17 DEC 2008 _______________________________________ *FAA calls for airlines to review pilot performance on non-revenue flights *Ryanair crew tried go-around to avoid Ciampino bird-strike *HK CAD issues safety recommendations after HK Airlines incident *Crews search for missing plane in Caribbean *Plane en route to NY with 11 on board is missing *Regulator requires BAA to sell Gatwick, Stansted, Edinburgh *Former Qantas engineer jailed for faking credentials *Australia's CASA to get new CEO *Icy Runway Suspected In Jazz Dash-8 Overrun *L.A. airport agency gets poor marks for emergency response *Couple accuse United Airlines of overserving husband, causing him to beat wife *FBI: Drunk flier forces diversion of JetBlue flight *Case Closed: Insurers Pay Millions to North Korea Over Helicopter Crash *************************************** FAA calls for airlines to review pilot performance on non-revenue flights The US FAA has published a Safety Alert for Operators (SAFO) calling on airlines, "including in particular regional airlines" to review flight data recorder (FDR) data from non-revenue flights "for safety analysis purposes." FAA explains about 25% of accidents involving turbine powered aircraft over the past 10 years have occurred during non-revenue flights such as ferry flights for maintenance purposes or repositioning flights to pick up passengers. "During this same period, the technology needed for an airline to download and analyze FDR data has become significantly more accessible, either through the airline's acquisition of more affordable FDR data acquisition and analysis technology, or through the use of readily available vendor services," says the FAA. Based on US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) reports, the FAA says the two common threads in the accidents are the flight crew's failure to "adhere to standard operating procedures" (SOPs) and the flight crew's failing to "operate the aircraft within its performance limitations." Failure to follow SOPs, along with unprofessional behaviour and poor airmanship, were the NTSB's primary probable causes in the 2004 crash of a Pinnacle Airlines CRJ-200 with two pilots on board during a repositioning flight. Both were killed after stalling both of the empty aircraft's engines at maximum operating altitude and not being able to restart. No one on the ground was injured. It is unclear whether the SAFO is linked to the ongoing investigation into an Air New Zealand Airbus A320 that crashed on a pre-delivery circuit flight near Perpignan, France on 27 November, presumably killing all seven onboard. In the SAFO, the FAA recommends that all Part 121 air carriers, particularly regional carriers, place "special emphasis" on reviewing FDR data from non-revenue flights in order to verify that the flights are being conducted according to SOPs. "If FDR analysis indicates a potential trend of SOP non-compliance during such flights, that information should be communicated to appropriate airline management personnel for action to mitigate associated risks," says the FAA. "If FDR data indicates non-compliance on the part of an individual crew, it is recommended that the information be communicated to the Chief Pilot and, if applicable, to Professional Standards group in the labour association, for the purposes of crew contact discussion, counselling and safety." Source: Air Transport Intelligence news ************* Ryanair crew tried go-around to avoid Ciampino bird-strike More detail has emerged about the situation faced by a Ryanair Boeing 737-800 crew following a multiple bird-strike on short final approach to Rome Ciampino Airport last month. Sources close to the investigation state that, when the crew sighted a huge flock of starlings ahead, they initiated a go-around, but the birds rose into the flight path and the aircraft suffered a considerable loss of power on both engines. The crew were flying the aircraft manually when, passing about 200ft, the starlings - an estimated 1,000 of them - "engulfed" the aircraft. The fan speed of the engines dropped from its normal approach setting of about 65% to 40%, and moving the power levers produced no result. Within 30s of the pilots' first sighting the birds, the aircraft had made a hard landing and come to a halt on the runway. The aircraft had been approaching Ciampino on 10 November following a flight from Frankfurt Hahn. Ryanair congratulated the pilots and cabin crew of the aircraft in a 10 December ceremony at Hahn, citing the "composure and skill" of the crew in handling the emergency. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news ************* HK CAD issues safety recommendations after HK Airlines incident Hong Kong's Civil Aviation Department (CAD) has made safety recommendations to the Hong Kong Airport Authority and Hong Kong Airlines following a September incident in which pilots operating one of the carrier's Boeing 737s unwittingly tried to take off from a taxiway. The CAD has recommended to the Airport Authority that there be "enhancements to the taxiway lighting and ground marking systems at Hong Kong International Airport", the CAD says in a statement in response to a query from ATI. It adds that the existing markings and lighting at the airport fully comply with international standards but it wants the changes in an effort to ensure there is no repeat of September's incident in which a Hong Kong Airlines 737 attempted to take off from taxiway A instead of the North Runway. Air traffic control stopped the aircraft in time and the pilots later claimed they knew it was the taxiway and they were simply taxiing at high speed. But the CAD says in today's statement that it has investigated the incident thoroughly and come to the conclusion that the pilots were trying to take off from the taxiway. There was a "temporary loss of situation awareness on the part of the flight crew concerned prior to the commencement of the takeoff manoeuvres". It says its report into the incident also recommends that Hong Kong Airlines improve its operating procedures and place more emphasis on crew training to enhance flight crew situation awareness and alertness. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news ************** Crews search for missing plane in Caribbean Plane en route to Turks and Caicos Islands from Dominican Republic Twelve people on board Atlantis Airlines plane, including pilot Plane sent out distress signal that it was experiencing emergency (CNN) -- Rescue crews scoured the Caribbean Sea on Tuesday for a plane that took off from the Dominican Republic en route to the Turks and Caicos Islands, the Dominican Republic Civil Aviation agency said. Agency director Jose Tomas Perez said the flight left Santo Domingo at 4:30 p.m. Monday, and the plane later sent out a distress signal to Miami, Florida, that it was experiencing an emergency. There were 12 people on board, including the pilot. The Dominican Republic Aviation Department has been looking for the plane, but rescuers haven't found any trace of it. They have sent out two helicopters and two boats searching for the flight in the hopes of a rescue. The plane belonged to Atlantis Airlines. *************** Plane en route to NY with 11 on board is missing SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) — A plane en route to New York with 11 people on board disappeared after taking off from the Dominican Republic, authorities said Tuesday. The Atlantis Airlines plane, which was expected to make a refueling stop in the Bahamas, sent an emergency signal before disappearing from the radar 35 minutes after takeoff on about 3:30 p.m. Monday, said Jose Tomas Perez, director of the Dominican Civil Aviation Institute. The U.S. Coast Guard and other agencies were searching in the Atlantic Ocean about 4 miles (6 kilometers) west of West Caicos island but has not found any wreckage, said Nick Ameen, a spokesman. The plane, a multiengine Britton-Norman Islander, departed from Santiago in the Dominican Republic, he said. ***** Status: Preliminary Date: 15 DEC 2008 Time: ca 17:10 Type: Britten-Norman BN-2A Trislander Mk.III-2 Operator: Línea Aérea Puertorriqueña (LAP) Registration: N650LP C/n / msn: 1029 First flight: 1976-05-25 Crew: Fatalities: / Occupants: 1 Passengers: Fatalities: / Occupants: 11 Total: Fatalities: / Occupants: 12 Airplane damage: Written off Location: Caribbean Sea, off Turks and Caicos Islands (Atlantic Ocean) Phase: En route (ENR) Nature: Passenger Departure airport: Santiago de los Caballeros-Cibao International Airport (STI/MDST), Dominican Republic Destination airport: Mayaguana Airport (MYG/MYMM), Bahamas Narrative: The BN-2A Trislander plane operated on a flight from Santiago de los Caballeros-Cibao International Airport (STI), Dominican Republic to Mayaguana (MYG), Bahamas. It departed at 16:06. An hour later, the pilot contacted Providenciales ATC (Turks and Caicos Islands) reporting that he had an emergency, according to Dominican officials. The airplane probably crashed into the sea shortl after the distress call. A spokesman of the Asociación Nacional de Pilotos reported that the licence of the pilot on the accident airplane had been suspended in October 2006. (aviation-safety.net) *************** Regulator requires BAA to sell Gatwick, Stansted, Edinburgh Competition regulators in the UK have confirmed that they will impose a requirement on airports operator BAA to sell London Gatwick, London Stansted and Edinburgh airports. The UK Competition Commission is to submit a list of recommendations to the Government designed to improve the efficiency of airport regulation, including a licence-based approach to provide more flexibility for regulator intervention. It will also introduce measures to ensure investment and service levels meet airlines' and passengers' needs more effectively. While the decision is subject to consultation, and a final ruling is due by around March next year, it reinforces the Competition Commission's position following its in-depth review of the UK airports market. It had already warned that BAA - which runs seven airports in the UK - would probably have to sell two of its London airports and one in Scotland. Competition Commission airports inquiry chairman Christopher Clarke says: "Having provisionally identified competition problems at each of BAA's seven airports, we are proposing remedies which address them directly and comprehensively through a combination of divestment and other measures to improve investment and levels of service. "The most effective way to introduce competition in the southeast and in lowland Scotland is to require the three London airports and the two principal Scottish airports to be separately owned." While it identifies Edinburgh as the primary Scottish candidate for sale, the commission says it "remains open" to view on selling Glasgow as an alternative. BAA, owned by Spain's Ferrovial, has already started the process of divesting London Gatwick. The operator says, however, that it does "not believe" that the Competition Commission has put forward a "compelling" case for BAA to sell London Stansted as well. "We remain concerned that its proposed remedies may actually delay the introduction of new runway capacity [at Stansted]," says BAA chief Colin Matthews. He adds that the commission has "not provided any substantial evidence" to back its conclusion that BAA's main Scottish airports, Edinburgh and Glasgow, would compete under separate ownership. "We believe there is no justification for specifying which of these airports should be sold," he says. "We will continue to make our case to the Competition Commission." Source: Air Transport Intelligence news ************** Former Qantas engineer jailed for faking credentials A former Qantas Airways maintenance employee has been sentenced to more than three years in prison for carrying out work on aircraft without being properly qualified. Timothy McCormack was today sentenced to three years and five months in prison by a judge in Sydney. According to reports from the courthouse he will not be eligible for parole for at least two years. McCormack, 27, had earlier pled guilty to several dozen charges, including performing unauthorised maintenance work on aircraft, forging a licence and falsifying Civil Aviation Safety Authority exam results. In addition, he was found to have produced fake character references to the court after making his guilty plea in an attempt to secure a lighter sentence. McCormack was originally employed by Qantas in 2004 as a junior aircraft maintenance engineer but in 2006 he produced fake documents to his superiors that led to his promotion to licensed aircraft maintenance engineer. As a supervisor this allowed him to oversee and sign off on maintenance work on Qantas' Boeing 747-400s. His fake credentials were not discovered until mid-2007. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news *************** Australia's CASA to get new CEO Australia's transport minister has appointed John McCormick as new CEO of the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA). Transport minister Anthony Albanese says in a statement he has appointed McCormick as CEO of CASA and he starts in the job on 1 March. McCormick replaces Bruce Byron who is leaving on 28 February. One of McCormick's initial tasks will be to prepare for the establishment in July of a CASA board, says Albanese, referring to one of the key reforms the Australian Government announced recently to improve oversight of CASA. McCormick was previously senior training captain for Cathay Pacific Airways and had worked for the Hong Kong-based carrier in various positions for 21 years. Prior to Cathay he was a Qantas Airways pilot for three years and before that he was with the Royal Australian Air Force for 10 years. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news *************** Icy Runway Suspected In Jazz Dash-8 Overrun An Air Canada Jazz Bombardier Dash 8-100 was involved in a runway overrun at North Bay, Ontario, late on Dec. 14. The incident occurred around 11:50 p.m. during a landing of Flight 7779 from Toronto. Weather at the time was foggy and the runway was reportedly icy. Local reports suggest the aircraft came to a halt in deep snow about 500 feet from the end of the runway. No injuries are being reported among the 14 passengers and three crew on board the 37-seat turboprop. Jazz says a preliminary inspection indicates there is no damage to the aircraft. http://www.aviationweek.com/ *************** L.A. airport agency gets poor marks for emergency response An audit finds security coordination lacking between agencies. It also finds that efforts to regionalize air travel are hampered by a lack of political will. Despite significant improvements over the last decade, facilities managed by Los Angeles World Airports continue to struggle with emergency response, regional coordination and the financial solvency of Van Nuys Airport, according to an audit released Tuesday. At the same time, the city's airport department -- which operates Los Angeles International Airport, Ontario International Airport, Palmdale Regional Airport as well as Van Nuys -- got good marks from KH Consulting Group in Los Angeles for implementing most of the recommendations it made nine years ago. But more work is needed in some key areas, auditors said. * The city's airports still lack a plan to coordinate law enforcement, airport operations, airlines and federal security agencies in an emergency, despite the improvement and expansion of police services since 9/11. LAX has been ranked by the state as the No. 1 potential target for terrorists in California. "If there was a major incident out there, a wide range of city employees who work at the airport would not know what to do. The majority of them, they are not trained, and there is no well-formulated plan in place. There is work to be done," said Los Angeles City Controller Laura Chick, whose office released the KH Consulting Group study. * Emergency operations centers and back-up systems should be installed at LAX, Ontario and Van Nuys because the current police dispatching system does not meet federal guidelines. * Regional airport planning "remains moribund" because there are no incentives to place regional needs ahead of local community interests. * Van Nuys Airport, which fails to make money year after year despite being one of the busiest general aviation airports in the world, should impose landing fees and consider contracting out the management of the airport to a private company. The wide-ranging, 525-page audit, which cost almost $700,000, looked at 25 major airports for comparison purposes and surveyed thousands of LAWA employees, elected officials, stakeholders and citizens interested in local airports. Gina Marie Lindsey, head of LAWA, called the audit a "constructive process." "It recognizes that we need to fix LAX so we can compete in the global marketplace and that we must move traffic to other airports so they can grow," she said. "Those immediate and central activities are imperative." Lindsey, however, disagreed with the audit's assessment of LAWA's emergency preparedness, saying an effective plan was already in place. LAWA is evaluating proposals to consolidate operations at LAX, she said, acknowledging that communications and coordination need to be improved. Some of the audit's toughest criticism was leveled at Van Nuys Airport, which receives millions of dollars in subsidies annually from LAWA. In 2007, the airport handled almost 400,000 landings and takeoffs. Lindsey said the Van Nuys subsidy grew to about $9 million this year. When the airport is compared to Teterboro Airport in New Jersey, the auditors found that Teterboro had a third less traffic and a third more revenue. "Van Nuys Airport has not received the attention it deserves from LAWA for decades," said Chick, whose agency also has audited operations at Van Nuys. "It has not been run in a way that benefits the city. It has been run in a shoddy way, with out-of-date contracts and missed opportunities to make a profit." On a broader scale, auditors said efforts to regionalize air travel have been hampered by a lack of political will and the continued focus on LAX because of its size and importance to the local economy. Plans to regionalize air travel call for spreading the growth in passengers from busy LAX to smaller regional airports. The audit concludes that no government agency has taken charge of the effort, even though many citizens, elected officials and community leaders support the policy. In the meantime, airports in Burbank, Long Beach and Orange County as well as LAX have reached agreements with nearby residents limiting passenger volumes or aircraft operations, which could frustrate future efforts to add flights, auditors said. Auditors predict that the lack of a strong regionalization policy could result in serious economic consequences for L.A. and Southern California if significant passenger or freight traffic were diverted to other West Coast gateways, such as San Francisco or Seattle. Lindsey said LAWA remains committed to the policy and recently assigned someone to take responsibility for its efforts. She noted that it had been difficult to get consensus on the board of the now-disbanded Southern California Regional Airport Authority. "Everyone says they want to cooperate, but then they all want to off-load their air traffic to someone else rather than absorb it," Lindsey said. The audit also emphasized numerous successes, including progress toward the long-awaited modernization of LAX, with new gates at the Tom Bradley International Terminal to accommodate the next generation of large commercial aircraft like the Airbus A380. In addition, auditors credited LAWA officials for environmental initiatives such as an ongoing study of airport- related pollution, an alternative fuels program for cars and trucks and the removal of hazardous materials from LAX grounds. They also said that significant strides had been made to consider input from neighborhoods and community groups near the airports, although auditors said the efforts must be strengthened to overcome a traditional distrust of the agency by local residents. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/politics/cal/la-me-laxaudit17-2008dec17,0, 1221154.story ************** Couple accuse United Airlines of overserving husband, causing him to beat wife Conflicting laws complicate case, legal experts say This is no bar bet, it's a lawsuit. Can you get drunk on a flight, then sue the airline for giving you the booze? A husband and wife are suing United Airlines for "negligently" overserving alcohol during a flight from Osaka, Japan, to San Francisco, saying the carrier's drinks fueled the domestic violence involving the two shortly after their plane landed. Fortified with Burgundy wine allegedly supplied at 20-minute intervals by United crew members during the December 2006 trip, Yoichi Shimamoto became so inebriated "that he could not manage himself," according to a lawsuit filed Dec. 5 in U.S. District Court in Tampa. Shimamoto was arrested, accused of disorderly conduct and battery after he struck his wife, Ayisha, six times, injuring her face and upper lip as they were heading through U.S. Customs in San Francisco, the complaint said. The lawsuit is highly unusual and will likely hinge on whether Chicago-based United, in effect, operated a flying bar that's subject to the same legal liabilities as earthbound drinking establishments, legal experts said. At issue: whether laws that hold bars and restaurants responsible for harm caused by intoxicated patrons apply when the bartender and drinker are flying at 40,000 feet across international territory. "United's first defense will be there's no tort action like this in international airspace," said James Speta, professor at Northwestern University Law School. Although Yoichi Shimamoto was charged and sentenced to 18 months' probation, the couple contend that United Airlines ultimately was responsible for his violent outburst, according to the lawsuit. United's "conduct was egregious because it knew or should have known that over-serving a passenger alcohol on an international flight would have negative consequences," the complaint said. United's "conduct was deliberate, reckless, intentional and done with disregard for plaintiffs and all passengers." Shimamoto, a native of Japan, was prevented from returning to his home country while his case wound through the San Mateo County courts in northern California. The Shimamotos want United to pick up the $100,000 tab for Yoichi Shimamoto's bail, and defense and Immigration attorneys' fees, as well as the costs they incurred to have his probationary sentence transferred to Florida, where his wife had a home. They also want the airline to pay for pain, suffering, loss of income and "any other relief that is just and proper." Responded United spokeswoman Jean Medina: "We believe that a lawsuit that suggests that we are somehow responsible for the consequences of a passenger's physical assault on his own wife is without any merit whatsoever." Airlines are frequently sued for the acts of drunken passengers, typically by flight attendants or other passengers who suffered harm from an unruly traveler during a flight. What makes this case a rarity, legal experts said, is that it was brought by a person drinking the airline's alcohol. By filing the lawsuit, the Shimamotos also risk having their private lives exposed by the airline's attorneys. "The idea that the server should have stopped serving is often accepted when the injury is to a third person, such as in a drunk-driving situation," Speta said. "Generally, the courts have not been receptive to people saying, 'I asked for the drink and you gave it to me.' " But crafting United's defense will be tricky, legal experts said, because the case involves conflicting international and state law. Under the Dram Shop Act, which is in place in California, Florida and most states, commercial suppliers of alcohol may be held liable for injuries caused by intoxicated patrons, such as those Ayisha Shimamoto suffered. The threat of such lawsuits has prompted many bars to adopt a policy of not serving anyone who is visibly impaired. Ayisha Shimamoto's claim that she was harmed as a result of the carrier's negligence, one element of the couple's complaint, would be a likely slam-dunk if United's conduct in question had taken place in a bar, rather than on an international flight, legal experts said. Because United's alleged over-serving occurred on an airplane crossing the Pacific Ocean, a legal no-man's land, it may be subject to protocols spelled out under the Warsaw Convention, said Bruce Ottley, professor at DePaul College of Law. The Montreal Protocol of the international treaty limits an airline's liability to damages that took place onboard the aircraft, or as passengers were embarking or disembarking, Ottley said. That is problematic for the Shimamotos because the battery in their case occurred in an area controlled by the U.S. government, not onboard the United jet. "The airline is liable for serving him alcohol that caused him to get intoxicated," Ottley said. "This occurred out in the middle of the Pacific where U.S. law doesn't apply." Carl Hayes, a Tampa lawyer representing the Shimamotos, declined to comment on their lawsuit. http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-wed-overserved-united-uauadec17,0 ,6375789.story *************** FBI: Drunk flier forces diversion of JetBlue flight SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The FBI says a JetBlue flight headed from New York to Burbank, Calif., landed in Salt Lake City after an intoxicated passenger caused a disruption. The FBI's Salt Lake office says about 130 passengers and crew got off of Flight 359 in Salt Lake late Monday night and were re-screened. Shalom Yarimo was arrested and charged Tuesday in a complaint with interference with a flight crew, a felony. The FBI says Yarimo appears to be in the U.S. illegally and had been ordered deported from the U.S. The FBI says he claims to be a citizen of Israel with a pending application for U.S. citizenship. The Salt Lake County jail said Yarimo was still being booked. It was unclear whether he had an attorney. He has a court appearance scheduled Wednesday. http://www.usatoday.com/travel/flights/2008-12-16-jetblue-diversion_N.htm ************* Case Closed: Insurers Pay Millions to North Korea Over Helicopter Crash After a British court battle that dragged on for nearly two years, a group of international insurance firms have abandoned their accusations of reinsurance fraud against a firm owned by the regime of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il, and agreed to pay out more than $52 million in contested claims for a 2005 helicopter accident in Pyongyang. The settlement between the insurers, led by a subsidiary of giant Allianz Group and the state-owned monopoly Korean National Insurance Corporation (KNIC), was announced in London on December 10. It amounted to a clear victory for the North Korean firm, which had argued long and strenuously that the damage claim was a legitimate commercial debt, and the fraud accusations were no more than a smokescreen to avoid payment. In a press release, Tim Brentnall, KNIC's lead lawyer on the case, declared the result a "total vindication" and declared that "we and KNIC are delighted by this settlement." Attorneys for the insurers declined to comment. At the center of the dispute was a North Korean helicopter crash on July 9, 2005, that destroyed a Pyongyang warehouse containing emergency relief goods for the much abused North Korean population, which has suffered from famine, flood and destitution under the Kim regime. The goods were insured by KNIC, which in turn had signed hard currency contracts in euros with the reinsurers — hard currency that was in short supply partly as a result of U.S.- and U.N.-led financial sanctions against the Kim Jong Il regime for its nuclear weapons program. But then the reinsurers balked at paying, claiming that the property damage was overstated, that the paperwork provided by the North Koreans on the exact extent of the damage was supplied in a suspiciously short time, and photos of the damage did not support the extent of the claims. An over-valued, government-dictated exchange rate between North Korea's won and the euro further overstated the value of the claim, the insurers argued. The helicopter crash was also considered important by reinsurers as the first of a possible series of North Korean reinsurance claims involving other accidents that a lawyer for several of the insurance firms told FOX News could reach more than $150 million. The dispute arose at a particularly sensitive time for relations between North Korea and the West, as the Bush Administration was pushing hard for tighter U.N. sanctions enforcement against the Kim regime on the nuclear arms front, and as charges circulated around the world that the Kim regime was involved in illicit weapons sales, drug dealing and the counterfeiting of U.S. currency. (Only last month, U.S. officials announced that they had successfully thwarted North Korea's secret air shipment to Iran in August of technology that could be used in weapons of mass destruction.) Despite all the pressure, the Kim regime announced in October 2006 that it had successfully conducted a nuclear explosion.(And last October 11, the U.S. removed North Korea from its list of state sponsors of terrorism, in an apparent bid to coax North Korea into abandoning its nuclear proliferation efforts.) For their part, lawyers representing the North Koreans argued that the insurance claim was a legitimate commercial debt owed to KNIC by reinsurers who were fully aware of the nature of the contract when they signed it, and had even agreed to let a North Korean tribunal adjudicate the claim. English judges evidently agreed. The reinsurer's position was first rejected in England's High Court of Justice in August, 2007, and again on appeal two months later. Another trial began on November 12, 2008 before the Commercial Court in London before the two sides came to their agreement. The settlement amounts to roughly 95 percent of what KNIC had originally demanded. It includes a specific confirmation that the reinsurers "have retracted and withdrawn all allegations of fraud and impropriety against KNIC." http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,467784,00.html **************