Eesti in brief - 2007-01-31

  • 2007-01-31
Relatives of the two Finnish pilots killed in the Copterline crash of August 2005 have filed a lawsuit of 46 million euros in damages with a U.S. court. The widows and children of the pilots have targeted both the helicopter manufacturer, Sikorsky, and Copterline, the company operating the aircraft. The relatives claim both companies knew of faulty equipment in the helicopter prior to the accident, which sent the aircraft crashing into the Bay of Tallinn on Aug. 19, killing all 14 people on board.

Tartu University has appointed an acting rector to hold the post for six months after its electoral college failed to select a candidate. Tonu Lehtsaar, a professor of practical theology and the former vice rector of the university, will fill the temporary post. The decision means a double rejection for Ene Ergma, deputy speaker of Parliament. Ergma stood as a candidate for the rector's chair, but failed to gain the necessary number of votes.

An Irish court has sentenced an Estonian drug smuggler to six years in prison after he was caught trying to smuggle 600 grams of cocaine in his stomach last spring. Marius Mark, 22, was caught at Dublin Airport with 60 polyethylene packages in his stomach containing 42,000 euros worth of cocaine. Mark told police he had accepted the consignment after being taken into the woods and threatened by unknown persons. The Dublin Circuit Criminal Court sentenced Mark to six years in prison, to be reduced by two years if he is of good behavior.

Only a week after two ships ran aground off the Latvian coast, a tanker carrying 10,000 tons of fuel ran into a sandbar just 500 meters from Tallinn's Russo-Balt Port. The tanker, the Isle of Man-flagged Westerner, ran aground as it was leaving port at 6 p.m. on Jan 29. The captain initially refused offers of assistance while awaiting orders from the ship's German operators, but later ordered a tugboat to help it ease off the sandbar. As of Jan. 30, rescue operations were underway.