Quote of the Week

Quote of the Week: “Sadly the FAA continues to short staff control towers in an effort to control costs while they eschew safety and efficiency” comment by Senator "Chuck" Schumer who has inserted himself in the FAA/Air Traffic Controller contract dispute

Aviation Conspiracy Newsletter #411.........................................................................January 14, 2007 Past newsletters can be accessed at: http://pages.prodigy.net/rockaway/ACNewsmenu.htm The PASSUR airport flight tracking system at many major U.S. airports http://www.passur.com/sites.htm (you must have Java installed to view it). If you want to get the newsletter sent to you every week, sign up to AviationWatch. Bill Mulcahy rockaway@prodigy.net

As Bill Sees It: (Editorial) Is The Small Jet Danger To Residential Areas Increasing? The crash of a small business jet on Friday near California's Van Nuy's Airport, which narrowly missed several homes, shows the danger of the increased use of small jets at airports located near, or in some cases surrounded by, residential areas. The Associated Press stories said that the jet that crashed had a full load of 3,400 "pounds" (why not gallons?) of fuel on board. More and more we see the use of smaller jets at airports. How long

will it be before one of these flying bombs, filled with thousands of gallons of fuel, hits a crowded apartment house as it takes off or lands? More FAA Duplicity And Obfuscation With The Eastern Region Airspace Redesign Plan!!!

Thanks to aviation activist, Robert Belzer, for sending me the latest FAA "update" on their Airspace Redesign Plan for the NY/NY/ Philadelphia Region. Predictably, the (January 2007) update gives no new information at all. All it says is that "The FAA is in the process of identifying the Preferred Alternative for this project which will be followed by five public meetings (one per state in the study area) to discuss noise mitigation strategies for that preferred alternative." This looks like a typical effort by the FAA to get communities to fight with each other over who is selected as the new noise dumping ground, while the FAA sits back amused as the great "decider." Senator Schemer Gets Involved In FAA/Controller Dispute: I see a story this week that New York's senator Chuck Schumer is getting involved in the FAA management versus the air traffic controller battle. What's really is behind Schumer's interest in the FAA? Only the most uninformed and naive can believe it has anything to do with aviation safety. Schumer has been interested in influencing the FAA ever since he was a congressman. I remember I was at a Rockaway, N.Y. City community meeting with him. It was called because we had found out we had been selected as the sole JFK Airport "preferred nighttime overflight route" (the planes STARTED coming over at midnight!!!) for JFK Airport planes. The community wanted answers from "our" congressman. However, Schumer was evasive and cleverly avoided answering the very few questions he allowed. I later found out that he attended a rally for convicted Israeli spy, Jonathan Pollard, in the Lawrence, Long Island community (which was not part of his congressional district) that had gotten their night flights dumped on us. Obviously Schumer had a close association with some people in that community. Congressman Schumer liked to portray himself as a fighter against airport expansion, while Senator Schumer voted to remove flight limitation "caps" at LaGuardia Airport! These flight caps were later restored by the FAA because of safety concerns. No doubt now Schumer is pushing the FAA's plan to "increase the capacity" of LaGuardia by the use of larger planes. In my opinion Schumer's only interest in the FAA is his ability to influence their unjust, racist and corrupt routing policies for wealthy communities, like Lawrence, Long Island, that he wants financial and political support from. Also, the ability to influence FAA policies means that other politicians, whose communities are effected by FAA decisions, would have to crawl to Schumer for help with the FAA.

California: Small Jet Plane Narrowly Misses Several Homes: LOS ANGELES — Federal authorities were scouring the wreckage of a small jet crash to determine what caused it to go down near a suburban airport, killing two people aboard. Several witnesses said a nose compartment door was open as the plane lifted off. Moments after the twin-engine Cessna Citation lifted off Friday morning from Van Nuys Airport in the San Fernando Valley, the pilot radioed the tower with a request to return, the National Transportation Safety Board said. The business jet, which was heading to Long Beach to pick up two passengers and continue to Prescott, Ariz., was cleared to land but it never made it. A tower controller noticed the plane "wobble" as it turned around, then it crashed about a half mile north of the airport and within 100 feet of several homes, said NTSB investigator Howard Plagens. No nearby structures appeared to be damaged. The jet was carrying a full load of 3,400 pounds of fuel and burst into flames, said Assistant Fire Chief Tim Manning. Firefighters sprayed foam and quickly put out the fire, he said. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/nation/4468387.html

Illinois: Plane Piece Crashes Through Homeowner's Roof!!! CHICAGO - A small piece of metal that crashed Friday through the roof of a home located near Midway Airport fell off an airplane that experienced engine failure on a flight from Milwaukee, federal authorities said. The engine piece came to rest 2 feet from the foot of a bed where homeowner Dorothy Gohn was sleeping. She was not injured. The multi-engine aircraft, apparently being used as a cargo plane, landed safely without any indication of distress to air traffic control, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement. But the pilot should have reported the engine failure to authorities, said Tony Molinaro, an FAA spokesman. Instead, FAA inspectors found the plane themselves, with significant engine damage and some wing damage, in a hangar at Midway Airport, he said. "If the pilot knew about this, it has to be reported," Molinaro said. "Our investigation will look into exactly what was going on and why it was not reported." http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/news/breaking_news/16448993.htm

Schumer: FAA staffing of air traffic controllers risks safety

saying union numbers are misleading and towers are well staffed in most locations

WASHINGTON (AP) _ Sen. Charles Schumer charged Wednesday that a festering labor standoff between the government and air traffic controllers is risking safety at upstate airports.

Democratic senator said the Federal Aviation Administration is keeping control towers far understaffed, which he characterized as a widespread problem that being felt across the Empire State.

In upstate New York, there are currently 164 controllers guiding planes in and out of local airports, when according to the senator there should be 192. Albany, for instance, has 26 full-time controllers instead of the 30 allowed by the FAA, Schumer said.

"It started as a labor dispute, but now it's become a safety issue. The FAA cuts are absurd," he said.

At Syracuse-Hancock International Airport, there are 20 active controllers for an authorized staffing level of 30, according to the air controllers union.

FAA spokeswoman Laura Brown said the union's numbers don't reflect the actual staffing needs of individual facilities.

"We have a staffing plan to put the right number of controllers in the right place at the right time," said Brown. "We feel that most locations around the country are well-staffed right now and there may be a few facilities here and there where we have a couple fewer controllers than what we want."

The union has warned that the number of controllers eligible for retirement will rise sharply this year, to about 10 percent from last year's two percent.