plans to bring a motion to parliament Thursday to allow the US to use its airspace, but will not propose a plan to base 62,000 troops here for a ground invasion." -By Ilene R. Prusher and Seth Stern -CSMonitor
- - - "World waits as Iraq deadline expires: The United States' deadline for Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to go into exile or face war has expired." ... "President Bush gave the Iraqi leader until 0100 GMT on Thursday to quit, but there was no word out of Baghdad as the cut-off point lapsed." ... "With the passing of the deadline, Mr Bush's spokesman Ari Fleischer told reporters: "The disarmament of the Iraqi regime will begin at a time of the president's choosing."" ... "The BBC's Nick Childs says that US aircraft have attacked Iraqi surface-to-surface missile and artillery installations in the western and southern Iraq, but the Pentagon insists that this is still in support of the no-fly zones and it is not the start of the war proper."-BBC/News

20030319

- - - - - "Germany Guarantees U.S. Fly-over Rights in Iraq War." ... "Germany guaranteed U.S. troops fly-over rights in an Iraq war on Wednesday despite its own opposition to an attack and warnings that military action may breach international law." ... "Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder also rejected opposition calls for a parliamentary vote on allowing German troops on NATO reconnaissance flights over Turkey and on keeping nuclear and chemical contamination detection units in Kuwait." -By David Crossland -Reuters
- - "Airstrikes, troop movements and Iraqi surrenders: With coalition warplanes striking Iraqi artillery sites, a military convoy heading toward Iraq, and Iraqi troops already surrendering to U.S. forces, there were clear signs of impending war as the U.S. deadline expired for Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and his sons to leave the country." ... "When Bush's ultimatum expired at 8 p.m. ET Wednesday, virtually the brightest moon of the month will be hanging over Iraq throughout the night, which is not considered ideal for the U.S. military which "owns the night."" -CNN
- - "U.S. Troops Advance Toward Iraqi Border." ... "Long columns of U.S. troops, armored vehicles and trucks advanced through swirling sand [in Kuwait] toward the Iraqi border Wednesday, positioning themselves to invade on short notice." ... "With just hours left before President Bush's deadline for Saddam Hussein to leave Iraq, increased air activity - helicopters and jets - could be heard near the border." ... "At sea, combat pilots and others on the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt were ordered to snooze through the day so they could work through the night. Those on the USS Harry S. Truman remained on day duty - thus providing round-the-clock combat capability." -By Chris Tomlinson -AP via -SeattlePI.NWsource

20030318

- - - "The Next Step: Saddam Defies Ultimatum as the World Waits for War." ... "Saddam Hussein today rejected an ultimatum to leave Baghdad as the world awaited a U.S.-led onslaught on Iraq that could start within 36 hours despite fervent opposition from many nations." ... "In possibly the final day before hostilities, the U.S. military continued bombarding Iraqi units with leaflets, broadcasts and e-mails urging them to surrender." ... "The U.S. Central Command said from its Gulf military headquarters in Qatar that 1.4 million leaflets were dropped on Iraq Monday in the biggest drop to date in a months-long psychological warfare campaign of broadcasts and air drops." -By Alan Elsner and Nadim Ladki -Reutersvia -ABCNEWS.com
- - - - "Turkey pledges 'urgent steps' as markets plunge." ... "Turkey said last night that it would take "urgent steps to preserve its national interests" after its fragile financial markets plunged yesterday on fears the government had missed the chance to receive a massive US war compensation package." ... "A spokesman for the Turkish president, speaking after a meeting between President Ahmet Necdet Sezar, the prime minister, foreign minister and top military chief, did not spell out what measures might be taken. However, officials and diplomats expected the government to agree to at least some limited support for the imminent US-led attack on neighbouring Iraq, such as permitting US use of Turkish airspace." -By Leyla Boulton and Guy Dinmore -FT.com

20030317

- - - "Threats fly after Ankara's flight ban: Keep out of Kurdish areas, US warns." ... "Thirteen missile-firing US warships yesterday sailed into the Red sea to obtain a clear line of fire against Iraqi targets following Turkey's refusal to open its airspace to American forces preparing the assault on Saddam Hussein." ... "In a sign that exchanges between the Nato allies have degenerated into political threats, the US warned Ankara to abandon plans to send troops into Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq." -By Michael Howard and Owen Bowcott -Guardian.co.uk

20030316

- - - "Passenger finds 'chilling' note from bag handler: an airline passenger who had two "No War with Iraq" signs in his suitcase says the federal security agent who opened his luggage inserted a note criticizing his "anti-American attitude."" -AP via -CNN

20030313

- - - - - - "Climatologists in U.S. are helping troops in Iraq." ... "The U.S. Air Force Combat Climatology Center [in Asheville, North Carolina] has offered war planners an idea of what conditions to expect during a typical spring or summer in Iraq -- a nation that turned off most of its weather reporting stations to the outside world during the 1980s." ... "The military climatologists don't forecast daily weather in the region. They look at the historical records to project long-term trends with normal and extreme temperatures. They have developed a computer model that looks backward to fill in the gaps, said Col. David Urbanski, who commands the 100 military personnel and civil servants there." -AP via -Weather.com

Search

<U.S. Air Force Combat Climatology Center>
<Air Force Combat Climatology Center>
Air Force Weather Agency
afccc web page

- "U.S. successfully tests large conventional bomb." ... "The air force has successfully tested the largest conventional bomb in the American arsenal, a munition so massive that its 18,000 pounds of high explosives must be dropped from the rear of a cargo plane, officials said." ... "The bomb explodes a few feet above the ground, and is designed to send a devastating wave of fire and force hundreds of yards to kill troops, flatten trees, knock over structures, collapse cave entrances and, in general, demoralize those far beyond the impact zone." -By Thom Shanker -NYTimes via -IHT.com

20030312

- - "Balance of power: US and Iraqi forces: Despite defeat in the 1991 Gulf War, Iraq remains one of the largest military powers in the Middle East region." ... "But its potency has been severely undermined by more than a decade of sanctions, an arms embargo, and US and UK bombing. "Iraq's inability to modernise means that much of its armed forces are now obsolete. Many units have uncertain readiness, and will be difficult to sustain in combat," a 2002 study by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) reported." ... "Despite numerical superiority in the region, most military analysts say that Iraq's forces would stand no chance against the United States, the most advanced military power in the world." -By Tom Housden -BBC/News
- - - "US planes 'using Saudi bases': The Saudi Arabian opposition in London says there has been a major influx of US warplanes into Saudi airbases close to the Iraqi border." ... "There was no official comment from the Pentagon." -By Frank Gardner-BBC/News
- - - - "Huge U.S. bomb tested at North Florida air base seen also as psychological tool." ... "In a flashy debut for its biggest non-nuclear bomb, the Air Force on Tuesday dropped a 21,000-pound behemoth onto a test range in Florida, hoping the test would rattle nerves in Iraq as well." ... "The bomb is officially designated the Massive Ordnance Air Burst, or MOAB, although it has come to be called unofficially the Mother of All Bombs, a rough allusion to Saddam Hussein's claim before the 1991 Gulf War that that conflict would be the ``mother of all battles.''" -AP via -Miami/Heraldv
"Military confirms 11 deaths in [New York] helicopter crash; 2 survivors hospitalized." ... "The military confirmed Wednesday that 11 of the 13 soldiers aboard a Black Hawk helicopter that crashed during training died when the helicopter went down in a remote, wooded area of a base in northern New York." ... "The soldiers had just completed a routine assault exercise and were on their way back to Wheeler-Sack Airfield when the helicopter crashed Tuesday afternoon about three miles from the field." -By William Kates -AP via -SFGate.com

20030311

- "Male and Female Cadets To Be Separated in Dorms: Air Force Implementing Other Changes at Academy." ... "The top two leaders of the Air Force yesterday outlined for the first time steps they expect to take in response to a sexual misconduct crisis at the Air Force Academy -- among them, separating the dormitory rooms of male and female cadets." ... "Air Force Secretary James G. Roche and Gen. John P. Jumper, the Air Force's chief of staff, said they also intend to start providing victims of sexual assault with individual counselors who would track the handling of complaints." ... "But the idea of segregating the academy's dormitories by gender drew criticism from rape counselors and specialists in sexual violence in the military, who suggested it could prove counterproductive." -By Bradley Graham -WashingtonPost

- - "UPDATE 1-U.S. airlines say Iraq war could cost 70,000 jobs." ... "U.S. airlines could slash 70,000 more jobs if there were war with Iraq and the U.S. government did not give the industry more help, the biggest domestic carriers said on Tuesday." ... "Jet fuel has more than doubled in price from a year ago to $1.30 a gallon recently. Fuel is the second-largest expense after labor for an airline. An increase of one penny a gallon costs" -By John Crawley -Reuters
- - "Iraq forces suspension of U.S. surveillance flights." ... "Iraqi fighter jets threatened two American U-2 surveillance planes, forcing them to return to abort their mission and return to base, senior U.S. officials said Tuesday."" ... "A Pentagon official said the decision to end the mission "in the interest of safety."" -AP via -USATODAY

20030307

- - - "Air Force Academy Investigated 54 Sexual Assaults in 10 Years." ... "'The Air Force has investigated 54 reports of sexual assault or rape over the past 10 years at the United States Air Force Academy, the secretary of the Air Force said today [20030306]." ... "In the last 10 years, two cadets have been charged with rape, Air Force officials said. One was acquitted, the other pleaded guilty at a court-martial and was sentenced to seven months in jail. In other cases, administrative action was taken because there was not enough evidence to prosecute, Mr. Roche said. More than 1,500 women have attended the academy in the last decade." (1, 2) -By Eric Schmitt and Michael Moss -NYTimes via -Google-News

20030306

- - - "U.S. triples ‘no fly’ sorties over Iraq: New strategy aims to mask start of any war." ... "U.S. and British pilots were flying nearly triple the number of air patrols in the “no fly” zone over southern Iraq on Thursday — a strategy aimed at keeping Iraq off guard by masking the start of any war. The Pentagon earlier described a “shock and awe” plan to unleash a barrage of bombs 10 times as great as in the opening days of the 1991 Gulf War." ... "Several hundred sorties a day are now being flown over southern Iraq, including F-16 and other attack planes as well as surveillance, refueling and other support aircraft, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The official did not reveal specific numbers." -MS-NBC

20030305

- - - "Privacy Activist Takes on Delta." ... "Bill Scannell, organizer of the successful Boycott Adobe campaign launched when Russian programmer Dmitry Sklyarov was arrested in the summer of 2001, is now calling for a boycott on Delta." ... "At issue is Delta's test run this month of CAPPS II, the Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System. CAPPS II would require background checks on all airline passengers when they book a ticket, including checking credit reports, banking and criminal records." ... "Scannell also raises the issue of ruined credit ratings as a side effect of CAPPS II screening." ... ""Every time a credit report is run on you, it hurts your credit rating," Scannell said. "Frequent fliers will not only have a nice thick Delta dossier, but a damaged credit history to boot." ... "According to a January Federal Register notice containing some details of the program, CAPPS II will store information about those deemed a yellow- or red-level threat for up to 50 years." (1, 2) -By By Michelle Delio -Wired -Privacy Matters

20030304

- - "U.S. repositioning bombers near N. Korea." ... "The order was issued Friday, well before Sunday's incident in which North Korean jets came within 50 feet of a U.S. RC-135S surveillance plane over the Sea of Japan, they [Pentagon officials] said." -AP via -USATODAY
- - - "North Korea MIG's Intercept U.S. Jet on a Spy Mission." ... "Four North Korean fighter jets intercepted an unarmed United States Air Force spy plane on a surveillance mission over the Sea of Japan on Saturday, and came within 50 feet of the American aircraft, military officials said today." ... "The fighters shadowed the spy plane, an RC-135S Cobra Ball, for 22 minutes in international airspace about 150 miles off the North Korean coast, said Lt. Cmdr. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman. No shots were fired, officials said." (1, 2) -NYTimes via -Google-News
- - - - "US anger at N Korean jet incident: The US will lodge a formal protest with North Korea over an incident in which it said four Korean fighter jets intercepted a US reconnaissance plane in international air space." ... "The US plane broke off its mission and returned to its base in Kadena, Japan, Pentagon spokesman Lieutenant Commander Jeff Davis said." ... "He said it was the first such incident since August 1969, when North Korean jets shot down a US reconnaissance plane, killing 31 people aboard." -BBC/News

20030303

- - "[USS] Nimitz shipping out for gulf duty: Unprecedented ‘striking power’ seen in buildup around Iraq." ... "The aircraft carrier group was shipping out Monday morning, as Pentagon officials told NBC News that the deployment of 60,000 more U.S. troops to the gulf had been ordered late last week." ... "The Lincoln, the USS Kitty Hawk and the USS Constellation are in the Persian Gulf. The USS Harry S. Truman and USS Theodore Roosevelt are in the eastern Mediterranean, within striking range of Iraq." ... "Typically, each carrier travels with a battle group of at least two cruisers, a destroyer and a submarine." -MS-NBC
- - "U.S. Planes Strike 5 Targets in S. Iraq: U.S. Warplanes Strike Five Targets in Southern Iraq After They Report Coming Under Fire." -AP via -ABCNEWS.com

20030228

- - "New checks planned for air travelers: Plan for background checks draw objections from some." ... "Civil liberties groups are raising objections to a government plan for a new system that would check background information and assign a threat level to everyone who buys a ticket for a commercial flight." ... "Transportation officials say CAPPS II — Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System — will use databases that already operate in line with privacy laws and won’t profile based on race, religion or ethnicity." -AP via -MSNBC
- - "Rape Without Repercussion? Women Say Assaults Are Not Prosecuted at Air Force Academy." ... "The academy's polished veneer began to crack in January when Jessica Brakey sent an e-mail to news organizations. In it, she wrote: "I'm a senior at the Air Force Academy, and since I've been here I know of many females who have been sexually assaulted, including myself … Is there anything that can be done? Can your office help us somehow?"" ... "John Ferrugia and his investigative unit at ABCNEWS' Denver affiliate KMGH first reported the story on television. Brakey later told 20/20 the sordid details of the incident." -ABCNEWS.com

20030225

- - - "Western Jets Attack Five Missile Systems in Iraq." ... "Warplanes taking part in U.S.-British patrols attacked five missile sites in northern and southern Iraq on Tuesday, including a battlefield rocket launcher within range of American troops massed in Kuwait, the U.S. military said."-Reuters via -ABCNEWS.com

20030223

- - "Colombia Rebels Admit Kidnapping 3 Americans After Crash." ... "Marxist rebels confirmed today that they had kidnapped three American government employees after their plane crash-landed in a jungle thicket, and described them as C.I.A. employees." ... "American officials have refused to divulge details about the mission the men were on, but they have said the plane was used in counternarcotics operations and that the Americans were working for the Pentagon." -By Juan Forero -NYTimes via -Google-News

20030222

- - "Newspaper: Texas Tech professor carried plague on airlines." ... "The Texas Tech University researcher accused of lying to the FBI about missing vials of plague bacteria repeatedly carried live samples of the germ aboard commercial airliners, a newspaper reported." ... "Butler is charged with falsely reporting as missing 30 vials of the potentially lethal plague bacteria that he actually had destroyed. News of the supposedly missing vials last month triggered a terrorism alert." -AP via -CNN

20030220

- - - "Shin Bet takes US lawyer's computer." ... "Israel's intelligence service confiscated a computer from a controversial American lawyer this week as he left the country after gathering evidence for a legal action in the US courts against Ariel Sharon, George Bush and weapons manufacturers." ... "Members of Shin Bet stopped Stanley Cohen as he was flying out of Tel Aviv on Tuesday and told him to hand over his computer for a routine security check. They refused to return the machine even when he said he would rather keep it and not fly." -By Chris McGreal -Guardian.co.uk
- - "N. Korean Jet Briefly Enters S. Korea." ... "A North Korean fighter jet briefly crossed the western sea border with South Korea on Thursday but retreated without incident when two South Korean jets raced to the area, the South Korean Defense Ministry said." ... "The provocation, which also prompted the South to put an anti-aircraft missile unit on battle alert, came only days after North Korea threatened to abandon the armistice keeping peace along the countries' tense border." -By Sang-Hun Choe -AP via -Miami/Herald

20030219

- - "Iranian plane crash kills 302: Most were Islamic Revolutionary Guard members." ... "A military plane carrying 284 members of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard and 18 crew members crashed Wednesday night in southeastern Iran, officials said. All 302 people onboard were confirmed dead." -CNN /World
- - - - "Pre-war action already under way: Stepped-up bombing attacks in no-fly zones and Special Forces operations in Iraq are part of growing preparations." ... "In important ways, the Gulf War of 2003 has already begun." ... "From armed attacks on opposing forces to covert preparations, both the United States and Iraq are heavily involved in military actions: •Twice last week, American and British jets attacked Iraqi missile sites, part of stepped-up allied activity in the southern no-fly zone. •On the ground, Special Forces soldiers and CIA operatives already are inside Iraq, working with Iraqis who oppose Saddam Hussein, preparing airstrips and communications facilities, and taking note of potential targets for air attack." -By Brad Knickerbocker -CSMonitor

20030211

- - - Law Enforcement News - "Blair authorised terror alert troops." ... "The prime minister gave his personal authorisation for soldiers to be drafted in to boost security at Heathrow airport and other sites in London, says Downing Street." ... "A total of 450 troops have joined 1,000 extra police officers in patrolling the airport as part of a tightening of security at sites across the capital." ... "The heightened security is linked to intelligence concerns that al-Qaeda may try to use surface-to-air missiles in the UK or US this week." ... "It is compounded by US security chiefs warning of possible terrorist attacks in the US and Middle East towards the end of the week, including the use of poisons, chemicals and a device to spread radioactivity[.]" -BBC/News
- - "Iraq Approves U-2 Surveillance Flights: Baghdad Approves U-2 Surveillance Flights but Bush Administration Dismisses Iraqi Concession." ... "Iraq agreed Monday to allow U-2 surveillance flights over its territory, meeting a key demand by U.N. inspectors searching for banned weapons as European opposition to American military action mounted." ... "President Bush, however, brushed aside Iraqi concessions as too little, too late." ... "The [Iraqi] announcement came days after five Iraqi scientists gave private interviews to the U.N. weapons inspectors." -AP via -ABCNEWS.com

20030203

- - "Blueprint for attack has swift airstrike." ... "In the US war plan for Iraq, more than 3,000 guided bombs and missiles would rip military and leadership targets in the first 48 hours, softening the way for a two-pronged ground attack to topple President Saddam Hussein's government, defense officials said yesterday." ... "Nearly 700 pinpoint Tomahawk cruise missiles alone would be launched by warships and heavy bombers in the opening two days in high-tech strikes 10 times more potent than those that opened the 1991 Gulf War, the military and civilian officials said." -By Charles Aldinger -Reuters via -Boston/Globe

20030108

ELECTION 2004 - "Daschle opts out of presidential race: In turnabout, senator surprises aides days before campaign trip." ... "Daschle, in a brief statement issued shortly after he shocked his aides with the turnabout, said, ''My passion lies here in the Senate.''" ... "Aides also said his experience might help Senate Democrats outmaneuver the Republicans, who are led by the relatively inexperienced Senator Bill Frist of Tennessee, the new Senate majority leader. In addition, Daschle's wife was expected to face criticism because she works as an airline lobbyist after having served as a top official at the Federal Aviation Administration, which regulates the industry." -By Glen Johnson -Boston/Globe

20030107

- - "Airlines ask Congress for anti-strike measure." ... "Airlines, which lost more than $9 billion last year, are asking Congress to rescue the industry by rewriting the federal law that governs airline labor relations to make it harder for unions to strike, according to officials representing major carriers." ... "The Air Transport Association, the industry's largest lobbying organization, is urging lawmakers to revise the Railway Labor Act of 1926, the federal law that regulates the industry's labor relations. Airlines, which have been struggling to regain profitability, say labor expenses are their biggest costs. If their employees' ability to strike is limited by the federal government, it could make it easier for carriers to win wage and work-rule concessions." -By Sara Kehaulani Goo and Kirstin Downey-WashingtonPost
Search / Google

<Air Transport Association-[News]>
<Railway Labor Act-[News]>

"United Sharply Reduces Many of Its Unrestricted Fares." ... "United Airlines said yesterday that it had cut unrestricted fares on direct flights out of Chicago and Denver and on thousands of connecting flights in smaller markets." .. "The move by the airline, a unit of the UAL Corporation, signaled a willingness to experiment with lower fares for business travelers. Many walk-up fares with no restrictions, the kind often paid by business travelers, have been reduced by 40 percent, with some cuts as much as 60 percent. As an example, the one-way walk-up fare between Chicago and New York will now be $359, half of what it had been." -By Edward Wong -NYTimes via -AltaVista-News

20021218

- "Russia 'regrets' Bush missile plan: Moscow has expressed "regret" at U.S. President George W. Bush's decision to deploy a limited missile shield by 2004, saying the move could lead to a new arms race." ... "The Russian statement came a day after Bush ordered the U.S. Defense Department to begin work within two years on deploying the first interceptors that are to form the base of the missile defence system." ... "The Bush administration intends to ask the U.S. Congress to allocate $1.5 billion for 2004-2005, on top of the $8 billion already budgeted." -CNN /World /Europe

20021216

"United pilots union 'stunned' by wage cut request." ... "United Airlines' pilots union said on Monday it was "stunned" by a new wage cut proposal the world's second-largest carrier put forth less than a week after filing for bankruptcy, signaling possible litigation ahead." ... "United, a unit of UAL Corp. (NYSE:UAL), late last week presented its labor unions with requests for wage cuts that were more than double what it was seeking before filing the biggest bankruptcy case in aviation history." ... "Of United's 83,000 member work force, about 80 percent is unionized. Nearly half of the work force is represented by the International Association of Machinists." -By By Kathy Fieweger -Reuters via -Lycos -Finance

Search Google: <International Association of Machinists>
GoIAM.org - "International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, AFL-CIO/CLC."

20021213

- - "Iraqi jet tried to trap U.S. jets." ... "An Iraqi fighter jet attempted to lead two U.S. fighter planes over a battery of surface-to-air missiles Friday in the no-fly zone over southern Iraq, Pentagon officials told CNN." ... "Aware of the missiles' location, the U.S. planes turned south to avoid the potential trap, a Defense Department spokesman said. The pilots knew the location of the missiles because of training and coalition surveillance capabilities, the spokesman said." -By Kris Osborn -CNN /World

20021211

- "Mitchell withdraws from terrorism panel." ... "Citing a reluctance to quit his law firm, former Sen. George Mitchell on Wednesday withdrew from the new commission that will investigate the Sept. 11 attacks." ... "Mitchell was to be vice chairman of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks, which former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger is heading. Replacing Mitchell will be former Rep. Lee Hamilton, D-Ind." ... "The commission will follow up the work of the congressional inquiry that issued its final report Wednesday on intelligence failures leading up the terrorist attacks. The commission will conduct a broader investigation, looking at issues beyond intelligence, including aviation security and immigration." -By Ken Guggenheim -AP via -SFGate.com

20021210

- "China launches new stealth fighter project." ... "The Shenyang Aircraft Company has been selected to head research and development of a new heavyweight fighter for China's People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF), according to a senior source at the China Aviation Industry Corp I (AVIC I)." ... "Development of the engines and weapon subsystems for the fourth-generation fighter has been underway for some time, according to the source, who revealed that a number of design concepts have already been created. Wind-tunnel tests of these are about to start. Images of the concepts show a twin-engine aircraft sharing some design traits with Lockheed Martin's stealthy F/A-22 multirole fighter, now undergoing tests with the US Air Force, such as the internal carriage of its weapon systems. The Chinese designs retain a more conventional wing, however, and use a single vertical tail fin." -By Yihong Chang -Jane's/Defence/Weekly

20021205

"US rebuffs United Airlines: No on $1.8b loan guarantees; bankruptcy filing looks likely." ... "United is the world's second-largest airline, with routes around the globe. A bankruptcy filing would almost certainly lead to cost-cutting at other airlines with major networks, such as American, Delta, Northwest, and Continental. United likely would have to go back to labor groups, including pilots and flight attendants, and seek more concessions than those already given. US Airways last month went back to its labor groups - which had already given $850 million in concessions - to ask for changes in work rules to increase productivity. In addition, the airline said it would lay off an additional 2,500 employees." ... "United is the world's largest employee-owned company, and bankruptcy would wipe out the value of employees' holdings." -By Matthew Brelis -Boston/Globe

20021130

"United shares nose dive as bankruptcy looms." ... "Shares in United parent UAL Corp. plunged $1.12, or 31 percent, to close at $2.51 in heavy trading on the New York Stock Exchange. The stock has lost 92 percent of its value since before the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001." ... "United, the world's second-largest airline, has been struggling since the attacks to reverse multimillion-dollar losses each day. The carrier has reduced service and laid off 20,000 workers in the face of a weak economy and sharply-reduced spending by business travelers." -By Dave Carpenter -AP via -SeattlePI.NWsource

- "Bankruptcy 'inevitable' for United: Mechanics reject pay concessions; airline, union in last-minute talks." ... "Securing an agreement with District 141-M, which represents 13,000 mechanics and other employees, coupled with similar pacts with pilots, flight attendants, nonunionized workers and others, is a key part of a projected $5.2 billion in wage concessions that United hopes will allow it to avoid filing for Chapter 11." ... "Reducing labor costs is considered to be a crucial part of United's application for a $1.8 billion federal loan guarantee from the Air Transportation Stabilization Board. The board's ruling is expected any day, perhaps as early as Monday, the due date for United to repay $375 million in debt. UAL has up to 10 additional working days to repay the debt, which could push the payment deadline back to Dec. 16 and give the company more room to maneuver." -David Armstrong -SFGate.com

UStreas.gov/atsb -Press
Google Search: <Air Transportation Stabilization Board>

20021129

- "Al Qaeda blamed as attack on Israelis in Kenya kills 15." ... "Suicide bombers blew up a hotel in Kenya on Thursday, killing 15 people, minutes after missiles narrowly missed an Israeli airliner taking off nearby, in apparently synchronised attacks on Israeli tourists." ... "Israeli and Kenyan officials swiftly blamed the al Qaeda network but Washington said it was premature to point the finger at the group it holds responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States." ... "A Kenyan security source said it was believed attackers who targeted the Israeli airliner used shoulder-borne missile launchers. German intelligence sources described the weapons as Soviet produced SA 7 ground-to-air missiles." -By Noel Mwakughu -Reuters/Asia

20021128

- Thanksgiving - "Thanksgiving travel puts new security to the test: Thanksgiving holiday travelers took to the skies Wednesday in the biggest test of airport security since the federal government took it over last week, while drivers in the Northeast faced heavy, wet snow." ... "Around the country, only a handful of flights were delayed. Travelers were waiting an average of less than 10 minutes at major airports' checkpoints, said Robert Johnson, spokesman for the Transportation Security Administration." ... "Just last week, the government finished placing more than 47,000 security workers at 424 airports nationwide. The TSA was created after the [September 11] attacks prompted concern about inefficient and inattentive private security workers." -AP via -CNN

TSA.gov
Google Search: <Transportation Security Administration- [News]>

20021105

- "US hits Qaeda in Yemen: Fires missile from spy plane, killing 6 in car." ... "A US missile fired from a [Predator] spy plane destroyed a car in a lawless stretch of northern Yemen Sunday, killing a senior Al Qaeda leader and five other members in the first American military strike against the terrorist group outside Afghanistan since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks." ... "The Hellfire missile was fired from a CIA-controlled, unmanned plane, according to US officials quoted by news agencies. The Yemeni news agency SABA said initial information indicated the dead included Ali Qaed Sinan al-Harithi, also known as Abu Ali." -By Anthony Shadid -Boston/Globe

20021019

Sniper - "Sniper spy in the sky." ... "The army spy plane that is taking to the skies above the Washington area is a sign of the intense pressure investigators are under as they struggle with a lack of clues." ... "RC-7 reconnaissance planes are loaded with camera equipment with a range of up to 20 miles (32 kilometres), advanced night vision and heat-seeking equipment." -By Kathryn Westcott -BBC/News

Google Search: RC-7 reconnaissance plane

20021016

Sniper - "Barbara Starr: Military joins sniper probe." ... "The aircraft to be used are the RC-7 and U-21 -- small fixed-wing planes packed advanced technology, including sensors. They are all-weather planes that have the capability of operating round the clock." ... "STARR: Under the posse comitatus law, which dates back originally to 1878, no military involvement [is allowed] in law enforcement. And that means they can't pursue, they can't target, they have no powers of arrest." ... "But in recent years, what has come to happen is the military can provide assistance, and of course, the best example is the drug enforcement issue, drug interdiction." ... -CNN

Sniper - "Secret Military Spy Planes Enlisted in Hunt for Sniper." ... "The Pentagon agreed today to patrol the skies over the nation's capital with secret surveillance planes — now used to combat drug lords in Colombia and track military movements in North Korea — as part of a broadening effort to catch the sniper in the Washington area." ... "While senior Pentagon officials considered a range of aircraft, including unmanned drones like the Predators used in Afghanistan and Navy P-3 Orion surveillance planes, military officials settled on the unusual Army plane because of its technical capabilities and because it blends in with civilian aircraft flying in the Washington airspace." ... "The aircraft is a four-engine turbo-prop DeHavilland DHC-7 equipped with an array of special sensors that can provide high-resolution imagery as well as other detection capabilities." (1, 2) -By Eric Lichtblau and Eric Schmitt -NYTimes via -Google-News

Google Search: Airborne Reconnaissance Low - ARL

20020905

"US Senate votes to arm pilots." ... "Endorsed by a vote of 87-6, the controversial measure gives commercial pilots the authority to use lethal force in defence of their aircraft." -BBC /News

20020110

- - - "The Eagles Have Landed: Hundreds of the Birds Descend on Iowa's Red Rock Lake." -By Alex Chadwick -NPR /News/Shop! -Morning Edition

20011229

- - - Animals - - "Birds 'missing' after US bombing." ... "Ornithologists in Pakistan fear that populations of birds whose migration route takes them over Afghanistan may have been devastated by the weeks of bombing there." -By Jill McGivering -BBC /News

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