Flight Safety Information September 27, 2010 - No. 199 In This Issue FAA Proposes $4.855 Million Civil Penalty Against Evergreen Airlines Southwest to acquire AirTran Airways = ICAO readies for MOU with US, EU and IATA for global safety exchange... United becomes the first carrier to participate in new FAA data programme ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FAA Proposes $4.855 Million Civil Penalty Against Evergreen Airlines Cited For Violations Of FAA Training Regulations The FAA has proposed a $4,855,000 civil penalty against Evergreen International Airlines of McMinnville, OR, for allegedly using pilots who had not been trained in accordance with an FAA-approved training program on 232 revenue flights. The flights were made between February 19 and July 9, 2009, on aircraft equipped with a new flight management system (FMS) that was different enough from the prior system that it required a specific training program for pilots who were flying the aircraft. The FAA alleges Evergreen did not complete its FAA-approved training for pilots before assigning them to fly revenue trips using the new FMS. "We put rules and regulations in place to keep air transportation safe and we expect airlines to comply," said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. The FAA alleges Evergreen line pilots received ground training and a check ride on the new FMS, but that the company did not provide required familiarization flights supervised by the company's check pilots despite being told to do so by the FAA. The familiarization flights are part of the FAA-approved training program for Evergreen aircraft equipped with the FMS. Evergreen also failed to distribute copies of the required system manual to crews who would be using the FMS. Subsequent to these improperly conducted flights, Evergreen has ensured that its pilots are trained in accordance with its FAA-approved training program and continues to operate under an FAA-approved training program. "Even though Evergreen now complies with its training program, this penalty is appropriate because requiring operators to complete required, approved training is the only way to make sure crews are fully qualified to operate the equipment and systems to manage flights safely," said FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt. Evergreen has 30 days from the receipt of the FAA's civil penalty letter to respond to the agency. FMI: www.faa.gov Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Southwest to acquire AirTran Airways Southwest is to further consolidation in the US industry through the acquisition of fellow low-fare carrier AirTran Airways. In a definitive agreement endorsed by both the boards of both airlines, Southwest is purchasing all outstanding common stock of AirTran's parent for a combination of cash and stock. Under the agreement each share of AirTran common stock will be exchanged for $3.75 in cash and 0.321 shares of Southwest's common stock. Including AirTran's debt and capitalized aircraft operating leases, the transaction is valued at $3.4 billion. Through the agreement Southwest gains key access to Washington National Airport and expands its presence in other key markets including New York LaGuardia and Boston. It also furthers Southwest's goals of serving near international destinations through AirTran's leisure markets in the Caribbean. Until closing Southwest and AirTran will continue to operate as separate brands. Southwest plans to integrate AirTran's Boeing 737s and 717s into its own 737 livery and consolidating corporate functions at its Dallas headquarters. The two carriers also plan to transition to a single operating certificate and will operate a combined fleet of 685 aircraft. As of 30 June the combined unrestricted cash of the two airlines was $3.7 billion. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ICAO readies for MOU with US, EU and IATA for global safety exchange ICAO at the opening of its 37th Assembly on 28 September plans to sign a memorandum of understanding with IATA, the FAA and the European Union to create a global safety information exchange to identify emerging risks to mitigate issues before an accident occurs. Secretary General of ICAO Raymond Benjamin revealed plans for the signing during the ICAO/McGill University pre-ICAO Assembly conference on 26 September. Illustrating ICAO's objective to find ways of reducing accident rates globally Benjamin says: "If accident rates remain stable, the growth in traffic expected throughout this decade and beyond could lead to one major accident every two weeks. This is clearly unacceptable." ICAO plans to take the lead in setting up the systems, says Benjamin, and eventually will coordinate "the dissemination of information throughout the aviation community". In a separate interview with ATI Benjamin explained that he's also had discussions with Flight Safety Foundation president Bill Voss about its participation in the global database. Explaining ICAO had to begin the data sharing with IATA and governmental organisations Benjamin says he does not foresee a problem with bringing Flight Safety into the programme. Member states of ICAO during the assembly also plan to address a recommendation by a high level safety conference convened by the organisation in March of this year that ICAO examine technical enhancements to improve ability to recover black boxes through longer time periods to emit signals and better resistance to crashes. The scrutiny was prompted by the 1 June 2009 crash of Air France flight AF447 en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris. "Very often it is not a technical problem, it is a money problem," says Benjamin. "To have a black box that is emitting longer is not a big deal." Noting three attempts have been launched to locate the Airbus A330's black box he stresses not knowing what happened "leaves a climate of uncertainty". Source: Air Transport Intelligence news Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ United becomes the first carrier to participate in new FAA data programme United Airlines is the first carrier to participate in a new programme being developed by the FAA to fuse voluntary safety information offered by pilots and air traffic controllers. The new safety programme is designed to combine the self-reported information by the two groups to gain a more comprehensive sense of the national airspace system. FAA through the new scheme plans to develop processes and policies to share and analyse relevant safety information in a non-punitive way consistent with principles of Safety Management Systems widely used within the agency and the aviation industry. "This revolutionary programme will give us an incredible amount of data that will help us find problems, make corrections, and avoid incidents," says FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt. Both pilots through the aviation safety action programme (ASAP) and controllers with the similar Air Traffic Safety Action programme (ATSAP) use non-punitive self-reporting techniques designed to help identify potential precursors to accidents. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news Back to Top [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=gqvqzbdab&et=1103722786690&s=6053&e=001zf2ypab_MMJf2J1Sn5ISOOivU6BNlXUZv-qfujEDvvng2nD8zMrg7wuLEZEr2DKpl965S3HhSkKqbAzHyhZNXKvCQr_NQq2P] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC