Thu, Oct 28, 2010
And It Was Clearly Marked With A Large, Yellow "X"
Workers performing maintenance on
the main runway at Port Isabel-Cameron County Airport
(KPIL) in TX got a bit of a surprise last week when an
airplane landed on there. The pilot was U.S. Senator James Inhofe
(R-OK) (pictured).
The runway was clearly marked as being closed, and a NOTAM had
been issued for the maintenance work. But Inhofe said he "didn't
have a NOTAM" when asked about the incident.
Inhofe told the Washington Post that he was traveling
to his property on South Padre Island, which he has done for the
past 50 years. He said he noticed the runway closure markings as he
was preparing to land, so he flew the Cessna 340 with two other
people on board over the maintenance workers and touched down "well
off the the side."
Inhofe said he called the FAA after he landed, and was told that
since there was no accident, there was "no significant problem."
Departing from Port Isabel, Inhofe chose to take off from a taxiway
rather than use the closed runway, or one of the airports available
runways. Inhofe told the paper "I really didn't have a choice."
Given the size and weight of the airplane, h e said, the taxiway
was a safer, better option. He said he informed airport officials
of his intention to make a taxiway departure.
While the FAA can suspend a pilots' flying priveleges for either
landing on a closed runway or departing from a taxiway, the
infractions are often not enforced. Pilots are allowed to file a
voluntary report on those incidents, and that is where it generally
stops. The Tulsa World reports that the FAA confirmed
it is looking into the incident to see if further action is
warranted.
More News
Aero Linx: International Business Aviation Council Ltd IBAC promotes the growth of business aviation, benefiting all sectors of the industry and all regions of the world. As a non->[...]
"During the annual inspection of the B-24 “Diamond Lil” this off-season, we made the determination that 'Lil' needs some new feathers. Due to weathering, the cloth-cove>[...]
Also: Bushcat Woes, Hummingbird 300 SL 4-Seat Heli Kit, Carbon Cub UL The newest Junkers is a faithful recreation that mates a 7-cylinder Verner radial engine to the airframe offer>[...]
Also: Seaplane Pilots Association, Rotax 916’s First Year, Gene Conrad After a decade and a half of struggling with the FAA and other aero-politics, G100UL is in production a>[...]
Also: Martha King Scholarship, Montaer Grows, Textron Updates Pistons, FlySto The FAA is hiring thousands of air traffic controllers, but the window to apply will only be open for >[...]