3 killed in Alaska cargo plane crash on Denali
Alaska – A big cargo airplane that crashed Sunday in Denali National Park was registered to an Alaskan freight company and had three people onboard who are presumed dead, the National Park Service said.
The Fairchild C-123 was registered to All West Freight Inc. of Delta Junction, Alaska. It crashed into the south-facing slope of Mount Healy within a mile of the park headquarters and about 200 yards north of the only road into the park. The craft went down about 3 p.m. Sunday near the eastern edge of the park, about 180 miles north of Anchorage.
The plane burst into flames on impact and started a wildland fire that was contained at approximately one acre, the park service said.
Park spokeswoman Kris Fister said it was initially difficult to determine the number of fatalities because "the plane pretty much disintegrated."
Names of those killed weren't yet released.
The fire was challenging for crews on the scene, who did not know who owned the plane until several hours after the crash. The first responders arrived within minutes, but the plane was already engulfed in flames, Fister said.
George Clare, of Las Vegas, said he saw the plane flying very low and slowly while he was walking toward the visitor's center near the park entrance. He thought the plane was going to land on a local airstrip, so he proceeded to the visitor's center. Within minutes, people came running in and saying a plane had crashed.
He said the crash caused a column of smoke a few miles west of the visitor's center.
Alaska Fire Service smokejumpers and Denali wildland firefighters were dousing hot spots to extinguish the fire late Sunday and stayed on the scene overnight. National Transportation Safety Board investigators were to arrive Monday morning.
The crash happened just four days after a military cargo plane crashed at Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage, killing four people onboard.
The victims were Maj. Michael Freyholtz, 34, of Hines, Minn.; Maj. Aaron Malone, 36, of Anchorage; Capt. Jeffrey Hill, 31, of York, Pa., and Master Sgt. Thomas Cicardo, 47, of Anchorage. Cicardo was posthumously promoted to senior master sergeant Friday.
The four airmen were on a training mission Wednesday evening for a weekend air show at the Air Force base, which wrapped up Sunday. The C-17 crashed about a minute after taking off.
Related info :
Alaska (
i /əˈlæskə/) is the largest state of the United States by area; it is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait. Approximately half of Alaska's 698,473 residents live within the Anchorage metropolitan area. As of 2009, Alaska remains the least densely populated state of the U.S.[5]
Alaska was purchased from the Russian Empire on March 30, 1867, for $7.2 million at about two cents per acre ($4.74/km²). The land went through several administrative changes before becoming an organized territory on May 11, 1912, and the 49th state of the U.S. on January 3, 1959.
The name "Alaska" (Аляска) was already introduced in the Russian colonial time, when it was used only for the peninsula and is derived from the Aleut alaxsxaq, meaning "the mainland" or more literally, "the object towards which the action of the sea is directed".[6] It is also known as Alyeska, the "great land", an Aleut word derived from the same root.
4 killed in plane crash at Alaska military base
Four airmen were killed when a cargo plane crashed during a training run at an Alaska Air Force base, sending a fireball hundreds of feet into the air, military authorities and witnesses said.
Three of the men were in the Alaska Air National Guard and the fourth was on active duty at Elmendorf Air Force Base, Air Force Col. John McMullen said Thursday. Their names have not been released pending notification of relatives.
"We lost four members of our Arctic Warrior family and it's a loss felt across our entire joint installation," McMullen said in a statement, referring to Elmendorf and its adjacent Army base, Fort Richardson.
The C-17 was from the 3rd Wing, based at Elmendorf near downtown Anchorage. The crash happened about 6:14 p.m. Wednesday during a training demonstration for an upcoming weekend air show, Lt. Gen. Dana Atkins said.
Anchorage Fire Dept. Captain Bryan Grella said his crew was just finishing dinner at about 6:30 p.m. at the downtown fire station when something caught his eye.
"It was a big, gray plume of smoke, and I saw a fireball go up in it," he said. The fireball extended about 750 feet in the air, he estimated.
The crash is the second in Anchorage this summer. In June, a child was killed and four others burned when a small plane crashed after taking off from the city's small-airplane airport downtown.
Days after the June plane crash, a small plane landed on a busy highway in Anchorage. There were no injuries.
Gov. Sean Parnell and Sen. Mark Begich issued statements late Wednesday expressing sadness over the crash and sending well-wishes to members of the military.
"Alaskans are very connected to the military, and our thoughts and prayers are with Alaska's Air Force family," Parnell said.
Related info :
Alaska (i /əˈlæskə/) is the largest state of the United States by area; it is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait. Approximately half of Alaska's 698,473 residents live within the Anchorage metropolitan area. As of 2009, Alaska remains the least densely populated state of the U.S.[5]
Alaska was purchased from the Russian Empire on March 30, 1867, for $7.2 million at about two cents per acre ($4.74/km²). The land went through several administrative changes before becoming an organized territory on May 11, 1912, and the 49th state of the U.S. on January 3, 1959.
The name "Alaska" (Аляска) was already introduced in the Russian colonial time, when it was used only for the peninsula and is derived from the Aleut alaxsxaq, meaning "the mainland" or more literally, "the object towards which the action of the sea is directed".[6] It is also known as Alyeska, the "great land", an Aleut word derived from the same root.
Effects of Oil Spills
There are various incidents of oil spills everyday however, oil spills in very less amounts do not cause much harm. The problem arises when there are various incidents of oil spills that are on a large proportion, causing the spilling of millions of tons of oil into the seas, rivers and bays. None can forget the Exxon Valdez oil spill that occurred in Alaska, on March 24, 1989. One of the disastrous environmental damage caused by the humans, the Exxon Valdez spilling lead to the release of nearly 40 million liters of oil into the sea! No doubt, the victims of the oil spill were the marine animals that thrived in that area.
Effects of Oil Spills
Oil spills that occur near a coastline, cause more harm than the oil spills that occur into the open sea because marine life habitat is usually more dense in the areas near the coastline than in the middle of the ocean. Oil spills can occur due to various reasons like, careless handling of the oil pipelines spread under the seas, through which the oil is transported to various countries. Also, any sort of accidental or natural disaster leading to damage of the oil storing tankers, barges, pipelines, refineries, etc., can cause oil spills. The oil spill effects on the marine life is decided by the type of oil spilled, location of the oil spilled and the breeding season of the habitat in that area. The main problem with oil is that once it spills, it spreads far and wide in the ocean, thereby increasing the damage. When the marine animals consume the oil spilled in the water, the oil gets into their body and many die due to suffocation and poisonous effects of the oil.
Effects of Oil Spills in the Ocean
Depending on the type of oil, the oil can stick to the body of the fish and marine animals, forming a thick layer. Here is a discussion about oil spill effects on marine life:
- Damage to the feathers of the bird, destroying their beneficial properties.
- Fur seals get affected by oil spills, as the oil sticks to their fur. Whales and dolphins remain safe from any external affects, as their slippery body does not allow the oil to stick.
- Drowning of marine animals if the oil sticks on the flipper is observed.
- Ulcers and other internal problems in the body leading to diseases and death.
- Loss of appetite and weight loss problems in birds, wildlife and marine life.
- Problems of the digestive system leading to fragile body.
- A sense of alienation among the community members, as the smelling ability of the seals and other marine animals is lessened or badly affected. This makes them feel lost as they are unable to detect their fellow beings.
- Reduces the bird's ability to fly, as the feathers get tangled in dense mass of thick layers of oils.
Oil Spill Effects on the Environment
Oil spill effects on the environment are as follows:
- Damages the red blood cells and hinders the smooth blood circulation in animals.
- Liver failure in marine mammals.
- Damage to fish larvae and young fish.
- Poisoning of young ones of the marine animals, as they consume mother's milk.
- Destruction of coral reefs, seagrass and mangrove habitat, that are the major sources of ecological balance in the oceans.
- Respiratory problems and skin irritation leading to aggressive or dull behavior of the animals.
You may read more on:
- Oil Drilling
- Oil Pipe Cleaning
- Effects of Oil Drilling in Alaska
It is a fact that oil is one of the precious commodities and driving force of the global economy, but it is equally harmful for the marine animals and wildlife, in case they come in contact with it. The oil transportation methods and the safety measures employed while doing so must be strengthened, in order safeguard the precious marine life. While we can't thrive without oil, we are also responsible for maintaining the ecology. The world community should come together to combat these types of incidents and provide safety for the wildlife.
Legal advice about double jeopardy
Q : My son was incarcerated for 8 yrs in an Indiana Correctional Facility. While incarcerated, he was charged with trafficking drugs. He went before the Conduct Adjustment Board and charged him with an" inside" charge. He was sentenced to 72 days in segregation and was given an extra year of time. He was released from the facility 3 yrs ago and has made a wonderful life for himself and has learned to be a contributing citizen with a great job, fiance' with kids and a new home. He was recently arrested for the same charge and is awaiting transport back to the county he was released from. I believe there is a statue of limitaions for this charge if they can charge him at all. If so, would that be "DOUBLE JEOPARDY"? Please help me in this dilemma.
A : The statute of limitations sets out how long the state has to file charges, not how long they have to arrest on a warrant after charges are filed. For felonies in Indiana, the statute of limitations is 5 years. That the prison imposed disciplinary action against him does.
Dozens of cars pulled from Alaska auto graveyard
When Anchorage had to dispose of thousands of cars and trucks damaged in a powerful 1964 earthquake, it dumped them off a 350-foot bluff near the outskirts of town.
The car dumping didn't end there.
Over the years, the bluff remained a convenient place to get rid of stolen or unwanted vehicles, as evidenced by the 2006 Dodge amid the heap of crumpled, rusted car frames and muffler pipes poking out at odd angles.
But now an effort is under way to pull some of the more than 2,000 vehicles from the bluff and clean up the wildlife refuge below that was established in 1971. So far, workers have removed 60 to 70 cars, 2,000 tires and about 25 tons of other debris in an all-volunteer effort that began 2 1/2 years ago.
Organizers of the cleanup have come to the realization that the post-quake dumping wasn't such a great idea after all.
"I'm sure they were just overwhelmed by all the debris they had to take care of," said Shawn Crouse, an employee of a construction company. "At the time, it probably seemed like a logical place to put it."
The vehicles damaged in the quake are packed into the side of the bluff overlooking Cook Inlet, barely concealed under a wind-swept layer of snow and sand topped with wispy strands of grass.
"That whole bulge in the hillside is where we think there are at least 2,000 vehicles and all sorts of debris," said Joe Meehan, refuge manager for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. "It is just all solid cars in behind that."
On a recent cold morning, a bulldozer with a hydraulic claw picked up mangled cars and other debris, including a child's bicycle. Another piece of heavy equipment hauled the junkers away.
Part way down the bluff, two cars remained embedded in the bank. The bulldozer just spun its wheels and snapped two cables attached to the cars as it struggled to pull them out.
Curt Abbas, a 62-year-old retired construction supervisor, had to smile when he heard work was under way to remove some of the cars.
"A long time ago, I pushed them over that bank," he said.
Back then, the flat land atop the bluff was a gravel pit and dump. Abbas said he and another guy used bulldozers to push several hundred vehicles over the edge in 1970, when officials wanted the site cleared to build a dirt-bike course.
Sand left over from the gravel operation was mixed with soil to bury the cars. But Abbas said there wasn't enough soil. Now, the sand is eroding, exposing the crushed cars.
Meehan said at least one person has tried to commit suicide by driving off the bluff, going over the edge in a pickup truck.
"He survived the descent down to the bottom and spent the night in the vehicle and the next morning climbed back up the bluff in his underwear, bloodied head to toe," Meehan said.
The dump operated from 1965 until the late 1970s, when the community realized that dumping stuff over the side wasn't exactly environmentally responsible. All sorts of household items were discarded along with autos: wheelchairs, empty beer kegs, lawn mowers, refrigerators, couches, snowmobiles.
Many of the junked cars will have to remain where they are because pulling them out will further erode the bluff.
Most of the tires that were cast over the edge ended up in the Anchorage Coastal Wildlife Refuge, an important stopping point for migrating shorebirds, ducks, geese, swans and cranes. It's been hard work during the summer pulling the tires out of the marsh.
"Unfortunately, with tires they tend to roll long distances," Meehan said.
Related information:
Alaska (i /əˈlæskə/) is the largest state of the United States by area; it is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait. Approximately half of Alaska's 698,473 residents live within the Anchorage metropolitan area. As of 2009, Alaska remains the least densely populated state of the U.S.[5]
The U.S. Senate approved the purchase of Alaska from the Russian Empire on March 30, 1867, for $7.2 million at about two cents per acre ($4.74/km2). The land went through several administrative changes before becoming an organized territory on May 11, 1912, and the 49th state of the U.S. on January 3, 1959. The name "Alaska" (Аляска) was already introduced in the Russian colonial time, when it was used only for the peninsula and is derived from the Aleut alaxsxaq, meaning "the mainland" or more literally, "the object towards which the action of the sea is directed".[6] It is also known as Alyeska, the "great land", an Aleut word derived from the same root.
2 wolves blamed in Alaska teacher’s death killed
In Alaska Fish and Game spokeswoman says state officials have located and killed two of the wolves believed responsible for the death of a teacher who was killed while jogging alone along a rural village road.
Blowing snow stymied earlier efforts to track the wolves near Chignik Lake on the Alaska Peninsula, but the weather cleared Monday evening.
Fish and Game spokeswoman Jennifer Yuhas says the wolves matched the description of wolves seen where Candice Berner was killed.
Village residents on March 8 discovered the body of the 32-year-old teacher surrounded by wolf tracks about a mile from the community, which is about 474 miles southwest of Anchorage.
An autopsy concluded an animal killed the woman and Alaska State Troopers say the animals involved likely were wolves.
Related information:
Alaska (
/əˈlæskə/ (help·info)) is the largest state of the United States by area; it is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait. Approximately half of Alaska's 698,473 residents live within the Anchorage metropolitan area. As of 2009, Alaska remains the least densely populated state of the U.S.[5]
The U.S. Senate approved the purchase of Alaska from the Russian Empire on March 30, 1867, for $7.2 million at about two cents per acre ($4.74/km2). The land went through several administrative changes before becoming an organized territory on May 11, 1912, and the 49th state of the U.S. on January 3, 1959. The name "Alaska" (Аляска) was already introduced in the Russian colonial time, when it was used only for the peninsula and is derived from the Aleut alaxsxaq, meaning "the mainland" or more literally, "the object towards which the action of the sea is directed".[6] It is also known as Alyeska, the "great land", an Aleut word derived from the same root.
No damage from 5.1 quake in Aleutian Islands
The Alaska Earthquake Information Center says a magnitude 5.1 quake has struck the Andreanof Islands region of the Aleutian chain, but there are no reports of damage and the quake did not generate a tsunami.
The quake occurred at 5:06 a.m. local time Tuesday and was centered more than 300 miles west of Dutch Harbor and more than 1,300 miles southwest of Fairbanks.
Related information:
Alaska ( /əˈlæskə/ (help·info)) is the largest state of the United States by area; it is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait. Approximately half of Alaska's 698,473 residents live within the Anchorage metropolitan area. As of 2009, Alaska remains the least densely populated state of the U.S.[5]
The U.S. Senate approved the purchase of Alaska from the Russian Empire on March 30, 1867, for $7.2 million at about two cents per acre ($4.74/km2). The land went through several administrative changes before becoming an organized territory on May 11, 1912, and the 49th state of the U.S. on January 3, 1959. The name "Alaska" (Аляска) was already introduced in the Russian colonial time, when it was used only for the peninsula and is derived from the Aleut alaxsxaq, meaning "the mainland" or more literally, "the object towards which the action of the sea is directed".[6] It is also known as Alyeska, the "great land", an Aleut word derived from the same root.
Census to launch count in Alaska village
The U.S. Census Bureau chief is heading to Alaska to formally launch the nation's 2010 count in a remote Inupiat Eskimo village, where residents are planning a huge reception of traditional dancing and a feast of caribou, moose and other subsistence foods.
Bureau Director Robert Groves is scheduled to count the first household in Noorvik at 1 p.m. Monday, after arriving by charter plane at the village not linked by roads to anywhere else. Villagers say the first to be counted will be Clifton Jackson, a World War II veteran and the oldest resident in the community of 650.
But first Groves and other census officials will be greeted by eagerly awaiting residents. For the visitors' sake, locals hope the weather is kinder than the brutal minus-40 temperatures already recorded this month in Noorvik, located north of the Arctic Circle near Alaska's western coast. At this time of year, there's just 5 1/2 hours of daylight in the village.
Sled dog teams driven by schoolchildren will greet the visitors and ferry them to the school, where festivities will continue into the night after the first enumeration is completed. An Inupiat fashion show, a short film on Noorvik and dancing by school children, other locals and groups from other villages are among the planned events. The school also will serve as lodging for Groves and most of the 50 visitors, who will bunk down in empty classrooms.
"We've been organizing this as a community, all planning for this together," said Noorvik Mayor Bobby Wells. "Monday is a big day."
Monday's single count will be the only one conducted by Groves, and the rest of Noorvik's population will be enumerated beginning Tuesday. Census workers and trained locals are expected to take a week to interview villagers from the same 10-question forms to be mailed to most Americans on March 15. Census workers also will visit 217 other rural communities, all in Alaska, in the coming weeks.
Alaskans in rural communities not linked by roads have been the first Americans counted since the 1990 census. The unlinked communities are the places where the process is first conducted in person by census workers. The bureau makes personal visits to nonresponding citizens around the country.
It's easier to get census workers to the Alaska villages before the spring thaw brings a muddy mess, making access more difficult, said Ralph Lee, director of the bureau's Seattle region, which oversees Alaska. Also, residents in many villages still live off the land, hunting and fishing for their food, and it's important to reach them before they set off for fishing camps or hunting expeditions when the weather begins to warm.
"They may be gone for several weeks at a time," Lee said.
In the warmer months, Noorvik residents will fill their freezers with salmon, trout and other fish from the Kobuk River. They will hunt for moose, caribou, seal, geese and ducks. Several people spend even winter in their camps, but they're expected to be in Noorvik for the count because of its impact on federal funding and congressional representation.
"That's important to our community," Wells said. "We want to make sure everyone is counted."
Noorvik was chosen as the launching point after census officials met with leaders in a number of villages. The community met the criteria. It's a good size and only 45 miles east of a hub town, Kotzebue, a destination for commercial flights. From the town of 3,100, officials are taking a short charter flight to Noorvik.
"Noorvik was very accommodating," Lee said. "They had a good plan. And they were very open about wanting us to begin the enumeration there."
Pauline Cleveland, a secretary at Noorvik's school, said she is excited for visitors to learn about the Inupiat culture and how people depend so much on their subsistence lifestyle. Hunting and fishing are crucial for survival for many in Noorvik and other Native communities where jobs are limited and the cost of retail food is painfully high. At the Noorvik grocery store, people pay as much as $4.95 for a quart of fresh milk. A pound of T-bone steak can run in the $17 range when it's available.
Cleveland said that amid all the planning for Monday's festivities, three young residents took the time to raise $247 for victims of the Haiti earthquake. The village may be thousands of miles away, but the death and destruction in the Caribbean country have not been lost on Noorvik residents.
"What's happening in Haiti is affecting everyone here," Cleveland said. "With Haiti, we should be so blessed by what we have here."
