19 JUN 2009 _______________________________________ *Plane, vehicle near a collision *Manufacturer optimistic of finding AF447 flight data recorder *Autopsies suggest Air France crash victims died long before hitting water *Rudder could be cause of Air France crash, pilots and experts say *Eye-in-Sky Satellite Storm Alert May Avert Future Air Disasters *Faulty parts contribute to Canada helicopter crash *Pilot Dies During Transatlantic Flight *Ground Breaking On New Mexico Spaceport Friday *FAA certifies Aircell's Internet system *American and Lan Argentina to begin codesharing *Duval to lead AAAE *Boeing begins final assembly on first ANA 787 *************************************** Plane, vehicle near a collision Logan calls halt to construction An airplane hurtling down a runway at Logan Airport yesterday morning narrowly averted colliding with a construction vehicle that strayed into an unauthorized area, triggering a federal investigation and halting all construction at one of the country's busiest airports. The incident, classified as the most serious type of runway incursion short of a collision, occurred at 6:36 a.m. and terrified air traffic controllers, who saw the vehicle dangerously close to the plane's wing shortly after the flight was cleared for takeoff. "It was a serious thing, a matter of seconds,'' said Phil Orlandella, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Port Authority, which runs the airport. "It was an actual near miss.'' Officials said the driver of the vehicle, a Ford Explorer, was on a taxiway and apparently failed to follow safety procedures requiring him to stop at the runway intersection and radio the tower for permission to cross. The taxiway, known as Taxiway M, is in the middle of the airfield and under construction. It crosses Runway 15R, the one the plane was speeding down. Jim Peters, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration, said an alarm sounded in the control tower warning that an object was on the runway, and air traffic controllers noticed the vehicle. Controllers can be heard on a radio recording giving the plane permission for takeoff, then questioning the presence of the truck. "The truck just clears the runway as [the plane] goes through the intersection,'' Peters said. The driver - who works for HNTB Inc., a company involved in the taxiway construction - has been suspended pending an internal investigation, officials said. The company is cooperating fully. The driver was not identified. The Massachusetts Port Authority said yesterday that it had suspended all construction at the airport. "Until we know the factors that contributed to this event, whether it was the failure of an individual or there was a failure in the system, and [have] implemented measures to minimize further the potential for such events, construction on the airfield will be suspended,'' the authority said in a statement. Orlandella could not say how much construction is underway at the airport, but said it is widespread. The jet, a US Airways Flight 27, departed safely yesterday and arrived as planned in Phoenix about 9 a.m. EDT. Morgan Durrant, a spokesman for US Airways, said the plane was carrying 84 passengers and five crew members. The jet was an Airbus 320. Durrant said in a statement that it would be "inappropriate for us to comment further as the FAA is investigating.'' The construction of the taxiway was commissioned last year as one of several projects to help with safety at the airport after a series of incursions occurred between 2003 and 2006, with at least 14 incursions in 2005, among the highest rates of any major airport in the country. http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/06/19/plane_veh icle_near_a_collision/ *************** Manufacturer optimistic of finding AF447 flight data recorder Maker of flight data recorder aboard AF447 has "100 percent" recovery rate (CNN) -- A top executive for the company which built the flight data recorder aboard Air France Flight 447 says he hopes his firm's 100 percent recovery record from air accidents will be maintained despite concerns the device may be lost at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. Although some debris has been retrieved, air crash investigators remain in the dark about what caused the airliner to plunge into the sea off the coast of Brazil with 228 people onboard earlier this month. The wreckage is believed to be about 4,500 meters (15,000 feet) deep, amid underwater mountains and mixed in with tons of sea trash. A French nuclear submarine and other vessels are searching for the flight data recorder by attempting to trace its locator beacon, which sends acoustic pulses, or "pings," to searchers. The U.S. Navy has contributed two high-tech acoustic devices -- known as towed pinger locators -- which have been attached to French tug boats and can search to a maximum depth of 20,000 feet. Honeywell Aerospace's Paolo Carmassi -- the firm's president for Europe, the Middle East, Africa and India -- told CNN that retrieving the flight data could help solve the mystery of the plane's fate and said his company had never lost a black box involved in an accident. "We believe that our technology is well-positioned to, in this case, contribute to solve the big question around this particular accident," Carmassi said. "We have a 100 percent recovery rate of all the black boxes that we have installed that unfortunately may have been involved in accidents so we hope that we will be able to maintain our record and be able to shed some light on what happened." Watch what clues investigators are looking at > But Carmassi acknowledged it was hard to estimate how much battery life the locator beacon had left. "There is a certain duration which depends on the particular environmental conditions, whether it's underwater or on land, whether it's at 10 meters or 4,000 meters; so it's very difficult to pinpoint exactly the duration," he said. Yann Cochennec, an aviation expert with Air et Cosmos magazine, told CNN that a recorder had been retrieved from the seabed in 2004 after an Egyptian charter flight crashed into the Red Sea shortly after leaving Sharm el-Sheikh. But he said the depth of the Atlantic, strong currents and bad weather would make retrieving the recorder from the Air France wreckage far more difficult. The flight data recorder -- sometimes called a "black box" -- is actually an orange, metal cylinder weighing about 13 pounds. Inside is a stack of memory chips designed to survive high temperatures, strong impact and tons of pressure. The devices record virtually every detail about how an aircraft is working, including cabin pressure, speed and altitude, remaining fuel and whether that fuel is flowing properly. They have played a crucial part in air crash investigations since they were first fitted to commercial aircraft in the 1940s. http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/americas/06/18/air.france.blackbox/ ************** Autopsies suggest Air France crash victims died long before hitting water SAO PAULO (AP) - Autopsies of the Air France disaster victims revealed leg, hip and arm fractures - which experts say suggest the plane broke up in the air. "Typically, if you see intact bodies and multiple fractures ... it's a good indicator of a midflight breakup," said Frank Ciacco, a former forensic expert at the National Transportation Safety Board. The pattern of fractures was reported by Brazil's O Estado de S. Paulo newspaper. It said some victims were found with little clothing, and had no burns. That lack of clothing could be significant, said Jack Casey, an aviation safety consultant in Washington. "In an in-air breakup like we are supposing here, the clothes are just torn away," he said. Casey also said multiple fractures are consistent with a midair breakup of the plane, which went down May 31 in stormy weather en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris. "Getting ejected into that kind of windstream is like hitting a brick wall - even if they stay in their seats, it is a crushing effect," Casey said. "Most of them were long dead before they hit the water would be my guess." *************** Rudder could be cause of Air France crash, pilots and experts say There's been a pattern of irregularities linked to the tail fin, but Airbus says it's too soon to know. New York - As they work to unravel the mystery of Air France Flight 447, aviation analysts and pilots are now urging investigators to focus attention on the plane's tail fin, known as the vertical stabilizer, in addition to the design of the Airbus's computerized flight controls. The vertical stabilizer is one of the largest intact pieces of the plane recovered so far, and the Times of London reported this week that "one of the 24 automatic messages sent from the plane minutes before it disappeared pointed to a problem in the 'rudder limiter,' a mechanism that limits how far the plane's rudder can move." Aviation analysts note that several Airbus 300 series jets have had tail fin and rudder problems in the past. (The rudder is the flight control on the vertical stabilizer, or tail fin.) The most recent incident was in 2005, when the rudder suddenly ripped off the stabilizer of an Airbus 310 flying at 35,000 feet from Cuba to Quebec, Canada. That plane managed to land safely. The most deadly event was the 2001 crash of American Airlines Flight 587, in which 265 people died when the plane's vertical stabilizer tore off soon after takeoff. Investigators blamed that crash on "over use" of the rudder pedal by the co-pilot. But critics note that just prior to take off, that plane also had problems with a computer tied to the rudder. That computer was reset by a technician prior to takeoff. Request to look again at Flight 587 In light of the circumstances surrounding the loss of AF447, some analysts and pilots are now calling for the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) to reopen the investigation of AA587 in light of potential similarities between the two crashes. They're also calling for a thorough review of all past vertical stabilizer, rudder, and computer incidents on Airbus planes. "Absolutely the NTSB should reopen the investigation," says Lee Gaillard, an aviation analyst in Saranac Lake, N.Y. "Given the implications that seem to be surfacing in this Air France crash involving the rudder and potential computer problems, the whole [Airbus] computerized system needs to be taken a very close look at." French investigators see progress French investigators Wednesday said they're now developing "an image that is progressively less fuzzy" about what happened that stormy night June 1 over the Atlantic Ocean, when Flight 447 disappeared. Judging from the wreckage and bodies recovered so far, and the few clues sent electronically in the last four minutes of the flight, investigators believe the Airbus 330-200 jet probably broke apart in flight, then scattered over several miles. "We are in a situation that is a bit more favorable than the first days," Paul-Louis Arslanian, head of the French civil aviation safety agency told reporters at a press conference in Paris on Wednesday. "We can say there is a little less uncertainty, so there is a little more optimism ... [but] it is premature for the time being to say what happened." He cautioned that the search is continuing for the flight data recorders, which could hold critical clues as to what happened. Investigators so far have focused on the potential that speed sensors, called Pitot tubes, could have iced up and provided faulty information to the flight control computers. In the past week, Air France has replaced the Pitot tubes on all of its Airbus 330s. That theory was gleaned from the burst of automated messages about mechanical events sent during the last four minutes of the flight. Most of the messages appear to be linked to "incoherent" speed readings, which then affected other systems of the plane, Mr. Arslanian said. History of Flight 587 probe But the report that one of those automated messages also indicated problems with the rudder limiter has renewed concerns first made public during the AA587 crash investigation in 2001. At the time, a group of American Airlines pilots presented to the NTSB a 68-page dossier documenting incidences of uncommanded rudder movements in the A300 series jets. The NTSB eventually concluded the cause of the crash was not a computer problem, but the co-pilot over-using the rudder pedal during some wake turbulence. The animation in this NTSB simulation shows the pilots pushing the rudder pedals abruptly and sharply to the floor, which is what investigators believed caused the plane to lose its vertical stabilizer and crash. But some pilots familiar with the A300 series jets still doubt that conclusion. They say that it would be physically very difficult for a pilot to make the kind of abrupt rudder pedal movements indicated in the simulation, particularly while going 250 knots, which the NTSB indicated was the plane's speed at the time. "I just don't see the co-pilot making the kind of abrupt movement at that speed," says an A330 pilot with more than 20 years experience in military and commercial aviation. "At 250 knots I don't think you can move the rudder pedal that far. It's going full deflection [which means it would be extremely difficult to push down as far as the simulation asserts]." This pilot suggests that a computer malfunction could also have caused the rudder to fluctuate wildly, particularly because of the past incidences of uncommanded rudder movements in some Airbus jets. But NTSB investigators note that the investigation took almost three years, and they say potential computer problems were thoroughly investigated at the time. "In that case, the flight recorder was the source of detailed information that indicated how rapidly and frequently the rudder was moved. Then it was just a matter of aerodynamic calculations to see [what caused the tail to tear off,]" says Richard Healing, who was a member of the NTSB at the time of the investigation. "We were totally convinced the pilot's feet were on the pedals and he was moving the controls manually." But the A330 pilot and others note that Airbus's computerized flight controls are highly complex and have resulted in other uncommanded rudder and other component movements. Two other unusual incidents In addition to the rudder incidents documented by American Airlines pilots prior to the 2001 crash of AA587, last year two Qantas Airlines Airbus 330s experienced uncommanded pitches nose-downward.Nine months before that, in January 2008, an Air Canada Airbus 319 also "experienced a sudden upset when it rolled uncommanded 36 degrees right and then 57 degrees left and pitched nose-down," according to a report on file at the NTSB. As a result, some pilots and analysts would like to see a more thorough investigation of whether a potential computer glitch may have played a part in the dramatic rudder movement during the AA587 crash. They believe that could hold a key to help understand whether a similar "uncommanded" movement could have played a part in the Air France plane suddenly breaking apart and losing its vertical stabilizer mid-air during a routine flight. "Airbus has every single incentive to do whatever it takes to find out what could have gone wrong to be sure that information gets in the right hands to prevent further accidents," says Kevin Mitchell, chairman of The Business Travel Coalition in Radnor, Pa. "On the other side of the issue, if they have fundamental structural or design flaws and billions of dollars invested, then it doesn't get any worse in terms of strategic prospects. So organizations like the NTSB and the Federal Aviation Administration must be on the alert for potential conflicts of interests." Airbus has not returned calls asking for comment on this story. But in a conversation earlier this week, an Airbus spokesman speaking on background cautioned against continued speculation about the cause of the accident. "All we know at the moment is that, yes, there's a piece of the rudder that's been found and that we know that there were some maintenance messages sent from the aircraft, and one said there was inconsistency with air speed measurements. That's all we know, and it's not enough to build a picture of what happened to the aircraft, which is why it's so important to find the missing black boxes," he said. http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0619/p02s01-usgn.html *************** Eye-in-Sky Satellite Storm Alert May Avert Future Air Disasters June 18 (Bloomberg) -- Ronaldo Jenkins recalls the day a wall of cumulonimbus thunderheads appeared on his radar screen. "I looked on the radar for the thinnest patch of the cloud system to go through and decided to go for it," said the 63- year-old former pilot for Brazilian carrier Viacao Aerea Riograndense SA, who was unable to fly under or over the clouds. Jenkins, now a flight safety consultant for the union representing Brazil's airline companies, made it through the turbulence and lightning safely. Marc Dubois, the captain of Air France Flight 447 from Rio de Janeiro to Paris, wasn't as fortunate on June 1. In the early hours that day, his Airbus SAS A330-200 fell from the sky during a storm, killing all 228 on board. The cause of the accident is under investigation. A system to provide more detailed weather information that may have helped both Jenkins and Dubois has been under development for at least four years by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and counterparts around the globe, according to the agency. The satellite-based upgrade of air-traffic management, primarily aimed at ascertaining aircraft positions more accurately, will have the ability to send real-time climate images and data to cockpits. Seeing the severity of the storm an hour before reaching it "would have been useful" in the case of Flight 447, giving the pilot more time to find holes to fly through, said John Hansman, director of the International Center for Air Transportation at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge. Accident Investigation Martin Fendt, a spokesman for Airbus, declined to comment on whether a system like the one under development would have helped Flight 447. The company is waiting for the accident investigation to conclude before making statements, he said in a phone interview from Paris. Air France-KLM also won't comment before the probe ends, according to a spokesman in Paris, who declined to be identified because of company policy. The plane sent 24 automated system- failure messages, including one indicating that the A330-200's speed sensors were faulty, according to Bureau d'Enquetes et d'Analyses, the French agency responsible for the crash investigation. In the U.S., the proposed technology is called NextGen, for Next Generation Air Transportation System, and is estimated to cost the government as much as $22 billion to develop, according to the FAA. The Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast link, being built by a team led by ITT Corp., is slated to be operational by 2013, according to the FAA Web site. ITT, based in White Plains, New York, is a manufacturer of engineering products and communications systems. FAA Appropriations The FAA, which is working jointly with the Commerce Department and military, expects to spend about $1 billion a year on the system, spokeswoman Tammy Jones said. It is seeking $865 million in appropriations for fiscal 2010, according to the House Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development. "We want to get to generate forecasts so far in the future that we can generate routes" that avoid storms, said Jason Tuell, chief of science plans for the National Weather Service. That capability, not expected to be available until 2025, will depend on meteorologists and engineers developing a system that combines advanced numerical and higher resolution weather models with radar and satellite feeds, said Don Berchoff, the director of the service's office of science and technology in Silver Spring, Maryland. UAL Testing Systems UAL Corp., parent of United Airlines, may not wait for the government's link. The carrier, the third-largest in the U.S., is testing satellite-based weather systems for its planes, said Megan McCarthy, a spokeswoman for the Chicago-based airline. "Making the business case for this is the problem airlines face since safety records are already so good," said MIT's Hansman. There is the equivalent of one to two crashes per 10 million takeoffs and landings, based on his calculations. The Washington-based National Transportation Safety Board reported 42 serious turbulence-related injuries and no fatalities in the U.S. over the past five years. Most such injuries involve flight attendants who are unable to get strapped in before planes are buffeted, said Jim Burin, director of technical programs at Flight Safety Foundation, a nonprofit group in Alexandria, Virginia. Every year, millions of airline passengers fly through a turbulence-prone band, known as the Intertropical Convergence Zone, when they cross the equator. In the 30 days to June 8, 38,716 flights crossed the equator with a scheduled seat capacity of 8.2 million, according to OAG Aviation Solutions, a unit of London-based United Business Media Ltd. Convergence Zone The Air France plane was in the convergence zone when it crashed into the Atlantic. "There is a ring of very big thunderstorms circling the earth," said Henry Margusity, senior meteorologist at State College, Pennsylvania-based AccuWeather.com. "This is the area where hurricanes and tropical storms form and planes must cross every time they fly between the Northern and Southern hemispheres." At times dead calm, the convergence zone produces some of the planet's most violent weather when northeasterly and southeasterly trade winds clash, said Pat Slattery, a spokesman in Kansas City, Missouri, for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. "The thunderstorms may be 50 miles across," said Jorg Handwerg, a Deutsche Lufthansa AG pilot for 17 years. "We call it squall lines," which resemble "pearls on a string. If they are too close, you can't find a way through. And if you have a cluster you may have to deviate for hundreds of miles." Tropic Supercells Violent weather in the region can approximate the supercells that spawn tornadoes in the U.S., which exceed altitudes of 50,000 feet, NOAA's Slattery said. "We are eons ahead in forecasting convective storms in the central part of the U.S. than we are in forecasting them in the tropics," said National Weather Service's Tuell. "So much of it takes place over water in the tropics -- over the Indian Ocean, Pacific and Atlantic -- and there is just much less data available because of that." The Air France jetliner was carrying eight to nine hours of fuel and flying near its limit of altitude just before it crashed, said Hans Weber, chief executive officer of San Diego transportation consulting company Tecop International Inc. He was referring to information released by the official investigation that placed the plane at about 34,000 feet. AccuWeather's Margusity said the storm clouds reached to at least 50,000 feet. 'Coffin Corner' "Pilots call it the coffin corner when they are flying a heavy aircraft close to its ceiling," Weber said. "Flying gets to be difficult because there is a narrower speed difference between too slow and too fast. Not having to contend with the most severe weather would have freed up the pilots to deal with any equipment problems." The latest radar products are three-dimensional, such as IntuVue from Honeywell International Inc. in Morris Township, New Jersey, which helps pilots determine the height of thunderheads. The three-dimensional systems, introduced less than three years ago, are in a small portion of the commercial aircraft fleet, said Chris Benich, director of aerospace regulatory affairs at the world's largest maker of airplane controls. Among airlines using IntuVue are Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd., Air Canada and Singapore Airlines Ltd., while the U.S. Air Force uses it on C-17 cargo planes, according to a list provided by Honeywell. The cost for long-haul aircraft such as the Boeing 777 is about $335,000, said Bill Reavis, a Honeywell spokesman. Two-Dimensional Radar Most commercial planes are equipped with two-dimensional radar that requires pilots to manipulate it to get an accurate picture of the weather, Benich said. "With older weather radars, pilots have difficulty accurately determining the top of significant weather," Benich said. Honeywell, Airbus of Toulouse, France, Thales SA of Neuilly-sur-Seine, France, and 14 other partners signed a contract on June 12 to work on the European version of the satellite-based link called Sesar, or Single European Sky ATM Research. Brazil also is implementing a satellite-based system that will provide both the position of aircraft to control centers -- even if they are outside radar coverage areas -- and real-time climate data, said Ramon Borges Cardoso, a brigadier in the nation's air force. "The pilot in the cockpit will be able to receive a wealth of information he doesn't get so easily now, including weather information," said former pilot Jenkins. "The new system will definitely give pilots more confidence." http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=a.s6Gdc8Ww8s **************** Faulty parts contribute to Canada helicopter crash ST. JOHN'S, Newfoundland (AP) - A faulty tail rotor was to blame for the helicopter crash off Canada's east coast earlier this year that killed 17 people, federal investigators said Thursday. The Transportation Safety Board found severely damaged tail rotor driver gears led to the deadly March 12 crash. "Without that tail rotor drive, your directional control ability is much more difficult," said lead investigator Mike Cunningham. "In other words, the nose is going up, then the nose is going down and it's rolling to the left and it's rolling to the right." The tail rotor also helps keep the helicopter in the air, Cunningham said. The Sikorsky S-92A helicopter, piloted by two crew members, crashed about 65 kilometers (40 miles) southeast of St. John's, Newfoundland, as it was carrying workers to two offshore oil platforms. Investigators also found floatation devices failed to deploy when Cougar Flight 491 crashed, leaving the helicopter to sink into the ocean. Earlier, officials had found two titanium mounting studs that attach to the main gearbox had cracked before the aircraft slammed into the ocean. The loss of the studs would lead to a rapid loss of oil pressure and eventual loss of control of the helicopter, said agency officials. Investigators are still trying to determine the origin of the cracks in the studs. U.S. aviation officials have since ordered all titanium mounting studs on that model helicopter be replaced with steel as a result. The families of 15 passengers who died in the crash and the one survivor, Robert Decker, are suing Sikorsky, Keystone Helicopters and their parent company, United Technologies Corporation. A public inquiry has also been launched to examine safety conditions for offshore oil workers. **************** Pilot Dies During Transatlantic Flight Co-Pilots Safely Land Aircraft A 60-year-old pilot suffered an apparent heart attack on a transatlantic flight from Brussels to Newark, but the co-pilot and relief pilot landed the airplane safely at its destination. The Associated Press is reporting that the crew o fFlight 61 asked for the assistance of a doctor, and several passengers responded to the call. Dr. Julien Struyven, a cardiologist from Brussels, said the pilot had died of a heart attack. He told the AP he tried to revive the pilot using a defibrillator, but was unable to do so. Continental Airlines spokeswoman Arlene Salak said the FAA was notified about 1030 Thursday that the Boeing 777 was being piloted by the two co-pilots on board. The flight was given priority handling when it arrived at Newark. Emergency crews were sent to meet the plane as a precaution, which caused concern among some of the passengers, who had not been informed about the situation. Tom Donaldson, a former Union head for Continental, told the news service that a relief pilot flies long transatlantic routes with the crew in case one of the pilots becomes fatigued. While no specific training is provided in the event one of the regular crew becomes incapacitated, he said any one of the pilots on board is capable of flying the airplane. FMI: www.continental.com aero-news.net *************** Ground Breaking On New Mexico Spaceport Friday Business Model Goes Beyond Tourism Officials from the New Mexico Spaceport Authority have scheduled a formal ground breaking ceremony of Spaceport America, the world's first purpose-built commercial spaceport, for Friday, June 19. Governor Bill Richardson and other VIP's will be on hand to begin work on the site in the New Mexico desert, which they hope will be open for business next year. "The realization of Spaceport America is upon us. New Mexico has been working towards this end for decades," said NMSA Executive Director Steve Landeene. "When we turn that first shovel of soil, we will be breaking ground on a whole new future for the people of New Mexico and their children. This is a significant step in the history and future of spaceflight." Landeene's staff is working to develop a schedule of events and activities to make the ground breaking enjoyable and memorable for all in attendance. According to The Washington Post, Spaceport America got a rocket-like boost when voters in Sierra County, which will be home to the spaceport, joined adjacent Dona Ana county in approving a sales tax increase to help fund the venture. The project must still clear environmental hurdles, and Virgin Galactic's SpaceShip Two has yet to be approved as spaceworthy, but 275 potential spece travelers have already paid a total of more than $35 million for the privilege of a ride to the fringe of space. New Mexico isn't the only state with space in it's business plan. Florida, Virginia, Alaska, Oklahoma, and California all have expressed an interest in a commercial spaceport. But New Mexico has Virgin Galactic, which is negotiating a long-term lease at the facility just outside Truth or Consequences for it's world headquarters. The business model goes beyond space tourism, though. Steven Landeene, told the Post "Space tourism is the first phase, along with the commercial launching of satellites and spacecraft that can carry cargo and even astronauts to the international space station and maybe later the moon. But it's possible to begin thinking about a point-to-point network where passengers can rocket from one place to another at speeds much faster than today." FMI: www.spaceportamerica.com aero-news.net *************** FAA certifies Aircell's Internet system Aircell Inc. received certification from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for a high-speed Internet system designed for business-aviation jets. The Broomfield-based company announced Thursday the FAA gave full approval to the system, which lets passengers use their own Wi-Fi-enabled devices such as laptops, smartphones and PDAs to surf the Internet, and to send and receive e-mail with attachments at full mobile speeds. The system is the first that provides "a true high-speed Internet experience that equals what passengers are accustomed to on the ground, while being small and light enough to fit on virtually any business aircraft," according to a news release. The company said it finished a testing program for the new system three months ahead of schedule. The first installation was completed by Midcoast Aviation aboard a Bombardier Challenger 6005 aircraft. Airlines representing more than half of the North American market -including American Airlines, Virgin America, Delta Air Lines and AirTran Airways - are using the commercial airline version of the service, called Gogo Inflight Internet. Northwest Airlines, Air Canada and United Airlines plan to add the service. In June 2006, Aircell agreed to pay $31.7 million for a 3MHz air-to-ground spectrum in a Federal Communications Commission auction in June. In November 2006, the FCC gave AirCell approval to provide broadband service to U.S. airlines. http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/2009/06/15/daily61.html **************** American and Lan Argentina to begin codesharing American Airlines and Lan Argentina have finally secured approval to begin codesharing, nearly two years after first lodging an application with US authorities. The US DOT has given American and Lan Argentina permission to begin codesharing between the US and Argentina as well as beyond their hubs. Specifically, Lan Argentina has been cleared to carry American's code on its services from Buenos Aires to Miami and New York as well as on domestic services beyond Buenos Aires to eight destinations in Argentina. In exchange, American has been cleared to carry Lan Argentina's code on its flights to Buenos Aires from Dallas, New York and Miami as well as domestic flights to 13 other cities in the US. American can also start placing Lan Argentina's code on its international flights from Miami to Aruba, Kingston in Jamaica, Cancun in Mexico, Nassau in the Bahamas and Punta Cana, Santiago and Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic. The two Oneworld carriers first applied in October 2007 to commence codeshare services to all the above cities. In finally approving the application, the DOT notes the FAA has now reviewed a safety audit of Lan Argentina conducted by American and "found it to be acceptable". American has responded to the approval with notice to add five additional US cities to the initial codeshare. American already has a comprehensive codeshare agreement in place with Lan Chile and its Lima-based affiliate, Lan Peru. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news **************** Duval to lead AAAE Members of the American Association of Airport Executives (AAAE) have elected former Massachusetts Port Authority deputy director John Duval as the trade group's 2009-2010 chair. Duval took over earlier this week from 2008-2009 chair Jim Elwood, director of Colorado's Aspen/Pitkin County airport. Duval is currently director of operations, planning and development for Beverly Municipal, a general aviation airport in Massachusetts where he has worked for two years. He also now serves on the Transportation Research Board's airport cooperative research program (ACRP). Prior to joining the Beverly airport, Duval had a 36-year career with the operator of Boston's Logan International airport. He retired from the Massachusetts Port Authority as deputy director of aviation operations. Duval served as chair of the FAA's aviation rule-making advisory committee between 1993 and 1996 and between 1996 and 2007 he served on the Beverly airport commission. Duval says one focus at AAAE will be working with New York's Fordham University to develop a program to improve employee productivity in the midst of the economic crisis. Several airports will participate in a pilot program starting this summer, he says. Meanwhile, Washington Dulles International and Reagan Washington National airports operator Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority president and CEO Jim Bennett was elected first chair. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news ***************** Boeing begins final assembly on first ANA 787 Boeing has begun final assembly of the first production 787 ahead of first delivery early next year to launch customer All Nippon Airways (ANA). Boeing says in a statement last night that final assembly has started on the first of at least 50 787s being acquired by ANA. It says deliveries are still on schedule to begin the first quarter of 2010. ANA CEO Shinichiro Ito calls the start of final assembly a historic milestone. "As the launch customer, we are delighted and excited to see the achievement of this milestone and to have worked closely together to reach this day," Ito says. "We look forward to the start of the 787 flight test program and delivery into our fleet next year." Boeing is scheduled to begin flight testing by the end of this month. ANA, which was originally slated to receive the first 787 in May 2008, is now planning to take the first aircraft in February 2010. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news ***************** Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC