Pilot stalks ex-girlfriend with his plane

by Jamie Rhein on

If any guy (or gal) thinks buzzing an ex-main squeeze’s house in an airplane is a way to gain favor, think again. It’s most definitely NOT. It is a way to get arrested though. Who can ignore a low flying plane, particularly when the plane continues to fly over the same house, again and again and again and again?

Tom Huey demonstrated this point on Wednesday night, thus adding one more behavior to the list of what a person shouldn’t do when someone says, “It’s over.” Huey buzzed his ex-girlfriend’s house in Concord, California several times which prompted neighbors to call the police.

As it turns out, Huey may have been at it for longer than Wednesday night. A low flying plane has been bothering that neighborhood for a year.

Perhaps Huey wondered just what he’d have to do to get arrested and truly get his ex’s attention. Bingo.

Now he has a hefty bail and could end up with a felony on his record.

Too bad Huey didn’t use his Beech single-engine aircraft for a better use. Think of the nifty lick-ones-wounds weekend trips he could have taken with a friend. Too bad he didn’t read Franz Wisner’s book Honeymoon with My Brother. Wisner was dumped right before his wedding and turned that into a personal growth experience through an around-the-world trip.

What a waste of a pilot’s license. Of course, I’m glad that Huey is no longer flying the skies and people in Concord can have a decent night’s sleep–particularly the ex.

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Plane Answers: Pilot asks, “Is there anyone on board with internet access?”

by Kent Wien on

It just might surprise you to know that when sitting on the ground, waiting out a line of thunderstorms, we don’t have access to depictions of real-time weather updates. We can fire up the radar and look ahead for 40 or so miles, but there’s just no way to know if a re-route offered by ATC is going to keep us out of the weather or create more problems further into our flight.

Cessna 172s have real-time weather capability with a $50 subscription to XM Radio’s WX Satellite Weather, but so far, no domestic U.S. airline has incorporated that technology in their airplanes. We checked out Virgin America’s cockpit a few months back and found that even they don’t have this capability built in yet, though they did at least have GoGo inflight wi-fi which could potentially help.

So it shouldn’t come as a surprise when passengers aboard a Continental Airlines flight were asked if they had a laptop with internet access while on the ground waiting for weather to pass.

In an apparently savvy move, the captain borrowed Evan Gotlib’s wi-fi card equipped Macbook Tuesday evening to try to come up with a routing out of Newark that would get around ATC flow-control restrictions.

Evan writes on his blog:


There were two or three different lines of storms in the west and south that were affecting all Newark outbound air traffic. There is no mechanism on a 737-500 to look at weather. The radar they have only works in flight, and even then it can’t show what’s happening outside of about 50 miles. We were 50th-yes 50th-in line for takeoff and the captain said that at that point air traffic control really does not care anymore. Their number one priority is international flights, then they get to domestic. So he wanted to see if he could figure out a new route around the storms that he could propose to air traffic control. Neat.

So they used my laptop to go to this site: http://www.intellicast.com. The best part was that neither of them knew how to drive a Mac, let alone Safari, so I surfed for them. It was cool to listen to them talk about different flight plans. This went on for a few minutes and then they got on with air traffic control and someone found a new route. I’m not sure if it was us or air traffic control, but I’d like to think it was us.

I was really hoping for a pair of wings or an honorary junior captain’s badge or something but all I got was an extra cookie from the flight attendant. That was pretty cool.

Oh, one more thing. I’ll never be able to help when the “is there a doctor on board” announcement comes over the PA system. But when the “is there someone with wi-fi who knows how to use the internet on board” announcement is made, I’m there.

Nice job on the captain’s part for thinking outside the box. Of course, a few of us have discovered the power of an iPhone in this situation, but whether it’s a connected laptop or an iPhone, nothing beats the coverage and situational awareness that XM’s service provides. It needs to be built-in and accessible by every pilot, in every airplane that an airline flies to be effective.

I’m hoping airlines will recognize the benefits of connecting cockpits to a reliable weather source. But we could even take it further. Imagine inflight sensors that could transmit more accurate and detailed turbulence levels from aircraft all over the country that could be displayed on our map and updated in real-time. Oh, but I dream.

Until then, if you hear us ask to borrow your wi-fi connected Mac while number 50 in line on the ground, don’t all rush to the cockpit at once.

Do you have a question about something related to the pointy end of an airplane? Ask Kent and maybe he’ll use it for the next Plane Answers. Check out his other blog, Cockpit Chronicles and travel along with him at work.

Plane Answers: Seatbelt sign compliance and a question about packing for long trips

by Kent Wien on

Welcome to Gadling’s feature, Plane Answers, where our resident airline pilot, Kent Wien, answers your questions about everything from takeoff to touchdown and beyond. Have a question of your own? Ask away!

Shane asks:

What are the official FAA regulations regarding passengers being up with the seatbelt sign on? On every flight, prior to the sign being turned off, passengers get up to use the washroom and rarely to do the flight attendants ask them to return to their seats. Is there discretion allowed here? Thanks so much for the knowledge and please keep it coming.

Hi Shane,

I answer a lot of these questions while on my crew rest break in the back of the airplane since it’s impossible to sleep on the first break during the meal service.

I mention this because both times I read through your question the flight attendant came on with a reminder over the PA that the seatbelt sign was on and that she would appreciate it if the passengers who were up and about could please return to their seats. The irony gave me a chuckle.

She handled this in the way the FAA requires. If people are up with the sign on, flight attendants are required to make the passenger aware that the sign is on and that they should be seated with their seatbelts fastened.

But if you’ve really got to go, it may be necessary to ignore the sign. I didn’t give you permission, and neither did she, but if you have to go, you have to go. Smile and say “I’ll be careful. It’s an emergency.”

She’s not required to force you into your seat, but she may continue to warn you of the sign. Just don’t let it get to a point where you’re ignoring a direct request from a flight attendant. There are specific rules against that.
Johannes asks:

Hey Kent,

I love reading your blog, it gave the final push for me to write an application to the German airline Lufthansa to study to become a pilot. It’s been my dream for my whole life through – I even tried to get my PPL-C, but had to quit, since it took so much time that I couldn’t afford it (I have to work on weekends, and the training is only on weekends).

I think Germany is the only country in the world where the airlines pay the whole education (you only have to pay 60k€ back after finishing the training and only when Lufthansa offers you a job within 5 years after finishing the whole license.)

So my question:

I’ve been wondering how much clothing you have to carry around with you. And who does the laundry during long trips?

You’ve written about a 14-day tour with only one day off in Paris. When I do the laundry, washing, drying and iron my clothes takes about 4 hours. I can’t imagine that you carry enough clothing for 14 days with you, but the fact that you have written about breaks and layovers shows me, that there is not much time to wash your stuff.

So, how do you manage that ?

Hi Johannes,

I hope I didn’t leave you with the impression that we’re on the road for the entire 14 days. In my case last year, those Paris trips were made up of three-day back-to-back trips. So I’d fly to Paris one day, layover for 24 hours there and then fly home on the third day.

Once at home, I’d have another 24 hours until heading back to the airport again to do it all over. So there’s plenty of time for laundry and a little time left over to see the family.

That 14-days of flying was very unusual though. We had a mechanical problem that caused our three-day trip to turn into a 5-day trip, which did present a slight laundry problem. I usually pack a few spares of everything on my trip.

I understand there are some airlines, such as FedEx and other international carriers that do fly some pretty long trips. I suspect Lufthansa has a number of three-day trips though.

Good luck with the application process at Lufthansa. I know it’s extremely competitive but it’s a great deal if you can get it.

Do you have a question about something related to the pointy end of an airplane? Ask Kent and maybe he’ll use it for the next Plane Answers. Check out his other blog, Cockpit Chronicles and travel along with him at work.

Photo of the Day (6.16.09)

by Grant Martin on

Today’s Photo of the Day is relevant for several reasons. The shot of the tarmac on the way to Paris was taken by Kent Wien, our resident pilot who is actually currently on layover in the middle of a BOS-CDG-BOS turn.

This week is also the week of the 45th Paris Air Show, the massive biannual event that brings thousands of suppliers, manufacturers and press to Le Bourget for updates on all of the new technology. It’s the biggest air show in the world, and both Kent and Grant will running around collecting data for Gadling. Stay tuned later this week for updates from the show.

Oh, and if you’ve got any cool photos that you’d like to share with the world, add them to the Gadling Pool on Flickr and it might be chosen as our Photo of the Day. Make sure you save them under Creative Commons though, otherwise we can’t use them!

Continental pilot pension scam, nine disappointed pilots

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Continental Airlines is looking to cash in on pilots who cashed in on a divorce scam. The pilots used sham divorces to divert more than $10 million to their ex-spouses. Post-divorce, the exes cashed in on retirement benefits, and the fliers could stay in the sky – and keep earning.

It’s really pretty simple. A couple divorces. The pilot assigns all pension benefits to the ex-spouse. Then, the recipient goes to a state court and gets an order for a lump sum. After the divorce was final long enough for the money to start rolling in, these couples “reconciled.” Yep, they remarried once the scam was complete.

So far, eight of the nine pilots are gone (either by quitting or being fired). One was rehired, because he promised to repay the cash. Apparently, he didn’t do so fast enough and has been named as a defendant. The spouses are being pursued, as well. Seven of the alleged scammers are men, and two are women.

If you don’t want to believe that greed is responsible for the situation, you can call what these pilots did a Darwinian play to protect their cash. The average pilot on Continental is eligible for a lump sum of up to $900,000 upon retirement. But, some airlines are terminating their pension programs and turning them over to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., which backstops pension plans up to an amount that’s not even close to $900,000. Faced with the prospect of losing their pensions, therefore some are turning to (alleged) fraud.

In addition to the nine who got nailed, other pilots have tried and failed.

Think that’s bad? Click the pictures to read about other women causing problems in the sky: