South Bend plane crash suit faults ex-Oklahoma quarterback

SOUTH BEND — A South Bend homeowner who was injured in a March 2013 plane crash is now suing the estate of former University of Oklahoma quarterback Steve Davis, three weeks after a government report suggested Davis accidentally cut the small jet’s power before it went down.

In a new complaint filed in St. Joseph Superior Court, Diana McKeown alleged that Davis committed negligence by helping to fly the Hawker Beechcraft model 390 even though he was not trained to pilot the jet.

Davis and the plane’s owner, Wes Caves, both Oklahoma residents, died in the March 17, 2013, crash. Two passengers, Jim Rodgers and Chris Evans, were injured in the crash, as was McKeown. Three homes along Iowa Street near the South Bend International Airport were destroyed or badly damaged.

According to a report earlier this month by the National Transportation Safety Board, cockpit voice recordings indicated that Caves was showing Davis how to pilot the small business jet in the minutes leading up to the crash. The NTSB classified Davis as a “pilot-rated passenger” who was a certified pilot but had no logged experience flying the Beechcraft plane.

Davis operated the plane even though he and Caves “knew he was not competent to

Article source: http://www.southbendtribune.com/news/publicsafety/south-bend-plane-crash-suit-faults-ex-oklahoma-quarterback/article_ce997b58-6960-5c1e-8972-194cf2f6c809.html

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1969 Chevrolet Camaro – Lifelong Dream

Do you remember what life was like when you were 11 years old? Open a dictionary to the word impressionable and you’ll likely find an 11-year-old gazing at something—a car, an airplane, a sword, you name it—with newfound wonder. Brain chemistry changes when your age hits double digits. It’s like you’re seeing the world for the first time. The adult you will become begins to form within that preteen body. If you think about it, your favorite music, movies, TV shows, and of course cars were probably decided around the time you were 11.

So you can totally understand how a 1969 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 left an indelible impression on an 11-year-old Mark Vavere. Especially the one he saw on that fateful day. Not only was it a ’69 Z (arguably the pinnacle year of first-generation Camaros, looking racetrack-ready with its spoilers and stripes), but it was special one, painted in a striking Burgundy color with white graphics. Squint a bit and the scheme is almost the negative image of the more common orange-with-black-stripe paint job you see so often on Camaros of this vintage.

What Mark didn’t know then (but would learn the hard way years later) was that a Burgundy Z/28 is a rare thing. Of the nearly quarter-million Camaros made for the 1969 model year, about 19,000 were Z/28s. And just two percent of all ’69 Camaros—fewer than 5,000 cars—were painted Burgundy. We don’t know how many Zs got the Burgundy coat, but if you do the math,

Article source: http://www.hotrod.com/cars/featured/1503-1969-chevrolet-camaro-lifelong-dream/

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Cedar Hollow DC trip in jeopardy

Posted: Tuesday, March 31, 2015 11:00 pm

Cedar Hollow D.C. trip in jeopardy

By Harold Reutter
harold.reutter@theindependent.com

theindependent.com

Twenty-seven eighth-grade students and 20 adults connected to Cedar Hollow School and also Chapman School almost certainly have lost nearly $13,000 paid to Omaha company Creative Creations for round-trip airfare to Washington, D.C.


Carolyn Lees of Grand Island said this year was scheduled to be her 15th year leading the students and parents on the trip.

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Article source: http://www.theindependent.com/news/local/cedar-hollow-d-c-trip-in-jeopardy/article_236ebbce-d7f8-11e4-89bc-df6d1bde9f77.html

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Germanwings Flight 9525 Appears to Have Been Locked In to Crash

Did the airplane’s age play a critical role in the way that Germanwings Flight 9525 flew into a mountain, killing 150 people, without the pilots taking any avoiding action?

Looked at in terms of simple numbers, the Germanwings Airbus A320 was nearing the end of its safe operational life. It was more than 24 years old – but years don’t determine how long an airplane is safe to fly. That is measured by what is called flight cycles: the number of times an airplane takes off and lands.

Airbus A320s of the first generation, as Flight 9525 was, were certified to fly for 48,000 cycles, and, according to the Flight Safety Foundation, the Germanwings A320 had reached 46,700 cycles.

There should still have been a considerable safety margin beyond 48,000 cycles, however, because regulators usually insist that a new airplane can retain its structural integrity for at least double the number of cycles they set as the limit. Part of any test program for a new jet involves taking all key parts of the structure to breaking point.

But that newness also, paradoxically, has another side: in the evolutional history of single-aisle jets, the A320 is still a relatively young design (conceived in the 1980s) that may not have been around long enough to reveal some inherent and still undiscovered weaknesses. For example, its principal competitor, the Boeing 737, has evolved from a 1960s airframe that even now, after many improvements, still has a record of structural weaknesses in

Article source: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/03/25/germanwings-flight-9525-appears-to-have-been-locked-in-to-crash.html

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Andreas Lubitz: Everything we know on Monday evening about Germanwings …

The 27-year-old was being treated by a psychotherapist said Christoph Kumpa.

Mr Kumpa added: “He was being treated by a psychotherapist, for what is documented as being suicidal tendencies at that time.”

He said there had also been several visits to doctors right up until the time of the crash, but these did not involve suicidal tendencies.

•Black box: The final minutes on board the doomed Germanwings flight have been revealed.

A transcript from the black box voice recorder recovered from crash site reveals the pilot screaming at Andreas Lubitz to open the cockpit door

Captain Patrick Sondheimer pleaded with Lubitz to unlock the cockpit door before taking an axe to it in a desperate attempt to stop the plane crashing

Other key elements in the search for answers include:

• Dusseldorf hospital confirms it treated Andreas Lubitz in February and March but not for depression
• German prosecutors say Andreas Lubitz had a sick note from a doctor on Tuesday allowing him time off but that he tore it up
• Lubitz planned spectacular gesture that would go down in history, claims ex-girlfriend
• Lubitz’ father is a devastated man
• Lubitz was reportedly treated for suicidal tendencies years before Alps crash

The killer co-pilot

Andreas Lubitz was the boy who grew up dreaming of flying and of one day becoming a pilot.

He went on

Article source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/11496066/Andreas-Lubitz-Everything-we-know-on-Monday-about-Germanwings-plane-crash-co-pilot.html

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Operators Survey: Gulfstream G550

There now are more than 460 Gulfstream G550 business jets in service and operators say it’s a top performer, a versatile workhorse offering solid dispatch reliability and backed by unmatched product support.

Operators say that the $59 million, 6,700-nm range G550 occupies a sweet spot in the large-cabin category, providing the best tradeoff between range and price of any aircraft in its class. Cruising at Mach 0.80 and assuming optimum conditions, it can fly eight passengers from Minneapolis to Muscat, Beijing to Boston or São Paulo to St. Petersburg.

But few operators push the aircraft farther than 5,500 nm in everyday operations. “It’s a ‘do everything’ airplane, a proven airplane,” says Dave Cassalia, chief pilot for Warner Chilcott, based in Morristown, New Jersey. “We cruise at Mach 0.83 downwind and 0.85 upwind all day long.” Most operators prefer to cruise at high speed even though the aircraft burns 11% more fuel than at long-range cruise.

The G550 is a 2003 amendment to the 1997 GV type certificate. It’s known by the FAA as the GV-SP and it’s actually the sixth iteration of the GII, which was first certified in 1967. Each new version has offered more range, speed, cabin comfort and fuel efficiency. Engineers pursued low-risk, evolutionary approaches in creating each new model.

Compared to the GV, the G550 has four main improvements: improved takeoff performance, slightly more range and fuel efficiency, better cabin space utilization and the PlaneView flight deck featuring Article source: http://aviationweek.com/bca/operators-survey-gulfstream-g550

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Program Your Path Property with Pepper Spray

If you take some precautionary steps, then the chances of your personal safety being in jeopardy will be dramatically decreased, when you are out, unexpected things can happen that put you in danger, however.Here is a list if you have never given the matter of personal safety any thought before and would like to know 10 different personal safety tips:

Pepper spray reviews: Hauling close to pepper spray can assist you out in conditions in which you could be acquiring mugged, rapped or assaulted somehow. If you are a woman, do not walk around late at night in any neighborhood without pepper spray as it could potentially help you get out of what could be a serious situation. personal-safety-tip, this is especially trues

Know About Your Environment: while travelling, particularly later later in the day and in neighborhoods that you just aren’t knowledgeable about, you have to take a look at what is happening surrounding you. So, if at the end of the street you see a group of guys that look dangerous, you might take a turning or simply cross the street to prevent a confrontation, for example. The point is, do not merely look at the floor while walking and becoming unaware as that may enable you to get in danger.

Program Your Path Home: Plan your route to be the safest one that you possibly can if you are out somewhere late in the evening and walking home. What this means is steering clear of any alleyways, areas and parks of your local community that you know might be risky. It is advisable to keep to the main streets where there is still individuals running around and automobiles driving a vehicle in the roads.

Enable A person Know What Your Location Is Proceeding: By simply letting someone know your whereabouts on a particular day, you are insuring yourself if an accident or emergency were to happen. This offers your friends and family the chance to find you since they know in which they have to seem.

Never Keep A Great Deal Of Belongings Along With You: It is actually very good exercise to maintain very little funds while you perhaps need to have so that should you would lose your wallet or purse you then would not drop a ton of money. However, do keep some money with you at all times in case you get lost and need to order a taxi to find your way back home.staying-safe

Move On From Confrontations: You ought to be the older individual and leave from confrontations, usually you can receive involved in a battle you have absolutely no way of defending your self in opposition to. So, if a group of guys were to taunt you by calling you names, do not even look in their direction, otherwise the taunting could turn into physical abuse.

Don’t Advertise Your Possessions: Or you own a very expensive mobile phone then there is no reason to be showing it off if for some reason you have a bunch of cash with you. Someone may well pay attention and adhere to you property, it may take place with a pub or even a store. So avoid advertising your valuables if you don’t want any attention.

Do Not Drink Excessive: When with a night out drinking together with your close friends, it could be a major oversight to beverage greater than it is possible to manage. You ought to approximately know what you can take care of and so attempt to drink an quantity that is inside that limit. Usually, what is going to take place is basically that you may become a smooth goal for individuals that are looking to make the most of you.

Stay With The Audience: If you are out with a group of friend, then make sure that you stay with them, because you are unlikely to get attacked or mugged if you have 4 or 5 other friends around you. If you do drink too much then they can take care of you by getting you home safely, additionally.

Always Maintain Your Cell phone Charged: Before you go out, always make sure that your phone will have enough battery life until you get back. If you are lost, or a friend for help if you need it, you may need to call a cab.

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