Explosion at a U.S. air base in southern Japan injures 4 Japanese soldiers

U.S. military persons gather near the site of an explosion at a storage site for unexploded ordnances at a U.S. military base in the town of Yomitanson, Okinawa prefecture, southern Japan Monday, June 9, 2025. (Kyodo News via AP)
TOKYO — An explosion at a storage site for unexploded ordnance at a U.S. military base on Japan's southern island of Okinawa injured four Japanese soldiers, though the injuries are not life-threatening, officials said Monday.
The four soldiers sustained finger injuries while working at a facility that belongs to Okinawa prefecture and temporarily stores unexploded ordnance, mostly from wartime and found on the island, local officials said. One of the harshest battles of World War II was fought on Okinawa.
Prefectural officials said the injuries were not life-threatening, but no other details were immediately known.
The U.S. Air Force said in a statement that the explosion occurred at the facility managed by the Okinawa prefectural government at Kadena Air Base's munitions storage area. It said no U.S. servicemembers were involved in the incident.
The Self Defense Force's joint staff said one of the devices suddenly exploded when the soldiers were inspecting it at the facility. The blast occurred when the soldiers were trying to remove rust, NHK television reported.
The SDF said they are trying to confirm what caused the accident.
Monday's accident was believed to be the first ever since the 1974 launch of the Japanese army's unexploded ordnance disposal unit.
Hundreds of tons of unexploded wartime bombs, many of them dropped by the U.S. military, remain buried around Japan and are sometimes dug up at construction sites and elsewhere. Many of them are still found on Okinawa, where about 1,856 tons of unexploded U.S. bombs are believed to remain.
In October, an unexploded wartime U.S. bomb exploded at a commercial airport in southern Japan, causing a large crater and suspending dozens of flights.
Mari Yamaguchi, The Associated Press

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CTV News

5 days ago

• CTV News

Black boxes analyzed for cause of Air India crash that killed 270

Family members and relatives of Akash Patni, victim of the Air India plane crash, grieve during his funeral procession in Ahmedabad, India, Tuesday, June 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki) NEW DELHI — Investigators in India are studying the black boxes of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner after recovering them from the aircraft wreckage to ascertain the cause of last week's plane crash that left at least 270 people dead. The black boxes will provide cockpit conversations and data related to the plane's engine and control settings to investigators and help them in determining the cause of the crash. The London-bound Air India aircraft, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, crashed on a medical college hostel soon after taking off from the western city of Ahmedabad. Only one passenger survived the crash, while 241 people on board and 29 on the ground were killed in one of India's worst aviation disaster in decades. Experts from India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau are probing the crash with assistance from the U.K., the U.S. and officials from Boeing. Black box data is crucial Amit Singh, a former pilot and an aviation expert, said the recovery of the flight data and cockpit voice recorders, or black boxes, are crucial to piece together the sequence of events. The cockpit voice recorder records pilots' conversation, emergency alarms and any distress signal made before a crash. The plane's digital flight data recorder stores information related to engine and control settings. Both devices are designed to survive a crash. 'The data will reveal everything,' Singh said, adding that the technical details could be corroborated by the cockpit voice recorder that would help investigators know of any communication between air traffic control and the pilots. India's aviation regulatory body has said the aircraft made a mayday call before the crash. Singh said the investigating authorities will scan CCTV footage of the nearby area and speak with witnesses to get to the root cause of the crash. Additionally, Singh said, the investigators will also study the pilot training records, total load of the aircraft, thrust issues related to the plane's engine, as well as its worthiness in terms of past performances and any previously reported issues. Investigation into the crash could take time Aurobindo Handa, former director general of India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau, said the investigators across the world follow a standard UN-prescribed Manual of Accident Investigation, also called 'DOC 9756,' which outlines detailed procedures to arrive at the most probable cause of a crash. Handa said the investigation into last week's crash would likely be a long process as the aircraft was badly charred. He added that ascertaining the condition of the black boxes recovered from the crash site was vital as the heat generated from the crash could be possibly higher than the bearable threshold of the device. The Indian government has set up a separate, high-level committee to examine the causes leading to the crash and formulate procedures to prevent and handle aircraft emergencies in the future. The committee is expected to file a preliminary report within three months. Authorities have also begun inspecting and carrying out additional maintenance and checks of Air India's entire fleet of Boeing 787 Dreamliners to prevent any future incident. Air India has 33 Dreamliners in its fleet. The plane that crashed was 12 years old. Boeing planes have been plagued by safety issues on other types of aircraft. There are currently around 1,200 of the 787 Dreamliner aircraft worldwide and this was the first deadly crash in 16 years of operation, according to experts. Sheikh Saaliq And Rajesh Roy, The Associated Press

CBC

6 days ago

• CBC

2 different plane crash survivors say they sat in seat 11A — does where you sit actually matter?

Two different doomed flights, two different survivors with one thing in common: seat 11A. Vishwashkumar Ramesh, the sole survivor of the Air India crash that killed 241 people on board and several more on the ground after the plane crashed minutes after takeoff last Thursday, has made headlines around the world. The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner struck a medical college hostel in a ball of flames when it crashed into a residential area of the northwestern Indian city of Ahmedabad. Most bodies of those aboard the plane were burned beyond recognition. But police say Ramesh was seated near the emergency exit of the plane and managed to jump through it after the crash. U.K. media have dubbed it the " miracle of seat 11A," after Ramesh's boarding pass confirmed that's where he was sitting on the flight bound for London's Gatwick Airport. Sole survivor of Air India crash has an incredible story — but he's not unique But Thai singer and actor James Ruangsak Loychusak, who was one of the survivors of a deadly 1998 Thai Airways plane crash, is calling it an "uncanny coincidence." "Survivor of a plane crash in India. He sat in the same seat as me. 11A," Loychusak wrote on Facebook Friday. According to the Aviation Safety Network, the Airbus A310 Loychusak was aboard in 1998 crashed during its approach to Surat Thani Airport, killing 101 people. The plane crashed in heavy rain, after its third landing attempt at the airport 500 kilometres southwest of Bangkok. But 45 people survived, including Loychusak. In a further explanation, written in Thai, Loychusak wrote that he doesn't have his ticket or boarding pass from the flight, but he said he knows his seat number based on online seating charts for his aircraft, which he shared in his post. In a further explanation, Loychusak wrote in Thai that he doesn't have his ticket or boarding pass from the flight. As such, CBC News is unable to verify his exact seat. But he claimed to know his seat number based on online seating charts for his aircraft, which he shared online. "That was an uncanny coincidence," he told India's The Telegraph Online Monday. "The kind that gives you goosebumps." Just a coincidence? After Loychusak shared his post, the story began to go viral, and some people commenting online have wondered if there's something about seat 11A that makes it safer than others. Not according to aviation and disaster medicine experts, who tend to agree that all crashes are unique, and there are a number of random factors that could improve your chances of survival, so it's more about all those variables aligning. "Each accident is different, and it is impossible to predict survivability based on seat location," Mitchell Fox, a director at Flight Safety Foundation, a U.S.-based nonprofit, previously told Reuters. Plus, seat 11A is located in different spots on different planes, depending on the configuration of the aircraft. In Ramesh's case, seat 11A on the 787-8 Dreamliner was the first row in economy class, directly behind the emergency exit. But in an Airbus A310, according to photos on the Seat Guru website and a graphic of a seating chart shared on Facebook by Loychusak, 11A is a few rows ahead of the emergency exit. In general, sitting near an emergency exit can improve chances of evacuation, especially in survivable crashes involving fire or smoke, said Stephen Wood, an associate clinical professor at Northeastern University in Boston and an expert in disaster medicine and EMS. However, in a high-energy impact crash, like the one in India, survivability based on seat location becomes far more complex, he told CBC News. Exit row seats are often near reinforced parts of the airframe, Wood explained. They are also adjacent to structural components like the wing span which can be sites of significant destruction. "In this case, the fact that the survivor was seated there may have been fortuitous, but it's not a guarantee of safety in most crashes," Wood said, speaking specifically about Ramesh's experience. "So yes, his seat may have helped, but survival likely depended on much more than that alone." WATCH | Survivor of Air India crash walks away: British national was sole survivor of Air India crash 3 days ago Duration 4:43 Vishwashkumar Ramesh, a British national of Indian descent, was the only passenger who survived the crash of an Air India plane bound for London that killed at least 240 people on Thursday in Ahmedabad. Social media video appeared to show him walking away from the crash; CBC News has not independently verified the video. Every crash is different In short, it doesn't really matter where you sit since every accident is different, experts say. "It all depends on the crash dynamics," Daniel Kwasi Adjekum, an aviation safety researcher at the University of North Dakota, told Live Science earlier this month. A 2007 Popular Mechanics study of crashes since 1971 found that passengers toward the back of the plane had better survival odds. Some experts suggest the wing section offers more stability (while also acknowledging the danger of being over the fuel tanks). A study conducted by Time magazine in 2015 concluded the middle seats in the rear of the aircraft had the highest survival probability. Sitting next to an exit door, as Ramesh did, gives people an opportunity to be one of the first passengers to get out in the event that a plane goes down, although some exits don't function after a crash. For instance, Ramesh has said the opposite side of the plane was crushed against a wall of the building it crashed into. This could have prevented anyone who may have survived the impact on the right side of the plane from escaping through that emergency exit. "From a technical perspective, survival in these kinds of events is usually due to a confluence of rare but explainable factors including the aircraft's breakup pattern, impact dynamics, the survivor's position and condition and sometimes just seconds of timing," Wood told CBC News. 'Beyond seat numbers' On Facebook Sunday, Loychusak noted that his story is "now going viral across many countries." "But what I truly want to share goes beyond seat numbers," he said. "I want to tell the world what this experience gave me — not just survival, but a completely new perspective on life." The Thai Airways flight that crashed on Dec. 11, 1998, was carrying 132 passengers and 14 crew. Hundreds of rescue workers waded through a muddy swamp to pull charred bodies from the wreckage. Loychusak survived, but endured severe injuries, including fractured ribs, spinal trauma, and brain hemorrhaging. He spent over a year in recovery, he told India's The Telegraph. Though he was a recognizable pop star, he said he had to get used to a different type of spotlight from his hospital bed. That included families of victims asking "Why you?" Loychusak told the news site. "I didn't have an answer then. I still don't."

CBC

13-06-2025

• CBC

Sole survivor of Air India crash has an incredible story — but he's not unique

British national was sole survivor of Air India crash 3 hours ago Duration 4:43 Social Sharing A miracle. Stunning. Unbelievable. These are some of the reactions online and in headlines around the world about Vishwashkumar Ramesh, the sole survivor of the Air India crash that killed 241 people on board and several more on the ground after the plane crashed minutes after takeoff. The Dreamliner struck a medical college hostel when it crashed in a ball of fire into a residential area of the northwestern Indian city of Ahmedabad Thursday. DNA testing was being conducted to identify bodies that were mostly charred beyond recognition. More victims are expected to be found in the search of the crash site. And then, there's Ramesh, who police say managed to escape through the broken emergency exit on the Boeing 787-8 bound for London. U.K. media have dubbed it the " miracle of seat 11A." Widely shared video purports to show Ramesh limping on the street in a blood-stained T-shirt with bruises on his face (the video has not be independently verified by CBC News) before he is led to an ambulance. "I don't believe how I survived," 40-year-old Ramesh told Indian state broadcaster DD News from his hospital bed on Friday. As unbelievable as Ramesh's story may sound — even to him — it's happened before. It's rare, but in recent decades, several other people have been the lone survivors of plane crashes. And while each of their stories may sound like miracles, one expert says it's more about a number of unlikely variables aligning. Stephen Wood, an associate clinical professor at Northeastern University in Boston and expert in disaster medicine and EMS, said it's "extraordinarily rare" for someone to survive a plane crash of the magnitude of Air India's. Commercial airliners are engineered for safety, but in catastrophic, high-impact crashes, the forces involved often exceed survivable limits. "It's understandable that people are calling it a miracle, given the circumstances," he told CBC News. Sole survivor walks away after fiery Air India crash kills hundreds 19 hours ago Duration 3:30 A fiery plane crash in western India has left a single surviving passenger, a British national, who reportedly walked from the site to an ambulance. The London-bound Air India Boeing 787 went down just after takeoff with 242 people aboard, including at least one Canadian. But from a technical perspective, Wood added, survival in these kinds of events is "usually due to a confluence of rare but explainable factors, including the aircraft's breakup pattern, impact dynamics, the survivor's position and condition, and sometimes just seconds of timing." "In disaster medicine, we refer to this as a 'sole survivor' event, and globally, these occur perhaps once every few decades." Other sole survivors of plane crashes There are dozens of sole survivors of plane crashes, on flights big and small, dating back to at least 1929. That's when Lou Foote, an American pilot, survived when a sightseeing plane crashed near the Newark, N.J., airport, killing 14 people. According to the New York Times, he returned to the skies three months later. You have to skip forward a few decades to get to sole survivors of larger flights. In 1970, there was Juan Loo, the co-pilot of a Peruvian airliner that crashed and killed 99 people. It had taken off minutes earlier. In 1971, Juliane Koepcke was 17 when she survived LANSA Flight 508, which killed 91 others, including her mother, when it crashed into the Peruvian jungle after being struck by lighting. "It was pitch black and people were screaming, then the deep roaring of the engines filled my head completely," she told BBC in 2012. "Suddenly the noise stopped and I was outside the plane. I was in a freefall, strapped to my seat bench and hanging head-over-heels... I could see the canopy of the jungle spinning towards me. Then I lost consciousness and remember nothing of the impact." She survived the 3,000-metre fall after the plane broke into pieces, plus another 10 days wandering the jungle alone and injured. There was flight attendant Vesna Vulović, who survived Yugoslav Airlines Flight 367 in 1972. The plane exploded midair from a suspected bomb, killing all other 27 passenger and crew. According to BBC, Vulović was trapped by a food cart in the plane's tail section as it fell 10,000 metres to earth. It's thought that the heavy snow helped cushion the impact. "Whenever I think of the accident, I have a prevailing, grave feeling of guilt for surviving it and I cry," she told the Independent in 2012. More recently, Mailén Díaz Almaguer survived a 2018 plane crash in Havana that killed 112 others. The Boeing 737 went down and erupted in flames shortly after takeoff. Two other women initially survived the crash but died of their injuries. Children among sole survivors Sometimes, the sole survivors are children, like Cecelia Crocker — known as Cecelia Cichan at the time of the 1987 crash — who was aboard Northwest Airlines Flight 255 when it crashed in the Detroit suburb of Romulus, Mich., killing 154 people on board, including her parents and brother. She was four. Crocker said in a 2013 documentary that she thought about the crash every day and that she had scars on her arms, legs and forehead. She had also gotten an airplane tattoo on her wrist. Bahia Bakari, then 12, lived through a flight that crashed near the Comoros islands in 2009. Yemenia Airways Flight 626 crashed into the Indian Ocean between the southeastern African coast and Madagascar. The other 152 passengers, including Bahia's mother, all died. After the plane plunged into the ocean, she grasped a floating part of the destroyed plane and stayed in the water for more than 11 hours before being saved by fishermen. Bakari was taken to hospital in the capital, Moroni, then repatriated to France. She suffered a broken collarbone, a broken hip, burns and other injuries. Ruben van Assouw survived the Afriqiyah Airways Airbus that crashed on approach to Tripoli, killing 103 passengers and crew on May 12, 2010. The nine-year-old Dutch boy was still strapped to his seat, unconscious but still breathing, his legs shattered amid the debris scattered in the Libyan desert sand. He was traveling home from a safari with his parents and brother and learned that he was the sole survivor only days later. 'Survival doesn't always bring resolution' Ramesh, the Air India survivor, suffered burns and bruises and has been kept under observation, an official at the Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad told Reuters by phone, requesting anonymity. Ramesh also lost his brother in the crash. "His escape ... and without any grievous injury, was nothing short of a miracle. He also realizes that and is a bit shaken by the trauma of it, too," the official said. Several critical variables had to align in this case for him to survive, suggested Wood, the disaster medicine expert. First, Ramesh's seat, which was near an emergency exit over the wing, may have placed him in a structurally reinforced zone. Second, the angle and speed of impact may have created a "survivability pocket," or an "isolated area within the fuselage that was not crushed or engulfed in fire," Wood said. Finally, factors like being properly restrained, remaining conscious and leaving the area quickly may have contributed significantly, he said. "These are all rare circumstances that would need to come together precisely," Wood said. George Lamson Jr., then a 17-year-old from Plymouth, Minn., was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno, Nev., in 1985. Of the 71 passengers and crew on board the charter flight, he was the only survivor. Lamson in a social media post Thursday said the news of a plane crash in India with only one survivor shook him. "These events don't just make headlines. They leave a lasting echo in the lives of those who've lived through something similar," he wrote. "Survival doesn't always bring resolution. Life keeps unfolding after something like that, and the weight of it can show up years later in ways you don't expect." WATCH | A survivor's story: A Survivor's Story: Resolute Bay plane crash 14 years ago Duration 22:37 Nicole Williamson, one of three people who survived the plane crash in Resolute Bay last month, speaks with Peter Mansbridge about the moment of impact, her escape from the wreckage, and her recovery