08 NOV 2007 _______________________________________ *Eclipse Aviation Brings Airline-Quality Safety Program To General Aviation *EASA, Canadian Authorities To Discuss Q400 Woes *Brazilian carrier grounds aircraft *Boeing completes firm configuration of 747-8 airplane *Cessna 208 Accident (Mexico) *FAA Hasn't Tracked Fraudulently Certified Airplane Mechanics *UAE & Flight Safety Foundation to host civil aviation safety summit 2008 in abu dhabi *NTSB Weighs Measures To Improve Air Safety **************************************** Eclipse Aviation Brings Airline-Quality Safety Program To General Aviation Albuquerque, NM - Eclipse Aviation, manufacturer of the world’s first very light jet (VLJ), recntly announced that it has received approval of its Flight Operational Quality Assurance (FOQA - pronounced foh-qwah) program from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Eclipse Aviation is the only aircraft manufacturer that has received FAA approval for a FOQA program that includes flight data monitoring capability consistent with the advanced programs used by commercial airline operations (FAR Part 121), the safest demonstrated flight operations in the world. Until now, FOQA was implemented only within resource-rich commercial airlines, and was largely unheard of in the general aviation and small corporate-fleet world. Eclipse’s FOQA program is breaking new ground, and is largely enabled by the next-generation integrated avionics and data collection systems designed for and incorporated in the Eclipse 500 very light jet. “At Eclipse, challenging general aviation norms and going beyond what’s expected is a daily imperative,” said Vern Raburn, president and CEO of Eclipse Aviation. “This FAA-approved FOQA program reflects our commitment to live up to these ideals by introducing a world-class flight operation strategy to general aviation that will deliver airline-quality safety to our customers. FOQA is a perfect addition to our progressive safety management system (SMS), which gives us the tools to proactively ensure the highest level of safety across all Eclipse 500 operations.” FOQA, used by most major airlines around the world, employs sophisticated software to capture and analyze recorded flight data. The information gathered by this system is used to proactively identify, assess and correct high-risk operating conditions before they cause an accident. FOQA programs are frequently cited as contributing to the impressive safety record of U.S. airlines over the past decade. FOQA initiatives have been used to identify and improve everything from deficiencies in pilot training programs, manuals and processes, to aircraft design issues and hazardous air traffic control procedures. Eclipse Safety Management System (SMS) Consistent with the internationally-endorsed SMS philosophy, Eclipse has built a SMS that does not treat aviation safety risk management as the responsibility of a reactive independent group, but rather as an all-encompassing proactive safety culture. Instead of waiting for hazards to be identified through accidents, Eclipse’s SMS creates a process and culture for pinpointing risks so they can be managed in advance of an incident or accident. FOQA is central to this process, using objective flight data and powerful software that allows Eclipse to understand what is actually happening with the Eclipse 500 in the field. Eclipse is currently developing a complementary program, called the Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP), which will provide insight into why events are happening. Through ASAP, Eclipse 500 pilots will voluntarily identify and report on issues encountered while operating their aircraft. This system will correlate this subjective information with objective FOQA data, creating a comprehensive awareness of hazards and risks never before achieved by an aircraft manufacturer. FOQA is the cornerstone for identifying, assessing and analyzing flight-related hazards within the Eclipse 500 fleet. A key enabler of this technology is the Eclipse 500’s highly-integrated avionics design, Avio NG, which allows Eclipse to capture virtually everything that happens when an aircraft is operated. Once this data is collected, it is processed by sophisticated software created by Austin Digital, Inc., an industry leader in airline FOQA analysis systems. This software uses complex algorithms to continuously churn through thousands of hours of flight data, while highlighting and reporting abnormal events and trends across the fleet. This enables Eclipse to investigate and determine root causes, develop strategies to mitigate risks, and implement corrective actions. Finally, the FOQA system provides a mechanism to monitor and adjust the effectiveness of corrective actions, thus closing the loop on the process to ensure optimal operational safety. “FOQA programs are not new, but are today considered state-of-the-art in the airline industry,” said Eclipse Aviation’s Manager of Flight Safety Chris Solan. “Our program is revolutionary because as a general aircraft manufacturer we are essentially taking on the role and responsibilities of a sophisticated airline, aggregating large amounts of data so systemic trends can be easily identified. When this trend data is combined with our Eclipse 500 aircraft design knowledge, pilot and maintenance training program oversight, aircraft manual and procedure authorship and tight-knit FAA working relationship – we can bring a tremendous improvement in safety to our customers, particularly individual or small-fleet operators.” For more information on the Eclipse SMS, refer to the following link: www.eclipseaviation.com/files/pdf/EAC_PR_CASS_Paper.pdf SOURCE: Eclipse Aviation ************** EASA, Canadian Authorities To Discuss Q400 Woes Investigation Points To Maintenance As Cause Of One Gear Incident Officials with the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) will meet Wednesday with their counterparts from Transport Canada, to discuss a recent spate of incidents involving Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 regional turboprops flying for Scandinavian Airlines (SAS). EASA called for the emergency meeting last week, reports the International Herald Tribune, following the announcement by SAS it would stop flying all its Q400s. As ANN reported, three SAS Q400s suffered nearly-identical failures of their right main landing gear assemblies in less than two months, resulting in emergency landings. Separate investigations by the Danish government determined the first two incidents -- in Aalborg, Denmark on September 9, followed by another failure in Vilnius, Lithuania three days later -- were caused by a corroded bolt in each plane's landing gear assembly. However, a third incident on October 22 may have been caused by a loose rubber O-ring, which jammed and kept the gear leg from extending. Furthermore, according to the preliminary report by the Danish Accident Investigation Board, a portion of the right maingear was replaced six days before that accident -- using parts intended for the nose gear. The parts were "reconfigured by maintenance personnel" for use by SAS on the maingear, according to the report. If those findings hold up in the final report, it would give credibility to those who have said the problem lies not with the aircraft, but with SAS maintenance... a position held by the plane's manufacturer, Bombardier. In a statement this week, Bombardier said the Danish report "clearly supports" its position, that "the Q400 is a safe and reliable aircraft." A SAS spokeswoman declined to comment on the preliminary report's findings, saying only the airline "doing everything to help" authorities determine the cause of the problem. Authorities in Denmark, Sweden and Norway supported the decision by SAS to permanently ground its 27-plane Q400 fleet... a position contrary to EASA's, which had upheld the aircraft's airworthiness certification. Resolving that "non-harmonized situation," in the words of an EASA spokeswoman, is one of the goals of Wednesday's meeting. FMI: www.bombardier.com, www.flysas.com, www.easa.int aero-news.net *************** Brazilian carrier grounds aircraft BRA, Brazil’s third-biggest airline, has suspended operations and laid off almost all its 1,100 employees after hitting financial difficulties. It comes after more than a year of crisis in the country’s aviation industry and the near-collapse of Varig, the former flag-carrier that is now a subsidiary of Gol, the second-biggest operator. BRA said Tuesday night it had requested permission from aviation regulators to suspend all its flights from midnight. It advised passengers not to go to airports but to telephone the company for information. Recent local press reports said the company needed about $30m to maintain operations. Last year a group of investors including Goldman Sachs, the US investment bank, and Gávea, a Rio de Janeiro hedge fund led by Armínio Fraga, former president of the central bank, took a minority stake in the company. They are understood to have invested about $70m in BRA but to have found it difficult to introduce management changes in the face of opposition from its controlling shareholder, Humberto Folegatti. Mr Folegatti reportedly stepped down from management control of the company last Thursday. BRA, which had nearly 5 per cent of domestic flights in September, was formerly widely regarded as a potential challenger to TAM and Gol, Brazil’s two leading airlines. But it recently suspended international flights citing maintenance problems and then cancelled an order for two EMB 195 jets, the latest line of regional jets made by Embraer, the Brazilian manufacturer. The company reportedly tried to transfer its passengers to flights run by other operators on Tuesday but its approaches were rejected. Varig went into creditor protection in 2005 and a rump company was bought by Gol last year. More modern management practices had seemed to promise a recovery for the industry in spite of rising fuel costs. But more intensive use of aircraft has contributed to increased overcrowding and flight delays, exacerbated by industrial action by air traffic controllers in the wake of two serious accidents in September 2006 and July this year in which some 350 people died. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/ce4f5e86-8cc4-11dc-b887-0000779fd2ac.html **************** Boeing completes firm configuration of 747-8 airplane NEW YORK, Nov. 6, 2007 (Thomson Financial delivered by Newstex) -- Boeing (NYSE:BA) Co. Tuesday said it has completed firm configuration of it 747-8 airplane. The milestone marks the completion of major trade studies needed to make final the plane's performance and interior features, the company said. The 747-8 is designed to serve the 400- to 500-seat market and will provide airlines lower operating costs, improved economics and improved environmental performance, Boeing added. With firm configuration complete, the company and its suppliers can begin detailed design of the aircraft's parts, assemblies and other systems. The designs can then be sent to suppliers and factories to begin production. http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/newstex/AFX-0013-20773743.htm ****************** Cessna 208 Accident (Mexico) Status: Preliminary Date: 05 NOV 2007 Time: ca 08:50 Type: Cessna 208B Grand Caravan Operator: Aereo Calafia Registration: XA-UBC C/n / msn: First flight: 2004 Engines: 1 Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-114A Crew: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 Passengers: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 14 Total: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 15 Airplane damage: Written off Location: 1 km (0.6 mls) W of Culiacán-Fedl de Bachigualato Airport (CUL) (Mexico) Phase: Initial climb Nature: Domestic Scheduled Passenger Departure airport: Culiacán-Fedl de Bachigualato Airport (CUL/MMCL), Mexico Destination airport: Cabo San Lucas Airport (MMSL), Mexico Flightnumber: 126 Narrative: Aereo Calafia's morning service from Culiacán (CUL) to Cabo San Lucas (MMSL) took off from runway 02 around 08:50. The pilot flew a U-turn in order to head West for Cabo San Lucas. The airplane lost height and crash-landed in a field near the airport. The Grand Caravan overturned and came to rest upside down. (aviation-safety.net) **************** FAA Hasn't Tracked Fraudulently Certified Airplane Mechanics (CNSNews.com) - About 1,000 poorly trained or even untrained airplane mechanics have not been accounted for by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and could be working for the nation's airlines. Further, investigators do not know yet whether the mechanics who worked on a plane, which crashed and killed 20 people in 2005, were among those mechanics who were poorly trained or untrained. The federal government has confirmed that it is investigating the FAA's tracking of airline mechanics that obtained fraudulent certification from St. George Aviation, a Florida company whose owner was convicted on federal charges for issuing fraudulent licenses in the late 1990s. Though the FAA was tasked with retesting at least 1,800 mechanics who obtained phony certificates from the company, fewer than half of those were retested. Also, the agency does not know where any of the mechanics who graduated from St. George are working now, FAA spokeswoman Allison Duquette told Cybercast News Service. The federal agency charged with aviation safety responded to 12 written questions more than three weeks after Cybercast News Service submitted its inquiry. The questions had to be reviewed by counsel, Duquette said. "The FAA does not have data on where St. George alumni are working," Duquette said in a written statement. The U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC) referred the matter for investigation to the Department of Transportation (DOT). An Oct. 23 letter from OSC disclosure unit attorney Karen P. Gorman said there was "substantial likelihood that serious safety concerns persist in the management and operation of maintenance programs at FAA." Gorman said the DOT had 60 days to conduct the investigation and report back to the OSC. At least 1,000 unqualified mechanics could still be employed at airlines, said Gabriel Bruno, the former FAA director of flight standards, who exposed agency lapses first to the DOT's Office of Inspector General, then to the OSC. "These people are working for major air carriers," Bruno told Cybercast News Service, referring to the certificate holders from St. George. "The FAA didn't do enough to retrieve these people. They just want to bury it." The former FAA manager-turned-whistleblower specifically asked the Office of Special Counsel - which already verified his past claims of poor FAA oversight - to probe whether mechanics with certification from St. George had worked on a flight that crashed in late 2005. After a Chalk's International Airlines seaplane took off from Miami in December 2005 heading to the Bahamas, the right wing fell off, sending two crewmen and 18 passengers to their death. The reason for the crash was poor maintenance and lack of government oversight, according to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). The NTSB report did not address where the mechanics in charge of the maintenance of this aircraft were trained. Rajan Nair, general manager for Chalk's, could not confirm if any of his mechanics were certified at St. George. But he told Cybercast News Service that the man who worked on the wing as part of the airframe for the specific plane that crashed had been with the company more than three decades, and thus would not have received certification in the late 1990s. St. George fiasco Federal prosecutors determined that at least 1,800 mechanics received false certification from St. George Aviation near Orlando between October 1995 and January 1999. At the trial of company owner Anthony R. St. George and examiner George E. Allen, employees and mechanics reportedly testified the certification tests that were supposed to take up to eight hours took only a few minutes. In some cases the company provided answers to test-takers, and in others issued certificates when major portions of the test weren't even taken. St. George and Allen were convicted in May 1999 of fraud and conspiracy. That August, they were sentenced to a combined 40 months in prison. The special counsel's letter to Bruno last month, confirming the investigation would proceed, said, "You disclosed that these mechanics are now employed with major airlines; their reexamination status is questionable and FAA has not taken sufficient steps to ensure they are actually qualified for the position they hold." "You also alleged that neither the DOT nor the FAA has established a system to check the certification or reexamination status of mechanics who may have been involved in the maintenance of an aircraft when a crash occurs because of a mechanical problem," the OSC letter to Bruno continued. Thus far, 717 mechanics out of more than 1,800 have been retested, Duquette said. Of those, 64 percent passed the written and oral exams and 36 percent failed. The FAA began a retesting program shortly after the discovery of the certification fraud, but agency management abruptly stopped the program in spring 2001 after only 130 mechanics took the test, federal investigators found. The inspector general's and then the OSC's probe began after Bruno brought the FAA's actions to their attention. In June 2005, the OSC repeated the Department of Transportation's call for the FAA to reinstate testing. "Nothing could be more central to the nation's overall security and well-being of our citizenry than aviation safety of which the aviation mechanics and inspectors form a critical link," U.S. Special Counsel Scott Bloch said in a June 2005 statement. "Thanks to the efforts of whistleblowers, a problem was identified and is being corrected." The FAA disputes the findings of investigators that the testing was ever stopped. "The FAA did not cancel the retesting program, the FAA did postpone the retesting program in 2004 to re-evaluate the program," Duquette said. "The program was re-evaluated and continued in the spring of 2005." Yet Bruno said the agency never restarted the testing in an adequate way. Airline mechanics must normally pass three components before they are certified, Bruno said: a written exam, an oral exam, and a practical or hands-on exam. But since the retesting has started, Bruno said, the retesting is still missing the hands-on component. The FAA doesn't dispute that. "FAA felt administration of a written and oral exam was an adequate form of reexamination for the purpose of establishing qualifications to hold their certificates," Duquette said. "The FAA did not feel it was necessary to hold the mechanic to a proficient knowledge on all aspects of the practical exam when the airmen were only dealing with a particular area," Duquette added. No 'cross reference' Bruno thinks it is unfortunate that the NTSB did not cross-reference any of the mechanics who worked on the Chalk's International Airlines flight that crashed in December 2005, when the wing fell off, with the list of those mechanics who obtained phony certificates from St. George. In a June 29 letter, Bruno asked Special Counsel Bloch to explore if there was a connection. "My disclosures to you of the St. George Aviation criminal activity and resultant multitude of fraudulently issued mechanic certificates, that the FAA allowed to remain active in the aviation industry, is directly relevant to an investigation into faulty aircraft maintenance and inadequate FAA oversight," Bruno wrote in the letter to Bloch. The letter points out that the NTSB did not report on any interviews with Chalk's. "The NTSB did not report if any of those mechanics held certificates fraudulently obtained from St. George's criminal enterprise. This shortcoming raises questions as to whether Chalk's was relying on unqualified mechanics to recognize and repair deficiencies of its aging aircraft," the letter said. An NTSB spokesman simply deferred to the report on the crash, which didn't address where mechanics were trained. The name St. George Aviation doesn't ring a bell for Nair, general manager for Chalk's airlines, but he said he couldn't know for certain if any of the St. George alumni worked for his company. "I could not even go back that far and figure out where they came from," Nair told Cybercast News Service. "We make sure they have a genuine license. We do a drug check. We do a background check, the normal things that the FAA requires us to do, both on the pilots and the mechanics." As was the case with the staff who worked on the wing of the doomed plane, Nair said most of his mechanics have a lot of experience. "Most of our mechanics at Chalk's have been with us a very, very long time," Nair said. "Some of my lead mechanics have been here 18, 20, 25 years. My director of maintenance was here at least 18 years. My chief shop manager was here in a total excess of 30 years. I really don't know if we had any youngsters that came along in the late 90s." Duquette said that the FAA works hard to affirm planes are safe. "The FAA is confident in the quality of the maintenance work performed on U.S. commercial airplanes and that qualified mechanics are performing that work," she said. Meanwhile, the Air Transport Association, an industry group that represents the commercial airlines industry, said in a statement for this story: "Airlines work collaboratively with FAA to ensure full compliance with all safety-related directives. We currently have the safest air transportation system in the world, and that is not by accident." However, Bruno thinks this is just one instance of larger problems with FAA dropping the ball. "It's scary," he said. "I know FAA inspectors who would rather drive their car than get in an airplane." http://www.cnsnews.com/news/viewstory.asp?Page=/Nation/archive/200711/NAT200 71106a.html *************** UAE general civil aviation authority and the Flight Safety Foundation to host middle east civil aviation safety summit 2008 in abu dhabi The UAE General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), together with the Flight Safety Foundation have announced that they will organize and host the first Middle East Aviation Safety Summit in Abu Dhabi on 21 and 22 January 2008. The Summit, which brings together senior aviation officials from local, regional and international aviation authorities and air carriers, will focus primarily on the introduction of a new aviation safety plan of action under the recently introduced Global Aviation Safety Road Map, a joint initiative of the International Safety Strategy Group, (ISSG). Members of the Group include ICAO, IATA, Airbus, Boeing, ACI, CANSO, IFALPA and the FSF. The Summit will be attended by key players in the aviation industry including members of the ISSG, Arab Civil Aviation Commission and the Arab Air Carriers Organization. With the aviation industry expanding at unprecedented levels in the Middle East and the industry establishing itself as a major player in international civil aviation, the Summit aims to introduce a Regional Plan of Action, under the Global Safety Roadmap to governments and industry and to help develop an expansive overview of the state of aviation safety in the region. “The Summit will reflect the increasing importance of global aviation safety, considering the new and emerging challenges facing civil aviation and the necessity to establish strong partnerships between the industry and regulators," said Mohammed Ghanim Al Ghaith, GCAA Director General. "We are very delighted to hold such an important and prestigious event in the UAE. In order to continue enhancing the safety of global aviation we must continue refining common standards, regulations and safety procedures. It is to realize this vision that we join forces at the highest levels of government and private sector to share the experience and lessons learned in the development of safety standards and practices,” the Director General stated. The International Aviation Safety Summit will host over 150 senior industry and government officials from more than 20 countries in the Region, as well as international and regional organizations. Other aviation regulatory agencies outside the region have also expressed an interest in attending the Summit. “In addition to the initiation of regional Plan of Action under the Global Road Map, one of the key objectives of the Summit is to help draft a blue print for similar initiatives in other regions around the world,” said William Voss, President and CEO of the Flight Safety Foundation. “This Summit further affirms the UAE’s commitment and leadership in the field of aviation safety,” added Voss. http://www.albawaba.com/en/countries/UAE/218472 ************** NTSB Weighs Measures To Improve Air Safety LOS ANGELES -- Transportation safety watchdogs, when they update their annual list of "most-wanted" improvements later this week, are likely to add recommendations aimed at preventing airliners from careening off runways during takeoffs or landings, according to people familiar with the details. The National Transportation Safety Board is leaning toward expanding the "most wanted" list for aviation, these people said, by calling for stepped-up efforts against such runway excursions, or overruns. The board is expected to discuss expanding the current language on runway safety, which focuses on stopping runway incursions -- instances when two aircraft, or an aircraft and an airport vehicle, mistakenly end up simultaneously on the same runway. At its meeting tomorrow in Washington, the safety board also is expected to consider a proposal to expand another of its top-10 aviation-safety categories, dealing with fatigue-related hazards. The board is mulling adding air-traffic controllers to its "most-wanted" recommendation calling for reducing "accidents and incidents caused by human fatigue." The current NTSB aviation-safety priorities call for revising working-hour limits for cockpit crews and mechanics, based on the latest research on fatigue and rest requirements. A safety-board spokesman declined to comment on the "most-wanted" list before the five-member board votes on the issues. The anticipated changes come in the wake of public debate over both issues, as well as a string of runway overrun accidents in recent years. Those crashes include a Southwest Airlines Co. jet that landed too fast and slid off a slushy runway at Midway Airport in Chicago in December 2005, and the crash of a TAM Linhas Aéreas SA jetliner that sped off the end of the strip in São Paulo, Brazil, in July, killing more than 180 people. Until now, the board's "most-wanted" list of aviation-safety improvements has called for equipment able to "give immediate warnings of probable [runway] collision/incursion directly" to pilots. Likewise, the Federal Aviation Administration has focused on measures -- both in the cockpit and by air-traffic controllers -- to maintain the required safe distance between planes on the ground. The agency, for example, has made it easier for carriers to install onboard moving map displays alerting pilots of an impending runway collision. But according to global analyses of aviation-safety hazards by jet-maker Boeing Co. and other groups, runway overruns since 1997 have resulted in many more accidents and claimed more lives than runway incursions over the same period. Boeing's latest safety data, for instance, show runway overruns as the fourth-largest cause of airliner fatalities world-wide between 1997 and 2006, resulting in more than 260 fatalities. Runway incursions, by contrast, are ranked No. 9, claiming 110 fatalities in the world-wide commercial jet fleet over that decade. The FAA isn't required to follow the recommendations, but issues on the safety board's "most-wanted" list tend to have a high profile with the public and the agency. The anticipated changes by the NTSB also follow calls by independent safety experts, including William Voss, president of the Flight Safety Foundation, an Alexandria, Va., aviation-safety group, to broaden the emphasis on runway-safety measures. "While there have been relatively few fatalities associated with runway incursions," Mr. Voss told a House Transportation subcommittee in June, "it is impossible to ignore the number of incidents that have been reported." But he said "runway incursions are a subset of the larger problem of runway safety." http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119436152566583939.html?mod=googlenews_wsj ******************* Curt Lewis, PE, CSP WEB: www.fsinfo.org