Former Iranian envoy in air mishap
Phoenix, Arizona wire services, April 1, 1999 - The little Cessna plane
with a lion emblem saw an opportunity where others didn't. Ignoring air-traffic
controllers' orders to circle, the plane daringly squeezed between two
Boeing 737s on their approach to Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.
It was enough to give the controllers heart palpitations.
But when the Cessna piloted by a former Iranian diplomat touched down,
it proceeded down the wrong taxiway. Bring out the nytroglycerine pills.
Maybe the aging pilot thought he was landing at Tehran's airport during
his heydays. The episode ended without incident but provided a teeth-gnashing
glimpse of life at an airport that's flying into the 21st century by the
seat of its pants.
Pilot errors such as the one involving the Cessna are being reported
to the Federal Aviation Administration much more frequently. And that's
only part of the story of the airport's too rapid growth. The Iranian swore
by Allah that radio frequencies were garbled and that he was running out
of fuel. The sky ayatollah was allowed to fly back to Sedona following
payment of a hefty fine. His landing permit at Phoenix Sky Harbor was revoked
but subsequently reinstated following tape disclosures of intense radio
interference at the time.
Small planes, especially those with Sunday pilots at the controls, are
the bane of air-traffic controllers and many commercial pilots. The "little
guys" in return, bristle at the suggestion that they can't claim a
piece of the sky. American civilian flyers, alike the Iranian diplomat,
contend that they are singled out for unnecessarily harsh treatment from
controllers and often required to circle needlessly above the airport.
Following an investigation, the FAA governing the skies over the airport
exonerated the diplomat See photo
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