Nation in brief: House bill extends pilot retirements
The House voted unanimously Tuesday to extend the retirement age for commercial pilots to 65, changing a 1960 Federal Aviation Administration regulation forcing pilots to leave the cockpit at age 60.
The bill, if approved by the Senate, would put the U.S. retirement age in line with international standards. The International Civil Aviation Organization adopted a retirement age of 65 in November, 2006. The measure passed on a 390-0 vote.
“Each day that passes without raising the retirement age to 65, approximately five of our senior, most experienced pilots will be forced to retire,” Transportation Committee Chairman James Oberstar, D-Minn., said.
The bill would require pilots who reach age 60 to have a medical certificate renewed every six months, to continue to participate in FAA pilot training and qualification programs, and be administered a line check every six months.
DENVER
Church shooter posted threats
In between his two deadly shooting sprees, church gunman Matthew Murray apparently posted furious threats on the Internet to kill Christians. But whether the warnings reached police before he struck again was unclear Tuesday.
The warnings – and other anguished, despair-filled messages over the past few months – were posted by someone using the screen name “nghtmrchld26.” The postings paint a picture of a home-schooled Colorado youth once affiliated with the Youth With a Mission program – as 24-year-old Murray had been.
An autopsy determined that Murray killed himself with a bullet to the head after he was brought down by gunfire from a volunteer security guard at the church, authorities said.
NEW YORK
Potential juror had hidden blades
A man reporting for jury duty was arrested when security discovered that his cane concealed a 21/2 -foot sword and a 6-inch dagger, police said.
Vladislav Lisetskiy, 40, was arrested Monday at Brooklyn Supreme Court as he attempted to pass through security, police said.
The cane “attracted attention because of the way it looked,” said Maj. Luz Bryan, commander of courthouse police. “It had two metal bands. It’s an indication that something is concealed. My officers noticed it right away.”
New York state law prohibits concealed blades or knives.
“He kept saying that he didn’t know it was illegal,” Bryan said.
Lisetskiy was charged with misdemeanor criminal possession of a weapon.