December 31
On this last day of 2003 it's perhaps time to consider what has - or better still - what has not occurred over the past 12 months

These pages openly support private flying and private pilots and aircraft owners here in OZ and it's interesting to note that on pursuing the ATSB site there were NO FATAL ACCIDENTS recorded in 2003 for PRIVATE FLIGHTS operated by PRIVATE PILOTS in single engine fixed wing light aircraft - however the AirCentre records indicate there were in fact 3 fatal accidents that claimed only 3 lives in 2003

Excluded in the above statement are ultralights and flights designated as training, flight testing, and rotary wing aircraft or aircraft under the control of experienced commercial and/or foreign pilots that were involved in a wide range of fatal accidents

December 22
A Virgin Atlantics Captain on the Washington DC to Heathrow route was arrested in the USA and charged with trying to fly an aircraft under the influence of alcohol

" ..it's the first time it has happened in the 20 years we've been operating and is totally out of character for Captain Harwell who is an extremely experienced and popular pilot"

The passengers on board the Jumbo jet - about 400 - were delayed waiting for another pilot to fly them to the UK and finished up arriving at Heathrow 23 hours later

December 26
A charted Boeing 727 with 161 passengers and crew on board crashed into the sea after trying to take-off from the western African nation of Benin which is alongside Nigeria

The 727 went "..skidding down the beachfront runway and smashed into a building before exploding and tumbling nose down into the sea"

Reports have one of the 727's pilots surviving but more than 130 persons on board the Lebanese based UTA charter flight did not

December 27
A new Kiwi built PAC750XL aircraft - the first one to be sold by New Zealand's Pacific Aerospace - was on it's ferry flight to the USA on Christmas day when it experienced a fuel problem and had to ditch

"When the C-130 reached him he had about 15 minutes of fuel remaining. The main wheels touched just prior to the nosewheel. The nosewheel touched, dug in, and the aircraft flipped easily onto its back, settling on the water with the wings on the surface, in a slight nose down attitude, upside down...

...rescue swimmers found Kelvin still strapped in"

The pilot - Kelvin Stark 58 of Tauranga - "...never recovered from the ditching, he just never made it out of the cockpit" -  Media Source:- Utility Aircraft 

December 26
A report in the December '03 Issue of the National Geographic mentions that air traffic control of the future will be by electronic means using computers on board each aircraft to do the "controlling"

"..ten years from now we won't be using radar,
..it's too slow"

The report indicates that air traffic controllers are planned to be replaced by "a more integrated process between airlines, pilots, and ground control"