Flight Safety Information May 3, 2010 - No. 085 In This Issue Gulfstream Touts Safety With Data Monitoring Service Merged: Continental and United Tie The Knot Matchup FAA: Southwest jet, copter nearly hit in Houston Disruption Forces Orlando Flight To Land Melbourne Airport receives new terminal area radar Airbus builds mock-up of XWB fuselage to avoid A380 errors ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Gulfstream Touts Safety With Data Monitoring Service Flight Operations Risk Management Service (FORMS) Available For Bizjets Introduced in 2009, Gulfstream's Flight Operations Risk Management Service (FORMS) resembles Flight Monitoring/Flight Operations Quality Assurance (FDM/FOQA) programs utilized by the commercial airline industry. Gulfstream says FORMS increases operational safety by objectively and accurately measuring exposure to known risks, such as unstable approaches, system operating limits and adverse runway operations. Forty-four Gulfstream aircraft are enrolled in the service and the company expects more to follow. "With FORMS, there's no guess work, just a quantifiable assessment of the crew's performance and the potential for risks," said Randy Gaston, vice president, Flight Operations, Gulfstream. "We can then use that information to create real-world training that mitigates those risks. It really is a cutting-edge safety enhancement." FlightSafety International is working closely with Gulfstream on this initiative and will use the feedback from FORMS to incorporate into training scenarios. "The information that FORMS provides will allow us to train pilots on specific areas of improvement," said David Davenport, regional operations manager and Savannah Learning Center manager, FlightSafety. "We are looking forward to expanding our training scenarios based on the feedback we receive from FORMS. This is a win-win situation for Gulfstream operators." FORMS consists of two components, a Quick Access Recorder (QAR) to collect data and a monitoring service provided by Austin Digital Inc. of Texas to analyze it. The system records when defined takeoff, climb, cruise, descent, approach and landing parameters have been exceeded. When this occurs, the system identifies and analyzes the conditions present during the event and provides a summary to the operator. Gulfstream then receives consolidated fleet data with which to enhance pilot training. "Our in-service analysis of this system demonstrated that operators using FORMS have fewer unstable approaches than operators not using the system," Gaston said. "Feedback to pilots during the training program, and directly via their own safety stand downs, ensures adherence to Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), which greatly improves operating safety." The QAR captures the same information as a flight-data recorder but comes with a removable compact flash drive that has the capability to record hundreds of hours of data. It does not require a technician or specialized equipment for removal. The system is available through an aircraft service change for the Gulfstream G550, G500, G450, G350, G400, and G300. FMI: www.gulfstream.com Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Merged: Continental and United Tie The Knot Matchup Yields Biggest Airline In The Biz... and Possible Woes For Consumers While most of us were trying to enjoy the weekend, the powers-that-be at United and Continental were reportedly cooking up a deal that was completed Sunday afternoon to merge the two companies to create the world's 'Largest' airline. The estimated $3.7 Billion dollar stock purchase would allow UAL to buy the entire stock of Continental in an all-stock transaction that is expected to close before the end of the year and will retain United's brand name. The combined value of the two companies is estimated at well over $8 Billion. As we understand it, the announcement is likely to be made later today (Monday) and would install Continental Boss, Jeffery A. Smisek, as the head of the new company, while United's chairman, Glenn F. Tilton, would be nonexecutive chairman for two years. Mr. Smisek will take of the role of executive chairman, thereafter. The new entity's HQ remains in Chicago in UAL's current digs and will result in a fleet of some 700 aircraft and over 88,000 staffers. United shareholders allegedly will hold a 55% majority of the stock in the new venture. Simultaneously; like Eastern, PanAm and Braniff airlines before them, a once powerful airline brand will cease to be part of the aviation lexicon. Industry analysts see the move as a probable win for UAL/Continental and a possible loss for the flying consumer who has had to put up with increasing fees, higher ticket prices and a significant decline in customer service and decorum... the combined merger provides little incentive for these airlines to make any inroads in matters of interest/importance to the flying public and history suggests that the merger will not result in positive benefits for same. Analysis of the impact on UAL and Continental staffing remains mixed. FMI: www.united.com, www.continental.com, www.dot.gov Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FAA: Southwest jet, copter nearly hit in Houston (AP) Federal aviation authorities say they are investigating how a Southwest plane and a helicopter nearly collided shortly after the aircrafts took off from a Houston airport. Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Lynn Lunsford said Saturday that a Southwest plane and a helicopter barely missed each other by after taking off from Houston's Hobby Airport on April 28. The near-collision happened as the Southwest plane was about 100 feet off the ground. Lunsford says both pilots took evasive actions, with the plane slowing its climb and the helicopter banking hard to the right. Lunsford said they missed each other by about 100 feet vertically and 125 feet laterally. Southwest spokeswoman Brandy King said the airline is working with the National Transportation Safety Board. She declined additional comment. Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Disruption Forces Orlando Flight To Land Authorities Say Boy Became Unruly In Air ORLANDO, Fla. -- A local flight had to turn around and make an emergency landing after a disruption on board. Investigators said a 16-year-old boy became unruly during the flight from Orlando International Airport Sunday night. He and his family were escorted off of the U.S. Airlines flight. The flight was headed to Phoenix. The other passengers were able to catch a later flight. There is no word of any charges against that family. http://www.wesh.com/news/23430580/detail.html Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Melbourne Airport receives new terminal area radar Air traffic services provider Airservices Australia has commissioned a new terminal area radar at Melbourne Airport, as part of an ongoing upgrade to radars at Australian airports. The new Mode S radar, located on Gellibrand Hill outside the airport's perimeter, will provide improved surveillance of air traffic up to 256nm around Melbourne, says Airservices Australia. It replaces a 15-year-old system and "significantly enhances the ability of air traffic controllers to monitor aircraft in all weather conditions", says the air navigation services provider. The radar is the second to be commissioned under a national A$80 million ($74.1 million) Mode S terminal area radar upgrading project, it adds. "Mode S technology delivers significant benefits to Airservices and the aviation industry, including higher rates of operational availability, the quality and quantity of the data received, and less frequent maintenance requirements," says Airservices Australia's general manager for technology and asset services, Alastair Hodgson. The first Mode S radar system was commissioned at Mount Sommervile to provide surveillance on Queensland's Gold Coast. Airservices will deploy similar systems at a further seven sites across Australia. One will be commissioned in Darwin by year-end, and work will start on similar upgrades for Sydney and Adelaide terminal area radars in early 2011, says Airservices Australia. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news Back to Top [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103358089642&s=6053&e=001znh6WvvgowR3Q_5Xr9RMHV_m0_mwBSkCqUz3NNRw6UahAdRlHQ4wGVyzUVD7REf1uop4FhRAS6DM7mV5pc7bECou7gOzoS1l] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Airbus builds mock-up of XWB fuselage to avoid A380 errors Airbus aims to avoid a repeat of the A380 production dramas caused by over-reliance on the digital mock-up (DMU), by building a physical mock-up of the A350's fuselage. "The DMU is a fantastic tool, but the lesson learned from the A380 was that we needed to go further to anticipate system installation problems," says A350 programme manager Didier Evrard. "This was a large burden we carried on the A380 programme and this is why we've built this physical mock-up." On the A380, Airbus relied solely on digital mock-up software to test the installation of wiring and other systems, which it found to its cost was inadequate at replicating the reality of the actual assembly effort. The airframer was forced to redesign and reinstall wiring looms and re-invent its assembly process, leading to the major production delays suffered by the programme. The A350's fuselage and cabin physical mock-up is being assembled at Airbus's Hamburg plant, with the front fuselage so far having been constructed. "In the coming months the whole fuselage will be built - we have already used it a lot last year for testing design, assembly processes, tools and jigs," adds Evrard. Next year the physical mock-up will be used for a dry run of the systems installation into the entire fuselage before this is attempted on A350-900 MSN001, says Evrard. "This will be a very strong de-risking measure for the MSN001 final assembly." Source: Air Transport Intelligence news Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC