In-Flight Emergency With VIPs On Board Prompts Call For Repairs

The Cessna Citation known as N1VA, the aicraft that ferries around Virginia Governor Mark Warner and members of his cabinet, was cruising along toward south Florida March 9, when suddenly, all hell broke loose. A warning horn blaired. Oxygen masks dropped from the ceiling. The pilot made a rapid descent to get under 10,000 feet, where passengers would be able to breath without the masks.

"You could hear the sound around the door, but there was nothing blowing around," said Thomas L. Robertson, former president and CEO of Carilion Health System, in an interview with a Richmond (VA) newspaper.The plane made an emergency landing in Tampa.

Seal Failure

Turns out the problem was a faulty door seal on the Citation II. It was repaired and the aircraft, which had been carrying members of the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors, was returned to service in late March. But now, Virginia's Aviation Department wants to upgrade the 15-year old aircraft which currently has about 5800 hours on the Hobbes meter. And that won't be cheap.

"If we're going to continue to fly, I think it should be upgraded," said Charles Macfarlane, director of the Virginia Department of Aviation, in an interview with the Richmond Times-Dispatch. That's going to cost approximately $1.2 million.

Who's Going To Write The Check?

The Virginia Aviation Department relies on the state legislature for special funding needed to repair and upgrade its fleet of aircraft. However, like most states these days, Virginia is struggling financially. The Aviation Department's budget has been cut almost in half. As far as that extra little allocation for repairs and such? Yeah, right. It's in the mail.

But McFarlane (right) isn't giving up. "I'm not suggesting we fly unsafe planes," Macfarlane said at an April 23 meeting of the Virginia Aviation Board. "I am suggesting we should be flying our most important state officials and the state's customers with up-to-date technology."

McFarlane was quoted in the Times-Dispatch as saying the real question was: How much is the State Legislature and the governor willing to gamble? "I couldn't imagine anything worse than to get a call saying something has happened to one of the state's airplanes."

One member of the Virginia aviation board, Robert Johnson of Roanoke, was even stronger in his assessment. He told the Times-Dispatch, "we might as well put a sign on our airplanes, 'Enter at your own risk.'"

FMI: www.doav.state.va.us