A preliminary report on the recent Florida CAPS deployment, in IMC, has been published. Please note that this is a preliminary report and does not constitute the final decision as to the causes leading up to this accident... which, thankfully, harmed no one. Regardless of what broke/malfunctioned or not, the one over-riding conclusion we can make at this time is that the pilot made a good decision in realizing that he did not know exactly what was happening to his airplane and resorting to the one solution that he had confidence in to avoid a catastrophic accident.

But Will Profit If Other Suits Are Successful

Communications tower owner SpectraSite has dropped its lawsuit against the Canadian widow of a pilot who crashed into its tower three years ago. But don't think the company did so out of the kindness of its heart.

AOPA Calls For New Study To Preserve Runway

The plan to close a runway at Eugene (OH) Mahlon Sweet Field (EUG) is based on information that is so flawed, the plan should be scrapped and the study redone, says AOPA. In a letter to the airport manager, the association said the wind study used to justify the closure is so broad that it's useless.

Joins Gene Nora Jessen For Marion Jayne Air Race

Retired United pilot Patty Mitchell and former 99 President Gene Nora Jessen have entered the Marion Jayne Air Race. They will fly Mitchell's 1969 Cessna 182M (file photo of type, below) in tribute to 1929 race winner Louise Thaden and carry Thaden's Race #4 as their call-sign. Gene Nora was so inspired by the 1929 Air Derby that she wrote a well regarded book about the trailblazers of aviation of 75 years ago.

Start Planning For The 14th Annual AOPA Fly-In And Open House

June 5 may sound a long way off, but it's only a few Saturdays away. So it's already a good time to begin planning your trip to the 14th annual AOPA Fly-In and Open House at Frederick Municipal Airport (FDK) in Frederick (MD). Arrival procedures are now available online. VFR pilots should especially be aware of the special transponder code for arriving traffic, and pilots arriving from the west and south need to pay attention to route instructions intended to keep them well clear of both P-40 (Camp David) and the Baltimore-Washington ADIZ.

NOTAM:  4/3683  Issued:  04/27/2004 16:17  Effective:  04/30/2004 19:30 - 05/02/2004 22:30  State:  TX  Facility:  ZHU - HOUSTON (ARTCC),TX.  Type:  AIR SHOWS/SPORTS  Description:  DRUAGHON-MILLER CENTRAL TEXAS REGIONAL AIRPORT, TEMPLE, TX.

AD NUMBER: 2004-09-05 MANUFACTURER: Cessna SUBJECT: Airworthiness Directive 2004-09-05 SUMMARY: This amendment adopts a new airworthiness directive (AD); applicable to certain Cessna Model 500, 501, 550, and 551 airplanes; that requires a one-time inspection of the brake stator disks to determine to what change level they have been modified (if any), and related investigative and corrective actions if necessary. This AD also requires that the existing markings on the piston housing of certain brake assemblies be eliminated. The actions specified by this AD are intended to prevent wheel lockups that may be caused by cracked or broken brake stator disks becoming jammed in the brake assembly and preventing rotation. Such