1993 Tennessee Fairchild Merlin Crash
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1993 Tennessee Fairchild Merlin Crash
On the evening of April 1, 1993, a Swearingen Merlin III twin turboprop, carrying NASCAR champion Alan Kulwicki, crashed near Blountville, Tennessee, while on approach to the nearby Tri-Cities Regional Airport. All four people on board, including Alan Kulwicki, two executives of his corporate sponsor Hooters, and the pilot, were killed. Kulwicki was being transported from a promotional appearance in Knoxville, Tennessee to the Bristol Motor Speedway for the running of the 1993 Food City 500 on April 4. An investigation determined that the probable cause of the accident was the pilot's failure to operate the engine inlet anti-ice system properly. Accident At 14:21 local time the pilot filed a series of instrument flight plans with the Georgia Automated Flight Service Station at Macon, Georgia. At 20:58 the flight departed McGhee Tyson Airport near Knoxville, Tennessee, on a business flight bound for Tri-Cities Regional Airport at Blountville, Tennessee, with a valid instrumen ...
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Icing Conditions
In aeronautics, icing is the atmospheric icing, formation of water ice on an aircraft. Icing has resulted in numerous aviation accidents and incidents, fatal accidents in aviation history. Ice accretion and accumulation can affect the external surfaces of an aircraft – in which case it is referred to as ''airframe icing'' – or the aircraft engine, engine, resulting in carburetor icing, air inlet icing or more generically ''engine icing''. These phenomena may possibly but do not necessarily occur together. Not all aircraft, especially general aviation aircraft, are certified for ''flight into known icing'' (FIKI) – that is flying into areas with icing conditions certain or likely to exist, based on pilot reports, METAR, observations, and Terminal Aerodrome Forecast, forecasts. In order to be FIKI-certified, aircraft must be fitted with suitable ice protection systems to prevent accidents by icing. Definition Icing conditions exist when the air contains droplets of supercoo ...
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Air Traffic Control
Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled airspace. The primary purpose of ATC is to prevent collisions, organise and expedite the flow of traffic in the air, and provide information and other support for pilots. Personnel of air traffic control monitor aircraft location in their assigned airspace by radar and communicate with the pilots by radio. To prevent collisions, ATC enforces Separation (air traffic control), traffic separation rules, which ensure each aircraft maintains a minimum amount of 'empty space' around it at all times. It is also common for ATC to provide services to all General aviation, private, Military aviation, military, and commercial aircraft operating within its airspace; not just civilian aircraft. Depending on the type of flight and the class of airspace, AT ...
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Aviation Accidents And Incidents Caused By Pilot Error
Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' include fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air aircraft such as hot air balloons and airships. Aviation began in the 18th century with the development of the hot air balloon, an apparatus capable of atmospheric displacement through buoyancy. Clément Ader built the "Ader Éole" in France and made an uncontrolled, powered hop in 1890. This was the first powered aircraft, although it did not achieve controlled flight. Some of the most significant advancements in aviation technology came with the controlled gliding flying of Otto Lilienthal in 1896. A major leap followed with the construction of the ''Wright Flyer'', the first powered airplane by the Wright brothers in the early 1900s. Since that time, aviation has been technologically revolutionized by the introduction of the jet engine which enabled aviation ...
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List Of Accidents Involving Sports Teams
More than 100 accidents worldwide have killed or seriously injured all or part of a major sports team, in team-related circumstances that often receive widespread publicity. This list is organized into two sortable tables, summarizing aviation accidents and non-aviation accidents. The list does not attempt to include infectious disease outbreaks, or teams that were targets of violent attacks, or countless athletes who experienced individual accidents. The deadliest known accident for a single team was a November 1970 plane crash in West Virginia, whose fatalities included 37 members and 5 coaches of the Marshall University football team. Aviation accidents involving sports teams have decreased substantially since peaking in the 1970s, in parallel with peacetime aviation accidents overall. Serious non-aviation team accidents have most commonly involved buses, but also trains, boats, vans, cars, bicycles, bobsleds, avalanches, lightning, fire, bridge collapse, and carbon monoxi ...
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Garrett AiResearch
Garrett AiResearch was a manufacturer of turboprop engines and turbochargers, and a pioneer in numerous aerospace technologies. It was previously known as Aircraft Tool and Supply Company, Garrett Supply Company, AiResearch Manufacturing Company, or simply AiResearch. In 1964, Garrett AiResearch merged with Signal Oil & Gas, to form a company renamed in 1968 to Signal Companies. In 1985, it merged with Allied Corporation, forming AlliedSignal. In 1999 AlliedSignal acquired Honeywell and adopted the Honeywell name. Founding years John Clifford "Cliff" Garrett founded a company in Los Angeles in 1936 which came to be known as Garrett AiResearch or simply AiResearch. The company was first named Aircraft Tool and Supply Company. In early 1937, it was renamed as Garrett Supply Company. In 1939, it became AiResearch and shortly thereafter AiResearch Manufacturing Company, which then became a division within the Garrett Corporation. Already operating his Garrett Supply and Airsuppl ...
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National Transportation Safety Board
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is an independent U.S. government investigative agency responsible for civil transportation accident investigation. In this role, the NTSB investigates and reports on aviation accidents and incidents, certain types of highway crashes, ship and marine accidents, pipeline incidents, bridge failures, and railroad accidents. The NTSB is also in charge of investigating cases of hazardous materials releases that occur during transportation. The agency is based in Washington, D.C. It has three regional offices, located in Anchorage, Alaska; Aurora, Colorado; and Federal Way, Washington. The agency also operated a national training center at its Ashburn facility. History The origin of the NTSB was in the Air Commerce Act of 1926, which assigned the United States Department of Commerce responsibility for investigating domestic aviation accidents. Before the NTSB, the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA; at the time the CAA/ ...
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McDonnell Douglas DC-9
The McDonnell Douglas DC-9 is an American five-abreast, single-aisle aircraft designed by the Douglas Aircraft Company. It was initially produced as the Douglas DC-9 prior to August 1967, after which point the company had merged with McDonnell Aircraft to become McDonnell Douglas. Following the introduction of its first jetliner, the high-capacity DC-8, in 1959, Douglas was interested in producing an aircraft suited to smaller routes. As early as 1958, design studies were conducted; approval for the DC-9, a smaller all-new jetliner, came on April 8, 1963. The DC-9-10 first flew on February 25, 1965, and gained its type certificate on November 23, to enter service with Delta Air Lines on December 8. The DC-9 is powered by two rear-mounted Pratt & Whitney JT8D low-bypass turbofan engines under a T-tail for a cleaner wing aerodynamic. It has a two-person flight deck and built-in airstairs to better suit smaller airports. The aircraft was capable of taking off from 5,000 ft r ...
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Hawker 400
The Hawker 400 (also known as the Beechjet 400) is a light business jet. Initially designed and built by Mitsubishi, it has been further developed and updated by the Beech Aircraft Company, now part of Textron Aviation. A military version, the ''T-1 Jayhawk'' was also produced. In total, over 900 Hawker 400s have been delivered. In 2017, Hawker began to offer a manufacturer supported upgrade package known as the Hawker 400XPR. The new modifications are intended to reduce fuel consumption and improve range. Design The Hawker 400 is a small, low-winged twin-turbofan aircraft of all metal construction, flown by a crew of two pilots and accommodating eight passengers in a pressurised cabin. Its wings use a computer-designed supercritical airfoil in order to minimise drag. Its two Pratt & Whitney Canada JT15D turbofans are mounted on the rear fuselage. The 400 can fly with four passengers, cruising at Mach 0.71–0.73, and most pilots are comfortable flying it over three hour ...
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Robert H
The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' () "fame, glory, honour, praise, renown, godlike" and ''berht'' "bright, light, shining"). It is the second most frequently used given name of ancient Germanic origin.Reaney & Wilson, 1997. ''Dictionary of English Surnames''. Oxford University Press. It is also in use Robert (surname), as a surname. Another commonly used form of the name is Rupert (name), Rupert. After becoming widely used in Continental Europe, the name entered England in its Old French form ''Robert'', where an Old English cognate form (''Hrēodbēorht'', ''Hrodberht'', ''Hrēodbēorð'', ''Hrœdbœrð'', ''Hrœdberð'', ''Hrōðberχtŕ'') had existed before the Norman Conquest. The feminine version is Roberta (given name), Roberta. The Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish form is Roberto (given name), ...
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Aircraft Registration
An aircraft registration is a code unique to a single aircraft, required by international convention to be marked on the exterior of every civil aircraft. The registration indicates the aircraft's country of registration, and functions much like an automobile license plate or a ship registration. This code must also appear in its Certificate of Registration, issued by the relevant civil aviation authority (CAA). An aircraft can only have one registration, in one jurisdiction, though it is changeable over the life of the aircraft. Legal provisions In accordance with the Convention on International Civil Aviation (also known as the Chicago Convention), all civil aircraft must be registered with a civil aviation authority (CAA) using procedures set by each country. Every country, even those not party to the Chicago Convention, has an NAA whose functions include the registration of civil aircraft. An aircraft can only be registered once, in one jurisdiction, at a time. The NAA a ...
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Airworthiness Certificate
A standard certificate of airworthiness is a permit for commercial passenger or cargo operation, issued for an aircraft by the civil aviation authority in the state/nation in which the aircraft is registered. For other aircraft such as crop-sprayers, a Special Airworthiness Certificate (not for commercial passenger or cargo operations) must be issued. Legal authority A certificate of airworthiness (CoA), or an airworthiness certificate, is issued for an aircraft by the civil aviation authority in the state in which the aircraft is registered. The CoA attests that the aircraft is airworthy insofar as the aircraft conforms to its type design. Each certificate is issued in one of a number of different categories when the aircraft is registered in the name of the owner. Thereafter, a yearly currency fee is payable to renew the CoA. If this fee is not paid when due, the certificate expires and the owner must apply again for the certificate. The CoA can only be issued when a mainten ...
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