Flight Safety Information April 26, 2010 - No. 081 In This Issue FAA Timeline For NextGen In Jeopardy NTSB to investigate Southwest Airlines jet's near collision FAA wants no pilot distractions Aircraft encountered turbulence over Bangalore Passengers Restrain Unruly Man On Airplane FAA to Mandate New Round of Safety Inspections on Some Boeing 737s Crashed Air France jet had maintenance problems?... Crashed Polish Tu-154 fitted with terrain warning system ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FAA Timeline For NextGen In Jeopardy, DOT Says IG Says FAA Having Difficulty Keeping The Project "On Track" In Congressional Testimony The House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Aviation heard testimony on long-term planning and interagency cooperation for the implementation of the Next Generation Air Traffic Control system, also know as NextGen, on Wednesday. During the hearing, a representative of the DOT said the FAA is "facing challenges" in keeping the program on track. The hearing was the Subcommittee's fourth look at the NextGen system in the 111th Congress. Transportation committee chairman James Oberstar (D-MN) said modernizing and transforming our ATC system is a national priority, and Congress has made this clear by creating the Joint Planning and Development Office (JPDO) within the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to plan for, and coordinate with, Federal and non-Federal stakeholders, to transform the current ATC system to the NextGen system. "Because the JPDO is a multi-agency effort, coordination between the JPDO and the Departments of Transportation, Defense, Commerce, and Homeland Security, as well as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the White House Office of Science and Technology, is essential," he said. But Oberstar cautioned that it is clear that such projects are difficult to manage. "History has taught us that "big bang" approaches to ATC modernization do not work," he said. "As both the Department of Transportation Inspector General and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) have noted, the FAA's major acquisitions in the past have run into billions of dollars of cost growth and years of schedule delays, all of which are directly traceable to overly ambitious plans, complex software development, changing requirements, and poor contract management. I appreciate that representatives of both the Inspector General and the GAO are here today, and I look forward to hearing their testimony." In his prepared remarks for the committee, DOT IG Calvin L. Scovel III said the FAA continues to face significant challenges in achieving its NextGen long-term goals. "Central to this effort is the successful implementation of ongoing modernization projects that will provide platforms for new NextGen capabilities for enhancing capacity," he said. "However, key multibillion-dollar programs have experienced problems, and FAA has yet to fully determine their NextGen-specific requirements. These platforms include the $2.1 billion En Route Automation Modernization (ERAM) program. Delays with this and other projects will have a cascading effect on NextGen plans now and well into the future. One critical step to avoid risks with NextGen's cost, schedule, and capabilities is addressing gaps in partner agencies' research and development efforts and long-term budgets and plans. We identified actions that can be taken now to strengthen the multi-agency approach, better leverage Federal research projects, and prevent duplicative efforts." "Delays or performance shortfalls in any of these systems will impact NextGen's development and implementation," Scovel continued. "For example, FAA has not yet established firm requirements that can be used to develop cost and schedule estimates for modifications to existing terminal automation systems, which will allow controllers to display and use satellite surveillance to better manage traffic. According to FAA, it may take an additional 1 to 2 years to develop requirements for these systems and other mid-term NextGen efforts." "While FAA is making progress in addressing NextGen's challenges, a number of critical actions are still needed, many of which focus on aligning agencies' research and resources to reduce development costs and mitigate risks with a multibillion-dollar effort that will span decades," said Scovel. Unless these issues are effectively addressed in the near term, FAA runs the risk that NextGen may not deliver the long-term benefits needed to meet the expected future demand for air travel." Dr. Karlin Toner, Director of the JPDO, said the offices' mission has evolved since it was created. "Initially, the office was created by Vision-100 as an interagency group to work across government and with the industry to define the NextGen integrated plan," he said. "During the earlier planning stages, I was fortunate to be part of that visionary group as a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) researcher serving on an integrated product team, helping to brainstorm ideas and concepts that might benefit the modernization of our air transportation system. As the planning matured, the JPDO focused more exclusively on the long-term research planning." Toner said the NextGen vision, expressed in the JPDO's Concept of Operations, contains a wide variety of possible ideas that might be helpful to meet our Nation's air traffic needs. But, neither the vision nor avenues being considered are static. NextGen capabilities are beginning to be implemented today, and as we gain experience, our past work will help us refine how we more effectively implement future NextGen goals. "Today's world is different than the one in which the NextGen Concept of Operations was originally envisioned," he said. The economy, the airlines, the environment, energy issues, and our security needs have changed dramatically. To account for these changes, we must take a more flexible approach to longer-term NextGen planning, blending evolution and transformation to meet the national needs for air transportation. We must test and prioritize our options against these realities." Toner said that by 2025, the expectation is that the air traffic system will still rely on pilots and air traffic controllers, but their roles will be different than they are today, and may be different from what we currently predict them to be in 2025. "We want to make sure that they will have the tools and systems they need to perform their functions safely and effectively," he said. FMI: http://transportation.house.gov Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ NTSB to investigate Southwest Airlines jet's near collision with small plane at Burbank airport A Southwest Airlines Co. jet landing at the Burbank, Calif., airport had a near collision Monday with a small single-engine aircraft taking off on a crossing runway, the National Transportation Safety Board said Friday. The NTSB said it is investigating the close call, in which the two airplanes came within 200 feet vertically and 10 feet laterally of each other at the intersection of the airport's two runways. Southwest's Boeing 737s are 110 feet long. "We are working closely with the NTSB in support of their investigation and look forward to learning more," Southwest spokeswoman Brandy King said. "Because it is an open investigation, we cannot comment further at this time." The Southwest flight, arriving from Oakland, was coming from the west as it landed on an east-west runway, while the southbound Cessna 172 was taking off on a crossing north-south runway. Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said the Southwest aircraft was on its final approach as the Cessna was practicing touch-and-go landings on the north-south runway. "Normally this would not have presented a conflict potential. However, the air traffic controller handling the planes misjudged the spacing of the two aircraft," Gregor said. "The controller instructed the Cessna pilot to turn at a point that had the two aircraft arriving at the intersection at roughly the same time," he said, and then "failed to recognize the potential conflict and did not instruct the Cessna to go around." He said the Cessna passed 200 feet above and 10 feet behind the Southwest aircraft. "The controller has been fully certified at Burbank for about two years," Gregor said. "He is an excellent controller who made an unusual, and unfortunate, mistake." The FAA began investigating the near-hit immediately, he said. As for the controller, "he and all the other controllers in the tower received training on what went wrong and how to prevent a recurrence," Gregor said. In its advisory, the NTSB said it has sent a Washington-based employee who specializes in air traffic control issues to investigate the incident. http://www.dallasnews.com/ [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103341358983&s=6053&e=0017IhMICg-5SSgxAB83G8zbTCNx0uB8ua4RhSbbz3e4dgvcdKj9mTv6A7Phc94p9okqDiaKKkfWVEfv7aqBqwmvVXEbiKXsIAygS9nTKUOhwv1Knv4SLkWCw==] Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FAA wants no pilot distractions IN THE COCKPIT A federal law barring banter among commercial pilots while taxiing and flying below 10,000 feet has not always been followed. There have been 20 serious events since January 2000 - some involving crashes - in which the NTSB released voice recording transcripts as part of a formal report. Eleven of those voice recordings contain evidence of violations. Source: National Transportaion Safety Board, USA TODAY research By Alan Levin, USA TODAY Federal aviation regulators are prodding airlines today to take concrete steps that would ensure their pilots are not distracted by laptops, cellphones and extraneous conversations. Spurred by a series of recent accidents and incidents in which pilots' attention was diverted from flying, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will issue a notice to carriers today calling for better internal rules and training on the issue. The notice was obtained by USA TODAY. Cockpit distractions and lack of professionalism have become top aviation safety issues in the past year. Two Northwest Airlines pilots flew 150 miles past their destination in October because they were working on laptops. A crash on Feb. 12, 2009, near Buffalo, which killed 50 people, was triggered in part because pilots were chatting and not paying attention to flight conditions, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) concluded. "There is no room for distraction when your job is to get people safely to their destinations," Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood says in a statement to be issued today. "The traveling public expects professional pilots to focus on flying and on safety at all times." The FAA action follows recommendations by the NTSB to become more aggressive in attacking the problem. In February, the NTSB classified the FAA's response to the issue as "unacceptable" because of delays in acting. The NTSB made the first of several calls for tighter cockpit discipline in 2007. The NTSB will hold a three-day public forum on improving professionalism among pilots and air-traffic controllers starting May 18. Airlines agree that cockpit distractions need to be addressed and already have begun examining their policies and procedures, says David Castelveter, spokesman for the Air Transport Association. In its notice to airlines today, the FAA emphasizes that carriers should take specific steps to eliminate cockpit distractions. The agency says airlines should create a "safety culture" - a top-to-bottom expectation that safety will be taken seriously - that emphasizes eliminating distractions. The FAA calls on carriers to set more specific rules and improve training. The FAA's notice to airlines is voluntary, but failure to follow its suggestions can lead to additional inspections and scrutiny of records on safety efforts. The explosion in the use of cellphones and other personal electronic devices has had a troubling impact on aviation and other modes of transportation, the NTSB has found. The co-pilot of the regional flight that crashed near Buffalo had used her phone to send text messages while the plane taxied toward the runway in Newark before the flight, investigators found. The messages played no role in the accident, but investigators said they were part of a disturbing trend. http://www.usatoday.com/travel/flights/2010-04-25-pilots_N.htm Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Aircraft encountered turbulence over Bangalore MUMBAI/KOCHI: There were two theories for the turbulence that shook an Emirates flight from Dubai to Kochi on Sunday. While Emirates officials said the aircraft encountered turbulence "due to cloud'', aviation meteorologists said that the route did not have any thunderstorm clouds in the morning and the aircraft could have flown into an air pocket. What is clear though is that there surely was poor weather enroute. "Aircraft flying that route were all asking for deviations to avoid a thunderstorm cloud. The Emirates aircraft also asked for a deviation when it was over the Arabian sea north-west of Mangalore. The flight was cleared to proceed to Calicut,'' said an air traffic controller from Mangalore. An aviation meteorology expert had a different take. "The upper air wind/temperature charts issued by World Area Forecast centre did not show any thunderstorm clouds on that route in the morning. But it showed a slight wind shear condition (winds changing speed and direction rapidly) off the coast of Mangalore. At 35,000 feet, the chart shows strong westerly wind with a speed of 60 kts dropping to 25-30 kts. It's one of the indicators of clear air turbulence (CAT).'' Unlike thunderstorm clouds, CAT cannot be detected on an aircraft's airborne weather radar. But it can be predicted by studying upper wind charts with indicators such as wind shear. The Emirates aircraft may have encountered CAT. An aircraft can suddenly lose altitude and get bounced around when it enters CAT, the expert explained. According to Emirates, the incident took place over the Bangalore airspace at 35,000 feet. "The aircraft encountered a weather cloud near Bangalore and experienced a short period of heavy turbulence. The drop in altitude was minor, a descent of 200 feet, and the aircraft landed safely,'' said Majid Al Mualla, Emirates senior vice-president, commercial operations, west Asia and Indian Ocean. "The fasten-your-seatbelt sign was on prior to the period of turbulence,'' an airline spokesperson said. But a passenger disagreed. "There was no warning to wear the seatbelt. Even the air-hostesses ran around panic-stricken. There were shrieks all around. We breathed easy only when the plane regained it's balance,'' said Elsie, who works as a tailor in Kuwait and was returning home for a two-month vacation. "When the aircraft came down a few feet with a thud, a mother sitting in an opposite seat quickly tried to pick up her baby from a pram. But they both fell on to the aisle,'' she added. "Everything happened even before we could realise it. I thought we were going right into the sea below,'' said Ibrahim, another passenger, adding that immediately after the rocking the passengers helped each other. "After a while, a crew member gave me some ice cubes to hold against a wound, but the bleeding wouldn't stop. When the aircraft finally touched down safely, everyone clapped,'' Elsie said. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com\ [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103341358983&s=6053&e=0017IhMICg-5SQ7_koMyyJi3W_jq3_c2aRnNuN6kfFMsecZQo5GEK2Voyha5e9dsHKOIDBLcRl9ORAXk_OnyhNTII3j1zFGSYW1XsHs0QFdsYszEBbOECaZErttLL23jCjf] Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ . Passengers Restrain Unruly Man On Airplane Albuquerque, NM, United States (AHN) - Flight officials reported a disturbance on Delta flight 2148 early Friday morning. According to reports, Stanley Dwayne Sheffield, 46, of Florida started making threats and became disruptive on the flight enroute from Los Angeles to Tampa. The flight had to be diverted to Albuquerque, NM. Sheffield allegedly damaged a bathroom and tried to enter the flight deck when seven passengers sprang into action and restrained him. He was treated for slight injuries sustained during the tussle and was handed over to FBI agents upon landing. The FBI does not believe Sheffield had any terrorist intentions. They are not certain whether drugs or alcohol had anything to do with his aggressive behavior. He now faces federal charges of destroying aircraft property and disrupting a flight crew. He was scheduled to appear in federal court Friday. Read more: http://www.allheadlinenews.com/ [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103341358983&s=6053&e=0017IhMICg-5SREr_VoKmgaEtAzHx9IbXzzR_d2JRnDWEAG4GT8_xUw3UetDXT0JtbmivCS7FwZDeQxLUp3q-6jNNS8ILXsXqCbTx6f0kLgpW5fBRtqb8PtuKLURd0VDKBf] Back to Top [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103341358983&s=6053&e=0017IhMICg-5SS3Yru0QjRvQakReXX23DIUhvGZkXsKvJ5zxzvm0tqTKspnyHR97XXtxo5iCapmbuxMNaJQMg74MmxfdUvR5TG2] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FAA to Mandate New Round of Safety Inspections on Some Boeing 737s By ANDY PASZTOR For the second time in as many months, U.S. air-safety regulators on Monday will mandate speedy inspections to prevent potentially dangerous vibrations affecting certain flight-control surfaces on the tails of some of the latest Boeing 737 models. The safety directive scheduled to be issued as early as Monday by the Federal Aviation Administration requires inspections of mechanisms that help control part of the elevators on about 125 U.S. registered Boeing 737s. Elevators are movable panels located on the horizontal tails of aircraft, which help control a plane's up and down pitch. Reflecting the level of concern by the FAA and manufacturer Boeing Co., some of the inspections must be completed within six days. Based on various factors including the age of the plane, other inspections must be finished between 12 and 30 days. Foreign regulators eventually are expected to follow the FAA's lead, extending mandatory inspections to cover about 360 planes around the world, according to Boeing. The decision to enhance and expand inspections comes after an initial round of federally-mandated emergency checks in March proved inadequate, according to the FAA. Following the first round of inspections, one Boeing 737 suffered severe elevator vibrations and was forced to return to the airport from which it departed. The plane, which landed safely, had been inspected as required under the earlier safety directive. The FAA didn't identify the airline. The latest inspections are targeted partly at aircraft flying long-range routes over water, which makes such malfunctions particularly dangerous because planes can be cruising two hours or more from the nearest emergency landing strip. Excessive vibration may cause "structural failure of the elevator or horizontal stabilizer" to which it is attached, and also "could result in loss of structural integrity and aircraft control," according to the FAA directive posted Friday on the Federal Register's Web site. On Friday, a Boeing spokeswoman said the manufacturer issued a revised safety bulletin on April 16. She said the problem stems from incorrect tooling used in the factory, which has since been corrected. But as a precaution, she said, Boeing has recommended inspections of some long-range overwater 737s assembled after the tooling was changed. In addition, Boeing has issued safety procedures to be used by pilots in case they experience vibrations of such elevator mechanisms in flight. The FAA said it intends to analyze inspection results and other data "to develop final action to address the unsafe condition." http://online.wsj.com/ Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Crashed Air France jet had maintenance problems? Agence France-Presse, Sunday April 25, 2010, Paris An initial experts' report into the crash of an Air France jet off Brazil last year, which killed 228 people, points to possible maintenance problems with air speed probes , a newspaper said today. Experts said they removed nine probes out of a total of 84 seized from Air France and some were either moderately or highly degraded, which could be linked to the length of time between checks, said the French daily Liberation. The finding could mean that the probes were not cleaned often enough, said Liberation, which had seen a copy of the preliminary report into the cause of the crash of the Airbus A330 in June 2009. In mid-December the French air accident investigation agency BEA said that the jet's speed probes, made by French firm Thales, gave false readings and were "one of the factors" in the crash but "not the sole cause". After the crash Airbus and US and European air authorities ordered airlines to replace the so-called pitot tubes on A330 and A340 aircraft made by Thales with a different model produced by US firm Goodrich. Air France said in a statement today that the BEA enquiry "showed that Air France scrupulously respected all the procedures set out by the manufacturers and the authorities". "Air France has not seen the report mentioned today by Liberation," the statement added. Alain Jakubowicz, from a group of lawyers representing the families of the victims, the new report "doesn't show much new", saying that the "only authority" they would rely on was the investigating judges. French authorities said last month they had resumed the search for the black box recorders of the passenger jet. The crash of Air France flight AF447 occurred on June 1, as the plane was flying from Rio de Janeiro to Paris with passengers and crew of 32 nationalities, including 72 French citizens, 58 Brazilians and 26 Germans. http://www.ndtv.com/news/world/crashed-air-france-jet-had-maintenance-problems-20882.php Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Crashed Polish Tu-154 fitted with terrain warning system Russian investigators have confirmed that the Polish state Tupolev Tu-154M which crashed on approach to Smolensk had been equipped with a ground collision-warning system. Based on information derived from the aircraft's flight recorders, the Interstate Aviation Committee (MAK) states that the aircraft was also fitted with US-built satellite navigation equipment. MAK has yet to clarify whether the terrain awareness and warning system was active. The aircraft, transporting a presidential delegation from Warsaw, crashed after striking trees while attempting to land in fog on 10 April. MAK states that it is studying documentation detailing modification to the Tu-154 undertaken at the Samara-based Aviakor plant towards the end of last year. Investigators are still working to identify voices of the flight crew and are performing a forensic examination to establish the precise locations of crew members at the time of the accident. MAK has also been synchronising the information received from the cockpit-voice and flight-data recorders and cross-checking it with transcripts from air traffic control communications. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC