SAS PERMANENTLY GROUNDS Q400 FLEET

Click for a video from Danish TV 2

Bombardier insists its Q400 airliners are safe despite SAS's decision to "permanently" ground its fleet of 27 of the aircraft after a partial gear-up landing in Copenhagen Saturday. The decision came after the airline's third landing-gear-related emergency landing in a little more than a month. But Bombardier said in a statement that Saturday's incident did not appear to be related to the two previous incidents and it advised carriers using the aircraft to continue as normal.The right main gear failed to deploy on the SAS Q400 at Copenhagen Airport. The flight crew was able to slide it safely to a stop on the foam-covered runway with no injuries to the 44 people, including two infants, on board. In a news release, SAS management said the airline and its customers were losing confidence in the aircraft. More...

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA G.A. WAITS OUT FIRES
GA pilots have been doing their share in the battle against wildfires in California — largely by staying out of the way. "People are being pretty sensible about it," Roger Griffiths, airport manager at Gillespie Field in El Cajon, Calif., near San Diego, told AVweb Friday Though local pilots have been grounded by temporary flight restrictions (TFRs) in place to support firefighting efforts, the skies above San Diego County are buzzing with activity. Aircraft ranging from helicopters and single-engine air tankers (SEAT) to a DC-10 and a 60-year-old Martin Mars flying boat brought in from British Columbia are being used to attack the fires, which forced the evacuation of more than a million people last week. Griffiths said two of the three runways at his airport were closed and turned into parking ramps for helicopters, as many as 30 at a time. More...

FINGERPOINTING STARTS OVER FIREFIGHTING HELICOPTER DELAYS
San Diego politicians say foot-dragging by state officials kept 24 firefighting helicopters on the ground for a full day last week, critically hampering firefighting efforts in the early stages as the blazes gathered strength. The helicopters, operated by the military, were grounded because a state regulation requires that all firefighting choppers have a "fire spotter" on board and there weren't enough available. By the time the helicopters were allowed to take off it was too windy for them to fly. On Wednesday the state waived the regulation but now the heat is on state officials to explain the delay in doing so. More...

CONTROLLER ALERTS POLICE TO SUSPECTED IMPAIRED PILOT
An air traffic controller called police to report a pilot he believed was drunk at the controls and the cops in Mitchell, S.D., later arrested a 65-year-old man on various alcohol- and drug-related charges. The controller became suspicious of the pilot's slurred speech and his apparent difficulty holding altitude on Thursday. According to the Sioux Falls Argus Leader, when police met the Mooney after it landed, they found open liquor in the cockpit, a container of prescription drugs without a prescription and a pilot they allege had obviously been drinking. More...

WEST INDIES COMPANY PLANS UNIQUE COMMUTER PLANE
Integrity Aircraft Holdings Ltd. (IAHL) of Nevis, in the West Indies, recently announced it will develop an 18-20-seat commuter aircraft with a single 1,100-hp Honeywell TPE 331-12 mounted on the tail. The aircraft is similar in appearance to the British-built Britten-Norman Trislander, which has three piston engines, one each on the wings and the third on the tail. In news releases appearing on stock watch Web sites, IAHL CEO Peter Van Dyke said the single tail-mounted turboprop offers numerous advantages over conventional configurations, including the ability to leave the engine running while loading and unloading, thus cutting the number of start cycles on the engine. Van Dyke said he expects to sell the aircraft for $1.9 million and, although it's strictly a paper airplane at this stage, he's hoping for certification sometime next year. More...

FLIGHT SCHOOLS GEAR FOR PILOT SHORTAGE
Pundits say the traditional training models for professional pilots are changing and there's never been a better time for young people to get in the left seat. In an extensive feature in Florida Today, various institutions say a looming pilot shortage should also make it much easier for students to get the training they need and the jobs that will follow. "It means a big shift, as far as where pilots are trained," Louis Smith, president of the Internet-based pilot information resource FLTops.com, told the newspaper. More...

MYRTLE BEACH VOTES ITSELF $7 MILLION BILL
Keeping up appearances will cost Myrtle Beach-area taxpayers $7 million. The Myrtle Beach Sun-News says the FAA has sent Horry County, which encompasses Myrtle Beach International Airport, a bill for that amount because it didn't go through with a terminal project. The county and FAA spent a total of about $18 million on clearing the site and designing the building before the Community Appearance Board quashed the project last April. The FAA says it paid the money on the condition that the project go through and now it wants it back. More...

JFK FLIGHT CAPS RILE NEW YORKERS
New York politicians, business groups and tourism officials have joined the chorus of opposition to a proposal by the FAA to limit flights into John F. Kennedy Airport to a maximum of 81 during peak hours and 80 for most of the rest of the day. Instead, the "broad coalition" opposing the proposal is saying the FAA should get its own house in order and fast-track modernization efforts, facilities improvements and airspace redesign to reduce the number of flight delays at the airport. "We must act now to reduce delays. However, the solution on which the FAA is currently focused - a cap on the number of flights at JFK - is, in truth, no solution at all," New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer and New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine said in a joint letter to Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters. More...

A380 BEDS FOR SLEEPING, SAYS AIRLINE
Considering the areas of aircraft that have served the carnal desires of their occupants, it would seem likely that the private suite with double bed that Singapore Airlines has installed on its A380 would be creating a little turbulence of its own on every flight. But if the airline has anything to do with it (and good luck with this) the first-class section will not become headquarters of the Mile High Club. "If couples used our double beds to engage in inappropriate activity, we would politely ask them to desist," company spokesman Stephen Forshaw told the Times of London. "There are things that are acceptable on an aircraft and things that aren't, and the rules for behavior in our double beds are the same ones that apply throughout the aircraft." More...

ON THE FLY ...
FAA puts TFR inside FRZ ...
Malibu crashes on long emergency glide ...
Virgin first officer suspected of being drunk. More...

Columns | Features | What's New | Calendar | Brainteasers

PROBABLE CAUSE #44: DARK DEPARTURE
If humans had been meant to fly at night, they would have been given better internal gyros. More...

AVWEB'S MONDAY PODCAST:
SECRETS FROM THE TOWER — AND A FEW FROM AUTHOR/CONTROLLER BOB RICHARDS
When Bob Richards retired as a controller after 22 years in the O'Hare tower, he had a lifetime of stories to tell, not all of them pretty. He put his fingers on the keys and tried to give an honest account of not just the stress and demands of the job, but the human achievment and sacrifice that go hand in hand with that uniquely challenging lifestyle. What resulted is Secrets from the Tower, a book that's captured the imagination of people from all walks of life and landed Richards on the morning news and talk show circuit. He told AVweb's Russ Niles about how he hopes the book will be an engine for change in the air traffic control system. More...

VIDEO OF THE WEEK: LOW-FLYING SUPERSCOOPER FIGHTING FIRES OVER MALIBU
We know them as "waterbombers," "superscoopers," and "ducks," but when wildfires burn out of control (as they did this week throughout Southern California), Canadair's CL-series firefighters are nothing short of lifesavers. In this clip from CNN (posted on LiveLeak by user bellava), we see one such scooper flying low over Malibu, fighting out-of-control California wildfires. (Click through to watch.) More...

FBO OF THE WEEK:
MINUTE MAN (MINUTE MAN AIRFIELD AT 6B6 IN STOW, MA)

AVweb's "FBO of the Week" ribbon goes to Minute Man Airfield at 6B6 in Stow, Massachusetts.

AVweb reader Dick Shafner recommended the FBO after spending some time there and discovering that (for piston pilot at least) "Minute Man Airfield has it all":

[Onwer Don and wife Nancy] still treat each incoming aircraft like it is their first customer. The motto on the Minute Man web site is "Where Piston Pilots Rule", and it certainly is. Fuel is cheap (pay cash and it is even cheaper) and there is always a friendly "hello" on the frequency when arriving or departing. ... And then there is Nancy's Airport Cafe. What a find. Locals consider it "the place to go" for breakfast and lunch during the week, and on Friday and Saturday nights Chef Nancy prepares gourmet meals in a very relaxed cafe setting.

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!

SHORT FINAL

I do believe I tried to pass on this little edict many years ago without success, and since I never saw a response, I will try one more time, just for my old Yankee mate, Ken Sunderland:

AVWEB'S NEWSTIPS ADDRESS ...
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