With all the hubbub about Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger making his long-awaited return to the skies after his miraculous splash landing of Flight 1549 by flying from Laguardia to Charlotte, North Carolina this afternoon, it turns out that Sully had to get to NYC some how. And that was by flying Flight 1050 from Charlotte to LGA at 7:55 a.m! The Daily News had a reporter and photographer onboard for the scoop.
The Post, which called war on Canada geese earlier this year after the bird strike that downed US Airways Flight 1549, adds to its list of bird vs. flying machine incidents, reporting that a bird dent the front of a Boeing MD-80 which was landing at Laguardia Airport yesterday.
Police have arrested four men in connection with Monday night's shooting of a man found at LaGuardia Airport. The victim, who is in stable condition, was discovered in the taxi holding area between Terminals C and D. According to NY1, "The suspects picked up Cedric Click, 26, of Las Vegas Monday night at the LaGuardia Marriott in Rodriguez's 2008 silver Pathfinder. Once Click entered the car, the suspects allegedly stole $700 in cash, jewelry and other personal items from him. Click was then shot once in the chest when he tried to escape, according to officials." And the whole incident may stem from...drugs. The suspects—three Brooklyn residents and one from Queens— were charged with "second degree attempted murder, first degree assault, criminal possession of a weapon, first degree robbery and criminal use of a firearm."
Late last night, a man was shot outside the Delta-United terminal. WABC 7 reports that his body was "discovered" around 11:30 p.m. "near the central taxi hold area for yellow cabs, where several taxi drivers rushed to the man's aid. One called 911, while the shooting victim asked for a driver's cell phone." He was taken to Elmhurst Hospital for surgery and is expected to survive. MyFoxNY says that cops suspect "the victim may have been shot inside a vehicle or off airport property, and then dumped in front of the terminal"—a silver Pathfinder with three armed men reportedly fled the scene. And according to the Daily News, it was a "drug deal gone bad."
Scott McGann, the 32-year-old who caused a lot of chaos at Laguardia Airport a few weeks ago, was found mentally unfit to be arraigned and was instead "remanded into the custody of the New York State of Mental Health's office, where he will be held for a period of one year or until he regains competency," according to Newsday. On August 1, a United ticket agent alert Port Authority officers to McGann, who seemed out of it and inebriated; the officers were suspicious of the wires coming from his bag and detonator-like device, so they tackled him and the airport's terminal was shut down. It was later revealed his bag had papers that suggested McGann was building a time machine (there were "drawings of a bald man's head, with the words 'Age at 17' above him and the phrases 'John Doe' and 'Lifespan 35 years' below him," as well as "a downward arrow pointing at the word 'Time,' several other arrows pointing at the words 'Dimension 1,' 'Dimension 2,' and 'Dimension 3'"). McGann allegedly suffers from catatonic schizophrenia; Queens DA Richard Brown said, "The defendant is clearly a very troubled young man. Under the circumstances, the court's decision is the right one for all concerned."
Scott McGann, the man who allegedly brought a fake bomb (made of batteries and wires) to Laguardia Airport last Saturday and caused a lot of chaos, was indicted on charges of placing a false bomb and making a terrorist threat. He is currently being held at the psych ward at Bellevue, but the Daily News reports, "He will be arraigned Aug. 18 if he's found mentally competent. His family says he suffers from catatonic schizophrenia."
The mother of the man accused of essentially shutting down LaGuardia Airport Saturday morning with his fake bomb spoke to the Daily News. Margie Jones said her 32-year-old son Scott McGann has catatonic schizophrenia, which the News says "leaves victims in a psychotic state where they're unable to speak, respond or even move." She added, "He's a not a kook.
Thousands of people planning on traveling out of Laguardia Airport yesterday morning had their plans changed when a man was found with a fake bomb in his bag, prompting the evacuation of the central terminal. The NY Times reports, "passengers who had arrived for early-morning flights were forced to evacuate for nearly three hours, creating a domino effect of car and foot traffic that caused chaos during one of the busier travel days of the summer." And a 32-year-old man was arrested for allegedly causing the mess.
Earlier this morning around 5:30 a.m., the main terminal at LaGuardia Airport was evacuated because of a bomb threat. Apparently a man claimed he had a bomb—he was taken into custody and his bag search—but the device was deemed harmless. However the terminal's C concourse will remained closed for hours, because it's a crime scene. Updated below: A 32-year-old New Yorker was arrested.
We're getting preliminary reports about an "aircraft emergency" this morning at LaGuardia airport, where an incoming American Airlines flight was hit by a bird strike when coming in for a landing. No injuries are being reported, but paramedics were called to meet the plane at gate 10, apparently as a precaution. The pilot also reported a "hydraulic leak in the nose gear." The incident comes as the city moves to euthanize 2,000 geese within 5 miles of airports during their molting season, in an effort to prevent another crash like the one that befell Flight 1549.
Woody Harrelson says that he had some unsavory characters on the brain when getting into an altercation with a TMZ photographer at a local airport earlier this week—zombies. The cameraman is accusing Harrelson of breaking his equipment and hitting him after he was following the actor and his daughter out of a terminal at La Guardia. Harrelson released a statement about the incident saying, "I wrapped a movie called 'Zombieland,' in which I was constantly under assault by zombies, then flew to New York, still very much in character. With my daughter at the airport I was startled by a paparazzo, who I quite understandably mistook for a zombie." CNN points out that in the film, Harrelson plays "the most frightened person on Earth" looking for refuge from zombies. A Port Authority spokesman said, "We're looking into this allegation and if it's warranted, we'll turn it over to the proper authorities." Harrelson is a longtime advocate for the legalization of marijuana.
Though the AAA is reporting a decline in Christmas travel this year, a reader who braved a very crowded LaGuardia Airport this morning for his flight to Chicago tells us, "The captain of my plane compared the weather in Chicago and the delays in the air traffic today" to usually busier Thanksgiving holiday travel time. And at one point, all flights to O'Hare were put on hold. There was a small, but cute silver lining, however—he tells us: "They did have a van full of Santas on the runway to wave to departing airplanes."
The federal Department of Transportation has been looking to reduce congestion at airports, especially the NYC-area ones, but the Port Authority says auctioning departure and arrival slots would "have a severe negative impact” and “would be illegal without Congressional authorization.” The Port Authority said today it will deny any flights at JFK, LaGuardia, and Newark that are result of government auction. Hmm, that sounds like a good way to reduce congestion!
American Airlines canceled more than 1,000 flights today, causing more chaos for its would-be passengers. NY1 reported lines looked less messy today, suggesting people called ahead. But yesterday, it was a terrible mess. From NY1:
"It's a little irritating that they are offering coffee to everybody, in exchange I'm missing a whole day of meetings in Texas," said one traveler. "I don't think I would [fly American again].Continue reading "Third Day of Canceled American Airlines Flights"
After talk of flight caps to help ease airport congestion that leave many travelers very irritable, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced another policy to help ease airport woes. The DOT will let airports charge airlines based on the time of day and volume of traffic their planes are landing in. Previously, aircraft was only charged based on plane weight.
Why wasn't this monkey in the care of a zoo or someone who was qualified to care for monkeys? The Feds are nothing but a bunch of incompetent buffoons
Realizing that air traffic congestion is terrible and will be even worse next week during Thanksgiving holiday, President Bush announced that the FAA is working on new ideas, plus military airspace will be opened up for five days to civilian planes. If using military airspace (the "Thanksgiving Express Lane") works well this time around, it may reopened for the Christmas holidays. The other measures the President announced were: FAA will focus on preventing delays...
Note to all mixologists: Tomato juice does not go well with X-ray machines. Especially when the X-ray machines are part of the screening process at LaGuardia Airport, where thousands of passengers are waiting to be checked out.
Could travelers out of LaGuardia Airport soon see some new airlines or increased service from smaller airlines? If the Bush Administration has its way, there may be some changes ahead for the airport in northern Queens. A law passed by Congress in 2000 attempted to change how landing (and departure) slots were allocated to airlines in airports around the country. Taking advantage of the rules passed in 2000, airlines added an additional 300 flights a day at LaGuardia, causing delays to double and delays across the nation. In an attempt to remedy the situation, the government placed some limits on flights into LGA and now wants to cap the flights into the airport and auction the landing rights to airlines.
New Yorkers couldn't walk a step without having a leaf, plastic bag or other sundry bit of city detritus hurtle towards them yesterday! It really was insanely windy. Central Park had measured winds of 46 MPH, and the winds were 48 MPH at LaGuardia Airport, causing delays there as well as JFK Airport. Almost two thousand residents in the Bronx and Westchester were without power, and the winds fanned flames of a Bronx blaze. The fire turned into a five-alarmer and destroyed four homes. And LIRR service was also affected: A tree fell on LIRR tracks in Queens and later a signal system was lost power.
- Some equipment is up to 30 years old. Schumer is looking for Senate funding for a new $60 million tower, before things go terribly wrong.
The FAA has big (jet) plans for La Guardia Airport.
As if the insane heat and humidity isn't enough, there are signal problems at Times Square that are affecting the 1, 2 and 3 lines. The 1 has been suspended between 137th Street and South Ferry and the 2 is running on the 5 line between 149th Street/Grand Concourse in The Bronx and Nevins Street in Brooklyn. The 3 is in even worse shape as it's not running at all. Gothamist is getting reports that the buses along the West Side are already packed as it doesn't seem like people want to walk to work in this weather.
Our absolute favorite Brooklyn blogger Callalillie took a trip outside her home borough to the Queens Museum-- home of the amazing, stupendous model of New York City. Some info about the model:
Looks like it's just that kind of season for the Mets. Jose Reyes gets injured in spring training, Matsui comes in and stinks it up at short, the Mets make trades at the deadline only to fall several games back, and now Glavine gets injured while not even playing. Glavine lost his two upper front teeth and received stitches to his lower lip. He is scheduled to miss his start on Wednesday due to the injury.
Todd Barry, Comedian
We like records. True, we like the kind they call LP's that are the format of choice for old jazz recordings, and good white label grooves, but we also like records of the "unsurpassed measurement" type (thank you dictionary.com). The most recent local records of note that were broken according to our local NOAA office in Upton, NY
New NY State License Plate Revealed—And Required On All Cars
Cops: Columbia Prof Punched Woman In "White Privilege" Brawl
Despite Gay Brothers, State Sen. Diaz Still Anti-Gay Marriage
Cops: Fort Greene Violence Sparked By Chicken Wing Promotion
Flashback: Last Brownstone Standing
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