30 SEP 2008 _______________________________________ *Collision risk high on U.S. airport runways: safety expert *Air traffic union fights 'frivolous' FAA probe *Cape Air says flights are safe after fatal crash *Sun Country Slashes Employee Pay As Petters Resigns *US: Pilots to blame in Blair's Miami plane mishap *D/FW Airport to end fiscal year with $12 million surplus *NASA Updates Aviation Safety Data Website *Second Domodedovo (Moscow) runway secures Cat IIIa approval *************************************** Collision risk high on U.S. airport runways: safety expert The rate of close calls on airport runways in the United States is up over last year and the risk of a collision is high, a U.S. government investigator said Thursday. Gerald Dillingham, the General Accountability Office's top expert on aviation safety, told a House of Representatives panel that there were 24 of the most serious kinds of runway incursions - defined as an event in which any aircraft, vehicle or person intrudes in space reserved for takeoff or landing - in fiscal 2008. That's the same number of serious incursions as last year. But since air travel and airport operations have declined this year, the rate of serious incidents - measured by number of incidents per one million takeoffs and landings - has increased about 10 per cent, Dillingham said. Both the number and rate of all types of runway incursions, ranging from near collisions to minor incidents in which there was no threat to safety, also are up, he said. "We all agree . that [the Federal Aviation Administration] has given a higher priority to runway safety," including following several GAO recommendations, Dillingham said. "Despite these actions the risk of runway collisions is still high." Serious incidents down from high of 53 in 2001 FAA Chief Operating Officer Hank Krakowski said the agency has made "solid progress" this year. He noted that the 24 serious incidents in 2007 were down from a high of 53 incidents in 2001. Runway incursions are a top safety concern internationally and among U.S. air safety officials. The deadliest disaster in commercial aviation history was a runway incursion in 1977, when 582 were killed in the ground collision of two Boeing 747s at the Tenerife airport in the Canary Islands. Since 1990, 112 people have died in seven U.S. runway incursions, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. In December, the GAO warned that air travellers face a high risk of a catastrophic collision on U.S. airport runways because of faltering federal leadership, malfunctioning technology and overworked air traffic controllers. Dillingham and Krakowski agreed that mistakes by pilots and controllers rather than technology problems were key factors in many incursions. The most recent serious runway incursion occurred last week at Lehigh Valley International Airport in Allentown, Pa. A United Express flight with 60 passengers had to brake and swerve, avoiding by about three metres a small plane that had landed ahead of it on the same runway. The National Air Traffic Controllers Union said a trainee in the airport's control tower mistakenly thought the Cessna had left the runway and cleared the United Express flight for takeoff. http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2008/09/25/airport-collisions.html ************** Air traffic union fights 'frivolous' FAA probe The air traffic controllers union says the FAA launched a "frivolous" investigation because a senior executive was miffed after her AirTran flight into Boston received a "go-around" order from the air traffic control tower. The plane, which was about a half-mile from landing, was forced to circle the airport before touching down so that an arriving US Airways plane could first exit a runway. The National Air Traffic Controllers Association, which is embroiled in a contract dispute with the Federal Aviation Administration, says the agency forced the shutdown of Logan's airport movement area safety system for 15 minutes on both Sept. 3 and 4 so it could review the controller's decision even after a supervisor deemed it the right response. "This was a frivolous, pointless investigation that ended up jeopardizing the safety of the airfield by taking away a critical piece of equipment that helps us prevent runway incidents by sounding alarms in the tower if evasive action to stop a collision is required," said Matthew McCluskey, president of the union's Boston local. But the FAA, which found no wrongdoing by the controller, said it was conducting routine follow-up after its executive - in a regular meeting with the FAA's regional management team - described what occurred and said the pilot made it sound like a serious incident. "There was no formal investigation," spokeswoman Laura Brown said. "(Runway safety director Wes Timmons) generally gets alerted when there's a serious issue with the system, and he didn't hear about this. This was an effort to understand what happened." Timmons, in Boston for the regional meeting, had the control tower pull the radar data, she said. That required the temporary shutdown of the radar system, which the FAA also took off-line the previous day so an incident report could be sent to Washington. http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view/2008_09_30_Air_traffic_uni on_fights_%E2%80%98frivolous__FAA_probe/ ************** Cape Air says flights are safe after fatal crash MASSACHUSETTS -- The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating a Cape Air plane crash that killed a pilot. Captain David Willey was the only person on board the Cessna 402. He was flying from Martha's Vineyard to Boston's Logan International Airport and his plane went down shortly after take-off. Willey was flying the same type of plane used throughout the airline's fleet, including those from North Country airports. Cape Air says flights are safe after fatal crash The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating a Cape Air plane crash that killed a pilot. The airline says it has a great safety record and ensures that it will continue doing everything it can to prevent future accidents. "When you look at the amount of years that we've been flying, which is well over two decades, all of the departures and arrivals and the flights and the numbers of people that we fly, our record is one of the best in the regional airline industry," said Michelle Haynes, a spokesperson for Cape Air. This is the first fatal crash for the airline. Cape Air began offering flights out of the North Country just two weeks ago. http://news10now.com/content/all_news/watertownnorth_country/125064/cape-air -says-flights-are-safe-after-fatal-crash/Default.aspx ************** Sun Country Slashes Employee Pay As Petters Resigns CEO Says Workers Will Be Repaid Next Year Last week, federal agents descended on the headquarters of The Petters Group in Minnetonka, MN and there was no explanation why the financing company was hit. Now, we know. On Friday, the search warrant was unsealed... and the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports the raid, and a simultaneous one on the home of Tom Petters, was made in search of evidence in connection with a major fraud investigation. The firm's Petters Aviation subsidiary owns all of the voting shares in Sun Country Airlines, and has pumped in $25 million in the past year to cover losses. Until recently, Petter Group founder Tom Petters was the chairman of the airline's board... a position he resigned Monday, under the cloud of accusation and strong whiff of corporate malfeasance. Despite the close connection, Sun Country has not been involved in the investigation to date, and its recently-hired CEO insists normal operations will go on. But things won't be exactly "normal." On Monday, Sun Country CEO Stan Gadek told workers they'd have to accept a 50 percent "pay deferral" through the end of 2008, saying the current quagmire at Petters has made it impossible for Sun Country to borrow money to keep the airline going. Gadek expects small losses in the third and fourth quarters, and a return to profits in the first quarter of 2009. The airline reported cash reserves of only #2.3 million at the end of June... but Gadek says that doesn't include $25 million in ticket revenue being held on behalf of passengers by credit card companies for travel booked, but not yet flown. So, in essence, the airline has asked its employees to lend it the cash to get through the current crisis. KARE-11 reports the airline hopes to pay back the money, with interest, from profits expected during the first quarter of next year. Gadek says the airline is ready to stand on its own. "I'm confident that Sun Country will be able to achieve that goal," he said in a recent email to Sun Country employees. "The irony is that our business has never been better." Gadel was brought on board in March. He has already dropped unprofitable routes, achieved union wage concessions after cutting his own pay, and landed military charter business, as well as a contract to transport Democratic Senator Joe Biden to his many campaign appearances this fall. It's worth noting that Sun Country actually turned a profit in July and August, as most other airlines reported sizable losses. But Gadek says fuel costs are still too high, and he's negotiating with vendors to delay payments through the expected soft months of November and December. He's also planning to ask Minnesota's Metropolitan Airports Commission for help. MAC spokesman Patrick Hogan says financial assistance might be offered, but there's been no formal proposal from the airline so far. FMI: www.suncountry.com, www.pettersgroup.com aero-news.net *************** US: Pilots to blame in Blair's Miami plane mishap MIAMI: (AP) The U.S. government says the pilots were at fault when a British Airways jumbo jet overran a Miami runway while carrying then-Prime Minister Tony Blair two years ago. The National Transportation Safety Board says the Boeing 747's pilots weren't paying enough attention after landing at Miami International Airport on Dec. 26, 2006. The plane rolled off the end of the runway and hit some landing lights, but none of the 343 passengers were injured. The NTSB also says in Monday's report that inadequate runway lighting played a secondary role in the mishap. Blair was traveling to South Florida from London for vacation. John Lampl, a British Airways spokesman, told the South Florida Sun Sentinel there was never any danger to the passengers or the plane. http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/09/29/america/NA-US-Blair-Rough-Landing. php ************** D/FW Airport to end fiscal year with $12 million surplus Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport will have a $12 million surplus when its fiscal year ends today, slightly more than it had expected earlier in the month, airport officials said Monday. Airport chief executive Jeff Fegan said he feels "extraordinarily fortunate" to be able to have a small surplus in the face of growing cost pressures and airline cutbacks. "This was a year that started off relatively normally and that started to degrade rather rapidly as the price of fuel went up," he said. The airport staff had projected Sept. 4 that the airport would finish the year with $5 million to $10 million of black ink. The airport wound up being $12 million below budget, with $13 million in expense reductions offsetting a $1 million shortfall in revenue. The airport plans to return $7 million to airlines, with the other $5 million going to reduce the airport's $103.8 million in unfunded pension liabilities. The airport board adopted a $640 million budget for its 2009 fiscal year, which begins Wednesday, but has set a goal of cutting expenses by another $13 million below that amount. Those cuts would allow the airport to keep airplane landing fees at $4.38 per 1,000 pounds, same as now. "As we look to 2009, we've got a big challenge ahead of us - $13 million we've got to overcome. We've found $2.3 million so far, but we've still got a long way to go," Mr. Fegan said. http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/stories/093008dnbusdfwairpor t.1742f10.html *************** NASA Updates Aviation Safety Data Website WASHINGTON, Sept. 29 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA will update its National Aviation Operations Monitoring Service, or NAOMS, website Tuesday to add more information from pilot survey responses. The data files are essentially the same files posted to the website in late 2007 and early 2008. However, the files are packaged differently and contain fewer redactions than the original postings. Therefore, they provide more information from the NAOMS aviation safety surveys. The surveys were conducted from 2001 through 2004. This release, in Microsoft Excel format, fulfills NASA's commitment to provide as much information as possible without compromising the anonymity and confidentiality promised to survey participants or the commercial confidentiality of the airlines and organizations involved. It also ensures that aviation safety researchers and the public have access to additional information that may be used to develop future models for safety systems to monitor the National Airspace System. NASA has no plans to post any additional NAOMS information after Sept. 30. Additional information and the survey responses from the NAOMS project are available at: http://www.nasa.gov/news/reports/NAOMS.html SOURCE NASA *************** Second Domodedovo runway secures Cat IIIa approval Moscow's Domodedovo Airport is intending to implement independent simultaneous parallel operations after securing Category IIIa status for a second runway. Category IIIa approval for 14R/32L means both of Domodedovo's runways will have the same capability. In a statement the airport's operator says this will give Domodedovo an "important competitive advantage". It adds that the next step will be to arrange simultaneous parallel operations, which will enable the airport to handle 90 landings per hour. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news **************