U.S and Russian ships carrying remotely operated vehicles capable of deep seafloor searches are joining other vessels hunting for an Argentine submarine that went missing in the South Atlantic 19 days ago, the navy said Monday.
FILE - In this undated file photo provided by the Argentina Navy shows an ARA San Juan, a German-built diesel-electric vessel, near Buenos Aires, Argentina. (Argentina Navy via AP File)
An explosion occurred near the time and place where the ARA San Juan disappeared Nov. 15. The navy says it is no longer looking for survivors although a multinational operation continues to search for the vessel, which had a crew of 44.
Navy spokesman Enrique Balbi said Russia's Yantar oceanographic research ship would arrive in the search area Tuesday. The U.S. Atlantis research vessel is expected to arrive Saturday. They are equipped with deep submergence vehicles that allow them to examine undersea areas nearly 20,000 feet deep (6,000 meters).
The ships will join five vessels from Argentina and a Chilean ship combing an area of some 1,500 square miles (4,000 square kilometers), where sonar detected three unidentified objects on the sea floor to see if they belong to the missing sub.
The San Juan disappeared as it was sailing from the southernmost port of Ushuaia to the coastal city of Mar del Plata after a patrol.
The navy has said the vessel's captain reported that water entered the snorkel and caused one of the submarine's batteries to short circuit. The captain later communicated by satellite phone that the problem had been contained, the navy says.
Some hours later, an explosion was detected near the time and place where the San Juan was last heard from. Balbi has said the blast could have been triggered by a "concentration of hydrogen" caused by the battery problem reported by the captain.
The German-built TR-1700 class submarine was commissioned in the 1980s and was most recently refitted between 2008 and 2014. It was built by a subsidiary of Germany's ThyssenKrupp that is no longer operational.
Balbi said a group of navy officials who traveled to Germany last week to obtain more information about the design of the submarine had returned to Argentina. He said they will submit all documents to a local judge investigating the sub's disappearance.
The spokesman said the information gathered in Germany as well as information from an Argentine submarine from the same model that is under repair at a state-owned shipyard could help provide evidence to find out what happened to the San Juan.
When asked if the refit of the submarine had been certified, Balbi said there are some processes that the Germany company might have been involved in and others where it was not.
"But of those things that it certified, surely there must be a record. Everything was duly registered and I imagine that all these reports made on the activation of batteries and repairs will be subject to investigation," he said, without providing more details.
In a statement, the German company told The Associated Press that that "Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems employees haven't been in operational contact with the Argentinian submarine fleet for more than two decades."
DALLAS (AP) — Southwest Airlines will limit hiring and stop flying to four airports as it copes with weak financial results and delays in getting new planes from Boeing.
Both Southwest and American Airlines reported first-quarter losses Thursday. Demand for travel remains strong, including among business flyers, but airlines are dealing with higher labor costs, and delays in aircraft deliveries are limiting their ability to add more flights.
Southwest said it lost $231 million. CEO Robert Jordan said the airline was reacting quickly “to address our financial underperformance," including by slowing down hiring and asking employees to take time off.
The Dallas-based carrier said it expects to end this year with 2,000 fewer employees than it had at the start of the year.
Southwest will also stop flying to four airports: Cozumel, Mexico; Syracuse, New York; Bellingham, Washington; and George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, where the airline’s major operation is at smaller Hobby Airport.
The closures will help the airline focus on more profitable locations and deploy a fleet of planes that will be smaller than it had planned. Southwest said it expects to get only 20 new 737 Max 8 jets from Boeing this year, down from the 46 it expected just a few weeks ago. It will offset some of the shortage by retiring fewer planes.
Boeing is struggling with slower production since a door plug blew out of an Alaska Airlines Max 9 in January, and that is frustrating its airline customers.
Dallas-based Southwest said that its loss, after excluding special items, was 36 cents per share. That was slightly worse than the loss of 34 cents per share that Wall Street expected.
Revenue rose to $6.33 billion, below analysts' forecast of $6.42 billion.
American said it lost $312 million as labor costs rose 18%, or nearly $600 million. The airline said it expects to return to profitability in the second quarter — a busier time for travel — and post earnings between $1.15 and $1.45 per share. Analysts expect $1.15 per share, according to a FactSet survey.
The first-quarter loss amounted to 34 cents per share excluding special items, which was worse than the loss of 27 cents per share forecast by analysts.
Revenue was $12.57 billion.
CEO Robert Isom said American is less impacted by Boeing's problems because the airline had already received hundreds of new planes in recent years. American has ordered Boeing Max 10s, a larger model that has not yet been certified by the Federal Aviation Administration, but those planes are not due to start showing up until 2028.
“If they don't get it together, we have also made sure that we're protected,” Isom told CNBC. He stopped short of saying American would switch Boeing orders to rival Airbus, saying only, “We'll take care of it.”
In premarket trading, Southwest shares were down 9% while American shares were up 3%.
FILE - An American Airlines jetliner waits on a runway for departure from Denver International Airport Friday, Sept. 1, 2023, in Denver. American Airlines reports earnings on Thursday, April 25, 2024. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)
FILE - A line of Southwest Air Boeing 737 jets are parked near the company's production plant while being stored at Paine Field Friday, April 23, 2021, in Everett, Wash. Southwest Air reports earnings on Thursday, April 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File)
