06 APR 2009 _______________________________________ *Indonesia jails Garuda pilot over 2007 crash *Indonesia military plane crashes, 24 feared dead *Indonesian military plane crashes with 24 on board *A year after groundings, FAA tougher on American Airlines *DFW International Airport Weathers Challenging *NASA Inspector General Robert Cobb Resigns *Shrinking airlines park more planes in the desert *************************************** Indonesia jails Garuda pilot over 2007 crash An Indonesian court has sentenced a Garuda Indonesia pilot to two years imprisonment for his role in an air crash that resulted in 21 deaths. Marwoto Komar, who has 22 years of flying experience, was arrested in July 2008 after the Boeing 737-400 with 140 passengers that he piloted crashed on landing at Yogyakarta airport in March 2007. Prosecutors said that he was criminally negligent for the deaths and sought a four-year jail term, but Komar denied the charges and said that he had tried to avoid the accident. The court in Sleman, near Yogyakarta, however disagreed with his defence. "The defendant was found legitimately and convincingly guilty of negligence," said Sri Andini, the head of a panel of five judges. Indonesia's National Transportation Safety Commission said in its final report into the accident that the aircraft was far too high and fast on its final approach. Despite ground-proximity warning alerts, a flap deployment of just 5° and calls from the co-pilot for a go-around, the captain did not abandon the approach. The aircraft overran the runway and burst into flames. The International Federation of Air Line Pilots Associations (IFALPA) condemned Komar's arrest, asserting that the investigation failed to address fully the reasons for the crew's actions. It reiterated its stance that the criminalisation of individuals involved in accidents "does little" to improve air transport safety. http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2009/04/06/324825/indonesia-jails-garud a-pilot-over-2007-crash.html ************** Indonesia military plane crashes, 24 feared dead JAKARTA (Reuters) - Twenty-four people are feared dead after an Indonesian military plane on a training exercise crashed in wet conditions at a base in West Java on Monday, an air force spokesman said. The Fokker 27 aircraft had 17 advanced parachute trainees, one instructor and six crew on board, Bambang Soelistyo said. "We anticipate all 24 died," Soelistyo said, adding that a search of the crash site near the city of Bandung was being conducted. http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE5351R920090406 **************** Indonesian military plane crashes with 24 on board BANDUNG, Indonesia (AP) — An Indonesian military plane carrying 24 people crashed into an airport hangar and burst into flames Monday, an air force spokesman said. All on board were feared dead. It was not clear what caused the Fokker 27, carrying special forces trainees on a parachuting exercise, to go down in rainy weather outside the city of Bandung. Emergency vehicles rushed to the scene and shuttled victims to a nearby hospital. Dr. M. Drajat told El Shinta radio 17 bodies had arrived from the crash site and others were believed to be on the way. Witnesses told the Antara state news agency the aircraft appeared to be shaking before diving to the ground. Air force spokesman Bambang Sulistyo said six crew, an instructor and 17 trainees were on the plane. Indonesia's military has an aging fleet of aircraft and accidents are not uncommon. The plane that went down Monday was said to be more than 30 years old. A series of commercial airline crashes in recent years has killed more than 120 people in Indonesia. *************** A year after groundings, FAA tougher on American Airlines - and more flexible One year after an investigation of lapsed maintenance led to a crippling of airline operations across the country, federal regulators and carriers are struggling to balance regulatory scrutiny with the nonstop business of commercial aviation. Fort Worth-based American Airlines has emerged as a persistent source of concern for regulators, who have investigated a string of problems that occurred since American grounded its largest fleet of aircraft last spring. One recent example: on some planes, American mechanics incorrectly reassembled pieces of a thrust reverser, which slows down a jet upon landing. That mistake could have resulted in the grounding of as much as half of American's fleet of Boeing 777s, the workhorse of the carrier's profitable international routes. Instead, American and the Federal Aviation Administration resolved the standoff in a way that didn't disrupt the carrier's operations. In the aftermath of the April 2008 groundings, the FAA became more assertive in policing airlines. While that has remained constant, the agency has also relearned the need to be flexible. "We all have learned a lot since that time, and the winner is the American public," said John M. Allen, FAA director of flight standards service. "They get to not have aircraft grounded and impact their flying schedule, as occurred last spring." Safety questions Last February, the FAA was embarrassed by disclosures of its poor oversight of Dallas-based Southwest Airlines, which was fined $10.2 million for operating planes that were overdue for critical safety inspections. After a congressional hearing exposed the failures, the FAA investigated whether airlines across the country were complying with safety rules known as airworthiness directives. Those inspections led to trouble for American, which was found to have incorrectly performed required maintenance on hundreds of its McDonnell Douglas MD-80 jets. The airline twice grounded the fleet to make fixes, canceling thousands of flights and costing the company tens of millions of dollars. American complained loudly that its mistakes were minor and never endangered safety. The airline blamed the FAA for overreacting to criticism about its failure to monitor Southwest. Aviation officials say airlines are still playing defense against what they view as the FAA's exacting – and sometimes punishing – interpretation of compliance with airworthiness directives. Mechanics "used to be trusted to do work that met the safety requirements of an airworthiness directive, even if it didn't match the extreme letter of the law," said Tim Wagner, an American spokesman. "But now the FAA is administering to the letter of the law, and we are adjusting to that change in how the FAA operates." Wagner also said FAA enforcement investigations "have increased since the FAA changed how they administer their oversight function last year." Airlines may feel more pressure from the FAA because agency inspectors, who complained last year about management interference with their investigations, now say they're free to investigate. Last year's congressional hearing examined allegations that FAA management was too cozy with airlines. "They feel less resistance, and therefore more free to do their job," said Douglas E. Peters, one of two FAA whistle-blowers who brought Southwest's problems to light. Thorough audits Last week, FAA inspectors began a special audit of American prompted by "several issues that came up that gave us some cause for concern," Allen said. The comprehensive audit, which will look at American's procedures for complying with FAA regulations, could last three months, officials said. The FAA's concerns include a recent disclosure of damaged emergency slides on American jets. The FAA found that mechanics weren't using the proper tool to repack the slides, which led to cracks in the tubing used to inflate them. The FAA and airline worked out a schedule to fix the slides while minimizing the number of planes grounded. "Even though it was successfully accommodated, it's an issue of why did they get to that situation to begin with?" Allen said. "That is where we have to be vigilant to look at these systemic issues so they don't manifest themselves into accidents and incidents." American insists the comprehensive audit was prompted by last year's congressional hearing and not by any particular problems since then. The carrier says it has performed well on recent regulatory exams and has added members to its audit team since last year. "We think our team is ready, and we're cooperating with" the FAA, said Bob Reding, American's executive vice president of operations. Southwest went through a similar examination last year. The FAA discovered problems that Southwest agreed to fix in exchange for paying a fine of $7.5 million, down from $10.2 million, the FAA said. The changes required Southwest to rewrite all of its FAA-approved manuals and to increase its regulatory compliance staff. Mike Van de Ven, Southwest's chief operating officer, said the company already planned to make some of the changes. Southwest has added nearly 20 people to its maintenance team to help comply with FAA demands, he said. "I don't feel Southwest needs the FAA as a regulator to look over us and tell us we're safe enough," Van de Ven said. "We have all the reasons to be as safe as we possibly can, because safety is our number one priority." Questions persist over how airlines perform work required by airworthiness directives. Many airlines complain that the orders are so complex they require flexibility to incorporate into a carrier's maintenance practices. Guidance The FAA acknowledges the tension over safety directives and is preparing a report that will provide guidance to inspectors who are grappling with how serious a violation is, Allen said. Basil Barimo, vice president of operations and safety for the Air Transport Association, said the report would urge that newly issued airworthiness directives distinguish between work that is safety-critical and work that isn't. "It's going to provide a flow chart, if you will, and a process to help our inspectors not be black and white, but be more understanding of the nuances and who to reach out to," Allen said. Still, carriers are worried about FAA enforcement and are seeking far more retroactive approvals for work that doesn't meet the exact specifications of airworthiness directives. American and Southwest have sought far more of these approvals – known as an "alternate means of compliance," or AMOC – since last year's upheaval. According to the FAA, American received 47 AMOCs between April 1, 2008 and March 31, compared with seven over the same period a year earlier. Southwest received 68 AMOCs over the past year, compared with 16 a year earlier. "In the past, [airlines] would have said, 'this is a minor issue. We determine ourselves, in collaboration with our local FAA, that it's not a significant deviation and therefore we don't need to get some special approval,'" Barimo said. Extra scrutiny? American officials say they've received a disproportionate amount of FAA scrutiny because their maintenance is performed within the country. Many competitors have outsourced heavy maintenance to foreign repair stations, which the FAA inspects infrequently, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation's inspector general. American has 12,000 aviation mechanics, and Southwest has 1,700. That means American will inevitably report more mistakes through regulatory programs that encourage airline employees to report errors in exchange for immunity from enforcement action. In February, the airline reported through such a program that it improperly performed work related to an airworthiness directive issued in 2006. The order governed how thrust reversers are maintained on Boeing 777 airplanes. Regulators are now investigating how long American operated the planes out of compliance before disclosing it to the FAA in mid-February, officials said. American's Wagner declined to discuss the investigation, but said the carrier is "as proactive as we can possibly be in addressing safety issues in the fleet." http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/nation/stories/040609dnbusf aa.3f168fa.html **************** DFW International Airport Weathers Challenging 'State of the Airport' Address Calls For Cost Controls DFW International Airport CEO Jeff Fegan presented the "State of the Airport" address to the board of directors Thursday, highlighting DFW's success through tough economic times and calling for continued development and growth of the region's economic engine. "DFW is very aware of the current economic conditions affecting the aviation industry throughout the nation and the world," said Fegan. "All the work we do at the Airport is grounded in the vision of connecting the world, one of the key drivers of our success. We could not have achieved our goals without our engaged workforce who continuously strive to keep our airport very cost competitive for our airline partners." In his address, Fegan noted Airport management kept the 2009 Airport budget from increasing over the 2008 figure. He said the DFW management team is continuing to find cost savings to offset declining revenues, resulting from lighter travel demand in a challenging economy. Last year, the Airport cut $23 million from the fiscal 2009 budget. This year, the Airport is forecasting another drop of $20 million in revenues and has already identified $18 million in savings and reductions to offset the difference. The board was presented extensive research that shows DFW is one of the most cost-competitive airports in the country. Only 35 percent of its costs are paid with airline revenues, making DFW one of the most airline-friendly airports in the nation in terms of cost of doing business. No tax dollars are part of DFW's annual operating budget, and the Airport continues to find ways to drive down airline costs with new revenues. Fegan noted that aviation is frequently an early indicator of economic upturn, and called DFW "well-positioned as a mid-continent mega-hub" as conditions improve. "Despite facing strong regional and national competition, DFW has maintained its benefits of minimum airspace and facility constraints, and we hold a strategic advantage when airlines are looking to grow and expand their service," added Fegan. Fegan pointed out that the Airport continues to be the major catalyst to the North Texas economy, generating more than $16 billion dollars in annual economic activity, and supporting over 300,000 full-time jobs. He said regionalism is key to the future of North Texas with DFW at the epicenter. FMI: http://dfwairport.com/ aero-news.net *************** NASA Inspector General Robert Cobb Resigns GAO Criticized IG Earlier This Year Three months after being criticized in a Government Accountability Office report, NASA Inspector General Robert Cobb submitted a letter of resignation to the White House on Thursday. President Barack Obama accepted Cobb's resignation, which is effective April 11. "I have been honored to serve the United States over the past seventeen years, first at the Office of Government Ethics, then at the White House, and for the last seven years as Inspector General," Cobb wrote in his letter. "A new Inspector General will find an organization with extraordinarily talented employees dedicated to rooting out fraud, waste, and abuse and promoting the economy, efficiency, and effectiveness of NASA." If that's the case, it would appear Cobb's last three months on the job were busier than preceding ones. As ANN reported, a 77-page report issued by the Government Accountability Office in January showed Cobb ranked next to last compared to inspectors in 27 other federal agencies in managing costs and looking for ways to save taxpayers money. The report stated Cobb failed in his role as financial watchdog for the agency, saving taxpayers only 36 cents for every dollar the GAO has spent on his department -- when others in his role in other agencies averaged $9.49 saved per dollar spent. The GAO also said Cobb spent too much time on investigations irrelevant to saving money, didn't conduct enough audits, and failed to make recommendations for saving money on those he did. FMI: http://oig.nasa.gov aero-news.net ************** Shrinking airlines park more planes in the desert MARANA, Ariz. – Old jets come here, empty engine pods shrink-wrapped in white, tall red tails fading to pink in the desert sun. More will come soon. Some will never fly again. Airlines have announced plans over the past year to take 1,700 planes out of service as fewer people fly. United Airlines is retiring all 94 of its Boeing 737s by the end of this year, and Northwest Airlines has cut its old DC-9 fleet by about a third. The number of planes in storage has jumped 29 percent in the past year to 2,302, according to aerospace data firm Ascend Worldwide. That includes 930 parked by U.S. operators alone. Eventually, some will be sold, some scrapped, some will sit at desert facilities in southern California, Arizona, and New Mexico. But at the moment, their number is growing faster than expected. The banking crisis has made it very difficult to get loans to buy aircraft, and the drop in commodity prices has gutted their scrap value. That makes for busy times at facilities like Evergreen Maintenance Center near Marana. Its super-sized hangar fits a 747, and there are plenty of active planes on hand, including one 747 used to test Pratt & Whitney engines and another converted to fight forest fires. But outside there's a ghost fleet of 204 parked planes. Some of Northwest's retired 747s are here. Planes from defunct ATA Airlines, 767s from Air Sahara and MaxJet, and a hodgepodge of other airlines from around the world are here, too. The people who run these facilities chafe at the idea that they're groundskeepers in a graveyard. While Evergreen scraps roughly 15 planes a year, most of the stored planes still get checks, extensive record-keeping and federally mandated maintenance that will let them return to service if travel demand and the price of jet fuel cooperate in the future. Storing a 747 with the required maintenance checks costs $60,000 a year at Evergreen, half that for a smaller jet. Steve Coffaro, vice president of marketing and sales at Evergreen, points all this out with pride as he drives around the airfield here, focusing on the company's ability to return these planes to the air safely. Out the left window: Planes that could fly again. Out the right: The scrap area, with the lower half of a fuselage standing upright, 20 or so rows of seats exposed, tray tables dangling open. The deserts in the U.S. Southwest have become one of the top destinations for airliner storage because of the perfect combination of cheap land as far as the eye can see and a dry climate that preserves the planes. Planes deteriorate quickly in high humidity. While the airline downturn is bringing some relatively new planes to the desert, most are old workhorses. Northwest Airlines DC-9 No. 9918 is one of those. The plane was delivered new to Minnesota-based North Central Airlines on Oct. 25, 1973, according to Ascend. It stayed in the fleet when North Central was swallowed by rival Republic Airlines in 1979, which was absorbed by Northwest Airlines in 1986. No. 9918 made 47 flights in the first 10 days of July, 2008, to destinations from Grand Forks, N.D., to New York's LaGuardia. On July 10 at 7:21 a.m. it took off from Traverse City, Mich., and flew its last paying passengers to Minneapolis, according to FlightAware. By the end of that day it was parked at Marana. Now, like all the stored planes here, its two engine pods are empty so they can be wrapped separately and preserved for resale. The windows are covered to keep out the sun. Inside, the plane looks ready for paying passengers again. Clear plastic sheets shield the blue seats from dust. Two blue blankets are still in the overhead bins. In the cockpit, orange tags dangle from some of the instruments and electronics, noting what has been removed and when they were last checked. Mechanically speaking, the only thing standing between the Wild Blue Yonder and No. 9918 are new engines, some cockpit electronics and a thorough inspection. Coffaro says planes like this can be used for short-haul flights in Venezuela or Brazil. But the old red-tailed workhorse could also bleach like a cattle skull in the desert until it's turned into soda cans or iPod cases. An airliner that's been stripped of valuable parts like the cockpit, the landing gear, and the doors can still yield as much as 80,000 pounds of aluminum. At Southern California Aviation's parking and maintenance facility in Victorville, Calif., the influx of planes surprised President Jeff A. Lynn. As recently as August he had about 60 airplanes. Now it's 200, and he expects as many as 240 by the summer. That includes some of the 737s being retired by United. "I'm just swamped out here," he said. He estimates that as many as 90 percent of those planes will go back into service again. The planes are on a regular schedule to be towed so they don't rest on the same spot on their tires, and the planes' electrical systems are started and run every couple of weeks. "We don't really look at a boneyard or a graveyard as our business," he said. "Our business is get airplanes in, treat them well, keep 'em nice, keep 'em maintained," he said. But so far this year only about 10 planes have gone back into service. The airplane finance market is locked up. With aircraft values falling, lenders are sitting on the sidelines. On Thursday, Boeing Co. reported just six new orders for February — down from 99 during the same month in 2008. Normally that might lead to more planes turned into scrap. But Lynn said they have some Lockheed L1011s waiting on the tarmac where planes are pulled apart for their aluminum after being stripped of resaleable pieces. But Lynn's recycling man "can't munch up the plane and melt it down," he said. "Nobody's buying his metal." http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090404/ap_on_bi_ge/airlines_parked_planes *************** Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC