- Maresca expects Man City to be in title hunt as he downplays Chelsea's chancs
- Man Utd boss Amorim vows to stay on course despite Rashford row
- South Africa opt for all-pace attack against Pakistan
- Guardiola adamant Man City slump not all about Haaland
- Global stocks mostly higher in thin pre-Christmas trade
- Bethlehem marks sombre Christmas under shadow of war
- NASA probe makes closest ever pass by the Sun
- 11 killed in blast at Turkey explosives plant
- Indonesia considers parole for ex-terror chiefs: official
- Global stocks mostly rise in thin pre-Christmas trade
- Postecoglou says Spurs 'need to reinforce' in transfer window
- Le Pen says days of new French govt numbered
- Global stocks mostly rise after US tech rally
- Villa boss Emery set for 'very difficult' clash with Newcastle
- Investors swoop in to save German flying taxi startup
- How Finnish youth learn to spot disinformation
- South Korean opposition postpones decision to impeach acting president
- 12 killed in blast at Turkey explosives plant
- Panama leaders past and present reject Trump's threat of Canal takeover
- Hong Kong police issue fresh bounties for activists overseas
- Saving the mysterious African manatee at Cameroon hotspot
- India consider second spinner for Boxing Day Test
- London wall illuminates Covid's enduring pain at Christmas
- Poyet appointed manager at South Korea's Jeonbuk
- South Korea's opposition vows to impeach acting president
- The tsunami detection buoys safeguarding lives in Thailand
- Teen Konstas to open for Australia in Boxing Day India Test
- Asian stocks mostly up after US tech rally
- US panel could not reach consensus on US-Japan steel deal: Nippon
- The real-life violence that inspired South Korea's 'Squid Game'
- Blogs to Bluesky: social media shifts responses after 2004 tsunami
- Tennis power couple de Minaur and Boulter get engaged
- Supermaxi yachts eye record in gruelling Sydney-Hobart race
- Hawaii's Kilauea volcano erupts, spewing columns of lava
- The Glimpse Group Regains Compliance with NASDAQ
- Sokoman Minerals Completes Phase 1 Diamond Drilling Program Fleur de Lys Gold Project, NW Newfoundland
- Canadian Government Provides C$100 Million Financing LOI to Green Technology Metals in Support of Electric Royalties' Flagship Lithium Royalty Asset in Ontario
- Sendero Resources Announces First Tranche Closing of Its Non-Brokered Private Placement
- EVSX Completes Installation of Multi Chemistry Line
- InterContinental Hotels Group PLC Announces Transaction in Own Shares - December 24
- El Salvador Congress votes to end ban on metal mining
- Five things to know about Panama Canal, in Trump's sights
- NBA fines Minnesota guard Edwards $75,000 for outburst
- Haitians massacred for practicing voodoo were abducted, hacked to death: UN
- Inter beat Como to keep in touch with leaders Atalanta
- Mixed day for global stocks as market hopes for 'Santa Claus rally'
- Man Utd boss Amorim questions 'choices' of Rashford's entourage
- Trump's TikTok love raises stakes in battle over app's fate
- Is he serious? Trump stirs unease with Panama, Greenland ploys
- England captain Stokes to miss three months with torn hamstring
RBGPF | -1.17% | 59.8 | $ | |
CMSC | -0.88% | 23.6927 | $ | |
RIO | -0.14% | 59.149 | $ | |
CMSD | -0.68% | 23.391 | $ | |
NGG | -0.58% | 58.681 | $ | |
BTI | 0.01% | 36.225 | $ | |
GSK | -0.19% | 33.995 | $ | |
RELX | 0.33% | 45.74 | $ | |
SCS | -0.04% | 11.645 | $ | |
AZN | -0.55% | 66.265 | $ | |
BP | 0.16% | 28.795 | $ | |
BCC | 0.42% | 122.76 | $ | |
RYCEF | -0.28% | 7.25 | $ | |
JRI | 0.35% | 12.143 | $ | |
BCE | 0.5% | 22.955 | $ | |
VOD | 1.06% | 8.46 | $ |
Australian flood disinformation sparks threats to pilots
An Australian aviation company says it has received more than 100 threats following an online conspiracy theory that its pilots unleashed a flooding disaster by cloud seeding.
Conspiracy theorists spread the false claims after weeks of torrential rains led to deadly east coast floods over the past two months, engulfing homes and sweeping cars from the roads.
Posts shared online alleged aerial survey pilots from Handel Aviation caused a second deluge in the flood-ravaged New South Wales town of Lismore on March 31 by cloud seeding -- dispersing a substance into the clouds to prompt rain.
"A pilot from Handel Aviation in Cessna 210N Centurion VH-JIL did a breakfast time cloud seeding run over Lismore South & Ballina today while sightseeing the massive flood below him," one widely shared post reads.
The flight path of the Handel Aviation aircraft VH-JIL criss-crossing over flooded areas was also shared online by Australian fashion designer Alice McCall alongside claims it was dropping chemicals to "activate rain".
Handel Aviation operator Mark Handel told AFP on Thursday that the company does not seed clouds.
The flight was collecting images for aerial maps provided to Australian mapping company, NearMap, he said.
"Handel Aviation operates aerial photography aircraft only. Our recent flights over flooded areas of NSW and QLD are in response to the floods," a statement on the Handel Aviation website reads.
NearMap confirmed to AFP the photos taken by Handel Aviation were commissioned to map disaster-affected areas for insurers and emergency services.
"These aerial captures are commissioned after major weather catastrophes and natural disasters, including following the recent east coast flooding," the NearMap spokesman said.
- 'Threatening stuff' -
The claims circulating online led to more than 100 threats being sent to Handel Aviation, despite it explaining the purpose of the flights on the contact page of the company's website.
"We had really violent threatening stuff coming through. Like: ‘we have the pilots' names, we know where you live, you're going to pay for this,’ kind of stuff," Handel told AFP.
Handel said he tasked his operations manager, Anthony Berko, with responding to each email and calling people who provided their phone numbers.
Some of those he contacted were surprised or angry, Berko said.
But others were distressed, telling the experienced pilot they had lost everything during the floods and thought the company was responsible.
"They needed a shoulder to cry on and hear their story. They've basically lost everything and then someone has then said here's your answer," Berko said.
Despite the online claims, cloud seeding is not responsible for any of the east coast floods, said weather modification expert Simon Siems.
Siems, a professor who leads a Monash University team studying clouds and precipitation, said the practise is not conducted in the Northern Rivers region and it cannot cause flooding.
"Cloud seeding is not that effective, people do it only under very special circumstances," he said.
H.E.Young--AMWN