14 MAR 2008 _______________________________________ *Comair to release safety reports *What flies 700 mph and costs $58M? New private jet *Woman tries to start fire on jet *Protester runs in front of Heathrow jet *New air-safety proposals come under attack *EU may lift safeguard clause on aviation safety against Bulgaria *Continental, EDS create new flight operations program *************************************** Comair to release safety reports Documents detail errors, violations Comair has agreed to produce for the courts confidential reports that describe safety violations and at least four runway errors by its pilots. The airline had contended that the reports need to be kept secret to encourage pilots and mechanics to report safety problems voluntarily. But in the face of a request for sanctions from lawyers for the families of victims of Comair Flight 5191, the airline has surrendered the documents, known as ASAP reports, for the Aviation Safety Action Program. The documents were produced under a protective order that bars the plaintiffs from making them public. Comair also maintains that they are unrelated to the crash, and it is continuing to litigate whether ASAP reports should be subject to disclosure, said Comair spokeswoman Kate Marx. Comair has resisted orders to turn over the reports, and plaintiffs' lawyers had asked Judge Karl S. Forester to punish the airline by forcing it to acknowledge that its failure to take reasonable steps to correct serious safety problems was a substantial factor leading to the crash of Flight 5191 at Lexington's Blue Grass Airport on Aug. 27, 2006. The commuter jet crashed on takeoff from the wrong runway, which was too short for the aircraft. Of the 50 people aboard, only the copilot survived. The National Transportation Safety Board ruled that pilot error was the principal cause of the crash. Forester last week said the request for sanctions was moot because Comair had turned over the first batch of ASAP reports on March 3, the day the sanctions were requested. The plaintiffs' liaison counsel, David Royce, said production of additional reports is ongoing. Marx said yesterday that Comair decided to comply with the court's order to surrender the reports but still believes they should remain confidential. The Air Line Pilots Association, the Regional Airline Association and the Air Transportation Association, which represents major carriers, all filed briefs saying that using the reports in litigation would inhibit self-reporting. The trial of the lawsuits against the airline is set for Aug. 4, and lawyers have said the ASAP reports could be important in proving punitive damages. http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080313/NEWS01/80 3130401/1008 *************** What flies 700 mph and costs $58M? New private jet The 18-seater Gulfstream G650 features a full kitchen and bar and has an 8,000-mile range. Gulfstream Aerospace on Thursday unveiled plans to build the largest, fastest and most expensive private jet for delivery starting in 2012. Gulfstream said its new G650 will be capable of flying nearly 700 mph, faster than a Boeing 747. It will seat 18, have a full kitchen and bar, and offer individualized entertainment, satellite phone service and wireless Internet access during the flight. Passengers will be able to sip a cocktail at 51,000 feet, its maximum altitude, the company says. "The G650 is in a brand new market by itself," said Gulfstream President Joe Lombardo. At a base price of $58 million, it will cost about $10 million more than its predecessor, Gulfstream's G550. With a flying range of more than 8,000 miles, it will be capable of whisking heads of state, CEOs and other VIPs from New York to Tokyo or Buenos Aires non-stop. "Gulfstream is staking out the top end," said aerospace analyst Richard Aboulafia of the Teal Group. "There's always a part of the market that is willing to pay for the best and the biggest." The new jet's cabin will be the largest ever — 8½ feet wide and 6-feet-5 high — but of relatively traditional metal construction, not man-made composite. The cabin will accommodate 18 passengers seated or eight sleeping in lie-flat beds. The G650 will be powered by two new Rolls-Royce engines that will take the jet from Dubai to Chicago almost 90 minutes faster than existing long-range jets, Gulfstream says. Yet because the jet will weigh less than 100,000 pounds, it will be able to land at small airports such as Teterboro Airport in New Jersey, near New York City, and avoid delay-plagued major airports such as New York John F. Kennedy and Chicago O'Hare. The G650 will be built at Gulfstream's plant in Savannah, Ga. It is expected to make its first flight in 2009. Gulfstream spokesman Robert Baugniet said 80% of Gulfstream's clients are companies, 12% are governments and 7% are high-worth individuals. "These jets are no longer the purview of the CEO," he said. Gulfstream, owned by General Dynamics (GD), commands about a quarter of the $24 billion business jet market, but it accounts for more than half of the market for large-cabin, long-range corporate jets. http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/travel/2008-03-13-gulfstream-privat e-jets_N.htm **************** Woman tries to start fire on jet CHINA has said an attempt to crash a domestic flight last week was an act of organised terrorism, adding to signs of new volatility five months ahead of the Beijing Olympics. China responded by stepping up security at its airports, on top of stringent plans being put in place for the Games in August. Passengers are now banned from taking any kind of liquid on domestic flights and searches are being increased. The state-controlled Global Times newspaper said yesterday that a 19-year-old woman from western China's Turkic Muslim Uighur minority group had been seized after trying to start a fire in a toilet on the China Southern flight. "This was a well-prepared, meticulously planned, tightly co-ordinated terror attack," the newspaper reported. Police were investigating the "terrorist organisation backing her", it said. No damage or injuries were reported. The report said the woman, who was not named, carried petrol through a business class security check at Diwopu International Airport in Urumqi, the capital of the huge Xinjiang region in China's far west. It said the fuel was concealed in drink cans and mixed with fragrance to hide the smell. The woman had been a frequent passenger and was familiar to airport staff, something she used to lull security guards into complacency, it said. An elderly guard ignored rules by letting her take the cans, which had been drained of their original contents and refilled with a syringe, the report said. About 40 minutes into the flight, she opened the cans and tried to start the fire. She was stopped by the crew. http://news.scotsman.com/world/Woman-tries-to-start-fire.3878341.jp **************** Protester runs in front of Heathrow jet A man was arrested after running onto a runway at London's busy Heathrow airport, triggering a major security alert and disrupting flights, police said. The second security breach at Heathrow within weeks, came a day before Queen Elizabeth II is to unveil a new terminal at the airport, amid protests by campaigners opposed to plans to expand it. "A man ran towards an Emirates flight," a police spokeswoman said, after television pictures showed police vehicles scrambling to deal with the situation. "He has been removed. We believe he was acting alone." A controlled explosion was carried out on a bag which the man dropped. There was no sign of explosives, suggesting he may have been a protester, police said. The BBC cited eyewitnesses saying the man scaled the airport's perimeter fence, ran onto the runway and was eventually surrounded by police. There was no indication that the incident was terrorism-related. Britain has been under an increased security alert since the July 7, 2005 suicide bombings which killed 52 people on the London transport system. It is the second major security breach at the airport in the space of three weeks. On February 25, four activists from environmental campaigners Greenpeace staged a protest on top of a parked jet against the planned construction of a third runway. The latest incident came before the queen is due Friday to open the new Terminal Five at Heathrow, designed to increase the airport's capacity to 100 million passengers a year. Buckingham Palace said the royal visit would go ahead as planned. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, told about the incident as he attended a European Union summit in Brussels, praised police handling of the situation. "I think the important thing about the Heathrow incident is that the person was detained ... I'm satisfied everything is now being done to ensure security at Heathrow is intact," he said, in a statement to British television. A number of domestic and short-haul flights were delayed. Among those affected were the Scottish women's football team. One person accompanying the team voiced frustration at the incident, saying: "Surely there are better ways of protesting". Heathrow, west of London, is the world's busiest airport, handling over 68 million passengers a year. Protesters have recently stepped up a campaign against plans for a new runway at the airport, which they say will damage the environment and add to misery for local residents. Some flights were delayed because the northern runway, where the incident took place, could not be fully used. AFP **************** New air-safety proposals come under attack WASHINGTON — A government proposal to modernize the nation's air-traffic system with satellite tracking is coming under attack from airlines, pilots and safety advocates who say it's too expensive and offers little improvement. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) wants to replace radar equipment with a satellite-based tracking system that it says will be 10 times more precise and could someday allow planes to safely fly closer together. The system, known as Automatic Dependent Surveillance — Broadcast (ADS-B), is the key to avoiding the massive flight delays that plagued airlines last summer, the agency says. Industry groups, pilots and technical experts support the need to update the system. But in dozens of comments on the FAA proposal filed in recent weeks, they complained that the FAA isn't requiring new equipment until 2020, and even then will not make drastic changes in how planes operate. The biggest changes would only come if airlines and other aircraft owners voluntarily added equipment. "The proposal does not measure up to the task of updating our national airspace system," wrote the trade group for large airlines, the Air Transport Association. "It is a high-cost plan that offers little or no new benefits," said the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. The criticism highlights the difficulty the FAA faces in making drastic changes to the air-traffic system while appeasing the different needs of airlines, private pilots and other interests. Much of the criticism revolves around the program's costs and who will pay them. Airlines, charter companies and most private plane owners could have to pay as much or more than the estimated $1.8 billion that the FAA expects to pay for equipment on the ground. Airlines, private pilots and numerous industry groups wrote that the government should create tax credits or other ways to help subsidize the new equipment. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), which investigates aviation disasters, raised a separate concern: it said the FAA's proposal does not require important safety improvements. The ADS-B system has enormous potential safety benefits because, with the right equipment, it could become the first cockpit warning system to prevent collisions on runways. The NTSB considers such collisions one of the aviation system's top risks. However, the FAA proposal includes no requirement for that equipment. FAA officials said their proposal is only a first step. Vinny Capezzuto, the FAA official who heads the project, has likened it to the early days of the personal computer. Early computers had little value for most people, but new software made them increasingly useful and sales skyrocketed, Capezzuto said. "I think that people recognize that we have to move to a greater technology," said FAA spokeswoman Lynn Tierney. "It's going to cost all of us in various ways." The agency will review the comments with a committee of experts from government and industry before finalizing the requirements. http://www.usatoday.com/travel/flights/2008-03-13-faa_N.htm *************** EU may lift safeguard clause on aviation safety against Bulgaria SOFIA, March 13 (Xinhua) -- The safeguard clause on civil aviation safety, invoked against Bulgaria before the country's accession to the European Union, may be lifted in May, Bulgarian Transport Minister Peter Mutafchiev said Thursday. Mutafchiev said that after meeting in Brussels with Jacques Barrot, the European Commission's vice president in charge of transport, local press reported. The safeguard clause for Bulgarian aviation was invoked on Dec.20, 2006, just days ahead of this country's accession to the EU, over Bulgaria's inability to ensure full compliance with EU's rules on aviation safety and on the internal aviation market. The decision was based on inspections by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) which identified a number of deficiencies, including what was described as "important shortcomings in the administrative capacity of the Bulgarian Civil Aviation Authorities in the field of safety oversight in general, and for the certification of airworthiness and maintenance of aircraft". The safeguard clause excluded local air carriers from the benefit of being considered a "Community carrier", so they continued to operate as "third country operators" to and from member states in accordance with existing bilateral agreements. Five local cargo airlines were stripped of licence. EASA technical services were in Bulgaria for an inspection late last year and it emerged Thursday in Brussels that another inspection is due by the middle of next month, whose findings will determine whether or not the safeguard will be lifted. According to Mutafchiev, Bulgaria "is a step away from having the (safeguard) clause scrapped". According to him, of the 44 issues that had to be addressed by Bulgaria, only one remains and the country is ready to deal with it and has an action plan for that to be approved by the EASA. ***************** Continental, EDS create new flight operations program Continental Airlines Inc. is working with technology services company EDS to develop a next-generation flight operations program. The program will modernize aircraft movement, load planning and air-to-ground communications flight operations services. Financial details were not disclosed. Plano-based EDS (NYSE: EDS) will use its airline service-oriented architecture program to allow Houston-based Continental (NYSE: CAL) and other airlines adjust to changing business conditions. As a result of the joint agreement, EDS has decided to offer a suite of flight operations services to the global air services market. http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/stories/2008/03/10/daily31.html ******************