12 AUG 2009 _______________________________________ *EASA to allow four months to replace Thales A330/340 pitots *DOT denies second request by US Airways to postpone Beijing flights *Air Force Training More Pilots for Drones Than for Manned Planes *Loss-making airlines in for a safety check (India) *Bird hits helicopter, forces quick landing in Nev *Crash survival rate in plane 30pc(%) *Nigeria's FAA CAT 1 audit enters "crucial training" phase *Inspector General Questions Value of Some Airport Stimulus Projects *Virgin America eyes Frontier Airlines' Airbus fleet *Bird-strike concerns: Oregon airport seeks to fill ponds *Cirrus Aircraft Names Pat Waddick Chief Operating Officer *ATA slams FAA crew training rule change *New Runway Safety System Operational At LAX, JFK **************************************** EASA to allow four months to replace Thales A330/340 pitots Europe's safety regulator is to give Airbus A330 and A340 operators a four-month window to replace Thales Avionics pitot probes on the types. The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) deadline is contained in a formal proposal for an airworthiness directive covering the changes. EASA had previously indicated that it intended to issue a directive requiring carriers to replace at least two Thales probes on A330/340s with probes manufactured by Goodrich. Its proposal states that occurrences of "airspeed indication discrepancies" have been reported during flights at high altitude in inclement weather conditions. Investigations have indicated that aircraft with Thales pitot probes "appear to have a greater susceptibility" to the adverse conditions than those with Goodrich probes. Thales developed a new probe, known as the 'BA' type, to replace its older 'AA' probes. EASA says the 'BA' probe has improved airspeed indication behaviour on Airbus A320 aircraft, and is an option for A330/340s. But it states that this probe has "not yet demonstrated the same level of robustness to withstand high-altitude ice crystals" as the Goodrich '0851HL' probe. No other pitot probes are approved for the A330/340. EASA's directive will require operators with Thales-equipped A330/340s to replace at least two of the probes - regardless of whether they are 'AA' or 'BA' - with Goodrich probes at positions 1 and 3. If the carrier retains a Thales probe at position 2, says EASA, it must be the 'BA' type. Operators can choose to replace all three Thales probes with Goodrich. The work must be completed within four months of the effective date of the directive, yet to be fixed. EASA is inviting comment on the proposal until 7 September. EASA has taken the action following several instances of aircraft suffering unreliable airspeed indications, and evidence of a similar situation prior to the loss of an Air France A330 over the South Atlantic on 1 June. It states that the airworthiness directive is a "precautionary measure". Airspeed discrepancies could result in autothrust and autopilot disconnection, says EASA, and reversion to 'alternate' flight-control law on the Airbus aircraft, as well as possible reduced control. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news ************** DOT denies second request by US Airways to postpone Beijing flights A request by US Airways to postpone the launch of flights between Philadelphia and Beijing to March 2011 has been denied by the US Department of Transportation (DOT). The carrier was awarded final rights to serve Beijing in January 2008 for an original launch date of March 2009, but was granted a first waiver to postpone the introduction of flights to March 2010 after the unprecedented run-up in fuel prices in July of 2008. In June of this year the carrier sought the second waiver, explaining the global economic recession that immediately followed record fuel costs made the launch of its new service to China unfeasible for the near-term. DOT in explaining its rationale behind the decision to deny the second waiver says: "The request is premature, as we cannot anticipate what the prevailing market conditions will be so far in advance of the end of the current waiver period." The department explains US Airways is allowed to reapply closer to the expiration of the first waiver for the postponement of service. At that time DOT reasons "we will be better able to assess whether an additional waiver would be in the public interest based on the circumstances then prevailing". Source: Air Transport Intelligence news *************** Air Force Training More Pilots for Drones Than for Manned Planes The Air Force will train more pilots to fly unmanned aerial systems from ground operations centers this year than pilots to fly fighter or bomber aircraft, Gen. Stephen R. Lorenz, the commander of Air Education and Training Command, told an audience Friday. Lorentz's remark illustrates the major transformation occurring within that service. In a Pentagon session last month, Air Force Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Will Fraser told reporters that the unmanned systems are "delivering game-changing capabilities today, and ones that I'm confident will continue to be invaluable in the future." At that July 23 briefing, Air Force officers spelled out the growth of what they call the "ISR [intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance] transformation" of their service. Today, the Air Force is flying both Predators and the more capable Reapers over Iraq and Afghanistan in 35 simultaneous orbits, each of which is a combat mission that keeps an aircraft aloft 24 hours a day. The target is to have 50 orbits by 2011. A Predator was used over Pakistan last week in an attack that apparently killed Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud. Right now there is basically one sensor in each Predator whose surveillance system provides 10 full motion video images simultaneously to forces on the ground, according to Lt. Gen. David Deptula, Air Force deputy chief of staff for ISR. Deptula also attended the July briefing. The newest version of the Reaper flies faster than the Predator, up to 250 miles per hour, carries more arms and will beam back to ground forces up to 30 video images. Troops on the ground, using new equipment called Rover (remote operations video enhanced receivers), literally see what the aircraft's sensor and the ground-based Reaper pilot -- thousands of miles away -- see. Rover also allows ground troops to send queries up to the aircraft. Where Reaper with its four sensors can cover over six square miles, a more advanced version with six sensors, scheduled to be available in 2013, will be able to cover over 20 square miles. It also will beam back 65 separate video images to the ground. What these aircraft bring "to the table is the ability to stay in position or maneuver over large areas for a long period of time, and that's where a person in an aircraft becomes a limitation," Deptula said. Without individuals in the aircraft "you can maintain your position for a long period of time with the opportunity to either watch or strike." Today one ground-based pilot flies one Predator, assisted by two analysts. By 2013 the Air Force expects technology to permit one pilot to fly three Reapers, and to fly four in a crisis. Another advantage over manned aircraft is that there is always a fresh crew on the ground, "which enables any sort of persistence," said Col. Eric Mathewson, director of the Air Force UAS Task Force, at the July briefing. There are 1,000 Air Force personnel flying these unmanned operations today and none is in harm's way, according to charts at the briefing. He added that an unmanned aircraft could be designed to stay airborne for five years, "and I can man it that entire five years with little fatigue." In fact, the Defense Advanced Projects Agency has a project called Vulture that is trying to do just that. While there are five launch and recovery units in the Iraq-Afghanistan-Pakistan theater, the global operations center is at Creech Air Force Base, Nev., with five other centers in North Dakota, upstate New York, Arizona, Texas and California. The hasty push of unmanned systems into the Iraq-Afghanistan battle area has shown some vulnerabilities, however, including the need for a better sorting, processing and distribution of the massive amounts of intelligence collected. That problem will only get worse with the new sensors. In addition, the House Armed Services Committee complained in its report on the fiscal 2010 defense authorization bill that money meant to fund the Predator portion of the planned fleet was redirected to the Reaper program, which doesn't have enough aircraft in the pipeline to meet the 50-orbit goal. A long-term issue for the unmanned systems such as the Predator and Reaper aircraft is how to protect them when they operate in an area where the enemy has sophisticated air defenses and the United States does not control the airspace. Deptula conceded survivability is a concern. He said the service is looking at countermeasures and "low observability," which means stealth aircraft that fly fast -- even at hypersonic speeds -- and cannot be picked up on radar. Will the unmanned aircraft ever completely replace either bombers or fighters? In delivering weapons on target, Deptula said, "Yes, you bet." But when it comes to controlling airspace, flying against enemy fighters, the general said, the technology cannot yet achieve 360-degree awareness. A human brain is still superior in the assimilation of information and responding to it. "Someday we might be able to, but until then, we'll still have manned aircraft," the general said. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/10/AR2009081002 712.html?hpid=sec-nation *************** Loss-making airlines in for a safety check (India) The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has initiated an audit of maintenance procedures of major airlines to check whether the projected losses of Rs 10,000 crore this fiscal year are leading to a compromise on passenger safety. "The DGCA tracks airline operations to make sure that safety stipulations are followed. The financial crisis now warrants a special effort to track safety measures not for negligence or oversight, but for shortfall of human resources, spares or maintenance," a civil aviation ministry source said on condition of anonymity. The audit will scrutinise availability of spares, timely maintenance and deployment of adequate number of engineers and technicians as well as try to capture the level of financial distress, especially situations that could endanger safety. For obvious reasons, airlines are not willing to discuss the DGCA audit. Safety rules for airline operations are laid out in black and white and there is no question of deviation, airline representatives said on condition of anonymity. The DGCA had noticed recently that airlines were finding it difficult to borrow and cash management was becoming a challenge for many, the source said. The situation was getting serious and we had started getting cases of leasing companies getting in touch with the DGCA to take back their aircraft due to payment defaults, he added. While the airlines are not on the verge of bankruptcy, many of them are finding it difficult to pay salaries to employees and clear dues of vendors. Aircraft maintenance and spares are expensive and the cost of human resources had gone up significantly during the boom period. "The financial distress of airlines should not lead to a situation where engineers and technicians are not available because they are not paid. Payment defaults could also result in spares not being supplied. These are situations that the DGCA does not want since we cannot compromise on safety," the ministry source said. Every time there is an 'incident' - a factor considered a potential safety hazard - the DGCA scans it in detail. "Scrutiny was always part of the system, but the DGCA has stepped up the level of checks," he added. Major airlines such as Jet Airways, Kingfisher Airlines, Air India, IndiGo and SpiceJet had attributed mounting losses to high fuel prices before the financial meltdown and have now blamed the losses on overcapacity. Recently, the Federation of Indian Airlines had called for suspension of operations on August 18, but later withdrew the proposal. Jet Airways chairman Naresh Goyal and Kingfisher chairman Vijay Mallya met civil aviation minister Praful Patel on Monday to present a case for lower taxes on aviation turbine fuel and reduction in airport charges. Mr Patel is scheduled to make a presentation to the Union Cabinet on Thursday on the crisis facing the aviation industry. While the Centre has indicated that it cannot take drastic steps to reduce sales tax on ATF since this would mean treading on the toes of state governments, the civil aviation ministry wants the Airport Economic Regulatory Authority to look into airport charges. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News-by-Industry/Major-airlines-in-for-a -safety-check/articleshow/4883346.cms **************** Bird hits helicopter, forces quick landing in Nev BOULDER CITY, Nev.(AP) -The pilot of a tour helicopter returning from the Grand Canyon made an emergency landing in the Lake Mead National Recreation Area after a bird hit the windshield. John Buch, spokesman for Maverick Helicopters, says a cormorant hit the windshield on Monday, cracking it. The pilot, 25-year-old David Supe, of Henderson, was taken to a hospital for treatment of minor cuts. Six passengers on the helicopter weren't injured. National Park Service spokesman Andrew Munoz says Supe landed the helicopter on a bike trail. He says the helicopter was coming over the River Mountains when it was hit. http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_13037206 *************** Crash survival rate in plane 30pc(%) PASSENGERS have about a one-in-three chance of surviving a crash in a Twin Otter and more than 1300 people have died in accidents involving the plane. The Flight Safety Foundation's accident database lists the survival rate for Twin Otter crashes at 29.1 per cent in 229 "hull loss" accidents with 1334 fatalities since it began flying in 1965. Despite the high death toll, the 20-seater regional turboprop was one of Canada's most successful exports, known for its rugged construction, reliability and short take-off and landing capabilities. More than 800 were built before production ended in 1988 and they have proved particularly popular in remote and often rugged areas such as Papua New Guinea and Indonesia to connect rural areas with short landing strips. PNG is a particularly challenging place to fly, with landing strips often sited on hillsides or between high ridges. Of about 20 serious aircraft accidents in PNG since 1999, eight have involved Twin Otters. Airlines PNG said last night the missing aircraft had earlier this year been completely refurbished, and was fitted with some of the latest navigation aids, including terrain-advice equipment. "The flight crew are experienced with flying in PNG's challenging conditions and very familiar with the particular route flown, having both flown in PNG for approximately five years on this aircraft type," it said. The disappearance of the plane is a nightmare start for former Ansett and Air New Zealand chief executive Gary Toomey, who has just taken over as Airlines PNG's chief executive. The Port Moresby-based carrier operates a fleet of about 20 Twin Otter and Dash-8 turboprops on regular public transport services and charter operations to resource projects. http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/business/story/0,28124,25917841-23349,0 0.html *************** Nigeria's FAA CAT 1 audit enters "crucial training" phase The United States Federal Aviation Authority (USFAA), on Monday, commenced another phase of auditing and "crucial training" with the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) for the nation's airports to attain Category One (CAT 1) status. Speaking at the nation's civil aviation authority headquarters annex in Lagos on Tuesday, Harold Demuren, director general for the authority, disclosed that the NCAA is working hard to ensure the country is certified category one. "We are trying to see that we meet with the eight critical elements set by the USFAA," he said. "Next week, we are going to be doing compliance and enforcement which is one of the critical elements we have to scale through before we can be certified with category one." According to Mr. Demuren, the authority has moved "reasonable" steps higher in its pursuit for category one since the auditing process commenced last year. "For every aspect that we have taken, we have gone higher and higher, but let me explain that to get the category one status, we must demonstrate strict compliance with the requirements of the USFAA," he said. For Category One Status to be realised, a nation's civil aviation authority must have been assessed by the USFAA, and must certify and manage airlines in agreement with the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) aviation safety and security standards. On successful completion, Nigerian carriers will start flying directly from the country to the United States of America. Mr. Demuren expressed satisfaction with the level of safety adherence in the nation's aviation industry. "Though the USFAA assessment is a very detailed audit process that involves numerous visits by the team, we are happy because we have put aviation in a solid footing which is good for our country and for our continent," he said. Reacting to the development, Larry Williams, team leader of the USFAA delegation to Nigeria, commended the efforts of the nation's civil aviation authority. "So far the authority is not doing badly," he said. "Though there are still some aspects that needs to be touched, and that is why we are here." According to the NCAA, airlines approved for direct operations from Nigeria to the United States when category one is achieved will include Arik Air, Virgin Nigeria, and Bellview Airlines. Mr. Demuren expressed optimism that the nation would get the certification before the end of the year. "We are working hard to make it happens before the year ends and that is why we are all here undergoing this detailed training," he said. http://www.234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/News/Metro/Transportation/5442838- 146/story.csp ************** Inspector General Questions Value of Some Airport Stimulus Projects A $14.7 million stimulus project to replace an airport on a remote island in Alaska was one of several airport stimulus projects that were questioned in an advisory issued last weekby the inspector general of the Transportation Department. The airport averages only 42 flights a month. The advisory found that the Federal Aviation Administration had awarded $38.5 million to low-priority airport projects of questionable economic merit, and that it had awarded $15 million more to four airports whose operators had been cited in the past for trouble managing federal grants. The aviation agency selected the projects as part of a $1.1 billion stimulus program for improving airports around the nation. Two of the airports the inspector general cited were in Alaska. The $14.7 million project calls for replacing the airport in Ouzinkie, a village of around 170 people, mostly of Russian Aleut ancestry, located on an island about 12 miles north of Kodiak. The second calls for spending $13.9 million to replace the airport in Akiachak, a remote Yup'ik Eskimo village in western Alaska with a population of around 660. The advisory said they were among several low-priority airport projects that were selected in part because the F.A.A. wanted to "ensure widespread geographic distribution of funds," even though that was not a requirement of the stimulus law, the advisory found. The agency has a system to assign priority rankings to airport projects. Usually projects must score at least 41 out of 100 to qualify for airport improvement funds. But the administration set a higher goal for its stimulus money, prioritizing projects that scored 62 or higher. The two Alaskan airport projects each scored only 40, the inspector general found. The Department of Transportation defended the choice of projects, saying that the Alaskan airports qualified for the money under safety provisions of the law and that both villages would be extremely isolated without safe air travel. "These projects provide airstrips that meet minimum safety standards for the citizens of these Alaskan towns," Deputy Transportation Secretary John D. Porcari wrote in a response to the department's inspector general, Calvin L. Scovel III. The inspector general's report came a month after ProPublica and CBS Newsreported that more than $100 million of the airport improvement money was being spent on airports with fewer than one flight an hour. The inspector general - who also questioned awards to four airports in Delaware, Missouri, Ohio and Washington that did not provide commercial passenger service and had limited flight operations - recommended that the aviation administration should either show that the projects had economic merit or consider withdrawing the grants. The inspector general plans to conduct a full audit of the program. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/12/us/12airports.html ************** Virgin America eyes Frontier Airlines' Airbus fleet Virgin America Inc. may be interested in buying Frontier Airlines' Airbus fleet if Southwest Airlines succeeds in its bid for the Denver carrier, according to a news report Tuesday. Virgin America CEO David Cush told Bloomberg News in an interview that his airline, which flies Airbus planes, may be interested in the 40 Airbus jets owned by Frontier Airlines Holdings Inc. Southwest officials have said that if their $170 million bid for Frontier is successful, they would eventually dispose of Frontier's Airbus fleet. Southwest flies Boeing jets. Bloomberg noted that most of Frontier's jets are five years old or younger, and that the jets' electronics and engines would be compatible with Burlingame-based Virgin America's equipment. "Those are recent-vintage aircraft, and under the right economics, we would be interested," Cush told Bloomberg. "In taking used aircraft, you'd look at the commonality. They have similar avionics and engines. We'd be interested in looking at that." http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/stories/2009/08/10/daily31.html ************** Bird-strike concerns: Oregon airport seeks to fill ponds EUGENE, Ore. (AP) - Eugene Airport officials say they want to fill ponds near the main runway to reduce the risk of birds striking airplanes. The ponds near the airport attract numerous kinds of birds and have been a worry for years. Now, the airport is seeking permission from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the state Department of Lands to fill two ponds that are 700 feet from the airport's runway. Spokeswoman Cathryn Stephens says the airport has averaged five bird strikes annually in the past two decades. This year, there have been six bird strikes, none of them causing serious damage to a plane. Stephens says the last bird strike to cause significant damage was in Sept. of 2007 when a Skywest flight on its approach struck a duck, causing damage to an engine. The airport already uses shotgun firings and dummy coyotes to keep the birds away from the ponds. The ponds are former gravel pits from the 1940. If the ponds are removed, others would be build to replace them. Airport officials estimate the cost at $800,000. ***************** Cirrus Aircraft Names Pat Waddick Chief Operating Officer Waddick Joined Cirrus In 1988 Cirrus Aircraft has named Patrick Waddick the Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer. Previously, Mr. Waddick served as Executive Vice President of Operations at Cirrus. The announcement was made last Thursday. Brent Wouters, Cirrus Aircraft President and CEO, commented "For many years now Pat's significant contributions to Cirrus have been instrumental to our success. Time and again Pat has delivered on-budget and on-schedule results within our major development and manufacturing programs. As COO, his increased role and scope of responsibility come at an ideal time as we transition the Vision Jet from strictly an Research and Development project into detailed design and initial preparation for serial production. It's fair to say that the entire Cirrus Aircraft community - our customers, employees, shareholders and partners - are going to benefit from Pat's leadership in his new position." Pat joined Cirrus in 1988 contributing on the VK30 composite pusher-configuration aircraft. Transitioning to ST50 Project Engineering Manager, Pat led a joint Cirrus/Israeli design team through to early flight testing stages. Later as Director of Engineering, Pat was instrumental in the development and certification of the SR20 and SR22. Pat was named Vice President of Engineering in 1997 and promoted to Senior Vice President, of Engineering in 2005. Since September of 2008, Pat has served as Executive Vice President, Operations where he leads the Customer Support, Manufacturing Operations, Quality and Process Engineering, and Supply Chain organizations. As Chief Operating Officer, Pat's expanded role now includes oversight of both Product Development in addition to the Operations functions previously mentioned. Now with direct oversight of both Engineering and Manufacturing at Cirrus, organizational resources will be better optimized as several key development projects co-locate within core operations. In accepting the appointment to his newest role Waddick commented, "this is a great team that does great things, so this expanded role is a privilege. I am and always will be obsessed with airplanes and flying. Having been part of the early roots of this company I care deeply about the customer, our people, and the product. The drive and spirit of innovation is alive and well at Cirrus and, while we've accomplished some incredible things in the past, the future is even more compelling." Patrick Waddick Mr. Waddick, an active Private Pilot since 1988 who holds an instrument rating, received a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering Mechanics from the University of Wisconsin School of Engineering in 1989. Pat also has extensive hands-on experience with aircraft construction and assembly having worked with many early Cirrus prototypes as well as completion of an experimental 2-place aircraft. Prior to joining Cirrus, he was an engineer with IBM Corporation. In 2004, he was the recipient of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Hap Arnold Award for Excellence in Program Management. FMI: www.cirrusaircraft.com aero-news.net *************** ATA slams FAA crew training rule change The Air Transport Association of America (ATA) says the US FAA's proposal to update airline pilot, flight attendant, flight engineering and flight dispatcher training has "numerous unworkable aspects, internal conflicts, conflicts with current advisory material and inaccurate assessments of industry standard practices". The FAA this spring proposed a comprehensive overhaul of its training rules, in part to give pilots the chance to regularly experience "in-flight manoeuvres in upset and disturbance recovery" in simulators, training thought to be lacking in the wake of high profile accidents like the Colgan Air Q400 crash in February. The agency planned to give airlines five years to put the new rules in place once the proposal is finalised, perhaps next year. In comments to the proposal however, ATA president James May says the changes could "adversely impact current 'best practice' training programmes - a result neither the FAA nor the industry want to see". "Instead of proceeding directly to a final rule," says May, "ATA recommends that the FAA suspend this rulemaking and immediately convene an Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC) to address the many conflicts and inconsistencies identified in the ATA comments." May says that "after spending thousands of hours" analysing the proposed rule, training experts from ATA member airlines unanimously concluded that change contain "substantial and material inconsistencies that make it logistically impossible to implement". He says the proposal "seems to abandon the advancements in pilot training programmes that have been instrumental in improving airline safety", including data driven approaches like the advanced qualification program. "While we appreciate the FAA's desire to quickly adopt new training rules, we believe that the rule as proposed could set the safety clock back by more than a decade," says May. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news ************** New Runway Safety System Operational At LAX, JFK Sensis Corp. says its surface surveillance system, known as ASDE-X, is now operational at two major international gateways, Los Angeles and New York Kennedy airports. These two systems bring the operational ASDE-X total to 17, out of the 35 airports that are currently on FAA's deployment schedule. ASDE-X combines surface movement radar, multilateration and automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast to provide accurate position information. It also includes conflict alert functions. http://www.aviationweek.com ************** Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC