Archive for out of this world news
Amateur Pilot Guided by Hero Controllers – CBS News
Posted by: | CommentsAmateur Pilot Guided by Hero Controllers
6 Air Traffic Controllers Will Get Award for Helping Man Land Plane after Pilot Dies at 10,000 Feet
CBS There are some 14,000 air traffic controllers guiding the 5,000 planes that are in the skies over the United States at any given time.When one of those controllers does something wrong, we – that is the press and the public – can and rightly do criticize them. Consider the case of the controller who allowed his children to issue directions to pilots at New York’s JFK International Airport earlier this year.When controllers do something right, something extraordinarily right, we should praise them.On a busy Easter Sunday last year, Lisa Grimm, an air traffic controller at the Miami Air Route Traffic Control Center heard these words crackle over the radio: “My pilot’s deceased … I need help.”The voice belonged to Doug White, a passenger in a King Air 200. His wife and two daughters were in the back of the plane. The pilot had fallen ill and died at 10,000 feet. White was a private pilot, but had never flown an aircraft as big and powerful as the twin-engine turboprop that he now assumed control of.Listen to Doug White's emergency call.“We’re going to have you hand-fly the plane,” Grimm told White as the aircraft continued to climb. “Hold the yoke level and disengage the autopilot.”
Red Bull Race prepares for takeoff | General Aviation News
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Red Bull Race prepares for takeoff
Posted by Janice Wood · March 7, 2010
RedBull
The 2010 Red Bull Air Race World Championship season kicks off in Abu Dhabi, UAE on March 26 and 27. Pilots navigate a low-level aerial track made up of air-filled pylons, flying at speeds reaching 230 mph while withstanding forces up to 12 Gs. Each race is a two-day competition with a Qualifying and Race Day where pilots compete one at a time for the fastest time through the track.
What’s new this year:
* The Big Apple: On June 19-20, 15 of the world’s best race pilots will compete in the fifth leg of the 2010 Red Bull Air Race World Championship tour over the Hudson River. This is the first time a race will take place in New York. Past stops in the USA have included San Diego, Calif. (pictured above), San Francisco, Calif, Detroit, Michigan and Monument Valley, Utah.
* Plane & Pilot: Given the differences within the 15-pilot roster in height and weight, the sport this year has instituted a new rule that requires a minimum weight for each plane making the field more even.
* New Faces: Two new pilots join the 2010 line-up: Adilson Kindlemann (Brazil) and Martin Sonka (Czech Republic).
* TeamChambliss.com: Just launched is the redesigned online hub for racer #4, Kirby Chambliss. The new site, TeamChambliss.com, will offer fans an interactive gateway into Kirby’s travels on the World Championship tour as well as the last news and information about his #4 race team.
via Red Bull Race prepares for takeoff | General Aviation News.
Firefighters and investigators look around the area by the damaged remains of a small aircraft inside a building, Friday in Austin, Texas. Joseph Stack flew his small airplane Thursday into the building that houses several offices of the Internal Revenue Service.
Tony Gutierrez/AP
By Gordon Lubold Staff writer / February 19, 2010
The crash of a small civilian plane into the side of a government building is raising the hackles of general aviation pilots who fear the government will crack down on them in the name of national security.
* IRS: a frequent target of antigovernment violence
Distressed over his financial situation and angry at the IRS, Joseph Stack flew his Piper Cherokee into the side of a building in Austin's Echelon office complex Thursday, killing himself and one other person. Mr. Stack appeared to be working alone and was not thought to be part of a broader terrorist or anti-government plot. And most experts agree no regulation or law would have prevented the incident.
Yet it was an obvious reminder of what thrust the US into the “war on terrorism” more than eight years ago. Some security analysts have already raised national security concerns about general aviation, pointing out that the incident reflects broad national vulnerabilities at the hands of individuals flying small planes with ill-intent.
via Alarm at Austin plane crash troubles pilots / The Christian Science Monitor – CSMonitor.com.
Industry Headline News
Posted by: | CommentsFAA seeks public comment on pilot certification
09-Feb-2010
As part of the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Call to Action to enhance airline safety following last year’s accident in Buffalo, NY, the FAA is asking for recommendations to improve pilot qualification and training requirements.
“Our nation’s airlines should have the best-trained and best-prepared pilots in the cockpit,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. “We must build on the current pilot certification system and make it even stronger.”
“Experience is not measured by flight time alone,” said FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt. “Pilots need to have quality training and experience appropriate to the mission to be ready to handle any situation they encounter.”
The public will have 60 days to comment on basic pilot certification in four key areas:
* Should all pilots who transport passengers be required to hold an Air Transport Pilot (ATP) certificate with the appropriate aircraft category, class and type ratings, which would raise the required flight hours for these pilots to 1,500 hours?
* Should the FAA permit academic credit in lieu of required flight hours or experience?
* Should the FAA establish a new commercial pilot certificate endorsement that would address concerns about the operational experience of newly hired commercial pilots, require additional flight hours and possibly credit academic training?
* Would an air carrier-specific authorization on an existing pilot certificate improve safety?
