A round-up of today's other stories in brief
Air France flight recorder found but memory is missing
RIO DE JANEIRO – Deep- sea searchers picking through wreckage of an Air France plane that crashed off Brazil in 2009 have found a part that held one of the data recorders, but without the memory unit that could provide clues to the crash.France’s BEA air accident inquiry office said yesterday the chassis of the “black box” flight data recorder had been found surrounded by debris during the first dive by an underwater remote vehicle.
The Airbus 330-203 jet plunged into the Atlantic off the northeast coast of Brazil en route to Paris from Rio de Janeiro in June 2009, killing all 228 passengers and crew.
The recent discovery of chunks of the aircraft’s wreckage had raised hopes the two black boxes might be within reach. A BEA spokeswoman said the data recorder could still be in a condition to be read, despite its separation from the chassis. – (Reuters)
Afghan officer kills Nato soldiers
KABUL – Eight Nato soldiers and a foreign civilian contractor have been killed after a shootout in Kabul between an Afghan air force officer and his US military mentors.
The incident, which happened yesterday, is one of the worst episodes yet involving Afghan soldiers turning their weapons on their foreign colleagues.
The Afghan defence ministry claimed the shooting broke out following an argument. However, a Taliban spokesman has claimed the officer was an insurgent who had infiltrated the force.
The killings occurred in a management office responsible for overseeing air traffic control on the second floor of a building in the Kabul headquarters of Afghanistan's air force, where the officer had been working. – ( Guardianservice)