Free Republic

Final Compilations by ANN Editor-In-Chief/Blame-Taker, Jim Campbell It is both the most "fun," and most difficult task, facing the ANN staff at the end of every year -- determining who, or what, did the most to promote the cause of aviation in the past 365 days... while also chastising those people or entities that did all they could to undermine the many successes the aerospace community has managed to accomplish.

When you get to the bottom, keep digging fellas. More . . .

Jane Garvey, head of the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration from 1997 to 2002, stepped down from Bombardier Inc.'s board yesterday after her decision to serve on U.S. president-elect Barack Obama's transition team. Garvey will be heading a review of U.S. transportation agencies' decisions and policies. She is regarded in Washington as the top candidate to take over as Secretary of Transportation when Obama is inaugurated in January. She refused to discuss her future, saying yesterday: "I'm going to refer everything to the Transition Office." Garvey has been executive director, infrastructure advisory group, at JP Morgan Securities in the U.S., specializing...

A World War II-era air traffic network that often forces planes to take longer, zigzagging routes is costing U.S. airlines billions of dollars in wasted fuel while an upgrade to a satellite-based system has languished in the planning stages for more than a decade. The $35 billion plan would replace the current radar system with the kind of GPS technology that has become commonplace in cars and cell phones. Supporters say it would triple air traffic capacity, reduce delays by at least half, improve safety and curb greenhouse gas emissions. An AP analysis of federal and industry data found that...

A hiker came across the papers in the backcountry near Mammoth Mountain, according to the Madera County Sheriff's Department. The adventurer vanished in September 2007. A hiker in the Sierra Nevada backcountry today found identification documents believed to be those of missing adventurer Steve Fossett, officials said. The ID cards were found by hiker Preston Morrow off a trail near the town of Mammoth Lakes earlier this week and were turned in to local police. The items reportedly carried the name of James Steven Fossett and the same date of birth as the adventurer, who vanished in September 2007 after...

I am going to keep this short and to the point. I do a fair bit of air travel and have for the last decade or more pondered why CNN is the only station ever available in every airport in the US. Does anyone else ever question this media monopoly which is able to capture the attention of every air traveler in the country? I don't get it. Why does CNN have this exclusive monopoly in public airports? They have the lock on the attention of the millions of air travelers that move throughout the country. Why is CNN allowed...

BOCA GRANDE - Three men doing construction work on a beach-front deck helped rescue a pilot whose small plane crashed into the ocean just offshore today. Law enforcement officials did not identify the survivor, the plane's lone occupant. He was taken to a Charlotte County hospital in stable condition. At about 11 a.m., the single-engine plane approached the water, barely audible, as though the pilot intended to land on water, said one of the workers, Eric Stone, 31, of North Port. But seconds later, when Stone and his co-workers ended their break, the plane crashed about 100 feet off the...

Russian, Delta Jets Nearly Collide Over Caribbean WASHINGTON (AP) ― Federal authorities say two airliners were a minute away from colliding when they turned away from each other over the Caribbean this week. The National Transportation Safety Board says the Delta Air Lines flight and a Russian-registered passenger jet were heading toward each other north of Puerto Rico on Thursday when cockpit alarms went off. In a statement Friday, the NTSB says the pilot of the Russian plane -- a Transaero Boeing 737 -- descended 200 to 300 feet to avoid Delta Flight 485. The planes were 33,000 feet over...

Foxnews Alert: Foxnews says it started on the East Coast. Shep says Massive Communications Problem. www.faa.gov

A computer failure in the system that processes flight plans has delayed flights nationwide, the Federal Aviation Administration confirmed to FOX News. "The system that processes flight plans is backed up," said FAA senior spokeswoman Laura Brown. "Planes must file a flight plan to take off. Without that they sit on the ground." Brown said that there was no safety issue, but noted that all flights in Boston were grounded, and the FAA's website shows all flights bound for the East Coast grounded at their destination airports. The Department of Homeland Security confirmed Tuesday that the delays were not terror-related."There...

Fox News Alert MAJOR problem with national air traffic...specifically flight plan system....All air traffic halted, nationally.

GLENDALE, AZ -- A plane carrying a pilot and two United States Secret Service agents for Senator John McCain crash landed in a West Valley field on Tuesday morning, according to officials from the Arizona senator's campaign. No serious injuries were reported at the scene near 99th and Northern avenues. Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said the single-engine Cessna 206 took off from Glendale Airport just after 10 a.m. The pilot noted a rough-running engine and tried to land in a vacant lot two miles from the runway, but hit a fence. The plane sustained substantial damage. According to...

The incident involving Sen. Barack Obama's campaign plane last month was much more serious than the airline or the Federal Aviation Administration said, according to FAA control tower tapes obtained by ABC News. At the time, an FAA spokesperson said the pilot did not declare an emergency and the airline owner, Midwest Airlines, said safety "was never an issue." [Snip] Just 41 seconds after discovering he no longer had full control of the plane's up and down movements, the pilot told an FAA air traffic controller "at this time we would like to declare an emergency and also have CFR...

DEVELOPING — Federal aviation authorities accused American Airlines on Thursday of safety violations and problems with its drug and alcohol testing, which carry potential penalties of up to $7.1 million.Among the violations, the Federal Aviation Administration alleges that American last December improperly deferred maintenance work on safety-related equipment when returning two aircraft to service after pilots had reported problems. The planes then flew 58 times, according to the FAA.

Another FAA spokesman, Mike Fergus, told KIRO Radio that the plane had departed from San Juan Island on a flight to Auburn and went down about 8:30.

JUNCTION CITY, Calif. (CBS) ― Nine people are missing and feared dead in a helicopter crash in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, a Federal Aviation Administration spokesman said Wednesday. The crash happened Tuesday night as the helicopter was transporting firefighters battling a wildfire north of Junction City. FAA spokesman Ian Gregor said the helicopter was carrying 11 firefighters and two crew members when it went down. Four people have been taken to the hospital with severe burns. Two of the survivors were in critical condition at the University of California Medical Center in Sacramento, Forest Service spokesman Mike Odle said Wednesday,...

The Federal Aviation Administration has fined Victoria Osteen, wife of Lakewood pastor Joel Osteen, $3,000 after determining she had interfered with a Continental Airlines crew member aboard a flight late last year. And this week, a flight attendant filed suit claiming she was assaulted by Victoria Osteen during that flight to Vail, Colo., for the Christmas holidays. Osteen has paid the penalty, which is not an admission of guilt. On the civil matter, Rusty Hardin, Osteen's attorney, called the lawsuit a "ridiculous" attempt to seek money from Osteen, whose husband is a best-selling author as well as the pastor of...

Updated, 4:44 p.m. | Defying the Bush administration, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey announced on Monday that it would block any flights that result from the federal government’s plan to auction off departure and arrival slots at the three major airports in the New York region. The Port Authority said the federal plan would “have a severe negative impact” on air travel and “would be illegal without Congressional authorization.” The Port Authority’s decision contradicts a much-debated proposal that was introduced last year by the United States Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration, which want...

WASHINGTON, July 31, 2008 – The Defense Department, the Transportation Security Administration and the Federal Aviation Administration have signed a memorandum of understanding that will give servicemembers access to commercial airports as they are transiting to and from combat zones. The memo covers all members of the armed forces, DoD civilians and contractor personnel. The memorandum is a response to an October incident at Oakland International Airport. A chartered aircraft carrying about 200 Marines from Iraq back to their home station in Hawaii landed for fuel and food. Citing security concerns, airport officials shunted the plane to a remote location...

The FAA has offered an unprecedented $100,000 bonus to air-traffic controllers throughout the country to lure them to the New York area's five understaffed radar centers - and has even begun trolling local high schools to recruit for the jobs. The FAA began its recruitment efforts in high schools and through online ads on MySpace and Craigslist because of a severe staffing shortage and lack of experience among workers at its air-control towers.   (edit) By 2011, 59 percent of all controllers will have less than five years on the job.  

AIRLINES are desperate. With jet fuel over $4 per gallon and still climbing, American, United and other major carriers are raising fares, cutting flights, trimming fleets and laying off pilots. They're also ordering fuel-efficient Boeing 787s and Airbus A350XWBs — the new generation of plastic planes. These new aircraft promise 20-percent-lower fuel consumption. Replacing heavier traditional aluminum alloys, 50 percent of their skins, panels and load-bearing structures are comprised of lighter, stiffer carbon-fiber-reinforced-plastic (CFRP) composites. Then add the latest, most fuel-efficient engine technology. Sounds good. But beneath these advantages danger lurks — novel maintenance challenges for which neither airlines nor...

Don’t blame a bird for the punch that the Northwest Airlines plane took in the nose on Sunday. Northwest is now examining the dented nose cone of a Boeing 757 jet that was damaged during a flight from Detroit to Tampa. Images snapped by passengers... show the front tip of the plane looking a bit like a beer cup smashed in after a football game. Kathleen Bergen, a spokeswoman for the F.A.A. in Atlanta, said pilots heard a bang when the plane was at 18,000 feet during its descent into Tampa. Its radar went out, prompting the crew to suspect...

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration issued a warning Thursday on the anti-smoking drug Chantix, advising medical examiners "to not qualify anyone currently using this medication for commercial motor vehicle licenses." The FMCSA oversees the interstate trucking and bus industry. Chantix, made by Pfizer, Inc., was attacked in a study by a non-profit group on Wednesday for possible links to seizures, dizziness, heart irregularity, diabetes and more than 100 accidents. The Department of Transportation alerted its agencies about the study, asking the office directors be aware of the report's warnings and recommendations. The Federal Aviation Administration banned the drug for...

The Federal Aviation Administration said Wednesday it would no longer permit pilots or air traffic controllers to use the smoking cessation drug Chantix, citing potential side effects that could pose a threat to the safe operation of aircraft. The Food and Drug Administration issued a public health advisory in February, saying that some Chantix users had developed a variety of serious psychiatric symptoms, and that some had committed suicide. An F.A.A. spokeswoman, Laura Brown, said the agency had approved the use of Chantix for airline pilots and flight controllers last year, but was notifying 150 pilots and 30 air traffic...

A city ordinance that went into effect on Thursday that bars some private jets from using Santa Monica Airport would be grounded under a temporary restraining order sought by federal officials. Citing "a clear possibility of irreparable harm," attorneys for the U.S. government filed an application for a temporary restraining order ... Concerned about safety and noise, the Santa Monica City Council approved an ordinance in November that bars jets with approach speeds of greater than 136 mph, including aircraft popular among business executives. The FAA earlier served the city with a cease-and-desist order challenging the ordinance, contending the city...

ST. LOUIS (Map, News) - Federal airline regulators said Wednesday that 24 jets operated by commuter airline company Trans States Airlines Inc. were grounded because they do not meet safety standards. Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Elizabeth Cory said the airline reported the problem Tuesday and the aircraft were being checked.

The Federal Aviation Administration is going to begin alerting its top headquarters officials when field inspectors miss airline safety inspections, Transportation Secretary Mary Peters announced Friday. Peters also demanded that the FAA and American Airlines explain to her within 14 days why 250,000 U.S. air travelers endured canceled flights last week. American grounded its MD-80 jetliners and canceled 3,100 flights in order to inspect or redo wiring that was supposed to have been completed between Sept. 5, 2006, and March 5, 2008....

Rival US companies Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines have agreed to merge in a $5bn deal that would create the world's biggest carrier. The directors of the two companies agreed the stock-swap deal on Monday. The combined airline, which will be called Delta, will have an annual revenue of more than $35bn and employ more than 75,000 staff. The merger could trigger similar moves by other US carriers struggling with rising oil prices, correspondents say.

Three House members have charged Federal Aviation Administration officials with presenting "misleading" testimony about airline maintenance. Representative James Oberstar of Minnesota and two other Democratic colleagues sent a letter to FAA officials. The lawmakers questioned inconsistencies about the FAA officials' testimony last week about how regulators would implement a 2004 customer service initiative. According to the letter, the new rules were to be delivered, discussed and documented within 60 days of a February memorandum. But the FAA officials testified that the process could occur "during routine visits over the next year." A spokesman for the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee...

Air travelers in the United States, whose plans have already been disrupted by thousands of canceled flights recently, may face continued chaos in coming weeks as the Federal Aviation Administration and the airlines expand their scrutiny of passenger planes. The groundings at airlines like American, Alaska, Delta and Southwest resulted from a broader round of inspections, ordered by the FAA, to determine whether the airlines have complied with past directives to check airplane structures, wires, electronics and other components. A second wave of audits began on March 30 and will continue through June 30. Laura Brown, a spokeswoman for the...

CHICAGO (Reuters) - American Airlines canceled almost 1,100 flights, or nearly half its schedule, on Wednesday to reinspect aircraft, a disruption that affected about 100,000 passengers and triggered chaos at the busiest U.S. airports. The airline said it expects about 900 cancellations on Thursday.

The whistle-blowers who exposed maintenance and inspection problems at Southwest Airlines told Congress their jobs were threatened and their reports of noncompliance were ignored for years. Federal Aviation Administration inspector Douglas Peters choked up Thursday at a House hearing and needed a few sips of water to tell lawmakers about how a former manager came into his office, commented on pictures of Peters' family being most important, and then said his job could be jeopardized by his actions. Rep. James Oberstar, D-Minn., said FAA managers' actions displayed "malfeasance bordering on corruption," adding that if presented to a grand jury, the...

Officials: Planes Avoid Mid-Air Crash Two airplanes carrying more than 120 passengers narrowly averted a mid-air collision east of Pittsburgh after an air traffic control trainee told a Delta Air Lines pilot to turn into the path of an oncoming plane, officials said. The Delta pilot made a nosedive and missed the plane by about 400 feet, the Federal Aviation Administration said. The other pilot also took evasive action, the FAA said. A cockpit collision avoidance system alerted the pilots to the danger. Delta Flight 1654 was en route from Cincinnati to LaGuardia International Airport in New York Tuesday morning...

DALLAS -- Dozens of federal inspector credentials giving access to airports have gone missing, an NBC 5 investigation revealed. According to the investigation, 122 Federal Aviation Administration safety inspector badges have been stolen or lost in the past five years. The credentials are one of the few forms of identification that give complete and unfettered access to airport facilities, including the cockpits of planes in flight.

Federal aviation regulators are seeking a penalty of at least $3 million from Southwest Airlines Co. for failing to properly inspect nearly four dozen older planes for potentially hazardous structural cracks, according to people familiar with the details. The penalty is expected to be the largest imposed against any passenger carrier in about two decades. The Department of Transportation and a congressional committee are examining why the Federal Aviation Administration didn't ground the planes temporarily last March after learning of the missed inspections. The case focuses on the carrier's failure to perform certain inspections on its older-version Boeing 737-300s as...

Last month, technology news sites and blogs breathlessly reported on a Federal Aviation Administration document suggesting that Boeing's new 787 Dreamliner passenger jet may be vulnerable to computer hackers. Boeing now says that the problem was fixed even before the FAA issued its warning. But there may be yet another way bad guys could get into the plane's control system, one that neither the company nor the FAA may have noticed. The FAA was specifically concerned that a passenger could use the on-board entertainment network, which personal laptops can plug into, to access the plane's navigation system and disable or...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 19, 2008 – The anticipated landing tomorrow of the space shuttle Atlantis will open the window of opportunity for the U.S. military to shoot down a dying intelligence satellite headed toward Earth, Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell said today. President Bush has authorized Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates to give the shoot-down order, and the secretary received a briefing on the plan today, Morrell said. The secretary is prepared to make that call from the road, if necessary, during his nine-day, around-the-world trip that begins tomorrow, he said. Marine Gen. James E. Cartwright, vice chairman of the Joint...

For Immediate ReleaseOffice of the Press SecretaryFebruary 9, 2008 President's Radio Address   President's Radio Address  Audio  En Español       In Focus: Judicial Nominees THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. One of the most important jobs of any President is to find good men and women to lead government agencies, preside over our courts, and provide vital services to the American people. So I have nominated talented individuals for these positions. Unfortunately, the Senate is not meeting its responsibility to consider these nominees in a timely manner. More than 180 of my nominees are waiting for confirmation. Some have been waiting for more than...

SHANGHAI, China (AP) — China's first fully homegrown commercial aircraft rolled off the production line Friday, marking a potential milestone for the country's aviation program. In a nationally televised ceremony, the Xiangfeng, or "Flying Phoenix," was towed into a hangar at the Shanghai Aircraft Manufacturing Factory amid flashing laser lights and rousing music. The rollout ceremony was closed to most media, apart from state-run CCTV and the official Xinhua News Agency. "Today, China's aviation industry has turned over a new leaf," Lin Zuoming, general manager of China Aviation Industry Corp. I, or AVIC I, said in comments carried on the...

CHICAGO (AP) - Another error by controllers at an air traffic center put planes too close to each other over central Illinois, but they were never in danger of colliding, the Federal Aviation Administration said Thursday. It was the second error by controllers at the FAA's Chicago Center radar facility in Aurora reported this week. The Boeing 737 jet came within 3.6 miles horizontally of a Beechcraft Super King Air 200 about 20 miles from Springfield on Wednesday morning, said FAA spokesman Tony Molinaro. Minimum spacing between planes is 5 miles horizontally or 1,000 feet vertically. The 737, operated by...

Ten ways to outsmart the airlines and not spend your holiday season at the airport Schlotzsky's. In the past year, I have flown on 110 flights—and 11 arrived on time. As awful as that performance is, it doesn't even reflect the worst travel nightmares of the year, including record numbers of lost bags, overflowing lavatories, and the infamous JetBlue odyssey... In the first half of the year, more than 93,000 flights were canceled, an increase of 44 percent over the first half of 2006, according to the Department of Transportation. 2007 will go down as the worst year in history...

Increasing the mandatory retirement age of airline pilots is now in the President's hands, after the Senate voted late Dec. 12 to pass a measure increasing the age from 60 to 65. "Forcing our nation's pilots to retire at 60 is out-of-date and only succeeds in removing our most experienced pilots from our skies," said Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, D-Hawaii, chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee. The law would change Federal Aviation Administration regulations from the 1960s, and would be in line with mandatory retirement age requirements adopted by the Civil Aviation Organization in 2006. The FAA has indicated it...

Two commercial jets came within 300 feet of hitting each other at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport last weekend, federal aviation officials said yesterday. The incident occurred about 7:25 p.m. Sunday when a Delta Connection regional jet took off and flew over a US Airways Airbus A320 that was landing on a crossing runway, officials said. Airline representatives said there were 43 passengers on the Delta Connection jet, which is operated by Comair and was headed to Boston. There were 150 passengers on the US Airways jet, which was arriving from Phoenix. No one was hurt on either plane. The...

You're one of those people who likes airplanes and airports. You look up when an airplane goes by. Perhaps you've been to a small airport and watched the Cessnas and Pipers come and go, daring to wish that it could be you. Well, it can be you, and even better, the U.S. government is here to help you. "I'm from the FAA and I'm here to help" In late 2004, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) introduced a simplified license called the sport pilot certificate, offering basic flying privileges in a new class of simplified aircraft called light sport aircraft, or...

By June 2008, the city of Houston will use the same military drone aircraft currently used to hunt down terrorists overseas to write speeding citations on Texas freeways. Local television station KPRC exposed the Houston Police Department's plan by using the station's news helicopter to spy on what was supposed to be a confidential gathering of area law enforcement personnel where the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) capabilities were demonstrated. The test took place seventy miles northwest of Houston in Waller County. While police have used aircraft to issue speeding tickets for years, the practice can be quite expensive. The cost...

WALLER COUNTY, Texas -- Houston police started testing unmanned aircraft and the event was shrouded in secrecy, but it was captured on tape by Local 2 Investigates. Neighbors in rural Waller County said they thought a top-secret military venture was under way among the farmland and ranches, some 70 miles northwest of Houston. KPRC Local 2 Investigates had four hidden cameras aimed at a row of mysterious black trucks. Satellite dishes and a swirling radar added to the neighbors' suspense. Then, cameras were rolling as an unmanned aircraft was launched into the sky and operated by remote control.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - In a terrible year for flight delays nationwide, this city's outdated airport has become a hub of the East Coast maelstrom. Holiday travelers from Maine to Florida shouldn't hold their breath, either. It could be decades before passengers see significant improvements at Philadelphia International Airport, routinely one of the nation's most delayed. Federal Aviation Administration officials, airlines, air traffic controllers and others say Philadelphia plays a major role in delays up and down the coast thanks to poor airport design, bad weather, heavy traffic and close proximity to New York.

The Transportation Security Administration touts its programs to ensure security by using undercover operatives to test its airport screeners. In one instance, however, the agency thwarted such a test by alerting screeners across the country that it was under way, even providing descriptions of the undercover agents. The government routinely runs covert tests at airports to ensure that security measures in place are sufficient to stop a terrorist from bringing something dangerous onto an airplane. Alerting screeners when the undercover officer is coming through and what the person looks like would defeat the purpose. But that's exactly what happened on...

Bush to nominate acting FAA chief to be administrator * Story Highlights * Robert A. Sturgell is the acting FAA administrator * President Bush to nominate him for promotion to the permanent position * Sturgell is a lawyer and former Topgun Navy fighter pilot WASHINGTON (AP) -- A former Topgun Navy fighter pilot who went on to fly commercial jetliners is being nominated to run the Federal Aviation Administration for the next five years. Now acting FAA administrator, Robert A. Sturgell, 48, who goes by Bobby, will be nominated by President Bush for promotion by Congress to the permanent position....

DOT's Peters Applauds Move ANN REALTIME REPORTING 10.23.07 1400 EDT: When searching for a replacement for former FAA Administrator Marion Blakey, President George W. Bush apparently didn't look very far. On Tuesday, reports surfaced the President plans to nominate Bobby Sturgell, currently the Acting FAA Administrator and previously Blakey's deputy, to take on the job full-time.