Viet Nam News WASHINGTON — A senior US lawmaker introduced legislation on Monday to create a panel looking into military aviation mishaps, following a string of deadly incidents including one last week that killed nine airmen. The US military has been beset by a series of air accidents and crashes in recent years, and the rise has been shown to correlate with budget cuts introduced in 2013. The most recent incident occurred May 2, when a Hercules C-130 cargo plane belonging to the Puerto Rico Air National Guard crashed in the southern state of Georgia, killing all nine people on board. Congressman Adam Smith, the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, introduced a bill to establish an independent commission on military aviation safety. “We need to understand exactly what causes are contributing to military aviation accidents, how current rates compare to historic averages, and what steps we can take to improve military aviation safety," Smith said. The … [Read more...] about As US military air crash toll rises, lawmaker calls for probe
Plane crashes into pentagon
Israeli jet shot down after bombing Iranian site in Syria
Anti-aircraft fire downed an Israeli warplane returning from a bombing raid on Iran-backed positions in Syria on Saturday in the most serious confrontations yet between Israel and Iranian-backed forces based across the border. The F-16, one of at least eight Israeli planes despatched in response to what Israel said was an Iranian drone's incursion into its airspace earlier in the day, was hit by a Syrian anti-aircraft missile and crashed in northern Israel, an Israeli official told Reuters. Both pilots ejected and were injured, one critically. Israel then launched a second and more intensive air raid, hitting what it said were 12 Iranian and Syrian targets in Syria, including Syrian air defence systems. Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah group said the downing of the plane marked the "start of a new strategic phase" that would limit Israel's ability to enter Syrian airspace. Iran's involvement in Syria in support of President Bashar al-Assad in a nearly 7-year-old civil war - … [Read more...] about Israeli jet shot down after bombing Iranian site in Syria