13 FEB 2008 _______________________________________ *DOT probes FAA oversight of Southwest *Delta Says It Won't Increase Outsourced Maintenance *EU Hands Aviation Authority 26 Warnings *FAA pushing new aircraft safety tool *NTSB: Doomed pilot was confused *U.S. Seeks Tougher EU Flight Security *ISASI Reachout 25 *Ron Chippindale - Funeral Service Information *************************************** DOT probes FAA oversight of Southwest Federal oversight of Southwest Airlines Co. is under investigation after a lawmaker received evidence that a plane was allowed to fly without being properly inspected. Rep. Jim Oberstar requested the audit after whistleblowers gave him documentation showing that the Federal Aviation Administration inspector for Southwest "demonstrated extremely poor judgment by allowing the air carrier to operate aircraft in revenue service without properly inspecting the aircraft for fuselage cracks," according to a letter from the Transportation Department inspector general's office to the FAA. The House Transportation Committee has scheduled an oversight hearing for March 12 that will include findings of an investigation by congressional staffers and the Transportation Department of the FAA's oversight of aircraft maintenance, a committee spokesman said Tuesday. Oberstar, D-Minn., chairs the committee. "Any safety issues regarding Southwest have been addressed," FAA spokeswoman Alison Duquette said Tuesday, adding that more details will be provided at next month's hearing. A Southwest spokeswoman said the Dallas-based airline has no evidence it "ever flew an aircraft in violation of FAA" or internal safety standards. "We have an outstanding safety history," Beth Harbin said in an e-mail Tuesday. "If there is anything to be learned from this audit, we are eager to do that." The inspector general's office said the audit, to begin this week, will investigate the thoroughness of the FAA's investigation of the whistleblower allegations and the corrective measures taken by the agency in response to "any inappropriate inspector actions." The inspectors will also examine the oversight process to see if the FAA needs to strengthen it, according to the letter sent Monday. Some lawmakers have expressed concern about the FAA's inspector staffing levels. On Monday, the Teamsters union and a business traveler trade group called for a moratorium on all aircraft maintenance done overseas because they say foreign locations are not properly regulated. http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8UP3SJ00.htm **************** Delta Says It Won't Increase Outsourced Maintenance Teamsters President Concerned With Foreign Shops Will outsourcing be the final answer for Delta Air Lines after an anticipated merger with Northwest Airlines Corp? Not so much, says Delta, which stresses it plans to keep most major service work in-house for 2008. Bringing the issue to the table on Monday was Teamsters President James Hoffa, who fears a Delta/NWA merger might launch an increase in the amount of aircraft maintenance work being performed overseas. "Northwest does an extensive amount of outsourcing overseas," Hoffa told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The potential of more jobs being sent to Asia "is a key concern that should be addressed" by a regulatory review in a merger situation, as well as the levels of safety standards, he added. Atlanta-based Delta admonishes such concerns of maintenance work scheduled to be performed overseas, because they currently profit from taking on maintenance work for other carriers. "Delta senior leadership has made very clear its commitment to growing its in-house maintenance business by focusing on high-skill, high-value maintenance work," said Delta spokeswoman Chris Kelly. "Last year, Delta TechOps brought in more than $377 million in revenue, and 2008 is looking to be even better." The Teamsters say they're concerned with safety and regulatory issues with outsourcing. The union does not represent workers at either Northwest or Delta, but notes several major US airlines spend two-thirds of the dollars on contract repairs at foreign shops, including facilities in Mexico, China, the Philippines, and El Salvador. According to an MIT analysis of Transportation Department data, Delta spent $467 million on outsourced work in 2006, while Northwest spent $647 million -- both rising from $271 and $261 respectively, in 2004. Hoffa -- and several others -- say this poses a threat to traveler safety, because hiring standards in other countries do not include the same standards of background or substance testing. "Aircraft mechanics should all be held to a single standard whether they repair airplanes in Beijing or San Francisco," Hoffa said. "Unfortunately, the Federal Aviation Administration doesn't have the staff or funding" to regulate overseas work to US standards. The FAA noted via spokeswoman Alison Duquette "the amount of work outsourced definitely has been increasing," adding statistics to back up that assertion aren't available. "The standards for domestic and foreign repair stations are the same," Duquette said. "The FAA has not seen a problem with outsourced maintenance." Paul Bradley, a United Airlines mechanic at Dulles International, begs to differ. He says maintenance work performed on United jets in Beijing has been substandard, to say the least. "Once the planes come back [from Beijing], we spend two or three weeks trying to fix the things they screwed up overseas," said Bradley, who has urged United's mechanics to switch their representation from the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association, to the Teamsters. FMI: www.delta.com, www.teamsters.org, www.amfanational.org aero-news.net ************** EU Hands Aviation Authority 26 Warnings The European Aviation Safety Agency has handed the Finnish Civil Aviation Authority 26 notices of deficiencies, based on inspections carried out last November. Two of the warnings are for serious incidents. The Finnish Civil Aviation Authority emphasizes that passenger safety was never at risk. "Actually, they address small details which have already been fixed," says the head of the Aviation Authority's Technical Division, Ari Vahtera. "Of course we take the notices very seriously, and that is why they were corrected so quickly." The European Agency's report also criticized the fact that the Aviation Authority's responsibilities and authority were not outlined specifically in Finnish law. The Ministry of Transport and Communications says it is working to address the problem. "In the Ministry we are in the process of preparing changes to the aviation laws, including any changes that might need to be made in authority," says the Ministry's chief inspector, Topi Sirén. Lappeenranta Accidents Don't Improve Image The reports comes right as investigators in Lappeenranta are looking into the second landing accident there in as many weeks. Officials have confirmed that brake failure caused a 34-seater plane used by the company Fly Lappeenranta to strike the corner of an airport building while landing. No one was injured. Investigators say that a brake line was severed, so that two out of four tyre brakes were completely inoperable. Investigators are still looking into the possibility that the plane was too close to the terminal even before the brakes gave out. The same plane was slightly damaged when it struck a snow bank at the airport nearly two weeks ago. http://www.yle.fi/news/left/id82509.html *************** FAA pushing new aircraft safety tool WASHINGTON (AP) - Federal regulators on Tuesday said they have sped up the certification process for some electronic displays that provide commercial pilots with more detailed runway information than is available by simply looking out the cockpit window. The Federal Aviation Administration said a device from a Boeing Co. (NYSE:BA) unit that uses global positioning technology on a moving map to show pilots their actual position at the airport should be certified soon. At least one other company is expected to file for certification, the agency said. Tests showed that pilots typically glanced at the display, then looked out their windows to verify that information, eliminating a major FAA concern that pilots would be 'heads down' too long for safe operations. The FAA release comes one day before a House subcommittee hearing on runway safety issues and two months after congressional investigators found that runway safety incidents affecting commercial airlines spiked in fiscal 2007 due to poor FAA leadership, malfunctioning technology and overworked controllers. The Government Accountability Office in December said runway incursions had fallen from a high of 407 in 2001, but rose to 370 in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30. A runway incursion is defined as an incident in which any aircraft, vehicle or person goes where it should not be in space reserved for takeoffs and landings. Last year saw a record-low 24 serious incursions -- classified as incursions where a collision was narrowly averted -- down from 31 in 2006. The GAO report said the risk of a catastrophic collision remains high. Runway incursions subsequently were reported in California, Illinois, New York and New Jersey in December. FAA spokeswoman Alison Duquette said the FAA fact sheet was released before the House hearing to update lawmakers on the technology piece of the runway safety issue. The new certification policies, which simplified the process for companies to help save some projects costs while maintaining the same safety requirements, were finalized in April, she added. Carriers are not required to use the 'Electronic Flight Bags,' which range from laptop-like devices to permanent units in the cockpits, but many do already, Duquette said. An application from Jeppesen, a subsidiary of Boeing Commercial Aviation Services, is expected to complete the certification process 'soon,' according to government and company spokesmen who declined to be more specific. ACSS, a joint venture of L-3 Communications Holdings Inc. (NYSE:LLL) and French defense company Thales SA, also is expected to submit an application, Duquette said. The FAA has varying certification levels for the devices based on their technical complexity and the types of data they are intended to display. Once the 'own-ship position' function is certified, operators can install the devices on planes. By focusing on that function, the FAA said the cost of certification could drop to as little as $20,000 per unit. http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/newstex/AFX-0013-22971169.htm **************** NTSB: Doomed pilot was confused 12:03 AMA Colorado woman who died in a Feb. 1 plane crash after taking off from Augusta State Airport told an air traffic controller she was having trouble with the jet’s attitude indicator and didn’t know where she was turning shortly before her plane went down, according to a preliminary federal report released Tuesday. The National Transportation Safety Board released a preliminary report Tuesday on the crash of a Cessna Citation 525 jet that killed wealthy businesswoman Jeanette Symons, 45, and her son, Balan Symons, 10. Symons and her son were not identified by name in the report. Their identities were confirmed by Maine’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner last week. In the two-page NTSB report, investigators said Symons exhibited behavior before takeoff indicating she was perhaps confused about her surroundings. Symons was seen taxiing the plane off the asphalt before taking the jet through a ditch, trying to depart down the wrong runway, and failing to turn on runway and taxi lights, according to the report. Investigators said Symons was given a standard briefing on weather conditions at 5 p.m., when she called Maine Instrument Flight to file a flight plan to Lincoln, Neb. The flight plan indicated Symons planned to fly under instrument flight rules, meaning she would need only instruments to navigate the plane. The other method of aviation is using visual flight rules, in which the pilot is responsible for navigating the plane based on sight. A Federal Aviation Administration database rated Symons — known among friends and colleagues as a seasoned pilot — as qualified to use instrument flight rules, the report said. The report noted weather conditions at the time were cold, with light snow turning into freezing rain, and witnesses told investigators they saw ice forming on their vehicles around the time Symons attempted to take off. Investigators determined in their initial report that when Symons took the Cessna through a ditch, the jet’s left main tire became stuck in ice. At that time, the plane engines were heard operating at “a high rate of power.” Not long after, Symons was seen taxiing through ice and off the asphalt yet again, the report indicates witnesses saying. After announcing to Maine Instrument Flight officials her intention to depart from an incorrect runway, a Maine Instrument Flight employee turned on the taxi and runway lights, according to the NTSB’s report, though the report did not clarify if it was done to help direct Symons to the proper runway. At an uncontrolled airport such as Augusta’s, it is considered procedure for the pilot to turn on the field lights via radio frequency. The Cessna took off and reached an altitude of 3,000 feet when Symons radioed an air traffic controller in Portland, saying: “We’ve got an attitude indicator failure.” She also said she didn’t know which way she was turning, according to the report. An attitude indicator is a aviation instrument used to inform a pilot of the orientation of the plane relative to Earth. Four minutes after takeoff, the plane crashed and burned in a wooded area of West Gardiner. The report indicated all findings are preliminary and could change as the investigation continues A completed report — including an official cause — will not be ready for several months. “It could take six months to a year,” NTSB investigator Jose Obregon said Tuesday. “When the factual report comes out, everything will be fully addressed.” http://news.mainetoday.com/updates/022203.html *************** U.S. Seeks Tougher EU Flight Security The Bush administration demands the EU approve a list of air security increases, including armed guards on all flights. Europe may resist Armed guards on all trans-Atlantic flights and a multiday waiting period for Europeans looking to travel to the US -- those are two of seven bold new measures the US is asking the European Union to implement in an effort to boost transatlantic airline security. The Guardian newspaper reported on Monday that all 27 EU members are being asked to sign off on the memorandum of understanding, which was circulating in Brussels and capitals across Europe over the weekend. Some EU officials described Washington's demands as "blackmail" and "troublesome." The memorandum declared that the US would seek to place armed US Marshals on all transatlantic flights and that, within months, a new permit system could require EU citizens to apply online for a permit to enter the US -- a process that could take several days and would need to be completed before purchasing an airline ticket. That new system would be in addition to an extensive personal information-sharing arrangement that already exists between the EU and the US to facilitate "profiling" of potential terrorists. Also included in the potential security clampdown is a stipulation that EU passengers flying over -- but not landing in -- the US would need to provide comprehensive personal data to US authorities. If Europe does not agree to the heightened security measures, the memorandum threatened, most Europeans' visa-free travel to the US could be imperilled. According to the newspaper, the Association of European Airlines, which represents 31 carriers, told US authorities that there is "no international legal foundation" to support the memorandum's far-reaching requests. Brussels is pushing EU member states to avoid individual deals with the US on the proposed regulations to avoid weakening the EU's ability to negotiate a Europe-wide compromise on the memorandum. However, the Guardian reports that the Czech Republic and Greece may be close to reaching independent deals with Washington. Both nations are among the 12 EU member states whose citizens need visas to travel to America, where there are large Czech and Greek diasporas. The prospect of visa-free travel to the US for their citizens may outweigh pleas for solidarity from their EU partners. "There is a process of consultation and coordination under way," Jonathon Faull, a senior European commission official involved in the negotiations, told the Guardian. http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/feb2008/gb20080212_305625.htm? chan=globalbiz_europe+index+page_top+stories *************** ISASI Reachout 25 'ISASI Reachout 25 will be hosted by ASASI and staged at the Novotel Hotel Brisbane Australia from Tuesday 25 March - Friday 28 March. The activity is being supported by various ISASI corporate members (ATSB, DDAAFS, DSTO and Boeing) and other areas of the aviation industry eg VirginBlue Airlines, Cobham Aviation. Reachout 25 is intended to provide a brief investigative background to people who have not had experience in this field, but whose jobs may require them to play a part in investigations. Detail can be found on the ASASI web site www.asasi.org. Those interested should register because numbers of places are limited.' *************** Ron Chippindale - Funeral Service Information Monday 18 February 2008, 1:00 pm Old Saint Paul's Church 34 Mulgrave Street Thorndon Wellington New Zealand His family address is: Villa 8, 15 Aotea Drive Papakowhai Porirua Wellington *************