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Airframe Chute's Failure Forces Real-Live Bail-Out... ANN has learned sume surprising details surrounding the recent loss of a non-conforming flying prototype of the Cessna SkyCatcher LSA during exclusive conversations with personnel from Cessna Aircraft and BRS Parachutes. Cessna's prototype Model 162 SkyCatcher light sport aircraft crashed thursday afternoon near Douglass, KS on what was described as a routine test flight, but a Cessna spokesperson now describes as an extensive evaluation of the aircraft's smpin matrix... this particular test being devoted to "Full-Power, cross-controlled spins." (snip) Cessna has been pretty open adn up-front with the matter, at least to the extend...

Federal investigators are on their way to Douglass, Kansas to investigate the crash of a Cessna Skycatcher LSA prototype Thursday. The pilot of the test aircraft was able to parachute to safety and was reportedly taken to hospital with minor injuries. Cessna media relations personnel were unable to immediately respond to AVweb's request for more detailed information, but KAKE Television is reporting the aircraft crashed into a treeline near the boundary of Butler and Cowley Counties. The television station is quoting witnesses as saying they heard a loud pop and then saw sparks and the plane spiraling down. The pilot...

Textron Inc.'s Cessna Aircraft Co. will become the first U.S. manufacturer to turn over complete production of an airplane to a Chinese partner, a move intended to cut production costs and foster a nascent private-aviation market in China. Cessna officials said China's state-owned Shenyang Aircraft Corp. will build the new Cessna 162 SkyCatcher at its factory in Shenyang, China. The planned single-engine, two-seat airplane will be the smallest in Cessna's product line. It is designed for training and what is known as the light-sport market, for recreational fliers. Cessna hopes manufacturing in China will help keep the price of the...

Cessna has become the latest airframe manufacturer to tap into China's growing aircraft production expertise, with the US airframer picking AVIC I subsidiary Shenyang Aircraft to assemble its new Model 162 SkyCatcher light sport aircraft (LSA). Under the terms of the agreement, Shenyang will be responsible for aircraft assembly and Cessna will provide on-site personnel to oversee manufacturing, quality assurance and technical design. Cessna will design the aircraft and handle American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) compliance work, and be responsible for sales, distribution, customer service and warranty administration.

A 17-year-old Hopewell High student was apparently acting on a dare when he did a fly-over prank at a Hopewell High football game Friday, at one point dipping below the stadium lights. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools officials said Sunday that the teen pilot and two teen passengers flew the length of the field three times around 8 p.m. The plane reportedly came within feet of a flag pole. On the final pass, a pair of tennis shoes and a football dropped from the single-engine Cessna 172 into the end zone, officials said. The pilot, who apparently broke multiple federal aviation laws, is...

The Model 162 SkyCatcher will be Cessna Aircraft Co.'s entry in the Light Sport Aircraft category. Cessna made the announcement and rolled out a full-scale mockup Sunday during the opening day of the Experimental Aircraft Association's annual convention in Oshkosh, Wis. The two-seat airplane has an initial price of $109,500 for the first 1,000 airplanes ordered, then the price will be $111,500. Keeping the airplane in the $100,000 range was one of the goals set by Jack Pelton, Cessna chairman, president and CEO, during the program's development. Cessna announced its LSA program during the 2006 EAA convention and has been...

It's big, it's ugly and it nearly took out a small plane that got too close. The Boeing Co.'s Large Cargo Freighter, a modified 747 that will be used to ferry sections of Boeing's 787 Dreamliner, left a wake vortex so powerful that it apparently sent the small plane plunging toward the earth as it prepared to land at Boeing Field. The single-engine Cessna was being flown by a student pilot, but an instructor took over and regained control, avoiding a crash. By then, however, the Cessna was below the level of the booms of the cranes that are used...

RALEIGH, N.C. A small aircraft landed on a highway on Raleigh's north side this afternoon, tying up traffic but apparently without causing any injuries. Pilot Paul Hesse tells The Associated Press that the plane's engine began acting up and he had to land immediately. One lane of traffic is closed at this hour on Interstate 540 as authorities try to get the Cessna off the shoulder of the highway. The single-engine plane is registered to Empire Aviation in Durham, where Hesse is an instructor. Hesse says he's unhurt and the plane is fine, although "the engine's toast" and it will...

Cessna's Model 172 has taught and shaped the careers of thousands of pilots for 50 years. The list of superlatives affixed to the 172 refers to manufacturing numbers and hours amassed rather than sexier terms like "fastest" or "prettiest." It is truly an unsung hero of general aviation airplanes. It's hard to believe that the design is 50 years old and, following the darkest days of the industry, has evolved into what is now among the more advanced single-engine airplanes in the sky.19562006

EAST HAMPTON, Long Island The plane that crashed in East Hampton, Long Island over the weekend had been bought in Georgia and was being flown home to Nantucket, Massachussetts. The pilot - 50-year-old William Holdgate of Nantucket was killed in the crash Sunday afternoon in the middle of East Hampton. His family says Holdgate bought the twin-engine Cessna 411 several months ago and had traveled to Georiga to fly it home. Holdgate owned a construction company in Nantucket and had been a pilot for about ten years. An investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board says they found a three...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP)--Textron Inc. will lay off 1,200 employees in its Cessna Aircraft unit, citing a reduction in the order placed by one of its two major business jet customers and worldwide economic concerns. The company also announced Thursday that it will be reducing its earnings projections for the year, but gave no specific dollar figure. Textron said the layoffs will be concentrated at Cessna's Wichita, Kan., headquarters, where 9,200 are employed. The layoffs also will affect a Cessna facility in Columbus, Ohio, that employs 400 workers; a Cessna facility in...

Excerpt - Imagine taking a joyride with five friends — a fine trip, covering 400 or so miles, the sort of nighttime jaunt where the lights of towns and cities below twinkle like diamonds tossed across black velvet. Then imagine that trip coming to a rude conclusion when your five fellow travelers finger you as the guy who stole that ride, a $7 million Cessna Citation VII. That's the situation facing Daniel Andrew Wolcott of Buford. Police arrested him Wednesday and charged him with taking the airplane, boosted from St. Augustine, Fla., last weekend and flown to Gwinnett County Airport/Briscoe...

One person was killed when a small plane crashed Friday evening near Teterboro Airport shortly after the pilot radioed that he was running low on fuel, authorities said. Steve Coleman, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, which operates the airport, said a small Cessna struck the South Hackensack Post Office building on Huyler Street.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) -- An airplane that raised questions in this college town is being used by the FBI to monitor people who might have terrorist connections, agency officials acknowledged. The FBI denied knowledge of the plane earlier this week after aviation officials disclosed that the aircraft was conducting law enforcement surveillance. Agent Thomas V. Fuentes said the FBI issued the denial because a reporter asked if the airplane is doing electronic surveillance, which it is not. Fuentes and agent James H. Davis said the FBI is not aware of any threat to Bloomington or the state, but is watching...

F-16s Escort Plane After Shuttle Launch Security Breach POSTED: 2:19 pm EDT July 26, 2005 UPDATED: 2:29 pm EDT July 26, 2005 Several F-16 fighter jets patrolling the skies above the Kennedy Space Center were scrambled when a small plane violated restricted air space near the shuttle launch pad. F-16 Falcon. Florida Today image. The fighter jets escorted the Cessna plane to Lake County, Fla., where it landed without further incident, according to reports. The F-16 fighter jets patrolling the shuttle were from Shaw Air Force Base in South Carolina. It is not known if the pilot will face charges...

<p>Sen. Chuck Schumer's weekly Sunday press conferences often seem designed more to promote Chuck Schumer than to shed light on any truly dire situation in need of urgent attention.</p> <p>Last weekend's briefing, though, was notably different.</p> <p>Following a number of stories in The Post last week that highlighted the porous nature of small-airport security, Schumer called for heightened federal scrutiny over small airports.</p>

(Harrison, N.Y.-AP, June 22, 2005 2:25 PM) _ An 20-year-old man, allegedly intoxicated, is under arrest after allegedly stealing a small plane in Connecticut. The man took two friends on a three-hour joyride early this morning that somehow ended with a safe landing at a darkened Westchester County Airport. County Executive Andrew Spano says that when an airport security car met the four-seat Cessna at 4:15 a.m. and the plane doors opened, a significant number of beer cans spilled to the ground. Police say the plane's 20-year-old "pilot," Philippe Patricio, of Bethel, Connecticut, was arrested with a blood alcohol level...

Military Was Set To Down Cessna Authority Granted As Plane Strayed Deep Into Capital By Spencer S. Hsu and John Mintz Washington Post Staff Writers Wednesday, May 25, 2005; Page A01 Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld gave military officials the authority to shoot down, if necessary, a small plane that wandered into restricted airspace over the nation's capital May 11, according to two senior federal officials. For 11 intense minutes, customs aircraft and military fighter jets tried to intercept the Cessna 150 and determine whether the pilots were confused and lost or were targeting Washington. Military officials never deemed the...

Two people were killed Monday morning when the small plane they were in crashed and burst into flames near Danbury Airport, the Federal Aviation Administration said. The Cessna 182 went down at 11:30 a.m. in a wooded area about four miles north of the airport, FAA spokesman Jim Peters said. The crash site is near both New Fairfield High School and a middle school. Both schools remained in session and no students were injured, school officials said. Sgt. J. Paul Vance, a state police spokesman, said the plane was heading to Long Island from Albany, N.Y. Federal and state authorities...

The high-school senior who cheated death by suddenly backing out of a doomed Coney Island plane ride thanks God she's alive — but feels excruciating guilt over the pal's dad who took her place and died, a friend said yesterday. "She feels guilty. Wouldn't you?" said Brother Rene Roy, principal of the tiny Catholic school in West Virginia that stricken teen Melissa McCulley attends. Two of McCulley's best friends, Danielle Block and Jo Beth Gross, both 18, as well as Block's dad, Courtney, and the plane's pilot died in the tragic beach crash Saturday.

NEW YORK (AP) - A small plane on a sightseeing tour over Coney Island went into a tailspin and slammed into the famous beach Sunday, killing all four people aboard but injuring none of the stunned sunbathers who witnessed the crash. The victims died at the scene of the afternoon crash of the Cessna 172S, Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Holly Baker said. There were relatively few people on the beach at the time, and no one on the ground was hurt. Eyewitnesses said the plane was circling above the Brooklyn beach when its engine suddenly stalled, and the aircraft quickly...

Jay Leno: “More facts coming out today about the evacuation of Washington yesterday. You all heard about that. White House reporters said they were immediately escorted to a more secure location in the basement. Except for CBS reporters. Bush had them moved to the White House roof.” Jay Leno: “Did you know at the time of the alert, Dick Cheney was in the White House working, while President Bush was exercising in a park in Maryland? Shouldn't it be the other way around?” Jay Leno: “You know the saddest thing about this whole evacuation? While the White House was being...

WASHINGTON (AFPN) -- One of the F-16 Fighting Falcon pilots who intercepted a private plane that strayed into restricted airspace here May 11 said he was prepared to use force if necessary to prevent a potential attack, and expressed confidence in the security system protecting the nation's capital. Lt. Col. Tim Lehman, of the District of Columbia Air National Guard's 121st Fighter Squadron, said he was surprised when the Cessna's pilot did not initially respond to signals meant to change his course. Colonel Lehman's F-16 fighter jet made three passes by the plane, dropping warning flares to get the pilot...

I guess it worked. I guess the terror-alert system in Washington -- the one that shot to red because two nitwits got lost in their plane -- worked. But the incident was awfully disconcerting. It reminded me of a James Thurber story, "The Day the Dam Broke," that details the chaos that erupted in Columbus, Ohio in 1913 when everyone thought the dam had burst (it didn't). Thurber speculated that the scare started when one man, possibly late for a lunch date with his wife, began to run east. When someone else began to run, perhaps a newsboy in high...

Well, maybe the terrorists have won. They've demonstrated that they can shut down the government without actually doing anything. Who needs an Islamist air ace in a hijacked Boeing to scare the pants off Washington politicians when a student pilot in a little Cessna can do it without meaning to? There was Dick Cheney taken to the famous "undisclosed destination." Cops of every size, hue and jurisdiction scrambled through the streets with guns drawn, looking for someone to shoot at. The speaker of the House tried to outrun his bodyguards to get out of the Capitol first, and Nancy Pelosi,...

After the light plane came within three miles of the White House, Scott McClellan held a press conference in which he chronicled the events with the lost pilot. Several of the questions were aimed at when was the President notified that a red alert was declared. Scott was not sure exactly when W. was notified, but today the liberal press starting working him over like a rented mule. The press, most of whom disagree with everything Bush has done, started questioning McClellan about the protocols surrounding the red alert. I am sure all of this was done to once again...

Aero-Views: Shame On All Of You Fri, 13 May '05 No Heroes In ADIZ Incursion By ANN Senior Correspondent Kevin R.C. "Hognose" O'Brien I wasn't flying Wednesday when the city of Washington went into a massive, hyperventilating panic over a light plane in the ADIZ; I was driving the highways, and I got to hear the blow-by-blow on the radio and in periodic phone calls with ANN's Pete Combs. Good grief, what a shameful episode. There's enough shame to go around. Indeed, there are no heroes in this tawdry tale of ADIZ incursion, but there's a whole gaggle of goats:...

ORLANDO, Fla. -- A civil trial has started over who and what is to blame for the 1999 Learjet crash that killed pro golfer Payne Stewart and five others. The lawsuit, brought by the families of Stewart and his close friend and agent Robert Fraley, who also died, could result in a jury award worth millions if the plane's manufacturer is found to be at fault. Or testimony could show that a lack of pilot training and plane maintenance caused the Learjet 35 to lose pressure soon after takeoff from Orlando, killing all aboard within minutes. The plane then began...

This is my first post so I hope I got it right. This is breaking here in San Anonio. A single engine plane has been forced down at Stenson Field south of San Antonio. Homeland Security, DPS and SAPD are on the scene. They are waiting for a Chinese tranlator but they have Chinese illegals in custody and said that the pilot was someone Homeland Security has been looking for. I'll post more as it comes available.

TIA now verifies flight of Saudis The government has long denied that two days after the 9/11 attacks, the three were allowed to fly. By JEAN HELLER, Times Staff Writer Published June 9, 2004 The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks, better known as the 9/11 Commission, sent a list of questions to Tampa International Airport. It appears concerned with the handling of the Tampa flight. TAMPA - Two days after the Sept. 11 attacks, with most of the nation's air traffic still grounded, a small jet landed at Tampa International Airport, picked up three young Saudi men and left. The...

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Guarded by hundreds of armed rebels deep in a malaria-infested jungle, three American captives pass the time playing with a homemade deck of cards and dreaming of their families. The threat of death always hangs nearby. The three U.S. military contractors have been cut off from the outside world since their capture by rebels seven months ago. That isolation was broken when a Colombian journalist traveled for days over rough roads and jungle rivers with a rebel escort to interview them July 25 in remote southern Colombia. "They were nervous, and there were traces of fear on their faces," freelance...

Plane crash kills 2 near Frisco07/08/2003By JENNIFER EMILY and TIM WYATT / The Dallas Morning News An instructor pilot and a student died Tuesday after a single-engine Cessna crashed Tuesday near Frisco, officials said. A Federal Aviation Administration official said air traffic controllers received a mayday from the pilot shortly before the small plane crashed around 11:45 a.m. Vernon Bryant / DMNNational Transportation Safety Board officials investigate the crash Tuesday of a single-engine Cessna in Frisco. The crash killed the two people on board. The pilot told air traffic controllers the plane hit a bird, said John Clabes, FAA...

April 16, 2003 Slump in Plane Travel Grounds Wichita By PETER T. KILBORN [W] ICHITA, Kan., April 14 ? Their income from the aircraft industry has evaporated. Their split-level home of six years, in a neighborhood sliced from farmland, has a Coldwell Banker "For Sale" sign in front. Deborah Salter has sold her jewelry. Her husband, Jim, has sold his truck, guns, tools and lawn mower. The Salters are moving on, to what they do not know. Stunned by how their life has unraveled, Mrs. Salter looks to her husband for some solution. "I'm trying to get answers out of...

As the Beacon Turns #60: Midair Over Denver February 5, 2003 By Michael Maya Charles, Columnist Midair collisions are relatively rare, although you wouldn't think so to watch the TV news. The recent one in Denver was close to home for AVweb's Michael Maya Charles, both because of proximity and because of the reaction of the media and the politicians. On Friday, January 24th, a midair collision between a Piper Cheyenne and a Cessna 172 killed five people in two aircraft, caused some minor injuries on the ground and burned a couple of homes. The pilot of the Cheyenne took...

CESSNA DENIES BABY JET REPORT Cessna Aircraft Company is denying a report by a well-known aviation publication that it is developing a baby jet to compete with the Eclipse 500. "Aviation International News" reported that Cessna would unveil a jet in the four- to five-seat range, powered by a Williams engine and carrying a $2.6-million price tag, at the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) convention and trade show in Orlando, Florida, next week. A Cessna spokeswoman told "ePilot" that AIN was "reporting rumors." The spokeswoman did confirm that Cessna will announce a new aircraft on Monday, but would not comment...