Free Republic

Boeing Co. won U.S. government approval Monday to upgrade 35 Apache attack helicopters for Egypt in a contract valued at $400 million. The upgrades will be completed over the next several years at Boeing's Mesa plant at Higley and McDowell roads, where about 4,500 people are employed. The plant produces seven or eight helicopters a month, most of them for the U.S. Army. Hal Klopper, a Boeing spokesman in Mesa, said the contract will ensure that the workforce at the facility remains stable "for some years. It will help keep our production lines moving." The contract, agreed to several months ...

ROME (Reuters) - Italy's ambassador to Saudi Arabia has converted to Islam, the second time in seven years that an envoy of Rome to the land of Mecca has adopted its religion. Torquato Cardilli, a career diplomat from overwhelmingly Roman Catholic Italy, revealed his decision to Saudi newspapers Saturday, his 59th birthday. Italian diplomatic sources confirmed the announcement Monday. His official conversion was made on the eve of the Islamic holy fasting month of Ramadan, which began on November 16 in Saudi Arabia. Cardilli himself could not be reached for comment but an employee at his embassy in Riyadh confirmed ...

Mesa Airlines Hires Guards for Flights Phoenix Oct. 17, 2001 08:43 AM The CEO of Mesa Airlines said on Tuesday that starting this week, trained guards will be aboard all the airline’s flights. In addition to the guards, the company also wants to arm their 1,300 pilots with non-lethal weapons such as tasers. The additional security measures re designed to give pilots and customers peace of mind. Mesa Airlines flies in connection with America West and U.S. Airways.

It's Not Simple To Turn Airliners Into UAVs Aviation Week & Space Technology 10/15/01 author: Bruce D. Nordwall Why can't modern technologies make an aircraft "terrorist-proof"? In one scheme being widely discussed, pilots could throw a "hijack switch" and turn over control of the aircraft to a preprogrammed autopilot. The aircraft's Flight Management System (FMS) would guide it to an automatic, hands-off landing at the closest airport on a preselected list. In another scheme, the plane could be flown like a UAV by a pilot in one of the ATC centers. Either way, the deterrent for hijackers would come from ...

Monday October 8 7:14 AM ET WTC Widow Faces Expulsion From U.S.? LONDON (Reuters) - A British woman faces expulsion from the United States after losing her husband in the September 11 attacks on New York because her right to live in the country died with her husband, she said on Sunday. Deena Gilbey, 37, relied on her husband Paul for her right to live in the United States because she was listed as a ''dependent'' on his work visa. Officials wrote to her days after the attack to say her right to live in America was being withdrawn. ``My ...

Matt Salmon formally declared his candidacy for Arizona Governor thrice today. Once each in Tucson, Phoenix, and Prescott. I was in the crowd in Prescott, and among other remarks, Matt talked about airline safety, specifically using FBI to train existings police, sheriff, etc., for airline safety. Matt specifically said he wanted to see this WITHOUT increasing any fed/state/local agency, but using existing law enforcement officers. Pay 'em, comp 'em, but have armed trained folks WITHOUT creating another buraucracy I'll leave the real press releases to his staff and to the media, but for sunset rush hour time in downtown Prescott, ...

September 28, 2001 Page One Feature Airline Pilots Concoct Unusual Plans To Deal With Potential Hijackings By MARTHA BRANNIGAN, SUSAN CAREY and SCOTT MCCARTNEY Staff Reporters of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL As an American Airlines flight prepared to leave New York's Kennedy International Airport for San Diego on Wednesday, its passengers got an extraordinary preflight briefing from the pilot. "I want to thank you folks for being very brave and flying with us," Capt. Jeff Rolfs said over the Boeing 737's public-address system. "We don't have any new instructions from the federal government, so from now on, we're on our ...

Carry-on baggage banned by Pan Am Orlando Sentinel (Fla.) 09/27/01 author: Robert Perez (Copyright 2001 by The Orlando Sentinel) SANFORD -- Pan American Airways, which operates a hub at Orlando Sanford International Airport, on Wednesday became the first U.S. airline to ban most carry-on luggage. The carrier now allows passengers to carry on only wallets, purses and, for those traveling with infants, diaper bags. But that's it. All other bags, including briefcases, laptop computers, backpacks and even fanny packs, must be checked as baggage. But other major U.S. airlines, including Delta, US Airways, Southwest and Continental, said they had no ...

Southwest Airlines' Formula for Success To Be Tested in a More Cautious Market The Wall Street Journal 09/24/01 author: Melanie Trottman (Copyright (c) 2001, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.) DALLAS -- Southwest Airlines is trying to fly through the storm. The nation's premier low-fare airline is the only carrier that didn't cut its capacity last week because of the huge drop-off in air travel, and the only big airline that hasn't said it will have to lay off employees. Indeed, fast-growing, consistently profitable Southwest has never had an employee layoff in its 30-year history. Yet the fallout from the Sept. ...

Valley mourns apparent backlash killing Kelly Ettenborough, Adam Klawonn and Christina Leonard The Arizona Republic Sept. 17, 2001 Hundreds of people across the Valley on Sunday mourned the slaying in Mesa of a Sikh gas station owner whose only crime, his loved ones say, was that he looked Arabic and wore a turban. Balbir Singh Sodhi's death may be the first homicide in the country related to the backlash against Arab-Americans after Tuesday's terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. And if classified as a hate crime, it could be the ...

Plane Ordered to Land by Bush Ranch The Associated Press Thursday, Sept. 13, 2001; 3:50 p.m. EDT CRAWFORD, Texas –– A small private plane flying in the vicinity of President Bush's ranch was ordered by the military to land Thursday, a sheriff's deputy said. The 71-year-old pilot and his son were detained by the Secret Service after the Federal Aviation Administration declared the plane was unauthorized, Chief Deputy Randy Plemons said. Nearly all commercial and private flights have been grounded by the FAA since Tuesday's terrorist attacks. The president was in Washington at the time. The plane landed on a ...

Overloaded plane caused Aaliyah crash, NTSB says By Ken Kaye Staff Writer Posted September 9 2001 The Cessna 402B that crashed and killed R&B singer Aaliyah and eight others in the Bahamas was substantially overloaded, out of balance and tail-heavy, the National Transportation Safety Board said in a preliminary report released on Saturday. While the report provides few new details, it does confirm investigators' primarily suspicion that improper loading caused the Aug. 25 accident. "The total weight of the luggage, fuel on board at the time of the accident, plus the weight of the passengers showed that the total gross ...

Friday September 7 8:37 AM ET Emergency Landing for Plane After Crew Fight TEHRAN, Sep (Reuters) - An Iran Air plane with 430 passengers on board made an emergency landing in Frankfurt after a dispute between the pilot and security guards, the carrier's head Behzad Mazaheri said Thursday. The fight followed an attempt by the guards to keep a passenger from visiting the pilot in the cockpit during Wednesday's flight from Tehran to London, Mazaheri said on state television. ``The pilot then landed in Frankfurt airport, saying he did not have the morale to continue,'' he said, adding that the ...

Friday, 7 September, 2001, 09:36 GMT 10:36 UK Pub firm opposes euro Whetherspoon gets political Pub group JD Wetherspoon has launched a campaign against the euro. The firm's 530 pubs will display adverts on beer mats and posters urging customers to vote 'No' in any future referendum. The pub group will also offer customers bumper stickers and postcards addressed to Prime Minister Tony Blair. The firm unveiled the campaign alongside healthy full-year financial results which showed a 23% rise in profits. Euro 'likely to fail' Chairman Tim Martin said: "I strongly believe that each major currency in the world is ...

Matt Salmon plans to announce his intentions to run for Arizona Governor on September 12, 2001. Please join us in: Tucson at 9:00 AM at the U of A on the West side of Old Main (www.salmonforgovernor.com/tucson.asp) Phoenix at 1:00 PM at the State Capitol between the House and Senate (www.salmonforgovernor.com/phoenix.asp) Prescott at 5:15 PM on the steps of the old courthouse at 120 S. Cortez St. (www.salmonforgovernor.com/prescott.asp) Please forward this information to all of your friends, relatives and associates so that we can all show up to voice our support! The attached flyer has more details. www.salmonforgovernor.com Paid for ...

Police on hunt for man who abducted girl at Phoenix school Christina Leonard The Arizona Republic Sept. 05, 2001 01:50:00 Phoenix police are searching for a man suspected of snatching a 10-year-old girl while she was walking on her school grounds Tuesday morning. Police believe the man attacked the child at Solano School, at 15th and Missouri avenues, about 10 a.m. He dragged her to a car parked in the west parking lot and took her to an apartment complex about a mile and a half away, said Detective Tony Morales, a police spokesman. The girl was forced inside the ...

Wednesday August 29 7:34 AM ET Man Finds Cash, Gets $25,000 Reward LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A 22-year-old Mexican immigrant who describes himself as poor but honest became a hero on Tuesday when he found and returned a plastic bag crammed with $203,000 that fell off the back of an armored car the night before. The man, Asuncion Franco Gonzalez, collected a $25,000 reward. The bag, the object of a wide police search with money-sniffing dogs borrowed from U.S. Customs, had fallen out of the back of an AT Systems armored truck, police said. Gonzalez, who has been in and ...

Volkswagen Bumps Wages for Mexican Workers Mexico City Aug 20, 2001 03:01 PM Volkswagen today offered its more than 12,000 striking Mexican workers a 7 percent raise. That offer came after a round of heated negotiations and a threatened nationwide boycott of the automaker. Nearly 80 percent of the work force walked off the job Saturday at Volkswagen's 16,000 employee factory in central Puebla state. It's the only plant in the world that manufactures new and old-style Beetles. The workers began by demanding a 21 percent salary increase above their current average daily pay of about $30. They reduced their ...

Amazon.com has contracted with iSKY, a Maryland company, to provide additional customer-service support, especially during peak holiday periods. Under the agreement, iSKY will help customers who call Amazon's toll-free customer-service phone number. Since January, Amazon has laid off about 1,300 employees, including 400 in its Seattle customer-service department. Amazon also has Web sites based in the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Japan. "Our alliance with iSKY will enable us to better manage the surge of contacts we typically receive during peak times, such as the holidays, while allowing us to better balance work flow for our associates," said Tim Rauschenbach, ...

Washington Wire NO NEW TAXES? Florida Gov. Jeb Bush backs Internet taxing deal. After refusing last year, the president's brother signs a letter with 43 other governors urging Congress to give states new authority to tax Web-based sales if the states simplify rates. Gov. Bush's signature "does not mean in any way he supports taxes on Internet sales," a spokesman insists. President Bush's handpicked Republican chairman, Virginia Gov. James Gilmore, is one of the few who won't sign. The issue inflames antitax conservatives, and the White House hasn't taken a stand. The feud threatens efforts to extend a moratorium ...