
Air India 'Sabotage' Theory Under Investigation In Deadly Plane Crash
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content.
Investigators probing the deadly Air India crash on June 12 have confirmed that sabotage has not been ruled out.
Murlidhar Mohol, India's aviation minister, reportedly told the Indian broadcaster NDTV: "It was an unfortunate incident. The AAIB [Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau] has begun a full investigation into it... It is being probed from all angles, including any possible sabotage."
The disaster killed 274 people, including 242 on board and dozens more on the ground, many of whom were inside a building housing medical students.
A single passenger survived the crash and his escape was caught on camera as he walked away from the burning wreckage.
Investigators have been combing through the wreckage and analyzing the plane's black boxes as they try to establish what caused Flight AI171 to crash.
The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner crashed shortly after it took off from Ahmedabad Airport in India on its journey to London Gatwick in the United Kingdom.
A crane lifts the tail of the Air India plane that crashed in Ahmedabad, India, in June.
A crane lifts the tail of the Air India plane that crashed in Ahmedabad, India, in June.
Ajit Solanki/AP
This is a developing story. More to follow.
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Newsweek
2 hours ago
- Newsweek
US Reopens Mexico Cattle Import Sites After Screwworm Battle
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced on Monday a phased reopening of livestock import sites along the Mexican border, beginning July 7 with Douglas, Arizona. Agriculture Secretary Brooke L. Rollins said the decision follows weeks of intensive collaboration with Mexican authorities to combat New World Screwworm (NWS), a devastating livestock parasite that prompted the closure of all southern border ports on May 11. Why It Matters The extended livestock port shutdown disrupted a critical trade relationship between the U.S. and Mexico, affecting ranchers and livestock operations on both sides of the border. NWS poses an existential threat to American agriculture—the parasitic fly lays eggs in open wounds of livestock, producing maggots that burrow into living flesh, causing severe injury and often death. The USDA successfully eradicated NWS from the United States in 1966, but its return would devastate the livestock industry and threaten food security. The economic stakes are substantial. A similar outbreak in Florida in 2016 required euthanizing 102 infected animals, demonstrating the pest's destructive potential even in contained situations. The current threat represents the parasite's northward march through Central America over two years, reaching Mexico in November 2024 and spreading to within 700 miles of the U.S. border. NWS has systematically moved through Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, Belize and now Mexico, with cases detected in Oaxaca and Veracruz states. What To Know The reopenings span three months, with five ports gradually resuming operations. The other four are: Columbus, New Mexico, on July 14 Santa Teresa, New Mexico, on July 21 Del Rio, Texas, on August 18 Laredo, Texas, on September 15 Each reopening will be evaluated for adverse effects before proceeding to the next phase. The parasite's rapid spread through Mexico triggered the May suspension after the USDA's February attempt to resume imports with enhanced inspection protocols proved insufficient. The department's response included deploying sterile fly dispersal operations, releasing over 100 million sterile flies weekly to disrupt the pest's reproductive cycle. This sterile male technique, previously explained to Newsweek by Texas A&M Professor Phillip Kaufman, works because female screwworm flies mate only once—flooding areas with sterile males prevents successful reproduction. Five Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service teams conducted comprehensive on-site assessments in Mexico this month to evaluate containment efforts. Strict import protocols now govern the reopening. Only cattle and bison born and raised in Sonora or Chihuahua, or those treated according to specific NWS protocols, qualify for import initially. Texas ports won't reopen until Coahuila and Nuevo Leon adopt similar protocols. Equines from anywhere in Mexico can be imported but require a seven-day quarantine and compliance with equine NWS protocols. Mexico is renovating its sterile fruit fly facility in Metapa, expected to produce 60 million to 100 million sterile flies weekly by July 2026. This represents progress toward the long-term goal of producing 400 million to 500 million flies weekly to reestablish the NWS barrier at the Darién Gap. What People Are Saying Rollins, in a Monday statement: "At USDA we are focused on fighting the New World Screwworm's advancement in Mexico. These quick actions by the Trump Administration have improved the conditions to allow the phased reopening of select ports on the Southern Border to livestock trade. We are continuing our posture of increased vigilance and will not rest until we are sure this devastating pest will not harm American ranchers." Speaking previously to Newsweek, Kaufman, also head of the department of entomology at Texas A&M University, said: "To eliminate the fly, especially under a more widespread infestation, requires several complimentary approaches, including monitoring for infested wounds for larvae, using fly-specific traps, and the mass release of sterile males." He added: "The sterile male technique is crucial in this process as the female screwworm fly mates only once and by inundating the infested area with sterile males we in effect make the females lay eggs that do not hatch. As these wild females die out, the population drops, and the fly is ultimately eliminated. This takes time to accomplish but has been proven effective repeatedly." Cattle serve as the backdrop for a roundtable discussion on the New World Screwworm at the Texas A&M Beef Center in College Station, Texas, on April 29. Cattle serve as the backdrop for a roundtable discussion on the New World Screwworm at the Texas A&M Beef Center in College Station, Texas, on April 29. Meredith Seaver /College Station Eagle via AP What Happens Next The USDA will continuously monitor each port reopening for adverse effects before proceeding to the next phase. Officials reported no notable increase in NWS cases or northward movement over the past eight weeks, indicating progress in containment efforts. Additional improvements in Mexico's animal movement controls and surveillance efforts remain critical for remaining ports to reopen as scheduled.


Hamilton Spectator
7 hours ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Point Park returned to Northern Ontario First Nations after 27 year-long struggle
The smell of walleye and the sound of live music wafted through Point Park on Indigenous Peoples Day. Under the 30C sun, dozens of children ran between the beach and inflatable, bouncy castles. Susan Councillor took in the ruckus under a lone tree at the edge of the park. Across the mouth of Rainy River to her right, you could see International Falls, Minnesota. To her left, Couchiching First Nation was visible on the southern shore of Rainy Lake. And behind her, the highway met the Town of Fort Frances. All of this action right in the middle felt to her like the good old days. 'This is awesome. We haven't had something like this anywhere, (a place) to sit and enjoy music and visit with people. There used to be pow wows here, there used to be fairgrounds. There used to be baseball,' she said. 'It's such a beautiful piece of land but it wasn't being utilized for anything. When the organizers planned this, they didn't know about the verdict that came out on Wednesday. It just fell into place.' She was referring to a June 17 summary ruling 27 years in the making, which returns this sliver of land known as Point Park to the nearby Couchiching, Mitaanjigamiing, Naicatchewenin, and Nigigoonsiminikaaning First Nations, collectively known as Agency One. A contested history The Point where Rainy Lake meets Rainy River has always been a landing point for trade between First Nations. Between 1871 and 1888, it was also home to Robert J.N. Pither, the Indian agent for Couchiching and one of two commissioners who signed Treaty 3 in 1873. The other commissioner of the agreement with 28 First Nations that covers a 55,000-square-mile area in northwestern Ontario and southeastern Manitoba, Simon Dawson, sent a report to Canada's Governor General on Dec. 31, 1874 in which he proposed guaranteed reserves. Those included Reserve No.1, also known as the Agency One Reserve. Dawson described it as follows:'At the foot of Rainy Lake, to be laid off as nearly as may be indicated on the plan. Two chains in depth along the shore of Rainy Lake and the bank of Rainy River, to be reserved for roads, right of way to lumbermen, booms, wharves and other public purposes. 'This Indian Reserve not to be for any particular chief or band, but for the Saulteuse tribe, generally, and for the purpose of maintaining thereon an Indian Agency generally with the necessary grounds and buildings.' Settlers surveyed roads through the area in the decade that followed, incorporating the township of McIrvine in 1894. McIrvine grew into Fort Frances, which became a township in 1903. Ontario was not only eager to recognize surveyed roads and townships in the district to encourage agricultural development, but it was also embroiled in a dispute over its border with Manitoba through the late 1880s and early 1890s. Laws recognizing settler property and Indigenous land rights moved quickly and inconsistently. The residents of Fort Frances, meanwhile, extensively lobbied senior levels of government to hand over the Agency One land to them for a park. Those efforts culminated in Canada signing a 99-year lease to the town in 1908. In 1998, the four First Nations that make up Agency One filed a statement of claim against Canada for breach of fiduciary duty, alleging maladministration. They added Ontario and Fort Frances as parties in 2008. The town issued a counterclaim the following year, asserting it rightfully owned the park. Justice Fregeau agreed with Canada and Ontario in the decision, ruling that the Agency One Reserve, 'was a validly created reserve' and that Canada, 'did not intend to publicly dedicate the land' when it leased the park to Fort Frances. Fregeau then dismissed the town's claims of $50-million for breach of promise as well as its $2-million reimbursement claim for 'unjust enrichment' over the capital improvements the municipality made. 'This land was always ours' Under the tent, Nigigoonsiminikaaning Chief Terry Allan held a microphone in one hand and an eagle feather in the other as he explained the decision's meaning to the assembled crowd. 'Every elder knew, every chief knew, every community knew — this land was always ours, and it will be for thousands of years,' Allan said. 'Just try to picture yourself here thousands of years ago. Picture these drums. Those songs, these drums, they don't change. They've been here for thousands of years. The ceremonies we're going to be doing once again here on these lands, picture the kids running around, picture people fishing, picture the canoes here. Picture all those things. They're going to come back here.' As a boy, elder William Yerxa remembers running to the beach to watch those canoes make the last leg of their journey across the bay. They'd come from communities as far east as Seine River, nearly 100 kilometres away. Yerxa is a member of Little Eagle Band, a descendent of the treaty signatory to the Point. He said his elders told him that the land rightfully belonged to him, that Pither was a thief, and that one day, he'd have to talk about it.'Somebody was here before me a long time ago and they watched over the land. They cared for it. They took care of the water, they took care of the land, they took care of the animals, they took what they needed. They belonged to the land – and we are the land. That's why it matters to me,' he said, tugging at his t-shirt that read 'It's All Indian Land.' 'We won the court case. We're different. You can feel that lightness flowing within them now. That's theirs, it's ours. It's who we are.' The case has carried on for nearly the entire life of Yerxa's 34-year-old granddaughter, Cheyenne Vandermeer. Vandermeer is now the Deputy Grand Chief of Grand Council Treaty #3, the territory's traditional government. Vandermeer remembers the four communities would hold spring and fall feasts from when she was too young to understand why the chiefs were meeting under a tent in the park. Yerxa took her to where Pither and the railroad had disturbed the burial mounds of her ancestors, along the riverbanks where shards of ancient pottery are still resting in the sand between the stones. Her job in politics keeps her on the road but every day she's home, she walks to the rapids to offer tobacco. 'He always said we never gave it to them, we said they could borrow it and now it's done and it's time for them to give it back,' she recalled of her grandfather's teachings. 'I think from our side of things, we were willing to share our territory, but we never did surrender it. I think they're going to have to learn to be in relationship with the chiefs and communities, who are caretakers of this land.' A long road to decolonization The small steps Fort Frances has taken toward reconciliation are visible from this spot. The sign that read 'Pither's Point' was removed in 2014. That sign was on the off-ramp from the waterfront street that used to be called 'Colonization Drive.' In 2021, it was renamed 'Agamiing Drive,' which is Anishinaabemowin term to describe the edge of the water. But some among the settler population resisted those changes and the city's stance during the case reflected that. The municipality's mailout leaflets in the late 2010s incorrectly informed Fort Frances residents the First Nations had 'surrendered' the park. They listed a number of other First Nations lawsuits and land claims framed as encroaching on private property interests, even inferring the price of electricity could be in jeopardy. In summation, they read, 'All the Town is looking for is to preserve the Point Park and roads for everyone to use and enjoy. The town has made many attempts to settle these matters. The town's proposals to date, have been rejected, however, the Town will continue to seek solutions that will preserve the park use as it has existed for over a hundred years' (original emphasis). Fort Frances Mayor Andrew Hallikas and his council bucked eight terms of their predecessors on Monday when they voted unanimously to abandon further appeals to ownership over Point Park. Their public statement says council members 'acknowledge and regret the damage done to our relationship with Agency One,' recognizing the toll the prolonged case took on residents, staff, and members of area First Nations.'I'm very proud of this council for putting an end to what seemed to me to be endless litigation,' Hallikas said. 'I'm pleased they took a position that will allow us to move forward toward our journey to reconciliation. I really want it to be a time of healing. I want to see a rebuilding of trust and it takes time to build trust, but it's a beginning.' The first meeting between the town manager and the CEO of Agency One resulted in a commitment to joint funding for fireworks on Canada Day at Point Park. Over the four decades Couchiching First Nation Chief Richard Bruyere has been fighting this battle, he said he's watched members of his community integrate with the town's young people in sports and school. He's watched more of his community's members working in the municipality and some choosing to live there. He has watched the political needle move slowly and he's hopeful over the Fort Frances' council's promise to improve the relationship across the park that has been allowed to come between them for so long. 'There seems to be a new way of thinking,' Bruyere reflected. 'It's a beautiful spot and it's going to go on being that way. It's incumbent on us as First Nations people to keep that beauty there. I don't know if 'pristine' is the right word or not but it has to be managed properly. It's new to us, we're going to stumble along the way. Not everything's going to be helping the linking of a lot of people, but we'll get there.' Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
Yahoo
12 hours ago
- Yahoo
What are the Air India crash theories and what happens next in the investigation?
Investigators have not ruled out sabotage as a cause for the Air India plane crash this month that killed 274 people. Flight AI171 bound for London Gatwick crashed just after take-off from Ahmedabad Airport on 12 June, killing all but one of the 242 people on board as well as nearly 30 people on the ground. Security CCTV footage from the airport showed the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner taking off before, moments later, starting to descend and then crashing and exploding into flames. On Sunday, India's civil aviation minister said investigators are looking into all possible causes of the disaster, including sabotage. Experts have told Yahoo News they regard sabotage as one of the less likely causes of the crash and warned that the nature of the incident could hamper efforts to recover data from the aircraft's block box. As it also emerged that a report into the causes of the crash will be published in three months, Yahoo News UK looks at the potential theories behind the disaster. The plane's pilot, Captain Sumeet Sabharwal - a veteran with 8,200 hours of flying experience - radioed air traffic control moments after take-off to say: "No thrust. Mayday, mayday." A report in the Wall Street Journal suggested that the aircraft's emergency power generator, known as the ram air turbine (RAT), was operating when the plane crashed, which aviation experts said indicated engine power failure may have been the cause. This system generates electricity and hydraulic pressure to ensure pilots can control the plane even if both engines fail. The likelihood of both engines failing is very rare, but can be caused by a bird strike. However, experts appear to have ruled out a bird strike, given none were visible in the CCTV footage of the crash. Some experts have said that CCTV footage shows the aircraft's wing flaps were not extended during take-off. This would have reduced lift during take-off in the 40C heat in India that requires higher flap settings. The plane's landing gear also appeared to be deployed, instead of being withdrawn upon leaving the runway. One theory is that the landing gear got stuck and that the pilots partially retracted the flaps to reduce drag in an attempt to keep climbing. However, if overdone, this could cause the plane to lose lift. Another possible cause being considered by investigators is fuel contamination, which can cause a double engine failure. Investigators will no doubt examine what fuel the Air India plane was using, the maintenance of refuelling equipment used at the airport and where exactly it was stored. The AAIB is also expected to look into whether the fuel was contaminated as part of a deliberate act of sabotage. On Sunday, Murlidhar Mohol, India's civil aviation minister, said that investigators from the country's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) were examining all of the potential causes of the crash, and that this included sabotage. In an interview with New Delhi Television (NDTV), he described the crash as an "unfortunate accident". However, he then spoke about the AAIB investigation into the disaster, saying: "It is being probed from all angles, including any possible sabotage. "The CCTV footage is being reviewed and all angles are being assessed. Several agencies are working on it." Aerospace engineering expert Dr Jason Knight, a senior lecturer in fluid mechanics at the University of Portsmouth, told Yahoo News he didn't think sabotage would be found to be the cause of the disaster. "Whilst sabotage is a possibility, in my opinion, it would be highly unlikely as the cause of the accident," he said, pointing out it is standard practice to examine if sabotage is a factor in air disasters. "They will leave no stone unturned and investigate all possibilities, including sabotage as a cause - regardless of how unlikely it is to be the cause," he said. At the end of last week, investigators began downloading data from the two black boxes that were recovered after the crash. The cockpit voice recorder (CVR) and flight data recorder (FDR) were located in the aftermath of the crash - one on the following day on the rooftop of a building and the other among the debris three days after the disaster. The Indian government said last week that the AAIB had started extracting the data from the black boxes after they were taken to New Delhi. Mohol dismissed reports that the black boxes would be sent outside the country for assessment, saying the AAIB will do the "entire investigation" and that a report into the causes of the crash will be published in three months. "Once the report comes, we will be able to ascertain if it was an engine problem or fuel supply issue or why both the engines had stopped functioning," he said. Dr Knight told Yahoo News: "The AAIB will want to be confident in their findings and will need time to gather evidence and examine all the findings. They will be using multiple sources of information to investigate and corroborate the actual cause." Dr Akhil Bhardwaj, a disasters expert and senior lecturer at the University of Bath, told Yahoo News the speed at which the incident happened may hamper the investigation. "Data from the recovered black box should enable investigators to zoom in on what went wrong," he said. "The short timeframe within which the event happened can make it more difficult to parse the data because many indicators might be confounded with each other and difficult to disentangle neatly. "This will take some time and investigators will naturally want to be careful about any report they release." Under United Nations (UN) rules, the AAIB must release a preliminary report on the crash within 30 days of the disaster. Investigators will also be looking at the possibility of any criminal charges. 'If there is evidence of criminal wrongdoing or negligence, one can imagine that charges will be brought," Dr Bhardwaj said. He pointed out that aeroplane manufacturer Boeing faced criminal charges after 346 people died in two similar plane crashes in Indonesia in October 2018 and Ethiopia in March 2019 involving 737 MAX aircraft. It was reported last month that Boeing will avoid prosecution for fraud in the US following a deal with the justice department that will involve it paying more than $1.1bn, as well as an additional $445m for the crash victims' families. Speaking about the Air India crash, Dr Bhardwaj said: "Understandably, any suggestion that Boeing was responsible for the crash would be highly unwelcome, especially as the company is only now beginning to recover from the reputational damage caused by the 737 MAX incidents. "It remains to be seen whether this disaster was a one-off or if there are systematic issues that need to be addressed and there are lessons to be learned from it.' Boeing said in a statement it is ready to support any investigation.