The Top Headlines From AVweb's Expanded, Illustrated News Coverage At AVweb's NewsWire

AIR-FREIGHT OPERATORS, A "CULTURE OF RISK"?
Unsafe practices are common in cargo operations, according to a three-part investigative series that ran in The Miami Herald this week. Shorter versions of the story were widely reprinted in newspapers around the country. The Herald says that on average, one pilot per month dies in a freight-hauling accident, making it the deadliest form of commercial flying in the U.S., and the FAA is lax in overseeing the operators. "Experts say the very profile of the industry -- older planes, less-experienced pilots, longer hours, overnight flying, dangerous weather -- adds safety hurdles," says the Herald. Further, "companies ... sometimes blatantly skirt safety rules -- and get away with it." FAA Administrator Marion Blakey declined to be interviewed for the story. "While a formal study ... has not been done, the FAA is aware of the higher accident rate in this type of operation," the FAA wrote in reply to written questions from the newspaper. More...

NTSB CARGO CRASH DATA QUESTIONED
The Herald says its reporters spent nine months researching the story, and in checking thousands of pages of documents, found 12 fatal cargo crashes that had not been counted in NTSB statistics. By the Herald's analysis, there have been 69 fatal crashes and 85 deaths since 2000 in cargo operations. The 12 uncounted by the NTSB occurred during positioning flights, when there was no actual cargo aboard, and thus were classified differently. The newspaper also said that in the course of its investigation, it filed Freedom of Information Act requests for FAA files, examined NTSB dockets, conducted interviews across the country, and reviewed government reports, lawsuits, industry memos, safety studies and news reports. The newspaper believes its conclusions are clear and strongly supported. More...

INDUSTRY DISPUTES CRITICS' CONCLUSIONS
"NATA feels the Miami Herald did not give a true picture of the air cargo industry," Lindsey McFarren, research and special projects manager for the National Air Transportation Association (NATA), told AVweb yesterday, in response to a request for comment. "Rather, the Herald focused on a few operators with safety or regulatory problems instead of the hundreds of dependable, law-abiding operators who complete, without incident, numerous flights every single day and night." Stan Bernstein, a spokesman for the Regional Air Cargo Carriers Association, told AVweb, "The article is so poorly written and intended only to sensationalize it is hardly worth a comment. ... Lots of statements made; where are the facts?" More...

MANNED ORNITHOPTER FLIES IN TORONTO
If a wing flaps in Canada, and nobody's paying attention, does it make a stir? Luckily for aeronautical engineer James DeLaurier, who last Saturday saw his one-seat ornithopter fly for the first time, a reporter at The Toronto Star who shares his fascination with flapping flight got the story out. The aircraft flapped its way into the air (with a boost from a small jet engine), climbed to about 3 feet above the ground, and sustained flight for 1,200 feet and 14 seconds. It returned to the runway and tipped over onto its nose, damaging the gear, reportedly the result of an encounter with a crosswind. But it beat by two seconds the Wright brothers' first flight, and that was good enough for DeLaurier. More...

DELAURIER'S PATH TO ENLIGHTENMENT
For DeLaurier, a recently retired professor, the quest to fly the ornithopter took 30 years. "I hadn't planned on this taking most of my career, but I don't regret it," DeLaurier told The Star. "It has been exciting and interesting. Also it's been a worthy project, a worthy quest. You know that age-old saying: 'What's the meaning of life?' Quite frankly, life has meaning if you measure yourself against a worthy goal. And for an aerospace engineer -- who loves aviation history -- this has been a worthy goal." DeLaurier says he was inspired by Leonardo da Vinci and the early pioneers of flight. More...

SINO SWEARINGEN EXPANDS AS JET NEARS DELIVERY
Sino Swearingen Aircraft Corp. announced last week it will expand its operations in San Antonio, Texas, building a 220,000-square foot, $20 million manufacturing plant and adding 850 jobs, doubling its workforce. The company is gearing up to start cranking out 100 copies per year of its SJ30-2 business jet, with first delivery expected by the end of this month. As of last November, at the NBAA annual convention, the company said it had over 300 orders for the airplane, totaling $1.5 billion, and no end in sight. "Orders are accelerating into the stratosphere," said company spokesman Gene Comfort. More...

SEAWIND ROLLS OUT FIRST FLIGHT-TEST AIRCRAFT
The first conforming prototype of the Seawind amphibian is complete and ready to start flight tests, the company announced on Monday. Testing should be complete and a certified Seawind amphibian ready for market by this winter, company spokesman Bill Poirier told AVweb yesterday. "A lot of the certification testing is already done," he said. All the components, the seats, the gear, are already set, he said. The prototype will undergo spin testing, and is being fitted with a recovery chute. Because there is so much work to do, the prototype won't appear at Oshkosh, Poirier said, but he hopes to be showing it at the AOPA Expo in Palm Springs in November. Financing is secure through certification, he said. More...

EFFORT TO CHANGE AGE-60 RULE INTENSIFIES
Airline Pilots Against Age Discrimination (APAAD) has hired Patton Boggs, a high-powered Washington, D.C., lobbying firm, to power up their campaign to get two bills through Congress that would let them keep flying till age 65 (without having to seek employment with a foreign airline), The Hill reported yesterday. Fifty pilots are expected to come to D.C. next week to lobby their representatives in person, the APAAD told The Hill. So far, the bills have gained support, but not much momentum. Both the FAA and the Air Line Pilots Association have made clear they are content with the age-60 rule as it is, leaving it up to pilots to organize and lobby on their own. More...

NTSB WANTS TOUGHER ICING RULES FOR TURBOPROPS
It may be tough to think about icing in the middle of July, but that's their job at the NTSB, and on Monday the safety board asked the FAA to do more to prevent icing incidents in turboprop airplanes. The NTSB wants all operators of Saab SF340-series airplanes to install an icing-detection system and to instruct pilots to maintain a minimum operating airspeed if icing is encountered or expected. Crews should exit icing conditions as soon as performance degradations prevent the airplane from maintaining that airspeed. Further, the board would like the FAA to require operators of turboprops to instruct pilots, except during intermittent periods of high workload, to disengage the autopilot and fly the airplane manually when operating in icing conditions. More research needs to be done, too. More...

FATHER, THREE CHILDREN KILLED IN FIERY PIPER CRASH
The pilot of a Cherokee Six was flying on Saturday afternoon with four of his children to High Valley Airport, a private field in the North Georgia hills, where they were going to spend the weekend in a cabin. The 2,000-foot grass runway is about 2,800 feet above sea level. According to reports from pilots who witnessed the crash, the landing was long and fast, the Six bounced a bit, and near the end of the runway, facing a fence and trees, the pilot tried to go around. He failed to gain altitude -- the flaps may have stayed down, and perhaps a turn was made -- and crashed into a house off the end of the runway. The airplane caught fire. The pilot was able to escape and extract his 13-year-old son from the flames, but both already were burning. Three girls in the rear of the airplane, ages 11, 7, and 4, perished. Rescuers were quickly on the scene and heard cries for help, but were driven back by the intensity of the heat. The pilot later died, the boy remains in critical condition. The pilot had been flying a little over a year. More...

CINCINNATI AIRPORT SAVED FROM MEIGS' FATE
For 20 years, civic leaders in Blue Ash, Ohio, have coveted the undeveloped acres that surround Blue Ash Airport, operated by the city of Cincinnati. But did they take bulldozers to the runways in the middle of the night? No, instead they came to a compromise that allows the GA airport to stay open, while handing over some of that green space for the citizens of Blue Ash to enjoy. They'll get 115 acres of parkland, with gardens, trails and an aviation museum. "Everybody gets something out of this deal," Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory told the Cincinnati Enquirer. More...

ON THE FLY...
A V-22 en route to Farnborough landed in Iceland with engine trouble...Former DOT Sec. Norm Mineta has joined consultant firm in D.C....Video released of a DC-9 and Airbus colliding on the ramp last year...ASDE-X system now deployed at STL and ATL...Sennheiser will introduce a new headset, the HMEC 460, at Oshkosh. More...

AVWEB'S NEWSTIPS ADDRESS ...
What have you heard? There might be something to it. If you've heard something that 130,000 pilots might want to know about, tell us. Submit news tips via email tonewstips@avweb.com. Our best stories start with your tips. More...

AVWEB'S HOMEPAGE IS BEING REDESIGNED
Watch changes come alive at http://www.avweb.com where features and links will be gaining functionality, daily. Explore and you'll soon find: the return of our popular no-cost Classified Advertising section; a new and improved forum for readers of AVweb Columns and Features; and more elegant intuitive drop-down menus throughout the site (easier navigation, less clutter). For a more personal experience, use the Register/Login button (found in the top right of every AVweb page) to log in. And please be patient. It will take time before some of the features are fully functional and functioning properly. For AVwebFlash readers -- our mailings will now arrive to your inbox from avweb@e.avflash.com. The change means your requested AVweb newsletters may suddenly be blocked by a spam filter. To guarantee safe passage, please add that address (or the domain @e.avflash.com) to your e-mail whitelist, safe list, or address book. More...

PODCASTS
Friday: Check AVweb.com tomorrow for the latest in-depth interview. Visit AVweb's list of podcasts, or subscribe free to receive them automatically. More...

NEW ARTICLES AND FEATURES ON AVWEB
BRAINTEASERS Quiz #109: Instrument Failure Is An OptionFlying on the gauges is easy. Instructors make it seem hard by covering up instruments with sticky notes. They're not being jerks but, instead, are simulating instrument failures. Show that you're prepared for failure by acing this quiz. More...

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...

FBO OF THE WEEK: MERIDIAN, TETERBORO, NJ
AVweb's "FBO of the Week" ribbon goes to MERIDIAN, TETERBORO atKTEB, Teterboro, NJ.Offering up Meridian, ROBERT APENS told us, "FLYING IN FROM CANADA IN THECIRRUS FOR AN "I LOVE NEW YORK" JULY 4TH WEEKEND THE PEOPLE AT THIS FBOIMPRESSED MY GIRLFRIEND WITH HOW NICELY THEY TREATED US AMONG ALL THE JETS. SHEASKED IF MY 'OTHER PLANE' WAS A GULFSTREAM! GREAT PRICE ON 100LL..." Keep those nominationscoming.Click through to nominateyour favorite FBO and forcomplete contest rulesAVweb is actively seeking out the best FBO's in the country and another one,submitted by you, will be spotlighted here next Monday! More...

QUESTION OF THE WEEK
Starting this week, our "Question of the Week" will remain open for only seven days — from Thursday morning to the following Wednesday. After Wednesday, we'll close the polling to make way for a new weekly question. (You'll still be able to view the poll results in our archive, even after a "QOTW" expires.) Our first question under the new system: Heavy iron and big bucks — are professional pilots overpaid? PLUS: Results of last week's question on preparedness and unorthodox landings. More...

PICTURE OF THE WEEK
With AVweb's new design making its first public appearance this week, we've been a bit busier than usual. Thankfully, we've had plenty of reader-submitted photos to help relieve the stress. Unfortunately, the combination of a hectic schedule and slightly-lower-than-usual submissions means we'll have a light edition of "POTW" this week. (Not to worry; we'll be back with more photos in this same space next Thursday — assuming, of course, that you do your part and submit some photos!) This week's top photo comes to us from Roy Caton and Laurie Spencer of Cedar Hill, Missouri. Congrats to you both — we'll get two official AVweb baseball caps in the mail to him right away. (You will make sure Laurie gets hers, right, Roy?) More...

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Today's issue was written by news writer Mary Grady (bio).

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