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Plane crash kills 6 headed home for Christmas celebration

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A chartered plane that crashed into a shallow harbor after taking off from Kodiak Island, killing six people, was carrying a group of fishermen from a dissident sect of the Russian Orthodox Church home for Christmas.

Four people survived the crash Saturday, and one of them told investigators that the door to a baggage compartment in the nose of the small plane had popped open.

We want to look at the aerodynamic qualities of opening a very large door in flight, Clint Johnson, an investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board, said Sunday. This does not signal an end of our investigation of the crash by any means, but it at least played a part in it.

The Piper PA-31 Navajo Chieftain crashed about 50 yards off the end of a runway after taking off Saturday afternoon, according to the Federal Aviation Administration and the NTSB. The wreckage was recovered Sunday.

The passengers were members of Alaska’s community of Russian Orthodox Old Believers who had been fishing in Kodiak and were taking a short flight north to Homer to celebrate Eastern Orthodox Christmas at home on Monday.

Dean Andrew, the pilot of a float plane that had been taxiing nearby, said he pulled the four survivors aboard.

One of the men was bleeding profusely from a head wound, and all of them were hysterical, saying that family members were in the submerged plane, Andrew said.

Once I got the four in, I could see down into the fuselage, but I couldn’t see any signs of life, Andrew said. I had an emotional time. I thought about diving in but I had to keep the plane running to hold it steady against the wind.

The flight was operated by Kodiak-based Servant Air.

Andrew said he heard on his plane’s radio 50-year-old pilot Robin Starrett saying he needed to return to the airport. Andrew said he could tell by his voice that something serious was going on.

I decided to stay put in case I was needed, Andrew said. I had a feeling something would happen.

Johnson said a survivor, 32-year-old Karnely Ivanov, told investigators that just as the Piper got airborne, the baggage area door opened at the nose of the plane on the pilot’s side. That prompted Starrett, of Kodiak, to try to return to the airport.

Starrett was killed along with five passengers from Homer: Stefan F. Basargin, 36; Pavel F. Basargin, 30; Zahary F. Martushev, 25; Iosif F. Martushev, 15; and Andrian Reutov, 22, officials said.

The survivors were identified as Feodot Basargin, 33; Andrean V. Basargin, 25; Anton Rijkoff, 30; and Ivanov.

Old Believers split from the Russian Orthodox church in the 17th century in protest of changes made in the church at that time. Their members are scattered throughout Russia, Asia and the Western Hemisphere, shunning much of the modern way of life. About 1,500 are believed to live in Alaska.

Everybody knows everybody. It’s a tragedy, said Greg Yakunin, an Old Believer and fisherman who knew all of the passengers, from the town of Nikolaevsk.

They were all friends of mine, he said. I could have been on that plane, too.

Iosif Martushev was a ninth-grader at Kachemak Selo school, and Reutov and Zahary Martushev were former students there, said Randy Creamer, the school’s principal.

The small school sits near Homer on the Kenai Peninsula in one of three Old Believer villages in the area.

Creamer described Iosif was an artistic student who loved to make sketches of moose, snowmobiles and fishing boats. Zahary Martushev was married and had several children, and Reutov got married last fall, Creamer said.

The school planned to have extra staff on hand to counsel students when classes resume Wednesday, Creamer said.

This being such a small place, it’s hitting people really hard, he said.

Two survivors were flown to Anchorage for treatment, including Feodot Basargin, who was in fair condition, said John Callahan, spokesman for Providence Health and Services Alaska. The conditions of the other three were not available, but Alaska State Troopers said the two who remained in Kodiak were treated and released.

Servant Air serves half a dozen communities on the large island in south-central Alaska, 225 miles southwest of Anchorage. Kodiak and Homer each have populations of roughly 6,000.
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Two killed, dozens of cars in Wisconsin pileups

MADISON, Wisconsin (AP) — Dozens of cars were involved Sunday in pileups that killed at least two people on a foggy stretch of highway.

The Wisconsin State Patrol shut down Interstate 90 east of Madison in both directions, causing a traffic backup of about five miles, according to a Wisconsin State Patrol dispatcher who declined to give her name.

A truck plowed into vehicles that had braked upon reaching a fog bank, causing one pileup, Wisconsin State Patrol Lt. Laurie Steeber said. One person was killed.

A similar pileup three miles away happened when another group of vehicles on the interstate also began braking in fog, Steeber said. A second person was killed in that pileup.

At least three dozen vehicles were involved in the two pileups, Steeber said.

Thirty-five people were taken to Madison hospitals, three with life-threatening injuries, she said.

Two people were discharged from Meriter Park Hospital after treatment for minor injuries, spokeswoman Mae Knowles said. The conditions of the others were unknown.

The Madison area was foggy all day, with visibility of an eighth of a mile or less when the pileup started, said Chris Franks, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Sullivan.
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Business tries to cash in on brainwaves

(CNN) — Ever driven down a highway while struggling to stay awake? You’re not alone.

In the United States, nearly 40 percent of the driving population has either momentarily nodded off or completely fallen asleep at the wheel at least once, and each year tens of thousands of accidents occur because of driver drowsiness, according to studies by the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

One solution that could soon reach the market: headsets that read brainwaves and other physiological signals to monitor a driver’s alertness. A California start-up called NeuroSky makes the technology, which can be incorporated into everyday products made by consumer electronics manufacturers.

We’re working with several automotive-related companies to do drowsiness detection for drivers, pilots, truckers or train conductors, says NeuroSky CEO Stanley Yang, though he can’t disclose partner names yet.

NeuroSky’s business model works a bit like Intel’s: it sells components that go into a final product made by someone else. So while its sensor component is placed against the forehead to pick up bio-signals, different manufacturers can come up with a variety of headset designs. Makers of video games, massage chairs and music players have expressed interest.

We have two technologies, explains Yang. One is the sensor, and one is the our library of algorithms. We sell the same identical sensor hardware — basically a chip — to everybody. But depending on your application, you need different algorithms.

(Included in NeuroSky’s systems development kit is a library of mental states. From that, says Yang, you pick and choose what you want, and then once you’re done we generate this driver file that can be embedded in your sensor.)

Because the start-up’s technology is aimed at manufacturers, it will take a while before products incorporating it reach the market. But Sega Toys announced it will incorporate NeuroSky components into upcoming products, and announcements from other companies are expected soon.

Good science?

Investors beware, though: start-ups trumpeting brainwave-related breakthroughs have come and gone before. In the late 1990s Capita Research promised the future of advertising by reading brainwaves to measure responses to marketing campaigns. And video games where players control on-screen action with their thoughts have failed to catch on in the past.

Pretty much every 10 years since the late 1960s, a new generation of engineers, scientists and entrepreneurs has tried to make a real ‘mind-reading’ device, notes Alan Gevins, founder of Sam Technology, a neurotechnology research company in San Francisco.

NeuroSky might have better odds of success (or prolonged survival) because of its components-based business model: if its technology fails to catch on in one area, there could still be hope in others.

Helping sleepy drivers might be a promising area, but much depends on the science.

There is definitely potential to measure hazardous states of awareness with brainwave monitors, says Olafur S. Palsson, an associate professor of medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. (But) I do not know what kind of algorithm they plan to use to measure inattention — that’s the key, and requires real research behind it.

There are other systems for keeping drivers awake, including ones that track eyelid movements or head positioning. But NeuroSky hopes that cost will give it an advantage: Because it sells only components, brainwave-reading features can be added to existing product lines for relatively little.

Meanwhile, legislation encouraging drivers to use cell phone headsets could help the start-up. A law has been signed in California, for instance, that will make it illegal to talk on a cell phone while driving — unless a headset or speaker system is used. By expanding the market for headsets, in general, such laws could drive demand for added features as well.

Given how common dozing off at the wheel is, the technology, if it works and takes off in the market, could significantly boost road safety — and save lives.
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Poll: Obama opens double-digit lead over Clinton

MANCHESTER, New Hampshire (CNN) — Two days before New Hampshire’s Democratic primary, Sen. Barack Obama has opened a double-digit lead over Sen. Hillary Clinton in that state, a new CNN-WMUR poll found Sunday.

Obama, the first-term senator from Illinois who won last week’s Iowa caucuses, led the New York senator and former first lady 39 percent to 29 percent in a poll conducted Saturday and Sunday — a sharp change from a poll out Saturday that showed the Democratic front-runners tied at 33 percent.

Support for former Sen. John Edwards, who edged out Clinton for second place in Iowa, dropped from 20 percent in Saturday’s poll to 16 percent.

On the Republican side, Sen.John McCain leads former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney by a narrower margin, the survey found, while former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee moved up to third after winning last week in Iowa.

The poll, conducted by the University of New Hampshire, surveyed 341 likely Democrats and 268 Republicans likely to vote in Tuesday’s primary. It had a sampling error of 5 percentage points. Watch how the candidates rank in polls

The Iowa caucus results have convinced growing numbers of Granite State voters that Obama can really go all the way, CNN Polling Director Keating Holland said. In December, 45 percent thought Clinton had the best chance of beating the GOP nominee. But in Saturday’s poll, Clinton and Obama were tied on that measure, and now Obama has a 42 percent to 31 percent edge over Clinton on electability.

And CNN Senior Political Analyst Bill Schneider said the poll strongly suggests an Obama surge in New Hampshire. Watch the differences between Iowa and New Hampshire caucuses

Obama’s gaining about three points a day, at the expense of both Clinton and Edwards, Schneider said. Obama’s lead has now hit double digits going into the home stretch.

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson ranked fourth among the Democratic contenders with 7 percent, while Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich trailed at 2 percent. Former Alaska Sen. Mike Gravel had less than one half of 1 percent support.

The big difference was in third place, where Huckabee — whose upset win in Iowa came after being outspent by millions of dollars by Romney — passed former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s.

In Saturday’s poll, Giuliani had 14 percent and Huckabee had 11 percent; those numbers were reversed on Sunday.

The results suggest that Huckabee’s win in Iowa, which saw him win strong support among evangelical Christian voters, is giving him momentum in more secular, libertarian-oriented New Hampshire, Schneider said.

Anti-war Texas congressman and onetime Libertarian Party presidential nominee Ron Paul was in fifth place at 10 percent in the poll, with Rep. Duncan Hunter of California and former Sen. Fred Thompson of Tennessee both at 1 percent.
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Report: Kenya leaders view AU help

NAIROBI, Kenya (CNN) — Both the president of Kenya and the leader of the country’s main opposition party are willing to meet with the African Union to find a solution to their political stalemate — one that stemmed from a disputed election and led to the deaths of hundreds in a week-long ethnic cleansing spree, a senior U.S. official told CNN.

Ghanaian President John Kufuor, who chairs the African Union, is expected to arrive in Kenya in the next several days to mediate between the two leaders, the official said.

The official said the United States sees a power sharing arrangement in the country as an option but said Kenyans would have to decide what shape such an an arrangement takes.

Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki had said Saturday he was ready to consider a government of national unity.

Opposition leader Raila Odinga indicated he was willing to negotiate. He has not, however, backed down from his demands that Kibaki — who was hastily sworn-in in the aftermath of the vote — resign as president and hold fresh elections.

The official appeared to pour cold water on the calls for new elections, telling CNN the three-to-six months timeline that Odinga is proposing is impractical.

The official did not directly respond to whether the United States applied strong pressure on both sides, saying only that both sides value our relationship and see the U.S. as a neutral player.

America is also pushing to get the ban on live broadcasts lifted, the official said. The country plunged into a news blackout after the government suspended all broadcasts as violence engulfed the capital following the re-election of incumbent president Kibaki in the controversial election on December 27.

Rioters went on a rampage following Kibaki’s narrow victory, which was disputed by Odinga’s party. The Orange Democratic Movement accused the president of election fraud.

According to the United Nations, some 250,000 Kenyans are now estimated to have been displaced by rioting and looting. Around 300 people are reported to have died in the unrest.

A convoy of food trucks left the eastern port of Mombasa Sunday in an effort to address the humanitarian crisis.

Twenty trucks loaded with 670 tons of food - enough to feed at least 70,000 people for two weeks - set out under police escort, the World Food Program said in a statement.

Carrying pulses, vegetable oil and a highly nutritious corn-soya blend, the vehicles were destined for Nairobi and the Rift Valley town of Eldoret in western Kenya, the U.N. food agency said.

The offer of a unity government followed talks Saturday between the Kenyan president and Jendayi Frazer, U.S. Asst. Secretary of State for Africa.

Frazer flew in Friday to try to broker a solution to the crisis.

Both sides have shown flexibility and will work together to bring Kenya together, Frazer said. But detailed talks will be required to figure out what kind of political arrangement is acceptable, one they can have trust in. We want no more Kenyans to lose their lives.

Alfred Mutua, the Kenyan government spokesman, did not say if the offer meant the president was prepared to enter into a power-sharing arrangement with Odinga.

Mutua said the president was ready to work with like minded parties.

We do want a strong opposition, otherwise we would have a one-party state, Mutua added.

Reacting to the news, Odinga told a press conference that he would be happy to sit down and negotiate with Kibaki.
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