Quick Takes

Thirteen people were killed in the Aug. 5 crash of an ATR 72 off the coast of Sicily. As authorities investigate the crash of the plan operated by Tuninter, a Tunisian charter service, the probe has focused on the plane's fuel. While flying from the Adriatic port of Bari to the Tunisian resort city of Djerba, the plane crashed into the sea after it failed to reach the Palermo airport for an emergency landing.
Twenty-three, including the pilot, survived the accident. Both engines quit within minutes of each other. Investigators are now trying to determine if the fuel provided in Bari was contaminated with either water or kerosene. The aircraft was built in 1992 and had logged 29,710 flight hours and 34,790 cycles as of May, according to ATR. The aircraft was insured for $15.4 million.

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) wants to know what time it is in Indiana. Specifically, DOT is seeking citizen and community input in an effort to establish a uniform dividing line between Eastern and Central time zones. Indiana's government and state legislature petitioned DOT to step in and fix the boundary as part of its rule-making process. However, state officials did not offer an opinion as to where the line should be drawn.
The current line between the time zones snakes along the state's western border, but cuts in and out in such a way as to place some counties in the Central time zone while most of the state remains in the Eastern zone. A long-time holdout, the state adopted legislation to participate in daylight savings time next year; but this is not subject DOT's review. DOT wants comments by Sept. 16 and it specifically notes that it would like information on the airports that residents use and what time zones these airports are in.

Although it is claiming it will maintain its schedule during any potential strike, Northwest Airlines [NWAC] says it will implement its fall schedule on Aug. 20, or about a week early. Its mechanics could strike as early as Aug. 19. The fall schedule has fewer flights than the summer schedule. The carrier has reportedly made plans to use buses to re-route passengers should it cancel flights due to a strike. It has also made arrangements with a charter service to provide aircraft if necessary. Its Northwest AirLink partners, Pinnacle Airlines [PNCL] and Mesaba Airlines [MAIR] have said that they anticipate Northwest flying a full schedule and relying upon them to fly their normal schedules (RAN, Aug. 1).

Aviation Today