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FEDERAL AIR MARSHAL(S?) KILL AIRLINE PASSENGER
Shortly after 2 p.m., yesterday, (Pearl Harbor day) Rigoberto Alpizar, 44, was seated near the rear of the plane among more than 110 other passengers aboard American Airlines flight 924, a Boeing 757, as it prepared to push back from the gate at Miami international. Jim Bauer, special agent in charge of the Miami office of the Federal Air Marshals yesterday told reporters agents aboard the aircraft then overheard Alpizar in his seat "uttering threatening words that included a sentence to the effect that he had a bomb." (As of midnight last night, neither Alpizar's exact words, nor any specific witnesses who heard them had been confirmed or identified.) Alpizar then became agitated, rose from his seat and fled the aircraft. Federal officials say Alpizar was pursued by the onboard Federal Air Marshals and was in the still-attached jetway when he failed to comply with verbal commands issued by the Air Marshals. The agents then opened fire and Alpizar was killed. In the subsequent search, no explosives were found anywhere aboard the flight and authorities do not believe Alpizar was affiliated with any terrorist group. There were more than 110 passengers and crew within a stone's throw of the event. We have presented the very few accordant details supported by multiple sources at the time of this writing. More...

PARTS AND PLANES FRAUD
A Bradenton, Fla., man has been charged with organized fraud for a series of aircraft and aircraft parts transactions that allegedly went sour. Phillip D. Casciola is alleged to have been paid for parts and taken deposits on aircraft without delivering the goods. According to the Bradenton Herald, federal and local authorities estimate the value of the alleged fraud to be at least $4.5 million. Casciola operates an Internet-based brokerage and consulting company called JetBroker.org, which was still online when we checked on Wednesday. More...

ACCUSED NO STRANGER TO COURT
The Supreme Court of Alaska recently upheld a $330,000 judgment against Casciola, which he'd appealed. The Supreme Court said the $30,000 award for real damages and the $300,000 award for punitive damages were justified to "vindicate Alaska's legitimate interest in preventing particularly malignant conduct." In the earlier judgment, an Alaska court upheld F.S. Air's allegation that Casciola had misrepresented the availability of two engines for one of its Learjet medevac aircraft and refused to refund the $25,000 deposit the company had given the broker. In that deal, Casciola had agreed to provide two "freshly overhauled" engines for just $100,000, plus the cores from the old engines. More...

FALSE CERTIFICATIONS LEAD TO JAIL TERM
In an unrelated case in California, Amanullah Khan, 56, of Brea, Calif., was sentenced to 188 months in prison for falsely certifying aircraft parts, including flight-critical components, according to a release posted by The Law News Network attributed by the site to Assistant US Attorney, Douglas F. McCormick. U.S. District Judge David O. Carter also ordered Khan to pay $5.4 million in restitution to his victims. According to the release, Khan simply drew up his own FAA certifications for the parts he sold, including helicopter grip assemblies that he said were made of steel when they were actually made of aluminum. The parts are available in both metals but steel assemblies have a 2,500-hour life while the aluminum assemblies are only good for 300 hours, according to the release. The US Attorney's release, Khan switched data plates on the parts. And in an ironic twist, Khan was also found guilty of illegally supplying parts to foreign military powers. More...

AVIATION’S SIX PERCENT … AND COUNTING
Seems a little hard to believe that in a country that has spawned the likes of Patty Wagstaff, Julie Clark Betty Skelton and dozens of other top female aerobatic pilots since 1915 that the first female member of the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds is now in training at Nellis Air Force Base near Las Vegas. And Punta Gorda, Fla., is claiming a "coup" by hosting the first performance of the group, with Capt. Nicole Malachowski at No. 3 right wing, during the Florida International Air Show April 1 and 2. Malachowski's appointment was announced last June but that didn't stop show manager Bucky McQueen from breathlessly announcing that it will be "the first time a female pilot has performed with any military jet team, anywhere." The Canadian Armed Forces would disagree. More...

A RARE CHALLENGE AT THE GLIDING GRAND PRIX
And although 19 percent of the Air Force's pilots are women, there are probably lots of female military "firsts" left. But it's sometimes a little surprising, in this day and age, for the powder-room door to open for the first time in civilian flying. However, Mette Pedersen, of Denmark, will be the first woman to compete against men in the New Zealand Gliding Gran Prix Jan. 21 to Jan. 27. Now, even Pedersen, the current world women's champion, seems to wonder why there's been a gender gap at this level. "Physically, there is nothing limiting me to performing as well as the men," she noted. But there was also some giddiness there. "Being a girl in a man's world is always special," she said. More...

KING GETS NAA AWARD
And while some might still consider aspects of aviation a "man's world" they certainly recognize its King of flight training, first name Martha. The co-founder of King Schools was recently presented the Cliff Henderson Award for Achievement by the National Aeronautic Association. It's presented annually to "a living individual or group whose vision, leadership, or skill, has made a significant and lasting contribution to the promotion and advancement of aviation or space activity." King gets her message across in training videos seen by about half of all flight students in the U.S. but she got there by recording a major "first." More...

PENSION LOBBY GOES FULL THROTTLE
Four big airlines and all of their unions got together in an unheard-of show of unanimity last week, but don't credit the Christmas spirit. Enlightened self-interest is behind their show of force on Capitol Hill to try and press the House into taking up pension legislation passed by the Senate last month. The legislation would give the struggling airlines 20 years to make up shortfalls in pension funding, something they say they need to maintain the pension plans. However, the White House has said it will veto the provisions and it looks like the House doesn't want the confrontation because its version of the bill doesn't have any of that language. More...

NEW SKYLANE STOLEN FROM LOCKED HANGAR
Maybe Harry Houdini has come back as an airplane thief. Vincent MacLeod III was planning to get himself current again on his $300,000 2002 Cessna 182T on Nov. 20 but when he unlocked the double padlocked door to his hangar at El Monte Airport in California, it was empty. Police told the San Gabriel Valley Tribune that there was no sign of forced entry. Airport Manager Rafael Herrera told the newspaper that rumors circulating at the airport that former airport employees still had keys to the hangars were not true. Whoever took the plane was also careful to take all its logs. More...

THE COOLEST PLANES YOU'LL NEVER FLY
Dream all you want, the most sophisticated hardware coming off the line these days doesn't need you, unless you're good with a remote. Bell Helicopter announced earlier this week that its tiltrotor Eagle Eye TR918unmanned aircraft system (UAS) has received FAA certification. It's the first such aircraft to get the FAA nod and we have to agree with Bell that the mind boggles at the possibilities for commercial and military uses. The Eagle Eye will be tested at Bell's new XworX facility in "West Texas." And while the technology and capabilities of unmanned aircraft have grown exponentially in recent years, the regulatory environment remains conservative, something not even the wishes of a president can budge. More...

10-MINUTE FLIGHT CLAIMS RECORD
For the man who set the record for the longest endurance flight ever, the latest notch on Dick Rutan's yoke was over in the blink of an eye -- and it probably won't stand as a record for much longer. Last Saturday, Rutan, who with Jeana Yeager flew around the world nonstop in 1986, took a 10-minute hop in XCOR's EZ-Rocket from Mojave to California City. It was the "first time" a rocket-powered plane had ever made a point-to-point flight with the pilot in control for most phases of flight. It was also the EZ-Rocket's last flight. XCOR spokeswoman Aleta Jackson told Space.com that after 25 flights they've learned what they needed to from the modified Long EZ. More...

NATCA, FAA SPAR OVER MAINTENANCE
The National Air Traffic Controllers Association says the FAA is planning to let equipment fail before it gets any service attention but the FAA says the union is trotting out an old issue that it's already dealt with. NATCA issued a press release on Tuesday suggesting the FAA was abandoning the established practice of preventive maintenance on its equipment in favor of a "fail and fix" regimen. "By waiting until a potentially dangerous failure occurs, this new agency policy directly threatens passenger safety and is the latest example of the agency's mismanagement, which is reducing the reliability and integrity of the system by cutting corners," the press release reads. FAA spokesman Greg Martin said the Professional Airways Systems Specialists had already brought up the issue last March. He said the new maintenance system is simply a much-needed update to bring maintenance work in line with modern technology. More...

TWO RESCUED FROM DOWNED GLIDER
The pilot and passenger of a Grob G103 were found uninjured on the side of a mountain in Southern California early Sunday. The two were airlifted from their impromptu landing site at the 4,200-foot level in the San Gabriel Mountains at first light. They'd taken a tow to 9,300 feet in the Mt. Baden-Powell area on Saturday and didn't return to the point of origin, Crystal Airport. It's not known why the pilot opted to put the glider down. Civil Air Patrol spokesman Capt. Bob Kielholtz said the sailplane was not equipped with an ELT and that prevented a night search for the landing site. More...

ON THE FLY...
A C-130 crashed into a Tehran apartment building, killing more than 120...
AirVenture Web site is up...
Australian military planes to patrol Games...
Chicago eyes banning seaplanes...
Teen math whiz may help wing designers. More...

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Say Again? #57: Überlingen
A quiet night with few airplanes in the sky and tired controllers working with them. Sounds like the typical midnight shift in any air traffic control room in the world. Until the radar goes out for maintenance and the phones don't work. AVweb's Don Brown wonders whether there will be enough controllers to prevent another midair collision like the one over Überlingen, Germany.

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AVWEB'S BUSINESS AVFLASH
HAVE YOU SIGNED UP yet for AVweb's NO-COST twice monthly Business AVflash? Reporting on breaking news, Business AVflash also focuses on the companies, the products and the industry leaders that make headlines in the Business of Aviation. Business AVflash is a must read. Watch for a Business AVflash regular feature, TSA WATCH: GA IN THE "SPOTLIGHT". Sign up today at http://www.avweb.com/profile/ More...

AVWEB'S QUESTION OF THE WEEK ...
This week, AVweb wants to hear your opinion on yesterday's shooting death of an airline passenger by Federal Air Marshalls. Is this an example of a system that works, or one that failed? PLUS: Results of last week's question on readers' longest cross-country flights. More...

AVWEB'S PICTURE OF THE WEEK ...
Submissions are picking up again after the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday — that time of the year when a major portion of our North American readership dozes into a four-day turkey-digesting slumber. As the numbers rise, quality holds steady — giving us plenty of great images to pick from this week. Our top spot (and an official AVweb baseball hat) goes to Mark Stephenson of Fitzroy Harbor, Ontario. More...