DFW FUDGING ATC OPERATIONAL ERROR RATES?
The U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC) late last week directed DOT Secretary Mary Peters to investigate allegations by air traffic controllers at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport that management has covered up ATC operational errors at the facility. According to the OSC, air traffic controller Anne Whiteman told the special counsel in 2004 that managers at the DFW TRACON routinely covered up operational errors by not properly investigating and reporting them as required by FAA policy. Making it even worse, Whiteman said she was reprimanded by her managers and harassed by coworkers because of the disclosure. In February 2005, the DOT Inspector General reported that her whistleblowing had resulted in the exposure of a seven-year management practice of underreporting operational errors. The report noted that FAA officials considered the underreporting to be very serious and had begun corrective actions. In recent disclosures made by Whiteman and an unidentified whistleblower alleged that FAA personnel at DFW are routinely identifying operational errors as pilot errors. The FAA maintains that all controller errors are being correctly reported and said its inspectors recently visited the airport. In some cases, the whistleblowers say that managers have improperly interpreted FAA orders and directives to cover up operational errors. More...

GA BOOSTERS BACK AIRLINES IN FAA REAUTHORIZATION TALKS
Sen. John Rockefeller, D-W. Va., said he’s determined to ensure general aviation pays more to support the modernization of the air traffic control system. During hearings on the reauthorization of the FAA by the Senate Finance Committee, Rockefeller threatened to restrict GA access to congested airspace if user fees are not imposed on this segment as part of the reauthorization package. He said airline passengers should not be forced to "continue to subsidize corporate jets." It should be noted that this is the same congressman who’s worked hard to attract business jet manufacturer Sino Swearingen and the now-defunct Tiger Aircraft to his home turf of Martinsburg, W. Va. More...

AVWEB AT EAA AIRVENTURE
If you can't make it to EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wis., next week, then you'll be happy to know that AVweb will bring the show to your desktop. We'll be publishing daily issues, podcasts and video posted directly from the show grounds to keep you up-to-date with the latest news from AirVenture. And for those lucky enough to be going to the airshow, don't forget to stop by AVweb's booth to enter to win one of several ExxonMobil fuel cards or even our grand prize: upset recovery training from APS Emergency Maneuver Training. More...

CANADIAN USER FEES DROP FOUR PERCENT
As the debate heats up in Washington, D.C., over the imposition of user fees for general aviation aircraft, Canada's nonprofit, privatized air services provider Nav Canada has announced that the fees it charges will go down 4 percent across the board for at least a year. For the owner of a piston single, that means the annual fee will drop from $71 to $69. The overall annual revenue reduction to the company will be about $50 million. Nav Canada says cost control and an increase in air traffic combined for the rosy financial picture that allowed the reduction. And conspicuously included in the announcement is the reaffirmation that very light jets will be assessed the same movement and daily charges to which larger turbine aircraft are subject. More...

INVESTIGATORS SAY STUDENT PILOTS SHOULD BE FLAGGED
Britain’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) is recommending that student pilots on solo flights be identified by a radio call-sign prefix so air traffic controllers can take into account their limited experience and knowledge. The recommendation came from the investigation of a crash on July 19, 2006, that killed a 16-year-old student who had logged 15 hours and was on his second solo flight. Just before he touched down at Southend Airport, a controller ordered him to turn left and climb to pattern height so an overtaking Piper Meridian could land. It’s believed he did not reconfigure the aircraft and apply enough power for the unorthodox go-around and the Cessna he was flying stalled and crashed a short time later. The four-person investigation team concluded pilot Sam Cross was put "in a situation for which his training and experience had not prepared him" after being "instructed to carry out an unfamiliar and nonstandard manoeuvre," the AAIB report said. More...

TWO WEEKS TO TAXI OFFERS RV HELP
The popular Two Weeks To Taxi builder-assist program started by Glasair to help sell its Sportsman 2+2 homebuilts has now evolved into a standalone business and is expanding its service. The company will now allow those purchasing Vans RV-7 and RV-10 aircraft the opportunity to build their kits in about 14 days under the guidance and organizational direction of licensed mechanics and expert aircraft builders in a facility designed and equipped expressly for the purpose. Company officials say the expanded service should help more kits get built. "Between the two companies (Glasair and Vans), more than 14,000 aircraft kits have been sold, yet many remain unfinished," Michael Via, president of Two Weeks To Taxi, said in a news release. "We feel that providing a service focused on allowing builders to complete an aircraft in just two weeks is a remarkable opportunity." More...

OHIO AIRCRAFT REPAIR SHOPS HURT BY SALES TAX
Aircraft repair businesses in Ohio are lobbying the state to repeal a sales tax on parts and labor they say is causing layoffs and threatening businesses. According to the Dayton Daily News, Ohio aircraft owners are traveling as far as New Hampshire to take advantage of tax-free repairs. "I don't want to chase jobs away," Mark Geisler, service center general manager at the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport-based Winner Aviation, told the Daily News. "And this tax is chasing jobs away." More...

FOSSETT CLAIMS GLIDING SPEED RECORD
Aviation record collector Steve Fossett and New Zealand soaring expert Terry Delore have set a speed record for gliding over a 1,250-km (675 nm) triangular course. Fossett and Delore averaged 149.23 kmh (80.56 knots) over the course from Ely, Nev., last week. Delore told Christchurch’s The Press newspaper that even though it wasn’t a “ripper” of a day in the skies over Nevada, they still got the job done. “…We were able to maintain a good and steady pace, even in the absence of cloud for a good chunk of the flight," Delore said. "After 27 attempts and 18,000 km [9,719 nm] of desert flying, the longest-standing world speed record is ours, subject to ratification. We are rapt." More...

FELLOW PASSENGERS SUE TB PATIENT
Seven Canadians and two Czechs have launched a $1.3 million lawsuit against an Atlanta lawyer for his "reckless" behavior in boarding a flight knowing he had tuberculosis. "He deliberately got on this plane, endangered our lives and this is very selfish and reckless behavior that deserves to be punished," Nassim Tabri, a 26-year-old graduate student who was sitting one row ahead of Andrew Speaker, told the Atlanta Constitution Journal. Tabri and the eight others, seven fellow passengers and the roommate of one of them, are represented by Montreal lawyer Anlac Nguyen, who filed the suit in Quebec Superior Court. Speaker, a 31-year-old personal injury lawyer, is now being treated in isolation in Denver and said he would never knowingly put anyone at risk. More...

VENEZUELA DRAFTS LAW TO SHOOT DOWN UNIDENTIFIED AIRCRAFT
Straying into Venezuelan airspace could soon have dire consequences. According to Bloomberg News, the government has drafted legislation that would allow the air force to shoot down any unidentified aircraft entering its airspace. Drug-running aircraft use the cover of the country's remote, mountainous landscape to transfer their cargo from South America to the U.S. But the rugged country will become a lot more visible to air force interceptors under the bill. More...

BURIED WRECKAGE INVESTIGATED
Construction workers digging a water line trench near Watsonville, Calif., last week unearthed a chunk of riveted metal, some bullet casings dated 1942 and part of a burned parachute. And now the town is buzzing about what might be buried there. Various local authorities, along with officials from Travis Air Force Base, are now examining the contents of the hole to see what it is and if it’s safe to bring it into the light of day. "There's definitely a piece of history there, whatever it is," Kenny Lazzerini, who owns the strawberry farm on which the wreckage was found, told the Santa Cruz Sentinel. More...

AIRCRAFT FUSELAGES BECOME LIBRARY
They’ve been turned into homes, restaurants and businesses, but a New York firm has found a more scholarly use for discarded aircraft fuselages. LOT-EK, which is described as "urban architect recyclers," has designed a library in Guadalajara, Mexico, made entirely out of the aluminum tubes. Now it’s not clear whether the books are stored in the seatbacks or whether the overhead storage compartments come into play, but LOT-EK says the fuselages make a good building. More...

ON THE FLY
Runway incursion at Fort Lauderdale investigated…
AD proposed to fix Trimble, FreeFlight software glitch…
DC-10 air tanker to return to service after tree clipping incident…
Comic book hero inspired by Bristol Fighter biplane. More...

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

AVWEBBIZ: AVWEB'S BUSINESS AVIATION NEWSLETTER
HAVE YOU SIGNED UP yet for AVweb's NO-COST weekly business newsletter, AVwebBiz? 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. Sign up today at http://www.avweb.com/profile/. More...

THE PILOT'S LOUNGE #115: THE LONELINESS OF A TOWN WITHOUT AN AIRPORT
If a town of decent size doesn't have an airport, what other sparks of life doesn't it have? More...

PROPELLER GOVERNOR DIAGNOSTICS
When your prop surges, hunts or does anything unusual, do you know what to check first? More...

AVWEB AUDIO NEWS

AVweb posts audio news on Mondays, plus a new in-depth interview each Friday. In last Friday's podcast, you'll hear you'll hear David Billings on the enduring allure of the Amelia Earhart mystery. And AVweb's podcast index includes interviews with BusinessJetSEATS Alfred Rapetti; EAA's Dick Knapinski; AOPA's Andrew Cebula; Cirrus Design's Alan Klapmeier; NBAA's Harry Houkes; Reason Foundation's Robert Poole; SATSair's Sheldon Early; Epic Aircraft's Rick Schrameck; AOPA's Randy Kenagy; Eclipse Aviation's Vern Raburn; Xwind's Brad Whitsitt; BoGo Light's Mark Bent; DayJet's Ed Iacobucci; Pogo Jet's Cameron Burr; Teal Group's Richard Aboulafia; Air Journey's Thierry Pouille; Epic Aircraft's Rick Schrameck; Cessna's Jack Pelton; Embraer's Ernest Edwards and LAMA's Dan Johnson. In Monday's podcast, Aerion vice chairman Brian Barents talks about his company's supersonic business jet design. Remember: In AVweb's podcasts, you'll hear things you won't find anywhere else.

More...

FBO OF THE WEEK: ELLIOTT AVIATION

AVweb's "FBO of the Week" ribbon goes to Elliott Aviation at KMLI in Moline, Ill.

AVweb reader Jim Grady likes how they treat the "liitle guy."

"Our Sunday evening arrival was literally as the staff was out the door and off duty. They returned, parked us, took the fuel order and even took us to town in the van. All this was for a couple in a little taildragger, not a jet-A customer!"

VIDEO OF THE WEEK: NEAR MID-AIR COLLISION WITH BIG CONSEQUENCES
Shifting our attention back to safety this week, we have a video clip from YouTube user RemosG3. The near mid-air collision here ends with actual mid-air when the Rans S6 (with camera aboard) strikes the tow line attached to the glider the Rans barely missed. The line isn't clearly visible, so watch closely — and if you listen closely, you can hear the line hit the Rans and the parachute deploy. (Click through to watch.) More...

SHORT FINAL

Overheard in IFR Magazine's "On the Air"

We were leaving Martha’s Vineyard when my student nervously contacted Cape Approach:

Cessna 38W: Cape Approach, Cessna Three Eight Whiskey, student pilot departing the Vineyard, requesting advisories to New Bedford.

Cape Approach: Cessna Three Eight Whiskey, Cape Approach. This should be interesting. I’m a student controller, squawk 2234, and ident. More...

MEET THE AVWEBFLASH TEAM