07 MAR 2008 _______________________________________ *FAA, controllers differ over claims crash 'seconds' away *NTSB Tired of FAA's Inaction on Pilot Fatigue *Pilots, air-traffic controllers face English tests *FAA proposes record $10 mln fine for Southwest Air *PHI Air Medical Receives Prestigious CAMTS Accreditation in the State of Texas *************************************** FAA, controllers differ over claims crash 'seconds' away Two airplanes carrying at least 123 people nearly collided near Pittsburgh after an air traffic control trainee in Ohio mistakenly directed one into the other's path, authorities said Thursday. Federal authorities differed with the air traffic controllers union over how close the planes came to each other when the mistake happened Tuesday morning. None of those involved were identified. Elizabeth Isham Cory, a Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman, said the planes were 3.06 nautical miles apart and several minutes from each other when pilots adjusted their paths without danger to passengers. Air Traffic Controllers Association spokeswoman Melissa Ott, however, said she saw the FAA replay of the incident and that the planes were seconds from crashing. Cory said a trainee at the Cleveland Air Route Traffic Control Center in Oberlin, supervised by two veteran controllers, brought a westbound regional jet on a collision course with a northeast-bound MD88 about 20 miles east of Pittsburgh, just after 9:30 a.m. The planes, at an elevation of 35,000 feet, never were closer than 400 feet vertically and 3.06 miles laterally, she said. The standard level of separation is 1,000 feet vertical and 5 miles lateral. Crash-avoidance systems in the cockpits alerted the pilots and they adjusted their paths, Cory said. "The system worked. There are numerous redundancies of procedures and equipment in place precisely for this reason." The veteran controllers were removed from duty and will be retrained, she said. The trainee who made the mistake graduated from a college program majoring in air traffic control and spent three months at the FAA Air Traffic Academy before coming to Oberlin in April 2006, Cory said. That person will continue training until certification. Cory knew of no accidents caused by air traffic control errors at the center for at least a decade. In 2007, the center had 33 errors and handled almost 2.8 million flights, she said. Since October, it had nine errors and, in that period, handled 526,889 aircraft. Both the number of aircraft handled and the number of errors have been declining, Cory said. Airline officials confirmed the planes involved. They were Flight 2273 of PSA, a subsidiary of US Airways, en route from Wilkes-Barre to Charlotte with four crew members and 66 passengers. The eastbound plane was Delta Flight 1654 from Cincinnati to LaGuardia Airport in New York, with 57 occupants. http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/cityregion/s_555963.html **************** NTSB Tired of FAA's Inaction on Pilot Fatigue The NTSB has called the FAA's response "unacceptable" to four out of six safety recommendations addressing human fatigue and duty-time limitations. The agency issued the report to coincide with National Sleep Awareness Week. "The Safety Board is very concerned about reducing accidents and incidents caused by human fatigue," NTSB chairman Mark Rosenker said, adding that fatigue was a probable cause or contributing factor in "numerous" accidents. The recommendations include requiring training, check flights, ferry and repositioning flights to be included in a pilot's total revenue time; ensuring that flight and duty time limitations take into consideration research findings in fatigue and sleep issues; reviewing the issue of personnel fatigue in aviation maintenance; and taking into consideration the length of a duty day, starting time and workload when assigning flight crew hours. The FAA has not to date altered a 2001 Federal Register notice that calls for eight hours of rest in any 24-hour period that includes flight time. An FAA spokesman told AIN, "We believe the rules and guidance we have in place are fundamentally sound. http://www.ainonline.com/news/single-news-page/article/ntsb-tired-of-faas-in action-on-pilot-fatigue/?no_cache=1&cHash=e53fe5b09e ************** Pilots, air-traffic controllers face English tests Pilots and air-traffic controllers around the world must now be able to speak basic English after new rules to improve safety came in to effect yesterday. The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) has introduced a mandatory English exam for hundreds of thousands of people worldwide who control aircraft at international airports. It is hoped the rules will prevent accidents caused by poor communication, such as the death of 349 passengers in 1996 after a mid-air collision between a Saudi Arabian Airlines Boeing 747 and an Air Kazakhstan Ilyushin, because the pilots could not understand each other. London's Telegraph reported that native English speakers will not have to prove their competence, but have been told by the Civil Aviation Authority to make sure they can be understood and refrain from the use of idioms, colloquialisms and other jargon. ICAO officials said the organisation did not expect perfect English, but the ability to handle emergency situations and ensure that pilots and control towers throughout the world understand each other. David Learmount of Flight International magazine told the Telegraph the new English standard was an important step in improving air safety. He said if anything "non-standard" happens it was not enough simply to know the technical words, the pilot had to be able to communicate the problem to air traffic controllers and understand them in return. http://www.smh.com.au/news/news/pilots-airtraffic-controllers-face-english-t ests/2008/03/07/1204780017433.html **************** FAA proposes record $10 mln fine for Southwest Air WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. aviation regulators on Thursday proposed to fine Southwest Airlines Co a record $10.2 million for allegedly failing to inspect planes for structural cracks. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said Southwest continued to fly uninspected aircraft even after the carrier notified the agency that it had missed a mandatory deadline to complete the work. "The FAA is taking action against Southwest Airlines for a failing to follow rules that are designed to protect passengers and crew," said Nicholas Sabatini, the agency's associate administrator for safety. The FAA said there were no safety incidents related to the missed inspections of Boeing Co 737 aircraft but the allegations and the fine amounted to a startling mark against the airline that has been an industry model for efficient operation for nearly 40 years. "This is going to hurt Southwest in the image of the public," said Richard Gritta, a professor of finance and transportation at the University of Portland. "This is not just a toilet that's not functioning. This is serious." Southwest said it acted promptly and responsibly and that flight safety was never compromised. It said the inspections were routine and redundant. After discovering the missed inspection area, Southwest said it promptly reinspected the aircraft. It said the FAA approved of its actions, which were supported by Boeing. Shares in Southwest, the biggest U.S. carrier by market value, closed down 3.8 percent to $12.50 on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday, burdened by soaring oil prices. UNINSPECTED PLANES Southwest flies only 737 planes and the inspection program was part of an industry-wide FAA initiative to examine older planes more closely for signs of structural fatigue. While commercial jetliners are built to fly for decades, the repetitive fuselage inspections imposed in 2004 are aimed at finding any minor skin cracks or other structural issues that occur with heavy use. They usually can be fixed easily. But the FAA asserted that Southwest operated 46 planes on nearly 60,000 flights while "failing to comply" with the inspection requirement between June 2006 and March 2007. The carrier continued for eight days to operate the same planes on more than 1,400 additional flights after discovering last March that it missed the inspection deadline, the FAA said. This breach, the FAA said, prompted the heavy fine. Cracks were found on six planes after the inspections were completed, the FAA said. Southwest said it acted promptly once it discovered the lapse and reported it to the FAA. The carrier consulted Boeing about the airlines' plan to reinspect the planes over a period of up to 10 days, while continuing to operate them. Boeing agreed that the plan did not pose a safety issue, Southwest said. A Boeing official confirmed the consultation. The FAA "approved our actions and considered the matter closed as of April 2007," Southwest said in a statement. FAA ROLE QUESTIONED Questions were raised about the FAA's role and whether its oversight was insufficient. Congressional lawmakers are asking why it took the FAA so long to act and why uninspected planes were not grounded immediately. The House of Representatives Transportation Committee is investigating and the panel's chairman, Rep. James Oberstar, a Minnesota Democrat, has scheduled a news conference for Friday. A hearing is planned for April. Sen. Patty Murray, a Washington state Democrat and chairman of the appropriations subcommittee that funds FAA operations, called the safety violations "grotesque" and an "inexcusable lapse." Murray was critical of the airline but also promised to hold FAA officials responsible. "We need to ask serious questions as to why it took the FAA so long to discover them," she said. The FAA said it is sending a team of inspectors -- those that do not normally work closely with Southwest at its base in Dallas -- to review the maintenance program. Airlines overall are complying with the timelines for completing structural inspections, the agency said. Southwest can appeal the proposed fine, which would be the largest ever against an airline, if enforced. The largest to date is a $9.5 million penalty against Eastern Airlines in the 1980s. http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080307/us_nm/southwest_faa_dc *************** PHI Air Medical Receives Prestigious CAMTS Accreditation in the State of Texas HOUSTON - (Business Wire) PHI Air Medical, Inc. announced recently that it has achieved accreditation by the Commission on Accreditation of Medical Transport Services (CAMTS) in the state of Texas. The commission awards this honor to air medical services that "provide the highest possible quality to their constituents" and demonstrate that their main priorities are "patient care and safety of the transport environment." In order to receive accreditation, bases must go through months of rigorous inspections and service evaluations. Considerable financial and human resources are invested into the process and many air medical transport services do not pass inspection. "As a company, we have made an extraordinary commitment to our patients, employees and communities that we will do everything possible to encourage and promote a culture of safety," says Duane Sherrill, Texas Program Director for PHI Air Medical. "Being recognized for our standard of care is a tremendous achievement, and it also acknowledges the professionalism and compassion of the men and women we have at PHI Air Medical." The CAMTS accreditation serves as a "marker of excellence" in the eyes of state and federal regulatory bodies. It also ensures that air medical transport services comply with requirements pertaining to training, technology and medical and flight certification. All PHI Air Medical bases in the state of Texas are recognized by the accreditation and will benefit from being affiliated with the CAMTS name. The comprehensive evaluation takes approximately 4-6 months and 210 hours of human resources. CAMTS is a non-profit organization whose main goal is preserving safety and quality in the air medical industry. Their accreditation standards are revised every 2-3 years and apply to both fixed- and rotor-wing aircraft. As of January 2008, there are only 138 accredited services in the nation, of which 5 are PHI Air Medical services. Vision Zero Award The CAMTS accreditation comes after the recent announcement of PHI Air Medical receiving the first-ever Vision Zero Aviation Safety award. The award was given for PHI Air Medical's groundbreaking efforts in developing a comprehensive Enhanced Operational Control (EOC) system for their entire air medical operation, which numbers over 70 helicopters across the country. It also recognizes one company in the air medical industry that embodies the goal of flight safety and zero accidents of consequence. In addition, PHI made a commitment to helping to initiate the Foundation of Air Medical Research and Education (FARE) Survivors Scholarship Fund. Proceeds from the Vision Zero Aviation Safety Award, totaling $10,000, will establish an endowed scholarship fund for the dependents of Air Medical Transport crews who lost their lives in the line of duty. This scholarship fund will be self-supporting, and will provide a scholarship source for surviving dependants' higher educational needs. Referring to both achievements, PHI's Director of Air Medical Operations Howard Ragsdale commented, "This is truly a remarkable time in the history of the air medical industry in Texas. We have worked very hard to provide a superior service grounded in unwavering commitment to safety and clinical excellence. While we are pleased with CAMTS accreditation and the Vision Zero Aviation Safety Award, we are most pleased with the recognition of our commitment to superior service and going beyond by our customers." About PHI Air Medical, Inc. PHI Air Medical, Inc. is a business unit of PHI, Inc., the world leader in rotary flight for over fifty years, and provides support for many of the nation's leading health care organizations. PHI Air Medical pilots have recorded more than ten million flight hours, in virtually every type of helicopter and terrain known. Single helicopters or fleets are provided to customers and capabilities range from hospital-based programs to the total EMS transportation system of Air Evac Services, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of PHI. Years before the first civilian helicopter ambulance took to the air, PHI assisted in emergency medical support. PHI Air Medical headquarters are located in Phoenix, Arizona, with 11 bases in Texas, including six bases in and around the Houston area, two in central Texas, and three more in north Texas. PHI Air Medical Texas headquarters are based in Dallas, Texas. ***************