Sun, May 11, 2008
F2 Storm Cuts Across County
A powerful storm system Thursday
evening spawned a tornado that wreaked havoc on Greensboro's
Piedmont Triad International Airport, damaging five aircraft in its
path.
Registering as an F2 tornado on the Fujita Scale with winds
between 113-157 mph, the twister damaged at least five medium-size
planes, including regional jets and cargo planes, said Kevin Baker,
the assistant executive director of the airport authority to the
Winston-Salem Journal.
Photos and videos showed two FedEx ATR-42 cargo planes blown off
the tarmac into a construction site. The other aircraft were
reported to be several unoccupied passenger jets including two
Northwest Airlines CRJs and an ERJ sustaining only minor
damage.
National Weather Service offices in Raleigh and
Greenville-Spartanburg stated that a moist low pressure system
combined with warm surface air and cold air aloft created the
perfect conditions for the system that created two tornados in the
region between 2130 and midnight on Thursday evening.
May is a fertile time for tornados, which tend to peak this time
of year before falling off during the hot summer months and all but
disappearing over the winter, according to the NWS.
Off the airport, the tornado caused one death in its path across
the county, when a small truck was overturned with its driver
asleep inside. It was the first fatal tornado of 2008 for North
Carolina.
More News
Known Traffic With respect to ATC clearances, means aircraft whose altitude, position, and intentions are known to ATC.>[...]
Aero Linx: Aviation Suppliers Association (ASA) Established February 25, 1993, the Aviation Suppliers Association (ASA), based in Washington, D.C., is a not-for-profit association,>[...]
Abeam An aircraft is “abeam” a fix, point, or object when that fix, point, or object is approximately 90 degrees to the right or left of the aircraft track. Abeam indic>[...]
Aero Linx: The Air Charter Safety Alliance The group, called the Air Charter Safety Alliance, will raise awareness of illegal charter flights among potential customers, charter bro>[...]
“For months, ALPA has been sounding the alarm on the ongoing efforts by some aircraft manufacturers to remove pilots from the flight deck and replace them with automation. To>[...]