Airplane News: FedEx and UPS reducing pilot numbers, Man gets 15 months for pointing laser at helicopter, Women hurt after scale B29 hits golf cart, and a pilot who survived a crash in the Everglades.

First up this week is FedEx and UPS, who both seem to have too many pilots.

FedEx and UPS have advised pilots to take severance offers and move to American Airlines subsidiary PSA.

PSA is offering existing FedEx and USP pilots a $250,000 bonus and a left seat job in Embraer and CRJ regional jets.

While $250,000 sounds like a ton of money, it’s less than a year’s pay for senior captains at UPS and FedEx.

FedEx went as far as saying they don’t have enough business to keep all their pilots fully employed.

Fedex VP of flight operations said

“While I understand this is not something that will appeal to every pilot, for those of you who are frustrated with current flight hours, career progression, or have just been on the fence about available options, you may consider this unique opportunity enough of an incentive to make a move,”

Some speculations say FedEx may have 700 extra pilots or more as shipping volumes have turned down.

We’ll keep you updated if we see anything else about this!

Next up this week is a man in Omaha who pointed a green laser at a helicopter.

34 Year Old Richard Detty was on a smoke break when he shined the laser at buildings to see how far it would go before turning the laser on a helicopter.

The helicopter turned out to be a police helicopter who found the location of the laser using a camera array.

Getty was arrested and pled guilty stating “I was not aware it was a crime,” and “I regret my actions.”.

Getty was sentenced to 15 months in prison and two years of supervised release.

Don’t point lasers at aircraft.

The third story this week is a scale B29, which collided with a golf cart injuring a bystander.

The incident occurred at Glendale Airport near Kokomo, Indiana.

The replica B29 has a 50 foot wingspan, is 35 feet long, and is driven by four Honda Fit car engines.

The 35% replica of the B29 Superfortress was on landing when it drifted and struck a golf card causing the cart to rollover and knock a women filming the landing unconscious.

The pilot of the scale replica was apparently uninjured.

Crazy story!

Last up this week is a lucky pilot in Florida who survived a night time crash in the Everglades.

A pilot in a C172 crashed into alligator infested waters around 4AM from an altitude of 2000 feet.

The aircraft, owned by a flight school wasn’t reported missing until 10:30 the following morning.

Miami-Dade fire Rescue located the down Skyhawk with the Pilot sitting on the wing of the sunken airplane.

The pilot of the 172 was then winched into the Fire Rescue helicopter with a non-life threatening leg injury.

Another crazy story with a happy outcome!

Alright, that’s it!

Have a great weekend, and we’ll see you next week!

https://www.avweb.com/aviation-news/florida-pilot-survives-crash-landing-and-several-hours-in-the-everglades/

https://nebraskaexaminer.com/briefs/omaha-man-gets-15-months-in-prison-for-aiming-laser-pointer-at-police-helicopter/

https://www.avweb.com/aviation-news/fedex-pilots-advised-to-work-for-regional-airline/

https://www.avweb.com/aviation-news/193-ups-pilots-take-buyouts-regional-offers-soft-landing

https://www.avweb.com/aviation-news/woman-hurt-in-collision-with-scaled-piloted-b-29-replica/