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Pilot Writes the Word ‘Relax’ at Ukraine’s Border
An Airbus belonging to the national airline of Ukraine’s southern neighbour Moldova is spelling out the word “Relax” in the skies, amid fresh warnings of a potential Russian invasion.
At one point up to 60,000 people were tracking the Air Moldova flight, which also has the callsign RELAX, on the website flightradar24.com.
A spokesperson for the flight-tracking website told VICE World News the data was genuine. “The aircraft is indeed flying this pattern above Moldova,” the representative said over email.
We will update you if this attempt at skywriting diplomacy succeeds and any potential invasion is scrapped, or whether this was just a publicity stunt unconnected to the Ukraine-Russia crisis.
https://www.vice.com/en/article/pkpmmn/pilot-wrote-relax-ukraine-border
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Fighter jet crashes in Iran’s Tabriz
21 Feb 2022 | Updated: 19 hours ago
State media reported that the plane hit the ground near a school. Two pilots and a pedestrian were killed.
Tehran, Iran – Three people have been killed after an army warplane crashed in an urban area in Iran’s Tabriz.
Two pilots and a civilian sitting in a parked vehicle were killed in the incident.
Local army official Reza Yousefi told state media at the site of the crash that the aircraft – an F5 model used for training – crashed due to technical issues.
He lauded the two pilots for “sacrificing” themselves as they managed to avoid residential areas and land the plane in an open area next to a sports complex.
In addition to hitting the civilian’s car, the plane hit the side of a school that was empty due to COVID-19 restrictions, he said.
“These two pilots laid down their lives so the plane wouldn’t hit residential areas. They could have ejected but they stayed and managed to veer it toward a non-residential area,” Yousefi said.
An army spokesman confirmed Yousefi’s account and said the incident took place at approximately 8am (04:30 GMT), and identified the pilots as Sadegh Falahi and Alireza Hanifehzad.
The U.S.-built F-5 fighter was purchased by Iran before the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Decades of Western sanctions against Tehran have made it difficult to get spare parts for the jets and to maintain the fleet.
The country’s air force also flies Russian-made MiG and Sukhoi planes.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/2/21/fighter-jet-crashes-in-irans-tabriz
https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-jet-fighter-crash-tabriz/31714094.html