The fatal end to a Gulfstream G650 test flight followed the structural failure and decompression of Southwest 812 by one day, a one-two punch which set the tone for a terrible month. While U.S. commercial aviation was spared further loss of life, the headlines have brought a drumbeat of reasons for the public to suspect airlines, air traffic controllers, pilots, and ground crews alike.
Let's review just how bad the month's news has been:
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April 1: Southwest 812 experienced rapid decompression after a six-foot rupture developed in the top of the fuselage and performed a successful emergency descent and diversion to Yuma, AZ. As a result of the NTSB's on-scene investigation, emergency inspections were ordered for older 737s, disrupting schedules for days.
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April 2: A tragic blow to Gulfstream's G650 test program came as one of five test aircraft crashed during takeoff tests, killing all four aboard. The preliminary NTSB report notes wing tip scrape marks on the runway and that the fully-engulfed plane stopped just 200 feet from the base of the control tower.
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April 7 (and 13 and 14 and...): Already under scrutiny after March's incident at Reagan National, came reports of two more controllers sleeping on the job in Reno and Seattle. But the prize goes to a Knoxville controller who made a bed out of couch cushions so he could nap in comfort during his shift. He was later fired, along with a snoozing controller in Miami. And as you know, FAA Air Traffic Organization chief Hank Krakowski will also be spending more time with his family.
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April 11: Cell phone cameras are everywhere, so we can watch as an Air France A380 clips—and dramatically spins out of its way—a Colgan (Delta Express) CRJ700 at JFK:
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April 17: A Cleveland center controller had a stuck mike of the Hollywood kind, as for three minutes he broadcast the soundtrack of a movie he was (apparently) watching, Samuel L. Jackson's 2007 movie Cleaner.
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April 19: The problem with losing the public's confidence is that assurances of "the aircraft were never in any danger" can't compete with headlines like "Plane carrying Michelle Obama aborts landing because of controller error" and "Michelle Obama's Plane Has Near Miss At Andrews Air Force Base".
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April 20: FDA inspectors find rat droppings too numerous to count on Delta Air Lines plane. Gross.
April 22: Tornado hits Lambert Field in St. Louis, seriously damaging Concourse C.
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April 26: At Chicago Midway, site of a 2005 fatal runway overrun, Southwest 1919 slid off runway and got stuck in the mud, coming to rest about 100 feet from Cicero Ave. and 63rd.
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April 28: While the traveling public, our children, and our flight crews endure increasingly intrusive and spectacular screening procedures, ground crew personnel bypass the security theater and (in most cases), badge directly onto the tarmac. It is therefore disturbing on several levels to learn of organized smuggling by baggage handlers. This time, it's in Detroit with the seizure of 284 pounds of marijuana and 35 pounds of cocaine and the arrest of 12.
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April 30: Jet fuel prices continue their climb through pre-crisis levels. U.S. Gulf spot prices increased another 5.2% in April, closing at $3.37 per gallon, according to the St. Louis Federal Reserve. With fuel and labor accounting for about half of an airline's operating costs, spiking spot prices could cause the industry to look back at 2010 as "the good old days".
Here's hoping for a better, safer, and more professional May.
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