Anyone know the registration of Senator Kennedy’s Citation that diverted to New Haven today (Saturday), after being struck by lightning?
http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/05/13/kennedy.plane.ap/index.html
The linked article says, “The Democrat had just delivered the commencement address at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts in North Adams and was on his way his Cape Cod home when the plane was struck around 4 p.m., she said. The jet landed at New Haven at 4:11 p.m. without incident, said Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Arlene Murray.”
Neither Bradley International (KBDL) nor Tweed New Haven (KHVN) show arrival activity from MA in a reasonable window around 4:11 p.m.
Harriman and West Airport, North Adams (KAQW) shows no IFR departures today.
This one is interesting though. From the article, “The eight-seat Cessna Citation 550 plane lost all electrical power, …”
Check out N505RP, a Citation 550 owned by Boston Air Charter Company, which flew from Pittsfield (KPSF) near North Adams to Barnstable (KHYA) near Hyannisport at about the same time this afternoon. It may not have been the senator’s plane, but one dollar will get you ten that it was chartered by some part of the Kennedy clan.
As for “Senator Kennedy’s Citation”, it’s unlikely that he owns his own plane. Charter is a far better alternative. For safety reasons, it was probably IFR, rather than VFR. That leads to a final conclusion – that the Senator’s flights are ‘blocked’.
If I were a big-name senator, I’d sure have my staff make sure that any plane I was flying in would be blocked to tracking.
You’re right, and if it diverted, it doesn’t always show up as an arrival at the airport it landed at. It said in the article:
Kennedy planned to stay in Connecticut overnight because he was scheduled to deliver another commencement address at Springfield College on Sunday, she said.
So it should be interesting to watch departures from those airports today, unless the senator decides to switch planes on us.
That’s what I was assuming, guess I should have worded it better.
So far, FlightFinder shows no completed or scheduled flights between KHVN/KHYA or KBDL/KHYA.
I think his flights are going to be blocked.
That family truly is cursed…Off topic (but funny), who would you rather fly with, John-John (RIP) or Patrick? 
[quote=“planeaholic”]
Cursed? Most of their problems are self created.
exactly, i mean lay off the jack and coke Ted! 
Exactly! Can anyone say Chapaquitic??? TK wasn’t cursed, his passenger was!
Really? With the exception of Ted, who’s a drunk like his father, how did Jack and Bobby cause their own assasinations, or Joe Jr. cause his own plane crash during WWII?
Regards,
James
“and the pilot had to fly the plane manually”
Heaven forbid.
Thank goodness that the pilot summoned his super human skills and guided a sure death trap to a safe landing.
God how I hate the media.
“With the exception of Ted…” Exception??? What about Patrick? What about William Kennedy Smith? What about David Kennedy? Ted is not the exception, he’s the rule.
Regarding Jack and Bobby, neither you nor I know will ever know half of what happened. I’m not a conspiracy theorist but its well known Jack and Bobby had some ties to the Chicago mob. Jack created some of, if not all of his own problems (Maryland Monroe and whatever that whole episode brought with it).
At the time AA Flight 587 went down in Queens I was enroute to LGA from MCO with my MIL after attending a wedding.
We wound up race tracking for a while with snippets of info coming from the cockpit, primarily saying that all NYC airports were closed but NOT saying why, and then were diverted to Atlantic City, NJ where we were surrounded by NJ and Philadelphia media upon disembarking.
I guess I was considered somewhat photogenic as I was busily engaged on my cell-enabled laptop in an attempt to get some further information as to what had occurred. At this point we knew there had been a plane crash, but we didn’t know what had caused it and we were all thinking it was another 9/11 attack.
Some of the reporters asked if they could ask me some questions and I agreed, hoping they would be pertinent to activities on my flight. Most of the questions flung at me were OK and along the lines of where I was coming from and going to, and what the aircraft crew had told us was the reason for diverting.
However, one Philly talking head who’s known for her breathless coverage of local events pushed to the fore, shoved her mike in my face and asked me if I had been scared. Of course I replied. At which point she moved in even closer and asked me exactly what I had been afraid of.
I straightfaced replied that I had been MOST afraid that some idiot talking head would stick a microphone in my face and ask me moronic questions.
Her station didn’t run the tape.
But all the others did!
I heard about that interview from local friends for months afterwards.
Regards,
James
Wow, what a great story. Wish I could see the look on that reporter’s face! 
Thanks.
No more than I wish I’d had the presence of mind to tape it that night!
It wasn’t until I called my son (CFIJames) at N14 and asked him to jump in one of the 172s or the Archer and hop over to AC and get us that I found out that ALL flights in the area were grounded, commercial as well as GA.
We were very fortunate in that I live less than an hour away from AC by car. Most of the folks on the plane with us waited a very long time for buses sent from NYC to pick them up and take them to LGA.
We had family members living in the impact area at the time. Fortunately they were all at work or school and their home was several blocks from the crash site.
Regards,
James
Yes, they ARE a bunch of spoiled rich brats who have never heard “No” or learned about self-control, but weird things happen to the somewhat “normal” ones like JFK Jr. The drinking, drugs, and adultery are their own undoing, but plane crashes and assassinations? You’d be hard-pressed to find that much misfortune in a hundred families, let alone one. I’m in no way blaming “the curse” for Ted’s drinking, Pat’s addiction(s), John’s Clinton-esque love life, William Kennedy Smith’s “consentual” rape, …
BTW, I think Teddy prefers Chivas to rum. 
It’s also a matter of the fact that they are such prolific breeders. The large, extended family has to contain a certain number of ne’er do wells just as a matter of statistical probability. But there are far more among the “clan” whom you never hear of simply because they are “normal”.
On the two occasions I’ve seen him at NYYC hosted functions in Newport he was drinking sparkling water.
But, I’m of the generation that coined the phrase:
TMI - Zero.
Chappaquiddick - 1!
Regards,
James
[quote="JHEM
]
Maybe he was “hydrating” for later. [/quote]
I JUST CAN’T STAND IT ANY LONGER…I HAVE TO SAY IT!!! IT HAS BEEN KILLING ME ALL DAY!!!
TED KENNEDY = JABBA THE HUT!!
Ok, I feel much better now…
Would any of you believe that an econ professor at a very liberal school used to make fun of the Kennedy family as examples for Macro and Micro???
I loved that class!
It’s mineral water for that. 
Could have been Perrier!
Regards,
James