Flight Safety Information May 13, 2011 - No. 099 In This Issue Inspector general to look at air traffic mistakes FAA Revises Proposal To Enhance Air Carrier Training Programs Plane caught on tape as it is struck by lightning Discovery of knife delays O'Hare-bound jet Air France crash investigators to open black boxes Canadian runway safety proposal falls short of top aviation standard 1ST UNIVERSITY OF NORTH DAKOTA (UND) STUDENTS WITH UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS DEGREES Some states want TSA to ease up FAA proposes rule to prevent cracking on certain CF34 models 7 injured as Hong Kong jet hits turbulence Delta jet clips another plane in Atlanta Aviation Fatigue Pre-Symposium Webinar Inspector general to look at air traffic mistakes Mistakes by air traffic controllers has increased by more than 50%, according to the FAA. Probe to see if more errors are due to new reporting system Number of "operational errors" increased 50% in 2010 Washington (CNN) -- Is a 50% jump in errors by air traffic controllers evidence of a dangerous, mistake-prone work force? Or is it evidence that a new reporting system, which ultimately may make flying safer, is working? The Department of Transportation's inspector general says he will try to find out. At the request of Congress, the Office of Inspector General said it is launching an investigation into the increase in "operational errors" -- the term used when a controller fails to maintain safe distances between planes. According to Federal Aviation Administration statistics, the number of errors has increased by more than 50% in fiscal 2010. The FAA contends the increase is mostly due to a new reporting system known as the Air Traffic Safety Action Program. The voluntary system allows controllers to report errors without fear of punishment under most circumstances. Advocates say the system helps the FAA learn of errors, recognize trends and address them. The FAA also recently implemented the System Loss of Standard Separation Index, designed to identify incidents where there is a loss of separation between aircraft. The inspector general said it is auditing both programs at the request of Congress Back to Top FAA Revises Proposal To Enhance Air Carrier Training Programs Supplemental NPRM Responds To A Congressional Mandate The FAA has proposed a substantial and wide-ranging overhaul of air carrier crew training. The supplemental Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (SNPRM) addresses comments from the January 2009 proposal and provisions laid out in the Airline Safety and Federal Aviation Administration Extension Act of 2010. "The United States has the world's safest aviation system, but we are continually seeking ways to make it even safer," said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. "This proposal will make U.S. pilots and other crewmembers even better-equipped to handle any emergency they may encounter." "The FAA is proposing the most significant changes to air carrier training in 20 years," said FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt. "This is a major effort to strengthen the performance of pilots, flight attendants and dispatchers through better training." Responding to a congressional mandate, the proposed requirements reflect a significant shift in training philosophy designed to produce qualified and capable crewmembers and dispatchers ready to face current and future aviation challenges. Under this proposal, flight crews would have to demonstrate, not just learn, critical skills in "real-world" training scenarios. Pilots would be required to train as a complete flight crew, coordinate their actions through Crew Resource Management, and fly scenarios based on actual events. Dispatchers would have enhanced training and would be required to apply that knowledge in today's complex operating environment. The revised proposal would require ground and flight training to teach pilots how to recognize and recover from stalls and aircraft upsets. The proposal also would require remedial training for pilots with performance deficiencies such as failing a proficiency test or check, or unsatisfactory performance during flight training or a simulator course. The proposal would address how air carriers may modify training programs for aircraft with similar flight handling characteristics. It also reorganizes and revises the qualification, training, and evaluation requirements for all crewmembers and dispatchers. Like the original proposal, the supplemental notice would require the use of pilot flight simulation training devices. Pilots also would have to complete special hazard training in addition to practicing the use of crew resource management skills. The supplemental proposal also contains requirements derived from voluntary FAA- approved alternative training regimens such as Advanced Qualification Programs (AQP). These include: Crew-oriented, scenario-based training. Demonstration of satisfactory skill on each task to determine necessary job performance training hours. a continuous analysis process that lets the certificate holder validate how effective the qualification and training program is, or where it may need to be changed. The new proposal also clarifies that the proposal's economic impact on air carriers that conduct training under voluntary, FAA-approved alternative programs, such as AQP, and the time used for flight simulator training, would be minimal. Flight attendants would be required to complete hands-on emergency drills every 12 months, and the proposal would standardize the training and experience requirements for certain dispatchers and instructors. The proposal will be on display at the Federal Register, and the comment period closes on July 19, 2011. FMI: www.faa.gov Back to Top Plane caught on tape as it is struck by lightning -- luckily no one injured A plane was struck by lightning -- but everyone was fine. A London videographer caught a scary moment on camera when a lightning bolt struck a passenger jet on its way to Heathrow Airport. The video shows the lightning striking the Emirates airline plane as it flew through a storm on April 23. "I saw a storm coming, and I thought there could be lightning," Chris Dawson told Abu Dhabi's English language publication, The National. "I wasn't expecting it to hit a plane but I just got lucky." An Emirates spokesperson told the National it hadn't received any reports of aircrafts being struck that day. "In any event, whichever aircraft it was, lightning strikes are not uncommon," the spokesperson said. "All our aircraft are designed and are certified to be able to withstand a lightning strike." The plane landed without incident and none of the passengers were injured. While the picture looks terrifying, experts said it's perfectly safe because planes are reportedly made to withstand lightning strikes. The last confirmed civilian plane crash attributed to lightning was in the U.S. in 1967, when a bolt caused a fuel tank explosion. Since then, airplanes have been lightning- proofed through a rigorous certification process. On Wednesday, a Qantas Airways aircraft flying from Auckland to Melbourne turned back after a suspected lightning strike, Marketwatch reported, but suffered no reported damage. "There was a suspected lightning strike not far into the flight and as a precaution the pilots turned the aircraft around," a Qantas spokesman said. In that incident, passengers reportedly said they saw sparks and flames on the plane's wing - which the aircraft company denied. "The passenger may have seen sparks and small flames for a short time in the exhaust area of the affected engine, but it was definitely not on fire," the Qantas spokesman told Marketwatch. www.nydailynews.com/ Back to Top Discovery of knife delays O'Hare-bound jet CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - Authorities say passengers were removed from a US Airways plane in Charlotte and had to go through security screening again after a passenger found a knife in an overhead bin during boarding. Transportation Security Administration officials said all the passengers passed the second screening and nothing suspicious was found on the plane, which was then allowed to take off for O'Hare International Airport in Chicago shortly after 10 a.m. Thursday. Less than an hour earlier, a plane landing in Charlotte from the Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport was met by law enforcement after a suspicious note was found in the bathroom of the airport near Fayetteville, Ark. TSA says a sweep of the passengers, carry-on luggage and checked bags didn't find anything suspicious. Back to Top Air France crash investigators to open black boxes PARIS (Reuters) - Relatives of some of the 228 people killed in a Rio-Paris jet crash voiced hope Thursday that their two-year wait for an explanation may soon be over as experts prepared to open the aircraft's "black box" recorders. Investigators into the crash of Air France flight 447 over the Atlantic in June 2009 said they were optimistic at least some of the data could be retrieved but interpreting it could take months. Watched by relatives of some of the crash victims as well as French and Brazilian police, investigators displayed the two, bright-orange voice and data black-box recorders in public for the first time at a crowded news conference. The recorders from the Airbus A330 aircraft were hauled nearly 4 km (2.5 miles) to the sea surface at the start of May after a lengthy search operation costing $50 million and shipped subsequently to Paris, where they arrived Thursday. "We have been waiting for 23 months, which is a long time," said Robert Soulas, who lost his daughter and son-in-law in the crash. "We were frustrated during these long months and we hope this is a new departure and things will move more rapidly." Investigators said they expected to know by Monday whether it would be possible to extract information from the recorders, which were displayed inside tanks filled with dematerialized water to prevent them being damaged by exposure to the air. Police also expect to know within days if DNA identification can be carried out on some 50 bodies French public prosecutor Jean Quintard said had been found among the wreckage. Two bodies were brought to the surface last week, but investigators said that unless they can extract DNA information to identify them, they will abandon plans to bring up the rest. "If identification is impossible, we believe the respect accorded to the victims and yourselves demands the bodies remain in their last resting place," Quintard told relatives. About 50 bodies were also recovered from the water in the weeks following the crash, the worst in Air France's history. COMPLEX PROCESS Investigators said any information gleaned from the black boxes would take months to process and there was no certainty they would determine what went wrong before the crash, when the fully-laden passenger jet vanished in an equatorial storm. But chief investigator Alain Bouillard told Reuters he was confident part of the data could be recovered. "The recorders have several components so I am fairly confident we can get something, but until we open them we cannot say for sure." Investigators said it would take at least three days to extract copies of the data -- one for the investigation team and another for French prosecutors -- from the thin memory boards housed inside the bright orange capsules. Even then, deciphering the evidence is likely to involve weeks of work to synchronize the data and voice recordings. Of the two recorders, the one containing read-outs of data from the aircraft systems is the most crucial to unlocking the cause of the crash. "Without these parameters it will be difficult to understand what happened," Bouillard told Reuters. In the best case scenario, France's BEA crash investigation authority hopes to issue findings at the beginning of 2012. The BEA said it would never release the cockpit voice recordings in public but may issue transcripts of pilot conversations if they were needed to understand the crash. The speeding up of the investigation will bring some comfort to some 2,500 family members from 32 nations but could have legal implications for manufacturers or the airline. A French judge heading a criminal probe into the crash has placed Airbus and Air France under formal investigation, which falls short of charges but can open the way to a trial. Bouillard said many key cockpit systems had been recovered but the aircraft's speed sensors, initially cited as a possible factor in the crash, had not yet been found. The data recorder may shed light on why the Thales-built sensors, or pitot tubes, appeared to give inconsistent readings in maintenance records transmitted automatically from the aircraft shortly before it disappeared. Back to Top Canadian runway safety proposal falls short of top aviation standard Overruns in Canada are almost twice the world average, and three times that of the United States, writes Ian MacLeod In 2005, an Air France Airbus overshot a runway at Toronto's Pearson airport and plunged into a ravine that was beyond the 150-metre runway end safety area. Photograph by: John Normile, Getty Images, Ottawa Citizen ix years after an Air France airliner barrelled off a rain-slick Toronto runway and caught fire, Transport Canada is close to toughening runway safety with longer overrun zones. The proposed move follows a warning last year from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) that runway "excursions" and other landing safety issues pose one of the country's greatest transportation risks and need urgent government and industry action. The rate of overruns per million landings by large transport aircraft in Canada is almost twice the world average, and three times that of the United States. The figure jumps to four times the global average when the runway is wet. But the proposed runway change, which if adopted could cost airports more than $150 million, still falls far short of the recommended international runway safety standard. Major Code 3 and 4 runways at national airports currently require a graded, unobstructed buffer zone or "runway strip" extending 60 metres past the runway's end for last-ditch emergency stopping. That is 90 metres short of conforming with the International Civil Aviation Organization's (ICAO) minimum standard for emergency stopping zones. It is 240 metres short of ICAO's recommended best-practice, with which much of the rest of the world complies. The U.S. started implementing it 22 years ago. In response to the 2005 Air France crash, a senior Transport Canada official says the department wants to mandate that all major runways have at least 150 metres of emergency stopping space beyond the take-off thresholds. 60 METRES Current minimum buffer at the end of the longest runways in Canada. Proposed change would extend it to 150 metres. 417 Number of commercial aircraft that ran off the ends of runways globally between 1995 and 2008. 712 people were killed. 300 METRES Length of runway buffer recommended by the International Civil Aviation Organization and followed in the U.S. 46 Number of overruns by large aircraft in Canada, 1989-2006. Canada's overrun rate is almost twice the global rate. That includes the existing, mandatory 60-metre runway strips and what is currently an optional 90-metre area called a "runway end safety area" or RESA. Transport Canada, "agrees that RESA is a vital component of its risk reduction plan and is committed to conforming to the ICAO 150-metre RESA standard, while assessing the potential benefits of extending the RESA to 300 metres," Martin Eley, director general of civil aviation, wrote in a February notice to the aviation industry. An initial Transport Canada proposal for mandatory 150-metre RESAs was deferred for additional safety analysis in November by the Canadian Aviation Regulation Advisory Council (CARAC), comprised of government and aviation industry experts. Another proposal is to be tabled for committee approval this fall, Transport Canada said Thursday. The department also proposes a new regulation requiring airports to develop standardized procedures for winter runway maintenance and accurate and timely reporting of surface conditions in winter. Already, regulations adopted within months of the Air France crash set minimum conditions for landings in poor visibility. The intent is to prohibit pilots from attempting a landing when visibility is so poor that a successful touchdown is unlikely. Such a regulation might have prevented the Air France pilots from bringing in the 185,000- kilogram Airbus A340 during a violent thunderstorm. The independent TSB, which has recommended a 300-metre overrun standard for Canada's longest runways, calls the government's stated harmonization with the shorter 150-metre ICAO minimum standard "disappointing." Many safety experts and pilots, including the Air Canada Pilots' Association and the International Federation of Air Line Pilots' Associations, say 150 metres is too short to stop all out-of-control jetliners. They point to studies by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the Australian Transport Safety Bureau that found 90 per cent of aircraft that overrun runways stop within 300 metres of a runway's end. There was no RESA at all on runway 24L at Toronto's Pearson airport when the Air France jet carrying 309 people skidded off the 9,000-foot landing strip at a groundspeed of 80 knots. A 150-metre open stretch of land beyond the runway's pavement provided a de facto RESA. But the plane travelled about 150 metres beyond that, coming to rest in a ravine and catching fire. The TSB ruled that final bit of rough terrain largely contributed to a dozen people being seriously injured and the plane's destruction. A similar 1978 crash of an Air Canada DC-9 on a neighbouring runway during takeoff killed two people and seriously injured 47 others. A corner's inquest recommended a 300-metre RESA. While thousands of airliners land safely daily, runway overruns are a worldwide problem that ICAO will address this month with a global runway safety symposium in Montreal. Officials with the Canadian Airport Council industry association, meanwhile, declined to be interviewed for this article. A 2009 report by the U.S. Flight Safety Foundation found 417 global instances between 1995 and 2008 of commercial transport aircraft running off the end of runways. That's about 30 overruns year, accounting for almost 30 per cent of total aircraft accidents and 712 deaths. In Canada, there were 46 overruns involving larger aircraft between 1989 and 2006, including 11 with significant aircraft damage and injuries, according to the TSB. One of the more recent accidents was in Ottawa last June when a United Express Embraer 145 touched down in the rain and slid 155 metres past the end of runway 25. The same model of plane was involved in a 92-metre overrun at the other end of the same wet runway in 2004. No one was hurt in either incident. Most North American airports were designed and built before the importance of overrun safety zones was fully understood, especially with today's larger and heavier commercial aircraft, and some are now too constrained to easily extend their run-off zones. The Ottawa airport is a notable exception. Its four runways are not hemmed in by urban development or other constraints and already meet Transport Canada's 150- metre overrun recommendation. The main 10,000-foot, north-south runway 14/32 is one of the few Code 4 landing strips in Canada that also meets ICAO's 300-metre recommended standard. Grading work next year is expected to bring the 8,000-foot, eastwest runway 07/25 up to the same top ICAO standard. "We're not waiting for a standard or a rule to be changed, we want to be a step ahead," says Jean Barrette, vice-president of airport operations and security. Airports in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary and Halifax have also voluntarily put in place 90-metre RESAs on some of their big runways. But the TSB says there are still other major runways where "hostile terrain" exists beyond the current 60-metre federal overrun standard. At airports where topography, development, environmental concerns or other limitations don't allow for RESA expansion, Transport Canada says an acceptable alternative is installation of an arrestor bed -think of a big sand box -with the equivalent deceleration capability of a 300-metre RESA. They also require somewhat less space than a RESA, which is typically double the width of the runway. Dozens of arrestor beds have been installed at about 30 U.S. airports, with more planned, but none in Canada. The FAA credits the technology with saving at least six flights from disaster, including fully stopping a Boeing 747 that overran a runway at New York's JFK airport during a heavy snowstorm in 2005. Airports that don't or can't meet a proposed 150-metre standard or install arrestor beds could have to reduce the declared lengths of their runways, potentially reducing air traffic and revenues, according to Transport Canada's initial proposal to CARAC. Airport council officials, meanwhile, declined to be interviewed. But some have complained about the cost to airports to construct RESAs, which one council estimate pegs at more than $150 million. Council chair Bill Restall told a Senate transport committee in November, "we have to enter into a much more collaborative relationship relative to how regulations come into the system. Regulations drive our costs. "We just had three airports, Thunder Bay, Victoria and Kelowna, spend a lot of money to extend their runways -as far as possible in two of their cases -so they could bring better commercial service to their community. Now we are talking about RESAs and that will probably have operational impacts on those airports because they do not have the space to make RESAs work." On the other side, the Flight Safety Foundation reports that runway excursions in 2005- 2007 cost the aviation industry $506 million (U.S.) a year in damage, delays due to downtime and litigation. Air France launched a 2008 suit against the Greater Toronto Airport Authority, Transport Canada, Nav Canada and others for a reported $180 million in damages. Among other claims, it alleges Transport Canada was negligent in not having a 300- metre RESA at the end of 24L, especially after the inquest recommendation resulting from the 1978 Air Canada crash. In a statement of defence, the federal government says Air France knew that runway run-off areas "are not standard in Canada." ROOM AT THE END OF THE RUNWAY When a plane overshoots or lands short of a runway, it's good to have some clear space for it to stop. Different agencies have different standards and recommendations, but most of Canada's major airports don't meet them. Ottawa airport's Runway 25, shown here, does meet the standards for a runway of its size: THIS FLIGHT RAN OUT OF ROOM In 2005, an Air France Airbus overshot a runway at Toronto's Pearson airport, plunging into a ravine beyond the 150-metre RESA. http://www.ottawacitizen.com Back to Top 1ST UNIVERSITY OF NORTH DAKOTA (UND) STUDENTS WITH UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS DEGREES SET TO GRADUATE MAY 14 US Fed News May 12, 2011 GRAND FORKS, N.D., May 12 -- University of North Dakota issued the following news release: Among the nearly 1,500 receiving degrees from the University of North Dakota during spring commencement on Saturday will be the first graduates in the nation with degrees in unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) operations. "It's truly the first and only kind of its major program in the country at this point," said Kent Lovelace, chair of the aviation department at the UND John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences. "These are the first graduates from anywhere in the country with a degree in UAS operations." The five students eligible for graduation are Christopher Burger, Ritzville, Wash.; Jeremy Duke, Everett, Wash.; Adam Julson, Flandreau, S.D.; Alexander Gustafson, Vashon Island, Wash.; and Brett Whalin, Rapid City, S.D. The commencement ceremony will be held at 1:30 p.m. in the Alerus Center at Grand Forks. "Unmanned aircraft are having a profound impact on aerospace," said Bruce Smith, dean of UND Aerospace. "We're on the leading edge of UAS development. We now have 44 students signed up as majors and 78 students signed up for our UAS introductory course." Julson is excited about the opportunity to be part of an emerging aspect of aviation in which the sky is literally the limit. "What attracted me is that it's the next big thing," he said. "You're on the forefront of the unmanned portion of aviation." For Duke, who worked for 10 years in the auto body industry before coming to UND, the attraction was the potential to apply UAS technology to weather research, which is the career direction he hopes to pursue. "I flew weather modification missions for a summer and could see the application," he said. All the UAS majors are finding great interest from potential employers, and some have already lined up jobs. The field is expected to explode when the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) opens airspace to civilian applications. "We could see it open up in the next few months for law enforcement agencies," said Mark Hastings, UAS chief pilot. "It probably won't be until 2015 that we see it opening up to commercial applications, such as patrolling oil pipelines." Gustafson, who's been interviewed for two jobs, said, "It's a huge honor and privilege to be among the first graduates. Most companies are excited to find out that there are students coming out of college with degrees in UAS. There are a lot of jobs now, and there will be even more when the airspace opens up." First offered in 2009 fall semester, the Bachelor's of Science degree aeronautics with a major in unmanned aircraft systems operations is built on the school's commercial aviation program. It includes courses in the systems of unmanned aircraft, UAS ground systems, UAS communications and telemetry, and UAS remote sensing. In addition, the major curriculum includes aviation safety, human factors, and crew resource management related to unmanned aircraft operations. "We spent a lot of time and effort putting this program together because there was no model for it," said Ben Trapnell, associate professor of aviation. "We had to bridge the gap between engineers and pilots because our hope is that our graduates from this program will become the leaders in an emerging civil UAS industry. They need to have a broad perspective and the ability to expand the base of knowledge we provide." Burger started at UND as a commercial aviation major, but jumped at the opportunity to be in the first class of students to graduate with a degree in UAS operations. "I figured that UAS was definitely going to be a major portion of the aviation industry in the future," he explained. "Automation is the direction everything is moving. Getting in at the beginning seemed like a great opportunity." UND collaborated with Corsair Engineering to provide training to students pursuing their UAS majors. They used the ScanEagle UAS simulator to learn mission-related UAS employment and operational techniques. The simulator was created jointly by Corsair and the aircraft's manufacturer to accurately represent the experience of flying the real aircraft. "The more you understand the system you're operating, the better pilot you can be," Hastings said. "The more you understand the payload and the sensors, the better operator you can be. They will be the future leaders of the industry. Understanding the development and the operations side puts them in a really good place." The first group of eight students completed academics and flight training March 4. During the eight week-long sessions, students spent three hours per day, five days a week in the ScanEagle simulator, progressing from basic flight operations to advanced sensor techniques and emergency procedures, and finally to mission employment scenarios. "They don't just learn how to operate an unmanned aerial vehicle, but also to manage a UAS program and make recommendations about what type of vehicle makes the most sense," Lovelace said. "The UAS industry is really in its infancy. These graduates will help take it to the next level." Recalling his decision to be one of the first to join UND's UAS operations program, Whalin said, "I feel like it was a great opportunity to get in on the bottom floor of a growing field. It's been a challenge and a great an opportunity." http://www.militaryaerospace.com Back to Top Some states want TSA to ease up By Alan Levin If legislators in several states have their way, airport security screeners wouldn't be able to touch airline passengers' "private parts" and could even be charged with a sex crime if they did. (USATODAY) The more aggressive pat-down procedures ordered by the federal Transportation Security Administration in October, along with machines that peer through clothing, go too far and violate people's privacy and their protections from intrusive government, the legislators say. "What's going on is a trampling of the Constitution," says New Jersey Republican state Sen. Michael Doherty, one of the lawmakers from four states who've introduced legislation that would restrict federal security personnel from conducting controversial pat-downs of passengers or bar the body scanners. In addition to New Jersey, such legislation has been introduced in Hawaii and New Hampshire and Texas. In March, Alaska passed a resolution calling on the TSA to ease up on its screening. Similar non-binding resolutions have been introduced in six other states. MORE: Texas bill would make invasive pat-downs a felony A bill in Texas would make it a crime to use the body scanners on passengers. The legislation in New Hampshire would have made the pat-downs of travelers' genitals a sex crime. Although popular with Tea Party groups and some people upset over being frisked at airports, the legislation to restrict the TSA is dead in three of the four states. In the fourth state, Texas, the House passed the measure late Thursday; the Senate has yet to act on it. Even if one of the measures did pass, according to government and security experts, it would be meaningless. State legislatures have no authority over federal agencies such as the TSA. State laws restricting airport security could not be enforced. "It's a way of getting attention and objecting to the intrusiveness of the search procedures," says Alan Rosenthal, professor of public policy at Rutgers University in New Jersey. "But I don't think any of that could pre-empt federal requirements." No major revolt Since the more thorough pat-downs were introduced last fall - the TSA says they were made necessary after a airline passenger was accused of smuggling a bomb in his underwear on Christmas Day 2009 - they have continued to touch a raw nerve among some travelers. This week, a blurry photo posted on Twitter of a baby being searched by airport screeners at Kansas City International Airport went viral, prompting howls from bloggers and civil libertarians. Last month, former Miss USA Susie Castillo posted a tearful video complaining that she had been "molested" in a pat-down at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. Alaska state Rep. Sharon Cissna in February opted to take a four-day trip by rental car, small plane, taxicab and ferry from Seattle to her home in Juneau after refusing a pat-down. A body scan had shown scars from her breast cancer surgery, which triggered the pat-down. Cissna, a Democrat, says she had been patted down at the airport before and found it invasive, so she did not want to go through it again. The TSA has defended its screeners in the most recent incidents. In the case of the baby, for instance, it issued a statement saying the baby's stroller tested positive for explosives, which required additional screening of the baby and the mother. The baby's mother "was very cooperative," the TSA said. Despite the spate of complaints, there has been no sign of widespread revolt by travelers. A call for a national "Opt Out" day of protest against the screening on the day before Thanksgiving fizzled. The TSA reports that it received 898 complaints about screening from November through March out of about 252 million fliers during that time. Fewer than 3% of travelers require pat-downs, which normally occur after an alert from metal detectors, body scanners or explosives-detection tests, the TSA says. Screeners taking heat Randall Larsen, director of the Institute for Homeland Security, says he understands the frustration that has prompted the legislation. He says he's uneasy when his daughter or granddaughter travel, but terrorists continue to try to take down jetliners, and the best defense against them includes aggressive searches. "I worry about bombs on airplanes, and I don't have a better solution than what TSA has right now," he says. The proposals have also drawn fire from two unions vying to represent TSA screeners, the American Federation of Government Employees and the National Treasury Employees Union. Screeners think they've been vilified for simply doing their job, says David Borer, general counsel of the AFGE. He calls the proposals "wild legislation that has no chance of withstanding judicial scrutiny." Doherty, who says his views are rooted in his beliefs about limiting government's power, doesn't buy these arguments. He says that airport security violates constitutional protections against search and seizure. And even if the bills fail, he says, they will have served a purpose. "It's not just legislation," Doherty says. "It's also shaping public opinion." Back to Top FAA proposes rule to prevent cracking on certain CF34 models The US Federal Aviation Administration has proposed an airworthiness directive for certain General Electric CF34-10 fan rotor spinners and their supports, to prevent high cycle fatigue cracking that could lead to separation of the fan rotor spinner assembly and uncontained failure. The proposed rule applies to 164 CF34 engines that power Embraer E-Jets with N- registrations, covering seven models, including -10E2A1, -10E5, -10E5A1, -10E6A1, - 10E7 and -10E7-B. The issue was first discovered on a CF34-10E engine following high fan frame vibrations, resulting in removal of the fan rotor spinner, which revealed eight of 12 attachment lugs on the spinner were cracked. The cause of the vibration, said the FAA, was determined to be "a non-synchronous vibration" which was traced to a redesign of the spinner that "removed an interference between the fan blade retainers and the spinner". If not corrected, the high-cycle fatigue cracking of the fan rotor spinner support attachment lugs could result in an uncontained engine failure and damage to the aircraft. The rule comes in conjunction with a 31 January service bulletin from GE, which calls for replacement of the fan rotor blade retainers that "reintroduce the interference between the fan blade retainers and the spinner". The FAA estimates a two-hour per engine process of compliance, with a cost of $10,458 per engine with parts and labour, with a total cost to US operators of $1.74 million. The proposed directive calls for replacement of the fan rotor blade retainers within 1,800 in-service hours after the airworthiness directive becomes effective. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news Back to Top 7 injured as Hong Kong jet hits turbulence HONG KONG (AFP) -Seven people, five of them cabin crew, were injured Friday when a passenger plane hit a pocket of air turbulence en route from Beijing to Hong Kong, carrier Dragonair said. A company spokeswoman said it was not immediately clear how seriously the seven were injured when the incident occurred on the Airbus A330, which was carrying 135 passengers and 14 crew. "All involved passengers and crew, after undergoing medical treatment at the Hong Kong International Airport, have been sent to the hospital for further medical examination or treatment," the airline said in a statement. Dragonair is an affiliate of Hong Kong's flag carrier, Cathay Pacific. Back to Top Delta jet clips another plane in Atlanta An Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines, Inc. Boeing 737 taxiing to a gate at Hartsfield- Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Thursday evening clipped the tail of a neighboring 737, reports Atlanta Business Chronicle broadcast partner WXIA-TV. Delta (NYSE: DAL) flight 552 was arriving from Tegucigalpa, Honduras, with 50 passengers and five crew members when its wing clipped the tail of Delta flight 566, which had just arrived from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. That flight was waiting to pull into its gate. It was unclear how many passengers and crew were on the flight from the Dominican Republic. The final destination for both flights was Atlanta, WXIA reports. Delta officials said no one was hurt, and there was no smoke or flames from either plane. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating. http://www.bizjournals.com Back to Top Aviation Fatigue Pre-Symposium Webinar 1:00 - 2:15 EDT May 18, 2011 Join us for a Webinar on May 18, 2011 1:00 - 2:15 EDT Click the link below to sign up for a LIVE FREE Aviation Fatigue Pre-Symposium Webinar featuring: Panelist: The Honorable Mark R. Rosekind - Member, NTSB Nancy Graham - Director, Air Navigation Bureau, ICAO Steve Predmore - Vice President, JetBlue Airways Don Gunther - Staff Vice President, Continental Airlines Moderator: Hassan Shahidi - Director, Aviation Safety, MITRE Reserve your Webinar seat now at: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/450593971 Title: Aviation Fatigue Pre-Symposium Webinar Date: Wednesday, May 18, 2011 Time: 1:00 PM - 2:15 PM EDT After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar. System Requirements PC-based attendees Required: Windows® 7, Vista, XP or 2003 Server Macintosh®-based attendees Required: Mac OS® X 10.4.11 (Tiger®) or newer Register now for the June 6-8, 2011 Aviation Fatigue Symposium to be held in McLean, Virginia: www.aviationfatigueregistration.aero Do not miss your chance to attend this timely event seating is limited. Visit aviationfatigueregistration.aero for details and registration information. Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC