info for donations to families of CRJ crash in MO

[marriedanaviator]

I read that the captain's wife is pregnant with their 3rd child and due in December...


Donations for the families of FLG 3701

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Pinnacle MEC has set up accounts at the Wings Financial Credit Union for the families of Jessie Rhodes and Peter Cesarz who died in the crash last week in MO. If you would like to make a contribution, you can send a check to the bank at this address:

14985 Glazer Ave
Apple Valley MN, 55124.

Please make the check out to one of the following funds:

Jessie Rhodes Family Support Fund

or

Pete Cesarz Memorial Fund

[Kristie]

Karla, Where did you get this information from? I want to verify the bank name, account number & address cuz there are lots of scammers out there now a days giving addresses for donations! Any donation info for the CRJ (northwest airlink) pilots?

Thanks for the info!!

[marriedanaviator]

More info:

Representatives of the Pinnacle MEC Retirement and Insurance Committee
have determined that the wife and children of Captain Rhodes will no
longer be covered by company health insurance after October 31. We have
requested that the company consider extending free coverage to Alison
at least until after her third child has been delivered in the next eight
weeks. We anticipate that this request will be denied. Therefore, it is
the intent of the Pinnacle MEC to use any funds collected on behalf of
the Rhodes family for the purpose of paying the family's COBRA health
insurance coverage and associated deductibles and copays. Further funds
collected will be used at the discretion of the fund trustees with
guidance from the entire MEC.

Wednesday, at the ALPA Board of Directors meeting in Hollywood,
Florida, Captain Mark McClain, chairman of the Northwest MEC, rose to address the assembled delegates. Captain McClain spoke of the tremendous burdens facing the families of our departed crewmen and urged the delegates to make an on-the-spot contribution and provide seed money for these memorial funds. Thanks to Captain McClain's efforts, more than $7,500 in cash was collected. Today, these funds will be deposited into the accounts described above and give us a great start in providing needed
benefits to these families.

At this time I would like to extend special recognition to the Pinnacle
MEC Critical Incident Response team, particularly our Detroit CIRP rep,
Dave Milner. Dave expended a tremendous amount of time and energy in
organizing and implementing the MEC reaction to this accident.
Unfortunately, CIRP Chairman George Mitchell was on vacation, and the
entire load of the initial response was carried by Dave. PCL CIRP
volunteers have been in constant communication with the victims'
families and other CIRP organizations at Northwest, Mesaba, and FedEX,
and have done all the work on setting up the memorial funds.
Congratulations to the CIRP team for a job very well done.

Wakefield Gordon
Chairman, Pinnacle MEC

[marriedanaviator]

Kristie,

Will got the info off a thread at flightinfo.com along with the info about the company cutting off health insurance to his wife and kids. Will had talked to a buddy of his yesterday that works for Pinnacle and he had said that there was a rumor going around that they were going to pull her health insurance and sure enough...

Karla

[Kristie]

what a horrible thing to do at a time like this... how nice of Pinnacle to kick someone when their down.



I just sent the credit union an email verifying the information - if any of us do donate, I just want to make sure it's going to the right place/right people!

Hopefully, I'll hear something back from them soon.

[marriedanaviator]

Kristie,

Here's more info and at the bottom it shows info for the support fund...

Last update: October 21, 2004 at 8:29 PM
Pinnacle limits planes' altitude after fatal crash
Liz Fedor, Star Tribune
October 22, 2004 PINNACLE1022
In the wake of an airplane crash that killed two pilots on Oct. 14, Pinnacle Airlines said Thursday that it has imposed a policy prohibiting its pilots from flying above 37,000 feet.

On the flight that crashed in Jefferson City, Mo., the Pinnacle pilots had been flying the twin-engine CRJ-200 at 41,000 feet when both jet engines failed, according to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

Pinnacle's new flight ceiling comes from "an abundance of caution," Pinnacle Vice President Philip Reed said. But he declined to provide further information about the crash or Pinnacle's operating policies because the NTSB is conducting an investigation.

Memphis-based Pinnacle operates a fleet of 108 Canadair Regional Jets (CRJs) on regional routes for Northwest Airlines. The flight that crashed was en route from Little Rock, Ark., to the Twin Cities when the pilots attempted to make an emergency landing and crashed just three miles south of the Jefferson City airport.

The plane was not carrying passengers; it was scheduled to be used later for a flight departing the Twin Cities.

The NTSB released an update on Wednesday that pays considerable attention to the plane's altitude when the pilots encountered problems.

The NTSB said the plane departed Little Rock about 9:21 p.m. The crew reported to the Kansas City Air Route Traffic Control Center that they were climbing to 41,000 feet. At 9:52 p.m., the crew acknowledged that they had reached 41,000 feet. Just two minutes later, the crew asked for a lower altitude. At 9:55 p.m., one minute later, the crew declared an emergency.

"At about 9:59 p.m., the flight crew requested an altitude of 13,000 feet," the NTSB said. "At 10:08 p.m., the flight crew stated that they had a double engine failure and that they wanted a direct route to any airport."

Both engines stopped operating "almost simultaneously at 41,000 feet" according to the flight data recorder, the NTSB report said.

The Kansas City center directed the crew to land at Jefferson City. "At about 10:13 p.m., the flight crew stated that they had the runway approach end in sight. The last radar contact for the flight was at 900 feet above ground. The plane crashed at about 10:15 p.m.," the NTSB report said.

Pinnacle CRJs, just like other commercial aircraft, are flown at a variety of altitudes. Typically, the higher you are flying, the less fuel the plane burns. On longer flights, pilots tend to fly at higher altitudes.

The day of the accident, two mechanics from Pinnacle's Memphis facility worked on the airplane. On the morning of Oct. 14, the plane was scheduled to fly from Little Rock to the Twin Cities at 7:45 a.m. when an alert system went off during takeoff and the pilots aborted the takeoff and returned to the gate. The 21 passengers on the 50-seat plane got off.

Later that day, the mechanics did a repair that deals with the system used to distribute engine heat into the plane. "On-scene evidence confirms that the repair was done in accordance with the aircraft maintenance manual," the NTSB said.

The agency is expected to spend months analyzing the engines and plane wreckage, and all aspects of Pinnacle's operations. It said investigators "traveled to Memphis to interview pilots who had flown with the two crew members and to interview some of the airline's training personnel and managers."

The pilots were Capt. Jesse Rhodes of Palm Harbor, Fla., and First Officer Richard Peter Cesarz of Helotes, Texas. Pinnacle said Rhodes had accumulated more than 6,700 flight hours, but the company has not released flight-hour information about Cesarz. Rhodes joined Pinnacle in February 2003, and Cesarz became a Pinnacle pilot last June.

Wakefield Gordon, chairman of the Pinnacle branch of the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), declined to comment on the investigation. But he said pilots have reached out to help the families of those killed in the crash. Rhodes was married and the father of two children, and his wife is due to give birth in a few weeks, Gordon said. Cesarz was not married.

The Rhodes Family Support Fund and the Cesarz Memorial Fund have been established. Contributions can be sent to Wings Financial Federal Credit Union, 14985 Glazier Av., Apple Valley, MN 55124.

Liz Fedor is at

lfedor@startribune.com.

[marriedanaviator]

[ QUOTE ]
what a horrible thing to do at a time like this... how nice of Pinnacle to kick someone when their down

[/ QUOTE ]


No kidding!! I can't even begin to imagine how deep her grief goes. Not only for the loss of her husband, but for the loss of her children's father. And going through labor alone, knowing that you will never be able to share these moments with the man you love.

Ok, I can't think about it anymore right now. I feel so terrible for her, but at the same time so very grateful that I have my husband...

Karla

[roz]

These last two crashes have had me numb.

I know it sounds cruel, but Pinnacle has no control over the insurance company. Unfortunately, unless the CBA provides for paid extension of coverage, the health insurer will insist on strict enforcement of the COBRA regulations. That means that, as soon as there is a Qualifying Event, COBRA must be offered. The employer cannot simply extend the current coverage. If they do, the insurance company won't pay the claims beyond what would have been the end of the COBRA period. In this case, the wife and children will be eligible for 36 months of coverage due to the tragic secondary Qualifying Event--the death of her husband.

Kristie, let us know as soon as you have confirmed the donation address.

[lucky81698]

Kristie,

That is the correct address to donate to the families of the crewmembers of the Pinnacle (NW CRJ) crash. My D/H got a blastmail from ALPA with the same info, so it is legit.

[Kristie]

Yup, just got an email from Wing Financial that verified the information - I just like to check to "be sure".. that's all!

So, if you want to donate - go for it!