Sen. Jim Inhofe's son dies in plane crash near Owasso

[avebury]

41. Report: Jim Inhofe plane landing terrifies workers

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0411/53250.html

A U.S. senator did not lose his pilot’s license for a landing that “scared the crap out of” workers at a south Texas airport in October.

After setting his plane down on a closed runway — and then taking off again to avoid a group of construction workers before landing a second time — Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) was instead ordered to take four hours of remedial flying lessons for the incident, according to Federal Aviation Administration documents and audio first obtained this week by The Smoking Gun.

An FAA investigation determined that Inhofe, 76, “still elected to land avoiding the men and the equipment” on the main runway at Cameron County Airport in Port Isabel, though it had a large ‘X’ marked on it and he knew it was closed. He was flying a six-seat Cessna and holds commercial pilot’s and flying instruction licenses.

In 2005, Inhofe was a joint sponsor of a bill aimed at ending the FAA’s rule requiring airline pilots over the age of 60 to retire. In his floor speech introducing the bill, Inhofe noted that he was “an experienced pilot over age 60.” President George W. Bush signed a bill into law in late 2007 that pushed the mandatory retirement age to 65.

When the construction foreman, Sidney Boyd, called the FAA, he reported that Inhofe’s Cessna “scared the crap out of” his workers and “damn near hit” a red truck. Boyd said he thought the truck’s driver “actually wet his britches, he was scared to death. I mean, hell, he started trying to head for the side of the runway. The pilot could see him, or he should have been able to, he was right on him.”

The airport’s manager, Marshall Reece said in an interview with the FAA that in “over 50 years flying, three tours of Vietnam,” he had “never seen such a reckless disregard for human life in my life.”

“Something needs to be done,” Reece said. “This guy is famous for these violations.”

Instead of facing “legal enforcement action,” Inhofe was ordered to take flying lessons, which the FAA says is the standard response to similar infractions. Record of the incident will be expunged after two years.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0411/53250.html#ixzz2kNkZ7op3


Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0411/53250.html#ixzz2kNkS0PtM