03 FEB 2009 _______________________________________ *Helicopter Safety Campaign Has Been a Struggle *The Price of Making EMS Helicopter Flights Safer *UPDATE ON NTSB PUBLIC HEARING ON EMS OPERATIONS *ATW's 2009 Airline of the Year - Asiana Airlines *Bob Hope Airport to ask FAA for approval of flight curfew *Virgin America has lost $270M *APLA presses for Congressional intervention in voluntary reporting *Preferred runway deicer back in production *Blacklist is not protectionist tool, Tajani tells African leaders *US Airways says AIG to own accident aircraft *Curt Lewis & Associates Names New VP of Business Development & Technology ***************************************** Helicopter Safety Campaign Has Been a Struggle By ANDY PASZTOR and CHRISTOPHER CONKEY The National Transportation Safety Board's impending public examination of helicopter safety lapses caps many years of an uphill struggle by the agency to understand the causes of high-profile crashes and persuade industry officials to correct the problems. This week's focus on a spate of fatal emergency medical chopper crashes will produce various new safety recommendations, likely ranging from calls for improved weather forecasting to demands for tighter controls on hospital decision-making about patient evacuations. Board member Robert Sumwalt, a retired commercial-jet pilot who will chair the sessions, has called the recent accident rate "totally unacceptable." In coming months, board officials are looking to expand their scrutiny to other types of helicopter services. Pressure Mounts for Tougher Helicopter Safety Rules. But it took a long time for the NTSB's campaign in this area to gain some lift. Although the safety board began looking at helicopter accidents decades ago, some of its early work amounted to little more than educated guesswork because the wreckage often was too broken to provide much help. Moreover, early choppers didn't have flight-data recorders to help investigators unravel what happened. Officials say it wasn't until the summer of 2005, while investigating the fatal crash of a U.S.-built passenger helicopter flying from Estonia to Finland, that board experts had their first chance to examine a crash from a helicopter that was equipped with such an onboard recorder. That investigation revealed hydraulic controls for the main rotor blades malfunctioned in flight, killing 14 people. The board's recommendations were embraced by regulators and quickly helped make the rest of the fleet safer. NTSB officials said that probe highlighted the different standards used by the Federal Aviation Administration to approve designs for helicopters versus airliners or business jets. Before jetliners carry passengers, "they undergo so much more rigorous failure analysis and testing" than newly introduced helicopter models, according to David Hoeppner, a University of Utah engineering professor with long experience in the rotorcraft arena. In other cases, NTSB investigators capitalized on luck to solve crash puzzles. When a Japanese student pilot happened to take a portable tape recorder aboard his single-engine craft, experts ended up making extensive use of the intact recording recovered from the wreckage. They deduced from the tape that a slipup at the controls caused the rotor blade to slice through the cockpit, killing the pilot in mid-sentence conversation with air-traffic controllers. Despite today's advanced onboard crash-detection devices, the board and air-safety experts emphasize that pilots often keep making the same categories of mistakes - particularly when flying in poor visibility and stormy conditions. Sandra Kinkade, a former flight nurse who now heads the Association of Air Medical Services, estimates that 80% of air ambulance crashes stem from human mistakes. George Ferito, director of business development for helicopters at Flight Safety International, a leading provider of simulators and training services, said there is a growing realization that "very similar accidents are being experienced by new people." Most of the recent accidents "involve decision making problems in the cockpit," according to Fred Brisbois, director for aviation product safety at Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., a unit of United Technologies Corp. Noting that "regulation has a role to play," he adds that Sikorsky feels "there's a responsibility to try and reduce those type of accidents." After investigating an accident in Huntsville, Texas, that killed four people last June, the NTSB concluded that the probable cause was "the pilot's failure to identify and arrest the helicopter's descent, which resulted in its impact with terrain." Similarly, the NTSB determined that a crash nearly a year ago in South Padre Island, Texas, that killed three crew members was likely due to "the pilot's failure to maintain aircraft control resulting in the helicopter impacting the water." But this week hospitals also are expected to be targets of criticism. With the board expanding its scrutiny to local management decisions about how helicopters are used, the hearing is expected to delve into questionable practices dubbed "helicopter shopping." That occurs when hospitals seeking flights in potentially hazardous conditions call around to several helicopter operators until they find a company willing to accept the business. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123362573927642077.html?mod=googlenews_wsj **************** The Price of Making EMS Helicopter Flights Safer By Patrick Veillette and Christine Negroni Feb. 2, 2009 - The helicopter ambulance was flying at night with a patient on board. It was raining, and the pilot was having difficulty. At 1,000 feet he lost sight of the ground. He was instrument-flight rated or "IFR," which means he could use cockpit instruments that replace the need for visual cues, but the IFR system on the aircraft was not working. Later, after landing at the hospital safely, the pilot documented his harrowing experience for the Aviation Safety Reporting System, a voluntary database maintained by NASA. He wrote that another of his employer's IFR-equipped helicopters was not sent on the mission because "our ship is much cheaper to fly." He continued, "When will they realize that closer and cheaper are not always the right thing to do?" Members of the National Transportation Safety Board should consider that pilot's question. This week (February 3-6, 2009) they begin three days of hearings trying to discover what's behind the sky-high accident rate on emergency medical helicopters. The answer is not a mystery. When EMS helicopters are required to carry two pilots and equipment to help them in limited-visibility conditions safer flights will result. Since 1987, there have been 305 EMS helicopter accidents or significant safety incidents in the United States, according to the Comprehensive Medical Aviation Safety Database compiled by the authors, and nearly half of them occurred either at night or in weather that obstructed the pilot's vision. Our statistics also show that people are twice as likely to die in limited-visibility accidents as in those occurring in good weather during the day. Considering the layers of risk in reduced-visibility flights, one would expect medevac helicopter companies to make sure the aircraft is equipped to fly in these conditions. But only a small portion has enhanced-visibility systems. The EMS helicopter industry has boomed from a few hospitals in Colorado in 1972 to a multi-million-dollar business operating 400,000 flights in 2008. This phenomenal growth has been based on a disturbing business model; fly the helicopters as inexpensively as possible - meaning one pilot and a minimum of safety equipment - even though these are inherently more hazardous missions. As one EMS pilot told us, "If they knew what I knew, even the nurse and paramedic wouldn't get on board." In a study of turbine engine airplane accidents, a noted aviation research company Robert E. Breiling Associates of Florida, concluded that single-pilot flights are riskier than those with two pilots. The statistics show the risk of a fatal accident is 3.7 times greater with a single-pilot. In publishing these findings, AOPA Pilot magazine wrote "single-pilot operations create higher workloads and greater demands on pilot skill when the chips are down and stress levels run high." Flying a helicopter - any helicopter- is not like flying an airplane. The pilot is busy from start to finish. To an already higher workload and often under time pressure the EMS pilot has additional concerns, a 24/7 flight schedule, a lack of a weather information for the route or destination, operations in and out of non standard landing zones including rooftops, highways and parking lots and flights that take them through obstacles and obstructions. It is this last factor that makes the need for two pilots most obvious. Of the 210 accidents over the past 20 years, 69 - or one in of three - involved the aircraft hitting something. With the exception of a pilot-check ride in Michigan last May, all the others were operated by a single pilot. Medical helicopters in Canada and air rescues conducted by the U.S. Coast Guard already require two-pilots. What do they know that America's air ambulance operators do not? When it comes to making air-ambulance flights safer, the elephant in the room is money. Nobody wants to talk about it because to do so would be to puncture the myth that no expense is too high when it comes to rescuing those in need. Bringing complicated medical equipment and highly trained professionals to the skies is already an expensive undertaking. Most EMS helicopter companies are businesses with bottom lines to consider. Often a hospital contract will go to the company that offers the lowest bid, which is why additional equipment and doubling of pilots is such a hard concept to sell. Having just closed out the deadliest year in EMS aviation, it is imperative that the NTSB use the hearings to convince the FAA and the industry to equip all EMS helicopters for reduced visibility conditions and put two qualified pilots in the cockpit to fly them. It's expensive, yes, but we have seen the alternative and know that price is too much to bear. Dr. Patrick Veillette is a commercial pilot, former EMS pilot and noted threat and error management specialist. Christine Negroni is an aviation safety specialist, writer and author of the forthcoming, The Crash Detectives. The two have collaborated in the creation of the Comprehensive Medical Aviation Safety Database a product of Humanitarian Research Services Inc. *************** UPDATE ON NTSB PUBLIC HEARING ON EMS OPERATIONS The National Transportation Safety Board today released additional information about the Board's scheduled public hearing on the safety of Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS) operations. The four-day hearing will convene at 9:00 a.m. on February 3, 2009 at the NTSB's Board Room and Conference Center, 429 L'Enfant Plaza, S.W., Washington, D.C. Helicopter EMS operations provide an important service to the public by transporting seriously ill patients or donor organs to emergency care facilities. The pressure to safely and quickly conduct these operations in various environmental conditions (for example, inclement weather, at night, and unfamiliar landing sites for helicopter operations) has the potential to make HEMS operations more at risk than normal passenger carrying operations. There will be witnesses from many EMS communities including pilots, medical personnel, managers, and FAA. The issues that will be discussed during the hearing include: * Operational Structure and Models * Flight Operations * Aircraft Safety Equipment * Training * Oversight The goal of the upcoming hearing is for the Safety Board to learn more about helicopter EMS operations so that it can better evaluate the factors that lead to accidents. The Board will invite expert witnesses to provide sworn testimony. The majority of these witnesses will participate as part of small panels addressing particular safety issues. Additionally, several organizations will be granted party status to the hearing so that they may question the witnesses directly. Note to Media: ABC News has been designated to provide the pool coverage of the hearing proceedings for the television networks for Tuesday, February 3. For questions regarding the pool, please call Fox News, the pool Chair, at 202-824- 6369. The hearing will be webcast. An agenda and webcast are posted on the Board's website, http://www.ntsb.gov. To report any problems, please call 703-993-3100 and ask for Webcast Technical Support. In the event of inclement weather please check our website for hearing cancellations and postponements. Directions to the NTSB Board Room: Front door located on Lower 10th Street, directly below L'Enfant Plaza. From Metro, exit L'Enfant Plaza station at 9th and D Streets escalator, walk through shopping mall, at the CVS store (on the left), and take escalator (on the right) down one level. The Board room will be to your left. Media Contact: Keith Holloway, 202-314-6100 hollowk@ntsb.gov **************** ATW's 2009 Airline of the Year - Asiana Airlines Air Transport World What makes a great airline? Perhaps it is industry-leading operating metrics, or customer service on the ground and in the air that consistently earns the highest accolades from experienced international travelers. Perhaps it is flight attendants giving their time to learn sleight-of-hand tricks to entertain young travelers, or staff spending their weekends helping with humanitarian projects across the globe. In the case of Asiana Airlines, ATW's 2009 Airline of the Year, it is these things and much more. Much has happened to commercial aviation since Asiana came into being in February 1988. At the time, international air travel, particularly in the Asia/Pacific region, was characterized by strict bilateral regulation and dominated by the postwar national flag carriers, many of them state-owned or -supported. Today, the bilateral system is being replaced by open skies agreements and more new entrants have arisen to challenge the status quo. But one thing has not changed: The cream still rises. And when the first of its 737-400s took to the skies on Dec. 23, 1988, Asiana began a journey that has taken the South Korean carrier to the top. Its rise has not been accompanied by a lot of fireworks. Beyond its native land it maintains a low profile. But quiet should not be mistaken for complacency. It has established a sterling reputation for safety and operational excellence, and the quality of its passenger service has earned it a place among the first tier of the world's airlines. And it has done so in a challenging competitive environment in which it has had to contend with a larger and better-known elder. It currently serves 65 international destinations with 515 weekly frequencies and 12 domestic destinations with 489 weekly services. Its cargo fleet operates 56 weekly frequencies on 20 routes to 25 cities in 16 countries. It carried 13.1 million passengers last year. At the heart of its success is a commitment to operating safely as spelled out in its Safety Policy: "Asiana Airlines' highest management priority is never compromising on safety." This is reinforced throughout its organizational structure. For example, the head of Safety Management reports directly to President and COO Young Doo Yoon. The carrier has a Safety Management Team composed of safety managers of the six key divisions: Administration, Passenger, Cargo, Maintenance, Flight Operations and Service. The team reports weekly to the Safety Review Board consisting of the executive VPs of each division and chaired by Vice Chairman and CEO Chan Bup Park. When it comes to critical flight operations, the airline employs a host of ICAO-recommended tools and strategies to keep it at the leading edge of industry practice. It developed a Flight Operations Quality Assurance System and Asiana Airlines Safety Information System incorporating a Penalty Free Reporting System. It is also part of ICAO's Line Operations Safety Audit. Asiana's safety focus pays dividends on the flightline. Reliability and turnback rates are well ahead of the world average for all aircraft types it operates. Its inflight shutdown rate is zero for all but the engines that power its 767s, but still ahead of the global average. These results have been attained, moreover, with high daily utilization rates for its fleet, which totaled 69 at year end comprising 13 747-400s (passenger, Combi and freighter), 10 777-200ERs, eight 767s (one a freighter), eight 737s, 24 A320s/A321s and six A330s. It holds orders for 30 A350s and options for 10 more, plus three 777-200ERs, two A320s and two A330s. Helping matters is the fact that the fleet is among the youngest in the world with an average age of 7.7 years at the end of 2008, and the carrier claims to have been the first to receive ISO 9002 certification for aircraft maintenance. Asiana also is a leader on the environmental front. In 1995 it became the first airline to obtain ISO 14001 (environmental management system) certification. It has a comprehensive program to curb emissions, and between 2004 and 2006 it increased ATKs by 7.6% while holding fuel consumption static. Use of engine washing saved 7,900 tons of greenhouse gas emissions in 2007-06 and a further 5,055 tons in the first nine months of 2008. Another example is the wastewater treatment at its Incheon hangar, where a 24-hr. TeleMetering system measures the density of pollutants that occur during maintenance to maintain discharge density at a level some 50% below the maximum allowed. The company carries out a review of its environmental policy every year and encourages a culture of protecting the environment with its staff across the entire spectrum of airline activities. In cooperation with ANA it planted 500 Japanese black pine trees in south central Japan in November as part of a combined effort to reforest a wooded area devastated by insects. Last May it introduced a carbon offset program on its website. Asiana recognized the importance of superior customer service as a competitive weapon very early in its existence. "Because we can't compete on frequency, the only way we can catch up is with better service," an official told this magazine back in 1991. That lesson has not been forgotten over the years and the carrier continues to win accolades from travelers and quality ratings organizations. It is one of only six airlines to hold a coveted 5-Star rating by Skytrax. Last month, readers of Business Traveler magazine voted its cabin staff and inflight services best in the world and it also was judged best overall in the world for customer service in the air, on the ground and at its call centers. It completed an extensive upgrade of its cabin product on 747s, 777s and 767s last year with the latest generation of lie-flat beds, AVOD, SMS and e-mail capability via the IFE. Economy passengers also have AVOD, SMS and e-mail capability from their seats on the 747s and 777s. Satellite phone and fax capability is available to all passengers. For passengers with limited mobility, Asiana has a dedicated check-in facility at Incheon and, going a significant step further, also offers those passengers the Han-Sarang Lounge especially designed for people with mobility issues. As would be expected from a country in love with mobile phones, it is on the front edge of technology with RFID for baggage for domestic flights, mobile/Web check-in and self-service kiosks at Gimpo, Incheon and Narita and 100% e-ticketing systemwide. Well away from technology, some flight attendants attend sommelier courses in France and London, Cordon Bleu classes in Sydney and Ottawa and even a Hospitality Management Course at the University of Brighton in the UK. They also entertain passengers with magic tricks. Although the current world financial crisis is challenging airlines around the globe, the impact on Asiana has been less than that on others, with a breakeven result expected for 2008. It earned $113.5 million in 2007 with EBIT of $183.2 million. Between 2004 and 2007 it posted aggregate earnings of $542 million as annual revenues rose from $2.88 billion to $3.89 billion. Asiana management's ability to combine operational excellence, a warm human touch and financial sustainability makes the carrier a standout for ATW's Airline of the Year Award for 2009. http://atwonline.com/magazine/article.html?articleID=2647 **************** Bob Hope Airport to ask FAA for approval of flight curfew If approved, the curfew would prohibit most flights by airlines, cargo operations, couriers and private pilots between 10 p.m. and 6:59 a.m. Opponents fear it would cause problems for other airports. Officials who oversee Bob Hope Airport in Burbank decided Monday to seek federal approval of a controversial nighttime ban on flight operations -- restrictions, they assert, that will reduce noise in nearby communities and have little effect on other airports in the region. The proposed curfew would prohibit flights by airlines, cargo operations, couriers and private pilots between 10 p.m. and 6:59 a.m. with exceptions for emergencies, law enforcement, medical flights and military aircraft. Currently, the airlines operate under a voluntary agreement not to fly between those hours. "This is a historic day," said Dan Feger, the executive director of the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority, which operates Bob Hope. "No airport has asked for a federal restriction like this. We believe that hundreds of thousands of residents can obtain noise relief while keeping the airport viable." The proposal, however, has been the focal point of one of the most acrimonious homeowner battles in the San Fernando Valley out of fear that the curfew would shift flights from Bob Hope to Van Nuys Airport, increasing the noise problem there for nearby residents. The authority's nine-member commission unanimously approved the airport's application to the Federal Aviation Administration as well as an analysis of the proposed curfew that was revised during the last several months. If approved by the FAA, it would be the first time such restrictions would apply to so-called Stage 3 aircraft, which include the quietest jets. Like several other airports around the country, the nighttime operations of older, noisier jets, so-called Stage 2 aircraft, have been restricted at Bob Hope since 1981. Once the application is received, FAA officials will have 180 days to approve or reject the curfew, which could reduce jet noise for more than 180,000 residents in Burbank, Glendale and Los Angeles who live near or under the airport's southwest departure routes. Victor Gill, an airport spokesman, said the restrictions would primarily affect cargo operations, unscheduled commuter flights, courier services and corporate jets. He added that the airlines already have curtailed their nighttime operations. Bob Hope, which is home to 15 air carriers as well as an array of private aircraft, served about 5.3 million commercial passengers in 2008, down from about 5.9 million in 2007. The airport had about 120,000 takeoffs and landings last year. The airport's application to the FAA includes a $6-million, eight-year study, which states that the curfew would shift roughly 35 flights a night to other airports, such as Van Nuys, Los Angeles International, Ontario International, Long Beach and Whiteman. The change, researchers concluded, would have little effect on noise levels or air pollution in neighborhoods surrounding those airports. An analysis contained in the study also indicates that between 2008 and 2015, the restrictions would generate about $67 million in benefits for the public and $48 million in costs to airlines, passengers, cargo carriers and general aviation. The benefits of the curfew include increased property values, lower costs for noise abatement programs and a decrease in disturbances for nearby residents. The costs to passenger and cargo carriers would result from the elimination of night flights, transferring operations to other airports and canceling delayed flights from other airports. Officials for Los Angeles World Airports, which operates LAX, Van Nuys and Ontario, said they are concerned about the shifting of aircraft from Bob Hope to other facilities, which have been designated noise problem airports by the state. World airports is now studying possible noise and access restrictions for Van Nuys and LAX. Los Angeles airport officials contend that the study's cost-benefit analysis overstates the benefits because the proposed curfew would simply shift Bob Hope's noise to other airports, adding to their difficulties. World airports further contends that Bob Hope is skirting its responsibility to accommodate its share of commercial air transportation as part of a current effort to spread the growth of air traffic around the region. Bob Hope officials say, however, that the restrictions would not prompt airlines to relocate because they are already accustomed to the long-standing voluntary restrictions. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-curfew3-2009feb03,0,2237338.story *************** Virgin America has lost $270M In its first earnings report in more than a year, Virgin America Inc. said it lost $175.4 million over the first three quarters of 2008. The Burlingame-based airline booked $259.6 million in revenue during the same period. When added to figures from 2007, Virgin America has lost $270.2 million on sales of $311.7 million since it began service in August 2007. Virgin America officials said the figures were in line with expectations for the startup company, which employs about 1,200 people at San Francisco International Airport and elsewhere around the country. "This is an industry with very high start-up costs and where large first year-losses are common," said David Cush, Virgin America's president and CEO. "We're confident in our business model and are in a strong position as a well-financed start-up with solid revenue growth and load factors." Cush said the airline anticipates being profitable in 2010 and might even record profitable quarters this year. Virgin America said its load factor - a measure of how many seats are sold on each flight - increased during the first three quarters of 2008 to reach 81.4 percent, slightly higher than the broader industry figure. U.S. airlines make their financial data available to the public throughout the year under U.S. Department of Transportation rules. But Virgin America kept its financial figures confidential until this week, arguing to federal transportation officials that release of the information would cause substantial harm to the startup airline. Virgin America said that if rival airlines saw its numbers, those carriers could use the data to their competitive advantage. The Department of Transportation last week rejected Virgin America's request, leading to the release of the data. Until this week, the only other financial figures that were available from Virgin America had been numbers from the third quarter of 2007, the first quarter of the airline's operations. Privately-held Virgin America is owned in part by British entrepreneur Richard Branson, who also operates Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd. of London and Virgin Blue of Australia. The majority of the airline's shares are controlled by U.S. private equity firms Black Canyon Capital LLC and Cyrus Capital Partners. Virgin America has lined up about $500 million so far from Branson's Virgin Group Ltd. and the U.S. private equity firms. Virgin America flies its 26 aircraft to eight cities, including San Francisco, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, New York City and Washington, D.C. The airline will add flights to Boston this month and to Orange County in April. http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/stories/2009/02/02/daily15.html ***************** APLA presses for Congressional intervention in voluntary reporting Continued scrutiny of voluntary safety programmes at US carriers has galvanized the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) to press the US Congress for legislation to provide protection against the misuse of information collected under those schemes. Today during a briefing outlining safety concerns ALPA International Executive Air Safety Chairman Rory Kay emphasized data collected under the Flight Operations Quality Assurance Programmes (FOQA) and Aviation Safety Action Programmes (ASAP) has led to significant improvements in training, operations, maintenance and air traffic control. ASAP is an agreement among airline management, FAA and a specific labour group that allows for non-punitive reporting of safety incidents or concerns. Pilots and management at American Airlines have been embroiled in a highly-publicized conflict over ASAP during the last few months. The carrier is a non-ALPA airline and its pilots are represented by the Allied Pilots Association (APA). APA opted to terminate its ASAP programme at American last year after it determined during the renewal process the proposal offered by management would leave pilots "dangerously exposed". US Airways also terminated in ASAP programme in 2008, the same year its pilots opted for representation by the US Airline Pilots Association. Delta pilots recently reinstated their ASAP programme after a lapse of more than two years. In its latest update to members APA says it has reviewed the details of the Delta agreement. Delta's event review team determines corrective action, but "such corrective action will not include discipline.or evaluation events.for any pilot involved in the incident who has filed and ASAP report that is not later excluded by the event review team". APA says both the Delta agreement and a deal it delivered to American CEO Gerard Arpey in early October "conform to AMR's [American's parent] stated goals while remaining true to both existing FAA guidance and the philosophy on which ASAP was founded". The union hopes AMR management will "follow the example set by ALPA and Delta and sign the agreement they have had on their desk for more than four months". Meanwhile ALPA President John Prater says the association is moving towards its goal of having 100% of its member carriers operating with ASAP. "I think we have two more to gain." Source: Air Transport Intelligence news *************** Preferred runway deicer back in production Supplies of potassium acetate (KAc) runway deicer fluid will likely be available again by the end of February, says Cryotech, the industry's largest supplier of the material. KAc is the primary runway deicer fluid (RDF) used in the US, according to the FAA. Keith Johnson, president and CEO of Cryotech, says he is "two to three weeks away" from having sufficient inventories to begin re-selling KAc, a chemical airports spray onto surfaces to keep freezing precipitation from bonding to the surface. The company shipped 9 million gallons of its E36 product last year, but was only able to produce 3 million gallons for the current winter season. Johnson says the company sells about 6 million gallons on average per year. The cutback this winter season was due to a mining strike in Saskatchewan that eliminated a key source of raw materials (potash) from which E36 and competing RDF products are made. Iowa-based Cryotech manufactures KAc from potassium hydroxide that it buys from plants that use the potash mined from Canada. Without KAc, Johnson says some airports went back to less environmentally friendly products that had previously been used. Included were propylene glycol and urea blends, treatments that have a higher biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) than KAc. A higher BOD can rob downstream tributaries of oxygen, which can damage aquatic life. Cryotech itself developed two corn-based alternative RDF treatments that it has been selling to airports during the interim. Johnson says most customers will likely switch back to KAc once it is available. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news *************** Blacklist is not protectionist tool, Tajani tells African leaders European transport commissioner Antonio Tajani has told African leaders that the European Union's airline blacklist is not a political or commercial tool. Tajani was speaking today before the African Union's head of state and government assembly in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia. Several African states - among them Angola, Liberia and the Democratic Republic of Congo - are the subject of blanket bans on flight operations to Europe. But Tajani says: "Our list is not an instrument of protectionism. I guarantee that the application of this measure is subject exclusively to strict safety criteria and not concealed political or commercial motivations." Angola's Government notably retaliated against European flights after its flag-carrier, TAAG, was blacklisted 18 months ago. Tajani says there needs to be "dialogue and co-operation" to all "unlimited sharing of expertise and resources". "My aim is to have an 'empty list'," he says. "Because it would mean that we have managed to ensure full security for all air operators." Source: Air Transport Intelligence news **************** US Airways says AIG to own accident aircraft Insurance company AIG will take possession of an Airbus A320 that crashed landed into the Hudson River in New York City on 15 January. "The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is still working on their investigation but the insurance company AIG will take possession of it following the investigation," the carrier says in a weekly employee update. "Our insurance company with AIG provides that they will own the aircraft." It has been widely reported the aircraft suffered a dual engine loss after most likely striking birds after takeoff. The aircraft's left engine was recovered on 23 January, and investigators stated the engine had dents on the spinner and cowling inlet lip. Organic material and soft-body damage were previously discovered on the right hand CFM engine. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news *************** Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC