Homeless man deemed sane during 2005 killing of LAX officer

A Los Angeles jury decided today that a homeless man convicted of killing an LAX officer in 2005 was sane at the time of the crime, paving the way for a likely sentence of life in prison without parole.

William Sadowski, 51, of Venice allegedly carjacked Officer Thomas Scott’s patrol vehicle, dragging the officer for a quarter-mile before hitting a fire hydrant and killing him. Authorities believed Sadowski may have been plotting to drive a vehicle onto the airfield at LAX and into an airplane.

Dressed in a striped blue button-up, his beard gray, Sadowski appeared nervous in court. After the jury’s decision was announced, his glare turned downward and his feet tapped frantically.

Surviving Thanksgiving weekend's travel crunch

 

Check-in lines are out the door at Los Angeles International Airport this morning for one of the busiest days of the holiday travel season.

Officials are expecting about 1.5 million passengers -- a slight increase compared with last year -- to pass through LAX during the 10-day Thanksgiving holiday period, which started Friday and ends Nov. 29.

Today and Sunday are the busiest of those days, said Katherine Alvarado, a spokeswoman for LAX.

"It's pretty busy today, especially at the Southwest Airlines terminal, the American Airlines terminal and the United terminal," she said. "The lines are moving pretty quickly. TSA [Transportation Security Administration] has most of their screening lanes open."

At Bob Hope Airport in Burbank, spokesman Victor Gill said traffic is "relatively calm right now," but he expects it to pick up this afternoon and into the evening.

Surviving Thanksgiving weekend's traditional fixings: traffic and airport jams

One of the busiest traveling times of the year is upon us, and experts say Southern Californians should expect clogged roads and freeways -- especially around airports -- as residents make their holiday getaways.

Nearly 2 million Southern Californians are expected to hit the road Thanksgiving weekend, according to the Automobile Club of Southern California. After dropping slightly last year, roadway travel is expected to increase by 8% this year, to about 1.9 million people.

The California Highway Patrol said it would be out in force beginning Wednesday evening to enforce seat belt, speed and cellphone laws and to watch for drunk drivers. The maximum enforcement period goes into effect at 6 p.m. Wednesday, which means all officers not on vacation will be working. That's about 80% of the officers assigned to Southern California, said CHP Officer Vince Ramirez.

Air travel at Los Angeles International Airport is expected to be up slightly this year over last, with 1.5 million passengers expected to funnel through its terminals.

At Bob Hope Airport in Burbank, where travel this month is down 7%, Wednesday through Sunday is expected to be hectic, as is usual this time of year, said airport spokesman Victor Gill.

“We’re anticipating a very busy day tomorrow,” he said earlier today. “I can guarantee you that holidays are holidays and it will be busy here.”

Will you be traveling tomorrow? How do you plan to avoid the holiday traffic?  What information could we provide to make your trip easier? Let us know in the comments below. We'll use your feedback to help build our holiday travel survival guide, currently in its formative stages.

-- Raja Abdulrahim

Photo: The 405 Freeway backs up the day before Thanksgiving 2006. Credit: Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times

The zeppelin returns to L.A. skies, after 80 years

 

The last time something like this was seen in Los Angeles was 1929, when the Graf Zeppelin dropped in on Westchester's Mines Field before starting its nonstop Pacific crossing during its record-setting around-the-world flight.

The era of the rigid-framed zeppelin came crashing to an end in 1937, when the hydrogen-filled Hindenburg exploded spectacularly as it attempted to land at Lakehurst Naval Air Station in New Jersey. Thirty-six people were killed.

But now the zeppelin is back and filled with non-explosive helium gas. A privately run company based at the San Francisco-area Moffett Field has returned the German-made craft to California skies. Although airships such as the Goodyear blimp are a common sight in the Los Angeles area, blimps are smaller than zeppelins and carry only six passengers.

The 246-foot zeppelin, called the Eureka, can carry 13 passengers and a crew of two. Those on board have views of landmarks through giant plexiglass windows that line all sides of its cabin. So far, the Eureka has made four trips to Los Angeles, and its operators plan more for next year, starting with a two-week visit in mid-January.

FAA computer glitch fixed; few flight delays expected at West Coast airports

A glitch in the FAA system that collects airlines' flight plans was repaired this morning and is not expected to affect travel to and from West Coast airports, officials said today.

Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said there will be some residual delays, but not many because the glitch occurred early in the morning when West Coast air traffic was low.

The FAA experienced a problem with one of its computers that processes flight plan information. Flight plans include all planned information for a flight, including destination, type of aircraft, speed and destination. They are processed nationwide by computers at centers in Atlanta and Salt Lake City.

Computer problems delay flights across U.S.; effect on West Coast airports is unknown [Updated]

[Updated 7:21 a.m.: FAA spokesman Ian Gregor says the computer-system problem in Atlanta has been fixed, but there will be residual delays.

"The flight plan processing system has been restored. There will be some residual delays," Gregor said in an e-mail.]

Federal aviation officials said they are not sure whether a glitch in the FAA system that collects airlines' flight plans will affect travel to and from West Coast airports.

“It might be too early here for significant departure delays because traffic volume is light at this time of morning,” said Ian Gregor, communications manager for the Federal Aviation Administration’s Western-Pacific region.

Gregor confirmed the agency is currently having a problem processing flight plan information. Flight plans include all planned information for a flight, including destination, type of aircraft, speed and destination. They are processed nationwide by computers at facilities in Atlanta and Salt Lake City.

Nationwide, there have been widespread cancellations and delays of flights this morning because of a problem with the system that processes flight plans in Atlanta.

The FAA is investigating the cause of the problem. Agency workers are processing flight plans manually and are experiencing delays.

Gregor said this is not a safety issue. “We have radar coverage and communications with planes,” he said.

[Updated 8:42 a.m.: Gregor said there was a similar problem with flight-plan processing in the Atlanta office in August 2008, delaying about 650 flights in the East and Midwest. An FAA spokesman at the time referred to it as an “internal software processing” problem. Gregor said there likely will be minimal effect on West Coast departures because the outage occurred early in the morning when traffic volume was low.

-- Baxter Holmes

Plane crashes in San Gabriel; pilot dies

A single-engine plane crashed this afternoon in San Gabriel, killing the pilot.

The plane took off from Brackett Field in La Verne and was headed to Van Nuys when it crashed in the 5100 block of Walnut Grove Avenue, Los Angeles County Sheriff's spokesman Richard Pena said.

"It looked like the pilot might have survived if there hadn't been a fire," Pena said.

There were no other injuries.

The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board were investigating the crash. FAA spokesman Ian Gregor said authorities were not ready to release the name of the pilot.

The plane was registered to David Flotho of Grants Pass, Ore.

-- Garrett Therolf

Sky diver dies in Murrieta after record-setting jump

Sky diver Stephen Millard Harrington was making his last jump of the day. It was meant to be a relaxing drop that would cap a record-setting day in the skies above Riverside County.

But Harrington apparently hit the tail of a twin-engine plane as he jumped out the door and plunged several thousand feet to his death Wednesday in Murrieta, according to authorities and fellow parachutists.

The 40-year-old Boston resident was pronounced dead at 5:05 p.m., shortly after he crashed into a residential lot in the 38000 block of Calle de Lobo.

Mojave Desert helicopter crash victims were headed to Riverside show

A 1951 military helicopter that crashed and killed all three men aboard it Saturday was headed to an aircraft-and-classic car show honoring U.S. veterans at the Flabob Airport in Riverside, the event's director said.

The twin-rotor Piasecki PV-18 helicopter had been booked to appear as a non-flying display through Classic Rotors, a rare and vintage rotorcraft museum in Ramona, show director Jon Goldenbaum said Sunday.

The museum was closed Sunday night and a message left on it answering machine was not immediately returned.

Federal Aviation Administration officials said the vintage helicopter struck power lines shortly after taking off from Adelanto Airport about 8:30 a.m. Saturday. It crashed and burst into flames in the desert, about a mile into the flight.

Three adult males were burned beyond recognition and would be identified through dental records, according to the San Bernardino County Coroner's Office. Their names had not been released Sunday. FAA records list the owner of the helicopter as Joseph William Pike of Victorville.

The same helicopter had participated in a similar event about two years ago, Goldenbaum said. "It was a fine airplane," he said, adding that he was impressed then by its restoration. He said he did not know who was aboard the aircraft Saturday.

--Kim Christensen

Helicopter crash in Mojave Desert kills three [Updated]

Three people were killed Saturday when their vintage military helicopter crashed after striking power lines in San Bernardino County.

Federal Aviation Administration officials said the 1951 Piasecki PV-18 helicopter took off from Adelanto Airport at 8:30 a.m. headed to Flabob Airport in Riverside. It crashed and burst into flames a mile into its flight.

The identities of those killed were not immediately available. [Updated at 8:20 p.m.: FAA records list the owner of the helicopter as Joseph William Pike of Victorville.]

-- Mike Anton

Federal officials reject restrictions on night flights at Bob Hope Airport

Federal officials today dealt a blow to a decades-long fight to restrict nighttime flights at Bob Hope Airport in Burbank.

The Federal Aviation Administration rejected a request by the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority for a curfew. The FAA found that a curfew "was not reasonable"’ because it would "create an undue burden on commerce" and negatively effect the national air transportation system. It also said other alternatives are available for dealing with noise.

The agency announced its decision in a 43-page letter released today. The FAA said the airport authority can challenge the decision in federal court.

Rescuers find debris but no survivors in area of midair military collision [Updated]

Rescuers searching the coast off San Clemente Island where a midair collision occurred have found debris but no survivors, officials said today.

The collision between a Coast Guard C-130 Hercules transport plane and a Marine Corps AH-1 Super Cobra helicopter occurred about 7:10 p.m. Thursday, 20 miles east of San Clemente Island. A nearby pilot reported a fireball in the sky.

[Updated at 3:50 p.m.: The search for nine military crewmembers off San Clemente Island will continue throughout Saturday night and into Sunday morning, Coast Guard officials told reporters at a 3 p.m. news conference in San Diego.]

The Coast Guard plane from Sacramento, with seven crew members, was searching for a 12-foot skiff reported adrift near the island, which is owned by the Navy and used for training.

Survivors unlikely in aircraft collision off San Clemente Island, Pentagon says

As Coast Guard personnel continued to search for survivors from the midair collision of two military aircraft Thursday off San Clemente Island, a Pentagon spokesman said it's unlikely anyone survived the crash.

Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said it's likely all nine people on board the aircraft died in what he called a “tragic event.”

Still, searchers continued to comb the waters off the San Diego County coast.

 "We will continue to search as long as there is a chance of survivors," Coast Guard Rear Adm. Joseph Castillo told reporters at an 11 a.m. news conference in San Diego.

Seven Coast Guard members were aboard the C-130 plane and two Marine Corps pilots were flying a  Super Cobra helicopter when the aircraft collided shortly after 7 p.m., 20 miles east of the island. All nine are missing.

Rescue efforts continue in military midair collision off San Diego coast

Multiple aircraft and ships from the Coast Guard and Navy are searching this morning for nine people off the San Diego County coast after two military aircraft collided midair.

A Coast Guard C-130 Hercules aircraft from Air Station Sacramento had seven people aboard when it collided with an AH-1W Super Cobra helicopter from the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing stationed at Camp Pendleton, which had two pilots.

The collision occurred about 7:10 p.m. Thursday about 20 miles east of San Clemente Island. The C-130 was on a search mission.The Super Cobra was on a routine night exercise, the Marine Corps said.

Debris has been spotted in the water, and Coast Guard and Navy crews searched through the night, using four cutters and several aircraft. Reported visibility in the area is unlimited, “allowing for ideal search conditions,” the latest release stated.

Search underway for survivors of military aircraft collision off Southern California coast

The Coast Guard confirmed to reporters in San Diego tonight that a crash occurred between two aircraft -- possibly a Coast Guard C-130 transport airplane and a Marine AH-1 Cobra helicopter -- and said that rescue crews have spotted debris in the water.

Rescue units from the Coast Guard and Navy have responded to the crash site to search for survivors. The airplane was reported to contain seven crew members, while the helicopter contained two. No survivors have yet been spotted. Three Coast Guard cutters and four Navy ships, along with several helicopters, are involved in the search.

A Coast Guard spokesman said that search conditions were good with calm waters and light winds. The spokesman described the aircraft as a Coast Guard airplane and a Department of Defense aircraft. Federal Aviation Administration officials have identified the aircraft as a C-130 and a Cobra helicopter.

The collision is thought to have occurred 15 to 25 miles off San Clemente Island, the FAA said.

Ian Gregor, a Federal Aviation Administration spokesman, said that a pilot reported seeing a fireball about 7:10 p.m. near the suspected crash site. Earlier reports stated that a single Navy helicopter may have crashed.

-- Robert J. Lopez

Coast Guard transport plane may have collided with a Marine Corps helicopter off Southern California coast

A Coast Guard C-130 transport plane may have collided tonight with a Marine Corps AH-1 Cobra helicopter 25 miles off San Clemente Island, the Federal Aviation Administration said.

Both aircraft would have a total of nine crew members, including two on the helicopter, said Ian Gregor, an FAA spokesman.

He said a pilot reported seeing a fireball about 7:10 p.m. near the suspected crash site. Earlier reports stated that a single Navy helicopter may have crashed.

A search-and-rescue operation was underway.

The Coast Guard cannot account for its plane, and the Marine Corps cannot account for the helicopter, Gregor said.

Both pilots were not talking to FAA air traffic controllers at the time of the collision, he said.

—Robert J. Lopez

Case of boy trapped in balloon aircraft recalls man who flew around L.A. in lawn chair

The terrifying case of a 6-year-old boy trapped in a hot-air balloon flying over Colorado today recalls the case of Larry Walters, who in 1982 made worldwide headlines by piloting a lawn chair attached to helium balloons 16,000 feet above Long Beach.

"It was something I had to do," Walters told The Times after his flight from San Pedro to Long Beach on July 2, 1982. "I had this dream for 20 years, and if I hadn't done it, I would have ended up in the funny farm."

According to Times reports, Walters rigged 42 weather balloons to an aluminum lawn chair, pumped them full of helium and had two friends un-tether the craft, which he had dubbed "Inspiration I." 

He took along a large bottle of soda, a parachute and a portable CB radio to alert air traffic to his presence. He also took a camera but later admitted, "I was so amazed by the view I didn't even take one picture."

Walters, a North Hollywood truck driver with no pilot or balloon training, spent about two hours aloft and soared up to 16,000 feet -- three miles -- startling at least two airline pilots and causing one to radio the Federal Aviation Administration. Shivering in the high altitude, he used a pellet gun to pop balloons to come back to Earth. On the way down, his balloons draped over power lines, blacking out a Long Beach neighborhood for 20 minutes.

Long Beach to insulate some homes near airport to curb noise [Updated]

First comes the faraway rumble, then the roar, and before long the whole house is rattling.

But for dozens of residents near the Long Beach Airport, the ear-numbing flyovers that have become a daily reality are about to get a little less agonizing. The City Council adopted a plan late Tuesday night to soundproof houses most affected by aircraft noise.

An increase in flights – particularly louder military planes – in recent years prompted officials at the airport to offer soundproofing for neighboring homes. About two dozen homeowners along the southern end of the main flight path will be eligible for acoustic windows, attic insulation and other soundproofing measures, said airport spokesperson Sharon Diggs-Jackson.

LAX's FlyAway bus service coming to Irvine -- a first for Orange County

LAX officials announced that the popular FlyAway bus service will add a new line from Irvine in time for the holiday travel season.

Officials estimate that the Irvine line -- the first from LAX into Orange County -- could serve up to 72,000 passengers in its first year of operation.

FlyAway already has lines connecting LAX to Van Nuys, Westwood and Union Station. 

United Airlines flight makes emergency landing at LAX

A United Airlines flight that took off this afternoon from Los Angeles International Airport was forced to return to the airport and make an emergency landing after the pilot noticed a possible leak in the hydraulic system, authorities said.

The pilot of Flight 891, which left for Narita, Japan, at 1:25 p.m., noticed the problem as the plane cruised over the Ventura area, said Ian Gregor, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration in Los Angeles. The pilot headed back to LAX and declared an emergency that prompted officials to scramble crash rescue units as the plane prepared to land.

The plane landed safely at 2:21 p.m. and was towed to the gate, Gregor said. United crews were inspecting the aircraft this afternoon to determine what may have gone wrong.

--Robert J. Lopez

FBI says detained United passenger posed no 'identifiable threat'

The FBI has determined that a passenger removed from the United Airlines flight this morning posed no “identifiable threat” to the plane or its passengers and officials do not expect to file criminal charges.

The passenger got up from his seat about 8:30 a.m. to use the restroom and would not comply with the flight crew's instructions to return to his seat, FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said. The captain of the plane decided to return to the gate so that the incident could be investigated, she said.

“The passenger is being interviewed in connection with the incident and is cooperative,” she said. “Out of an abundance of caution, the passengers and their carry-on luggage were re-screened and the LAPD bomb unit conducted a precautionary search of the aircraft.

"No criminal charges are anticipated, and the passengers will proceed to their destination later today.”

Initially, the LAPD said two men were taken into custody in the incident.

-- Richard Winton

-- Richard Winton

Space shuttle Discovery heads back to Florida

The space shuttle Discovery left California’s Edwards Air Force Base this morning on its cross-country journey back to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.  The shuttle is being ferried back to Florida piggyback-style on a modified 747 known as the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft.

The plane will make several stops for refueling over the course of the 2,500-mile trip -- in Amarillo, Texas, today and at Barksdale Air Force Base in Shreveport, Louisiana overnight before arriving in Florida on Monday.

Discovery and its crew of seven astronauts landed in California on Sept. 11 after a 14-day mission focusing on the assembly and maintenance of the International Space Station.

-- Maeve Reston

Photo: The space shuttle Discovery and its modified 747 carrier aircraft take off from Edwards Air Force Base on the first leg of the ferry flight back to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Credit: NASA

1 skydiver dies, another is injured after they collide over Wildomar

A 30-year-old parachutist died this morning after colliding in midair with another skydiver and falling to earth in Wildomar, said Capt. Fernando Herrera of the Riverside County Fire Department. The other parachutist, 42, suffered minor injuries.

Fire personnel were dispatched about 11:35 a.m. to Cereal Street near Lake Elsinore's Skylark Field, Herrera said. The area is a popular skydiving location, and "we do have skydivers injured constantly, although fatalities are rare," Herrera said.

Witnesses said the two parachutists were diving separately but collided in midair, got entangled and "went down," according to Herrera. The divers were apparently from Europe, he added.

Ian Gregor, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration, said the agency would investigate.

-- Martha Groves

Gardena man, 70, killed in glider accident at Lake Elsinore

A 70-year-old pilot from Gardena was killed when his glider crashed as he tried to take off from a private airport in Lake Elsinore, authorities said today.

The accident occurred about 2:50 p.m. Saturday as a plane was towing the pilot’s Schweizer glider for takeoff at Skylark Airport, said FAA spokesman Ian Gregor. The glider crashed about 400 yards off the runway, seriously injuring the pilot, who was the only person onboard the glider, Gregor said.

The pilot was pronounced dead at 7:10 p.m. Saturday at Inland Valley Medical Center, according to the Riverside County Coroner’s website. His name has not been released. The department’s website said the pilot lost control of the unpowered plane “for unknown reasons” before he crashed.

Gregor said the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the cause of the accident.

-- Jack Leonard

Space shuttle to land at Edwards AFB in California

Unstable weather on the East Coast will force the space shuttle Discovery to land this evening at California's Edwards Air Force Base instead of the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, NASA announced today.

The so-called “deorbit burn” is scheduled to begin at 4:47 p.m. PDT for a 5:53 p.m. landing at Edwards in the Mojave Desert north of Los Angeles, according to details published on NASA’s website.

The second opportunity for leaving orbit will come at 6:23 p.m., ending with a landing at 7:28 p.m.

“The burn lasts three to four minutes, slowing Discovery enough to begin its descent,” according to information published by NASA.

This evening’s scheduled landing would complete a trip to deliver supplies and equipment to the International Space Station. The mission lasted 14 days and covered 5.7 million miles. A strong sonic boom may possibly be heard over a large section of the coast and some inland areas of Southern California upon the shuttle’s arrival, according to NASA.

-- Ann M. Simmons