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Crash of a Boeing 737 Passenger Aircraft 2005, August 14 - Greece, Athens: at 12:20 local time a Helios Airways Boeing 737-300, flight No ZU 522, en route from Larnaca in Cyprus to Athens in Greece crashed into a mountain near the village of Grammatiko, about 20 miles (30 kilometers) north of Athens. The aircraft disintegrated on impact and some of the wreckage caught fire. All 121 occupants (115 passengers and 5 crew) died. It is suspected that a sudden drop in cabin pressure disabled the pilots. Greek F-16 fighter jets saw the pilots unconscious and a passenger send a text message describing freezing temperatures and lack of oxygen. Two fighter jets were sent after the airplane entered Greek air space over the Aegean Sea around 10:30 local time and did not respond to radio calls. Helios airways was established in 1999 as the first independent and low budget airline in Cyprus. The airline is a subsidiary of Libra Holidays Group and operates currently four Boeing 737 (two 737-800 delivered in May of 2001, and at least one 737-300 delivered in April of 2004) for charterflights and scheduled flights from Larnaka and Paphos to 17 European airports including London, Athens, Sofia (Bulgaria), Prague, and Strasbourg (France).
The fact that both pilots of a modern and large passenger plane become incapacitated is rather unusual. School
Siege in Russia
Airplane Crash 2004, January 3rd. Egypt, Sharm elSheikh a Boeing 737, built in 1993 and owned by Egyptian Charter Airlines Air Flash, en-route to Paris via Cairo, plunged into the Red Sea shortly after takeoff from the Southern tip of the Sinai peninsula; all 148 people aboard, including 133 French nationals, died.  BSE (Bovine
Spongiform Encephalopathy) Earthquake 2003, December 26th - 5:30 a.m. Iran, Bam A magnitude 6.3 (Iranian sources) or 6.7 (US Geological Survey); most of the ancient city of Bam, population approximately 100,000, located about 600 miles south-east of Tehran has been destroyed; up to 20,000 people may have died. According
to Officials earthquakes in Iran since 1991 have claimed nearly
18,000 lives and injured 53,000 people.
Bus Bombing 2003, December 25th - 6 p.m. Israel, Geha near Tel Aviv Suicide bombing by an 18-year-old Palestinian on a bus at the Geha bus stop, a major junction outside Tel Aviv; the bus on its way to the town of Petah Tikva; the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) claimed responsibility; 4 people died and at least 12 were injured According to Israeli officials the military prevented 22 suicide bombing attempts and 13 other planned attacks between October 4 and December 25.
Plane Crash 2003, December 25th Benin, Cotonou A chartered Union des Transport Africains (UTA) Boeing 727 flight 141 bound for Lebanon with more than 100 passengers on board hit a building at the end of the runway and plunged into the sea near the shore shortly after take-off from the city's airport; at least 135 people died and 22 survived
Mudslide 2003, December 26th USA, California, San Bernardino County, Waterman Canyon After heavy rain a torrent of soil, boulders, and tree trunks engulfed the Greek Orthodox Saint Sophia camp; much of the canyon area had been scorched by the October 2003 wildfire, the burned off vegetation would normally shore up the steep terrain; 28 people, including several children, attended a private party at the Church retreat; 14 of them have been rescued by local emergency services; 14 others died; rescue teams had to search through mud and debris up to 15-feet deep in places. 2 other people died in a second mudslide at the KAO campground in Devore, approximately 7 miles west of Waterman Canyon.
Plane Crash 2003, December 25th, Thursday USA, Nevada, North Las Vegas Airport A 1980-built single-engine Beechcraft Bonanza owned by Pat Car Air Inc. of Wilmington, Del. crashed immediately after take off from the airport about 10 miles northwest of the Las Vegas Strip; all 6 occupants (4 adults and 2 children) died. Gas Explosion Terrorism on Christmas 2003 a) The French Connection According to rumors US security officials accused France on December 24 of throwing away the chance to capture militants with possible links to al Qaeda by cancelling all flights from Paris to Los Angeles (AF068 departing 1:35 p.m.; AF070 departing 7p.m. on December 24 and AFO 68 departing 1:35 p.m. on December 25) and from Los Angeles to Paris (AFO69 departing LAX 7 p.m. on December 24 and 25, and AF071 departing from LAX 9:35 p.m. on December 25). The public
announcement of the cancellations, with a terror warning blamed,
may have alerted the suspect Tunisians. Only 400 of the 700 passengers
due to arrive for the next two flights turned up after the terror
alert was broadcast. None of those identified from the passenger
lists as potential hijackers was among them. The French prime minister had ordered the immediate suspension of six scheduled transatlantic Air France flights from Charles de Gaulle airport. US intelligence later said the men, understood to be members of the Islamic Brotherhood, a North African militant organisation allied to Osama bin Laden's group, have "ducked below the radar", free to strike elsewhere. Passengers already at the terminal for the December 24 1.35pm flight were held under guard at the departure gate until they could be screened. Several were detained for questioning, but no arrests were made.
The attacks mirrored a similar incident on December 14 when a powerful explosion missed the president's motorcade by seconds on a bridge, also in Rawalpindi. An assassination attempt in Karachi in April 2002 failed because a remote-controlled device meant to detonate explosives in a car malfunctioned. c) Spain Wednesday, December 24th. - San Sebastion/Madrid: police arrested two suspected members of the Basque separatist group ETA, thwarting an attack in Madrid's Chamartin station on one of the busiest travel days of the year. They seized one man carrying an explosives-packed suitcase in the northern city of San Sebastian as he headed for a Madrid-bound train and later arrested another who had already put a bomb on the same train. d) Los Angeles International Airport e) Protection
of US Embassies f) Italy Monday,
December 22 - Bologna: two small home-made bombs exploded
in rubbish bins near Prodi's home in the city in northern No one was hurt in those explosions and there was no property damage. Explosives experts defused a third device placed in another nearby bin. Saturday,
December 26 - Bologna: Bologna Police
Chief Marcello Fulvio was quoted as saying
Magnitude
6.5 earthquake. Most impacted was Paso Robles, a town of 27,000
located about 20 miles southeast of the epicenter. The tremors
demolished a two-story historic clock tower building, a landmark
in the community. The building, valued at $ 1 million, had not
been retrofitted. 58 other structures in the downtown area housing
more than 100 businesses have been cordoned off until further
damage inspections. A few have already been red-tagged and may
face demolition. Downtown Paso Robles is a quaint assortment of
old, historic structures, many built not long after the Gold Rush
and without unreinforced masonry. San Luis Obispo county is largely countryside (vineyards, wineries, andc ranches) the midpoint between the metropolitan areas of Los Angeles and San Francisco. Governor Schwarzenegger declared a local state of emergency and visted the town on Tuesday, December 23. The fault system remained active. Seismologists believe the quake occurred on the Oceanic fault zone, which runs from north of San Simeon southeast to the Santa Lucia Range on the west side of the San Andreas Fault. There had been more than 100 magnitude-3 or higher aftershocks by Wednesday (December 24) morning. The U.S. Geological Survey announced that the aftershock sequence was likely to continue for months and that there is a 90 percent or greater probability that aftershocks of 5.0 magnitude or greater would follow in the next week. Two people (Jennifer Myrick, 20, of Atascadero, and Marilyn Zafuto, 55, of Paso Robles) were found dead on the street crushed by bricks from the collapse of the and the entire second floor of the 1892 clock tower Mastagni building; about 50 others in the area sustained minor injuries. |
Around
7a.m. on Sunday morning a 98-foot section of vaulted roof of the
new, showcase terminal 2E at- touted as a jewel of design, safety
and comfort - collapsed and tons of concrete, steel, and glass
crashed down on a waiting area inside the terminal; just ahead
of the collapse an Air France flight had arrived from Newark,
N.J., and another from Johannesburg, South Africa. A third plane
was taking off for Prague from the airport located in Roissy,
north of Paris. Therefore, only a moderate number of passengers
in the terminal at the early hour. 
Bombing
2003 August 19th.
Iraq, Baghdad, Canal hotel housing United Nations (UN) headquarters
In a suspected suicide
attack a cement truck packed with explosives detonated around 4:30 p.m.
local time at the concrete wall outside the three-story building. The
blast occurred while a news conference was under way in the building,
where 300 U.N. employees work. The truck was parked on an access road
just outside the compound. The explosion created a six-foot-deep crater
in the ground; 20 people, including the U.N. envoy died and at least
100 people were injured.
The
U.N. distributes humanitarian aid and is developing programs aimed at
boosting Iraq's emerging free press, justice system and monitoring of
human rights. United Nations weapons inspectors worked out of the hotel
during the period before the war.
The Canal Hotel operates more as an office building than a hotel. The
cafeteria is a popular place for humanitarian workers and journalists
to meet. U.S. officials often were at the compound as well for discussions
with their U.N. counterparts.
Bus Bombing
2003 August 19th.
Israel, Jerusalem
Around
9:00 p.m. local time a suicide bomber blew himself up on a tandem bus;
the bus no. 2 had started out at the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest
shrine, and was headed to an ultra-Orthodox Jewish neighborhood. One
report said among the passengers were members of a family who had celebrated
a Bar Mitzvah, the Jewish rite of passage into adulthood for boys, at
the Western Wall.
A second bus passing nearby when the explosion went off was also badly
damaged.
18 people, including 5 children died and more than 100 others were injured.
In a phone calls to the media, Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility
for the attack, saying it was in revenge for the killing of Sidr, whom
Israel has accused of plotting a series of attacks.
Later, Hamas distributed fliers in Hebron, saying the bombing was carried
out by one of its supporters. A Hamas leader, Abdel Aziz Rantisi, insisted
Hamas was not involved.
Bombing
2003 August 5th.
Indonesia, Jakarta, JW Mariott Hotel:
a
bomb, probably carried in an Indonesian-made Kijang van, went of on the
driveway in front of the 33-story building in Jakarta's business district;
the blast damaged the embassies of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark in the adjacent Rajawali building, but no staffers were injured; 13 people died and at least 149 were wounded.
Picture Gallery
Shooting
2003 July 23rd.
New York City, Manhattan, City Hall
A 31-year old gunman opened fire on a balcony inside City Council Chambers and killed Councilman James Davis who was standing nearby. The council member from Brooklyn was known for his crusade against urban violence.
A plainclothes security officer present in the room responded and shot assailant, wounding him fatally. The attacker managed to bring the weapon through the metal detectors by accompanying the Councilman into the building. This allowed him, like all officials, employees and members of the press to bypass security checks and the metal detector.
And Another Day in LA
July 16, 2003
USA, California, Santa Monica
Car crashed into crowded Street Market
A
car driven by a male in his eighties plowed through Arizona Avenue, closed
for a farmers market, that draws hundreds of shoppers; at least eight people
died and 40 were more injured, 14 of them critically.More Information and Picture
2003 July 10th.
HongKong, Tuen Mun Highway, near Tin Kau bridge
Major Bus Accident
At 6.30 am local time a KMB double decker bus carrying morning commuters and schoolchildren crashed through railings and hurtled down on to rocks 50 feet below; at least 22 people died and more than 20 were injured
2003 July 8th.
Workplace Shooting
USA, Mississippi, Lauderdale County
USA,
Mississippi, Lauderdale County, Lockheed
Martin plantan employee armed with a shotgun and a semiautomatic rifle went through the entire facility and shot workers randomly rather than targeting individuals; 6 people, including the gunman died, 8 others were injured.
The plant located in an industrial park employs about 100 people and builds structural subassemblies for the C-130J Hercules transport plane and the F-22 Raptor fighter.
2003 July 5th.
Suicide Bombing
Russia, Moscow, rock concert at Tushino airfield:
Two female suicide bombers have blown themselves up at a rock festival in the north-western outskirts of Moskow. A crowd of up to 40,000 people had attended the all-day summer festival.
The first blast happened as people queued near the concert entrance at 1439 local time. A woman detonated an explosives belt near an admissions booth when police tried to stop her entering. The assailant and a bystander were killed and many others injured.
Fifteen minutes later a more powerful explosion took place at another entrance as another female bomber blew herself up just yards from the main entrance.
Obviously both bombs, each containing the equivalent of 1 pound of TNT had been stuffed with screws and nails, intended to cause maximum damage.
Many festival-goers inside the air base remained unaware of events, since the organizers decreed not to make any announcement and to continue the stage performances for the next two hours in order to avoid a stampede.
At least 16 people died and more than 60 were injured. Russian officials blamed the attacks on Chechen separatists.
2003 June 29
Building Collapse
USA, Illinois, Chicago, Lincoln Park, 713 West Wrightwood Ave:
A wooden porch in the third floor of an apartment building collapsed during a student party under the weight of as many as 50 people and crashed through two other decks to the ground. Twelve people died, most of them crushed on the porches below, and at least 57 others were injured, some critically.
2003, May 21
Earthquake
Algeria, Algiers, Phenia
A 5.4 (Algerian Government) to 6.7 (USGS) earthquake hit the Algerian capital on Wednesday night at 7:44 pm local time. According to the U.S. Geological Survey's National Earthquake Information Center the epicentre was about 70 km (45 miles) east of Algiers and 10 km (six miles) below ground.
At least 500 people died, more than 4,000 were injured. Most of the deaths occurred near the epicenter, located near Phenia, some 50 dead in Boumerdes, about six miles from the epicenter, 100 dead and hundreds injured in Rouiba, just east of Algiers, and 15 dead in the capital, according to the Interior Ministry.
Bombing Attack
Morocco, Casablanca
May 16, 2003
Five simultaneous bombings around 9:30 in the evening in the center of the city. Three car bombs, and two attacks by suicide bombers wearing explosive belts damaged the Belgian consulate, a Jewish center and a Spanish restaurant; at least 41 people, including 10 assailants were killed, more than 60 injured.
The blast at the Spanish social club and restaurant Casa de España caused most of the deaths. It was crowded when suicide bombers detonated explosives. At the second target, the Hotel Farah, security guards tried to stop two would-be bombers. One of the assailants stabbed one of the guards to death, then proceeded into the lobby, where he detonated his bomb, killing himself and a baggage handler. That explosion incapacitated the second attacker, who was captured by hotel guards and handed over to police. The third place of attack, the Cercle de l'Alliance Israelite, a Jewish community center, was closed for the Sabbath and empty at the time of the blast. The building sustained significant damage. The fourth target, the Belgian consulate was also empty, but two Moroccan guards died and one side of the building was completely demolished.
Fatal Plane Operation
May 9, 2003
Democratic Republic of Congo, near Mbuji-Maji
Some 45 minutes into a flight from Kinshasa to the southeastern city of Lubumbashi the rear door of a Russian-built Ilyushin 76 cargo jet burst open at a height of 7,000 feet. The chartered aircraft, owned by the Ukrainian Defense Ministry was carrying Congolese soldiers, police officials and their relatives. Forty people clung to the insides of the plane as tumbling baggage struck their heads and bodies, injuring about nine of them. The pilots managed to turn back and to land safely in Kinshasa. Estimated 129 people were sucked out of the plane.
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| Night
Club Fire: West Warwick, Rhode Island, USA 2003 February 21st. (Thursday) 23:00h |
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| Subway
Fire / Arson Attack:
Taegu, South Korea 2003 February 18th 10:00 a.m. |
Latest News:
Plane Crash
2003 March 6th. (Thursday)
Algeria, Sahara Desert, City of Tamanrasset:
An Air Algerie Boeing
737 veered off the runway and crashed a few hundred yards further after
one engine caught fire during takeoff in the remote area of southern Algeria;
103 people died, one person is reported as a survivor.
July 4, 2002, 11:30 am local time:
Shooting
attack at Los Angeles Airport, International Terminal, El Al Airlines ticket
counter: an attacker was running toward the El Al ticket counter with a
knife and a gun; he shot a 46-year-old male and a female in its 20s to death,
injured another female and stabbed a security officer in the back; he was
than fatally shot by El Al security personnel; three other people had to
be treated for cardiac issues.
2002
July 1 , 11.43 pm local time
Germany, State of Baden-Wuerttemberg, North Shore of Lake Constance, City
of Ueberlingen: at 36,000 feet mid-air Collision between a DHL Cargo Boeing
757 (enroute from Bahrain to Bruessel, after a stopover in Bergamo/Italy)
and a Bashkirian Airlines Tupolev T-154 (enroute from Moskow to Barcelona/Spain,
after a stopover in Munich/Germany). All 71 people aboard both planes (2
crew in the Boeing 757; 12 crew and 57 passengers including 52 children)
died. Burning debris crashed into an area of many square miles, damaging
some structures. Nobody on the ground was hurt.
Plane Crash
2002 July 1 , 11.43 pm local time
Germany, State of Baden-Wuerttemberg, City of Sigmaringen, near Lake Constance:
Mid-Air Collision at 36,000 feet of a Bashkirian Airlines Tupolev T 154
with 69 people aboard -57 passengers & 12 crew- (en-route from Moscow,
Russia to Barcelona, Spain) and a DHL Boeing 757 Cargo Plane (en-route
from Bahrain to Brussels, Belgium) with a crew of two; some buildings
were hit by debris and set on fire; at least 2 people on the ground died;
Plane Crash
Colombia, Ipiales
2002 January 28,
A Boeing 727-100 of TAME, Ecuador's national airline crashed on approach
to the northern Ecuadorean city of Tulcan, which is located near the Colombian
border. All 92 people aboard (83 passengers, 11 crew and airline personnel)
died.
Bus
Bombing
Israel, Haifa, Rehov Hagiborim
2001 December 2nd
A
suicide bomber blew himself up shortly after noon on Sunday after boarding
a crowded bus near the center of Haifa's Hadar neighborhood on an area
of peaceful coexistence between Jews and Arabs and also the site of one
of the fiercest battle to liberate Haifa in the 1948 War of Independence;
the explosive was made of approximately 10 kg mixed with nails, screws,
and nuts. 15 people died, 38 were injured
Hamas claimed responsibility for the Haifa blast, while Hizbullah's radio
and television stations expressed support for the attacks.
Suicide Bombing
Israel, Downtown Jerusalem, Zion Square
December 1, 2001
A Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up in the Ben Yehuda pedestrian
mall, an area crowded with teens at the late Saturday evening. He was
followed moments later and yards apart by another suicide bomber.
Less than 20 minutes later, after the arrival of emergency crews, a car
bomb exploded only half a block away. At least 12 people died, more than
170 were injured (11 of them critically).
Airplane Crash
Switzerland, Bassersdorf, Zurich International Airport
2001 November 23
A Cossair Avro RJ100
(a 4-engine, 97-passenger plane, manufactured in 1996 by Britain's BEA
Service Group) flight enroute from Berlin, Germany crashed during landing
approach in darkness and bad weather about 3 miles away from the airport;
24 of the 33 people (5 crew, 28 passengers) died; 5 were hospitalized
with severe injuries.
Airplane Crash/Ground Collision
Italy, Milan, Linate Airport
2001 October 8
At 8:10 a.m. local
time SAS Flight 686, a MD-87 passenger jet, slammed into a twin-engine
Cessna Citation II during takeoff in heavy fog and poor visibility.
The SAS plane, bound for Copenhagen, carrying 104 passengers, six crew members and a full tank of fuel, was accelerating for takeoff when it hit the Cessna. The Cessna carrying four people, entered the same takeoff runway after having been directed by air traffic control to taxi to a different runway.
After the collision the MD-87 then hit a baggage handling depot and caught on fire. Access to the cabin of the burning jetliner was made difficult because the plane hit a cement beam as it plowed into the baggage storage building, causing the roof to collapse. Rescue crews had to use a crane to lift the roof off.
The Cessna was destroyed by the fire and collision.
The Cessna had stopped in Milan while en route from Cologne, Germany to Paris.
All
114 people aboard both planes and 5 workers on the ground died.
Nightly Fire in the
Mah-Jongg Gambling Club in the 3rd. floor of building that contained numerous
restaurants and red-light establishments; the windowless structure located
in a busy entertaiment district was crowded and the stairways are described
as extremely narrow; at least 44 people died, 3 were injured.
Terrorism Bombing
Tel Aviv
June 1, 2001
suicide bomb attack in front
of a crowded beach discotheque on a late Friday evening, 19 people were
killed, 115 young people were injured.
Collapse
of a Banquet Hall
2001 June 25th
Israel, Jerusalem
A
floor of a multi-story banquet hall in West Jerusalem collapsed
during a wedding dance, attended by approximately 650 people.
At at least 23 people died and 309 were injured in this worst
civil disaster in Israel which is suspected to be caused by
faulty construction.
Train crash
2001 March 27th
Belgium, Pecrot (east of Brussels):
An empty train traveling at about 55 mph on the wrong tracks collided head-on with a crowded commuter train; at least 8 people died, 9 were injured; the driver of the empty two-carriage train neglected a red signal; an automatic system to avoid such accidents but the system is not yet fully operational.
Train crash
2001 March 17th.
USA, Iowa, Corning:
An Amtrak 'California Zephyr' train, enroute from Chicago to California with 195 passengers and 15 crew members derailed on a straightaaway between the communities of Brooks and Nodaway, about 70 miles southwest of Des Moines, IA. Nine cars were involved in the accident that occurred at 11.40 p.m. in chilly weather (28 degress Fahrenheit). Access to the site in a very rural area was limited, because the closest road was one mile away.
Fire/Rescue/EMS and Law Enforcement agencies from different counties responded. Three critically injured people were transported by helicopter, one to a hospital in Omaha, Nebraska, and two to a hospital in Des Moines. Uninjured passengers were taken to a community center in Nodaway, Iowa, where Amtrak was arranging for shelter and alternate transportation.
One person was killed and 90 others were injured.
Industrial Catastrophe
2001 March 15th.
Brazil, offshore Campos Basin:
3 explosions at the world's biggest offshore oil platform, a 40-stroy rig owned by Petrobas and located in the Roncador oil fields, 80 miles offshore, 10 people are presumed dead, around 165 were able to evacuate to a neighboring platform.
Business Impact: The P-36 rig can produce up to 180,000 barrels of crude oil per day. All production was halted. The company might lose $50 million a month with the rig out of operation. Blue-chip Petrobras stock tumbled 6.7 percent to 50.40. The United Oil Workers Federation (FUP) accused the company of putting its workers at risk through cost and personnel cuts. According to union leaders some 81 workers have died in accidents over the last three years, in the last year and a half, 13 workers have been killed in 50 accidents in the Campos Basin alone.
The company has also suffered from a series of highly publicized oil spills in the last couple of years, including an environmental disaster in Rio de Janeiro's picturesque bay. The company has announced heavy investments in safety and measures to protect the environment. Campos Basin accounts for around 80 percent of Brazil's oil output. Petrobras lost its oil exploration monopoly in 1997, but remains the only company producing oil in Brazil.
Plane Hijack
2001 March 15th-16th
Turkey, Istanbul Airport - Saudi Arabia, Medina Airport:
A Vnukovo Airlines Tupolew Tu-154 was seized by three Chechnyan hijackers shortly after it took off from Istanbul scheduled to fly to Moscow. The plane, with at least 174 people on board was flown to Medina, were about 60 passengers were released. During the hijack attempt in Istanbul 1 person was injured and taken to a hospital and the plane dropped 10,000 feet in altitude as a passenger fought with hijackers near the entrance to the cockpit.
After 18 hours of unsuccessful negotiations at Medina Airport Saudi Arabian special forces stormed the plane still on the tarmac. 162 passengers and 12 crew on board were freed, but 3 people - a hijacker, a passenger and a flight attendant -- died during the combat operation.
High-Rise Building Fire
2001 March 10th
California, Los Angeles, Century City
A fire started on Saturday afternoon in a restaurant in the basement of the 21-story Office Building at 1888 Century Park East; despite delayed fire notification, dozens of people evacuated safely from the upper floors, that became filled with intense smoke. Nobody was injured and a massive response of the Los Angeles City Fire Department quickly extinguished the blaze and confined damage to the restaurant area.
You never know when it hits you:
Emergency & Disaster Management is located in the 19th. floor of the building
School Shooting
2001 March 5th.
U.S., California, Santee, Santana High School:
a 15-year-old student opened fire with a handgun, 13 people were injured, 2 people died
Airplane Crash
2001, March 4th.
U.S., Georgia, Unadilla:
A Florida National Guard C-23 Sherpa aircraft traveling from Florida to Virginia crashed und burst into flames around 10 a.m. near Unadilla, a town in central Georgia. All 21 military personnel aboard, including the crew of three were killed.
Bridge Collapse
2001, March 4th.
Portugal, Castelo de Pavia:
A double-decker bus and two cars plunged into the swollen Douro river after a pillar supporting the
116-year-old bridge gave way. Estimated 70 people died when an 80-metre section collapsed.
Airplane Crash
2001, March 3rd.
Thailand, Bangkok Airport:
A Thai Airways Boeing 737 was destroyed at the gate by fire 35 minutes before
it was scheduled to take off. Five members of the cabin crew were the only
ones on board the aircraft at the time. Most of the 148 passengers were waiting
to board. One member of the cabin crew died, seven other aviation workers were
injured. The prime minister of Thailand was also scheduled to board this plane.
Passenger Train Crash
2001, February 28th.
U.K., Yorkshire, near Selby:
a Land Rover hauling another car on a flat-bed trailer crashed onto the railway
line and was then hit by a high-speed passenger train, which in turn derailed
into the path of a freight train; at least 10 people died and approximately
70 were injured.
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Earthquake
2001 January 13th.
Central America, El Salvador:
7.6 magnitude earthquake; at least 600 people died and approximately
2,000 were injured; more than 45,000 buildings are damaged or destroyed;
over 600 houses are buried by massive mudslides, triggered by the quake,
the worst one in Santa Tecla, close to the capitol city San Salvador.
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Dance Hall Fire
January 1st, 2001
Netherlands, near Amsterdam, town of Volendam:
Fire in a Dance Hall; ten people are dead and about 130 injured after fire swept through a cafe packed with teenagers. Many of the injured were hurt as they trampled each other, smashed windows and leapt from the third-floor premises to escape flames and smoke. Several other youngsters suffered severe burns or smoke inhalations, and about 20 of these victims had to be taken to special burn centers in Belgium and Germany.
The fire started shortly after midnight as about 700 people were heralding the new year at the bar/cafe complex "Het Hemeltje" (Little Heaven) inside a row of old wooden houses in Volendam, a picturesque fishing village with 18,000 residents about 20 kilometres (13 miles) northeast of Amsterdam.
The cause of the blaze is still unknown; the possibilities of fireworks smuggled into the building or a Christmas lights short-circuit that ignited pine branches are under investigation.
According to press reports Voldendam's mayor has confirmed that only one of the three emergency exits was accessible.
Dance Hall Fire
2000 December 25th.
China,
Central Henan province, City of Luoyang:
The fire in a Dance
Hall in the multi-story Dongdu commercial building started at
9:30 p.m. and trapped construction workers on the second and
third floor and more than 200 people in a dance hall on the
fourth floor; The fire was extinguished three hours later at
12:45 a.m. but in the meantime at least 309 people died and
dozens became injured.
Cable-Train Tunnelfire
2000 November 11
Austria, Kaprun, Kitzstein:
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Airplane crash
2000 October 31
Taiwan, Taipei, Chiang Kai-Shek Airport:
A Singapore Airlines Boeing 747-400 bound for Los Angeles,
California, with 179 people aboard (20 crew and 159 passengers),
crashed during takeoff on the tarmac at 11.18 p.m. local time
in severe weather condition. 80 people died, 99 persons survived,
many of them sustaining injuries.
Nightclub Fire
2000, October 20
Mexico - Mexico City, Lobohombo nightclub:
A blaze at 5 a.m.
in one the city's most popular night clubs killed at least 20
people. 27 others suffered mostly critical injuries. Survivors
said they were blocked from leaving the burning building by
disco personnel who insisted they pay their bills first. The
blaze killed 20, and injured two dozen more.
Patrons panicked when smoke began filling the disco, and began
scrambling to escape out the club's only exit. The 4,700 square
feet club had a capacity for more than 1,000 people, but the
building had no emergency exits.
Flood Northern Italy / Switzerland
October, 2000
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Concorde Airplane Crash
France, near Paris
July 25, 2000
An Air France Concorde, Flight
AF 4590, en route to New York City crashed at 1444 GMT, 4:44
p.m. local time into a hotel in the town of Gonesse, near Paris
shortly after takeoff from Charles de Gaulle airport. All 109
aboard the chartered flight and at least four people on the
ground died when the Concorde went down in the town of Gonesse,
about 10 miles (15 km) north of Paris.
Eyewitnesses said the aircraft
was not able to gain sufficient altitude before it crashed.
They said the Concorde had reached an altitude of about 200
feet before flames started shooting from a left-side engine.
It is the first time a Concorde jet crashed since the plane
went into service in 1969. 13 of the needle-nosed supersonic
jets are operated by Air France and British Airways.
On January 29, 2000 a Concorde aircraft made an emergency landing
this year, a Concorde aircraft made an emergency landing when
one of four engines had shut down as it approached Heathrow.
On the very next day, January 30, 2000, again at London's Heathrow
Airport the supersonic jet made an emergency landing after a
cockpit alarm had sounded, warning of a fire in the rear cargo
hold, but engineers found no problem.
On July 24, 2000, British Airways said it had found cracks in
the wings of some of its seven Concorde planes, but said there
was no danger to passengers.
Nevertheless, the Concorde, which crosses the Atlantic at 1,350
mph at nearly 60,000 feet, has been considered among the world's
safest planes.
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India, Eastern State of Bihar,
Patna Airport
Airplane Crash
July 17, 2000
An Indian Alliance Air passenger
plane carrying 52 passengers and six crew overshot the runway,
crashed into a row of houses and caught fire.
The plane continued to burn approximately two hours after the
accident. Some men reportedly grabbed a hose and tried to douse
the flames. It is reported that no bodies or ambulances could
be seen, and that a crowd scrambled over and around the wreckage.
Amid the chaotic scene, officials tried to look for survivors
and retrieve bodies.
There are no reports of survivors.
Two planes nearly collided on
a runway
USA, New York, La Guardia Airport
June 12, 2000
A near-collision occurred between a US Airways Shuttle jetliner
and a corporate turboprop at New York's LaGuardia Airport on
a runway intersection at 12:18 a.m.
An air traffic controller had cleared the turboprop to take
off as the Airbus A320 was landing. The planes missed each other
by 100 to 300 feet. "The US Airways aircraft rolled through
the intersection of the two runways as the turboprop was overhead."
The incident, made public Monday June 19, by The Washington
Post, should have been reported within three hours to federal
authorities, according to the FAA. Controllers are supposed
to report operational errors, including near-collisions, even
if they are unsure if the incident fits the definition of an
operational error.
Instead, the FAA didn't learn about it until Thursday June 15,
when the US Airways pilot filed a report.
This is the third time in two years that controllers at this
busy New York airport have failed to report a near-collision
to the FAA. Two of those mishaps, including last week's incident,
involved the same controller, the newspaper reported, citing
unidentified sources.
The unidentified controller, who was not identified, was decertified
and retrained after a similar incident December 2, 1998, in
which a US Airways Boeing 737 was cleared to land on a runway
already occupied by a King Air twin turboprop. The 737 landed
after going directly over the turboprop, missing it by an estimated
50 feet.
The National Transportation Safety Board has sent an investigator
to LaGuardia to review the incident.
The NTSB has recommended new air traffic procedures to combat
near-collisions on U.S. runways and noted that there were at
least 320 runway incursions reported in 1999, up more than 70
percent from 1993.
Past Ground Collisions: February 1, 1991, Los Angeles:
while landing at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), a
Boeing 737 collided with a commuter plane on the runway. Both
planes entangled, went up in flames, and crashed into a vacant
building. 67 people survived, 34 died.
Luxembourg, Wasserbillig:
30-hour hostage drama in a child-care center
May 31 - June 1, 2000
On May 31st, a 40-year-old man
walked into a Luxembourg child care center carrying a revolver,
a grenade, and a knife. For 28 hours he held hostage 25 children,
ranging in age from 4 to 7, and three teachers.
The standoff began on Wednesday
afternoon, May 31st, in Wasserbillig, a small town of 2,500
residents. The man, who had a history of mental illness, entered
the facility, which houses a pre-school, a day-care center for
babies, and after-school care for older children, and took about
40 children and teachers hostage. He released a number of children
on Wednesday night and on Thursday, June 1st.
The attacker demanded a car and a plane to fly to Libya, and
asked to talk to a psychiatrist, who arrived on the scene. The
psychiatrist helped the police develop a profile of the man.
On Thursday afternoon, police lured the hostage taker out of
the child-care center with the promise of a television interview.
Wanting to address a worldwide audience with his grievances,
the man came outside behind a human shield of children and teachers
where he faced a television camera, which in fact hid a firearm.
Police officers dressed in jackets bearing the Radio Television
Luxembourg logo, carrying the gun hidden in the camera, approached
the center. Because of the subterfuge by the authorities, the
attacker was the only person seriously injured in the entire
incident.
Violent crimes are rare in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg that
lies near Belgium, Germany, and France, and has a population
of barely 400,000. The crime rate is so low that there has been
recent discussion of closing the country's only prison, because
it was standing empty.
The rapid end to the hostage crisis brought an outburst of joy
and relief as police radioed to the parents that their children
were safe.
Explosion, Netherland, Enschede
2000 May
13, Netherlands, Enschede Explosion at a firecracker manufactoring
plant at least 20 people were killed and estimated 150
injured; parts of the city are destroyed by fire and explosion
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Tornado USA Texas
2000 March 28th. Tornado, USA, Texas, Fort Worth: caused severe damage in the downtown area, business impact i.e., windows were blown out of the 35-story Bank One Tower and on nearly every floor of the eight-story Cash America International Building, which houses offices of the FBI and Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, a restaurant on the top floor of the building was destroyed, roofs of other buildings were torn off, trees were uprooted, power and telephone lines were downed and traffic signals were rendered useless, the area had to be sealed of for days; more than 100 people were injured, 3 died
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