Few passengers fly out of Jackson, Tennessee - Local officials, airline execs concerned about low numbers on SeaPort flights

 

SeaPort Airlines pilot Cpt. Rodney Beeler opens the cockpit door of a Cessna 208 Caravan before a flight to Nashville on May 1.

 KENNETH CUMMINGS/The Jackson Sun

Alan Sallee used two hours before his flight from Jackson to Nashville on May 1 to answer e-mails instead of driving. 

 Sallee, who is the president of Mid-South Aluminum, chose to start his business trip from McKellar-Sipes Regional Airport in Jackson rather than the Nashville airport. He paid $39 for his one-way flight to Nashville. The decision to fly to the Music City’s airport saved Sallee time and money, but it also made him more productive throughout his work day.

Sallee was one of two people aboard SeaPort Airlines’ 6:55 a.m. commuter flight to Nashville on May 1. The airline is the latest to win a contract from the federal government to provide commercial passenger flights from Jackson to surrounding airports.

The airline started flights to Memphis and Nashville in January. It has until Dec. 31 to prove there is a need for airline service in West Tennessee, or it will lose the contract. If the federal government does not renew SeaPort Airlines’ contract, it could be decades before the city has commercial airline service again.

That’s because last year Congress changed the rules that fund commuter airlines that fly out of regional airports such as Jackson. The rules now say if a regional airport is within 90 miles of a major airport, it does not qualify for federal support to offset the cost of providing airline service.

McKellar-Sipes is about 85 miles from Memphis International Airport. The local airport was granted an exception this year by the U.S. Department of Transportation, which gave SeaPort Airlines the opportunity to serve the area this year.

On May 2, SeaPort Airlines President Rob McKinney said the number of passengers using the airline is not enough to satisfy the federal government. He said each flight needs have an average of six to seven people on board to make it cost effective. So far, the airline has averaged about two people per flight.

“We are getting to the point where we are concerned that the numbers are not increasing to where we need to get them,” he said.

A total of 266 people have used SeaPort Airlines to fly to either Memphis or Nashville from McKellar-Sipes, as of March 31, according to airport authority records. Another 143 have used the airline to fly into Jackson from one of those two cities. Those numbers show the airline has flown at 54 percent passenger capacity since Jan. 1, records state.

Anna Mastin was the only other passenger on SeaPort’s May 1 flight. Mastin, who lives in Greeley, Colo., flew into Nashville to meet her two sisters on April 27, then drove to Jackson. On May 1, she flew out of Jackson to avoid the two-hour drive back to Nashville International Airport.

“It’s not a bad drive to Nashville,” she said, sipping a complimentary cup of coffee, “but this is like 10 minutes away from my sister’s, and I didn’t have to get up at a ridiculous hour.”

Mastin said she paid $29.95 for her one-way ticket to Nashville, a price she said was cheaper than driving more than 140 miles across Interstate 40.

McKinney, SeaPort’s president, said people apparently don’t realize prices for his airline are substantially lower than what the previous airline charged. On May 3, one-way tickets from Jackson to Nashville sold for $39, while tickets to Memphis sold were $29.95 for travel on April 30. Parking at McKellar-Sipes is free.

“My concern is that the previous carrier did such a bad job serving the people of Jackson that people do not realize we have affordable prices and a good flight record,” McKinney said, “and they have not come out to check on their hometown airline.”

If West Tennessee residents don’t know about SeaPort’s low fares, it may be because of a lack of promotion. While members of the Jackson City Council, the mayor’s office and the Jackson Area Chamber of Commerce have stated the importance of the airport and commercial air service to industrial development in the past, none of those groups have allotted funds for advertising SeaPort’s service. The airport authority did promote the previous airlines, but the money for that came from a community block grant.

SeaPort has not advertised in the newspaper or on television in Jackson since January.

City Councilman David Cisco said he would talk to other members of the council and Jackson Mayor Jerry Gist about whether the city’s funding of the chamber of commerce should come with the stipulation that some of the money be spent on advertising SeaPort Airlines and the airport. Cisco is the City Council’s liaison to the airport.

“We need to keep that airline operating out of McKellar-Sipes,” he said. “It is as big to industrial development as Pringles Park and Double-A baseball and the Jackson Symphony.”

The city of Jackson is in the middle of meetings to write next fiscal year’s budget. Councilman Charles Rahm said he did not know if the city had enough revenues to advertise the airline.

Gist said the city’s next fiscal year budget will be at least 2.5 percent less than this fiscal year. Still, Gist felt City Council and airport authority members might consider reallocating some funds to promote SeaPort. Then, he said, the city would know whether people want a commercial passenger airline in Jackson.

“If it means we need to use money from one or all agencies to get the word out that those flights are available, and if people still don’t use it, then we know what the problem is,” he said, “and that is we may not need a regional airline.”

Having an airline at McKellar-Sipes helps reduce the airport’s dependence on city-county funding, said Steve Smith, executive director of the airport. SeaPort pays fees for the use of the airport. The airport collects a service fee from each ticket sold and a surcharge for gasoline.

Since Jan. 1, SeaPort has purchased about 30,000 gallons of jet fuel from the airport, Smith said. Money from the airline has allowed airport officials to hire three additional people. He said the airline has about a 95 percent on-time rating.

McKinney will be in Jackson this month, visiting civic groups and businesses to try and increase ridership on his airline. SeaPort has 150 daily flights in seven states. Its sister company, Wings of Alaska, has daily flights from five Alaskan cities, its website states.

McKinney is not ready to abandon his company’s expansion into Tennessee. Still, he understands the realities of running an airline and the need for federal funding to cut his costs.

“The bottom line is that everyone needs to understand that we are committed to Jackson,” he said, “but if we don’t get the numbers up, the DOT will end the service, and it will go away.”

Source:  http://www.jacksonsun.com

Plane makes hard landing in Arkansas bean field; no serious injuries reported

A small plane made a hard landing in an Arkansas bean field this afternoon, but neither of the two people in the plane were seriously hurt, officials said.

The incident happened about 2:30 p.m., after the plane took off from the Gen. DeWitt Spain Airport in North Memphis.

The plane had engine trouble, said Chief Mike Callender with the Crittenden County Sheriff’s Department.

The pilot tried to land in the bean field just west of the levee off Gammon Road, but didn’t quite pull it off, Callender said.

“They almost successfully put it down, but the wing dipped down and they spun around,” Callender said.

Callender said neither person in the plane was hospitalized.

http://www.commercialappeal.com

ORNGE air ambulance service under fire again after woman dies following delay

 TORONTO - A son devastated by the death of his 69-year-old mother last Friday said he's concerned that it took over four hours for an air ambulance to transport her to an Ottawa hospital.

It's still unclear whether his mother would have survived had the air ambulance arrived sooner, said Scott Dearman.

"I just don't want another family to have to go through this if a prompt Air Evac would have saved a family member," an audibly upset Dearman said in an interview. "It's too late for my mom."

Last Wednesday, the hospital in Barry's Bay asked Ornge to transport his mother to Ottawa — about 150 kilometres east — for treatment, but were told that no air ambulance was available, he said.

The hospital arranged for a land ambulance, so Dearman's father Clyde went home to pick up an overnight bag before making his way to Ottawa. When he got there, he was told his wife Judy hadn't arrived, so he drove back to Barry's Bay, Dearman said.

An Ornge air ambulance finally arrived — more than four hours after it was first called — and took his mother to another Ottawa hospital, he said. His upset father drove back in the rain to Ottawa to be with her.

"My understanding is that at the point that Mom made it to the hospital, it was too late for her," he said.

Dearman, who lives in Victoria, said he rushed to Ottawa with his wife and three-year-old daughter on the earliest flight. But they arrived at the hospital just a half-hour before his mother died. His grieving father filled him in on what had happened, he said.

"When we finally saw her, she was on a ventilator and dialysis," an upset Dearman said. "They were basically keeping her alive until we arrived from Victoria."

His mother, a colon cancer survivor, had an operation in April that allowed waste from her bowels to be collected in an external pouch, Dearman said. Doctors believe that something went wrong and the waste leaked inside her body, creating an infection that irreparably damaged her internal organs.

It's the second time in less than a week that Ornge has failed to respond on time to an emergency call, charged Progressive Conservative Frank Klees.

On the same day that Judy Dearman was waiting for an air ambulance, Ornge also failed to respond to a fatal collision north of Toronto.

The emergency call came in early last Wednesday, but Ornge said it couldn't send a helicopter because the incoming crew — who had worked overtime the day before — wasn't available for another half-hour due to federal rules requiring time off between flights.

Ornge has been under fire for months over questionable business deals and sky-high executive salaries that were hidden from public view.

The agency, which is now under a criminal probe for "financial irregularities," is in such disarray that it can't do its job, Klees said.

"This should never happen," he said.

"The fact that the hospital was willing to make the land transfer — Ornge insists, no, this is now our patient and you have to wait until an Ornge ambulance shows up — I can tell you, serious, serious problems here."

Klees said he also questions whether Health Minister Deb Matthews really has any sense of how deeply those problems run.

Matthews fired back, saying it's "a big mistake" for a politician to point fingers without having all the facts.

Her ministry, which installed new leadership at Ornge in January, is looking into the incident, she added.

It's unrealistic to expect that Ornge will be able to answer every call it receives, Matthews said. While patient safety is the top priority, sometimes staff just can't send a helicopter due to bad weather or other factors beyond their control.

"So, does Ornge respond to every call? No, it cannot. It cannot respond to every call," Matthews said.

"Do they do their very best to get there whenever they possibly can? Absolutely, and the front-line staff deserve our gratitude."

James MacDonald, a spokesman for Ornge, said the organization is conducting an internal investigation, but can't provide any further comment due to patient privacy.

http://www.globalsaskatoon.com

Pilot was 'high risk-taker'

 

 One of the crash victims, Josef Hainaut.

THE CASINO Aero Club president has told the coronial inquest into the death of two men in an ultralight crash at Tatham in 2010 the pilot was "an accident waiting to happen".

Russell Kennedy was one of five witnesses to give evidence at Lismore Coroner's Court yesterday about the flying habits of pilot Michael O'Keefe.

In a statement made to police, Mr Kennedy also said Mr O'Keefe was "a high risk-taker".

"His airmanship was questionable at times around the airfield," he said.

Mr Kennedy said he spoke to Mr O'Keefe a number of times over an 18-month period about being reckless.

When asked what improvements could be made to prevent this sort of tragedy happening again, Mr Kennedy said Mr O'Keefe may have not complied to regulations against flying as "he did what he wanted to".

Jodi McDonald, who flew with Mr O'Keefe from Lismore to Byron Bay on April 14, 2008, told the court Mr O'Keefe performed illegal aerobatics during the flight.

"I knew we went upside down and the nose went down first," she said. When asked if Mr O'Keefe was doing these manoeuvres over residential areas, Ms McDonald replied "yes".

The court heard that Mr O'Keefe had his license suspended by Recreational Aviation Australia in February 2009 for 12 months after being reported for doing illegal manoeuvres.

Fellow pilot Andrew Dunning told of knowing Mr O'Keefe by his reputation as a pilot.

Mr Dunning told the court he witnessed Mr O'Keefe perform a dangerous spin rotating five times at 2000 feet at the 2010 Inglewood fly-in.

"I wouldn't have completed that spin in a plane like Michael's at that height," he said.

Casino Aero Club member Ian Ellis said suspending O'Keefe's license for illegal manoeuvres wouldn't have stopped him flying.

"It didn't matter whether you took his license away he would still fly; that was the sort of person Mr O'Keefe was," he said.

One of Mr O'Keefe's flying instructors, Wayne Fisher, told police his student was "way over-confident and appeared to be a risk-taker".

He said because of Mr O'Keefe's attitude and their difficult relationship he ceased lessons.

He said he had heard of Mr O'Keefe performing manoeuvres and was told of his YouTube video but he didn't see him performing any illegal manoeuvres.

Source:   http://www.northernstar.com.au

British Columbia, Canada: Pitt Meadows Airport community mourns loss of pilot (de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver, C-GCZA)

 

Colin Moyes.

The tightly-knit community of pilots at Pitt Meadows airport is mourning the loss of a respected peer who was killed along with his future in-laws Sunday when his float plane crashed near Peachland. 

 Colin Moyes’ single-engine de Havilland Beaver went went down in a wooded embankment off Highway 91, near Peachland and burst into flames around 6:45 p.m.

Witnesses to the crash said it appeared as though the pilot was trying to land on the highway, but came just short of that goal.

“The distance from the road was 500 to 750 feet,” said Troy Russell, a West Kelowna fire captain who co-ordinated the fire response on Sunday.

“You could see the direction of flight – and as bystanders have said – it looked like they made an attempt to do a landing on the highway, but efforts were hindered by the topography.”

Moyes, a West Vancouver resident, and two passenger, who are believed to be his in-laws, were confirmed dead at the scene.

According to the Canadian Civil Aircraft Register, Moyes purchased the 1966 Beaver last June.

He stored it, along with another amphibious plane in hangars at the Pitt Meadows Airpark.

Friends of the pilot said Moyes leaves behind an 11-year-old son. The 52-year-old lost his wife a few years ago and was engaged to be married to his fiancée, Alex, next month.

Chris Georgas, who owns Pacific Rim Aviation at Pitt Meadows airport, was a close friend of Moyes.

“Mere words cannot express the incredible sense of loss that the aviation community here at Pitt Meadows and across the nation is feeling at this very moment,” he wrote in a statement.

“The tragic loss of a loved one and those closest to him came in the spiritual form of a great man, father, partner, husband, relative, colleague and a gift to the world. All of us have been affected and are truly devastated.”

The Transportation Safety Board dispatched two investigators to the site to assess the wreckage and ascertain the cause of the crash.

The Beaver was involved in two accidents several years before Moyes purchased it, but Transportation Safety Board spokesperson Bill Yearwood said the previous accidents have no bearing on the crash.

“If you’ve owned a car for 50 years, I’m sure there would be some fender benders and there would be a history of repair. That’s the case here,” said Yearwood.

Four people died in the same area in 2010 when an overloaded small single-engine airplane crashed while trying to fly out of Kelowna.

“There is not much left off the plane. There is the tail, the engine and the wing tips,” added Yearwood.

“The witness information is helpful, but we will have to look at the scars on the trees and the damage to corroborate their statements.”

It will take several months to complete a report on the crash.

Source:  http://www.mapleridgenews.com

A lack of training possible cause of plane crash: Grumman American AA-5 Traveler, CF-RRO, Ganaraska Forest, Canada

 

Investigators look through the wreckage of a plane that crashed in the Ganaraska Forest last week. 

Submitted photo

Lack of training might have played a role in last week’s fatal plane crash in the Ganaraska Forest. Peter Rowntree, a senior regional investigator with the Transportation Safety Board, said the pilot, a 61-year-old man from Quebec, had a valid pilot’s license and his night rating, an accreditation that permitted him to fly at night.

But he didn’t have his instrument rating, an accreditation given to those who can pilot a plane using only the plane’s instruments.

All pilots are trained on instruments when they get their license, Rowntree said. But learning how to fly using only those instruments in zero-visibility is something else.

“It’s a whole different skill set,” he said.

The pilot was flying at night, and the increasingly bad weather and worsening visibility would have required him to use those skills, Rowntree said.

“He needed to rely on his instruments, and he wasn’t trained on those instruments,” he said.

But, Rowntree cautioned, it’s likely no one will ever know for sure what brought the plane down. No recording devices were on board and investigators couldn’t find any mechanical issues with the plane.

The plane was reported missing after it failed to arrive at Markham’s Buttonville Airport at its scheduled 11 p.m. arrival time on May 7.

The four-seater, low wing plane was traveling from St-Mathieu De Beloeil in Quebec. When it didn't arrive the Buttonville airport notified the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Trenton.

The wreck was discovered in the Ganaraska Forest south-west of Millbrook on May 11 following an extensive four-day search.

The plane likely had an emergency locator transmitter on board. but a post-crash fire destroyed much of the plane, Rowntree said, including that device.

The Transportation Safety Board won’t be investigating the crash any further after it hands its information to the coroner’s office. The incident isn’t considered a public safety issue. 

Source:  http://www.durhamregion.com

IFR in a Piper Malibu Mirage

 

 May 14, 2012 by jlbryan2088 

Navigating around some developing thunderstorms in a Piper Malibu Mirage.

Why Do Terrorists So Often Go For Planes?

Ever since the Sept. 11 attacks, airports have probably been the most heavily guarded sites when it comes to preventing terrorist attacks.

And yet the most recent terrorism plot in Yemen involved an attempt to blow up a U.S. airliner with a bomber wearing a difficult-to-detect explosive bomb in his underwear, according to U.S. officials.

Why do terrorist groups keep trying to defeat the multiple layers of security at airports when there are so many soft targets?

For one, a plane heading into the U.S. represents the first available target to strike against a large number of Americans. It doesn't require reaching the U.S. first, and then acquiring a weapon and launching an attack from U.S. soil.

Also, terrorist groups have learned from previous attacks on planes.

"Terrorists like to do what they know how to do," says terrorism analyst Jessica Stern.

But the difficulty of breaching airport security does appear to be generating other approaches.

Two Different Types Of Plots 

Stern says she sees two trends. One involves developing new and more sophisticated techniques for evading security measures and attacking airplanes.

The other involves "looking for low-tech ways to attack softer targets," she says. This is a way of encouraging "leaderless resistance," says Stern, the author of Terror in the Name of God.

For example, the latest issue of Inspire, the jihadi magazine produced by the Yemen-based group al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, includes an eight-page feature that encourages readers to start wildfires in Australia and the United States.

It recommends that would-be saboteurs in the U.S. study weather patterns in order to determine when vegetation will be dry and winds favorable for a wildfire.

It specifically suggests Montana as a good site for practicing pyro-terrorism, because of the residential housing that is in wooded areas.

Stern says the aim of terrorism is to frighten the public and push governments into over-reacting — so spectacular, random-seeming attacks like airplane bombings work well.

"Terrorists do really aim for what we call symbolic targets," she says. "Terrorism is a form of theater, so they're going to hit targets that will make us maximally afraid, and inflict the maximum amount of humiliation."

In that sense, she says, arson in populated forest areas could be "a good second best" for a target.

A Range Of Vulnerabilities

Security analysts have pointed to dozens of potential terrorist targets and vulnerabilities, from military bases to passenger trains, chemical plants to storage for liquefied natural gas.

Former CIA agent Charles Faddis says he expects that there will be more attacks on targets that, by their nature, are hard to defend.

Faddis, the author of Willful Neglect: The Dangerous Illusion of Homeland Security, says he particularly fears situations where suicide gunmen might attack people at a public event.

"There are an infinite number of targets where you can find large numbers of people — college campuses, pro sports events," he says.

Even where such events have security screening, Faddis adds, they often don't have armed guards, so a determined, suicidal shooter would be hard to stop.

A Focus On Resiliency

That problem is causing analysts to rethink the balance between guarding against an attack and recovering from one.

"We've got to recognize that we're never going to be able to answer the question, 'Are we safe?' with a definitive 'Yes,' " says Juliette Kayyem, a lecturer on public policy at Harvard's Belfer Center. "So how do we prioritize risks?"

Kayyem says the government still needs to keep attention on "high consequence" targets, such as nuclear power plants or toxic chemical storage facilities.

Army National Guard officers patrol Grand Central Station in New York on Sept. 10, 2011, the day before the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.

But she says the country also needs to focus on resiliency — the ability to recover from destruction ranging from terrorist attacks to natural disasters.

"When you prepare society to deal with destruction, you reduce the incentive for terrorist attacks," says Steve Flynn, co-director of the Kostas Research Institute for Homeland Security at Northeastern University.

Flynn cites the example of forest fires. "If you can respond capably to someone who sets a fire, there isn't a lot of incentive for someone to set them," he says. "And we should be ready to deal with them anyway, because Mother Nature is the ultimate arsonist."

Flynn has his own list of critical targets that need strong security measures, beginning with refineries and petrochemical plants. "Why import a weapon," he asks, "when we already have them pre-positioned around urban areas?"

Government also needs to take steps to protect the power grid, he says, because if assets such as power substations are destroyed, they can take from one to two years to rebuild.

Limits Of Security

But Flynn warns against overstating what government can do to protect against attacks.

"People have been fed this paternalistic thing about fears," he says. "We need to tell the public, 'Here's the limit of what we can do. Here's what you need to live with.' "

Juliette Kayyem says experience shows that the American people are up to it. "Studies show that when bad things happen, people don't panic, they don't run for the hills. They help the people around them."

Source:  http://www.npr.org

How To Preflight a Cessna 172

 

 May 6, 2012 by TheRoyce2012

 How I do a pre-flight walk-around on a Cessna 172 SP.

Saskatchewan air crash 'non-survivable,' Transportation Safety Board says. Lake LA-4-200 Buccaneer, C-GFCH and Piper PA-28R-200 Cherokee Arrow II, C-GLAJ

RAW Plane crash update

There was no hope of survival for the five people in the two planes that crashed over Saskatchewan skies on the weekend, a Transportation Safety Board spokesman says.

"This accident was non-survivable," TSB regional manager Peter Hildebrand told reporters in Winnipeg on Tuesday in an update on the Saturday morning collision.

The planes crashed about 12 kilometres west of St. Brieux, Sask. at around 8:45 a.m. CST.

One was a northbound Lake Buccaneer, which Reginans Joy and Eric Jackson were taking from Regina to La Ronge.

The other plane was an eastbound Piper PA-28 Cherokee, which was going from Calgary to St. Brieux. The three who died on that plane include:

    Eric Donovan, 38, a grain truck driver, and his son Wade, 11, of Mossleigh, Alta.
    Pilot Denny Loree, a farmer in his 50s from Nanton, Alta.

Hildebrand said it may be several months before the investigation is complete. The probe has been difficult because much of the wreckage is underwater and some of it is strewn over a 800-metre-wide area.

Remains of all the victims have been recovered, the TSB has previously reported.

The flight paths of the two place were at 90 degree angles, which might make it difficult to see each other approaching. Investigators will continue to talk to witnesses and review radio calls. They'll also look at the licensing and experience of the pilots involved, he said.

http://www.tsb.gc.ca/eng/medias-media/majeures-major/aviation/a12c0053/mi-a12c0053.asp

Cessna 182D Skylane, N9098X: Crashed plane put in temporary storage. Chatham, Massachusetts

CHATHAM — The plane that crashed into Lovers Lake on Saturday was towed from the water Sunday and now rests in temporary storage at Chatham Municipal Airport awaiting National Transportation Safety Board investigators. 

Neither the pilot, Peter Brenner, 24, of New Hyde Park, N.Y., nor his passenger, James Holler, 58, of Marstons Mills, was injured when the single-engine Cessna 182D landed in the water Saturday afternoon. 

The NTSB could release a preliminary report as early as the end of the week but could take months for the final report or issue a finding with no conclusion, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Jim Peters said Monday. 

The Cessna was approaching the Chatham airport when it crashed, Peters said. The plane sank after impact but the two men were able to get out and make it to shore. The two suffered minor injuries and were treated at the scene. According to the FAA database, the Cessna is corporately owned, with an address of 1000 Race Lane, Marstons Mills. 

According to the police investigation, the plane is sometimes used by Skydive Cape Cod, based at the Chatham airport, but it was not believed to be in use for that purpose at the time of the crash.

IDENTIFICATION
  Regis#: 9098X        Make/Model: C182      Description: 182, Skylane
  Date: 05/12/2012     Time: 1856

  Event Type: Accident   Highest Injury: None     Mid Air: N    Missing: N
  Damage: Substantial

LOCATION
  City: CHATHAM   State: MA   Country: US

DESCRIPTION
  AIRCRAFT ON APPROACH, LANDED IN A LAKE AND SUNK, NEAR CHATHAM, MA 

INJURY DATA      Total Fatal:   0
                 # Crew:   1     Fat:   0     Ser:   0     Min:   0     Unk:    
                 # Pass:   1     Fat:   0     Ser:   0     Min:   0     Unk:    
                 # Grnd:         Fat:   0     Ser:   0     Min:   0     Unk:    


OTHER DATA
  Activity: Unknown      Phase: Approach      Operation: OTHER


  FAA FSDO: BOSTON, MA  (EA61)                    Entry date: 05/14/2012 

Buttonville Municipal Airport, Ontario, Canada

Markham emergency services got a call at approximately 7:45 a.m. about a plane inbound for Buttonville Municipal Airport in Markham having issues with its landing gears. The plane has landed safely and the situation is cleared. 

http://livenews.thestar.com

Atlantic City, New Jersey: Volunteers Needed For Thunder Over the Boardwalk

You can be part of the action when the Atlantic City Airshow “Thunder over the Boardwalk” roars into Atlantic City on Friday, August 17, from 10am-3pm.

A variety of volunteer positions are available the day the airshow takes place. If you are a fan, veteran, or just have a passion for the show and want to volunteer your time, e-mail acjaycees@yahoo.com,  or contact Elisa Monroe, director of Member Events for the Greater Atlantic City Chamber, at 345-4524 extension 12 or e-mail emonroe@acchamber.com.

The Atlantic City Airshow “Thunder Over The Boardwalk” is a community partnership between the Greater Atlantic City Chamber; the 177th Fighter Wing of the N.J. Air National Guard; South Jersey Transportation Authority; FAA William J. Hughes Tech Center; The Atlantic City International Airport; Caesars Entertainment, David Schultz Airshows, LLC; the City of Atlantic City; and the Atlantic City Convention & Visitors Authority.

Caesars Entertainment is the Host Hotel Sponsor for this year’s airshow and the Atlantic City International Airport (ACY) is the host airport for the Atlantic City Airshow. The majority of airshow performers take off and land via ACY, while the Atlantic City Airshow takes place over the beach and Boardwalk in Atlantic City.

For more information on the Atlantic City Airshow “Thunder over the Boardwalk,” visit the Web Site. Go here to see video from the 2011 show.

Piper Arrow PA28R-200: Landing gear malfunction, Lubbock Texas

 

May 12, 2012 by jlbryan2088 

"Upon rotating the aircraft off the runway, the landing gear raised itself with the gear handle in the down position. The transit light remained on and I did not have any green lights illuminated. After climbing to some altitude I let departure know I wanted to return to land. The hydraulic circuit breaker popped, and I was able to manually drop the gear by releasing the hydraulic pressure in the lines holding the gear up. After that I had three green lights and I also felt the gear fall down and lock. I did one low approach and then a full stop landing. Air traffic control was a great help. I'm glad we have great controllers to help us when we're in trouble."

May 12, 2012 by jlbryan2088

Tramel Raggs continues as Gary/Chicago International Airport (KGYY) authority member

By Lu Ann Franklin Times Correspondent 

 GARY | A member of the Gary/Chicago International Airport Authority under investigation for an alleged weapon violation was on hand for the authority's monthly meeting on Monday.

Tramel Raggs, 32, of Gary was appointed to the airport authority by the Lake County Commissioners earlier this year. He also works as a special assistant to the commissioners.

Commissioner Gerry Scheub has said he wants Commissioner Roosevelt Allen to take over Raggs' position on the Gary/Chicago International Airport Authority. However, at Monday's meeting, there was no mention of replacing Raggs.

A special prosecutor will decide if Raggs will be charged with pointing a gun at a motorist during a May 1 confrontation in downtown Gary.

During Monday's meeting, the commissioners heard Project Manager Scott Wheeler present information on the work being done. They also approved a number of contract changes and expenditures associated relocating utilities within the airport runway expansion project.

Wheeler said the airport and Majestic Star Casino have signed a letter of agreement to move a sanitary sewer line in the way of rail line relocation. Eventually the airport authority will pay for that relocation.

Another agreement, with Indiana American Water Co., will relocate six water lines. Four of those water lines are not in the runway's path, which will save more than $51,000. Originally, that part of the project was estimated to cost $632,000. However, the water line relocation will now cost $570,250. The airport authority will reimburse the water company for the work.

The airport will pay $126,493 to relocate a pedestal for a NIPSCO electric line. Wheeler said the electrical service was relocated in 2008 based on the original curve design realigning the EJ&E tracks to make way for the new runway. The curve's newest design would now hit the top of the pedestal.

"I would hope that wouldn't happen again," Commissioner Rev. Marion J. Johnson said.

Another expense of $7,098 resulted from the earth compaction being done near the CN Railroad tracks.

Railroad officials had concerns about how the vibrations being created by the compaction equipment that drops a 30–ton weight affected the tracks.

"The engineering company had to come out to recalibrate the machine and lowered the weight to 16 tons," Wheeler said. That created the extra costs.

Environmental concerns were also part of the agenda. Crews working in a wooded area of the airport found asbestos. Cleaning up the asbestos will cost another $130,133. Still to be determined is how petroleum–tainted soil will be remediated.

The airport recently received a wetlands permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that will allow crews to drain the water there. The airport authority has purchased other wetland areas in exchange for dewatering the area within the airport's footprint, Wheeler said.

In other business, Johnson and Commissioner Silas Wilkerson III asked how many local residents are working on the airport runway expansion project.

"In my travels around the area, people ask me how many local people are working on this," Johnson said. "I'd like to answer those questions."

Interim Director Steve Landry said more than 70 percent of the contractors and sub–contractors working on the project have Northwest Indiana business addresses. The exact number of local workers hasn't been available. However, Landry said he would ask for that information and forward it to commissioners.

Source:  http://www.nwitimes.com

Illegal Immigrant Allegedly Assumes Identity Of Dead Man To Get Top Security Post At Newark Liberty International Airport (KEWR), New Jersey. Officials: Bimbo Olumuyiwa Oyewole Went Undetected For Nearly 20 Years

NEWARK, N.J. (CBSNewYork) — A security breach of the highest order was uncovered at Newark Liberty Airport on Monday. 

 An illegal immigrant allegedly assumed the identity of a dead man to get a top security job at the airport, CBS 2’s Marcia Kramer reported.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is calling this “dead man walking,” but it’s really dead man guarding and it has many wondering how anything like this could happen.

The man was identified as Bimbo Olumuyiwa Oyewole, but he was known at Newark Airport to his co-workers as Jerry Thomas, and for nearly 20 years he has guarded some of the most secure areas of one of the nation’s busiest airports.

He was arrested Monday after authorities discovered he is really an illegal Nigerian immigrant with four other aliases who entered the country in 1989, officials said.

“In this case, the defendant utilized an elaborate and complex scheme of identity theft to defraud his employer, the State of New Jersey, the federal government and the Port Authority,” Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Inspector General Robert Van Etten said.

Somehow the Nigerian obtained the birth certificate and Social Security number of a man murdered in Queens in 1992. He used them to get a New Jersey driver’s license, a state security guard license, airport identification and even credit cards, officials said.

Amazingly he worked security at Newark, including access to the tarmac and passenger planes without ever being detected, officials said.

At the time of his arrest he supervised 30 other guards.

Passengers were stunned.

“Oh my God! That’s all I can say. Where was the breakdown? You can’t believe this type of thing happens, particularly at a major metropolitan airport like this,” one woman said.

“It’s unbelievable. They need to use fingerprints. They need to use eye retinas. We need to get into the space age and update our programs because these things aren’t working,” Greenwood Lake, N.Y.’s Christine Phillips told CBS 2′s Hazel Sanchez on Monday night.

“You can’t trust anybody anymore,” another woman said. “I don’t understand it. Maybe we should use DNA for identification.”

“If the people that are so-called the gatekeepers are not really having being checked out properly, what’s the point of having so much checks in place if the system is flawed?” added Raymond Chua of Newark.

Authorities want to know how he got the ID made and whether he was involved in the man’s death. The NYPD is checking his fingerprints to see if they match those at the scene of the still unsolved murder.

Authorities are also investigating if the Nigerian, who used the alias “Bimbo” among others, was involved in criminal activity at the airport.

Highly placed sources told Kramer that their biggest concern is the ID scam itself. They fear there could be thousands who could have used it and some they say may be sleeper terror agents working at critical locations throughout the country.

Story and video:   http://newyork.cbslocal.com

Learning to Fly - Sweet Aviation at Smith Field Airport (KSMD), Fort Wayne, Indiana

Learning to Fly part one: wane.com

Fort Wayne, Ind. (WANE) - Fort Wayne resident Patrick Borton considers himself an ordinary guy with a not so ordinary hobby. 

 In 2011, he traded his motorcycle to pay for flight lessons. "I've had motorcycles and I decided I was so sick of traffic and drivers that don't pay attention. I wanted to get away from that traffic, " said Borton.

So he cashed in his wheels to spread his wings to begin his learning to fly adventure.

Borton flies a Cessna 152 that he calls his Little Buddy. He said it got him through his flight training.

Borton is among 14 people who became private pilots last year at Sweet Aviation at Smith Field Airport.

There are a handful of flight schools in northeast Indiana. Sweet Aviation is the only one in Fort Wayne. Borton took lessons here in the summer of 2011, six months and almost $10,000 dollars later, he earned his private pilot's certificate.

"Every phase from takeoff to landing was just incredible because I'd never done it before," said Borton.

Borton doesn't own the plane he flies, but he can rent it whenever it's available. "You can take it up as long as you want as long as you have it signed out, " said Borton. "The cost is 90 to 100 dollars and that includes fuel. It's a tradeoff but it is saving you time."

The time saving factor is one of the reasons flight instructors say people pay to be their own pilot. Instructor Joel Pierce said. "it's great to be able to fly to Indianapolis in 30 minutes. it's a time saver it's also a lot of fun."

Pierce said in the last few years, he's seen more people signing up for lessons and the biggest concern isn't money. "Safety is a concern," said Pierce "If we do our job and stay proficient and we police ourselves then we're fine."

Before a plane is cleared for takeoff, it must pass a checklist. After Borton goes over the list and everything checks out, he's ready to spread his wings.

Source:   http://www.wane.com

Father 'died from heart attack in mid-air' during his first solo parachute jump

 A father died in front of his wife and son after having a suspected heart attack during his first solo parachute jump.

Gareth Vaughn, 59, plummeted to the ground after apparently losing control of his parachute at around 1,500 feet.

Witnesses told how the South African businessman's wife and son watched in horror from below as he missed the designated landing spot and smashed into a wall.

Police spokeswoman Joey Jeevan today confirmed an investigation had been launched into the tragedy, which happened at around midday yesterday near the port city of Durban.

She said: 'This was the victim's first solo parachute jump, which was organized by an established company.

'At the moment all we know for certain is that the man landed incorrectly as he hit the ground.

'He had started the jump okay but at around 1,500 feet he apparently appeared to lose control of the parachute and stopped doing what he had been taught to do.

'He was due to land in a designated area which was marked by flags but instead he drifted over and hit a wall.

'We believe it is possible that he suffered some kind of attack in the air - either a heart attack or an anxiety attack which left him unable to respond to instructions.

'Sadly he suffered serious head injuries on impact and died at the scene.'

Lieutenant Jeevan said a postmortem would be conducted to establish the cause of Mr Vaughn's death.

She said: 'We cannot say for sure what killed him, or whether he was alive or dead when he hit the ground.

'All we know is that he appeared to be unresponsive from around midway through the jump.

'The postmortem should reveal what happened and we are investigating the incident.'

South Africa's Daily News newspaper today reported that Mr Vaughn had signed up for yesterday's parachute after harboring a long-term dream to complete a skydive.

The novice jumper completed a full day's training on Saturday before the static-line jump yesterday morning.

Skydive instructor Vernon Kloppers told the newspaper everything had seemed normal ahead of the routine leap at the Durban Skydive Centre in the village of Eston in South Africa's KwaZulu-Natal province.

But he told how Mr Vaughn became unresponsive after he leaped from the plane at 3,500 feet.

Mr Kloppers said: 'He jumped at 3,500 feet and his parachute automatically opened through the static line.

'He was seen controlling the parachute until about 1,500 feet.

'At this point, he became unresponsive under the canopy.

'We do not know what happened.'

Paramedics confirmed Mr Vaughn was examined at the scene of the accident and declared dead before being taken to hospital.

The family man's friend Paul Raglan-Smith told the Daily News doctors said they believed he had suffered a heart attack in mid air.

The shocked friend added that Mr Vaughn had put parachute jumping on his 'bucket list' of things to achieve before he died.

Mr Raglan-Smith told the publication he finally decided to do so yesterday to mark Mother's Day, which happened yesterday in South Africa.

He said: 'Yesterday was Mother's Day and he decided the time was right to make his dream come true. Unfortunately, it ended tragically.'

He added: 'Doctors at the hospital said they suspected he suffered a massive heart attack soon after he jumped.'

Mr Raglan-Smith said Mr Vaughn's family had been left devastated by the tragedy.

He added that his wife and son were in a state of shock after watching the horrific accident unfold.

A spokeswoman for the Durban Skydive Centre today confirmed the incident was being investigated by the Parachute Association of South Africa.

Static line parachute jumps allow novice skydivers to make solo leaps with less training than is required by normal jumps.

The skydiver is attached to the plane by a line which automatically opens their canopy as they leave the plane.

The parachutist must then use the knowledge they gained in training to control their descent to the ground.

According to the website of the British Parachute Association, static line jumps carry a risk of around one in 170 of being injured and one in 40,000 of being killed.

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk

Cash stash on crashed plane in Ecuador

A Mexican-registered plane carrying two men, a large amount of cash and a dog has crashed in Ecuador.

Officials said that the aircraft had not filed a flight plan and they suspected the money might be related to drug trafficking.

The plane crashed into a hillside Sunday night (Monday, NZ time) near the city of Perdernales on Ecuador's central coast.

Interior Minister Jose Serrano said in a TV interview that "a great amount" of money was on board and that the dead pilot and co-pilot were Mexican. He did not say how much money was found or in what currency. He said authorities had cordoned off the area.

"We presume the money was for laundering to pay for drugs that it was going to pick up," he said.

Ecuador is a transit country for traffickers of cocaine produced in neighboring Colombia.

Mexican drug trafficking organizations smuggle the cocaine northward to the United States and send cash back.

No flight plan had been filed for the plane, Ecuador's civil aviation authority said in a statement. It said it has asked Mexico's government "to confirm the plane's origin and occupants."

Modesto, California: Making copper theft a federal crime

Stealing copper wire – common throughout the Central Valley – is usually prosecuted locally under state law.

But as two men from Modesto have discovered, location matters in more than real estate.

Robin Neal Vanderheiden, 32, and Kody Estepp, 22, have pleaded guilty to conspiring to steal copper wire -- federal property -- from the Modesto Airport.

According to court documents, on several occasions in January, Messrs Vanderheiden and Estepp broke into lighting towers at the airport and stole copper wire from the enclosed systems.

The copper wire is owned by the Federal Aviation Administration – making it federal wire.

The pair sold the stolen copper wire for cash or illegal narcotics, says U.S. Attorney Benjamin Wagner.

When sentenced in August, the two will face a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Had the wire not been owned by Uncle Sam, it might have been a crime prosecuted under state law. That carries a one-year sentence in the local jail – or less.

Source:   http://www.centralvalleybusinesstimes.com

(Press Release) 32-year-old Robin Neal Vanderheiden, aka Jeremy Wayne Patrick, and 22-year-old Kody Estepp, both of Modesto, pleaded guilty to conspiring to steal federal property from the Modesto Airport, United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced.

According to court documents, on several occasions in January 2012, Vanderheiden and Estepp broke into lighting towers at the Modesto Airport and stole copper wire from the enclosed systems. The copper wire is owned by the Federal Aviation Administration. As part of the conspiracy, the defendants sold the stolen copper wire in return for cash or illegal narcotics.

This case is the result of an investigation by the Department of Transportation, Office of Inspector General and the Modesto Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Grant B. Rabenn is prosecuting the case.

The defendants are scheduled to be sentenced on August 6, 2012 by United States District Judge Lawrence J. O’Neill. They face a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory sentencing factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.

Review: David Freed’s ‘Flat Spin’ is sure to be 1 of the best debuts of the year

The Permanent Press/Associated Press - In this book cover image released by The Permanent Press, “Flat Spin,” by David Freed, is shown.

“Flat Spin” (The Permanent Press), by David Freed: “Flat Spin,” the title of this debut thriller, is the name of a complex and risky flight maneuver that only the most accomplished pilots should attempt, so it’s no surprise that the hero of the story, Cordell Logan, is a first-rate aviator. He’s also a former assassin for a top-secret military squad that specializes in making terrorists disappear.

As the story opens, Logan is living in a converted garage in Rancho Bonita, Calif., where he is scraping out a living by giving flying lessons to spoiled rich kids. He’s haunted by his past, longing for his beautiful ex-wife, Savannah, and failing miserably — and hilariously — to find peace through his recent conversion to Buddhism.

When Savannah’s new husband, another former assassination squad member, is gunned down, Logan has a very un-Buddhist reaction: He’s elated. But his mood quickly evaporates when he finds himself a suspect.

So Logan sets out to solve the case himself. He takes to the air in “The Ruptured Duck,” his Cessna 172, following the killer’s trail from Oakland, Calif., to the Las Vegas Strip, from the Arizona desert to Russian Mafia haunts in West Los Angeles.

Eventually, he gets too close to the surprising truth and is targeted for murder.

The way Logan sees it, being in danger and suspected of murder are the least of his troubles. He is consumed by his longing for Savannah, the pain made so real that your own heart will ache.

When you write your first thriller, it’s wise to stick with what you know, and Freed knows this turf. He covered police for the Los Angeles Times, where he shared in the Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the Rodney King riots. He reported from Kuwait and Iraq during Operation Desert Storm. He wrote computerized training simulations for the Defense Intelligence Agency. He holds a security clearance from the Department of Defense. And he’s a pilot who owns his own airplane.

Unlike some novelists with technical expertise, Freed is a superb writer. His prose is at once muscular and musical — and sometimes verges on poetry.

And he mixes a hard-boiled attitude with flashes of wry humor.

http://david-freed.com

http://www.stamfordadvocate.com

http://www.washingtonpost.com

Cessna 182 practicing the impossible turn

 

 May 6, 2012 by motoadve 

Do NOT go out and practice this on your own. I was doing it with a very qualified instructor. Want to do it on your own, go at 5,000ft AGL. 
 ~
In this video:  500 to 700AGL power off and a 180 back to the field. The first 600ft of the runway coming from the sea has some holes, so that's why I give some gas before landing, but the runway is made. One of the attempts ipower wasn't pulled all the way (not on purpose).

Pilatus PC-6 Turbo Porter, I-CAKE, TNT Brothers, Clinceni Airfield, Bucharest, Romania

Cessna 172 Overhauled engine - initial engine run and test flight

 

 Cessna 172 Overhauled engine - first run and test flight

 

No injuries after crash at Steamboat Springs Airport/Bob Adams Field (KSBS), Steamboat Springs, Colorado

Photo Credit: Matt Stensland

Three men were able to walk away from an aircraft that flipped onto its roof during a crash landing shortly after noon Saturday at Steamboat Springs Airport.

Steamboat Deputy Police Chief Bob DelValle said the single-engine propeller plane was coming from Eagle County and had three occupants, whose names were not immediately available. The men had only minor injuries, including lacerations and abrasions and did not need to go to a hospital.

“Landing actions like this with airplanes like this, it’s not unusual for people to walk away with minor injuries,” said DelValle, who is also a pilot.

He said the pilot had built the Murphy aircraft himself.

“Unfortunately, it looks pretty wrecked,” DelValle said.

The aircraft approached the airport from the southeast.

“The wind on his landing may have switched to a tailwind, which does create a problem because most aircraft try to land into the wind,” DelValle said.

The plane is known as a taildragger because it has two main wheels and a small wheel at the tail.

Based on the five strike marks from the propeller in the dirt to the left on the runway, it appeared that the nose of the aircraft came forward and the aircraft flipped onto its top.

Steamboat Springs Fire Rescue firefighters remained on scene because it was thought that fuel might have leaked from the plane and fuel still was in the tanks located in the wings of the plane.

The airport was closed after the crash and reopened at about 2:45 p.m. after and airport officials removed the plane from the side of the runway.

The National Transportation Safety Board is expected to investigate the crash.

The last major incident involving an airplane in Routt County was Feb. 19 when a private Cessna 414A from Texas crashed short of the runway at Yampa Valley Regional Airport during a snowstorm Sunday afternoon. Two people were killed and four more were injured.

Watch Video:   http://www.craigdailypress.com/video

India: Delhi's businessman comes under own plane’s wheels

NEW DELHI: A 37-year-old entrepreneur, Yogesh Garg, was killed after being hit by his own plane barely two hours after he completed his solo flight. "He wanted his friends to witness his feat. After he successfully flew the aircraft around 8am, his colleague Purvi boarded the X-Air trainer aircraft along with pilot Anil Gupta from the local Pankh Aviation. The plane was about to land after a sortie when Garg decided to click pictures of the landing. As he got riveted to the camera, Garg misjudged the distance between him and the plane. Gupta tried to gain height at the last moment to avoid collision but the wheels and bottom half of the plane hit him, killing him instantly," said Thapar.

The plane was damaged as it went off the runway and hit the ground. Both Gupta and Purvi escaped unhurt.

Meerut city SP Om Prakash, however, maintained that the rotor blades caught Garg as he got dangerously close to the runway when the plane landed. Police said investigation was on to ascertain if there was any lapse on the part of authorities by allowing Garg to walk on the runway when the aircraft was landing. Additional district magistrate Neeraj Shukla, who reached the spot soon after the accident, said a preliminary inquiry revealed that Pankh Aviation was not allowed to use the airstrip. The company, however, said they had the requisite papers and were training flyers for the past four months.

Official sources said the BR Ambedkar airstrip was not in commercial use, only occasionally used for joyrides by businessmen and real estate owners whose small planes are parked in the hangar.

Garg expected to undergo training for another two months before he could get a licence, police said, and had plans to make it big in the aviation sector through his aviation club. While shocked colleagues recalled him as a warm worker and senior, his family sought privacy.

Source:  http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Emergency landing in Lovers Lake near Chatham Municipal Airport (KCQX), Massachusetts

 

Investigators are trying to determine the cause of this small plane crash Saturday afternoon in Lovers Lake in Chatham. 

Steve Heaslip/Cape Cod Times 

 

(Photo credit: David G. Curran/ SatelliteNewsService.com)

By CAPE COD TIMES 

CHATHAM -- Two men escaped from a small plane this afternoon after it had engine trouble and crashed into the water in Lovers Lake off Lakeshore Drive. 

Rescue workers and investigators were called to the scene around 2:40 this afternoon.

 Officials said the plane was about to land at nearby Chatham Municipal Airport when it has some kind of engine problem, dropped down into the water and landed right-side up.

 The men were able to get out of the plane and were not injured. The tail of the plane can be seen above the water about 20 feet from shore, in the backyard of a private homeowner.

Source:  http://www.capecodonline.com

CHATHAM, Mass. (AP) — Rescue workers say the pilot and a passenger were not hurt when their small plane that was flying over Cape Cod suffered mechanical failure and made an emergency landing into a small lake.

Chatham Fire Capt. Kate Hansen says the plane sunk into Lover’s Lake after landing there Saturday afternoon.

Emergency responders checked the pilot and a passenger at the scene and released them.

There was no immediate information on the identities of the pilot and passenger, the origin of their flight and their destination.

Authorities are investigating the incident.

The incident was first reported by the Cape Cod Times.

 Source:  http://boston.cbslocal.com

Midnight was movie time for air traffic controllers

Alan Levin | Bloomberg News

WASHINGTON - When midnight rolled around and flight traffic thinned out, air-traffic controllers guiding planes in the busiest U.S. corridor whipped out laptops to watch movies, play games or gamble online.

Controllers on break inflated air mattresses and napped on the floor. Some left before their shifts were over. They cursed at managers, refused to train new controllers, and flouted rules requiring them to pass on weather advisories to pilots.

"It was blatant and in your face," Evan Seeley, a former manager in the Ronkonkoma, N.Y., tower who came forward last year, said in a phone interview Thursday.

Those and other allegations made by Seeley were corroborated by investigators from the Federal Aviation Administration, according to reports released last week by the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, an agency formed to help and protect whistle-blowers inside federal agencies.

Special Counsel Carolyn Lerner sent a letter on Tuesday to the White House and Congress detailing findings in Seeley's case and six other verified whistle-blower complaints, saying the FAA and Department of Transportation were slow to address them or hadn't acted.

In New York, investigators found a facility in which FAA managers were unwilling or afraid to discipline controllers' union members, the reports said. Supervisors who tried to enforce the rules had their cars vandalized or were threatened. The result was widespread violations of rules that undermined safety, reviews by the special counsel and FAA found.

Seeley, who'd worked in Fort Worth, Texas, before coming to New York in February 2010, said he was shocked by what he saw.

"The advice from the seasoned front-line managers was: you keep your head in the sand," he said.

The FAA has a higher rate of employees seeking whistle- blower protection than any other U.S. agency, according to the special counsel office's preliminary review.

"There did not seem to be the level or urgency that we thought many of these claims really deserved by the agency," Lerner told reporters that day.

The New York case was an exception to Lerner's concerns in one regard: As the FAA was rocked last year by disclosures that controllers were sleeping on the job across the United States, agency teams descended on the facility on Long Island. Within months, they'd corroborated most of Seeley's allegations.

On Sept. 6, the FAA replaced the facility's top managers and brought in experienced supervisors from other locations to serve as mentors for the remaining staff.

"It is clear, given the number of Mr. Seeley's allegations that were substantiated in this investigation, that significant corrective actions are required," the FAA's internal investigation found.

While Lerner said she was satisfied with the outcome, she noted in her letter that the response occurred after Seeley took his concerns to the media.

The FAA didn't respond to questions for this story about specific complaints, saying in an emailed statement that it has an office dedicated to investigating charges by employees of impropriety and safety lapses. That division, the Office of Audit and Evaluation, oversaw the investigation in New York, according to documents released by the special counsel.

"We are concerned when we hear about rare examples that deviate from the high standards we set for ourselves and are determined to work with the FAA to correct any such issues," Paul Rinaldi, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, said in an emailed statement Friday.

Safety is the top priority of the union, which represents about 15,000 controllers, and it's working with the FAA to improve professional standards, Rinaldi said in the statement. "NATCA condemns any behavior in the control facility that undermines that goal," he said.

Seeley arrived at the New York Center at age 25 after entering a one-year training program to become a manager. He said he was told he was the youngest tower supervisor in the country.

Friends in Fort Worth warned him about the reputation of the New York Center, which oversees higher-altitude traffic in the skies above parts of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland, he said.

Even with the warning, he said, he was stunned by what he saw.

A controller cursed out another supervisor in front of Seeley his first day on the job. Within a week, copies of a photo from Seeley's Facebook page appeared all over the facility, including in the men's room. The manager who had informed him of the photos said it didn't warrant a response, he said.

"She said they are just trying to get under your skin," Seeley said. "They're hazing you a little bit. If you make a big deal out of this, it will just get worse."

One night, a controller using his laptop failed to notice a warning on his radar screen that he needed to switch to a backup system, Seeley said.

Seeley hadn't made any effort to stop the use of personal electronics at that point. This was different, he said, because of the warning. So the young manager reported the controller.

Another manager urged him not to press the matter. "He said you need to think twice," Seeley said. "I wouldn't do this. It's not going to go over well for you."

Within weeks, someone ran a sharp object across Seeley's car, scratching the paint, he said. On another occasion, one of his tires was slashed.

FAA regulations are precise in describing how controllers must issue instructions so that their staccato radio transmissions aren't misunderstood. The regulations also require that controllers pass on weather reports and other information to pilots.

These rules often weren't followed in New York, Seeley said. When investigators visited the facility last year, they listened in on 32 hours of activity. Almost half of the controllers they evaluated weren't complying with FAA rules, according to the agency's findings.

On Jan. 2, 2011, Seeley was demoted from his management position to controller. His supervisors told him his performance was sub par. Seeley said it was retribution, though that wasn't part of his whistle-blower complaint.

Later that month, as he was studying for his new job, he returned to his desk to find a message on a blackboard next to his desk:

"Rat fink, watch ur back," it said, according to Seeley. An arrow pointed to the chair where he'd been sitting. Seeley complained to the special counsel.

On Jan. 20, an American Airlines jet and two U.S. Air Force C-17s almost collided while under the control of two New York controllers. They passed within 200 feet vertically and less than a mile of each other, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.

Poor communication between the controllers, one of the issues Seeley had raised, was one of the reasons for the incident, he said. He decided to take his story to the New York Post.

A short time later, he was offered a transfer back to Fort Worth and accepted.

Seeley said he hasn't seen the issues he saw in New York at other facilities. While there was tension within the Texas center when he returned, that has mostly died down, he said.

"Now I have as normal a career as I can expect," he said. 

Source:   http://www.journalgazette.net