Pilot Who Flew Near Tornado Appeals FAA Suspension   

If Mother Nature doesn't get you, the FAA surely will.

That should be the lesson learned by an airline pilot who allegedly pushed his luck along with that of all the passengers aboard his jet. The Northwest Airlines pilot has been ordered suspended for 45 days for trying to land his jetliner amid high winds and an apparent tornado, federal officials said.

Michael Hughes, of Collierville (TN), "was careless and endangered the lives and property of others" when he tried to land the DC-9 at Sioux Falls airport last June, according to the FAA's suspension order, issued Tuesday. Hughes ultimately landed the plane in Omaha (NE). He has appealed the suspension and can fly in the meantime.

Hughes was the pilot in command of a flight from Minneapolis to Sioux Falls on June 24 when he tried to land the plane, even as an apparent tornado dropped from the sky and created wind shear that tossed the craft about.

The apparent tornado was one of 67 twisters in South Dakota that day, tying a national record for the most in a state in a 24-hour period.

An investigation found that air traffic controllers told Hughes about thunderstorms near the airport, but he continued his approach to the runway without asking for more information. He encountered severe wind shear and began losing control of the plane, requiring "immediate application of full power and aggressive flight control inputs to regain control of the aircraft," according to the suspension order.

Passengers on the flight likened the experience to someone pushing the plane sideways. Hughes aborted the landing and flew on to Omaha.

FMI: www.nwa.com