Flight Safety Information February 15, 2010 No.035 In This Issue Cessna Citation 550 Accident (Germany) KLM 737 takes off from Schiphol taxiway Mid-Atlantic terror scare forces BA jet to return to Heathrow Regional air safety gains questioned Human error is biggest obstacle to 100 percent flight safety Human error is biggest obstacle to 100 percent flight safet Man tackled during takeoff of flight in Michigan Flight from Amsterdam to Detroit met by security TAM renews IOSA Operational Safety Certification ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Cessna Citation 550 Accident (Germany) Date: 14-FEB-2010 Time: 19:20 GMT Type: Cessna 550 Citation Bravo Operator: Time Air Registration: OK-ACH C/n / msn: 550-1111 Fatalities:Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2 Airplane damage: Written off (damaged beyond repair) Location: Schöna, about 40km south-east of Dresden - Germany Phase: En route Nature: Ferry/positioning Departure airport: Prague Ruzynì Airport - LKPR Destination airport: Karlstad Airport - ESOK Narrative: Details just breaking - please update; German air traffic control spokesman Axel Raab says the pilot of the Cessna 550 Citation, flight TIE039C, was given clearance to climb to a higher level after entering German airspace at 8.20 p.m. (1920GMT). However, the pilot never replied and the plane then disappeared from radar screens. Pieces of wreckage have been discovered near the village Schöna (Saxon - Osterzgebirge). (Aviation-safety.net) Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/36/Schiphol.png [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103046934603&s=6053&e=001oTfPErIqpBMjwbxwB5LqfO6vvvL9zebP66tqNmS9HLIG0MLAMMu-DUOjs9Z1zWVvIQceN0gyVudqkBb14tUZdKpCPBdFcy_QsVLJ5Y0KF1ExGf0PSxuyt_4CYP38h0mIn-VZz9QRLIqJgI48KVn1pG4tx_iZMs_uzkGV_O-kbzWMFyga6LWb7w==]KLM 737 takes off from Schiphol taxiway David Kaminski-Morrow, London (12Feb10) Dutch investigators have opened an inquiry after a KLM Boeing 737-300 took off from a taxiway at Amsterdam Schiphol on 10 February. The aircraft, registered PH-BDP, was departing on a service to Warsaw when the incident occurred. Flight KL1369 was supposed to use runway 36C but instead took off from taxiway B which runs parallel on the eastern side. A spokeswoman for the Dutch Safety Board states that the incident is being classified as "serious" by the investigators. The aircraft continue to Warsaw and the crew was interviewed on return, she adds. KLM lists KL1369's scheduled departure time as 20:20 and the spokesman says the incident took place at 20:36. Amsterdam Schiphol would have been in darkness at this time. Meteorological data from the airport shows good visibility and weather conditions at the time. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mid-Atlantic terror scare forces BA jet to return to Heathrow By Daily Mail Reporter Last updated at 12:39 PM on 15th February 2010 A British Airways jet was forced to return to Heathrow after a major terror scare mid-way across the Atlantic, it was revealed today. The Boeing 747 jumbo jet was heading towards Mexico when U.S authorities barred it from American airspace because of 'serious concerns' about a 55-year-old male passenger. The authorities noticed a 'data discrepancy' with the U.S. citizen more than two hours into Friday's flight which was when Flight 243, carrying 318 passengers, was ordered back to the UK. A Boeing 747 jet was on its way to Mexico City when it was forced to turn around The mid-air drama follows the arrest (pictured) of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, 23, who is accused of trying to blow up a plane bound for Detroit on Christmas Day. The man was escorted off the plane at Heathrow and searched under the Terrorism Act. He was then handed to immigration officers but it is not known if he was released. A BA spokesman said: 'The BA243 Heathrow to Mexico City flight returned to Heathrow on Friday afternoon due to a data discrepancy with a US citizen. More... Muslims warned not to go through airport body scanners because they violate Islamic rules on nudity [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103046934603&s=6053&e=001oTfPErIqpBOzVaeoHCAOTZiZT8bvxj9qonSdfd72TitDU8dsyIAqYb7MpN0MRe5ruXld5SmCIF8P9S2OcNdVqL_LZjlgVmOwTiAzLeQhS0nj8L1SAdjhFiQf8N-25SLBOSP_hek6ZxeOP07EkSHXH97oF4ZpH_ZzFGo_HqoG-iSiETDazNSMLRYJHYepVakylC3FouH9PoSi2XwwywpUqng0m2GN_WV3WbVBtervClnKpHNjxjV8t3DxLUgY6eE364wmjtdhFO4=] 'The aircraft returned to Heathrow and a passenger was asked to leave the aircraft, which he duly did and collected his bags. 'We apologise to the 317 other passengers onboard the Boeing 747 for the inconvenience caused. 'The aircraft had more fuel loaded at Heathrow and took off for Mexico again on Friday evening as normal without any further issues.' A Department for Transport spokeswoman said: 'There has been no breach of security at Heathrow as a result of this incident.' Scotland Yard said the man had not been arrested. The mid-air drama follows the arrest of London-educated Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, 23, who is accused of trying to blow up a plane bound for Detroit on Christmas Day. He managed to gain access to the jet despite having explosives sewn into his clothing. The foiled attack was followed by a global security crackdown including the introduction of controversial full body x-ray machines at airports. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103046934603&s=6053&e=001oTfPErIqpBNqJ0JFrojtzLQY24VMC9XJ5Iafx6MwMvFTuZaNFPhIjqdF9HCij0EiyzPkwGJfJvu7BF_B9KGal8s1uQw5NDEOdRdA9a5MNMfzb2JDeLzeUjOGpopCI5woxR_Vgwj--wEsv60uCXPnw0mIva_IpaN08pxxqNW8SPLQiL9yjnb5PSfNjWnb5UCG-wjOlHGCWu-gQCnJancP2nz54n6XpC1e5ttpSiduevg=] Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SPIN METER: Regional air safety gains questioned By JOAN LOWY (AP) - 3 days ago WASHINGTON - For months, FAA chief Randy Babbitt has been talking up the safety initiatives his agency launched after a regional airliner crashed near Buffalo, N.Y., a year ago, killing 50 people. He says he's "very pleased with the progress." But much of that progress is more illusion than reality. Despite Babbitt's claims, the Federal Aviation Administration has failed on key fronts to require improved airline safety. The agency has missed its own deadlines for overhauling pilot-fatigue regulations and is still rewriting rules to improve crew training. It also hasn't done anything to address tiring long-distance commutes by regional companies' pilots. The issue is an important one for anyone who flies - or knows someone who does - in every part of the country. Regional airlines now account for about half of domestic departures and a quarter of all passengers, and they are the only scheduled service to more than 400 communities. The Buffalo crash raised concerns that those smaller companies aren't being held to the same level of safety as the major carriers. Long-distance commutes by pilots before they take off were an issue in the Buffalo crash, but all the FAA has done is say it will ask stakeholders what they think should be done. Babbitt already has their answer: Airlines and pilots unions told him last summer they don't want to regulate commuting. Among those recently poking holes in the FAA's claims of accomplishments are the National Transportation Safety Board, the Transportation Department's own inspector general and members of Congress responsible for overseeing aviation. They question the FAA's figures. They complain about delays in some safety improvements and say others are poorly designed. And some lawmakers suggest the agency has bent to industry pressure to delay or weaken new requirements before they are proposed. Lawmakers and the families of crash victims have asked that the flight experience required to be an airline co-pilot be increased from 250 hours to 1,500 hours. Airlines and flight schools reject that idea. Babbitt, after suggesting such an increase is unnecessary, has talked about setting the bar at 750 hours - a possible compromise. The industry's trade group, the Air Transport Association, denies trying to weaken or delay action, saying it simply wants any changes to be based on solid data. Another FAA claim being questioned is the assertion that, thanks to its efforts, air carriers operating 94 percent of commercial airliners are, or intend to begin, collecting computer flight data in an effort to spot problem trends and correct them before they lead to accidents. That's more than double what the FAA reported just last October - an unlikely increase, federal safety investigators say. At a hearing last week on the cause of the Buffalo crash, Roger Cox, the transportation safety board's operations group chairman, said the sharp increase was probably due to "verbal commitments that have been made in the 11th hour prior to this board meeting" to create the appearance of accomplishment. The NTSB says the data-collection program is important. The plane in the Buffalo crash was operated for Continental Airlines by regional carrier Colgan Air Inc. And investigators found that a co-pilot error at the beginning of the flight involving the computer entry of air speeds was the precursor for later events that caused the crash. If Colgan had had a trend-spotting program in place, the board said, it might have found and corrected weaknesses in the airline's procedures that allowed air speed mismatches to go unnoticed. Investigators were skeptical that all 11 of the regional airlines the FAA said it had signed up for the program would follow through, given past disinterest and the time and expense involved. Colgan, for example, had a safety program on paper before the accident, but hadn't implemented it, investigators said. After the accident, the airline promised to put a program in place by July. A year later, Colgan has made substantial progress but is still not at the point where it is collecting data, they said. "What about all of the other the regional carriers? Do we have to wait for them to have an accident and to appear here to get them to have a (data-gathering) program?" NTSB Chairman Deborah Hersman asked. "It does seem to be a motivator," replied Cox. Even carriers that implement the program sometimes gather data from only a fraction of their airplanes. One regional carrier participating in the program has 260 planes but has equipped only 10 of them with data-gathering recorders, said the NTSB's Cox. "So if you choose to creatively interpret that, you could say that all those passengers on all those miles and all those airplanes with that airline are counted as (covered by the safety program), but it's very misleading," he said. Babbitt said some airlines are too small for participation to be practical, or they fly older planes that don't have data-gathering capabilities. But Inspector General Calvin Scovel said the FAA hasn't offered a plan to encourage smaller carriers to participate, even though expanding the program to smaller carriers was one of the agency's key goals in response to the Buffalo crash. He also said many airlines made only vague commitments to the FAA and offered no timetable but the agency hasn't followed up with them. Babbitt says crafting new regulations is a cumbersome and time-consuming process, and that's why he's chosen to pursue voluntary safety initiatives with airlines as well. Changing the culture at FAA could also take time. During the Bush administration, the agency saw airlines as clients to be served. Last September, Babbitt ordered FAA employees to stop referring to airlines as their "customers." At a House hearing last week, Babbitt said it's a misperception that the FAA's actions are ineffective or insufficient. "The vehemence of the criticism FAA receives doesn't comport with the safety statistics," he said. Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Human error is biggest obstacle to 100 percent flight safety By Greg Griffin The Denver Post Posted: 02/14/2010 01:00:00 AM MST Updated: 02/14/2010 08:07:58 AM MST Pilot Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, left, and co-pilot Jeff Skiles on the flight deck of their aircraft at LaGuardia Airport in New York, Thursday, Oct. 1, 2009. (POOL | Seth Wenig) The pilot was having trouble lining up the commercial airliner for landing at Denver International Airport late one windy night last May. The plane's speed brakes - spoilers on the wings - were partially extended to counteract a strong tailwind. The jet began losing speed. Distracted by preparations for landing, the pilot gunned the engines while the brakes were still deployed. "For 10 seconds my situational awareness was lost," the pilot wrote in an incident report. The pilot was able to correct and land safely. It was a potentially dangerous lapse at a critical time. But it wasn't a rare event at DIA or any other airport. Human factors were cited as the primary problem in 74 commercial aviation safety incidents reported at DIA since 2005, according to a NASA database of voluntary, anonymous reports from pilots and others. Pilot error has been the leading cause of commercial airline accidents by a wide margin for many years. The Colgan Air commuter-plane crash near Buffalo, N.Y., just over a year ago that killed 50 people highlighted the issue as well as troubling trends in pilot training, scheduling and hiring at regional carriers. The National Transportation Safety Board issued a report that primarily blamed the captain for the crash. Last week's midair collision of two small aircraft over Boulder highlighted that human error also is the leading cause of general-aviation accidents. Both pilots and a passenger died. Crash investigators said they will look for clues in the wreckage and focus on the pilots' procedures. Though advances in technologies that assist commercial pilots - alerting them, for example, to potential conflicts with other aircraft or mountains - have helped reduce accident rates over the past few decades, human factors stubbornly remain at the center of most airline disasters. http://extras.mnginteractive.com/live/media/site36/2010/0214/20100214_122239_pliot_graph.jpg [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103046934603&s=6053&e=001oTfPErIqpBNUsOP9PFuRinmY53fxicIQAChbW1FxfzsqrlfDutbEoMbb178V7RQ-fbZvqQBUSD1T-ivYoSy1Mn0fvKp6edbYx-gsxsu8iZfKK-MuNw63lPoWxajUo-ro5wqmuRe6EvZ7tSgSfhmh63hdH-ly27pae4tComsF6IrINMputg-0WDzMY5qX9mHcpHnoD1Pb_LKh_CPw8d7hRrcPPdDLWg8c]In the cockpit, those factors vary greatly but can include distractions, whether work-related or personal; inadequate training; fatigue; poor communication between pilots; and inattentiveness. Pilots groups are calling for overhauls in training and scheduling, at regional airlines in particular, to combat these issues. Flight-crew issues were the primary cause of two-thirds of fatal commercial and business plane crashes worldwide from 1997 through 2006, the United Kingdom's Civil Aviation Authority reported last year. A 2006 Federal Aviation Administration study found that from 1990 to 2002, 45 percent of major airline accidents in the United States and 75 percent of commuter-carrier crashes were associated with human error. After decades of decline, the commercial jet accident rate flattened out during the past five years, leading many aviation experts to believe that the biggest future safety advancements will come from reductions in human error. But it's a complex area of research - involving the study of psychology, decision-making, crew member interaction, training, cockpit design and the relationship between humans and sophisticated automated systems - that sometimes takes a back seat to more obvious safety threats. "Can the accident rate be further reduced substantially? Absolutely yes," said Robert Dismukes, chief scientist for human factors research and technology at NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif. "But this will require better understanding of the underlying causes of human error and better ways of managing human error." Pilots are concerned that cockpit automation has eroded basic flying skills that may be required in an emergency. "The more automated things get, the more difficult it gets to spend 16 hours at a time in the cockpit and stay engaged, whether it's one flight or a series of flights over that period of time," said Paul Rice, an airline captain and a vice president of the Air Line Pilots Association, a union representing 53,000 pilots. "It's a difficult task. That's where study of human factors will make gains in the next few years." Smaller airlines, bigger woes The Colgan Air crash focused attention on pilot training, screening, scheduling, hiring, pay and professional conduct at regional carriers. The pilots lost control of the turboprop as it approached the Buffalo airport in icing conditions. The National Transportation Safety Board faulted the captain for responding inappropriately to a stall warning, among other errors, and made a series of recommendations to the FAA to tighten oversight of commuter carriers. The FAA said last month that it is keeping closer tabs on regional pilot training and has pushed commuter airlines to better track weak pilots. The pilots union criticized the safety board for placing the blame almost solely on the Colgan Air pilot rather than on an array of causes, including cost-cutting industry practices that the union says promote fatigue, poor training and inexperience. "We need to know why mistakes were made, not just that mistakes were made," Rice said. The union is calling for an overhaul of airline pilot training to encompass more flight-simulator time, use of high-tech motion simulators that better train for emergencies, more flying without aid from automated systems, enhanced command skills and mentorship of less experienced pilots. At regional carriers, which are under pressure to cut costs from the major airlines that contract their services, poor training can combine with relative inexperience to create unprepared pilots, Rice said. But the majors also are trimming their training requirements to reduce costs. When Rice began flying for a major airline 30 years ago, initial training took 3½ months, he said. Now it takes about 3½ weeks. Ground school and simulator time have both been trimmed, and pilots are expected to self-train using DVDs at home before showing up for retraining, he said. An industry spokesman said airlines are cutting costs but aren't compromising safety. "Does he cite anything, beyond his opinion, about how the number of hours and mechanism of training affect safety?" said David Castelveter of the Air Transport Association, an airlines industry group. "Is there a result, an analytical result, that makes flying any less safe? We believe no." The industry has worked closely for many years with the FAA, the pilots and others to study human factors, Castelveter said. Airlines gather information on crew performance through confidential employee reporting programs and cockpit ride-alongs and by analyzing flight data, he said. Major and regional airlines also closely follow FAA training standards, and many exceed those, Castelveter said. "The FAA approves our training programs," he said. "If the FAA believes those programs are inadequate, we will participate in any task force or review that needs to take place." Human error at all levels Pilot error is not confined to the regional airline industry. Though major airline pilots have the benefit of more experience, automated flight-deck systems and bigger employers, they also are vulnerable to human error. Aviation experts say raising the bar for pilot performance across the industry is equally important. There hasn't been a major-airline crash with passenger deaths in the United States since 2001 - compared with four such accidents involving regional carriers. But the last catastrophe involving a major U.S. airline, the 2001 crash of an American Airlines jet in Queens, N.Y., that killed 265 people, was blamed primarily on a pilot's inappropriate response to wake turbulence. More recently, a handful of accidents, close calls and other incidents involving mainline jets illustrates the seriousness of the problem. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Aviation Safety Reporting System database contains thousands of incident reports attributed to human factors. The Denver cases range in severity from taxiway conflicts to a near-collision in 2007 of an incoming jetliner with a turboprop that strayed onto the runway. Many cases involve pilots recovering from unexpected events such as strong winds or potential conflicts with other planes. The December 2008 crash at DIA of a Continental Airlines jet taking off in heavy gusts isn't in the database, and investigators haven't determined whether crew error played a role. In the May 2009 incident, the pilot said the plane was never in danger, but he called it a "valuable lesson learned about habit patterns, possible fatigue, distractions and how they can create a quick error chain that can snow ball based on environment and circumstances." Perhaps the most well-known U.S. airline accident in recent years was the successful ditching of a US Airways jet on the Hudson River in New York in January 2009 after bird strikes took out both engines. The crew, headed by 42-year veteran captain Chesley Sullenberger, glided the plane to touchdown on the river, saving everyone on board. The incident showed pilot skill at its highest level - the kind passengers hope exists in the cockpit each time they board a commercial flight. But there were other nonfatal incidents in 2009 that raised troubling questions about crew performance and training. · On Oct. 19, a Delta Air Lines flight from Brazil landed on a taxiway instead of a runway at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta. · Two days later, a Northwest Airlines crew overflew its destination, Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, by 150 miles. They were out of radio contact with air-traffic controllers for much of the flight from San Diego. The pilots have said they were using laptops and discussing company scheduling policies. · An American Airlines jet skidded off the runway during a storm in Jamaica on Dec. 22. It had landed about 4,000 feet into the 8,900-foot runway. The FAA increased oversight of the airline after the accident and two incidents in December in which wings touched ground during landings. Automation pros, cons Bill Voss, president of the Alexandria, Va.-based international nonprofit Flight Safety Foundation, said that worldwide, more accidents reflect the troubling trend of pilots responding inappropriately to or not recognizing automation failures or anomalies during flight. Two recent deadly examples were a Turkish Airlines jet that hit ground before the runway in Amsterdam in February 2009 and the Air France plane that crashed into the Atlantic Ocean amid severe thunderstorms in June. An altimeter failed on the Turkish Air flight, prompting the autopilot to prematurely power down the engines. By the time the pilots realized what had happened, it was too late to avoid a crash. It's less clear what happened on the Air France flight, but investigators said the plane's air-speed indicators were giving faulty readings before it went down. That's a dangerous situation but is not by itself unrecoverable by an alert crew that is trained for it, Voss said. "I can't imagine how many people have been saved by automation, but what we haven't done a good job of is evolving our training with the changes," he said. "Any technology comes with new modes of failure, and we've never assessed and trained for these new modes of failure." "Loss of control" accidents - in which the crew was unable to recover from an unexpected event such as engine failure or a stall - accounted for 42 percent of commercial aviation fatalities worldwide from 1999 through 2008, more than any other cause, according to the Boeing Co. and the Commercial Aviation Safety Team, a joint effort between the FAA and the aviation industry. In the U.S., loss-of-control accidents declined during the past decade, accounting for 29 percent of all fatal commercial airline crashes from 2000 to 2009, down from 34 percent in the previous decade, according to FAA statistics. Automation and proficiency One way to reduce accidents would be to increase remedial pilot training in basic flying skills that have been eroded because of automation, said Mike Gillen, a veteran Denver-based commercial airline pilot who has researched the issue. Gillen tested 30 commercial airline pilots on five maneuvers, including takeoff, instrument-based approach, aborted landing, holding pattern and engine failure at takeoff. On average, pilots flew below the airlines' required standards and in some cases committed serious errors, Gillen said. "I'm not saying that airline pilots aren't proficient at flying the planes with the equipment on board," he said. "I am saying that when the equipment is severely degraded, they can have trouble flying the airplane." Castelveter of the airline association said automation failures are rare because of built-in redundancies in flight systems. The FAA is planning a meeting with airline leaders in April to discuss how the companies incorporate human-factors issues in their training, agency spokeswoman Alison Duquette said. Some airlines have begun encouraging pilots to manually fly their planes more before and after cruise to keep those skills fresh, said Rice of the pilots union. "The mechanics of an airplane are highly reliable. The avionics and the instrumentation are highly reliable. But it can still fail," Rice said. "The last and best safety device in the airplane is a well-trained, well-qualified pilot." Read more: http://www.denverpost.com/ci_14398562#ixzz0fbsYtixd [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103046934603&s=6053&e=001oTfPErIqpBO2oI1lGNRk3tsWBRX9KTOW1jx-RGR5KyR3DDc36DvKfzbDnGwj6hEB3KQjU-hwiH75VuMBeNdrZ7vmXUYOz-_1u2_19L_LiDcGvS2myuBPGeXfE1fW5KWIf9K3wZ5g-vnaQ5SNUAPPkw==] Back to Top [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103046934603&s=6053&e=001oTfPErIqpBMud6DsrWsTewMYuhMInFk-24mILuXnlZKhX1k5Q_0M9cP-0n0z_mp3Seaqll2QxE802z4ljUJmtQ==] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ERAU begins minor in unmanned aircraft By MARK HARPER HIGHER EDUCATION The use of unmanned aerial vehicles is growing rapidly -- both in war theaters and for security purposes along U.S. borders. And with the Federal Aviation Administration expected to allow more civilian uses of the aircraft sometimes known as UAVs, the job market will open up for trained operators. Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University is introducing a new minor to its curriculum: Unmanned Aircraft Systems. The university will offer the 15-credit minor in five courses starting this fall. "UAVs can do things that are impossible or too dangerous for regular aircraft to do," aeronautical science professor Ted Beneigh said in a news release. "For example, tiny insect UAVs equipped with audio and video sensors can fly through windows and into limited spaces to assist with a rescue or security." UAVs could soon be used by police departments in the United States. In Japan, they're used as crop dusters and in Canada, model-airplane sized UAVs equipped with sensors fly over fields and identify which crops are healthy and which need help, Beneigh said. Beneigh, who started the new program, is a technical expert on an FAA-funded research project that could result in more UAVs flying in the United States. http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/News/Local/newEAST02021510.htm [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103046934603&s=6053&e=001oTfPErIqpBPV1Su8EiD6iq5IqS4nbAFFNAM5oBGnNI8GG0NDboeamPFDrQzdPy0MXkiOI9aCXywgo-mmI_QhQZD2oRd1hRkddtISOFMKWmvNwlx_FTp7Cn9bNbcdZsbx08zMmyBgh8gvt8bSHqiNO9JLkcQVZr8OXhPbRwdaDQLzh2eJ9UbfspRl-apziSl1lLUiUfDzoQY=] Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Man tackled during takeoff of flight in MI LANSING, Mich. - A man has been removed from a plane at a Lansing airport after passengers tackled him during takeoff. Witnesses tell WILX-TV that the man was tackled Sunday night by several passengers at Capital Region International Airport after the pilot of Delta Flight 3679 told them takeoff was delayed because of bad weather in Detroit. Witnesses say during the delay flight attendants asked several men to move to the front of the plane, and the man was tackled after demanding to sit near the cockpit. He was held down while the plane returned to the gate at the airport located about 80 miles west-northwest of Detroit. FBI and Transportation Security Administration officials removed him from the plane. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-mi-airlinerdisruptio,0,6796522.story [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103046934603&s=6053&e=001oTfPErIqpBN_Ij8dWyezf1cixhG2iQuClvyn10gxpaVz7AlIh0Cu9NxHj5Jboq0WAPNatos0xxP460IFACiu6XwkSbNCngYjV-1XTL98cESpCxldLODF8_oHH8ymuRL7kRZx34a3w1ehgpHIgZwF3n_XMTW_OV3iE92ajuoLKs5ww3-_zxgSnc1O2OTGml3-] Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Flight from Amsterdam to Detroit met by security Monday, February 15, 2010 at 4:08 a.m. (AP) -- Authorities say a Delta flight from Amsterdam to Detroit was met by security after a passenger's medical device was reported as being suspicious. Transportation Security Administration spokesman Jon Allen says the passenger was interviewed after the plane landed at Detroit Metropolitan Airport in Romulus on Saturday afternoon and was allowed to leave after telling agents about the device. Airport spokesman Mike Conway said federal officials determined there was no threat. The Associated Press paged a representative of Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines Inc. seeking comment. The response follows a boost in airline and airports security after a Nigerian man allegedly tried to ignite a bomb on a Christmas Day flight to Detroit from Amsterdam. http://www.upnorthlive.com/news/story.aspx?id=416325 [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103046934603&s=6053&e=001oTfPErIqpBPpB_97KZoUprv1kyPZgo1S8gBJzdvF8Ej4qKVN0ziEllrWWF5CNcjcDPD_hL5en525MN7GA4t7LKv7qG3dqUE-XYvO3HCzJ2a7LsvCSSMeqSR5A9bN-V8fcHIpKCdKkEgpZ00FHK1zYENqXooN4MCK] Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ TAM renews IOSA Operational Safety Certification Friday, February 12, 2010 TAM Linhas Aereas, known internationally as TAM Airlines, and TAM Mercosur, the latter with headquarters in Asuncion, Paraguay, achieved their IOSA (IATA Operational Safety Audit) registration renewal, which is now valid until January 2012. IOSA is the civil aviation industry's most comprehensive and accepted international certificate on operational safety. The reassessment of IOSA registration has been granted to both airlines upon the completion of the audit carried out by ARGUS PROS, an independent organization accredited by IATA. The process involved several areas from both companies, which achieved around 940 requirements related to operational safety. TAM has maintained IOSA registration since January 2007. The registration was validated by IATA in 2008 and again now, in January 2010. TAM Linhas Aereas and TAM Mercosur's registration renewal is published on IATA's official website. Launched by IATA in 2003, the IOSA program is a worldwide reference in operational safety management for airlines and it assesses their processes related to: management system, flight operations, operational dispatch, ramp operations, airports, maintenance, cargo, operational safety, and training for every area associated with the airline's operations. Major aeronautical authorities worldwide accept the IOSA. It is also accepted by international airline companies on codeshare agreements, dismissing overlays of same nature audits whenever a new partnership is entered into. With IOSA registration renewal, TAM meets another requirement to join the Star Alliance, the largest global airline alliance, currently composed of 26 major airline companies worldwide. The process for integrating TAM into the Star Alliance is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2010. TAM strictly follows the rules and standards established by the aeronautical authorities in Brazil, the United States and Europe, in addition to those agreed by international organizations such as the ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization). Moreover, TAM is affiliated to the most important civil aviation flight safety agencies worldwide such as the FSF (Flight Safety Foundation), the largest worldwide non-governmental organization. The company takes an active part in IATA's Americas Regional Flight Safety Committee (RCG), and is an effective member of the United Kingdom Flight Safety Committee (UKFSC), an association of entities and professionals dedicated to the improvement of commercial aviation flight safety within the United Kingdom. http://www.traveldailynews.com/pages/show_page/35587-TAM-renews-IOSA-Operational-Safety-Certification [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103046934603&s=6053&e=001oTfPErIqpBOrVNFTvUILyzkwWFmB0Z1_Vf_V7kabeSkbzmvfmQB6RRaIWvpzvnWacz421gUkaaplPpUDvurtJnIMDb47vYaBhcQi9Pe4Pz_m9x9zh9MPkhEw7TwB3hiw2F4uTvN6IHce8enCr1jN4Z0o8kVScSwvZea4N3iJqXEL1AlMVSQKJOXXOp5ZlSnSXVYYJDCHH1DZ1bkAZv3bD1QBGD_HtKVp] Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC