Asiana Airlines Boeing 777 crashes at San Francisco airport

At 2:36 p.m. EDT Saturday, Asiana Airlines Flight 214, a Boeing 777 arriving from Seoul, South Korea, crashed while landing on runway 28L at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) in California. Representatives from the Federal Aviation Administration are investigating the accident.

Officials from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) are already gathering information on the crash, a "Go Team" is being sent to the scene, the agency reported on Twitter.

David Eun, a passenger on the Asiana flight, reported on Twitter, “I just crash landed at SFO. Tail ripped off. Most everyone seems fine. I'm OK. Surreal. Fire and rescue people all over the place. They're evacuating the injured. Haven't felt this way since 9/11. Lots of activity here. Friends, please don't call right now. I'm fine. Most people are totally calm.”

Los Angeles International Airport officials report, "Due to the accident at SFO, some flights scheduled to land at SFO are being diverted to LAX. Please contact airline for details."

Air traffic control communications with Asiana Airlines flight 214, click here.

Frontier Airlines reports, "Due to the unfortunate incident at SFO, the airport is closed and our flights today have been canceled. Please call reservations to rebook."

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DCNewsroom most popular posts June 2013

1.) First KC-46A tanker aircraft taking shape at Boeing - Boeing workers in Everett, Wash. loaded a wing spar for the first U.S. Air Force KC-46A aerial refueling tanker, starting production of that aircraft and achieving another milestone toward delivering 179 tankers during the next 14 years. [Full post]

2.) Plane crashes into water near Ocean City, Md. - Local boaters contacted the U.S. Coast Guard in Hampton Roads at approximately 4 p.m. EDT on June 30 reporting that a plane had crashed approximately 500 yards offshore of Ocean City, Md. [Full post]

3.) Third UK F-35 arrives at Eglin Air Force Base - The third LockheedMartin F-35B Short Takeoff/Vertical Landing (STOVL) Lightning II for the United Kingdom arrived at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., in June where it will be used for pilot and maintainer training. [Full post]

4.) NASA launch will produce lithium gas clouds in clear skies - NASA made several attempts throughout June to launch two sounding rockets from Wallops Flight Facility, Va. The rockets finally launched on the morning of July 4. [Full post]

5.) Leasing company takes delivery of its first Boeing 787 - The Boeing Company, International Lease Finance Corp. (ILFC) and Norwegian celebrated several milestones in June during a delivery ceremony for a new 787 Dreamliner. It was the first 787 delivered to ILFC and its lessee, Norwegian, which will operate the airplane. The 787 also marked the 700th airplane Boeing delivered to ILFC. [Full post]

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Air Force meets with industry to discuss Alaska Radar System contract

The Air Force 673rd Contracting Squadron and the 611th Air Support Group at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson (JBER), Alaska, will host a Site Visit next month for companies interested in bidding on the operations and maintenance contract for the Alaska Radar System (ARS). The Site Visit will be held on Aug. 7, followed by an Industry Day meeting Aug. 8.

ARS provides Alaska airspace surveillance, intercept control, and navigational assistance to military and civilian aircraft.

During the Site Visit, personnel will be transported from JBER to remote radar sites located at either Point Barrow or Tatalina, with alternate sites at Tin City or Cape Newenham. Transportation to and from the remote sites will be with the 537th Airlift Squadron via military aircraft.

The 611th Air Support Group will present information on their requirements at the Industry Day meeting. All contractors who are interested as a prime, teaming arrangement, or subcontracting role are encouraged to investigate opportunities at this event. Forty-five minute, one-on-one, contractor capabilities presentations may be scheduled on a first-come basis. Participation is highly encouraged for all small business enterprises.

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Missile defense test fails to intercept target

The U.S. military is launching an extensive review of their missile defense system to determine why a flight test on Friday failed to intercept a target over the Pacific Ocean.

The Missile Defense Agency conducted an integrated exercise and flight test Friday of the Ground-based Midcourse Defense element of the nation's Ballistic Missile Defense System. “Although a primary objective was the intercept of a long-range ballistic missile target launched from the U.S. Army's Reagan Test Site on Kwajalein Atoll, Republic of the Marshall Islands, an intercept was not achieved,” the Department of Defense said in a press release. The interceptor missile was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. “Program officials will conduct an extensive review to determine the cause or causes of any anomalies which may have prevented a successful intercept.”

The Air Force 30th Space Wing, Joint Functional Component Command, Integrated Missile Defense and U.S. Northern Command participated in the test.

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2013 Wings Over North Georgia air show

The Black Diamond Jet Demonstration and AeroStars Aerobatic Flight Teams will take to the North Georgia skies above the Richard B. Russell Regional Airport in Rome, Ga., on Oct. 12-13 as headliners for the 2013 Wings Over North Georgia air show.

Some other amazing performers include the Lucas Oil Airshow team featuring Mike Wiskus. Also performing with Mike is the exciting three-man Lucas Oil Parachute Demonstration Team featuring Nick Halseth, the lead jumper from Buffalo, Minn., Luke Evans from Hopkins, Minn., and Ryan Albrecht from Belle Plaine, Minn.

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Coast Guard searching for two people near Coney Island Creek

Members from the U.S. Coast Guard along with several local agencies are searching for one man and one woman near Coney Island Creek, N.Y.

Coast Guard officials at Sector New York, in Staten Island, N.Y., were contacted by the New York Police Department (NYPD), at approximately 8 p.m. EDT Thursday, reporting that a woman had gone missing while riding on a personal watercraft with a man. The woman fell from the watercraft and the man went missing after attempting to retrieve her. The two people were last seen in the water by two duty police officers and one off duty Coast Guard member, who witnessed the event and were the first on scene.

A rescue boat crew from Coast Guard Station New York, Fire Department New York marine units, and members of the NYPD marine, aviation and land units are all assisting in the search for the two people.

[UPDATE - 3:01 p.m. EDT] - New York police recovered two people from Coney Island Creek on Friday. [source: ABC News] The two people were recovered not wearing life jackets.

“This is a very unfortunate incident which further stresses the importance of water safety and of wearing your life jacket, especially while riding a jet ski,” said Lt. j.g. Alfred Betts, a Coast Guard Sector New York command duty officer.

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NASA launches rockets to study electrical currents in ionosphere

Two suborbital rockets were successfully launched 15 seconds apart Thursday morning from the NASA Wallops Flight Facility as part of a study of electrical currents in the ionosphere.

The launch of the Black Brant V at 10:31:25 a.m. EDT and the Terrier-Improved Orion at 10:31:40 were part of the Daytime Dynamo experiment, a joint project between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.

The project is designed to study a global electrical current called the dynamo, which sweeps through the ionosphere. The first rocket carried a payload that collected data on the neutral and charged particles in the ionosphere. The second rocket released a long trail of lithium gas to track how the upper atmospheric wind varies with altitude. These winds are believed to be the drivers of the dynamo currents.

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