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| Aviation Safety | back to top |  |
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Three Survive Mountain Crash
Partly because they had a cellphone, all three aboard a 1966 Cessna 172 survived a mountainside crash Saturday that left a section of the Cessna's wing in a tree and sent two of the occupants through the windscreen. Pilot Brian Brown, his wife and their youngest daughter were en route from Sacramento to Idaho when Brown says the aircraft encountered icing, lost lift and crashed into a snowy Idaho mountainside. Brown told a local news station that the impact knocked the doors off of the aircraft and sent both he and his wife through the windscreen, briefly knocking his wife unconscious. The aircraft's radio and GPS were broken, it was 9 p.m., they were injured, on a mountainside, and it was snowing. Fortunately, they had cellphone service. But it would take them six hours to use it.
The family's first concern after the crash was to take inventory of their injuries. They then sought shelter in the aircraft as temperatures fell. The cellphone only came to mind six hours later when it rang. Unable to find it before the call went to voicemail, Brown's daughter then used it to call 9-1-1. A medical helicopter located the crash site early Sunday, but weather and terrain prevented an immediate air rescue. Ground crews reached the family, first, before the weather broke and family members were able to be extracted by helicopter, one at a time. From a hospital bed in Boise, Brown said that weather had closed in on the aircraft as it flew from California to Idaho, according to KTVB. Brown said he had first diverted to a small gravel strip in Oregon, but the strip had no services. When he saw a break in the weather he gathered his family and took off again for Idaho. Brown says the aircraft then built up ice en route and stalled. He dove to gain airspeed and when he saw terrain, pulled up and "belly-flopped" into the mountainside.
Question of the Week: Emergency PreparednessThe news of a Cessna 172 crash and its aftermath has made us curious how prepared our readers are for an emergency situation in a remote area.
Last Week's Question: Results
Want to see the current breakdown of responses? Take a moment to answer the question yourself, and then you can view real-time results.
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| Back into the Past I | back to top | |
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Researchers Explore Rare Helldiver Wreck
Researchers from the U.S. Navy have started to explore a rare Curtiss SB2C Helldiver wreck from the 1940s that was found in December off the Florida coast. "I really feel like, finally, we're going to find out who belonged to that airplane and if somebody is in it," said diver Randy Jordan, who discovered the wreck, to the local KPLC News. "I was starting to lose hope we were going to find out too much about it. It's in 185 feet of water." A data plate was recovered from the airplane's tail on Thursday, which may lead to a positive identification of the aircraft and help to uncover details about the final flight and the fate of the crew.
The team of Navy divers and a support ship arrived at the site, about four miles off the coast of Jupiter, a couple of weeks ago, along with archeologist Heather Brown. "We're here to preserve the history and heritage of the Navy," Brown said. "This is one of the planes that helped fight World War II." The divers are working to measure and map the wreck site, but they won't recover the wreck, which is heavily corroded. They found parts of the vertical stabilizer, ailerons, flaps, and elevators, which had initially appeared to be missing. They also found some rope tangled in the propeller and part of a lobster trap nearby, which suggests the wreck may have been snagged by a fishing boat. The recovered data plate, which is badly corroded, has been sent to an archeology lab in Washington, D.C., for examination. |
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| Back into the Past II | back to top | |
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Unique Amelia Earhart Relic Found On Nikumaroro?
Pieces of glass found a year ago on Nikumaroro Island in the southwest Pacific may add to circumstantial evidence that Amelia Earheart lived there as a castaway, but there are complications. The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR) have been on the otherwise uninhabited island searching for any evidence that Earhart crashed near the landmass 75 years ago when the pilot and her navigator, Fred Noonan, went missing. Among their latest findings are glass fragments that reassemble into the form a jar that is nearly identical to one once used to hold Dr. C. H. Berry's Freckle Ointment. And "it's well documented Amelia had freckles and disliked having them," a TIGHAR researcher told Discover News. But the jar's origins aren't clear.
The glass pieces that form the jar are clear -- the known examples of Dr. C. H. Berry's Freckle Ointment jar are opaque. And TIGHAR has not with this announcement presented evidence that Earheart used the cream. Earhart disappeared while flying over the Pacific on July 2, 1937. Researchers have generally considered that Earhart's Lockheed Electra ran out of fuel and crashed near Howland Island. TIGHAR researchers believe that Earhart's last radio transmissions suggest her course would have taken her over Nikumaroro. The group has found glass shards from several different containers on the island. They also say that artifacts found in 1940 -- and since lost -- included a partial skeleton, parts of both a man's shoe and a woman's shoe, and a box. They claim that remnants of a fire were also found along with bird bones and turtle bones. TIGHAR researchers stipulate that some artifacts found on the island are "almost certainly" relics from other events in the island's history, unrelated to Earhart. |
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| Across the Sea by Battery | back to top | |
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Team Plans Transatlantic Electric Flight
A new company called Flight of the Century Inc. announced last week they intend to fly an electric-powered aircraft nonstop across the Atlantic, following Charles Lindbergh's famous route between New York and Paris. To solve the problem of limited battery life, the design team plans to use small drones that will meet up with the airplane en route and recharge the batteries in flight. "Our purpose in setting out on this very difficult path is to force innovation that drives electric flight technology forward in a significant and measurable way," said Chip Yates, CEO of the company.
Yates and his engineering team have set records with an electric-powered motorcycle that reached more than 200 mph. They are now working in Mojave to modify a Long EZ as a test aircraft. They hope to fly it this summer and perhaps take it to EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh if it's ready in time. The 3,600-mile trans-Atlantic flight is planned for 2014. AVweb's Mary Grady spoke with Yates this week about his plans, his design ideas, and his funding sources; click here to listen. |
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| Rules and Regulations | back to top | |
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FAA Clarifies GA Seatbelt Rules
Pilots of general aviation aircraft should be careful about allowing passengers to share a seat and a seat belt, the FAA says in a clarification to its seat-belt requirements, released last week. "Prior [FAA] interpretations state that the shared use of a single restraint may be permissible," the FAA said. But the new clarification says it is permissible only if it conforms to the limits defined in the Airplane Flight Manual. The pilot also must check that the seat belt is approved and rated for such use, if that information is available. Pilots should also attempt to affirm that the structural strength limitations of the seat are not exceeded. Even better, says the FAA, "Whenever possible, each person onboard an aircraft should voluntarily be seated in a separate seat and be restrained by a separate seat belt."
The FAA revisited its seat-belt advice after an accident in March 2009, when a 10-seat Pilatus PC-12 crashed and all 14 people on board were killed, seven of them children. In its report (PDF), the NTSB noted that if the accident had been less severe and the impact had been survivable, any unrestrained occupant, or occupants sharing a single restraint system, would have been at much greater risk of injury or death. In August 2010, during its investigation, the NTSB recommended that the FAA should require separate seats and restraints for every occupant in Part 91 operations. Also, the board said, the FAA should require each child under 2 years old to be restrained in a separate seat position by an appropriate child-restraint system during takeoff, landing, and turbulence. |
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| What You Missed in AVwebBiz This Week | back to top | |
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NavMonster Closed
NavMonster, a popular free online GA flight planning and information site, is the latest to announce that uncertainty about future costs and potential lawsuits have forced its closure. The site went offline in April over a dispute with its server host but said it would be back after it found a new internet service provider. On May 22, the site announced that past issues with FlightPrep and future costs from the FAA combined to seal its fate.
"Faced with the upcoming AeroNav fees, and the uncertainty from last year's lawsuit shenanigans (that issue was never resolved and is still looming over our heads), it's just not feasible to continue," said a statement on its site. AeroNav, the FAA's electronic chart and aeronautical information arm, is going through the process of trying to charge for downloads of charts and plates, but it's not clear how all that is going to turn out because of political intervention. NavMonster was also among those targeted by potential legal action when FlightPrep began enforcing its patent on certain functions that make online flight planning work. NavMonster initially made a deal with FlightPrep to continue and did so for more than a year. Earlier this year, RunwayFinder, another free service that also had a deal with FlightPrep, shut down, citing future AeroNav costs as its main reason.
Congressmen Oppose Park Airspace Restrictions
The co-chairs of the House General Aviation Caucus are seeking supporters for their opposition to a bill that would expand the authority of the National Park Service to control aviation operations, EAA said last week. If the bill passes, it would grant authority to the Park Service director to regulate commercial air tours above the parks and within a half mile of park borders. U.S. Reps. Sam Graves, R-Mo., and John Barrow, D-Ga., are asking others in Congress to sign a letter that says this would be "a step backward in aviation safety and should be rejected." The two have asked aviators who are opposed to the change to contact their congressional representatives and ask them to sign on to the letter.
If the bill passes as proposed, it would "effectively eliminate the air tour industry," the letter (PDF) says. "The end result will be lost jobs for pilots, drivers, tour guides, support staff, and local businesses and adversely impact the helicopter manufacturing, maintenance, and parts industries." The proposed new rules also disregard the fact that the air tour industry is heavily investing in new technology that would provide quieter operations, the congressmen said.
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| Opinion & Commentary | back to top | |
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AVweb Insider Blog: FAA's Fuel ARC -- Progress?
Yes, says Paul Bertorelli on the AVweb Insider blog — just don't expect to be struck by the blinding clarity of a bold action plan. Although it hasn't released the details, the UAT-ARC's work has at least moved things off static dead center, and even the most cynical among us would have to call that progress.
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| The Top Reporter on Our Crack Staff ... Is You! | back to top | |
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AVweb's Newstips Address ...
Our best stories start with you. If you've heard something 255,000 pilots might want to know about, tell us. Submit news tips via email to newstips@avweb.com. You're a part of our team ... often, the best part. |
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| AVweb Video: Look, Listen, Laugh and Learn | back to top | |
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Video: Diamond Multi-Purpose Platform DA42Original, Exclusive Videos from AVweb | Reader-Submitted & Viral Videos Diamond has diversified its market to the military, law enforcement and even media realms with the DA42 Multi-Purpose Platform. Diamond Airborne Sensing's Markus Fischer took AVweb through the product at Diamond's factory in Wiener Neustad, Austria.
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| Your Favorite FBOs | back to top | |
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FBO of the Week: Brunswick County Airport (KSUT, Oak Island, NC)
Nominate an FBO | Rules | Tips | Questions | Winning FBOs
AVweb's latest "FBO of the Week" is Brunswick County Airport at Cape Fear Regional Jetport/Howie Franklin Field Airport (KSUT) in Oak Island, North Carolina.
Reader Ron Horton had high praise for the FBO:
Flew to KSUT for an overnight stay. Greeted by John and the ground crew as soon as the engine stopped and immediately felt at home. They tied us down, guided us to the FBO, where we found a friendly airport dog lounging on the couch and several locals planning the next day's "Big Toys" event, which included Young Eagle flights. They offered a crew car, but since we were overnight we opted for an inexpensive rental; the desk is right there with the FBO. Asked them to refuel at their convenience and left the airport.
Keep those nominations coming. For complete contest rules, click here.
AVweb is actively seeking out the best FBOs in the country and another one, submitted by you, will be spotlighted here next Monday! |
| Reader-Submitted Photos | back to top | |
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Picture of the Week: AVweb's Flying Photography Showcase
Our latest winning photo comes from Harold Moritz of East Haddam, CT — and it kicks off a running theme in our latest review of reader-submitted photos. Click here for the rest of this week's submissions.
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| Names Behind the News | back to top | |
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Meet the AVwebFlash Team
AVwebFlash is a twice-weekly summary of the latest news, articles, products, features, and events featured on AVweb, the world's premier independent aviation news resource.
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