15 JUN 2009 _______________________________________ *Air France Probe Suggests Plane Broke Up in Air, Estado Says *A330 Accident: Pitot Tubes Not to Blame? *Air France jet had rudder issues *US signal locator to search for Flight 447 boxes *Growth of regional airlines raises alarm on safety *FAA Holds Regional Airline Safety Summit *Honeywell Safety System to Reduce Runway Incursions Selected by Boeing *SmartLanding software adds approach guidance to EGPWS *Brazilian authorities ground BRA again *Mexico court ruling: Aviacsa allowed to fly again *Mexico risks IASA downgrade as Aviacsa again resumes operations **************************************** Air France Probe Suggests Plane Broke Up in Air, Estado Says June 12 (Bloomberg) -- The Air France plane that crashed June 1 may have partly broken up in the air before hitting the Atlantic Ocean, O Estado de S. Paulo reported, citing investigators it didn’t identify. Most of the 16 bodies examined in preliminary stages of the probe into the flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris were found naked or with minimal clothing, suggesting the wind may have removed the garments, the newspaper said. The possibility of an explosion or fire in the jet is also unlikely because the bodies showed no sign of burns, Estado said. Almost all of the bodies had multiple fractures, the paper reported. Investigators haven’t found water in the victims’ lungs, which would indicate drowning, Estado said. Bodies were found 85 kilometers (53 miles) apart, which may also indicate the Airbus A330-200 broke up before reaching the ocean, Estado reported. ************* A330 Accident: Pitot Tubes Not to Blame? Louis Gallois would not fuel speculation about what caused the Air France A330 to crash into the Atlantic Ocean on June 1, but he did say that the replacement of pitot tubes had been instigated due to problems in takeoff and landing, not in cruise. This contradicts more than a week of speculation that a pitot tube failure may have been a major contributory factor to the accident. “It is essential to know what happened,” he said. “Airbus is cooperating fully with the BEA [France’s Bureau d’Enquete Accidents accident investigation agency]. I hope we find the Black Box [flight recorders] and I hope sincerely that we will find the root cause. It takes the convergence of different causes to create such an accident, [so] it’s much too early to look at causes. “We are responsible for the aircraft, it’s clear, but we don’t know if the pitots were part of the accident. Thales has improved the pitot [design] but the problem was with water on takeoff and landing, not a problem faced by aircraft flying at 25,000 feet. We have no idea for the time being [what caused the accident] and even if we had, it would be for the BEA. It takes weeks, if not months, to know exactly what happened. We have a huge responsibility [to the families] not to elaborate on technical matters.” Meanwhile, the search for the flight recorders of the doomed AF447 flight has narrowed to a 40-mile radius area. This is a still a large surface to be covered by the sonar of the four French ships, including a nuclear submarine, involved. The area is centered on an area northeast of Brazil, the last position sent automatically by the Airbus A330. On Saturday, Brazilian media reported that the recovered wreckage shows no evidence of an explosion or a fire, therefore ruling out a bomb. Rather, the media said, the small size of the debris indicates the aircraft broke up in flight. Other reports suggest the cabin crew received no warning of a possible ditching, having left their flip-up seats in the upright position. Some 50 bodies have been recovered so far. “We will make no further comment since speculation undermines the investigation and upsets the families [of victims],” Airbus CEO Thomas Enders said on Saturday. “The aviation community is still in shock and the families won’t be consoled by the excellent safety record of the A330.” http://www.ainonline.com/news/single-news-page/article/a330-accident-pitot-t ubes-not-to-blame/ **************** Air France jet had rudder issues A BURST of last-minute automatic messages sent by Air France Flight 447 includes one about a problem with a rudder safety device. The Airbus A-330 crashed into the Atlantic on 31 May when it ran into fierce thunderstorms while carrying 228 people from Rio de Janeiro to Paris. It has emerged that one of the 24 automatic messages sent from the plane minutes before it disappearADVERTISEMENTed points to a problem in the "rudder limiter", a mechanism that limits how far the plane's rudder can move. The nearly intact vertical stabiliser – which includes the rudder – has been recovered from the water by Brazilian searchers. An aviation industry official with knowledge of the Air France investigation, said a transcript of the messages posted on the website EuroCockpit is authentic but inconclusive, adding: "There is a lot of information, but not many clues." The official said jets like the Airbus A330 automatically send maintenance messages about once a minute during a flight. They are used by the ground crew to make repairs later. If the rudder were to move too far while travelling fast, it could shear off and take the vertical stabiliser with it, which some experts believe may have happened, based on the relatively limited damage to the stabiliser. However, the industry official said the error message pertaining to the rudder limiter did not indicate it malfunctioned, but rather that it had locked itself in place because of conflicting speed readings. Investigators have focused on the possibility that external speed monitors iced over and gave false readings to the plane's computers. Jack Casey, an aviation safety consultant, said: "The message tells us that the rudder limiter was inoperative. It does not give you any reason why." If the plane's flight data and cockpit voice recorders – the "black boxes" – are not found, the exact cause of the accident may never be known. Louis Gallois, the chief executive of Airbus' parent company, EADS, said: "In such an accident, there is not one cause, it's the convergence of different causes creating such an accident." He added: "It's essential for everybody to know what happened and we know that it's not easy. I hope we will find the black box." http://news.scotsman.com/world/Air-France-jet-had-rudder.5364663.jp **************** US signal locator to search for Flight 447 boxes SAO PAULO (AP) — A Dutch ship towing a high-tech, U.S. Navy listening device was set to troll the Atlantic on Sunday in search of data and voice recorders that investigators say are key to determining what caused an Air France jet to crash in the Atlantic with 228 people on board. The Navy device, called a Towed Pinger Locator, will try to detect emergency audio beacons, or pings, from Flight 447's black boxes, which could be lying thousands of feet (meters) below the ocean surface. Without the recorders, it may be impossible to ever know what caused the Airbus A330 to crash several hundred miles off Brazil's northeastern coast on May 31. The locator device is capable of searching to a depth of 20,000 feet (6,100 meters). The first of two devices was towed in Sunday by a Dutch ship contracted by France, said U.S. Air Force Col. Willie Berges, commander of the American military forces supporting the search operation. Berges said the locator device would start operating as soon as searchers were sure it would not interfere with a French nuclear submarine already searching for the black boxes. Another Dutch ship carrying a second listening device is scheduled to arrive no later than Monday morning, Berges said. The ships will tow the locators in a grid pattern while 10-person teams watch for signals on computer screens, Berges said. The search area includes some of the deepest waters of the Atlantic — and in two more weeks the boxes' signals will begin to fade. In Paris, the head of Airbus' parent company said there was probably more than one reason for the crash. "In such an accident, there is not one cause," EADS CEO Louis Gallois said in comments released Sunday. "It's the convergence of different causes creating such an accident." "It's essential for everybody to know what happened and we know that it's not easy. I hope we will find the black box." Investigators have so far focused on the possibility that external speed monitors — called Pitot tubes — iced over and gave false readings to the plane's computers. Also on Sunday, an official of the French accident investigation agency, BEA, arrived in the northeastern city of Recife to begin examining some of the debris retrieved from the ocean, Brazilian Air Force Col. Henry Munhoz said. He said the French investigator would probably begin with some of the larger pieces such as the nearly intact vertical stabilizer that was fished out of the water by Brazilian searchers. He said he did not know if the BEA would continue analyzing the pieces in Brazil or have them shipped to France. French Ambassador Pierre-Jean Vandoorne also arrived in Recife on Sunday to be briefed on the search mission, Munhoz said, without providing further details. The private Agencia Estado news service quoted Vandoorne as saying that the BEA will also be responsible for examining the passengers' personal belongings. Thus far, there is no evidence of an explosion or terrorist act, just clues that point to systemic failures on the plane. Experts say the evidence uncovered up until now points to at least a partial midair breakup of the plane. Military ships and planes resumed operations Sunday after rough weather halted the efforts, Munhoz said. Coroners have said victims' dental records and DNA samples from relatives will be necessary to confirm the identities of the 16 bodies that have been examined. Brazilian authorities Sunday revised the number of bodies they have retrieved downward, from 44 to 43, after a re-count. Another six have been pulled from the Atlantic by French ships. ************** Growth of regional airlines raises alarm on safety The pay for a commuter airline pilot is so low that Nick Fulks is packing up to move back to his parents’ house in Chicago. His starting salary is about $22,000. As feeder carriers take on more flights, safety standards may have slipped, some observers say. Pilot fatigue is one of the biggest concerns. Reporting from Chicago -- Nick Fulks says he met the "bare minimum requirements" when, at age 23, with 1,020 hours of flight experience, he was hired to fly planes for a large commuter airline. Make no mistake: Fulks loves to fly, and he is a serious student of everything aviation. Struggles like his -- handling stress and fatigue and mastering a learning curve in the cockpit that plays out over years -- long have been a standard practice in the airline industry. It is aviation's equivalent of physicians training as residents. But as regional carriers become big business, some safety experts ask whether pilot fatigue, training and salaries that demand overtime are eroding safety standards. More flights This sector exploded in size and importance this decade as cash-strapped airlines such as United, American, Delta, Continental and US Airways shrank their regular operations and outsourced more flying to regional or feeder carriers. These contract partners operate planes, which hold between 10 and 100 passengers, emblazoned with the large carriers' logos. Once the provider of short puddle-jump flights, regional carriers operate about half of all the commercial airline flights in the U.S. and carry about 20% of commercial airline passengers. During a four-year stretch after the Sept. 11 attacks, the amount of flying they handled nearly tripled, according to data compiled for the Chicago Tribune by OAG, which tracks airline data. Commuter airlines are required to meet the same federal safety and training standards as the major airlines. But a recent spate of accidents involving this sector has heightened concerns that rapid growth at some carriers may have jeopardized safeguards. The February crash of a Colgan Air/Continental Connection plane that killed 50 people near Buffalo, N.Y., has focused attention on flight-training lapses and the financial pressures faced by pilots who are trying to make a living flying smaller planes. Many regional pilots commute cross-country and spend nights in airport crew lounges to save money. Some question whether the Federal Aviation Administration, whose inspectors are stretched thin, has delegated sufficient resources to the sector. Like pilots at the airlines they oversee, inspectors handling regional carriers are the most junior at the agency, said Linda Goodrich, an FAA inspector and vice president of the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists, a union representing the inspectors. But the Regional Airline Assn., a trade group, maintains that its carriers are every bit as safe as their larger counterparts. "These are not your grandfather's, or even your father's, regional airlines. Today we have one commercial airline industry, and the flight crews all meet the exact same standards," said group President Roger Cohen. Some within aviation are concerned that passengers will start to avoid smaller planes. "The perception is out there, so the industry is going to have to address it," said Louis Smith, a retired Northwest Airlines pilot and president of FltOps.com, a consulting and market research firm. Regional carriers let airlines cap their costs and tailor plane size to the volume of passengers willing to pay full price, a helpful tool for planning in a tough economy or for service to a small city. "Quite frankly, smaller aircraft make a lot more sense," said John Schalliol, executive director for South Bend Regional Airport, in northwestern Indiana. "We would have a few flights a day with the big planes. But with smaller ones, airlines could cater to the public's need with more flight times." Lower pay Feeder airlines are winning contracts from the major carriers to take over flying because they have significantly lower labor costs. The largest carriers invest two to five times as much in pilot pay, benefits and training than do regional airlines, according to data compiled by market research firm AirlineForecasts. "That's what this is all about: the labor arbitrage," said Vaughn Cordle, a retired airline pilot and chief executive of AirlineForecasts. "Pilots don't mind making $16,000 per year because it's a steppingstone." There is no direct statistical correlation between pilot pay and safety, Cordle said. But pilots who have to work overtime to stay above the poverty line may be more susceptible to fatigue, a frequent culprit in aviation mishaps. There's also a concern that as regional carriers rapidly add new and larger planes to their fleets, they may not provide adequate training to pilots forced to adjust to different aircraft amid a time crunch, Goodrich said. Fulks is one of the lucky ones, a pilot employed by a large, stable regional carrier, which he asked not to identify. He and his parents spent about $100,000 on his flight education, leading to a starting salary of about $22,000. He has prospects of earning a six-figure income. "A lot of the first officers I know are almost angry, and some are even jealous of their friends who went into other fields and made big money right out of college," Fulks said. "We're professionals who are responsible for so many lives day in and day out, yet we are so severely underpaid. . . . I try not to think that way." http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-regional-airlines15-200 9jun15,0,6320293.story **************** FAA Holds Regional Airline Safety Summit Airlines, Government, Industry Gather to Discuss Voluntary Ways to Boost Safety Finding ways for airlines to voluntarily make flying safer is the topic of conversation this morning as representatives from all corners of the airline business powwow in Washington, D.C. More than 150 people died in commuter plane crashes within the last seven years. Representatives of the major airlines, regional carriers, industry groups and others invested in the business of aviation are meeting at the Federal Aviation Administration with Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and FAA administrator Randy Babbit. The gathering comes after several recent high-profile plane crashes have raised concerns about travelers' safety. "We are a safe aviation country, but we should be now saying, 'Let's take another look. Let's see where we need to be more stringent and have more oversight just to assure we are doing everything possible,'" Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, said at a hearing last week on Capitol Hill. The February crash of a regional plane in Buffalo, N.Y., the June crash of a massive Airbus A330 over the Atlantic Ocean and the relief of a successful emergency landing over the Hudson River in January each reminded aviation experts it's important to keep their guard up. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, called the recent incidents "chilling, horrific reminders that there is nothing more important in aviation than the safety of all passengers" in a statement prepared for the meeting. Transportation Department inspector general Calvin Scovel has said that the FAA's system to oversee commerical airline needs work. Regional Pilots Share Their Stories"We have identified serious vulnerabilities in five critical FAA programs for oversight of the aviation industry," Scovel said last Wednesday. Those weaknesses include "risk-based inspections, repair stations, aging aircraft, disclosures of safety violations made through the Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP) and whistleblower complaints," Scovel told the aviation subcommittee of the Senate Commerce panel. Scovel plans to release a report on those issues later this year. The inspector general also said the FAA's plan for overseeing regional air carriers, by including it in its Air Transportation Oversight System known as ATOS, might not work. "This is a completely new way of conducting oversight, and inspectors we interviewed stated that ATOS applies more to large carrier operations and needs to revised to fit the operations unique to smaller air carriers," Scovel said. Buffalo Crash Draws Attention to Regional Airline Safety A total of 50 people died when Colgan Air Flight 3407 went down just short of the Buffalo airport in February. At its recent National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) hearing on the accident, investigators honed in on the pilot and crew's training as well as issues of fatigue and possible cockpit errors. But many pilots in turn said they'd seen it all before. Last Tuesday, Babbit and LaHood announced that, starting immediately, pilot training at regional airlines will be scrutinized by FAA inspectors. "I have no greater obligation than to ensure the safety of airline travelers in this country," LaHood said in a statement. The regional airlines voiced support Tuesday for the new emphasis on federal oversight of pilot training. "Safety always has been and always will be our No. 1 priority," said Regional Airline Association President Roger Cohen. "We support all steps DOT Secretary LaHood and FAA administrator Babbitt call for to make this happen." "I would like to note that these issues are not relevant to regional airlines alone," NTSB chairman Mark Rosenker testified on Capitol Hill. "They are pertinent to every airline operation, major air carriers as well as regional air carriers." Air Travel: One Level of Safety After several commuter plane crashes in the early 1990s, rules took effect in 1997 that ensured regional carriers were required to follow the same rules as major carriers. People representing regional carriers, major airlines and those invested in the airline business will meet with Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and FAA administrator Randy Babbitt June 15 in Washington, D.C., to discuss how to make flying safer. At that time, a commitment was made to all air travelers, whether they were boarding an air carrier at the largest airport in New York or the smallest in my home state of West Virginia that safety would be consistent throughout the aviation system," Rockefeller said in a Wednesday statement. But subcommittee chairman Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., asked, "Does it exist today? Because a lot of evidence suggests that, at least in the most recent crash, that was not the case." Pilots can be on duty 16 hours per day, which includes time not spent flying. They can fly only eight hours in a 24-hour period. The FAA also requires 250 hours of flying time for pilot hires, though it says industry practice is usually higher, with many logging at least 500 hours. But the law does not require airlines to obtain records of failed flight checks that happened before they became a commercial pilot. The pilot of the Buffalo flight, Capt. Marvin Renslow, had failed several flight checks when getting his pilot's license, but had not disclosed them all to Colgan Air on his application. In addition to private, commercial and air transport pilot certifications from the FAA, Babbit said pilots get "initial and additional recurrent training through the air carriers for whom they work," which are also manned by the FAA. Hudson 'Miracle' Cockpit Transcript RevealedStill, some have said the FAA is not doing enough. In mid-May as NTSB investigators examined what went wrong in Buffalo, Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., sent a letter to LaHood calling on the Federal Aviation Administration to immediately rethink what is required of new pilots before they take to the skies. "I believe that FAA must start by reevaluating what it requires of airline training curricula," Schumer wrote. "NTSB's hearings have indicated that lack of hands-on training of a stick-pusher may have played a role in the crash of Flight 3407, and I wonder what other important training exercises may be left of out of curricula." "In the interest of cost cutting, the commuter airlines seem to be overworking and underpaying their pilots," Schumer later told ABC News. "The training doesn't seem to be full and adequate." At last week's NTSB hearing on January's "Miracle on the Hudson," Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger told members of the safety board that experience mattered as he gracefully landed a U.S. Airways flight on the river after hitting birds. "I think that [experience] allowed me to focus clearly on the highest priorities at every stage of the flight without having to constantly refer to written guidance," Sullenberger said. "No matter how much technology is available, an airplane is still just ultimately an airplane," he later added. "The physics are the same and basic skills may ultimately be required when either the automation fails or it's no longer appropriate to use it." http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/Travel/Story?id=7827383&page=2 *************** Honeywell Safety System to Reduce Runway Incursions Selected by Boeing --SmartRunway(TM) Is a Cost-Effective Way to Reduce Risk at Crowded Airports PARIS, June 15, 2009 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ -- PARIS AIR SHOW -- Honeywell /quotes/comstock/13*!hon/quotes/nls/hon (HON 35.41, -0.38, -1.06%) announced today Boeing will begin offering a standardized version of Honeywell's Runway Awareness and Advisory System (RAAS), a part of Honeywell's new SmartRunway(TM) safety program that provides visual and aural alerts to the crew about runway situational awareness as a forward-fit option on 777 and 747-8 aircraft, available beginning in late 2009. Next-Generation 737 will follow suit with offerability in early 2010. Boeing retrofit service bulletins are planned to follow production offerability. "One runway incursion happens daily on average worldwide, at a cost to the industry of about $100 million a year," said TK Kallenbach, Honeywell Vice President of Product Management. "Making SmartRunway available reflects the strong commitment from Boeing and Honeywell to reduce runway incursions and increase safety at today's crowded airport environments." "Boeing supports technology that adds another layer of safety to the aviation system. We continue to work with Honeywell and other industry stakeholders to develop technologies that will provide a significant enhancement to aviation safety," said Corky Townsend, Director of Boeing Commercial Airplanes Safety. Honeywell's SmartRunway is a software enhancement to Honeywell's proven Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System (EGPWS) that is basic standard equipment on all Boeing production aircraft. SmartRunway improves pilot situational awareness and helps break the chain of events that can lead to a runway incursion, by providing aural and visual information during taxi, takeoff, final approach, landing and rollout. Using Global Positioning System (GPS) data, SmartRunway alerts are based on aircraft position compared to airport runway locations stored Honeywell's worldwide terrain and runway database, which has proven itself for over 600 million flight hours. Boeing's standardized configuration of Honeywell's new SmartRunway feature includes all the audio callouts previously offered in Honeywell's RAAS software with added visual alerts. Boeing has standardized the SmartRunway configuration that works best for their 777, 747-8 and Next-Generation 737 platforms. This standard configuration improves runway awareness in the air and during ground operations and reduces selection and implementation time for airlines. Honeywell introduced RAAS in 2004, and has continued to expand this technology and focus on runway safety with their new SmartRunway offering. The safety technology is installed on more than 200 air transport and 1,470 business aircraft, with another 800 airline systems on order. Honeywell International (www.honeywell.com) is a Fortune 100 diversified technology and manufacturing leader, serving customers worldwide with aerospace products and services; control technologies for buildings, homes and industry; automotive products; turbochargers; and specialty materials. Based in Morris Township, N.J., Honeywell's shares are traded on the New York, London, and Chicago Stock Exchanges. For more news and information on Honeywell, please visit www.honeywellnow.com. This release contains certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, that address activities, events or developments that we or our management intends, expects, projects, believes or anticipates will or may occur in the future are forward-looking statements. Such statements are based upon certain assumptions and assessments made by our management in light of their experience and their perception of historical trends, current conditions, expected future developments and other factors they believe to be appropriate. The forward-looking statements included in this release are also subject to a number of material risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to economic, competitive, governmental, and technological factors affecting our operations, markets, products, services and prices. Such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, and actual results, developments and business decisions may differ from those envisaged by such forward-looking statements. SOURCE Honeywell *************** SmartLanding software adds approach guidance to EGPWS The verdict has been in for a long time; stabilized approaches are an essential part of a safe landing. Airlines and business aviation operators almost universally require pilots to fly stabilized approaches, but until now there has been no way to monitor approach performance in real time other than an alert fellow pilot to warn flying pilots that they might be venturing outside the boundaries of track, glidepath, proper configuration, airspeed and sink rate. Honeywell aims to change that with its new SmartLanding, a software extension of the company’s enhanced ground proximity warning system (EGPWS). SmartLanding simply warns pilots via verbal announcements and messages on the EGPWS display when they are flying outside predefined standard operating procedure (SOP) criteria during approach to landing. If there is no deviation outside the SOP tolerances, then SmartLanding is silent. SmartLanding is Honeywell’s second software-based extension to the EGPWS hardware system. The first was the SmartRunway System, and all of these products take advantage of the EGPWS’s airports and terrain database and other capabilities. The SmartRunway System is designed to help prevent runway incursions, said Michael Grove, Honeywell marketing director for safety and information management surveillance systems and also a key member of the EGPWS development team. SmartLanding was developed as a runway-excursion-prevention product, something that can help pilots avoid damaging and dangerous runway overruns. In research for its approach-and-landing accident reduction (ALAR) tool kit, the Flight Safety Foundation (FSF) found that between 1984 and 1997 unstabilized approaches “were a causal factor in 66 percent of 76 approach-and-landing accidents and serious incidents worldwide.” Both the FSF and National Business Aviation Association recommend that approaches be stabilized at 1,000 feet above airport elevation on IFR approaches or 500 feet VFR. “The stabilized approach requires the aircraft to be established on the desired track, glidepath, in landing configuration and with airspeed and sink rate constant,” according to the NBAA. The FSF ALAR briefing note gets into more detail, but the bottom line is that if the approach isn’t stabilized by the required altitude, pilots should initiate an immediate go-around. The benefits of a stabilized approach, according to the FSF, are that “landing performance [is] consistent with published performance.” Honeywell research found that runway excursions are far more prevalent than incursions and account for far greater accident- and industry-related costs, by a factor of about 10. “It’s a very significant problem, and it’s one that enhanced ground prox is pretty well-suited to help address,” Grove told AIN. SmartLanding is not a new idea, but the ability to make it work depended on modern databases and GPS capability. Honeywell is always looking at accident causes and how technology could be applied to help prevent accidents, and the runway excursion problem was a worthwhile target. Honeywell worked with airlines and aircraft operators for two years to find out how SmartLanding might help them, including asking airlines what kind of exceedances they were seeing from flight operational quality assurance (FOQA) or flight data monitoring (FDM) system data and also by running simulator trials. For an operator, the ideal setup is to have SmartLanding, FOQA and/or FDM all working together. Analysis of the FOQA/FDM data can show where pilots might be exceeding criteria in a specific area, such as approaches. SmartLanding can then help pilots avoid these exceedances because the operator can configure it to address specific criteria. SmartLanding has dozens of parameters. Some criteria are built-in, like the approach gradient, which is determined based on each airport’s own configuration. The standard gradient is a three-degree glidepath. SmartLanding is typically set up to remain silent as long as pilots remain within one degree on the up side of the glidepath. Another important parameter is approach speed. SmartLanding normally is set to reference speed plus 25 knots, but this is configurable, too. Airbus, for example, uses a more aggressive V approach plus 15 knots. When SmartLanding calls out an alert–in a choice of actual male or female voices–the first and second calls (or three in the case of flaps) state the nature of the exceedance. A speed above the Vref+25 standard, for example, would generate a “too fast, too fast” verbal annunciation plus a text annunciation on the EGPWS display (usually the PFD). If the pilot slows down and remains within the required speed, SmartLanding remains silent. But once the aircraft gets below 450 feet and is above the exceedance speed, or too high or in the incorrect flaps configuration, then SmartLanding announces and displays “unstable, unstable.” “At that point,” said Grove, “we expect the pilots to go around.” SmartLanding can be purchased separately from the SmartRunway System, or operators with the SmartRunway System can add SmartLanding and the two systems work together. For an EGPWS-equipped aircraft, SmartLanding will cost roughly an additional $20,000, but if the SmartRunway System is already installed, SmartLanding will cost less. Fleet pricing will also be available. Certification of SmartLanding as a supplemental type certificate installation is due to be completed this month and the first two approvals were expected for Honeywell’s own Hawker Beechcraft King Air C90 and Convair 580 aircraft, followed by a United Airlines jet. The SmartRunway System and SmartLanding are the first two software extensions to the EGPWS, and Honeywell engineers are busy developing additional products that live on and take advantage of the EGPWS platform. One is a new altimeter-monitoring system to help pilots avoid missetting the altimeter, when either transitioning into Class-A airspace or setting the altimeter properly before beginning an instrument approach. “The most prevalent situation is to set [the altimeter] off by one inch, about a 1,000-foot difference,” said Grove. “That digit is significant enough to where it can get you into trouble, and sometimes it results in an altitude bust if you’re lucky. But if you’re not so lucky, it can result in a controlled-flight-into-terrain accident.” The altitude-monitoring system determines correct altitude based on the geometric altitude for the aircraft’s GPS-derived location as well as radar altimeter data, when available. The system is capable of detecting errors as small as about 150 feet. “This has a lot of uses other than just the safety aspect,” he said. “We feel it’s going to be important for people transitioning to RNP because RNP operations today are still based on barometric altitude for vertical [separation].” http://www.ainonline.com/news/single-news-page/article/smartlanding-software -adds-approach-guidance-to-egpws/ *************** Brazilian authorities ground BRA again Brazilian civil aviation administration ANAC has withdrawn BRA's commercial licence to operate charter flights, effectively grounding the carrier which only restarted operations in April. While BRA's air operator's certificate remains intact, the airline has 15 days to correct a number of formal shortcomings in its business and financial plan to recover its licence. While ANAC confirms the procedure against BRA, it has not given further details. On 26 May a labour court seized assets of R$10 million ($5.1 million) of BRA founders Walter and Humberto Follegati to cover labour liabilities derived from the sudden dismissal of 1,100 employees in late 2007 after the carrier originally ceased flight operations. But it is unclear whether this is directly related to the ANAC decision, as BRA claims that the Follegati brothers are no longer related to BRA. In its previous form the Sao Paulo-based carrier had embarked into an ambitious international expansion project after the demise of Varig - opening routes to Spain, Portugal and Italy - but collapsed in November 2007. As part of a bankruptcy restructuring plan, BRA restarted operations as a charter airline last April with a single Boeing 737-300. The carrier had previously ordered 20 Embraer 195s but this has never been fulfilled. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news *************** Mexico court ruling: Aviacsa allowed to fly again Aviacsa resumed operations after winning a court ruling overturning a government order grounding its planes for the second time over safety concerns. The Transportation and Communications Department first grounded Aviacsa's planes June 2, 2009 following inspections. Aviacsa resumed flights four days later after a judge overturned the government's order. On June 11, 2009, the government re-grounded the airline after a federal appeals court reinstated the order. That same day the Fifth District Judge in Ciudad Valles determined that 20 airworthy aircraft of Aviacsa were allowed to resume flight operations. These aircraft are: XA-TTM, XA-TTP, XA-TUK, XA-TVD, XA-TVL, XA-TVN, XA-TWJ, XA-TWV, XA-TYC, XA-TYI, XA-TYO, XA-UAA, XA-UCG, XA-UIU, XA-UIV, XA-UJB, XA-UJC, XA-TWO, XA-NAF, XA-NAV. Meanwhile the U.S. FAA decided to no longer allow Aviacse to operate flights to the United States until safety matters are resolved. (Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Transportes) (aviation-safety.net) *************** Mexico risks IASA downgrade as Aviacsa again resumes operations Some Mexican carriers are concerned the inability of Mexico's DGAC to ground Aviacsa over alleged safety concerns could lead to the country being downgraded under the FAA international aviation safety assessment (IASA) programme. Mexico's Secretary of Communications and Transportation (SCT) and Aviacsa are now locked in a complex legal dispute over the legitimacy of a decision by its DGAC to ground the carrier. Aviacsa, after being grounded by the DGAC on 5 June, resumed operations on 8 June after it secured a highly controversial ruling by a judge in San Luis Potosi which reversed at least temporarily the grounding order. The DGAC re-implemented the grounding order yesterday, forcing Aviacsa to cancel flights last night. But Aviacsa today was able to again resume operations after receiving a document from the same court authorizing it to operate all 26 of its Boeing 737s. The SCT has vowed it will continue to challenge the ruling, claiming the DGAC has a right to ground carriers for safety concerns. If it continues to have an aviation authority that is unable to implement its own grounding orders, Mexico risks being in violation of ICAO regulations and subject to a downgrading by the FAA from IASA category 1 to category 2. "Absolutely that's my concern," says Interjet chief executive officer Luis Garza. "It has severe implications for the whole industry." Garza questions how a court was able to overturn the original grounding order and why the Mexican government is unable to enforce its own orders. "The government has a mandate to oversee safety. That is not renounceable," Garza says. "They have to enforce it somehow." An Aviacsa official, however, claims the carrier is complying with all airworthiness requirements from the Mexican DGAC. He says the carrier is also now complying with new safety-related requests from the DGAC and will continue to fight claims by the SCT that the carrier should be grounded because 25 of its 737s are not airworthy. "That's why there's a judge. That's why there is a court," he says. "We expect to finish this chapter and focus on our operation." But the case could drag on for months and will likely continue to raise questions about Mexico's ability to enforce its own aviation regulations. "It demands a very serious examination," Garza says. "In principle when I see something from the authorities I have no reason to doubt that. The situation needs to be clarified very soon." An FAA spokesman says "we are aware of the issues surrounding Aviacsa" but would not comment on whether the agency is considering downgrading Mexico's IASA rating. For now Aviacsa continues to operate all its domestic routes as well as its one international route, which links Monterrey with Las Vegas. "Everything is regular," says the Aviacsa official. He says traffic has been down about 40% since Aviacsa's original resumption of services on 5 June and the carrier has been operating at an average load factor of only 55%, compared to its normal average load factor of 75%. But he expects traffic will return to normal levels over the next couple of weeks even if the legal dispute with the SCT continues. "People trust Aviacsa," he says. "We've been in business for 20 years. The current government has only been around for two years." Aviacsa now operates 80 to 85 flights per day. Over the last year it has reduced capacity from a peak of about 120 daily flights due to the economic downturn. But it has the flexibility to add back flights during the peak summer season if demand warrants because it currently doesn't fully utilise its fleet of 23 737-200s and three 737-300s. Meanwhile, Aviacsa continues to wage a separate legal battle that began last August after the SCT tried to ground the carrier because it is behind in paying air traffic control and airport fees. The SCT has said it will continue to fight this case as the carrier remains behind in paying government providers. "We've been complaining about this because this is unfair," Garza says. "Everyone is paying their bills on time. Aviacsa is not. Something has to be done. Everybody has to be treated the same. It's very unfair if any of our competitors are receiving special treatment." The Aviacsa official, however, says the carrier is being unfairly singled out and other carriers are also behind in these payments. He says the company is confident it will ultimately prevail in both legal cases. Interjet, which has a fleet of 15 Airbus A320, currently only operates domestic services but has been considering launching services to the US. If Mexico is downgraded to category 2 under IASA, Interjet and other Mexican carriers currently not serving the US would be blocked from launching US services. All Mexican carriers currently serving the US also would be unable to expand their US operations until Mexico returns to category 1. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news *************** Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC