30 JAN 2009 _______________________________________ *UPS jet lands safely despite gear problem *Charter jet lands safely at Bush after small onboard fire *Caribair Dominicana's AOC suspended for one year *Russian authorities revoke AOC of Dalavia *FAA letter offers new 'known icing' definition *INDONESIAN NTSC SELECTS CAE FLIGHTSCAPE FOR FLIGHT RECORDER LAB *New Air Force chief of safety takes charge *Buffett gets initial OK to buy German airport near Frankfurt *Embry-Riddle Student Wins FAA Researcher Award *Airport passes US security assessment (Manila, Philipines) **************************************** UPS jet lands safely despite gear problem MIAMI, Jan. 29 (UPI) -- A Boeing 757 jet used to deliver UPS packages safely landed at a Miami airport Thursday despite having problems with its landing gear, an official says. Miami International Airport spokesman Greg Chin said the UPS jet had reported a possible hydraulic malfunction with its landing gear prior to its safe landing, The Miami Herald reported. Despite the morning reports of a potential problem, the UPS airplane was able to land at the airport without any reported damage or casualties. ************** Charter jet lands safely at Bush after small onboard fire A small fire on an Xtra Airways charter jet caused it to be diverted to Bush Intercontinental Airport today. The flight was heading to Laredo from Alexandria, La., when the fire was reported about 10 a.m., said Marlene McClinton, spokeswoman for the Houston Airport System. The fire was extinguished quickly and the jet landed safely with no reported injuries, she said. McClinton said she did not know how many passengers were on the flight. The incident did not disrupt airport operations, she said. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6236941.html *************** Caribair Dominicana's AOC suspended for one year The Dominican aviation authority Instituto Dominicano de Aviación Civil (IDAC) has suspended the Air Operators Certificate (AOC) of Caribair because it has failed to resolve safety concerns over unauthorized charter flights. IDAC director Jose Tomas Perez told reporters that Caribair has repeatedly violated aviation laws by carrying out charter flights in privately registered planes. The most recent incident was a gear up landing of a Cessna 550 Citation II jet (N815MA) at the Wilmington-New Hanover County International Airport, NC (ILM). The Citation reportedly suffered fuel exhaustion IDAC alleges that Caribair used this plane on on a commercial basis without IDAC authorization. (Listin Diario) (aviation-safety.net) ************* Russian authorities revoke AOC of Dalavia The Russian Federal Agency of Air Transport revoked the Air Operator Certificates (AOC) of four airlines after no improvement was seen within three months after the initial suspension. The AOC of Dalavia was revoked on January 26. Omskavia and Sibaviatrans were grounded on January 14 and Samara Airlines was grounded on on Dec. 30, 2008. (Federal Air Transport Agency) (aviation-safety.net) ************** FAA letter offers new 'known icing' definition More than two years after AOPA asked the FAA to reconsider its interpretation of “flight into known icing conditions,” the agency has released a new letter of interpretation that redefines known icing conditions in a way that could benefit many GA pilots. In the letter of interpretation signed Jan. 16 and sent to AOPA this week, the FAA said that each encounter with ice will be judged by whether a “reasonable and prudent” pilot would take the same actions or make the same decisions as the pilot in the icing situation. “For two years, AOPA urged the FAA to incorporate the pilot’s entire decision-making process into a revised definition of known icing conditions. This interpretation brings us much closer to an operationally prudent definition,” said Randy Kenagy, AOPA government affairs chief of staff. In the past, the FAA considered any situation where temperatures were below freezing and there was visible moisture to constitute known icing conditions. A 2006 interpretation from the FAA also included relative humidity as a factor, grounding many GA pilots even when no visible moisture was present. AOPA wrote to the FAA in November 2006, asking the agency to rescind the letter, which it agreed to do in September 2008. The new letter of interpretation stresses that pilots should have the necessary weather knowledge to make sound flight planning decisions. AOPA Air Safety Foundation Executive Director Bruce Landsberg’s blog on the subject makes the point a little differently. “From a practical perspective the idea is to get as much utility out of our aircraft without getting caught between hard ground and hard ice. Regardless of good or not-so-good forecasts, we need to have a solid escape route available at any time,” he writes. Pilots can get help expanding and reinforcing their weather knowledge through the AOPA Air Safety Foundation’s free interactive online courses and publications. Courses includes “Weather Wise: Precipitation and Icing,” “Do the Right Thing: Decision Making for Pilots,” and “SkySpotter,” which teaches pilots how to give pilot reports. Each course takes about an hour to complete and may qualify for accident forgiveness under your insurance policy and for FAA Wings credit. http://www.aopa.org/advocacy/articles/2009/090128icing.html?WT.adv=adv1 ************** INDONESIAN NTSC SELECTS CAE FLIGHTSCAPE FOR FLIGHT RECORDER LAB CAE Flightscape (Ottawa) has been selected by the National Transportation Safety Committee (NTSC) Indonesia to supply its Insight flight data analysis software and related components for their developing flight recorder laboratory. The NTSC works closely with the Australian Transport Safety Bureau and the Air Accident Investigation Safety Bureau of Singapore both of which also use CAE Flightscape's Insight software as the heart of their flight recorder laboratory. CAE Flightscape has extensive experience working in a government flight recorder lab, having been responsible for the initial development of the word-renowned Transportation Safety Board (TSB) of Canada laboratory. The TSB commercialized its flight recorder playback and analysis technology to Flightscape in 2001 in the interests of international collaboration to advance aviation safety. The NTSC system is fully compatible with other investigation authorities and is also used by air safety investigators at the majority of aircraft manufacturers. Using the same technology has significant benefits when conducting large international investigations and CAE Flightscape is pleased to be adding NTSC to our unique user community. CAE Flightscape, part of CAE's training solutions group, offers flight safety expertise in flight data analysis and flight sciences. CAE Flightscape develops software tools that enable the effective study and understanding of recorded flight data to improve safety, maintenance and flight operations. CAE Flightscape software powers IATA's web-based Flight Data Analysis Service to provide Flight Data Monitoring and Flight Operations Quality Assurance as an out-source service to airlines who do not wish to invest in the infrastructure of an in-house program. CAE Flightscape develops flight recorder laboratories including complete turnkey systems. Our mission is to improve safety on an international basis by having the operator, investigative and aircraft manufacturer communities collaborate on flight data analysis issues with a common suite of continually advancing tools. CAE is a world leader in providing simulation and modelling technologies and integrated training solutions for the civil aviation industry and defence forces around the globe. With annual revenues exceeding $1.4 billion, CAE employs approximately 7,000 people at more than 75 sites and training locations in 20 countries. We have the world's largest installed base of civil and military full-flight simulators and training devices. Through our global network of 27 civil aviation and military training centres, we train more than 75,000 crew members a year. We also offer modelling and simulation software to various market segments and, through CAE's professional services division, we assist customers with a wide range of simulation-based needs For more information, please contact: info@flightscape.com +1 613 225 0070 *************** New Air Force chief of safety takes charge Maj. Gen. Frederick F. Roggero became the Air Force chief of safety and commander of the Air Force Safety Center at Kirtland Air Force Base, replacing Maj. Gen. Wendell L. Griffin, who retired Jan. 1. The presiding officer was Gen. Norton Schwartz, Air Force chief of staff. General Roggero said his goal in the job is simple: "To save Airmen's lives and to preserve the combat capability of the Air Force. That's my combined goal No. 1." The general said he has three immediate priorities. "The first one involves nuclear surety," he said. "That's the key to the Air Force nuclear enterprise, and safety is in charge of the policy and programs for nuclear surety. Safe, secure and reliable nuclear weapons are absolutely essential to our nation's nuclear deterrent. The policy and guidance put out by safety has to be perfect. "Our second priority is to take a look across the Air Force to save Airmen's lives," General Roggero continued. "I'm very concerned about our accident rate with automobiles off duty. About one Airman is killed every week off duty in a car accident. We need everybody's help, particularly commanders' help, to attack that issue. "Our third priority is to look at our unmanned aircraft systems. We need to enhance our combat capability in that area and have a mishap-prevention program that identifies the risks and prevents mishaps. If they do happen, we need to have a swift and accurate investigation process so that we can get in, find the root causes and get those assets back into the fight as soon as possible." "Fiscal 2008 was a tough year for the Air Force," he said, referring to the Air Force's flying safety program. "We lost 13 Airmen in aviation accidents. We lost one of each of our bombers: the B-52 (Stratofortress), the B-2 (Spirit) and the B-1B (Lancer). So far, in fiscal 2009, our rate is good." What is helping, he said, is "the commanders have taken a strong interest and they understand that safety is not a program; safety is an attitude. Safety takes leadership. You need to be along the sidelines exhorting your team and sparking them on in order to get a safety culture throughout the Air Force. That's what we need our commanders to do. We're going to take last year's results and make them even better." General Roggero said he wants commanders to remember that "safety is an attitude. It is a leadership issue. It is not a program. We need the commanders to be out there on the front lines, and we need supervisors at every level to be out there emphasizing safety. It's their responsibility and it's my responsibility to preserve Airmen's lives. "We all need to do that. We all need to work together, understanding that this is about saving Airmen's lives." http://www.alamogordonews.com/ci_11575164 *************** Buffett gets initial OK to buy German airport near Frankfurt Warren Buffett's plan to buy Egelsbach Airport, a landing strip near Germany's busiest airport in Frankfurt, cleared a key hurdle after the town council voted in favor of the sale. The council agreed to the sale Wednesday, said Egelsbach Mayor Rudi Moritz and Harald Esser, a local politician who opposes the plan, in telephone interviews Thursday. The decision goes to the town's parliament for a final vote March 5, they said. Buffett, left, and his business-jet venture NetJets has offered about $4.8 million and pledged to invest at least $39.5 million to buy the unprofitable airport from local cities and municipalities. The purchase faces opposition from some of the 10,000-strong community of Egelsbach, which is concerned about noise and air pollution. http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_11586135?source=rss *************** Embry-Riddle Student Wins FAA Researcher Award DAYTONA BEACH, FL – Embry-Riddle student Daniel J. Halperin has been named the FAA Student Researcher of the Year in the FAA's Center of Excellence (COE) for General Aviation. The FAA established the COE for General Aviation in 2001, with Embry-Riddle as the lead institution. Halperin competed against students from the other COE for General Aviation member schools – Florida A&M University, University of Alaska, University of North Dakota, and Wichita State University – to win this FAA award that recognizes outstanding achievement in transportation research and education. The FAA program director of the COE for General Aviation, Dr. Pat Watts, honored Halperin at a recent ceremony on the University's Daytona Beach campus. Halperin, a 20-year-old senior who's pursuing a B.S. in Applied Meteorology with a Research concentration, has been active at Embry-Riddle with the Center for General Aviation Research (CGAR), a research consortium of the Center of Excellence schools, industry, and government. For CGAR, and under the supervision of Dr. Massoud Bazargan, chair of the Management, Marketing, and Operations Department in the University's College of Business, Halperin assisted an FAA-funded research project titled "Development of an Aviation Weather Database Highlighting Weather Encounters (Phase I)." This ongoing project meshes the talents of researchers from Embry-Riddle, Clemson University, and the FAA's Civil Aerospace Medical Institute. "Although he's an undergraduate, Dan performed first-rate graduate-level work, collecting and analyzing data on selected cases in which general aviation pilots encountered hazardous weather," says Bazargan. "This consolidated data lays the groundwork for improving our understanding of how we can train pilots to keep a weather encounter from turning into an accident." As a follow-up to his aviation weather research, Halperin co-authored a paper titled "Developing Proactive Methods for General Aviation Data Collection" that was submitted to the 80th annual Aerospace Medical Association conference. Halperin is a past president of the local American Meteorological Society /National Weather Association student chapter and led a contingent of 12 students to the recent eighth annual AMS Student Conference. There he presented a paper titled "Lagrangian Satellite Imagery," detailing his proposal for a new kind of satellite image display that could more accurately analyze tropical weather systems. Dr. John Lanicci, an associate professor of Applied Meteorology at Embry- Riddle and Halperin's advisor, nominated him for the FAA Student Researcher of the Year Award. "As president of Chi Epsilon Pi, the national meteorology honor society, Dan initiated some innovative changes to the club," says Lanicci. "He got our students involved in the National Forecast Challenge for the first time ever and arranged for 25 students to receive SKYWARN training and certification from the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Melbourne, FL. Our campus, which was struck by an F-2 tornado in December 2006, is now equipped with many newly certified storm spotters." "I'm planning to attend graduate school for further study and research in applied meteorology," says Halperin. "As for my career plans, I'd like to contribute to our knowledge of tropical storms, ideally as a hurricane hunter." Halperin is a graduate of Spanish River Community High School in Boca Raton, FL. For more information visit www.embryriddle.edu. http://www.amtonline.com/article/article.jsp?siteSection=1&id=7283&pageNum=2 *************** Airport passes US security assessment (Manila, Philipines) The Ninoy Aquino International Airport has passed the security and efficiency assessment by the US Transportation Security Administration, the Manila International Airport Authority said. The screening is done alongside the International Civil Aviation Organization and on MIAA’s initiative with the Transportation Department. “We would like to take the opportunity to state that we have generally passed again, the most recent security assessment made by the TSA. With the help of the DOTC-Office for Transportation Security, we do our own periodic re-assessment and re-evaluation of our procedures and processes to make sure we do not deviate from internationally accepted standards,” noted MIAA general manager Alfonso Cusi. “Like all other international airports worldwide, Naia undergoes periodic assessment by the ICAO and the TSA.” He said Naia has always complied with the standards prescribed by the ICAO in serving both local and international carriers. Cusi said the airport facilities would extend all amenities and courtesies due to airline passengers, especially tourists, returning residents and expatriates. He said top priority is given to safety, efficiency and convenience for airport users including flight crew at the three terminals. http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=police3_jan30_2009 ************* Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC