WSCoD The real story
If this post is going to keep the WSCoD allive then at least pin it on a 'real' candidate.
See below.
Personally I think it should be deep sixed as not a worthy in a professional environment (and a public one at that). Brussel Sprout OK ........but not WSCoD.
Challenger jet has history of tragedy; Company officials defend model, claim data is deceiving.
JOHN DOBBERSTEIN
Tribune Staff Writer
7 December 2004
South Bend Tribune
The type of small jet that crashed in Colorado last month and killed the son of NBC Sports Chairman Dick Ebersol is no stranger to drama or tragedy.
Since 1980, 13 people have died in England, Italy and the United States while traveling in Canadair Challenger 600-series jets, according to various safety databases. Ten of those deaths have come in the last four years.
In fact, the same Challenger 601-1A jet that carried Ebersol's family rumbled to a stop on a Florida runway five years ago after braking problems.
During a Nov. 26, 1999, landing at Palm Springs Regional Airport, the pilot employed the thrust reversers and brakes on the jet, but "there was no indication of braking action," a report from the Federal Aviation Administration said.
When the brakes were released, all four tires blew out, but the plane stayed on the runway and came to rest.
Teddy Ebersol, 14, was killed in the Nov. 28 crash at Montrose Regional Airport in Colorado, as were the pilot and flight attendant.
The jet was headed for South Bend Regional Airport. Ebersol's family said the plane -- carrying Dick Ebersol and his two sons -- lifted briefly during takeoff, then tipped back and forth before crashing and burning.
Federal investigators have said the plane was not de-iced before takeoff, although nothing has been ruled out as a potential cause for the crash. Aviation observers have said the Challenger's design makes its wings prone to ice buildup, because the wings have no movable "slats" found on larger jets that help the aircraft lift from the runway.
Officials at Jet Alliance, the company that chartered the flight, said Monday they have no concern about the safety of Challenger jets.
"We've been operating them for tens of thousands of hours since 1991," said company President Clifford Russell in a statement.
Maintenance not an issue
FAA records show the Challenger 601-1A jet was owned by Hop A Jet of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
The Ebersols originally contacted Los Angeles-based Key Air for a flight out of California on Nov. 28, but there was no plane available, said Jet Alliance spokesman Chuck Wyble.
Key Air contacted Air Castle Corp., a charter flight company and subsidiary of Millville-N.J.-based Jet Alliance. Jet Alliance manages charter flights and provides the flight crew for Air Castle.
Records show Air Castle Corp. has been cited several times by the FAA between 1985 and 2004 for violations of rules pertaining to flight manuals, the monitoring of inspection and maintenance programs, and the establishment of a required alcohol misuse prevention program.
Air Castle is still resolving a maintenance-oriented complaint lodged by the FAA from Oct. 15. Wyble said the complaint is a "procedural question" and wasn't safety-related, and it didn't involve the plane the Ebersols were on, either.
"The maintenance was done. It's not like the maintenance was not done and the aircraft was flying," Wyble said.
"A lot of these (violations) are tiny, minor things that are being put on the list of 'You didn't do that right.' A lot of it is paperwork, and the FAA is very critical on making sure things are done in a particular way.'
Fatal crashes have marred the recent tenure of Challenger jets.
On Oct. 10, 2000, two people were killed when a Challenger 604 crashed on takeoff during a test flight in Wichata, Kan.
Five people were killed on Jan. 4, 2002, when a Challenger 600 crashed at Birmingham International Airport in the United Kingdom. Officials said icing might have been the main cause, as well as the use of nonprescription drugs, jet lag and fatigue on behalf of the pilots.
National Transportation Safety Board investigators handling the Colorado crash are looking closely at that incident, because the plane carrying the Ebersol family was not de-iced.
After the crash at Birmingham International, which involved a Challenger 600, the U.K.'s Department of Transport issued a number of safety recommendations.
One suggested the jet's manufacturer, Bombardier Aerospace, and other aviation regulators warn pilots flying aircraft susceptible to ice contamination that "Wings and tail surfaces must be completely clear of snow, ice and frost prior to takeoff."
European officials also recommended the FAA and Joint Airworthiness Authority in Europe to review procedures pilots use to detect and eliminate ice from aircraft, "and consider a system that would directly monitor aircraft aerodynamic surfaces for ice contamination, and warn the crew of potentially hazardous condition."
FAA spokesman Mike Fergus said the U.K.'s recommendations are still being reviewed and haven't been formally adopted by the agency. The FAA routinely gets recommendations about safety, he said.
Some nonfatal incidents
Other crashes and incidents involving Challenger jets have brought scary experiences or injuries for pilots and passengers.
On Feb. 7, 1985, the pilot of a Challenger jet missed a runway in Italy and the plane slammed into the ground. There were no injuries to the crew of three and nine passengers. Eleven months later, the right engine of a Challenger jet "flamed out" while it climbed after takeoff from Syracuse Hancock International in New York. The plane landed without incident.
In August 1986, a similar jet was forced to make an emergency descent after pilots smelled fumes in the cabin. Hydraulic fluid was leaking onto a hot duct.
In 1989, after leaving Louisville International Aiport- Standiford Field in Kentucky, pilots discovered part of the outboard door assembly on a Challenger came apart while in flight. Three screws were sheared off at the head.
An engine fire in 1990 forced a Challenger jet to land at New Orleans International Airport, and in 1998, a pilot landed a Challenger jet at Dallas Love Field after the windshield cracked.
Later that year, a Challenger jet landed at Denver International Airport. Both tires on the right-main landing gear blew out, and the debris damaged other steering equipment. The crew managed to keep the plane on the runway using only the left brake. But as the jet slowed, it left the runway before coming to a rest.
The FAA does look for patterns in crashes or incidents with certain aircraft or operators, but drawing a connection can be difficult, Fergus said.
"You might have an accident with two identical aircraft," he said, "but different causes."
Ted Lopatkiewicz, a spokesman for the National Transportation Safety Board, said the agency has no record of issuing any safety recommendations to the aviation industry about Challenger jets or about Air Castle's operations in particular.
"If we see something wrong in any investigation, even if a company only had one accident ... and if we see something wrong in the way the company is operating its service, we do issue recommendations," Lopatkiewicz said.
"It doesn't require a pattern of accidents. We'll do it after one accident if we see something that could have been done better."
Bombardier has already defended its record. Of the 635 Challenger aircraft in service, 67 are Challenger 601-1As, which were first delivered to customers from 1983 to 1987.
Company officials have reserved further comment until the investigation of the Colorado crash is completed.
