20 DEC 2007 _______________________________________ *Jet Blue plane makes emergency landing in Long Beach Airport *False smoke warning forces LA-bound jet to land in Bakersfield *Feds order fewer flights at Kennedy Airport *Indonesian minister tells airlines not to buy European planes *Charter Company Sues Mitsubishi, Honeywell Over MU-2 Accident *NATCA Says Controller Woes Will Affect Safety Under DOT Congestion Plan *NASA urged to re-launch safety survey *Air France launches in-flight mobile phone coverage in Europe *************************************** Jet Blue plane makes emergency landing in Long Beach Airport LONG BEACH, Calif.(AP) -A Jet Blue plane has made an emergency landing at Long Beach Airport. An airline spokeswoman says the pilot declared an emergency landing Wednesday after a light went on indicating a problem in the cargo area. The jet landed safely around 4 p.m. and mechanics were inspecting. The airline says it's possible the light malfunctioned. The flight from Oakland to Long Beach carried 145 passengers. **************** False smoke warning forces LA-bound jet to land in Bakersfield BAKERSFIELD, Calif.(AP) -An American Airlines jetliner heading from San Francisco to Los Angeles made an unscheduled landing in Central California after a faulty sensor indicated there was smoke in the cargo bay. The flight, with about 125 people on board, diverted to Meadows Field Airport in Bakersfield and landed about 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. Kern County fire spokesman Sean Collins said dozens of firefighters and others converged on the MD80 but found no smoke or fire. Airline spokesman Tim Wagner says the problem was a faulty heat sensor. Passengers were bused the rest of the way to Los Angeles. The plane departed hours later for Los Angeles for repairs. ***************** Feds order fewer flights at Kennedy Airport In the most sweeping effort to date to ease congestion at New York's three major airports, U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters yesterday ordered a nearly 20 percent reduction of flights per hour during peak times at Kennedy beginning in March. She also said an airspace "czar" will be appointed to oversee efforts to reduce delays. Peters, after months of deliberations and meetings with aviation officials and political figures, said some kind of similar caps will ultimately go into effect at Newark Liberty International Airport. Flight limitations are already in place at LaGuardia. In a Washington news conference, Peters said the number of flights per hour at Kennedy would be capped at either 82 or 83, depending on time of day. Currently, there are about 100 flights per hour during peak times at Kennedy. Peak hours are considered 7 to 9 a.m. and 4 to 7 p.m. The caps are to begin March 15, and will remain in effect through 2008 and 2009. Peters said the DOT is also committed to making operational improvements next year, including new satellite-based navigation procedures for New York and Philadelphia airports. Overall, Peters and DOT officials said, the number of flights at Kennedy will be increased, not reduced. Airlines will be allowed to shift flights to times of the day when the airport has "unused capacity," according to a DOT announcement. This, the DOT said, will allow a total of 50 more flights per day than were offered at JFK last summer. Major airlines said they didn't like caps, but could live with them temporarily. Local politicians including Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Charles Schumer, and Mayor Michael Bloomberg, were sharper with criticism. Peters also said that, in a move to ease holiday travel, military airspace will be opened to commercial flights over the Atlantic seaboard Dec. 21 to 26 and from Dec. 28 to Jan. 2 - similar to action taken during Thanksgiving. Particularly important to airlines, the DOT will auction off slots - takeoff and landings times - that become available in the future as a result of increased capacity. Airlines had bitterly opposed the auctioning of existing slots, which will not happen. DOT's plans don't call for congestion pricing, which would have meant carriers would have had to pay more for slots during peak periods, something they vehemently opposed. Aviation officials were unable to say how many passenger seats will be lost during peak hour travel periods. Robert W. Mann Jr., an independent airline analyst in Port Washington, said some carriers might choose to use larger planes during peak periods to add seats and increase revenue. Mann called the plan "an interim solution." Mann said the caps at Kennedy "increase the likelihood" that some airline may shift some operations to Long Island MacArthur Airport in Islip to attract passengers unable to get flights at peak times. James May, president of the Air Transport Association, the Washington, D.C., organization representing major carriers, was asked during a news conference whether the DOT caps would mean fare increases. "One thing I can assure you," May said, "is that prices will remain far more constant than they would have if we had congestion pricing." May said fares are more likely to be determined by oil prices but called the DOT plan "a good beginning." His group said in a release that the caps are "undesirable" for travelers but under current conditions airlines have "little choice" but to live with them temporarily. David Stempler, president of the Air Travelers Association, which represents passengers, said the auctions could result in higher fares for passengers. Anthony E. Shorris, the Port Authority's executive director, said the authority was "pleased" by some of DOT's actions, but is concerned about the future impact of auctioning off slots. Clinton and Schumer, in a joint statement, called the plan "extremely disappointing" and "shortsighted." They said it has the potential to raise fares "and not even address" congestion. They called for new technology and hiring more air-traffic controllers. Separately, Bloomberg called the caps "a terrible idea." http://www.newsday.com/news/local/transportation/ny-bzjfk205508244dec20,0,11 32625.story **************** Indonesian minister tells airlines not to buy European planes JAKARTA (AFP) - Indonesia's transport minister has urged Indonesian airlines not to purchase European aircraft in response to a European Union ban on flights by the country's carriers, a report said Thursday. "We do not need to buy aircraft from Europe as long as the flying ban stays unrevoked," Jusman Syafii Djamal was quoted as saying by news website Detikcom. All 51 Indonesian airlines were banned in July from flying over the EU amid safety concerns following a series of deadly crashes in the Southeast Asian archipelago. Djamal said the ban could force airlines to fly newly purchased European aircraft back to Indonesia before registering them, resulting in higher costs. "If aircraft are purchased and registered as Indonesian (in Europe), we are worried the planes won't be able to fly to Indonesia because Indonesian airlines' aircraft are banned from flying over Europe," the minister said. Indonesia has been incensed by the ban, which was imposed in July and extended last month. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono last week decided to postpone a planned visit to Europe early in 2008, with a spokesman citing the ban as the cause. Yudhoyono normally flies on a plane from national carrier Garuda's fleet. Several private Indonesian carriers have announced plans to expand their fleet, with some mulling over the purchase of European-made airbus jets. Indonesia has seen a series of recent air accidents, including an Adam Air jet that plunged into the sea off Indonesia's Sulawesi island on New Year's Day, killing all 102 people on board, and the crash of a Garuda jet in Central Java in March that killed 21. ************** Charter Company Sues Mitsubishi, Honeywell Over MU-2 Accident Says Both To Blame For Engine-Out Takeoff Crash The operator of a Mistubishi MU-2 involved in a fatal December 2005 takeoff accident has sued the planemaker, stating it knew the turboprop twin was uncontrollable in takeoff configuration in the event of engine failure. The lawsuit also alleges enginemaker Honeywell International knew of a potential problem with the MU-2's engines, but did not require modifications to solve the problem. Two pilots were lost shortly after takeoff from Terrance, British Columbia on December 20, 2005. A recent report by Canada's Transport Safety Board placed partial blame for the accident on the loss of an engine on takeoff. "During the takeoff, the left engine combustion chamber plenum split open due to a fatigue crack," said the report, cited by The Canadian Press. "The rupture was so extensive that the engine flamed out." TSB investigators also noted 60 similar reports over a 30-year period of cracked or damaged plenums in the Honeywell turbines used in the MU-2. The manufacturer changed the component design in 1977, but did not require modifications to powerplants already in service. Both pilots were employees of the former Nav Air Charter Inc., which had its operating license pulled by Transport Canada shortly after the accident for failure to provide a valid Canadian aviation document. Shortly after TSB released its final report on the accident, representatives with Nav Air filed suit in British Columbia Supreme Court against Mitsubishi and Honeywell, seeking compensation for the lost plane, employees and cleanup of the accident scene. Nav Air says Mitsubishi's operating manual for the high-performance turboprop advises pilots to set flaps to 20 degrees in certain takeoff situations, even though the planemaker knew the aircraft would become uncontrollable in that configuration if an engine lost power. The lawsuit also claims Honeywell contributed to the accident, stating the company "failed to use reasonable care in the design, manufacture, distribution and after-market support of the engine and, more particularly, the combustion plenum." Neither company has yet responded to the suit, according to the CP. In its report, TSB makes four recommendations for safe operation of the MU-2, including warning operators of potential problems with the original plenums, as well as reinforced training procedures on engine-out operations. A popular choice with cargo operators due to its low cost and high speed, the MU-2 has a history of accidents that have led some lawmakers and officials to call for the aircraft's grounding. The MU-2's flight characteristics at low speeds and altitudes -- what is traditionally called "slow flight" -- are frequently cited by critics of the aircraft. Mitsubishi has acknowledged the MU-2 poses additional challenges to a pilot unfamiliar with the aircraft's idiosyncrasies, and supports requiring pilots to earn a type-rating for the aircraft -- something the FAA and other regulatory agencies have, to date, stopped short of doing. FMI: www.tsb.gc.ca aero-news.net ************** NATCA Says Controller Woes Will Affect Safety Under DOT Congestion Plan New Routes And Procedures Threatened By "Inadequate Training And Staffing" Be prepared for trouble. That was the ominous message conveyed by Patrick Forrey, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, hours after the announcement of new procedures to be put in place by the government to combat flight delays and congestion along the East Coast of the United States. As ANN reported, DOT Secretary Mary Peters announced Wednesday a series of measures intended to combat delays and cancellations affecting the nation's largest airports. Most of the new intiatives will not go into effect until March 2008, and will apply to New York-area airports... but in the short term, new departure procedures and route changes in New York and Philadelphia airspace went into effect moments after the new plan was announced. The problem, according to NATCA, is that controllers were also notified mere moments before the changes took place. Noting the union was "completely shunned by the Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration on the final development and implementation of new headings, routes and procedural changes in the New York and Philadelphia airspace," NATCA says the new procedures were "jammed down [controllers'] throats by FAA management with wholly inadequate training and staffing, leading to mass confusion and new concerns that the FAA is compromising safety." "Controllers do not feel prepared to add this new workload to their already overstretched limits. What we have now, courtesy of the FAA, are all the ingredients for an aviation catastrophe and it both saddens and infuriates me," NATCA President Patrick Forrey said. "The men and women who actually know something about air traffic control in these regions -- the controllers -- were unceremoniously shoved to the side by the FAA and DOT on this initiative while foolish decisions were made in their absence. Ultimately, however, it is on the backs of these very same overworked, understaffed and fatigued controllers that that the FAA has placed this extra burden." The controllers union -- locked in a bitter struggle with the FAA over a new contract for over a year -- say controllers at Newark were given a 20-30 minute face-to-face briefing on new "fan" headings for departing aircraft called for by DOT, and a facility notice was issued by the facility FAA manager. "This is less time than it takes to order and receive a delivered pizza," NATCA said. The bigger story, Newark controllers say, is the potential for conflicts between the aircraft on the new headings and the small private aircraft flying near Linden Airport, which is five miles to the southwest, and right in the path of the new headings. NATCA says the FAA has failed to warn these small aircraft; the Newark FAA manager told controllers no NOTAMS (Notice to Airmen) were issued. The union adds controllers in Philadelphia were caught unawares by the new plan, as well, as the procedures and headings were changed from what controllers had originally trained for -- "so the training is completely inadequate." NATCA also states a safety concern exists because the new headings aren't yet on charts used by pilots -- putting the burden on controllers to advise pilots of the new headings. FMI: www.faa.gov, www.dot.gov, www.natca.org aero-news.net *************** NASA urged to re-launch safety survey WASHINGTON (AP) - Congressional budget writers want NASA to resume interviewing airline pilots to detect air-safety problems. NASA closed down its National Aviation Operations Monitoring Service after nearly four years of interviewing thousands of pilots. It initially refused to disclose any findings. It said that releasing that information would upset travelers and hurt airline profits. Congressional appropriations committees are criticizing NASA for withholding the results of the study. They're directing NASA to spend part of the money being given to the agency for aeronautics activities to confirm the research was valid and consider resuming further research on the subject. Congress is giving NASA 90 days to report on its progress. A NASA spokesman declined to comment. ************** Air France launches in-flight mobile phone coverage in Europe PARIS (Thomson Financial) - Air France-KLM said customers on certain Air France-branded European services are now able to use mobile phones during flights as part of a six-month trial, starting with texts and emails. Previously, passengers have been asked to switch off mobiles while planes are taxiing or in the air. In a statement Air France (nyse: AKH - news - people ) said that during the first half of the trial passengers will be able to send and receive sms messages and use the internet, followed by a second, potentially controversial, phase when they will be able to make and receive phone calls. Air France said the voice service will be 'regulated to maintain passengers' comfort and well-being'. The trial will take place aboard Airbus A318 jets and use the OnAir onboard mobile telephony system, which is certified by the EASA (European Aviation Safety Authority) not to interfere with the radio-navigation instruments. OnAir is owned by Airbus, itself a unit of Europe's largest aerospace group, EADS. OnAir has already signed roaming agreements with mobile network operators, including the three major operators in France. It said the service may only be used at cruising altitude once a illuminated sign that reads 'switch off your phone' is turned off. *****************