Aviation Conspiracy: Congress Investigating FAA "Jet Taxi" Certification!!!
Bill Mulcahy
http://pages.prodigy.net/rockaway/newsletter499.htm
Aviation Conspiracy Newsletter
#499...............................................................................September
21, 2008 Past newsletters can be accessed at:
http://pages.prodigy.net/rockaway/ACNewsmenu.htm If you want to get the
newsletter sent to you every week, sign up to AviationWatch. Bill Mulcahy
rock...@prodigy.net
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Quote of the Week: "...Our initial investigation results show a
combination of FAA actions and inactions, indicating that the agency
expedited the certification processes for the EA-500 to meet a September
2006 deadline..." testimony this week by Calvin L. Scovel III, Department of
Transportation's inspector general at House Transportation and
Infrastructure Committee's aviation panel which is investigating the Eclipse
500 jet's FAA certification
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Congress Investigating "Jet Taxi" Certification!!!
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Editorial): Will We Be Seeing More Small Plane Crashes? With the FAA doing
everything they possible can to build more airports, especially for small
general aviation use, I predict we will be seeing more of these fast-flying
gasoline bombs crashing on our homes and highways. Thanks to to the FAA's
recent controversial approval of the Eclipse 500 small passenger jet for use
by general aviation these crashes will be more devastating. I believe that
with more general aviation jets flying we won't be seeing pictures of small
prop planes that have crashed in garage driveways, but small jets that have
taken out a row of houses!!!
Congressional Probe Of The FAA Certification!!! Rumors, and now a
congressional investigation, abound in news stories that the FAA "fast
tracked" the approval of the Eclipse 500. This may leave the FAA (and the
American taxpayer) liable for lawsuits when one of these small jets crashes
and wipes out a few families on the ground and people start asking questions
why these small jet planes were ever allowed to be put into the hands of
pilots that do not have the same training and oversight that major airline
pilots have. This is a major shift in the way aviation is done in the U.S.
and already the lawyers are looking at it.
Bush's Chickens Finally Coming Home To Roost On US? 120 more days of this
terrible man. I used to think he was just dumb, but have changed my mind.
Remember how he bragged about the "shock and awe" war he was going to
inflict on the Iraqis who never did have weapons of mass destruction and how
he didn't care about the victims of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. The
recent stock market scandal is just another example of Bush bad leadership.
I just wonder if we can survive 120 more days of him (mis)leading America!!!
How Dangerous Is It To Fly In A General Aviation Eclipse 500? According to a
web site I recently found called planecrashinfo.com the chance of getting
killed in a general aviation (small) plane is 28.5 TIMES more likely than in
an (large) airliner!!! I find this statistic to be amazing, but it would
explain the many celebrity deaths we've read about in small aircraft. It
makes me wonder how the Eclipse 500 fits in these statistics. Would it be
even more dangerous than a small prop plane because its a fast flying jet?
Certainly the danger to the people on the ground would be much more as a jet
crash is more devastating than a prop plane. Can that be quantified?
Shouldn't that be part of any certification?
It's Time To Expose The Corrupt FAA Fat Cats!!! Why is the FAA more
interested in fast tracking certification of the Eclipse 500 mini-jet plane
rather than studying its (pardon the pun) safety "impacts?" I think the
answer lies with the fact that the FAA has always considered themselves
airline industry partners in the aviation promotion and expansion business.
That has always come first for them not dealing with aviation safety and
health impacts, especially for people on the ground. Like a business, which
they apparently model themselves after, the FAA loves to expand because it
means bigger jobs and more (taxpayer) money for their executive. The
government has stepped in to control Wall Street, it's time it took control
of the corrupt FAA management rats.
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Eclipse Aviation Is Having A Tough Summer: The maker of the six-seat,
33-foot, 3,500 pound Very Light Jet has racked up orders for more than 2,000
of its Eclipse 500s, but things aren't going all that well. The company's
production line has been a mess, and Eclipse has been forced to push back
customer deliveries after vital suppliers missed deadlines. Last month,
Eclipse's Board of Directors unceremoniously dumped founder and CEO Vern
Rayburn when investors made it clear they weren't all that excited about
injecting cash into the company if he stayed. And now there are safety
problems that would make even the most fearless flier think about going
Greyhound. It's the kind of stuff you'd rather not think about when boarding
a plane:, smoke streaming from a cockpit display, pixilated flight display
monitors, failed communications and navigation electronics, random autopilot
disengagement, landing gear indication problems, and so on. Aviation.com has
a complete list. It's not Eclipse's first safety slip this summer. In June,
the FAA issued an Emergency Airworthiness Directive (AD 2008-13-51, if
you're interested), which grounded all Eclipse 500s after a botched landing
at Chicago's Midway airport. The FAA cleared the 500 for flight the next
day, but still, stuff like this doesn't exactly inspire confidence. The FAA
announced last week that it has launched an investigation into these latest
safety allegations, though its worth noting that they're the ones who
approved the plane for flight in the first place. Aviation.com also points
out that the FAA's 2006 certification for the Eclipse 500 happened on the
last day of the agency's fiscal year, and strangely enough, on a Saturday.
Did this unorthodox timing have anything to do with the fact that bonuses
for FAA managers are tied to certification numbers? the agency says no, but
it does seem just slightly suspicious.
http://blog.wired.com/cars/2008/08/faa-scrutinizes.html
From the DOT Report on the Eclipse 500 to the Committee on Transportation
and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Aviation:
The Eclipse EA-500 relies extensively on software to operate. The Eclipse
EA-500 is a technologically advanced aircraft with an integrated avionics
system that controls several of the aircraft's crucial systems and displays,
sensor data processing, and subsystem monitoring. For example, this system
enables the flight crew to control landing gear, cabin pressurization,
lighting, trim, and electrical systems.
This integrated system also handles key data that flows to the aircraft's
flight management system, such as global positioning (GPS), altitude,
direction, and velocity data. The EA-500's avionics system is solely
computer-based; it does not have stand-by instruments to monitor
flight-critical information (other VLJs like the Cessna Mustang have back-up
[analogue] systems
Dramatic video footage of the Madrid plane crash which killed 154 people has
been released!!! The August 20 crash of the Spanair MD-82 flight from Madrid
to the Canary Islands killed almost all of the 172 people on the plane. The
footage came from the AENA, the government agency which runs Spain's
airports. The video also has a recording of a phone call from the airport
control tower to the operation centre. The caller says she has seen smoke
and flames, and thinks there has been an accident involving a plane. The
operation centre worker says she will call the firefighters, and arranges
for a camera to cover the runway where the accident took place. Both women
sound shocked by what they are realising has just happened.
http://www.itv.com/News/Articles/Madrid-plane-crash-footage-released-138003295.html
Small Plane Crash Kills Four, Burns Two Celebrities!!! A plane crash which
left ex-Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker and disc jockey DJ AM with burns and
killed four, may have been caused by a tire blowout. The Learjet left the
runway on take-off in Columbia, South Carolina, on Friday night, and crashed
on a nearby road. A safety official said that a cockpit voice recording
suggested the crew tried unsuccessfully to abort take-off after hearing a
probable blowout. A doctor has said Barker and DJ AM are expected to make
full recoveries. Both are still in a critical but stable condition in
hospital in Augusta, Georgia, Dr Fred Mullins said. Both had suffered second
and third-degree burns in the crash, he added. Sparks seen Dr Mullins said
that Barker, 32, was burned on his torso and lower body while DJ AM - real
name Adam Goldstein - was burned on his hands and part of his head. Their
injuries could take up to a year to heal, he added. The pilot, co-pilot and
two other passengers all died in the crash. Debbie Hersman, of the National
Transportation Safety Board, said the recording suggested that the crew had
tried to abort take-off but had then signalled that their efforts to do so
were failing. "The crew reacted to a sound that was consistent with a tyre
blowout," she said. Air traffic controllers had reported seeing sparks
coming from the plane as it tried to take-off. Officials said it left the
end of the runway before coming to rest, engulfed in flames, a quarter of a
mile away on the embankment across a five-lane motorway.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7629184.stm
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Important Aviation
News Stories This Week
The Eclipse 500 Jet: Are Passengers in Danger?
September 18, 2008. By Gordon Gibb
http://www.lawyersandsettlements.com/features/unsafe-aircraft-jet-eclipse-500.html
Washington, DC: It's the kind of stuff that makes you want to never set foot
in an aircraft again: allegations that the Federal Aviation Administration
(FAA) fast-tracked the approval of the new Eclipse 500 very light jet
aircraft despite unresolved design problems, according to testimony
presented to Congress this week.
The FAA flatly denies the allegation, and it sets up a war of words between
safety advocates, proponents of the new jet and the FAA itself. Passengers
on board the Eclipse, meanwhile, would be forgiven for fearing for their
safety.
The Eclipse 500 light jet was certified for use in 2006, and there are 250
aircraft already in use. A spokesperson for the FAA claims that the agency's
certification of the aircraft was appropriate, given that the aircraft met
all the required standards. The spokesperson added that the FAA failed to
find, or isolate any unsafe condition requiring immediate attention.
Meanwhile, the President and General Manager of the manufacturing division
of the Eclipse defended her aircraft as "the most-tested and safest general
aviation aircraft," Peg Billson said in prepared testimony obtained on the
eve of the congressional hearing. She went on to find fault with the FAA
inspectors assigned to certify the aircraft. "We believe that the FAA did
not initially have the people with the appropriate knowledge and experience
assigned," to the task, she said.
It should be noted that the FAA is actively promoting the Eclipse 500, a new
class of small jet, as a potential solution to chronic congestion at large
airports, and a rapid transportation alternative for smaller communities
that could not support commercial air service.
However, Transportation Department Inspector General Calvin Scovel, in
prepared testimony for the September 17th hearing, references the findings
of an investigation that found the FAA knew about various deficiencies with
the aircraft, but certified it anyway amidst an allegation that the FAA had
a 'cozy' relationship with the manufacturer.
Inspector General Scovel cited problems with the plane's airspeed and
altitude indicator, stall warning system, cockpit display and primary wing
flaps. Software was also an issue. One FAA software engineer testified that
when he balked at approving the software given his observation that it met
only one-third of the required objectives, FAA management sternly questioned
him. Another FAA manager, whose job was to oversee engineering compliance of
the Eclipse, was removed from the project after raising safety concerns
about the jet.
In June, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) sent out an urgent
recommendation that throttles for the Eclipse immediately be inspected, and
emergency procedures developed after an Eclipse in Chicago was forced to
make an emergency landing due to a throttle problem.
The plane had only 238 hours in the air before it began developing problems,
and there have been four other incidents involving Eclipse aircraft since
April of this year. Two of the four sustained minor damage, while a third
saw substantial damage. So far there have been no reports of injury, or
death to passengers or crew.
In testimony prepared for the Congressional hearing, an FAA manager
describes the process of inspecting an Eclipse after manufacture and noted
"improperly installed fasteners, misrouted electrical wiring, unsatisfactory
safety wire, wrong fasteners being used, inadequate clearances between
moving parts, etc."
The manager, Ford Lauer, was just doing his job on behalf of the future
safety of the flying public. However, in his prepared testimony obtained by
CNN Lauer claimed that his concerns drew objections from the Eclipse
manufacturer. "Eclipse management would not hesitate to complain to FAA
management when they perceived FAA inspectors were interfering with
Eclipse's ability to deliver airplanes."
As the investigation continues, it will be interesting to see if negative
publicity succeeds in grounding all 250 planes until alleged deficiencies
are corrected, and future models are afforded the kind of scrutiny normally
seen before a new plane is certified.
Until then all eyes will be on the sky, and the courts.
Plane Crash Legal Help
If you have suffered losses in this case, please send your complaint to a
lawyer who will review your possible [Plane Crash Lawsuit] at no cost or
obligation.
Government Shill #2
wrote:
Bill!!!!
Mate!
Where have you been?
Still living under the flight path of JFK? Still surprised that it's noisy
there?
Wow! What a blast from the past.
Could you please post here for a couple of weeks to give the current crop
of loons a lesson on how to be a usenet kOOk? Us shills of the cabal/Gvt
would appreciate it. Since nuts of your calibre left we have been getting
just the dregs. Some of them are sometimes funny, but usually they are
repetitive and boring.
--
Shill #2
Great Tarverisms #1
> The Air Speed Indicator (ASI) shows
You made that up, didn't you?
The IAS indicator says IAS, not ASI.
Why do you come here pretending to know something
when you don't even know the words?
John
Bertie the Bunyip
news:AiPBk.1085$ZP4...@nlpi067.nbdc.sbc.com:
Wow! Billy, where ya been. Wait, silly question. when did your facility
allow you to go on the net?
Bertie
george
>
> Wow! Billy, where ya been. Wait, silly question. when did your facility
> allow you to go on the net?
>
What a crock that web page is