Tag Archives: oceania

'I couldn't imagine anyone surviving that': Man tells of chopper terror

2023-01-03 FreeNews

As the excitement of a Sea World helicopter ride turned to shock and dread in a matter of seconds, Neil De Silva was convinced his wife and stepson were dead.

The helicopter Neil's wife, Winnie, and her nine-year-old son, Leon, were riding in had just lifted off when it collided with another chopper, snapping off its rotor blade and plummeting from the air yesterday afternoon at the Gold Coast Broadwater.

Pilot Ash Jenkinson, 40; British nationals Ron and Diane Hughes, 65 and 57; and Sydney mum Vanessa Tadros, 36; died at the scene.

But Winnie, Leon and Tadros's son Nicholas made it out alive.

The 52-year-old Queensland pilot of the other helicopter managed to land safely on the sandbar and all six passengers onboard escaped major injury.

"It was like an out of body experience. I just couldn't believe it," Neil said.

"They take off and, extremely excited to be on the helicopter and all that, doing the joy ride.

"And I was waving to Winnie and then the helicopter had travelled about 200 metres and then I see, half of the tail section gets smashed off and the helicopter plummets to the ground when it gets hit by the other one.

"I actually thought everybody would die. I couldn't imagine anyone surviving that."

Instead, the Geelong West mother and son were recovering in separate Queensland hospitals; Winnie was critical but stable and Leon was stable this morning.

Neil said Winnie had multiple broken bones, internal issues and was "fairly beaten up" but "keeping positive".

Leon remained unconscious as doctors monitored his brain trauma.

"Hopefully tomorrow or the next day they'll try and wake him up, if all the numbers are okay and yeah, we're hoping then that he makes a full recovery," Neil said.

Holiday excitement had been high before the crash but it was the chance to show Leon Sea World's dolphins Winnie had been really excited for.

The tragic helicopter trip was simply a "spur of the moment" decision, Neil said. They'd almost bought a joy flight back home in Geelong six weeks ago but decided it was too expensive.

This time, they were on holiday, and decided to splash out.

"No one knew anything for, it seemed an eternity, probably an hour and a half or something like that," Neil said of the agonising moments after the crash.

"Then he [a police officer] came up to me and said they both suffered very serious accident but they were both alive.

"It was just amazing, I was praying like no tomorrow."

Police and air crash experts are still trying to piece together what happened in what could turn out to be a lengthy investigation.

Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll, who hasn't ruled out potential criminal charges, this morning said inquiries could stretch on for days or even weeks.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau has set a preliminary timeline of the third quarter of this year to finish its investigation into a crash its boss believes could easily have been much worse.

"Whilst it has been very tragic that four people have lost their lives and many families are mourning this morning, we could have had a far worse situation here," ATSB Chief Commissioner Angus Mitchell said.

"And the fact that that one helicopter managed to land has been quite remarkable."

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Rhythm and Vines festivalgoers blamed for rubbish dumping in nearby forest

2023-01-03 FreeNews

RnV has sent crews to clean up rubbish believed to have been dumped by festival-goers.

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AirTag tracks missing bag's 'wild ride'

2023-01-03 FreeNews

A traveller has documented her missing bag's "wild ride" from a dumpster outside an apartment complex to a McDonald's and shopping complex after using an Apple AirTag to track it.

US woman Valerie Szybala took to Twitter on January 1 to say her AirTag had traced the suitcase, which went missing after a United Airlines flight, to a residential apartment complex, where she said it had been sitting for more than a day.

"Out back by the dumpsters, I have found other emptied United Airlines bags," she wrote in a thread that has been viewed more than 15 million times, sharing photographs of suitcases strewn outside a concrete building.

Valerie Szybala shared images of suitcases sitting outside a concrete building.

In a screenshot of a chat with a United Airlines representative in which she asked why her bag was at the complex, Szybala was told to "calm down" as her bag was "at the delivery service".

When she pushed for an explanation, the representative said she didn't know why the AirTag was showing it was there, adding that her bag was safe at the delivery service centre.

An hour later, Szybala posted an update, saying her AirTag – "and hopefully luggage" – appeared to be on the move and had stopped at a McDonald's restaurant.

Shortly afterwards, she said the AirTag had left McDonald's and was back at "the apartment complex where it is being held hostage".

The following morning, she said her AirTag was on the move again, adding it was about 25 kilometres outside the city.

"Although it's been sitting at this shopping complex for the past half hour so maybe it's just out for another meal."

Two hours later, she reported that her bag had returned to the apartment complex so must have just been out "shopping". A couple of hours after that, she said she had been reunited with her bag.

"WHEW this has been a wild ride y'all."

https://twitter.com/vszyb/status/1609945554875830281?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1609969585691807744%7Ctwgr%5E08b039317dd980f7da68a3d822d5bb6c9d446f3e%7Ctwcon%5Es2_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.stuff.co.nz%2Ftravel%2Ftravel-troubles%2F300777389%2Fairtag-tracks-bags-wild-ride-from-dumpster-to-mall-after-united-airlines-flight

Szybala later explained that the morning after her suitcase had returned to the apartment complex after its "shopping" trip, she attempted to track it down in person using her AirTag.

She then received a "sketchy" text message from DCA Couriers United which said: "I'm delivering the luggage missing from your flight with AA/UA. I want to apologise for the inconvenience that you've had with your bag. Imma deliver it to you today."

The courier added "the bag was given to me under a different passenger and I delivered your [sic] in a different address and had to go back to that place and pick it up."

As the message didn't match with what her AirTag had shown her, Szybala said she called the courier, who turned out to be just around the corner and drove to meet her.

An Apple AirTag and iPhone

While she was happy to have her bag back, Szybala said she remained confused about its post-flight journey.

She said the two empty suitcases she had seen by the dumpster had disappeared and a resident of the complex had told her they saw someone take them inside.

A United Airlines spokesperson said the airline had been in touch with Szybala to discuss the situation and confirm she had received her luggage.

"The service our baggage delivery vendor provided does not meet our standards and we are investigating what happened to lead to this service failure," she said.

Szybala has been approached for comment.

Baggage trackers such as AirTags have become a hot travel accessory as the short-staffed aviation sector struggles to keep up with demand, leading to an extraordinary number of bags going missing worldwide.

The situation has become so bad in New Zealand this summer that it has been dubbed "bagmageddon".

Baggage trackers are not allowed on all flights, however, due to the size of the lithium batteries they use.

The rules that govern whether a battery-powered device, such as a baggage tracker, can be put into an aircraft hold depend on the airline you fly with and the aviation authority of the country where the plane takes off.

This story originally appeared on Stuff and has been reproduced with permission.

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Outback transformed into inland sea as another swirling threat looms

2023-01-03 FreeNews

Outback towns and rivers across the Kimberley region of Western Australia are facing record breaking floods that have left towns cut off, forced road closures and transformed the landscape into an inland sea.

The rain is being driven by Ex-Tropical Cyclone Ellie, which made landfall two weeks ago but has caused "incessant rain" across the region.

And there's no end to the big wet in sight, with Weatherzone now warning the system could drift back out to sea and intensify into another cyclone.

Major flooding is occurring across parts of the Kimberly in WA, with Fitzroy Crossing now resembling an inland sea. https://twitter.com/CallumLamond/status/1610055426363756547

WA's Minister for Emergency Services Stephen Dawson announced an Emergency Situation has been declared as some rivers endure their biggest flood on record.

"People in Fitzroy Crossing should prepare to relocate to the Fitzroy Crossing Recreation Centre (101 Fallon Road, Fitzroy Crossing), if safe to do so," he said.

"Emergency services have completed a number of flood rescues for people in Fitzroy Crossing."

Callum Lamond said the main bridge at Fitzroy Crossing has 'buckled'.

The Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) warns the Fitzroy River is still rising at Fitzroy Crossing.

It comes after 831 mm of rain was recorded at a gauge at Dimond Gorge, north of Fitzroy Crossing over a week-long period.

A number of road closures are in effect across the Kimberly as rivers break their banks.

"The Fitzroy River at Fitzroy Crossing is currently at 15.09 metres and steady, with record major flooding," BoM said.

"The Fitzroy River at Fitzroy Crossing may reach around 15.60 metres Tuesday afternoon.

"Further rises are possible as upstream floodwaters arrive."

This exceeds the 2002 flood record of 13.95 metres.

Fitzroy Crossing is in major flood, and the river is still rising.

The main bridge over the river is inundated, and has buckled under the force of the water, leaving the town cut off.

Numerous roads have been closed around the Kimberley as rivers burst their banks.

"Other notable totals during this one-week period included 635 mm at Phillips Range and 576 mm at Mount Joseph," Weatherzone said.

Residents can stay across all closures and storm alerts on the Emergency WA website.

System could re-intensify into another cyclone

Weatherzone said the heavy rain will continue throughout the week.

"Unfortunately, Ex-Tropical Cyclone Ellie is predicted to linger over the north of WA for the next few days," it said.

"There is even a chance that it could briefly drift back over open water to the north of WA, which could allow it to intensify into a tropical cyclone."

This map shows how much rain one forecast model is anticipating during the next 72 hours.

If that occurs the system may, or may not, be called Cyclone Ellie.

Ellie was the second tropical cyclone of the season and formed less than a week, after Tropical Cyclone Darian developed west of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands in mid-December.

"Tropical Cyclone Ellie was a brief-lived cyclone…After strengthening to a category 1 cyclone (the lowest category of cyclone classification) that lasted only a few hours, Ellie crossed the western Top End coast south of the Daly River mouth early in the morning of December 23^rd and became a tropical low," Weatherzone said.

"Since then, she has wheeled east to the Queensland/NT border and back to the Kimberley, all the while triggering storms and dropping intense amounts of rain."

Cyclone season typically runs from the start of November to the end of April.

The BoM expects there will be more tropical cyclones than average this season as Australia is in the grips of a La Niña event.

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Exodus of North Island campgrounds ahead of subtropical storm as Civil Defence urges caution

2023-01-03 FreeNews

It was looking like the best summer in three years – until this week.

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Texts from Jan. 6 riots expose White House's anger at Trump actions

2023-01-03 FreeNews

A text exchange between Ivanka Trump's chief of staff Julie Radford and White House aide Hope Hicks reveals their anger over then-President Donald Trump's actions on January 6, 2021, hurting them professionally, according to newly released documents collected by the House select committee investigating the Capitol Hill insurrection.

"In one day he ended every future opportunity that doesn't include speaking engagements at the local Proud Boys chapter," Hicks wrote to Radford on January 6, 2021.

"And all of us that didn't have jobs lined up will be perpetually unemployed. I'm so mad and upset. We all look like domestic terrorists now."

FILE - Violent insurrectionists loyal to President Donald Trump stand outside the US Capitol in Washington on January 6, 2021.

Hicks added: "This made us all unemployable. Like untouchable. God I'm so f***ing mad."

Radford responded by texting, "I know, like there isn't a chance of finding a job," and indicating she already lost a job opportunity from Visa, which sent her a "blow off email."

The new release is part of a steady stream of documents from the committee, complementing the release of its sweeping 845-page report.

The latest comes as the panel winds down its work with the House majority set to change hands from Democrats to Republicans on Tuesday at the start of the new Congress.

In the text messages, Hicks then says "Alyssa looks like a genius," an apparent reference to Alyssa Farah Griffin resigning from her post as a White House aide one month before the attack on the US Capitol.

Hicks and Radford then discuss Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump's in-law Karlie Kloss, the supermodel, tweeting that Trump's response to the election was anti-American.

"Unreal," Radford texted.

Vice Chair Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., speaks as the House select committee investigating the January 6 attack on the US Capitol, holds a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, October 13, 2022.

The committee also released call logs from the days leading up to January 6, 2021, painting a fuller picture of who the former president was speaking to as he and his allies were plotting for him to stay in office, the first time the panel is releasing White House call logs in their entirety.

The logs have been crucial to the panel's investigation in piecing together a timeline of events. While the log for January 6 has a seven-hour gap, the committee has gone to great lengths to fill in that part of the timeline through witness interviews and other records.

The day before the US Capitol attack, Trump spoke to then-Vice President Mike Pence.

After that conversation, Trump spoke with Pennsylvania state Senator Doug Mastriano, who helped fuel Trump's election lies in the state, and then the switchboard operator left a note "that Senator Douglas Mastriano will be calling in for the Vice President."

Trump also talked to a number of members of Congress on January 5, including Sens. Rand Paul, Lindsey Graham and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy.

Trump and Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri tried calling each other many times but could not connect. Trump also spoke with John Eastman, who helped Trump create the fake elector scheme that day.

The January 2 call log shows what happened in the immediate aftermath of the infamous hour-long call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger when Trump asked Raffensperger to "find" votes for him to win the state.

Once the call with Raffensperger wrapped, Trump had a zoom with his then-lawyer Rudy Giuliani and spoke on the phone with his Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and later Steve Bannon.

On January 3, Trump had multiple calls with former Department of Justice official Jeffrey Clark and GOP Representative Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, as the former President tried and ultimately failed to install Clark as the acting head of the Department of Justice.

The call logs reflect a flurry of calls with DOJ officials, including then-acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen and his deputy Richard Donoghue.

At 4:22 pm ET that day, Clark is listed as acting attorney general, but earlier in the day he was not.

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Faulty Christmas lights spark house fire in Sydney's west

2023-01-03 FreeNews

Fire investigators believe faulty Christmas tree lights are to blame for a house fire at Leonay, in Sydney's West.

No one was inside the home when it caught alight at 11:30pm on New Year's Eve.

Authorities say an electrical fault in the family's Christmas lights started the fire, and the timber floorboards inside the home fuelled it, increasing the blaze's intensity.

House fire sparked by faulty Christmas lights in Leonay Sydney