Sen. Inhofe's Dangerous Landing: Some Findings from the FAA's Incident Report

Former Tulsa mayor Jim Inhofe doesn't want to talk about it, but he endangered the lives of several construction workers last November when he landed his aircraft on a closed runway in Texas.

Thanks to The Smoking Gun, Oklahomans can now read the details of the Federal Aviation Administration's report on the incident, details that do not inspire confidence in the senator's judgment.

Here's a portion of the FAA Incident Report:

PILOT LANDED ON A CLOSED RUNWAY… THE RUNWAY HAD THE REQUIRED "X" ON THE THRESHOLD. THERE WERE MEN AND EQUIPMENT ON THE RUNWAY AT THE TIME. 

This is official language, of course. The workers themselves spoke more plainly, including one who said Inhofe's plane "scared the crap" out of him.

Even worse, the FAA report includes this comment:

WHEN PILOT DID NOTICE THE "X" PANEL ON THE THRESHOLD OF RUNWAY ON SHORT FINAL, HE STILL ELECTED TO LAND…. 

Fortunately for the Texas construction crew, Sen. Inhofe did manage to miss all the workers and their equipment by "hopping" his plane down the runway. Still, this was a serious incident, so serious that it could have injured or killed Inhofe, his passenger and the men on the ground.

No wonder Inhofe doesn't want to talk about it.