09 JAN 2009 _______________________________________ *Pilots slow to buy new digital emergency beacons *Data Retrieved From Airbus Crash as Investigation Continues *United names VPs for safety, maintenance *United hires former execs of Delta and Pratt & Whitney *TAM Receives Fourth Boeing 777 *Airline sues Grumman over seaplane crash *India, US likely to ink aviation safety pact next year *Couple drops suit alleging United overserved them on flight *Chinese Aviation Industry Claims New Record For Flight Safety *Victim's wife sues over fatal La. helicopter crash *Australia's CASA completes regulatory frame-work for MPL *Battaglia named airports VP for JetBlue *McCain Again Seeks To Lift DCA, LGA Perimeter Rule **************************************** Pilots slow to buy new digital emergency beacons By Alan Levin, USA TODAY The helicopter's twisted wreckage lay in a Louisiana bayou, its crew severely injured and unable to call for help. But a small radio beacon was automatically notifying rescuers. Within minutes after the crash Sunday, a satellite deep in space alerted rescuers to a possible crash, identified the helicopter's owner and helped pinpoint its location, according to the Air Force. A Coast Guard helicopter arrived at the remote site within two hours, in time to airlift the lone survivor to a hospital. New digital distress beacons like the one on the PHI helicopter are revolutionizing rescues of boaters, hikers and pilots across the globe. But the chopper that crashed on the way to an offshore oil rig was one of only a small minority of U.S.-registered aircraft with the new beacons. More than 85% of private planes do not carry the improved beacons even as the government prepares to stop listening Feb. 1 for distress calls from the older, outdated beacons installed on most aircraft. The newer beacons cost roughly $2,000 to $4,000, although prices are dropping. "It's pretty scary," says Lt. Col. Clifton Hicks, who directs Air Force rescue operations in the continental United States. In recent interviews, ranking officials at the Air Force, Coast Guard, Civil Air Patrol and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which monitors the distress beacons from its satellites in space, urged private pilots to install new Emergency Locator Transmitters (ELTs) as soon as possible. "Those people who choose to keep (older) ELTs on their aircraft are going back to 1970s technology," says Lt. Jeff Shoup, operations support officer for NOAA's Search and Rescue Satellite Aided Tracking (SARSAT) system. Incidents prompted laws A law requiring ELTs on aircraft within three years was passed by Congress in 1970 following several well-publicized cases of lost planes. Perhaps the most notorious incident occurred in 1967 when a family of three lived for weeks after a small plane crash in California's Trinity Mountains, but eventually died. According to a diary written by 15-year-old Carla Corbus, the family watched helplessly for days as searchers passed overhead. The last entry was dated 54 days after the crash. A hunter found the wreck months later. Another incident cemented the need for ELTs. House Majority Leader Hale Boggs, D-La.; Rep. Nick Begich, D-Alaska, whose son, Mark, won election to the Senate in November; and two others crashed in a remote section of Alaska on Oct. 16, 1972. No trace of their plane was ever found. By 1982, the first satellite was equipped to listen for emergency beacons. The system has been plagued by false alarms and imprecise beacons. Everything from pizza ovens to football stadium scoreboards triggered false alarms, says Allan Knox, the Coast Guard's Mass Rescue Operations Program Manager. For the past two decades, NOAA and other agencies pushed for a second frequency that minimized the false alarms and allowed satellites to better pinpoint a distress signal's location. The Coast Guard required the new beacons on commercial vessels starting in 2007. However, U.S. pilots have balked. The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association objected to requiring the new ELTs, arguing that they were too expensive, says Chris Dancy, spokesman for the pilots' group. Pushed by pilots, Congress in 2000 prohibited federal aviation regulators from requiring the new beacons. So far, only 30,000 pilots have registered new ELTs with NOAA, Shoup says. That represents fewer than 15% of the 220,000 private aircraft in the USA. Equipment more precise Several rescue efforts have been cited by authorities in support of the new ELTs: .The Air Force's Lt. Col. Hicks says it could have taken hours longer to reach the crashed helicopter in Louisiana if it had had an older ELT. .Just after midnight on Dec. 26, a sailboat captained by Kirk Ezell began taking on water 200 miles south of Jamaica. Two hours later, when the water in the yacht was waist-deep, Ezell triggered his distress beacon, a newer model that transmitted his precise latitude and longitude obtained by the Global Postioning System, he says from his home in Cartagena, Colombia. Just after dawn, a Coast Guard plane arrived and directed a freighter to pick up Ezell and another crewmember. "The Coast Guard was there much quicker than I thought they would be. It proves . that everyone should have one." .On Nov. 27, 2004, a plane carrying Army soldiers in Afghanistan crashed on a remote mountaintop, killing five of the six people aboard. Spc. Harley Miller survived for at least eight hours, but died before rescuers arrived. The plane, which had been hired by the military, had an older ELT, making it difficult to locate, the National Transportation Safety Board says. http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-01-07-beacon_N.htm *************** Data Retrieved From Airbus Crash as Investigation Continues By ANDY PASZTOR Investigators trying to determine why an Airbus A320 on a maintenance flight crashed into the Mediterranean last November got some good news this week: usable data finally was retrieved from the plane's voice and data recorders, according to several people familiar with the details. But it isn't clear what clues the information may provide. And with a parallel French criminal investigation into the accident pending, questions remain about who in the U.S. will have ready access to data gleaned from the plane's so-called black boxes. Honeywell International Inc., which manufactured the recorders, helped retrieve the data. But neither company engineers nor Airbus officials have been able to analyze the information so far, these people said. The Airbus A320, which had been leased to a German charter carrier and was being checked before returning to service with Air New Zealand, plummeted into the Mediterranean approaching the airport in Perpignan, France in good weather, without any emergency radio call from the pilots. All seven aboard were killed. The crash has been closely watched by the global aviation community because the twin-engine A320 is a workhorse of airlines across the globe. Until this week, few clues had emerged about possible causes. French investigators had failed to retrieve any usable information from either the cockpit-voice recorder or flight-data recorder, these people said. The criminal investigation and the Christmas-New Year holidays combined to delay shipment of the recorders to Honeywell's facilities, according to industry officials. Now, the recovered data is being sent back to France under unusually tight security, according to the same officials. Before the latest developments, aviation safety experts expressed frustration at the lack of progress and worried that the criminal investigation appeared to be hampering aviation-crash experts from getting to the bottom of the accident. Honeywell didn't begin working to get data from the recorders until three days ago. The crash has been closely watched by the global aviation community because the twin-engine A320 is a workhorse of airlines across the globe. The Air New Zealand plane was on lease to charter carrier XL Airways Germany, and was flown by two XL Airways pilots on the maintenance flight. The plane had undergone maintenance at EAS Industries, a company in Perpignan that overhauls and repairs Airbus and Boeing jetliners. The plane was repainted in Air New Zealand livery and was slated to be returned to the carrier following the flight. In addition to the pilots, Air New Zealand employees and a New Zealand government inspector were onboard. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123142785680664549.html?mod=googlenews_wsj ************** United names VPs for safety, maintenance (AP) United Airlines parent UAL Corp. on Thursday named new vice presidents for safety and maintenance. The company appointed Michael Quiello as vice president of corporate safety, security, quality and environment, replacing Bill Yantiss, who is retiring after almost 20 years with United. Quiello had been vice president of safety for Delta and is qualified to fly several models of large commercial aircraft, United said. Mark Mounsey was named vice president of base maintenance. He joined United from engine maker Pratt & Whitney and will be responsible for maintenance of engines and other parts at United's San Francisco facility and oversight of similar work done by outside contractors. http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2009/01/08/ap5896594.html ************** United hires former execs of Delta and Pratt & Whitney United Airlines has plucked two executives from Delta Air Lines and Pratt & Whitney to serve in its safety and maintenance departments. The carrier's new VP of corporate safety, security, quality and environment Michael Quiello was most recently VP of safety for Delta. He succeeds the retiring Bill Yantiss. Quiello served in several safety and operations roles at Delta and is qualified as a captain on the Boeing MD-88, 767 and 777. United has named Mark Mounsey as VP base maintenance for its United Services maintenance arm. Mounsey served 20 years at Pratt & Whitney and was most recently the general manager of the company's overhaul centre in Cheshire, Connecticut. Mounsey's new responsibilities at United include engine, components, and airframe and facilities maintenance at the carrier's San Francisco Maintenance Centre. In addition Mounsey is overseeing the carrier's third-party maintenance providers. Both appointments are effective 12 January. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news ************* TAM Receives Fourth Boeing 777 SAO PAULO, Brazil, Jan 08, 2009 (PR Newswire Europe via COMTEX) ----New plane will be used on route between Sao Paulo and London TAM (NYSE: TAM and Bovespa: TAMM4) today received its fourth Boeing 777-300ER, which will operate the route Sao Paulo - London beginning this month. Next week a new Airbus A330 aircraft will also join the fleet, which will allow the company to operate additional flights to Miami during the high season. (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080221/SPTH002LOGO ) In order to meet the increased demand from the domestic market during the end-of-year vacations, three Airbus A320 aircraft were received ahead of time and have already been added to the company's fleet. The strategy included an efficient contingency plan prepared by the Company, allowing TAM to achieve the highest level of punctuality during this period of all flights operated by Brazilian companies, according to an Infraero survey. With the addition of the two wide-bodied aircraft (B777 and A330) TAM's total fleet has increased to 129 aircraft, of which 122 are Airbus models (20 A319s, 81 A320s, three A321s, 16 A330s and two A340s), four are B777-300ERs and three are B767-300s. The company's fleet plan (see http://www.mzweb.com.br/tam/web/arquivos/TAM_PR_20090108_en.pdf) was also altered with the elimination of one B767-300 aircraft. Despite the change to the fleet plan, the company's estimates for an increase in number of seats available in 2009 for both domestic and international markets have been maintained at 8% and 20%, respectively, measured in ASKs (Available Seat Kilometers). The company has also kept its growth estimate between 5% and 9% in demand from the domestic market. http://www.foxbusiness.com/story/markets/industries/retail/tam-receives-four th-boeing-1780068694/ *************** Airline sues Grumman over seaplane crash MIAMI, Jan. 8 (UPI) -- An airline that flew between Florida and the Bahamas has sued the manufacturer of a 58-year-old seaplane that crashed in 2005. In legal papers, Chalk's Ocean Airways claims the Grumman Turbo Mallard was "not adequately designed for its intended purpose," the Miami Herald reports. The crash off Miami Beach in December 2005 killed 18 passengers and two crewmembers. The National Transportation Safety Board in a 2007 report said the right wing came off. The agency also blamed the airline for not finding fatigue cracks and the Federal Aviation Administration for not finding problems with Chalk's maintenance. ''Chalk's lost everything,'' said John Eversole, the company's lawyer, said. "They were put out of business by the defective nature of this airplane. It is as simple as that, and to be wrongly blamed by the NTSB is even worse for your reputation." The company was the last to use the plane, which has not been manufactured since 1951, on scheduled flights. The lawsuit names Grumman, now Northrup Grumman, and Frakes Aviation of Cleburne, Texas, which designed and tested the plane. Chalk's insurer, AIG, which paid out $50 million in claims has filed a separate lawsuit against the companies. **************** India, US likely to ink aviation safety pact next year NEW DELHI: Moving ahead with its cooperation with the US in the aviation sector, the government is likely to sign a bilateral safety agreement next year to enable certification of each other's products and technology. "We are working in right earnest to get the (BASA) agreement concluded by 2010," Civil Aviation Secretary M Madhavan Nambiar said at the ongoing Indo-US Economic Summit here. In order to conclude the Bilateral Aviation Safety Agreement (BASA), the regulatory authorities of both the countries like the Directorate General of Civil Aviation and the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), besides firms like Hindustan Aeronautics, are already in talks. The pact would enable certification of Indian aviation and aeronautic products by the US authorities and vice-versa. It would enable India-made products to be sold globally as the strict American standards are accepted worldwide. Nambiar said a Joint Aviation Steering Committee, set up last year, was working on the regulatory, safety, security and other technical issues. Some working groups on areas like airworthiness and flight standards were already functioning. "We are closely working with the FAA on this programme. We will be launching the second and third phase of our collaboration in these areas shortly," he said. The growth in the aviation sector in the country, despite the recent slowdown, would continue in double digits, the official said. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News_by_Industry/India_US_to_ink_aviatio n_pact_/articleshow/3947576.cms *************** Couple drops suit alleging United overserved them on flight A U.S. District Court in Tampa has dismissed a lawsuit against United Airlines for "negligently" overserving alcohol at the request of the Florida couple who brought the legal action. Yoichi and Ayisha Shimamoto, asked the court on Dec. 23 to voluntarily dismiss the case, which created headlines for the novel legal theory involved. The lawsuit alleged that United's flight attendants were overly generous in serving wine to Yoichi Shimamoto during a nearly 9-hour flight from Osaka, Japan to San Francisco, fueling domestic violence involving the couple shortly after the plane landed. Shimamoto was arrested and accused of disorderly conduct and battery after he struck his wife as they headed through U.S. Customs following the December 2006 flight. Under the Dram Shop Act, which is in place in most states, commercial suppliers of alcohol may be held liable for injuries caused by intoxicated patrons. California's version of the statute, however, restricts suppliers' liability to damage inflicted by minors. http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-biz-united-overserve-suit-jan08,0 ,159059.story ************** Chinese Aviation Industry Claims New Record For Flight Safety By the end of 2008, China's civil aviation industry had created a new flight safety record of 13.75 million hours. Xinhua News reports that Yang Guoqing, vice director of the Civil Aviation Administration of China, said in a national conference that this had been achieved thanks to the aviation industry's new safety management concept and method which was launched in 2008. Yang said that CAAC amended and improved a series of safety regulations and standards in 2008 and issued a range of measures to reinforce safety. He said that CAAC also audited the safety index of 34 airports, six aviation management units, and six airline companies as well as the public security index of 27 airports in 2008. Yang stressed that CAAC would strictly punish the responsible parties in the event of accidents, which was one reason for the care taken by the whole aviation industry. http://www.chinahospitalitynews.com/en/2009/01/08/9932-chinese-aviation-indu stry-claims-new-record-for-flight-safety/ ************* Victim's wife sues over fatal La. helicopter crash NEW ORLEANS (AP) - The estranged wife of a worker who died along with seven others in a helicopter crash in southern Louisiana is suing the company that operated the chopper, but the cause of the crash remained under investigation Thursday. The wrongful death suit filed Wednesday in a Terrebonne Parish state court on behalf of Britain Boudreaux accuses Lafayette-based PHI Inc. of negligence. Boudreaux's husband, Allen Boudreaux, Jr., 23, was one of eight men killed Sunday when a PHI helicopter plunged into a marsh while en route to a Shell Oil Co. platform in the Gulf of Mexico. A lone survivor - Steve Yelton, of Floresville, Texas - was being treated at a New Orleans area hospital. Allen Boudreaux was a welder employed by Dynamic Industries Inc. William Dodd, a lawyer for Britain Boudreaux, said the couple had been separated for several months at the time of the crash. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the cause of the crash. Investigators were examining various parts of the wreckage, which has been moved to Lafayette, NTSB spokesman Ted Lopatkiewicz said Thursday. The Sikorsky S-76C helicopter's voice recorders have been sent to Washington for analysis, he said. Dodd said the lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages, would help plaintiffs' lawyers gather more information about the crash. "All reports and information I have, the weather was not a factor," Dodd said. "It's got to be something mechanical or it's got to be pilot error." The NTSB has said the crew did not report any problems before the helicopter crashed, about seven minutes after taking off, in a rural area about 100 miles southwest of New Orleans. A PHI spokesman didn't immediately return a call for comment Thursday. PHI identified the other victims as Andrew Moricio and Ezequiel Cantu of Morgan City, La.; Randy Tarpley of Jonesville, La.; Jorey A. Rivero, of Bridge City, La.; Charles W. Nelson of Pensacola, Fla.; Thomas E. Ballenger of Eufaula, Ala. and Vyarl W. Martin of Hurst, Texas. Ballenger and Martin were PHI pilots. Moricio, Cantu and Tarpley also worked for New Iberia-based Dynamic Industries, which manufactures oil rigs and parts for oil refineries. The other passengers worked for MMR Offshore Services, Inc., part of Baton Rouge-based MMR Group Inc. ************** Australia's CASA completes regulatory frame-work for MPL Australia's Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) has completed and implemented the regulatory frame-work for multi-crew pilot license (MPL) courses, which means Australia is now one of the few countries in the world offering such courses. A CASA spokesman in Canberra says the regulatory frame-work for MPL courses was completed and implemented on 18 December. He says it is the result of two years consultation with the aviation industry and a highly successful trial course that Alteon Training did involving six students from China. They did their MPL course in Queensland and then had their final assessment, where they flew a Boeing 737, in China. The industry consultation involved speaking to representatives from airlines, pilots unions in Australia and training organisations, says the spokesman. He was unable to say when the mext MPL course will take place in Australia but says it is likely to be for foreign students because no Australian airlines have expressed an interest so far. MPL courses are designed specifically to train students to work as commercial pilots. Many training organisations around the world have announced plans to offer MPL courses. But so far very few have actually launched these courses because the schools are waiting on their country's civil aviation regulators to formulate the regulations. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news ************** Battaglia named airports VP for JetBlue After leading JetBlue Airways' move to Terminal 5 at John F. Kennedy International airport in 2008, Alex Battaglia has been named VP of airports. His responsibilities have been expanded to include all airport-related functions across the low-cost carrier's network of 53 destinations in nine countries. Most recently VP of Kennedy operations, Battaglia began working for the airline in March 2007. Battaglia joined JetBlue after a 24-year career with Delta Air Lines in roles of increasing responsibility, culminating in the position of Director of Kennedy operations. Marisa von Wieding, previously JetBlue's Director of Kennedy operations, is now Director of that facility's operations and customer service, expanding her responsibilities from rampside operation to include the entire experience from curb to runway. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news ************** McCain Again Seeks To Lift DCA, LGA Perimeter Rule Sen. John McCain (R.-Ariz) introduced a bill to lift the perimeter rule at Ronald Reagan National Airport and LaGuardia. The "Abolishing Aviation Barriers Act," S. 36, is being cosponsored by Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev). It seeks to lift the rule that bars nonstop flights from DCA to any airport more than 1,250 miles away. Such flights are barred by federal law, although in 2000 Congress allowed FAA to authorize six nonstops outside the perimeter, according the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority. McCain's bill also would prohibit federal funds from going toward enforcing the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey's 1,500-mile perimeter rule for flights to and from LaGuardia. McCain and Ensign, along with Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), sponsored a 2005 bill to eliminate the perimeter rules at DCA and LGA. http://www.aviationweek.com ***************