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Tuesday, March 29, 2005A team of Australian surgeons yesterday reattached both hands and one foot to 10-year-old Perth boy, Terry Vo, after a brick wall which collapsed during a game of basketball fell on him, severing the limbs. The wall gave way while Terry performed a slam-dunk, during a game at a friend’s birthday party.

The boy was today awake and smiling, still in some pain but in good spirits and expected to make a full recovery, according to plastic surgeon, Mr Robert Love.

“What we have is parts that are very much alive so the reattached limbs are certainly pink, well perfused and are indeed moving,” Mr Love told reporters today.

“The fact that he is moving his fingers, and of course when he wakes up he will move both fingers and toes, is not a surprise,” Mr Love had said yesterday.

“The question is more the sensory return that he will get in the hand itself and the fine movements he will have in the fingers and the toes, and that will come with time, hopefully. We will assess that over the next 18 months to two years.

“I’m sure that he’ll enjoy a game of basketball in the future.”

The weight and force of the collapse, and the sharp brick edges, resulted in the three limbs being cut through about 7cm above the wrists and ankle.

Terry’s father Tan said of his only child, the injuries were terrible, “I was scared to look at him, a horrible thing.”

The hands and foot were placed in an ice-filled Esky and rushed to hospital with the boy, where three teams of medical experts were assembled, and he was given a blood transfusion after experiencing massive blood loss. Eight hours of complex micro-surgery on Saturday night were followed by a further two hours of skin grafts yesterday.

“What he will lose because it was such a large zone of traumatised skin and muscle and so on, he will lose some of the skin so he’ll certainly require lots of further surgery regardless of whether the skin survives,” said Mr Love said today.

The boy was kept unconscious under anaesthetic between the two procedures. In an interview yesterday, Mr Love explained why:

“He could have actually been woken up the next day. Because we were intending to take him back to theatre for a second look, to look at the traumatised skin flaps, to close more of his wounds and to do split skin grafting, it was felt the best thing to do would be to keep him stable and to keep him anaesthetised.”

Professor Wayne Morrison, director of the respected Bernard O’Brien Institute of Microsurgery and head of plastic and hand surgery at Melbourne’s St Vincent’s Hospital, said he believed the operation to be a world first.

Sunday, June 17, 2007

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the agency responsible for investigating transportation accidents in the United States, released updates on three major investigations on June 14.

The NTSB, well known publicly for its involvement in the investigation of aviation incidents which involve harm or loss of human life, is also an agency that oversees the transportation of refined petroleum and gas products, chemicals and minerals.

The agency determined the cause of a natural gas pipeline explosion that killed six. It also detailed the cause of an accidental release of 204,000 gallons of anhydrous ammonia from a pipeline in an environmentally sensitive area, and released preliminary information involving two commercial aircraft coming within 30-50 feet of each other on a runway.

In the gas explosion disaster, the towing vessel Miss Megan, which was of specifications that did not require inspection by the United States Coast Guard, was being operated in the West Cote Blanche Bay oil field in Louisiana by Central Boat Rentals on behalf of Athena Construction on October 12, 2006. The Miss Megan was pushing barge IBR 234, which was tied along the starboard side of barge Athena 106, en route to a pile-driving location. Athena Construction did not require its crews to pin mooring spuds (vertical steel shafts extending through wells in the bottom of the boat and used for mooring) securely in place on its barges and consequently this had not been done. During the journey, the aft spud on the Athena 106 released from its fully raised position. The spud dropped into the water and struck a submerged, high-pressure natural gas pipeline. The resulting gas released ignited and created a fireball that engulfed the towing vessel and both barges. The master of the towing vessel and four barge workers were killed. The Miss Megan deckhand and one barge worker survived. One barge worker is officially listed as missing.

The NTSB blames Athena Construction for the disaster, citing in the final report that Athena Construction’s manual contained no procedures mandating the use of the safety devices on the spud winch except during electrical work. It was found that if the Athena 106 crew had used the steel pins to secure the retracted spuds during their transit, a pin would have prevented the aft spud from accidentally deploying. Furthermore, the spud would have remained locked in its lifted position regardless of whether the winch brake mechanism, the spud’s supporting cable, or a piece of connecting hardware had failed.

The NTSB also found that contributing to the accident was the failure of Central Boat Rentals to require, and the Miss Megan master to ensure, that the barge spuds were securely pinned before getting under way. The Board noted that investigators found no evidence that the Miss Megan master or deckhand checked whether the spuds had been properly secured before the tow began. While Central Boat Rentals had a health and safety manual and trained its crews, the written procedures did not specifically warn masters about the need to secure spuds or other barge equipment before navigating. The NTSB stated that the company’s crew should have been trained to identify potential safety hazards on vessels under their control.

NTSB Chairman Mark Rosenker said of the investigation’s results, “Having more rigorous requirements in place could have prevented this accident from occurring. Not only do these regulations need to be put in place but it is imperative that they are enforced and adhered to.”

The NTSB has made a number of safety recommendations as a result of this accident and the subsequent investigation. Recommendations were made to Athena Construction and Central Boat Rentals to develop procedures and train the employees of its barges to use the securing pins to hold spuds safely in place before transiting from one site to another.

The most major of the other recommendations are:

To the Occupational Safety and Health Administration:

• Direct the Maritime Advisory Committee for Occupational Safety and Health to issue the following documents document to the maritime industry: (1) a fact sheet regarding the accident, and (2) a guidance document regarding the need to secure the gear on barges, including spud pins, before the barges are moved, and detailing any changes to your memorandum of understanding with the Coast Guard.

To the U. S. Coast Guard

• Finalize and implement the new towing vessel inspection regulations and require the establishment of safety management systems appropriate for the characteristics, methods of operation, and nature of service of towing vessels.
• Review and update your memorandum of understanding with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to specifically address your respective oversight roles on vessels that are not subject to Coast Guard inspection.

The NTSB also released the result of its investigation into an environmental disaster in Kansas on October 27, 2004 in which 204,000 gallons (4,858 barrels) of anhydrous ammonia was spilled from a ruptured pipeline in Kingman into an environmentally sensitive area. Chemicals from the pipeline entered a nearby stream and killed more than 25,000 fish, including some fish from threatened species.

The incident reached the scale that it did due to operator error after the initial rupture. The 8 5/8-inch diameter steel pipeline, which was operated by Enterprise Products Operating L.P., burst at 11:15 a.m. in an agricultural area about 6 miles east of Kingman, Kansas. A drop in pipeline pressure, indicating abnormal conditions or a possible compromise in pipeline integrity, set off alarms displayed on the computerized pipeline monitoring system. Shortly after the first alarm the pipeline controller, in an attempt to remedy the low pressure, increased the flow of anhydrous ammonia into the affected section of pipeline. A total of 33 minutes elapsed between the time when the first alarm indicated a problem with the pipeline and the initiation of a shutdown.

In its initial report to the National Response Center (NRC), the pipeline operator’s accident reporting contractor reported a release of at least 20 gallons of ammonia, telling the NRC that an updated estimate of material released would be reported at a later time. No such report was ever made. Because of the inaccurate report, the arrival of representatives from the Environmental Protection Agency was delayed by a full day, affecting the oversight of the environmental damage mitigation efforts.

The cause of the rupture itself was determined to be a pipe gouge created by heavy equipment damage to the pipeline during construction in 1973 or subsequent excavation activity at an unknown time that initiated metal fatigue cracking and led to the eventual rupture of the pipeline.

“We are very fortunate that such highly toxic chemicals of the size and scope involved in this accident were not released in a populated area,” commented Rosenker. “Had this same quantity of ammonia been released near a town or city, the results could have been catastrophic.”

As a result of this accident, the NTSB made the following safety recommendations:

To the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration:

• Require that a pipeline operator must have a procedure to calculate and provide a reasonable initial estimate of released product in the telephonic report to the National Response Center.
• Require that a pipeline operator must provide an additional telephonic report to the National Response Center if significant new information becomes available during the emergency response.
• Require an operator to revise its pipeline risk assessment plan whenever it has failed to consider one of more risk factors that can affect pipeline integrity.

To Enterprise Products Operating L.P.:

• Provide initial and recurrent training for all controllers that includes simulator or noncomputerized simulations of abnormal operating conditions that indicate pipeline leaks.

“The severity of this release of dangerous chemicals into the community could have been prevented,” said Rosenker. “The safety recommendations that we have made, if acted upon, will reduce the likelihood of this type of accident happening again.”

As well as concluding their investigation of the above accidents, the NTSB also released preliminary information regarding a serious runway incursion at San Francisco International Airport between two commercial aircraft on May 26, 2007.

At about 1:30 p.m. the tower air traffic controller cleared SkyWest Airlines flight 5741, an Embraer 120 arriving from Modesto, California, to land on runway 28R. Forgetting about the arrival airplane, the same controller then cleared Republic Airlines flight 4912, an Embraer 170 departing for Los Angeles, to take off from runway 1L, which intersects runway 28R.

After the SkyWest airliner touched down, the Airport Movement Area Safety System (AMASS) alerted and the air traffic controller transmitted “Hold, Hold, Hold” to the SkyWest flight crew in an attempt to stop the aircraft short of runway 1L. The SkyWest crew applied maximum braking that resulted in the airplane stopping in the middle of runway 1L. As this was occurring, the captain of Republic Airlines flight 4912 took control of the aircraft from the first officer, realized the aircraft was traveling too fast to stop, and initiated an immediate takeoff. According to the crew of SkyWest 5741, the Republic Airlines aircraft overflew theirs by 30 to 50 feet. The Federal Aviation Administration has categorized the incident as an operational error.

The NTSB sent an investigator to San Francisco, who collected radar data, recorded air traffic control communications, and flight crew statements, and interviewed air traffic control personnel prior to the NTSB making the preliminary release.

Friday, June 29, 2012

Will Loomis, lead singer of the US music group Loomis & the Lust, is suing UK singer Jessica Cornish, known by her stage name Jessie J, and Universal Music Group, Lava Records, and Universal Republic Records for allegedly using elements of his 2008 song Bright Red Chords in Cornish’s 2011 track Domino without his copyright permission. In a written statement to Billboard, Chris Arledge, Loomis’s lawyer, said Loomis “never consented to the use of his song” and the prosecuting side “look forward to obtaining an appropriate remedy from the court for this clear infringement”.

On Loomis & the Lust’s Facebook page, Loomis wrote: “When I wrote this melody in my garage I never imagined it would be sung for the King and Queen of England”, adding: “I especially never imagined it would be sung by Jessie J.” Loomis, of the US state of California, placed a YouTube video of Bright Red Chords with Cornish’s vocals overlaid on it, to illustrate the apparent closeness between the two songs, in April. The video was subsequently banned from the website on “copyright grounds” by Cornish’s record label.

Cornish, ?ukasz Gottwald, Kelly Claude, Martin Sandberg, and Henry Walter are attributed as the writers of Domino. Representatives of Cornish and Gottwald have not commented on the case, although Cornish has previously said about the song: “People have heard Domino and said, ‘It’s nothing like you.’ But I’m like, ‘Well, the album’s really eclectic anyway, and I never go into the studio and say, “I wanna do another song that’s like Price Tag or another song like Do It Like a Dude.”?’?”

Sunday, March 30, 2008

While nearly all cover of the 2008 Presidential election has focused on the Democratic and Republican candidates, the race for the White House also includes independents and third party candidates. These parties represent a variety of views that may not be acknowledged by the major party platforms.

As a non-partisan news source, Wikinews has impartially reached out to these candidates, who are looking to become the 43rd person elected to serve their nation from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW. Wikinews’ own Patrick Mannion corresponded with the Socialist Party USA nominee and candidate, Brian Moore via e-mail.

Monday, April 6, 2009

According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS) a major moment magnitude 6.3 earthquake has struck Central Italy at 3:32 a.m. local time with a 4.8 aftershock about an hour after. Earlier reports from the USGS had said the quake was a 6.7. Italy’s National Institute of Geophysics registered the quake at a Richter magnitude of 5.8.

The epicenter was registered 95 kilometres (60 miles) Northeast of Italy’s capital of Rome. It registered a depth of 10 kilometres (6.2 miles). At least nine aftershocks, with the highest being a magnitude 4.8, have shaken the area since the initial earthquake.

At least 150 people have been killed in the region and officials say the death toll is likely to rise. According to the RAI (Italian public broadcasting service) and press agencies, at least 1,500 people have been injured. No less than six people, four children, and an elderly woman, are reported to have been killed in a building collapse in L’Aquila, where most of the shaking was felt and at least six students are trapped beneath the rubble of a partially collapsed college dormitory. The USGS says nearly 70,000 people live in L’Aquila, with hundreds of thousands more people residing in the surrounding areas.

Several buildings are reported to be collapsed or damaged in the city, including a church and school. The BBC reports the area as “hard hit.” BNOnews reports that there are thousands of buildings damaged or collapsed in the region. Reports say as many as 50,000 houses and buildings have been destroyed, leaving thousands of people homeless. The mayor of L’Aquila, Massimo Cialente, declared that Onna fraction, a small conglomerate of houses near the capital of Abruzzo, was completely destroyed.

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has declared a state of emergency for the region, and is returning to Italy to coordinate the relief operations. The Minister of the Interior, Roberto Maroni, is also travelling to L’Aquila to offer collaboration from the government.

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman contacted Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini to offer the assistance of Israel’s natural disaster SAR teams.

This is the deadliest quake in Italy since November 23, 1980, when nearly 3,000 people were killed in a magnitude 6.8 earthquake that struck Southern Italy in the Irpinia region. At least 10,000 were injured with over 300,000 being left homeless.

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Campaigners opposed to the expansion of London Heathrow Airport have today scaled the roof of the U.K. Houses of Parliament and hung protest banners reading ‘BAA HQ’ and ‘No 3rd Runway’ from the building, before and during Prime Minister’s Questions inside the building.

The three men and two women were from climate action group, Plane Stupid. The non-violent direct action comes on the day a government consultation into the Heathrow expansion of a third runway ends.

The protesters made paper aeroplanes out of confidential Whitehall documents that allegedly show collusion between the British Airports Authority (B.A.A.) and the Government department of transport to subvert the public consultation process on the proposed third runway. These documents were obtained from the Department for Transport by Greenpeace under the freedom of information act.

B.A.A. claims a third runway is essential for Britain’s economy, and would reduce congestion at Heathrow, actually cutting emissions, and is necessary to keep up with the booming aviation industry. This would allow the number of flights to increase from 480,000 a year to around 702,000 .

In a statement given by one of the protesters from the roof to the Guardian newspaper:

Matthew Knowles from the Society of British Aerospace Companies made a statement to the B.B.C. that: “These stunts are becoming tiresome and do nothing more than peddle inaccurate propaganda.”

The rooftop occupation comes two days after Greenpeace protesters scaled an Airbus A320 which had just touched down at Heathrow from Manchester, and follows a succession of direct action protests in the U.K. in relation to climate change.