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Tag: Austin

  • Chinese defense minister refused to talk to Austin after balloon downing, Pentagon says

    Chinese defense minister refused to talk to Austin after balloon downing, Pentagon says

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    “Lines between our militaries are particularly important in moments like this. Unfortunately, the PRC has declined our request,” Pentagon spokesperson Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said in a statement. “Our commitment to open lines of communication will continue.”

    The military shot down the balloon after it spent a week transiting Canada and the U.S.

    China, which claimed the airship was a weather balloon that had gone astray, has threatened repercussions for its downing.

    Wei, for his part, last June appeared to single out the United States for criticism in an international appearance in Singapore.

    Meanwhile, members of both parties in the U.S. have called for aggressive action against China.

    President Joe Biden said last week he wanted to shoot down the balloon earlier, but top Pentagon leaders recommended the military wait until it was over water to ensure no one on the ground was harmed by debris.

    The military has since launched recovery efforts in the Atlantic Ocean to collect remnants of the balloon and its large payload.



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    ( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

  • Planes involved in Austin near-miss came within 100 feet of each other

    Planes involved in Austin near-miss came within 100 feet of each other

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    “We’re really digging into the communications between [air traffic control], Southwest, FedEx — especially in relation to weather issues,” she said, referring to a host of causes that could have contributed to the near miss. It was an extraordinarily close call, especially considering that aircraft often maintain thousands of feet, and often miles of space, at minimum away from one another.

    Both the Federal Aviation Administration and NTSB, an independent agency that investigates transportation accidents, are probing the event, which happened over the span of roughly two minutes.

    It’s not the only near-miss in recent months. In January, an American Airlines flight crossed ahead of a Delta Air Lines flight at John F. Kennedy International Airport, an incident that the NTSB continues to investigate.

    In that case, both aircraft were within about 1,400 feet of each other, Homendy said, but JFK’s air traffic controllers were able to take action based on a technology the airport has equipped that tracks ground-level movement of aircraft and vehicles on the grounds of an airport. Homendy said roughly 35 airports around the country have the technology equipped; Austin does not.

    “Air traffic controllers in Austin could see the FedEx plane coming in, but couldn’t actually see where the Southwest plane was in relation to the FedEx plane because the Southwest plane was on the ground,” Homendy explained. “Had they had that technology … they would have been able to see both the FedEx flight and the Southwest flight.”

    Homendy said she expects both near-miss incidents to come up at a hearing on aviation safety slated for Tuesday before the House Transportation Committee, where she will also testify.

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    ( With inputs from : www.politico.com )