Posted on 02/24/2007 1:09:53 PM PST by buccaneer81
Pilot broke rules when he buzzed Downtown Saturday, February 24, 2007 Matt Tullis THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
The F-16 flight carrying then-Lt. Gov. Bruce Johnson over Downtown in August rattled workers for only a few seconds. The investigation into whether the jet flew too low or too fast took 174 days.
The Federal Aviation Administration’s conclusion: The F-16 Fighting Falcon was flying at almost twice the speed limit and too low.
The report the agency turned over to the Air National Guard on Feb. 7 says the pilot flew at speeds of up to 550 mph at altitudes between 2,100 and 3,000 feet.
FAA regulations say the top permissible speed over Downtown is 288 mph. The jet pilot, it added, did not have authorization from air-traffic controllers at Port Columbus to fly below 10,000 feet.
The flight also "was contrary" to a regulation that no one may operate an aircraft in a careless or reckless manner, according to a synopsis of the report.
Regulations for congested areas such as Downtown say a pilot must obtain authorization to fly as low as 1,000 feet above the tallest structure. The city’s tallest structure is the 629-foot-high Rhodes Tower.
The agency has no jurisdiction to discipline a military pilot, FAA spokeswoman Elizabeth Cory said. Instead, it turned its report over to the military.
Col. Mike Roberts, vice commander of the Guard’s 178 th Fighter Wing based in Springfield, where the flight started, said he had not seen the report. He said the pilot was disciplined based on the fighter wing’s own investigation.
"We found that the pilot did inadvertently go faster than FAA regulations allow," Roberts said. He would not describe the discipline, saying it was an internal matter.
The F-16 fighter jet roared north over Downtown on Aug. 17 at about 3,000 feet and between 422 and 550 mph, according to the FAA report. It flew over the Ohio State University campus between 2,100 and 2,300 feet and as fast as 497 mph before heading back Downtown for a final pass.
As the jet left Downtown, it was traveling at nearly 472 mph.
The Air National Guard said that day that the flight was "by the book" to show Johnson what the plane could do. One day later, though, the FAA announced it was investigating because it had received "a couple" of complaints."
Some people found the flyover unnerving; many called 911, and one woman was described as panicked by the sound and sight of a fighter jet over the city.
Mike Overly, spokesman for the Aviation Safety Institute, a nonprofit center based in Worthington, said he was not surprised the FAA took so long to reach a conclusion.
"I don’t think this is really high on their priority list," he said, "because this is the military and a politician, a bad combination; and nothing happened except some people got scared."
mtullis@dispatch.com
He should have received a medal. ;-)
"Negative Ghostrider, the pattern is full"
We all know what came next ;-)
"Two of your snot-nosed jockeys did a fly-by on my tower at over four hundred knots! I want somebody's butt, I want it now, I've had it!"
Yep, Democrats get unnerved real quick and always vote that way.
With the very limited resources we have... do we really need to be spending time and money on meaningless stuff like this?
Priorities folks...
The rules were broken, but I have a feeling the local boy scouts (or someone) requested of the son of the pilot ... "Gee .. your dad's a fighter pilot !!?"
The pilot just told the truth and compared/contrasted his act to the socialist assault on America and American boys.
"Yes sir, I did it ... and if asked ... I'd do it again."
All of the above is conjecture.
Hmmmm....-if- he was in the Atlanta Class B Airspace, he was limited to 230 mph. FAR (Federal Aviation Regulations) 91.117.
Still, sounds like he had fun...until he landed.
As cute and macho as some may think it is because they saw in a corny movie, it is a dangerous and immature stunt with expensive taxpayer equipment that should ground any pilot who does it.
Probably the same sort that "panics" at the sight of a firearm.
"inadvertently"
Sure.
He was just practicing.
Those folks are the same type as those who, in Northern California, freaked at seeing a C-17 do touch-and-go patterns in 2004, comparing it to 9-11.
Expensive joyride.
She just needs to get over it. It's the sound of freedom.
Wasn't it just a few years ago that some hotdog killed a bunch of people in Italy riding a ski tram up the mountain when he "buzzed" the car and ended up snapping the cable?
Me too!
I get nervous every time I heat up a can of soup for lunch.
It is really cool to see. Where we keep our rv all summer there is a base near by. We get the pilots buzzing the river and all of us are happy to see them. It is an awesome sight to see. We also have a bombing range on our way to the campground , we've never saw it in use. Locals tell us that they use it right before they do a mission ..I don't know if thats really true but nobody minds it down there.
Kind of cool to still see large planes there except now they're DHL and UPS planes. I live in the foothills and see and hear them fly over. It's kind of cool, they're not loud at all yet people complain about noise that are in the flight path.
I wonder how many kids looked up at that plane in awe and inspiration. I have vivid memories of seeing military aircraft flying low when I was little. It started a lifelong love of aviation.
He didn't buzz the car.
If my memory is correct, he was on a legit flight path, but the map that was used didn't have the gondola (and cable) marked on the map.
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