Acting FAA Administrator Sturgelll Quiting?
Bill Mulcahy
http://pages.prodigy.net/rockaway/newsletter490.htm
Aviation Conspiracy Newsletter
#490...............................................................................July
20, 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
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Quote of the Week: I must tell you, it's a problem that still keeps me up
at night" quote (video below) from Acting FAA Administrator Bobby Sturgell
as he tries to explain 19 near collisions of passenger planes so far this
year.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Acting FAA Administrator Sturgell Quitting?
---------------------------------------------------------------------
As Bill Sees It (Editorial): Runway Incursions Keep Acting FAA Boss "Up At
Night!!!!" I (and millions of other FAA victims) know how poor acting FAA
Administrator Bobby Sturgell feels losing needed sleep because of planes.
While Sturgell "says" (no doubt his tongue was firmly tucked in his cheek)
he is losing sleep worrying about planes crashing into each other on airport
runways, the FAA's victims are losing sleep from round-the-clock night
flights over their homes. Apparently, Sturgell's and the FAA's concern about
aviation safety doesn't extend to the health of the people on the ground
whose health is impacted by FAA routed plane, especially by nighttime
airport operations. With the recent high oil I thought there would be less
plane operation, but it seems that airports are as crowded as ever. It seems
that the airlines are only reducing operations at smaller, regional airports
while continuing to put pressure on major city airports. With politicians
like aviation industry mouthpiece and media-hound, Senator Chuck Schumer,
who continues to fight efforts to control dangerous airport overcrowding by
opposing safety "caps" on airport operations, it is only a matter of time
before there is an actual collision.
Internet Buzz Says FAA "Acting" Administrator Sturgell Will Soon Quit!!! I
don't know if it is wishful thinking or a fact, but there are a lot people
who are demanding it. With all the controversy that has swirled around
Sturgell, allowing Southwest Airlines to operate 46 jets that were long
overdue for mandatory inspections, the Northeast's Airspace Redesign scheme
and more recently, the many runway near collisions, the politicians may
decide that he is damaged goods. Many of them are on record opposing
Sturgell's elevation to FAA Administrator, a guaranteed 5-year job. So he
may decide to retire and go to work full-time for the airlines like his
predecessor, Marion Garvey. Unfortunately, the FAA has denied the rumor. Too
bad. But I believe the pressure is building for his retirement fueled by
many community groups like Quiet Rockland who is hosting a site called
"Remove Sturgell."
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Congressman Engle Accuses FAA Of Withholding Information On Airspace
Redesign Health Impacts!!! Congressman Eliot Engel accused the Federal
Aviation Administration of being less than forthcoming with information
about the effects of its air traffic redesign plan that would fly hundreds
of planes over Rockland County on a daily basis. In testimony presented
Wednesday to the Subcommittee on Aviation of the House Transportation and
Infrastructure Committee, on Congestion Management in the New York Air
Space, Rep. Engel repeatedly criticized the FAA for withholding information
and of arrogance in not considering the views of the people of Rockland
County who are directly affected by the agency's plans. "Throughout the
whole process", Rep. Engel said, "the FAA has made it difficult, if not
impossible, to get accurate information on the effects of the Airspace
Redesign". He said it was only through persistent inquiries to the FAA,
"most of which yielded little real information", did he learn that the plan
would send up to 400 additional flights daily over Rockland at altitudes as
low as 5,000 feet. In testimony submitted to the hearing, Rep. Engel said,
"We still do not know how loud it will be when 400 planes fly overhead every
day. We don't know how much additional pollution this will cause. We don't
know how it will affect the disproportionate rate of childhood asthma in my
district. "The level of secrecy is unacceptable".
http://newsblaze.com/story/20080718085520zzzz.nb/topstory.html
Sturgell Desperately Looking For A Way To Reduce Near Collisions!!!
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Federal Aviation Administration is studying whether to
again change takeoff and landing procedures at John F. Kennedy International
Airport after a second near-collision of aircraft in less than a week. At a
news conference Monday, acting FAA Administrator Robert Sturgell said a
change ordered on Friday for the New York airport might not be permanent.
"Given that we had two in this short a time frame, we're going to take a
look at the procedure, we're going to see if there are additional
considerations we should add to the procedure, and in the meantime the
airport will be using a different configuration," Sturgell said. The FAA
directed a change in the way takeoffs and landings are sequenced on
perpendicular runways after two passenger airliners - one taking off, one
landing - came within a half-mile of each other. Six days earlier, a similar
incident occurred. Sturgell said a preliminary investigation found that both
incidents were due to communication problems. The landing and takeoff
procedures put in place Friday at JFK are designed to allow an aircraft
taking off from one runway to get clear of the path of the other,
intersecting runway before the second flight attempts to land. The procedure
is normally used by the airport during the winter months. Sturgell said that
a preliminary study found that both incidents were due to communication
problems with the aircrafts' pilots. He said that the incidents were not
caused by understaffing or lack of experience of air traffic controllers.
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5h8Ro7Hz0qINPtCr_O_iGl21NogsAD91TSN9O0
Stewart Airport, New York: Aviation Pollution-Promoting Senator Regrets
AirTran Pullout!!! WASHINGTON - AirTran Airways' plan to pull service from
Stewart Airport at Newburgh later this year was "a mistake," says U.S.
Senator Charles Schumer. The lawmaker, who is one of the airport's biggest
boosters, told MidHudsonNews.com that other cutbacks with JetBlue's service
are, hopefully, temporary. JetBlue will end its end its West Palm Beach
service and drop one of two flights to Orlando on September 2, the day
before AirTran leaves Stewart. "JetBlue has told me their long-term
commitment to Stewart is a solid as ever. This was seasonal and they are
going to reexamine it when the winter season comes," he said. "I think
AirTran made a mistake, but the discount airlines are the first to get hit."
Both airlines cited the rising cost of fuel as the reasons for their
decisions. Schumer said in the long term, Stewart will develop into a viable
airport that will be used to ease some of the onerous traffic congestion at
Newark, LaGuardia and JFK airports.
http://www.midhudsonnews.com/News/July08/14/AirTran_Schumer-14Jul08.html
Union Charges Airline With Pressuring Pilots To Fly With Reduced Fuel
Levels!!! The union representing flight dispatchers disputes allegations by
US Airways pilots that they are being pressured to use less fuel than is
safe to cut costs. The US Airline Pilots Association paid for a full-page
advertisement in USA Today on Wednesday accusing US Airways of "a program of
intimidation to pressure your captain to reduce fuel loads." Now the union
that represents 175 flight dispatchers, who plan fuel loads with pilots, say
the pilots' union is blowing hot air and trying to scare the flying public.
If US Airways were going to pressure anyone to reduce fuel, it would be the
flight dispatchers, said Transport Workers Union Local 545 president Don
Wright. "These claims are nothing more than hot air," Wright said. The TWU
said the pilots' union is trying to embarrass the company, and scare the
public, because it is embroiled in a contract dispute with US Airways
management over labor issues. All airlines are concerned about trimming
weight, "but we're also concerned about making sure that planes have more
than enough fuel" to deal with traffic delays and weather, Wright said.
http://www.philly.com/philly/business/20080718_Is_US_Airways_cutting_fuel__Dispatchers_say_no.html
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Important Aviation News Stories This Week