04 JAN 2008 _______________________________________ *Emergency landing as jet's engine fails *NASA to fly over Arctic in Google founders' jet *Iridium(R) Granted International Approval to Offer Satellite Air Traffic Safety Services *India to build new int'l airport in Punjab state *Mesa Airlines Names Jorn Bates As COO *Alaska Names Gary Beck VP of Flight Operations *Alteon Maintenance Human Factors Program Training for Managers *************************************** Emergency landing as jet's engine fails CommentScots air passengers were at the centre of a midair drama after an engine on their Flyglobespan jet hit problems on a flight to Glasgow. The Boeing 757, with 162 people on board, developed a fault in one of its two engines, causing it to lose power soon after taking off from Orlando Sanford International Airport on Wednesday night. It was forced to circle, getting rid of fuel for two hours, before making an emergency landing at the Florida airport. Some passengers feared the aircraft was going to explode after experiencing the jet judder at around 4000ft. One reportedly saw four bursts of flames. Flyglobespan said that last night that it was investigating what caused the engine "surge". Diane Crews, vice-president at the airport, said that the fault caused the pilot to "idle it" and return to Sanford. The passengers were put in hotels for the night at Flyglobespan's expense. They are expected to return to Scotland this morning. A Flyglobespan spokesman said: "There was what they call an engine surge which they think is the result of exhaust gases over-combusting. It did not knock out one of the engines. It is like a car backfiring. The passengers might have thought it to be more than it was. "It may give the impression of blowing up but the engine did not blow up. "The pilot felt he could not fly the Atlantic with that so he circled for a while, radioed that he was heading back to Sanford and dumped some fuel and landed. It was a precautionary landing." In October, Flyglobespan had a flying licence suspended over concerns about its operations - the first on a UK carrier in 15 years. Several services to North America were affected. The Civil Aviation Authority said the airline was falling short of statutory requirements. The licence was reinstated in early November. http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/other/display.var.1941978.0.Emergency_landin g_as_jets_engine_fails.php **************** NASA to fly over Arctic in Google founders' jet SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP)-A jet owned by the founders of Google is taking flight today on a scientific mission to view a meteor shower. The Quadrantid meteor shower is expected to produce more than 100 visible meteors per hour during its peak. The Gulfstream V jet is scheduled to take off from Mineta San Jose International Airport around 4:30 p.m. Thursday. The aircraft full of NASA scientists and their instruments is scheduled to fly for 10 hours over the Arctic and back to San Jose. In September, NASA revealed a 2.6 million dollar agreement with Larry Page and Sergey Brin, the co-founders of Google, to let the billionaires house their aircraft at Moffett Field. In exchange, NASA gets to do some occasional science work using the craft. --- Information from: San Jose Mercury News, http://www.sjmercury.com **************** Iridium(R) Granted International Approval to Offer Satellite Air Traffic Safety Services Certification Opens Door to Major New Market for Iridium in Commercial Aviation Sector BETHESDA, Md., Jan. 3 /PRNewswire/ -- The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Council approved standards and recommended practices (SARPs) that will permit Iridium(R) Satellite to provide Aeronautical Mobile Satellite (Route) Services (AMS(R)S) for commercial aircraft on transoceanic flights. "The ICAO AMS(R)S approval opens a significant new market for Iridium in the international commercial aviation sector," said Greg Ewert, executive vice president, Iridium Satellite. "Iridium's dramatic double-digit growth in the aeronautical marketplace over the last few years has been largely driven by the business jet and helicopter sectors. The ICAO decision means that member states can now approve Iridium satellite equipment to meet the international requirements for redundant communications when flying over ocean regions. As a result, we expect to see rapid adoption among long-haul commercial carriers in the coming year." Iridium is the only mobile satellite service that provides ubiquitous, gap-free, reliable coverage over Polar Regions, which are used by aircraft on international flights. Iridium's lightweight, low-drag aeronautical satellite terminals are less costly to install and maintain than those needed for geostationary satellite systems. Ewert noted that a growing number of air carriers have installed Iridium satellite terminals for cockpit communications, especially on high-latitude flights. "The ICAO approval means they can also have the Iridium systems certified by member states for air safety communications." About Iridium Satellite Iridium Satellite LLC (www.iridium.com) is the only mobile satellite service (MSS) offering gap-free, pole-to-pole coverage over the entire globe. Iridium's constellation of 66 low-earth-orbiting (LEO), cross-linked satellites (and multiple in-orbit spares) provides critical voice and data services for regions not served by other communication networks. Driven by increasing demand for reliable, secure, global, mobile satellite links, Iridium has been steadily growing at a double-digit annual rate since 2004. Iridium serves commercial markets through a worldwide network of more than 150 partners, and also provides services to the U.S. Department of Defense, and other U.S. and international government agencies. The company's 250,000 users are in the maritime, aeronautical, government/defense, public safety, utilities, oil/gas, mining, forestry, heavy equipment and transportation industries. Iridium has launched a major development program for its next- generation satellite constellation, called "NEXT," through which it will enable satellite-based innovations beyond communications. The company is based in Bethesda, Md., and Tempe, Ariz., U.S.A. and is privately held. Website: http://www.iridium.com/ **************** India to build new int'l airport in Punjab state A second international airport for the northern Indian state of Punjab is to be built at Mohali, near the state capital Chandigarh. The Civil Aviation Ministry says in a statement that a memorandum of understanding for the development of an international airport at Mohali is to be signed today between state-run Airports Authority of India (AAI) and the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA). Civil aviation minister Praful Patel will be attending the signing ceremony which will take place at Chandigarh's domestic airport, which will also be undergoing a passenger terminal expansion. Mohali is located close to Chandigarh, just to the west of the city. Mohali airport will be 51%-owned by AAI and 49%-owned by GMADA, which will acquire 300 acres (121Ha) of land from the State Government of Punjab. The ministry says the new Mohali airport will have a terminal building capable of handling 700 passengers at a time. Proposals for the Mohali airport have been under discussion for years. Delays in the project being approved were caused in part by opposition from some politicians who insisted it is not necessary as Punjab already has an international airport at Amritsar. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news **************** Mesa Airlines Names Jorn Bates As COO Mesa Airlines Appoints Former Delta Executive Jorn Bates As Chief Operating Officer NEW YORK (Associated Press) - Mesa Air Group Inc. said Thursday it named former Delta Air Lines Inc. executive Jorn Bates as chief operating officer of Mesa Airlines. Bates, 41, joined Mesa in January 2007 as vice president of East Coast operations and later became president of its Freedom Airlines subsidiary. Before joining Mesa, Bates had worked in various management roles at Delta for 15 years, including general manager of operations and performance for Delta Connection. Mesa also said it has appointed another former Delta employee, Joe Serratelli, 51, as chief operating officer of Freedom Airlines. Serratelli spent more than 25 years at Delta in various management roles in reservations, sales, field operations, customer service. He most recently was vice president of operations and productivity for Song, Delta's low-cost airline subsidiary. Both Bates and Serratelli will report to Michael Lotz, president and chief operating officer of Mesa Air Group. Mesa also appointed Mickey Moman as vice president of safety and regulatory compliance. Moman, 57, joined Mesa in October 1987 and was most recently Mesa Airlines' vice president of flight operations. The regional carrier also named Eric Gust vice president of flight operations at Mesa Airlines. Gust, 36, joined the company in 1995 and was most recently vice president of safety and regulatory compliance. Mesa named Zaka Khogyani director of operations at Mesa Airlines. Khogyani, 39, joined Mesa in 1995 and was most recently senior director of dispatch for the carrier. **************** Alaska Air Group Names Gary Beck Alaska Airlines' Vice President of Flight Operations SEATTLE, Jan 03, 2008 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ -- Alaska Air Group announced the election of Gary Beck to the position of vice president of flight operations for Alaska Airlines effective Jan. 7, replacing Kevin Finan, who retired from the airline last month. Beck is a 34-year veteran of the airline industry with over 15,000 flight hours. He comes to Alaska from Delta Air Lines, where he served as senior vice president of flight operations and chief pilot responsible for 2,000 daily departures and 8,500 pilots at six pilot bases. He was also president and CEO of the Delta Connection Academy in Orlando, Fla., one of the largest pilot training facilities in the world. A captain on the Boeing 727, 757 and 767 aircraft, Beck also served as director of flight operations, general manager of flight operations, general manager of domestic operations and chief pilot of its Los Angeles pilot base during his 20-year tenure with Delta Air Lines. "Gary brings an extensive background in safety and operations to the role. His leadership and organizational skills combined with his in-depth experience in the industry make him extremely qualified for this position," said Gregg Saretsky, Alaska's executive vice president of flight and marketing. "He'll be a key player as we move the airline forward to become a more efficient operation." Prior to its merger with Delta, Beck worked for Western Airlines as executive assistant to the director of flight operations, assistant chief pilot, assistant fleet captain and flight engineer. He also flew as a first officer for Ozark Airlines, a pioneering regional carrier based in the Midwest. Beck holds an executive management certificate from UCLA's Anderson School of Management and studied aerospace engineering at Central Texas College and business administration at Northern Illinois University. Raised in an airline family, Beck's father, Don Beck, served as president of Continental Airlines-Air Micronesia division, as well as executive vice president of customer service for Western Airlines. Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air together serve 92 cities through an expansive network throughout Alaska, the Lower 48, Hawaii, Canada and Mexico. For reservations visit alaskaair.com. For more news and information, visit the Alaska Airlines/Horizon Air Newsroom at alaskaair.com/newsroom. SOURCE Alaska Airlines **************** Alteon Maintenance Human Factors Program Training for Managers Alteon offers free seats in the 2-day seminar Maintenance Human Factors Program Training for Managers. This seminar is designed for airlines, heavy maintenance outfits or other organizations that desire to implement a maintenance human factors error-reduction program. This training is based on the widely-used Boeing MEDA program. The Seminar answers these three questions: * What is "human factors"? * Why should I care? * How do I get an effective HF error-reduction program started in my organization? Maintenance organizations may send up to three (3) people to attend at no charge. Seminars are held at our Seattle Training Center. Upcoming seminar dates are: February 12-13, 2008 May 13-14, 2008 August 5-6, 2008 (proposed) November 4-5, 2008 (proposed) Seating is limited. For further information, or to reserve seats, contact: Hank Schaeffer Manager, Regulatory Affairs and Quality Management Alteon Training International, A Boeing Company tel: (206) 375-9043 fax: (206) 766-1151 e-mail: james.h.schaeffer@boeing.com