Flight Safety Information February 3, 2011 - No. 025 In This Issue Pilot-Fatigue Amendment May Complicate FAA Bill Wireless 4G Broadcaster May Interfere With GPS Signals NZ airline grounded over 'appalling' safety standards USA 3000 Pilots Withdraw from Voluntary ASAP Proposed regulation by FAA closes human factors loophole Sikorsky buys minority stake in Eclipse Aerospace Global aviation traffic up 8.2%: IATA Pilot-Fatigue Amendment May Complicate FAA Bill By ANDY PASZTOR (WSJ) A bid to exempt some flights from proposed pilot-fatigue regulations threatens to complicate long-delayed congressional action on tougher Federal Aviation Administration rules. With the FAA poised to impose more-stringent rules later this year limiting flight time and workday lengths for all airline pilots, the Senate is about to consider an amendment exempting certain cargo and passenger operations from those tougher limits. It is one of the most contentious issues roiling the aviation industry, pitting different airlines and pilot groups against each other. Oklahoma Republican Senator James Inhofe is expected to introduce an amendment Wednesday barring the FAA, as part of its current comprehensive rule-making effort, from imposing new restrictions on pilots flying for nonscheduled carriers. The exemption would cover charter flights carrying commercial cargo, as well as flights contracted by the Pentagon to transport troops or materials. By retaining the current regulatory treatment of such flights, the amendment would allow some pilots flying cargo and passengers on charter trips to remain on duty for several hours longer than other airline crews. Pilots for nonscheduled carriers also could be required to stay behind the controls for longer stretches and report to work after shorter rest periods than those employed by the rest of the industry. Under Sen. Inhofe's amendment, however, the FAA would have to initiate a separate, lengthy process to mandate changes to pilot rules affecting nonscheduled carriers. The amendment is intended to benefit carriers such as Evergreen International Airlines Inc., the World Airways Inc. unit of Global Aviation Holdings Inc. and Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings Inc. The National Air Carrier Association, which represents nonscheduled airlines, previously submitted comments to the FAA arguing that such carriers have "distinctly different operations" than scheduled airlines and a "one size fits all" regulatory approach isn't appropriate. The association told the FAA that complying with the proposed rule would require a roughly 40% increase in the number of pilots working for nonscheduled carriers. Nonscheduled carriers carry nearly 95% of U.S. military passengers around the world. In remarks prepared for delivery on the Senate floor on Wednesday, Sen. Inhofe said his amendment "would ensure that a segment of our economy" heavily relied on by the Pentagon "is treated fairly" by the FAA. According to Sen. Inhofe, the FAA should "recognize the peculiar operating environment" in which non-scheduled carriers operate and provide them additional flexibility in scheduling crews. The Air Line Pilots Association, the largest U.S. pilots union, delivered a letter to all Senators Tuesday strongly opposing Sen. Inhofe's amendment. The union has maintained that the proposed comprehensive rules, covering the entire industry, are based on the latest scientific evidence about the dangers of fatigue in the cockpit. "Pilot fatigue is universal and the factors that lead to fatigue in most individuals are common," Lee Moak, ALPA's president, said in the letter. "There is no rational or scientific basis to support different 'fatigue rules' depending on the type of operation," according to the letter, which added: "ALPA is adamantly opposed to any 'carve out' " for nonscheduled carriers. The National Air Carrier Association also has said that the proposed rules, if they become final, would have a "disastrous" economic impact on its members. Oakley Brooks, the president of the association, on Wednesday said consideration of the issue "is in its early days" and it is premature to predict how much support it will generate on Capitol Hill. Senate Democratic leaders have indicated they hope to get bipartisan support for a "clean" FAA bill, free of controversial amendments. The legislation authorizes about $8 billion for airport construction and also includes money to continue funding the government's share of modernizing the nation's air-traffic-control system. The House is expected to take up its version of the FAA reauthorization bill later this month. The FAA's anticipated new fatigue rules, which Congress ordered to be finalized by the beginning of August, seek to replace a decades-old system with new, flexible rules spelling out daily and weekly pilot- scheduling limits based on various operational and physiological factors. The limits vary depending on the time of day, length of flights and number of takeoffs performed by crews between rest periods. The proposal also covers commuter and ultra-long-haul operations. While the rest of the industry also has criticized the FAA's proposal as overly restrictive and expensive, those airlines and associations generally haven't asked for an explicit exemption. Rather, they have urged the agency to amend its proposal to resolve their concerns. Back to Top Wireless 4G Broadcaster May Interfere With GPS Signals FCC Grants Licence For 40,000 Watt Transmitters On Adjacent Frequencies The FCC has granted a license to a company called LightSquared, which plans to offer 4G wireless broadband services nationwide. But studies show the service may severely interfere with GPS navigation, according to one GPS industry source. A report on the GPS World website indicated that the GPS industry offered data to the FCC showing that LightSquared's operations could cause GPS receivers to "cease to operate" in areas near the the 40,000 watt transmitters the company plans to erect. GPS manufacturers Garmin and Trimble both contributed to the report "Experimental Evidence Of Wide Area GPS Jamming" which was presented to the FCC. The manufacturers found that a Garmin GNS 430W lost its fix in open sky more than five statute miles from one of the transmitters, and interference was detected at nearly 14 SM. The testing was conducted using simulated GPS signals representing a constellation of 31 satellites, and the Lightsquared transmission was simulated to actual technical specifications, according to the report. The FCC decided to waive its own rules and permit Lightsquared to broadcast in the L Band despite potential interference. In its final ruling, the FCC does admit that interference with GPS is a "significant concern," and that the interference issues "must be addressed" before LightSquared could light up its wireless network. But since the interference would stem from transmissions in the authorized spectrum, rather than the GPS band, the FCC "expects the GPS industry to work expeditiously and in good faith with LightSquared to ameliorate the interference concerns." Lightsquared has said it will "work with the GPS industry" to determine which GPS receivers would require "filtering so that they don't look into our band." There is no mention as to what those filters might entail, or at what cost to those who own the equipment. LightSquared hopes to have its 4G wireless network up and operating by June 15th of this year. FMI: www.fcc.gov, Jamming Report , www.lightsquared.com Back to Top NZ airline grounded over 'appalling' safety standards A charter airline company whose customers include Air New Zealand and the Corrections Department has been grounded because of safety concerns. Air National is New Zealand's largest charter airline, with nine aircraft ranging from private jets to airliners. About 65 flights are expected to be affected if the Civil Aviation Authority's 10-day suspension of Air National's corporate air operating certificate, which began last Friday, continues. Air National operates two daily return flights between Christchurch and Hokitika on behalf of Air NZ, using a 19-seat Jetstream J32 turbo prop aircraft. Air NZ said the service would instead use its own Beech 1900D and Bombardier Q300 regional aircraft to fly the route. No passengers would be affected by the grounding. Yesterday a High Court judge said the suspension should be lifted pending a full hearing of the case but Justice Denis Clifford left it in place another 24 hours, till 4.30pm today, so the authority could appeal. The "straw that broke the camel's back" was that flight simulator training records for two company pilots were at least wrong, possibly falsified. The authority's lawyer, Kim Murray, said it was one of a series of incidents. "The applicant [Air National] has an appalling history of non- compliance with minimum safety standards and suspension was inevitable when falsified training records were discovered," Mr Murray said. But the company's lawyer, Sherridan Cook, said if that was true CAA would have acted earlier. "Documentation issues" needed attention but the authority's concerns were far from the kind of real and imminent threat to safety that would justify stopping flights. Justice Clifford said the company seemed to have responded generally satisfactorily to issues the authority raised. An investigation was justified, and then a decision made on suspension. A suspension pending an investigation was more appropriate when immediate safety concerns occurred. He was also concerned that the authority's director, Steve Douglas, suspended Air National three days after the auditor-general questioned whether authority staff were "overly helpful" to the company. The company might not survive the loss of reputation and contracts if the suspension continued, Justice Clifford was told. Air National's work includes charters for tourist companies - including a $4 million contract in just its second week - and Corrections Department, but it also supplies planes and crews for Eagle Air, an Air NZ subsidiary flying provincial routes. One of the Air National private jets is a Cessna Citation I owned by publisher Barry Colman. http://www.smh.com.au/ Back to Top USA 3000 Pilots Withdraw from Voluntary ASAP WILMINGTON, Ohio, Feb. 2, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today, USA 3000 Airlines' pilots, represented by the Airline Professionals Association (APA) Teamsters Local 1224 announced their decision to withdraw from the voluntary Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP). This decision was necessary because of the pattern of actions by USA 3000 management that destroyed the trust required for a successful program. These actions include the access of ASAP information by unauthorized individuals, as well as the inappropriate use of letters in several USA 3000 pilots' personnel files, even though the events and the circumstances surrounding them were admitted into ASAP by the Event Review Committee (ERC) at USA 3000 Airlines. It is the union's position that these letters are not only wrongly placed, but also are grossly inaccurate and may become subject to present or future Pilot Records Improvement Act disclosure requirements. Voluntary safety programs become ineffective when these disclosures are twisted to harm a pilot's career." "Recent actions by USA 3000 Airlines have caused a breach of trust in relation to ASAP between USA 3000 Airlines, our pilots and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)," said Joe Muckle, APA Teamsters Local 1224 president. "I am very disappointed that we had no choice but to pull our support from the program. Local 1224's goal is that 100 percent of our carriers participate in ASAP. In the last year we have successfully added ASAP at four carriers and will shortly add one more, which will mean nine of our ten carriers will have ASAP." "We, as professional pilots, always strive to maintain the highest level of proficiency and safety," Muckle added. "We embrace any training or program that helps further our safety goals, not just for ourselves and our companies, but for the industry as a whole. However, when these types of actions take place, actions that tear away at the confidence of the pilot group, the union is left with no choice but to withdraw from a program, even a worthy one such as ASAP." Acknowledgement that the timing of these events is unfortunate is an understatement. In fact, the union is concerned that it may mark an outright blow to the aviation safety initiatives that are currently being addressed. USA 3000's actions and the pilot response will, no doubt, be at the forefront of concerns from safety experts across all sectors of the aviation industry who are working in a concerted effort to advance airline safety through proven voluntary reporting initiatives such as ASAP, FOQA, LOSA and AQP. "The International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) Airline Division has been working with ASAP for over a decade. In our experience it has been working well across the board," said Russ Leighton, the Director of Safety for the IBT Airline Division. "It is disappointing that this airline refuses to use the program as it was intended." As an organization, APA Teamsters Local 1224 has been a vocal advocate for aviation safety programs such as ASAP. In fact, it has a reputation for safety and proactive development of safety programs. APA Teamsters Local 1224 has devoted countless hours of time to participate in Congressional round table discussions and FAA aviation rule making committees (ARC) to identify and address industry-wide safety issues. The last publication by APA Teamsters Local 1224 featured the industry movement to incorporate ASAP into Part 121 carrier operations across the nation, and even promoted the benefits of ASAP when companies and flight crew members work together in a collaborative environment to identify and address operational safety hazards. When ASAP is implemented properly, it allows flight professionals the opportunity to acknowledge an error or identify a hazard in the system, and to report it without fear of losing a job or a license. When a party breaches that trust, ASAP is rendered ineffective. "The Teamsters Local 1224 USA 3000 Executive Council went to great lengths to keep ASAP intact at USA 3000 Airlines. After thorough deliberation, polling the membership, and giving USA 3000 Airlines' management every opportunity to correct the situation, the union decided to discontinue its voluntary participation in ASAP," said Muckle. "We fully embrace ASAP as a worthy program. It is regrettable that such a decision had to be made to protect pilot careers at USA 3000 Airlines, as well as the program's integrity." The Airline Professionals Association Teamsters Local 1224 represents the flight crewmembers of ABX Air, Atlas Air, Cape Air, Gulfstream International, Horizon Airways, Kalitta Air, Miami Air, Omni Air International, Polar Air Cargo, Southern Air and USA 3000. SOURCE Airline Professionals Association Teamsters Local 1224 Back to Top Proposed regulation by FAA closes human factors loophole The US FAA is proposing to close a human factors loophole in the regulations governing the certification of transport category aircraft with increasingly advanced-technology integrated flight decks. In a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) to be issued on 3 February, the agency calls for creating more explicit requirements for "design attributes" related to "managing and avoiding" pilot errors, including being able to detect and recover from keypad errors. "In hindsight of analysis of accidents, incidents or other events of interest, these deviations might include: an inappropriate action, a difference for what is expected in a procedure, a mistaken decision, a slip of the fingers in typing, an omission of some kind, and many other examples," says the agency in the NPRM. The regulatory upgrade is largely ceremonial from a safety standpoint, as existing European Aviation Safety Agency regulations already require such human factors considerations. From a financial aspect though, the FAA says harmonizing the certification requirements of the two countries will "provide economic benefits from reduced joint certification costs brought about by a reduction in data collection and analysis and by a reduction in the paperwork and time required in the certification process". Source: Air Transport Intelligence news Back to Top Sikorsky buys minority stake in Eclipse Aerospace ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., the maker of military-grade Black Hawk helicopters, said Wednesday it has completed the purchase of a minority stake in jet plane maker Eclipse Aerospace Inc. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The Stratford, Conn.-based company said it has agreed to provide global supply chain support and certain production restart services to Albuquerque, N.M.-based Eclipse to help it restart production of its Eclipse 500 jet. The Eclipse 500 is a twin-engine light jet that has been compared to an SUV of the sky. Eclipse Aerospace purchased bankrupt aircraft manufacturer Eclipse Aviation last August and reopened for business with 15 employees a month later. The new company has been opening maintenance centers to keep up support for 260 Eclipse 500 jets. Shares of United Technologies Corp., Sikorsky's parent company, rose 33 cents to close at $82.16. Back to Top Global aviation traffic up 8.2%: IATA Shaking off a bad previous year, the global airline industry posted an impressive 8.2% growth in passenger traffic in 2010. At 20.6%, the growth in freight traffic was even more impressive, said Montreal- headquartered International Air Transport Association (IATA) in its annual report Wednesday. "The world is moving again. After the biggest demand decline in the history of aviation in 2009, people started to travel and do business again in 2010,'' said IATA director general and CEO Giovanni Bisignani. But the IATA boss said the industry was not out of the woods yet because of the tight margins. "Airlines ended the year slightly ahead of early 2008 volumes, but with a pathetic 2.7% profit margin. The challenge is to turn the demand for mobility into sustainable profits," he added. The growth in demand outstripped capacity increases of 4.4% for passenger and 8.9% for cargo traffic, the report said. Middle Eastern carriers reported the strongest year-on-year growth of 17.8% thanks to 13.2% increase in seat capacity by Gulf-based airlines in 2010. North American airlines posted 7.4% growth in passenger traffic, clocking in the highest load factor of 82.2% for the full year among all regions of the world. While the airlines from the Asia-Pacific region recorded nine% growth, European airlines had to contend with just 5.1% growth in passenger traffic in the year. The average passenger load factor was up 2.7 points to 78.4% and the freight load factor up 5.2 points 53.8% during the year. The report said the severe weather in Europe and North America in December dented the industry's recovery, reducing overall traffic demand for the month. Looking to the future amid rising oil prices, the IATA chief predicted that "2011 would see a consecutive second year of profitability but with industry profits falling by 40% to $9.1 billion.'' Bisignani said his prediction was based on an oil price of $84 per barrel. But oil prices are already hovering around $100 because of the Egyptian crisis. "For every dollar increase in the average price of a barrel of oil over the year, airlines face the difficult task of recovering an additional $1.6 billion in costs," said the president of IATA that represents 230 airlines. The executive office of Montreal-headquartered IATA is in Geneva http://www.hindustantimes.com/ Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC