03 NOV 2009 _______________________________________ *FAA: Cessna crossed 'hold line' as Hawaiian Air flight tried to land *Skytruck M28-05PI Accident (Indonesia) *Man Accidentally Pulls Eject Lever While Flying in Jet *Study Unable to Gauge Effect of Pilot Retirement-Age Rise *What Pilots Need to Know about Winter Flying *Air traffic controllers: 'Bring safety out of the 1950s' *Southern Air Achieves IOSA Compliance *Air New Zealand To Buy 14 New Airbus A320 Aircraft *Discovery Channel commissions "Airplane Repo" *FSF Board Elects New Chair *************************************** FAA: Cessna crossed 'hold line' as Hawaiian Air flight tried to land A departing private plane encroached onto the runway at Honolulu International Airport on Thursday as a Hawaiian Airlines flight from Hilo was preparing to land, the Federal Aviation Administration said today. The pilots of Hawaiian Airlines Flight 383 were half-a-mile from landing around 11:50 a.m. when they were instructed by an air traffic controller to fly down the runway, turn around and land safely after the Cessna 172 was out of the way, said FAA spokesman Mike Fergus. "The violation was on the part of the 172 sticking its nose out on the runway," Fergus said. The pilot of the Cessna crossed "the hold line on the taxi line. He got himself onto the runway partially while taxi-ing for departure. ... There was no immediate danger of collison. FAA investigators will interview the Cessna pilot and review the pilot's flying record before deciding any potential penalties, Fergus said, which could range from "just a good talking to, to revoking his license." "We take any runway incursion seriously," Fergus said. "It wasn't something to be blown off because it is a serious situation. But no safety envelope was violated. " Keoni Wagner, spokesman for Hawaiian Airlines, could not immediately find any report of the incident today. http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20091102/BREAKING01/91102071/FAA++ Cessna+crossed++hold+line++as+Hawaiian+Air+flight+tried+to+land **************** Skytruck; Naples, Florida by Global Jet. Skytruck M28-05PI Accident (Indonesia) Date: 02 NOV 2009 Time: ca 12:00 Type: PZL M28-05PI Skytruck Operator: Indonesian Police Registration: P-4202 C/n / msn: AJE003-04 First flight: Crew: Fatalities: / Occupants: 4 Passengers: Fatalities: / Occupants: 0 Total: Fatalities: / Occupants: 4 Airplane damage: Missing Location: near Mulia (Indonesia) Phase: En route (ENR) Nature: Military Departure airport: Jayapura-Sentani Airport (DJJ/WAJJ), Indonesia Destination airport: Mulia Airport (LII/WABQ), Indonesia Narrative: A PZL M-28 turboprop plane went missing during a domestic flight from Jayapura-Sentani Airport (DJJ), Indonesia to Mulia Airport (LII). The airplane, operated by the Indonesian Police, departed Jayapura at 11:38 to deliver logistics for police personnel in Puncak Jaya Regency. Contact with the flight was lost and the airplane failed to arrive at its destination. An ELT signal was detected in a mountainous area about 33 km WNW of Mulia. (aviation-safety.net) ************** Man Accidentally Pulls Eject Lever While Flying in Jet A passenger enjoying a civilian joyride accidentally cut the trip short when he ejected himself from the plane after grabbing the eject lever while trying to brace himself. The passenger, who was flying in a Pilatus PC-7 Mk II with an air force pilot friend, The Daily Mail reported. He was instantly blasted 320-feet into the sky by the rocket-powered chair, before floating to the ground with an automatic parachute, the paper reported. Air Force officers quickly deployed a helicopter to retrieve the passenger after his fall 80 miles south of Cape Town, South Africa. The pilot of the craft, Captain Gerhard Lourens, is a long-time member of the Silver Falcons air force air display team, according to The Daily Mail. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,571147,00.html?test=latestnews *************** Study Unable to Gauge Effect of Pilot Retirement-Age Rise By: Christine Negroni A federal study of the increase in the mandatory retirement age for commercial pilots to 65 has concluded there is too little information to determine the safety impact of that decision. Few issues were as controversial among professional airline pilots as the mandatory retirement age, which was raised in the United States in 2007 to 65 from 60 after decades of debate. As far as the Federal Aviation Administration was concerned, the question was one of safety and the risk that a pilot might become incapacitated during flight. The law that extended the age limit also required that the policy be reviewed in two years. But in a new report, the General Accountability Office says it was stymied in its analysis of how the law is working because it does not know how many pilots over the age of 60 are still flying for commercial airlines and because of the brief time the law has been in effect. "You'd have to go to every airline to determine how many," said Gerald L. Dillingham, the G.A.O.'s director of physical infrastructure, referring to the agency's difficulty in determining the number of pilots 60 and older still flying passenger airliners. A dramatic example of the situation aviation officials had feared in raising the age limit occurred in June, when a captain, Craig Lenell, died at the controls of a Boeing 777 during a Continental flight from Belgium to the United States. Captain Lenell, 60, was still flying for the airline under a provision that requires a co-pilot under the age of 60 on international flights. The co-pilot brought the plane down safely at Newark Liberty International Airport. In the report, the General Accountability Office concluded that backups are sufficient to provide for safety in the case of a pilot's death, noting there had been five pilots who died on commercial flights since the aviation administration started keeping records, all ages 48 to 57. Captain Lenell was the sixth pilot to die. None of the deaths resulted in accidents. The report stated that Captain Lenell had heart disease but that it would not have been picked up by routine medical screening for pilots. It does not address whether age was a factor in his death. The move to raise the retirement age for pilots in the United States followed the decision in 2006 by the International Civil Aviation Organization, which sets international standards, to raise the retirement age for airline pilots to 65. The G.A.O. said further study would be beneficial. "It would be prudent and informative to the F.A.A. and the pilots' union and the flying public to be able to, at an appropriate time, do an analysis that could be more definitive," Mr. Dillingham said. In the past, commercial airline pilots who did not want to stop working at 60 took jobs with international airlines or charter operators for which the retirement age was higher. The experience of these pilots should also be studied, said John Prater, president of the Air Line Pilots Association. "You can look globally, look at Canada and look at pilots flying in corporate aviation and on-demand services like NetJets," Mr. Prater said, referring to a large private aviation service. "The G.A.O. could expand and ask the airlines themselves. That's an avenue they could investigate if they chose to expand their look." http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/02/us/02pilot.html *************** What Pilots Need to Know about Winter Flying In the November/December 2009 issue of FAA Aviation News, the focus is on winter flying safety, including icing avoidance strategies, safe operations on icy runways, snow/frost contamination, and more. In "On Thin Ice," Aerospace Engineer Paul Pellicano writes about ice contamination, the differing vulnerability of different airplanes, and the havoc ice can play with lift, weight, and drag. Contributing writer and flight instructor Meredith Saini explains "known icing conditions," provides resources for finding ice, and then outlines strategies to avoid it. In "A Long Winter's Nap," Airworthiness Safety Inspector Suzanne Mejia writes about what to consider in storing your aircraft for the winter. Other articles address safety on icy or slushy runways, the dangers of carbon monoxide poisoning during winter, and stress the importance of position reporting on the Common Traffic Advisory Frequency (CTAF). To read the issue, go to: www.faa.gov/news/aviation_news. *************** Air traffic controllers: 'Bring safety out of the 1950s' Air traffic controllers are demanding that the Federal Aviation Administration move faster to bring air traffic safety out of the 1950s and into the 21st century. Dale Wright, a safety expert, testified before Congress Oct. 28 on behalf of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association. Wright, director of safety and technology for the 14,000-member union, was one of several witnesses who discussed airline safety at the House Transportation Committee hearing. The panel is monitoring the FAA's implementation of NextGen, a new system of traffic control technology based on global positioning systems and satellites, as opposed to the radar systems of the 1950s. The testimony was significant because the Bush administration had virtually shut the union out of any role in developing NextGen. Wright says he welcomes the move by President Obama's newly appointed FAA administrator, Randy Babbitt, a former Air Line Pilots Association president, to bring the unions in. But "Babbitt must still get FAA's lower levels out of a go-it-alone mindset, to guarantee improved air safety," Wright said. Wright testified that "formal collaboration between FAA and the union has been a critical component of successful modernization projects in the past, and we believe it will be equally vital to the successful development of NextGen. Despite clauses in our new contract that encourage collaboration and the efforts of the administrator, FAA's willingness to reach out to work with the union has been inconsistent, at best." The FAA rejected the union's request for a full briefing on the implementation and refuses to allow the union to work with the agency on this, he said. He also said the FAA is resisting new training for controllers and pilots on the new air safety technology. Instead, he said, FAA officials are placing book binders containing explanations of the new technology in control towers and ordering controllers to read and initial memos that say they have been properly trained and that they understand and take responsibility for the new technology. Wright told the congressional committee that this is a bureaucratic and "unacceptable" approach to training. "The FAA must not forget that it is ultimately the people and not the technology that keep airways safe," he said. "Every new technology and procedure must be considered for its human factors and implications and the FAA must also insure there are enough controllers to support current and future traffic and the changes that NextGen will bring." http://peoplesworld.org/air-traffic-controllers-bring-safety-out-of-the-1950 s/ **************** Southern Air Achieves IOSA Compliance NORWALK, Conn., Nov. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Southern Air Inc. today announced that it has become the fifth U.S.-based all-cargo carrier to pass the International Air Transport Association ("IATA") Operational Safety Audit ("IOSA") and be registered as an IOSA compliant airline Brian Neff, Southern Air's president, said, "We are incredibly pleased that Southern Air's safety program has earned IOSA registration. The IATA Operational Safety Audit is the benchmark for global safety management in airlines, and we are very pleased that our strong and longstanding commitment to safe flight operations has been recognized by this truly world-class organization." The IOSA program is an internationally recognized and accepted evaluation system designed to assess the operational management and control systems of an airline. IOSA's quality audit principles are designed to conduct audits in a standardized manner. The other IOSA-registered carriers are United Parcel Service Co., Federal Express Corporation, Atlas Air Inc./Polar Air Worldwide, Inc. and ABX Air. More information on IOSA can be found at http://www.iata.org/ps/certification/iosa/. Southern Air Inc. was founded in 1999 as a low-cost, high-quality cargo carrier specializing in the provision of block space and aircraft, crew, maintenance, and insurance ("ACMI") services through its fleet of 17 B747 freighter aircraft. It is the first ACMI operator in the world to operate the next generation of freighter aircraft, which includes the B777-200LRF and the B747-8F. SOURCE Southern Air Inc. *************** Air New Zealand To Buy 14 New Airbus A320 Aircraft WELLINGTON (Dow Jones)--National carrier Air New Zealand Ltd. (AIR.NZ) said Tuesday it will buy 14 new Airbus A320 aircraft to replace its current domestic jet fleet of 15 Boeing 737-300 aircraft. Subject to the final contract, the first A320 will arrive in January 2011, it said in a release. The remainder will be progressively introduced until 2016. Air New Zealand has also secured purchase rights for a further 11 aircraft, it added. The carrier, 76% owned by the New Zealand government, said it has obtained the aircraft at a discount to their list price in excess of US$1 billion. "This is a very good time to buy aircraft. The industry is at the bottom of a deep cycle so demand for aircraft is limited, creating favorable conditions for buyers with strong balance sheets like Air New Zealand," said Bruce Parton, group general manager, short haul airline. http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20091102-716038.html **************** Discovery Channel commissions "Airplane Repo" LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Discovery Channel is stocking up on more rough-and-tumble reality, picking up a series about airplane repo men. "Airplane Repo," from "Dirty Jobs" executive producer Craig Piligian, centers on repossessor Nick Popovich as he re-acquires jets and helicopters from delinquent owners. Each episode shows the team planning the best approach for snatching a plane, then follows the group as they attempt the high-risk acquisition. "There's a lot of action, it has an element of danger and a lot of suspense, and there's always a ticking clock," Piligian said. "The show goes all over the world -- Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Finland -- anywhere there's a plane, whether for an airline that goes bankrupt or some rich guy who hasn't made his payments." Eight episodes of "Airplane" will debut during the first quarter; "Swords" will return later next year. *************** FSF Board Elects New Chair The Flight Safety Foundation says Lynn Brubaker has been elected chair by the Board of Directors. She served 10 years in executive leadership roles at Honeywell. Prior to that, she spent ten years as an executive at Douglas Aircraft. She started her career at ComAir and Northwest Airlines. Ms. Brubaker currently serves as a Member of the Boards for Hexcel Corp., a $1.2B multi-national company in leading advance materials and technology, Faro Technologies,, the world's leading provider of portable measurement and imaging solutions, The Nordam Group, the largest private aerospace company in high technology manufacturing and repair, and Graham Partners, a US private equity firm focused on middle market manufacturing companies. "At the end of my term as chairman, I am confident in turning the reins over to someone as experienced and knowledgeable as Lynn," commented Ed Stimpson, immediate past chairman of the Flight Safety Foundation Board of Governors. "She will bring a unique perspective and be a real asset for the board and the staff." http://www.aviationtoday.com/asw/topstories/FSF-Board-Elects-New-Chair_36326 .html **************** Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC