Air Crash, Train Crash, Solar Flight
Monday, July 8, 2013
Vol.2, No. 190
Air Crash: Two 16-year-old Chinese students died and 49 other people were seriously injured in the crash at San Francisco International yesterday morning. Most of the 307 passengers and crew escaped unharmed from the Asiana Airlines 777. The plane told the tower it was in trouble as it approached for landing. The jet hit tail first just short of the runway, bounced and landed on its belly. People slid down the exit ramps as the interior of the aircraft caught fire and burned through the ceiling.
Train Crash: Three people are dead and others are missing or unaccounted for after a parked train came loose, derailed and crashed into the town of Lac Megantic, Quebec. The town of about 6,000 was heavily damaged. The parked train of 73 tank cars filled with crude oil had been checked by the engineer at about midnight Friday. Shortly later, it rolled 6.8 miles and crashed at about 1 am. The train was still burning more than 24 hours later.
Egypt: Reports say that as many as 100 women have been raped and sexually assaulted in and around Tahrir Square during demonstrations over the past week. Some of them are Western journalists.
The Obit Page: Ted Hood, a yachtsman who steered the 1974 America’s Cup winner “Courageous” and spent his life around boats, has died at age 86 in Rhode Island. Hood started his own sail making business, piloting the change from cotton to more dependable Dacron sails. Hood was famous for his knowledge of boats and rigging, and also his generosity. Beaten by a competitor he had helped to adjust his sails before the race, Hood said, “Oh, I wanted to win, but against the best possible boat.”
Ruins Ruined: Developers leveled a 4,000 year-old Pyramid outside Lima, Peru. Construction workers using earthmovers were beginning to destroy three other unguarded ancient pyramids when they were stopped. The destroyed pyramid, built by a pre-Inca civilization, was among Peru’s oldest archeological treasures. A similar incident occurred in May in Belize when a 2,300 year-old pyramid was broken down and used for road gravel.
Solar: An airplane powered only by the sun finished its cross-country flight when it landed in New York last night. The Solar Impulse took off from Mountain View, Ca. in May and hop-scotched to Arizona, Texas, Missouri and Virginia. The plane, powered by 12,000 photovoltaic cells, finished its flight with an eight-foot tear in its wing. The designers now want to fly a solar powered plane around the world.
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