It's a moot question, really. Unless an athlete has taken the time to sort through reams of FAA data -- as ESPN.com has done on some of the companies that fly teams around the country -- he probably would never know anything about the planes that his school hired for him and his teammates.
And his school isn't likely to have checked, either. Iowa athletic director Bob Bowlsby, whose teams use those old Convairs and other planes in the FlightTime fleet, said FlightTime provided no information about their planes' history or safety record when bidding for the contract.
Moreover, no one at Iowa has ever sought that data.
"I am not aware of any (school) that charters that does those kinds of background checks," Bowlsby said. He places total faith in the federal government: "The FAA does a very capable job of ensuring that the planes that are in the air, and the people who are flying them, are airworthy."
Aviation experts say colleges need to show more due diligence than that.
|  | | A fireman looks over the wreckage of a DC-9 jet that was carrying the Marshall University football team in Kenova, W.Va., on Nov. 15, 1970. All 75 persons aboard were killed. |
"A school needs to check into whoever they charter the airplane from," said Bob Vandel, executive vice president of the Flight Safety Foundation, a nonprofit agency funded by the aviation industry. "I think it's incumbent upon a university, if it's going to put its basketball or football team or any kind of student assemblage on a plane, to have that charter operator audited."
Since the January plane crash and death of 10 people including two players on the Oklahoma State basketball team, some colleges have begun reviewing their travel procedures. After all, the gut-level reaction to the tragedy by many athletes around the country -- that it could have happened to any team -- is based on more than some vague fear of flying. Check the list of sports-related plane crashes. Most involve charter or private aircraft.
The popularity of charter team travel has only grown over the past decade.
Charter can save money and class time, avoiding the usual hassles (delays, baggage, security) that come with using a major commercial carrier. The planes wait to take off when the team is ready, even if the game goes into overtime and ends past midnight. But charter often means flying in smaller, older aircraft. It often means prop planes that have trouble getting above the turbulent weather and are more susceptible to de-icing problems. And pilots are asked to land these planes in remote college towns with small airports, short runways and limited equipment.
"The safety of charters is comparable to the major commercial airlines -- for the good ones," said Robert E. Breiling, a Florida-based aviation consultant. "But how do you pick a good one? Payne Stewart didn't."
Stewart's crash still a mystery
Federal investigators never were able to determine why the Learjet carrying the late golfer lost cabin pressure and crashed into the South Dakota grasslands in September 1999. But what they did find when they went through the paperwork of the airplane's owner, SunJet Aviation of Sanford, Fla., should serve as a wake-up call for better review of the charter companies. Not just by wealthy pro athletes -- but by any team or athlete.
The National Transportation Safety Board discovered shortfalls in the training of its pilots and sloppy-record procedures. SunJet failed to keep required maintenance logs or produce copies of the most recent mechanical problem. Instead, a worker there said crews usually noted problems verbally or on a slip of paper. That was hardly the best way for the company or FAA to identify potentially deadly problems.
Aviation experts say an independent audit can reveal those types of deficiencies. An auditor visits a facility, checks out the planes, talks to the personnel and studies the company's records. The report gives the client a more complete picture of the operation than that provided by the FAA, which "does do inspections -- but they have a limited work force," Vandel said.
FlightTime has not audited the companies that supply it with planes, said Joe Quinn, the company's director of flight operations. Still, teams should feel safe flying on the planes because his company monitors their FAA records and stays in regular contact with those companies. He said the older planes' FAA files suggest that proper measures have been taken when broken parts or insufficient maintenance are identified.
"The layman sees these records and says, 'Wow, the plane's unsafe,' " Quinn said. "But what these records mean is, the FAA is doing its job. I'd be concerned if there were no violations because that could mean the FAA isn't checking."
Quinn emphasizes that, in 16 years in the business, FlightTime has never had an accident involving a team charter. This academic year alone, the company's basketball program handled 1,574 flights without incident. They use only companies that operate under the same regulations as the major commercial carriers.
Still, some schools are reluctant to get on the oldest planes. About 30 of the teams that use FlightTime have told the company they don't want to fly on either of the two kinds of prop planes in the fleet, the Convairs or the Fokker F-27s from the early 1970s. They insist on using the only jets available -- the newer, faster Canadair Regional Jets.
"Those old propeller planes look like they're going to fall apart at any moment," said Mark Vershaw, a Wisconsin basketball player. "They say they're safe. But that's the first thing we look for when our bus pulls out on to the runway -- 'Geez, it's a propeller!' "
Vershaw was a freshman in 1997 when his team had to make an emergency landing on its way to a game at Ball State after a malfunctioning warning light announced that one of the engines was on fire. Everyone was safe, but in the ensuing days they learned that the FAA record for the Convair included 54 mechanical difficulties, including a pair of unscheduled landings due to frozen landing gear and a stalled engine.
After that season, FlightTime dumped the company that owned that plane for what Quinn said were reasons that had nothing to do with safety. FlightTime now gets all three of its Convairs from a different company, Era Aviation, an Alaska-based regional carrier that during the summer months uses the planes to ferry tourists and oil workers to remote parts of the state.
|
“ |
Do I want to get in a 50-year-old airplane, on a charter? Probably not. ” |
|
|
— Bob Vandel of the Flight Safety Foundation |
To service planes that were already old when today's players were born, Era puts a mechanic on every Convair flight -- lest the plane breaks down in some college town without a repair facility experienced in fixing the venerable bird. Quinn said over the years most parts on the plane have been replaced.
"I'd like to dispel the idea that older aircraft are not safe, just because they're older," Vandel said. Federal regulations require "that these aircraft be looked at and gone through thoroughly as part of a specific maintenance program."
And yet he can understand why some teams don't want to fly on those planes.
"Do I want to get in a 50-year-old airplane, on a charter?" Vandel said. "Probably not."
Under FAA scrutiny
In February 2000, Era was cited by the FAA for a maintenance violation on one of the Convairs that had a deicing issue on a prop blade. It was one of 60 enforcement violations the FAA has hit Era with since 1990, although none have resulted in a large fine or the closure of operations.
That isn't the case with one of its main competitors in the team charter category, Great Lakes Aviation. The carrier of choice for 14 college teams in the Midwest, Great Lakes was hit with a $1 million fine (later reduced to $300,000) in 1997 for flying aircraft that the FAA deemed "unairworthy." The company, which handles some of United Airlines' commuter routes, suspended operations for a week to re-train all mechanics and inspect every plane.
Records show that one of the planes that came under scrutiny during that period is one currently designated for use by college teams, a Brazilian-made 30-seat Embraer. Twice the right engine malfunctioned in flight, once it lost power and a fourth time it suffered a deicing problem -- all in 1996. The plane was later tied to eight FAA violations, including two related to maintenance and four related to pilot competency and training.
A Great Lakes executive said its FAA problems were due to a difference in opinion about procedures.
"We had meetings with several athletic directors to give them our side of the story," said Dick Fontaine, senior vice president of marketing. "They obviously were convinced (of Great Lakes' safety measures) because they stayed with us."
Among the schools that chose to continue using Great Lakes was Iowa State, where officials read about Great Lakes' problems in local newspapers. Al Brooks, purchasing agent for the school, said Iowa State feels comfortable using the company's charters because "it's not unusual to see a company shut down for maintenance issues."
Still, the Flight Safety Foundation's audit service generally recommends only companies that have not been shut down by the FAA in the past five years.
Alternate routes
Larry Eustachy, the Iowa State men's basketball coach, does not fly on those team charters, preferring to drive to games within 10 hours and take commercial airlines to games farther away. Eustachy did not respond to interview requests. Cyclones athletic director Bruce Van De Velde said Eustachy's decision not to fly on those planes was unrelated to Great Lakes' record or the safety of those small charters but rather stems from a desire to spend time away from the team.
Eustachy's decision to travel separately has not been an issue with his players. But from a distance, others in the Big 12 Conference find it odd.
|
BREATHE DEEP
|
|
After the Oklahoma State crash, members of the Iowa women's basketball team asked questions about the safety of the planes it uses. Some players were unnerved to learn that one of the older planes had only three oxygen masks on board.
"That would save about three people," said Jennie Lillis, a freshman forward.
No problem, said Paul Landis, an Era Aviation executive. He said the company's Convairs are not required by the Federal Aviation Administration to have oxygen masks for passengers because they fly below 25,000 feet where de-pressurization can be less of a problem.
"It's not a life-threatening kind of deal," he said. "Now, Payne Stewart's (Learjet) -- that's where oxygen comes into play. Those planes fly at 30,000 feet."
Landis said each Convair does have three oxygen masks, but they're not designated for use by passengers. Asked why the two pilots and lone flight attendant get them if depressurization is not a concern, he said, "You want to give the flight crew every advantage you can."
-- Tom Farrey
|
"I would feel weird and question the fact of why the coaches aren't on our charter flight," said Stephane Pelle, a sophomore forward at Colorado. "If he feels insecure, well, he must have a reason. So why is he going to put us in that situation?"
To soothe nerves after the Oklahoma State tragedy, the Colorado athletic department stopped using charter planes for its basketball teams. Women's basketball coach Ceal Barry said the local company they had used provided good service but they made the switch from the 17-seat planes because some players were rattled while bouncing around the same often treacherous Colorado skies from which the Oklahoma State plane fell.
Now the Buffaloes make a 45-minute drive to Denver International Airport where they board the same commercial flights as the general public.
"If I said, 'Look, we're going to charter because we're going to get there quicker and we're going to be more competitive because we're not going to be sitting around in airports three hours waiting for a delayed flight,' the (players) would have gone that way," Barry said. "But I think our players here, they do trust me (to make the safest decision). I feel the weight of that on my shoulders."
Said Colorado freshman center Tera Bjorklund: "When you're younger it's always your parents making these decisions and now they're not here. I know my parents were really concerned about this because they don't really have a choice and it's just leaving it all up to the school and just hoping they make the right decision."
Bowlsby, a former recreational pilot, said Colorado's move is an over-reaction to the Oklahoma State tragedy.
"It's something that I don't think is warranted at this point," he said. "Our experiences with the charter service we're using have been very positive."
Still, Iowa women's basketball coach Lisa Bluder suspects that beginning this year, prospects will demand more information about the planes on which they are going to spend the next four years. If Oklahoma State changed anything, it pierced the notion that what goes up will always come down -- in one piece.
"When I talked to recruits in the past, it's been more of a luxury issue," Bluder said. "It's been about the prestige of flying charter. It's not ever really been a safety issue with parents, and this could change this year. I think that's something we have to be prepared to talk about in the home. We're going to have to have the track records of the safety issues for our Convairs and such."
Faith in flying isn't lost. Just some of the blind faith.
Tom Farrey is a senior writer with ESPN.com. He can be reached at Tom.Farrey@ESPN.com.  Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories
|
|
ALSO SEE
How to check on planes' safety record
Investigation continues in OSU plane crash
Dangerous skies
Title IX debate goes airborne
Comparing travel budgets for men's, women's basketball teams
Iowa women fly solo
At what cost safety?
Rising from the ashes
The Marshall air disaster affected many lives
Major-league frequent fliers
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Colorado freshman Tera Bjorklund says her school now makes decisions her parents once made.
wav: 88 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Flight safety expert Bob Vandel said schools need to show due diligence in checking out planes.
wav: 48 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
 Iowa athletic director Bob Bowlsby says Colorado has over-reacted to the Oklahoma State tragedy.
avi: 584 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Flight safety expert Bob Vandel says he probably wouldn't get on a 50-year-old charter plane.
avi: 325 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
|
