17 DEC 2007_______________________________________*O'Hare Flight Evacuated Because of Smoke*Era Helicopters To Open New Helo Training Center In Lousiana *Private jet in emergency landing*New System Makes Bad-Weather Flying Easier for Pilots *Probe after Qantas pumps wrong gas into jets*CAAC Plans To Approve New Airlines****************************************O'Hare Flight Evacuated Because of SmokeCHICAGO (AP) — A United Airlines flight from Shanghai, China, was evacuated Friday on an O'Hare International Airport runway minutes after a pilot reported smoke in the cabin shortly before the plane's scheduled arrival, a United spokeswoman said.One passenger on United Flight 836 was treated at a hospital, United spokeswoman Megan McCarthy said, but she did not know which hospital or the passenger's condition.The plane's 258 passengers and 15 crew members were evacuated and bused to a terminal, according to Gregg Cunningham, a spokesman for Chicago's Department of Aviation.One of the Boeing 777's four pilots reported smoke in the cabin around 3:45 p.m. CST. The plane landed minutes later and was evacuated as a precaution, McCarthy said.Officials did not know the cause of the smoke.In Columbus, Ohio, meanwhile, a bird flew into an engine of a Delta Air Lines flight during takeoff Friday night, forcing the pilot to make an emergency landing, an airline spokeswoman said. There were no reports of injuries to the 140 passengers and six crew members.The jet took off from Port Columbus International Airport about 5:15 p.m. for Atlanta, Delta spokeswoman Ashley Black said. The crew initially thought the problem was a blown tire, Black said. A maintenance team later determined that a bird had flown into an engine.The plane circled the Columbus area for about 90 minutes to burn fuel before landing.***************Era Helicopters To Open New Helo Training Center In Lousiana Facility Will Feature Frasca SimulatorsEra Helicopters LLC (Era) announced this week it will open a new 7,694 square foot helicopter training facility in Lake Charles, LA early next year. The facility, Era Training Center LLC, will feature two helicopter Flight Training Devices (FTDs), an AS-350B2 FTD and an EC-135 CPDS P2+ FTD, classrooms, custom briefing areas and administrative offices.The training devices will be provided by Frasca International, provider of flight training equipment for airlines, flight schools, universities and military organizations worldwide.The Era Training Center will provide training for Era Helicopters and third-party operators. Paul White, Era Training’s Manager, stated, “One of our primary goals is to make Era Training Center a benchmark for industry-wide safety and excellence in helicopter training. The Center will offer a broad range of courses and, because of its proximity to our Lake Charles operations base, real-time training can be incorporated with Era’s diverse fleet of light, medium and heavy aircraft.  Era Training Center offerings will include programs designed for air medical operators, corporate aircraft owners and airborne law enforcement personnel.”Era announced in August its receipt of a $2.1 million RRF (Rapid Response Fund) Grant from Louisiana Economic Development (LED), for the purpose of providing a training facility in proximity to its operations base on the Lake Charles Airport property. The Rapid Response Fund is intended for economic development projects beneficial to the State of Louisiana by providing new jobs and capital investments within the State of Louisiana."Frasca is pleased to provide the AS350 and EC135 FTDs for the new Era Training Center," commented John Frasca, Vice President of Frasca International, Inc. "Frasca's experience in rotary wing simulation will ensure that Era Training Center is equipped with the best helicopter FTDs available. Era's experience in both helicopter training and helicopter operation provides invaluable feedback which will enhance the performance of the Frasca simulators. This cooperation will ensure that helicopter pilots are trained as effectively and efficiently as possible at Era Training Center."The AS350B2 Helicopter FTD will be configured to fly like the Eurocopter AS350B2 Helicopter and will include exact cockpit replication, Frasca’s TruVision 220 visual system with a database to allow for training in offshore support environments as well as winter weather operations in Alaska, and will be qualified as a Level 6 Flight Training Device (FTD).  Delivery of this device is planned for late 2007. The EC-135 CPDS P2+ FTD will also be an exact cockpit replication, duplicating the single pilot IFR configuration that Era currently operates and will be delivered in the first quarter of 2008. FMI: www.erahelicopters.com, www.frasca.comaero-news.net**************Private jet in emergency landingA private jet en route from England to Canada was forced to make an emergency landing in the west after smoke was reported in the cockpit.The Falcon 50 aircraft was diverted to Shannon Airport in Co Clare at around 2.40pm.A spokesman for Shannon Airport said the plane was travelling from South Marston in Wiltshire to Gander in Newfoundland with four passengers and two crew on board. It landed safely at the airport and was inspected by engineers. No injuries were reported.http://ukpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5hRWnWWCeiqPMLvnZihx7LiaP6ctQ**************New System Makes Bad-Weather Flying Easier for Pilots A recently installed FAA navigation system called the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) is making life much easier for general-aviation pilots in the United States, particularly when trying to land at small airports in bad weather.Pilots flying aircraft equipped with the latest Global Positioning System (GPS) equipment in the continental U.S. and much of Canada and Mexico are now able to pinpoint their location to within 25 feet, thanks to WAAS.WAAS is a network of 39 precisely surveyed ground reference stations located across the U.S. and in parts of Canada and Mexico. The system also involves two master stations, one each on the west and east coasts, and three data uplink stations.Ground reference stations in the WAAS network collect GPS satellite data and develop messages to correct any signal errors, which are caused by ionosphere disturbances and timing and satellite orbit errors.These correction messages are broadcast through communication satellites to GPS receivers on aircraft, ships, and land vehicles equipped with a WAAS-GPS receiver. WAAS also provides GPS-satellite-integrity information to the U.S. Air Force 50th Space Wing, which manages the satellite constellation.The Global Positioning SystemThe Global Positioning System comprises 31 satellites circling the earth at a medium orbit of approximately 12,660 miles. The satellites transmit signals to GPS receivers that have become common in aircraft, maritime vessels, and land vehicles. Certain types of cell phones and watches also have a GPS receiver.Using the data transmitted via microwave signals from the satellites, GPS receivers determine their location, speed, and direction, and display the information to users. The satellite signal also includes the precise time.Non-WAAS GPS receivers provide positional fixes accurate to within approximately 50 feet. In aircraft, such receivers do not provide vertical guidance to pilots flying instrument approaches.But WAAS provides the additional accuracy, integrity, and availability required to navigate using GPS for all phases of flight, from enroute flying to instrument approaches at qualified airports within the WAAS coverage area. Because of this, prominent aviation organizations such as the National Business Aviation Association and the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) have been strong supporters of WAAS."We have urged both Congress and the FAA to press ahead with the program because it improves air safety by providing the precision vertical guidance needed, especially in poor weather conditions," said Phil Boyer, president of AOPA, in March 2006. "And it makes better use of the nation's system of airports, because thousands that currently may only be used in good weather can become all-weather capable."Lateral precision, vertical guidanceWAAS-GPS provides lateral precision, vertical guidance (LPV) down to 200 feet above runways using developed LPV instrument approaches. The advantage of WAAS to pilots is that they can fly an instrument approach in poor weather at many more airports than before, particularly at smaller, general aviation airports. As a result, WAAS improves the efficiency and capacity of the U.S. National Airspace System. However, because some of the satellites that receive WAAS correction signals are over the equator, GPS-WAAS users in North America who are in mountainous areas may experience difficulty receiving the WAAS signal. Until more ground reference stations are installed, signal reception is best in open land and marine environments. The FAA and Department of Transportation began developing WAAS in 1994. The system has been available for visual flight rules (VFR) and recreational use since August 2001. In July 2003, WAAS was approved for non-precision aircraft instrument operations, and in March 2006, LPV approaches became available. The WAAS project is expected to be completed in 2013, with a final price tag of $3.3 billion.WAAS produces cost savings for FAAIt costs about $50,000 to map and publish a new, WAAS-GPS LPV approach. By comparison, a Category 1 instrument landing system (ILS), which is comprised of electronic equipment installed at an airport that guides aircraft horizontally and vertically down to 200 feet above a runway, costs from $1 million to $1.5 million per runway end.FAA cost savings are another advantage of WAAS, which allows redundant ground-based navigation aids to be decommissioned. WAAS also provides a back-up capability in the event of an ILS outage. Governments of other nations are developing navigation systems similar to WAAS. Japan is working on a Multi-Functional Satellite Augmentation System (MSAS), while Europe is developing the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS).One day, GPS-equipped pilots anywhere in the world will be able to determine their positions precisely and navigate using WAAS, MSAS, EGNOS, and other compatible systems.http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/071214-WAAS-wide-area-augmentation-system.html****************Probe after Qantas pumps wrong gas into jetsPOTENTIALLY fatal gas being pumped into passenger jet emergency oxygen tanks in Australia has sparked a worldwide safety investigation.The Australian Safety Transport Bureau confirmed yesterday that Qantas engineers accidentally put nitrogen into the emergency oxygen tanks of a Boeing 747 passenger jet at Melbourne Airport.The Australian carrier immediately checked the oxygen supplies of more than 50 of its planes that had been serviced by the mislabelled nitrogen cart at the airport. But an aviation source said: "This could have affected hundreds of planes worldwide. Any international jet that passed through Melbourne and was serviced by Qantas could have had nitrogen pumped into its oxygen tanks."Health experts warned that in an emergency the effects of nitrogen in the oxygen tanks could have potentially fatal results.Dr Ian Millar, hyperbaric medicine unit director at The Alfred hospital, said: "If there was an emergency and the pilot took nitrogen instead of oxygen, instead of gaining control of the aircraft he would black out and it would be all over. It's a pretty serious mistake."Nitrogen, which is non-flammable, is commonly used at airports to fill aircraft tyres. The aviation source said: "Qantas took delivery of the new nitrogen cart 10 months ago. It looked exactly like the old oxygen cart. When the attachments did not fit they went and took them off the old oxygen cart and started using it."The mistake was eventually spotted by an aircraft engineer. "He was walking around the plane and asked what they were doing. When they said they were topping up the oxygen, he said, 'No you're not, that's a nitrogen cart'," said the source.The incident was reported to the Civil Aviation Safety Bureau, which confirmed that an investigation detected nitrogen in the crew oxygen tanks on the Boeing 747-300. A bureau spokeswoman said it was a one-off incident.But the aviation source said: "This has affected at least 175 planes and Qantas has had to tell any other airline that has been serviced in Melbourne to check out its oxygen supplies."Air New Zealand was told about the problem six weeks ago. "As a result of receiving that letter we did take some precautionary measures," a spokeswoman said. "The oxygen tanks on a small number of planes were removed, checked, reserviced and refilled. No irregularities were found."A spokeswoman for the Australian Transport Safety Bureau said: "Very clearly they (Qantas) needed to carry out a risk assessment because there was a chance that other aircraft were affected."They identified 21 that were at risk because they had had a reasonable amount of oxygen top-up, so there was a reasonable chance they had been contaminated. There were another 30 aircraft at minor risk because they have had minor top ups," said the spokeswoman. The planes were inspected and no positive results found.She said the airline had turned the error into a learning exercise and informed engineers all over the world about the mistake. "They have talked to thousands of their engineers around Australia and overseas, informing them about this lesson that has been learnt," she said.Qantas engineering executive general manager David Cox said: "We had a guy using a new rig and he inadvertently serviced the crew oxygen with nitrogen. He realised what he was doing and flagged it."Mr Cox said that once the mistake had been realised, extensive safety checks were put in place to ensure no other aircraft had been contaminated and that it could never happen again."Every aircraft, including customer aircraft, that could have been touched with this rig has been checked," he said after confirming the rig had been in use at the airport for several months. Mr Cox said the airline had been completely open in informing all safety authorities, staff and other airlines about the mistake.http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/probe-after-qantas-pumps-wrong-gas-into-jets/2007/12/15/1197568332267.html*****************CAAC Plans To Approve New AirlinesThe Civil Aviation Administration of China announced that they plan to approve a new airline company's foundation under the name of Uni-top.The notice from CAAC says this new airline has RMB150 million registered capital and is invested jointly by Uni-top Logistic Company and Autel Intelligent Technology Company Limited. The latter has provided RMB135 million for 90% of the company and Autel has given RMB15 million for 10%.Based at Wuhan Tianhe International Airport, the new company will focus on international and domestic aviation cargo transportation businesses as well as related agent servicesAccording to one of CAAC's previous notices, they will stop approving applications for new airline companies between now and 2010. But this new company's application had been proposed in advance, so CAAC says they can go ahead and approve it.http://www.chinahospitalitynews.com/2007/12/17/5311-caac-plans-to-approve-new-airlines/