On December 19, 1997, Silk Air flight MI 185 was straight and level at FL350 after taking off from Jakarta, Indonesia, enroute to Singapore's Changi Airport. The aircraft was a Boeing 737-300, operated by Silk Air as a subsidiary of Singapore Airlines. At around 0930, the aircraft was totally destroyed, buried in mud in a river in Sumatra. All the evidence and conclusions point to suicide, but all the tort lawyers point to deep pockets -- Parker-Hanaffin's. Deja vu.

Now THAT'S Tax Relief

Rhode Island Governor Donald Carcieri made it official Monday -- the repeal of aircraft sales and use taxes. The repeal, effective January 1, 2005, exempts the sale, storage, use or other consumption of new or used aircraft and aircraft parts from taxation. Labor charges continue to be exempt where labor charges are separately stated by the seller.

AD NUMBER: 2004-13-26 MANUFACTURER: Kaman SUBJECT: Airworthiness Directive 2004-13-26 SUMMARY: This amendment adopts a new airworthiness directive (AD) for Kaman Aerospace Corporation (Kaman) Model K-1200 helicopters. This action requires certain initial and repetitive visual inspections of the main rotor blade (blade) grips for a crack. If a crack is found, this AD requires replacing the blade grip before further flight. This amendment is prompted by an accident involving the loss of all blades because of a crack in a blade grip on the upper surface around the bolthole. The actions specified in this AD are intended to prevent failure of a blade grip, loss of a blade, and subsequent loss of control of the helicopter.

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