Plane Carrying Fla. Governor Makes Emergency Landing

Plane Carrying Fla. Governor Makes Emergency Landing


TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- A state plane carrying Gov. Charlie Crist had to make a U-turn over Georgia and return to Tallahassee after three controls malfunctioned.

Crist spokeswoman Erin Isaac, who was aboard the plane, said the governor is OK and there were no problems landing the plane Tuesday.

She said pilots made the decision to go back when mechanisms that control the plane's tail, its up and down steering and the autopilot malfunctioned.

Crist was on his way to Washington to meet with House members and participate in a round-table discussion on the Colombia free trade agreement being held up by Democrats.

http://www.local6.com/news/16179599/detail.html

:shrug:

There's not one person in the newsroom you can yell at, "hey, what's the name of the up & down steering thingy on an airplane?"
"You mean the elevators?"
"Yeah, elevator, that's it."

ETA: Oh, it is Florida. They probably think airplanes are some kind of magical wizardry.

:eyes:

http://www.sptimes.com/2008/01/02/news_pf/News/Senate_chief_took_win.shtml SNIPS:

By STEVE BOUSQUET, Tallahassee Bureau Chief
Published January 2, 2008

That made Pruitt the fifth-most-frequent flier on Florida's air fleet in a year when official travel jumped nearly 200,000 miles. Pruitt's use trails Gov. Charlie Crist, Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamp, Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink and Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson.
Florida taxpayers pay for legislators to travel to and from the state capital, and most drive personal cars or take commercial flights.

The state owns a Cessna Citation Bravo jet and two King Air prop planes for official use mainly by Crist and other statewide officials. Legislators can fly on them when seats are available.

All told, the three planes logged more than 900,000 miles in 2007 at a cost of just over $1-million. That's more than 2006, when the planes traveled about 700,000 miles at a cost of $861,000.

Crist flew more than any other official, with 251 trips totaling 115,000 miles, nearly all of it in Florida. He flew to areas devastated by tornadoes in Lady Lake and DeLand. He used the planes to attend the funerals of police officers, survey wildfires, promote hurricane preparedness, attend community forums and meet with editorial boards.

Crist's predecessor, Jeb Bush, flew 280 times in his last year in office.

On 21 occasions, Crist's state travel ended at St. Petersburg-Clearwater Airport, near the downtown condo where he often spends weekends. Crist sometimes took commercial flights back to Tallahassee on Mondays.

Other times, Crist used private jets to attend political events. Such travel is often paid for by the Republican Party of Florida.

Steve Bousquet can be reached at 850 224-7263 or at bousquet@sptimes.com.