Electronic Frontier Foundation

Watchdog Group Sues FAA For Records On Domestic Drone Use

Jillian Rayfield | January 11, 2012, 10:42AM

A digital rights and civil liberties group has filed a lawsuit against the Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration, demanding that they release information on who is authorized to operate drones within the United States.

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James Inhofe

Sen. Inhofe Wants To Ease 'Desperation' Of Pilots Faced With FAA 'Overreach'

Jillian Rayfield | July 6, 2011, 1:19PM

Sen. James Inhofe, R-Ok., speaks at the FRC's Values Voter Summit in Washington on Friday, Sept. 17, 2010

Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) is pushing a bill that would protect pilots from "agency overreach" by the Federal Aviation Administration, in response to his own experience at the mercy of the FAA after he "scared the crap out of" airport workers last year when he landed his Cessna on a closed runway.

"I was never fully appreciative of the feeling of desperation until it happened to me," he said.

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Ted Stevens

Photos Show Wreckage Of Ted Stevens Plane Crash

Ryan J. Reilly | December 21, 2010, 10:02AM

Through a Freedom of Information Act request, TPM obtained government reports on the plane crash that killed Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK), which included these photos of the wreckage. Some have been published before, and some haven't. Several are available below.

[TPM SLIDESHOW: The Senator From Alaska: Ted Stevens' Political Career]

Much of the information included in the reports obtained by TPM were included in the Washington Post's comprehensive story of the plane crash, which included interviews with survivors of the accident. Selections from the preliminary report and follow up report on the crash -- which took place on Aug. 9 about 10 miles northeast of Aleknagik, Alaska -- are available here.

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Tedd Petruna

New Docs On Disputed AirTran Flight Shows No Muslim Hijack Attempt

Justin Elliott | February 23, 2010, 6:17PM

A scene from the 1997 film Air Force One

In the end there was no amateur porn viewing. There was no shout of "infidel dog!" There were no Muslim hijackers.

FAA documents obtained by TPMmuckraker through the Freedom of Information Act thoroughly debunk NASA diver Tedd Petruna's tale of a thwarted hijacking aboard AirTran Flight 297 in Atlanta last November.

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AirTran Flight 297

Flight 297 Passenger: Tedd Petruna Is 'Living In A Fantasy World'

Justin Elliott | December 8, 2009, 11:38AM

Flight 297 passenger Brent Brown

A security consultant who was a passenger on AirTran Flight 297 says the man who claims he thwarted porn-watching Muslim hijackers clearly fabricated the story, but Brent Brown adds that the airline's version of events underplays the seriousness of what happened.

Brown told WSBTV that Tedd Petruna, who says a group of Muslim terrorists were casing the plane, is "living in a fantasy world." (Petruna now has his own hash tag on Twitter.)

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AirTran Flight 297

FAA: Probe Found No Violations On 'Muslim Hijacking' Flight

Justin Elliott | December 7, 2009, 3:40PM

An AirTran Boeing 717

The Federal Aviation Administration investigated an episode in which an AirTran flight was taxied back to the gate in Atlanta last month and found no violations of safety rules, another blow to the story of a NASA employee who says he helped thwart a dry run of Muslim hijackers on the plane.

"The FAA is charged with enforcing civil air safety violations and among those are rules that require passengers to comply with flight attendant instructions and about use of electronic devices," FAA spokesperson Kathleen Bergen tells TPMmuckraker. "We found no violations of the regulations." She said the investigation of the Nov. 17 incident was closed Friday.

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