Free Republic

The Federal Aviation Administration is actively recruiting workers who suffer "severe intellectual" disabilities, psychiatric problems and other mental and physical conditions under a diversity and inclusion hiring initiative spelled out on the agency’s website. "Targeted disabilities are those disabilities that the Federal government, as a matter of policy, has identified for special emphasis in recruitment and hiring," the FAA’s website states. "They include hearing, vision, missing extremities, partial paralysis, complete paralysis, epilepsy, severe intellectual disability, psychiatric disability and dwarfism."The initiative is part of the FAA’s "Diversity and Inclusion" hiring plan, which claims "diversity is integral to achieving FAA's mission of...

Marines Killed in Helicopter Collision The Cobra and Huey helicopters were conducting a training exercise at the time of the crash according to defense officials By R. Stickney | Thursday, Feb 23, 2012 | Updated 6:13 AM PST Seven U.S. Marines died when two helicopters collided last night near Yuma, Arizona. Defense officials said the Marines were from the 3rd Marine Airwing based at MCAS Miramar near San Diego. There were no survivors. The cause of the crash is under investigation. The identities of the seven killed have not been released pending formal notification of next of kin. Check back...

The airline says the Airbus A380 aircraft, with 433 passengers and 26 crew aboard, made an emergency landing and all on board are safe and well. -- snip -- Christopher Lee told ABC Radio's PM program that there was an explosion about 15 minutes after take-off. "After leaving Singapore there was an explosion, there was a loud bang followed by another one, and then a rattling of the cabin," he said. "Some of the passengers then alerted cabin staff to the fact that there was an explosion, there was smoke or something to that effect. "At that [point] we were...

12/24/2009 - ROYAL AIR FORCE MILDENHALL, England (AFNS) -- 'Twas two weeks before Christmas in the European sky ... I witnessed a KC-135 Stratotanker pumping fuel so a fighter could fly. A 100th Air Refueling Wing KC-135 aircrew airborne over Denmark refueled 30 Royal Danish Air Force F-16s Dec. 8. Royal Air Force Mildenhall Airmen were all busy at work ... not realizing in the sky arose such a quirk. I was taking photos of a formation of four Danish F-16s flying of the right wing of the KC-135 when the most peculiar thing happened. When out of the boom...

FALLON, Nev. (AP) -- Two fighter jets from the U.S. Navy's elite training school collided Friday over northern Nevada's high desert, killing one pilot and injuring two others who parachuted to safety. The pilot who died was based at Naval Air Station Oceana in Virginia Beach, Va., said Jeffery Wells, a spokesman at Fallon Naval Air Station. He was at the controls of an F/A-18C Hornet at the time of the crash.

Two fighter jets crashed into the Gulf of Mexico during a training mission Wednesday, but the pilots ejected and were later rescued, the Air Force said. Eglin Air Force Base spokeswoman Shirley Pigott said the pilots were rescued after their single-seat F-15C Eagles disappeared Wednesday afternoon off the Florida Panhandle, about 35 miles south of Tyndall Air Force Base. The Air Force has not determined if the planes collided. Weather in the area was clear. Coast Guard Petty Officer James Harless said a Coast Guard rescue jet located one pilot and radioed the location to a fishing vessel, which picked...

Story Summary: Two aircraft have crashed near Reed Hartman Highway, just north of Kemper Road in Sharonville, killing at least two people.

WASILLA, Alaska -- Two small planes collided midair and crashed about 20 miles north of Anchorage on Sunday, killing five people, officials said. The four people aboard a Cessna 170B and the pilot of a Cessna 172 who was the only aboard, were killed in the wreck just after noon, according to National Transportation Safety Board investigator Clint Johnson. Both were single-engine high wing aircraft. Both planes were at an altitude between 500 and 800 feet when they collided above the Palmer Hay Flats in a remote area about 10 miles south of Wasilla. "It appears that the westbound aircraft...

Dear fellow Nebraskans; I am pleased to announce my candidacy for Treasurer of the Great State of Nebraska. I am running because I am a concerned citizen who, like you, is interested in a responsible, efficient state government. I am running because America is the greatest democracy in the world and I believe in giving voters a choice of candidates. I am running because I have the background and experiences to be a great Treasurer.

Wednesday September 14, 7:30 PM Chinese Air Force masters midair refueling(Kyodo) _ A military newspaper said Wednesday the Chinese Air Force had mastered midair refueling, making China the fifth country in the world to accomplish the risky procedure. According to the People's Liberation Army Daily, after trials since the 1990s, three warplanes doing an exercise completed the procedure in mid-August. The paper calls midair refueling risky and difficult. "Midair refueling is an important mark for balancing capabilities for aerial warfare," the paper said. "It's also an important symbol of a country's national defense strengths." The paper offers a play-by-play description...

MANAMA, Bahrain (NNS) -- Two F-14A Tomcats operating from USS Enterprise (CVN 65) in the Red Sea collided with each other while conducting basic daytime fighter maneuvers Feb. 2. No one was injured during the incident, and both aircraft landed safely aboard Enterprise. One F-14 sustained minor damage to its right wingtip, and the other’s right vertical stabilizer had nearly been sheared off. The Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 1 F-14s are “Checkmates” from Fighter Squadron (VF) 211, home-based at Naval Air Station Oceana, Va. The incident is under investigation, and Enterprise is still able to continue its present mission....