30 SEP 2009 _______________________________________ *UK investigators to analyse crashed Airlink J41 recorders *Jeppesen Receives FAA Certification For RNP Procedures *Consultant: FAA on "right street" with NextGen architecture *Senate climate bill seeks airplane emissions cuts *EPA seeks to limit plane deicing chemical runoff *Actor Gives Up Controls Of Pilot Mentoring Program *Airbus Agrees To Push Back Delivery Of One A380 *Should airlines let passengers make calls via Wi-Fi? *************************************** UK investigators to analyze crashed Airlink J41 recorders UK investigators are to analyze the recorders from the Airlink British Aerospace Jetstream 41 which crashed at Durban last week, badly injuring its crew. The UK's Air Accidents Investigation Branch, under South African Civil Aviation Authority, is to conduct the examination. "Although it appears that the aircraft engines may have been a causal factor in the accident, the investigators need to be given the space and time to conduct a thorough probe," says Airlink. Only the crew of three was on board the aircraft when it came down shortly after take-off on 24 September, although the crash also injured a municipal worker on the ground. The Jetstream's captain, who is still in critical condition, had previously been involved in another serious accident in Durban when the Britten-Norman Islander he was flying came down in a residential area in August 2005 after attempting a go-around. South African investigators said the pilot had reported engine problems, but attributed the crash to an "incorrect go-around technique" and "inappropriate actions" which aggravated the situation. All six occupants survived. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news ************** Jeppesen Receives FAA Certification For RNP Procedures Has Proven Expertise In All Facets Of RNP Design And Maintenance Jeppesen has been granted a certification by the FAA to design, flight validate and maintain public Required Navigation Performance (RNP) Special Aircrew and Aircraft Authorization Required (SAAAR) procedures in the United States. Jeppesen first applied to be part of this program in mid-2007, and to achieve the authorization, proved to FAA officials its expertise in all facets of RNP procedure design and maintenance, including: simulator testing, ground validation of obstacles at and around the airport and flight validation to assure safe operation. As part of the qualification process, Jeppesen designed a public RNP procedure to runway 28 at Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport, Savannah, GA (KSAV). Jeppesen flight validated the procedure in conjunction with NetJets. The RNP procedure is expected to be operational in the last quarter of 2009. "This qualification enables Jeppesen to provide turnkey RNP solutions to the global aviation market. Our customers around the world can be assured that they will receive a high quality product from Jeppesen as we have proven our capabilities to the FAA," said Andy McDowell, director of Airspace and Airport Services for Jeppesen. Jeppesen provides a complete Performance Based Navigation program that includes FAA-qualified AC90-101 consulting, RNP and RNAV flight procedure design, analysis of fleet missions and route structure to optimize RNP implementation strategy and validation activities to support those procedures. Jeppesen works closely with its parent company, Boeing, on a number of RNP programs. FMI: www.jeppesen.com aero-news.net ************** Consultant: FAA on "right street" with NextGen architecture Officials with the Network Centric Operations Industry Consortium (NCOIC) says the US Federal Aviation Administration is "headed down the right street" with its architecture for the next generation air transportation system (NextGen) in the 2025 timeframe. The high level "company-neutral" overview, which was provided by experts from 13 of the more than 90 member companies from 19 countries that make up the consortium, is the first deliverable in a five-year $10 million OTA contract issued by the FAA in July. The non-competed other transaction agreement (OTA) provides the FAA with guidance about NextGen architecture, partially as it relates to the network centric operations aspects, where each aircraft will represent a node on the network. Participating companies, which included Boeing, BAE and EADS for the first FAA task, bid on the work and are repaid at 50 cents on the dollar for their time. NCOIC had earlier provided two technical reviews, or white papers, to the FAA regarding a comparison of NextGen with the European equivalent, SESAR, and the FAA's information exchange security plan. NCOIC was formed five years ago in part to provide company-neutral engineering guidance for tasks such as NextGen. Officials say the consortium is currently working on about 30 projects. As part of the first task, NCOIC participants determined that while the FAA was generally on track, more clarification was needed on the intended interoperability of NextGen with European and international systems. Other areas that need attention are the interrelationships between voice and data communications, clarity on the role of satellite navigation, more details on how weather information is gathered and used and methods for inserting emerging technologies into NextGen over time. Comments received by the FAA are deidentified. NCOIC officials say the next task has not been defined, but could include gaining a better understanding of how technologies in the NextGen roadmap "interplay" with the architecture as written for the 2025 NextGen operational state. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news *************** Senate climate bill seeks airplane emissions cuts WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Commercial airlines would have to fly new planes that emit fewer greenhouse gas emissions under a U.S. Senate climate change bill that is set to be introduced on Wednesday. The legislation would require the government to write standards "applicable to emissions of greenhouse gases from new aircraft and new engines used in aircraft by December 31, 2012," according to a draft copy of the bill obtained by Reuters. The Environmental Protection Agency would consult with the Federal Aviation Administration in setting the aircraft emissions standards, according to the bill. To make sure aircraft and engine makers could meet the emissions goals, the government would be required to consider the technology that will be available at the time the standards take effect and it must consider the "cost, energy, and safety factors associated with the application of such technology." Manufacturers like General Electric Co have been producing more fuel efficient and cleaner burning engines for the newest aircraft. But the FAA and airlines have complained about European demands that U.S. airlines meet tougher emissions standards. Leading proposals in Congress would exceed those requirements but airlines have previously said the changes would substantially increase their costs. A spokesman for the U.S. airline industry's lead trade group, the Air Transport Association, deferred comment until carriers had a chance to more closely study the Senate proposal. http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSTRE58S70X20090929 *************** EPA seeks to limit plane deicing chemical runoff DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - Every winter, airports across the country spray millions of gallons of deicing chemicals onto airliners and allow the runoff to trickle away. When the chemicals end up in nearby waterways, the deicing fluid can turn streams bright orange and create dead zones for aquatic life. The practice is legal, but environmental officials want it to stop. "We normally don't think of airports as one of our major polluting facilities," said Chuck Corell, water quality bureau chief with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. "I think it's safe to say that for years it was unchecked." Not every airport lets the chemicals drain off the tarmac uncollected, but those that do range from some of the nation's largest - including John F. Kennedy in New York and Chicago's O'Hare - to small regional airports such as the Eastern Iowa Airport in Cedar Rapids. Both activists and federal environmental officials say the chemicals slowly create waterways that won't support life. "Here you have millions of gallons a year of this deicing chemical running off untreated directly into that bay," said Larry Levine, an attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council, which sued New York over deicing chemicals that flow from JFK into the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge. "Anything that can't swim away is going to die." Proposed U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regulations would require airports to capture at least some of the deicing fluid after it is used to rid planes of ice and snow. The agency says those rules would reduce by 22 percent the discharge of chemicals, which lower oxygen levels in waterways and prevent fish and other aquatic creatures from breathing. The two main types of deicing fluids - propylene glycol and ethylene glycol - are not generally seen as a threat to human health. Ethylene glycol, which also is used in antifreeze, is generally only toxic in humans if ingested. Propylene glycol is a "generally recognized as safe" additive for foods and medications, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Under the EPA's proposed regulations, six of the nation's 14 major airports that are the biggest users of deicing fluid - JKF, O'Hare, Cleveland-Hopkins International, Newark Liberty International in New Jersey, Boston Logan International and LaGuardia Airport in New York - would have to install deicing "pads" or other collection systems to contain 60 percent of fluid sprayed. The airports would then have to make sure the collected liquid was treated to remove any toxins, the EPA said. Officials at five of those six airports either said they were meeting all current runoff rules or declined to comment. A spokeswoman for the Cleveland airport said that facility already uses a deicing pad. Mary Smith, director of engineering and analysis division in the EPA's Office of Water, said the other eight major airports already have deicing pads and probably won't have to make changes to comply with the proposed rules. About 200 smaller airports would be required to collect 20 percent of the fluid by using technologies such as a glycol recovery vehicle, which is basically a vacuum that sucks up the chemical. Airports with less than 1,000 annual jet departures wouldn't be affected. Dean Schultz, a spokesman for the American Association of Airport Executives, criticized the proposed rules as unnecessary. He pointed to current regulations in which the EPA or an authorized state agency issues general permits or more detailed individual permits that cover deicing discharges. Schultz said additional rules would be redundant and costly. "We all don't have the same issues. We all don't dump to the same discharge waters," Schultz said. "It's a bit of a shotgun approach to solving the problem when there's already a mechanism in place to deal with it in a more case-by-case basis." Under existing rules, adopted in the 1990s, airports are required to minimize contamination of stormwater runoff and must monitor for pollutants, including deicing fluid. Some states have required additional measures when reports showed high levels of the chemicals. Environmental officials in Iowa discovered the issue after residents complained. At the Eastern Iowa Airport in Cedar Rapids, neighbors living along a creek noticed the water had turned bright orange. At Des Moines International Airport, neighbors reported water that had a green, cloudy tint with a sweet, chemical odor. A rusty orange fungi was on the creek bed, according to a report by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. In both cases, the state Department of Natural Resources ordered fixes. The Cedar Rapids airport, which was told to fix the problem last January, has appealed. Des Moines in 2000 spent $10 million on a containment system and immediately saw a difference. "Once the collection system was put in place and operational, I noticed the fish and aquatic life in the creek," said John Wheeler, the airport's environmental manager. ***************** Actor Gives Up Controls Of Pilot Mentoring Program LOS ANGELES (CBS) ¯ For years, one program has mentored and taught children about what it's like to fly. Actor and pilot Harrison Ford headed up the program for the past five years. And today, Ford made a surprise move and passed the controls of the program to two very deserving pilots! Captain Sully Sullenberger and First Officer Jeff Skiles were named the new co-chairs of the Young Eagles Program. Sully and Skiles were the pilot and co-pilot who landed U.S. Airways flight 1549 in the Hudson on Jan. 15, saving 155 lives. Now in its 17th year, the Young Eagle Program provides flight opportunities for a million and a half young people each year. Kids from ages eight to 17 ride in airplanes and are mentored by volunteer pilots. The co-chairs will now help make decisions about the organization for the thousands of volunteers that make the program so great. http://cbs2.com/entertainment/Young.Eagles.Program.2.1216984.html ************** Airbus Agrees To Push Back Delivery Of One A380 PARIS (Dow Jones)--Commercial aircraft builder Airbus has agreed with a customer to push back the delivery of an A380 superjumbo to January from December, a spokesman for the Toulouse, France-based company said Tuesday. Airbus had planned to deliver 14 of the double-decker airliners this year. "We still plan to deliver more than 20 (A380) aircraft in 2010," Airbus spokesman Stefan Schaffrath told Dow Jones Newswires by telephone. The Airbus official declined to identify the airline that has requested the delivery delay. However, a person with knowledge of the industry said that it is Singapore Airlines (C6L.SG). Singapore Airlines has already taken delivery of 10 of Airbus's flagship aircraft. It has nine more of the planes on order, for delivery through January, 2012. The airline and Airbus recently agreed a revised delivery schedule for its A380s that will push back deliveries of the remaining aircraft on order by between six and 12 months. The airline's 19th A380, for example, will be delivered in January, 2012, instead of a year earlier. A Singapore Airlines spokesperson told Dow Jones Newswires: "We have already received our 10th A380 and there is no change to the delivery of our 11th A380, which is scheduled for January, 2010." A Singapore Airlines A380 on a flight from Paris to Singapore at the weekend was forced to turn back after one of its Trent 900 engines, manufactured by Rolls-Royce Group PLC (RR.LN), suffered a failure two hours into the flight. Airlines that are suffering from the steep drop in airline traffic, especially in the premium passenger segment that is a crucial engine of profitability for long-haul operators, are trying to push back deliveries of the aircraft they have ordered in a bid to preserve cash. *************** Should airlines let passengers make calls via Wi-Fi? Airlines are facing a challenge by banning cellphone calls on planes but allowing Wi-Fi, which allows some consumer to get around the no cellphone rule. Roger Flessing was on an American Airlines flight to Seattle recently when he began speaking with his son on his iPhone. Unsure of how his action might be received by others, the Tacoma resident says he spoke discreetly. But soon, he says, flight attendants were leaning over, asking for a demonstration on how to make calls on their mobile phones. "They were saying, 'Wow this is great. We have to check our schedule, and we couldn't do that before,' " says Flessing, who flies often for his job as a communications executive for the non-profit relief organization World Vision. Flessing wasn't making a conventional cellphone call. He was using Truphone, which allows smartphones to use wireless, or Wi-Fi, connections to make calls. The technology is known as Voice over Internet Protocol or VoIP. Flessing also booted his laptop and videoconferenced with his brother using Skype, another VoIP application. He turned his computer to face the window so his brother could see the clouds. "My brother says, "How are you doing this?' " It's a question that domestic airlines will have to answer with more clarity if they plan - as they say they do - to block phone calls during flight now that Wi-Fi is accessible on about 600 planes in the USA and passengers can talk online as Flessing did. It's a controversial issue that's triggering fierce debate among travelers, airlines and regulators. Federal regulations prohibit in-flight cellphone use - but not Internet-based phone calls - lest they interfere with flight operations and create congestion in ground cell towers. A bill in Congress seeks a similar ban on all in-flight voice communications by passengers. It's all the more controversial because airlines in Europe, Asia and the Middle East allow calls and have even taken it a step further by introducing pay-by-minute cellphone service using satellites. Americans are split about in-flight mobile phones, a survey by the Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics found. About 45% said cellphones should be banned on aircraft. About 40% said they should definitely or probably be allowed if they don't pose a safety threat, according to the survey, which queried about 1,000 households. A chief concern is the in-cabin noise level. Some fear that people may carry on long conversations on their cellphones. And people generally talk louder on cellphones because they can't hear their own voices - unlike on landlines, which have a device that amplifies your voice and replays it through your earpiece. Ban on talking isn't ironclad Although in-flight Internet is provided by third-party vendors, U.S. airlines make their own decisions on Wi-Fi phone use. Currently, two companies in the USA offer in-flight Internet service: Chicago-based Aircell and California-based Row 44. Both companies say the airlines have asked that Internet-based phone calls be blocked. But Flessing isn't alone in discovering that this ban is hardly ironclad. Many fliers have blogged about their experience of Internet phone calls, even as airlines say they have the technology to block it. "(Passengers using VoIP calls) is such a minute percent of people," says John Happ of Aircell. "It has a particular footprint. We can snuff it out." Still, Happ says it's a "cat-and-mouse" game that entails trying to keep up with new software makers and passengers who can bypass the ban. "It's an ongoing process." Frederick St. Amour, a business development executive at Row 44, says travelers making Internet phone calls "create competition for bandwidth" that could result in slower speed for other passengers. Airlines could even consider charging for Internet-based phone calls because the service demands extra bandwidth, he says. Flessing says he experienced no trouble in using Skype during his flight and had no image interruption during the video call to his brother. But, "I think I may have been the only one using" Wi-Fi, he says. Passengers overseas are talking Other countries aren't so prudish about in-flight cellphone use. The Geneva-based firm OnAir and the London-based vendor AeroMobile now offer technology to several international airlines that uses satellites to beam voice transmission to ground cell towers. Emirates became one of the first airlines to offer cellphone service when it installed AeroMobile's technology in March 2008. It's now available on about 50 Emirates aircraft, says Steve Double, an AeroMobile spokesman. Malaysian Airlines is another customer testing it, and "about half a dozen other airlines" will announce the service in "the coming weeks," Double says. The service costs about $2 a minute, not including any out-of-country charges imposed by the user's wireless carrier. OnAir has installed its equipment on about 55 aircraft operated by several carriers, including Ryanair, Kuwait-based Wataniya Airways and Royal Jordanian. Air France tested its system for several months but has no plans to continue it. Other airlines that have signed on with OnAir for future deployment include Air Asia, British Airways, Hong Kong Airlines, Kingfisher, Qatar Airways and TAM. Row 44 says it will provide cellphone service to Norwegian Air Shuttle, a regional carrier in Europe, early next year. The social and etiquette concerns that perplex Americans haven't been a major issue abroad, says OnAir CEO Benoit Debains. None of OnAir's client airlines imposes a time limit on conversations, but an average call lasts two minutes. "There is kind of an etiquette built up," he says. Back in the USA, Flessing says he didn't think his fellow passengers were upset about his calls on his recent American flight. His seatmate, an off-duty flight attendant, was curious and encouraged him to test Skype. Other passengers on his row also "were peeking over" out of curiosity. "I'm very cautious about that," he says. "I had my hand around my mouth. I used a video headset." http://www.usatoday.com/travel/flights/2009-09-28-wi-fi-cellphones-airlines_ N.htm **************** Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC