Free Republic

Nearly half of the federal government’s firefighting air tankers are siting idle at a California airport, grounded by the Obama administration in a contract dispute just weeks before wildfires swept through Texas killing a mother and her child, and destroying 100,000 acres. The massive blazes forced Texas Gov. and Republican presidential hopeful Rick Perry to abruptly call off a campaign appearance in South Carolina earlier this week to respond to the crisis, and may force him to cancel his first debate appearance Wednesday night. The U.S. Forest Service terminated the contract with Aero Union five weeks ago to operate seven...

MEXICO CITY (BNO NEWS) -- A large cargo plane crashed near Monterrey International Airport in northern Mexico on late Tuesday, killing at least several people, reports said. The Airbus A300 belonging to AeroUnion went down shortly after 11 p.m. local time and crashed near the airport, causing a major traffic chaos. The Milenio newspaper reported that five crew members were believed dead. The newspaper reported that most of the aircraft crashed on the grounds of the airport, although a turbine and wing fell off and landed on a highway near the airport. There were conflicting reports on if there were...