02 JUL 2009 _______________________________________ *France: Yemenia plane's distress signals located, not 'black boxes' *EU demands assurances from Yemenia on air safety *FAA Begins Reviewing Israel's Progress on Air Safety *Sky Harbor earns perfect inspection from FAA *How do people survive airline crashes? *Jet Makes Emergency Landing In Daytona Beach *Airbus could be asked to ground all long-range airliners *NTSB DELIVERS 2008 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS *EU Pushes Global Blacklist To Raise Safety Compliance *Flexjet Named 'Best of the Best' in Flight Services by Robb Report *Another 21 bodies rescued from Air France Flight 447 identified *ACE leads cover for crashed Yemenia Airways jet **************************************** France: Yemenia plane's distress signals located, not 'black boxes' French navy and Yemeni authorities expand search efforts for wreckage, bodies Airbus 310 went down with 153 people on flight originating in Sanaa, Yemen (CNN) -- Rescue workers have located the downed Yemenia Airways plane's distress signals, but not its flight data recorders, France's Foreign Ministry said Wednesday. The ministry clarified comments made earlier in the day by the ministry's junior minister for cooperation Alain Joyandet. He told CNN affiliate BFM TV that the "black boxes" -- the flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder -- had been localized. "The jet distress beacons were found, instead of the black boxes," the ministry later clarified. "There could have been some confusion." The Airbus 310 went down early Tuesday, carrying 142 passengers and 11 crew members on a flight that originated in Yemen's capital, Sanaa. The jet took off from Sanaa at 9:45 p.m. Monday and vanished from radar when it was about 16 miles from Comoros' capital, Moroni. The French navy and Yemeni authorities expanded search efforts for wreckage and bodies Wednesday, with a French frigate among the ships joining the search. Watch what is known about the flight > Searchers had recovered three bodies, Qadir said. Bahia Bakari, a 13-year-old French girl, was the only known survivor. Her mother was also on the flight, but she has not been found. The girl's father Kassim Bakari told France Info, a French radio network, that his wife and daughter were flying to Comoros to visit relatives. Watch as airline describes child's rescue > "When I had her on the phone, I asked her what happened and she said, 'Daddy, I don't know what happened, but the plane fell into the water and I found myself in the water ... surrounded by darkness. I could not see anyone,'" Bakari said. Passengers on the flight included 66 French citizens, 54 Comorians, one Palestinian and one Canadian, according to Yemeni and French officials. The crew was made up of six Yemenis, two Moroccans, one Ethiopian, one Filipino and one Indonesian. A number of potential contributing factors were being considered in the crash. Recent plane crashes > "The weather conditions were indeed very troubling and the winds were very strong, reaching 61 kilometers per hour (38 mph)," Qadir said. "That's one thing. The other thing was that the sea was very rough when the plane approached landing at Moroni airport." But French Transport Minister Dominique Bussereau noted that France banned the Yemenia Airbus A310-300 several years ago because of safety concerns. "People are talking about poor weather conditions, but for the moment, we are unsure," Bussereau said. "It seems the plane may have attempted an approach, put on the gas, and attempted another approach, which then failed. For the moment, we must be careful, because none of this information is verified." Qadir said it was too early to blame the aircraft for the crash. "This plane is just like any other plane," he said. "It can have a malfunction, but we don't know what really happened before the investigation is over. And then we can determine if there is a technical issue, bad weather or anything else that may have led to the crash." It is the second crash involving an Airbus jet in a month. On June 1, an Air France Airbus A330 crashed off Brazil while en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris, France. All 228 aboard are presumed dead. The cause remains under investigation. http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/07/01/yemen.plane/index.html ************* EU demands assurances from Yemenia on air safety BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European safety inspections of Yemenia aircraft revealed "significant findings" in the area of maintenance, the European Commission told the airline in a letter after one of its airliners crashed in the Indian Ocean. The Wednesday July 1 letter, obtained by Reuters, told Yemenia that if it did not provide assurances that it was taking "corrective action" on the deficiencies, it could be subject to an EU operating ban. A Yemenia airlines Airbus 310-300 registered under the number 70-ADJ taxis on the tarmac of Charles De Gaulle International Airport in Paris in this July 27, 2002 file photo. (REUTERS/Thomas Noack) "Unless the Commission receives adequate evidence with respect to the requested information, it will be obliged to propose to subject all operations of Yemenia Yemen Airways into the Community to an operating ban," it said. **************** FAA Begins Reviewing Israel's Progress on Air Safety A team from the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) began last week the first stage of the audit of Israel's Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), with a view to restoring Israel to its highest air safety rating. On 20.12.2008 US Federal Aviation Authority FAA downgrades the Safety Category of Israel from 1 to the less safe Category 2, meaning no additional services from Israel to the US. The FAA found deficiencies in terms of safety oversight of the governmental institutions providing a less safe environment for civilian air traffic in the country. Following the downgrade, CAA director-general Giora Romm set up an administration to coordinate all activity directed towards restoring Israel to Category 1. Last week the CAA staff made their first presentation to the US team of progress in fixing the deficiencies, in accordance with a work program agreed between the CAA and FAA. http://www.charterx.com/resources/article.aspx?id=4439 *************** Sky Harbor earns perfect inspection from FAA PHOENIX -- Sky Harbor International Airport just completed its annual Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certification inspection with a perfect score. The airport received zero discrepancies for the fourth year in a row, according to a release from Claire Simeone Stern with the City of Phoenix Aviation Department. All major airports must undergo a comprehensive inspection each year to ensure compliance with federal aviation regulations. Federal officials audit inspection records, fueling procedures, and emergency response procedures. Employee training records are also inspected to ensure that all training is current. In addition, a thorough evaluation of the entire airfield is conducted to ensure that it is safe for air traffic. Sky Harbor successfully completed all phases of the inspection and received a score of zero discrepancies, according to Stern. "Consistent airfield safety is a priority at Sky Harbor," said Phoenix Assistant Aviation Director, Carl Newman. "Our staff works closely with all of our stakeholders to ensure excellent communication and safe operations at Sky Harbor. Our 2009 certification inspection shows our continued commitment to excellence." In the past year, Sky Harbor's Airfield Standards Committee reportedly conducted a comprehensive airfield sign study to ensure compliance with the most current FAA standards. Sky Harbor attributes the discrepancy-free inspection to the collaborative efforts of airport, airline, and local FAA staff who ensure the airport consistently exceeds standards. http://www.abc15.com/content/news/phoenixmetro/central/story/Sky-Harbor-earn s-perfect-inspection-from-FAA/4kEmR8kgOU62OzYqVm1BjA.cspx *************** How do people survive airline crashes? Child reportedly survives crash of airliner in Indian Ocean Aviation experts say survival depends on type of impact, "luck of the draw" (CNN) -- Reports of a lone child having survived Tuesday's crash of a Yemenia Airways flight in the Indian Ocean have people wondering: How does anyone survive a plane crash? "I just don't think there's any pattern to survivability. It's just luck of the draw and depends on how the plane goes in," said aviation expert John Eakin, head of Air Data Research in Helotes, Texas. Not counting Tuesday's disaster, there have been 12 airliner crashes since 1970 that yielded a sole survivor, according to data compiled by Dr. Todd Curtis, director of the Airsafe.com Foundation. Five of those survivors were minors and four were crew members, accounting for 75 percent of the total. "I can't figure out for the life of me why crew members and children tend to be disproportionate in these sole-survivor events," Curtis said. Watch what happened to the Yemenia flight > One factor favoring flight crew members is their location in the sturdy cockpit and proximity to windows, he said. Flight attendants often use shoulder harnesses when they are seated, aviation writer David Noland added. Where one is seated is a factor only in that it helps to be far from the point of impact, Eakin said. Sole-survivor crashes January 26, 1972, Czechoslovakia: JAT DC-9; 27 killed; crew member fell to ground inside tail section January 29, 1985; Reno, Nevada: Galaxy Airlines Lockheed Electra; 70 killed; boy, 17, thrown from wreckage January 3, 1987, Ivory Coast: Varig 707-300; 50 killed; one passenger survived August 16, 1987, Detroit, Michigan: Northwest MD-82; 154 killed; 4-year-old girl found in wreckage November 14, 1992, Vietnam: Vietnam Airlines Yak 40; 30 killed; surviving passenger found eight days later November 20, 1993, Macedonia: Avioimpex Yak 42D; 223 killed; one passenger survived March 1995, Colombia: Intercontinental Colombia DC-9-10; 51 killed; 9-year-old girl survived September 1997, Cambodia: Vietnam Airlines Tu-134B; 65 killed; 1-year-old boy survived December 16, 1997, United Arab Emirates: Tajikistan Airlines Tupolev 154B; 85 killed; crew member survived March 6, 2003, Algeria: Air Algerie 737-200; 102 killed; crew member survived July 8, 2003, Sudan: Sudan Airways 737-200C; 116 killed; 3-year-old boy survived August 27, 2006, Lexington, Kentucky: Comair CRJ-100; 49 killed; co-pilot survived Sources: airsafe.com, planecrashinfo.com "I don't think there's any particular type of aircraft or position in an aircraft which is more survivable, because it pretty much depends on what type of accident -- it depends on how the aircraft impacts," Eakin said. "Sometimes, the survivors are all located in the tail, sometimes in the forward fuselage. I don't think there's any rhyme or reason to it." A 2007 Popular Mechanics magazine article, researched and written by Noland, presented a different view. Noland analyzed 20 U.S. airline crashes in which at least one person lived and one person died. The statistics indicate that seats farther back in a plane are safer in crashes, the article said. "Passengers near the tail of a plane are about 40 percent more likely to survive a crash than those in the first few rows up front," Noland wrote. Passengers in seats behind the wings had a 69 percent survival rate in crashes that included at least one fatality, Noland wrote. Those with seats in coach areas over and forward of the wings survived 56 percent of the time, and passengers in first class and business class had a 49 percent survival rate, he found. "To me, it's fairly obvious: You hit something going fast and obviously, the front is going to get crunched more than the back," Noland told CNN. "To quote one [National Transportation Safety Board] guy, 'Planes don't back into mountains.'" Even in other types of crashes -- runway overruns, forced landings, etc. -- the plane is always going forward, so the front takes the impact, Noland said. "That's why they put the crash recorders in the tail," he said. Wide-bodied aircraft -- such as the Boeing 747 and 777 and the Airbus A310 and A330 -- tend to yield more survivors than smaller ones, Curtis said. He chalked up that trend to what he called the SUV theory: Larger crush zones provide more and larger areas of survivability. Both Curtis and Eakin pointed to the July 1989 crash of United Airlines Flight 232 in Sioux City, Iowa. Spectacular video footage showed the McDonnell-Douglas DC-10 cartwheeling down an airport runway as pilot Al Haynes and first officer William Records tried to land the airliner without hydraulic controls. Of the 296 people aboard the plane, 111 were killed but 185 survived. "Anyone looking at that crash at first, the video, would say, 'Well gee, how could anybody survive this?'" Curtis said. "That was kind of a classic. A bunch of people survived that," Eakin said. "It looked terrible, and still so many people walked away from that. And there was no real pattern to where the survivors were located." Availability of an escape route may be the biggest determining factor, Eakin said. "If the impact is survivable, that's the next challenge: getting the heck out of the thing," he said. "I think in Sioux City, a lot of the survivors exited through cracks in the fuselage. That's kind of the ultimate escape route, but you gotta do whatever you gotta do to get out." He noted the January 15 ditching of a US Airways Airbus A320 in New York's Hudson River, in which no one was killed and injuries were minimal, although the craft quickly filled with cold water. "That really demonstrated how important it is to get out quickly," Eakin said. Proximity of rescue equipment and personnel is key to survival too, Curtis said. If fires can be extinguished and survivors taken to hospitals quickly, victims have a better chance of surviving, he said. Despite his statistical evidence that the rear of the plane is safer, writer Noland doesn't seek out a back seat when he flies. "I try to get a window seat," he said. "Planes are so safe, it's unbelievable how safe they are. The odds of a crash are so minuscule that I don't even worry about it." http://www.cnn.com/2009/TRAVEL/06/30/air.crash.survivors/index.html *************** Jet Makes Emergency Landing In Daytona Beach None Of The 128 Passengers And Crew Were Hurt DAYTONA BEACH (CBS4) A Ft. Lauderdale bound passengers aboard a Spirit Airlines flight made an unscheduled stop in Daytona Beach after a flight attendant smelled smoke in the cabin. Stephen Cooke, Daytona Beach International Airport's director of business development, said although a few of the passengers had complained of shortness of breath no one was taken to a hospital and the plane was not evacuated. Once the plane's engines were turned off, the smoke dissipated. The Airbus plane had taken off from Chicago. http://cbs4.com/local/spirit.air.fort.2.1065900.html ************** Airbus could be asked to ground all long-range airliners Airbus is expected to face calls to ground its worldwide fleet of long-range airliners tomorrow when French accident investigators issue their first account of what caused Air France Flight 447 to crash off Brazil on June 1. It is believed that the accident bureau will report that stormy weather was a factor but faulty speed data and electronics were the main problem in the disaster that killed 228 people. The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is likely to be asked why it had never taken action to remedy trouble that was well known with the Airbus 330 and 340 series. Nearly 1,000 of the aircraft are flying and until AF447, no passenger had been killed in one. "EASA has a legal and moral obligation to get to the bottom of this problem now. If there is a defective system and the aircraft is unsafe then it should be grounded," said James Healy-Pratt of Stewarts Law in London. The firm, which specialises in aviation, is representing the families of 20 of the victims of flight 447. Only 11 bodies of the 50 recovered from the Atlantic have been identified. They include Captain Marc Dubois, 58, who is believed to have been resting when his two co-pilots lost control of the aircraft in a storm. The search for bodies has been called off but ships continue to hunt for the black boxes although their locator beacons are assumed to have expired. Suspicion over the air data systems on the Airbus 330 and 340 series has increased after the disclosure that the aircraft had experienced 36 episodes similar to the one that brought Flight 447 down as it flew from Rio de Janeiro to Paris. Airbus first reported problems with the speed sensors - known as pitot tubes - in 1994, it emerged this week. The company advised remedies, but no mandatory action was taken. Last weekend, the US National Transportation Safety Board, began looking into two incidents in which Airbus A330s flying from the US suffered critical episodes apparently similar to that of AF447. This raises the prospect of a possible US order on modifications to the Airbus. The first US incident occurred on May 21 when a TAM Airlines flight from Miami to Sao Paulo, Brazil, lost primary speed and altitude information while in cruise flight. The other was on a Northwest Airlines flight, on June 23, from Hong Kong to Tokyo. Accounts on the internet from the pilots report a desperate struggle to keep the jet in the air. The fate of Flight 447 would probably have remained an eternal mystery had the aircraft not automatically transmitted data back to the Air France maintenance base. In the final four minutes, they told a story that was familiar to the airline. Ice particles or water had blocked the three pitot tubes. This upset the air data computers which in turn caused the automatic pilot to disconnect. The pilots would have had to fly manually in near-impossible conditions. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article6612165.ece *************** NTSB DELIVERS 2008 ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS Nineteen major accident investigations initiated; 129 recommendations issued The National Transportation Safety Board today released its annual report to Congress, providing a summary of accident investigations and safety recommendations in the past calendar year. 2008 highlights include: * 19 major accident investigations, including 7 aviation, 3 highway, 3 marine, 4 rail, and 2 pipeline * 221 regional accident investigations, including 206 aviation, 7 highway, 4 marine, and 4 rail * 18 international aviation accident investigations in which support was provided in accordance with international treaty * 34 major reports and accident briefs adopted, including 13 aviation, 7 highway, 3 marine, 10 rail and 1 pipeline * 129 safety recommendations issued * 67 safety recommendations closed "The calendar year 2008 was an extremely active one" remarked Acting Chairman Mark V. Rosenker, "as Board staff traveled to accident sites all over the U.S. involving every mode of transportation, lending their expertise and investigative skills." Rosenker continued, "We also completed a number of significant accident investigations, including the August 2007 collapse of the Minneapolis I-35W bridge, and issued numerous safety recommendations in our continued quest to facilitate improvements in transportation safety throughout the entire nation." Rosenker concluded, "I am especially pleased that the Partnership for Public Service rated the NTSB as one of the top ten federal government workplaces in its 2009 rankings, as a clear indication of the satisfaction all of us here at the Board receive from the important work we do here every day." The 2008 report includes several new sections, including a review of agency accomplishments in the areas of international outreach, information technology, and planning and performance. The 2008 report also includes enhanced graphics, maps and statistical charts to provide readers with greater detail and clarity on all Board activities. A copy of the 2008 Annual Report to Congress may be found at http://www.ntsb.gov/publictn/2009/SPC0901.htm. ************** EU Pushes Global Blacklist To Raise Safety Compliance In the wake of yesterday's crash of Yemenia Flight IY626, European Union Transport Commissioner Antonio Tajani is urging for an expansion of the EU's aviation blacklist. Yemenia was not on the blacklist the EU uses to bar airlines from operating in its territory, but it had been slated for review, and Tajani said more meetings were planned. Yemenia had passed IATA's operational safety audit (IOSA), which has become a safety standard for the airline industry. Tajani says he will raise the issue of expanding the blacklist at a pending meeting with top representatives from the International Civil Aviation Organization. "My idea is to propose a global blacklist that is similar to the one used in the European Union," Tajani said at a news conference in Brussels. The EU blacklist was first published in 2006. Setting up the list was not without controversy, in part because it was purely punitive and, some industry officials argue, did not do enough to help countries improve their safety performance. The last update to the blacklist was issued in April, and a new version is due in the coming weeks. A year ago, the European Commission closely examined Yemenia's safety record but decided not to put the airline on the blacklist, asking instead for corrective actions to be taken. At the time, the EC argued that "there is verified evidence of non-compliance with specific safety standards established by the Chicago Convention on the part of the carrier Yemenia," problems French, German and Italian officials identified during ramp inspections. The EC said that "Yemenia has concluded a contract with the aircraft manufacturer Airbus whereby the latter will provide technical experts and auditors to train staff (pilots and engineers) and monitor the performance of the carrier in two specific areas: maintenance and engineering and aircraft operations. The carrier was audited by Airbus in these two areas in November and December 2007 and then presented a series of corrective actions to improve the safety performance and also address in a systematic way the safety deficiencies detected during ramp inspections which affected these areas." The initial action plan was deemed insufficient, but an updated version was provided two months later. At the time, the EC said that it "acknowledges the efforts deployed by Yemenia to correct the detected safety deficiencies. Moreover, the latest ramp inspections in the Community have not shown major deficiencies. However the Commission considers that the corrective actions submitted by Yemenia must be fully implemented and closely monitored, and that member states should verify systematically the effective compliance with relevant safety standards through the prioritization of ramp inspections to be carried out on aircraft of this carrier." http://www.aviationweek.com ************** Flexjet Named 'Best of the Best' in Flight Services by Robb Report - The Flexjet 25 Jet Card and Bombardier Skyjet Card programs, part of the portfolio of products sold by Flexjet, also receive top honors - Programs met rigorous standards, recognized for their flexibility and going the extra mile DALLAS, July 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Flexjet has earned top honors in the Fractional Program category from the Robb Report in its 21st Annual "Best of the Best" issue published in June 2009. Flexjet was spotlighted for its innovative, industry-exclusive programs and its backing by parent company Bombardier, the world's largest business jet manufacturer. Both the Flexjet 25 Jet Card program, operated by Jet Solutions, and Bombardier Skyjet program were also recognized as top providers in the categories of Fractional Card and Charter Card Programs. "We are pleased the Robb Report has recognized Flexjet, the Flexjet 25 Jet Card and Bombardier Skyjet for their outstanding service, innovative programs and ongoing commitment to flexibility and efficiency," said Fred Reid, President, Flexjet and Skyjet. "By offering a full range of award-winning aviation solutions - from whole aircraft management through our Flexjet One program to fractional jet ownership, jet cards and charter - we are uniquely positioned to help companies and individuals best meet their changing needs." Touted as one of the best in the category of Fractional Programs, Robb Report describes Flexjet as top in its class due to Bombardier and the "decades of civil aviation experiences that go with it." Along with Flexjet's notable ancestry, Robb Report discusses the added options available through the fractional program, including Flexjet's five-percent charter limit guarantee and the unique Versatility Plus program. Flexjet has also recently introduced a number of new programs which provide offerings that better meet its customers' changing needs. The newly redesigned Walk Away Lease program provides many of the benefits that come with fractional jet ownership, but with the option to exit the contract with just a 90-day notice. Flexjet is also the first in the industry to offer fractional jet owners a round-trip pricing benefit, saving them 15 percent off each hour of qualifying round trips. The Flexjet 25 Jet Card program was recognized as the "Best of the Best" in the category of Fractional Card Programs. The program was praised for continuing "to grow their card program in (an) interesting way by offering a variety of value-added options." Unlike traditional jet card programs, the Flexjet 25 Jet Card is available in 25-, 30- and 35-hour increments and allows cardowners to choose the number of days per year they wish to fly-275, 325, 355 or 365. What's more, if Flexjet 25 cardowners are not 100 percent satisfied with the program at any time, their unused hours will be refunded with no questions asked. The Flexjet 25 Jet Card also offers a number of programs that provide greater flexibility for its owners. The Split-Payment option allows jet cardowners to divide the purchase price of a 25-, 30- or 35-hour jet card into two equal payments. The Combination Jet Card offers jet cardowners the benefit of purchasing 50 percent of their total hours in one aircraft type and 50 percent of the remaining hours in another aircraft type, chosen from the entire Flexjet 25 fleet, operated by Jet Solutions. In the division of best Charter Card Programs, Robb Report distinguishes Bombardier Skyjet, the pioneer service for online brokering of private jets and provider of the Skyjet Card, as one of the leaders in the industry. It was cited for its ability to "consistently offer customers new and different programs that feature enhanced services and discounts, plus some creative benefits." The article also references Skyjet's reputable guarantees that include aircraft availability and free positioning, along with its reputation for working "effectively and efficiently in the highly competitive and ever evolving charter industry." Skyjet Card Membership also provides guaranteed flat hourly rates with the option to take advantage of empty leg flights if available, at a lower cost than program rates. About Flexjet Established in 1995 and based in Richardson, Texas, Flexjet offers a turnkey program allowing individuals or companies to purchase a share in a Bombardier business jet at a fraction of the full ownership cost. Flexjet owners select the aircraft type that best fits their needs, determine the number of hours per year they expect to fly, and purchase shares starting at 1/16th (equal to 50 hours of flying per year). Owners pay predictable monthly management and usage fees, while Flexjet manages the aircraft, flight crews, hangars, fuel and insurance on their behalf. Flexjet fields an exclusive family of Bombardier business jets, including the Learjet 40 XR, Learjet 45 XR, Learjet 60 XR, Challenger 300 and Challenger 605 business jets. The Flexjet One program is an aircraft management service providing owners who purchase a whole Bombardier aircraft access to Flexjet's entire fractional fleet, cost savings and a simple, worry-free solution to aircraft ownership. For more details, visit www.flexjet.com. About Jet Solutions, LLC Richardson-based Jet Solutions, established in 1987, is one of the largest FAR Part 135 air carriers, having operated over a million hours for customers throughout the world with a flawless safety record. Jet Solutions is the first air carrier in the United Stated to have been registered compliant with the Air Charter Safety Foundations Industry Audit Standard, and is the sole operator of the Flexjet 25 Jet Card program. First introduced in 2006, the Flexjet 25 Jet Card offers fliers an easy way to sample private aviation without assuming ownership of a plane, while providing them with an unbeatable combination of choice, flexibility and benefits amongst jet cards. The Flexjet 25 Jet Card provides travel-by-the-hour - in increments of 25-, 30- and 35-hours - on its fleet of Bombardier Learjet 40, Learjet 45, Learjet 60, Challenger 300 and Challenger 604 business aircraft. Jet cardowners can choose from four different price levels for each aircraft based on a preset number of travel days per year - ranging from an unrestricted 365-day jet card to a 355-day, 325-day or 275-day jet card. Additional hours are also available for purchase as needed. For more information, visit www.flexjet25.com. About Bombardier Skyjet Based in Richardson, Texas, Skyjet was founded in 1997 and acquired by Bombardier in 2000. Skyjet pioneered real-time, on-line booking of privately chartered business jets and today is a leader in a broad range of private aviation solutions for its own customers and other Bombardier divisions. Skyjet serves customers as their needs for business jet travel grow, from individual, on-demand trips arranged through a quality network of charter operators, to its flagship Skyjet Card. For more information or to book a trip, call 888-2-SKYJET or visit www.skyjet.com. About Bombardier A world-leading manufacturer of innovative transportation solutions, from regional aircraft and business jets to rail transportation equipment, systems and services, Bombardier Inc. is a global corporation headquartered in Canada. Its revenues for the fiscal year ended in its revenues for the fiscal year ended Jan. 31, 2009, were $19.7 billion US, and its shares are traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange (BBD). Bombardier is listed as an index component to the Dow Jones Sustainability Worth and North America indexes. News and information are available at www.bombardier.com. Bombardier, Flexjet, Flexjet 25, Skyjet, Learjet 40 XR, Learjet 45 XR, Learjet 60 XR, Challenger 300, and Challenger 604 and Challenger 605 are either registered or unregistered trademarks of Bombardier Inc. or its subsidiaries or Jet Solutions, LLC. Website: http://www.flexjet.com Website: http://www.bombardier.com ************** Another 21 bodies rescued from Air France Flight 447 identified RIO DE JANEIRO, July 1 (Xinhua) -- Brazil's Federal Police informed on Wednesday that the bodies of other 21 occupants of Air France's Flight 447, which crashed over the Atlantic a month ago, were identified. With that, the total number of identified bodies increased to 35. The plane's pilot and at least one other member of the crew are among those. The names of the victims will not be disclosed, by request of their families, but it is known that the remains belong to four Brazilians and 17 foreign citizens. The Brazilians are two males and two females; the foreigners are six males and 11 females. According to the Federal Police, out of the 21 bodies, five were identified through dental records, eight through DNA tests, two through fingerprints and dental records, and six through dental records and DNA tests. The search for the bodies of the plane's occupants has already ended. In 26 days, the search teams managed to find a total of 51 bodies. The Brazilian authorities stated that the identification works will continue until all 51 bodies are identified and released to the families. Air France's Flight 447, an Airbus A330 model, crashed over the Atlantic Ocean, off Brazil's northeastern coast, on the night of May 31. The plane had left Rio and was heading to Paris, carrying 228 people, including eight children. It is not known what caused the accident, and the search teams have not managed to find the plane's black boxes, which might shed some light to the circumstances of the crash. ************** ACE leads cover for crashed Yemenia Airways jet MORONI, Comoros-A passenger jet from Yemen that crashed into the Indian Ocean Tuesday was covered under a policy led by ACE Global Ltd., market sources say. Yemenia Airways Flight 626 was approaching Moroni, the capital of the island nation of Comoros, when it crashed 12 miles off the coast amid reportedly heavy winds. The plane was carrying 142 passengers and 11 crew members; a child reportedly was the only survivor. The Airbus A310-300 was valued at $34 million, and the coverage was placed through London-based brokerage HSBC Insurance Brokers Ltd., according to sources. Yemenia is a member of a consortium of several Middle Eastern airlines, with the ACE Ltd. unit leading the hull and liability coverage for the member airlines, sources said. Each airline uses its own broker. The consortium renews its coverage in November, according to Aon Corp.'s aviation and aerospace global practice group in London. The Tuesday crash was the third fatal accident this year involving a Western-built jet and the first ever suffered by Yemenia, according to Ascend Worldwide Ltd., a London-based aviation consultant that tracks global accident data. Paul Hayes, director at Ascend, said although accidents are not evenly distributed throughout the year, the 362 fatalities on Western-built passenger jets so far this year is not an unusually high number. "Typically, I'd expect on average about 600 (fatalities) on Western jets (per year), so it's not out of the ordinary," he said. But the high profile nature of some of the incidents-including the June 1 Air France crash in the Atlantic Ocean; the Feb. 12 crash of a Colgan Air jet in Buffalo, N.Y.; and the Jan. 15 nonfatal ditching of a US Airways flight in the Hudson River in New York-is influencing negotiations with underwriters, brokers say. "Loss activity is clearly impacting renewals," said Wayne Wignes, Chicago-based vice chairman of JLT Aerospace (North America) Inc. Most airlines around the world renew their coverage at the end of the year, but July is the second-busiest renewal month behind December, according to Aon. Magnus Allan, an aviation analyst at Aon, said that among 15 July renewals that have been completed so far, the average renewal is up about 22% over last year. "Overall it's going to be a very, very challenging next few months for carriers as they bring in their renewal business," he said. http://www.businessinsurance.com/article/20090630/NEWS/906309991 *************** Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC