The FAA’s proposed changes for handling traffic in the Hudson River corridor are based on the success of air traffic control at the Experimental Aircraft Association’s AirVenture in Oshkosh, the head of FAA’s air traffic department told a House Aviation Subcommittee Sept. 16.
Hank Krakowski told the representatives that Oshkosh handles more than 3,000 aircraft movements a day safely with pilots following established rules and having minimum contact with air traffic controllers. He said the classes of airspace were established primarily to protect airline aircraft, but that general aviation pilots operate under specific rules and follow these rules.
Members of the subcommittee got an education on air traffic control and general aviation from other witnesses and also from some of their own legislators.
Craig Fuller, president of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA), explained flight rules, stressing that “uncontrolled airspace” is a misnomer as all flights operate under very specific rules. He also pointed out that the night before, the AOPA Air Foundation had presented a program about safe operation in the Hudson River corridor to 350 pilots in the Newark area.
James Coyne, president of the National Air Transportation Association (NATA), stressed the safety training of general aviation but also urged faster action to modernize the system, commenting to full Committee Chairman James Oberstar (D-Minn.) that he sat in the same chair some 15 years earlier and made similar statements to the committee.
Matthew Zuccaro, president of the Helicopter Association International (HAI), explained how helicopter pilots undergo specific and recurrent training for operation in specific areas. He noted a helicopter pilot who had flown in Vietnam and spent a quarter of a century flying helicopters in the New York area was killed by an automobile on the sidewalk in New York City.
Comments by Rep. Vernon Ehlers (R-Mich.), a member of the committee, prompted Zuccaro to relate the report of his friend’s death. Ehlers said all aviation magazines are filled with safety material and that pilots undergo more training and testing than most others in transportation. On the day the airplane-helicopter collision killed nine people, more than 100 people had been killed in automobile accidents in New York State alone. He said the public is “dead wrong” about their perception of general aviation safety.
Charles Spence is GAN’s Washington, D.C., correspondent.
How funny were Wayne Rear-end’s comments in retrospect, another FAA shill. FAA since conceded the corridor as unsafe. Wayne the clown!
Wow. Sound like you have an axe to grind, Mr. John J. Tormey III, Esq. This has nothing to do with the Hudson Corridor rule changes and everything to with how you feel about Hank Krakowski.
The Hudson Corridor has a very good safety record. The loss of life in this accident is sad, but doesn’t mean the corridor is unsafe. Spending money for more controllers and equiptment isn’t the way. Requiring Private Pilots to spend money on costly high tech devices isn’t either. There is no reason to have this over reaction.
The FAA has made recommendations to enhance the corridor safety. These recommendations can be accomplished at minimal cost and will be as effective.
FAA’s Hank Krakowski Lied Under Oath
Not only did FAA’s “Chief Operating Officer†Henry P. (Hank) Krakowski’s errors and omissions help get his fellow stunt-pilot Keith J. Evans killed in 1999 – Hank Krakowski then proceeded to lie about it under oath in Hank’s sworn deposition of March 7, 2002:
http://www.limalima.net
The above-linked document was introduced into the Illinois court’s wrongful death civil litigation file, in the matter of Evans v. Hank Krakowski, United Airlines, Lima Lima Flight Team, et al. The document is entitled: “LIMA LIMA FLIGHT TEAM – 1999 – STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES & HANDBOOK – FOR INTERNAL USE ONLYâ€.
Guess the document’s “use†is not quite so “internal†anymore, is it?
These are Lima Lima’s 1999 procedures. 1999 is the very same year that Hank Krakowski helped get Keith J. Evans killed in a reckless irresponsible airshow stunt practice, when Hank knew Evans was underprepared, underqualified, and underpracticed to fly Lima Lima’s “Pop Top†maneuver.
Next to the exclamation point on the “.jpeg†below, you will see, very clearly written:
“Safety Officer: Hank Krakowski. Maintains currency records on aircraft and pilots Operational Records. Maintain the following to ensure currency:
Copies of Pilots[sic] certificate, 8710-7, medical, FAST
Copies of aircraft logs showing due dates for annual, 100 hour, ADs
Copies of Airworthiness and registration.
Parachute pack dates.
Insurance records
Civil Aircraft landing permits (USAF and USN) ..Prepare and maintain.
(Notify aircraft owners and/or pilots when due dates approach.)
(Job description to be further delineated.)â€
It is therefore ASTOUNDING that FAA’s Hank Krakowski, now FAA COO and Head Of Air Traffic Organization with 38,000 of 48,000 FAA employees under him:
http://www.faa.gov/about/key_officials/krakowski/
would outright lie under oath and perjure himself in his own sworn deposition on March 7, 2002 in the Keith Evans wrongful death litigation (Page 19-20):
http://www.limalima.net
Q. And do you hold an official or an office position with Lima Lima Flight Team?
A. No, sir.
Q. Have you ever?
A. No, sir.
Hank Krakowski is a liar. Above, you just saw the second-most-senior FAA official lie under oath. Lima Lima’s own 1999 documents identify Hank Krakowski as the one (1) “Safety Officer†of the flight team, yet Hank denies under oath that he ever held any official position with Lima Lima. To similar effect, note how Hank Krakowski denies he did “administrative†work for Lima Lima, on Page 17 of the same deposition transcript.
Hank Krakowski is also directly responsible for the death of late pilot Keith J. Evans. Those of you who have carefully read the “.jpeg†documents uploaded to today’s blog, now know another reason why, too. Hank Krakowski was Lima Lima’s “Safety†Officer required to maintain currency records to ENSURE pilot Keith J. Evans’s currency. Below, we glean Lima Lima’s definition of “currency†in this context, from Lima’ Lima’s very own 1999 Standard Operating Procedures and Handbook document:
“Currency: A pilot must fly at least two practice sessions per month to maintain currency. AT LEAST TWO REPETITIONS OF THE FULL ROUTINE ARE NECESSARY WITHIN THE PRECEDING 30 DAYS TO MAINTAIN SHOW QUALIFICATION.†[Emphasis added].
Yet Hank Krakowski’s own sworn March 7, 2002 deposition testimony established that the flight session that killed Keith J. Evans, particularly because of last-minute changes to the routine that Krakowski and others allowed, was the FIRST PRACTICE THAT THE 6-MAN LIMA LIMA TEAM FLEW THOSE MOVES IN SEQUENCE – and that Keith J. Evans had not flown as pilot in an airshow previously. Page 45, Line 8-24; Page 46, Line 3. Page 48, Line 6-23. Page 48, Line 15-17.
In other words, there is no possible way that Keith J. Evans was or could have been “show qualified†for the intended October 1, 1999 Navy Pier Lima Lima airshow which never happened, because there is no possible way that Keith Evans or even the other Lima Lima pilots could have flown “two repetitions of the full routine†in time! Lima Lima and Hank Krakowski violated Lima Lima’s own internal safety procedures, and that led to the killing of Keith J. Evans in a firy crash, a mid-air collision between two stunt-planes.
Again, Lima Lima “Safety Officer†Hank Krakowski put Keith J. Evans up in the air to fly dangerous stunt maneuvers, when Hank knew full well that Keith Evans was under-practiced, under-qualified, and under-prepared to fly that Lima Lima routine. Hank is responsible for Keith’s death.
Also note that Hank Krakowski’s job as Lima Lima “Safety Officer†required HIM to maintain “insurance recordsâ€. Compare this fact to Pages 77-81 of Hank’s sworn March 18, 2002 deposition, wherein Hank testifies and feigns ignorance with winning statements like, “I’m not quite sure how it all works†– and claims he has no ideas who the insurer actually is.
“Safety Officer� Hank Krakowski?
And now in 2009 this moron named Hank Krakowski is the FAA’s COO and head of “Air Traffic Organization� – the second-most-senior official at FAA?
Hank Krakowski should instead be in jail for manslaughter. He may have greasily evaded liability in the civil wrongful death litigation because of a statute of limitations technicality specific to the State of Illinois – but even in Illinois, there is no statute of limitations as far as homicide is concerned.
And there is no statute of limitations when it comes to truth, knowledge, the blogosphere, and public opinion.
I again ask that you write FAA’s Administrator Randy Babbitt and USDOT Secretary Ray LaHood, and tell them in no uncertain terms why a perjurious manslaughterer in the form of Hank Krakowski should no longer be employed by the federal government as FAA COO and ATO head, with 38,000 of 48,000 FAA employees under him. Think about the next time you fly in an airplane and might thereby put your life in Hank Killer Krakowski’s already-bloodstained hands.
We’d be better off with a sausage as FAA COO and ATO Head. At least a sausage is incapable of killing people and then lying about it under oath.
John J. Tormey III, Esq.
Quiet Rockland