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West Coast Airlines Flight 956
West Coast Airlines Flight 956 was a scheduled commercial flight in the western United States which crashed on October 1, 1966, approximately south of Wemme, Oregon, southeast of Portland. Thirteen passengers and five crew members were aboard, but none survived. In its first week of service, the aircraft was destroyed by the impact and subsequent fire. The probable cause of the accident was "the descent of the aircraft below its clearance limit and below that of surrounding obstructing terrain, but the Board was unable to determine the cause of such descent." This accident was the first loss of a Douglas DC-9, and the first fatalities for the airline. Three of the passengers were employees of the airline. Timeline On Saturday, October 1, 1966, a Douglas DC-9 registered in the United States as N9101 operated as Flight 941 southbound from Seattle, Washington, to San Francisco, California, with intermediate stops in Oregon at Portland and Eugene. After approximately o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Controlled Flight Into Terrain
In aviation, a controlled flight into terrain (CFIT; usually ) is an aviation accidents and incidents, accident in which an airworthy aircraft, under aircraft pilot, pilot control, is unintentionally flown into the ground, a mountain, a body of water or an obstacle. In a typical CFIT scenario, the aircrew, crew is unaware of the impending disaster until it is too late. The term was coined by engineers at Boeing in the late 1970s. Accidents where the aircraft is out of control at the time of impact, because of mechanical failure or pilot error, are not considered CFIT (they are known as ''uncontrolled flight into terrain'' or ''UFIT''), nor are incidents resulting from the deliberate action of the person at the controls, such as acts of terrorism or suicide by pilot. According to Boeing in 1997, CFIT was a leading cause of airplane accidents involving the loss of life, causing over 9,000 deaths since the beginning of the commercial jet aircraft. CFIT was identified as a cause of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Western United States
The Western United States (also called the American West, the Far West, and the West) is the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the meaning of the term ''the West'' changed. Before about 1800, the crest of the Appalachian Mountains was seen as the western frontier. The frontier moved westward and eventually the lands west of the Mississippi River were considered the West. The U.S. Census Bureau's definition of the 13 westernmost states includes the Rocky Mountains and the Great Basin to the Pacific Coast, and the mid-Pacific islands state, Hawaii. To the east of the Western United States is the Midwestern United States and the Southern United States, with Canada to the north, and Mexico to the south. The West contains several major biomes, including arid and semi-arid plateaus and plains, particularly in the American Southwest; forested mountains, including three major ranges, the Sierra Neva ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Portland Air National Guard Base
Portland Air National Guard Base is a United States Air Force base, located at Portland International Airport, in Portland, Oregon. Overview The base is the home of the 142nd Fighter Wing, Oregon Air National Guard. The 142nd FW participates around the globe supporting drug interdiction, NORAD air defense, as well as contingency operations such as Operations Noble Eagle, Enduring Freedom, and Iraqi Freedom. To complete these missions, four groups are assigned to the 142nd Fighter Wing: 142nd Maintenance Group, 142nd Operations Group, 142nd Mission Support Group and the 142nd Medical Group. In addition, the Portland, Oregon Air National Guard Base is host to several tenant units: * 125th Special Tactics Sq. * 123rd Weather Flight * Air Force Reserve 304th Rescue Squadron. History The base's history begins in 1936 when Works Progress Administration (WPA) funding allowed the City of Portland to purchase 700 acres of land along the Columbia River and bordering the Columbia Slough ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grumman HU-16 Albatross
The Grumman HU-16 Albatross is a large, twin–radial engined amphibious aircraft, amphibious seaplane that was used by the United States Air Force (USAF), the U.S. Navy (USN), and the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), primarily as a search and rescue (SAR) aircraft. Originally designated as the SA-16 for the USAF and the JR2F-1 and UF-1 for the USN and USCG, it was redesignated as the HU-16 in 1962. A new build G-111T Albatross with modern avionics and engines was proposed in 2021 with production in Australia to commence in 2025. Design and development An improvement of the design of the Grumman Mallard, the Albatross was developed to land in open-ocean situations to accomplish rescues. Its deep-V hull cross-section and keel length enable it to land in the open sea. The Albatross was designed for optimal seas, and could land in more severe conditions, but required JATO (jet-assisted takeoff, or simply booster rockets) for takeoff in seas or greater. Operational history Most Albatros ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tacoma, Washington
Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, Washington, Olympia, and northwest of Mount Rainier National Park. The city's population was 219,346 at the time of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Tacoma is the second-largest city in the Puget Sound area and the List of municipalities in Washington, third-largest in the state. Tacoma also serves as the center of business activity for the South Sound region, which has a population of about 1 million. Tacoma adopted its name after the nearby Mount Rainier, called wikt:Tacoma, təˡqʷuʔbəʔ in the Lushootseed, Puget Sound Salish dialect. It is locally known as the "City of Destiny" because the area was chosen to be the western terminus of the Northern Pacific Railroad in the late 19th century. The decision of the railroad was influenced by Tacoma's neighboring deep-wat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
McChord Air Force Base
McChord Field is a United States Air Force base in the northwest United States, in Pierce County, Washington. South of Tacoma, McChord Field is the home of the 62d Airlift Wing, Air Mobility Command, the field's primary mission being worldwide strategic airlift. The McChord facility was consolidated with the U.S. Army's Fort Lewis on 1 February 2010 to become part of the Joint Base Lewis-McChord complex. This initiative was driven by the Base Realignment and Closure Round in 2005 and is designed to combine current infrastructure into one maximizing war fighting capability and efficiency, while saving taxpayer dollars. 62d Airlift Wing The 62nd Airlift Wing (62 AW) is the host unit at McChord Field. It is assigned to the Eighteenth Air Force and is composed of more than 7,200 active duty military and civilian personnel. It is tasked with supporting worldwide combat and humanitarian airlift contingencies. Aircraft of the 62d fly around the globe, conducting airdrop trai ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Convair F-106 Delta Dart
The Convair F-106 Delta Dart was the primary all-weather interceptor aircraft of the United States Air Force from the 1960s through to the 1980s. Designed as the so-called "Ultimate Interceptor", it proved to be the last specialist interceptor in U.S. Air Force service to date. It was gradually retired during the 1980s, with the QF-106 drone conversions of the aircraft being used until 1998 under the ''Pacer Six'' program.Winchester 2006, p. 55. Development Antecedents The F-106 was the ultimate development of the USAF's 1954 interceptor program of the early 1950s. The initial winner of this competition had been the F-102 Delta Dagger, but early versions of this aircraft had demonstrated extremely poor performance, limited to subsonic speeds and relatively low altitudes. During the testing program the F-102 underwent numerous changes to improve its performance, notably the application of the area rule to the fuselage shaping and a change of engine, and the dropping of the advan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Air Traffic Controller
Air traffic control specialists, abbreviated ATCS, are personnel responsible for the safe, orderly, and expeditious flow of air traffic in the global air traffic control system. Usually stationed in air traffic control centers and control towers on the ground, they monitor the position, speed, and altitude of aircraft in their assigned airspace visually and by radar, and give directions to the pilots by radio. The position of air traffic controller is one that requires highly specialized knowledge, skills, and abilities. Controllers apply separation rules to keep aircraft at a safe distance from each other in their area of responsibility and move all aircraft safely and efficiently through their assigned sector of airspace, as well as on the ground. Because controllers have an incredibly large responsibility while on duty (often in aviation, "on position") and make countless real-time decisions on a daily basis, the ATC profession is consistently regarded around the worl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Air Route Traffic Control Center
In air traffic control, an area control center (ACC), also known as a center or en-route center, is a facility responsible for controlling aircraft flying in the airspace of a given flight information region (FIR) at high altitudes between airport approaches and departures. In the US, such a center is referred to as an air route traffic control center (ARTCC). A center typically accepts traffic from — and ultimately passes traffic to — the control of a terminal control center or another center. Most centers are operated by the national governments of the countries in which they are located. The general operations of centers worldwide, and the boundaries of the airspace each center controls, are governed by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). In some cases, the function of an area control center and a terminal control center are combined in a single facility. For example, NATS combines the London Terminal Control Centre (LTCC) and London Area Control ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pacific Time Zone
The Pacific Time Zone (PT) is a time zone encompassing parts of western Canada, the western United States, and western Mexico. Places in this zone observe standard time by subtracting eight hours from Coordinated Universal Time ( UTC−08:00). During daylight saving time, a time offset of UTC−07:00 is used. In the United States and Canada, this time zone is generically called the Pacific Time Zone. Specifically, time in this zone is referred to as Pacific Standard Time (PST) when standard time is being observed (early November to mid-March), and Pacific Daylight Time (PDT) when daylight saving time (mid-March to early November) is being observed. In Mexico, the corresponding time zone is known as the ''Zona Noroeste'' (Northwest Zone) and observes the same daylight saving schedule as the U.S. and Canada. The largest city in the Pacific Time Zone is Los Angeles, whose metropolitan area is also the largest in the time zone. The zone is two hours ahead of the Hawaii–Aleut ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Airway (aviation)
In the United States, airways or air routes are defined by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in two ways: "VOR Federal airways and Low/Medium Frequency (L/MF) (Colored) Federal airways" These are designated routes which aeroplanes fly to aid in navigation and help with separation to avoid accidents. Airways are defined with segments within a specific altitude block, corridor width, and between fixed geographic coordinates for satellites navigation system, or between ground-based radio transmitter navigational aids (navaids; such as VORs or NDBs) or the intersection of specific radials of two navaids. United States To guide airmail pilots on their delivery routes, the United States Postal Service constructed the first airways in the United States, the Contract Air Mail routes. These airways were between major cities and identified at night by a series of flashing lights and beacons which pilots flew over in sequence to get from one city to the next. Intermediate ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Instrument Flight Rules
In aviation, instrument flight rules (IFR) is one of two sets of regulations governing all aspects of civil aviation aircraft operations; the other is visual flight rules (VFR). The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) ''Instrument Flying Handbook'' defines IFR as: "Rules and regulations established by the FAA to govern flight under conditions in which flight by outside visual reference is not safe. IFR flight depends upon flying by reference to instruments in the flight deck, and navigation is accomplished by reference to electronic signals." It is also a term used by pilots and controllers to indicate the type of flight plan an aircraft is flying, such as an IFR or VFR flight plan. Basic information Comparison to visual flight rules It is possible and fairly straightforward, in relatively clear weather conditions, to fly an aircraft solely by reference to outside visual cues, such as the horizon to maintain orientation, nearby buildings and terrain features for n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
