Siskiyou Sheriff's Office reports felony airplane vandalism investigation - Montague Airport-Yreka Rohrer Field (1O5), Montague, California

Siskiyou County Sheriff's Office submission

 The Siskiyou County Sheriff's Office reported June 11, 2012 that it is investigating a felony vandalism case and possible attempted plane theft at the Montague-Yreka Airport. The Sheriff's Office submitted this photo of two planes at the airport, taken June 11.

Montague, Calif. —   The Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office reported Monday, June 11, that it is investigating a felony plane vandalism and possible attempted plane theft at the Montague-Yreka Airport.

According to a Sheriff’s Office press release, deputies responded early Monday morning to a report of vandalism at the airport and found two planes had been damaged.

An initial investigation found that one of the planes had been started and then crashed into the other plane, according to the release. Deputies also found that two other planes had been vandalized.

A nearby hangar was also entered, leading to investigation of a burglary and theft, the press release states.

The Sheriff’s Office report says initial damage estimates are approximately $250,000.

“Due to the magnitude of the crime, size of the crime scene, and limited departmental resources, crime scene processing and analysis was requested and ultimately conducted by the California Department of Justice (Redding Crime Lab),” according to the Sheriff’s Office release. “The California Highway Patrol assisted by completing a comprehensive crime scene sketch. The Federal Bureau of Investigation was also notified and responded to the scene to assist the Sheriff’s Office, since federal offense(s) may have been committed by the perpetrators.”

The Sheriff’s Office says it is requesting Secret Witness funds for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the suspects. Citizens with information about this incident are urged to contact Detective Jeff Moser of the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office at (530) 842-8764 or SOS dispatch at (530) 841-2900 24 hours a day.

Source:   http://www.mtshastanews.com

Four letters and fly by nerve: Air India Regional Avion de Transport Regional ATR-42-300, Air India, VT-ABO, Flight AI-9760

SANJAY MANDAL Urmila Yadav in Guwahati on Sunday. (PTI) Calcutta, June 11: 

Oh s***!  So swore Urmila Yadav. 

 When you have just been radioed “something had dropped off” your airborne plane, you can’t check whether the cockpit carries the latest edition of Polite Words, can you?

Urmila, who was flying the Guwahati-bound ATR-42, was told by the Silchar ATC that it was probably a wheel. “For a split second, she was at a loss. But she is the type who knows how to regain composure without a fuss,” a source close to Urmila said today.

She asked the ATC to rush an official to the runway and confirm whether it was a wheel. A wheel was indeed found on the edge of the runway.

The next moment, Urmila, who does yoga every morning and jogs — “not on the treadmill” — for an hour, had her nose in place.

“She told herself staying calm was the need of the moment,” said the source. Several passengers had yesterday lauded the composure and presence of mind shown by the crew after all the 50 people on board the Air India flight landed safely in Guwahati.

Urmila had to make a landing but one decision had to be taken before anything else: where? The pilot, with 4,500 flying hours to her credit, picked Guwahati.

For two factors, said the source. “First, it was drizzling in Silchar while the weather in Guwahati was fine. Second, the back-up required for an emergency landing — fire services and medical equipment — are better in Guwahati compared to Silchar in Barak Valley.”

What does it take to land when one of the nose wheels is missing? “It takes skill to land on the rear wheels keeping the nose wheel up. Intelligent use of power while landing ensures that an aircraft lands smoothly without jerks in such conditions,” explained a pilot. An aviation trainer had clarified yesterday that there wasn’t much risk, provided the standard procedure for such situations was followed.

Urmila’s main concern was to ensure there was no panic among the passengers. “There were frantic conversations inside the cockpit — between the ATC and the pilots and between the pilots and the cabin crew — but none of the underlying tension could be allowed to creep into the cabin,” said the source familiar with the happenings between 8.55am and 10.31am on Sunday.

The response during such an emergency is drilled in at training sessions but, as another pilot said, only personnel who have experienced mid-air situations know the gulf between the virtual and the real.

The engine and other systems in the aircraft were working properly. What was required was good piloting. “At every moment, Urmila said, she was reminded of her training manual,” the source said.

Civil aviation minister Ajit Singh called Urmila and congratulated her today. She was kind of overwhelmed after taking calls through the day. “I did what was expected of me,” the source quoted her as saying.

Urmila, in her mid-forties, was in Calcutta from 2006 to 2008, after she joined Alliance Air — the wholly owned Air India subsidiary — as a junior pilot. The lady from Gurgaon had spent two years in an apartment off Haldiram’s on VIP Road and loved Park Street. Yes, she takes rosogollas home and she does devour fish curry.

She learnt to fly at the Karnal Aviation Club and worked as an instructor with several flying clubs before joining a private firm, from where she moved on to Alliance.

“She left Calcutta because she wanted to relocate closer to Gurgaon and joined the Airports Authority of India in 2008,” the source said.

However, she returned to Alliance in 2010 with a Delhi posting. Earlier this year, Urmila became a commander from a co-pilot.

In 2008, when Urmila landed an ATR in Kanpur, a Nilgai had come in the way. She pressed the brakes. “The antelope couldn’t be saved but the passengers were unscathed,” the source said.

Correction: The Telegraph had reported on Monday that the plane had an all-woman crew. The crew included a man, co-pilot Yeshu Bareja. We apologize for the mistake.

http://www.telegraphindia.com

Fears over air safety if Air India pilots are replaced

MUMBAI: The news that civil aviation minister Ajit Singh is exploring the option of terminating the jobs of a majority of Air India pilots and hiring fresh recruits has alarmed many in the airline industry who fear that flight safety will suffer. The AI pilots have been striking for the past month.

Air India recently put out advertisements calling for pilots trained on Boeing aircraft. So far the airline has terminated over 100 pilots and, according to sources, termination letters are being sent to many more.

Capt Manoj Hathi, ex-Air India director of operations and flight safety and an examiner/instructor on Boeing 747-400, categorically said that replacing 400-odd "company-experienced pilots" with fresh recruits could have repercussions on flight safety. "In the 1960s, Japan Airlines replaced its American pilots with Japanese pilots with minimal experience on jets. They had a large number of American pilots and replacing them en masse was a bad decision as the airline had more than half-a-dozen accidents in the next nine years, all attributed to lack of experience, training and pilot error,'' said Hathi.

He said there were numerous, serious CRM (Cockpit Crew Resource Management) issues the airline would face in training the new recruits. CRM covers factors like interpersonal communication between pilots, human error and so on -- all vital requirements to ensure flight safety in a multi-crew aircraft.

"All airlines follow different Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) to standardize pilots. As a matter of interest, even Indian airline and Air India follow different SOPs. Having a mixed crew in a cockpit increases the probability of CRM failure," he added. Hathi said that Air India's operations and flight safety custodians must give serious thought to unilaterally replacing company-trained and well-experienced pilots. "There is just no short cut to experience," he added.

Air India executive pilots also fear that the move could have air safety implications. An executive pilot, who wished to remain unnamed, said: "Which airline in the world would let go 400 experienced pilots and recruit fresh ones, only to spend considerable time and money on their training, pay them double the salary if they are foreign pilots and in the end operate flights that have a high risk of getting involved in an incident or accident because of CRM failure?"

Said another commander who is also an instructor: "With fresh recruits, there is always the possibility of their past airline training rearing its head unexpectedly during an emergency, when split-second decisions need to be taken. It can be disastrous when two pilots take action based on two different SOPs,'' he added.

A section of Air India pilots who operate flights to the US, Europe, Far East and Middle East have been on strike for over a month now. They have demanded equal opportunity to career progression as their Indian airline counterparts.

Executive pilots feel strain

Air India's executive pilots who have been working to their full capacity for the past month to fill in for the absent pilots have started feeling the strain. About 15 to 20 executive pilots have called in sick in the last few days, apparently in protest against the airline management's failure to resolve the issue. Two executive pilots resigned in the last two days, sources added. An airline spokesperson did not comment on the developments.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Plane touches down in Butler Township, Pennsylvania

A single-engine airplane landed in Butler Township on Monday afternoon, though initial reports indicate that no one was injured. 

Emergency personnel arrived at the scene after the incident was reported around 5:30 p.m. and cordoned the area off.

Reports said a man was attempting to fly from Burlington, Vt., to Hazleton Municipal Airport. 

 Check for updates and read the full story in Tuesday’s edition of The Citizens' Voice.

Dispenser Malfunctions, Flooding Rickenbacker Airport Hangar With Foam

COLUMBUS, Ohio - An air foam dispenser malfunctioned at Rickenbacker International Airport late Monday morning, spreading white foam across a hangar. 

Firefighters were called to the scene at about 11 a.m. and used high-pressure hoses to clear the mess, 10TV News reported. 

No injuries were reported. 

The cause of the malfunction was under investigation.

http://www.10tv.com

Cessna 210: Impounded aircraft stolen in Colombia

A small plane impounded by Colombian authorities last December after entering the country illegally has been stolen from an airport in the northwestern region of Uraba, authorities said.

The plane took off amid a hail of bullets, according to the Colombian air force and the civil aviation agency.

The aircraft, a Cessna 210 with a false Guatemalan registration, was apparently used for drug trafficking and, the air force said, had been impounded after entering Colombia illegally.

The small plane came from Honduras and "was detected, intercepted and forced to land" on Dec. 11, 2011, and was being held at Los Cedros airport in Uraba, the air force said.

The robbery took place Sunday night and was carried out by a group of armed men who seized it in the hangar where it was being guarded, taxied it onto the runway and took off amid shots by police trying to stop it.

The air force said that its control systems "tracked the aircraft until it crossed into Panamanian air space and informed the Central American countries with which an has an inderdiction agreement."

"As yet we have no information as to the whereabouts of the aircraft," the air force said, adding that it will "remain alert to any request and will support Central American authorities in their search for the aircraft."

Patricia Mawuli: Ghana’s High-Flying Woman

At age 23, Patricia Mawuli is among the youngest pilots in the west African nation of Ghana. And she’s also the country’s first female pilot. The best place to find Mawuli is at the Kpong Airfield, where she is an instructor at Ghana’s Aviation and Technology Academy.

And if this weren’t unusual enough for a woman in rural Ghana, Mawuli is also an aircraft engineer. She teaches other young women from the Lake Volta region to build and fly ultra-light planes. It is a traditionally all-male occupation, but Mawuli believes women have unique qualities that enable them to be good pilots.

“Many people consider aviation to be very risky,” Mawuli said. “In an environment where women are seen as the wives who should look after the family, I actually believe there is a reason why God made women to be the people who deliver to children, because women have more patience and are able to handle things in a much more fragile manner.”

And Mawuli exercises that “fragile manner” in her volunteer work with Medicine on the Move. It’s an organization that works together with the Aviation Academy to deliver medical services and health education to rural communities across Ghana.

Mawuli transports medical supplies and doctors all around the country, and she occasionally drops educational pamphlets over remote villages.

“For jobs like that I’m quite happy to jump into the plane and to take people and especially sometimes they do medicine advice like giving health programs on malaria, schistosomiasis, and things like that to the community,” she said. “So they print it out and I can fly and drop it to the communities.”

One of Mawuli’s favorite places to fly is over nearby Lake Volta, the largest man-made lake in the world at 3,000 square miles.

“You can see some communities that are farming or fishing, and they are actually a bit isolated,” she said. “And so flying overhead seeing how hardworking they are lets me appreciate much more what my people can do.”

Source:  http://www.theworld.org

Pittsylvania County plane crash injures pilot, passenger

Two Pittsylvania County men were flown to Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital Sunday afternoon after the plane they were in crashed in a field just west of Gretna.

 Donald Wayne Young, of Gretna, and his passenger Obie Henry Spencer, Jr., of Gretna, were flying in Young’s SR7 Sixchuter Powered Parachute when he attempted to make a right turn and crashed into a pine tree, said Virginia State Police public information officer Sgt. Robert Carpentieri.

Young said that he has been asked not to comment on the accident at this time, but both he and Spencer are doing well and suffered non-life threatening injuries.

Carpentieri said the crash is currently being investigated by the Federal Aviation Administration.

http://www2.wsls.com

Pilot OK after plane flips near Delmar

 

Photo Credit: Wayne Barrall 

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The pilot was unhurt when a small plane flipped over after landing in a field west of Delmar. 

 State police say the crash occurred just before 1 p.m. in the 38000 block of Contentment Lane, about a mile and a half west of Delmar and just north of the Maryland state line.

The pilot was taxiing after landing when the plane flipped, Master Cpl. Gary Fournier said.

The pilot was able to free himself. No one else was aboard, Fournier said.

The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the accident.

Chip Guy, spokesman for Sussex County government, said the Delmar Fire company responded to the crash.

Coast Guard: Unmanned Navy aircraft crashes in Maryland

The U.S. Coast Guard says an unmanned Naval aircraft has crashed on Maryland's Eastern Shore and there are no injuries. 

Petty Officer Jonathan Lindberg said the Coast Guard is setting up a safety zone around the marshy area along the Nanticoke River where the crash occurred Monday.

Hawker Beechcraft A36, N976S: Accident occurred May 31, 2012 in Macon, Mississippi

NTSB Identification: ERA12FA376 
 14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Thursday, May 31, 2012 in Macon, MS
Aircraft: HAWKER BEECHCRAFT A36, registration: N976S
Injuries: 1 Fatal.

This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed. NTSB investigators either traveled in support of this investigation or conducted a significant amount of investigative work without any travel, and used data obtained from various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.

On May 31, 2012, at 1656 central daylight time, a Hawker Beechcraft A36, N976S, operated by a private individual, was substantially damaged during an in-flight break-up and collision with terrain near Macon, Mississippi. The certificated private pilot was fatally injured. The personal flight was conducted under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and an instrument flight rules flight plan was filed for the planned flight to University of Oklahoma Westheimer Airport (OUN), Norman Oklahoma. The flight originated from Saint Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport (PIE), Clearwater, Florida, at 1415.

According to preliminary air traffic control information provided by the Federal Aviation Administration, the pilot was in radio contact with Memphis Center at 1625, and the airplane was level at 20,000 feet. At that time, the center controller advised the pilot of extreme precipitation at the airplane's 12 o'clock position and 85 miles away, extending north and south. The pilot acknowledged the information and added that he was looking at it, and evaluating if there was any way to get through it. At 1626, the controller advised the pilot that there was a break in the extreme precipitation, but still moderate to heavy precipitation, on a heading of 330 degrees at 115 miles. The pilot stated that he saw that as well, and thought it would be the best location to fly through the line of precipitation. The pilot subsequently received permission to deviate to that location. At 1633, the controller asked the pilot if he had weather radar onboard, and the pilot replied that he had "Nexrad Composite." At 1636, the pilot requested a lower altitude to remain below the freezing level, and he ultimately descended to 12,000 feet. At 1653, the pilot advised the controller that a cell had "filled in," but there was still a gap about 10 miles north, which he planned to fly through. The controller acknowledged the pilot's intentions. No further communication was received from the accident airplane and radar contact was lost at 1656:27.

The wreckage impacted a rural area near Macon, Mississippi, consisting of fields and wooded terrain. A debris path extended approximately 1.25 miles on a magnetic course about 300 degrees. The airplane was equipped with satellite weather and radar weather, which were both displayed on a KDM-550 multifunction display (MFD). The airplane was also equipped with a JPI 700 engine monitor. The MFD and engine monitor were retained and forwarded to the NTSB Vehicle Recorder Laboratory, Washington, D.C., for data retrieval.

A federal report says the pilot of a plane that crashed in Noxubee County on May 31st was attempting to fly through severe weather at the time the plane crashed. 

 Tracy Shirley III of Oklahoma was attempting to fly through a break in the weather according to a  preliminary report filed by the National Transportation Safety Administration,

The report says the plane was flying at 20,000 feet and the pilot was in contact with air traffic controllers in Memphis.

Shirley then asked for permission to descend to a lower altitude to remain below the freezing level and ultimately descended to 12,000 feet.

The discussion on the radio concerned the weather, and Shirley informed the tower he did have radar on board and was attempting to fly through the gap when it disappeared from radar around 5 p.m.

The report says the plane suffered an in-flight breakup.

Shirley died in the crash.

Debris from the plane was scattered for 1.25 miles in the Butler Road area southwest of Mashulaville in Noxubee County.

Shirley, the chief financial officer of Harrison Gypsum in Norman, Oklahoma, was the only person on the plane.

The multifunctional display and the engine monitor from the aircraft were recovered and are being analyzed.

The final report will be released at a later date.

Publix damaged by plane crash to reopen: Seawind 3000, N514KT, Accident occurred April 02, 2012 in Deland, Florida

The DeLand Publix that was damaged in April when a small airplane crashed into its roof will reopen later this month, the supermarket announced. 

 The renovated Publix will reopen at the Northgate Shopping Center on International Speedway Boulevard on June 28. A ribbon cutting ceremony with DeLand officials will begin at 7:30 a.m.


NTSB Identification: ERA12FA265
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Monday, April 02, 2012 in Deland, FL
Aircraft: SAPP LARRY E SEAWIND 3000, registration: N514KT
Injuries: 3 Serious,2 Minor.

This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed.

On April 2, 2012, about 1920 eastern daylight time, an experimental amateur-built Seawind 3000, N514KT, owned and operated by a private individual, was substantially damaged when it impacted a building shortly after takeoff from the Deland Municipal Airport (DED), Deland, Florida. The certificated private pilot owner and a commercial pilot in the airplane were seriously injured. One person inside the building was seriously injured, and two other individuals inside the building sustained minor injuries. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan had been filed for the flight that was destined for the Daytona Beach International Airport (DAB), Daytona Beach, Florida. The personal flight was conducted under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91.

According to records obtained from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the amphibious airplane was issued an experimental airworthiness certificate in July 2002, and was purchased by the private pilot during January 2012.

According to witnesses and information obtained from the FAA, the pilot/owner and pilot-rated passenger flew from Aurora, Illinois, to DED on April 1, 2012, with a refueling stop in Tennessee, to begin training for a seaplane rating in Altamonte Springs, Florida, on the morning of the accident. The owner originally intended to land in Sanford, Florida; however, he elected to land at DED after the airplane's transponder malfunctioned while en route. The purpose of the accident flight was to fly to DAB to have the transponder replaced at a maintenance facility.

During a telephone conversation with an employee at the maintenance facility, the pilot/owner reported that he was new to the airplane, which he had purchased about 6 weeks earlier, after it had not been flown for about 3 years.

The airplane departed from runway 23, a 4,301-foot-long, asphalt runway.

A pilot at DED reported that he landed on runway 23, and while taxiing, observed the accident airplane depart. The airplane rotated about 500 feet prior to the end of the runway, and began a shallow climb, while mostly maintaining a high pitch angle. Shortly thereafter, he observed the airplane "stall" and enter a descending left spin, before it disappeared behind a tree line. He did not hear any communications from the accident airplane over the airport common traffic advisory frequency after the takeoff.

A witness, who was in a car that was parked outside the front entrance of a supermarket, reported that she heard two "sputtering" engine sounds. She then looked up and observed the airplane in a climb attitude, very low in the sky. The airplane turned left and immediately descended straight down, nose first.

The airplane descended into the roof of a supermarket, located about 1 mile from the departure end of the runway. The airplane penetrated the roof, and impacted shelving before coming to rest upright, on a heading of about 260 degrees.

A postcrash fire destroyed the cockpit and consumed a majority of the airframe, which was constructed of composite materials. The airplane was equipped with a tail-mounted Lycoming IO-540 series, 300-horsepower engine, with a three-bladed Hartzell constant-speed propeller assembly. One propeller blade was melted about 24-inches from the hub. A second blade was fractured about 17-inches from the hub, with its outboard section located in the debris. A third blade was intact. Two of the propeller blades had curled tips; however, all of the propeller blades were relatively straight, with no twisting damage. The engine, including all accessories sustained fire damage. Initial external examination of the engine did not reveal any catastrophic failures; however, the engine was retained for further examination.

Evektor-Aerotechnik As SPORTSTAR , N902LA: Accident occurred June 11, 2012 in Indianapolis, Indiana

NTSB Identification: CEN12CA356
 14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Monday, June 11, 2012 in Indianapolis, IN
Aircraft: EVEKTOR-AEROTECHNIK AS SPORTSTAR, registration: N902LA
Injuries: 1 Uninjured.

The student pilot reported that the flight began as a dual instruction flight with his flight instructor. They performed 6 or 7 landings, which included simulated engine failures. The instructor then exited the airplane and the student pilot performed 2 more takeoffs and landings to a full stop without incident. On the third solo takeoff the left wing dipped and contacted the ground. The airplane then began to skid to the left, off the runway to a stop. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the firewall. The student pilot listed no mechanical failure or malfunction of the airplane.

 A student pilot crashed a single engine airplane during his first solo flight Monday morning at the Greenwood Municipal Airport. No injuries were reported.

 PHOTO BY SCOTT ROBERSON

A plane crashed Monday morning at the Greenwood Municipal Airport. 

PHOTO BY SCOTT ROBERSON

PHOTO BY SCOTT ROBERSON

PHOTO BY SCOTT ROBERSON

 Greenwood firefighters work to stabilize a single engine airplane that crashed Monday morning at the Greenwood Municipal Airport by a student pilot on his first solo flight. PHOTO BY SCOTT ROBERSON

 A student pilot walked away uninjured after crash-landing a small plane this morning at the Greenwood Municipal Airport.

R. Wade Kohlmano, 59, Indianapolis, was practicing his landings about 9:30 a.m. when the incident occurred, said Assistant Chief Matthew Fillenwarth of the Greenwood Police Department.

“He was supposed to do two landings with an instructor on board and then a third one by himself,” Fillenwarth said. “The instructor said he did the first two landings just fine.”

On the third landing, however — with the instructor watching from the ground — the plane touched down hard and appeared to bounce back into the air, Filllenwarth said. The impact caused some of the plane’s landing gear to collapse, he said, and when the plane touched down again, it tilted onto one of its wings and slid off the runway.

The plane, a two-seat 2007 Evekton Light Sport, is owned by a Greenwood flight school called Fast Track Flight, Fillenwarth said.

http://www.indystar.com
 
A plane crashed while landing at the Greenwood airport this morning.

A student pilot was the only person in the aircraft. No injuries were reported, Greenwood Fire Capt. Tom Kite said.

The crash happened about 40 yards from the main runway at the airport, located at County Line Road and Emerson Avenue, after 9 a.m.

The landing gear was torn from the plane.

This story appears in the print edition of Daily Journal. Subscribers can read the entire story online by signing in here or in our e-Edition by clicking here.

http://registry.faa.gov/N902LA

Explosion and Fire at LIAT Hangar

(ANTIGUA OBSERVER) St. John’s Antigua- Plumes of smoke filled the skies Sunday night as one of LIATs two hangars went up in flames, carrying with it one of its aircraft; the motor pool; operations office, and several other offices. 

 Firemen fought with heavy winds from about 9:40 pm to put out the flames but two hours later the blaze was still raging.

Reports reaching OBSERVER Media indicate no one was injured and neither was anyone in the hangar at the time of the first explosion.

A source said the hangar is not used on the weekend and the aircraft registration LGH was in the centre for a routine C check or engine check.

CARIBARENA reported that fuel tanks exploded and a fire raged. Latest eyewitness reports are that the LIAT hangar has been completely destroyed. Employees of LIAT have confirmed that one Dash-8 aircraft, apparently under repair, was in the hangar and has been destroyed.

The first of several explosions occurred at approximately 10.00 pm. Since then there have been several further blasts, as fuel tanks in the area succumb to the heat and blaze.

A LIAT source advises that fuel and oil would have been stored in the hangar, and would have contributed to the rapid spread of the fire.

Several fire engines five at last count are attending the conflagration, dousing the flames with water.

The LIAT hangar is located near the Northern extremity of the airport complex, near to the Cargo/Customs building and Runway 10, from which FBO 2000 operates.

According to eye witness the entire LIAT hangar is completely destroyed, everything in it including Dash-8 aircraft lost, it is reported that an underground fuel line that passes under hangar ruptured and every time.

http://www.demerarawaves.com

Antigua St John's - Fuel tanks have exploded and a fire is raging at the LIAT hangar at VC Bird International airport.

Latest eyewitness reports are that the LIAT hangar has been completely destroyed. Employees of LIAT have confirmed that one Dash-8 aircraft, apparently under repair, was in the hangar and has been lost.
The first of several explosions occurred at approximately 10.00 pm. Since then there have been several further blasts, as fuel tanks in the area succumb to the heat and blaze.

A LIAT source advises that fuel and oil would have been stored in the hangar, and would have contributed to the rapid spread of the fire.

Several fire engines five at last count  are attending the conflagration, dousing the flames.

Fire Department and Police personnel are keeping the large crowd of several hundred onlookers that has assembled some distance from the blaze, making it difficult to generate clear images of the disaster.

The LIAT hangar is located near the Northern extremity of the airport complex, near to the Cargo/Customs building and Runway 10, from which FBO 2000 operates.

Caribarena will provide further details as they become available.

According to eye witness the entire LIAT hangar is completely destroyed, everything in it including Dash-8 aircraft lost, it is reported that an underground fule line that passes under hangar ruptured and every time Fire crew pours water on it it erupts with flames again, all efforts now concentrated on controlling that ruptured fuel line.

Meanwhile LIAT Has said that the Company is working with the investigative authorities of Antigua and Barbuda as well as the Eastern Caribbean Civil Aviation Authority (ECCAA) to ascertain the cause of the fire.

It is expected at this time that all flights will operate normally today, Monday June 11.
 

http://www.caribarena.com

Air Zimbabwe staff accused of embezzling parcels

Monday, 11 June 2012 09:48 The Editor News 

 
By Eugene Majuru

 AIR Zimbabwe staff who used to ply the popular Harare-London route have been accused of pilfering customers’ parcels sent from Britain.

Investigations by ZimDiaspora showed that several air hostess who diverted the parcels from mostly bread-winners toiling in the United Kingdom to their personal after being entrusted with goods varying from mobile phones, cameras, clothes and cash.

Air Zimbabwe suspended the London-Harare route after one of its planes was impounded in Britain over an outstanding debt. The government made a last-minute payment to rescue the plane from being auctioned.

But the staff at the national airline also tainted the already damaged reputation of the company after embezzling the much-needed goods by struggling families in Zimbabwe.

It is said the airliner staff also bleed the company of thousands of dollars after benefiting heavily subsided fares at a time when the parastatal was battling crippling challenges.

A Zimbabwean working in Manchester identified as Audrey was ripped off by air hostess who disappeared with a consignment of wedding dresses which were supposed to be delivered in Harare.

Audrey told ZimDispora that the air hostess promised to get the dresses to their destination on time but this was not the case as she played hide and seek. The unscrupulous air hostess then ignored numerous phone calls and also claimed to be busy.

“We requested the air hostess to give us her home address so that someone in Zimbabwe could pick up the dresses but to no avail,” said a bitter Audrey.

It also emerged that a woman who sent items through Wonder Maroto with a suitcase containing many items which included an instant camera and clothes was also frustrated after the man failed to deliver the goods on time. Maroto took the goods to his residence where his children used the camera before it was delivered to the sender’s family. Other items were also found to be missing.

Questioned about such a shameful act Maroto denied having knowledge of using the camera even though the evidence was all before him.

On another occasion Maroto was given 30kgs of items to take to Harare but according to him he had left the other 10 kgs behind in Leeds as he had not received the payment.

In November last year, Maroto failed to deliver a consignment of scientific calculators and mathematical.

Another very disturbing incident involved Stella Gondo who is also in the same business of taking parcels to Zimbabwe from the United Kingdom. Gondo is known to have delivered goods with certain items missing. She was paid for taking 40kgs to Harare and among those goods included a basic mobile phone with a camera which was meant to be a gift for some old man.

She did not deliver the mobile phone but instead claimed money for it claiming it had been impounded by customs as she had failed to pay customs duty.

Gondo`s statement was checked and verified by the sender from the United Kingdom who directly rang customs at Harare Airport enquiring about the phone. The sender was horrified to hear that customs did not even have a mobile phone in their store room and that they had not impounded any phone for several months.

On confronting Gondo she is said to have become verbally abusive claiming that she would not release the phone unless she was paid money to pay at customs.

She was supported by her husband who then claimed he had paid for the phone with his money.

A recent incident involved a John Marange who was given 27kgs of goods to take to Harare. Marange was advised he would be paid his money in Harare. Marange was agreeable to this arrangement and he gave the assurance that the goods would be handed over on payment of the money.

After collecting the goods Marange changed his flight days five times on all occasions failed to notify the sender that he was not flying on scheduled dates.

The sender had become worried as some of the items were for school children who were going to boarding school. In the end the children had to leave for boarding school without the items.

On Marange`s arrival in Harare he made a U-turn and demanded the $400 without delivering the goods claiming he needed the money to collect the goods at customs.

The intended recipient was agreeable to that provided they both went to the airport together to collect the goods but Marange would not hear of this. There was a 4 day delay until the intended recipient decided to pay him the money and wait for the goods although she was not happy by the change of goal posts.

Marange was said to have brought the goods the following day and demanded an extra $150 for storage charges. He failed to produce the receipt to prove he had paid $150.

The lady had to pay a total of $550 in order to get the items but several items were also missing.

One lady, Happiness based in Nottingham sent one air hostess with a box containing a stereo, mobile phones and other valuable goods but these were not delivered and she has since stopped communicating with the air hostess as she has failed to get her items back.

Surely this kind of dishonesty and greed is not acceptable; it causes a lot of inconveniences and heartaches to the senders and recipients who end up losing.

At the same time if these staff members are not honest they will end up losing the business.  They are the ones who tarnish the image of the airline as well.

To those who engage services of Air Zimbabwe staff to carry their goods, a  word of advice would be to list all items sent and make sure the recipient checks and ticks off item by item. This may help but if dealing with such characters be prepared for theft of items, delays or damages to goods.

Source:  http://www.zimdiaspora.com

PICTURES: Cessna 172 lands on an unopened section of the Peninsula Bypass near Melbourne - Australia

 

A LIGHT aircraft landed on Peninsula Link near Eramosa Rd, Moorooduc because of heavy fog. 

PICTURE: ANDREW BATSCH

UPDATE 2.10pm: A PILOT saved “himself, the plane and the public” in an emergency landing in Moorooduc today.

Peninsula Aero Club secretary Jack Vevers said the pilot and his passenger took off from Tyabb airport this morning for a joy flight, but fog prevented a safe landing.

> > PICTURES: Plane lands on Peninsula Link

Visibility diminished and the three nearest airports - Moorabbin, Tooradin and Tyabb - were all blanketed in thick fog, so he had to make a choice.

The plane was forced to land on the unfinished Peninsula Link construction site, near Bungower Rd, Moorooduc.

“His training kicked in and he saved the plane, himself and the public,’’ Mr Vevers said.

“It was a precautionary landing and he did absolutely the right thing.’’
There was no damage to the Cessna and both the pilot and his passenger were uninjured in the landing.

Mr Vevers said the pilot, who is also a member of the aero club and very experienced, would wait for conditions to clear and the plane would take off from Peninsula Link when appropriate.

“The surface is in perfect condition for a take off,’’ he said.

The pilot joked he was “surveying the freeway” after his plane made the emergency landing.

Neighbouring farm owner Jason Fullerton said he was pruning when he thought he heard a car “driving into the backyard”.

“I looked up and saw the plane, it was dropping right down beside the house,” he said.

“I thought ‘these guys must be in trouble’.

“But it was a pretty good landing.”

Mr Fullerton said two men, in their 50s, were standing near the plane and told him they were “surveying the freeway”.

“The freeway has already come in handy,” he said.

Source:  http://frankston-leader.whereilive.com.au

IN PICTURES: Drug Running Piper Aztec N5001Y - Accident occurred on December 6, 1977 - Toiyabe National Forest, Nevada

"A few years ago I was given the location of a crash site in Nevada's Toiyabe National Forest, north of Tonopah. I was told that it was an unknown twin that was spotted by the Civil Air Patrol during the search for the missing  Bellanca Super Decathlon N240R flown by Steve Fossett. Finding the site was easy having been given it's location, but my interest was in trying to figure out the model of airplane and the story of how it got there. There was enough wreckage remaining at the site to determine that it was a Piper Aztec. After getting home and doing a little research, I was able to find the date of 12/6/77 for a Piper Aztec in that area. The date lead me to the Piper PA-23-250 Aztec N5001Y that crashed on a fight believed to be from Mexico to an unknown destination."   Joe

Photos of the site are HERE  

Original Source and Discussion  HERE 

NTSB Identification: OAK78FVW06
14 CFR Part 91 General Aviation
Aircraft: PIPER PA-23, registration: N5001Y

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 FILE    DATE          LOCATION          AIRCRAFT DATA       INJURIES       FLIGHT                        PILOT DATA
                                                               F  S M/N     PURPOSE
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3-3666   77/12/6 NR.TONOPAH,NV         PIPER PA-23         CR-  0  2  0  MISCELLANEOUS             COMMERCIAL, AGE 29,
        TIME - UNK/NR                  N5001Y              PX-  0  0  0  OTHER                     UNK/NR TOTAL HOURS,
                                       DAMAGE-DESTROYED    OT-  0  0  0                            UNK/NR IN TYPE,
                                                                                                   INSTRUMENT RATED.
        DEPARTURE POINT             INTENDED DESTINATION         LAST ENROUTE STOP
         UNKNOWN/NOT REPORTED        UNKNOWN/NOT REPORTED         UNKNOWN/NOT REPORTED
        TYPE OF ACCIDENT                                         PHASE OF OPERATION
           ENGINE FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION                            IN FLIGHT: NORMAL CRUISE
           COLLISION WITH GROUND/WATER: CONTROLLED                  LANDING: LEVEL OFF/TOUCHDOWN
        PROBABLE CAUSE(S)
           PILOT IN COMMAND - INADEQUATE PREFLIGHT PREPARATION AND/OR PLANNING
           PILOT IN COMMAND - MISMANAGEMENT OF FUEL
           MISCELLANEOUS ACTS,CONDITIONS - FUEL EXHAUSTION
        FACTOR(S)
           TERRAIN - ROUGH/UNEVEN
        COMPLETE POWER LOSS - COMPLETE ENGINE FAILURE/FLAMEOUT-2 ENGINES
        EMERGENCY CIRCUMSTANCES - FORCED LANDING OFF AIRPORT ON LAND
        REMARKS- ILLICIT TRANSPORTATION OF A CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE.HIT HILLSIDE.1 GAL FUEL FOUND IN EXTRA AUX CELL.