13 AUG 2009
_______________________________________
*Bombardier Cancels 15 Jet Orders Of Italian Airline
*American emergency landing is third in five days
*Papua New Guinea Plane Crash Investigation Begins
*Flyers may have lost their bearings
*FAA pressed for immediate restrictions on NYC airspace
*FAA launches review of Part 23 certification process
*India to Form Ministers Panel for Aviation Sector
*Delta to suspend the SLC-Tokyo nonstop flight
*Gulf Air upgrades data monitoring system
*Gulf Air picks US firm for new flight-data monitoring system
*Airplane Carrying Peru's President Garcia Makes Emergency Landing
*Airlines Set to Ask More of Passengers
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Bombardier Cancels 15 Jet Orders Of Italian Airline
Montreal, Quebec (AHN) - Bombardier Aerospace canceled an order purchase
agreement with Italian firm MyAir.com to manufacture 15 jets because of the
airline's uncertain situation.
MyAir.com ordered on Sept. 25, 2006 from Bombardier 19 CRJ900 aircraft. On
Feb. 17, 2009 Bombardier said it would convert the 15 CRJ900 order into the
larger CRJ1000 model.
However, Italian civil air authorities suspended last month the license of
MyAir.com due to financing issues besetting the airline. Bombardier gave up
$750 million in revenues because of the agreement cancellation.
The CRJ1000 was launched in 2007 as part of the evolution of Bombardier. Had
the deal pushed through, Bombardier would have received certification and
begin service by December 2008 and January 2009.
Aside from MyAir.com, Brit Air has orders for 14 of the CRJ1000 and Air
Nostrum, based in Spain, ordered 35 units of the same aircraft.
***************
American emergency landing is third in five days
D/FW AIRPORT - For the third time in a five-day period, pilots on an
American Airlines flight were forced to make an emergency landing due to
engine problems. The Allied Pilots Association said it's a troubling trend
that is only growing.
"A pilot might go a whole career without having an engine failure," said APA
spokesman Scott Shankland. "Now, we're telling our guys you need to be
prepared to deal with this every time you do a takeoff."
The latest occurred Tuesday morning, when a Chicago-bound jet returned to
Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport after an engine problem. Last
Friday, two other flights - one coming from D/FW and the other from West
Palm Beach - were forced to land due to engine problems.
In June, News 8 reviewed FAA data of engine shutdowns showing American
experienced 23 last year. So far this year, American has already experienced
22.
Thirteen of the failures - including the three most recent incidents - were
in the airline's older MD-80 model jets.
Still, the FAA explained, such failures happen only once in every 21,000
takeoffs.
"They are statistically small," Shankland said. "But the fact that they are
increasing and not decreasing year over year is very disturbing to us."
American Airlines said the FAA's numbers on its in-flight engine shutdowns
have been wrong over the last few years. The airline said the numbers are
actually trending downwards and leveling off, although it wouldn't share its
own figures.
No one disputes that the narrow-body twin-engine MD-80, though it is aging,
remains a reliable aircraft. The airline refurbished 238 MD-80 engines last
year and conducted 60,000 engine inspections.
This year, American purchased dozens of 737-800s, which are newer, more
fuel-efficient jets that will gradually replace the MD-80s that some pilots
are concerned about.
The pilots union blames problems on years of cost cutting at the airline.
http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dws/wfaa/latestnews/stories/wfaa090811_mo_
engineproblems.d053ced2.html
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Papua New Guinea Plane Crash Investigation Begins
Aug. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Australian officials reached the wreckage of a plane
that crashed into a mountain range in Papua New Guinea, killing all 13
people on board, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said.
Military and consular personnel camped out in the jungle overnight after
reaching the site on foot and will be joined later today by police officers
winched down from Black Hawk helicopters, Rudd told Parliament. Three bodies
were removed from the wreckage and remain at the site because helicopters
are unable to land, the Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported.
The operation to recover bodies and wreckage is being made "more difficult
by the rugged terrain and changeable weather conditions," Rudd said, adding
villagers and police are clearing away trees to allow helicopters to land.
The Twin Otter Airlines PNG turboprop crashed at about 5,500 feet (1,680
meters) in the rugged Owen Stanley Range north of Port Moresby two days ago,
with nine Australians, three Papua New Guineans and one Japanese citizen on
board. They were members of a trekking party that aimed to visit a World War
II battle site known as the Kokoda Trail.
Four officers from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau arrived late
yesterday in Port Moresby to help with the investigation, spokesman Julian
Walsh said by telephone.
"Obviously the PNG topography, terrain and weather conditions are
challenging, but it is too early to draw conclusions about the cause of the
crash," Walsh said.
Fog and rain clouds often cloak the mountainside, making flying conditions
treacherous.
Fighting along the 96-kilometer (60-mile) Kokoda Trail in 1942 was a central
moment for Australians in the conflict. Soldiers turned back an advance by
Japanese forces, preventing the capture of Port Moresby and a possible
invasion of Australia 160 kilometers to the south.
Kokoda is visited by 5,000 Australian tourists each year, many paying
tribute to relatives who fought and died there during the war.
Rudd said it was a "tragedy" that the trekking group was killed "on what has
become a national pilgrimage" to Kokoda.
****************
Flyers may have lost their bearings
INVESTIGATORS probing the crash of an Airlines PNG Twin Otter at Kokoda will
be examining whether the pilots became disoriented in low cloud and flew
into a ridge.
All 13 passengers and crew were killed when the aircraft slammed into the
ridge southeast of the Kokoda airstrip as it was due to land with its load
of trekkers, including nine Australians.
Weather was reported to be bad at the time but details released yesterday
show that three other aircraft -- two of them Twin Otters -- managed to land
safely at the airstrip and reported variable visibility.
The first flight of the day, a Twin Otter believed to be operated by rival
company Hevilift and scheduled to land at 9am, returned to Port Moresby
after circling Kokoda for 20 minutes but later returned and landed safely.
An Airlines PNG Twin Otter landed at 9.48am and reported good visibility
below a broken cloud layer of 7000ft to 9000ft above sea level with the
nearby Owen Stanley Range covered in cloud.
When the Hevilift Twin Otter left Kokoda at 11.10am -- about the time the
crashed aircraft was descending to the airstrip -- visibility was average
and reduced in some areas but, according to Airlines PNG, still above legal
requirements.
A fourth flight, from Efogi to Kokoda at 11.35am, also reported good
visibility, again below a cloud layer of 7000ft to 9000ft. The crashed
aircraft was due to land at 11:20am after departing Port Moresby at 10:53am.
It tracked directly to Kokoda through a descending valley used by aircraft
to get to the wider area containing the runway.
The last radio contact with the aircraft was at 11:11am and the airline's
agent in Kokoda contacted its operations centre when it failed to arrive on
time.
Both pilots, Jenny Moala and Royden Soauka, were locals with about five
years' experience. They were said by the carrier to be experienced with the
aircraft as well as with PNG's challenging conditions and the route.
People familiar with the airstrip said yesterday the Kokoda runway was not
considered difficult by PNG standards, although weather could pose a
problem. The aircraft was also equipped with a ground proximity warning
system. However, Australian and International Pilots Association president
Barry Jackson, who flew the route in the 1980s, said this may have been of
limited use.
"They're great if you've got time to react and the aeroplane's got the
performance to outclimb a mountain," he said. "But if you're flying towards
a hill, it ain't any help."
Helicopter pilot and former air safety investigator David Inau, who was
present when the wreckage was found, said it was six or seven nautical miles
southeast of the airstrip at a height of about 5500ft, more than 4000ft
above the runway.
"Another helicopter had located the crash site and when we flew over it we
saw that the aircraft had gone into a heavily timbered ridgeline, clipped a
couple of trees and disappeared in amongst the foliage," he said.
Kiunga Aviation principal Richard Leahy, who has more than four decades'
experience in New Guinea, said it was unusual to get total cloud cover.
"You just fly around the area that you want to go to until you find a hole
and you go through that," he said.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25922039-5013404,00.html
**************
FAA pressed for immediate restrictions on NYC airspace
This letter, sent to the Federal Aviation Administration Administrator J.
Randolph Babbitt by 15 members of Congress, requests immediate restrictions
on New York City's airspace. The group is spearheaded by Rep. Jerrold Nadler
(D-Manhattan), the Northeast's highest-ranking member of the House
Transportation Committee.
August 11, 2009
The Honorable J. Randolph Babbitt
Administrator
Federal Aviation Administration
800 Independence Avenue SW
Washington, D.C. 20591
We write to request that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
immediately regulate New York City's congested and dangerous airspace.
Saturday's midair crash between a sightseeing helicopter and a small
airplane over the Hudson River is a tragic and powerful reminder of what we
have known for some time - that the virtually nonexistent oversight of small
on-demand aircraft must come to an end, particularly in New York's heavily
congested airspace. The Hudson River flight corridor must not continue to be
the Wild West. The FAA must act immediately, before further lives are lost.
It is unfortunate that the FAA insisted to us for years that it lacked
statutory authority to regulate the airspace in the New York City corridor
below 1,100 feet altitude. We are gratified, that yesterday [Monday], the
FAA reversed its position and agreed it has statutory authority to regulate
this airspace. It is tragic that it took nine deaths to produce this belated
concession.
Now, the FAA should swiftly use its authority to prevent future tragedies.
First, the FAA should take immediate steps to implement the recommendations
of the Department of Transportation Inspector General (DOT IG), the National
Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), and the FAA Advisory Committee for these
types of aircraft operations. At a minimum, the FAA must require the
installation of the Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS-II), and a Mode
C Transponder, on all aircraft that seat less than 10 people. Any additional
common-sense measures that can be implemented should be done so immediately.
Second, the FAA should carefully review this incident, along with other
factors, and determine what additional improvements can be made in the near
term and long term to improve the management of the region's airspace. For
example, the FAA should examine the feasibility of moving to a
satellite-based system for air traffic management that could provide greater
technological capability to manage flight traffic below 1,500 feet. In the
meantime, every helicopter and general aviation aircraft should be required
to file flight plans, even for trips under 1,100 feet. In addition, we
should seriously consider banning all flights below 1,100 feet until radar
systems are available to track them.
The Hudson River flight corridor presents unique challenges, but the danger
of unregulated on-demand aircraft is also a widespread problem in the New
York region and the country. According to the DOT IG, there were 33
accidents and 109 fatalities involving on-demand aircraft in 2007 and 2008.
And these types of collisions have been happening for decades. In 1989,
following a similar accident in Southern California, Congress passed
legislation to accelerate the development of collision-avoidance systems. In
1994, the FAA took action to regulate dangerous helicopter tours in Hawaii.
Just this year, the FAA initiated a rule making to increase safety
operations of emergency medical service helicopters.
Despite the decades of incidents, studies, and recommendations, much work
remains to be done. We call on the FAA to take immediate action to provide
greater oversight of small aircraft operations throughout the country, the
New York region, and in particular, of the Hudson River flight corridor in
New York. We stand ready to work with you to provide the FAA with whatever
additional resources might be necessary to improve the safety of New York's
congested airspace.
http://www.newsday.com/long-island/faa-pressed-for-immediate-restrictions-on
-nyc-airspace-1.1365267
***************
FAA launches review of Part 23 certification process
Improving business aviation safety standards is one goal of the first
Federal Aviation Administration review in a quarter century of its Part 23
certification process.
Part 23, which governs how all non-transport fixed-wing aircraft are
certificated in the USA, has not been reviewed since 1984. An initial
certification process study was completed in July by a working group
consisting of key industry groups and FAA officials.
The study, conducted over the past 18 months, made 56 recommendations that
will now be folded into a full review of Part 23 regulations to be completed
by the FAA over the next year.
The manager of the standards office at FAA's small airplane directorate,
John Colomy, says the review will be "comprehensive" because "it's got to
carry us for the next 20 years". He adds that the FAA will take a "holistic"
approach and the review will closely examine the entire lifecycle of
aircraft, pointing out the average age of the US small aircraft fleet is now
about 40 years.
The study focused primarily on "the adequacy of current airworthiness
standards throughout a small aircraft's service life while anticipating
future requirements".
Currently all aircraft ranging from small piston trainers to large business
jets fall under the same Part 23 airworthiness standards while transport
aircraft are grouped under Part 25, but the study recommends splitting Part
23 into three subgroups with small unpressurised aircraft in the bottom
group and pressurised aircraft that cruise at up to Mach 0.6, including some
light jets, in the middle group. The third and final group will include all
aircraft flying faster than M0.6, including most business jets.
Another key recommendation is to amend the regulations governing equipment
modifications to make it easier to install glass cockpit technologies.
Further safety improvements will be targeted by reviewing data management
requirements. Specifically, the FAA will consider mandating general and
business aviation maintenance providers to report "service difficulties".
Colomy says there is now a lack of pertinent safety data for several types
of small aircraft because mechanics are not using the FAA's service
difficulty reporting system. He says data for this is crucial for improving
safety, but in some cases aircraft owners are telling mechanics not to write
up what they have discovered.
"We fell we need a no-blame culture here to move forward," Colomy says. "The
FAA and the industry are moving to safety management systems. To do that we
really need to gather data."
The Part 23 review will also look at improving safety by revising pilot
training requirements. One of the recommendations in the certification
process study is to "re-emphasise the difference between stall warning and
aerodynamic stall". This could result in more stall training in simulators
to highlight the procedures required for recovery. "We need to get back to
teaching stall and stall recovery, big time," Colomy says.
The FAA is also being urged to mandate more training at VREF approach speed.
Colomy says the number one cause of business jet accidents are runway
overruns and business jet pilots are typically taught on simulators to make
approaches that ensure soft landings for the passengers rather than ensure
the minimum amount of runway is used. The certification study asks the FAA
to "reconsider establishing VREF training and operational check ride margins
to encourage pilots to fly at VREF -5/+5, especially when operating on
minimum length fields".
Several industry associations were involved drafting the study, including
the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association and the General Aviation
Manufacturers Association.
GAMA chief executive Pete Bunce hopes that a Part 23 overhaul will help
drive down the cost of flying, which the current system makes "very
expensive".
http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2009/08/12/330930/faa-launches-review-o
f-part-23-certification-process.html
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India to Form Ministers Panel for Aviation Sector
NEW DELHI -- India's federal government has decided to form a panel of
ministers to look into the issue of higher jet fuel prices, Civil Aviation
Minister Praful Patel said Thursday.
Jet fuel prices comprise about 40% of a local carrier's operating costs.
Higher jet fuel prices were a key reason for the combined losses of about
100 billion rupees incurred by Indian carriers in the fiscal year ended
March 31, 2009.
Mr. Patel said a presentation was made to the federal cabinet earlier
Thursday, informing it about the health of the aviation industry.
"There are two components in ATF (aviation turbine fuel)," Mr. Patel said.
"One is the differential sales tax charged by various states. Number two,
the base price of the fuel, which also is much higher than most places
internationally."
"These are the two primary areas of focus which the group of ministers shall
look into," he said.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125015050072828577.html
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Delta to suspend the SLC-Tokyo nonstop flight
Utahns can say "sayonara" to nonstop five-day-a-week flights to Tokyo.
The Delta Air Lines Inc. flights will be suspended during winter, the
company said Tuesday, after announcing in July that it was eliminating its
Wednesday flights between Salt Lake City and Tokyo.
In September, the flight will be offered four days a week. From Oct. 1
through May 14, 2010, the flight will be suspended.
"After that, we will bring it back four days a week," said Anthony Black,
spokeswoman for the Atlanta-based carrier.
The nonstop, 11-hour fight from Salt Lake City International Airport to
Tokyo Narita International Airport began June 3.
However, demand for travel has been cool with the recession and the H1N1
virus scare. Delta had announced it intended to cut 15 percent of its
international flights, and the Salt Lake City-Tokyo flight cutbacks are part
of that plan.
Delta doesn't share competitive information, such as the number of people
purchasing tickets for the flights, but Black said the company responds to
market demand.
The flights will resume four days a week next summer because "the primary
season for U.S. travel is from Easter to Labor Day," Black said.
If you have booked a flight to Tokyo for anytime between Oct. 31 and May 15,
originally thinking it's nonstop from Salt Lake City, your itinerary will
change. Plan for a layover.
"Passengers can have nonstop service out of Seattle, San Francisco, Los
Angeles or Portland," Black said.
Delta is assuming Northwest Airlines' Tokyo hub as the two carriers are in
the process of merging. From Tokyo, Northwest offers nonstop flights to
Beijing, Hong Kong and Shanghai in China; Bangkok, Thailand; Jakarta,
Indonesia; and Singapore. Other cities, such as Seoul, Korea, and Hanoi,
Vietnam, can be reached from Tokyo through other airlines.
To encourage Delta to begin offering nonstop flights to Tokyo, the state
promised to spend its own money to advertise it.
The state spent about $112,000 in advertising the new service inside Sunset
magazine for residents of the Western U.S. and in Delta Sky Magazine for
other would-be passengers, including Asians, said Leigh von der Esch,
managing director of the Utah Office of Tourism. Now that the flight has
been suspended, von der Esch stopped plans to advertise in October and
November magazines. Advertising will resume when the flights do, she said.
Von der Esch doesn't think the money was a waste, despite flight cutbacks,
because the ads promoted Utah as a tourist destination.
"I didn't just pay for a Delta ad," she said, describing one advertisement.
"I have a young Japanese woman kneeling in front of an arch that's clearly
Utah. And we have advertorial that talks about Utah."
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705323024/Delta-to-suspend-the-SLC-Tokyo-
nonstop-flight.html?linkTrack=promo-20163
****************
Gulf Air upgrades data monitoring system
Flight data monitoring can help to boost safety.
Gulf Air has upgraded its flight data monitoring (FDM) system after signing
a three year partnership with Austin Digital, Inc.
of Austin, Texas.
Flight data monitoring involves proactively using digital flight data from
routine operations to improve fleet safety.
"Gulf Air has a well-established accident prevention and flight safety
program and regularly upgrades its systems and procedures so that it
maintains the highest flight safety standards," said Captain Chris Cain,
chief operating officer, Gulf Air.
"The new integrated FDM system offers a robust and sophisticated
functionality to analyse and optimise our daily flight operations, helping
us increase our fleet's technical dispatch reliability.
The data provided by the FDM is used to improve flight safety and can also
be utilized in areas such as maintenance, navigation and operations
planning.
Austin Digital, Inc. will set up and implement the FDM service, as well as
providing ongoing assistance and knowledge.
http://www.arabiansupplychain.com/article-2831-gulf_air_upgrades_data_monito
ring_system/
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Gulf Air picks US firm for new flight-data monitoring system
Middle Eastern carrier Gulf Air is implementing a new flight-data monitoring
system, after signing an agreement with US firm Austin
Digital, Inc.
The Bahraini operator says the agreement covers implementation of the
infrastructure at its headquarters.
Flight-data monitoring enables airlines to use routine operational
information to detect and correct possible areas of concern before they pose
a high risk.
Gulf Air chief operating officer Capt Chris Cain says the new system offers
"robust and sophisticated" analysis functionality and the data can be used
not only for flight safety but for maintenance and operations planning.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
**************
Airplane Carrying Peru's President Garcia Makes Emergency Landing
LIMA -(Dow Jones)- The airplane (B737) carrying Peru President Alan Garcia
to Ecuador for the inauguration of President Rafael Correa made an emergency
landing in northern Peru on Monday.
The airplane landed in the city of Chiclayo after a crack appeared in a
window, the government said.
The landing was done to avoid any loss of pressure on the cabin, it added.
Garcia continued on the trip to Quito after a brief stop.
**************
Airlines Set to Ask More of Passengers
Government Says Extra Information Will Prevent Watch-List Mismatches
U.S. airlines on Saturday will begin asking travelers to provide their birth
date and sex for the first time under a new aviation security requirement,
federal officials said Wednesday.
The change comes as the Department of Homeland Security takes over
responsibility for checking airline passenger names against government watch
lists. The additional personal information, which airlines will forward to
the Transportation Security Administration, is expected to cut down on cases
of mistaken identity, in which people with names similar to those on
terrorist watch lists are erroneously barred or delayed from flights.
U.S. airlines on May 15 started asking passengers for their full name as it
appears on a government-issued identification card, a change intended to
allow companies to upgrade their reservation and information systems.
Starting Saturday, airlines will be required to get both the name and the
additional information, although TSA is working with individual airlines to
phase in compliance, TSA spokesman Greg Soule said.
Passengers should not be concerned if their airline does not ask them for
the information, Soule said. The agency hopes to vet 100 percent of domestic
passengers by March 31 and all passengers on international flights to, from
or over the United States by the end of 2010 -- a total of 2 million daily
passengers.
For now, there will be no penalty for passengers who do not provide the
information, Soule said. However, once the program is fully implemented,
they could be denied boarding passes, he said.
"We have been assured that no passenger will be turned away or be denied the
ability to travel," said David A. Castelveter, a spokesman for the Air
Transport Association of America, a domestic airline trade group. "It would
simply mean if you didn't have the information, you would be subjected to
secondary screening."
The TSA seems to have softened its stance since October, when then-TSA
Administrator Kip Hawley and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff
announced the Secure Flight program. They said that except in rare
situations, passengers who did not provide the additional information would
be denied boarding and subject at minimum to being flagged for additional
screening at airport security checkpoints.
Citing security reasons, the TSA would not say how many or which airlines
are ready to comply with Secure Flight. However, an aviation industry
official said that starting Saturday a majority of domestic travelers can
expect to be asked for the added information.
Full implementation of Secure Flight would fulfill a top aviation security
goal after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. It was included in a 2004 law
overhauling U.S. intelligence agencies.
U.S. officials said that by taking over watch-list vetting, the government
will consistently apply the latest list information and sophisticated
algorithms to catch name variations, and avoid the security risk of giving
such data to industry.
Adding full names, gender and birth dates will allow 99 percent of travelers
to avoid delays -- or all but 2,000 passengers a day, they said.
Civil liberties groups have said the government still lacks adequate redress
procedures for people mistakenly matched to watch lists.
Watch-list mismatches have delayed countless passengers whose names are
similar to those on the agency's no-fly list, or on a second list of
"selectees" identified for added questioning. Travelers who are stopped
often endure lengthy questioning without an explanation.
Watch-list mismatches have ensnared infants and toddlers and Sen. Edward M.
Kennedy (D-Mass.). The wife of former senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska),
Catherine, was stopped after a computer flagged her name because of its
similarity to "Cat Stevens," the pop singer who converted to Islam and took
the name Yusuf Islam. The government said it placed him on the no-fly list
out of concern over his donations to groups that it said might have
terrorist ties.
U.S. officials in October said the no-fly list included fewer than 2,500
individuals and the selectee list fewer than 16,000, most of whom were not
U.S. citizens.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/12/AR2009081203
000.html?wprss=rss_nation
****************
Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP
CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC