No new insight from preliminary plane crash report

PROVINCETOWN — The National Transportation Safety Board has published its preliminary report on the PA-28 Piper plane crash here that killed a pilot and seriously injured a female passenger on Aug. 31, and it provides few if any new details.

The report can be found at the board’s website, http://www.ntsb.com. The accident remains under investigation.

According to NTSB investigator Dennis Diaz, the cause is not likely to be known for nine to 12 months. They will be looking at archival maintenance records for the plane and the pilot’s training and history. Within 60 days of the end of the investigation the cause will be published online.

The single engine Piper PA-28 private aircraft crashed in the woods about 200 yards west of the Provincetown Municipal Airport at 11:30 that Wednesday night. Stanley J. Wisniewski, 48, of Falmouth, the pilot of the Piper plane, was pronounced dead at the scene. The only passenger, Tamar Levy, 47, also of Falmouth, was MedFlighted to Beth Israel Hospital in Boston with serious injuries.

A pilot of a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter that was in the area witnessed the crash.

A Piper PA-28 aircraft

-wickedlocal.com

-wikipedia.org

Pentagon clears Iraq F-16 issue

Despite news out of Baghdad that Iraq is shopping for 36 F-16s, the Pentagon clarified that current discussions are for 18 aircraft only. A Pentagon spokesman said Monday that Iraq’s renewed interest in an F-16 order should result in further negotiations between the U.S. and Iraqi governments after a planned sale of 18 planes initiated last year was put on hold.

“We’re still working on letters of offer and acceptance for 18 F-16s, said Maj. Christopher Perrine, a spokesman for the Department of Defense.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki said Saturday that the government planned to come back to the U.S. government with a request to purchase 36 F-16s.

The Pentagon notified Congress last October of a plan to sell Iraq 18 planes plus weapons, spare parts and equipment for $4.2 billion. But that deal was placed on hold because the Iraqi government did not budget the money.Perrine said that to sell more than 18 aircraft, the Pentagon would have to again notify Congress, which would have 30 days to vote to block a sale.

Source: Star-Telegram

Boeing, USAF Reserve Welcome C-17s to Wright-Patterson AFB

Boeing joined the U.S. Air Force Reserve at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base last July 9 to commemorate the base’s transition to the Boeing C-17 Globemaster III airlifter.

Wright-Patterson, home of the 445th Airlift Wing, previously flew the C-5A Galaxy and is the latest Air Force Reserve Command unit to transition to a fleet of C-17 aircraft. C-17s have provided airlift capability to U.S. and allied forces in Afghanistan and Iraq and deployed on every major humanitarian mission in the past decade.

“Boeing is honored to welcome the 445th Airlift Wing to the elite group of C-17 operators that the world looks to for aid in times of crisis and troops rely on when they are called on a mission anywhere in the world,” said Boeing C-17 Program Manager Bob Ciesla.

“The C-17 continues to be the backbone of the U.S. Air Force’s airlift capability; the aircraft have successfully completed countless military and humanitarian missions during their years of service. We know that the men and women who serve at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base can count on their C-17s to continue to perform for many years to come.”

“Boeing’s support for the C-17 doesn’t stop when the aircraft is delivered but continues through the C-17 Globemaster III Sustainment Partnership (GSP),” said Gus Urzua, Boeing C-17 GSP vice president.

Source: AIR-ATTACK