Atlanta TSA employee allegedly abducts, assaults woman and attempts suicide

by Tom Johansmeyer on

As if the TSA didn’t have enough to worry about this week …

Only hours before the busiest travel day of the year, news has gotten out that a TSA employee working at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta – the busiest airport in the country – attempted to commit suicide. It was a particularly grotesque situation, as he allegedly abducted a young woman, sexually assaulted her and gave her his suicide note to pass along.

Randall Scott King is reported to have snatched the woman from a MARTA parking lot last Wednesday night. He took her to his home in Hogansville, Georgia – around 50 miles from Atlanta – and allegedly assaulted her. King then let her go, bearing the suicide note he gave her.

When the alleged victim notified the authorities, King was found at his home with self-inflicted wounds – he’s now in critical condition at Columbus’ Regional Medical Center. He was a behavior detection officer with the TSA, where he has worked for close to five years, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

King and the woman he’s alleged to have abducted knew each other, according to airport spokeswoman Katena Carvajales: “They left the airport together voluntarily.”

[photo by hyku via Flickr]

Gulfstream’s $500 million expansion of Savannah, GA headquarters to create 1,000 jobs

by Darren Murph on

According to many pundits, the so-called recession that gripped the world in 2009 is far from “over,” but we’ve been noticing steady signs of recovery in the travel industry over the course of 2010. While consumers and businesspeople alike are still pinching pennies and thinking twice as hard about where their funds are going, more and more bodies are moving about, particularly by plane. Gulfstream, which maintains a headquarters in Savannah, Georgia, seems more convinced than ever that we’re on the rebound, and it’s announcing today a huge investment that’ll better position it “to meet future demand for business-jet aircraft and support services.”

The spend? $500 million over the next seven years, and that’ll buy significant expansion of its Savannah plant as well as around 1,000 full-time Gulfstream Aerospace jobs (a hike of about 15 percent from its current level of 5,500 employees). According to Savannah Now, those positions will include production specialists, engineers, and support technicians. Needless to say, quite a few folks in the Peach State are celebrating the news, with Gov. Sonny Perdue being one of many on hand today for the announcement. Moreover, the expansion will result in new facilities at the northwest quadrant of the Savannah / Hilton Head International Airport.

Gulfstream suggests that the investment will also help it meet a growing demand for large-cabin aircraft, with large chunks of the cash used to build production plants for G650 (“Like a G6!”) and G250 jets, as well as maintenance capacity for all of the models that the company manufactures. Unsurprisingly, we’re hearing that the bulk of that demand is coming from international clients (Asia Pacific, specifically), but the company seems bound and determined to keep its roots in the south.

We know Gulfstream doesn’t speak for the entire aviation industry, but it’s definitely good to see a major player like this making such a tremendous investment in the future of air travel. Here’s hoping it’s just the beginning of a beautiful turnaround.

[Via Twitter (@mksteele)]

London Eye replica proposed for downtown Atlanta

by Leigh Caldwell on

Downtown Atlanta could become home to a 45-story Ferris wheel ride called the “Atlanta Eye.”

The Eye would be a replica of London’s iconic wheel which sits on the south bank of the River Thames between the Hungerford and Westminster bridges.

WXIA-TV in Atlanta reports that an Atlanta law firm is spearheading the project, and that the group met with representatives from Atlanta’s business community this week.

Merlin Entertainment, the owner of the London Eye, is said to be looking at real estate around downtown Atlanta. The Atlanta Eye would be situated near Centennial Park and the Georgia Aquarium.

The Atlanta Eye project is rumored to have a $200 million price tag.

London’s Eye, also known as the Millennium Wheel, was built in 1999. A 30-minute ride on the wheel, which Merlin calls a “flight,” costs about $29 U.S.

Merlin has expanded the London Eye attraction to include a “4D” movie experience, river cruises and an ice skating rink.

[Image credit: Flickr user David Prior]

FBI charges passenger for in-flight grabbing

by Tom Johansmeyer on

You need to keep your hands to yourself when you fly – it’s just that simple. Not only is it smart and appropriate, but it’ll keep you out of trouble. Well, that’s what Alpharetta, Georgia resident Ranchhodbhai Lakha learned the hard way.

This 61-year-old passenger faces a variety of sexual assault charges because he allegedly groped a 20-year-old woman on a flight from Dallas to Atlanta. On September 28, 2010, according to an Associated Press report, Lakha touched her while she slept, below her waist. She woke up during the act, and told Lakha to stop doing it. He tried again, and the woman notified a flight attendant.

The worst part: according to an FBI investigation, Lakha may have a history of this.

[photo by banspy via Flickr]

New York: best and worst city in schismatic survey

by Tom Johansmeyer on

If you want to travel like a local, then it makes sense to know something about your destination … and isn’t the best city to live attractive? It’s the kind of place you’d want to explore and see why it’s so loved. And at the same time, you’d probably want to avoid the worst of the worst – who would want to go there?

Well, a new Harris Interactive poll makes this thinking hard to execute, USA Today reports. According to 2,620 Americans, the best and worst are exactly the same. Asked the city in or near which they’d most like to live, New York came out on top. This hasn’t changed (except once) since Harris began posing the question in 1997.

Now, the other side of the issue, what is the most loathed city in America? Well, it seems to be New York. San Francisco and Los Angeles also made both lists.

To see the top and bottom 10, take a look below:
Top of the heap:
1. New York
2. San Diego
3. Las Vegas
4. Seattle
5. San Francisco
6. Los Angeles
7. Nashville
7. Atlanta (a tie)
9. Denver
10. Boston

Bottom of the barrel
1. New York
2. Detroit
3. Los Angeles
4. Chicago
5. Houston
6. Miami
7. Washington
8.San Francisco
9. Dallas
10. Phoenix (tied with New Orleans)

[photo by Francisco Diez via Flickr]