10 JUL 2009 _______________________________________ *Jet returns to Calif. airport with engine problem *NTSB Determines Probable Cause Of 2007 Fossett Crash *DOT Fines United, Delta *FAA upholds rejection of Santa Monica Airport ban on jets *Air France pilots blame safety agencies for crash of Flight 447 *UN agency rejects EU call for global airline blacklist *UN agency responsible for air safety seek global standards to minimize travel risks *Aviation safety seminar on 10th in Multan (Pakistan) *Kennedy Airport runway to be closed for 4 months *FAA Updating Flight Crew Alerting Standards *FAA completes first ERAM test at Salt Lake City *Air France reviewing weather-radar use after AF447 crash: CEO *Boeing begins 787 taxi tests **************************************** Jet returns to Calif. airport with engine problem SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — San Francisco International Airport officials say a Northwest Airlines jet carrying 194 passengers suffered an engine problem after takeoff, forcing it to return to the airport. SFO spokesman Mike McCarron says an engine compressor on the Airbus A330 failed, disrupting air flow to the engine after its 1:35 p.m. takeoff Thursday. McCarron says all passengers aboard Northwest Flight 27 are safe and that the airport is seeing no delays because of the incident. An Air France Airbus A330 crashed in the Atlantic Ocean on June 1 during a flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris after hitting a thunderstorm. *************** NTSB Determines Probable Cause Of 2007 Fossett Crash Steve's Loss Was Due To 'An Encounter With Downdrafts' The NTSB has released its final report on the aviation accident that claimed the life of Steve Fossett. The Board determined that the aircraft, a Bellanca 8KCAB-180 (N240R) struck mountainous terrain near Mammoth Lakes, California following an inadvertent encounter with downdrafts that exceeded the climb capability of the airplane. Contributing to the accident were the downdrafts, high density altitude, and mountainous terrain. On September 3, 2007, Mr. Fossett, the only person aboard, departed Flying M Ranch, a private airport near Yerington, Nevada on a local, personal flight and failed to return. A month-long search by the Civil Air Patrol, state and county authorities, and friends of the accident pilot failed to locate the aircraft. On October 7, 2008, a hiker found some of the pilot's personal effects. "Once these items were found, the Safety Board launched a team to conduct the on-scene phase of the investigation," said NTSB Acting Chairman Mark V. Rosenker. An aerial search located the airplane wreckage about 0.5 miles from the pilot's personal effects, at an elevation of approximately 10,000 feet. On the day of the accident, no emergency radio transmissions were received from the pilot, nor were any emergency locator transmitter signals received. After the wreckage was discovered, a review of radar data from September 2007 revealed a track that ended about 1 mile northwest of the accident site. FMI: www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?ev_id=20081007X17184&key=1 aero-news.net *************** DOT Fines United, Delta United's Penalty Is $80,000, Delta's $375,000 The Department of Transportation Thursday assessed a civil penalties against Delta Air Lines for violating federal rules regarding passengers denied boarding ("bumped") on oversold flights, and United Airlines for failing to disclose to consumers when flights sold by the carrier were being operated under a code-sharing arrangement. On the Delta fine, U.S Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said "Airlines often oversell flights in order to ensure that they fill all their seats, and the bumping rules are designed to protect consumers when this happens. We take these rules seriously and will take enforcement action when necessary." Delta was ordered to cease and desist from further violations and assessed a civil penalty of $375,000. Up to $200,000 of the penalty may be used by the carrier to implement systems not required by the rules that will benefit consumers. When a flight is oversold, DOT regulations require airlines to seek volunteers willing to give up their seats for compensation. If not enough volunteers can be found and the carrier must bump passengers involuntarily, the carrier is required to give bumped passengers a written statement describing their rights and explaining how it decides who will be bumped from an oversold flight. In most cases, passengers bumped involuntarily also are entitled to cash compensation of up to $800. On the United fine, LaHood was equally strident. "When consumers buy an airline ticket, they have a right to know which airline will be operating their flight," he said. "We will continue to ensure that carriers are complying with the code-sharing rules." United was ordered to cease and desist from further violations and assessed a civil penalty of $80,000. Under code-sharing, a carrier will sell tickets on flights that use its designator code but are operated by a separate airline. DOT rules require airlines to disclose to consumers, before they book a flight, if the flight is operated under a code-sharing arrangement. The disclosure must include the corporate name of the transporting carrier and any other name under which the flight is offered to the public. The Department's Office of Aviation Enforcement and Proceedings made a number of telephone calls to United's reservations line this past January to determine if the carrier's employees were advising consumers of code-sharing arrangements as required by the regulations. The Enforcement Office found that United's reservations agents failed to disclose code-sharing during a substantial number of those calls. The full Delta report is available as docket DOT-OST-2009-0001, and the United report is available as docket DOT-OST-2009-0001. FMI: http://airconsumer.dot.gov/publications/flyrights.htm#overbooking, www.regulations.gov aero-news.net *************** FAA upholds rejection of Santa Monica Airport ban on jets The Federal Aviation Administration on Wednesday upheld an earlier decision by an FAA hearing officer to prevent the city of Santa Monica from banning private jets with fast landing speeds from the municipal airport. In a 57-page opinion, FAA officials rejected an appeal by the coastal city, which contended that it had the power to ban jets for safety reasons and that its policy did not discriminate against types of aeronautical activity. City officials had challenged a May 14 FAA report that concluded the controversial jet ban "unjustly and unreasonably" discriminates against specific aircraft. The FAA upheld part of that ruling -- that the ban violates the terms of federal grants received by the airport. Agency officials also said that the city does not have the authority to ban certain types of aircraft. The city contends that jets with faster landing speeds, such as Gulfstreams, Cessna Citations and Challengers, are at risk of running off the runway and crashing into surrounding neighborhoods. Such aircraft, however, have never crashed at the airport and their safety record is better than that of propeller planes at the facility, the FAA hearing officer concluded. Santa Monica now has the option of challenging the FAA decision in federal court. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/07/faa-upholds-rejection-of-santa -monica-airport-ban-on-jets.html **************** Air France pilots blame safety agencies for crash of Flight 447 Debris from Air France Flight 447 after being recovered by the Brazilian Navy Air France pilots have accused French and European air safety bodies of failing to prevent the crash of Flight 447 off Brazil last month by ignoring a history of dangerous failures in Airbus speed probes. The Union of Air France Pilots made its charges amid suspicion in parts of the aviation world that French investigators, the airline and the Airbus company may be reluctant to pinpoint a design flaw as the cause of the disaster that killed 228 people. Their view was reinforced yesterday when Pierre-Henri Gourgeon, the chief executive of Air France, suggested that pilots’ failure to manage weather radar correctly may have led to the June 1 crash of the flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris. The underwater sonar search for the data and voice recorders from the crashed Airbus A330 is to end today but Mr Gourgeon said that other methods would be used to try to locate the hull and black boxes on the Atlantic floor. Times Archive 1962: Crash pilot's protest before flight The two major crashes of Air France airliners last month have aroused deeper than usual anxieties in France 111 dead in Boeing 707 disaster 130 killed in take-off crash Flight 447 crashed belly-first into the Atlantic In a letter to the French Civil Aviation Directorate and the European Aviation Safety Agency, the pilots’ union said that the agencies had failed in their obligation to act to resolve known dangers. They referred to repeated incidents with faulty speed data on the A330/A340 long-range Airbuses over the past two years that were similar to the sequence that hit Flight 447. In a preliminary report last week, the accident bureau confirmed that faulty speed readings had led the automatic pilot and computerised flight controls to disconnect — as in the other reported incidents. Data on the failure started a cascade of alerts that the airliner sent to its Paris base automatically. However, the investigators said that the unreliable speed data — apparently from ice on the external pitot sensors — was only an element in, and not the cause of, the disaster. The crew would have retained full control of a “flyable aircraft”. Mr Gourgeon echoed a theory that the crew erred by failing to divert around storm cells near the Equator. The captain of the Air France São Paolo flight, just behind AF447, had reported steering round a storm zone that he said had been difficult to spot until he turned up his weather radar. As a result, the airline was reviewing procedures for radar use “whether or not it was the cause of the loss of flight AF447”, he told Le Figaro. Mr Gourgeon said that after a string of icing incidents starting last year, the airline was replacing the sensors on all its long-range Airbuses when the disaster occurred. “No document from Airbus made replacement mandatory,” he noted. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article6675343.ece ***************** UN agency rejects EU call for global airline blacklist The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) said yesterday (9 July) that a proposal by EU Transport Commissioner Antonio Tajani to create a global blacklist for unsafe airlines was not the best way to reduce accidents. But the organisation agreed that enhanced international cooperation and a global strategy on aviation safety were needed. "I don't think that this is the solution at the global level," said Roberto Kobeh Gonzalez, president of the ICAO Council, reacting yesteday (9 July) to Commissioner Tajani's recent proposal to create of a global blacklist of unsafe airlines, along the lines of European Black List (EurActiv 01/07/09). The ICAO is a United Nations agency governing the safety of international air transport. It audits its 190 member states, rather than airlines. "At present, I cannot be in favour of a world blacklist, because I don't have a mandate from the states of ICAO to do this," Gonzalez added. "We have to avoid accidents, but lists that may discourage passengers from using a particular aircraft of a particular airline on certain routes will not necessarily reduce accidents," he argued. Meanwhile, if ICAO member states decided to go for a blacklist, ICAO would implement it, Gonzalez said. He also "fully agreed" with Commissioner Tajani that more cooperation was needed between the EU and ICAO, but added that cooperation should also involve the International Air Transport Association, which groups the world's major airlines. Such cooperation could pave way for a global strategy to enhance aviation safety, he said. Such a strategy should feature a range of measures like "helping states that have difficulties in dealing with problems," Gonzalez said. ICAO also thinks it should draw on existing measures and sources - nor should it be only about information about what is wrong. "There have to be some positive actions too," Gonzales said. In addition, "there has to be a programme to inform the public. It is not enough to say publicly what is wrong. We have to take action to right what is wrong and more transparency measures to remedy the deficiencies that exist in the field of transport". Commissioner Tajani said that the EU would present a general document - "not just a blacklist" - on a global strategy indicating what more can be done. Tajani said he would ask the Spanish transport minister for help with this, in view of preparing such a document in time for a global aviation safety conference in March 2010, during the Spanish EU Presidency. http://www.euractiv.com/en/transport/un-agency-rejects-eu-call-global-airlin e-blacklist/article-183947 **************** UN agency responsible for air safety seek global standards to minimize travel risks BRUSSELS (AP)— The U.N. agency responsible for air safety says the industry should harmonize safety standards worldwide in order to minimize travel risks in the developing world. Roberto Kobeh Gonzales says the International Civil Aviation Organization's 190 members would discuss adopting higher Western-style standards at their upcoming general assembly in December. Gonzales was speaking Thursday at a joint news conference with EU Transport Commissioner Antonio Tajani. Last week, Tajani called for the establishment of an EU-style global blacklist of airlines deemed unsafe, after the crash of a Yemeni airliner near the Comoros islands. The EU maintains a list of 194 carriers that do not meet international safety standards. **************** Aviation safety seminar on 10th in Multan (Pakistan) KARACHI: International Society of Air Safety Investigators (ISASI) and Royal Aeronautical Society (Pakistan Division) are co-hosting a seminar on Aviation Safety in Pakistan, sponsored by PIA on July 10, 2009 in Multan. Managing Director PIA, Captain Mohammad Aijaz Haroon will be chief guest. The seminar is expected to be attended by representatives of civil society, notables, trade, business community of Multan, delegates from airlines and general aviation organizations. staff report http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009%5C07%5C10%5Cstory_10-7-20 09_pg5_9 ************** Kennedy Airport runway to be closed for 4 months Kennedy Airport's busiest runway will be closed for about four months next year as part of a $204-million, three-year makeover, a prospect that airline industry officials are viewing worriedly at the huge airport that ranks near the top nationwide in flight delays. More than 2.75 miles long, Kennedy's Runway 13R-31L is one of the longest commercial runways in North America - second only in the United States to a runway at Denver International Airport. Last year, it handled more than 143,000 takeoffs and landings. Aviation and airline officials say delays stemming from the construction are inescapable, though no one can say now how much delays will increase. "The scope of the project is truly enormous," said William DeCota, director of aviation for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates Kennedy, LaGuardia and Newark airports. "It provides for the replacement of almost three miles of asphalt pavement." The Port Authority has asked airlines to revise their schedules and has coordinated the 14,572-foot-long runway's reconstruction with the Federal Aviation Administration, which handles air traffic control, DeCota said. Air traffic controllers will have to adjust plane routing to Kennedy's three other runways and increased delays will occur, FAA spokeswoman Arlene Salac said. It is unlikely that airlines will shift flights to other area airports, she said. Not all of the airport's four runways are used simultaneously. Much depends on weather conditions - especially the wind, Salac said. Pilots prefer to take off and land going into the wind, so runway usage often is configured to take advantage of favorable wind conditions and to avoid crosswinds. The project to rehabilitate Runway 13R-31L, last resurfaced in 1993, begins this month with site preparation, and is expected to continue until November 2011. Much of the work prior to the runway's closure is to be done at night so that as little disruption as possible occurs. The runway is scheduled to be completely closed from March 1 through June 29, DeCota said, as construction crews remove 5 inches of the asphalt surface and replace it with more durable concrete. Perini Construction of California won the bid for the work. Company officials referred questions to the Port Authority. "It's important for our contractor to get this done on the schedule it has to be done," DeCota said. Flight delays have been a longtime problem for the Port Authority's airports. Among the nation's 31 largest airports, Kennedy ranked 29th for on-time arrivals and 28th for on-time departures in April, the latest figures available from the U.S. Department of Transportation. JetBlue Airlines - Kennedy's biggest domestic carrier, with 170 flights a day - is just beginning to analyze the effect the runway's closure will have on its flight schedule, spokeswoman Alyson Croyle said. The airline is using data from when Runway 4L-22R was closed at Kennedy for a month in April, Croyle said. "It certainly does have an impact on operations," she said. Delta Air Lines, second to JetBlue in the number of passengers going through Kennedy, is eager to learn from the FAA exactly how the closing will affect its flight schedule. David Castelveter, a spokesman for the Air Transport Association, a trade group that represents the nation's largest airlines, said the industry is searching for ways to minimize construction-related delays. "ATA and its members are concerned about 2010, and we are quite anxious to work more closely with both the Port Authority and Federal Aviation Administration to minimize the impact of the construction project," Castelveter said. http://www.newsday.com/services/newspaper/printedition/friday/longisland/ny- lirun1012953411jul09,0,905676.story **************** FAA Updating Flight Crew Alerting Standards The new proposed rule would encompass all alerting functions, not just visual displays, and would limit the use of red, amber, and yellow in the flight deck to reduce potential human errors caused when those colors are used in non-alerting ways. Acting to revise 14 CFR 25.1322 for the first time since it took effect in February 1977, the Federal Aviation Administration has proposed a rule to modernize its existing regulations for flight crew alerts in the cockpit. The revised section would encompass all alerting functions, not just visual displays, and would limit the use of red, amber, and yellow in the flight deck to reduce potential human errors caused when those colors are used in non-alerting ways. FAA and the industry agree the current Section 25.1322 is outdated and does not match state-of-the-art flight deck display technology, which includes electronic displays that integrate warning, caution, and advisory text messages. For example, the current section does not contain requirements for minimizing nuisance alerts and prescribes only the color "amber" for caution lights, although yellow has also been accepted as an aviation industry standard for caution alerts. Proposed Section 25.1322(f) would allow the use of red, amber, and yellow for non-alerting functions only if the applicant shows that use is limited and would not adversely affect flight crew alerting. The changes would set up a hierarchy of alerts -- advisory, caution, warning -- and would require alerts to be readily and easily detectable and intelligible by the flight crew in all foreseeable operating conditions, including where multiple alerts are provided. FAA will accept comments until Sept. 8. Send them, identified by Docket Number FAA 2008-1292, to www.regulations.gov. http://ohsonline.com/articles/2009/07/10/faa-updating-flight-crew-alerting-s tandards.aspx **************** FAA completes first ERAM test at Salt Lake City Initial tests of the FAA's en route automation modernization (ERAM) system were recently completed at the Salt Lake City Air Route Traffic Control Centre. ERAM expands on current en route host functionality through increased capacity. The system allows controllers to track 1,900 aircraft at a time instead of the current 1,100 limitation. FAA says ERAM is also designed to process data from 64 radars instead of the current 24, allowing controllers to handle traffic more efficiently. During a recent update chief operating officer of FAA's Air Traffic Organization Hank Krakowski said the ERAM system developed by Lockheed Martin was recently tested in Salt Lake City during a four-hour midnight shift with roughly 160 operations. It was the first time ERAM was turned on and the current host system was shut off. The host system was then reinstated. To handle a potential loss of aircraft data from one centre to another Krakowski says a back-up staff member was on-hand at the centre to look for any problems as aircraft left the ERAM centre. FAA now plans to "debug what we've learned from this experience", says Krakowski, and then develop a plan to turn ERAM on live for an entire day at a time in Salt Lake City. In February of this year FAA said ERAM was both on budget and ahead of schedule. At the time Lockheed Martin had installed ERAM at 20 en route centres. FAA plans to make a decision regarding nationwide deployment by December. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news **************** Air France reviewing weather-radar use after AF447 crash: CEO Air France is reviewing crew training, use of weather radar and the availability of meteorological information for pilots following the loss of flight AF447 over the South Atlantic last month. Chief executive Pierre-Henri Gourgeon disclosed the measures a week after investigators divulged details about meteorological conditions at the time of the Airbus A330's disappearance, and the course deviations performed by other aircraft in the vicinity. In a transcript published by the airline after he spoke to a French newspaper, Gourgeon said there was "never any arbitration" between safety and economy and highlighted operations during weather as an example. "For example, it's written down in black and white that, when there are storms, you go around them," he says. "There is no question of saving on fuel. Pilots are totally free to choose their route." One of the aspects of the investigation is the choice of flight track by AF447's crew. Investigators have stated that "several" other flights - ahead of, and trailing, AF447 at about the same altitude - altered course to avoid cloud masses. These flights included another Air France A330 operating the AF459 service from Sao Paulo to Paris. Gourgeon says this crew crossed a turbulent area that had not been detected on weather radar and, as a result, increased the sensitivity - subsequently avoiding a "much worse" area of turbulence. "Flight 447 didn't have the good fortune to encounter that first warning and may not have been able to avoid the second very active storm," adds Gourgeon. France's Bureau d'Enquetes et d'Analyses says the crew of AF459, which had been 37min behind AF447, detected echoes on the weather radar which "differed significantly" depending on the radar setting. The crew initially chose to deviate 20nm to the west but the radar then showed an extensive squall line which led them to deviate to the east by 70-80nm. "On the strength of that report, we are going to review the way we use radar," says Gourgeon. "Whether or not that was the cause of the loss of flight 447, we have to examine every factor and improve all of our procedures and rules." Source: Air Transport Intelligence news **************** Boeing begins 787 taxi tests Boeing has completed early low speed taxi tests for the first 787. During the 7 July testing, Boeing conducted taxi tests beginning with a 15 knot roll all the way up to just over 100 knots. The testing, which lasted more than six hours, also featured a max braking rejected takeoff test. Boeing says that all the braking during the testing was done manually and did not utilize the aircraft's autobrake system. The speed range for low speed taxi testing hovers below 120 knots, with high speed testing between 120 and 130 knots, Boeing says. The airframer expects that the rotation speed for the 787 on its maiden flight will be around 150 knots. The 787 fleet remains grounded and prohibited from undergoing high speed taxi testing until a remedial reinforcement is installed on the side of body where the wing meets the centre wing box. Boeing is reevaluating the programme timeline as it works to design, fabricate and test a fix on the wing join. The Chicago-based company announced the latest delay on 23 June, adding to the two year slip already weighing on the programme. The first 787 is supposed to enter service with Japan's All Nippon Airways in the first quarter of 2010, but that date is widely believed to be unrealistic with the latest delay. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news *************** Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC