Flight Safety Information October 4, 2010 - No. 203 In This Issue FAA Awards Honeywell NextGen FAA Research Program Contract Peru: Tourist plane crashes near famed Nazca Lines Jet makes emergency landing after door open scare Conviasa resumes flights after post-accident grounding Plane crash near Calif. island airport burns 3... Global Wind Tunnel Symposium Bombardier safety event returning to Wichita Singapore re-elected into the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FAA Awards Honeywell NextGen FAA Research Program Contract Agreement Covers 4-D Trajectory To Increase Traffic Predictability The FAA has finalized a research agreement with Honeywell to evaluate and demonstrate NextGen Air Traffic Management technology that will allow aircraft to fly more direct routes to save on fuel and emissions and arrive in a precise location at a precise time, which they hope will improve on-time arrivals and reducing delays into airports. 4-Dimensional Flight Trajectory-Based Operations will incorporate precise timing and accurate data position to improve air traffic operations. 4-D Trajectory management includes time as the fourth dimension in aircraft trajectories. Aircraft will automatically fly faster or slower to avoid congestion into airports, smoothing traffic flow and improving capacity. Honeywell will demonstrate the benefits and work with FAA to define standards of 4-D Flight Management Systems Trajectory Based Operations, which is expected to increase the overall predictability of traffic, with benefit to airlines and air traffic management. "When 4-D trajectories are implemented, both pilot and air traffic control workload will be improved by reducing the need for changing speed commands and intermediate level off during descent," said Chad Cundiff, vice president, Crew Interface Products, Honeywell Aerospace. "With much more precise aircraft location data than is available today, pilots will utilize more direct approaches to save fuel and emissions, and the spacing between planes can be improved to better predict arrival times." Honeywell and the FAA will leverage existing technology and FMS capabilities used on Boeing and Airbus fleets as a starting point to defining new standards to meet new requirements for 4-D. Work is expected to begin in 2010 for an initial 12-month time period. Honeywell is also carrying out similar manufacturing and research projects for Europe's future air traffic management program SESAR (single European sky ATM research). Honeywell has developed a number of technologies to drive modernization of the global air traffic management system. FMI: www.honeywell.com, www.faa.gov Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Peru: Tourist plane crashes near famed Nazca Lines LIMA, Peru (AP) - A small plane carrying British tourists crashed near the famed Nazca Lines in Peru on Saturday, killing all six people on board, police said. The victims were listed as four Britons - three men and a woman - and the pilot and co-pilot, both Peruvian. The Cessna plane apparently had engine trouble that led it to crash in a field, Nazca police chief Alfredo Coronel said. Police were working to recover the bodies. An official who answered the phone at the British Embassy in Lima declined to comment without authorization from London. The Nazca Lines, mysterious geoglyphs etched into the desert centuries ago by indigenous groups, are a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of Peru's leading tourist attractions. Located about 240 miles (385 kilometers) southeast of Lima, the glyphs are only fully recognizable from the air, and 30-minute overflights are popular with travelers. However there have been allegations of lax supervision of the several-dozen aging planes that make the flights. In February, a Cessna 206 carrying three Chileans and four Peruvians over the lines crashed and killed everyone on board. Another crash in April 2008 killed five French tourists, though their pilot survived. Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Jet makes emergency landing after door open scare A plane with 300 people onboard had to make an emergency landing yesterday after a safety scare. The BA Boeing 747 Heathrow to New York flight was over London when a light in the cockpit warned one of the exit doors may not have been closed properly. The pilot immediately turned the aircraft, carrying 296 passengers and 15 crew, around at 9.20am. A British Airways spokeswoman said the jet had only been in the air 11 minutes. She added: "At no time was the door open." An investigation is underway. All the passengers were put on another flight soon after the drama. http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/ [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=gqvqzbdab&et=1103741945041&s=6053&e=001yov2JJhqBO-uJyQGP98OCxXnd7amb6bj_qbG6Lwy4pG5DJKgIDO13mG5iMgMlP5T_kuSbbpTfyBFqzjT6XqC480hKt5FAMCBwGSHfRbdDye0GPfi3l81FViPuo6rQYKF] Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Conviasa resumes flights after post-accident grounding Venezuela's state owned carrier Conviasa is gradually restarting its domestic flight operations after remaining grounded since 17 September as a consequence of its 13 September fatal ATR 42 crash near Puerto Ordaz. According to an airline source, the self-imposed grounding has been lifted as planned on 1 October, with the exception of flights operated by its fleet of ATR 42 turboprops. "We are operating 70% of our routes and frequencies with our Boeing 737-300 and Bombardier CRJ700 aircraft," the source says. As a result of offering less capacity, Conviasa's domestic flights to Coro and Valera and international flights to Grenada, Trinidad and Tobago and Dominica "remain cancelled until further notice". He could not give a date for the ATRs' service re-entry, but says that "until we are sure that the aircraft are safe to fly we will not put them back into operation". The source also confirms that "Airbus A340 operated flights from Caracas to Buenos Aires, Madrid and Damascus" had not been affected by the grounding. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Plane crash near Calif. island airport burns 3 AVALON, Calif. (AP)- A small plane crashed Sunday near the airport on California's Santa Catalina Island, sparking a small fire and leaving the three people on board with burn injuries. The twin-engine Cessna 310 crashed at about 3:40 p.m. near the island's airfield, Airport in the Sky. The 54-year-old pilot told a sheriff's sergeant that he arrived on the island from Santa Ana earlier Sunday to pick up two passengers, and just after takeoff his left engine failed. The pilot began emergency procedures and the plane crashed about a half-mile southeast of the airport, said Los Angeles County sheriff's Capt. Mike Parker. Parker said the passengers were a 50-year-old man and 48-year-old woman. All the victims were taken by helicopter to hospitals. Their condition was described as stable and all were expected to survive.  "They were very, very fortunate," Parker said. No names have been released. The crash sparked a three-acre brush fire, Parker said. It took county firefighters about an hour to knock it down. Santa Catalina is a popular tourist and vacation spot some 22 miles off the coast of Los Angeles. Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Global Wind Tunnel Symposium Pasadena Convention Center, CA, USA November 2-2, 2010 http://www.wtimag.com/symposium/ Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Bombardier safety event returning to Wichita Bombardier's Safety Standdown seminar will be back in Wichita next week. The three-day event, which features lectures and workshops about aviation safety and training, will be held Oct. 4 to 7 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel. Here is a portion of a press release from Bombardier about the event: Montréal, October 1, 2010 - Bombardier's highly acclaimed Safety Standdown seminar is back in Wichita, Kansas, for its 14th edition, from October 4 - 7, 2010. National Business Aviation Association President and CEO Ed Bolen, Federal Aviation Administration Director of Flight Standards John Allen and National Transportation Safety Board member Earl Weener will be on hand to deliver opening remarks. The highly acclaimed annual event will be held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel. A new format will be launched this year featuring two days of optional workshops and two days of general sessions. New on the agenda are: workshops on Aviation Meteorology, Human Performance, Advanced Aerodynamics, and Aviation Leaders/Managers - focused on establishing benchmarks for professional ethics. "Safety Standdown promotes the philosophy of knowledge-based training and personal discipline," said Puja Mahajan, Director, Flight Operations, Learjet. "It is designed to initiate and sustain positive changes in behavior and cultural norms through the use of workshops and seminars given by subject matter experts. This year, we've made format changes based on feedback from our attendees thereby reflecting the needs of our audience and our response to today's safety challenges." Among the return presenters are: Captain Gene Cernan, United States Navy (ret.) and Commander Apollo 17; Dr. Mark Rosekind, recently appointed Member of the National Transportation Safety Board; Dr. Tony Kern, CEO and Senior Partner, Convergent Performance; and Sean Roberts, Director, National Test Pilot School. Safety Standdown USA and Safety Standdown Europe are organized annually in partnership with the National Business Aviation Association, the European Business Aviation Association, the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board. In August 2010, Bombardier launched Safety Standdown Latin America in partnership with the Associaçâo Brasileira de Aviaçâo General. Bombardier Safety Standdown seminars are offered at no charge to all aviation professionals regardless of the type of aircraft they fly. As of August 2010, over 4,300 pilots, crewmembers, safety specialists and industry officials had graduated from Safety Standdown. Additional information on Safety Standdown is available at www.safetystanddown.com. Read more: Bombardier safety event returning to Wichita - Wichita Business Journal Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Singapore re-elected into the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization Sun, Oct 03, 2010 AsiaOne Singapore has been re-elected into the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), at the 37th Session of the ICAO Assembly in Montreal, Canada on October 2, 2010. Minister for Transport Mr Raymond Lim, who led the Singapore delegation to the ICAO Assembly and Council Election, said, "We are honoured to be re-elected into the ICAO Council, and to continue contributing to international efforts to promote the safety, security, and sustainability of civil aviation. "The civil aviation sector is poised for further growth in the future, and Singapore is privileged to be able to play a part in enhancing this development." Singapore was first elected to the Council of the ICAO in 2003, at an extraordinary Assembly session convened to fill three new Council seats. It was subsequently re-elected in 2004 and 2007, at the 35th and 36th Sessions of the ICAO Assembly, respectively. The Council is the ICAO's governing body and comprises 36 Members which are elected every three years. It deliberates issues concerning the regulation of international civil aviation, and develops new initiatives and regulations for the international civil aviation sector. Since its election to the Council in 2003, Singapore has made significant contributions to ICAO's work. It has chaired more than a dozen ICAO expert panel sessions and working group meetings, including the Air Navigation Commission (ANC), the ICAO Aviation Security Panel and the ICAO High Level Meeting on International Aviation and Climate Change in 2009. In addition, the Singapore Aviation Academy (SAA) of the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) is dedicated to providing a wide range of specialised aviation training programmes for civil aviation professionals worldwide - many under training fellowships with the ICAO - as part of its mission to build human capital for the global civil aviation community.   Through the SAA and its partnerships with other leading international aviation organisations and academic institutions, Singapore has created numerous platforms for the confluence of global leaders, top civil aviation officials, academics, and leading industry practitioners to exchange views, debate and formulate new ideas for the advancement of the civil aviation sector. Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC