- Meta layoffs make it second-most brutal chopper of the big tech firms Business Insider
- Meta Employee Demands Answers From Zuckerberg, Questions Reasons To Stay, CEO Responds – Meta Platforms ( Benzinga
- Mark Zuckerberg to Meta Platform employees: ‘We’re in a different world’ – Silicon Valley Business Journal The Business Journals
- Instagram boss Adam Mosseri moving back to US as Meta layoffs hit London office New York Post
- Meta layoffs: CEO Mark Zuckerberg has no ‘relief words’ for employees Indiatimes.com
- View Full Coverage on Google News
Tag Archives: chopper
PM Modi to inaugurate India’s largest chopper manufacturing unit in Karnataka – Hindustan Times
- PM Modi to inaugurate India’s largest chopper manufacturing unit in Karnataka Hindustan Times
- PM Modi to open India’s largest copter-making plant in Karnataka Times of India
- PM To Inaugurate India’s Largest Helicopter Production Facility In Karnataka On Monday NDTV
- PM Modi to inaugurate India’s largest helicopter production facility in Karnataka’s Tumakuru on Monday The Tribune India
- PM Modi to inaugurate Asia’s largest helicopter manufacturing factory of HAL in Karnataka on 6 Feb. Details here | Mint Mint
- View Full Coverage on Google News
AP Exclusive: Philippines scraps Russian chopper deal
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The Philippine government has scrapped a deal to purchase 16 Russian military transport helicopters due to fears of possible U.S. sanctions, Philippine officials said.
Former Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said Tuesday night he canceled the 12.7-billion-peso ($227 million) deal to acquire the Mi-17 helicopters in a decision last month that was approved by then-President Rodrigo Duterte before their terms in office ended on June 30.
“We could face sanctions,” Lorenzana told The Associated Press, describing ways Washington could express its displeasure if the Philippines proceeded with the deal due to America’s worsening conflict with Russia.
American security officials were aware of Manila’s decision and could offer similar heavy-lift helicopters for Philippine military use, he said.
After serving as defense chief under Duterte, Lorenzana has been appointed by new President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to head a government agency in charge of transforming former military bases into business hubs.
Philippine Ambassador to Washington Jose Manuel Romualdez told The AP that the deal was canceled because Manila could face possible sanctions under a U.S. federal law called the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act if the helicopter deal went through.
A Philippine military official said the helicopter deal would undergo a “termination process” after the decision to cancel it was made since a contract has already been signed. The Russians can appeal but there is little room for the Philippine government to reconsider, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of a lack of authority to publicly discuss the issue.
Under the helicopter purchase agreement, which was signed in November, the first batch of the multi-purpose helicopters would have been scheduled for delivery by Russia’s Sovtechnoexport in about two years.
Asked in March if Russia’s invasion of Ukraine would affect the purchase, Lorenzana told reporters: “We do not see any likelihood of it being scrapped as of this moment” and added that “only time can tell.”
Lorenzana at the time said an initial payment had been made by the Philippines in January. It was not immediately clear what would happen to the payment after the Philippines’ decision to back out of the deal.
The Russian-made helicopters could have been used for combat, search and rescue operations, and medical evacuations in the Southeast Asian archipelago, which is often lashed by typhoons and other natural disasters, Philippine officials said.
In March, the Philippines voted “yes” on a U.N. General Assembly resolution that demanded an immediate halt to Moscow’s attack on Ukraine and the withdrawal of all Russian troops. It condemned the invasion and echoed U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’s appeal for respect of humanitarian principles to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure in Ukraine.
Duterte has expressed concern over the global impact of the Russian invasion but has not personally condemned it. When he was in office, he nurtured close ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin, whom he once called his “idol,” and Chinese leader Xi Jinping while frequently criticizing U.S. security policies.
The Philippines is a treaty ally of Washington, which has imposed heavy sanctions aimed at pressuring Moscow to pull back from Ukraine.
The deal to acquire the Russian helicopters was among several weapons purchase agreements signed during Duterte’s final months in office.
Last February, Lorenzana signed a 32-billion-peso ($571 million) deal to acquire 32 S-70i Black Hawk helicopters from Poland-based aerospace manufacturer PZL Mielec. It was the largest military aircraft acquisition contract signed under Duterte, Philippine defense officials said..
Due to financial constraints, the Philippines has struggled for years to modernize its military, one of the most underfunded in Asia, to deal with decades-long Muslim and communist insurgencies and to defend its territories in the disputed South China Sea.
Medical helicopter crash: Crews respond to chopper crash in Drexel Hill, Delaware County Pennsylvania
DREXEL HILL, Pennsylvania (WPVI) — An infant and three crew members were injured Tuesday afternoon when a medical helicopter crashed near the Drexel Hill United Methodist Church in Drexel Hill, Delaware County.
The crash happened in the 600 block of Burmont Road near Bloomfield Avenue just before 1 p.m.
The helicopter was traveling from WellSpan Chambersburg Hospital in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia when the incident occured.
The three crew members were rushed to Lankenau Medical Center and the two-month-old infant patient was taken to CHOP. Officials said miraculously, no one suffered life-threatening injuries.
“It’s a miracle. It’s an absolute miracle,” said Upper Darby Police Superintendent Timothy M. Bernhardt.
There have been no reports of any injuries to people on the ground.
A witness, Joshua James, said he was driving nearby with his wife and young son when he saw the tail of the helicopter swaying back and forth as it slid to a stop. He put his car in reverse.
“It makes no sense to me that it didn’t hit any of the wires or anything – that it didn’t hit us,” James told the Associated Press.
Actions News spoke with people who live on the block who say the helicopter was several feet from their homes before it crash landed.
“The noise was so loud I thought it was a bomb. It was crazy not a sound I’ve ever heard before,” said Lisa Smith.
Neighbors then flooded the streets.
“I ran out down the street, there were flames and people climbing out from the top of the helicopter,” said Denise Palmarino who’s lived in Drexel Hill for 20 years.
Everyone is praising the pilot, who was in a very tough spot. Surrounding the scene of the crash there are a lot of homes, a busy road, schools, and businesses.
“I can’t wait to meet this gentleman and shake his hand for getting this (helicopter down) the way he did,” said Bernhardt.
Emma Gray, an Upper Darby High School senior, was traveling with Lyft when she heard the crash nearby.
“We heard this big boom. All of a sudden there was a bunch of glass and flaming debris on the road. Then there was a helicopter and part of it was on fire,” she recalled.
She says she and her Lyft driver got out to help.
“These guys started coming out of it and they’re like, ‘Someone come help us, there’s someone trapped underneath.’ They were like, ‘here take this,’ to my Lyft driver, and it was a baby,” said Gray.
She says she did her best to calm the pilot.
“I was able to kneel down beside him and say like, ‘Hey man, I called 911, help is in the way,” said Gray.
A statement from WellSpan Chambersburg Hospital said “…earlier today a LifeNet medical helicopter based out of Hagerstown, Md. That flight subsequently crashed on the way to Philadelphia. Our hearts go out to family and crew on board and we are grateful that early reports indicate the patient and crew survived and that the patient was transported on to the planned hospital by ground transport.”
A fire official said the helicopter had about an hour’s worth of fuel left at the time of the crash, and crews took steps to keep leaking fuel from contaminating groundwater.
The Federal Aviation Administration said the aircraft was a Eurocopter EC135 medical helicopter and that the agency was investigating, along with the National Transportation Safety Board.
A spokesman for Air Methods, the air medical emergency transport service that owns the helicopter, said it was part of the LifeNet program based in Hagerstown, Maryland. Federal agencies were investigating.
“Our team will cooperate fully with their efforts to assess the cause of this unfortunate accident,” said Air Methods spokesman Doug Flanders.
A cause of this crash remains under investigation.
This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.
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After a dozen flights, NASA’s chopper has yet to come a cropper
Enlarge / This image depicts the ground tracks of NASA’s Perseverance rover (white) and Ingenuity Mars Helicopter (green) since arriving on Mars on Feb. 18. The upper yellow ellipse depicts the “South Séítah” region, which Ingenuity flew over during its 12th sortie.
NASA/JPL-Caltech
NASA’s tiny Mars helicopter, which has a fuselage about the size of a small toaster, has successfully flown above the planet for the 12th time.
Nearly half a year after the Perseverance rover landed on Mars, the Ingenuity helicopter is still going strong on the surface of the planet. The small flyer has done so well that it has been separated from Perseverance for some time as it scouts ahead on the red planet.
Ingenuity completed its latest flight on Monday, ascending to 10 meters and flying 450 meters across Mars to investigate what scientists call the “South Séítah” region of Mars. The helicopter was aloft for a total of 169 seconds during Monday’s flight. In its dozen flights, Ingenuity has now covered 2.67 km, which is farther than Perseverance has rolled during nearly six months.
For Monday’s flight, Ingenuity flew out over this intriguing region to scout its boulders and other geological features to help mission scientists determine whether they warrant further scrutiny by Perseverance. After slowing over this area of interest to take photographs, Ingenuity then flew back to its takeoff point. The flight involved significant risk because Ingenuity’s terrain navigation system was designed to fly across nearly flat terrain. Rocky terrain could induce errors in pitch and roll during flight.
“When we choose to accept the risks associated with such a flight, it is because of the correspondingly high rewards,” explained Teddy Tzanetos, Ingenuity team lead, and Håvard F. Grip, the helicopter’s chief pilot. “Knowing that we have the opportunity to help the Perseverance team with science planning by providing unique aerial footage is all the motivation needed.”
Ingenuity has proven to be a tremendous achievement. For the NASA helicopter team, a single flight would have meant success, and they hoped to perhaps complete three or four before losing Ingenuity. It has now flown a dozen missions and logged 22 minutes in the thin atmosphere above the surface of Mars.
A little more than a century ago, humans flew a powered aircraft above Earth’s surface for the first time at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Ingenuity carries a piece of fabric from the 1903 Wright Flyer. On what world, in which solar system, will a piece of Ingenuity fly a century from now?
Part of Wright brothers’ 1st airplane on NASA’s Mars chopper
A piece of the Wright brothers’ first airplane is on Mars.
NASA’s experimental Martian helicopter holds a small swatch of fabric from the 1903 Wright Flyer, the space agency revealed Tuesday. The helicopter, named Ingenuity, hitched a ride to the red planet with the Perseverance rover, arriving last month.
Ingenuity will attempt the first powered, controlled flight on another planet no sooner than April 8. It will mark a “Wright brothers’ moment,” noted Bobby Braun, director for planetary science at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
The Carillon Historical Park in Dayton, Ohio, the Wrights’ hometown, donated the postage-size piece of muslin from the plane’s bottom left wing, at NASA’s request.
The swatch made the 300 million-mile journey to Mars with the blessing of the Wright brothers’ great-grandniece and great-grandnephew, said park curator Steve Lucht.
“Wilbur and Orville Wright would be pleased to know that a little piece of their 1903 Wright Flyer I, the machine that launched the Space Age by barely one quarter of a mile, is going to soar into history again on Mars!” Amanda Wright Lane and Stephen Wright said in a statement provided by the park.
Orville Wright was on board for the world’s first powered, controlled flight on Dec. 17, 1903, at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. The brothers took turns, making four flights that day.
A fragment of Wright Flyer wood and fabric flew to the moon with Apollo 11′s Neil Armstrong in 1969. A swatch also accompanied John Glenn into orbit aboard space shuttle Discovery in 1998. Both astronauts were from Ohio.
NASA’s 4-pound (1.8-kilogram) helicopter will attempt to rise 10 feet (3 meters) into the extremely thin Martian air on its first hop. Up to five increasingly higher and longer flights are planned over the course of a month.
The material is taped to a cable beneath the helicopter’s solar panel, which is perched on top like a graduate’s mortarboard.
For now, Ingenuity remains attached to the rover’s belly. A protective shield dropped away over the weekend, exposing the spindly, long-legged chopper.
The helicopter airfield is right next to the rover’s landing site in Jezero Crater. The rover will observe the test flights from a distant perch, before driving away to pursue its own mission: hunting for signs of ancient Martian life. Rock samples will be set aside for eventual return to Earth.
Part of Wright brothers’ 1st airplane on NASA’s Mars chopper
A piece of the Wright brothers’ first airplane is on Mars.
NASA’s experimental Martian helicopter holds a small swatch of fabric from the 1903 Wright Flyer, the space agency revealed Tuesday. The helicopter, named Ingenuity, hitched a ride to the red planet with the Perseverance rover, arriving last month.
Ingenuity will attempt the first powered, controlled flight on another planet no sooner than April 8. It will mark a “Wright brothers’ moment,” noted Bobby Braun, director for planetary science at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
The Carillon Historical Park in Dayton, Ohio, the Wrights’ hometown, donated the postage-size piece of muslin from the plane’s bottom left wing, at NASA’s request.
The swatch made the 300 million-mile journey to Mars with the blessing of the Wright brothers’ great-grandniece and great-grandnephew, said park curator Steve Lucht.
“Wilbur and Orville Wright would be pleased to know that a little piece of their 1903 Wright Flyer I, the machine that launched the Space Age by barely one quarter of a mile, is going to soar into history again on Mars!” Amanda Wright Lane and Stephen Wright said in a statement provided by the park.
Orville Wright was on board for the world’s first powered, controlled flight on Dec. 17, 1903, at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. The brothers took turns, making four flights that day.
A fragment of Wright Flyer wood and fabric flew to the moon with Apollo 11’s Neil Armstrong in 1969. A swatch also accompanied John Glenn into orbit aboard space shuttle Discovery in 1998. Both astronauts were from Ohio.
NASA’s 4-pound (1.8-kilogram) helicopter will attempt to rise 10 feet (3 meters) into the extremely thin Martian air on its first hop. Up to five increasingly higher and longer flights are planned over the course of a month.
The material is taped to a cable beneath the helicopter’s solar panel, which is perched on top like a graduate’s mortarboard.
For now, Ingenuity remains attached to the rover’s belly. A protective shield dropped away over the weekend, exposing the spindly, long-legged chopper.
The helicopter airfield is right next to the rover’s landing site in Jezero Crater. The rover will observe the test flights from a distant perch, before driving away to pursue its own mission: hunting for signs of ancient Martian life. Rock samples will be set aside for eventual return to Earth.
NASA wants to fly a helicopter on Mars for the first time
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