Flight Safety Information May 4, 2010 - No. 086 In This Issue Report: Russian pilots ordered out of Iran FAA Safety Briefing Focuses on NextGen FAA Proposes $297,000 Civil Penalty Against Air Mods ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Report: Russian pilots ordered out of Iran (CNN) -- Iran's transportation minister says the Islamic republic is sending home Russian pilots who fly for Iranian airlines, according to local reports. "Sending back the foreign pilots is on the agenda of the ministry of road and transportation and the issue is being implemented now," Transportation Minister Hamid Behbahani told the semi-official Fars News Agency on Monday. Behbahani added the Russian-made Tupolev 154 planes -- Soviet-era aircraft operated by several Iranian airlines -- will gradually be replaced by newer passenger planes. It was not immediately who would supply the new planes. In March, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad issued an order to expel the foreign pilots within a two-month time period. Following that announcement, Behbahani said Iran should not employ foreign pilots when there are enough skilled Iranian pilots, Fars reported. The report did not say how many Russian pilots are flying in Iran, or how many Tupolevs are in operation in the country. Iran has a recent history of plane crashes and mishaps with Russian-made Tupolevs. Most recently, 46 people were injured in January when a Taban Air plane caught fire after landing at Mashhad International Airport in eastern Iran. In 2009, a Caspian Airlines flight crashed in a field near the northern city of Qavzin, killing more than 160 people. The Tupolev 154 is essentially banned in the West because it does not comply with European noise and pollution regulations, but it has a safer-than-average accident record, aviation safety experts told CNN after the Caspian crash. Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FAA Safety Briefing Focuses on NextGen The May/June 2010 issue of FAA Safety Briefing focuses on the wide range of safety benefits of FAA's Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) and how NextGen will bring more efficient navigation, more effective communications, and greatly improved surveillance capabilities. Articles address ADS-B, performance-based navigation, the safe integration of unmanned aircraft systems, and more. The link to the online edition is:http://www.faa.gov/news/safety_briefing/. FAA Safety Briefingis the safety policy voice for the non-commercial general aviation community. The magazine's objective is to improve safety by: · making the community aware of FAA resources · helping readers understand safety and regulatory issues, and · encouraging continued training Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FAA Proposes $297,000 Civil Penalty Against Air Mods Charge That The Company Was Out Of Compliance With FARs The FAA has proposed a $297,000 civil penalty against Air Mods and Repair Corporation of Wilmington, DE, for allegedly operating two general aviation aircraft when they were not in compliance with FARs. The FAA alleges that an FAA Flight Standards inspection of a proposed flight school at the Air Mods facility at Robbinsville, NJ, revealed maintenance problems with a Piper PA-23 Aztec twin and a single-engine Piper PA-28 Warrior. The FAA told the company repairs were needed before further flight of either aircraft. The FAA alleges that Air Mods operated the Warrior on 19 subsequent flights between January 22 and March 4, 2009 and the Aztec on six flights from January 21 to February 28, 2009 without making the required repairs to either aircraft. The company has 30 days from the receipt of the penalty letter to respond to the FAA. FMI: www.faa.gov Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC