• Two bodies found at US plane crash site in Kyrgyzstan, third crew member still missing

    An American military tanker refueling plane has crashed in the rugged mountains of Kyrgyzstan. NBCNews.com's Dara Brown reports.

    By Olga Dzyubenko, Reuters

    BISHKEK - Remains of two bodies have been found in the wreckage of a U.S. military plane that crashed in Kyrgyzstan, and authorities are still looking for a third person who was on board, officials said.

    The refueling plane exploded in mid air when its cargo of fuel ignited on its way to Afghanistan on Friday, accident investigators said.

    Experts were still trying to work out what led up to the crash, said Kuvan Mamakeev, the Kyrgyz state prosecutor responsible for investigating transport crimes and accidents.

    "It could be because of the fuel, because of the engine, the weather conditions or the human factor," he told Reuters.

    Remains of the two bodies were found on Saturday, and a third person on board was still unaccounted for, Kyrgyzstan's Minister of Emergency Situations, Kubatbek Boronov, added.

    The Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker took off from the U.S. military transit centre at Kyrgyzstan's Manas airport, which U.S. forces maintain for operations in Afghanistan, with around 70 tonnes of fuel on board, a local ministry official said.

    The wreckage of the plane was scattered over about a 3-mile area in a mountainous area near the Kyrgyz village of Chaldovar, the official added.

    Related:

    US military refueling plane crashes in Kyrgyzstan, Pentagon says

    Officials: Seven died in US cargo plane crash in Afghanistan

    Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.

  • Officials: Seven died in US cargo plane crash in Afghanistan

    Officials say video appears to show a cargo plane that crashed in Afghanistan on Monday, killing seven people. Warning: Some viewers may find this video disturbing.

    By Kiko Itasaka and Akbar Shinwari, NBC News

    KABUL, Afghanistan — Seven people were killed when a U.S.-run civilian cargo plane crashed shortly after takeoff at Bagram Airfield outside of Kabul, officials said on Tuesday.

    A spokesman for NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) added that the cause of Monday's crash was unknown, but dismissed Taliban claims of responsibility, saying there were no reports of "enemy activity" around the base.

    ISAF did not release details on the nationalities of those killed, referring questions to National Air Cargo, the company running the flight.

    National Air Cargo officials were not immediately available for comment. 

    Slideshow: Afghanistan: Nation at a crossroads

    Anja Niedringhaus / AP

    More than ten years after the beginning of the war, Afghanistan faces external pressure to reform as well as ongoing internal conflicts.

    Launch slideshow

    The Taliban claimed in a statement on Monday that it had shot down an American plane. It said the alleged downing of the plane was part of its spring offensive, which began Sunday and which the Taliban pledged would be "monumental.”

    On Monday, ISAF's Lt. Quenton Roehricht said the plane had crashed "very shortly" after taking off at about 3 p.m. local time (6:30 a.m. ET).

    The cargo plane crash came two days after four U.S. service members were killed when their surveillance aircraft in southern Afghanistan went down in bad weather. 

    NBC News' F. Brinley Bruton and Reuters contributed to this report.

    Related:

    The Taliban has issued a warning that it will increase attacks on foreign military forces in Afghanistan. NBC's Ron Mott reports.

     

  • Survivors float in ocean for 8 hours after Peru balloon crash; 2 missing

    Two men are missing at sea after a hot air balloon crashed in the Pacific Ocean. Five women passengers were found alive. NBCNews.com's Dara Brown reports.

    By Terry Wade, Reuters

    LIMA, Peru -- Five people were rescued and two were missing on Sunday after a hot air balloon plunged into the chilly waters off the coast of Peru, officials said.

    Reuters

    A passenger of a hot air balloon that crashed in the sea off Peru is rescued by a Peruvian Navy helicopter on Sunday.

    A police helicopter and navy boats helped pull five women out of the Pacific Ocean after searching for them for eight hours. They were taken to a hospital for treatment.

    Two men were still missing, Interior Minister Wilfredo Pedraza told local media.

    "I hope we can find them as soon as possible. The two are still missing. We only know that one of them tried to swim ashore. The search will continue, even through the night, until they are found," he told RPP radio without saying what caused the mishap.

    The red and white balloon, carrying six passengers and a pilot, crashed near Canete, about 60 miles south of Lima, the capital. Local media indicated that all those aboard were Peruvians.

     

     

    Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.

  • Plane skids off runway into ocean on Indonesian island of Bali

    A passenger jet skidded off the runway into the ocean while attempting to land on the Indonesian resort island of Bali on Saturday, local officials said. NBC's Annabel Roberts reports.

    By Marian Smith, Staff Writer, NBC News

    A passenger jet skidded off the runway into the ocean while attempting to land on the Indonesian resort island of Bali on Saturday, local officials said.


    "The aircraft was from Bandung, West Java, and about to land in Bali Ngurah Rai Airport but it probably failed to reach the runway and fell into the sea," Lion Air spokesman Edward Sirait said according to Reuters.

    All 108 passengers and crew members survived, the company and the government said according to Reuters. Forty people were treated for broken legs, shock, and other injuries, but only four were admitted to a hospital, according to officials.

    The plane stopped in shallow waters at least 650 feet past the end of the runway, Indonesian media reported. Local TV footage showed the plane with slightly ruptured fuselage floating in the water. People in life vests were also visible in the water.

    Seven crew members and 101 passengers were aboard the plane, Sirait said.

    Multiple pictures of the crippled plane circulated on Twitter.

    "There was no sign at all it would fall but then suddenly it dropped into the water," passenger Tantri Widiastuti, 60, told Metro TV. "I saw holes in the floor of the plane ... we were evacuated quickly." 

    An investigation is under way, and the National Transportation Safety Board said it was sending a team to the site.

    Reuters reported that Lion Air is a popular budget airline in Indonesia, which has a poor airline safety record.

    NBC News' Matthew DeLuca and Reuters contributed to this report.

    This story was originally published on Sat Apr 13, 2013 5:05 AM EDT

  • Airmen plucked from sea after Navy jet crashes near carrier

    Lt. Cmdr. Josh Hammond / U.S. Navy via Reuters

    Two F/A-18 Super Hornets, like the one that crashed Monday, are shown flying above the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise in October 2012.

    By John Newland, Staff Writer, NBC News

    A U.S. Navy fighter jet crashed into the northern Arabian Sea on Monday when an engine failed, but both crew members safely ejected, the military said.

    The F-18 Super Hornet was flying near the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier when it lost power, the Navy said. 

    The unnamed airmen, members of Strike Fighter Squadron 103, based in Virginia Beach, Va., bailed out in time to come down safely in the water.

    Helicopter based search-and-rescue swimmers were able to pull the airmen from the water and bring them safely back aboard the ship, the Navy said.

    An investigation into the engine failure and crash is under way, officials said.

    The Eisenhower, part of the 5th Fleet and based in Norfolk Va., is on duty to provide maritime security in the Middle East, the Navy said.

    The air unit, whose planes carry a skull and crossbones logo on their tails, is better known by some as the Jolly Rogers.

    NBC News' Jim Miklaszewski and Courtney Kube contributed to this report.

    Related:

    US pilot killed in F-16 crash in Afghanistan

    US surveillance drone approached by Iranian fighter jet

  • Five US troops killed in helicopter crash, officials say

    The helicopter went down in bad weather and officials say it appeared to be an accident and not the result of enemy fire. NBC's Brian Williams reports.

    By Andrew Rafferty, Staff Writer, NBC News

    Five U.S. service members died Monday when a helicopter crashed in the Kandahar province of southern Afghanistan, officials said Tuesday.

    The cause of the crash was under investigation, but a statement from the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force said "there was no enemy activity in the area at the time of the incident."

    The names of the troops killed had not been released by U.S. officials Tuesday, but officials in the U.S. and Afghanistan said that all of those killed were American.

    The helicopter went down west of the city of Kandahar, in the Daman district, coalition and Afghan officials said.

    U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Les Carroll, an ISAF spokesman, said the incident happened in darkness.

    Earlier in the day, two U.S. service members and three Afghans were killed in a possible insider attack at a special forces site in Afghanistan. The gunman in that attack was dressed in an Afghan National Security Forces uniform.

    The attack, which occurred shortly after newly appointed Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel concluded his first trip to the country as head of the Pentagon, was just the latest in a string of bad news centered on the United States' relationship with Afghanistan.

    Hagel's trip was marked criticism from Afghan President Hamid Karzai over the U.S. role in the country and the cancellation of a joint press conference due to "security concerns."

    There have been 18 coalition deaths this year.

    NBC News' Jamieson Lesko, Courtney Kube and Jim Miklaszewski contributed to this report.

    Slideshow: Afghanistan: Nation at a crossroads

    Rahmat Gul / AP

    More than ten years after the beginning of the war, Afghanistan faces external pressure to reform as well as ongoing internal conflicts.

    Launch slideshow

    This story was originally published on Mon Mar 11, 2013 9:25 PM EDT

  • 19 tourists die as hot air balloon catches fire in Egypt

    While flying over the city of Luxor, a hot air balloon caught fire and plunged 1000 feet the ground, killing 19 people and injuring two. NBC's Brian Williams reports.

    By Ayman Mohyeldin, Charlene Gubash and John Newland, NBC News

    A hot air balloon carrying foreign tourists caught on fire while it was in the air near Egypt's ancient city of Luxor, killing 19 people, officials said Tuesday.

    During an aerial tour of Egypt's ancient Valley of the Kings, a hot air balloon exploded and fell to the ground in a fiery crash, killing multiple tourists on board. NBC's Ayman Mohyeldin reports.

    The blazing balloon crashed to the ground early Tuesday morning, Gen. Mamdough Khaled, director of security for Luxor Governorate said, according to initial reports.

    Khaled said that Luxor International Hospital had received 19 badly burned bodies. Health officials initially said 18 people died, but later said one injured person had succumbed to their injuries.

    Ahmed Aboud, who runs another balloon company and acts as a spokesman for balloon operators in the area, and Khaled said two people survived. Khaled said both were in critical condition.

    There were conflicting accounts of the accident itself.

    Aboud said that gas tanks caught fire and ignited the balloon at about 1,000 feet.

    But an eyewitness, who did not want to be identified, said the balloon was about 12 feet off the ground when a landing rope was thrown to people on the ground. As they grabbed it, the rope wrapped around a gas container, which broke and a fire then started, the witness said.

    People 'like balls of fire'
    The witness estimated the balloon then “shot up 500 meters" (1,640 feet) and the pilot "jumped out as it was going up.”


    “Eight people jumped and they were like balls of fire, some were alive when they landed, but then died on the ground, then the balloon went up and down again and swept along, then a second explosion occurred when another gas canister exploded,” he added.

    Another eyewitness told al-Jazeera television that the balloon was “like a fireball when it went up.”

    One Egyptian was killed, Health Minister Mohamed Mostafa Hamed told Reuters, listing the other victims as tourists from Japan, China, France, Britain and Hungary. Earlier, officials had said all the dead were foreigners. 

    A U.S. Embassy spokesperson said that no Americans were among the victims, citing information from local police.  

    Thomas Cook Group, a major British travel company, said four of its customers on a seven-day holiday had opted to go on the balloon ride and three had died. A fourth remained in a hospital Tuesday.

    "We recommend a number of suppliers" after vetting them, Thomas Cook spokeswoman Emma Staples said. "This one [the balloon company] would have been deemed a reputable supplier."

    Peter Fankhauser, Thomas Cook's chief executive, called the accident "a terrible tragedy" and said in a statement that the company was sending counseling teams to Luxor. It has stopped promoting and selling balloon flights there while an investigation is conducted, he added. 

    Konny Matthews, assistant manager of Luxor's Al Moudira hotel, told Reuters by phone that she heard a boom around 7 a.m. (12 a.m. ET).

    Courtesy Christopher Michel

    Hot air balloons take off near the ancient city of Luxor on Tuesday before the tragedy occurred.

    "It was a huge bang. It was a frightening bang, even though it was several kilometers away from the hotel," she added. "Some of my employees said that their homes were shaking." 

    A team of investigators was sent to Luxor, authorities said, and a moratorium was imposed on balloon flights. 

    The site of the accident has seen past crashes. In 2009, 16 tourists were injured when their balloon struck a cellphone transmission tower. A year earlier, seven tourists were injured in a similar crash.

    Egypt's tourism industry has been decimated since the 18-day uprising in 2011 against autocrat leader Hosni Mubarak and the political turmoil that followed and continues to this day.

    Luxor's hotels are currently about 25 percent full in what is supposed to be the peak of the winter season.

    Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

    Related:

    PhotoBlog: Hot air balloon crash kills 19 in Egypt


    This story was originally published on Tue Feb 26, 2013 2:22 AM EST

  • 22 die as passenger plane crashes in Kazakhstan, official says

    Shamil Zhumatov / Reuters

    Emergency and security personnel are seen through a heavy fog about 100 meters (328 feet) from the site of a plane crash near Almaty on Tuesday.

    By Dmitry Solovyov and Mariya Gordeyeva, Reuters

    ALMATY, Kazakhstan -- A passenger plane crashed near Kazakhstan's commercial capital of Almaty on Tuesday, news agencies quoted SCAT airline as saying.

    Twenty-two people were killed in the crash, Yuri Ilyin, deputy head of the emergencies department in Almaty, told Reuters from the scene of the crash near the village of Kyzyl Tu.

    The plane had been en route from the city of Kokshetau in northern Kazakhstan to Almaty in the southeast of the country when it crashed near the village of Kyzyl Tu, Interfax news agency said.

    Almaty and the surrounding area were veiled in thick fog on Tuesday.

    SCAT is based in Kazakhstan and operates extensive domestic services and some international flights.

    It was the second plane crash in the Central Asian country and former Soviet republic in just a over a month.

    On December 25, a military transport airplane crashed in bad weather near the southern Kazakh city of Shymkent, killing all 27 people on board.

    Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.

  • 'Like a little 9/11': Helicopter crash shows Londoners still fear terrorism

    A helicopter that collided with a construction crane and crashed onto the street killed two and injured nine others in a massive explosion. NBC's Brian Williams reports.

    By Michelle Kosinski, Correspondent, NBC News

    The helicopter crash in busy rush-hour London Wednesday was not terrorism-related. The chopper in fact struck a tall construction crane in heavy fog that left visibility in some areas near zero.


    But some people initially had that fear, particularly as it happened close to the MI6 building, Britain's spy headquarters.

    The pilot had requested to land at a different place to his originally intended destination.

    But Londoners, still very much on alert since the deadly July 7, 2005 bombings of trains and a bus, were immediately reminded of the scenes following those attacks — as well as the Sept. 11 attacks in the U.S.

    One commuter had just left a train station nearby, and said she had been looking up at the tops of buildings, marveling at the thickness of the fog that completely obscured them.

    At that moment, she said, she heard an explosion that sounded like a bomb, terrifying people in the area and sending them ducking for cover.

    Then she described what looked like a "meteor shower," with many pieces of fiery debris raining down onto the streets.

    Still upset as she talked to reporters, the woman said her first thought was that the city was under some sort of attack.

    "Like a little 9/11," she said.

    'Thought it was a bomb'
    Another witness said the same. He suspected the loud bang and resulting fire was likely the work of a terrorist, until word started circulating among commuters that a helicopter was involved.

    "I thought it was a bomb, I literally thought it was a bomb," he told reporters.

    One man said he saw the chopper land on top of a car, that also burst into flames.  Others saw several vehicles on fire.  Firefighters rescued one man from a burning car.

    Even after commuter Mark Louis Sidney realized there was a helicopter, crashed on the ground, he still suspected terrorism, wondering "Wait a minute, has this thing been shot out of the sky or what?"

    The London bombings in 2005 were traumatic, killing 52 people and the four bombers.  In some ways, the losses still seem fresh. 

    People still tell the stories of those who lost their lives by running a few minutes early or late that morning.  Or those who were spared by the same narrow margins.

    In the last few years, Londoners have also instinctively adhered to that common New York directive — "If you see something, say something" —  highly aware of their surroundings during the morning commute. To the point that any loud noise or commotion puts them on edge, looking for the nearest and best escape.

    Such would be the case, one would expect, in New York or any other city that has deeply experienced an attack.

    But this time, the culprit appears to be an old, old foe: London fog.

    Related links:
    Two die as helicopter hits crane, crashes on London street
    See photographs from the scene of the crash 

  • Two die as helicopter hits crane, crashes on London street

    A helicopter's pilot and a bystander on the ground was killed in central London this morning when it hit a crane and fell to the ground in a fiery crash. NBC's Michelle Kosinski reports.

    By Ian Johnston and Alastair Jamieson, NBC News

    LONDON — Two people were killed and nine others injured when a helicopter apparently hit a crane atop a skyscraper and then crashed on a street in the U.K. capital Wednesday morning, police said.

    The crash, which happened at 8 a.m. local time (3 a.m. ET) in the South Lambeth area of London, caused a large fire that badly damaged at least one car on the ground.

    "At this early stage, it appears the helicopter was in collision with a crane on the top of a building," a spokeswoman for London's Metropolitan Police said.

    She said that two people were "confirmed dead at the scene." One person was taken to a nearby hospital in a "critical condition," three others were taken to a hospital with minor injuries while five people were treated at the scene for minor injuries, she added.

    Police Commander Neil Basu told reporters that the pilot of the helicopter was killed in the crash.

    The helicopter struck St. George Wharf Tower, a 50-story residential block that is still under construction.

    In a message on Twitter, London Fire Brigade said they had "rescued a man from a burning car at the scene of the helicopter crash."

    In a statement on its website, the fire brigade said 60 firefighters, eight fire engines and four rescue vehicles were sent to the area.

    “Firefighters are also attending reports of a crane in a precarious position,” it added.

    A photograph posted on Twitter that purported to be of the scene showed an area of fire on a road with a large plume of smoke rising up.

    'Massive explosion'Craig Dunne, who was on his way to work at the time of the crash, told BBC News that there had been “a massive explosion.”

    “There were cars - three cars on fire - people screaming shouting and hollering, and the next thing I know there are police, ambulances and everything everywhere and people going crazy. It’s madness - absolute madness,” he added. He said the crane was “in pieces.”

    Robert Oxley, who was also near the site of the crash, told the U.K.'s Sky News that he could see the damage to the crane from the ground.

    "There a very low-hanging cloud which actually means you can barely see the top of the building ... I can see parts of the crane hanging down," he said.

    Weather Channel meteorologist Kevin Roth said that visibility in London ranged from near zero to 3 miles.

    The crash scene is close to the London Heliport, a commercial airbase on the south bank of the city’s River Thames.

    Related links:
    Get more coverage on this story from breakingnews.com

    See more photographs from the scene of the crash

  • Jet rolls off Moscow runway, splits apart

    A jet breaks into pieces after sliding off the runway at a Moscow airport. NBC's Kate Snow reports.

    By Alissa de Carbonnel, Reuters

    MOSCOW -- A Russian airliner split into pieces after it slid off the runway and crashed onto a highway outside Moscow on Saturday, killing at least four of the 12 crew on board and leaving smoking chunks of fuselage on the icy road.

    Television footage showed the Tupolev 204 jet, broken into pieces, with smoke billowing from the tail end and the cockpit broken clean off the front. 

    A man was thrown from the plane as it rammed into the barrier of the highway outside Vnukovo airport, one witness told the TV channel Rossiya-24.


    Another witness described pulling other people from the wreckage.

    "The plane split into three pieces," Yelena Krylova, chief spokeswoman for the airport, said in televised comments.

    An Emergency Services spokesman said four people died of injuries after the crash and four others were in hospital. Police said 12 crew members were on board, but no passengers.

    "The plane went off the runway, broke through the barrier and caught fire," police spokesman Gennady Bogachyov said.

    The mid-range Tu-204 was operated by the Russian airline Red Wings and was traveling from the Czech Republic, Krylova said.

    Rubble from the crash was scattered across the highway and the plane's wings were torn from the fuselage, witnesses said.

    Alexander Usoltsev / AP

    Rescuers work at the site of the plane crash at Moscow's Vnukovo airport on Saturday.

    "We saw how the plane skidded off the runway ... The nose, where business class is, broke off and a man fell out," said a witness, who gave his name as Alexei. "We helped him get into a mini-bus to take him to the hospital."

    Another witness described pulling four people from the wreckage when he arrived at the scene before emergency service workers. "We could not get the pilot out of the cockpit but we saw a lot of blood," he told Rossiya-24.

    Russian investigators said preliminary findings pointed to pilot error as the cause of the crash.

    Russia and other former Soviet republics had some of the world's worst air-traffic safety records last year, with a total accident rate almost three times the world average, the International Air Transport Association said.

    A passenger jet crashed and burst into flames after takeoff in Siberia in April, killing 31 people, and an airliner slammed into a riverbank in September 2011, wiping out the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl ice hockey team in a crash that killed 44 people.

    The Russian-built Tu-204, which is comparable in size to a Boeing 757 or Airbus A321, is a Soviet-era design that was produced in the mid-1990s but is no longer being made. There have no major accidents previously reported with Tu-204s.

    The crash during peak holiday travel ahead of Russia's New Year's vacation, which runs from Sunday through Jan. 9, cast a spotlight on Russia's poor air-safety record despite President Vladimir Putin's calls to improve controls. 

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    Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.

  • Two die as passenger jet lands in Myanmar rice field

    Stringer / Reuters

    Soldiers stand at the crash site of a Air Bagan plane in Myanmar, Tuesday.

    By NBC News staff and wire reports

    YANGON, Myanmar – A passenger jet missed an airport runway in heavy fog and landed in a rice paddy, killing two people on the ground and injuring 10, state television in Myanmar said Tuesday.

    The pilot of the Air Bagan plane touched down beyond Heho airport in Shan state, killing an 11-year-old passenger and a motorcyclist on the ground, MRTV said.

    Four foreigners and the pilot were among the injured. The plane was carrying 63 passengers, 51 of whom were foreigners. MRTV said.

    Air Bagan is one of five airlines operating domestic routes in Myanmar.

    Stringer / Reuters

    People gather at the crash site of a Air Bagan plane in Myanmar, Tuesday.

    Owned by Tay Za, a local tycoon blacklisted by the United States for his alleged links to former military regime, Air Bagan was the country's first privately run carrier when it was established in 2004.

    Agence France Press (AFP) reported that the aircraft - one of two Fokker-100s in the Air Bagan fleet - was forced to make an emergency landing two miles from Heho airport, which is the gateway to the popular tourist destination of Inle Lake.

    Reuters contributed to this report.

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