24 APR 2009 _______________________________________ *FAA makes public its airplane-bird strike data *3rd Annual European Safety Standdown Scheduled For May 11th *Analysts: Airlines flying today with less of a financial safety net *JAL MD-81 damaged on landing *Former FAA Chief Bobby Sturgell to Lead Washington Operations for Rockwell Collins *************************************** FAA makes public its airplane-bird strike data WASHINGTON - The public is getting its first uncensored look at the government's records of where and when airplanes have struck birds over the last 19 years, thanks largely to pressure resulting from the dramatic ditching of a US Airways jet in the Hudson River after bird strikes knocked out both its engines. Finally, travelers will be able to learn which airports have the worst problems with birds. Since 1990, the Federal Aviation Administration has been collecting reports voluntarily submitted by commercial and private pilots, the military, airline mechanics, and airport workers who clear dead birds and other animals from runways. The agency has released aggregate data over the years so it's known that there are records of more than 100,000 strikes and that reported strikes more than quadrupled from 1,759 in 1990 to 7,666 in 2007. But the FAA has always feared the public can't handle the full truth about bird strikes, so it has withheld the names of specific airports and airlines involved. Aware that some airports do a better job reporting strikes than others and that some face tougher bird problems, the agency said the public might use the data to "cast unfounded aspersions" on those who reported strikes and the airports and airlines in turn might turn in fewer voluntary reports. But this week Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood overruled the FAA's attempt to throw a formal cloak of secrecy over the data before it had to reveal the records in response Freedom of Information Act requests from The Associated Press and other news organizations. The database was to be posted on the Internet at midmorning Friday. With President Barack Obama promising a more open government and releasing secret Bush administration legal memos about harsh interrogations of terrorism suspects, LaHood said he found it hard to justify the FAA's plan to withhold records about birds flying around airports. LaHood also noted the public bridled at being kept in the dark. In addition to newspaper editorials coast to coast opposing the FAA's secrecy, members of the public commenting directly to the FAA opposed it by a 5-to-1 margin. The latest chapter in the history of the database began Jan. 15 when US Airways Flight 1549 slammed into a flock of Canada geese over New York and lost all power. US Airways pilot Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger miraculously managed to ditch the Airbus A320 intact in the Hudson River and all 155 aboard survived. Within days, The Associated Press requested the FAA's bird strike database. As some agency officials told the AP they were preparing to release it, the FAA quietly proposed a new rule on March 19 that would extend formal secrecy protection to the records and sought public comment on the idea. Reflecting the views of many who objected, Roger Maloof, a mechanical engineer from New Hampshire, wrote that "this is like hiding which roads are more dangerous in winter to protect the interests of the businesses on those roads." A survivor of Flight 1549, Donald C. Jones, director of an association of endocrinologists in Jacksonville, Fla., was among several who suggested the remedy for uneven bird strike reporting was to make the reports mandatory, not secret. For a decade, the FAA has refused to adopt the National Transportation Safety Board's 1999 recommendation that reporting be made mandatory to get a more complete database. Although the FAA brags that the voluntary database is "unparalleled," the agency has conceded that only about 20 percent of strikes are recorded on it. In comments opposing the FAA plan, Paul Eschenfelder, an aviation consultant from Spring, Texas, wrote that in 2004 a government-industry working group, which was writing new FAA design standards for engines to withstand bird strikes, "agreed that the FAA wildlife database was unusable due to its incompleteness" and paid Boeing Co. "to develop a cogent database that all agreed was superior" because it combined the FAA records with those of several engine manufacturers and British records. On Thursday, acting safety board chairman Mark V. Rosenker said he "was particularly gratified to read the secretary's (LaHood's) comments in the news media today suggesting he would support making these reports mandatory." **************** 3rd Annual European Safety Standdown Scheduled For May 11th Respected Experts, Latest Information to Be Featured The European Business Aviation Association (EBAA) and National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) indicate that planning was well underway for a highly valuable European Safety Standdown - the third of its kind - produced by Bombardier in partnership with EBAA and NBAA. As with past years, this year's event will take place at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Geneva, Switzerland on May 11, 2009, in conjunction with the European Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (EBACE2009). "Our industry's commitment to safe operating practices is reflected in the presenters and content we provide each year at the European Safety Standdown, and this year's event will be no exception," said EBAA President and CEO Brian Humphries, pointing to several of the aviation safety experts included in the program for this year's event, such as: Tony Kern, Convergent Performance Sean Roberts, National Test Pilot School Mark Rosekind, Alertness Solutions John Nance, author and aerospace analyst, ABC News "Around the world, safety is the cornerstone of business aviation and 'Job One' for the industry," said NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen. "Events like this one are an ideal way to further our industry's culture of safety. NBAA looks forward to seeing everyone in Geneva for our 3rd Annual European Safety Standdown." The Safety Standdown focuses on reducing the risk of human errors - the underlying cause of most accidents - by combining skill-based training with knowledge-based training. The European Safety Standdown provides operators with tools to improve risk mitigation, department procedures and processes, and to establish clear and distinct pathways for introspective analysis of professionalism. Workshops at this year's European Safety Standdown include crew resource management, advanced aerodynamics for business aviation and fatigue countermeasures. FMI: www.ebace.aero aero-news.net ************** Analysts: Airlines flying today with less of a financial safety net U.S. airlines today may not be in the financial distress they were after the 1990-'91 and post-2001 downturns. But with smaller cash hordes and most of their assets already borrowed against, they don't have as much in reserve to weather a prolonged or deep decline in business, analysts at Standard & Poor's Ratings Services warned Wednesday. The U.S. carriers are "better managed, and they react more quickly in a rational way to the threat they're facing," said Phil Baggaley, S&P managing director. "But they've used up their potential cushion, if you will." Baggaley and fellow S&P analyst Betsy Snyder, who met Wednesday with reporters to discuss the airline industry's health, did not predict bankruptcies for major carriers, assuming there isn't a spike in fuel prices or a further weakening of travel demand. "At the moment, it looks like they'll manage to scrape by," Baggaley said, as the economy levels out and begins to improve. S&P's economists are predicting that the year-over-year declines in gross domestic product "will narrow in the second and third quarters and turn slightly positive in the fourth quarter," with about 2 percent growth in 2010. "The [travel] demand picture is weak," Baggaley said, "but should not be dropping like it was dropping in the fourth quarter and the first quarter. The airline losses should be rather less than they were last year." However, many airlines such as Fort Worth-based AMR Corp. and its American Airlines Inc. unit "do face large debt maturities" in 2009, so a key will be whether they will be able to tap the capital markets. In AMR's case, it had to repay $750 million in debt in the first quarter and has $1.1 billion more in debt coming due in the last nine months of the year, Baggaley said. With more than $3 billion in unencumbered assets, AMR is one of the best-positioned carriers to raise more money if necessary. However, both Baggaley and Snyder said, airlines are finding it difficult to find someone to lend them money. In the 1990-'91 period and after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, airlines had more assets to mortgage and more lenders willing to help, they said. "This industry, there was always people ready to finance it," Snyder said. "They never had problem getting capital even in the worst of time. That's not the case now." "In the previous downturns, airlines that made questionable decisions or faced very difficult conditions could somehow muddle through because they had tons of aircraft they could borrow against. They could sell off international routes, and so forth," Baggaley said. Now, "most of them, though, have run pretty close to the bottom of the cookie jar." He noted that up through 1991, most airlines that went into bankruptcy proceedings went out of business. Since then, most airlines, particularly the large ones, were able to reorganize their finances and continue operating, he said. "We may be getting to the point where if there are bankruptcies, it's not as clear that they would re-emerge," he said. For one thing, there are fewer lenders able to provide debtor-in-possession financing, the money needed to keep an airline going through bankruptcy. "I still think for the large airlines it's more likely than not they'd be able to reorganize," Baggaley said. "But it's not as clear-cut as it might have been." If a low-cost airline such as JetBlue Airways Corp. or AirTran Airways Inc. filed for bankruptcy, Baggaley said, "what do you fix at that point? "They've already got relatively low labor costs, simple route system, not much to sell off, airlines are mostly already in hock," he said. "What do you do?" http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/stories/DN-airlines_23bus.AR T0.State.Edition1.3ab0f00.html ***************** JAL MD-81 damaged on landing A Japan Airlines (JAL) Boeing MD-81 has had to undergo repairs because its wing tip scraped the runway on landing at Osaka Itami airport. "It scraped under the wing but only the wingtip," says a JAL spokesman in Tokyo, adding that the landing lights on the wingtip were also damaged. He says the MD-81's registration is JA-8260 and according to Flight's ACAS database this aircraft has a manufacturer's serial number of 49461 and was built in 1987. The event occurred the day before yesterday at 10:41 and the aircraft had just completed a domestic flight from Niigata with 162 passengers and six crew on board, says the spokesman. He says there is no investigation by the authorities because the authorities have deemed it falls short of an incident and is an irregularity. But the event did draw the attention of the local media and the spokesman says the airport was closed for about one and a half hours. He says "it was cloudy that day but not especially windy". "Just before landing the aircraft had moved to the right and the captain wanted to get it back to the centre position," says the spokesman. When the captain moved the aircraft to the centre "he didn't feel anything" but once the aircraft had landed ground crew discovered the damage, he adds. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news ************** Former FAA Chief Bobby Sturgell to Lead Washington Operations for Rockwell Collins Apr 23, 2009 (PRWeb.com via COMTEX) -- COL | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- Bobby Sturgell, who served as acting administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), has joined Rockwell Collins (http://www.rockwellcollins.com) as senior vice president of its Washington Operations. Sturgell succeeds Woody Hogle, who will be leading Rockwell Collins' international operations. Sturgell, who served as acting administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), has joined Rockwell Collins as senior vice president of its Washington Operations. Sturgell succeeds Woody Hogle, who will be leading Rockwell Collins' international operations. In his new role, Sturgell is responsible for developing and implementing the company's governmental, regulatory, legislative and industrial affairs strategies, and for maintaining relationships with Congressional members, staff and other administration officials. "Bobby's extensive experience and strong working relationships, in Washington D.C. as well as the aerospace and defense industry, will help ensure we are well-positioned to provide perspective and insight regarding policy and legislation important to our business," said Rockwell Collins Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Clay Jones. As acting FAA Administrator, Sturgell oversaw the regulation of commercial and private aviation in the United States. He also led the agency's day-to-day operations, capital programs and modernization efforts. Before joining the FAA, Sturgell served as the senior policy advisor at the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). He was the focal point for analysis and coordination of the NTSB's safety recommendations, policies, programs and safety initiatives. Sturgell came to the federal sector after flying for United Airlines, where he was a flight operations supervisor and line pilot. He flew Boeing 757 and 767 airplanes on domestic and international routes. Sturgell also practiced aviation law in Washington, D.C. A former naval aviator, Sturgell was an instructor at Top Gun, the Navy's Fighter Weapons School. He has flown the F-14, F-16, F-18 and A-4 aircraft, and retired from the Navy as a commander. He is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and the University of Virginia School of Law. Sturgell, his wife, Lynn, and son reside in the Washington, D.C., area. Rockwell Collins (NYSE: COL | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) has been a pioneer in the development and deployment of innovative communication and aviation electronic solutions for both commercial and government applications. Our expertise in flight deck avionics, cabin electronics, mission communications, information management and simulation and training is delivered by nearly 20,000 employees, and a global service and support network that crosses 27 countries. To find out more, please visit www.rockwellcollins.com. http://www.tradingmarkets.com/.site/news/Stock%20News/2287256/ ************** Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC