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Mystery deepens over what distracted pilots on plane that overshot by 150 miles The mystery of the Northwest Airlines plane that overshot Minneapolis by 150 miles has deepened after the first officer insisted that he and the pilot were not asleep or arguing. By Philip Sherwell in New York Published: 6:39PM BST 24 Oct 2009 The mystery of the Northwest Airlines plane that overshot Minneapolis by 150 miles has deepened after the first officer insisted that he and the pilot were not asleep or arguing. Pilots on the Northwest Airlines plane that overshot Minneapolis by 150 miles will not say...

In a strongly worded internal memo, Air France has warned its pilots to be more vigilant about safety procedures and upbraided those blaming flight equipment for the crash of Flight 447 into the Atlantic in June. No one knows what caused the accident, which killed all 228 people aboard and was Air France's deadliest crash. Pilots' unions said Saturday the company is trying to distance itself from blame — and shift attention to the possibility of human error — as the investigation drags on. "Enough Scandals and False Debates about Flight Security!" reads the memo, sent to pilots Tuesday and...

(CNN) -- The co-pilot of a Northwest Airlines flight that overshot the Minneapolis, Minnesota, airport by 150 miles says he and the pilot weren't asleep and they weren't arguing. However, Richard I. Cole, who spoke to CNN affiliate KGW-TV from his Salem, Oregon, home, wouldn't say much more Friday. He said an investigation will reveal what took place. After repeatedly saying he couldn't talk about the case, Cole said that contrary to media reports, "Nobody was asleep in the cockpit. No arguments took place. "But other than that, I cannot tell you anything that went on because we're having hearings...

A FIGHTER pilot who appeared in the 1986 hit movie Top Gun has been appointed as the highest-ranking US military commander in Asia and the Pacific. Admiral Robert F Willard took control of the US Pacific Command after a ceremony in Hawaii yesterday. Defence Secretary Robert Gates presided over the proceedings during a stop en route to meetings in Japan and South Korea. Willard succeeds Admiral Timothy Keating, who is retiring. The F-14 fighter pilot spent the last two years heading the US Pacific Fleet. During that time, Willard outlined a new US maritime strategy at the Australian Navy Sea...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 16, 2009 – Coast Guard searchers today found crash debris believed to belong to a missing Air Force pilot’s F-16 jet that collided yesterday with another F-16 near the South Carolina coast during a night-training exercise, an Air Force spokesman said today. “The Coast Guard has found some debris in the ocean that is apparently from our missing F-16,” Robert Sexton, chief of public affairs at Shaw Air Force Base in Sumter, S.C., said during a telephone interview with American Forces Press Service. Shaw Air Force Base is the home of the 20th Fighter Wing, to which the...

MECHANICSVILLE, Va. — The dark blue captain’s hat, with its golden oak-leaf clusters, sits atop a bookcase in Bryan Lawlor’s home, out of reach of the children. The uniform their father wears still displays the four stripes of a commercial airline captain, but the hat stays home. The rules forbid that extra display of authority, now that Mr. Lawlor has been downgraded to first officer. He is now in the co-pilot’s seat in the 50-seat commuter jets he flies, not for any failure in skill. He wears his captain’s stripes, he explains, to make that point. But with air travel...

CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE ADDER, Iraq, Oct. 6, 2009 – Maj. Anthony Meador is near the end of his third tour in Iraq as an Army aviator. Army Maj. Anthony Meador inspects a maintenance panel near the wheel of a Black Hawk helicopter. Meador is wrapping up his third tour in Iraq. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Neil Gussman  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Having served in Baghdad in 2004 and at Joint Base Balad in 2007, he now commands Company C, 1st Battalion, 52nd Aviation Regiment, a Fort Wainwright, Alaska, unit attached here to 2nd Battalion, 104th Aviation Regiment,...

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MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) - World War II pilot Bernerd Harding feels he has finally completed his mission—65 years after his B-24, nicknamed Georgette, was shot down over Germany. Harding, now 90, flew Friday from Laconia to Manchester aboard the Witchcraft—the last B-24 still flying.

A hero pilot who saved the lives of 152 people by landing a stricken passenger jet at Heathrow airport is facing joining the dole queue - because he has a crash on his CV. Captain Peter Burkill, 44, was commended for his actions while safely bring down a Boeing 777 after both engines failed two miles short of the runway. The British Airways pilot, fought to keep the plane in the air, narrowly avoiding houses and also flying over the Prime Minister's motorcade which was on a nearby road at the time of the accident in January last year. Despite...

MIAMI — Flying a Boeing 727 around the world might sound like a dream. But pilots for a Florida air cargo company claim their job is a nightmare that includes no sick pay, shrinking wages and no place to use the bathroom on flights but a plastic bag. Sixty-two pilots and flight engineers for Fort Lauderdale-based Amerijet International Inc. went on strike on Aug. 27. Among their demands is flushable toilets on board. Their union has been trying to negotiate a new contract the past five years. Its Florida workers say they're suffering. On the picket line in heavy rain...

View of the fighter plane’s cockpit with human remains still resting inside. A group of divers, who found a downed WWII British fighter plane within relative shallow waters off the North African coast, can now confirm the existence of human remains inside the cockpit of the Curtis P40. The group are still seeking to discuss the find with the British Government and Ministry of Defence with the intention of arranging the recovery of the plane from the sea and the repatriation of the remains of the pilot who was presumably shot down during a mission. At a difficult time for...

7/27/2009 - COLUMBUS AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. (AFNS) -- Iraqi air force 2nd Lt. Omar AlNuaimi became the first Iraqi to complete the Air Force Aviation Leadership Program upon his graduation from aviation training July 24 here after three years of training. The Iraqi airman earned his pilots wings with his fellow student pilots of Specialized Undergraduate Pilot Training Class 09-12. "It feels great (to graduate)," Lieutenant AlNuaimi said. "Since the Iraqi air force was founded and until this moment, we haven't had students who have graduated from the U.S. It's been great and wonderful to be trained and get...

WASHINGTON, July 20, 2009 – The commander of U.S. Air Forces Central expressed condolences to the families and friends of two Air Force officers killed early July 18 in the crash of an F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jet that was flying in support of coalition operations in eastern Afghanistan. "Our thoughts and prayers go out to their families and loved ones … and to the airmen and the joint and coalition team members who called them friends and will miss their fellow warriors," Air Force Lt. Gen. Gary North said. Air Force Capt. Thomas J. Gramith, 27, of Eagan, Minn.,...

Former Boeing instructor pilot Anthony Keyter has filed a federal civil lawsuit against Boeing, alleging that the Chicago-based aerospace company plotted to murder him. Boeing test pilot Anthony Keyter says that Boeing plotted to kill him. The lawsuit indicates that Keyter lives in Gig Harbor and that he is representing himself. The suit, filed Monday with the U.S. District Court of Western Washington, charges that Boeing plotted to kill Keyter after Keyter filed another civil complaint against President George W. Bush. "President Bush, via his agents, contacted high level executives of The Boeing Company and initiated a criminal plot to...

CLACKAMAS -- They came by ones and twos Friday, quietly slipping into the pews at New Hope Community Church. They smiled at the words honoring a man whose faith made him an inspiration and whose exploits in three wars made him a hero. And when the last mournful drone of the bagpipes faded, they said goodbye to Col. Kenneth L. Reusser of Milwaukie, the most decorated U.S. Marine Corps aviator in history. "He was the finest gentleman I've ever met," said Harley Wedel of Fairview, a fellow Korean War veteran. "I'm really going to miss him." Reusser flew an amazing...

An F-16 pilot missing after his jet crashed overnight during training at Hill Air Force Base was killed, according to a friend of the pilot's family in Candler, N.C. Hill officials would not release the pilot's name or confirm his death, but Bill Jamison confirmed that Capt. George Bryan Houghton, 28, of Candler, was killed during a nighttime exercise over the Utah Test and Training Range in the massive, rugged and remote west desert around 10:25 p.m. Monday. Col. Scott Dennis, commander of the 388th Fighter Wing, said the pilot's body was recovered near Wendover after a seven-hour search. Houghton,...

TOOELE, Utah — Military officials are trying to locate the pilot of an F-16 that crashed at the Utah Test and Training Range west of Salt Lake City. Base's 388th Fighter Wing, crashed late Monday night while on a routine training mission.

By ADAM GOLDMAN and VICTOR EPSTEIN Associated Press Writers NEWARK, N.J. -- The pilot of a Continental Airlines flight from Brussels to Newark died over the Atlantic Ocean on Thursday, but the jet landed safely with two co-pilots at the controls. Flight 61 touched down on-time just before noon at Newark Liberty International Airport, authorities said. The Boeing 777 was carrying 247 passengers, said Kelly Cripe, a spokeswoman for the Houston-based airline. Passengers weren't told of the pilot's death in flight. During the flight, an announcement was made asking if any doctors were aboard and several passengers approached the cockpit....

It's still a mystery as to what a pilot reported seeing last week as he flew his Continental Express aircraft over Liberty County, Texas. However, the "Houston Chronicle" reports information is being exchanged by the FAA, the county sheriff's department and the FBI.

ANDREWS AIR FORCE BASE, Md., May 15, 2009 – As acrobatic aircraft buzzed overhead as part of the run-up to the annual air show here this weekend, Air Force Lt. Col. Derek Routt paid more notice to the parked, baby-blue and white business jets on the ground -- aircraft used by the nation’s elected and military leaders. Air Force Lt. Col. Derek Routt, “Thunderbird No. 7,” looks across the flight line on Andrews Air Force Base, Md., May 14, 2009, before an upcoming air show. Routt is a Nevada Air National Guard member in his first season as operations...

The captain of a commuter plane that crashed Feb. 12 near Buffalo, N.Y., had flunked numerous flight tests during his career and was never adequately taught how to respond to the emergency that led to the airplane’s fatal descent, according to people close to the investigation, The Wall Street Journal reports. All 49 people aboard were killed, as well as one person in a house below, when the plane crashed just a few miles short of the Buffalo airport en route from Newark, N.J. The Bombardier Q400 turboprop in the crash, which will be the subject of a National Transportation...

4/16/2009 - ANDERSEN AIR FORCE BASE, Guam (AFNS) -- A Royal Australian Air Force pilot assigned to the 90th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron has had the opportunity to fly the Air Force's premier fighter, the F-22 Raptor, as part of a foreign pilot exchange program. Squadron Leader Matthew Harper is an F-22 instructor pilot and the 90th EFS flight commander in charge of scheduling and training. Squadron Leader Harper began his three-year assignment here in the spring of 2008. The pilot exchange program has been an important part of the military relationship between the U.S. and Australia for many years, according...

FORT MYERS, Fla. – A passenger landed a twin-engine plane in Florida after the pilot died in flight with a total of six people on board. Federal Aviation Administration officials say the pilot died after takeoff from an airport in Naples on Sunday. It was on autopilot and climbing toward 10,000 feet when the pilot died. The passenger who took over is licensed for single-engine planes but isn't certified to fly the larger King Air craft. An air traffic controller helped the passanger down by calling a friend in Connecticut who knows the King Air plane and relaying instructions. The...

Canadian Pilot Steals Plane; Wisconsin Capitol EvacuatedUpdated: April 6, 2009 07:19 PM EDT Two F-16 fighters were dispatched this afternoon to track a single-engine plane over Wisconsin that was believed stolen in Canada by a student pilot, authorities said. The incident caused the Wisconsin Capitol in Madison to be evacuated as a precaution. Mike Kucharek of the North American Aerospace Defense Command in Colorado says that by 5:30 p.m., the Cessna 172 was south of Madison and headed southwest. Kucharek says the plane was stolen from Thunder Bay, Ontario, about 2:30 p.m. and the pilot had been flying erratically and...

3/27/2009 - BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan (AFNS) -- What sets Maj. Alan Brown apart from other Airmen in the gym at Bagram Airfield's Camp Cunningham isn't his workout routine, it's his right leg. "When people see me in shorts at the gym there's definitely a pattern," said the 42-year-old mobility pilot of Pine Bluffs, Wyo. "They glance at my eyes, look down at my leg and then look back at my eyes," said the Wyoming Air National Guard Airmen deployed with the 774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron. "It happens every time." Major Brown accidentally shot his leg in a hunting accident more...

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. – One of the Air Force's top-of-the-line F-22 fighter jets crashed Wednesday in the high desert of Southern California, killing a test pilot for prime contractor Lockheed Martin Corp. The F-22A Raptor crashed at 10 a.m. about 35 miles northeast of Edwards Air Force Base in the Mojave Desert.

An F-22A Raptor jet -- the newest fighter in the Air Force inventory -- crashed during a test flight north of Edwards Air Force Base in California yesterday, killing the pilot, according to official statements.

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif., March 26 (UPI) -- A test pilot was killed Wednesday when his F-22 Raptor fighter jet crashed in a California desert, the U.S. Air Force said. The pilot was David Cooley, 49, of Palmdale, a 21-year Air Force veteran who joined Lockheed Martin Corp (NYSE:LMT), the aircraft's primary contractor, six years ago, the Los Angeles Times said. He was pronounced dead at a Victorville hospital, the newspaper said. It is the second crash of one of the state-of-the-art stealth fighters, which cost $140 each. In 2004, an F-22 crashed in Nevada. The pilot survived by...

A Tunisian pilot who paused to pray instead of taking emergency measures before crash-landing his plane, killing 16 people, has been sentenced to 10 years in jail by an Italian court along with his co-pilot. The 2005 crash at sea off Sicily left survivors swimming for their lives, some clinging to a piece of the fuselage that remained floating after the ATR turbo-prop aircraft splintered upon impact. A fuel-gauge malfunction was partly to blame but prosecutors also said the pilot succumbed to panic, praying out loud instead of following emergency procedures and then opting to crash-land the plane instead trying...

CAMP STRIKER, Iraq, March 18, 2009 – If a pilot ever finds himself in the cockpit of a North Carolina Army National Guard UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter with a female aviator, he will have no doubt who she is – there’s only one. Army Maj. Michele P. Harper, a pilot with the North Carolina Army National Guard’s 449th Theater Aviation Brigade out of Morrisville, N.C., prepares for takeoff in Iraq. Harper is the only female Black Hawk helicopter pilot in the North Carolina Army National Guard. Courtesy photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Army Maj. Michele P. Harper...

He disappeared 18 years ago on the first night of the Gulf War. The Navy has changed his status from KIA to MIA four times. Family - and Navy stalwarts - haven't forgotten him or let up on their efforts to find out what happened to the fighter pilot, and father of two.

The Yeslam Aviator: Osama Bin Laden's Brother Builds The Ultimate Pilot's Watch Sticking with today's theme of new watch releases, we're here to tell you about one of the more interesting watches we've heard about in a while. It is called the Aviator from Swiss luxury brand Yeslam. The Yeslam brand is owned by a man named Yeslam Bin Laden, who happens to be the estranged half-brother of Osama Bin Laden. Yeslam, who attended the University of Southern California, now lives in Switzerland and hasn't spoken to his more famous (or infamous?) brother in decades.Enough about that, lets talk about...

The first time she piloted a plane, Jessica Cox had a memory flash from first grade, when she couldn't swing on the monkey bars or climb the ladders to the tall slides on the playground. She spent most of her time in the sandbox, imagining she was Superwoman flying over the schoolyard and taking her friends one at a time for a flight.. "It shows you the power of the imagination," she says. "The imagination with intention.". Throughout her life, Cox has impressed people with her ability to negotiate without arms. But she has attracted some international fame with her...

The passengers of Aeroflot Flight 315, a packed Boeing 767 out of Moscow for New York's JFK Dec. 28, staged a coup, demanding that a pilot be removed from the flight after hearing his severely slurred preflight announcement. Reports state that the 55-year-old captain's words, spoken in Russian, were barely intelligible and became worse when he switched to English. Some passengers claimed they couldn't tell what language he was speaking. Passengers who relayed their concerns to cabin crew were at first rebuffed and told to sit quietly or deplane. But passenger concern spread and ultimately Aeroflot representatives came aboard the...

CHARLESTON, S.C. - The rain fell steadily from an opaque sky, but the Marines stood ramrod straight, eyes fixed ahead. In the historic graveyard, the Rev. Peter Lanzillotta gazed down at the urn. "You served your country with a full measure of your devotion. We shall salute you and say hail and farewell, good and noble Marine."

Here is video of the first public comments from U.S. Airways Pilot Chesley Sullenberger ("Sully") as he and his wife appeared at a hero's welcome homecoming in Danville, California. Sullenberger and his wife gave brief remarks. He displayed deep humility, just what you would expect from this genuine American hero . . . . . . (watch video)

As the captain of US Airways Flight 1549 prepared to ditch his disabled jet in New York's Hudson River, he had some help from some last-resort equipment that apparently kept the plane's electrical and hydraulic systems working even as both engines nearly shut down. View Full Image Associated PressNational Transportation Safety Board inspectors examine the tail section of US Airways Flight 1549 as it sits on a barge in Jersey City, N.J., Monday. The jet was moved Sunday night from a seawall at the southern tip of Manhattan, where it was lifted out of the Hudson River. After striking what...

Air Force One Pilot Calls It Quits Jan. 17, 2009(CBS) Try to guess how many flights President Bush has flown on Air Force One since taking office. It’s 1,675 - more than 200 flights in each of the last eight years. And on nearly all of those flights, Col. Mark Tillman, 51, was at the controls of Air Force One. But now, he’s got just one mission left for George W. Bush - to fly him home to Texas on Tuesday as the former president. The aircraft will be the familiar 747-400 that routinely serves as Air Force One, but...

The pilot of a crippled US Airways jetliner made a split-second decision to put down in the Hudson River because trying to return to the airport after birds knocked out both engines could have led to a catastrophic crash in a populated neighborhood, he told investigators Saturday.

The Coast Guard and National Transportation Safety Board released this Coast Guard video of US Airways flight 1549 landing in the Hudson River . . .

The wife of the pilot who safely landed a crippled jetliner in the Hudson river says her husband is a "a pilot's pilot" who "loves the art of the airplane."

Oregon, WI - The water in the Hudson River was so cold Thursday afternoon that US Airways co-pilot Jeffrey Skiles' legs were immediately numb, his wife said today. Barbara Skiles said her husband, 49, was walking through the plane to find more life vests for people who had exited without them. The quick response from New York City's police and fire departments, as well as ferries and other boats that helped bring passengers to safety, was a key reason no one was injured or killed, she said. All 155 passengers on the US Airways flight were rescued and brought to...

To friends and family, he's just "Sully." To the rest of the world, Chesley Sullenberger is now a miracle worker with a pilot's license. Photo: Pilot of US Airways Flight 1549, Chesley (Sully) Sullenberger III. The former Air Force fighter pilot remained cool, calm and collected both before and after successfully ditching his US Airways flight into the Hudson River. "That pilot is a stud," said one police source. "After the crash, he was sitting there in the ferry terminal, wearing his hat, sipping his coffee and acting like nothing happened." Sullenberger, 57, looks more like Clark Kent than Superman:...

Oregon - Barbara Skiles had no idea the plane her husband was co-piloting had crashed until her phone rang. It was her husband, Jeffrey Skiles, telling her he was OK and not to worry. "He just said they had to put the plane down in the Hudson and everybody was OK," she said Thursday night from her house in this town south of Madison. "Usually, you don't get such good endings." Jeffrey Skiles, 49, was among those at the controls of the US Airways plane that crash-landed in the Hudson River alongside New York City on Thursday afternoon. All 155...

JANUARY 15-Meet Chelsey B. "Sully" Sullenberger, III, the US Airways pilot who today amazingly crash-landed a US Airways jet in New York's Hudson River with any apparent fatalities.

Some 150 people aboard a US Airways plane en route to Charlotte, N.C., from New York City were rescued today in a lightning-fast effort following the jet's crash into the frigid waters of the Hudson River off the West Side of Manhattan. In the aftermath of the crash, the US Airways pilot, Chesley Burnett "Sully" Sullenberger III, was praised for his efforts at landing the plane softly on the river's surface, allowing rescue crews to get to the passengers before the plane sank. "It would appear that the pilot did a masterful job of landing the plane in the river,...

See link for Video:Passengers are rescued from the plane's wingsA US airliner on a domestic flight with at least 152 people aboard has crashed into the Hudson River in New York City but with no loss of life.All 148 passengers and the crew of at least four were rescued from the sinking plane, with some suffering injuries on impact. The US Airways Airbus A320 crashed just after taking off from LaGuardia Airport heading for Charlotte, North Carolina. Officials believe the plane may have collided with a flock of geese. "There is no indication that the incident is security-related," a homeland...

Pilot Accused Of Drinking, Replaced On Port Columbus Flight Wednesday, January 7, 2009 5:52 PM Print Story E-mail Story COLUMBUS, Ohio — 10TV News learned on Wednesday that a Southwest Airlines pilot has been placed on paid leave after being accused of drinking before getting on a flight at Port Columbus International Airport. According to a Port Columbus Police report, a passenger approached the pilot on Tuesday afternoon, saying he "smelled and looked drunk," 10TV's Andy Hirsch reported. The pilot then went to a restroom and called off sick, the report said. The pilot told police that he was not...

BETHESDA, Md. — Quentin C. Aanenson, a Minnesota-born fighter pilot whose wartime experiences helped millions of television viewers understand World War II, has died. A subject of Ken Burns' documentary "The War" and the producer of his own film a decade earlier, Aanenson died Sunday of cancer at his home in Bethesda, his son, Jerry, said. He was 87. "He lived a magnificent life," Jerry Aanenson said. "He said if he had a chance to be 15 again, he wouldn't take it." The native of Luverne, Minn., flew 75 combat missions in Europe as a captain in P-47 Thunderbolt fighters....