Pipeline Patrols Easier Than Ever Thanks to Newfangled Tech

A power company in Ohio advertised its new fleet addition, a suite of infrared imaging equipment recently installed on its helicopters flying the lines. FirstEnergy has been forced to undertake patrols for years using nothing more than the standard-issue mark I eyeball, ensuring that vegetation had not grown to encumber their transmission lines. Pipeline patrol has traditionally worked that way - low-level overflight all along thousands of miles of wiring, close enough to distinguish overgrowth from canopy.

Student's Night Flight Cut Tragically Short

The NTSB's recent preliminary report on a Purdue Aviation PA-28 now hints that the 20-year-old student committed suicide. Last month, a Purdue Aviation Piper PA-28 took off from the school's home airport in Lafayette, Indiana for a local night flight. The student first finished some pattern work, completing 4 laps of practice landings before heading northwest to a less populated area. Once in that area, track data shows the student made numerous turns before the system stopped reporting. The crash site was found the next day, and isolated to begin the investigation. After recovering the wreckage and the pilot's remains, the study began. 

One Down, One (and a Signature) to Go!

Captain Jason Ambrosi, head of the Air Line Pilots Association, International, applauded the United States Senate for passing the 5-year reauthorization for the Federal Aviation Administration. Now, ALPA has urged the House to move quickly to send the bill to the president's desk for signature. "Today's action by the Senate is a major step forward for the safety and security of our nation's skies, and I urge the House to act expeditiously to enact this groundbreaking bipartisan bill.