Aircraft

The Maryland State Police grounded its fleet of medical evacuation helicopters yesterday as investigators tried to determine the cause of a late-night crash in Prince George's County that killed four people, the deadliest accident since the force started flying medevac missions 38 years ago. The aircraft's pilot, who died along with a crew member, a civilian medic and a patient, asked to change his landing site in radio communications shortly before the...

United Airlines and US Airways said yesterday that they would cut even more deeply into their flying during the fourth quarter, while JetBlue Airways said it would defer more aircraft deliveries, steps the carriers blamed on record prices for jet fuel. All three airlines reported losses in the second quarter compared with profits in the period a year ago. They joined other big airlines, including American, Continental and Delta, in posting second-quarter losses in the past week. Northwest Airlines is to report its results today.

WASHINGTON -- Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said yesterday that U.S. military services are not doing enough to support soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, singling out the Air Force for adapting too slowly to the new enemies on those battlefields. In unusually harsh public criticism, Gates said his attempts to get the Pentagon to help commanders more quickly on the ground have been "like pulling teeth," and he blamed military leaders who are "stuck in old ways of doing business." He said he was particularly upset with the military's failure to get more unmanned spy planes into the air over the two war zones - primarily an Air Force responsibility.

DALLAS -- Southwest Airlines Co. resumed normal operations yesterday, a day after the carrier had to cancel 126 flights while it hurriedly performed overlooked inspections on several dozen jets. However, not all of the 38 airplanes removed from service Wednesday returned to the skies yesterday, the carrier said. "Four of the aircraft were held for surface repairs," spokeswoman Brandy King said. "We expect to have them back in service by the weekend." The airline had grounded the 38 airplanes to inspect portions of their fuselages for cracks.

WASHINGTON -- The Federal Aviation Administration lacks an adequate system for checking the quality of commercial airplane parts, creating a potential safety risk for airline passengers, according to a new oversight report. "Neither manufacturers nor FAA inspectors have provided effective oversight of suppliers; this has allowed substandard parts to enter the aviation supply chain," states a 24-page report from the Transportation Department's inspector general. Federal investigators assessed the oversight of suppliers to the nation's major aircraft manufacturers - Boeing Co., Bombardier Aerospace/Learjet Inc., General Electric Aircraft Engines, Rolls-Royce PLC, Pratt & Whitney and Airbus SAS. They found "widespread deficiencies" at all but one of 21 suppliers who make parts for those companies.

WASHINGTON -- A European aerospace consortium and the Northrop Grumman Corp. won yesterday a $30 billion to $40 billion contract to begin replacing the Air Force's aging fleet of aerial tankers. The decision to use an airplane built in Europe was a stunning setback for the Boeing Co. and it ignited an instant outcry on Capitol Hill. Chicago-based Boeing, which has built the Air Force's tankers for the past half-century, gave no indication whether it would appeal the award but said it was exploring its options.

Two planes nearly collided at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport this week as one aircraft took off just above another that had landed, federal officials said. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the near-collision, which occurred at the intersection of two runways at 7:20 p.m. Sunday. The investigation of the "runway incursion" is focusing on possible mistakes by air traffic controllers in the tower, not pilot error, said a spokesman with the Federal Aviation Administration.

The U.S. has accused Bethesda-based Lockheed Martin Corp., the world's largest defense company, of bilking the government of millions of dollars in the sale of small tools for manufacturing military aircraft. The Justice Department joined a whistle-blower lawsuit against Lockheed, its vendor Tools & Metals Inc. and two of the vendor's former executives. The suit alleges the companies submitted false claims to the government from January 1998 to February 2006, the Justice Department said yesterday.

The first time Midshipman Taylor Brashear tried his hand at landing a small airplane his insides jiggled around and he tried to ignore what sounded like extremely loud breathing on his headphones. Before he knew it, the Cessna had touched down, and then, he was up in the air again, preparing for another maneuver. As the plane took off from Tipton Airport in Odenton a few weeks ago, at least two things were clear: He hadn't aced the landing or the takeoff, and he realized he loved flying just as much as he thought he would.

WASHINGTON -- You think your gasoline costs are high? Every time the price at the pump jumps a nickel, it causes budgetary heartburn for the U.S. Air Force, whose gas-guzzling fleet of nearly 6,000 aircraft devours about 7 million gallons of fuel a day. The cost of a fill-up for a B-52 bomber, an eight-engine behemoth that holds nearly 48,000 gallons of jet fuel, can easily surpass $100,000. A sleek F-16 fighter sucks up more than $300 worth of fuel a minute when it kicks in its afterburners and blasts through the sound barrier.