04 FEB 2008 _______________________________________ *Woman, Child Lost In Maine C-525 Downing *Hawaii ANG Pilot Safe After Ejecting From F-15D *Loss of cabin pressure forces Singapore Airlines plane back to Changi *Lieberman-Warner Climate Bill To Include Aviation *China Puts Brakes On Aviation Growth *NTSB Will Investigate AA 757 Incident Over Atlantic *New safety position created at Ben Gurion *Airline Safety Position Available *************************************** Woman, Child Lost In Maine C-525 Downing Pilot Reported Instrument Problems After Takeoff A successful businesswoman and her son were the victims of the Friday night downing of a Cessna 525 CitationJet near Augusta, ME. Jeanette Symons and her 10-year-old, Balan, were the only persons onboard the Citation, which took off from Augusta State Airport (AUG) at 1745 local time Friday, bound for Lincoln, NE. Symons, the founder and CEO of the youth-oriented social networking website Industrious Kid, was the owner and pilot of the aircraft, reports the Augusta Sun Journal. The plane's registry was N102PT. Flying under an IFR flight plan, Symons made radio contact with departure control at Portland International Jetport after takeoff. Soon thereafter, with the jet at about 3,000 feet, she declared an emergency due to apparent instrument failure. The paper says the pilot reported a problem with the aircraft's altitude indicator. FAA spokesman Jim Peters said the controller attempted to vector the Citation (type shown below, right) back to Augusta, but lost contact with the jet and then saw it descend rapidly on radar. The plane impacted terrain roughly 10 miles from AUG, leaving a debris field about 300 yards long. Weather conditions at the time of the accident were less than optimal, according to AUG airport manager John Guimond, with freezing rain from a passing storm blanketing the area. "Taking off in that may have been a bad idea," he said. Tim Donovan, co-founder of Industrious Kid and a friend of Symon's, said Balan was the inspiration for the launch of the company's social networking site, Imbee.com. The site provides blogs and social posting for children, that can be monitored by parents. "Her kids wanted to be online, but she wanted to be in control and that is where Industrious Kids came from," Donovan said. Symons and her son reportedly arrived in Maine last weekend, for a week-long ski camp at Sugarloaf USA. Her eight-year-old daughter was at home in Steamboat Springs, CO, during the trip. FMI: www.faa.gov, www.industriouskid.com aero-news.net *************** Hawaii ANG Pilot Safe After Ejecting From F-15D Spotlight Once Again On Aging Fighters The downing of a Hawaii Air National Guard F-15D Eagle Friday once again raises questions about the nation's fleet of aging fighter aircraft. The Honolulu Advertiser reports the pilot ejected safely from the stricken plane 60 miles south of Oahu Friday afternoon, and was quickly recovered by a Coast Guard helicopter. The pilot, whose name hasn't been released, is in good condition at a local hospital, reportedly only suffering a cut during the ejection. "He's a tough guy," said Hawaii ANG leader Maj. Gen. Robert G.F. Lee. "He was up, walking around, smiling, had his family there - so we're all happy that he's in good shape." The fighter -- and its reputation -- weren't so lucky. Friday's loss was the fifth crash of an F-15 since May 2007... and once again casts a pall on the nation's aging fleet of Eagles, only weeks after a portion of that fleet was returned to duty following inspections for structural problems. As ANN reported, a Missouri Air National Guard F-15C broke apart during a training flight in early November, forcing its pilot to bail out as his plane disintegrated around him. The accident led to the immediate grounding of the oldest F-15s, while inspections were conducted. Many of those planes returned to service November 21... but it wouldn't last. The Air Force regrounded 452 model A-through-D Eagles on November 28... and again in early December, after inspections found another aircraft with potential defects to the structural longerons that hold the F-15 fuselage together. Last month, the Air Force confirmed defects inthe longerons on the Missouri ANG F-15 were to blame for the inflight breakup. Inspections revealed another nine planes with evidence of cracking, similar to what was found in the wreckage of the accident plane; inspections of other F-15s throughout the USAF fleet uncovered a wide range of other issues with the parts, including longerons that were too thin, or had surface imperfections that may place too much stress on the structure. Approximately 260 Eagles were once again returned to duty January 10, but 180 planes may be grounded forever due to those issues. It is not yet known what led the Hawaii ANG fighter to go down Friday. According to Lee, the pilot was flying solo in the twin-seat trainer, on a routine "air-to-air" training exercise with a second F-15 when he experienced difficulty in controlling the plane, and started to lose altitude. The pilot "was getting to the point where he said, 'Hey, I'm getting kind of low, if I can't control it, I better punch out,'" Lee said, adding the pilot was "at the low end" of the minimum safe altitude for ejecting. Fortunately, everything worked properly, and rescuers found the man in surprisingly good shape. "He seemed OK for having just crashed," Coast Guard rescue swimmer Dave Burns said. "It just seemed like he was ready to get out of there. He wasn't injured. He wasn't disoriented." The pilot was even able to walk off the helicopter unassisted once it landed, Burns added. FMI: www.af.mil aero-news.net **************** Loss of cabin pressure forces Singapore Airlines plane back to Changi A Singapore Airlines B777-200 was forced to return to Changi Airport after the pilot noticed the aircraft was losing cabin pressure some 90 minutes after takeoff. According to Xinhua, the flight was headed towards Beijing when the pilot noticed a leak in cabin pressure at an altitude of 36,000 feet. The pilot quickly lowered the plane to 32,000 feet and then to 10,000 feet in a rapid six minute descent. Carrying 232 passengers and 13 crew, the Singapore Airlines plane eventually landed safely at Changi Airport on Saturday afternoon. Passengers were transferred to a different aircraft, where they continued their journey to Beijing. Although no reason has been given as to why the aircraft lost pressure, Singapore Airlines has begun investigations into the incident. http://www.etravelblackboard.com/index.asp?id=74101&nav=130 ************** Lieberman-Warner Climate Bill To Include Aviation A sweeping global warming bill being considered by the Senate could have major repercussions for the airline industry by calling for a study of aviation's share of greenhouse gas emissions, potentially leading to more dramatic measures. America's Climate Security Act, introduced last fall by Sens. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) and John Warner (R-Va.) now has an amendment that directly addresses the aviation industry. The amendment, introduced during markup in December by Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) would require the Environmental Protection Agency to commission a study by the National Academy of Sciences to gather data on aviation's contribution to greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). The amendment stipulates the study should spell out steps "the federal government could take to encourage or require additional emissions reductions." A Lautenberg staffer told The DAILY that the senator introduced the amendment to gather baseline data on aviation's GHG emissions. The senator aims to have concrete metrics before moving forward with additional actions, he said. "Global warming is the greatest environmental threat we face, and we must fight it on all fronts," Sens. Frank R. Lautenberg told The DAILY. "Airplanes are among the fastest-growing sources of greenhouse gases that cause global warming. We must balance our country's air travel needs with the pressing need to protect our environment." The Lautenberg amendment also calls for an estimate of the projected GHG emissions from the airline industry for the next five, 20 and 50 years. The airline industry was tepid in its response to the amendment. "We are confident that any new study will simply reinforce previous findings from the Nobel Prize-winning UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that aviation is responsible for 2% of global CO2 emissions," said IATA spokesman Steven Lott. "Even though we are a very small part of a big problem, we take our responsibility very seriously and are already working toward our goals of carbon-neutral growth in the medium-term and to develop zero-carbon emissions technology within 50 years," he added. The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee marked up the Lieberman-Warner bill in December, when it passed out of committee with all Democrats voting in favor, and all Republicans, except Warner, voting against. The bill is expected to go before the full Senate for a vote after the Presidents' Day recess and before the Senate adjourns for the summer, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., told The DAILY. http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story.jsp?id=news/LIEB02018.xml&headl ine=Lieberman-Warner%20Climate%20Bill%20To%20Include%20Aviation&channel=comm ************** China Puts Brakes On Aviation Growth China's efforts to put the brakes on aviation growth appears to be having the desired effect, with the latest figures showing extremely rapid but moderating growth rates. The country's airlines carried 185.19 million passengers in 2007, 16% more than a year earlier, says the civil aviation administration. While that figure is well ahead of the government planning target of 14% annual growth, it's lower than the 16.7% reported for the first half of this year, before the government tightened controls on traffic and new entrants in August. It added more restrictions last month. Officials say a prime reason for introducing the restraints on growth was to maintain the country's excellent safety record. Within the overall 2007 figure, passenger numbers rose 18.6% for international routes, compared with 21.8% for the first half of the year, and 15.7% for domestic services, down from 16.2%. Cargo volume was up 13% at 3.95 million tons, significantly slower than the 15.3% rise for the first half, but that deceleration may reflect general weakness in the freight business as much as government controls. Among the controls announced in August, the government said it would not accept applications for new airlines until 2010 -- with a few exceptions that were abolished this month. Pilots are forbidden from working overtime, and airlines that don't have enough of them may not buy aircraft or open routes. State media have said that 18 airports are operating beyond designed capacity, including Shanghai Hongqiao, Chengdu, Shenzhen, Dalian, Urumqi and Beijing Capital International, the country's largest. Access to Beijing Capital has become the focus of a special set of restraints, with penalties for airlines that repeatedly miss their slots. http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story.jsp?id=news/BRAK02018.xml&headl ine=China%20Puts%20Brakes%20On%20Aviation%20Growth%20&channel=comm *************** NTSB Will Investigate AA 757 Incident Over Atlantic Smoke In Cockpit, Shattered Windscreen Resulted In Emergency Diversion The National Transportation Safety Board says it will investigate the January 30 incident, in which an American Airlines B757-200 en route from San Juan, Puerto Rico to Philadelphia diverted to West Palm Beach, FL and made an emergency landing after the cockpit filled with smoke. Of the 139 passengers and 7 crewmembers, several were transported to the hospital for smoke inhalation. All have since been released. No other injuries were reported. According to reports from the crew, while at cruise altitude over the Atlantic Ocean, smoke began emanating from the window heating system connected to the first officer's windshield. The crew donned oxygen masks and smoke goggles and diverted to Palm Beach International Airport. As ANN reported, during the descent to land the inner pane of the first officer's windshield shattered (shown above). The crew continued the descent and landed without further incident. The digital flight data recorder (DFDR) was downloaded and sent to the NTSB laboratories in Washington. The affected windshield, which remained in one piece, and the heating unit were removed from the aircraft and will undergo a detailed analysis. While the cause of this particular incident is unknown and remains under investigation, the NTSB is aware of five events between 2004 and 2006 in which smoke, and in some cases fire, were reported to have originated from window heating systems in B-757 aircraft. Based on these incidents, in September 2007 the NTSB issued two Safety Recommendations to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) asking the agency to require the installation of redesigned window heating systems in all Boeing 747, 757, 767, and 777 series aircraft. These Safety Recommendations have yet to be implemented by the FAA. FMI: Read The NTSB's Recommendations (.pdf): http://www.ntsb.gov/Recs/letters/2007/A07_49_50.pdf aero-news.net ************** New safety position created at Ben Gurion The Israel Airports Authority has decided to create a new position to monitor air safety problems at Ben Gurion International Airport following a spate of recent near-crashes there. The position - head of the supervision and control department - will be at the level of deputy director general in the IAI's operational division. The decision is in keeping with a recent report on air safety in Israel. Advertisement On Friday, a Turkish airlines jet almost collided with an Israir plane carrying four pilots on a training mission near the airport. The two aircrafts missed each other by 1,500 meters - a distance an aviation expert called "a dangerously close margin" - after an air traffic controller authorized both planes to descend on the main runway at the same time. That incident came the same week that Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz announced a new plan to train air traffic controllers and adopted the findings of a report that found serious oversights in flight control in Israel. Training program In addition to recommending that the IAI appoint a chief air traffic controller, the Lapidot report also recommended reorganizing the training program for air traffic controllers and mandating that the program include flight simulator training as a condition for renewing the traffic controllers' licenses. In a meeting convened last week to discuss the report, Mofaz instructed IAI director general Kobi Mor and Udi Zohar, the director general of the Civil Aviation Authority, to "move forward as quickly as possible" to implement the report's findings - especially those connected to manning new supervisory positions in the aviation authority and installing advanced technology, such as automatic navigation systems and instrument landing systems at Ben-Gurion airport. The Lapidot report also found that "there is an urgent need to upgrade Ben-Gurion airport on the aviation side," and describes various defects it says must be fixed. No technology "Innovative technology that could have eased the operation of Ben-Gurion airport was not implemented," the report said, calling it "critical and urgent" that an instrument landing system be installed on Runway 30. "The absence of this system has already caused many safety incidents, and it was a miracle they didn't end in disaster." The report also recommended building a new control tower. It found that the current control tower is not high enough to meet international safety standards, does not allow air traffic controllers to see as much as they need to see, and is too small to fit all the people who need to work there at the same time. The IAI said it has decided to invest between NIS 30 million and NIS 100 million in building a new control tower, out of the NIS 550 million it has allotted for safety and security until 2010. The IAI also said it will send its air traffic controllers for additional training in teamwork and speech procedures and will be raising the number of air traffic controllers who go to Canada for training with a flight simulator. http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/950724.html **************