Pilot survived crash, rescuers find body under wing of Cessna where he’d taken shelter

Photo courtesy Tehachapi (Calif.) News, Ed Gordon

 Pilot Gordon Davis explains the instrumentation of a plane during the “Celebration of Flight” hosted by Tehachapi, Calif., Association of Pilots at Tehachapi Airport in Sept. 2012. Davis and his plane went down Sunday near Saratoga. Search-and-rescue teams found the plane and Davis’ body Tuesday morning.

Pilot error.

Mechanical error.

Southeastern Wyoming winds.

Whatever sent 63-year-old Gordon Davis’ Cessna 172 into the southeast side of Pennock Mountain and a deep canyon about two-thirds of the way up its side sometime Sunday is a determination that remains the province of a pending National Transportation Safety Board investigation.

And whether the injuries he sustained in the crash caused Davis’ death, or subzero temperatures, or a combination of both, remains the province of an autopsy scheduled for Thursday in Loveland, Colo.

What can be determined is that the former U.S. Air Force pilot didn’t give up without a fight.

The Cessna’s wreckage was located Tuesday at approximately 11 a.m. by a helicopter flying out of Buckley Air Force Base in Aurora, Colo. Rappelling down to the accident site from the chopper, the military medic aboard determined Davis was dead … but his body was not in the airplane.

Davis had survived the crash, according to both the helicopter crew and the search team that recovered his remains.

The pilot with 35 years in the air had made it out of his wrecked airplane. He died under his own wing, where he had sought shelter.

Kenneth Hetge, a fellow businessman at the Tehachapi, Calif., airport where Davis’ Mountain Hawk Aviation was based, told the Rawlins Daily Times his friend was a “professional” who “worked to make his business and our airport a friendly place for everyone who stopped by.”

“Every day was spent working on airplanes or giving flight instruction to someone wishing to learn the trade. Gordon was very thorough with everything he did and will truly be missed,” Hetge said. “Our thoughts and prayers are with Gordon’s family, both in Tehachapi and in Wyoming.”

Davis began the fateful last leg of his last flight Sunday morning at the Bryce Canyon, Utah, airport, headed to Laramie for a visit with his father – a route he had navigated many times.

Carbon County Sheriff Jerry Colson first learned of the downed plane after the military notified him Sunday at 5 p.m. that an emergency locating transmitter had been activated, indicating it had crashed.

That evening, search-and-rescue teams from Hanna, Encampment, Saratoga, Civil Air Patrol and the U.S. Forest Service targeted the area about five miles east of Saratoga near Pennock Mountain, Colson said. The teams worked into the early Monday morning hours and resumed their efforts at 7 a.m.

Searchers used snowmobiles, four-wheel-drive all-terrain vehicles and hand-held radio receivers, hoping to track the signal.

A fixed-wing plane and a helicopter were initially deployed, but had to turn back due to high winds. The eyes in the sky returned Tuesday, eventually locating Davis and the wreckage of his aircraft.

“It’s a very perilous area,” Sheriff Colson said Monday. He called the flight path over the Elk Mountain range “treacherous” in the winter.

*In October 2012, searchers found a Piper Turbo in pieces on the south face of Laramie Peak in Albany County. None of its four passengers, all from Texas, survived.

*In February 2004, a plane crashed near the summit of Elk Mountain, killing the pilot and injuring the two passengers. Rescuers mounted out a daylong effort in bitter weather that got the survivors off the mountain.

*In January 1946, a United Airlines transport en route from Boise, Idaho, to Denver, Colo. crashed near the top of Elk Mountain. All 21 occupants of the aircraft were fatally injured – including 12 redeploying soldiers, six civilians and three crew – and the Douglas DC-3 was demolished by impact and fire. Search parties had originally turned back from the 11,125-foot peak, reporting their faces were freezing.

Story and Reaction/Comments:   http://www.rawlinstimes.com

Airports See Few Problems Thus Far: WSJ

Updated March 5, 2013, 12:13 a.m. ET
By JACK NICAS and SUSAN CAREY
The Wall Street Journal
 
Major airports reported smooth operations Monday after the Obama administration called attention to delays at two big airports over the weekend, adding to other early indications that the impact on air travel from forced government spending cuts may be less abrupt and in some ways less dramatic than many feared.

The Department of Homeland Security said Monday that freezes to overtime pay that are part of the $85 billion in so-called sequester cuts left customs and immigration checkpoints understaffed Saturday at Miami International Airport and John F. Kennedy Airport in New York, causing two- to three-hour waits.

he waits were "150% to 200% as long as we would normally expect," said Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. "We will see these effects cascade over the next week."

On Monday, however, officials representing a dozen major airports said there were few if any unusual flight delays or lines at security or customs checkpoints. Since the sequester started Friday, "we haven't seen any delays out of the ordinary," said Bob Rotiski, duty manager at San Francisco International Airport.

A Miami airport spokesman confirmed the customs delays on Saturday, but a JFK airport spokesman said he hadn't received any reports of unusually long lines since Friday. Both said there were no issues on Monday.

Airport delays likely will increase, though probably not for some time, as the freeze on hiring and overtime gradually reduces staffing among federal airport workers, according to federal officials who have pledged to ensure that the cuts don't materially affect safety.

Throughout Monday, the Democratic National Committee emailed copies of news reports citing harmful effects of the sequester, including one that said the Pentagon would furlough about 15,000 military school teachers and support staff around the world.

At the same time, Republicans called attention to instances in which administration warnings appeared to be overblown.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood last month warned that furloughs at the Federal Aviation Administration could lead to eventual 90-minute flight delays at some of the nation's largest airports.

The Transportation Security Administration, which has more than 45,000 airport screeners, said a hiring freeze it put in place would result in up to 1,000 vacancies by Memorial Day and 2,600 by Sept. 30 because of attrition. Wait times could eventually double during busy travel periods at security checkpoints, the agency said.

The FAA has said it is considering cutting air-traffic-controller training, hiring and overtime. Overtime is important to keep traffic flowing at many busy airports, and training is important for staffing because some tasks can't be done by trainees.

The FAA also has said it might eliminate overnight shifts at control towers at 72 medium-size airports and cut funding for towers at 238 small airports on April 1. Those cuts could create delays, as major control towers dealing with their own staffing issues pick up more flights in the wake of other tower closings.

But some of the cuts are likely to have little direct impact on the average flier. The tower closings at the 238 small airports—including those at Ithaca, N.Y., Santa Fe, N.M., and Hilton Head, S.C.—represent nearly half of the control towers in the U.S., according to the American Association of Airport Executives. But many of those airports don't have commercial air service, and several of the dozens that are served commercially said they don't expect to lose any service.

Airlines technically don't need to have an air-traffic controller guide them to a landing. And many of the airports that could lose tower staffing already keep them open only part time, while others operated for years without them.

"It's obviously safer when you have a tower controlling separation between faster jets" and slower, smaller aircraft, said James Parish, assistant director of the airport in Punta Gorda, Fla., which has about three commercial flights a day and added a tower last year. But without a tower, "we would continue as we had before."

The airport in Des Moines, Iowa, which could lose funding for its tower's overnight shift, has very few if any operations between midnight and 5 a.m., said airport director Don Smithey. If a plane needed to land in Des Moines in the absence of a controller, the pilot would be guided to that city by a controller in Minneapolis, who would deliver the plane to the Des Moines approach about five miles from the field. The pilot would use the instrument-landing system to touch down.

"All commercial pilots are trained to land at uncontrolled airports," Mr. Smithey said.

Executives of five major airlines who spoke at an investor conference on Monday hardly mentioned concerns about impacts from the sequester.

—Andy Pasztor, Peter Nicholas and Damian Paletta contributed to this article.

Source:  http://online.wsj.com

Fort Worth Police Air One: Helicopter Audio From Escaped Florida Inmate Search Released

Listen to audio from Fort Worth Police Air One:  http://dfw.cbslocal.com

GRAPEVINE (CBSDFW.COM) – It’s been nearly six weeks since a prisoner stabbed a Miami-Dade police detective in the neck with the leg from a pair of eyeglasses and escaped. Today audio recordings from the Fort Worth Police Department helicopter tell more about the minutes before Alberto Morales was located, shot and killed, in a wooded are near Grapevine Lake.

Morales escaped from the parking lot of a Grapevine Wal-Mart while two Miami-Dade police detectives waited for a third officer to arrived and assist with Morales’ transport to Nevada.

After a four-day manhunt police received a tip that Morales, a convicted serial rapist, may have been the person who broke into a home near Grapevine Lake.

On February 16, the Fort Worth Police Department helicopter was dispatched to the scene to try and locate the escapee from the air. After scanning the area with a spotlight the pilot radioed. “I’ve got somebody in the woods here.” Then later called out, “I’ve got this guy on view, I’ve got somebody on view and I don’t think it’s an officer.”

After following Morales, pinpointing his location and giving a description of his clothing the pilot said, “If you can have the officers direct their search toward our search light I’ve got him. He’s laid down in these big trees somewhere. “I do have a visual on him, he’s at the edge of the tree line now.”
 
At some point the prisoner apparently tried to get away from the helicopter, but the pilot radioed, “He is not moving right now. He’s pretty much laying up trying to stay away from us, in the trees. But he’s showing up real good in infrared.”

Seconds later the one Grapevine police officer and two U.S. Marshals were so close to the escapee that the helicopter pilot advised them to hold communications to a minimum and turn down their radios because they were close enough that Morales could possibly hear.

Communication from the helicopter was that Morales was at the edge of a tree line. “I’ve got him up against a tree. I’ll direct you once you get close to him,” the pilot said. “Right up against a tree… he’s hugging it tight.”

The pilot then radioed, “There have been shots fired. Suspect is down.” Officials said Morales was shot while officers attempted to apprehend him. “Once they [law enforcement] had him [Morales] in sight, he refused to obey their verbal commands to surrender, obscuring his hands from view,” Officer Sam Shemwell, with Grapevine police, said hours after the shooting. “At that point, he made a movement, or what officers characterized as he lunged towards them to within a matter of feet. At that point they had no choice but to fire upon him.”

The investigation into the attack on the Miami-Dade officer, who is expected to make a full recovery, and subsequent escape, continues.

http://dfw.cbslocal.com

Georgia House OKs tax break for Gulfstream

A state tax break primarily for the benefit of Savannah, Ga.-based Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. sailed through the Georgia House of Representatives Tuesday.

Lawmakers voted 169-3 to extend a sales tax exemption on the purchase of airplane parts and equipment until June 2015.

Gulfstream’s Savannah plant produces luxury aircraft for customers from around the country. The legislation would apply to parts and equipment used in the repair or maintenance in Georgia of aircraft not registered in this state.

“It’s very narrowly tailored in both scope and size,” said Rep. Alex Atwood, R-Brunswick, the bill’s chief sponsor.

Read more here:  http://www.bizjournals.com

Bell Helicopter lays off 15 workers in Tarrant County, Texas

FORT WORTH -- Fifteen hourly workers have been laid off from Bell Helicopter operations in Tarrant County, a union has confirmed.

The layoffs on Friday affected dispatchers and experimental and electrical assemblers, said Gary Livingston, former president of UAW-218. The individuals were included in a factory "surplus" list or layoff list, he said.

"It's been relatively slow at Bell as far as layoffs for a number of years,'' Livingston said. 'We've had some small ones. This is probably the largest one we've had in a good while."

Bell has about 6,000 employees in Tarrant County.

http://www.star-telegram.com

Flying Food Fare plans to layoff 87 employees

Skokie, Illinois: More than 1,200 employees statewide will lose their jobs in coming months, according to local media reports.

 Flying Food Fare Midway, LLC, 5370 South Cicero Avenue in Chicago, plans to layoff 87 employees by April 28. 

Read more here:   http://skokie.patch.com

Cirrus SR22, N504MD: Suit stemming from plane crash can proceed - Accident occurred April 28, 2009 in Mayfield Village, Ohio

Read more here:   http://law.justia.com
 

By Denise M. Champagne
Posted: 6:55 pm Mon, March 4, 2013
 
The executors of the estates of two Buffalo attorneys killed in a 2009 plane crash in Ohio can proceed in their suit against a training foundation.

Erie County Supreme Court Justice Timothy J. Walker has denied a motion by the University of North Dakota Aerospace Foundation, one of the defendants, to dismiss the suit with respect to the foundation.

Hugh M. Russ III, of the Buffalo office of Hodgson Russ LLP, represents the estates of Michael H. Doran, co-founder of the firm Doran & Murphy, and associate Matthew Schnirel, who died in 2009 when the small plane Doran was piloting crashed near Cleveland, shortly after taking off from the Cuyahoga County Airport.

Russ is co-counsel with Jared L. Watkins, of the New York City firm Kreindler & Kreindler LLP, in a suit against Cirrus Design Corp., UND Aerospace Foundation, Garmin Ltd. and Avidyne Corp. Russ and Watkins claim the crash was caused by faulty equipment and inadequate training.

UND Aerospace Foundation, which provided training for the new Cirrus SR22 aircraft Doran had purchased from Cirrus Design Corp. in October 2008 in White Plains, Westchester County, moved to be dismissed from the suit. UND Aerospace Foundation claimed the plaintiffs could not assert personal jurisdiction by showing the foundation was doing business in New York, but Justice Walker disagreed, citing their interactive website.

“I think it’s a good decision,” Russ said. “The decision is significant for our case because we are now allowed to proceed in New York against the defendant, who we feel is involved. But, the decision probably has greater significance for all New York litigants because it takes another step in conferring jurisdiction over parties who are not residents in New York, but who take active steps electronically to be present in New York.”

Read more here:  http://nydailyrecord.com

Murphy v Cirrus Design Corp. 
 [*1] Murphy v Cirrus Design Corp. 2013 NY Slip Op 50293(U) Decided on February 8, 2013 Supreme Court, Erie County Walker, J. Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431. This opinion is uncorrected and will not be published in the printed Official Reports. 

Decided on February 8, 2013 
Supreme Court, Erie County

 Christopher M. Murphy, as Executor of the Estate of Michael H. Doran, and on behalf of all lawful beneficiaries of the Estate of Michael H. Doran, deceased. KEVIN SCHNIREL, as Administrator of the Estate of Matthew Schnirel, in his own right, and on behalf of all lawful beneficiaries of the Estate of Matthew Schnirel, deceased, Plaintiffs, against Cirrus Design Corporation, et al., Defendants.

Read more here:   http://law.justia.com 

NTSB Identification: CEN09FA267 
 14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Tuesday, April 28, 2009 in Mayfield Village, OH
Probable Cause Approval Date: 01/07/2011
Aircraft: CIRRUS DESIGN CORP SR22, registration: N504MD
Injuries: 2 Fatal.

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.

The instrument certified airplane climbed into instrument meteorological conditions about 30 seconds after takeoff. Radar track data showed that the airplane entered a right turn shortly after takeoff and entered the cloud base. The airplane remained in that right turn until it completed nearly 1-1/2 complete turns. The airplane rolled out and subsequently climbed 1,500 feet over next 17 seconds. The airspeed decreased to 50 knots and the airplane’s heading abruptly transitioned from the south to the north-northwest which could have represented an aerodynamic stall. The airplane then descended before beginning another climb. The airplane completed two additional descent and climb oscillations with minimum airspeeds of 60 knots and 50 knots, respectively. Maximum pitch angles of 50 degrees nose up and nose down, and bank angles of 75 degrees were recorded during the flight. The duration of the accident flight was approximately 4 minutes and 30 seconds.

The airplane impacted a wooded area located about 3 miles from the departure airport and was destroyed by impact forces and a postimpact fire. An examination of the airframe and engine did not revealed preimpact anomalies. No flight display and/or autopilot system faults were recorded during the accident flight. Further review of the flight data did not reveal inconsistencies within the data itself. The data indicated that the pilot initially engaged the autopilot about 5 seconds after lifting off when the airplane was approximately 61 feet above ground level. The autopilot bugs were set to the assigned heading and initial altitude prior to takeoff. However, after takeoff the pilot failed to properly engage the autopilot altitude preselect mode; the altitude hold mode was entered instead. As a result, the altitude and vertical speed bug settings were reset automatically to maintain the airplane’s altitude. At that point, the airplane’s altitude was above that specified by the autopilot bug. Subsequent attempts to engage the vertical speed/altitude pre-select mode caused the system to begin a descent to intercept the inadvertent altitude set in the autopilot.

About 1 minute into the flight, the pilot reset the altitude bug above the airplane’s current altitude at that time. The data suggests that the pilot never adequately regained control of the airplane. The pilot purchased the accident airplane about 7 months prior to the accident. He completed visual flight rules transition training at the time he took delivery of the airplane. The training did not include an instrument proficiency check. Prior to the transition training, the pilot reported a total flight time of 1,344 hours, which included 20 hours flight time and 4 hours instrument flight time within the one-year period preceding the training.

The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident to be:
The pilot’s failure to maintain control of the airplane while operating in instrument meteorological conditions due to spatial disorientation. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s inattention to basic aircraft control while attempting to program the autopilot system.

 Full narrative available

TORA! TORA! TORA! is coming to the Jasper Air Show: Jasper County Airport-Bell Field (KJAS), Texas

On the morning of Sunday, December 7th, 1941, American forces at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii were crippled by a surprise attack by Japanese planes. Although it won't be a surprise, a fleet of Japanese planes are poised to attack the Jasper Air Show on Saturday, March 16th and Sunday, March 17th at Jasper's Bell Field Airport.

The group known as TORA! TORA! TORA! is coming to town with their posse of Japanese attack planes, and they'll perform their signature act, which is a favorite at air shows across the country.

As the crowd begins to hear the drone of radial engines in the distance, they'll look to the north, and in the sky coming across Highway 190 will be a formation of Japanese Kates, Vals and Zeros. The drone of engines will quickly become a roar as the air show spectators hear the sounds and see the sight in the air that was seen in the sky over Pearl Harbor.

It's part of the 9th Annual Jasper Air Show, which will also feature one of the longest running air show acts in the world; The Gene Soucy & Theresa Stokes Aerobatic Wing Walking Act.

Soucy has been performing aerobatics at air shows since 1968, and Stokes is currently the top wing walker in the country.

This year's show, which Air Show Organizer Debbie Foster says will be non-stop heart stopping action, will also feature James Bond 007's Micro-Jet, along with Skip Stewart, who is a thrilling aerobatic performer at air shows across the country in his custom built Pitts S-2S "muscle bi-plane" named "Prometheus".

Also coming to Jasper will be "The Flight of Phoenix - Escadrille", featuring T-6 aircraft in tight formation as they perform combat maneuvers, many of which are now used by aerobatic pilots around the world.

During the static display portion of the show each morning, fans will be able to get up close to World War II Stearman bi-planes and T-6 trainers, along with a Piper Cub and a Super Cub, an L-19 "Bird Dog" from the Vietnam era, and much much more.

Those are just a few of the many planes and pilots that will be in the 9th Annual Jasper Air Show.

Each morning of the show, Experimental Aircraft Association Chapter 1356 of Leesville, LA will give FREE flights to children ages 8-17 - on a first come-first serve basis - in their Young Eagles Program.  ***Parent or guardian must sign a waiver***

On the ground will be Air Show Announcer Vandy Anderson, who is loved and respected by the air show fans.

~ ~ ~ 9th Annual Jasper Air Show & Fly-In ~ ~ ~

Saturday, March 16th
~ Gates open at 9:00 a.m. for static display & Young Eagles flights
~ Air show starts at 12:00 noon

Sunday, March 17th
~ Gates open at 9:00 a.m. for static display & Young Eagles flights
~ Air show starts at 1:00 p.m.
Admission (arm bands)
~ Adults (13 and up) $15.00
~ Children (4-12) $5.00
~ Children (3 and under) FREE
~ Arm bands available at KJAS (765 Hemphill Street) or at the gate

FAA & DOT Rules & Regulations
~ Ice chests, large bags, back packs, containers, and animals/pets are not allowed on the airport grounds

***VEHICLES WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO STOP ON THE HIGHWAYS AROUND THE AIRPORT***

http://www.beaumontenterprise.com

Waste Watch: Federal Bureau of Investigation spends millions on jets

BALTIMORE --   Our investigative media partner, the Washington Guardian, discovered the directors of the FBI and the Department of Justice have taken taxpayers for a high-altitude ride in the weeks, months and years leading up to forced budget cuts.

The FBI has spent millions since 2001, leasing two corporate-style Gulfstream V jets.

The planes are equipped with the most sophisticated communications equipment and considered plush by most standards.

The FBI originally leased the planes to take counterterrorism agents to global hot spots in a moments notice, but as the Washington Guardian discovered, about 60% of all flight hours used since 2007 were taken by FBI Director Robert Muller, Attorney General Eric Holder and Holder's predecessor, Michael Mukassey, for business and personal trips.

The cost off all of those trips nears $11.5 million.

For security reasons, the attorney general and FBI director are required to use government aircraft for all travel.

However, the Washington Guardian found there are cheaper travel options and you can read about that by clicking here http://www.washingtonguardian.com/. 

http://www.woai.com

Air traffic controllers reject wage freeze: Jamaica

The Jamaica Air Traffic Controllers’ Association has rejected the Government’s wage freeze.

The association and officials from the Ministry of Finance met last week to discuss the group’s 2012-2014 wage claim.

Air traffic controllers say they have been holding strain without a wage increase since 2010 and now need a reprieve.

Association President Kurt Solomon says during the discussions it was said that it would be unfair to grant an increase to air traffic controllers while imposing a wage freeze on civil servants.

However, Solomon pointed out that controllers are not paid from tax dollars but from fees collected by their employer, the Jamaica Civil Aviation Authority.

He noted that it has been the practice of the Authority to apply the wage agreements reached between the government and unions representing public sector workers on air traffic controllers.

However, the association president says the group will not support a unilateral wage freeze being imposed on its members.

Solomon says the association will be seeking a meeting with the Minister with responsibility for the Public Service, Horace Dalley to discuss what he hopes will be a more amicable solution.

At the same time, he says air traffic controllers are prepared to embark on action to resist any attempts to impose a wage freeze.

The air traffic controllers rejection of the wage freeze comes hours after news emerged that the Jamaica Civil Service has agreed not to seek a salary increase for public sector workers until 2016.

It is understood that the Jamaica Confederation of Trade Union will also forgo a wage increase.

http://go-jamaica.com

Diamond DA40 Diamond Star Landing at Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch Race Track - Pahrump, Nye County, Nevada

 

Video by Jeffrey Cheng 

Published on February 26, 2013

 "Landing on the front straight at Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch in Pahrump Nevada. Not your average approach (terrain is sloping downward towards the track) nor your average runway (front straight slopes upward upon landing). Nevertheless a lot of fun to land somewhere other than an airport!"

Renegade Light Sport, Fort Pierce jobs: Aircraft manufacturer creating 75 jobs in Fort Pierce

 

FORT PIERCE, Fla. — Renegade Light Sport, a light sport aircraft manufacturer, will hire 75 and commit $1.7 million in capital improvements in Fort Pierce, the company announced Monday.

Renegade now has a 70,000 square foot facility at the St. Lucie County International Airport, where the company will build small two-passenger airplanes and train pilots of such craft. The company previously had a facility in Lee’s Summit, Mo.

“It’s an absolutely tremendous facility,” said Philip Wyatt, the company’s sales, marketing and public relations director.

The average wage for the jobs has not been determined, Wyatt said, but the jobs must be at or greater than the county’s average wage of $15.38 per hour, or $32,000 per year, and the people must be hired within three years.

St. Lucie County has offered a job growth incentive grant and tax abatement for the project as part of a letter of intent, but the Board of County Commissioners has yet to formally approve the incentives, Business and Strategic Incentives Manager Michael Brillhart said.

The tax abatement is expected to save the company about $57,104 based on current rates, while the job growth incentive grant is worth up to $146,250 over five years.

“Given all the choices that an employer like Renegade has, this is a vote of confidence in St. Lucie County as a good place to grow business,” St. Lucie County Administrator Faye Outlaw said in a statement released through the Economic Development Council of St. Lucie.

The local workforce was a major consideration for the company’s relocation, Wyatt said.

“The skilled fiberglass workers, the avionics guys, the electronics guys, they’re here already,” Wyatt said.

Economic Development Council of St. Lucie County President Larry Pelton said the company does lots of business overseas and will bring money into the community.

The county has long sought tenants for its airport, and the addition should help the county obtain other tenants, Pelton said.

“I think it enhances the attractiveness of the airport,” Pelton said. “For one thing, this company will be selling internationally, so it could certainly increase the activity at the airport.

“It just will be a benefit to the airport and get more exposure for the airport as well.”

Pelton said the Economic Development Council is working on several projects that involve manufacturing companies.

“That bodes very well for Fort Pierce because Fort Pierce has always traditionally been a location for manufacturing,” Pelton said. “The workforce has the skill set. There will be some training involved, but the workforce in the Fort Pierce area has skill sets in manufacturing, so it’s all attractive. It all works very well for the city and the county to bring in more manufacturing.”

The company is taking part in a Wounded Warrior Project program to help injured veterans learn how to fly the small aircraft, Wyatt said.

Pelton said the aircraft are exciting to see, and the new manufacturing will create an interesting product for the area. He also said the company is interested in working with Indian River State College on certain programs.

“It’s just a quality aircraft, and they are very interested in this being a very long-term relationship,” Pelton said.

Source:  http://www.wptv.com

Millville Army Air Field Museum: Museum celebrates silver anniversary

MILLVILLE — The Millville Army Air Field Museum will celebrate its 25th anniversary in 2013 with a commemorative fundraising event, “WWII Day in Millville,” from 3 to 6 p.m. Sunday at The Levoy Theatre, 126-130 N. High St.

The event will include film presentations and an hors d’oeuvres reception with beer, wine and desserts. It and will honor the many volunteers and community supporters who have contributed to the museum’s founding and growth since its incorporation in 1988.

“We invite everyone to come and help us recognize the great work of the Millville Army Air Field Museum, a local treasure,” said Chuck Wyble, museum president. “As we celebrate the silver anniversary of the museum, we will recognize the inspiration of its founders, the hard work of countless volunteers and the support of a caring community.”

Since 1988, the museum has honored, preserved and promoted the history of the Millville Army Air Field, which was dedicated by the U.S. War Department in 1941 as “America’s First Defense Airport” to protect the East Coast from foreign invasion during World War II.

“In the very beginning, the museum gathered artifacts and commemorated the lives of the 14 pilots who died while training at Millville during World War II,” Wyble said. “From there, the mission grew to recognize the important aviation history that took place here and its impact on the successful outcome of the war, and to preserve and promote this history for future generations.

“Our goals grew even more with an effort to preserve the historic buildings located at Millville Airport. We can now proudly say that we are a New Jersey Historic Landmark.

The museum has embraced a broader mission and “continues to honor veterans, and educate and entertain a community through exhibits, WWII warbird displays, exciting air shows, and so much more,” Wyble said. “The heritage of Millville is infused with aviation history worthy of promotion for generations to come.”

The fundraising event at the Levoy will include the presentation of two films: “Thunderbolts of Millville,” an NJN film produced in 2004 by Lou Presti; and the public premiere of “What We Live By,” a film written by Stephanie Terista of Vineland and produced by Darrell Martinelli of Code 3 Films of Absecon.

Tickets are $75. For tickets, sponsorship or information, call museum Executive Director Lisa Jester at (856) 327-2347 or email ljester@p47millville.org.

Source:  http://www.thedailyjournal.com

WASTE WATCH: Miracle Strip Aviation billing error (With Video)

OKALOOSA COUNTY  --  Okaloosa County is trying to collect almost 500,000 dollars in unpaid rent from a company at Destin Airport.

The county says Miracle Strip Aviation paid less than it owed for five years running.

How the county plans to get the money back.

Miracle Strip Aviation operates in this building leased from Okaloosa County.
  
They're a Fixed Base Operator or FBO.

They sell gasoline and offer other amenities to pilots and passengers.

County leaders say a 485,000 dollar shortfall in rent payments is the result of a billing error.
A rent increase was written into Miracle Strip Aviation's lease, but the county kept invoicing them for the lesser amount.  

Greg Fisher/Tripshock "With everything going on in our county, with the scandals and so-forth, it doesn't surprise me that there's been accounting errors like this."   
  
How the incorrect billing went on for five years is not completely clear.
 
Temporary Airports Director Dino Villani is one of the county leaders looking into it.

Dino Villani/Interim Airports Director "Well, we're not certain. We know that some of the money wasn't placed into an account that was earmarked for the specific project, and that could have delayed uncovering it"
  
After an audit uncovered the problem in 2011, the matter got tied up in court.
Miracle Strip Aviation has now been bought by new owners who are willing to clear the debt.
  
Greg Fisher from the vacation website Tripshock says it's a good business move.

Greg Fisher "There's a lot of CEO's and wealthy Americans living in the Southeast that will take advantage of coming into a local FBO on a private jet. So there's plenty of opportunity."
  
The county is asking the new company, Regal Capital, for a combination of a cash payment, renovations to the building, and the remaining 235,000 to be paid with interest over six years.

The interim airports director hopes to present a settlement to commissioners on the 19th.

The owner of Regal Capital didn't want to comment until negotiations are finished.

Story and Video:   http://www.weartv.com

Blue Angels still coming to Ocean City Air Show - Maryland

OCEAN CITY — Forced Congressional budget cuts won’t affect the appearance of the headlining Blue Angels from the 2013 OC Air Show, at least so far.

Navy Secretary Ray Mabus announced March 1 the intent to cancel four Blue Angels performances in April at air shows in Texas, Florida, Georgia and South Carolina. The memo makes no mention of Ocean City.

“We haven’t received any notification from the Blues of any change. Their schedule is still up on the website. As of right now, the Blues are still flying,” said Bryan Lilley, president of the OC Air Show.

However, Lilley expects that one previously-scheduled performer will be lost — the F-22 Raptor demonstration. That’s because the Air Force has canceled all military support of air shows and fly-overs nationwide until further notice. The Air Force canceled the entire performance season of its F-16 Thunderbirds jet demonstration team, effective April 1.

“It’s not that they won’t be flying over air shows,” Lilley said. “They won’t be flying over anything, anywhere.”

Other Air Force aircraft that would then be eliminated from air shows this budget year include the F-16s Fighting Falcon, F-15s Strike Eagle, A-10s Warthog, C-5 Galaxy and B-2 stealth bomber.

He said he believes the Navy will take a pragmatic, month-by-month approach to possible cancellations, resulting from across-the-board federal government spending cuts that took effect March 1 — the so-called budget “sequester.”

Lilley predicts the OC Air Show, now in its sixth year in the resort, stands to benefit from the sequester. The reason: he thinks several air shows held at military bases will be totally canceled, meaning air show enthusiasts will make their way to Ocean City for their fighter jet fix. About 13 million people visited air shows in 2012, he said.

Other performers still slated for the June 8-9 show over the beach and Boardwalk include biplane stunt pilot Mike Wiskus, and the return of the GEICO Skytypers skywriting team.

“The more performers, the better,” said Ocean City Council President Lloyd Martin. “Hopefully, the Blue Angels will be here. We’ll cross our fingers for everybody.”

With the Air Force shutdown of flyovers and air show performers, it’s going to create a new baseline for all U.S. air shows, Lilley said.

“I think that it’s one thing if a single show loses an asset. It’s another thing if the whole air show industry loses an asset. Everybody is gong to be operating off a new bench mark, whatever that is, after these cuts go through.”

Cancellation of the Thunderbirds jet demo team affects two other air shows that Lilley runs, in Cocoa Beach, Fla., and Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Source:  http://www.delmarvanow.com

3 bodies found in plane wreckage along Iditarod route: Pilot, and two passengers - one of which is a child - found dead

The bodies of two adults and a 10-year-old girl were found in the wreckage of a small airplane that crashed Monday near the route of the Iditarod Trail sled dog race.  

Pilot Ted Smith, 59, Carolyn Sorvoja, 48, and Rosemarie Sorvoja, 10, died in the crash near Rainy Pass.

All were from Eagle River, a community on Anchorage's north side.

They had left Anchorage on Monday morning bound for Takotna, a village of 53 people about 27 kilometres west of McGrath and 378 kilometres northwest of Anchorage. The community is more than a quarter of the way into the 1,600-kilometre Iditarod.

The Sorvoja family referred questions to family spokesman David Morris, who said the Sorvojas were heading to Takotna to volunteer for the race.

The Cessna 182 left Anchorage from Merrill Field at about 10 a.m. and did not file a flight plan.

Alaska State Troopers spokeswoman Megan Peters said by email that the airplane was supposed to drop off the Sorvojas and return to Anchorage to transport more passengers.

The Cessna 182 did not arrive in Takotna and was reported overdue around 4 p.m. when it had not returned to Anchorage.

The Alaska Rescue Coordination Center, just before 6 p.m., launched a search with a HC-130 airplane and a helicopter. The aircraft searched for about eight hours along the projected flight route, said the center superintendent, Senior Master Sgt. Robert Carte.

Smith was an experienced, well equipped pilot, said Kalei Brooks, spokeswoman for the Alaska National Guard. Smith was carrying a personal locator beacon in his vest and an emergency locator transmitter on his airplane. However, neither sent out a signal that was detected Monday by the Search and Rescue Satellite Aided Tracking system.

On Tuesday morning, the search resumed with about 10 military, state trooper and private aircraft flying grids in an extended search.

Aerial searchers spotted the wreckage at 10:22 a.m. near the 4,000-foot level of Rainy Pass.

Iditarod racers reach an elevation of 3,200 feet at the pass, which divides south-central Alaska from the state's vast Interior north of the Alaska Range.

Searchers landed and confirmed that no one had survived. They recovered the bodies and flew them to Anchorage, where autopsies were scheduled.

http://www.cbc.ca

CAMP DENALI, Alaska – An Alaska Air National Guard helicopter crew spotted the wreckage of an overdue aircraft March 5 with no survivors onboard.

The HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopter from the 210th Rescue Squadron with a Guardian Angel team onboard from the 212thRescue Squadron located the overdue aircraft at approximately 10:22 a.m. near the 4,000-ft level of Rainy Pass. All three people on board are deceased. Alaska State Troopers have notified next of kin.

The Guardian Angel team extricated the bodies from the wreckage of the plane. Because of incoming weather and the safety of the site, the Alaska Air National Guard removed the bodies from the scene and is bringing them back to Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson where they will be turned over to Alaska State Troopers.

The 182 Cessna was reported overdue around 4 p.m. March 4 when Merrill Field Tower controllers reported to the 11th Air Force Rescue Coordination Center that a Cessna 182 aircraft had not arrived in Takotna and was supposed to have done so around noon. The RCC began calling airfields in the area of the projected flight path to check if the aircraft had landed somewhere other than Takotna.  According to the RCC, the pilot did not file a flight plan.

“When pilots file a flight plan with the FAA, the FAA initiates a search for an overdue aircraft typically much sooner than when an aircraft is reported late by family or friends,” said Senior Master Sgt. Robert Carte, superintendent of the RCC.

After airfields in the area reported no sign of the overdue aircraft, the RCC tasked the Alaska Air National Guard to begin a search.

At approximately 5:50 p.m., an HC-130 refueling aircraft from the 211th Rescue Squadron and an HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopter from the 210th Rescue Squadron launched from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage with Guardian Angel pararescue teams aboard. They each searched for approximately eight hours before returning to JBER for crew rest.

“Nothing was spotted, nothing was heard last night,” Carte said. “Yesterday we conducted what is called a ‘hasty search,’ extensively looking in areas along the projected flight route known to cause problems for aircraft. Today, we have moved into the ‘extended search’ in which we have given grid assignments to search aircraft and are searching in a systematic manner.”

There were at least 10 coordinated aircraft searching for the overdue plane today.

An Alaska Air National Guard HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopter with a Guardian Angel team aboard launched around 8 a.m. An Alaska Air National Guard HC-130 aircraft with another Guardian Angel team aboard soon followed suit. An Alaska Army National Guard UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter from 1-207th Aviation also joined the search this morning. In addition, the Birchwood and Merrill Field Civil Air Patrol were also involved, as well as several Good Samaritan pilots and Iditarod Air Force aircraft. The overdue aircraft was not part of the Iditarod.

The pilot had a personal locator beacon in his vest and a 406 emergency locator transmitter onboard. The Search and Rescue Satellite Aided Tracking, or SARSAT system, has not picked up a signal for either beacon. According to the RCC, the pilot was experienced and traveled well equipped for emergencies.

Alaska State Troopers will release the names of those on board.

Source:  http://alaska-native-news.com

Mission accomplished, fond farewell

 

Steve Wehrly 

Volunteer flight instructor Bob Jamieson, right, receives a handshake and desk clock from Friday Harbor High School's Larry Wight, in a farewell tribute Feb. 20 after 10 years of teaching students to fly. 

Bob Jamieson loves everything about airplanes and flying. And he especially loves teaching kids to fly. 

For 10 years, he’s volunteered his time as an FAA-certified flight instructor to teach the private pilot ground school class to more than 50 Friday Harbor students. At the monthly School Board meeting on Feb. 20, he was recognized for his service with a desk clock, a plaque and a gift certificate for two at The Place restaurant.

He’s logged more than 25,000 hours in the sky; March 11 will mark the 50th anniversary of his pilot’s license. He’s often the night medical evacuation pilot for seriously sick or injured people who need to be flown to mainland hospitals. He’s built planes from plans, and restored classic aircraft.

But he says his greatest satisfaction has come from teaching hundreds of people to fly: he’s been an FAA-certified flight instructor for 40 years, teaching hundreds of people to fly at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, in the U.S. military – and at Friday Harbor High School for the past ten years. Plus, he had a complete career as a commercial pilot for American Airlines.

“I had a great time teaching those kids,” he said. “They were all upstanding, high-character kids who were no trouble to teach. It’s been especially gratifying to watch maybe 15 local students, like Connor Johns, Blake Guard and Andrew Scheffer, become pilots.”

The hardest thing for kids to learn? “Patience,” Jamieson said. “Kids have no fear. I have to teach them to stay within their abilities.”

The most fun? Annual small airplane trips to Boeing Field and the Museum of Flight, where Jamieson assigned projects and reports to every student. “I have a small collection of truly wonderful drawings of planes by the students. Some of the kids are fantastic artists,” he said.

Jamieson clearly liked teaching at FHHS, and he’s trying to talk his daughter, Megan Jamieson, into following him as a volunteer ground school flight instructor at the school.

Which is just what Larry Wight, director of career and technical education at the FHHS, wants to see happen in other technical or career fields.

“Bob’s class was just excellent. He’s an example that I hope others with relevant skills will emulate,” Wight said. “A few more people like Bob can make us the best school in the state, if we aren’t already.”

Jamieson returned Wight’s praise, saying that Wight provided “everything necessary so the program was successful. He was so good to work with, and I hope he can continue the class and develop new ones.”

Except it will probably be difficult to find even one more person like Bob Jamieson.

Story and Photo:  http://www.sanjuanjournal.com

Pilot Approaching JFK Spots Possible Unmanned Aircraft: FAA

The FAA says it's investigating a report of a small, possibly unmanned aircraft near Kennedy Airport.

A pilot of an international airline was on the final approach to Runway 31 at about 1:15 p.m. when he spotted the unmanned or remote-controlled aircraft hovering at about 1,500 feet, according to the FAA.

The pilot reported seeing the aircraft about four to five miles southeast of the airport.

The pilot continued on his path and landed safely.

The FAA is investigating.

Story:  http://www.nbcnewyork.com

Southwest Oregon Regional (KOTH), North Bend, Oregon: Jets to fly out of airport this summer

NORTH BEND, Ore. -- For North Bend passengers who aren't fans of propeller planes and who feel the need for a bit more speed, their wants are coming true. 

Regional jet service is expected to begin at the Southwest Oregon Regional Airport this June.

Skywest Airlines, who operate as United Express has agreed to begin flying the CRJ-200 out of North Bend during this year's summer travel season.

Getting regional jet service to the airport was a goal the airport set for itself earlier this year.

Officials with the airport believe the jet will secure commercial air service to the airport in the future.

Theresa Cook, the airport director, says they are looking forward to the progress having jets fly in and out will bring to the airport. "It's exciting to get the jet back again because the more often that the jet is operating in North Bend, the more viable that jet is going to be in the future for us, because the Embraers will be fading away over the next few years," she said. "So, we want the airline industry to know that we can handle jets in our city."

In the past couple of years, Skywest has strictly flown the Embraer 120, a propeller plane that can seat 39 passengers.

In just a couple of months, a 50 seat regional jet will take over a summer travel leg through the month of November.

Passengers told KCBY News that they are excited about the change.

Story and Video:  http://www.kcby.com

Pratt & Whitney uncovers fraudulent engine-testing scheme: WSJ

March 4, 2013, 12:04 a.m. ET

By ANDY PASZTOR
The Wall Street Journal

Pratt Reveals Faulty Testing

United Technologies Corp.'s Pratt & Whitney unit disclosed it has broken up an alleged fraudulent-testing scheme by a sister United Technologies unit, affecting tens of thousands of engine parts used on popular business jets and turboprop aircraft flown by airlines around the world.

Pratt & Whitney officials said their investigation, which hasn't been reported publicly before, uncovered an elaborate, yearslong effort to doctor metallurgical test results, so as to make certain engine forgings appear to meet extra-stringent standards when they actually fell short. The scheme was allegedly devised and carried out by managers at United Technologies' Carmel Forge Ltd. unit in Israel.

From the mid-1990s to the summer of 2011, when a tip to Pratt from an employee of the Israeli company kicked off the probe, readings from certain tests checking the strength of forgings were systematically altered or manipulated for more than 40,000 disks, according to Jay DeFrank, Pratt & Whitney's chief spokesman. The metal parts in question were used in various engines made by Pratt & Whitney's Canadian operations.

Pratt & Whitney's description amounts to one of the aerospace industry's longest and most-pervasive examples of improper testing in recent years.

Though the parts don't pose any safety hazard, officials of Pratt and United Technologies acknowledged that the extent and duration of the testing irregularities shocked them and prompted a broader reassessment of the engine maker's quality-control systems and oversight of parts suppliers.

The FAA considered the issue serious enough to launch a formal administrative proceeding after being informed by Pratt of its probe. The FAA later concluded that initial allegations of widespread violations of agency rules "were reviewed and confirmed" by Pratt's lawyers. The problems also sparked questions inside Pratt about other possible testing shortcuts at Carmel Forge, and that review is still under way.

Mr. DeFrank said he wasn't aware of another instance in which Pratt & Whitney quality-control experts "have seen falsification of this magnitude." Ongoing investigations could raise the total number of questionable parts.

Carmel Forge, located outside Haifa, Israel, counts as its largest customer Pratt & Whitney Canada, a major engine maker for private planes, business jets and turboprops. The Canadian-made engines power various business jets made by Textron Inc.'s Cessna Aircraft Co., General Dynamics Corp.'s  Gulfstream Aerospace and Dassault Aviation SA, as well as Bombardier Inc.'s Q400 turboprops and smaller aircraft brands including Piper Aircraft Inc. More recently, Pratt & Whitney Canada signed contracts to provide engines for next-generation regional jets.

Mr. DeFrank declined to discuss details about which aircraft models over the years ended up with disks that came from Carmel Forge. "It would be inappropriate to provide a list of customers because we want to ensure all have been notified before they read their names in the media," he said.

In an earlier interview, Kevin O'Connor, United Technologies' vice president of global compliance and the person who led the investigation, said his team worked hard to get to the bottom of the testing irregularities and eventually concluded, in conjunction with aviation regulators, that the parts don't pose a safety hazard.

"From the moment we were informed of the misconduct," Mr. O'Connor said, company officials sought to "determine what happened, inform customers and the requisite government officials and ensure it cannot happen again at Carmel Forge, or elsewhere."

Mr. O'Connor said "new procedures, policies and oversight structures" have been put in place, while Pratt & Whitney compliance teams continue to delve into the Israeli facility's history. "We're still dealing with some of the residual issues," he said.

According to Pratt & Whitney, there haven't been any failures or premature wear involving the disks, and they don't pose "any safety of flight issues or concerns."

The Federal Aviation Administration, which initiated its own formal investigation in September 2011, was kept updated about Pratt & Whitney's findings and follow-on moves.

The FAA sent its own audit team to Israel last May. In a June 2012 letter to United Technologies and Pratt & Whitney, a senior FAA safety inspector said the case involved a violation of agency rules because "the tensile strength testing" of material used to manufacture "major rotating components [of engines] had been compromised." The letter, however, said the FAA was closing the case after determining the company's "corrective actions are considered acceptable."

A spokeswoman said the FAA also hasn't proposed any fines or other penalties, "and the parts are performing as expected."

Still, the issue has been particularly disturbing for Pratt & Whitney officials because since 1994, Carmel Forge has been part of United Technologies, the parent of both companies. United Technologies has shaken up the Israeli operation and replaced top managers. Recently, a Pratt & Whitney team asked current Carmel Forge employees to sign a statement indicating that they weren't aware of any other improprieties.

Eli Yaffe, the former chief executive at Carmel Forge who left last year, didn't return a phone call seeking comment.

Carmel Forge's website says it was founded in 1961 and produces titanium, steel and nickel-alloy parts for aircraft engines. Other customers include aircraft-engine makers General Electric Co. and Honeywell International Inc., along with numerous European industry players.

United Technologies investigators said they focused on adherence to a particular testing standard demanded by Pratt & Whitney Canada, because it was more stringent than those required by the rest of the companies that purchased forgings.

Journalists working for an Israeli current-affairs show called "Uvda," which on Monday is scheduled to air a segment about the plant on Keshet Broadcasting, began looking into Carmel Forge's troubles in recent months.

Pratt & Whitney's management began scrutinizing Carmel Forge in the summer of 2011, prompted by an anonymous complaint from a plant employee alleging widespread irregularities. Within weeks, United Technologies assembled an investigative team and launched an extensive probe, including interviewing employees at the site, reviewing documents and analyzing computer data.

Investigators opted to retest more than four dozen remnants of representative forgings retained by Carmel Forge, including 10 that were sent for outside testing. In addition to the FAA, Pratt & Whitney said, it also informed Pentagon officials and Canadian air-safety regulators.

The upshot of these efforts, according to Mr. O'Connor, was that all the parts produced over the years met basic engineering specifications ensuring their safety, though many weren't properly subjected to Pratt & Whitney's tougher internal testing requirements. "We're not happy about it," according to Mr. O'Connor. "We feel we were misled."

Nearly 50,000 Pratt & Whitney Canada engines are currently installed on roughly 28,000 aircraft—including helicopters—in 200 countries, with total operating time close to 600 million hours in the air. The United Technologies unit is best known for its long history of partnering with European and Canadian turboprop manufacturers and providing engines for midsize business jets.

Source:  http://online.wsj.com

Boeing Expects 'Fast' 787 Moves After FAA Approvals: WSJ

March 4, 2013, 3:39 p.m. ET

By JON OSTROWER
The Wall Street Journal


The chief of Boeing Co.'s commercial unit says the return of its flagship 787 Dreamliner to service hinges on Federal Aviation Administration approval of the plane maker's proposal to modify the jet's errant lithium-ion batteries.

Ray Conner, chief executive of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, said Monday that once FAA approvals are received, "this will move really fast" as the company plans to quickly advance to flight testing and certification of its package of changes. Modification of the 50 delivered Dreamliners and dozens of built but undelivered 787s would follow, and the designs would then be incorporated into Boeing's production lines.

"We feel very good about this fix," Mr. Conner said. "We've covered the waterfront, so to speak about all the [potential causes] that" could have made the 787's batteries burn, says Mr. Conner, who didn't provide a specific time ine for the regulator's approval. He added, "we wouldn't take it forward if we didn't feel good about [the changes]."

Mr. Conner was speaking at an aerospace and defense conference in New York and has been on a multicity tour to speak to investors, airline customers and regulators to explain the company's proposal to modify the 787's batteries. The FAA and other regulators around the world ordered the 787 grounded on Jan. 16 after twin failures on Dreamliners operated by two Japanese airlines earlier that month.

Boeing faces the task of explaining to regulators that its changes address all possible threats to the battery, without knowing definitively what caused the incidents in January. The proposed changes were formally submitted to the FAA on Feb. 22 and to regulators and safety investigators in Japan last week, Mr. Conner said.

"We are addressing everything that could go wrong in the proper manner," he said.

Mr. Conner didn't provide specifics regarding the planned modifications. He said Boeing has compiled 200,000 hours of analysis and testing on what might have gone wrong and how to prevent it from happening again.

According to government and industry officials, Boeing will modify the battery to include additional spacing between its eight lithium-ion cells; placing the battery inside a new containment box in case of a fire; new monitoring of the battery's cells; and the ability to vent smoke or fumes outside the aircraft.

Mr. Conner emphasized that the company's plan to double production of the Dreamliner to 10 jets a month by year-end is unchanged, but said that there is a chance "that could change if something were to go sideways with the FAA" approval of Boeing's battery plan.

The grounding of the 787 has occupied much of Mr. Conner's attention in recent weeks and has "slowed things down a bit" on the company's plan to launch new 787 and 777 models.

Source:  http://online.wsj.com

Senior Air India pilot suspended for misbehaving with air hostess

PTI : New Delhi, Mon Mar 04 2013, 21:19 hrs


A senior Air India pilot has been suspended for allegedly flying an unauthorized person in the cockpit and misbehaving with an air hostess, who later filed a complaint against him.

Captain Amar Sabharwal has been suspended for carrying an unauthorized person in the cockpit on a Delhi-Kolkata flight on March 2, in violation of security norms, an Air India spokesperson said.

According to sources, the incident happened on Air India's flight (AI-020) on Saturday last when a customs officer entered the plane with a boarding pass of a jump seat.

But, he was later allowed to traveled in the cockpit by the Commander, to which a cabin crew objected.

This led to an heated argument between the Commander and the cabin crew.

The pilot allegedly made some "indecent comment" on the air hostess, they said, adding after returning to Delhi the air-hostess filed a complaint with the police against the pilot.

Taking a serious note of the incident, Air India management first derostered the pilot and he was taken off duty and an inquiry was ordered into the matter.

A jump seat can be located in the cockpit or passenger cabin of an aircraft. In the cockpit, it is provided for individuals who are not operating the plane which may include trainee pilots, off-duty crew members, DGCA officials or airline staff.

Source:  http://www.indianexpress.com

CitationAir Forces Pilots to Work a Month for Free

Published: Monday, Mar. 4, 2013 - 8:58 am 

WASHINGTON, March 4, 2013 -- /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- CitationAir, the Greenwich, Conn.-based provider of luxury business jet and charter aircraft services, radically altered the work schedules of the company's nearly 230 pilots who are represented by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Airline Division, Local 1108. CitationAir is wholly owned by Cessna Aircraft Company, which in turn is wholly owned by Textron Inc., a major U.S. defense contractor. The Teamsters and CitationAir management have been in negotiations over a first contract for the pilots since Nov. 2011.

Prior to the change on March 1, CitationAir scheduled pilots to be available for duty seven consecutive workdays during each two-week period. Management's new schedule pattern now requires pilots to be available for duty eight consecutive workdays during each two-week period for an increase of 26 more workdays per year. 

During each workday, a pilot can be required to remain on duty for 14 hours straight, with only 10 hours off the job before again reporting to fly. Management recently rejected efforts by the Teamsters to implement protections preventing the company from scheduling a pilot for nine or more consecutive workdays without his or her concurrence.

"The typical U.S. worker has a five-day workweek that keeps him or her on the job 20 days a month, not counting holidays. Assuming eight-hour shifts, that worker puts in about 160 hours a month," said Capt. Mat Slinghoff, Local 1108 President. "In contrast, CitationAir could conceivably require a pilot to be at work 252 hours, or more, during a single month.  Furthermore, pilots do not get holidays off—they work in a 365/24/7 business."

"CitationAir is requiring pilots to work 26 additional days per year, effectively for free," said Capt. David Bourne, Teamsters Airline Division Director. "Management will be keeping pilots on the road away from their homes and families nearly one full month each year against their will for no additional compensation. This type of abusive scheduling practice can only contribute to pilot fatigue, which has been proven to negatively impact aviation safety."

"In an effort to cut costs, our pilots and their schedules were targeted.  CitationAir's move will severely impact the quality of life of our pilots and their families," said Teamsters General President James Hoffa. "The International Brotherhood of Teamsters stands with these dedicated professional pilots and those that depend on them for safe air travel."

Local 1108 is part of the Teamsters Airline Division and represents more than 700 pilots employed by CitationAir and Cleveland, Ohio-based Flight Options LLC, which is also a provider of luxury business jet and charter aircraft services.  The Teamsters Airline Division represents about 80,000 workers in all segments of commercial aviation.  The International Brotherhood of Teamsters was founded in 1903 and represents more than 1.4 million hardworking men and women in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico.

SOURCE Teamsters Local Union 1108 

http://www.marketwatch.com

Air-Traffic Error Probes Cut as U.S. Close Calls Rise

Bloomberg News
By Alan Levin on March 04, 2013


U.S. aviation regulators don’t have enough investigators to examine close calls in the skies, which have risen more than 50 percent since 2009, according to a report by the Transportation Department’s Inspector General.

Even as air-traffic errors that bring planes too close together have jumped, and as new technology is expected to uncover more such incidents, the Federal Aviation Administration has reduced the number of employees reviewing these safety cases, the report found.

“With the implementation of FAA’s new procedures, the number of personnel investigating losses of separation has been substantially reduced,” the agency said in the report.

The report is the latest to examine the surge in errors that let planes get too close, also known as a “loss of separation.” Errors rose 53 percent in fiscal 2010 compared with 2009, to 1,887 from 1,234. There were 1,895 controller errors in 2011.

The FAA has maintained that most of the rise is due to improved reporting and not an actual increase in the risks of mid-air or runway collisions. The agency in recent years has started allowing controllers to self-report errors without fear of punishment, a program airlines have used for decades to identify safety issues.

The report by Assistant Inspector General Jeffrey Guzzetti found that at least some of the increase is due to an actual rise in errors.

Previously, at least one person in each of the 300 air- traffic control facilities in the U.S. was assigned to review error reports. In January 2012, the FAA consolidated the investigations into three offices across the country with 16 people to do the reviews, according to the report. 

Source:  http://www.businessweek.com

Inspector general report confirms rise in air traffic control errors

By Ashley Halsey III, Monday, March 4, 11:26 AM 

The Washington Post

Federal investigators confirmed Monday that errors by the nation’s air traffic controllers have increased sharply, challenging the Federal Aviation Administration’s contention that most of the jump was due to better data collection. 

The inspector general for the U.S. Department of Transportation, in an audit released Monday, said that “the increase in reported errors was linked, in part, to a rise in actual errors rather than increased reporting.” 

The report renews concerns about aviation mistakes at a time when the FAA has warned that sequestration may require controller furloughs and closing control towers at smaller airports.

An official familiar with the report said it raises questions about the manner in which the FAA collects reports and classifies the mistakes made by the controllers responsible for safe air travel.

“The report is kind of an indictment of how they categorize and deal with these errors,” said the official, who asked not to be identified because he is not authorized to speak publicly.

The inspector general was asked to review the FAA’s error-reporting process by Congress after testimony last April raised questions about the agency’s accuracy. That hearing followed reports in The Washington Post that raised questions about the accounting, and after the National Transportation Safety Board began formal investigation of incidents in which planes came dangerously close to each other while in flight.
 
The majority of errors do not put passengers at great risk. But there were enough serious incidents that year that the NTSB stepped in to investigate. The incidents included a Boeing 737 nearly hitting a helicopter while taking off from Houston; a Boeing 777 skimming under a small plane on takeoff from San Francisco; a Boeing 737 nearly colliding with a Cessna in Burbank, Calif.; an Airbus 319 passing 100 feet above the path of a Boeing 747 taking off in Anchorage; and an Embraer 135 taking off from Chicago using evasive action to avoid an inbound twin-engine prop plane.

Read more here:   http://www.washingtonpost.com

Asheville Regional (KAVL), North Carolina: Airport deal -- Unintended consequences

Leadership issues in Asheville could be example of what awaits in Charlotte  


ASHEVILLE Legislation designed to streamline operation of Asheville Regional Airport is, so far, having the opposite effect.

As a result of the N.C. General Assembly’s approval of a bill last summer to make the airport an independent agency, five different local governments are being asked to adopt special zoning for property around the airport to satisfy federal regulators.

State government, or perhaps even the city, could find itself on the hook to pay $2.2 million or more to bring about a land transfer mandated by the law.

And a second battle could be brewing between city government and the airport over who sits on the airport’s governing board.

Last August, the board refused to accept Asheville Mayor Terry Bellamy as a member at a contentious meeting in which the terms of the legislation were at issue. Now, Bellamy says city council should remove and replace its appointee to the airport board, Chairman David Hillier, before his term expires.

Dealing with the issues is keeping bureaucrats and politicians in Asheville, Raleigh, Atlanta and Washington busy and has frayed relations between the city government and the airport. There have been two vacancies on the airport’s governing board for months, although one was filled recently.

Airport Director Lew Bleiweis worries that the issues could even affect the airport’s ability to get federal funds for a major runway repair project, although Bellamy calls that concern a “red herring.”

The Asheville situation could also be a cautionary tale for officials in Charlotte. State Sen. Bob Rucho and Rep. Bill Brawley, both Matthews Republicans, are pushing bills in the General Assembly this year to make a similar transfer of Charlotte Douglas International Airport. The Senate bill, moving the airport from city control to a Charlotte Airport Authority, has already passed two committees. The bill is also sponsored by Rep. Tim Moffitt, R-Buncombe, a central figure in changing the ownership of Asheville Regional Airport.

Since the 1930s, Charlotte Douglas has been a unit of Charlotte city government. About 90 percent of the language in the Rucho-Brawley bills appears to have been lifted from last year’s Asheville law.

Why the fuss?

In Asheville, two factors have caused most of the problems.

Members of an all-Democrat City Council are still unhappy about the transfer of an asset, without monetary compensation, that city taxpayers paid to establish in 1958.

And the Federal Aviation Administration has raised concerns about the state legislation, saying some of its provisions might violate the terms of FAA grants the airport has received for years.

The airport technically became an independent agency last year. But the FAA still recognizes city government and Buncombe County as the airport’s “sponsors,” with responsibility to oversee use of FAA funds.

Giving the airport the ability to be its own sponsor, thus ending the need for city council or the Buncombe Board of Commissioners to approve many airport actions, was a primary goal of the legislation to make the airport independent.

But to do that, the FAA wants assurance that the transfer will not reduce the airport’s ability to acquire adjacent property or weaken zoning controls. And the FAA wants compensation for property the 2012 legislation says should be given to state government.

“The airport owner is required to take appropriate action to protect the airspace around the airport and, to the extent reasonable, restrict the use of land adjacent to or in the immediate vicinity of the airport ,” FAA spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said.

The legislation limited local government’s ability to condemn property in an industrial park near the airport and transferred zoning authority over airport property from the city of Asheville to Buncombe County.

Bleiweis, the airport director, said he does not expect the condemnation issue to be a problem once the airport explains the situation to the FAA.

He also said he does not think it will be difficult to get local governments with jurisdiction over land near the airport – Asheville, Buncombe County, Henderson County, Fletcher and Mills River – to adopt zoning that would satisfy the FAA.

“They all seem very willing to participate in making sure they protect the asset of the airport,” he said.

Land transfer issues

It may be more difficult to deal with the state legislation’s order that Asheville transfer 50 acres it owns at the Western North Carolina Agricultural Center to state government without payment. That acreage was originally intended for airport use.

A November letter from an FAA regional official in Atlanta to Bleiweis says the property can’t be transferred unless an amount equivalent to the fair market value of the land is reinvested in the airport.

The FAA imposes the requirement for property purchased using federal money, as the 50 acres apparently were. Market value of the property isn’t known.

The Buncombe County Tax Department values similar land nearby at $43,559 an acre. That figure would yield a value of $2.2 million for the 50 acres, but tax values are often on the low side compared to market rates and per-acre values for some tracts in the area are higher.

Rep. Chuck McGrady, a Henderson County Republican who co-sponsored the airport transfer bill, said the provision was intended to take care of uncompleted steps following a 1985 transaction that gave the state control of the Agricultural Center property.

He and the city, however, disagree on the meaning of the transaction, which was structured as a lease. The city got $500,000 as part of the deal and used the money to buy buses for its transit system.

McGrady understands the FAA’s position to mean Asheville would have to pay the property’s value to the airport unless the FAA grants a waiver.

But in normal property transfers, the party receiving property gives money to the party losing it. In this case, that would mean the state Department of Agriculture would pay the city.

Clark’s letter does not say who would pay whom, only that FAA approval would “be contingent upon the net proceeds, based on fair market value, being reinvested in the Asheville Regional Airport.”

Multiple agendas

Before last year, the airport had been governed by a board with three members appointed by the city, three by Buncombe County and one chosen by the other appointees.

The 2012 legislation changed that to give Asheville, Buncombe County and Henderson County two appointees each. That group picks the seventh member.

Bellamy said a recent city council meeting that council should start looking for a replacement for airport board chairman Hillier.

“I have repeatedly witnessed him not supporting the city’s efforts and I think it’s important to have our appointees support us,” she said.

Hillier, whose term expires in 2014, said his job is to look out for the interests of the airport, not the city’s.

To do otherwise, Hillier said, would be “a drop-dead conflict of interest.”

Moffitt and McGrady said conflicts and bureaucratic snags surrounding the changes stem in large part from Asheville making politicizing issues about the airport.

“If you approach things in a political way instead of a practical way, then it makes things complicated, and that’s what city council has done,” Moffitt said.

The airport’s benefit to the city continues no matter who governs it, he said, and the services it provides are the return on city residents’ investment in it years ago.

But Bellamy said city council had “a great working relationship” with the airport before the legislation changing its status came along.

“It was not a good idea to begin with,” she said, citing the FAA’s concerns.

Bellamy said some of the impact of the change in the airport’s status is symbolic and some is practical.

It is only reasonable that the city would object to the loss of a major asset that its residents paid for after Buncombe County government balked, she said.

“It sets a precedent that when local governments make investments in infrastructure the state can come and take it away,” she said.

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The Charlotte Airport Authority bill 

•  Creates a 13-member board to oversee the airport, with one member each appointed by the mayor of Charlotte, the Charlotte City Council, the governor, Senate president pro tem, House speaker, and the county commissioners of Mecklenburg, Gaston, Union, Lincoln, Iredell and Cabarrus counties. The board members would elect their remaining two members. Members could serve up to two consecutive four-year terms.

•  Gives the authority power to enter into contracts, issue bonds, hire and fire personnel, and hire and set the compensation for the airport director. It would also have limited power of eminent domain to seize property, if it was required to take the property to satisfy federal regulations.

•  Requires the city to hand over all title and claim to the airport property and assets within 90 days. The airport’s total assets were valued at nearly $2 billion in fiscal 2012. The authority would take ownership.

•  Requires the authority to hold monthly meetings, subject to the same open-meetings laws as other public bodies. The authority must submit an annual report and budget to the surrounding counties.

•  Pays the board for travel expenses and meals for meetings; entitles members to free airport parking while on official business.

Ely Portillo