04 DEC 2007
_______________________________________
*The Need for Safety Management Systems 
*Africa: Continent Records Highest Number of Airline Accidents
*Airline body lauds industry safety  
*An overview of spatial disorientation as a factor in aviation accidents and incidents
*CAA UK issues Aircraft Maintenance Incident Analysis Paper
*Flight Options Buys 100 Embraer Jets 
*Boeing Confirms Lion Air Order for 22 737s
*World Bank team in Nigeria to monitor N6bn aviation grant
****************************************

The Need for Safety Management Systems 

Dec 03, 2007 (Air Safety Week/Access Intelligence via COMTEX) The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the Air Transport Association (ATA) and the International Air Transport Association (IATA) held its 4th Annual International Aviation Safety Forum outside Washington, DC, Nov. 28-30, at which participants from around the world pledged to implement Safety Management Systems, a systematic approach to managing risks associated with commercial aviation. Acting Federal Aviation Administrator Robert A. Sturgell said: "the question for us in aviation is how to maintain the safety record that's the envy of all transportation. How are we going to raise the bar? The answer is SMS -- safety management systems. "Aviation no longer is in the business of combing through ashes and wreckage to find answers. SMS will give us the intelligence we need before the problem reaches the headlines. When it comes to risks, the low-hanging fruit is long gone. SMS uses hard data to point us in the direction we need to go. We don't have to wait for something bad to happen," he added. In the United States, fatal air carrier accidents have dropped 65 percent since 1996. That works out to one fatal for every 4.5 million departures. Internationally, the numbers are dropping as well. But from an international perspective, accident rates vary considerably, with some regions doing well and some not so well. "So, the point is that collectively, we all still need to take a step up," said the head of the U.S. aviation agency. "The safety management system approach will enable us to do that. Ultimately, we don't want to just meet ICAO minimums. Ultimately, our goal is to raise the bar worldwide no matter where you go. "At its most fundamental level, a safety management system helps organizations identify and manage risk. It does not wait for something to happen. It doesn't rely on anecdotal information. It is based on hard data. Safety management systems help us manage risk far better than we have, because it's a disciplined and standardized approach to managing risk. We can review past experience and address known hazards at the same time we can look ahead and rigorously apply safety risk management. "At the very core of the SMS is the need to identify potential hazards and then analyze risk. After that, the next steps are to rank hazards and assess risk, and then identify mitigation options. It's a closed-loop process where identified risks are mitigated and the mitigations are monitored to provide continuous system safety," Sturgell noted. He said the FAA's recent Call to Action for runway safety is an example of using SMS principles. A string of events pointed to a problem with U.S. runways. They involved a variety of factors -- miscommunications, missed turns on taxiways, a snowplow, missed turns onto an active runway, signage. "When we issued our Call to Action, we looked at 5.4 million records covering a 20-year period. We found 117 isolated instances of flight crew confusion here in the United States involving a variety of issues. Our Call to Action is addressing these issues as we speak. Short-term action such as enhancing runway markings and improving pilot training are already under way," he added. On the other hand, IATA warned the world's airlines of a severe pilot shortage unless industry and government work together to change training and qualification practices. IATA issued a new estimate that the industry may need 17,000 new pilots annually due to expected industry growth and retirements. "Increasing the retirement age to 65 will help, but it can't be the only solution. It's time to ring the warning bell. We must re-think pilot training and qualification to further improve safety and increase training capacity," said Giovanni Bisignani, IATA Director General and CEO. "The industry is concerned that there are no global standards for training concepts or regulation. Pilot training has not changed in 60 years - we are still ticking boxes with an emphasis on flight hours." IATA supports the competency-based approach of multi-crew pilot licensing (MPL) training programs. Unlike traditional pilot training, MPL focuses from the beginning on training for multi-pilot cockpit working conditions. It also makes better use of simulator technology. Europe was among the first regions to adopt MPL and Australia and China are moving ahead with implementation. IATA launched the IATA Training and Qualification Initiative (ITQI) to support a global approach to MPL implementation. "Our goal is to increase the pool of candidates and training capacity while improving standards," said Bisignani. As part of ITQI, IATA will host a database to track the progress of MPL cadets and allow the industry to make training adjustments, if necessary. IATA also called for greater cooperation with governments. In China, IATA is working with the government to develop the syllabus and incorporate MPL into national regulation. Bisignani also called on government leaders at the Safety Forum to incorporate the IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) into their own regulations. Most recently, Mexico, Costa Rica and Turkey have committed to make use of IOSA. "The list is growing too slowly," Bisignani said. "There is no cost to government and the results are clear." Air Safety Week, Vol. 21, No. 45 
*************

Africa: Continent Records Highest Number of Airline Accidents

Africa has recorded the highest rate of accidents this year compared to other continents, the International Air Transport Association has said.The continent's accident rate increased from 4.31 to 6.04 per million flights."But the problem crosses more borders so we are working multi-laterally to help airlines move forward on the agenda set by the ICAO's Safety for Africa," IATA's director general and CEO Giovanni Bisignani said last week during the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) International Forum in the US.In a bid to make air travel safer, IATA is looking at opening an office in Nigeria .Poor infrastructure, poor maintenance of air crafts and the lack of investment in new technologies have been identified as some of the reasons the continent has a poor safety record.According to IATA, the preliminary results of 2007 show an accident rate of 0.9 per million flights globally with regions like Middle East and North Africa reporting zero accidents. Europe and North America also reported some improvements.Brazil, Latin America and Asia Pacific were also identified as three major regions experiencing high accident rates.IATA has a goal of zero accidents with an interim target to reduce the industry rate to 0.49 accidents per million flights in 2008, a 25 per cent improvement.According to a 2006 safety report, adverse weather, poor communication and flight crew training were the main contributors to accidents last year.Mr Bisignani called on governments to incorporate the IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) into their own regulations in a bid to increase safety in the industry. Kenya Airways recently got their IOSA certificate. IOSA is the global standard for airline safety management.Despite the increased accident rate in 2007, the aviation sector has continued to post positive performance. Statistics from IATA show that for the first time since 2000 the industry will turn a profit of $5.6 billion this year.The profit is mainly due to good leadership at the helm of airlines, improved productivity, reduced sales and distribution costs by 13 per cent. However the industry will have to face major challenges of fuel prices in 2008.Fuel currently accounts for 28 per cent of the industry's costs thus accounting to $132 billion.Speaking during the same forum, Mr Bisignani also called for the increase in the retirement age of pilots as the industry is facing a shortage."Unless industry and government work together to change training and qualifications practices, the shortage will only get worse," he said.He called for the retirement age to be increased to 65 years as this would help meet the demand.IATA estimates that with the industry reporting 5-6 per cent growth annually, about 17,000 new pilots will be needed annually.The shortage has hit the country with the national carrier, Kenya Airways, aggressively recruiting new pilots in the past year to meet its expansion. The airline has employed 301 pilots though it had a target of over 330 pilots.There are about 2,000 pilots in the country.IATA has challenged the industry to come up with new global training concepts and regulations in a bid to address the shortage problem."Pilot training has not changed in the past 60 years," Mr Bisignani noted.http://allafrica.com/stories/200712032081.html
****************

Airline body lauds industry safety   

JUST a week before the South African Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) grounded all 17 aircraft belonging to Nationwide Airlines for safety reasons, airlines lobby group, the International Air Transport Association (Iata), had showered the airline industry with praises for maintaining high safety standards. Despite sporadic incidents of air crashes, air transport is still by far the safest way to travel, the body says. The industry claims that in the past decade it managed to cut the accident rate by half to one accident for every 1,5-million flights. The association members, which represent 94% of all scheduled traffic, did even better with one accident for every 2- million flights, Iata CEO Giovanni Bisignani told the US’s Federal Aviation Administration. Ironically, on Friday last week the CAA grounded all Nationwide planes because the civil aviation watchdog was “unable to guarantee continued safety to acceptable or required level”.The authority says that its decision was taken “in the interest of continued aviation safety in the country” after it had conducted “a rigorous audit” of Nationwide’s plane maintenance unit and found its maintenance wanting.The CAA says Nationwide’s plane maintenance unit was “unable to satisfy the authority of its capability to continue maintaining the aircraft to a standard commensurate with the requirements of the civil aviation regulations”. The body has flexed its muscle much to the surprise of the industry in the country. It has taken these bold steps and in the process risked a backlash from passengers. “This is very much regretted, our view is that safety cannot be compromised,” it says.The suspension of Nationwide’s Aviation Maintenance Organisation (AMO) licence has resulted in the suspension of the airline’s certificate of airworthiness. Nationwide CEO Vernon Bricknell is confident the suspension will be lifted soon. He says ticket-holders are being given an opportunity to either re-book or have their tickets refunded.Bricknell also denies reports the company is facing bankruptcy and has filed for liquidation. “We are a financially secure and sound company,” he says.Nationwide’s operations started hitting severe turbulence early last month when one of the two engines of a Boeing 737-200 fell off during take off, forcing the pilot to make an emergency landing. The CAA then issued an emergency airworthiness directive ordering all domestic airlines that operate the Boeing 737-200s and the DC9s to ground the planes until detailed engine inspections were carried out. All planes that were serviced by Safair and SAA Technical were given clearance to operate. However, of the reports on inspections conducted on seven of the Nationwide planes , three met the CAA’s requirements while another four complied with 90% of the requirements.It then received clearance to operate the four aircraft that had minor defaults but was given two weeks to fix the faults. But the situation changed when further CAA investigations found serious discrepancies with Nationwide’s plane maintenance unit.CAA spokeswoman Phindiwe Gwebu says the authority is concerned about Nationwide’s inability to adequately explain how it got the wrong part numbers and why the origin of certain bolts cannot be traced. “We can’t confirm these are pirate parts but eventually what we found is that some of the parts are untraceable,” she says.But Nationwide says the concerns raised by the CAA relate to the administrative systems of the airline’s maintenance unit rather than safety. It says the company does not use “pirate” parts as all aircraft components used are from authorised suppliers.In an effort to improve its safety record, it says it has over the past three months introduced a set of measures to ensure the continued integrity of its operation. These include the appointments of a new accountable manager for the AMO; a planning manager and a reliability specialist, checking all life-limited components, checking the tool boxes of engineers after each aircraft maintenance, and updating the data-capturing software with greater audit capabilities.Bricknell says the new measures were already bearing the desired outcomes.http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/topstories.aspx?ID=BD4A649132
**************

An overview of spatial disorientation as a factor in aviation accidents and incidents

The Australian Transportation Safety Board (ATSB) released a research report examining the problem of spatial disorientation.The report explains that the chances of a spatial disorientation event occurring in flight can be reduced by a series of simple preventive measures, many of which can be attended to before flight. These include flying when fit and well to do so, not flying under the influence of alcohol or medications, avoiding visual flight rules into instrument meteorological conditions, increasing awareness of spatial disorientation illusions and planning for their possible appearance at different stages of flight in the pre-flight planning process.The ATSB report encourages pilots who have had a spatial disorientation event to share their experiences with their aviation colleagues, either informally, or through magazines, journals and web-based forums.A more open approach to acknowledging and discussing spatial disorientation and its various causes will make a valuable contribution to a better understanding of this common human factor. (ATSB) Aviation Research and Analysis Report – B2007/0063:  http://www.atsb.gov.au/publications/2007/B20070063.aspx(aviation-safety.net)
***************

CAA UK issues Aircraft Maintenance Incident Analysis Paper

The U.K. CAA released the results of an analyses of a selection of maintenance related events on jet aircraft above 5,700kg MTOW, captured and stored under the requirements of the CAA’s Mandatory Occurrence Reporting (MOR). The data showed that the vast majority of MORs were related to Equipment and Furnishings, escape slides in particular. The study concludes that the number of maintenance related MORs as a percentage of the total number of MORs submitted to the CAA appears to decrease steadily from 2000 to 2005. This reduction may, in part, be attributable to the extensive efforts of the CAA to promote human factors awareness training, guidance and policy within the industry. Recommendations include improving the consistency and comprehensiveness of data captured to facilitate future trend analysis, and identification of the underlying causes of maintenance error. (CAA) CAA Paper 2007/04:  http://www.caa.co.uk/application.aspx?catid=33&pagetype=65&appid=11&mode=detail&id=2971(aviation-safety.net)
****************

Flight Options Buys 100 Embraer Jets  SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP) — Embraer is selling 100 executive jets to U.S.-based Flight Options in a deal valued at $746 million, the Brazilian plane maker said Monday.Flight Options LLC, headquartered in Cleveland, also took out options on additional 50 of Embraer's Phenom 300 executive jets that could raise the deal's value to $1.1 billion, Embraer said in a statement.It's the largest executive jet order ever for Empresa Brasileira de Aeronautica SA, which specializes in commercial jets for the passenger market but is trying to boost its share of the executive jet market.The deal includes a maintenance and support program valued at more than $200 million, Embraer said.Phenom 300s carry up to nine people, including crew, and Flight Options said in a statement that the order is "striking evidence of the continued growth of the private jet industry."Embraer, the world's fourth largest plane maker, is a former state-owned company that nearly collapsed in the 1990s but added nearly 4,500 Brazilian workers and a graveyard shift this year to boost production amid rising demand for its commercial and executive jets.Embraer specializes in mid-range passenger jets seating 80 to 110 passengers for short and medium range routes for airlines that don't want to risk unfilled seats on larger planes that use much more fuel.But Embraer chief executive Frederico Fleury hopes the executive jet segment will make up more than 20 percent of Embraer sales in five years.Embraer's American depository shares rose 53 cents to $44.11 in New York.
****************

Boeing Confirms Lion Air Order for 22 737s

SEATTLE, Dec. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Boeing Company today confirmed a previously unidentified Lion Air order for 22 Next-Generation 737-900ER (Extended Range) airplanes. Jakarta-based Lion Air's order was placed during the second quarter of 2007 and was listed in the unidentified category on Boeing's Orders and Deliveries Web site. This order, valued at more than $1.7 billion at current list prices, brings Lion Air's combined orders for the 737-900ER to 122."The Next-Generation 737's reliability, passenger comfort, and low cost of operation and maintenance play a crucial role in supporting our growing route structure," said Lion Air founder and President Director Rusdi Kirana. "The 737 is the right airplane for our airline and our customers."Boeing launched the 737-900ER program in July 2005 when Lion Air announced the initial order for 30 of the newest 737 model. In July 2006, the airline announced an order for 30 more 737-900ERs, and in June 2007 it announced an order for an additional 40 at the Paris Air Show. All of Lion Air's airplanes will be equipped with performance-enhancing Blended Winglets, which improve fuel efficiency and reduce CO2 emissions by up to 4 percent."Lion Air, the world's largest operator of the 737-900ER, is providing unmatched service for its customers throughout Southeast Asia, and is utilizing the 737-900ER's economic advantages to provide value for the airline and for its passengers," said Dinesh Keskar, vice president, Sales, Boeing Commercial Airplanes. "We look forward to growing our relationship with this most valued customer for many years to come."The 737-900ER incorporates a new pair of exit doors and a flat rear-pressure bulkhead that allow a maximum capacity of 220 passengers in a single-class layout. Aerodynamic and structural design changes -- including strengthened wings, a two-position tailskid, enhancements to the leading- and trailing-edge flap systems, optional Blended Winglets, and auxiliary fuel tanks -- will allow the 737-900ER to accommodate higher takeoff weights and increase its range to 3,200 nautical miles (5,900 km).The 737-900ER has substantial economic advantages over competing models, including 6 percent lower operating costs per trip and 4 percent lower operating costs per seat than the A321 -- which is more than 9,550 pounds (4,340 kg) heavier. The 737-900ER joins the 737-600, -700, -700ER and -800 airplanes and will share the same industry-leading reliability of the other Next-Generation 737 series models.As of Nov. 30, eight customers have placed orders for 169 Next-Generation 737-900ERs. The 737 is the best-selling commercial jetliner in history, with more than 7,000 orders from more than 240 customers around the world. Boeing has more than 1,800 unfilled orders for the airplane with a value exceeding $130 billion at current list prices.Lion Air received the first 737-900ER in April when the airplane was delivered in a special dual paint scheme that combined the Lion Air lion on the vertical stabilizer and the Boeing livery colors on the fuselage. The airline will receive a total of seven 737-900ERs in 2007. Lion Air operates an all-Boeing fleet and is the largest low-cost airline in Asia, with traffic approaching 1 million passengers per month since the airline began operations in June 2000.http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/prnewswire/AQTU192A04122007-1.htm
**************

World Bank team in Nigeria to monitor N6bn aviation grant   

A team of World Bank officials arrive the country yesterday to perform oversight function on the N6-billion ($46.65-million) given to the Nigerian aviation industry. The World Bank had earlier approved an International Development Association (IDA) credit of $46.65-million for Nigeria under the West and Central Africa Air Transport Safety and Security project.The project is to create a safe and secure environment for air transport in West and Central Africa (WCA) that will enable African airlines to competitively access regional and worldwide markets to support sustainable economic growth region-wide.The first phase of this programme was approved by the Bank’s Board in April 2006 for activities in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Guinea and Mali. At the request of the Nigerian government, the Bank initiated this second phase, which would help Nigeria address serious lapses in aviation security and safety following three fatal crashes of passenger airliners in 2005 and 2006.The West and Central Africa Air Transport Safety and Security programme will improve Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority’s (NCAA) compliance with International Civil Aviation Organisation’s (ICAO) safety and security standards as well as enhance Nigeria’s main international airports’ compliance with ICAO’s security standards. The Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria, the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority and the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology are the four aviation agencies that will benefit from project financing to address aviation safety and security issues in the country. The project will focus on an institutional study of each aviation agency, aircraft and aircrew recertification exercise, Port Harcourt and Abuja airports’ operational perimeter fences and patrol routes construction and rehabilitation, and installation of wind shear detection systems for Lagos, Port Harcourt and Kano airports.Speaking at the headquarters of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), the World Bank Mission task team leader, Pierre Pozzo di Borgo, said the team was in Nigeria to give needed assistance to the implementation team.He said the team would be willing to accommodate requests by the Nigerian team, should it be within its power to do so.Borgo said the Bank was ready to ensure that the nation’s aviation industry grew beyond its present state.The managing director of FAAN, Richard Aisuebeogun, said it would pull all resources together towards ensuring the efficiency of the airport system.Aisuebeogun, who appreciated the contributions of the World Bank towards the nation’s aviation industry, noted that his management would assist in ensuring that the funds meant for the different developmental projects were judiciously spent.He said FAAN was being repositioned to operate as a true service provider and exceed the expectations of all airport users, particularly the passengers’.http://businessdayonline.com/National/1406.html