Two Planes Crash In Separate Incidents Killing Both Pilots In New Zealand

Two pilots have been killed in separate glider-related crashes on Sunday.

In the first, a Christchurch pilot was killed after his light aircraft crashed and caught fire near Springfield following a glider towing operation.

Police have named the man as Martin Lowen, 55, who is believed to be the sole occupant of the aircraft.

His aircraft crashed near Springfield, inland from Christchurch, about midday.

“Shortly before the crash the aircraft was towing a glider up from a nearby airfield. The glider landed safely,” police said in a statement.

About 4pm, the pilot of a glider was killed after their aircraft crashed on a farm in the Drury Hills, south of Auckland.

The glider had launched from the Auckland Gliding Club’s private airfield at Drury about two hours earlier.

Police are yet to notify the next of kin.

Police and the Transport Accident Investigation Commission are investigating both crashes.

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Light Plane Crashes Amid Bad Weather In Eastern Indonesia, Killing 4 People

A light aircraft crashed Sunday in bad weather in eastern Indonesia and burst into flames, killing four people on board, a government official said.

The Piper PA-34 Seneca owned by PT Intan Angkasa Air Service took off Sunday from Sentani town of Papua province and crashed into a paddy field near a housing complex in Tual on the Molucca Islands, said Indonesia’s transport ministry spokesman Bambang Ervan. There were four Indonesian crewmembers aboard.

Ervan said a pilot, a technician and two ground staffers of the company on their way to Surabaya city on the country’s main island of Java, for a routine inspection of the U.S.-made twin engine plane.

He said the pilot made a contact with the control tower minutes before the crash, but did not indicate any problems when asking to land to refuel in the Tual airport during heavy downpours.

The bodies of the four men were recovered from the charred wreckage Sunday afternoon and authorities were investigating the cause of the crash.

Indonesia, a sprawling archipelagic nation of 240 million, has been plagued by transportation accidents in recent years. Overcrowding, aging infrastructure and poor safety standards are often to blame.

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Small Plane Crashes At Winchester Airport, Virginia, USA

A small plane has crashed at the Winchester Regional Airport.

 

Frederick County Dispatchers say a call came in from the airport around 12:13 Sunday afternoon for a small plane that had crashed.

 

We’re told at least two people were on that plane. Dispatchers say there are no reports of injuries.

 

Virginia State Police are handling the accident. We have a call into them for more information on how that plane came down.

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Hailstorm Damages Crop In Vidisha, Hoshangabad, India

It was yet another day of dense fog in Bhopal on Saturday. Winter rain also occurred in other parts of the state. The weatherman has forecast more fog on Sunday morning.

 

The blanket of dense fog reduced visibility to 50 metres in Bhopal in morning. Besides, hailstorms in many places, including Vidisha and Hoshangabad, resulted in crop loss.

 

The met office has also issued a warning of hailstorm in some parts of districts of Rewa, Shahdol, Jabalpur and Sagar during next 24 hours. Weatherman said rain is also likely in the same region.

 

The places that experienced rain between Friday evening and Saturday evening included Khajuraho, Umaria and Damoh 40 mm each, Rewa, Satna, Sagar and Naogaon 30 mm each, Tikamgarh 20 mm and 10 mm each was recorded in Raisen, Sidhi, Narsingarh and Seoni while a total of 1.0 mm rain was recorded in Bhopal city.

 

The changed weather condition led to a decline in day temperatures. The temperatures in 4 main cities- Bhopal, Indore, Gwalior and Jabalpur ranged between 21.9 degrees celsius and 7.9 degrees celsius.

 

The maximum temperature in Bhopal was recorded at 21.9 (-3) degrees celsius against a minimum temperature of 11.6 (+2) degrees celsius. In Indore, maximum temperature was recorded at 20.8 (-5) degrees celsius and the minimum at 7.9 (-2) degrees celsius.

 

Gwalior recorded a maximum temperature of 15.8 (-6) degrees celsius and a minimum temperature of 13.2 (+7) degrees celsius. The maximum and minimum temperatures in Jabalpur were recorded at 21.4 (-4) degrees celsius and 17.2 (+7) degrees celsius, respectively.

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MAGNITUDE 5.1 – NEAR N COAST OF PAPUA, INDONESIA

http://www.emsc-csem.org/Earthquake/earthquake.php?id=354189

Subject To Change

Depth: 12 km

Distances: 1106 km NW of Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea / pop: 283,733 / local time: 01:57:57.0 2014-01-20
77 km W of Jayapura, Indonesia / pop: 134,895 / local time: 00:57:57.0 2014-01-20
66 km W of Abepura, Indonesia / pop: 62,248 / local time: 00:57:57.0 2014-01-20

MAGNITUDE 5.0 – NEW BRITAIN REGION, P.N.G.

http://www.emsc-csem.org/Earthquake/earthquake.php?id=354192

Subject To Change

Depth: 84 km

Distances: 456 km NE of Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea / pop: 283,733 / local time: 01:54:40.0 2014-01-20
97 km SW of Kimbe, Papua New Guinea / pop: 18,847 / local time: 01:54:40.0 2014-01-20
39 km NW of Kandrian, Papua New Guinea / pop: 1,014 / local time: 01:54:40.0 2014-01-20

MAGNITUDE 4.3 – TAJIKISTAN

http://www.emsc-csem.org/Earthquake/earthquake.php?id=354193

Subject To Change

Depth: 7 km

Distances: 139 km NE of Dushanbe, Tajikistan / pop: 543,107 / local time: 20:48:31.9 2014-01-19
111 km N of Mŭminobod, Tajikistan / pop: 11,955 / local time: 20:48:31.9 2014-01-19
11 km NE of Novobod, Tajikistan / pop: 5,352 / local time: 20:48:31.9 2014-01-19

MAGNITUDE 4.9 – STATE OF YAP, MICRONESIA

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/usb000m4a3#summary

Subject To Change

Depth: 34 km

Distances: 53km (33mi) S of Yap, Micronesia
447km (278mi) ENE of Koror Town, Palau
873km (542mi) SW of Tamuning-Tumon-Harmon Village, Guam
873km (542mi) WSW of Mangilao Village, Guam
881km (547mi) WSW of Dededo Village, Guam

MAGNITUDE 5.0 – NORTH INDIAN OCEAN

http://www.emsc-csem.org/Earthquake/earthquake.php?id=354133

Subject To Change

Depth: 2 km

Distances: 830 km W of Medan, Indonesia / pop: 1,750,971 / local time: 14:17:10.0 2014-01-19
624 km SW of Banda Aceh, Indonesia / pop: 250,757 / local time: 14:17:10.0 2014-01-19

MAGNITUDE 4.2 – HUNGARY

http://www.emsc-csem.org/Earthquake/earthquake.php?id=354084

Subject To Change

Depth: 5 km

Distances: 64 km NE of Budapest, Hungary / pop: 1,696,128 / local time: 02:34:34.0 2014-01-19
31 km W of Salgótarján, Hungary / pop: 39,640 / local time: 02:34:34.0 2014-01-19
10 km SE of Balassagyarmat, Hungary / pop: 17,541 / local time: 02:34:34.0 2014-01-19