Sierra Hotel Blog
Image credit: Gov.Pl On 1 November 2011 a LOT Polish Airlines Flight 16, a Boeing 767-35DER (registered SP-LPC) passenger jet departed Newark with 220 passengers and 11 crew on board for a scheduled service from Newark, United States, to Warsaw,...
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On October 30, 1963, Lt. James Flatley landed a 121,000-pound four-engine KC-130F Hercules on the deck of USS Forrestal — with no tailhook and no catapult. He completed 29 touch-and-go landings, 21 full-stop landings, and 21 unassisted takeoffs. The Navy deemed it too risky for regular use, but Flatley earned the Distinguished Flying Cross for what remains one of the most audacious carrier landings ever attempted.
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On October 15, 2003, at precisely 09:00 (UTC+08:00), Astronaut Yang Liwei, a 38-year-old lieutenant colonel in the People's Liberation Army sat inside the Shenzhou spacecraft perched on top of the Long March 2F launch vehicle as it ignited its engines...
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On January 12, 2012, seven Somali pirates attacked what they believed was a defenceless cargo ship anchored off Somalia — it was the AOR Patiño, flagship of the EU counter-piracy fleet, crewed by 150 armed Spanish Marines. The pirates were repelled by heavy fire, chased down by a Sea King helicopter, and ultimately sentenced to up to 17.5 years in a Spanish prison.
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Image credit: John Proctor Collection October 21, 2009, Northwest Airlines Flight 188, an Airbus A320-212, registered as N374NW, serial number 1646 departed San Diego International Airport, California, at 5:01pm CDT on a regularly scheduled flight to Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota. Flight...
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