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Seidel Chapter AFA Teacher of the Year Al Brooks does a final check
of Austin Sittig’s handcrafted RC plane before its inaugural flight. / Photo by Courtney Ouellette
Unique athletes compete in Dallas Vietnam film honors vets Aviation and aerospace industry attend 2015 AIAA Conference
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Irving High School instructor named local Air Force Teacher of the Year By Courtney Ouellette Walking into Al Brooks’ classroom, visitors immediately realize the Irving High School aviation instructor has a passion not only for aviation, but also for teaching. This year, Brooks’ dedication to his students was recognized when he was named the Seidel Chapter Air Force Association (AFA) Teacher of the Year. On top of the recognition, Brooks received a $500 prize and is entered into the state level AFA Teacher of the Year program. “It was a blessing,” Brooks said. “Unfortunately, my son was graduating to second grade, so I wasn’t there for the ceremony, but it was just so cool. I was very proud.” A career in aviation was inevitable, according to Brooks. “I was in the Air Force for five years and grew up next to LaGuardia Airport,” Brooks said. “My dad was a thirty-year American Airlines avionics manager, so I had
Austin Sittig, 15, successfully starts the RC plane he made from scratch in his aviation class with a proud Brooks. /Photo by Courtney Ouellette no choice in the matter.” Nick Harper, President of the AFA Seidel Chapter is proud of the work Brooks is doing with his students. “Part of our mission is to provide motivation for young people to understand the need for a strong aerospace force component of our national defense,” Harper said. “A former USAF (United States Air Force) aircraft crew chief, Mr. Alfred Brooks of the Irving High School Aviation Signature Academy, is the Seidel Chapter teacher of the year. He is doing
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Model planes created by Irving High School students hang from the ceiling of Brooks’ classroom. /Photo by Courtney Ouellette
amazing things for our youth in a new great education concept.” Harper and the Seidel Chapter support aviation education through aerospace programs. “Through the Dallas Aerospace Foundation for Education the Seidel AFA Chapter provides financial support that allows our youth to participate in aerospace programs that they might not otherwise be able to participate in,” he said. Brooks credits his success to the support of the Irving ISD, the strength of the aviation program and most importantly, his students. Throughout the aviation course, students learn the logistics, distribution and business practices of airports and transportation, and of course the best part – flying. “We talk about the fundamentals of aviation, how to fly an airplane, how does it go up, how does it go down, the physics. We talk about different engines, jet engines, turbine engines, and you really
www.dfwnewsflash.com get involved,” Brooks said. In fact, Irving high school has its own flight simulator, where students actually learn the flight controls and all of the instruments. Because the simulator is FAA approved, students can start accumulating hours toward a pilot’s license. The system is connected to users around the world, and one of Brooks’ students placed fifth in the world last year in landings. “By the time the school year is over, they’re speaking a whole different language, and that’s why I do it,” Brooks said. Although the curriculum
DFW NEWSFLASH - July 2015 leaves plenty of room for fun, the material is challenging, and students have to work hard to do well in the course. “We’ve had students design their own airplanes; I swear I cannot ask for more from them. When they look at the design, they look at me like ‘are you crazy, I can’t do this,’ and that’s my forte; getting them motivated, showing them the payoff.” One such student is 15-year-old Ashton Sittig, who just completed building a drone from scratch. With poster board, design plans and even the electronics and servers, Sittig spent a month
completing the project. “I want to go into engineering. They told me in 8th grade that the aviation and engineering kind of thing is a lot of math, and I’m really good at math, so I just decided to go ahead and try it out,” Sittig said. Pride showed on Brooks’ face as Sittig’s RC plane successfully roared to life. “Not everyone actually finishes it, but he did,” Brooks said. “Ashton actually made an RC airplane from scratch. He built it, designed the electronics, and they have to understand this new technology.
Page 3 “We know not all of our students are going to go to college, but it’s not a disadvantage now that we’re doing signature studies. “There are professions that we’re teaching these students that they can go out right after high school and start at $16 and $17 an hour,” he said. “The aviation industry is bleeding for young mechanics so this is what we do here. “When I come in here I’m working, but I’m playing. I think I’ve reached something good. If I can do this for another 10, 20 years, I’ll be all right,” Brooks said.
Cyber-attacks affect businesses large and small By Teri Webster There were no hallelujahs from the audience, but the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently asked ‘cybersecurity evangelists,’ to help battle against ongoing data breaches happening across the nation. In doing so, Greg Touhill, DHS deputy assistant secretary for cybersecurity and communications, wheeled out the trademarked national security meme for his agency. “If you see something, say something,” Touhill said during a presentation on cybersecurity at the AAIA (American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics) conference at the Hilton Anatole in Dallas on June 25. Much has been seen and said recently about cybersecurity, especially with large data breaches that have impacted everyone from federal employees to customers of large retailers and finan-
cial institutions. In June, information on more than 4 million former and current federal employees was compromised when hackers accessed records from the Office of Personnel Management. In February, up to 80 million records were compromised when hackers tapped into computer systems for Anthem, an insurance company. Tens of millions more have been impacted by data breaches at retail giants such as the Home Depot and Target. But it’s not just large companies that are under attack. More and more, small businesses are becoming targets, because they lack the sophisticated security measures of larger companies, according to Touhill. “A lot of folks out there think that it’s only the big companies that are being attacked,” Touhill said. “We’re finding that’s not the case. We’re finding that the bigger
companies are becoming less of a target for the bad actors that are out there. The bad actors are going after small to medium businesses who are often the suppliers to the larger companies.” Touhill suggested small-tomedium businesses look to security management companies to provide services they might otherwise not afford. Interestingly, The Wall Street Journal reported June 28 that stocks in these types of companies are soaring.
“A series of high-profile data breaches has propelled shares of mostly smaller U.S. companies that protect against computer hacks to dizzying heights, raising valuation concerns in a hot corner of the technology world,” according to the WSJ. Touhill maintained that most of the criminal attacks are coming from outside the U.S., particularly China. The attack in early June on a system for the Office of PersonSee CYBER, Page 4
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Continued from page 3 nel Management was, for example, blamed on hackers working for the Chinese government. In March 2014, hackers accessed files of federal employees applying for security clearances. According to the Washington Post, “That often includes financial data, information about family and other sensitive details. That breach, too, was attributed to China.” Investigations are still ongoing. “We are still on the hunt and we are still trying to do our damage assessment,” Touhill said, adding that he could not comment at length on an ongoing investigation. “We’re still looking to see where they have been,” he said. Other security breach-
es are caused by common mistakes, including the improper use of passwords. For example, privileged administrators are using default passwords. Or, they are using the same password to access email accounts and administrative work. “That’s not a good practice, folks,” Touhill said. Wrecking havoc on a system is often as simple as getting access as an administrator. “Once that balloon is popped, you’re toast,” said Touhill. Businesses should make cybersecurity a priority and a topic of discussion throughout an organization. Cybersecurity for aviation professionals was one of several topics Touhill touched upon during his presentation.
“I look at aviation as particularly special because of the risk to human life,” said Touhill, a retired Air Force brigadier general. “Every passenger who’s up in an aircraft is putting a measure of trust and confidence in that airline to get them from point A to point B, safely, securely and on-time.” Passengers give their business based on that trust and confidence. “There’s a lot of risk out there in this sector that not a lot of other sectors share,” Touhill said. “At the end of the day, cybersecurity is not a geek issue. Cybersecurity is all about risk management. It is not just a technology issue,” he said. Several times, Touhill told the crowd, “See Something, Say
Something,” in reference to cybersecurity. The DHS slogan urges people to report suspicious people or activities. The meme often raises the ire of libertarians and other critics of the program, who have called it a nanny-state measure that creates undue paranoia and a citizen corps of tattle-tales.
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Faith of Our Fathers honors veterans in Dallas By Courtney Ouellette Veterans and their families were celebrated as they strolled down the red carpet during the Dallas premiere of Faith of Our Fathers at Harkins Theatre in Southlake June 29. The premiere was part of a five-city national movie rollout to salute U.S. veterans who met with the film’s cast and crew, including Duck Dynasty’s Silas “Uncle Si” Robertson, the film’s producer, Bobby Downes, and actor Kevin Downes. The film tells the story of two men who lost their fathers in the Vietnam War. The men find each other, and through a series of letters and a tumultuous trip to the Vietnam Wall, they learn about their fathers’ friendship and the circumstances of their deaths. The story explores themes of fatherhood, faith and brotherhood. For many of those involved in the film, Faith of Our Fathers has a strong personal relevance. “We’ve been making Christian films for the last two decades, Kevin and I have, and this is a very personal film for us,” producer Bobby Downes said. “Our grandfather was a rear admiral in the Navy, my father-in-law served in the Army in the Korean War, and we have two uncles that served in the Vietnam War in the Marines, so this is a very personal story for us.” The Downes brothers were able to combine their Christian faith and passion for supporting service men and women through the film, and are grateful for the opportunity to share it with veterans and their families.
“It’s been amazing to see what we’ve been able to do to bring these kinds of films to the big screen, impact peoples’ lives and tell stories, and this is just one of thousands of stories,” Bobby said. “There are over 50,000 names on [the Vietnam] Wall, and this is just one of many stories. Everybody has a story, and we want to be able to tell those stories and put them up on the big screen and impact lives for Jesus Christ.” Kevin Downes, one of the movie’s lead actors, explained the film’s key themes and his hopes on making an impact in the conversation about veterans in the Unites States. “The fathering themes in Faith of Our Fathers are significant, because here are these two dads that physically weren’t in the lives of these two sons, yet they still had such an impact on them that they left a legacy,” Kevin said. According to Kevin, individuals have an important calling to be parents because of the impact parenting, or a lack of parenting, can have on children. For this reason, the film depicts a story in which two fathers manage to do so despite, or rather because of their sacrifice. Both of the Downes also want to raise awareness of the condition of the lives of American veterans and their families following their service. “The reason we’re putting this film in theatres is really to bring awareness to our veterans, and hoping that the awareness starts conversations to right the wrongs from the past. That can’t happen
Before the showing, military veteran Micah Young and his wife Carol walk the red carpet. /Photo by Courtney Ouellette if conversation doesn’t happen,” Kevin said. The film took seven years complete; a fact Kevin jokingly attributes to Si Robertson. “I think the main reason it took us so long is probably because I think God wanted us to have Si Robertson in the film,” he said. Like the Downes brothers, Robertson is a popular Christian figure who passionately supports service men and women. After serving in the U.S. Army for over 24 years and fighting in Vietnam, Robertson shared a connection with the veterans in the audience. “The military was actually good for me,” Robertson said. “I needed some kind of structure in my life. At my church, I actually found out that I had an identity crisis because mom and dad had seven kids; I was the youngest boy. I got away from family, and I actually had become a real person, my own person. “I met some fabulous people. I’ve always said these
people, they’re my heroes, because they went, they served, and some of them gave their very life, and a lot of them gave body parts. “While we were back here sleeping in bed comfortable, they were in a foreign land where people were trying to kill them, or did kill them. I always looked up to them,” he said. Robertson reflected on the change he has seen concerning Americans’ reception and treatment of soldiers since Vietnam. “When they came back from Vietnam, they were called baby killers and all this other stuff; it was only negative,” Robertson said. “They weren’t met or welcomed home. All they did was what the nation asked of them, and then they were treated like dogs when they came back. “So one of the neat things that I’ve seen with Iraq and Afghanistan – and just thinking about it gives me chill bumps – is people in first class would get up and tell a soldier, you take my seat in
www.dfwnewsflash.com first class and I’ll go back to where you’re sitting in economy. “That’s the way they should’ve been welcomed home,” he said. “It’s a great thing to see, that we still have good people that believe in our military, and take care of our soldiers.” Robertson attributes the remaining negativity and animosity to a lack of experience and understanding. “Unless you have someone in your own family that’s been in the military, you don’t understand what the people, like mom and dad, go through when their son or daughter goes off to war or goes to a foreign country,” he said. For Robertson, that feeling is all too familiar. “Scott, my son, did three tours in Iraq, and my worst nightmare was that my doorbell would ring and I would go answer the door, and it would be two people in uniform, standing there to tell me that he had been killed in action,” he said. “People that are not affiliated with someone that is in the military have no idea what the soldier goes through or what the family back home goes through. Right now
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Producer Bobby Downes (left), Si Robertson (middle) and Kevin Downes (right) walk the red carpet and greet Dallas veterans. /Photo by Courtney Ouellette we’ve got thousands upon thousands of men and women coming back from war zones. They’ve had to go through and do stuff that no human being should have to go through or see, and
Si Robertson and Bobby Downes talk about the film and its signficance following the premeire. /Photo by Ana Perez
they’re really having a huge problem with readjusting to regular life,” Robertson said. Although soldiers are generally more embraced today than in the past, veterans struggle to adjust to civilian life, a fact that weighs heavy on Robertson and the rest of the Faith of Our Fathers’ crew. “There are 50,000 names on the wall for Vietnam. But I found out that we lost more than that to suicide when they came back home,” Robertson said. “That’s a black eye for the United States. I know we’re doing what we can but we’ve got to do better for our soldiers. Right now, we’ve get veterans that are homeless, living on the streets for crying out loud. That’s unthinkable.”
One trait that has remained the same among service men and women from the Vietnam War to today, if not more so, according to Robertson, is bravery and dedication to their country. “From about 2001, when they ran the planes into the towers, anyone that volunteered for the service knew they were fixing to go to war. So we’ve got some fine young men and women in our country because they still volunteered,” Robertson said. “Thank you very much for your service, for your sacrifice, and for putting up with a nation that sometimes seems like they don’t care what you did for them.” Faith of Our Fathers will open in select theatres on July 1.
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Future roadways will be even more congested By Teri Webster Traffic congestion could dramatically increase in the coming years in the Dallas-Fort Worth region. Congestion will likely continue to increase despite a $94.5 billion wish list of proposed transportation improvements through 2035. “We lead the country in the amount of transportation projects we have under construction or are imminent for construction,” said Dan Lamers, a senior program manager for the North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG). Blame the increased traffic and the congestion it causes on growth. Over the next 25 years, the region is expected to gain 3.7 million more people, according to NCTCOG projections. The figures were discussed during a public meaning on Tuesday, June 8 at the council’s offices in Arlington. The projections represent a 52 percent increase over the current 7 million people living in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Currently, it is the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the nation. “Even with our transportation investments over the life of the proposed plan, by 2040 we’re showing that approximately 56 percent of the roadways would be at gridlock in the peak hour,” said Chad McKeown, principal transportation planner with the NCTCOG. In 2014, gridlock during the peak hour was at 22 percent. The region has barely kept pace with the growth, and funding continues to be a challenge. “In 1991, the state raised the state gas tax to 20 cents,” McKeown said. “That
tax is a flat rate; it’s not adjusted for inflation, and it’s not a percentage. So obviously since it has been set, there’s been a great deal of inflation, particularly in transportation infrastructure.” Just to meet inflation, the tax would have to be raised an additional 18.3 cents. Portions of recent road improvement projects have included toll roads, but it is not enough to keep pace with growth. In the future, additional taxes could be required to meet funding gaps. During public participation, Sen. Bob Hall, R-Canton, asked why Dallas-Fort Worth seems to have a goal of “being the most-tolled area in the nation.” “That’s the words that were written in previous presentations,” Hall said. “What’s the driver behind wanting to do that to people?” Kessler said it is a function of trying to move more people on the roadways while providing a more reliable way of getting around in a more timely fashion. Tolls also allow roadway expansion projects that otherwise would have taken 20 to 30 years to fund. Hall also asked if a budget of $20 million is for administrative overhead or does it “actually accomplish anything physically.” Kessler said it supports planning activities such as feasibility studies, hiring professional contractors and subcontractors, and all data collection activities. “Those funds are only eligible for planning activities,” Kessler said. “The federal government takes a little less than 1 percent of all of the gas tax dollars and puts those in this planning grant.
Those are the funds that are put aside for long-term planning.” Also discussed was the Unified Planning Work Program for 2016-2017, which includes community outreach and major planning initiatives. Key projects underway in the area include State Highway 183 and State Highway 199, two highways also bearing the strain of area growth. “These are state highways that 40 to 50 years ago were built for the purposes of being state highways for moving people from the farms to downtown to commercial centers,” Kessler
said. “They’ve completely changed their use.” The two state highways are now “critical arterials” carrying anywhere from 40,000 to 60,000 cars a day. Public comments are also being accepted on the The Unified Planning Work Program document. Anyone wishing to make comments or ask questions may attend public meetings or use the following methods of contact: e-mail: transinfo@nctcog.org, fax: (817) 640-3028, phone: (817) 6959240, or mail: P.O. Box 5888 Arlington, Texas 76005.
www.dfwnewsflash.com STRANGE BUT TRUE by Samantha Weaver * It was Nora Joyce, wife to the Irish novelist James Joyce, who wrote the notoriously difficult -- and influential -- stream-of-consciousness novel “Ulysses,” who asked her husband, “Why don’t you write books people can read?” * In this era of helicopter parenting, some are shocked to learn that in the 1960s, nearly half of all children in America walked to and from school by themselves. * What do “Where’s Waldo,” “Where the Sidewalk Ends,”“My Friend Flicka,” “Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?” and “Harriet the Spy” have in common? Aside from being books meant for a young audience, all of these titles have been banned at one time or another. * There are about the same num-
DFW NEWSFLASH - July 2015 ber of chickens as there are humans on the planet.
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Octogenarian takes the quick way down By Teri Webster Skydiving is hardly on the wish list of the average senior citizen. Then again, Mollie Kolenovsky is anything but average. Kolenovsky, 86, recently fulfilled her dream of parachuting out of an airplane – something she wanted to do since she was a teenager. It was a dream that began more than 70 years ago. “During World War II, they had a program for young people to give them something to do during war effort,” said Kolenovsky, a resident at Brookdale Irving, a retirement and assisted living community. “I was in the Civil Air Patrol when I was about 13-years-old. I had my own uniform and everything; and I learned how to pack parachutes. “At the end of our program, I told the instructor, ‘someday I’m going to jump out of an airplane in a parachute,’” she said. “He just shook his head.” She finally got her wish on May 28 at Skydive Dallas in Whitewright. A joint effort by Wish of a Lifetime, SCA and Brookdale Senior Living made it possible. Wish of a Lifetime grants wishes and tells the stories of select seniors in an effort to change how society views the elderly, according to its website. By telling their stories, it is hoped that society will place a greater value on the lives of all senior citizens. In all, Wish of a Lifetime has granted more than 1,000 wishes for seniors in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. A Sweden-based company, SCA, honored Kolenovsky
through its new initiative to recognize exceptional women around the world. SCA manufactures a variety of hygiene products, including TENA incontinence protection. Byron Bounds¸ Brookdale Irving’s senior executive director, submitted Kolenovsky’s name to Wish of a Lifetime for consideration. He said she liked to talk about going skydiving. “When I first transferred to this community, Mollie was one of the first to greet me,” said Bounds said. “She came down the hall whistling and said, ‘I wanted to introduce myself.’ Then she asked Bounds if he would like to see her tattoos. “I wasn’t sure if she was just courageous or if we might have to look into other areas of care,” he joked.
“Mollie just adds a comic relief that’s really needed,” Bounds said. “She’s a very spirited woman that endears herself to everyone she meets. She sets an example not just for her age group, but for everyone; to confront whatever we face with courage and integrity.” Kolenovsky’s dream-cometrue moment lasted just a few minutes in the air. “We jumped out at 13,500 feet and came down at 120 miles per hour,” Kolenovsky said. “I was so busy looking around at God’s handiwork. Everybody ought to see God’s work from above. It’s out of this world: beautiful.” So is her outlook on life. Kolenovsky tries to encourage her peers who have simply given up. Sometimes, that means showing them a little tough love. “I want all of you to get up
and do something,” she tells the other residents. “You don’t have to jump out of an airplane, but don’t just sit there.” Kolenovsky is known at Brookdale for her upbeat personality. “No one is quite like Mollie,” said Shayron Smith, activities director at Brookdale Irving. “I’ve seen people who are spirited and enjoy life, but not anyone like her. I’ve been here 11 years. She’s a risktaker.” Smith and a friend drove Kolenovsky out to Skydive Dallas for the parachute jump. “We were scared for her,” Smith said. “When we saw her walking out toward the plane, we were praying for her,” Despite her daredevil ways, Kolenovsky has a softer side.
www.dfwnewsflash.com “I’ve seen her pay for a whole table’s meal at restaurants,” Smith said. Whether in the air or on the ground, Kolenovsky is not someone who takes the conventional route. She sports tattoos of butterflies, birds and roses, and wants to get a Pegasus in honor of her skydiving adventure. She started getting tattoos after her husband, Arnold, died in 2011. “I have eight tattoos,” Kolenovsky said. “I was married for 64 years and after he died, I was kind of at loose
DFW NEWSFLASH - July 2015 ends. I was across the street from a tattoo parlor and went in to ask how much they’d charge me for a blue butterfly on my ankle.” In 2014, Kolenovsky placed third in the 32nd Annual Ms. Mature Irving Pageant. She also sings with the Jubilee Singers, a gospel group. “I don’t have time to just sit around and wait to die,” she said. “My goal is to live to be 100.” Last year, she went on a Caribbean cruise and she has cruises scheduled for the next two years. Next up,
she’d like to go for a ride on a Harley, something else she has never done. Kolenovsky will keep breaking all of the senior citizen stereotypes, even if others do not always understand.
Page 11 “Everybody I talked to said, ‘Why would you want to jump out of a perfectly good airplane?’” she said. For Kolenovsky, the reason was simple. “I said, ‘Why not?’”
Skydive Dallas soar through the air during Kolenovsky’s ‘Wish of a Lifetime.’ (Photo courtesy of Skydive Dallas)
Unique athletes journey to Dallas for competition By Teri Webster “Push, push!” the crowd yells as Marine Corps veteran Leon Bostick lies on his back, straining his arms to lift 415-pounds of weight attached to a bench press. Mustering everything he has, Bostick extends his arms straight up as onlookers break into a loud round of cheers at the Sheraton Hotel in downtown Dallas. Afterward, other vets rolled up to Bostick in their wheelchairs or motorized scooters, congratulating him. “The best part of this is the camaraderie, the friendships, and also the encouragement,” Bostick said. His triumph was one of many at the 35th annual National Veteran Wheelchair Games hosted in Dallas June 21-26. The event attracted more than 600 veteran athletes from across the nation to compete in basketball, table tennis, power soccer, quad rugby and other sports. Bostick served in the Marine Corps from 1991 to 1994. About 15 years ago,
the sport he loved caused a life-altering injury. While using a weight-lifting machine at a gym, the weights fell on him and broke his neck. He said the accident remains a blur, partly because of “traumatic amnesia.” His “focus is not as good as it used to be.” He jokes that he continued weightlifting because “you can do weight-lifting in the air-conditioning. “It was 115 degrees when we left, so air conditioning is definitely a plus,” said Bostick, who lives in Phoenix, Ariz. He also participates in rugby, table tennis, and volleyball as well as track and field. Before Bostick was injured, he earned a Master’s degree in business administration from Rice University in Houston and was studying law at Pepperdine University. He keeps moving ahead, encouraging other veterans in wheelchairs to remain as active as possible. “It’s important to get involved and get out of the
house,” said Bostick, who has participated in the games since 2006. The weightlifting competition on Wednesday took place at the Sheraton Dallas Hotel, while other events were held at the Dallas Convention Center and surrounding locations. Each year, the National Veteran Wheelchair Games are held in a different location. “As you participate in these games, you see more and more activities you would like to participate in,” Davis Celestine of Tampa, Fla. said. “What happens is you go back home and start training for it and try to beat your competitors. Part of what it’s about is just coming back and showing people what you’ve been doing throughout the year.” Celestine was injured during training in 2001 at the Naval Air Station in Jacksonville, Fla. He still is not sure exactly what happened. “I blacked out,” he said. “I never really questioned it. I just moved on and made the
best of what I have.” After the competition, Celestine plans to take a week off and then go right back into training for next year’s games. Army veteran Arthur Parsons of Sierra Vista, Ariz., has participated in the games on and off since 1992. He particularly enjoys wheelchair basketball. In 1978, Parsons lost his right leg to bone cancer “At the time they didn’t know a whole heck of a lot about treating cancer,” Parsons said. “The cancer was travelling up my leg, so I let them take it. I planned on being here, and I’m still kicking. Not as high and as strong, but still kicking.” Working out and being around other veterans facing similar challenges plays a vital role in the lives of many veterans who might have otherwise lost hope. “Christopher Reeves once said you have to prepare yourself for a cure,” Bostick said. “If something comes along, I’m ready.”
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FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION REPORT Former Carson Helicopter vice president sentenced to federal prison MEDFORD, OR—Steven Metheny, 45, Medford, Oregon was sentenced June 16 to 12.5 years in federal prison after his convictions for conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and the making of false statements in defrauding the United States Forest Service in procuring helicopter firefighting contracts in 2008. Levi Phillips, 48, Grants Pass, Oregon, was also sentenced for his role in the conspiracy. Phillips pled guilty on Sept. 23, 2013, to the crime of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud. Judge Aiken sentenced him to serve 25 months in federal prison. Both defendants were ordered to surrender to Bureau of Prisons on Aug. 17, 2015, and upon release from prison, both will serve a three year term of supervised release. In 2008, Metheny, as Vice President of Carson Helicopters in Grants Pass, Oregon, and aided by co-conspirator Phillips, the Director of Maintenance for Carson, submitted contract bid proposals on behalf of Carson to the Forest Service with falsified helicopter weight and balance charts and falsely altered Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) helicopter performance charts. These charts were then used by the Forest Service in determining whether Carson’s helicopters met minimum contract payload specifications and, as a result, awarded contracts to Carson that it would not have received otherwise. The contract awards amounted to over $51 million dollars. Carson received nearly $19 million dollars before the Forest Service discovered the fraud and cancelled Carson’s contracts following the crash of Carson helicopter N612AZ in California. According to documents filed with the court, Assistant U.S. Attorney Byron Chatfield said Metheny schemed with Phillips to create a formula that allowed them to enter a desired weight and center of gravity to generate the necessary scale readings needed to deceive
the Forest Service into believing that two of Carson’s helicopters had actually been weighed as required by the contract. Metheny then used the formula to create false weights for other helicopters including the crash helicopter. Metheny also created a falsified FAA helicopter performance chart used in conjunction with the false helicopter weights in order to meet the minimum contract payload specifications for much more lucrative contracts. The Forest Service had previously warned Metheny about not using the actual performance chart it was created from, prohibiting its use for bidding purposes or field operations because it was intended for emergency operations only and its use compromised safety and gave Carson an unfair competitive advantage over other helicopter operators. Metheny distributed the falsified helicopter weight and balance charts, as well as other falsified FAA helicopter performance charts to pilots and helicopter flight manuals for use in the field. Unaware of the false nature of the charts, they were then used by pilots and the Forest Service personnel in conducting wildfire flight operations. Their use included calculating the helicopter’s maximum payload capacity during firefighting operations thereby risking the life and safety of the pilots operating the helicopters and those aboard, including firefighters. On Aug. 5, 2008, N612AZ crashed during takeoff while conducting firefighting operations. The crash resulted in nine fatalities and four were severely injured. The pilots utilized these same falsified charts in the flight manual in determining the payload calculations for the fatal flight. The surviving and permanently injured co-pilot of N612AZ said that pilots trust the integrity of the charts with their life; if the weight of the helicopter is wrong, the final payload will be wrong. If he had known, he would never have used those charts. Other pilots also stressed the importance of using accurate charts as an integral part to the safe operation of a helicopter, especially when
carrying passengers. If the Forest Service manager at the crash site had known the truth about the falsified weight documents, the operation would have been immediately shut down and the firefighters would not have been allowed on board the helicopter. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigators would later discover the accurate weight documents for the crash helicopter and learn that it weighed over 1400 lbs. more than the falsified weight documents used by the pilots. Within days of the crash, Metheny replaced the crash helicopter with another helicopter for the contract by using falsified FAA power performance charts and weight documents for that aircraft. Court documents further disclose that following the crash of N612AZ, Metheny and Phillips then attempted to conceal the fraud by devising schemes to prevent the Forest Service from discovering the actual weight of each aircraft under contract. Their schemes included having Carson pilots and crew improperly remove equipment and helicopter components without recording their removal. However, some refused and one crew chief explained that he was done lying about the helicopter’s weight. The Forest Service eventually discovered that all of the aircraft were over their bid weight, the weight documents submitted in the contract proposals were fraudulent with underreported weights and the helicopters were using falsified performance charts. All of the contracts were terminated. Metheny also concealed the fraudulent conduct involving N612AZ from the NTSB during its crash investigation. He and Phillips were Carson representatives on the NTSB investigation. Metheny knew NTSB investigators were relying on the falsified weight documents used by the crash helicopter and he attempted to convince them of their accuracy. Later, when NTSB discovered that the performance chart used by N612AZ was falsified, the product of a “cut and paste”
created at Carson’s Grants Pass office, Metheny attempted to throw suspicion onto a former employee, someone he held animosity toward. Metheny was continuously stealing from Carson. He used Carson funds to buy jewelry and other personal items for himself and his wife, to renovate their residence and he sold Carson helicopter parts and equipment and diverted the proceeds to his own private aviation company for his personal use. He also stole tail rotor blades from a shipment at Carson’s Grants Pass facility then attempted again to place suspicion on the same person he had animosity toward. Metheny repaid Carson over $73,900 as restitution for the theft. U.S. Attorney Chatfield said that helicopter firefighting operations certainly have a high level of risk where failure can have catastrophic consequences, such as with the crash of N612AZ. Yet, what is totally unacceptable is the substantial risk Metheny created by his fraudulent conduct, unnecessarily putting the lives of so many pilots and firefighters in harm’s way. To know that those firefighters who lost their lives would not have been even allowed on the crash helicopter if the Forest Service manager or the pilots had known about the falsified weight is absolutely devastating to their families. “This is an incredibly disturbing case that has exposed the senseless greed behind this despicable criminal conduct. There is a price to pay for submitting false information about helicopter payload capabilities in the bid process. The intentional deceit defrauded the Forest Service and created a reckless risk of harm to those who used the information in firefighting operations, including those who were relying on the false information when a Carson helicopter crashed near Weaverville, California on Aug. 5, 2008,” said Acting U.S. Attorney, Billy J. Williams. “The lives of heroic individuals serving in these operations were placed in harm’s way when greedy people enriched their pockets without consideration for their conduct.” SOURCE Federal Bureau of Investigation
DFW AIRPORT POLICE REPORT Theft - May 25, 7:10 p.m. Officers were dispatched to a theft in progress at Desigual Clothing store located at A14. Upon arrival the officers met with the reporting party who identified herself as the supervisor for the store. The supervisor advised that a white female with three bags pushing a wheelchair took a pair of Maui Jim sunglasses worth $229 into the dressing room and when confronted about them, pulled them from her purse. The supervisor stated the tag was removed from the sunglasses when she pulled the sunglasses from her purse. The supervisor had concerns
that the female had other items inside her purse that she had not paid for. The officer advised the suspect of the current situation and asked her if she would allow the officer to look into her bag. The suspect voluntarily began opening her purse and then stopped and said, “Let the officer set it in here to open it,” as she walked into the dressing room. The officer followed close behind. The officer observed the suspect remove two multicolored scarves from her dark blue purse and place them on the changing table in the dressing room. The officer picked up the scarves and the suspect said, “Those are not
mine. They were laying on the table.” The officer advised the suspect he observed her remove the scarves from her dark blue purse. The suspect started to become upset and informed the officer she had Leukemia and needed her wheelchair. While in the dressing room, the officer noticed several white property tags laying on the floor of which the store clerks matched to the two scarves the suspect removed from her purse. Due to observing the suspect removing the two scarves from her purse which had the property tags removed, the officer attempted to read the suspect her Miranda Warning at
which time she refused to listen and allow the reading as she informed the officer she was not going to listen. No further questions were asked regarding the theft as the suspect would not cooperate. The supervisor advised the officer the suspect also removed several blouses from the clothing racks and carried them into the dressing room and the blouses were never returned. The officer asked the suspect if the officer could look inside her purse and she said, “Go ahead. I have done nothing wrong.” While looking in the purse with the suspect watching, the officer removed two blouses and a skirt at
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DFW AIRPORT POLICE REPORT which time the supervisor stated those items belong to Desigual Clothing Store and had not been paid for. The officer asked the suspect where she got the blouses and scarves and she replied, “Those are from Houston. I bought those in Houston, Texas.” Another officer located the clothing tags to the skirt and blouses in a separate large black bag belonging to the suspect at which time the supervisor utilized the in store scan to read the bar code confirming the items belonged to the Desigual store here at DFW International Airport. The supervisor advised the officer she wished to press charges for theft of the clothing items and sunglasses. The officer advised the suspect she was under arrest for Theft at which time she began to say, “No I am not. I am a doctor. I will just pay for the items.” Officers assisted t in placing handcuffs on the suspect as she was actively resisting by pulling away and tightening up her arms as she informed the officer that the officer was not going to arrest her. The handcuffs were placed on the suspect and due to the small size of her wrists she pulled her left hand out of the handcuff. The officer requested flex cuffs as they could be adjusted for small wrists. After securing the suspect in handcuffs officers attempted to sit her in the wheelchair at which time she began kicking and climbing out of the seat. Officers physically picked the suspect up and carried her through the Terminal and out to the patrol unit parked at A14 upper level curb as she actively resisted by kicking and pulling away. The suspect was placed in the back seat of patrol unit 722 where she continually kicked the back of the patrol seat all the way to the jail. The suspect was charged with Theft and resisting arrest. The suspect had her luggage and personal belongings booked into the jail with her. Officers had our shoulder cameras activated during the call. Driving while Intoxicated - May 27, 6:21 p.m. An officer observed a white Chevrolet truck standing in the right lane of Terminal E, Gate 35 Upper Level Roadway. That portion of the roadway is reserved for designated and marked shuttle buses only. The officer approached the Chevrolet on my patrol bicycle and spoke with the driver. The driver lowered his window to speak with the officer. the officer immediately noticed that the driver’s speech was slurred. The officer leaned close to the window and was able to detect the odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from the vehicle. The gear selector of the vehicle was in the “Drive” position during our conversation. The driver seemed reluctant to place the selector in the “Park” position and only did so after being requested to do so several times. The officer initiated a series of field sobriety test to the driver. During the Walk and Turn test, the driver lost his balance and started too
soon during the instruction stage of the test. He then missed heel to toe, took the wrong number of steps, raised his arms, and turned incorrectly during the walking stage of the test. The next test administered was the one leg stand test. The driver swayed, raised his arms, and repeatedly put his foot down during the test. The officer asked the driver to recite the alphabet from the letter E to the letter X. The driver began with E and continued F, G, H, Y, J, K, L, M, N, O, Z. The officer placed the driver under arrest for Driving While the Intoxicated. The driver’s mother walked to the scene from inside of Terminal E. An officer spoke with her and learned that the driver had driven her to Terminal E minutes earlier and had intended to drive her away from the terminal when she returned to the vehicle. She further stated to that the driver was “as drunk as a skunk” and that he had driven the vehicle into a curb at Terminal A, several minutes earlier. She further stated that the driver was an alcoholic. The driver consented to his mother taking custody of the vehicle and she agreed to do so. She drove the vehicle away from the scene. The driver was transported to the DFW DPS DWI taping room. He refused to give a specimen of his breath. He was read the Miranda Warning and refused to answer questions. Officers submitted an affidavit requesting a search warrant for a blood specimen from the driver to Judge Stewart Bass. The magistrate issued a search warrant for the blood specimen. The driver was transported to the driver Hospital HEB and a blood specimen was taken from him. Public Intoxication - June 4, 12:45 a.m. Officers were dispatched to Terminal C, Gate 2 in reference to a suspicions person. Upon arrival, officers observed a white male lying in the middle of the terminal concourse walkway asleep. It appeared the male had just lay down and went to sleep in the middle of the walkway. The officer verbally asked the male to wake up with no response. An officer had to physically wake up the male by shaking his shoulder. The male began speaking while lying on the ground but his speech was slurred and not understandable. The officer asked the male to sit up repeatedly. The male did eventually sit up but had to have both arms extended beside him to help him balance. The officer observed the male had bloodshot eyes. The male then realized he was in the middle of the floor and stated “I’m literally in the middle of the floor.” He also stated he needed to get to Dallas and that he had been drinking. The officer asked the male where he was. He responded he was at the airport but did not know which one. The officer then asked the male to get up and walk over to a set of chairs approximately ten yards away. When the male stood up and began walking towards
the chairs, he had poor balance and stumbled to the right, then left before making it to the chairs. The male then stated he was going to Dallas to be entered into a rehabilitation program for alcoholism. He also advised he had missed his pre-arranged transport due to being delayed in the previous airport. He stated he wanted to drink before he was admitted. The male acknowledged again he had too much to drink and was drunk. When asked to provide identification, the male could not locate his wallet. Officers found the wallet in a plastic bag that the male had in his possession. The male then went through his wallet by pulling out several items at a time. He was unable to pull them out individually and was unable to locate his identification. Officers then located his identification in the plastic bag. Based on the investigation it was evident the male was in a public place while being intoxicated to the degree that he was a danger to himself or others if left alone. The male was placed under arrest for Public Intoxication. THSC Violation - June 4, 11:48 p.m. An officer was dispatched to Terminal E, Gate 20. DFW Communications advised a passenger on an inbound flight was smoking marijuana in the aircraft’s lavatory during flight.
Shortly after the Spirit Airlines flight from Oakland, CA arrived at the gate, the officer was approached by a stewardess. The stewardess stated shortly after takeoff, the passenger sitting in seat 2F had smoked marijuana in the forward lavatory of the aircraft. The officer approached a W/M passenger sitting in seat 2F and asked him to step off the aircraft. The officer asked the passenger what he had done during the flight; the passenger stated “smoking a vaporizer”. When asked what he had been smoking in his vaporizer; the passenger stated “Cannabis, Marijuana”. The passenger reached into his backpack and handed the officer a Starbucks Thermos and stated “I keep it in an insulated container so it doesn’t stink.” The passenger then stated “take a look at it, it’s totally ok.” The officer opened the Thermos and immediately detected the strong odor of marijuana emanating from inside. The Thermos contained a blue, PAX 2 vaporizer. At this time the officer placed the passenger under arrest for possession of marijuana. During the ride to Station One the officer asked the passenger about his vaporizer. The passenger informed the officer he purchased the vaporizer from a “smoke shop” in Oakland, CA and it was designed specifically for smoking marijuana.
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Aviation should become daring, imaginative once again By Jess Paniszczyn Tom Enders the Chief Executive Officer of Airbus Group opened the AIAA Aviation 2015 conference on with a keynote address, Are We Moving Fast Enough?, on June 22. The aviation and aerospace industry once sparked the imaginations of virtually all humanity. These fields were the source for a wealth of new technology and invention. Enders’ speech challenged today’s industry to compare itself to new and emerging industries as well as its former self to find its own bold, pioneering spirit once again. “To kids like me in the 60s there seemed to be no limits: the moon, Mars, Capt. Kirk, Mr. Spock. Nothing seemed to be beyond our reach,” Enders said. “We were moving faster and farther than ever before. Electronics were getting smaller and eventually the web was invented and was getting bigger. “Aeronautics and aerospace were still the drivers of technological progress taking others along for the ride. But ladies and gentlemen, dear friends, times have changed. Intranet and Internet usage, coding, apps, networking, big data that is what drives progress today. It is no longer nations that are funding and leading the revolution. It is more and more individuals, entrepreneurs, disrupters. People who innovate by believing it is easier to ask for forgiveness than for permission. Though to be fair, they don’t exactly ask for forgiveness either. “I think it was Eric Schmidt who describes many of
these companies as ‘permissionless businesses.’ They simply move too fast for regulation. “Was our pace of progress in the 50s, 60s well into the 70s sustainable or did he create false expectations? Can this industry drive technological progress again or are we being unrealistic assuming this? Whether the goal is Mars or closer to home can we honestly say that today we are doing enough in the aerospace industry fast enough? That seems like a strange question, after all connecting people faster over longer distances, that is still our business. It has been since the first commercial passenger flight to Tampa Bay 100 years ago. So is using that technology for defense, satellite communication or exploring the stars. “That Tampa flight had just one passenger. In the hundred years since, there have been 65 billion passengers. There will be the same again in the next 15 years as air traffic doubles from today’s levels,” Enders said. “This means airlines will need nearly 30,000 new, efficient aircraft in the next 20 years to stay competitive. “Incredibly we are probably seeing the same production rate for communications satellites soon. Companies like Airbus and our competitors used to build about 10 or 12 huge satellites a year. Unit prices were usually in the double or more often in the triple digit millions. Now with the one web, low Earth orbit consolation project our new US factory will build hundreds of units at less than 150 kg, a little bigger than a
fridge, at less than $100 million per shot using technology and processes we developed for our commercial aircraft in our case for the a350. “The best thing is it won’t just transform our industry. It will transform the lives of millions of people around the world by opening the Internet in an entirely new way. It’s a Austin Probe, Jeremy Davis and Clark Moody great reminder new aerospace technology from Vectornav. that astronau- demonstrate / Photo by John Starkey tics is not just formance, which is obviously about reaching out to other planets or good for profits and sharegalaxies; it’s about it’s about holder value with true disrupimproving and protecting tion. We cannot miss the revlife on the planet we already olution right under our noses. So we need to pay more athave,” he said. “We in the aerospace in- tention to the new players; dustry can’t take progress for not only their products, but granted; not with more and also their perspective, their more competition from out- philosophy of innovation. side traditional norms. It’s not More importantly, we need just the big names,” Enders to be open to partnering with said. “It’s a whole wave of them and working with them young entrepreneurs, mostly to shape new opportunities here in the United States of for the future. “Until recently, our worlds America. They are the new did not collide. That is disrupters. changing. People used to “Think of Kodak. They insay that the Airbus/Boeing vented digital camera back duopoly would be broken by in 1975. But they missed the Chinese, the Canadians their own trick while protector the Brazilians. Well, they ing their film business. They are still out there, and I for got leapfrogged right out one certainly don’t underof the game. If this industry estimate them. But what if wants to avoid its own Kodak there is someone else? What moment, we must balance incremental progress, low if change comes about from risk, solid and steady per- another country or company
www.dfwnewsflash.com but an entirely different industry? “It is easy for people like us to think the tech guys are playing in somebody else’s backyard. But if they are, I believe it’s only temporary, whatever your industry. What if they overturn an industry by accident? These guys don’t play by a different set of rules. They make them up as they go along.” Enders mentioned Airbus spent $20 billion to improve aircraft performance by 10 percent. The investment, a milestone in the aircraft industry, would be considered too little gain for too great an investment in other industries. “Google’s 10X philosophy is to make something 10 times better not 10 percent better. For traditional industries, incremental change is important,” Enders said. “For ambitious tech companies, it is insignificant. We tend to save early, save often. They prefer to fail early and fail often. When they do fail, it can enhance their reputation as being innovative and entrepreneurial or crazy. If someone in our industry fails, it can be devastating. The very consequences of potential failure drives a lot of our technical and financial regulations as it should. “But these are concerns that many of these new commission-less businesses consider a nuisance. If they consider them at all. “To be sure ladies and gentlemen, safety must be paramount. But do we use restrictions as a crutch? We can never compromise on safety, but do we use regulations as an excuse at least sometimes? “If we are to learn and benefit from this new environment, if we are to draw advantage
DFW NEWSFLASH - July 2015 from the tech revolution, if we are to thrive when the lines between corporations and competition get blurred, then we must protect the safety critical parts of the business, but we must also rediscover the appetite for risk, speed and energy that hooked us on this industry in the first place. The two must live side by side. “What distinguishes the startup technology com-
munity is to focus on being bold regardless of risk and regardless of offending anybody. Our energy must go towards riding the tech wave, not protecting ourselves against it. This industry was the driver of technological progress in the 50s, 60s and beyond. We were bold too. This industry needs to recapture that pioneer spirit to find ways to work with new audacious partners,” he said.
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