Legion of Angels News Archive

HONOLULU - Two pilots for Hawaii’s Go airlines who slept through their flight’s landing procedure were suspended for the careless and reckless operation of an aircraft, the Federal Aviation Administration said Tuesday.

The pilots, who have been fired by Go, completed their suspensions on Sept. 9, FAA spokesman Ian Gregor said. He did not know whether they are flying again with a different carrier.

Captain Scott Oltman, 54, who was also cited for failing to maintain radio communications, had his license suspended for 60 days. First Officer Dillon Shepley, 24, was suspended for 45 days.

Gregor said no action was taken against Go because it did nothing wrong and provided the pilots with a 15-hour break before their shift, nearly double what the FAA requires.

The National Transportation Safety Board had determined the two pilots fell asleep on the Feb. 13 flight from Honolulu to Hilo.

Oltman was later diagnosed with a severe obstructive sleep apnea. It causes people to stop breathing repeatedly, preventing a restful night of sleep.

However, it was still unclear how both pilots fell asleep on the brief midmorning flight, which was carrying 40 passengers.

No problems were found after examining the aircraft’s pressurization system and carbon monoxide levels.

The pilots failed to respond to nearly a dozen calls from air traffic controllers over a span of 17 minutes.

In recordings obtained by The Associated Press, the controller is heard repeatedly trying to contact the pilots and talks to the pilot of another Go flight in hopes of reaching Flight 1002.

“I’m worried he might be in an emergency situation,” the controller says.

Finally, about 44 minutes into what is usually a 45-minute flight, the controller was able to establish radio contact. By that time, the plane had passed the airport at Hilo by 15 miles, and the controller ordered the flight crew to return.

The pilots were able to reverse course and landed safely at Hilo International Airport.

Go is an inter-island carrier run by Phoenix-based Mesa Air Group Inc. It declined to comment on the suspensions.

Source — MSNBC

HONOLULU - Fewer tourists are traveling to Hawaii and their combined spending decreased in May as steeper airfares discouraged people from visiting the islands, according to state statistics.

The number of Hawaii cruise visitors plunged due to the departure of the cruise ship Pride of Hawaii, and because another cruise ship, the Pride of Aloha, made just one voyage in May, her last in the islands.

Visitor expenditures dropped 2.9 percent, or $26.7 million, in May compared to the same month last year because fewer passengers flew to the islands, according to the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. Arrivals dipped 6.4 percent, or 549,017 people, last month.

Daily spending increased to $185 per person compared to $179 per person in May 2007.

There were 56.9 percent fewer tourists arriving in Hawaii by cruise ship — only 5,382 visitors for the month. Only three out-of-state cruise ships visited the islands in May compared to seven in the same month of 2007.

“May statistics are better than anticipated, especially since it is the first month to report the effects of the loss of two home-ported cruise ships and increased airfares,” said state tourism liaison Marsha Wienert. “Increased marketing efforts in our base market, U.S. West, will help stimulate demand for summer travel.”

Over the first five months of this year, total expenditures by visitors who arrived by air increased 3.2 percent to $4.94 billion even as total arrivals by air decreased 1.1 percent to 2,918,580.

Tourism from Japan was down 6.2 percent in May, while 13.7 percent more people are arriving from Canada.

“We continue to be pleased with the performance of the Canada and other Asia markets and anticipate further growth especially in the China market be cause Chinese are now able to visit the U.S. as leisure group travelers,” Wienert said.

The first group of Chinese leisure travelers visited Hawaii this week under a new agreement between the U.S. and China.

Trips from the U.S. West and East also fell, with the steepest decline coming from 19.3 percent fewer visitors from California.

Source — Yahoo!