Flight Safety Information March 10, 2011 - No. 051 In This Issue FAA To Install New ATC System At 11 Major Centers Police: Md. man got on plane in NYC without ticket India's fake pilots: better take the train... Falcon 20 Gear Collapse 'Economic and cultural change poses airline safety risk' Flight diverted to Toledo after problem at regional airport (Ohio) Wi-Fi interference with Honeywell avionics prompts Boeing action FAA Expected To Limit Eclipse Jet To FL300 University Survey FAA To Install New ATC System At 11 Major Centers Raytheon is set to begin replacing the backbone system at some of the largest U.S. air traffic control facilities under a new agreement with the FAA, with work starting next week at the initial sites to receive the new technology. Under the deal, Raytheon will install its Standard Terminal Automation Replacement System (Stars) at 11 major terminal radar approach control (Tracon) facilities by 2015. An initial goal calls for five systems to be operational by the end of 2013, says Raytheon Director for Domestic Automation Michael Espinola. Dallas/Fort Worth will be the first of the 11 to receive STARS, and the New York, Chicago, Atlanta and Northern and Southern California facilities are also among this group. This is the latest chapter in the turbulent history of the FAA's effort to replace the automation systems at its Tracons, which dates back to the 1990s. The original plan was to deploy Stars at all Tracons, with the largest facilities toward the end of the list. But the FAA subsequently decided to limit the deployment, and to date STARS has been installed at about 50 mainly small and medium-sized FAA facilities. The FAA wanted to reassess its options for the remaining sites- including potentially going with a different system. After looking at other alternatives, the FAA late last year decided to go back to the original plan and introduce STARS at the 11 large TRACONs. This was achieved through an extension to the existing contract with Raytheon that was signed in December. The contract value is not being revealed. Raytheon executives say the FAA was encouraged by last year's successful implementation of automatic dependent surveillance- broadcast (ADS-B) at the Philadelphia Tracon, which uses a Stars system. The agency wants to have Stars in place at the larger facilities before they receive ADS-B. Site surveys at DFW are scheduled to begin Monday, says Espinola. The system is scheduled to be declared operational there by October 2012. The second site is expected to follow in February 2013, and the next three at one-month intervals. After this deployment, there will be about 100 smaller Tracons that do not have Stars. The FAA is still determining how it will proceed with these facilities. http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/ Back to Top Police: Md. man got on plane in NYC without ticket NEW YORK (AP) - The Transportation Security Administration said Wednesday it is trying to determine how a man slipped past authorities and boarded a flight with a stolen boarding pass at New York's Kennedy airport. Ronald Wong, 30, of Chevy Chase, Md., was charged with trespassing after a flight attendant noticed him standing at the rear of a Delta airliner preparing to leave for San Francisco on Feb. 24. Wong told police he took another passenger's boarding pass at the JFK ticket counter, according to a police report filed in a New York City court. TSA agents are supposed to check boarding passes against passengers' IDs. Airline gate agents then double-check the passes as passengers board. TSA said its agents screened Wong's baggage at the security checkpoint, but he somehow slipped past the ID-checking station. "TSA is aware of the incident and fully cooperating with the ongoing law enforcement investigation," the agency said in a statement. A seat on the New York-San Francisco flight, Delta 127, normally costs $541, according to court documents. It was unclear if the stolen boarding pass was for that flight or another one. New York City prosecutors have charged Wong with theft of services, criminal trespassing and petit larceny. He was released on bail Saturday. The arrest was first reported Wednesday by The New York Post. A man who answered Wong's telephone number in Chevy Chase declined to comment. Delta Air Lines did not immediately return a telephone call seeking comment. Back to Top India's fake pilots: better take the train Indian air carriers have been struggling to find enough trained pilots to keep pace with the rapid growth of their networks and flight schedules, as Indians take to the skies in every-growing numbers. Now comes alarming news that some of those flying India's commercial airlines may not be licensed pilots at all. This week, Delhi police arrested a woman pilot for IndiGo Airlines - one of India's fastest-growing private carriers - after the Director General of Civil Aviation, the industry regulator, discovered that her commercial pilot's license had been issued in January of 2009 on the basis of a forged result-sheet for her eligibility test. Police said the pilot, Captain Parminder Kaur Gulati, 38, who had first flown as a co-pilot for IndiGo since 2007, had failed an exam on air navigation, and had failed to appear for a paper on radio aids and instruments. However, authorities say Captain Gulati - the wife of an Indian police service officer - forged a mark-sheet to show she had passed the exams, on which basis she was issued the license. Questions were raised about Captain Gulati's credentials after a rough landing in Goa. The DCGA said it is investigating two other cases of suspected forgery and fake licenses, including by one IndiGo pilot, who has been suspended from flying since Sunday. "We are treating this matter with utmost seriousness," IndiGo said in a statement said. The discovery such frauds in the issuing of commercial pilots licenses is a disturbing development for a young industry just emerging from a period of heavy turbulence in the last two years, now benefiting from rebounding passenger numbers, but still concerned about volatile oil prices. India's commercial airlines together employ more than 4,000 pilots, including foreigners. Demand for pilots will intensify in the coming years, as carriers aggressively expand their schedules IndiGo, which carried 19 per cent of all domestic Indian air travellers in January, just recently ordered 180 new Airbus A320s to be delivered gradually between 2016 and 2025, and other carriers are also adding new services. Shocked by the revelation of the manipulating of its licensing process, the DCGA says it will undertake a review of all pilots licenses, and their supporting documents. India's air carriers are hoping such measures will restore confidence in the integrity and safety of their services. If not, many passengers might be persuaded to take the train. http://blogs.ft.com/beyond-brics/2011/03/10/india-better-to-take- the-train/ Back to Top Falcon 20 Gear Collapse Date: 09-MAR-2011 Time: 10:52am LT Type: Dassault Falcon 20F Operator: Greg Bifle Inc. Registration: N116GB C/n / msn: 281 Fatalities: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 3 Other fatalities: 0 Airplane damage: Minor Location: Lexington, Kentucky - United States of America Phase: Landing Nature: Private Departure airport: KSVH Destination airport: KLEX Narrative: Falcon 20F with Greg Bifle NASCAR driver - unclear the speed of the aircraft which was landing - the starboard main collapsed - owner commented that the pilots had down an excellent job of keeping the aircraft on the runway. Damage I'm sure is more than minor, but not quite substantial. No injuries to those on board. Back to Top 'Economic and cultural change poses airline safety risk' Global economic and cultural changes pose challenges for maintaining good airline safety performance, the Flight Safety Foundation has warned at its European Aviation Safety Seminar in Istanbul. FSF chairman Lynn Brubaker says the world must be alert to the threats posed by change, citing the rise of powerful, fast-growing new economies and the fact that many of the former major economies with a long aviation tradition are "struggling". This risk can be overcome, says Brubaker, but only if the aviation community is aware of it and manages it. The FSF's president and chief executive Bill Voss points out another risk: regulators, he says, are "being starved of resources", and the airlines are going to "have to step up" to the challenge of keeping their own standards high. This is going to be particularly important, he says, in regions that do not have a long aviation tradition but which now are seeing their airline and business aviation communities growing rapidly. Meanwhile, European Regions Airline Association president Mike Ambrose has warned delegates of the dangers inherent in the increased use by European carriers of multinational crews and contract pilots - often employed simultaneously. He says the risks involved must be carefully managed and mitigated. He also advises that pilot recurrent training should include the study of accidents. Ambrose used the seminar to warn that airline directors and employees face a growing risk of automatic criminal prosecution following an accident, and that they therefore need to understand the full extent of their legal obligations. The ERA, says Ambrose, has commissioned aviation legal company Gates & Partners to study the issue to provide a briefing to airline chief executives. http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/ Back to Top Flight diverted to Toledo after problem at regional airport (Ohio) VIENNA - Trev Tessmer arrived at the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport about 9:45 a.m. Wednesday for an Allegiant Air flight to St. Petersburg, Fla., that was scheduled to leave at 11 a.m. "We wanted to get here early to have a relaxing breakfast before our flight," said the Wadsworth resident. It turned out being early was not going to be a problem. A device that helps guide pilots onto runways during inclement weather had been inoperable since Sunday, according to Dan Dickten, aviation manager of the airport. Federal Aviation Administration technicians had been at the airport for several days trying to find out what was causing the problem. "We were not told they were still here," Dickten said of the technicians. "If we had been told, we could have talked to Allegiant Air and made alternative arrangements earlier." A musician with a gig scheduled for Wednesday evening in Florida, Tessmer said the passengers initially were told there was a weather problem that was delaying the arrival of their plane. It was about 11:30 a.m. when the passengers were told their plane was diverted to Toledo and they would be taking a bus to catch it. They left the airport a couple hours later for the estimated three hour drive to the northwest Ohio airport. "I'm going to be late for my gig," Tessmer said later while enroute to Toledo. "But I'm not going to allow this to mess up my time. I'm going to have fun." Meanwhile, those who were flying into Vienna from Florida on Wednesday morning had to wait in Toledo for the bus to pick them up, so they could be driven back to the Trumbull County airport. Dickten said flights could not land because a device called a localizer that guides pilots onto the runway was broken. "The instrument landing system belongs to and is maintained by the FAA," Dickten said. "FAA navigational aid technicians have been working on finding out what has been causing the malfunction since Sunday." Dickten said airport officials were not told the FAA officials were still at the airport until right before the Allegiant Air flight was supposed to arrive. "This was the first day since the localizer had gone down that we've had weather conditions that required the use of the it," Dickten said. Instrument landing systems are used when there is less than 1,000- foot cloud ceiling and less than two miles of visibility. He emphasized the delays were not caused by anything Allegiant or the airport had done. "Something broke and it took the FAA longer to fix it than anyone expected," he said. "They had to replace antennas, cables and other items. It took time to eliminate problems." http://www.tribtoday.com/ Back to Top Wi-Fi interference with Honeywell avionics prompts Boeing action Honeywell Phase 3 Display Units (DUs) have shown themselves susceptible to "blanking" during airline electro magnetic interference (EMI) certification testing of wireless broadband systems (Wi-Fi) on various Boeing 737NG airplanes, prompting Boeing to cease linefit installs of in-flight connectivity systems across its portfolio, including widebody aircraft. Multiple sources tell ATI and Flightgloal that the blanking occurred during EMI testing for Aircell's Gogo in-flight Internet supplemental type certificate on 737NG aircraft. Aircell has declined comment, saying "this topic is not Aircell specific and, as such, we do not have any comment on the matter". Boeing says it has deferred the activation of wireless systems that interface with passenger devices that could potentially interfere with the DU 3 displays. "Boeing has not delivered any installations that would have this issue. Honeywell has assured us that they are working to address the problem and we are satisfied that they are taking the necessary steps to do so," says Bret Jensen with BCA Engineering Communications. A source with knowledge of the situation tells ATI and Flightglobal that Boeing has "gone through and scrubbed the avionics numbers to make sure that there are no anomalies and that the avionics will not be affected by personal electronic devices (PEDs). It has been discovered that there is stuff out there that doesn't meet those requirements yet, and we may uncover more as we go down that path". The source adds: "There are three specific part numbers associated with the [Honeywell] display that could be installed. Those are the ones [found to be] susceptible to transmissions." Fallout from the event is already occurring. Multiple sources tell ATI and Flightglobal that one of the conditions for STC is that 737NG operators place placards in the flight deck saying that Wi-Fi devices are to be powered off. Another condition, say sources, is that 737NG operators are not to have DU 3 displays installed with the presence of in-flight connectivity systems, be they Wi-Fi or cellular-based. On a Boeing Business Jet fitted with in-flight connectivity, for instance, there is a note in the log book that says Phase 3 DUs are not to be installed, but that "version 4 is fine and version 2 is fine", says a source. Panasonic partner AeroMobile's eXPhone in-flight mobile connectivity solution, which was made linefit offerable on certain Boeing types, is not being installed until the Honeywell issue has been addressed. As such, customers of eXPhone are not receiving aircraft with eXPhone as planned. Customers of eXphone include Emirates, Turkish Airlines and V Australia. "We're continuing to work closely with Boeing and our partners at Panasonic to bring eXPhone to full line-fit offerability across the entire Boeing fleet," says AeroMobile. Boeing, meanwhile, says: "Current testing by Boeing and Honeywell has determined that blanking may occur when a DU is subjected to testing procedures specified by the FAA requirements (AC-20-164) during installations of Wi-Fi systems on the airplane. Based on testing that has been conducted, Boeing and Honeywell have concluded that actual EMI levels experienced during normal operation of typical passenger Wi-Fi systems would not cause any blanking of the Phase 3 DU. This issue does not exist with the Phase 1 or 2 DU's." Honeywell says that, during recent ground testing "at elevated power levels", the company observed a momentary blanking on the 'flat panel' liquid crystal displays that it developed and pioneered for Boeing. "The screens reappeared well within Boeing's specified recovery time frame. The screens have not blanked in flight and are not a safety of flight issue. Honeywell is working to ensure the problem is addressed and fixed and that our technology will continue to exceed specifications," says Honeywell. The firm stresses that there have been "no blanking incidents of in- service aircraft with the Wi-Fi system installed". A spokesman for the FAA says: "The FAA is aware of some issues involving interference between Honeywell flight displays and in-flight WiFi that surfaced during STC testing. The FAA is currently working with both manufacturers to examine the technical data and test results. After a thorough review, the FAA will consider if further safety action is necessary." Sources say a Service Bulletin from Boeing is expected. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news Back to Top FAA Expected To Limit Eclipse Jet To FL300 Carbon Buildup In Engines Occurring At Lower Altitudes The FAA is expected to issue a mandatory safety directive Thursday which will limit operation of the Eclipse jet to no higher than FL300. The move is prompted by engine surges caused by carbon buildup which increases along with altitude. The Eclipse was originally certified to FL410, but the carbon buildup at high altitudes caused th FAA to limit the airplanes maximum ceiling to FL370 in 2008. Now, the agency will impose a further ceiling restriction on the aircraft. The Wall Street Journal reports that there were four instances of engines surging in the last few months of 2010, and that the FAA says the problem constitutes a "risk to the flying public." Pratt & Whitney, which manufactures the engines powering the 250 or so Eclipse jets flying today, said it expects to have a fix available in a few months. That will consist of a replacement of the combustion liners in the aircraft's engines. FMI: www.eclipseaerospace.net, www.faa.gov Back to Top University Survey If you are a user of fixed-base operators, your help is needed! A research team at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott, AZ are conducting a general aviation marketing study. This survey's goal is to determine what factors go into the process of selecting a FBO and a destination airport. Your contribution is highly appreciated and thank-you in advance for your time! Survey link: http://edu.surveygizmo.com/s3/482887/fbousersurvey Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC