Wire strike of the spectacular kind

 

DeBeque jet pilot is known to FAA (Colorado)

The pilot who buzzed De Beque Canyon two months ago was on a non-military flight on his way to Alabama, federal officials told Mesa County officials and representatives for U.S. Rep. Scott Tipton, R-Colo.

The pilot could lose his pilot certificate if an investigation warrants such a step, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

The pilot, who remained unidentified, was on a non-military ferry flight returning to the civil operator's home base in Alabama at the time of the incident, according to officials with the Federal Aviation Administration.

The plane, an Aero L-39 Albatros, which was designed as a fighter trainer for Warsaw Pact nations, had recently been operated in support of the U.S. military, according to a report by the FAA.

Officials with the agency spoke on the telephone with Mesa County Commissioner Scott McInnis and a Tipton representative, and on Thursday provided them with notes from the meeting, as well as answers to some of the questions that were raised.

"The pilot held the appropriate civil authorizations to fly the aircraft and was acting in a civil aviation capacity as a commercial pilot. His employment status was not relevant to our investigation," wrote Diane Fuller, senior adviser to the FAA's Northwest Mountain Region.

While the pilot was identified by the FAA, the passenger in the co-pilot's seat was not, Fuller wrote.

The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board both are investigating the incident, Fuller wrote, noting that the FAA investigation typically takes a year.

So far, however, the FAA has concluded that "pilot competency was not a factor" in the incident.

An air-safety investigator with the NTSB said Wednesday that his report is to be released "ASAP."

Earlier this month, the Albatros was trucked away from Grand Junction Regional Airport and taken to Gadsden, Alabama.

It had been stored at the airport since it landed safely after it sheared seven power cables in the canyon near the Colorado Highway 65 intersection.

The pilot told the Colorado State Patrol that he was eastbound up the canyon when the jet struck cables, shearing off a portion of the right wing.

Two westbound vehicles on Interstate 70 were struck by cable whipping through the air, the patrol said. Others vehicles that were eastbound also may have been struck.

The pilot pulled up out of the canyon and circled the Grand Valley for about 45 minutes, burning off fuel, before landing without further incident.