Adrenaline junkie plans extreme leap -- from space

You've heard of skydiving, right? How about space-diving?

Felix Baumgartner is an Austrian skydiver, BASE jumper and adrenaline junkie who hopes to set the record this summer for the highest skydive ever.

If all goes well, Baumgartner will use a pressurized capsule attached to a high-altitude helium balloon for a "stratospheric flight" to more than 120,000 feet. "He will then exit the capsule and jump -- protected only by a pressurized 'space' suit and helmet supplied with oxygen -- in an attempt to become the first person to break the speed of sound and reach supersonic speeds in free-fall before parachuting to the ground," according to jump plans.

The only thing not surprising about this endeavor? Extreme sports elixir Red Bull is sponsoring the whole thing.

The jump is slated for later this summer, above Roswell, N.M. Given the complexities of the effort, no exact date is scheduled. Experts will start by looking for a perfect three-day weather window -- clear skies, perfect temperatures, no winds -- and then choose a jump time.

Clear skies are a must, spokeswoman Trish Medalen told The Times, explaining that Baumgartner will need all the visibility he can get to reorient himself on the way down.

Followers of Baumgartner's career know he has a passion for doing the unthinkable. (He flew across the English channel in 2003 using a carbon wing, hitting 220 miles per hour. You can watch that jaw-dropping video here.)

The upcoming mission, called Red Bull Stratos, is being documented online. The mission is also being chronicled by both the BBC and the National Geographic Channel for a feature-length TV film. The project has been underway for quite some time, but has been gaining momentum in recent days with its formal announcement.

If successful -- and really, what could go wrong? -- the jump aims to set several world records. Baumgartner hopes to become the first person to break the speed of sound and achieve Mach 1 in free-fall, estimated at 690 mph; to set the record for a free-fall from highest altitude (120,000 feet); to set the record for longest free-fall time (five minutes 35 seconds or more) and to set the record for highest manned balloon flight.

The Red Bull Stratos team includes international experts in medicine, science, engineering, aviation, and design, as well as a former NASA crew surgeon. But there are two centerpieces.

One is ice-water-in-his-veins Baumgartner. The other is a man who is little-known to the masses, but is a legend in the aviation community: Joe Kittinger.

Kittinger, who might be the reason the word "daredevil" was invented, holds a variety of aviation records, including longest, highest and fastest skydive, from about 19 miles up. A fighter pilot in Vietnam, he was shot down and spent nearly a year in the notorious "Hanoi Hilton"; he was later inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame.

Kittinger's experience is crucial to the success of the jump, folks associated with the effort say, and he's helping to train Baumgartner every step of the way. He is also slated to be the primary point of contact with Baumgartner during his ascent.

The jump's mission statement takes great pains to point out the jump's contributions to the scientific community, including aiding in the development of protocols for exposure to high altitude and high acceleration.

Of all that and more, we have no doubt. But the real reason we're interested and why all the world's eyes will be trained on Baumgartner's planned jump? It's just stinkin' cool.

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Photo: Felix Baumgartner trying out his space suit, specially designed for the jump. Credit: Christian Pondella / Red Bull Content Pool

Mark Wahlberg apologizes for 'irresponsible' 9/11 comments

Mark Wahlberg has learned the hard way: Just leave 9/11 alone.

The star of the new movie "Contraband" found himself starring in a 9/11 controversy this week when he revealed that he had been scheduled to fly on one of the planes that crashed into the World Trade Center -- and suggested that he could have single-handedly prevented the tragedy.

"If I was on that plane with my kids, it wouldn't have went down like it did. There would have been a lot of blood in that first-class cabin and then me saying, 'OK, we're going to land somewhere safely, don't worry.'"

The comments, made to Men's Journal in a cover story article, met with swift criticism. It seemed especially cruel considering that the passengers on another hijacked jetliner -- United Flight 93 -- did indeed rise up against the terrorists, sacrificing their own lives and crash-landing near Shanksville, Pa., rather than allow the plane to fly into a target in the nation's capital.

Now, Wahlberg is trying to leave those 9/11 magazine comments on the cutting room floor, telling TMZ, "I deeply apologize to the families of the victims that my answer came off as insensitive, it was certainly not my intention."

He added: "To suggest I would have done anything differently than the passengers on that plane was irresponsible."

Many Americans likely tried to put themselves in that 9/11 scenario, imagining themselves getting the upper hand or taking revenge on the terrorists. But for Wahlberg to suggest that he could have somehow single-handedly stopped the hijacking, and then landed the plane safely in Manhattan (perhaps a la Captain Sully Sullenberger)? For many people, that was just too much.

And so Wahlberg become the latest celebrity to wade into treacherous 9/11 waters. Among them: Tony Bennett, Rosie O'Donnell and Jesse Ventura. 

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Photo: Mark Wahlberg. Credit: Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times 

TSA fighting back in case of the confiscated cupcake

Were you among those rolling your eyes at the latest Transportation Security Administration flap, in which an agent confiscated a cupcake from a passenger in Las Vegas because the frosting was deemed a security threat? Well, the TSA would like you to hear the other side of the story.

But first, some background. The report, on its face, seemed outrageous: The TSA confiscated the cupcake last month at McCarran International Airport because there are strict limits on how much of a "gel-like" substance passengers can take aboard. In this case, the rich creamy frosting was deemed a gel-like substance, and there was too much of it.

The media made much of the killer-cupcakes story during the holiday travel season. "Cupcake Deemed 'Security Threat'" said one headline. The traveler with the offending cupcake, Rebecca Hains of Peabody, Mass., changed her Twitter bio to include "Cupcake Terror Expert!" and created a Facebook page called Rebecca and the Threatening Cupcake. It has 265 "likes" so far.

And Wicked Good Cupcakes, which made the questionable confection, got in on the fun. "Apparently we're a tasty terrorist threat," Brian Vilagie told the Boston Channel.

Now, the TSA is using its blog to weigh in on what it calls "Cupcakegate."

"I wanted to make it clear that this wasn’t your everyday, run-of-the-mill cupcake," TSA blogger Bob Burns wrote Tuesday. His post included the photos above to illustrate that this was not a traditional cupcake, but a cupcake-in-a-jar.

"If you’re not familiar with it, we have a policy directly related to the UK liquid bomb plot of 2006 called 3-1-1 that limits the amount of liquids, gels and aerosols you can bring in your carry-on luggage. Icing falls under the 'gel' category. As you can see from the picture, unlike a thin layer of icing that resides on the top of most cupcakes, this cupcake had a thick layer of icing inside a jar."

Let's forget, for just a moment, that there's no such thing as too much frosting on a cupcake. Burns defended the TSA officer's right to confiscate the confection. He added that such a cute container is precisely why authorities should screen it more carefully.

Exhibiting a sense of humor, he wrote that "intelligence gathered from all over the world tells us ... that unless Wile E. Coyote is involved, the days of the three sticks of dynamite with a giant alarm clock strapped to them are long gone....When you think about it, do you think an explosive would be concealed in an ominous item that would draw attention, or something as simple as a cute cupcake jar?"

The TSA blogger points to two attempted attacks involving liquid or gel-like substances -- a 1995 plot to explode a dozen passenger planes bound for the U.S., and that foiled 2006 plot, which tried to use liquid explosives to blow up at least 10 jetliners.  

Hains told The Times on Tuesday she was surprised that the TSA bothered to respond to Cupcakegate. But she believes the comments only reinforce her belief that the TSA goes overboard too often -- as in this case.

"I think there just needs to be some common sense here," she said.  

She also wondered about the uniformity of TSA's screening practices, noting that she started her Boston-to-Vegas holiday travel with two cupcakes in a jar, and both made it through Boston's security screening. She and her husband ate one on the flight west. And they planned to eat the other on the flight back. (You have to pause and appreciate such sweet, tasty scheduling.)

When the cupcake-in-a-jar was flagged in Vegas, she offered to scoop the contents into a plastic baggie. Nope. Turns out the TSA was OK with her bringing a glass jar aboard -- just not all that potentially dangerous frosting.

Hains, an assistant professor of communications at Salem State University in Massachusetts and author of a new book called "Growing Up With Girl Power," was probably the wrong person to mess with. After the cupcake-in-a-jar was confiscated, she proceeded to her destination -- but not before writing this little missive and sending it to Boing Boing. Needless to say, it went viral.

A funny aside: When Wicked Good Cupcakes learned of the flap, they gave Hains a dozen cupcakes to make up for her trouble.

What do you think about this showdown? Do you think TSA went too far? Or do you think Hains made too big of a deal out of this sweet controversy? 

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Photo comparison: Regular cupcake versus cupcake-in-a-jar. Photo credit: TSA

Despite Reno crash, aviation groups say U.S. air races are safe

Federal officials investigating a deadly racing plane crash last year in Reno heard testimony Tuesday indicating that the United States has some of the toughest safety rules in the world for aviation events.

Witnesses from the Federal Aviation Administration and private aviation organizations told the National Transportation Safety Board that the government and the air show industry provide significant oversight of shows, races, aircraft and pilots to ensure the safety of performers and spectators.

Unlike other countries, witnesses said that longer distances are required in the United States between spectators and aircraft and that there are more restrictions on pilots doing aerobatics, including prohibitions against flying directly toward spectator areas during performances.

Photos: Reno air crash

“The U.S. is  the most conservative in the world,” said John Cudahy, president of the International Council of Air Shows. “In Europe, there is more of a patchwork of regulations.”

Cudahy added that there have been tremendous improvements in air show safety in the past two decades. The number of deaths involving air show performers, he said, has declined from a high of 14 in 1990 to five last year.

But the witnesses said there is always room for improvement. They suggested to the board that pilot mentoring programs would improve race and aerobatic training and that a certification program is needed  for air bosses — the people who run  aviation events.

Testimony at the hearing was designed to provide the NTSB with general information about the safety procedures, regulations and oversight of air shows and races.

The board will eventually determine what caused the crash of a P-51 Mustang on Sept. 16 while competing in the National Championship Air Races in Reno, the only event of its kind in the world. If necessary, they will make safety recommendations.

The highly modified World War II  fighter went out of control  and plunged into the spectator area, killing 11 people, including the pilot, Jimmy Leeward, 74, of Florida, a veteran racer. Seventy others were injured.

There was no discussion at Tuesday’s hearing directly related to the crash.

Mike Houghton, president of the Reno Air Racing Assn., which has operated the national championship since 1964, said the organization certifies pilots for the race, reviews the aircraft involved, provides training for pilots and provides emergency services. He said race plans and procedures are submitted to the FAA for review and approval.

“We have 48 years of compliance with the FAA’s rules,” Houghton told the NTSB.

Race officials also testified that they usually exceed the minimum distance requirement of 1,000 feet between spectators and aircraft during races. FAA officials have said the distance was about 1,900 feet for the unlimited heat Leeward participated in.

Houghton testified that since the crash the racing association has established a panel of experts to review the event’s safety procedures. The group includes Jim Hall, a former NTSB chairman.

-- Dan Weikel 

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Photo: A panel of witnesses testifies as the National Transportation Safety Board  opened a hearing on air show and air race safety after 11 people died and about 70 more were badly injured at an air race in Reno in September. Credit: J. Scott / Associated Press 

      
 
 

Pilot in Mayo Clinic copter crash had spent life flying, son says

E. Hoke Smith was just 16 when he was introduced to what became one of the activities that defined the following half-century of his life and, tragically, led to his death: flying.

“Things were easier back then and you could get flying lessons,” Smith’s son, Derrick, said in a telephone interview Tuesday. “He always loved flying.” That love took Smith through the Vietnam War, during which he rose to the rank of captain and earned military honors including the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart and the Distinguished Flying Cross. It also led Smith to start a flying company, SK Jets of St. Augustine, Fla.

On Monday, Smith, 68, was piloting his Bell 206 helicopter, carrying a heart transplant team from St. Augustine to Gainesville, Fla., when the craft crashed and burned in a heavily wooded area. In addition to Smith, the dead included heart surgeon Dr. Luis Bonilla and procurement technician David Hines of the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville.

The three were traveling to Shands Hospital at the University of Florida to pick up a heart for transplant. The cause of the crash is under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board.

Hoke Smith routinely flew the same flight for years; “indeed that’s how the company was founded,” his son said.

When Smith returned from Vietnam, he had other jobs but continued his flying. Ultimately, he was contacted by doctors at the Mayo Clinic in Florida who were seeking a transportation lifeline for transplants, and he started what became SK Jets, a luxury jet and helicopter charter service. The younger Smith, a lawyer, serves as general manager.

Because of the poor economy, which has hurt the charter business, the Mayo flights now constitute as much as 70% of the company’s business, Smith said. The safety issues remain the same even though the company is transporting live organs.

Though the company employees 12 pilots, Hoke Smith often flew on holidays so staff members could be with their families, his son said.

But this wasn't simply Christmas season in the Smith home, his son said. The crash came days after Smith celebrated another half-century milestone: his wedding anniversary.

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Photo: A Clay County fire official drives through smoldering brush on his way to wreckage from a helicopter crash in an area west of Green Cove Springs, Fla., Monday afternoon. Credit: Kelly Jordan / Florida Times-Union

Fatal flight of heart transplant team began normally, NTSB says

What began as a flight of medical mercy turned into a tragedy without warning, according to federal investigators probing the recent Florida crash of a helicopter carrying a heart transplant team.

Speaking at a news conference, Jose Obergon, the chief investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board, said Tuesday there was no distress signal or other warning before the Bell 206 helicopter crashed and burned Monday in a wooded area about 12 miles northeast of Palatka, Fla., killing all three people aboard.

"It looked like a normal flight," Obergon said.

The destruction from the fire will make determining the cause of the crash more difficult, Obergon told reporters. He estimated that that only 10% to 15% of the aircraft remains, so there is little with which to work.

A preliminary report is expected within five to seven days, and a final report could take 18 months.

The helicopter, owned by SK Jets was en route from St. Augustine to Gainesville when it crashed early Monday morning. It carried heart surgeon Dr. Luis Bonilla and procurement technician David Hines of the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville; they were traveling to Shands Hospital at the University of Florida to procure a heart for transplant, according to the clinic.

"As we mourn this tragic event, we will remember the selfless and intense dedication they brought to making a difference in the lives of our patients," John Noseworthy, Mayo Clinic president and chief executive officer, said in a prepared statement. "We recognize the commitment transplant teams make every day in helping patients at Mayo Clinic and beyond. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families."

The helicopter went down near 5300 Hogarth Rd., according to an email description of the event from the Clay County Sheriff’s Office. The site is about a mile off a dirt road in a densely wooded area where about 10 acres were burned. The wreckage was discovered around noon Monday, according to the sheriff’s office.

The third victim was the pilot, E. Hoke Smith, identified on SK Jets’ website as the owner and president.

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Photo: A Clay County sheriff's deputy walks by smoldering brush on his way to wreckage from a helicopter crash near Palatka, Fla. Credit: Kelly Jordan / Florida Times-Union / Associated Press

 

Plane plunges 17,500 feet after pilot discusses icing

  

The pilot of a small plane that crashed onto a busy highway Tuesday had spoken with air traffic controllers about icing shortly before the aircraft plunged 17,500 feet to the ground, killing the pilot, his wife and two children, the family dog and the pilot's co-worker.

Miraculously, the plane did not hit any cars on Interstate 287 in suburban New Jersey as it spun to the ground, shedding pieces of its wings and fuselage about 10 a.m. The pilot, Jeffrey Buckalew, owned the plane and had a pilot's license. Also aboard the plane, which was headed to the Atlanta area, were Buckalew's wife, Corinne; their two children, Jackson and Meriwether; Rakesh Chawla, who worked with Buckalew at a New York investment banking firm; and a dog.

The banking firm, Greenhill & Co., described Buckalew and Chawla as managing directors and said Buckalew was "an experienced pilot whose passion was flying."

About 14 minutes after the plane left New Jersey's Teterboro Airport, Buckalew asked air traffic controllers about icing, Robert Gretz of the National Transportation Safety Board told a news briefing. "Icing was the subject of the conversation, but I don't know further details," he said. Gretz refused to say whether ice on the small plane's wings could have caused it to spiral out of control.

Wreckage was strewn for more than half a mile over the suburban area, which is about 45 miles west of New York City. The crash occurred in view of people driving along the heavily traveled highway.

"It was like the plane was doing tricks or something, twirling and flipping," one witness, Chris Covello, told the Associated Press. "It started going straight down. I thought any second they were going to pull up. But then the wing came off and they went straight down."

The plane was a French-made Socata TBM-700, which can carry six people. It did not have a black box and was not equipped with a de-icing system.

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Plane crashes onto busy New Jersey highway

A small plane crashed onto a busy highway Tuesday in northern New Jersey west of New York City, killing at least three people and littering the road with debris.

State police said three people had died but the death toll could go as high as five, according to the Associated Press and local media.

A woman who witnessed the crash, Shona Sternberg, told the Star-Ledger newspaper that she saw an explosion when the aircraft hit Interstate 287 in Harding, N.J., about 45 miles outside Manhattan.

 "There was a lot of fire and big black smoke," she said. "I could smell burning, burnt rubber. You see something happening, you know it's going to crash and you can't do anything."

Sternberg told the newspaper it appeared the small plane's right wing broke off before the crash.

The Associated Press quoted witnesses as saying that the plane, reportedly headed for Atlanta, spiraled out of control before crashing.

Federal Aviation Administration officials said the plane was a Socata TBM-700, a single-engine plane that can carry up to six people. It left Teterboro Airport in New Jersey and disappeared from radar before crashing onto the highway.

-- Tina Susman

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Deadly winter storm sweeps Great Plains; more snow, wind expected

A powerful winter storm blew across the Southwest and was moving over the Great Plains on Tuesday after dumping nearly a foot of snow in places, causing deadly accidents and closing highways in five states.

Weather forecasters are warning that the storm is likely to snarl holiday travel across the region. Hotels were filling up Tuesday along major roadways from eastern New Mexico to Kansas.

About 10 inches of snow had fallen in western Kansas before dawn  and several more inches — along with strong wind gusts — were expected, National Weather Service meteorologist Tim Burke in Dodge City, Kan., told The Times.

He said some light snow and flurries were expected Tuesday as the storm moves east.

“It’s moving into eastern Kansas, but it’s lost a lot of its uplift, which produces snow, and a lot of its moisture has already fallen out of it in the Oklahoma and Texas Panhandles,” Burke said.

He said his office had one report of 13 inches of snow falling in rural northwest Kansas near Scott City, and several other foot-deep snow reports in a band stretching from Hays over to Wakeeney and Dighton, which lead to the closure of nearby I-70.

“For this time of December, it is a little unusual,” Burke said of the storm. “But we usually get one storm or two this big.”

The storm was blamed for at least six deaths Monday in the region, authorities said. Four people were killed when their vehicle collided with a pickup truck in snowy eastern New Mexico, and a prison guard and inmate died when a prison van they were riding in crashed in icy eastern Colorado.

In addition, the storm may have also contributed to the crash of a single-engine plane headed from Georgia to Waco, Texas, Monday night near its destination. The crash killed all five people aboard, two of them children, authorities said.

In northern New Mexico, snow and ice shuttered all roads from Raton to the Texas and Oklahoma borders about 90 miles away, authorities said. Hotels in Clayton, N.M., just east of where the three states touch, were nearly full, according to the Associated Press.

While the storm took a toll on the region, it also had a bright side: bringing much needed moisture — first rain, then snow as temperatures dropped — to areas of Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas decimated by a drought that has dragged on since summer 2010.

Burke said areas of southern Kansas that have been experiencing severe drought conditions reported having received a half-inch to 1-1/12 inches of rain and snow Monday.

“I don’t think it will end the drought, but it will help them,” he said. “When you get a rain followed by a snow, that snow will help the moisture stay in the ground.”

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Photo: A truck driver heads west toward a winter storm along I-70 near Topeka, Kan., on Tuesday. The interstate is closed in both directions in western Kansas. Credit: Orlin Wagner/Associated Press.

Crash of small plane in Texas kills five

Five people, including a 13-year-old girl and a 2-year-old boy, were killed Monday night when a small plane headed from Georgia to Waco, Texas, crashed near its destination.

According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Piper Saratoga took off from an airfield south of the city, stopped in Jackson, Miss., then ran into bad weather in Texas.

Three adults -- two men and a woman -- were also killed in the crash. Four of the dead were from the Atlanta area. The pilot was from Texas, the newspaper reported.

The names of the dead were withheld pending notification of their families.

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Photo: A 1980 photo of a Piper Saratoga. Credit: Associated Press