October 29, 2010
FAA Investigating Senator Inhofe's Closed Runway Landing
By Glenn Pew, Contributing Editor, Video Editor






The FAA Wednesday confirmed it is investigating an incident involving Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., who, on Oct. 21, landed a Cessna 340 on an occupied closed runway at Port Isabel-Cameron County Airport, Texas, without causing injury. Inhofe is 75 and has 50 years flying experience, plus a commercial certificate. He was reportedly carrying three others in the light twin when he made the landing on a runway bearing oversized painted "X"s, a large red truck, other vehicles, and construction workers. The workers were using loud equipment at the time and didn't hear the plane's approach, so one person ran to warn them. A supervisor immediately reported the incident to the FAA and told TulsaWorld.com he was "still shaking" when he reached the hangar to confront the pilot. For his part, Inhofe said he didn't see the "X"s until late on final and landed "well off to the side" of the workers. Following his unorthodox arrival, Inhofe Saturday notified "an airport official" of his intent and used a taxiway for departure, according to The Washington Post. The senator has since spoken with the FAA and will "just wait and see what happens." That hasn't stopped him from offering reporters some form of explanation.
TulsaWorld.com reports that Inhofe said he was unaware of the runway's closure NOTAM because of "a bad relationship he has with one individual, who the Senator said declined to take his phone calls before the flight and did not tell him about the NOTAM." In the Washington Post's coverage, Inhofe said an airport official "hates me, I don't know why." The FAA's current interest is why the landing happened while the runway was clearly marked with the requisite oversized "X"s. It will attempt to determine why Inhofe was apparently not aware of a NOTAM about the closure and investigate the circumstances of the taxiway departure. In his 50 years as a pilot, Inhofe has experienced at least two other publicized incidents. In 1999, Inhofe suffered an emergency landing when his aircraft lost its propeller, and in 2006 he ground-looped a Vans RV-8 built by his son.