13 NOV 2009 _______________________________________ *US Air jet diverted after landing gear glitch *Delta suspends pilot held in Georgia plane incident *Airlines Fight for Safety-Upgrade Funds *Enhancing Air Safety in Indonesia *Canadair CL-600-2B19 Accident (Rwanda) *BBC Intends To Intentionally Crash Jet For Documentary *SCSI - HUMAN FACTORS IN AVIATION MAINTENANCE (HFAM) Course *Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Alumni chapter - Middle East Meeting: *New version of Boeing 747 jumbo jet emerges from factory **************************************** US Air jet diverted after landing gear glitch DAYTON, Ohio - A US Airways plane en route to Indianapolis was diverted to Dayton International Airport after the crew reported a problem with the landing gear. Airline spokesman Todd Lehmacher says the Canadair Regional Jet landed safely at about 6 p.m. Thursday. Lehmacher says US Airways Express Flight 2582 was canceled and the passengers were transported by bus to Indianapolis. Lehmacher says a crew at the airport's maintenance facility is checking the airplane to see what caused a "gear disagree" light to flash, prompting the precautionary landing. Lehmacher says the Canadair Regional Jet took off from Charlotte, N.C. at about 4:10 p.m. The plane is owned by PSA, a wholly-owned subsidary of US Airways. He says a maintenance crew is still examining the aircraft. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-oh-planediverted,0,6215766.story ************** Delta suspends pilot held in Georgia plane incident ATLANTA (Reuters) - Delta Air Lines Inc said on Thursday it has suspended a pilot who was charged with attempting to run down police officers with his private plane at a metro-Atlanta airport. Dan Gryder, the pilot, is being held in Spalding County Jail in Griffin, Georgia, charged with aggravated assault and obstruction, according to a statement from the Griffin Police Department. Two code enforcement officers attempted to issue six citations to Gryder on Wednesday at the Griffin-Spalding Airport, the statement said. Gryder refused to sign the tickets, boarded his 1937 DC-3A plane, and started it up, police said. Gryder almost struck one officer's vehicle with the plane, the statement added. Gryder eventually shut down the plane after his request for a fuel truck was denied, and was taken into custody. "He essentially shut the airport down for almost 45 minutes," Griffin police investigator Bryan Clanton said in the statement. Delta spokesman Anthony Black said in an email on Thursday that Gryder is a Delta pilot and has been suspended pending the completion of the investigation. Last month, Delta suspended two Northwest Airlines pilots who overflew their destination and lost contact with air controllers during an October 21 flight from San Diego to Minneapolis. The pair told aviation officials they were discussing company policy and using their laptops. **************** Airlines Fight for Safety-Upgrade Funds The Obama Administration appears split over whether to provide billions of dollars in federal assistance to outfit aircraft with the latest air-traffic control equipment. The new equipment is part of a broader upgrade of the nation's air-traffic control system called NextGen and would create a primarily satellite-based system designed to allow planes to fly closer together and guide them on more direct routes, leading to fuel cost savings for airlines, shorter flight times for passengers and lower environmental impact. The government already plans to invest roughly $20 billion in the new system's backbone. However, the airline industry -- which has racked up more than $30 billion of losses in the past three years -- is eager for the federal government to help it offset most of the cost of installing the equipment in airplanes. The industry argues that it can't afford the upgrade in today's economic environment. Senior White House economic aide Lawrence Summers and a broad industry coalition, including equipment makers, business-aviation groups and representatives of private pilots, are pushing for speedy government assistance. The group is supported by some high-ranking federal transportation appointees, according to officials familiar with the issue. Proponents argue that such aid -- perhaps totaling more than $10 billion over five years -- would produce many times greater benefits, including industrywide fuel savings that some projections peg at roughly $2 billion annually. But President Barack Obama's budget office seems reluctant to embrace any deal that would add to the federal deficit. In recent months, White House aides have privately balked at various proposals to use tax breaks or direct subsidies to help airlines pay for equipment. Indeed, previous Obama budget blueprints included imposing a new "direct user fee" on aircraft intended to funnel some $7 billion annually to airport projects. The issue of air-traffic modernization was highlighted Thursday, when Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood convened an industry-government summit in Washington to discuss ways to help the U.S. aviation industry become more competitive. After a day of closed-door meetings, Mr. LaHood announced the formation of a blue-ribbon study group to tackle the most pressing problems. While that task force won't specifically look at funding for NextGen, Mr. LaHood talked about the importance of air-traffic modernization and disclosed that he has already broached the subject with Mr. Summers, who heads the White House's National Economic Council. "We'll see where all these discussions take us," Mr. LaHood said. With airlines facing a multitude of environmental, antitrust and technological challenges, the White House and the Department of Transportation want to show they are responsive to both company and union concerns. NextGen proponents, who want to start phasing in big parts of the proposed system in the next few years, argue speedier deployment also would reduce the Federal Aviation Administration's spending to maintain its aging system of ground-based radars. And rapid deployment could end up creating as many new high-tech jobs, according to industry estimates. FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt told reporters Thursday that the air-traffic upgrade "is not optional, we've got to have it." The agency is now mulling ways to do a partial roll out of the system that would be deployed on some new routes, landing approaches and procedures around certain busy regions and airports. By delaying a truly nationwide rollout, benefits would come sooner and airlines willing to make early investments could focus their efforts on the same regions. At this point, Congressional leaders seem to be waiting for clear signals from President Obama before wading into the controversial area of how to pay for modernizing air-traffic services. In past years, conflicts between airlines and groups representing private pilots doomed FAA and White House funding proposals. For the first time, more than a dozen industry associations and trade groups have banded together to demand federal aid to implement NextGen. They want the U.S. to treat installation of onboard equipment -- which can cost up to $200,000 for a jumbo jet -- as though it were part of the government's own air-traffic control system. For its portion of the plan, the FAA is currently budgeting about $870 million annually. Marion Blakey, a former FAA chief who heads the Aerospace Industries Association, said in September that she believes NextGen will provide "transformative change" to the industry. Because there is such a broad coalition backing the new system, she thinks it could be financed and rolled out before 2015. "We have a terrific window of opportunity here, and we shouldn't squander it," she said. Before Thursday's session, Doug Parker, chairman and chief executive of US Airways, released a letter urging Mr. LaHood to help airlines buy the necessary equipment. If such cost "has to be covered by even higher taxes or fees imposed on the airlines," the letter said, "we prefer to live without [NextGen] at the current time." The debate comes months after aviation industry officials failed to have air-traffic control issues included in sweeping federal economic-stimulus legislation. Since then, the industry coalition has sent letters to Capitol Hill, talked with Mr. Summers and enlisted the support of the FAA. It has argued that such assistance would produce tangible, near-term efficiency and safety benefits, long before the FAA's tentative 2018 deadline for widespread deployment. "I have never seen an [industry] effort that has been this unified," according to Roger Cohen, head of the association representing commuter airlines. A White House spokesman wasn't immediately available for comment. The funding debate also has sparked some new ideas about controlling airspace. Neil Planzer, a Boeing Co. official who testified on behalf of the Aerospace Industries Association, told a House transportation subcommittee last month that he favored replacing current "first come, first served" principles of air-traffic control services. Instead, Mr. Planzer said he supported relying on a "best-equipped, best-served" concept, partly as a way to help boost industry confidence in NextGen. David Traynham, another Boeing official, told an FAA safety conference in September: "We need to broaden our thinking about what constitutes" air-traffic control systems. "A lot of the [future] infrastructure," he said, "is going to be equipment in cockpits." http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125807147909646329.html?mod=googlenews_wsj *************** Enhancing Air Safety in Indonesia All Weather, Inc. (AWI) is providing an undisclosed number of Automated Weather Observing Systems (AWOS) and Runway Visual Range Systems (RVR) to numerous airports throughout Indonesia. The AWOS, developed by AWI, is an unmanned system that provides up-to-the-minute weather data to airport personnel, pilots, and meteorological offices. The RVR system, developed by AWI provides accurate and reliable RVR values aiding in safer take offs and touchdowns. "These systems will provide around-the-clock weather and RVR data to locations that, until now, have had limited or no access to such information," said Steve Glander, international sales manager of AWI Included in AWI's AWOS offering are sensors for measuring wind speed and direction, temperature, humidity, rainfall, and barometric pressure, the Indonesian airports will also be outfitted with AWI's Laser Ceilometer and Dual-Technology Visibility/RVR Sensor. Laser ceilometers use laser pulses and sophisticated software algorithms to "see" cloud cover, enabling them to determine the height and depth of up to four layers of clouds above an airport. A series of Dual-Technology Visibility Sensors installed alongside the airport's runway work in concert with AWI's Ambient Light Sensor to determine Runway Visual Range (RVR), a highly accurate measure of visibility from a pilot's perspective. http://www.aviationtoday.com/asw/topstories/Enhancing-Air-Safety-in-Indonesi a_36599.html **************** Canadair CL-600-2B19 Accident (Rwanda) Date: 12 NOV 2009 Time: ca 12:30 Type: Canadair CL-600-2B19 Regional Jet CRJ-100ER Operating for: Rwandair Express Leased from: JetLink Express Registration: 5Y-JLD C/n / msn: 7197 First flight: 1997 Engines: 2 General Electric CF34-3A1 Crew: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 3 Passengers: Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 10 Total: Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 13 Airplane damage: Substantial Location: Kigali Airport (KGL) (Rwanda) Phase: Taxi (TXI) Nature: International Scheduled Passenger Departure airport: Kigali Airport (KGL/HRYR), Rwanda Destination airport: Entebbe Airport (EBB/HUEN), Uganda Narrative: A Canadair CRJ-100ER RegionalJet passenger plane, 5Y-JLD, operating for Rwandair Express, was substantially damaged when it struck an airport building at Kigali Airport (KGL), Rwanda. One passenger was killed. The airplane operated on a scheduled international flight to Entebbe Airport (EBB), Uganda. Two minutes after take-off, the pilot requested to return because of unspecified technical problems. The airplane landed safely and taxied back to the apron. However, when the plane reached it's parking spot in fron of the VIP lounge, the pilot reported that the engines had failed to stop and were running at " 100 percent power" according to the Rwandair Chief Operating Officer. The airplane moved forward, knocking over blast fences until it smashed through the concrete wall of the airport building. The nose gear collapsed and the nose was burried inside the building up to and including the forward passenger doors. Weather reported about the time of the accident (12:30 local, 10:30 UTC): HRYR 121030Z VRB03KT 9999 BKN030 24/18 Q1018 NOSIG= [Wind variable at 3 knots; unlimited visibility; Broken clouds at 3000 feet; temperature 24 degrees C, dew point 18 degrees C; 1018 MB] (aviation-safety.net) **************** BBC Intends To Intentionally Crash Jet For Documentary Pilots Will Parachute From The Aircraft Filled With Cameras And Equipment The BBC says it will intentionally crash an airplane in the desert for a documentary called "Plane Crash", which it says will air on its Channel 4 sometime in 2010. The date and location of the filming are being kept under wraps, and it is only reported that the aircraft will be a "300 seat airliner," according to the newspaper "The Guardian." There will be pilots aboard the plane for the first portion of the flight, but they will parachute from the aircraft after setting the autopilot to ensure a crash. The documentary producers say they will fill the aircraft with crash test dummies, simulated luggage, sensors, and cameras to record the impact. They say it will provide "invaluable information" about how an airplane reacts when it impacts the ground at a high rate of speed. Channel 4 also hopes the crash footage will draw a large audience. The Documentary producers say that the footage will give safety researchers "unprecedented insight" into how seatbelts and other safety equipment react in a crash, as well as what happens with things like luggage in overhead compartments and other items in the cabin. Producer Geoff Deehan, of independent production company Dragonfly, said "It will give us unprecedented answers to the big question: how can we make air crashes more survivable?" He also said it will make "specatcular television." FMI: www.bbc.co.uk aero-news.net ************** SCSI Southern California Safety Institute *HUMAN FACTORS IN AVIATION MAINTENANCE (HFAM) * 17-19 November 2009 and again 13-15 April 2010 Doubletree Hotel in the Cabrillo Marina, San Pedro, California Tuition: $1805, please check website as discounts may apply To register, contact Sharon Morphew, registrar, at: sharon.morphew@scsi-inc.com, or at 800-545-3766 www.scsi-inc.com Modeled After the HFAM Course SCSI Developed for the FAA Space is still available in SCSI's upcoming November HFAM (Human Factors in Aviation Maintenance) course. This is the first open enrollment offering of this course, which is modeled after the HFAM course developed and taught by SCSI to the FAA's Aviation Safety Ispectors. The second offering will be in April 2010. Lead instructor is Rick Anglemyer, Director of Human Factors Programs at SCSI. More information is available on the website at www.scsi-inc.com. *************** Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Alumni chapter in the Middle East Meeting: During the Dubai Airshow, more precisely on November 19th 2009, at the Sheraton Dubai Creek Hotel, there will be a reunion for Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University graduates (Alumni) in the Middle East Chapter. The event will host some prominent figures in Aviation and Aerospace like Dr. John Johnson, President of Embry-Riddle. In addition, awards will be distributed to several high performers in the region. Here's the official link for the event: http://www.eraualumni.org/s/867/index.aspx?sid=867&gid=1&pgid=896&crid=0&cal pgid=277&calcid=813 **************** New version of Boeing 747 jumbo jet emerges from factory Boeing rolled out the first 747-8 - the largest version of its iconic jumbo jet - from its Everett factory to the nearby paint hangar as a prelude to weeks of final testing. The Boeing 747-8, the newest and largest version of the 747 line, was rolled out Thursday in Everett. At 5 p.m. today in Everett, Boeing rolled out the newest, largest version of its iconic jumbo jet, the first 747-8. Tugs moved the 250-foot-long cargo plane across the 526 freeway overpass and into the paint hangar on the edge of Paine Field. The 747-8 program, which has an order book of just 105 jets, ran into serious delays, the latest of which last month added a $1 billion charge to third-quarter earnings. After painting, the jet will undergo a weeks-long series of tests on the ground. It is expected to fly shortly after the New Year, about one year late. Boeing said the first delivery to Luxembourg-based Cargolux remains set for the fourth quarter of 2010. Program chief Mohammad "Mo" Yahyavi said today that inside the factory 10 days ago, the first 747-8 completed a series of tests that simulated flight. Once out on the Paine Field flight line, the plane will repeat those functional system tests with the engines running. Then the pilots will do a series of taxi tests leading up to first flight. With the 787 Dreamliner now expected to fly before Christmas, Boeing is looking to the 747-8 first flight for an early New Year bonus. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2010264284_webboein gjumbo12.html **************** Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC