JPATS MD-83 (N965AS) at Sunset in Arizona
If you have been following the Colton Harris-Moore saga recently, you know he was caught and flown via “Con Air” from Miami to Seattle. Even though he had stolen some planes to fly himself and had a huge love for aviation, this was his first flight on an airliner. Seeing the photo of the MD-80 taking him across country, it made me wonder what the real “Con Air” is like versus seeing it in movies and I decided to check it out.
It is much different than what’s portrayed in the movie Con Air or the flight sequence on US Marshals. Due to FAA regulations, passengers cannot be locked into their seats or in cages. However, this doesn’t mean they get a nice ride. Inmates have their legs and hands locked together and depending on the situation, could be wearing a full face mask. There is no meal service and having to use the restroom means you get escorted by a few guards.
In 1995 the air fleets of the Immigration and Naturalization Services (now known as ICE) and the US Marshals were combined under the new name Justice Prisoner and Alien Transportation System (JPATS). The JPATS transports criminals all over the country for a court appearance or to be transferred to a new facility. They also conduct deportation flights, taking deportable illegal aliens to their home country. In 2009 JPATS moved 345,862 prisoners and almost 200,000 were transported via air.
A prisoner is not told of his flight until the last possible minute and schedules are kept secret. This limits someone’s ability to mess with the flight and the passenger’s ability to formulate an escape plan. Guards are not able to carry guns or even mace. They are trained in proper security procedures to make sure the flight gets to its destination and keep the criminals properly in their seats.
Most of the prisoners flying JPATS are federal detainees and illegal aliens moving between US Marshal offices, Federal Bureau of Prisons correctional facilities and international destinations for the removal of deportable aliens. But JPATS also offers to move military, state and local prisoners through cooperative agreements for a cost. In 2005, the cost for an out side agency to fly a prisoner one way was about $1150.00 and they don’t even get peanuts. But they do get security and possibly temporary housing until being picked up at their destination if needed.
I had a hard time trying to track down the current JPATS fleet, but found luck when speaking with Scott A. Wilhelm Cheif of Flight Operations for JPATS. He told me, “We (JPATS) currently operate the following owned/leased aircraft: 6 MD-83, 2 Hawker 800, 1 Saab 2000 and 1 BE-99.” The smaller aircraft will be used for the best of the best criminals who are deemed too dangerous to fly with the general population.
So if you think your next flight is like being in a cattle car, you might want to think about the fine folks flying on a JPATS flight. They might be free for the passengers, but they won’t have nearly as much fun at their destination.
Additional Information:
* Photo of chartered Champion Air Boeing 727 to transport convicts seen at KPAE
* Photos of some of the aircraft used (scroll down)
* Story how JPSATS is helpful via US Marshal’s website
* Journalist takes a JPSATS flight via the Guardian
Thanks Dorothy!
Image by: Joe Stremph
Lufthansa Airbus A340, US Airways Boeing 737, UPS Airbus A310 and two Boeing 727-100's for NASCAR
There are a lot of good places to look at photos of airliners. I can spend hours going through and looking at them. Some of my favorites are those from readers that send in ones they have taken and I really want to be able to share them. If you take photos of airlines and want to share, feel free to email them on over and I might post a few as well.
This one is taken at Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT) by Drew. You can see a Lufthansa Airbus A340 getting ready to take off, as well as a US Airways Boeing 737 on the left. What’s really cool about this one is you can see two Boeing 727-100’s in the background by the UPS Airbus A310, that are still flying,
Those two Boeing 727-100’s are owned by Jack Roush with NASCAR. They were converted to have 90 seats and used to shuttle NASCAR crew from one race to another. It looks like Roush bought both planes from MGM and they spend quite a bit of time at CLT.
LARGER VERSION
Virgin America's RED now packs a stronger punch!
One of the problems of flying Virgin America for the first time is having to compare all other domestic in-flight entertainment systems to Virgin’s RED. Last week Virgin showed off a few nifty upgrades to their already powerful system. Unfortunately I was not able to attend, but I was able to send a correspondent, Rita Harvey, to cover the event in San Fransisco. Here are her thoughts in her own words:
David asked me to fly to San Francisco (SFO) to represent him and Airline Reporter as Virgin America (VA) unveiled their new in-flight features. Having never flown VA before, I jumped at the chance. It was definitely a unique flying experience; the cool lighting as you walk on board, entertaining safety video and having more in-flight distractions than I knew what to do with at my fingertips.
After arriving at the gate in San Fransisco where their plane and employees were waiting to show off the new features, I got to board and was greeted with a glass of champagne. At this point, I knew I was in for a treat. I was escorted into the first class area and was given a one on one demo of what they’re adding [argh I haven’t even been able to sit in VA first class yet -David].
One huge thing that will be new is having Sky Mall built into their entertainment system. The Red Store, as they are calling it, has over 200 products to choose from. As it states on the main screen, ’œranging from little necessities to the coolest must haves’. I was pretty shocked to see a diamond encrusted iPhone for sale, only $38,000.
The next new feature that they have involves their food and beverage selection. There are going to be cocktails available that have been created specifically for their airline. I got to have one of their creations which was called a ’œCocktail With Altitude’ (ok, it might just be a normal drink with a fancy name, but that’s alright). Something else that they’re doing is offering food pairings. When the food ordering screen comes up, you’ll have the option to check out a whole slew of food, side, and drink combinations that complement each other. An example of this is their tapas platter, chocolate bar and either a non-alcoholic drink or an alcoholic one. Along with all of this, there will now be the option to open a tab. You can either choose to just buy that one thing or swipe your card once and leave the option to keep your tab open. Both of these will most likely entice passengers to part with their money more quickly.
The final upgrade is with their Google Maps. They’re now more accurate and now you can view the terrain. Having a map to see where your plane is and what landscape you are approaching is pretty cool.
Not only was it fun to get to experience this little jaunt down to SFO to check out Virgin’s entertainment upgrades but it was a pleasant first flight on Virgin for me, to and from the airport. I’m definitely looking forward to flying them again since they are probably one of the most enjoyable airlines to fly with.
Additional Goodies:
* More photos of the event and flight from SEA to SFO
* Video tour from VA of the new RED features
Allegiant Air Boeing 757 with new winglets
Allegiant Air has announced service to Hawaii using Boeing 757s. We don’t know from where or when, but it is exciting for a number of different reasons.
Allegiant currently only has a fleet of MD-80 aircraft. Their business model of owning their older aircraft has worked and seeing a deviation from their current model is pretty interesting. It also means we get to see Allegiant’s livery on another aircraft type.
The airline is expanding their route map to Hawaii, which will be the longest route they serve. To help do this, Allegiant is retrofitting their newly purchased Boeing 757s with blended winglets.
Yesterday I hoped to get a glimpse of the winglets while the the aircraft are being worked on at Paine Field, but no luck. I figured they would be locked away, but it was a hot day and maybe a hangar door would be open. However, I was lucky enough to get in possession of this wonderful photo of one of Allegiant’s Boeing 757s with a new liveried winglet. You can see that the body still has the old Thompson livery without titles.
Aviation-Designs.net has a rough mock-up of what the Allegiant 757 might look like, but without the winglets.
SEE LARGER VERSION
Photo from Allegiant
Air Koryo Ilyushin Il-62M (P-881)
Air Koryo was founded in 1954 and is based out of the Sunan International Airport in North Korea. It is fully government owned. Since North Korea is not a lot of people’s friends around the world, they fleet is a bit aged. They have IL-62’s, Tu-154’s, Tu-204’s, Tu-134 and a few others. They are currently in the process of trying to modernize their fleet with additional Russian-built aircraft (and doing better than Aeroflot). Air Koryo’s TU-204 was the first one to be exported out of Russia.
Their livery looks just like you would expect a communist government-run livery to look. Drab with gray and of course red. Even though simplistic, I can’t help by love a Russian built aircraft with classic communist-looking livery on it.
Thanks Matthew D for this livery idea!
Image: foo_fighter_spotting