Southwest flight out of Burbank rapidly descends shortly after takeoff to avoid mid-air collision
The flight, bound for Las Vegas, descended 475 feet from an altitude of 14,100 feet, ABC News affiliate KABC reported, citing data from Flightradar24, a flight tracking site.
Passenger Steve Ulasewicz told ABC News it felt like a 'significant drop,' and the pilot had said the maneuver was performed to 'avoid a mid-air collision."
The budget airline said in a statement it was 'engaged with the Federal Aviation Administration to further understand the circumstances.'
'No injuries were immediately reported by Customers, but two Flight Attendants are being treated for injuries,' the statement continued. 'We appreciate the professionalism of our Flight Crew and Flight Attendants in responding to this event. Nothing is more important to Southwest than the Safety of our Customers and Employees.'
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Times
3 hours ago
- Times
What it's like to have a sleepover in a Cold War nuclear missile silo
When Cold War tensions reached a peak in October 1962 and the world stood on the brink of a thermonuclear apocalypse, the intercontinental ballistic missile silos around Roswell were hardly a place for a relaxing night's sleep. Just a couple of feet of concrete and steel separated the crew bunker from an Atlas-F missile poised in a 186ft vertical launch tube, ready to strike Soviet territory with 250 times more power than the bomb that destroyed Hiroshima. Now silo number four, buried in the high desert plains of southeastern New Mexico, is an Airbnb, inviting guests to take rest in the underground spot where the US came close to unleashing the end of civilisation. 'Your prayers don't help you here,' says some graffiti scrawled inside the rusting missile chamber. Guests stay underground in what was once the launch control room, where they can cook steak and pizza in a kitchenette, help themselves to a glass of wine and linger in the eerie, voluminous missile chamber where mice skitter along the rusting girders. For bedtime reading, there is a rich collection of materials from the day, including a pamphlet on surviving radioactive fallout and once top secret — now declassified — operating manuals on how to launch a nuclear missile. On the walls are hundreds of framed photographs chronicling the story of this place — part of a collection of nearly one million historical documents and images amassed by the live-in owner and host, Gary Baker. 'If you come here, you do it for the experience and the history and to learn. If you're just looking for somewhere to stay a night, you might as well go to a Motel 6,' said Baker, 65, who as a child played in the abandoned silos and now owns two of them. The US built 12 of these sites in a cluster around Walker Air Force Base between 1960 and 1962 as part of America's first generation of intercontinental ballistic missile strategic defences. They were operated by the 579th Strategic Missile Squadron, which manned them 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. No missiles were ever fired, but three blew up, destroying their silos — though all personnel survived. In October 1962 came the Cuban missile crisis, when John F Kennedy, the president, faced off against the Soviet premier, Nikita Khrushchev, after US spy planes detected Soviet nuclear missile sites under construction in Cuba, 90 miles from Florida. For 13 days, the world held its breath as the US military moved to Defcon 2 — one step from nuclear war — and Kennedy and Khrushchev exchanged threats. Roswell's missile sites went on high alert, ready to fire within ten minutes of an order to go, armed with a W38 warhead with a nuclear yield of nearly four megatons of TNT. 'If that order comes, then kaboom!' said Raúl Bernal, custodian of silos four and ten. But Kennedy and Khrushchev made a deal and the order never came. Set on a windswept landscape along a private dirt road, this site was left derelict after it was decommissioned in 1965 and put up for auction in 1968. Silo four was purchased for $1,700, largely for its scrap value. 'Built it for $22 million, sold it for $1,700. No one wanted some hell in the middle of nowhere,' said Bernal. Decades after its original sale by the government, Baker, who is Bernal's cousin, purchased silos four and ten for $55,000 each in 1999 and 2000. He grew up nearby and was two years old when the first silo was commissioned. Later, he would lark around in the silos with friends from Roswell's military school, clambering the metal ladders and spiral staircases that descend into the silo, which is topped by 75-ton concrete and steel doors that open out onto the desert plain. 'When you go to military school there's only a couple of things you do: study and drill. So when somebody comes into the barrack room and says: 'Hey, did you know there's some old missile bases around here?' it's, 'Wow, let's check them out,'' he said. After university in California, he returned and worked as a consultant on the refurbishment of missile silos around the US, which are now in private hands. Some are private homes, some visitor attractions. • Inside the hidden spy tunnels set to become London's top attraction He and Bernal tell guests stories of life in the silos, gleaned from decades of research, searching archives and talking to former members of the 579th Strategic Missile Squadron. 'This crew had the highest percentage of stress of the Cold War era,' said Bernal, who lets guests manoeuvre the two-ton blast-proof doors that stood between the silo and crew bunker, and hands out stickers welcoming them to the ranks of the '579th Missile Club' — the 1,000 or so people who have stayed here or visited. He narrates chilling details as to why only one member of the crew, the chief, was permitted by the air force to carry a pistol in the bunker. 'This guy had the revolver,' Bernal said, gesturing to a photo showing a man dressed in white sitting at the launch console. 'When that phone rings, he had to answer in seconds … This guy is responsible for the launch process and touch[ing] the red button. When the process is started, this guy takes his gun. If some guy tries to stop it, this guy kills.' He adds: 'Imagine, one says: 'Don't do it, buddy. If you do it, a million souls will come for you.' So the guy had a pistol, to shoot him.' Guest reviews of the Airbnb include comments noting the silo as 'a throwback to an era when no one knew if there would be a day after tomorrow' and 'a truly nostalgic dystopian experience'. 'I never dreamed there would be a lot of people out there that are really into this,' said Baker. 'It's important that we keep that history and tell those stories. The people who worked here, their primary purpose in life was to launch a weapon of mass destruction … Hiroshima to one of those things; it's a night and day contrast. We're talking a firecracker to a stick of dynamite.' Only one guest ever complained of disappointment, he said. 'There was a lady who said she didn't love it. She dinged us three stars — because she didn't like the location.'
The Independent
5 hours ago
- The Independent
The ideal flight time: Early shift, late show or something in between?
Among the many benefits claimed for Heathrow 's controversial third-runway proposal is this: 'A better selection of flight times to the most popular destinations.' It's always good to have choice, and offering multiple departures across the day is a passenger benefit. Yet is there a perfect time to fly? You will have a view on this. Consider a three-hour flight to somewhere in Europe from a major UK airport. What time provides maximum benefit? My excellent colleagues have their opinions, which I shall bring you in a moment. But I have two preferences. 6am: Many aspects of a dawn flight are hideous: waking in the early hours, handling intermittent public transport or driving through the night, security queues longer than the Great Wall of China... Yet once you arrive at your destination, all is forgiven: assuming a one-hour time difference, it's 10am. The whole day lies ahead of you, museums are opening and the first delicious lunch is only a couple of hours away. 4pm: No need for an alarm. Whatever your chosen transport to the airport, it is likely to be quiet – as is the security queue. With that one-hour time difference, you will arrive in time for dinner and a drink before sleeping soundly ahead of your first day's adventures. My excellent colleague, travel writer Natalie Wilson, could not be more at odds with these timings. She picks her perfect schedule exactly in the middle, five hours from each of mine. 'For a travel experience with the least hassle, an 11am departure time would be my sweet spot,' Natalie says. "Assuming I'm arriving two hours before boarding (something that's hotly debated on the travel desk), 9am promises several forms of public transport are running to get me to a London aviation hub for an overpriced airport breakfast on several hours of sleep. 'Say there's a three-hour flight to Europe, and there's a one-hour time jump, you're ideally timed to arrive just after the average hotel check-in.' It sounds relaxed – though I don't relish having so much of the day devoured by travelling. Global Travel Editor Annabel Grossman goes for the late shift: 'Morning flights, where I'm up at the crack of dawn, leave me exhausted. It's not a great way to start a holiday or any trip, as it often means the first couple days involve catching up on sleep. 'I recently discovered to joy of an evening flight. Airports are so much quieter, and everyone seems far more relaxed and less bad tempered than during the morning rush! 'Then there's no hanging around to check in when you arrive at your destination – if you arrive earlier it's usually a bit of a wasted day anyway. You can have a good night's sleep and you're ready to start your holiday. Plus, you have the morning for finishing up packing.' On the subject of relaxation: at the British end, you could choose a flight that departs after most passengers have already taken off. Fortunately I have asked all the big airports for the magic midpoint when exactly half of the day's passengers have departed. There is no clear pattern: the halfway point is reached as early as 8am at Birmingham and as late as 2.50pm at Southampton. At the big four UK airports, the sequence is: Manchester: 11am Gatwick: 12.30pm Stansted: 1.30pm Heathrow: 2.15pm At the first three, I know from experience that the 'first wave' of flights is tough going (as it is at Luton, Birmingham, Edinburgh and many other airports). Yet few people leave Heathrow in the first wave, so the early experience can be surprisingly calm. There is one more departure time for three-hour flights that, depending on how well you sleep on aircraft, can work to your advantage: the midnight plane going east. Athens and Istanbul are both three-and-a-bit hours flying time from the London area, and with a two-hour time jump. A departure (from an almost empty airport) around midnight gets you to your destination at around 5am. After an hour's journey into the city, drop your bags at the hotel, then start your day like the locals: watching the sun rise over the Bosphorus or the Parthenon. You've also saved on a hotel night. The energy of the city will propel you through to lunch, and with a cooperative hotel you can take a siesta before some more exploration and indulgence. What about coming home? As late as possible for me, please: ideally 8pm, with the time change working in my favour for a 10pm arrival at the UK airport. But last word to Natalie, who says: 'In a dream world, on the way home I'd reverse the process: checking out of my hotel room at 12 noon to guarantee I've got my money's worth, arriving to the airport at 1pm ahead of a 3pm take-off, arriving back in London for 5pm. Then there's plenty of time to make my way home and unpack.' Simon Calder, also known as The Man Who Pays His Way, has been writing about travel for The Independent since 1994. In his weekly opinion column, he explores a key travel issue – and what it means for you.
Daily Mail
8 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Ruben Amorim is no soft touch but not repeating mistakes of hawk-like Erik ten Hag is paying off... now the Man United boss must stop the roof caving in again, writes CHRIS WHEELER
When Manchester United went on tour to Bangkok and Australia three years ago, Erik ten Hag laid down the law to his players with a strict set of rules. Keep to the dress code, wear the right footwear and under no circumstances be late for team meetings or meals. Trouble was, the lifts at the Athenee Hotel in the Thai capital were running a little slow, so rather than risk breaking one of the new manager's commandments and incurring a punishment, players would routinely abandon them and race up 40 flights of stairs, emerging in front of the hawk-like Ten Hag out of breath, sweating and lucky not to have pulled a muscle. Discipline is all well and good, but sometimes it can have a detrimental effect. Ten Hag's successor Ruben Amorim is certainly no soft touch. That much has been clear from the way he has stuck to his football principles since being appointed in November, even though a 'my way or the highway' approach contributed to United's worst-ever Premier League finish. Ask Marcus Rashford, Alejandro Garnacho, Jadon Sancho, Antony and Tyrell Malacia – the 'bomb squad' who were made to train away from the first-team group when they reported for pre-season at Carrington – if the head coach is a pushover. But Amorim is less of a stickler than Ten Hag. Maybe it's an age thing (15 years separates the two men). Maybe there is a difference between the Dutch and Portuguese mentalities. He has adopted a more relaxed approach on United's current tour of the US, happy to treat the players as adults and recognise right from wrong. There is code of discipline, of course, but not to the same extent. At the Waldorf Astoria in Chicago, breakfast begins from 7.30am but there is no specific time for the players to be there. Amorim himself seldom appears before 8am because he goes to the gym for an hour first. The only stipulation is that the players have to be on the team coach by 9.15am before it leaves for training at the Endeavor Health Performance Center three miles away that United are sharing with Chicago Fire. After a gym session, they are usually out on the grass for about 10.30am. There are none of the double sessions favoured by Ten Hag in pre-season, so the squad is free to do as they please from around 1pm onwards. Few have made much use of the recreation room at the team hotel, preferring to go shopping or eat out in the upmarket Magnificent Mile district of Chicago. Out on the grass, Amorim has gone to painstaking efforts to programme his ideas into the squad. With cameras (even club media) banned for the tactical sessions, he is literally walking the players through exactly where he wants them to be on the pitch at each moment. He tries not to overload them with information, sticking to key points. As a player himself until only a few years ago, he knows that would make no sense. The day before games, the pace picks up and observers in the US have been impressed at how the pictures Amorim is painting in his players' heads have been reproduced on the pitch in the impressive wins over West Ham and Bournemouth. 'Once we get used to that, I think we will reach a point, hopefully, where we can almost play with our eyes closed,' says defender Diogo Dalot. 'We already know where everybody is going to be on the pitch. 'We always do the walk-throughs and some tactical work, of course. He's very keen on that so we can be prepared. But at the same time, the message is really clear. There's not too much information, so everybody knows two or three things they need to do during the game. We go to every game already knowing what's going to happen, more or less, with the opposition.' United have looked fitter and sharper in pre-season too. Slicker in their passing, more intense in their pressing, quicker to the tackle. Sir Alex Ferguson's teams knew they had to earn the right to play by matching the effort of opponents who always raised their game, and you couldn't say that about many United teams since he retired. Amorim is determined to hit the ground running ahead of the opening game against Arsenal at Old Trafford on August 17. The players were sent specific fitness programmes to follow on their holidays, and it was clear from the data recorded by United's sports science staff on their return that they had done as they were told. A lot of the hard running in pre-season has been made to be more fun, for instance sprinting between two shooting drill stations. It has contributed to a genuinely more upbeat mood in camp after the disappointment of finishing 15th in the Premier League last season and losing the Europa League final to Tottenham. 'Everyone is positive,' says Patrick Dorgu. 'I feel like everyone left last season to last season and is just looking forward to the new season. 'I think we will hopefully see a United team that is attacking more, that's on the front foot, that's trying to dominate games, every game. We can just take the rest of the pre-season to get even better.' Another reason for the more positive mood is Amorim's decision to offload the players he either doesn't want or doesn't feel are committed to the cause – hence the 'bomb squad' being left at home while United are on tour. It has prevented the cloud that hung over Carrington following United to the US. Luke Shaw spoke earlier this week about how Amorim has improved an environment that was 'toxic' at times in recent years has improved, even it meant given his players an ultimatum. 'He's very clear in his messages that you want to be a part of the team or you cannot be here,' says Dalot. 'If you want to be in Manchester United, you need to match some standards. If you're not able to match it, it's not a place for you. 'I think we are creating now a group that fights for each other. I think you can see straightaway some signs of the team fighting a bit more and having more intensity. 'Obviously, there's still a long way to go. I'm not going to say perfect because that's difficult, but that's where we want to go, towards perfection.' It's also hard to over-estimate the importance of Bruno Fernandes turning down a hugely lucrative move to Saudi Arabia with Al-Hilal this summer. The United captain is a key figure on and off the pitch, and his decision to stay at Old Trafford has been warmly welcomed by the rest of the squad. 'I think it's a clear message that he still believes that this club can go to the places that it should be,' adds Dalot. 'I don't think there's a better way of starting a season than your captain staying and believing that this can go in the right direction. 'It's a clear message for the other teammates, for everybody, that we have to believe. We have to work really hard to put Manchester back in the place that it deserves.' Of course, we have been here before to the point that it has almost become a running joke. New season, new hope. Smiles on faces and cultural resets, only for the season to start and the roof to cave in. In 2022, Ten Hag beat Liverpool 4-0 in the first game in Bangkok and went unbeaten for the rest of the tour, only to have his pants pulled down by Brighton and Brentford when it really mattered. We will see, but perhaps this time Amorim really is onto something. After the win over Bournemouth, he said United look 'like a different team'. Cherries boss Andoni Iraola called them 'a hell of a team'. Next stop is Atlanta for Saturday's final tour game against Everton and another opportunity for Amorim's side to show they are heading in the right direction.
