Air Force SERE – Survival Evasion Resistance and Escape

SERE stands for Survival-Evasion-Resistance-Escape for the US Air Force, and Survive-Evade-Resist-Extract for the Royal Air Force. Watch the video shot at the USAF Survival School, Joint Personnel Recovery Agency (JPRA), Fairchild AFB, Washington:

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Legendary Alberto Santos-Dumont – First sportsman of the air

The Brazilian pioneer was the first to demonstrate that controlled flight was possible thanks to his dirigible balloons. He flew his « Number 6 » round the Eiffel Tower as early as 1901. He designed and flew the 14-bis « Oiseau de proie » (Bird of prey) in 1906. This invention was the first fixed-wing flying machine witnessed by the European press and French aviation authorities to achieve an actual controlled flight.

He designed and flew the Demoiselle (Damselfly) in 1908. This aircraft was controlled by wing warping, and a tail unit equipped with a rudder, and an elevator.

VIDEO:

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NUCLEAR REACTOR MELTDOWN EXPLAINED

« Meltdown » means « the accidental melting of the core of a nuclear reactor », and literally after that, a large displacement of radiation throughout the entire atmosphere. Here is how it works (VIDEO):

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JAPANESE NUCLEAR POWER PLANT EXPLOSION

Japanese officials have just confirmed a radiation leak at Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear power plant. A radiation level of 1,015 μSv/h (mircrosieverts per hour) has been measured near the plant before the blast. The situation is deemed almost as serious as the Three Mile Island partial reactor meltdown in the 70s, and the Chernobyl disaster in 1986. Cesium would have been detected. Therefore, the reactor number one might be having a meltdown.

The U.S. is sending special coolant. Four workers have been injured. The cordoned-off area has been widened to a 20km-radius zone. The roof of the reactor would have collapsed in the aftermath of the explosion. A scram (shutdown) might not be achieved on another reactor because of a glitch in the emergency cooling system.

VIDEO:

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HUMAN FACTORS – Situation awareness and confusion

Here is an example of perception confronted with reality at night, in conditions of fog and poor visibility. What happened at Theodore Francis Green Airport, in Warwick, Rhode Island, could have turned into a major disaster. Listen and watch the video:

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