[ RadSafe ] Hazardous Instruments Keep Pilots From Planes

[Cadanau, Rod]

from avweb:
http://www.avweb.com/eletter/archives/avflash/394-full.html#189679

Hazardous Instruments Keep Pilots From Planes
 At least 12 aircraft owners at Chino Airport in California have been
unable to get to their airplanes for more than a month because of their
neighbor's hobby of collecting luminescent dialed instruments. San
Bernardino County officials say there are enough old airplane
instruments painted with radium-226 inside two hangars occupied by
Preservation Aviation Inc. to create a radiation hazard. Since March 10,
authorities have barred access to neighboring hangars. Airport manager
James Jenkins told the Daily Bulletin that the neighboring aircraft are
not contaminated but the area around them is off-limits. The county
estimates it will cost more than $200,000 to collect all the instruments
and dispose of them safely. Because the county owns one of the hangars
and the land under the other, it will undertake the cleanup but will be
looking to get the money back from Preservation Aviation owner Jeff
Pearson, who wasn't available to comment. This is the second time the
company has been at the center of a radiation scare. The Chino
investigation stemmed from the Environmental Protection Agency's 2004
probe of a North Hollywood warehouse in which Preservation Aviation
stored thousands of radium-containing instruments. Radiation levels in
that warehouse were 100 times greater than normal. The Los Angeles Daily
News reported at the time that the cost of that cleanup was $7 million. 

Also:
Delta Pilot Hurt By Laser
 A second Delta Air Lines pilot has suffered eye injuries resulting from
a laser being pointed at his aircraft. The unidentified first officer on
a 737 was taken for medical treatment after reportedly being hit with
the laser while the plane was on approach to Dallas-Ft. Worth
International Airport last Tuesday. The plane landed safely. FBI
spokeswoman Lori Bailey said the pilot was lased when the plane was six
miles out at about 9,000 feet. Details of the pilot's condition were not
available. As AVweb told you in March, another Delta pilot told Congress
of the effects of a laser attack on his airplane last September. Perry
Winder testified that he suffered intense pain and the affected eye
remains sensitive to light. He was off work for more than two weeks
because of the incident, which happened while the plane approached Salt
Lake City last September. Last March 10, the flying pilot on a
Continental flight had to turn over the controls to the first officer
after suffering blurred vision from a lasing. 

Rod Cadanau
Radiation Safety Officer
Occupational Safety and Industrial Hygiene
Boeing St. Louis
Mail Code S111-2491
phone 314-777-9229