Northwest Airlines: Northwest Airlines Helps Honor Fargo, ND Airman William Muscha by Naming Landing Procedure for Him

EAGAN, Minn, Jun 25, 2008 (M2 PRESSWIRE via COMTEX) -- NWA | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- Northwest Airlines (NYSE: NWA | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) today joined with the Federal Aviation Administration and Jeppesen, a pilot manual publisher, to honor Fargo airman William Muscha, who was killed in an aircraft accident a few years ago. A ceremony took place at Hector International Airport in Fargo, N.D.

Frank Alexander, chief pilot technical programs, presented a framed Air Traffic Control Terminal Arrival procedure to Muschas family. This procedure has now been incorporated into the A319/320 Jeppesen Airway Manual for Northwest Airlines pilots.

The procedure is a new approach, titled the Musha One RNAV Arrival Procedure, which was developed specifically for the Fargo airport, optimizes fuel efficiency by ensuring the most direct approach possible and evaluating the benefits of a Continuous Descent Approach (CDA) procedure for the fleet. The procedure may be expanded to include other similarly sized airports. Northwest Airlines worked with the FAA in developing this procedure.

According to Frank Alexander, The Musha Arrival takes full advantage of the advanced navigation capabilities of the Airbus A319/320 allowing Northwest Airlines to realize significant fuel and time savings when arriving at Fargo.

Lieutenant Commander William Muscha was a native of Fargo and attended the United States Naval Academy graduating with a degree in Aerospace Engineering in 1987. He also received a Masters Degree in Aeronautical Engineering from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

After graduating from the Naval Academy, he became a Naval Flight Officer and was assigned as a Radar Intercept Officer to the Navys F-14 Tomcat fighter aircraft. He was killed in a training accident in May, 2002. Lieutenant Commander Muscha was deeply involved in his community being active in his local church, the Boy Scouts and other community activities. He left behind his wife Tamara, also a native of Fargo, and six children. Tyler Erlandsen, a Captain with Mesaba Airlines and Commander Muschas brother was instrumental in pushing for this tribute to his brothers memory.

Northwest Airlines is one of the worlds largest airlines with hubs at Detroit, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Memphis, Tokyo and Amsterdam, and approximately 1,400 daily departures. Northwest is a member of SkyTeam, an airline alliance that offers customers one of the worlds most extensive global networks.

Northwest and its travel partners serve more than 1,000 cities in excess of 160 countries on six continents.

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