AOPA Pilot Blog: Reporting Points

Talk about getting high! Police arrested five people after the aircraft they had parked at Kansas’ Amelia Earhart Airport was discovered to have 42 lbs of marijuana onboard, reports the Dodge City Daily Globe.  The arrests came from a police tip.

The highway became a runway.  A crew of two flying a vintage Beechcraft 18 cargo aircraft was forced to make an emergency landing on an isolated part of Florida’s US 27 after losing both engines, reports CBS News.  The flight was an instructional one on handling stalls that became an actual emergency.

Nice landing, but having a nosewheel does help. The Independent.ie website has posted dramatic footage of a twin turbine aircraft making an emergency landing in Toowoomba, Australia, without its nosewheel.

Do the crime? Do the time!   Adam Gardenhire is facing 30 months in prison after pleading guilty to pointing a laser in the cockpits of a Netjets Cessna Citation and a police helicopter, reports AvWeb. His defense? “I didn’t know it was dangerous.”

Two more walk away. A pilot who made an emergency landing at North Carolina’s Piedmont Triad International Airport after the landing gear of his Mooney  M20F collapsed, reports MyFox8.com.  And another pilot walked away after making an emergency landing on New Zealand’s Gisborne beach, reports the Dominion Post.

OK, that WAS a joke.  France’s La Poste wrote a story about how it was going to start delivering newspapers via drone as part of its modernization program. The problem was, the story was an April Fool’s joke.

It was a miracle landing.  Three adults and three children flying in a Piper Cherokee Six were lucky to be alive after their aircraft made an emergency landing in Kisbey, Saskatchewan, Canada, reports the Star Phoenix.  Canada’s Transportation Safety Board is investigating the cause of the accident.

This training flight offered a real education.  A pilot operating a Beechcraft 18 on a training flight was forced to make an emergency landing on U.S. 27 near Weston, Fla., reports the Miami Herald.  No one was injured in the accident.

Amazing helicopter rescue, part one.  Among the more than 200 people rescued from two ice floes off the coast of Latvia, 39 were fetched by helicopter, reports RT.com. The helicopter pilots faced strong winds.

Amazing helicopter rescue, part two.  Two men trapped on Ireland’s Benevenagh Mountain were rescued by a PSNI Search and Rescue team using Irish Army helicopters, reports UTv.  The men were trapped in a snow gully.

Talk about insult after injury!  Pilot George Thomas has filed suit against the Colville, Wash., police department after accusing an officer of using “excessive force” when arresting him after he made an emergency landing at Colville Municipal Airport, reports the Spokesman-Review.  He claims his shoulder was injured after a police officer shoved him against his cruiser and stuck a taser gun in his back.

That’s an interesting use of a helicopter.  The folks at New Jersey Central Power & Light has a new tool to keep tree branches away from power lines — giant saw blades hanging from the bottom of a helicopter, reports ABC News.  The system uses blades that spin at 2,400 revolutions a minute.

Does it come with an actual rescuer?  The next time you find yourself floating in the sea waiting for a rescue, it may be from a different source.  The Mashable blog reports that an Iranian company has built Pars, a rescue drone.

A study from Purdue University and Wichita State University indicates airline passenger complaints are up, giving a boost to business aviation. The report notes more seats per aircraft means passengers are jammed in a little tighter, making flights less comfortable. Quality rankings show Virgin American at number one, followed by JetBlue, AirTran, Delta, and Hawaiian. At number six is Alaska, followed by Frontier, Southwest, US Airways, and American. United ended up at 14, probably because, as everyone knows, United breaks guitars.

Just a quick shoutout to Southwest, where tighter seating arrangements mean arms and knees of fellow passengers are glued to yours for the duration of the trip, and fewer cabin crews are using Southwest’s trademark humor during announcements. In fact, some are downright condescending. Also, thanks, Southwest, for losing the camera tripod used by AOPA photographer Chris Rose on our flight frmo Baltimore to Birmingham April 5.

Burt Rutan is developing an amphibious, two-engine, motor glider, seaplane on skis. The skis are embedded with skateboard wheels. He described it to The Old Bold Pilots organization in California at the end of January. He doesn’t need a medical to fly it, and if it works, you could be flying it, too.

Greg Koontz helps AOPA get the shot

Airshow performer Greg Koontz got practice with his new Decathlon Xtreme for his Friday, Saturday, Sunday performances at Sun `n Fun, and we got great pictures for an upcoming article on the airplane. That’s Chris Rose on the ground, by prior briefing and agreement, getting the shot of the maneuver that Koontz uses for his ribbon cutting. This airplane had a bird strike the morning the shot was taken, but the cowling crack was quickly glued and repaired. CLICK PHOTO TO ENLARGE

Sometimes you  need to resist the urge. Some would say that Billy Cheesman Jr. went a bit overboard with his April Fool’s joke. making it appear as if an aircraft had crashed into his business’s building in Yucaipa, Calif. reports the Press-Enterprise.  He even put crime scene tape around the “crash” to make it look more real.

That could not have been easy to watch. Richard Small was noticing how dirty his 1969 Piper Twin Comanche as it was landing at New Zealand’s Taieri Aerodrome when he saw the aircraft touch down and skid off the runway, reports the New Zealand Herald.  Despite plowing through a fence at the end of the runway, the pilot and two passengers onboard were not injured.

The punishment fits the crime. Adam Gardenhire is going to federal prison for 30 months after being convicted of pointing a laser into the cockpit of a private aircraft landing at  Burbank’s Bob Hope Airport, along with a helicopter operated by the Pasadena Police Department, reports LAist.  The judge said the tough sentence was handed down as a warning to others contemplating similar stunts.

Isn’t this the Easter Bunny’s job? Children at Velocity Church in Green Township, Ohio, had their Easter eggs delivered in a unique way — by helicopter in a field at Oak Hills High School, reports Cincinnati.com. The helicopter dropped around 17,000 eggs, while the Easter Bunny distributed another 3,000.

Taking the humble golf cart to the next level.  Pro golfer Bubba Watson’s video of his new hovercraft golf cart went viral, reports Mashable.  The video and the cart are part of an advertisement for Watson sponsor Oakley sunglasses.

It’s always good when you can walk away. An 84-year-old pilot survived an emergency landing of his Cessna 170 at California’s Livermore Airport, reports Livermore Patch.  As he landed, his foot got stuck in the rudder. He made  a hard turn left off the runway and skidded in the dirt.

It’s a highway, it’s a runway!  The pilot of a Cessna 150 was forced to make an emergency landing on California’s  State Route 125 after experiencing a loss of power, reports East County magazine.  The resident of Mexico was in the area to visit relatives.

The cat used one of its nine lives.  A crew taking a wrecking ball to a house damaged by an aircraft accident in South Bend, Ind., found quite a surprise in the home’s wall, reports the Post-Tribune. A cat jumped out of a wall that was about to be destroyed.

They love the smell of jet fuel in the morning — and all day!  News Track India brings us a story about bears in Russia’s Kronotsky Nature Reserve who are getting high by sniffing fumes from discarded barrels of aircraft fuel. After deeply sniffing the fuel, the bears dig a shallow hole and lie back as the effects kick in.

I’ve never seen a hunting truck like this! Field & Stream magazine’s Gun Nut blog profiles photographer Dave Tunge, who uses his Piper Super Cub — he calls it his “hunting truck” — to hunt for pheasant.   He uses the aircraft to fly 150-200 miles away and land directly in fields to hunt for the birds.

To catch a thief.  A helicopter owned by Detroit’s WJBK-TV played a key role in helping police nab a car thief suspect, reports MLive.com.  The helicopter helped police keep track of the suspect’s car during a 20-minute high-speed chase.

I guess it wasn’t a helicopter to the rescue.   Two men who escaped from a prison located outside of Montreal via helicopter are now back in jail, reports the Guardian.  The trio were arrested about 30 miles away from the prison.

A mentor earlier in life might have been helpful. Jonathan Standridge, a project manager at Boeing, has become a mentor to Colton Harris-Moore, who became well known as the Barefoot Bandit, reports AvWeb. 21-year-old Harris-Moore was arrested after a two-year spree of stealing and flying aircraft.  Standridge says the young man wants to earn a degree in  aeronautical engineering degree, earn a pilot’s certificate and design his own aircraft in the future.

David Snell, the entrepreneurial soul who runs Starlight Flights in Dallas, Texas–and that’s just one of his three businesses—says he knew AOPA Pilot readers would be interested in what he does. And he was right.

Since my article on Snell (“2,000 Feet Over Dallas”) was published in the March 2012 issue, I’ve received numerous emails from members wondering how they, too, could get started in the flightseeing business without owning an airplane. Snell, you’ll recall, rents a Cessna 172 (so no operating expenses), and meets clients in the lobby of the FBO from which he purchases fuel (so no brick-and-mortar expenses). He has commercial and flight instructor certificates but has logged thousands of hours without having to, you know, actually flight instruct.

I’ve forwarded all your emails to David since the article ran, but he has graciously consented to provide his email address on this blog for anybody else who wants more details. He warns that April is the busy time for his crawfish business, but I’m pretty sure that his enthusiasm for what he does and his genuine desire to share his knowledge with fellow pilots means he’ll get back to you. And if you’re in the Dallas area, you just might want to hit up one of his crawfish boils, because I’ve seen photos–and they look delicious. Email Snell at dsnell@grandecom.net.

Beechcraft Corporation will sell off the jets the company once made as the former Hawker Beechcraft by mid-year. Dow Jones Business News had a report on the possible sale last month. The last time the jets were almost sold, the interested parties, according to the Dow report, were: Textron (parent company of Cessna), Mahindra and Mahindra of India, Embraer of Brazil, New United of China, and Carlyle Group, an investment company. There are new parties interested, the Dow report indicates.

The Airports Council International has ranked the world’s busiest airports once again, and Atlanta wins.  Top ranked are, in order: Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, and Los Angeles. Then Beijing comes in at number six, followed by: Charlotte, Las Vegas, Houston, Paris, Frankfurt, London, Phoenix and Philadelphia. At number 15 is Amsterdam, followed by: Toronto, Detroit, Minneapolis, San Francisco, and Newark. At 21 is New York JFK, followed by: Munich, Miami, Mexico City, Madrid, Guangzhou (China), and La Guardia. At number 28 is Jakarta, followed by Phoenix, and in thirtieth place is Istanbul.