Flight Safety Information September 12, 2011 - No. 188 In This Issue Twice fighter jets called to escort airliners Russian plane crash highlights air travel safety issues Airline flew 'unsafe' Boeing 737 on more than 2000 flights Unsafe Airlines Ordered to be Closed in Russia Air India Has No Money To Buy Boeing 787, Says Aviation Minister FAA mandate requires yearly training for single-pilot jets Twice fighter jets called to escort airliners Romulus, Mich. (AP) -- Military commanders twice scrambled fighter jets Sunday to escort commercial aircraft to safe landings after receiving reports of suspicious behavior by passengers on each flight. No one was injured, but nerves were certainly rattled as the security concerns came on the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The North American Aerospace Defense Command sent two F-16s to escort a Los Angeles-to-New York American Airlines flight after three passengers made repeated trips to the bathroom. It also sent a pair of the fighters to shadow a Denver-to-Detroit Frontier Airlines flight after the crew reported that two people were spending "an extraordinarily long time" in a bathroom, Frontier spokesman Peter Kowalchuck said. American Airlines spokesman Tim Smith said a "security concern" was brought to the airline's attention and the crew used "normal procedures" to assess the circumstances. On the flight, the three passengers made frequent trips to the bathroom and some thought they were using hand signals to communicate, a law enforcement official said on condition of anonymity. The men were cleared and sent on their way, the official said. The jets intercepted Flight 34 about 100 miles west of New York and shadowed it until it landed at Kennedy Airport, said John Cornelio, spokesman for NORAD. He described the measure as precautionary. After Frontier Flight 623 landed in Detroit, the jet taxied to a pad away from the terminal, and police took the three passengers into custody, Kowalchuck said. The three escorted off the plane in handcuffs included two men and a woman, said passenger Ilona Hajdar of Charlotte, Mich. They were later released, and no charges were filed against them, airport spokesman Scott Wintner said. Flight 623 originated in San Diego before stopping at Denver International Airport on its way to Detroit. In Denver, the FBI said that NORAD scrambled F-16s to shadow the plane "out of an abundance of caution." FBI Detroit spokeswoman Sandra Berchtold said ultimately authorities determined there was no threat. "Due to the anniversary of Sept. 11, all precautions were taken, and any slight inconsistency was taken seriously," Berchtold said. "The public would rather us err on the side of caution than not." Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/09/11/MNE61L386V.DTL#ixzz1XkBdThjh Back to Top Russian plane crash highlights air travel safety issues The disaster that killed dozens of hockey players combines two of the nation's best and worst points: its growing professional hockey league and its problematic air travel system. Reporting from Moscow - A growing professional hockey league based in Russia is a point of pride for a country that loves the sport, able to attract stars from the prestigious North American league who find competitive salaries and a less- demanding schedule. On Wednesday, a premier Kontinental Hockey League team fell victim to one of Russia's chronic weaknesses: the quality and safety of air travel. https://ui.constantcontact.com/rnavmap/evaluate.rnav/pidIx5QjZxTGYax7eRLm0oi1031 Back to Top Airline flew 'unsafe' Boeing 737 on more than 2000 flights The US aviation regulator on Friday proposed a $US590,000 fine for Alaska Airlines for allegedly operating a Boeing 737 jet on more than 2000 flights when it had failed to meet safety regulations. The penalty follows a ceiling fire on the aircraft when it was parked at Anchorage Airport on January 18 last year, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said in a statement. "The fire was caused by chafed wiring that had resulted from improper installation of a hose clamp," it said, noting that the aircraft's manual includes "an explicit warning" about proper installation of the hose clamp. Advertisement: Story continues below "Maintenance work has to be performed precisely and correctly every time," added FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt. The plane had conducted 2107 flights in breach of regulations, according to the FAA, and Alaska most recently performed maintenance in the burned area in August 2008, said the statement. The airline, which has 30 days to respond to the proposed fine, subsequently discovered the same problem existed on nine other B-737-400 aircraft in its fleet and took action, the FAA said. AFP Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-incidents/airline-flew-unsafe-boeing-737-on-more-than-2000-flights-20110912-1k53q.html#ixzz1XkDjiF51 Back to Top Unsafe Airlines Ordered to be Closed in Russia It appears that Russia is not going to put up with unsafe airlines anymore. In fact, the Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said that he is now going to take a stance against all unreliable airlines. He is ordering his government to shut down all the airlines which are not able to perform well in terms of safety. This new stance comes just after a private jet crashed killing 43 people, and nearly wiping out an entire hockey team. Officials said that the President has already given full instructions for the government to draft up a proposal for airlines by November 15 of this year. This new rule will give authorities all the power that they need to discontinue the operation of any airline that is incapable of ensuring flight safety for its consumers. However, the new proposals do not stop there. Another separate set of proposals is also going to be up for approval around the same time. This set is going to raise the penalties that airlines face when air safety violations take place. It will also allow inspectors to ground dangerous planes without a court order. It has been said that Prime Minister Vladmir Putin has been put in charge of this big airline overhaul. It is very important that Putin gets all of this taken care of before the next presidential elections in March. For those that did not know, the plane that crashed last Wednesday in Russia was 18 years old. It crashed during takeoff in the central Russian city of Yaroshlavl. As said before, the crash killed almost an entire hockey team and its coaches. http://www.comparecarrentals.co.uk/news/291727639.html Back to Top Air India Has No Money To Buy Boeing 787, Says Aviation Minister Debt-ridden national carrier Air India does not have the funds to pay for the 27 Boeing 787s it has ordered, Civil Aviation Minister Vayalar Ravi said Sept. 9, a day after the country's nodal public auditing agency flayed the state-run airline's hasty expansion plans. "The decision to acquire a large number of aircraft was risky and has contributed predominantly to the airline's massive debt liability," the comptroller and auditor general (CAG) said in a report sent to parliament on Sept. 8. The fleet acquisition process also took an "unduly long time," the CAG said (Aviation Daily, Sept. 9). Ravi, in reacting to this report, says that the delivery of the 27 aircraft had been delayed by Boeing for three years. He did not specify whether the order would be confirmed or canceled, but made clear that if these aircraft were delivered, there is no money to pay for them. "I don't have the money to pay ... I cannot beg the finance minister all the time for the money. It is difficult. This is the position now. The government cannot say we are confirming or we are rejecting," the minister said in an interview on a local news channel. The delivery of the first Boeing 787 to Air India is reported to have been further delayed by two months to December. The CAG report tabled in parliament last week takes the Civil Aviation Ministry to task for a faulty and hasty expansion plan that involved funding the purchase of new planes with debt or loans, calling it a "recipe for disaster." The CAG said this led the airline to its current financially crippled state. To a suggestion by the CAG that Air India be left alone by the government to have a chance for survival, Ravi says the ministry will intervene to look at profitability, admitting that it is currently difficult to meet payroll. "This is the situation, that is the interference. You must understand our problem," he said. http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story_generic.jsp?channel=aviationdaily&id=news/avd/2011/09/12/12.xml&headline=Air%20India%20Has%20No%20Money%20To%20Buy%20Boeing%20787,%20Says%20Aviation%20Minister Back to Top FAA mandate requires yearly training for single-pilot jets Starting 31 October, the US Federal Aviation Administration will require pilots of business jets certified for single-pilot operations to pass yearly proficiency checks. The mandate will affect the pilots of most new very light and light jets on the market, including the Eclipse 500, Cessna Citation Mustang and Embraer Phenom 100 and Phenom 300. The agency said the amended training rule, which was first proposed two years ago, will require approximately 3,000 US-based pilots to spend nearly $4,000 per year on the flight checks, which must be performed either in full-flight simulators or in an aircraft with an FAA-designated examiner on board. Today, pilots are required by regulation to complete a generic flight review with a flight instructor every two years, though insurance companies generally require more frequent, recurrent simulator-based training. Ben Marcus, co-founder of California-based jet sales and training company JetAviva, said insurance companies generally require simulator sessions annually - or in some cases every six months - depending on the pilot's experience level. "If you're already going to annual recurrent training at a simulator school, it's not going to be that different," Marcus added. Pilots preferring in-aircraft training will see a difference however, as they will now have to pass the yearly proficiency using a limited number of FAA-approved pilot examiners. http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2011/09/12/361872/faa-mandate-requires-yearly-training-for-single-pilot.html Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC