Aviation News

14 April 2003
Israeli warplanes on Sunday entered southern Lebanese air space for the third time this week, drawing missile fire from Hezbollah guerrillas that rained down on northern Israel. No injuries or damage were caused. Lebanese security officials said two Israeli warplanes flew at medium altitudes over the eastern, central and western sectors Lebanon's southern border region, reaching the coastal city of Sidon. 

13 April 2003
Two aircraft of the Pakistan Air Force crashed on Saturday, killing a pilot and injuring a trainee flyer, a PAF spokesman said. An instructor pilot was killed and his trainee companion was injured when their Mashaq light trainer plane, which Pakistan developed with Swedish assistance, came down during a routine flight near the Risalpur airbase in North West Frontier Province. In the second incident a Chinese built A-5 fighter jet crashed near the town of Pindigheb in central Punjab province, the spokesman said, adding that the pilot ejected safely. No damage was reported on the ground and an inquiry has been ordered into the two crashes, he said. 

10 April 2003
British Airways said Wednesday it had taken no firm decision about the future of Concorde, following reports that Air France could scrap its fleet of supersonic airliners. There had been a report that BA, which has seven Concordes, could take its fleet out of operation "within months". "We have already said that we are looking at a retirement date for Concorde and this date is still being considered. There has been no announcement," a BA spokeswoman said. The Concorde services of Air France and BA - the only airlines to operate the supersonic service - have been badly affected by the global economic downturn and the Iraqi conflict. 


Coalition rescue teams were searching early Wednesday for two U.S. airmen from a F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jet that went down over Iraq. Officials at U.S. Central Command in Qatar said it was unclear whether the plane was shot down. The fighter went missing around 2330 GMT Sunday, but its loss was not announced until later for security reasons, said Marine Maj. Brad Bartelt, a Central Command spokesman. "You want to protect the lives of any survivors on the ground," Bartelt said. "As soon as you send that information out, what you can do potentially is tip off an adversary or an enemy as to where or what happened." 

9 April 2003
An army plane on a routine transportation mission crashed in the mountains of central Mexico on Tuesday, killing three soldiers, gravely wounded a forth and leaving a fifth missing, authorities said. The single-engine Cesna took off from a military airfield in Morelos state and was carrying a group of soldiers to Mexico City when it suddenly lost control and crashed near the mountain town of Huesayo, said Aquiles Alvarado, a spokesman for police in Mexico state, which borders the Mexican capital. 

The search for a missing US Navy pilot has continued in silence almost one week after his fighter-bomber may have been shot down in a case of friendly fire over Iraq. The US Central Command in charge of the nearly three-week old war said the F/A-18C Hornet may have been downed by a Patriot missile shortly before midnight last Wednesday. Since then the navy has declined to provide any details on search efforts, to release the name of the pilot, or to confirm which of Kitty Hawk's three F/A-18 Hornet squadrons he belonged to. Another airman aboard this aircraft carrier said the possible Patriot involvement explains why officials have stayed quiet.

Air Canada, the nation's leading airline, said it has reduced flights to Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing, saying it was a result of the uncertainty in the world as well as the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). "We have reduced capacity on some Asian markets, both in light of a downturn in activity related to the economy and the uncertainty of the world situation, but also because of the SARS impact," said spokeswoman Laura Cooke. "The reason we took action to reduce capacity was because of lighter loads," she added.

An Indian Air Force fighter jet crashed Monday into a milk plant in Ambala city in the northern Indian state of Haryana, injuring five people. The crash, the second of an air force plane in the last four days, took place immediately after the Russian-built MIG-21 took off from Ambala airbase, an Indian Air Force Spokesman told Deutsche-Presse Agentur dpa. The pilot ejected safely before the crash. Among the five injured civilians were three women and two children. A house and some vehicles were also damaged. The cause of the crash was not known and an investigation has been launched, the spokesman said. On Sunday, five people were killed when a MIG-23 crashed into a house in the outskirts of Ludhiana city in neighbouring Punjab state. India's MIG fleet is known to be accident prone. There have been nearly 100 Air Force accidents in the last five years, most of them involving MIGs. More than 30 pilots have been killed.

8 April 2003
Five Southern African airlines have expressed an interest in Air Botswana, which is expected to privatised by September. Air Botswana General Manager, Willie Makgatlhe, says all five airlines are regional, but have international links. He says the selection process should be completed by July or August, and they expect to sign off the deal by September. The move will be the first ever privatisation of a Botswana parastatal and will kick-off the government's privatisation programme. 

7 April 2003
A US C-130 military transport plane landed yesterday at Baghdad's Saddam International Airport, a US military spokesman said. 

The White House may not be able to talk Congress down from approving more than $3 billion in airline aid, but the Bush administration prefers that any package be structured so it can be dispersed quickly. Congressional negotiators begin work this week on competing House and Senate plans, hoping to quickly craft a compromise that will be attached to the Iraq war spending bill. The Transportation Department says a lesson regulators learned from the bailout approved for the airlines after the Sept. 11, 2001, hijack attacks was the length of time it took to analyze requests for aid and distribute grants. That program took effect more than a year ago and included $5 billion in cash and $10 billion in loan guarantees.

6 April 2003
US fighter aircraft were stacked up round-the-clock over Baghdad Saturday, poised to use precision bombs to protect US ground troops as they move through the streets of the Iraqi capital, the US general who commands the air war said Saturday. Lieutenant General T. Michael Moseley acknowledged that avoiding civilian casualties and collateral damage in the course of providing close air support to troops in the city was "a tough problem" that US forces hope to overcome with precision strikes. 

The European Union wants talks with the United States to ensure that proposed government aid to U.S. airlines does not help American carriers undercut their European rivals, EU finance ministers said Saturday. "Airlines should not take advantage of the situation and this goes for Europe and the United States as well," said Greek Finance Minister Nikos Christodoulakis, who chaired two days of EU talks. He said the EU would raise the issue next week at a meeting of the G-7 group of world economic powers "to ensure there is no unfair competition."

At least three people were killed when an Indian Air Force plane crashed into a house Friday in the outskirts of Ludhiana city in the northern Indian state of Punjab. The Star News television channel said so far at least three bodies have been pulled from the debris of the house by firemen and local residents following the MIG-23 crash. An Indian Air Force spokesman told Deutsche-Presse Agentur aircraft, which took off from Halwara airbase, crashed at around 10.45 Indian time. The spokesman said the pilot ejected from the plane but his condition was not known.

3 April 2003
It seemed like forever that Gordo had been waiting with his fears in the darkness of a southern Iraqi desert after ejecting from his disabled fighter jet. So when a US Air Force rescue technician arrived in a helicopter to whisk him and his partner Vinny out of there early Wednesday, Gordo didn't waste time. "He asked me if I could walk as he's helping me up and I said, 'I can run. Just point the way,' and ran to the helo," Gordo, a lieutenant commander in the US Navy, told reporters Wednesday night after returning to his base aboard this aircraft carrier in the Gulf. Aside from a scrape on the back of Gordo's left hand, both he and Vinny escaped unhurt. The aviators asked to be identified only by their radio call signs. Their mission had gone well until both engines failed on their F-14A Tomcat supersonic jet from Fighter Squadron 154, known as the Black Knights. After dropping all their bombs on target they were looking for an airborne tanker to give them fuel before leaving Iraq. That's when the left engine failed, said Gordo, 39, of Georgia, a radar intercept officer who rides in the Tomcat's back seat. Vinny, 32, of Virginia, was flying up front. "We shut the left engine down. We attempted to restart it. Wouldn't restart," the pilot said. They tried to transfer fuel to the right engine but it didn't work, leaving them with one working engine and little fuel. "We kinda knew it was comin' so I'm just countin' down the fuel to him, let him know fuel remaining," Vinny said. Then the generator hiccuped. "Eject! Eject! Eject!" Gordo called. A violent blast of wind suddenly struck them as they left the warmth of the cockpit and began floating down. Gordo said he felt "disbelief and anger. You can't believe that it's happening to you but again, training and procedures just take over and you're almost like a robot." He said he took some comfort in the fact that there weren't a lot of lights below him as he dropped down to a hard landing on the desert floor. From his parachute, Vinny watched his plane explode in the desert. It is believed to be the first acknowledged crash of a US fighter in Iraq since the war began nearly two weeks ago. "Once I was boots on the ground, I started shakin' a little bit because it was not a very friendly place to be," said Gordo, a large man with eyeglasses and a moustache. Vinny, too, was "pretty apprehensive" when he realized they were still in Iraq. They were alone except for a reassuring voice on the radio from another Black Knights Tomcat which had been flying with them and remained in the air to help co-ordinate their rescue, Gordo said. Fighter pilots wear a green survival vest equipped with a radio, first aid kit, water, flashlight and pistol. Gordo said he and Vinny "just kind of sat there talkin' on the radio to the rescue forces, tryin' to pinpoint our position and get 'em in on top of us." Admiral Matthew Moffit, who commands the Kitty Hawk battle group, said the two men were "picked up fairly rapidly" by the rescue crew and were initially transferred to Al Jaber Air Base in Kuwait. "We feel fine," Gordo said. "We'll hang low for a little while and then get back in the game." Other members of the squadron welcomed them with pats on the back and expressions of relief. "We have actually been talking a lot about the experience, imparting what we've learned so that, God forbid somebody else gets in that situation, they know how to deal with it," Gordo said.
Source: SAPA 


A U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter has been shot down by small arms fire in southern Iraq, killing seven and wounding four, a U.S. official said. The helicopter was shot down near Kerbala, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Search and rescue personnel were at the scene, the official said, adding: "They were pulling people out." 

2 April 2003
An American Airlines flight from Tokyo was quarantined on the tarmac at San Jose's airport Tuesday after four people on board complained of symptoms like those reported from the mysterious new illness spreading through Asia, airline and city health officials said. Two passengers and two crew members complained of symptoms similar to those found in severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, according to city health officials. Flight 128 from Tokyo to Mineta San Jose International Airport was stopped on the tarmac short of the gate, and ambulances lined up near the plane as the 125 passengers and 14 crew members waited on board. American Airlines notified the airport that help was needed after "the captain was informed of a passenger needing medical assistance," said Todd Burke, a spokesman for the airline. 

Canada's biggest airline, Air Canada, on Tuesday sought protection from creditors in a Toronto court, a news report said. The airline failed to reduce enough costs from its union workforce, Bloomberg financial news agency reported. AirCanada had asked for 441 million U.S. dollars in concessions from its workforce. The Montreal-based airline secured 700 million dollars of debtor- in-possession financing from General Electric Capital. The company has 8.1 billion U.S. dollars in debt and lease obligations, Bloomberg reported. Ontario Superior Court Justice James Farley will rule on the request, the report said. 

American Airlines said it would use "grace periods" to delay some debt payments, citing a "precarious" financial position despite a deal with unions aimed at staving off bankruptcy. The announcement came a day after last-minute deals with three unions to secure 1.8 billion dollars in cost savings for the world's biggest airline, a unit of AMR Corp. The news suggested the airline needs further measures to stay afloat, including concessions from suppliers and vendors. The company said in a statement that "in light of its precarious financial condition it will be relying on the grace periods included in certain of its debt and lease obligations while it continues negotiating restructuring agreements with its various stakeholders." 

For the second time in two weeks, a hijacked Cuban airliner landed in Key West, Florida, 15 hours after a man saying he was armed with grenades seized the plane and demanded to be flown to the United States. Authorities said the alleged hijacker was arrested after the Soviet-made Antonov-24 made a "safe landing" at Key West, the southernmost of a chain of islands in south Florida. The Cubana de Aviacion plane spent about 12 hours on the tarmac in Havana, where a group of passengers jumped out a rear window after the ageing aircraft was refueled Tuesday morning. 

1 April 2003
A badly injured paraglider pilot had to be rescued by mountain climbers and a helicopter from a cliff-face near the Hartbeespoort cableway on Sunday evening, the Mountain Club of South Africa reported on yesterday. Club spokesman Rob Thomas said the accident happened in the late afternoon when the pilot, John Meijer, 35, swerved to avoid colliding with another paraglider. He went into a spin, lost altitude fast and was unable to correct the problem before hitting the cliff face. He fell down the cliff for some tens of metres until his canopy snagged, and ended up lying on a ledge with a number of fractures. Bystanders and paramedics scrambled down to Meijer but could not move him, so the police, the SA Air Force and the Mountain Club rescue team were called in. It soon became dark, said Thomas, but the rescue team reached Meijer with a stretcher and a doctor. An Air Force Oryx hovered over the cliff and illuminated the scene while Meijer was strapped to a stretcher. Everyone on the ledge was then hoisted into the helicopter. Meijer was taken to the Unitas Hospital in Centurion and on Monday he was transferred to the Pretoria East hospital, where he was reported to be in a stable condition. 

South African Airways won three awards at the Association for South African Travel Agents (Asata) congress held in Sun City on Sunday and was also voted the best airline in Africa for the third consecutive year by Skytrax, a British-based airline benchmarking company. SAA CEO Andre Viljoen said on Monday that SAA was voted the Best African Airline, Best Domestic Airline and Best International Airline flying to South Africa by travel agents and tour operators.

South African Airways and Air Tanzania on Monday launched a new airline, Air Tanzania Limited (ATL) in Dar es Salaam. In a joint statement, SAA and Air Tanzania said that as from Tuesday ATL would not only offer direct flights between Johannesburg and Dar Es Salaam, but also to Zanzibar and Kilimanjaro. The new Air Tanzania is 49 percent owned by SAA and 51 percent by the government of Tanzania. SAA president and chief executive officer Andre Viljoen said: "With this partnership and our ever-growing route network, SAA realises our commitment to quality service and vigorous competition in free markets.

US Airways emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy yesterday, wrapping up a swift eight-month return to financial accountability just as the war with Iraq threatens to devastate the airline industry. Airline spokesman David Castelveter said the company has cut annual costs by $1.9 billion a year, mostly through wage and benefit concessions from its workers. The airline also has developed a plan to turn a profit as early as 2004. "We were able to complete this process due to the cooperation and participation of our employees and other stakeholders, all of whom have made enormous sacrifices, but have supported our efforts to reposition the company for success," said David N. Siegel, US Airways president and chief executive officer. 

A small government plane crashed in the mountains of southern Mexico, killing all five people aboard, officials said Monday. The Cessna 185 went down Saturday in Chiapas state after reporting strong winds, and rescue officials facing rain and dense fog found the wreckage Monday near Teopisca, 30 kms east of San Cristobal, the state government said in a statement. Passengers included Porfirio Encino Hernandez, state secretary for Indian affairs; his son and brother; Berenice Lopez, the daughter of former Gov. Javier Lopez; and pilot Guadalupe Gil. The plane took off from an airstrip in the Lacandona jungle, but never arrived at its destination, Tuxtla Gutierrez, the state capital.

US and British air forces have been targeting three Republican Guard divisions near Baghdad in intensive air strikes, a US general said yesterday. "We've been running a tremendous number of sorties primarily against Republican Guard divisions, close air support and interdiction of those forces, using an awful lot of munitions," said Major General Stanley McChrystal, vice director of operations of the Joint Staff. McChrystal said 8,000 precision guided munitions have been dropped since the start of the air campaign, more than 3,000 of them since Friday


Airport implements tighter check for SARS
Posted: 10:21 AM (Manila Time) | Apr. 14, 2003
INQ7.net

AIRPORT and health authorities have begun using screening devices to make sure departing and arriving passengers are not infected with the deadly Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), an official said. 

Beginning Monday, all passengers especially those coming from countries with SARS cases will undergo the mandatory thermoscan test, Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) general manager Edgardo Manda told GMA 7's "Unang Balita". 


A small, white instrument that fits into the hand, the thermoscan can detect if the person has fever, one of the symptoms associated with SARS. 

"If the person is detected to have fever, he would not be allowed to board the plane," Manda said, adding the patient would be brought directly to the San Lazaro Hospital in Manila or to the Regional Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) in Muntinlupa. 

Manda also said he has received information from Hong Kong authorities that all persons who came in contact with a SARS patient would not be allowed to leave the country. 

"Hong Kong is building up its database of people possibly infected with SARS so it would be easier for its immigration personnel to determine those they will bar from leaving the country," he added. 

The former British colony has been severely affected by SARS, accounting for 1,109 of over 3,242 cases in about 30 countries and resulting in 40 deaths, according to World Health Organization officials. 

The Philippines is not yet among the SARS-infected countries, but has joined the list of 30 nations with probable or suspected SARS cases

Boeing opens in Chicago

Associated Press

CHICAGO - The new "world headquarters" ssigns are in place, the executive jets occupy nearby hangar space and the corporate logo soon will proclaim The Boeing Co.'s presence from the rooftop.

Boeing officially has landed in downtown Chicago, leaving behind nearly 80,000 employees in Seattle in a corporate upgrade designed to expand its global horizons and declare emphatically that it's more than a commercial airplane maker.

While the rewards of Boeing's 1,700-mile corporate flight eastward may be hard to quantify for awhile, one thing's certain.

The world's biggest exporter and aerospace company arrives to open arms in Chicago, where $53 million in state and local incentives are only part of an enthusiastic welcome for the city's new No. 1 corporation.

Chicagoans greet Boeing officials warmly on the street, the business community is abuzz with Boeing talk and civic leaders eagerly await the start of the projected $4.5 billion economic impact on the area over 20 years.

Illinois Gov. George Ryan and Mayor Richard M. Daley will pay homage to Boeing, again, at a Wednesday ceremony at its L-shaped headquarters tower on the Chicago River.

The move that jolted Jet City, as Seattle is sometimes known, was an "enormous shot in the arm" for Chicago's efforts to stake out a bigger international role in the era of globalization, said Paul O'Connor of World Business Chicago.

"Globalization is the business and social issue of our time, and Boeing is arguably the singular icon of globalization," said O'Connor, the executive director of the economic development group, which is funded by the city and private businesses.

"We're lifting off together."

Boeing settled on its Midwest base over Dallas-Fort Worth and Denver in May.

Barracks Once Again Functional
By JOHN WING jwing@tampatrib.com <mailto:jwing@tampatrib.com>
Published: Sep 3, 2001

ZEPHYRHILLS - A piece of the city's past is now housing a part of its future.

The World War II-era military barracks at the Zephyrhills Airport, which five years ago were set for demolition, are now restored to their original condition, thanks to a state Bureau of Historic Preservation grant and some matching funds from the city.

On Thursday, the police department's Explorers post held its first meeting in the clapboard, tin-roofed barracks.

For the first time since the unit started in 1985, the Explorers have their own space.

For them, the building's history is interesting, most said, but more important are the spacious quarters, which will allow the group to expand to twice its size.

For 13 years, Lt. Ken Gray has led the youth group, currently at 12 members. The Explorers assist the police department with traffic control at events and filing work in the office, and most have the goal of working in law enforcement.

But in recent years, Gray said, he's had to turn away kids who wanted to join because of space constraints at the city's cramped police station.

``We'll be able to bring in about 20 to 25 kids now,'' he said. ``What would happen before is we'd be at the station, but if it was a busy night the officers would need the briefing room, and we'd have to leave.

``I can see us growing now to the size we really need to be.''

At Thursday's meeting, the Explorers started sprucing up the barracks. A stack of Army- issued lanterns packed in green military lockers needed dusting off and hanging up, Gray said.

Old photographs depicting World War II fighter pilots needed hanging on the freshly painted walls.

The back half of the 25-foot-by-100-foot building eventually will house a museum for educational tours and a pilot's lounge for aviators visiting the airport.

Gray said he'd make sure the Explorers learn about the building's history.

Darren Hill, 17 and an Explorer since 1998, said he didn't know much about World War II, but he liked the building.

``It's got an old feel to it, but it's nice,'' Hill said. ``Inside, it seems like a totally new building.''

Barracks Served Many Purposes Built in 1942, the barracks housed pilots of the 10th Air Squadron for two years, as they trained at the airport before shipping off to Europe to fight the Axis powers.

Later, the barracks served as a military infirmary.

The building stood at Krusen Field, near the airport, until 1997, when it was moved to its present location near the terminal.

Abandoned for 10 years, termite and water damage slowly was destroying the last World War II-era barracks still standing in Pasco County.

The city rescinded a demolition order in 1996 after securing state grant money to restore the building. Renovations were finished in July.

Gray, who heads the police department's Community Affairs division, said he'll also use the space for his crime-prevention volunteers.

The Explorers, who started with two members in 1985, have produced three officers on the police department's staff, Gray said.

Robyn Kirk, 20, will serve as Gray's Community Affairs assistant starting in January. She met her husband, also a former Explorer and now a city patrolman, through the group.

Kirk thinks the barracks will help the unit be better prepared for its duties.

``We used to do [physical training] in the parking lot outside the station,'' she said. ``And we'd run around the building, on the streets dodging potholes.

``Out here we've got a field right next to the barracks where we're going to set up an obstacle course.

``We're ecstatic.''

Reporter John Wing can be reached at (813) 779-4613.

Kansas aviation history honored

Gathering remembers first plane built and flown in state

The Associated Press

Tuesday, September 4, 2001

Topeka — Albin K. Longren had never flown an airplane. But that didn't keep him and two other Topeka men from building one from scratch 90 years ago.

The men waited until the sun had disappeared beneath the horizon before Longren tried to fly the plane. They wanted to keep their project secret in case it failed.

They didn't fail, and their brief flight on Sept. 2, 1911, became an important milestone in Kansas aviation history: the first powered flight in Kansas of a plane built in Kansas.

A small group gathered Sunday at the site of that flight, near a sign that has marked it since 1999, south of Topeka.

"There is great joy in being on the exact day and the exact spot where history was made," said the Rev. Richard Taylor, a retired United Methodist minister who has researched Longren's life.

Participants in the event saw two flyovers from planes 500 feet above the ground, piloted by instructors for Aviation Explorer Post Squadron 8 at Philip Billard Municipal Airport in north Topeka.

"This is a part of our heritage," said Capt. Karl Fruendt of the Kansas Air National Guard's 190th Air Refueling Group, noting that Longren was member of the state militia, which later became the Guard.

Taylor said that in May 1911, Clyde Cessna became the first Kansan to build and fly an airplane. But that plane was built and flown in Oklahoma.

Longren was born in 1882 and grew up in Leonardville in Riley County. He dreamed of flight as a boy and spent his life trying to design a better airplane.

Longren seemed to have a natural aptitude for engineering, with his only formal training a correspondence course. He and his brother were selling cars and working as mechanics in Clay Center in 1910 when they came to Topeka to provide crowd control at an air show.

When a pilot wrecked his plane, the Longren brothers helped him fix it. The brothers started working the next summer on their own plane, which Albin Longren would fly.

A contemporary newspaper account of that first flight said the plane rose 2 feet above the ground and stayed aloft for 200 feet.

The Topeka Daily Capital reported Longren in the following days made several more flights that became progressively longer. On Sept. 5, 1911, he gave a public flying exhibition in which the plane — christened the "Topeka I" — covered 6 miles, flying two complete circles over the field at a height of 200 feet.

He kept working on new designs, but couldn't make a go of his aircraft business. His company went bankrupt and he left Topeka in 1926.