HOUSTON, Texas USA — Jet pilots aren’t used to sharing their airspace, so you can bet a rocket will get some attention.

Continental Flight 1544 was flying at 5,000 feet about 11 miles east of Bush Intercontinental Airport after takeoff Monday morning when the pilot called the tower to report an object headed toward the plane. The pilot described seeing a fast moving object with a thick smoke trail nearing his airspace.

John Etgen speaks with KHOU news on report of FAA rocket incident in Houston.

The FAA now says it thinks that object was some kind of model rocket. Both the FAA and the Houston Area Joint Terrorism Task Force continue to investigate the incident that KHOU.com first reported early this afternoon.

Neither said conclusively what the pilot saw was indeed a model rocket, but an FAA spokesperson told 11 News that it was likely a high-powered model rocket. It is a federal crime to launch a rocket of any sort without notifying the FAA.

The plane was at about 5,000 feet at the time of the sighting and the flight continued on to Cleveland.

Sources told 11 News that the flight was met by Continental officials and FAA investigators to interview the passengers and crew.

Part of that investigation included a FBI call to John Etgen, who is an officer with one of the local model rocket clubs in the area.

When the FBI told him what had been reported, the rocket enthusiast was shocked.

"This is completely outside of all of our safety codes and all of our practices. We actually behave a lot like visual flight rules pilots. This is if we can't see clear airspace and already have permission to be in that air space we are not allowed to launch and we don't,” said Etgen.

Etgen said it's certainly possible for a model rocket to get that high up, but he also said the description given by the pilot doesn't match up.

At that height, a model would have been coasting for quite some time and maybe emitting a small trail of white smoke and not the thick smoke like the pilot’s report.

He explained that while model rocketry is supposed to be fun, it is also highly regulated. Regulated by the same federal agency that has oversight of the airlines – the FAA.

The FAA confirmed that there were no requests to launch or notifications filed for the Houston area for Monday.
There are also no official launch sites within 50 miles of Bush airport.

The Boeing 737 with 148 passengers and six crewmembers aboard, took off from Terminal C at Bush IAH at 10:17 a.m. Monday and arrived at Hopkins International Airport in Cleveland at 2:13 p.m. – nine minutes later than scheduled.

Copyright © 2008, KHOU 11 News.

05-27-2008 03:46 PM  #1
Just Jerry Freeform rockets advocate   Joined: Aug 2006 Posts: 1115	Re: Continental jet has near miss with ’rocket’ "It is a federal crime to launch a rocket of any sort without notifying the FAA." This is the clearly false statement reported in that article. Just Jerry

05-27-2008 04:12 PM  #2
denverdoc Rana sapiens   Joined: Aug 2007 Posts: 2815	Re: Continental jet has near miss with ’rocket’ Indeed, but so much better than the Houston Chronicle article. I'm sure John E. also was clear in pointing out that the pilot,s report was inconsistent with a small model rocket, but not necessarily a much higher impulse motor that could still be burning at that altitude or at least have a dense trail.

05-27-2008 06:28 PM  #3
H_rocket Certified Level Three   Joined: Aug 2006 Posts: 499	Re: Continental jet has near miss with ’rocket’ Anyone know of a commercial propellant that would be burning at that point in the flight (I'm figuring about 2-3 seconds based on the rocket being alluded to) that has black smoke? A big BlackMax (K513FJ)?

05-27-2008 07:15 PM  #4
Just Jerry Freeform rockets advocate   Joined: Aug 2006 Posts: 1115	Re: Continental jet has near miss with ’rocket’ Here's the extrapolation headline from that report. http://www.cnn.com/video/#...7/jet.dodges.object.khou Just Jerry

05-27-2008 07:27 PM  #5
denverdoc Rana sapiens   Joined: Aug 2007 Posts: 2815	Re: Continental jet has near miss with ’rocket’ Now it's Jet dodges odd object (rocket). Re motors: Waiting for a fuller account/description and radar data, if any.

05-27-2008 09:05 PM  #6
ddmobley Administrator   Joined: Jul 2006 Posts: 3208	Re: Continental jet has near miss with ’rocket’ Quote: Now it's Jet dodges odd object (rocket). I like this email alert I got today: Model Rocket Comes Close to Commercial Jet WFMZ-TV Online - Allentown,PA,USA A Texas man is in hot water because of his model rocket hobby. John Etgen of Houston got a visit from the FBI after officials say he fired his model rocket... If your browser spits out a bunch of errors, it's because apparently the article was pulled for bad information.

05-28-2008 12:45 AM  #7
jsdemar NAR/TRA L3   Joined: Oct 2006 Posts: 350	Re: Continental jet has near miss with ’rocket’ Quote: I like this email alert I got today: Model Rocket Comes Close to Commercial Jet WFMZ-TV Online - Allentown,PA,USA A Texas man is in hot water because of his model rocket hobby. John Etgen of Houston got a visit from the FBI after officials say he fired his model rocket... If your browser spits out a bunch of errors, it's because apparently the article was pulled for bad information. Cached here.

05-28-2008 12:58 AM  #8
jsdemar NAR/TRA L3   Joined: Oct 2006 Posts: 350	Re: Continental jet has near miss with ’rocket’ That article was also cross-posted here: http://www.topix.com/forum/us/TL2QO5BC2LCO3S010 If anyone else finds similar slanderous news posting, make sure you notify the webmaster or news reporter.

05-28-2008 02:43 PM  #9
ddmobley Administrator   Joined: Jul 2006 Posts: 3208	Re: Continental jet has near miss with ’rocket’ Quote: Cached here. Wow, they REALLY got it wrong, didn't they? Thanks, John, for posting that. I looked for a cached link yesterday but didn't find anything.

05-28-2008 04:38 PM  #10
tmacklin Certifiable   Joined: Apr 2008 Posts: 58	Re: Continental jet has near miss with ’rocket’ Quote: Wow, they REALLY got it wrong, didn't they? Thanks, John, for posting that. I looked for a cached link yesterday but didn't find anything. The media parrots always "get it wrong". Whether this is deliberate, a product of ignorance or both, the result is the same: an uninformed public. Personally, I think I'll just wait for the official government coverup.

05-28-2008 04:54 PM  #11
ddmobley Administrator   Joined: Jul 2006 Posts: 3208	Re: Continental jet has near miss with ’rocket’ It's already here, the official coverup. It is disheartening to look at all the hyperbole surrounding this event. The title of this article references a "near miss," when it wasn't near at all. CNN's video title was something along the line of "jet dodges odd object." I'd like to see a commercial jetliner dodge anything. And my personal favorite, "Pilot on way to Cleveland reports UFO." Probably the most factual report is http://www.rocketryplanet.com/content/view/2409/28/

05-28-2008 05:30 PM  #12
SpartaChris Certified Certifiable   Joined: Oct 2006 Posts: 127	Re: Continental jet has near miss with ’rocket’ Quote: That article was also cross-posted here: http://www.topix.com/forum/us/TL2QO5BC2LCO3S010 If anyone else finds similar slanderous news posting, make sure you notify the webmaster or news reporter. Better yet, pass it on to the Etgen's, so they can sue for libel and own themselves a network!

05-28-2008 07:32 PM  #13
Just Jerry Freeform rockets advocate   Joined: Aug 2006 Posts: 1115	Re: Continental jet has near miss with ’rocket’ I have a suggestion. Have ABC/Jennings/correspondent from the good news segment do a segment about media misreporting of totally safe rockets, and ATF lies about the propellant being an explosive, and building solar farms at launch sites, and sicking the Ag department on rocket users when the real source of perchlorates are POLICE flare disposals for decades, and CPSC declaring 3" paper tubes as ATF items because they COULD be made into firecrackers!!! Firecrackers should be legal and CITIZEN pyrotechnics certainly should be. Just Jerry

05-29-2008 11:32 AM  #14
tmacklin Certifiable   Joined: Apr 2008 Posts: 58	Re: Continental jet has near miss with ’rocket’ Quote: I have a suggestion. Have ABC/Jennings/correspondent from the good news segment do a segment about media misreporting of totally safe rockets, and ATF lies about the propellant being an explosive, and building solar farms at launch sites, and sicking the Ag department on rocket users when the real source of perchlorates are POLICE flare disposals for decades, and CPSC declaring 3" paper tubes as ATF items because they COULD be made into firecrackers!!! Firecrackers should be legal and CITIZEN pyrotechnics certainly should be. Just Jerry Amen Brother! And I second the motion. I can understand the government's reluctance to divulge the full story (assuming they know the full story) regarding this incident. The airlines really don't need another hit right now. They almost went under in the wake of the 9-11 attacks and something like this if it was indeed a failed terrorist attack could really put the damper on summer travel. What I can't understand is the obsession to find a scapegoat, in this case, law abiding American citizens pursuing happiness. I'm surprised Chuck Schumer hasn't been seen on the nightly news, waving a sinister black rocket around and urging his fellow geni-asses to tighten the screws even more.

05-30-2008 01:03 PM  #15
tmacklin Certifiable   Joined: Apr 2008 Posts: 58	Re: Continental jet has near miss with ’rocket’ And there's more: http://www.newswithviews.com/Roth/laurie114.htm

05-30-2008 01:15 PM  #16
SpartaChris Certified Certifiable   Joined: Oct 2006 Posts: 127	Re: Continental jet has near miss with ’rocket’ BAHAHAHAHA! I love this part: Quote: The only solution which makes any sense in a time of war, with Islamic killers roaming our streets and doing surveillance on our planes and airports is to assume that a Junior High kid fired a toy rocket both times and got horribly confused about where to point it. We all know when buying toy rockets for our boys that they fly thousands of feet and have plumes that appear like a jet planes.