Free Republic

Two years have now passed since the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history – yet the biggest question about it remains unanswered. The American public is still in the dark as to why Las Vegas gunman Stephen Paddock opened fire on concertgoers outside the Mandalay Bay resort on Oct. 1, 2017, killing 58 and wounding hundreds more. The FBI’s agents and behavior specialists spent more than a year investigating the attack. Officials released clips of nearly 1,200 officer body camera videos, many hours of 911 audio recordings and dozens of handwritten and transcribed witness accounts. But 730 days later,...

A commercial helicopter pilot from Idaho has become the first woman in the Marine Corps to fly an F-35 fighter jet, a supersonic stealth aircraft. Marine Capt. Anneliese Satz, a 29-year-old Boise native, completed her training program this past June at South Carolina’s Air Station Beaufort, the Marine Corps announced last week. Satz’s training lasted four years, taking her to bases in Florida, Texas and Mississippi. “The first flight in an F-35 is by yourself,” Satz said. "The syllabus thoroughly prepares you for that first time you take off and for every flight after that, it’s an exhilarating experience." Now,...

The family of a pilot killed in action in 1967 during the Vietnam War was among dozens of people who silently observed the Dignified Arrival of the airman’s remains at Dallas Love Field Airport in Texas on August 8, local media reported. (Jay Giggs via Storyful){p}{/p} The remains were transported by the airman’s son, Bryan Knight, who is a pilot for Southwest Airlines. An obituary for Roy A. Knight Jr, a major in the US Air Force, said he was shot down in May 1967 while attacking a target on the Ho Chi Minh trail in Laos. He was initially...

Dallas became the place where the weight of the world seemed to melt away — the place where the good outweighed the bad for the first time in days. When we arrived at our gate at Dallas’ Love Field, I noticed a few camera crews waiting. I didn’t think much of it. Perhaps they were waiting for a politician or a newsmaker. A few minutes later, a gate agent from Southwest Airlines appeared and started handing out American flags.

Jackson Proskow "I’m at the airport in Dallas, waiting for my flight home to DC from El Paso, and something incredible is happening. Our incoming plane is carrying the remains of an American pilot shot down over Vietnam in 1967. His remains were only recently recovered and identified and brought back to the US. As we wait at the gate, we’re told that Captain Knight is coming home to Dallas. When he left from this very airport to fight in Vietnam his 5 year old son came to the airfield and waved goodbye. It was the last time he would...

Crews are searching for the pilot of a U.S. Navy fighter jet that crashed in Death Valley National Park, injuring seven people who were at a scenic overlook where aviation enthusiasts routinely watch military aircraft speeding low through a chasm dubbed Star Wars Canyon, officials said. A search was underway for the pilot of the single-seat F/A-18 Super Hornet that was on a routine training mission... The lookout point about 160 miles (257 kilometers) north of Los Angeles is popular with photographers and aviation buffs who gawk at jets flying in the steep, narrow canyon. Officials closed the area after...

The pilot allegedly left a security line when he noticed Transportation Security Administration officers conducting additional screening. The officers noticed and reported him, prompting airport police to conduct sobriety tests. One test determined he was under the influence of alcohol, while results from the second are pending, KSTP said. An airport spokesperson told the station an alcohol bottle was found on the man. The pilot was released about three hours after his arrest, pending a formal complaint and final toxicology results,

Already two years history enthusiasts try to rescue pieces of evidence and remains from the WW2 plane crash. It crashed into swamps which makes it much harder to access it. This year they got advanced and found a pilot body, one of the two. They found his personal belongings including the driver license which helped to identify the pilot. The WW2 parachute raised from the swamp – in an almost perfect condition. Pilot’s hat spent 76 years in a swamp. His medical bag. And a bag with papers and a map. This is an actual place where they make...

thiopian Airlines was ahead of its competitors in implementing the simulator to train would-be pilots of the new plane, according to reports. Yared Getachew, co-pilot of Flight 302, had taken a course on another simulator as recently as October, but not one specifically designated for the Max 8, The New York Times reported, citing someone familiar with Ethiopian Airlines. The source told the Times that Getachew was not due for another training until after the crash. Flight 302, much like Indonesia’s Lion Air flight, which crashed in October, likely failed after its automated "anti-stall" system inadvertently pushed the plane’s nose...

A civilian contractor pilot hired by the Hawaii Air National Guard was in serious condition Wednesday after crashing his plane during a military exercise off the coast of Honolulu, authorities said. A private sailboat rescued the unidentified 47-year-old pilot about 3 miles south of Oahu near Honolulu's Sand Island where he was then transferred to the U.S. Coast Guard. The Hawker Hunter jet went down in the ocean around 2:25 p.m. after taking off from Honolulu's airport, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said. The Hawker Hunter is a British jet developed in the late 1940s and early 1950s, according...

Tamar Braxton Responds to Delta Airlines’ Statement Rebuking Her ‘Unusual Behavior’ Wednesday, August 1, 2018 Tamar Braxton has responded to a Delta Airlines statement blaming her “unusual behavior” and her refusal to follow a flight attendant’s instructions during a recent flight. Tamar’s sister Towanda accused a Delta pilot of ridiculing Tamar after the pilot left the safety of the reinforced cockpit to deal with the part-time singer’s unruly behavior. “@tamarbraxton got ridiculed by a pilot for flying while black on Delta,” Towanda wrote in an Instagram post dated July 28. “Wow! I guess being a diamond and double million miler...

The U.S. Air Force is grieving the loss of one of its own after a Thunderbirds training flight went tragically wrong. A Thunderbird pilot crashed during a demonstration at Nellis Air Force Base just outside of Las Vegas. The team says it was a routine flight and are now looking into what could have caused the crash. The accident came just a few days before the team was scheduled to perform at the March Field Air & Space Expo at March Air Reserve Base in California. In light of the tragedy, the performance has been canceled.

Baghdad (Iraqi News) The self-proclaimed Islamic State group has released a video showing a Syrian pilot, who was captured by the IS extremists more than a year ago, being burned alive, Al Arabeya News reported. The video showed Major Azzam Eid, who was wearing the significant red/ orange uniform that used by the IS for prisoners, being chained to a tree, before the Islamic State militants set him on fire. The man could be heard screaming in pain before his body became completely burned.

WARNING: ARTICLE CONTAINS GRAPHIC IMAGES The Naval Air Station Whidbey Island in Washington admitted one of its aircraft was involved in drawing lewd images in the sky Thursday.

Trump Signs Order Allowing Recall of Retired Air Force Pilots October 20, 2017 10:16 PM WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump has signed an executive order that will allow the Air Force to bring back to active duty as many as 1,000 retired pilots to address a pilot shortage. A Pentagon spokesman, Navy Cmdr. Gary Ross, said the Air Force is short about 1,500 pilots. “The pilot supply shortage is a national-level challenge that could have adverse effects on all aspects of both the government and commercial aviation sectors for years to come,” Ross said. 25-pilot cap removed Under current...

Stand For the Flag https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C61QwfgLkKA

A Delta Airlines pilot and a flight attendant flew off the handle Monday at LaGuardia Airport, causing a two-hour delay, sources said. The 54-year-old pilot had a dispute with a 26-year-old flight attendant prior to takeoff aboard the plane bound for Portland, Maine, sources said. He and the attendant exchanged words in the aisle and he called her “a piece of s---,” a source said. “His conversation was racist, inconsiderate and unprofessional,” the source said. Each alleged the other had aggressively grabbed the other’s arm. As many as six Port Authority police officers, some carrying “huge” guns, interviewed flight attendants...

After my explanation, restrained silence gave way to guffaws My Piper Cub airplane was due for an airworthiness inspection at a large airport, but since the little airplane had no radio equipment, I called the control tower and requested permission to fly in from a nearby crop duster’s strip. The controller assigned an arrival time and said that he would blink a green light if I was clear to land. What should have been a routine procedure turned out to be one of the most bizarre incidents in my flying career.

Gen. Suheil Hassan (Tiger) negotiating with the Kurds to recover him.

S.2658 — 114th Congress (2015-2016): cancels the requirement for a pilot to hold at least a 3rd class medical certificate to exercise the privileges of private pilot in most cases. "The FAA may not take enforcement action against a pilot for not holding a valid third-class medical certificate unless the FAA has published final medical certification regulations in the Federal Register". The FAA was given one year to publish regulations governing this. The DOT/FAA responded with a set of rules for this, to take effect no later than 1 May 2017. That is eleven days away and the rules, paperwork,...