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Icon A5 plane crash kills two, including its lead designer
A fatal crash has left the amphibious Icon A5 personal aircraft's fate mired in uncertainty. Lead engineer Jon Karkow and coworker Cagri Sever were killed in the accident outside of Icon's Vacaville, California training facility, AVweb reports. Karkow was piloting the aircraft at the time and the pair had been airborne for around 20 minutes.
Taiwan plane crash gets captured (very closely) on in-car dashcam
As the TransAsia Airways plane clipped a bridge and crashed into a river in Taipei, it was all caught on a car dashcam, dangerously close. The tragic accident saw the plane glancingly hit a bridge shortly after takeoff, as seen in the video, with the plane and its 58 passengers crashing into a shallow river below. It's the second of TransAsia's ATR 72 planes to crash in the last year. We've added the video below.
USPS goes postal on lithium ion batteries, refuses to ship smartphones overseas
The USPS has announced that it'll refuse to ship any gear containing lithium ion batteries overseas. The postal service believes combusting power packs have caused two fatal cargo plane crashes since 2006 -- hence the ban, which takes effect from May 16th. Anyone wishing to ship the latest tech to those living or serving overseas will have to use another shipping company -- although the ban might be relaxed in 2013, once safety testing has been carried out.
Micron appoints Mark Durcan as new CEO
In the wake of last week's fatal plane crash that took the life of its CEO, Micron Technology has appointed a successor, Mark Durcan. The former CTO has been with the company since 1984, and has -- per company bylaws -- been serving as interim chief since February 3rd. Robert Switz, the company's previous Board Director, will assume the duties of Board Chairman and Mark Adams, formerly the VP of Worldwide Sales, has been named as the company's President. In a press release announcing the appointments, the new CEO wrote that the company was "deeply saddened" to learn of the death of its top executive, and that the management team would work relentlessly to "continue to move the company forward."
Find My iPhone helps find Chilean plane crash site
We've seen many stories of iOS owners using Find My iPhone to retrieve a lost or stolen device. But this may be the first time, the technology was used to help find a missing airplane. Last week, a military airplane disappeared off Chile's Pacific coast and all 21 people aboard were killed instantly in the crash. Four bodies were recovered soon after the accident, but the exact location of the crash site remains unknown. As part of its recovery effort, the government has turned to technology to help locate the wreckage and remaining victims. Besides sonar equipment, Chilean officials are also using GPS co-ordinates provided to them by a relative of one of the victims. The victim had an iPhone that reported its GPS location to Apple's Find My iPhone service. The phone presumably remained on up until it hit the water. This last location may help the government retrieve the missing fuselage. Once found, Chilean officials could determine the cause of the crash and hopefully bring closure to the relatives of the victims. Our thoughts go out to all who were affected by this tragic accident. [Via 9to5 Mac]
Did malware cause the crash of Spanair Flight JK 5022? (update)
The inquiry into the August 2008 crash of Spanair Flight JK 5022 at Barajas Airport in Madrid took a bizarre turn recently when Spanish daily El Pais reported that the server that the airline used to track technical problems on aircraft contained malware. Although the flaps and slats were not in the proper position for takeoff, the crew was never alerted -- causing the flight to go down moments after takeoff, killing all but 18 of the 172 on board. That's not to say that human error wasn't a factor: as well as causing an audible alarm, the problem should have been spotted by the mechanic or airport maintenance chief, both of whom are under investigation. Space stations, power grids, and now airline safety systems? Please, people -- keep your antivirus software up to date. Update: Of the many possibilities that could have brought down JK 5022, it turns out malware was pretty low on the list -- ZDNet's Ed Bott reports that it was a maintenance computer at the airline's HQ that was infected, and the plane itself (an MD-82) uses a takeoff warning system that predates airplane computerization, and was thus not susceptible to viruses.
