Aviation News

Denver, Colorado – Dozens of flights have been canceled or delayed at Denver International Airport following a hail storm that damaged planes and stranded about 1,000 passengers overnight.

FAA spokesman Mike Fergus says about 40 planes were damaged and about 80 flights were canceled Thursday.

Airport spokeswoman Laura Coale says all planes damaged by hail in Wednesday night’s storm must be evaluated and that process is slowing operations. She says some planes also are being taken out of service because of damage, but it wasn’t immediately clear how many.

The hail was about three-quarters of an inch in diameter and caused some flight delays and cancelations Wednesday.  Coale says the stranded passengers weren’t given blankets or cots because the airlines didn’t request help accommodating them.

Source: http://www.digtriad.com

A US FOOTBALL player who was arrested after wearing saggy pants on a plane is planning to sue the airline after prosecutors decided not to file charges against him.

The San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office reviewed the June 15 arrest of Deshon Marman and determined criminal charges were not warranted.

“My belief is if we took this into a courtroom with 12 members of our community on our jury, they would tell me, ‘Come on guys, you have more important things to spend your time on,”’ District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said.

“And I share that view.”

Marman was arrested on suspicion of trespassing, battery of a police officer and obstruction after police say he refused to leave the US Airways flight on the captain’s orders.

The incident sparked allegations of racial profiling after a photo surfaced of a man who flew aboard a US Airways flight wearing skimpy women’s panties and mid-thigh stockings days before Marman’s arrest. That man was white. Marman is African-American.

Dozens of people gathered outside San Francisco City Hall yesterday in support of Marman. San Francisco Supervisor Malia Cohen told the crowd that she planned to introduce a resolution asking San Mateo County prosecutors to dismiss the case and for a formal apology from the airline.

“I’ve been trying to search myself and search whatever information that was given through the media to find out what Deshon had did wrong,” Marman’s mother, Donna Doyle, said. “And for the life of me, I couldn’t find anything.”

Police also said Marman injured an officer while being taken into custody. But Wagstaffe said the officer suffered a minor scratch and twisted knee but no significant injuries. Marman should have left the plane at the request of police officers and a sheriff’s deputy, Wagstaffe said, but his refusal may have reflected his mental state. Marman had attended a friend’s funeral the previous day.

“I think the (district attorney) realised the real villain in this case was US Airways, not Deshon Marman,” Marman’s attorney, Joseph O’Sullivan, said.

O’Sullivan and Doyle said Marman was not available to comment.

The incident began when Marman was asked repeatedly to pull up his pants but did not listen, according to airline officials. They have said he was exposing a body part.

O’Sullivan has denied that, and Wagstaffe said his investigation found no evidence that a body part was exposed.

Liz Landau, a US Airways spokeswoman, said the airline stands by its employees’ claims that Marman’s body part was exposed.

The airline is hopeful that the district attorney’s decision will allow Marman and his family to “move past this incident,” she said.

“As the (district attorney) noted, Mr. Marman could have resolved the situation quickly at the time of the incident had he chosen to do so,” she said.

The airline has previously said Marman was thrown off the plane not because of his clothing, but because he refused an employee’s request.

Marman plans to file a lawsuit against US Airways alleging he was the victim of racial profiling, O’Sullivan said.

A PASSENGER has landed in trouble for pelting a flight attendant with snack food such as peanuts and pretzels.

Pogos Paul Sefilian was arrested and faces a charge of interfering with flight crew over the incident.  Sefilian was on a Southwest Airlines flight on Monday night when he attempted to smoke an electronic cigarette.

According to a complaint filed in a US court, a flight attendant repeatedly told him it was against airline policy and to put away the device. Authorities said Sefilian became enraged and threw peanuts and pretzels at the flight attendant. He also target the cockpit door with his snack barrage, according to the Salt Lake Tribune.

The complaint alleges the passenger committed a final act of unruliness by jumping out of his seat and opening overhead storage bins as the flight began to approach Salt Lake City. His lawyer has declined to comment.

source: http://news.com.au

The owner of one plane, Glen Alsworth, called the outcome of Sunday’s collision – in a narrow river valley about 100 miles (160km) southwest of Anchorage – miraculous.

“It’s a miracle,” Alsworth told The Cordoba Times, “that planes can touch each other in any fashion without any serious consequences and normally it is fatal. I’m just thanking the Lord for watching over everyone.”

Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Mike Fergus agreed, saying Monday it was “extremely unusual” for planes to land safely after a midair collision.

The two aircraft – a Piper Navajo with nine people on board and a Cessna 206 floatplane carrying four – were headed in opposite directions in Lake Clark Pass when the collision occurred.

The Cessna hit the Piper’s tail with its floats, National Transportation Safety Board investigator Larry Lewis told the Anchorage Daily News.

“You’d be surprised how hard it is to see an aeroplane coming at you,” he said.

Read more: http://www.news.com.au