Date: 11/10/2008
By TIM KLASS
Associated Press Writer
SEATTLE (AP) _ The Federal Aviation Administration has toughened a requirement that Boeing 737 pilots be reminded not to ignore a cabin pressure warning horn, ordering preflight briefings as well as changes in manuals.
The airworthiness directive, issued Monday and effective Nov. 25, stems from a crash in which 121 people died on Aug. 14, 2005, when a Helios Airways 737-300 slammed into a hillside north of Athens, Greece.
Greek investigators determined that the pilots had lost consciousness because of a cabin pressure failure shortly after takeoff on a flight from Nicosia, Cyprus, and that the plane kept going on autopilot for two hours until it ran out of fuel.
Authorities say the cabin pressure control settings had been operated improperly and that an alarm went unheeded. Last Tuesday the attorney general of Cyprus said five people would face criminal charges for the crash.
The FAA’s order applies to all Boeing 737s, the world’s best-selling commercial jet with more than 6,000 orders since the model was launched in 1965 and 5,397 in use worldwide, and takes effect in 120 days. Public notice and comment requirements were waived “because an unsafe condition exists that requires the immediate adoption” of the directive, according to the notice.
Changes in the manuals must be made by each airline. The process is complex, varying by aircraft as well as the nature of the change, and new wording must be validated before it can take effect, FAA spokesman Les Dorr said.
FAA directives typically are reissued by civil aviation authorities in other countries.
Chicago-based Boeing Co. and FAA representatives said the cockpit warning horn serves a dual purpose. On the ground it indicates something is wrong with the plane’s pre-takeoff configuration, such as the setting of the wing flaps. In the air it means a loss of cabin pressure, which can cause pilots to lose consciousness if they don’t immediately put on oxygen masks.
The FAA directed on July 7, 2006, that flight manuals be changed to remind pilots to pay heed to the warning horn after takeoff, but “we have received continuing reports of in-service events involving failure of the flight crew to recognize and react property to valid cabin altitude (air pressure) warning horns,” according to the latest directive.
It was not immediately clear which airlines were involved in the reports of pilots ignoring the horn, when the problems occurred or whether any U.S. carriers were involved.
Such problems in other countries typically are reported to civil aviation authorities who then notify the manufacturer, in this case Boeing, which in turn alerts the FAA, Dorr said.
Before the Helios crash, Boeing was alerted to “some cases where flight crews were getting confused” about the alarm horn and advised airlines “to do a little crew training on that,” Boeing spokeswoman Liz Verdier said.
After the FAA’s initial directive, which largely incorporated Boeing’s advisory note, the manufacturer began working on a change in the cockpit and flight deck design to incorporate a warning light that will provide a second indication of cabin pressure loss when the horn sounds, Verdier said.
“Within the next month or so,” she said, Boeing expects to have the change ready to incorporate into production of current models, the 737-700, -800 and 900, followed by production of retrofitting kits for earlier models a few months after that.
The FAA may propose further action to “address the unsafe condition” once the warning light kits are available, according to the airworthiness directive.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
US transfers Libyan money to Lockerbie victims
Date: 11/9/2008
By MATTHEW LEE
Associated Press Writer
SHANNON, Ireland (AP) _ The U.S. said Sunday it has begun transferring more than $500 million in Libyan compensation money to the families of American victims of the 1988 Pan Am 103 bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland.
More money is on the way to complete the settlement, but $504 million of $536 million to be distributed to the families was moved from the Treasury to a private account administered by Lockerbie families’ lawyers on Friday, the top U.S. diplomat for the Mideast said.
David Welch spoke to reporters aboard Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s plane as she returned to Washington from the Middle East. He said he expected the rest of the Lockerbie payments would be made soon as soon as administrative details were worked out.
The cash comes from a $1.5 billion fund for U.S. victims of Libyan-linked terrorism in the 1980s that Libya finished paying into last month.
In addition to paying compensation for the Lockerbie victims, the fund will distribute an additional $283 million to the victims and families of victims of a 1986 attack on a Berlin disco. The remainder will go to settle claims for other deaths, injuries and damage caused by Libyan agents.
Welch could not say when those transfers would take place, but that any “delays are pretty much administrative in nature.”
The United States and Libya completed a comprehensive agreement this year to settle all terrorism-related claims from the 1980s. Welch negotiated the agreement.
Under the deal, $1.5 billion will go to American victims and their families. Some $300 million will go the Libyan victims and families of U.S. airstrikes in Libya ordered in retaliation for the bombing of Berlin’s La Belle disco in 1986.
Libya has not said where its portion of the money came from. The Bush administration insists that no U.S. taxpayer money will be used to pay the American portion.
Libya’s payment into the fund cleared the last hurdle in full normalization of ties between Washington and Tripoli. On Oct. 31, President Bush signed an executive order restoring the Libyan government’s immunity from terror-related lawsuits and dismissing pending compensation cases.
U.S.-Libyan relations reached a low in the 1980s but began to improve after Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi — whom President Reagan called the “mad dog of the Middle East” — renounced weapons of mass destruction and terrorism in 2003.
The rapprochement stalled after Libya halted payments to the families of Lockerbie victims under a previous compensation deal. But it picked up again in August when Libya and the United States agreed to a new, comprehensive package that would cover compensation for all the 1980s-era claims.
All 269 passengers and crew, including 180 Americans, on the Pan Am flight and 11 people on the ground were killed in the Lockerbie bombing. Three people, including two American soldiers, were killed and 230 wounded in the Berlin disco attack. That attack prompted Reagan to order airstrikes on targets in Tripoli and Benghazi that Libyans say killed 41 people, including Gadhafi’s adopted daughter.
There has been a huge increase in interest from U.S. firms, particularly in the energy sector, in doing business in Libya, where European companies have had much greater access in recent years. Libya’s proven oil reserves are the ninth largest in the world, close to 39 billion barrels, and vast areas remain unexplored for new deposits.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
By MATTHEW LEE
Associated Press Writer
SHANNON, Ireland (AP) _ The U.S. said Sunday it has begun transferring more than $500 million in Libyan compensation money to the families of American victims of the 1988 Pan Am 103 bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland.
More money is on the way to complete the settlement, but $504 million of $536 million to be distributed to the families was moved from the Treasury to a private account administered by Lockerbie families’ lawyers on Friday, the top U.S. diplomat for the Mideast said.
David Welch spoke to reporters aboard Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s plane as she returned to Washington from the Middle East. He said he expected the rest of the Lockerbie payments would be made soon as soon as administrative details were worked out.
The cash comes from a $1.5 billion fund for U.S. victims of Libyan-linked terrorism in the 1980s that Libya finished paying into last month.
In addition to paying compensation for the Lockerbie victims, the fund will distribute an additional $283 million to the victims and families of victims of a 1986 attack on a Berlin disco. The remainder will go to settle claims for other deaths, injuries and damage caused by Libyan agents.
Welch could not say when those transfers would take place, but that any “delays are pretty much administrative in nature.”
The United States and Libya completed a comprehensive agreement this year to settle all terrorism-related claims from the 1980s. Welch negotiated the agreement.
Under the deal, $1.5 billion will go to American victims and their families. Some $300 million will go the Libyan victims and families of U.S. airstrikes in Libya ordered in retaliation for the bombing of Berlin’s La Belle disco in 1986.
Libya has not said where its portion of the money came from. The Bush administration insists that no U.S. taxpayer money will be used to pay the American portion.
Libya’s payment into the fund cleared the last hurdle in full normalization of ties between Washington and Tripoli. On Oct. 31, President Bush signed an executive order restoring the Libyan government’s immunity from terror-related lawsuits and dismissing pending compensation cases.
U.S.-Libyan relations reached a low in the 1980s but began to improve after Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi — whom President Reagan called the “mad dog of the Middle East” — renounced weapons of mass destruction and terrorism in 2003.
The rapprochement stalled after Libya halted payments to the families of Lockerbie victims under a previous compensation deal. But it picked up again in August when Libya and the United States agreed to a new, comprehensive package that would cover compensation for all the 1980s-era claims.
All 269 passengers and crew, including 180 Americans, on the Pan Am flight and 11 people on the ground were killed in the Lockerbie bombing. Three people, including two American soldiers, were killed and 230 wounded in the Berlin disco attack. That attack prompted Reagan to order airstrikes on targets in Tripoli and Benghazi that Libyans say killed 41 people, including Gadhafi’s adopted daughter.
There has been a huge increase in interest from U.S. firms, particularly in the energy sector, in doing business in Libya, where European companies have had much greater access in recent years. Libya’s proven oil reserves are the ninth largest in the world, close to 39 billion barrels, and vast areas remain unexplored for new deposits.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
Mexico rules out bomb, failed engine in jet crash
Date: 11/7/2008
By E. EDUARDO CASTILLO
Associated Press Writer
MEXICO CITY (AP) _ Mexican experts say they have ruled out a bomb or engine failure as the cause of a plane crash that killed Mexico’s interior secretary.
The probe into the cause of Tuesday’s crash continues, but officials of Mexico’s Transportation Department said the findings reinforced their initial opinion that no foul play was involved.
“This reinforced the hypothesis that the crash was an accident,” said Transportation Secretary Luis Tellez.
Tellez told a news conference on Friday that all parts of the plane necessary for flight had been found at the crash scene, proving that none had been lost in flight.
Investigators from the federal Attorney General’s Office also said chemical tests revealed no trace of explosives.
From the start, authorities said it appeared to be an accident, but recent attacks on police officials by Mexico’s increasingly violent drug cartels led many here to speculate the crash had been an attack.
The violence has surged during a 2-year-old army and police offensive to wrest control from drug cartels.
Five people on the ground and nine people on the plane were killed in Tuesday’s crash, including Interior Secretary Juan Camilo Mourino and former anti-drug prosecutor Jose Luis Santiago Vasconcelos.
The 37-year-old Mourino, one of President Felipe Calderon’s closest confidants, was Mexico’s equivalent of vice president and domestic security chief. Santiago Vasconcelos had been the target of at least one previous assassination plot.
The crash occurred in clear weather, and in their last recorded radio conversation, the plane’s flight crew calmly discussed radio frequencies and speed with controllers. The tape went silent just as radar lost the plane’s altitude reading.
Two flight recorders from the Learjet 45 have been sent to the U.S. for examination. Tellez has said experts would need at least a week to analyze the plane’s voice and data recorders for clues to what went wrong.
Experts from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and Britain’s Civil Aviation Authority are in Mexico helping with the investigation.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
By E. EDUARDO CASTILLO
Associated Press Writer
MEXICO CITY (AP) _ Mexican experts say they have ruled out a bomb or engine failure as the cause of a plane crash that killed Mexico’s interior secretary.
The probe into the cause of Tuesday’s crash continues, but officials of Mexico’s Transportation Department said the findings reinforced their initial opinion that no foul play was involved.
“This reinforced the hypothesis that the crash was an accident,” said Transportation Secretary Luis Tellez.
Tellez told a news conference on Friday that all parts of the plane necessary for flight had been found at the crash scene, proving that none had been lost in flight.
Investigators from the federal Attorney General’s Office also said chemical tests revealed no trace of explosives.
From the start, authorities said it appeared to be an accident, but recent attacks on police officials by Mexico’s increasingly violent drug cartels led many here to speculate the crash had been an attack.
The violence has surged during a 2-year-old army and police offensive to wrest control from drug cartels.
Five people on the ground and nine people on the plane were killed in Tuesday’s crash, including Interior Secretary Juan Camilo Mourino and former anti-drug prosecutor Jose Luis Santiago Vasconcelos.
The 37-year-old Mourino, one of President Felipe Calderon’s closest confidants, was Mexico’s equivalent of vice president and domestic security chief. Santiago Vasconcelos had been the target of at least one previous assassination plot.
The crash occurred in clear weather, and in their last recorded radio conversation, the plane’s flight crew calmly discussed radio frequencies and speed with controllers. The tape went silent just as radar lost the plane’s altitude reading.
Two flight recorders from the Learjet 45 have been sent to the U.S. for examination. Tellez has said experts would need at least a week to analyze the plane’s voice and data recorders for clues to what went wrong.
Experts from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and Britain’s Civil Aviation Authority are in Mexico helping with the investigation.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
Black boxes from Mexican plane crash sent to US
Date: 11/7/2008
By ALEXANDRA OLSON
Associated Press Writer
MEXICO CITY (AP) _ Two flight recorders from a plane crash that killed Mexico’s No. 2 government official were sent to the U.S. for examination, officials said Thursday, amid widespread speculation — but no evidence — that drug cartels were to blame.
Both “black boxes” were found where the Learjet 45 slammed into rush-hour traffic in a posh Mexico City neighborhood, Transportation Secretary Luis Tellez said at a news conference. Five people on the ground and nine people on the plane were killed in Tuesday’s crash, including Interior Secretary Juan Camilo Mourino.
Officials say they have few clues as to why the plane suddenly dropped from the evening sky.
But they have been unusually open in publicizing details of the investigation, trying to discourage conspiracy theories that thrive in a country on edge from relentless news of drug-related shootings, kidnappings and beheadings. The violence has surged during a 2-year-old army and police offensive to wrest control from drug cartels.
The 37-year-old Mourino, one of President Felipe Calderon’s closest confidants, was Mexico’s equivalent of vice president and domestic security chief. Also on the plane was former anti-drug prosecutor Jose Luis Santiago Vasconcelos, who had been the target of at least one assassination attempt.
“Nobody is more interested than me in the truth emerging and the cause of this incident being cleared up,” Calderon said at a memorial ceremony for the dead.
Tellez said experts would need at least a week to analyze the plane’s voice and data recorders for clues to what went wrong.
The crash occurred in clear weather, and in their last recorded radio conversation, the plane’s flight crew calmly discussed radio frequencies and speed with controllers. The tape went silent just as radar lost the plane’s altitude reading.
“Everything was normal on the flight, and a few seconds before the accident, something happened that significantly altered” the situation, said Gilberto Lopez, a pilot overseeing the probe. “At this moment, all the possibilities are potentially important.”
He said experts are following the normal lines of investigation for any crash, including possible human error, mechanical failures, maintenance problems or turbulence caused by other aircraft.
Experts from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and Britain’s Civil Aviation Authority are in Mexico helping with the investigation.
On Thursday, Calderon’s office said that U.S. President-elect Barack Obama had expressed his condolences for the deaths in a phone call with Calderon, who had called to congratulate Obama on his victory.
In an editorial Thursday, El Universal newspaper urged people to wait for results of the investigation before jumping to conclusions. But it also noted that Mexico’s “history is filled with assassinations that have never been cleared up or whose resolution does not deserve the trust of public opinion.”
In an unrelated incident, a small plane owned by a flight school made an emergency landing in a field just outside Mexico City, injuring both people aboard the craft. There was no immediate information on their condition or the cause of the mishap.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
By ALEXANDRA OLSON
Associated Press Writer
MEXICO CITY (AP) _ Two flight recorders from a plane crash that killed Mexico’s No. 2 government official were sent to the U.S. for examination, officials said Thursday, amid widespread speculation — but no evidence — that drug cartels were to blame.
Both “black boxes” were found where the Learjet 45 slammed into rush-hour traffic in a posh Mexico City neighborhood, Transportation Secretary Luis Tellez said at a news conference. Five people on the ground and nine people on the plane were killed in Tuesday’s crash, including Interior Secretary Juan Camilo Mourino.
Officials say they have few clues as to why the plane suddenly dropped from the evening sky.
But they have been unusually open in publicizing details of the investigation, trying to discourage conspiracy theories that thrive in a country on edge from relentless news of drug-related shootings, kidnappings and beheadings. The violence has surged during a 2-year-old army and police offensive to wrest control from drug cartels.
The 37-year-old Mourino, one of President Felipe Calderon’s closest confidants, was Mexico’s equivalent of vice president and domestic security chief. Also on the plane was former anti-drug prosecutor Jose Luis Santiago Vasconcelos, who had been the target of at least one assassination attempt.
“Nobody is more interested than me in the truth emerging and the cause of this incident being cleared up,” Calderon said at a memorial ceremony for the dead.
Tellez said experts would need at least a week to analyze the plane’s voice and data recorders for clues to what went wrong.
The crash occurred in clear weather, and in their last recorded radio conversation, the plane’s flight crew calmly discussed radio frequencies and speed with controllers. The tape went silent just as radar lost the plane’s altitude reading.
“Everything was normal on the flight, and a few seconds before the accident, something happened that significantly altered” the situation, said Gilberto Lopez, a pilot overseeing the probe. “At this moment, all the possibilities are potentially important.”
He said experts are following the normal lines of investigation for any crash, including possible human error, mechanical failures, maintenance problems or turbulence caused by other aircraft.
Experts from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and Britain’s Civil Aviation Authority are in Mexico helping with the investigation.
On Thursday, Calderon’s office said that U.S. President-elect Barack Obama had expressed his condolences for the deaths in a phone call with Calderon, who had called to congratulate Obama on his victory.
In an editorial Thursday, El Universal newspaper urged people to wait for results of the investigation before jumping to conclusions. But it also noted that Mexico’s “history is filled with assassinations that have never been cleared up or whose resolution does not deserve the trust of public opinion.”
In an unrelated incident, a small plane owned by a flight school made an emergency landing in a field just outside Mexico City, injuring both people aboard the craft. There was no immediate information on their condition or the cause of the mishap.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
NY police: Teen driver on drugs runs down joggers
Date: 11/7/2008
By FRANK ELTMAN
Associated Press Writer
GARDEN CITY, N.Y. (AP) _ A teenager on drugs and driving a sport utility vehicle slammed into two runners out for an evening jog, killing one of them — a beloved schoolteacher — and seriously injuring her friend, police said Friday.
Shea Rosen, a 19-year-old from the exclusive village of Brookville on Long Island, was being held in lieu of $1 million bond after pleading not guilty to driving under the influence.
Rosen’s attorney, former federal prosecutor Joseph Conway, declined to comment on the high bond amount but said his client’s family was unlikely to post it Friday.
Rosen, who works as a busboy and waiter at a Huntington restaurant, had no prior criminal record, his lawyer and police said.
Amanda Malloy, a 29-year-old who competed in triathlons and taught fourth grade at John F. Kennedy Intermediate School in Deer Park, was pronounced dead at a hospital after being run down about 7:30 p.m. Thursday.
Her running companion, Vincent Saunders, 32, of Huntington, was hospitalized and not expected to survive, Suffolk County Assistant District Attorney Avemaria Thompson said at Rosen’s arraignment.
The prosecutor said police smelled marijuana on Rosen’s breath after the accident on a busy stretch of a Huntington highway.
More than 12 hours after the accident, Rosen’s 2000 Dodge Durango remained at the accident scene, and a lone woman’s jogging sneaker lay on the pavement nearby.
Three unidentified pills were found in Rosen’s sock, Thompson said. She said Rosen told police he didn’t see the joggers in the road.
Rosen, whose Facebook page features a photo of him flipping his middle finger to the camera, was initially charged with driving under the influence of drugs, but the prosecutor said upgraded charges were likely.
Conway said his office was still trying to ascertain what happened. “Our hearts, of course, go out to the victims’ families,” he said.
Malloy’s sister-in-law described her as a physical fitness enthusiast who often competed in triathlons and was an expert in the martial arts.
“Her life was exercising,” said Christine MacQuarrie, who also taught at Kennedy. “It is ironic that she died doing what she loved.”
Saunders and Malloy were friends who attended the same karate school and shared the same interests in exercise, MacQuarrie said.
Deer Park School Superintendent Elizabeth Marino said in a statement that grief counselors were at the school for staff and students.
“As an expert in the martial arts, she took pride in sharing her knowledge with students through well-received assemblies,” Marino said. “Amanda was loved and admired by her colleagues and students alike and highly respected by administration.”
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
By FRANK ELTMAN
Associated Press Writer
GARDEN CITY, N.Y. (AP) _ A teenager on drugs and driving a sport utility vehicle slammed into two runners out for an evening jog, killing one of them — a beloved schoolteacher — and seriously injuring her friend, police said Friday.
Shea Rosen, a 19-year-old from the exclusive village of Brookville on Long Island, was being held in lieu of $1 million bond after pleading not guilty to driving under the influence.
Rosen’s attorney, former federal prosecutor Joseph Conway, declined to comment on the high bond amount but said his client’s family was unlikely to post it Friday.
Rosen, who works as a busboy and waiter at a Huntington restaurant, had no prior criminal record, his lawyer and police said.
Amanda Malloy, a 29-year-old who competed in triathlons and taught fourth grade at John F. Kennedy Intermediate School in Deer Park, was pronounced dead at a hospital after being run down about 7:30 p.m. Thursday.
Her running companion, Vincent Saunders, 32, of Huntington, was hospitalized and not expected to survive, Suffolk County Assistant District Attorney Avemaria Thompson said at Rosen’s arraignment.
The prosecutor said police smelled marijuana on Rosen’s breath after the accident on a busy stretch of a Huntington highway.
More than 12 hours after the accident, Rosen’s 2000 Dodge Durango remained at the accident scene, and a lone woman’s jogging sneaker lay on the pavement nearby.
Three unidentified pills were found in Rosen’s sock, Thompson said. She said Rosen told police he didn’t see the joggers in the road.
Rosen, whose Facebook page features a photo of him flipping his middle finger to the camera, was initially charged with driving under the influence of drugs, but the prosecutor said upgraded charges were likely.
Conway said his office was still trying to ascertain what happened. “Our hearts, of course, go out to the victims’ families,” he said.
Malloy’s sister-in-law described her as a physical fitness enthusiast who often competed in triathlons and was an expert in the martial arts.
“Her life was exercising,” said Christine MacQuarrie, who also taught at Kennedy. “It is ironic that she died doing what she loved.”
Saunders and Malloy were friends who attended the same karate school and shared the same interests in exercise, MacQuarrie said.
Deer Park School Superintendent Elizabeth Marino said in a statement that grief counselors were at the school for staff and students.
“As an expert in the martial arts, she took pride in sharing her knowledge with students through well-received assemblies,” Marino said. “Amanda was loved and admired by her colleagues and students alike and highly respected by administration.”
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
Mexico says jet crash likely accident
Date: 11/5/2008
By JULIE WATSON
Associated Press Writer
MEXICO CITY (AP) _ A fiery plane crash into rush-hour traffic claimed the life of the Mexico’s most powerful official after the president, a heavy blow to the government’s escalating battle against drug cartels.
Officials say all indications are that the crash was an accident, but they vowed to investigate thoroughly to rule out the possibility of an attack and brought in U.S. and British investigators to help.
The plane carried Interior Secretary Juan Camilo Mourino, the equivalent of Mexico’s vice president and head of domestic security, as well as former anti-drug prosecutor Jose Luis Santiago Vasconcelos.
The government Learjet 45 was approaching the Mexico City airport when it suddenly slammed into rush-hour traffic in the posh Lomas de Chapultepec neighborhood, igniting a fireball that lit up the evening sky and killed at least 13 people.
“There was an explosion and we started to run. That was when we saw everything on fire behind us,” said Guadalupe Sanabria, who was selling hot dogs from a street stand 20 yards (meters) from where the jet crashed.
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff called Mourino “a courageous and strong partner in the fight against dangerous criminal groups.”
“He believed in the rule of law and worked very hard to increase coordination among security officials and law enforcement on both sides of the border,” Chertoff said in a statement Wednesday.
Many Mexicans immediately speculated that the crash was another hit by drug cartels that have killed several top officials in recent months.
Mourino, Vasconcelos and a group of advisers were flying back to Mexico City from the city of San Luis Potosi after attending the inauguration of a program to welcome migrants returning from the U.S.
Mexico City prosecutor Miguel Angel Mancera told the Televisa network that nine of the victims were on the plane and four were on the ground. He said officials were searching for more possible remains.
Dozens of cars caught fire and at least 40 people were injured, while officials evacuated about 1,200 people from the scene near the busy Reforma Avenue.
Hundreds of police, firefighters and soldiers searched charred hulks of vehicles for the remains of bodies, many of which were burned beyond recognition.
Mourino, 37, was Calderon’s closest aide, while Vasconcelos was previously in charge of prosecuting and extraditing drug traffickers and had been the target of at least one planned assassination attempt in the past.
The Sinaloa cartel is suspected of having killed acting Mexican federal police chief Edgar Millan in May, likely for his crackdown on trafficking at the airport. Just months after taking office nearly two years ago, Calderon acknowledged receiving threats.
“It makes you suspicious, the way things are going with drug trafficking in this country,” said Arturo Hernandez, a 39-year-old bank employee sitting at a cafe in Mexico City. “It seems like an attack.”
Transportation Secretary Luis Tellez, however, told a news conference that “there are no indications that would support any hypothesis other than that this was an accident, but we will investigate until all possibilities have been exhausted.”
Tellez said authorities have not found any indication that the 10-year-old craft exploded or caught fire while in flight. He said a mechanical failure may have caused the crash.
U.S. experts from the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board, or NTSB, arrived Wednesday, and three experts from Britain’s Civil Aviation Authority will also help investigate, Tellez said.
Keith Holloway, the spokesman for the NTSB, also said there was no indication that foul play was involved.
“If it was known as this point that there was some criminal activity, then the NTSB would not be assisting,” he said.
The death prompted Mexico’s Congress to postpone debate on a new budget until next week, the government news agency Notimex reported.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
By JULIE WATSON
Associated Press Writer
MEXICO CITY (AP) _ A fiery plane crash into rush-hour traffic claimed the life of the Mexico’s most powerful official after the president, a heavy blow to the government’s escalating battle against drug cartels.
Officials say all indications are that the crash was an accident, but they vowed to investigate thoroughly to rule out the possibility of an attack and brought in U.S. and British investigators to help.
The plane carried Interior Secretary Juan Camilo Mourino, the equivalent of Mexico’s vice president and head of domestic security, as well as former anti-drug prosecutor Jose Luis Santiago Vasconcelos.
The government Learjet 45 was approaching the Mexico City airport when it suddenly slammed into rush-hour traffic in the posh Lomas de Chapultepec neighborhood, igniting a fireball that lit up the evening sky and killed at least 13 people.
“There was an explosion and we started to run. That was when we saw everything on fire behind us,” said Guadalupe Sanabria, who was selling hot dogs from a street stand 20 yards (meters) from where the jet crashed.
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff called Mourino “a courageous and strong partner in the fight against dangerous criminal groups.”
“He believed in the rule of law and worked very hard to increase coordination among security officials and law enforcement on both sides of the border,” Chertoff said in a statement Wednesday.
Many Mexicans immediately speculated that the crash was another hit by drug cartels that have killed several top officials in recent months.
Mourino, Vasconcelos and a group of advisers were flying back to Mexico City from the city of San Luis Potosi after attending the inauguration of a program to welcome migrants returning from the U.S.
Mexico City prosecutor Miguel Angel Mancera told the Televisa network that nine of the victims were on the plane and four were on the ground. He said officials were searching for more possible remains.
Dozens of cars caught fire and at least 40 people were injured, while officials evacuated about 1,200 people from the scene near the busy Reforma Avenue.
Hundreds of police, firefighters and soldiers searched charred hulks of vehicles for the remains of bodies, many of which were burned beyond recognition.
Mourino, 37, was Calderon’s closest aide, while Vasconcelos was previously in charge of prosecuting and extraditing drug traffickers and had been the target of at least one planned assassination attempt in the past.
The Sinaloa cartel is suspected of having killed acting Mexican federal police chief Edgar Millan in May, likely for his crackdown on trafficking at the airport. Just months after taking office nearly two years ago, Calderon acknowledged receiving threats.
“It makes you suspicious, the way things are going with drug trafficking in this country,” said Arturo Hernandez, a 39-year-old bank employee sitting at a cafe in Mexico City. “It seems like an attack.”
Transportation Secretary Luis Tellez, however, told a news conference that “there are no indications that would support any hypothesis other than that this was an accident, but we will investigate until all possibilities have been exhausted.”
Tellez said authorities have not found any indication that the 10-year-old craft exploded or caught fire while in flight. He said a mechanical failure may have caused the crash.
U.S. experts from the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board, or NTSB, arrived Wednesday, and three experts from Britain’s Civil Aviation Authority will also help investigate, Tellez said.
Keith Holloway, the spokesman for the NTSB, also said there was no indication that foul play was involved.
“If it was known as this point that there was some criminal activity, then the NTSB would not be assisting,” he said.
The death prompted Mexico’s Congress to postpone debate on a new budget until next week, the government news agency Notimex reported.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
Plane crash leaves Mexico interior secretary dead
Date: 11/5/2008
By MARK STEVENSON
Associated Press Writer
MEXICO CITY (AP) _ One of Mexico’s top pointmen in the war against drug trafficking died when a government jet crashed into a Mexico City street, setting fire to dozens of vehicles and dealing crusading President Felipe Calderon a serious blow.
Officials said the Tuesday crash appeared to be an accident but the loss of Interior Secretary Juan Camilo Mourino, former anti-drug prosecutor Jose Luis Santiago Vasconcelos and six others thinned the ranks of Mexico’s already embattled leadership.
U.S. Ambassador Antonio Garza praised the two officials and suggested them as models for the fight against organized crime.
“Their dedication and commitment to accomplishing their work, especially that which strengthened our bilateral fight against those who attack the security of our two countries, certainly will be a model for all of us in a common effort that will continue to strengthen,” Garza said in a statement.
Mourino, 37, was one of President Felipe Calderon’s closest advisers but has been embroiled in scandal since taking office in the midst of Mexico’s violent fight against drug cartels. He was in charge of the country’s security.
“With his death, Mexico has lost a great Mexican, intelligent, loyal and committed to his ideals and his country,” Calderon told a news conference. “I ask all Mexicans that they don’t allow any event, no matter how difficult or painful, to weaken them in the pursuit of a better Mexico.”
Calderon has sent tens of thousands of federal police and army troops throughout Mexico to fight drug cartels that are fighting increasingly bloody turf battles and killing police officials.
Presidential spokesman Max Cortazar said Mourino and a group of advisers had attended the launching of a program to welcome returning migrants in the city of San Luis Potosi on Tuesday, and were headed back to Mexico City’s international airport when the plane went down.
Officials said no distress call had been received and the crash appeared to be an accident, but Calderon said his administration “will carry out all the necessary investigations to find out the causes of this tragedy.”
U.S. experts from the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board will arrive on Wednesday to assist in the investigation, officials said.
Mexico’s fleet of government aircraft have suffered accidents in the past and the country has long said it needs new helicopters and planes to fight drug cartels. Mexico is slated to receive more helicopters and planes as part of a $400 million U.S. aid package known as the Merida Initiative approved in June, but which has not been yet released.
In 2005, a helicopter crash blamed on poor weather conditions killed Mexico’s top police official, public safety secretary Ramon Martin Huerta, the head of federal police and seven other people.
The Learjet carrying Mourino crashed on a street in the posh Lomas de Chapultepec neighborhood, an area filled with tall office buildings. Officials evacuated about 1,800 people from area offices.
Mayor Marcelo Ebrard said all those aboard the plane were killed and that more people may have died on the ground. “It’s likely that we will find other bodies in the vehicles,” Ebrard told the Televisa news network.
Hundreds of police, firefighters and soldiers swarmed the scene, which was littered with the burned-out hulks of vehicles and pieces of what appeared to be bodies.
Eight bodies were recovered and at least 40 people were injured, seven of them seriously. The jet seats eight and Calderon listed eight people — including assistants and spokespeople for Mourino — but it was unclear whether all the bodies recovered were from the plane. The bodies were too badly burned to be immediately identified.
Santiago Vasconcelos, who was previously in charge of pursuing extraditions against drug traffickers, had been the target of at least one planned assassination attempt in the past.
The plane’s wreckage came to rest just yards from tall office buildings and Ebrard said many more people would almost certainly have died had the plane hit one of the towers.
Civil aviation officials were investigating the cause of the crash.
Mourino was one of the most controversial officials when he joined Calderon’s Cabinet in January because of his family’s involvement with private contracts to Mexico’s state-owned oil company, precisely at a time when Calderon sought to open up the legal framework for more such contracts.
The Mourino family’s dealing in contracts for the transport of fuel angered many here, who view the state oil company as a point of national pride and oppose any openings to private involvement in the industry.
Born in Spain and educated at the University of Tampa in Florida, some also criticized the fact that he was foreign-born, arguing he shouldn’t be able to hold one of the top Cabinet security posts.
He became a Mexican citizen about two decades ago, served as a federal legislator and went on to become Calderon’s closest adviser as head of the Office of the Presidency. He was one of the youngest men to have held the politically sensitive post of interior secretary.
Spanish firms have recently made major inroads in Mexico’s telecommunications and banking sector, drawing criticism from some Mexicans who resent the influence of the country’s former colonial master.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
By MARK STEVENSON
Associated Press Writer
MEXICO CITY (AP) _ One of Mexico’s top pointmen in the war against drug trafficking died when a government jet crashed into a Mexico City street, setting fire to dozens of vehicles and dealing crusading President Felipe Calderon a serious blow.
Officials said the Tuesday crash appeared to be an accident but the loss of Interior Secretary Juan Camilo Mourino, former anti-drug prosecutor Jose Luis Santiago Vasconcelos and six others thinned the ranks of Mexico’s already embattled leadership.
U.S. Ambassador Antonio Garza praised the two officials and suggested them as models for the fight against organized crime.
“Their dedication and commitment to accomplishing their work, especially that which strengthened our bilateral fight against those who attack the security of our two countries, certainly will be a model for all of us in a common effort that will continue to strengthen,” Garza said in a statement.
Mourino, 37, was one of President Felipe Calderon’s closest advisers but has been embroiled in scandal since taking office in the midst of Mexico’s violent fight against drug cartels. He was in charge of the country’s security.
“With his death, Mexico has lost a great Mexican, intelligent, loyal and committed to his ideals and his country,” Calderon told a news conference. “I ask all Mexicans that they don’t allow any event, no matter how difficult or painful, to weaken them in the pursuit of a better Mexico.”
Calderon has sent tens of thousands of federal police and army troops throughout Mexico to fight drug cartels that are fighting increasingly bloody turf battles and killing police officials.
Presidential spokesman Max Cortazar said Mourino and a group of advisers had attended the launching of a program to welcome returning migrants in the city of San Luis Potosi on Tuesday, and were headed back to Mexico City’s international airport when the plane went down.
Officials said no distress call had been received and the crash appeared to be an accident, but Calderon said his administration “will carry out all the necessary investigations to find out the causes of this tragedy.”
U.S. experts from the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board will arrive on Wednesday to assist in the investigation, officials said.
Mexico’s fleet of government aircraft have suffered accidents in the past and the country has long said it needs new helicopters and planes to fight drug cartels. Mexico is slated to receive more helicopters and planes as part of a $400 million U.S. aid package known as the Merida Initiative approved in June, but which has not been yet released.
In 2005, a helicopter crash blamed on poor weather conditions killed Mexico’s top police official, public safety secretary Ramon Martin Huerta, the head of federal police and seven other people.
The Learjet carrying Mourino crashed on a street in the posh Lomas de Chapultepec neighborhood, an area filled with tall office buildings. Officials evacuated about 1,800 people from area offices.
Mayor Marcelo Ebrard said all those aboard the plane were killed and that more people may have died on the ground. “It’s likely that we will find other bodies in the vehicles,” Ebrard told the Televisa news network.
Hundreds of police, firefighters and soldiers swarmed the scene, which was littered with the burned-out hulks of vehicles and pieces of what appeared to be bodies.
Eight bodies were recovered and at least 40 people were injured, seven of them seriously. The jet seats eight and Calderon listed eight people — including assistants and spokespeople for Mourino — but it was unclear whether all the bodies recovered were from the plane. The bodies were too badly burned to be immediately identified.
Santiago Vasconcelos, who was previously in charge of pursuing extraditions against drug traffickers, had been the target of at least one planned assassination attempt in the past.
The plane’s wreckage came to rest just yards from tall office buildings and Ebrard said many more people would almost certainly have died had the plane hit one of the towers.
Civil aviation officials were investigating the cause of the crash.
Mourino was one of the most controversial officials when he joined Calderon’s Cabinet in January because of his family’s involvement with private contracts to Mexico’s state-owned oil company, precisely at a time when Calderon sought to open up the legal framework for more such contracts.
The Mourino family’s dealing in contracts for the transport of fuel angered many here, who view the state oil company as a point of national pride and oppose any openings to private involvement in the industry.
Born in Spain and educated at the University of Tampa in Florida, some also criticized the fact that he was foreign-born, arguing he shouldn’t be able to hold one of the top Cabinet security posts.
He became a Mexican citizen about two decades ago, served as a federal legislator and went on to become Calderon’s closest adviser as head of the Office of the Presidency. He was one of the youngest men to have held the politically sensitive post of interior secretary.
Spanish firms have recently made major inroads in Mexico’s telecommunications and banking sector, drawing criticism from some Mexicans who resent the influence of the country’s former colonial master.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
GUYANA: Plane carrying 3 missing in Guyana jungle during survey flight
Date: 11/2/2008
GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AP) — A U.S.-registered plane was missing in the Amazon jungles of Guyana after taking off to conduct aerial surveys for a Canadian mining company, aviation officials said Sunday. Three people were on board.
The aircraft was doing uranium survey work for Prometheus Resources Guyana Inc., a subsidiary of U308 Corporation of Toronto, Canada. It was flying over rugged terrain in western Guyana near Venezuela on Saturday when it went missing.
Two helicopters from a British parachute regiment that were training in the area joined the search-and-rescue operation Sunday, said Zulfikar Mohamed, Guyana’s civil aviation director.
“We have about seven aircraft and helicopters covering a wide area,” he said. “We have also asked the South American satellite system for help but that have not picked up any electronic signal as yet.”
The occupants of the plane were not identified.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AP) — A U.S.-registered plane was missing in the Amazon jungles of Guyana after taking off to conduct aerial surveys for a Canadian mining company, aviation officials said Sunday. Three people were on board.
The aircraft was doing uranium survey work for Prometheus Resources Guyana Inc., a subsidiary of U308 Corporation of Toronto, Canada. It was flying over rugged terrain in western Guyana near Venezuela on Saturday when it went missing.
Two helicopters from a British parachute regiment that were training in the area joined the search-and-rescue operation Sunday, said Zulfikar Mohamed, Guyana’s civil aviation director.
“We have about seven aircraft and helicopters covering a wide area,” he said. “We have also asked the South American satellite system for help but that have not picked up any electronic signal as yet.”
The occupants of the plane were not identified.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.