24 OCT 2008 _______________________________________ *FAA safety chief to step down *US Pilots Admit To Same Oversight That Led To Spanair Accident *Eight Lost In Italian Military Helicopter Crash *Many fighter pilots pass on $125k bonuses *Cameroon: Aviation experts meet in Yaounde for air safety symposium *Collision of two flights averted at Chennai airport *NTSB reviews jet's skid landing at O'Hare *Qantas unveils more management changes *The New Concorde *************************************** FAA safety chief to step down FAA associate administrator for aviation safety, Nicholas Sabatini, will retire on 3 January after 30 years with the agency. Replacing Sabatini effective 1 November will be Peggy Gilligan, currently the deputy associate administrator for aviation safety. Sabatini is responsible for a workforce of more than 6,800 federal employees who handle the certification of aircraft, pilots and mechanics and maintenance operations as well as the safety and certification oversight for the more than 7,000 commercial airlines and air operators in the US. Widely regarded as key figure in the modernizing the FAA workforce and introducing new technologies like enhanced and synthetic vision into the cockpits of certified aircraft, Sabatini's organzization was also criticized recently for allowing what some US lawmakers said were too-close relationships between regulators and airlines, an accusation spelled out in congressional hearings in April over airworthiness directive abuses by Southwest Airlines. Also retiring from the FAA on 3 January will be FAA acting deputy administrator, Ruth Leverenz, in the position since September 2007. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news *************** US Pilots Admit To Same Oversight That Led To Spanair Accident NAOMS Data Indicates Improper Takeoff Flap Settings Reported 55 Times Since 2000 The August 20 downing of a Spanair MD-82 on takeoff has cast the spotlight on a relatively mundane task for most pilots: setting proper flap positions. And based on figures cited by USA Today... that may be a good thing. The national news journal says US pilots reported 55 incidents of improper flap and slat settings on takeoff to NASA's National Aviation Operations Monitoring System since 2000. "This represents a disturbing trend," says Flight Safety Foundation president Bill Voss. "There are obvious human errors that are being made that take away ... layers of safety." According to NAOMS responses, most reported cases of improper takeoff settings were caught by visual and aural cockpit warning systems, and corrected before the aircraft took off. Investigators into the Spanair crash -- which killed 154 people -- say those warning systems were inoperative onboard the accident aircraft. Proper takeoff settings for flaps (and on larger aircraft, leading edge slats) are vital for all aircraft, especially for larger business jets and airliners. Both devices expand the available lifting surface of an airplane's wing, providing additional lift during the critical moments when the aircraft must climb out of ground effect, and establish a safe climb attitude at relatively slow airspeeds. The NAOMS study lists an 2005 incident at Washington Reagan National Airport, in which the airliner took off without the devices deployed. According to the pilots' account of the incident, the airliner nearly plunged to the ground. Another flight crew reported to NAOMS they erred in failing to set flaps and slats during their October 2006 takeoff from Orlando. "Event could have been catastrophic," the pilot said, "had it not been for (the) takeoff warning horn." USA Today notes the reported incidents are nearly statistically irrelevant, compared with over 10 million airline operations per year... but as pilots know, it also only takes one time for a minor oversight to become tragic. FMI: www.nasa.gov/news/reports/NAOMS_survey_data.html, www.flightsafety.org aero-news.net *************** Eight Lost In Italian Military Helicopter Crash No Explanation Yet For HH3F Downing In France All eight passengers and crew onboard an Italian Sikorsky HH3F Pelican were killed Thursday, when the helicopter impacted a field in eastern France and caught fire. The helicopter (similar to the US Coast Guard Pelican shown above) crashed near the town of L'Isle-en-Barrois around 1630 local time, officials told Agence-France Presse. "There were eight people on board the aircraft and none survived," a spokesman for the French regional authorities said. The Pelican was one of two Italian helicopters flying between Dijon and Florent-en-Argonne. Authorities with the Italian defense ministry said both helicopters were participating in joint operations with the French military. There is no indication what caused the crash. Weather conditions were reported as clear at the time of the accident. FMI: www.aeronautica.difesa.it/int_site/default_int.asp aero-news.net *************** Many fighter pilots pass on $125k bonuses WASHINGTON, Oct. 23 (UPI) -- Almost one third of eligible U.S. Air Force fighter pilots have passed up a $125,000 retention bonus, officials said. The Air Force Times reported Thursday that 68 percent of eligible pilots signed up for the retention bonus in fiscal year 2008, slightly more than the Air Force's 66 percent goal. The newspaper said 59 percent of the 290 eligible fighter pilots chose to stay another five years beyond the end of their 8-year service commitment. The fighters with the lowest retention rates were those who fly A-10s, at 53 percent, F-16s at 51 percent and F-22s at 43 percent. Retention rates for other fighters were 81 percent for F-15Es and 68 percent for F-15s, the newspaper said. ************** Cameroon: Aviation experts meet in Yaounde for air safety symposium Some 250 experts will participate in an international symposium on the new solutions and technologies of management of the air traffic, organised by the Agency for the the Security of Air Navigation in Africa and Madagascar (ASECNA) from Wednesday here. The meeting, which will gather the partners of the ASECNA, in particular the ser vice suppliers, the national administrations of civil aviation and meteorology of the agency's members states and the international organisations in the area of civil aviation, will examine, in three days, the concepts of managing air traffic, information sharing (on air and land), supervision by both radar and satellite as well as the navigation strategies. According to the production director of ASECNA, Mr. Meissa Ndiaye, the symposium will afford participants the opportunity to prepare exploitation centres to be integrated in the new global context of the introduction of the new concept of Communication, Navigation, Surveillance (CNS) used in air traffic. "We want to meet more effectively, the increasing needs of the international air traffic by the improvement of the security level of the flights as well as the quality of the services rendered by the agency," he added. The managing director of ASECNA, Yossouf Mahamat, indicated that a new plan of services and equipment for the period 2009-2010 whose cost amounts to nearly 200 billion FCFA would be defined and ready for implementation soon. Founded in 1959, ASECNA, whose headquarters is in Dakar, Senegal, carries out air navigation's security of the six flying information regions. http://www.afriquenligne.fr/cameroon:-aviation-experts-meet-in-yaounde-for-a ir-safety-symposium-2008102314283.html *************** Collision of two flights averted at Chennai airport Chennai, October 24: A collision of two aircrafts was averted at the airport in Chennai, after alert air traffic control officials stopped a cargo flight preparing to take off without clearance. According to airport officials, a Bangalore bound Paramount Airways flight with 49 persons on board was taking off when the Dubai bound Etihaad cargo flight from an adjacent bay started moving towards the same runway last night. Airport Apron Duty Manager S Yuganantam spotted the cargo flight moving towards the runway and immediately asked the pilot to stop it. Officials said if the cargo flight was not stopped it would have resulted in a collision with the Paramount flight. The Etihaad flight has been detained and officials are questioning its pilot, said airport officials. http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Collision-of-two-flights-averted-at- Chennai-airport/377468/ *************** NTSB reviews jet's skid landing at O'Hare A Boeing 757 skidded off a runway at O'Hare International Airport on Sept. 22. The pilots for long beyond the 30 minutes that their emergency handbook said the batteries would last. By Alan Levin, USA TODAY The pilots of an American Airlines flight carrying 185 passengers were forced to make an unusual emergency landing last month in Chicago with limited ability to control the jet after they lost electrical power, according to newly released information from a federal investigation. The Boeing 757 skidded off a runway at O'Hare International Airport on Sept. 22, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said. Although none of the 192 people aboard was injured, the pilots flew on backup battery power for long beyond the 30 minutes that their emergency handbook said the batteries would last, the NTSB said. The pilots of the Seattle-to-New York flight drained the jet's battery backup system, leaving inoperable vital systems that help stop a jet, according to a preliminary report released this week. The pilots told investigators they had difficulty raising and lowering the jet's nose and felt they had only one chance to land, the NTSB said. "They should have landed as soon as practical," said Michael Barr, an instructor at the University of Southern California's Aviation Safety and Security Program. "That would have been the conservative approach. I don't see why they thought they could fly all the way across country on their backup electrical system." FIND MORE STORIES IN: Chicago | Boeing | National Transportation Safety Board | University of Southern California | Airlines | O'Hare International Airport | Nova Scotia | Allied Pilots Association | Aviation Safety | Security Program | Michael Barr | Swiss Air Flight The pilots had switched to battery power shortly after leaving Seattle when electrical problems developed. The batteries last for about 30 minutes, but the pilots continued toward their destination until the jet's electrical systems began failing about an hour and 40 minutes later. The need to land as soon as possible when aircraft systems begin to fail has been reinforced by several accidents, such as Swiss Air Flight 111 in 1998, Barr said. The Swiss Air pilots attempted to diagnose where smoke was coming from before deciding to divert, Canadian investigators concluded. The jet became engulfed in fire and crashed off Nova Scotia, killing all 229 people aboard. Last month, the American Airlines pilots had to stop the jet without thrust reversers and other devices that help a jet stop, the NTSB said. The electrical system failure was so complete that the pilots were unable to shut off the engines after they came to a stop, the report said. Barr said investigators will want to know what the airline's manuals and emergency documentation instructed pilots to do, what the airline's maintenance department advised the pilots to do and how pilots were trained to handle electrical malfunctions. American and its pilots union, the Allied Pilots Association, declined to comment while the case is under investigation. http://www.usatoday.com/travel/flights/2008-10-23-NTSB-OHare_N.htm ************** Qantas unveils more management changes More management changes have been announced at Australia's Qantas Airways ahead of next month's change in CEO. The Oneworld alliance carrier says in a stock exchange filing that Grant Fenn has been appointed to the newly created role of executive general manager strategy and investments. Fenn was previously executive general manager freight enterprises. The strategy team will now report to Fenn and this will include fleet and long-term network planning "as well as leadership of all group strategy initiatives including mergers and acquisitions". Qantas also says David Hall has been appointed to the newly created position of group general manager corporate services and his responsibilities will include overseeing IT functions. Hall joined Qantas in 2005 as the chief financial officer of low-cost subsidiary Jetstar. Executive general manager people Kevin Brown will meanwhile be leaving the airline in the first quarter of 2009. Qantas says a global search for a new head of HR functions has already begun. The changes follow others that have been announced in recent months and they come weeks before long-serving CEO Geoff Dixon retires. Dixon will be replaced by Jetstar CEO Alan Joyce. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news *************** The New Concorde: Supersonic jet will get you from London to New York in just three hours It is five years ago almost to the day that Concorde approached Heathrow airport under much fanfare and nostalgia on its last official flight before heading off into retirement. In a move which for some people signalled a step backwards for technology, the Anglo-French aviation-engineering masterpiece touched down and with it the chance for people to experience supersonic air travel. But now, an American firm is on the cusp of re-imagining the supersonic dream and confidently plans to have supersonic commercial aircraft back in the skies as a reality by 2015. The future: It's hoped the £47.5million jet will be on the market by 2015 The Aerion Supersonic Jet may not have the same grace and style and the size of the great Concorde, but the Aerion group are so sure that the plane will fly that they have pencilled in test flights for 2012, with transatlantic testing to follow soon after. Reaching a top speed of mach 1.6 the jet will once again put New York within three hours flight time of London. The company are so confident in the design that they claim to have 50 interested parties, who have all paid the £150,000 deposit. More...1,000mph or bust! British supercar aims to shatter speed record ‘It simply will change the way global business is conducted. Flight times in general will be reduced about 40 percent,’ says Jeff Miller, chief spokesperson for Aerion. ‘Business and government leaders will be able to travel more in pursuit of opportunity. And they will feel a lot better when they step off the airplane.’ As everyone remembers Concorde was far from the budget airline options that are available now. Historic: Concorde takes off for the last time from New York on October 24, 2003 The Aerion Supersonic Jet will be no different. ‘It’s priced at £47.5million - each,’ explains Miller. ‘To date, Aerion has more than 50 letters of intent secured by £150,000 deposits. ‘The cost per nautical mile will be similar to today’s large business jets.’ The biggest advance in technology that the Aerion has improved upon Concorde is in its noise reduction ability. Concorde was famously and some would say intentionally scuppered by jealous Americans who banned the plane from flying over U.S. territory at the speed of sound. This immediately removed any advantage the small plane had over its larger competitors and ended the supersonic age before it had begun. The Aerion aircraft can successfully fly at nearly the speed of sound without any significant noise impact and more amazingly has the ability to fly at mach 1.15 without emanating a sonic boom. ‘This is due to the patented supersonic natural laminar flow (SNLF) technology that substantially reduces drag at supersonic as well as high-subsonic cruise speeds,’ says Jeff Miller. Despite the fact that the Aerion is obviously only ever going to be flown by those who can afford it, the very idea that commercial supersonic airliners are going back into the skies will please the enthusiasts. ‘Aviation progress has always been synonymous with an increase in speed. To be flying more slowly in this century than in the last seems like a step backwards.,’ says Miller. Admitting a huge debt of gratitude to Concorde, Miller impresses that the Aerion jet is a significant leap forward in aircraft technology. Luxury: The comfortable Aerion Jet will ferry private buyers at speeds of mach 1.6, meaning New York will once again be within three hours flight time of London ‘Concorde was a beautiful machine and a product of its time, but technology has moved forward and new designs such as the Aerion jet offer greater efficiency. ‘Concorde was withdrawn due to high operating cost, which Aerion technology has successfully overcome,’ says Jeff. Aerion will start small but hope to have the technology and the capital to one day expand their operation beyond smaller aircraft to larger Concorde sized vehicles. ‘With the success of the Aerion supersonic business jet, we expect to see supersonic flight becoming commonplace. ‘With market acceptance it will be possible to fund the development of airliner variants, offering time savings to a much larger group of travellers,’ says Jeff. As incredible as it seems that Concorde was flying only five years ago, Aerion will be tearing across our skies in four, heralding a return to the skies of supersonic travel. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1079963/The-new-Concorde-Supe rsonic-jet-London-New-York-just-hours.html ***************