Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Mokulele Will Honor Its Flights Bought On Go!

Mokulele Airlines is honoring its flights that were purchased on Go!, the interisland carrier that yesterday announced it was shutting down on April 1.

Mokulele also said today in a press release that passengers who purchased Go! flights on Mokulele’s website for travel to Kaua‘i and Hilo should contact Mokulele for refunds, the release said.

Mokulele Airlines has had a code share agreement with go! since November 2011 when TransPac Aviation purchased the turbo prop division from Arizona-based Mesa Air Group, which operated Go!.

“There is still some misconception on the relationships with Go! and Mokulele,” said Dave Berry, executive vice-president COO of Mokulele, in an email to bigislandnow.com.

“Mokulele Airlines is not part of Go! and has not been since November 2011,” Berry said

“We had a code share agreement where by they could sell tickets on their site for travel on us and we could sell tickets on our site for traveling on Go!,” he said. “That agreement is over and we have both ceased to sell each other tickets.

“We are honoring each other’s ticket purchases through April 1st,” Berry said, adding that for travel after April 1 each passenger is being contacted for rescheduling on another airline or given a refund.

Mokulele has differentiated itself from go! over the past two years by creating a new brand image that includes a new logo and color scheme, and by establishing its own counters at the airports it serves, the press release said.

Mokulele now offers more than 115 flights a day connecting O‘ahu, Moloka‘i, Lana‘i, Maui and the Big Island on its fleet of nine-passenger, turbine-powered Cessna Grand Caravans, and has added nine new Cessna Grand Caravans to its fleet in the last 12 months due to increasing demand for low-cost, interisland travel, the release said.

Mokulele Airlines has operated in Hawai‘i since 1994.

For reservations and information, visit mokuleleairlines.com, or call 866-260-7070. 

Source:   http://bigislandnow.com

Batesville breaks ground for new airport hangars

BATESVILLE, AR (KAIT) - Batesville business is booming.

The city broke ground Wednesday for six new airport hangars to keep up with the growing demand.

"Our airport is very crucial," Mayor Rick Elumbaugh said. "We have a 6,000-foot runway here for economic development in our community. We have a lot of corporate jets that fly in daily. Our poultry industry utilizes it, Bad Boys, Mr. Mark Martin with his automobile dealership here. He flies in often."

Local business hope the hangars will also bring more business to the city.

"Pilots are always coming in and out of here," Josie's Restaurant employee Samantha Conley said. "It should bring us a lot more business."

Josie's has been a Batesville staple for nearly ten years. During that time, the staff has served their fair share of pilots. Whether they are flying in and out for business or making a pitstop to fill up their gas tank, they usually need to fill their stomachs, too.

"Everybody knows Josie's on the River," Conley said. "We get a lot of them out here. We're close to it [Batesville Regional Airport], we do sell alcohol here and our food is really good here."

Pilots are such a large part of Josie's regular clientele that employees cater specifically to them.

"We have to go up there [Batesville Regional Airport] quite a bit of times to pick them up and bring them down here so they can eat," Conley said. "Then we bring them back."

Another Batesville resident hopes the new hangars will have the same effect on his company.

"Every time we build hangars, we fill them up," Batesville Regional Airport Commissioner Kirk Warden said. "We manufacture precision optics so having an aircraft allows us to go and visit customers out of state, within a thousand-mile radius."

Warden said airport access makes business more efficient.

"Being in rural Arkansas, it's either an hour and a half down to Little Rock or we can fly directly out of here, which is really nice," Warden said. "It allows you to get from one side of the state to another in a couple hours."

The airport also makes business more personal.

"There's nothing that replaces having a face-to-face meeting with your customers so that's one great thing about this airport," Warden said.

The six new hangars will cost nearly $500,000. Two grants from the Arkansas Department of Aeronautics will cover most of that.

The hangars should be fully functioning by the beginning of August.

Story and photos:    http://www.kait8.com

Inquest jury told pilot killed in crash was unlicensed: Pegasus XL-R, G-MVKM, Stourton, Stourbridge - UK

A man who was killed when his microlight aircraft hit power lines in Stourton was unlicensed to fly, an inquest heard.

Andy Tollerton was told he had not completed the training course to be qualified and no record could be found of him holding a pilot’s license, Staffordshire's coroner heard.

Mr Tollerton, aged 52, died when his Pegasus twin seat aircraft plunged to earth after hitting high voltage wires at 5.53pm on October 6 2013, as he attempted to land in a field off Bridgnorth Road.

The father-of-two suffered fatal head and chest injuries when the single-engine craft hit the ground however a post mortem found no burns consistent with electrocution.

A specialist from the Air Accident Investigation Branch told the inquest, held at Staffordshire County Council chambers, that the aircraft was mechanically sound and well maintained but did not have a certificate of air worthiness.

The reason for the collision is unclear, despite being unlicensed Mr Tollerton, an HGV driver from Gerald Road, Wollaston, had records showing more than 90 hours flying experience and had flown from the field, at Barrett’s Coppice Farm, on a number of occasions. The weather was also good at the time of the crash.

Investigator Robert Vickery told the jury after he examined of aerial photos of the scene, taken by an unmanned police aircraft, it was possible Mr Tollerton may not have been aware of the hazard.

Mr Vickery said: “I believe the cables, posts and the angle of the sun conspired to hide themselves causing Mr Tollerton not to see them until it was too late.”

The hearing was also told no alcohol or drugs were found in the dead pilot’s body.

The court heard evidence Mr Tollerton normally flew for around 40 minutes at a time but had cut the doomed flight short and was landing after around 15 minutes in the air.

He suffered with kidney stones and the hearing was told if they had moved it could create extreme discomfort however there was no evidence to suggest this had taken place and he seemed in good health prior to take off.

Mr Tollerton used contact lenses but none were found during post mortem examination or at the scene, but Mr Vickery told the jury they may have come out during the accident.

The jury concluded there was no obvious reason for Mr Tollerton to have flown into the power lines and his death was the result of an accident.  


http://www.caa.co.uk

http://www.stourbridgenews.co.uk

What's up with the mysterious plane circling Sacramento?

 

SACRAMENTO - A light plane that has been flying regular patterns day and night for weeks over parts of Sacramento has led to reactions on the ground ranging from curiosity to annoyance.

"It'll just make a continuous pattern over and over," said Larry Bishop, who lives in the Arden Manor neighborhood. "I'll go to bed 11 o'clock at night and it's still circling the house in the same pattern."

The flights appear to be centered over an area roughly bounded by Fair Oaks Boulevard on the south, Howe Avenue to the west, Watt Avenue to the east and Cottage Way to the north.

Arden Park resident Richard King captured a flight sequence from the website FlightRadar24 on the evening of March 8 showing an almost perfect circle.

King said he's relatively sure he was able to see the plane's registration through binoculars. If he's correct, the plane is a 1966 Cessna registered to a 73-year-old man in Illinois who did not immediately return a phone call.

Update March 19, 2014: The tail number provided by King actually belongs to a 1966 Cessna 150 that is currently parked in a hangar at Morris Municipal Airport in Morris, Ill., according to airport staff.

News10 observed several passes Tuesday at noon, all of them counter-clockwise, which residents said is the standard direction.

"It just goes in left-hand circles," Arden Park resident Pat Lof said. "I find it annoying and I'm very curious about what's going on."

Dozens of people have weighed in on Facebook and on the neighborhood website NextDoor.com. Some suggested the plane was hired by the Drug Enforcement Administration to search for heat signatures that might reveal an indoor marijuana-growing operation.

"It's not ours," DEA spokeswoman Casey Rettig said.

The Federal Aviation Administration could offer no explanation either.

"The aircraft was flying in uncontrolled airspace and was not in communication with air traffic controllers. We do not know the purpose of the flight(s)," FAA spokesman Ian Gregor said.

Story, photo gallery and video:  http://www.news10.net

Mid-air Holi lands SpiceJet pilots in trouble: Directorate General of Civil Aviation

Mid-air Holi celebrations aboard eight flights have cost no-frill carrier SpiceJet heavily, with the DGCA issuing show cause notice to the airline and suspending two of its pilots. 

Sources said that on Monday, the cabin crew of SpiceJet performed a small dance sequence on a song as part of Holi celebrations, with some passengers also joining in.   The videos of these events were taken and uploaded on video-sharing website YouTube and other social media.

In one video, a pilot is seen coming out of the cockpit and taking photographs of the celebrations at the front of the aisle.  Official sources said the act constituted violation of all safety norms and two pilots were suspended.

SpiceJet on March 17 ran eight special flights with extra cabin crew on board to do a 2.5-minute jig on the occasion of Holi.

The airline said it was looking into the issue in cooperation with the DGCA.  It defended itself saying that the cockpit was manned all the time.

"The cockpit was manned at all time as per DGCA regulations that govern the situation when one pilot is outside for example to use the lavatory," an airline spokesperson told PTI.

"The dance was professionally choreographed and was Holi delight for passengers much like it is done by several airlines around the world to celebrate a special occasion. The entire dance sequence lasted 2.5 minutes," the spokesperson said.


Story and comments/reaction:   http://profit.ndtv.com

 

SpiceJet faces DGCA show-cause notice over dance on Holi flights: Eight special Holi flights had a dance in the aisle of the plane, harming passenger safety, says DGCA official 


New Delhi: SpiceJet Ltd was on Wednesday issued a notice by the aviation regulator asking why its licence should not be suspended for violating safety rules during special Holi flights.

Mint first reported on Wednesday that Prabhat Kumar, the director general of civil aviation, had summoned SpiceJet officials to explain why the airline had allowed cabin crew onboard its flights to perform a dance routine as a part of its Holi celebrations.

“We have issued a show-cause notice to them (SpiceJet) today asking why their licence should not be suspended,” a senior official of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said, declining to be named.

“They conducted eight flights on which there was dance in the aisle area harming passenger safety. The flights were reduced to a mockery, the centre of gravity of the aircraft could have been impacted,” the official said. “Mobiles were used to capture the show in violation of our rules. The dance could have provoked passengers into unruly behaviour. The captain came out and was dancing outside the cockpit.”

SpiceJet, India’s second largest low-fare airline, has to reply to the notice within a fortnight, after which a decision will be taken on the airline’s licence, the official said.

SpiceJet said it had not received the notice but that it was “looking into the matter”.

The airline ran the special flights on 17 March and videos of the dances have gone viral on social media.

DGCA has suspended two SpiceJet pilots, including a captain, pending investigation.

SpiceJet has 57 planes and runs 350 daily flights.

Mohan Ranganathan, a Chennai-based safety expert and a member of the government-appointed Civil Aviation Safety Advisory Council, said the only error was that the pilot should have remained inside the cockpit. He did not agree with DGCA’s other charges.

“The only error was that the pilot came out into the cabin area, which goes against the ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization) security manual recommendations, but DGCA has not implemented it in its CAR (civil aviation requirements) and hence the pilot and the airline cannot be held accountable,” Ranganathan said.

The regulator seems “to be gunning for SpiceJet for a violation that really does not infringe on safety,” he said. “If they are talking of centre of gravity, someone seems to be giving DG (Directorate General) wrong advice because people keep moving around in the cabin on all flights.”

A DGCA circular on manning a plane’s cockpit says that “in case one of the crew members has to leave the cockpit during the non-critical phases of flight, the cabin crew is required to be inside the cockpit and occupy the observer seat. In no case the cabin crew will occupy the seats meant for cockpit crew...(but will remain vigilant) in case of subtle incapacitation of the flight deck crew.”

Airlines such as Finnair and AirAsia have conducted dance and birthday celebrations onboard their flights. Air Sahara and Damania Airways in the 1990s also used to hold shows onboard.

“I think if it was brief and light-hearted. It is difficult to say its violation of safety,” said G.R. Gopinath, a low-fare aviation pioneer. “If you look at Virgin Blue flights, they do a lot of fun things and even Southwest Airlines, mother of all LCCs (low-cost carriers), does lots of these things to break monotony. If it’s done in limits it is not a problem at all, as long as safety is not endangered.”


Story and comments/reaction:   http://www.livemint.com


Silver Springs Airport (KSPZ) developer Bennett dies: Wife plans to continue his vision and dream for the airport; no changes expected

Hale Bennett


Just eight days before his 94th birthday, which fell on St. Patrick’s Day, Hale Bennett of Silver Springs and lease holder for the Silver Springs Regional Airport, died March 9 at his home adjacent to the airport surrounded by family. 

The public is invited to a memorial gathering to honor Bennett on April 26. The gathering will feature full military honors for Bennett, a World War II pilot who served in the Army Air Corps and who landed at the then-Lahontan Air Strip in 1945.

Despite the loss of her 26-year partner, Kay Bennett, who co-managed the airport with Hale, said she plans to continue with operation of the airport. The Bennetts and other partners lease the airport through an agreement between Lyon County and their Silver Springs Airport LLC.

Kay said that in the past year or so, as Hale battled multiple myeloma, which he’s had since 2005, she has taken over more duties and thus his death shouldn’t affect the airport operations.

“I’ll continue as the owner and CEO,” she said.

The Bennetts have leased the airport from Lyon County since an agreement approved in 1996, after leasing the air strip from the BLM for several years before that.

Lyon County manager Jeff Page said he doesn’t see Bennett’s death affecting their agreement and operations of the airport in any way. He said he doesn’t foresee any changes.

He said the Bennetts have done a fine job of taking the weed-infested landing strip and developing a “functional general aviation airport” with the aid of FAA grant funding.

“I’m saddened by his death,” Page said.

Hale first saw the airport when he landed a B-29 Super Fortress there in 1945, Kay said, as part of a training trip, and didn’t forget it. Then, in 1989, a year or two after the two married, Hale drove Kay by the airport on their way to Fallon, and she saw so many possibilities and potential with the airport site.

At that time, a group of local residents who’d formed the nonprofit Lahontan Airport Development Association operated the unpaved landing strip in a lease from the BLM. Kay said they didn’t have the experience with aviation Hale did and were willing to sell the lease and assets to the Bennetts in 1989.

The landing strip went to Lyon County after the war but had fallen into disarray. So, by the 1970s, Kay said, Lyon County felt it was a liability and asked the BLM to take over the property, with the BLM requesting the paved runway be torn out. It was eventually paved again in 2001 thanks to one of several FAA grants.

Flying was a big part of their life as Kay said Hale took her flying on their second date over Lake Tahoe and she fell in love with flying, later obtaining her pilot’s license.

“The two of us, we had the same long-term vision (for the airport),” she said. “We saw the great potential, great strategic location. We both had a love and passion for flying.”

In order to obtain FAA capital improvement funding, the airport needed to be owned by a governmental agency, so they approached Lyon County about acquiring the land from the BLM. The Bennetts then leased the airport property from the county in a 50-year lease that has been amended several times.

The Bennetts also were involved with the Silver Springs General Improvement District. Hale was on the sewer system exploratory committee before the GID was formed and later they entered into an agreement with the GID to take the treated effluent from the sewer treatment plant.

Kay Bennett said Hale enjoyed farming and the effluent was used to irrigate wheat and alfalfa they grew on their property near the airport.

“He was certainly my rock to stand on,” she said, adding it was his guidance, perseverance and support that led to where the airport stands today. “He was fully engaged and knowledgeable of what was going on” at the airport until the past few months, she said of his continued involvement. “He leaves a marvelous legacy.”

MEMORIAL

A public memorial for Hale Bennett is at 10 a.m. April 26 at the Silver Springs Airport. The gathering will feature full military honors for Bennett, a World War II pilot who served in the Army Air Corps.


In lieu of flowers, donations are requested to go to the Youth Eagles Chapter 1073 (donations can be made at any Wells Fargo Bank).


Source:  http://www.rgj.com

Princeton Airport (39N) New Jersey: FAA Medical Doctor – Medical Examination - Saturday, March 22nd

FAA Medical Doctor

Saturday, March 22nd, 2014
8:00 am – noon Walk-ins until 11:30 am.


For appointments – call 609-921-3100

FAA Medical Doctor Michael Nosko


Read more here:   http://www.princetonairport.com/faa-medical-doctor-medical-examination/

The Vineyards site plan changes course: Bay Bridge Airport (W29), Stevensville, Maryland

CENTREVILLE— After receiving major site plan approval from the Queen Anne’s County Planning Commission for The Vineyards of Queen Anne’s at the Dec. 12 meeting, the commission approved an amended major site plan on Thursday, March 13, that will reverse the orientation of the project, get rid of vineyard orchards and change the site’s name to The Gardens of Queen Anne’s.

The site is a 15.86-acre parcel of county-owned property that is located at Pier One Road in Stevensville, just south of U.S. Route 50/301, west of State Route 8 and adjacent to the Bay Bridge Airport. The property is leased by developer Coastal South, John Wilson, principal and co-owner of the Chesapeake Bay Beach Club. It resides in the Airport Protection and Kent Island Gateway zoning district.

Significant revisions have been made to the original site plan due to financial and airport issues, said Holly Tompkins, senior planner. The plan involves a mixed use development of 67,129 square feet consisting of a 54-room hotel with a 20-room future expansion, a banquet facility barn, restaurant, bar tool shed and a market with an accompanying service hall.

“They are moving the location of the restaurant and bar facilities, which is why they are coming to the commission,” said Steve Cohoon, director of planning.

The project is to occur in two phases, and the overall scope of the first phase will be reduced by about 13,145 square feet. The 20-room hotel addition will move to the south side of the property; the restaurant and kitchen will move to the north side; a market will be added, while the tool shed bar addition will be delayed; the covered porch will be reduced with a larger garden patio; a small banquet facility will be created on the north side and the main banquet facility barn will move to the south side. The main hotel will remain in the same position.

The Federal Aviation Administration has oversight of the property, and, according to its regulations, vineyard orchards are not permitted within 5,000 feet of the airport because they will attracts birds. In place of the December site plan’s landscape proposal, the property will have hops for beer and lavender instead of vineyard orchards, Wilson said. The name of the site has changed to The Gardens of Queen Anne’s.

There will also be a 20-foot landscape buffer along Route 50/301 and a 15-foot buffer along Pier One Road to block noise from the airport and traffic, he said. The minimum required landscape area is 20 percent or 1.42 acres. The site will provide 53 percent.

“Because of (FAA) regulations you may see changes in phase two,” Cohoon said. “That would be a future approval. We can expect there to be adjustments as phase two comes along.”

These changes are inherently cosmetic and although a large amount of moving around and tweaking has occurred, there are no zoning issues and the parking no longer needs a reduction as the December plan had proposed, Tompkins said.

The parking required for phase one is 182 spaces, including the future additions. A total of 192 parking spaces will be provided.

No member of the public commented on the major site plan amendment, and the planning commission unanimously voted to approve phase one of The Gardens site plan.

The project is expected to begin this May, and The Gardens should open in spring 2015, Cohoon said.


Source:   http://www.myeasternshoremd.com

Plane accident victim remembered as 'gentleman' with 'aviation bug

Correction 
An earlier version of the story incorrectly reported that Cindy Huntsman's father flew with John F. Cox in North Platte.

 
  • By SCOTT KOPERSKI -  Beatrice Daily Sun 


For as long as his son can remember, John F. Cox was addicted to flying.

Aviation piqued Cox’s interest as a teenager growing up in Sutherland, and years later he taught his son, John C. Cox, about airplanes.

Around eight years ago, after his wife died, John F. Cox started building his own plane.

His son laughed as he told the story of how the elder Cox built the 30-foot wing of his Titan Tornado SS in his living room before the project outgrew the house, was removed and attached to the plane.

That plane never left the ground.

John F. Cox was killed Tuesday when he started the plane at the Beatrice Municipal Airport. The 86-year-old, who was working on his plane alone, started it, not realizing it was at full throttle.

The plane launched out of the hangar, across the airport and into another hangar that was nearby, dragging Cox along the way.

“He was getting close to test-flying it this summer for the first time," his son said. "He used to like to go out and start it up and drive it around on the airport ramp to check the engine over and see how the controls are working.

“He really enjoyed it.”

Maintenance workers nearby heard the crash and called 911 moments later.

The rescue crew took Cox to Beatrice Community Hospital, where he was pronounced dead less than two hours later.

Airport manager Diana Smith said Cox's death is the first fatality in her 42 years working at the airport.

She'll remember Cox as an involved man who volunteered his time to give free airplane rides to young people during the annual Homestead Days Young Eagle rides event.

John C. Cox said his dad also had a larger, four-seat airplane kept in Lincoln. They would regularly fly to York, just for a meal.

“Once a month, we would always fly over to an airport in York and go get breakfast,” he said. "It was just a way to keep active and up in the air. I always flew with him.”

Cindy Huntsman worked as a cashier for Cox when he headed the North Platte Municipal Light and Water Department in the late 1970s.

She said she remembered Cox as not only a fair, customer-oriented boss, but also as a gentleman who would always open and close the door for others, Huntsman said.

As John C. Cox copes with the loss of his father, his love of flight lives on.

The DeWitt resident is a flight instructor in Beatrice, Lincoln, Seward and Crete, in addition to teaching physics Lincoln Pius X.

He plans to keep working with planes, and said he can take solace in the fact that his dad died doing what he loved.

“To me, that is a much better way to end your life than wasting away in a nursing home,” he said. “Flying is in a world of its own. Once you get the aviation bug, you just have it your whole life.”



Riley Johnson of the Lincoln Journal Star contributed to this report.
 
Story and comments/reaction:  http://journalstar.com


TITAN TORNADO SS, COX JOHN F, N383UC:   http://registry.faa.gov/N383UC

Piper PA-28-181, N83180: http://registry.faa.gov/N83180



Emergency crews responded to a man trapped between a hangar and an airplane Tuesday shortly after 3 p.m. at Beatrice Municipal Airport. The man died of injuries sustained in the incident.  



For as long as his son can remember, John F. Cox was addicted to flying.  
 
His interest in aviation began as a teenager growing up in Sutherland, Neb., and continued through the years as he taught his son, John C. Cox, about airplanes.

When his wife passed away, John F. Cox started a new hobby, building his own plane.

His son laughed as he told the story of how John F. Cox built the 30-foot-wing of his Titan Tornado SS in his living room before the project outgrew the house, was removed and attached to the plane. That plane never left the ground.

“He started building this airplane as a hobby after my mom died probably 8-10 years ago,” John C. Cox recalled. “He was getting close to test flying it this summer for the first time. He used to like to go out and start it up and drive it around on the airport ramp to check the engine over and see how the controls are working. He really enjoyed it.”

John F. Cox was killed Tuesday when he started the plane at the Beatrice Municipal Airport.

The 86-year-old, who was working on his plane alone, started it, not realizing it was at full throttle.

The plane launched out of the hangar, across the airport and into another hangar that was nearby, dragging John F. Cox along the way.

The collision was heard by maintenance workers who were nearby and called 911 a short time later.

StarCare air support was initially dispatched to the airport to transport the man to Bryan Health East in Lincoln, but Fire and Rescue Chief Brian Daake said the air ambulance was later called off because the man was in need of CPR and the procedure cannot be done in the helicopter.

The rescue crew took the man to Beatrice Community Hospital, where he was pronounced dead less than two hours later.

John C. Cox said his dad also had a larger, four-seat airplane kept in Lincoln. They would regularly fly to York, just for a meal.

“Once a month, we would always fly over to an airport in York and go get breakfast,” he said. "It was just a way to keep active and up in the air. I always flew with him.”

Airport manager Diana Smith recalled John F. Cox as being an involved man who volunteered his time to give free airplane rides to youth during the annual Homestead Days Young Eagle rides event.

“He was an EAA (Experimental Aircraft Association) member and involved in the Young Eagle’s rides,” she said.

Smith added the death is the first fatality in her 42 years working at the airport.

As John C. Cox copes with the loss of his father, his love of flight lives on. The DeWitt resident is a flight instructor in Beatrice, Lincoln, Seward and Crete, in addition to teaching physics Lincoln Pius X. He plans to keep working with planes, and can take solace in the fact that his dad died doing what he loved.

“To me, that is a much better way to end your life than wasting away in a nursing home,” he said. “Flying is in a world of its own. Once you get the aviation bug, you just have it your whole life.”


http://beatricedailysun.com


A man who was struck by a small plane at the Beatrice Municipal Airport Tuesday afternoon died due to injuries from the incident.

Emergency crews arrived to the scene of a man who was hit by a plane that then collided with a nearby hangar shortly after 3 p.m.

Beatrice Police Investigator Erin Byrne said it appeared the man was working on the plane at the time of the incident.

“Based on witness statements, we believe that there was an elderly gentleman working on a plane he himself built,” Byrne said. “He was trying to get it started, did manage to get it started and it sounds like the plane was in full throttle and it appears the plane struck the elderly gentleman with enough force to push into hangar nearby, causing some body trauma.”

The plane, which had an “experimental” decal across one of the windows, crashed into a nearby hangar.

Byrne did not believe the man was an airport employee.

He said the man’s family had been notified of the incident Tuesday afternoon, but he declined to release a name due to a potential Federal Aviation Administration investigation.

According to the FAA registry, the plane’s N-Number belongs to a Titan Tornado SS manufactured and owned by John F. Cox, of Lincoln.

Beatrice Fire and Rescue Chief Brian Daake said when his units arrived at the scene the man was unresponsive and had “significant trauma,” and the injuries to the man's torso were "absolutely life threatening.”

StarCare air support was initially dispatched to the airport to transport the man to Bryan Health East in Lincoln, but was later called off.

Daake said StarCare was canceled because the man was in need of CPR and the procedure cannot be done in the helicopter.

Rescue workers took the man to Beatrice Community Hospital and Health Center, where he was pronounced dead fewer than two hours later.

Officials with the Beatrice Municipal Airport declined to comment on the incident.