24 NOV 2009 _______________________________________ *FAA Makes New Ice Protection Proposal *Italian C-130 crashes, 5 dead *Namibia: Nam Air Safety Sadly Lacking - Expert *Monk opens plane's emergency exit for fresh air *US Airways Defers 54 Airbus Deliveries To Boost Liquidity *General Electric buys Kent-based Naverus *Airbus expects 100 aircraft deliveries in China in 2010 *************************************** FAA Makes New Ice Protection Proposal Agency Would Require Ice Detection Gear On Airliners The FAA is proposing a rule requiring scheduled airlines to either retrofit their existing fleet with ice-detection equipment or make sure the ice protection system activates at the proper time. For aircraft with an ice-detection system, the FAA proposes that the system alert the crew each time it should be activated. The system would either turn on automatically or pilots would manually activate it. For aircraft without ice-detection equipment, the crew would activate the protection system based on cues listed in their airplane's flight manual during climb and descent, and at the first sign of icing when at cruising altitude. "This is the latest action in our aggressive 15-year effort to address the safety of flight in icing conditions," said FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt. "We want to make sure all classes of aircraft in scheduled service remain safe when they encounter icing." The FAA estimates the rule would cost operators about $5.5 million to implement. Operators would have two years after the final rule is effective to make these changes. The proposed rule would apply only to in-service aircraft with a takeoff weight less than 60,000 pounds, because most larger airplanes already have equipment that meets the requirements. In addition, studies show that smaller planes are more susceptible to problems caused by undetected icing or late activation of the ice protection system. The rule technically affects 1,866 airplanes, but all turbojet airliners and many turboprops covered under the rule already have equipment that satisfies the requirements, and the FAA believes others will be retired before the projected compliance date in 2012. In August 2009, the FAA changed its certification standards for new transport category airplane designs to require either the automatic activation of ice protection systems or a method to tell pilots when they should be activated. Since 1994, the FAA has issued more than 100 airworthiness directives to address icing safety issues on more than 50 specific aircraft types. These orders cover safety issues ranging from crew operating procedures in the icing environment to direct design changes. We also have changed airplane flight manuals and other operating documents to address icing safety, and issued bulletins and alerts to operators emphasizing icing safety issues. FMI: www.faa.gov aero-news.net ************** Italian C-130 crashes, 5 dead ROME (AP) - An Italian air force transport plane crashed onto train tracks near a military airport in the Tuscan city of Pisa on Monday and burst into flames, killing its five-member crew, officials said. Air force Col. Mauro Gabetta said the C-130 was on a training flight and was approaching the airport when it suddenly veered away and then crashed. The cause of the crash is under investigation. The Pisa fire department said the plane crashed onto railway tracks, setting afire electrical wires. No train was in the area at the time. http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2009/11/airforce_c130_crash_112309w/ ***** Status: Preliminary Date: 23 NOV 2009 Time: 14:10 Type: Lockeed C-130J Hercules Operator: Aeronautica Militare Italiana Registration: C/n / msn: First flight: Crew: Fatalities: 5 / Occupants: 5 Passengers: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 0 Total: Fatalities: 5 / Occupants: 5 Airplane damage: Written off Airplane fate: Written off (damaged beyond repair) Location: Le Rene, near Coltano (Italy) Phase: Initial climb (ICL) Nature: Military Departure airport: Pisa-Gal Galilei Airport (PSA/LIRP), Italy Destination airport: ? Narrative: A Lockeed C-130J Hercules transport plane, operated by the Italian Air Force, was destroyed when crashed and burned immediately after takeoff from Pisa-Gal Galilei Airport (PSA). All five crew members were killed. The airplane came down on a railway line, broke up and caught fire. Weather at the time of the crash (13:10 UTC, 14;10 local): LIRP 231315Z 23013KT 9999 FEW025TCU SCT040 17/09 Q1021 NOSIG [wind 230 degrees at 13 knots; few clouds at 2,500 feet, scattered clouds at 4,000 feet; temperature 17 degrees C, dew point 9 degrees C; WNH 1021 MB] (aviation-safety.net) ************* Namibia: Nam Air Safety Sadly Lacking - Expert RUNWAY 19, the notorious runway at Eros Airport that was used for take-off in last Sunday's air crash in which three people died, has not been surveyed for safety take-off gradients, an air safety seminar revealed on Friday. Neither have secondary runways at the airport, veteran pilot Leon Carstens said. This was only one of the shortcomings spelled out by the local expert when he said that Government has failed to recognise the role it plays in the safety of the flying public. Opening the Immenhof Air Safety Seminar with a minute of silence for the four people who died in two aircraft crashes around Windhoek last week, Carstens said the lack of air safety in Namibia is no longer a perception. "The facts speak for themselves," he said. He referred to the number of "horrific accidents", the latest of which claimed the life of 19-year-old Benjamin Candido de Oliveira, who died in a helicopter crash near the Okapuka tannery outside the city last Wednesday. Just three days before, the fatal Cessna crash happened between Prosperita and Cimbebasia. "Who is going to get up and take responsibility for these lives?" Carstens wanted to know. The Namibian aviation industry needs to take a hard look at itself, he said. Government must face up to its responsibility to ensure the safety of the flying public, flight operators must establish and maintain a proactive safety management system and pilots must respect the limitations of their environment. "Every pilot in the country needs to ask himself how far down the road he is to his own accident," he said. The Directorate of Civil Aviation (DCA) in its current format is inadequate to ensure public safety, Carstens said, citing a long list of shortcomings. Nineteen years after Independence, Namibia is still waiting for its aviation legislation to be completed. The country doesn't have its own flight-training syllabus. Also on Carstens' list is the fact that the format of Namibia's flying licence "has not kept abreast of developments in the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO)". He said the country has suffered a "brain drain" of highly qualified air-traffic controllers, there is no radar at Hosea Kutako International Airport, and the regular inspections of airfields on the Government register have only recently resumed again, as have thorough safety audits on operators. Carstens furthermore said the industry's trust and confidence in the DCA have been shattered and that they are seen as "the bully on the block". Namibia needs a robust civil aviation authority, staffed by people appointed for their experience and qualifications, he said. This will an expensive exercise, "but measure that against just one life lost", Carstens said. He also took a critical look at operators. Of particular concern, is Namibia aging aircraft fleet. The youngest of the popular C210 model used by most operators is older than 25 years. "This makes the planes older than most of the pilots flying them," Carstens said. The trend to use turboprop planes and lighter jets has its own challenges, he said. "By the nature of their design, they afford training in the flight regimes where a mistake or mishandling will either damage the aircraft and it components or cause an accident." Simulation is the only solution for the gaps in training, but Namibia has no simulator, Carstens said. He also urged operators to ensure that their safety management systems are sound. "We have a statutory duty to provide a service with the highest possible degree of safety in the public interest," he said. Carstens didn't pull any punches when he talked about pilots either. They should be aware of and respect the limitations of their aircraft, as well as the limitations that the environment or the weather might place on the performance of the aircraft, he said. http://allafrica.com/stories/200911240146.html **************** Monk opens plane's emergency exit for fresh air NEW DELHI, Tues: A Buddhist monk who opened the emergency exit of an airplane just before take off because he wanted some fresh air forced the plane to delay its flight for almost seven hours at Kolkata airport yesterday morning. As result of his action, the airport authorities evacuated all the passengers onboard and grounded the plane for nearly seven hours until all the safety drills were completed. The Hindu newspaper reported that the bizarre incident happened on Air India's flight IC-727 that was heading to Yangon with 135 passengers on board. The monk from Myanmar, a 45-year-old Waza Thunga, believed to be a second time flier, was feeling claustrophobic inside the plane, which was still on the runway, and decided to open the emergency exit next to his seat after browsing the plane's safety manual. "As soon as he pulled the safety clutch, the emergency window opened and the emergency bells rang. "The occurrence of such a situation is rare but what can you do to prevent such a thing. How can we control it if a passenger sets off an alarm by mistake," the airline's spokesman Pulok Mukherjee told the newspaper. It is not known whether the airline took any action against the monk, who spoke very little English. -- BERNAMA http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/articles/20091124115348/Article/index _html *************** US Airways Defers 54 Airbus Deliveries To Boost Liquidity US Airways Group (LCC) unveiled plans to defer 54 new aircraft scheduled for delivery between next year and 2012 until at least 2013 and arranged new aircraft financing, the latest in a series of recent moves to increase its liquidity. The airline expects the moves to improve its available cash by about $150 million this year, and by a total of $450 million by the end of next year. The deferral will reduce the company's aircraft capital expenditures by about $2.5 billion over the next three years. In addition, some aircraft deliveries set to start in 2015 will be postponed to 2017. US Airways also arranged credit facilities of $95 million as well as $180 million of aircraft credit commitments for deliveries next year. "Although we will slow deliveries during the next three years, over that period we will continue to modernize our fleet", said Chief Financial Officer Derek Kerr. "The company will take delivery of two A320 and two A330 aircraft in 2010 and an additional 24 A320 family aircraft in 2011 and 2012." He added US Airways has financing commitments for those planes from Airbus (ABI.YY) and that the company believes "this is a more manageable delivery rate given the current economic environment." The carrier last month said it would trim its work force by 3.1% and realign its airline routes to concentrate on four of its network hubs, which the airline contended would help it return to profitability. US Airways, formed from the 2005 merger of American West Airlines and the former US Airways, will keep existing aircraft until the new delivery dates, leaving capacity unaffected by the move. Airlines around the world have been suffering amid falling demand and ticket prices. But the declines appear to be stabilizing at many carriers, and last month, US Airways reported that its third-quarter loss narrowed after fuel-hedging effects helped rather than hurt. http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20091124-706546.html *************** General Electric buys Kent-based Naverus Naverus, a Kent-based firm that pioneered satellite-based airplane navigation technology for guiding aircraft and streamlining flight patterns around airports, has been acquired by General Electric for an undisclosed amount, the companies said Monday. Naverus, a Kent firm that pioneered satellite-based airplane-navigation technology to guide aircraft and streamline flight patterns around airports, has been acquired by General Electric for an undisclosed amount, the companies said Monday. The technology Naverus implements can steer air traffic on autopilot along a smoothly descending, satellite-guided path, avoiding the stair-step approach and constant interplay with air traffic controllers now required to bring in planes. By linking satellite-based GPS with the plane's autopilot system, the technology allows closer spacing of airplanes and more fuel-efficient landing approaches, experts say. The sale comes two months after the company received Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approval to design and validate flight paths at U.S. airports for a wide array of airlines. The approval enables the company to play a role in accelerating the FAA's proposed modernization of the U.S. air-traffic system, known as NextGen. Naverus was founded six years ago by Steve Fulton and Hal Andersen, former pilots for Alaska Airlines, which began utilizing such satellite-guided landing paths in Alaska in 1996. The company, which now employs 60, also has designed satellite-based landing procedures for airlines in such places as China and Australia. Naverus will remain in Kent and become part of GE Aviation Systems. "The strength of GE provides a platform for future innovation and growth," said Naverus CEO Steve Forte. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2010339418_webnaver us23.html *************** Airbus expects 100 aircraft deliveries in China in 2010 Airbus expects to deliver almost 100 aircraft in China next year and is "cautiously optimistic" about air traffic growth in the market. Almost 100 deliveries are scheduled in 2010, up from almost 80 this year, says Airbus China president Laurence Barron. "We are cautiously optimistic for 2010. International and freight traffic has improved, and seems to have bottomed out," he says. Airbus has also forecast that China will have nearly 200 Airbus A380s in the next 20 years, says Barron, adding that there is also potential for the double-decker jet to be used domestically. "There's potential obviously in a country this size. Right now, flights from Beijing to Shanghai are always full and airlines are already using the A330 to serve such routes," adds Barron. However, he adds that the A320 will still remain the main focus in China. There are 320 orders for the narrowbody jet in mainland China. The Airbus Tianjin A320 final assembly line has delivered nine aircraft so far this year, and expects to deliver two more to Hainan Airlines subsidiary Deer Jet by year-end. Airbus says all nine aircraft have had a dispatch reliability of 100%, and expects the final assembly line to turn profitable by 2012. Despite future competition in the narrowbody market from the Comac C919, which is planned to enter service in 2016, Airbus China is not worried. "We love competition and don't see it as a threat, so bring it on. As long as we continue to do what we are doing, which is to launch innovative products, why worry?" says Barron. He adds that Airbus has no plans to make any specific changes to the A320 in response to the C919: "We spend $100 million a year to improve the A320 and we will continue to improve the aircraft on a permanent basis." Source: Air Transport Intelligence news ************** Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC