Flight Safety Information November 30, 2011 - No. 243 In This Issue FAA to Swiftly Step Up Safety Inspection of American Airlines, Affiliate Robert Sumwalt sworn in for second term as NTSB Board Member LOT continues with 767 belly landing investigation TAECO investigates Air France missing screws incident FAA searching for space-based ADS-B provider Helicopter crash families attend NTSB safety forum Russian lawyer to challenge power of top aviation authority after series of crashes United gets single operating certificate AMR bankruptcy clouds Boeing jet order Does hospital IT need airline-style certification? Korea develops unmanned tiltrotor aircraft FAA to Swiftly Step Up Safety Inspection of American Airlines, Affiliate By ANDY PASZTOR (WSJ) - Federal officials are stepping up safety inspections of American Airlines, including enhanced oversight of its maintenance practices and pilot training, in the wake of the bankruptcy filing by the carrier's parent on Tuesday. Barely hours after AMR Corp.'s filing, Federal Aviation Administration managers ordered agency inspectors to step up random checks of American planes parked at gates as well as overnight maintenance work done in hangars, industry and government officials said. The increased federal surveillance also will target spare- parts inventories. The intensified oversight includes the airline's commuter affiliate, American Eagle. And the FAA has decided that a big chunk of the inspections will take place overnight, when cost-cutting measures, such as employee cutbacks, are typically easier to spot, government officials said. In a statement, the FAA said it routinely acts quickly and aggressively to "protect the safety of the traveling public any time an airline files for bankruptcy protection." The statement said the FAA will pay special attention to "maintenance programs and personnel, records and reporting systems, (and) management of company and manufacturer manuals." An American spokeswoman said in an email "safety is always our number one priority, and we will remain compliant with all governmental safety and maintenance regulations." She added that the carrier is "committed to continuing to provide safe and reliable service in all aspects of our operations." Over the years, bankruptcy filings by other major carriers typically haven't resulted in increased safety incidents or sharp increases in reports of safety lapses. Indeed, U.S. airlines overall had record or near-record safety performances while big carriers, such as United Airlines, were restructuring under federal bankruptcy protection. The FAA could further ratchet up inspection efforts in the unlikely event that agency officials formally classify American or American Eagle as "distressed" carriers, based on their financial conditions and other factors. But with AMR's large cash cushion, its units currently aren't expected to confront that hurdle, according to industry and government officials. A simmering legal dispute that eventually could be affected by the bankruptcy filing involves ongoing negotiations between American and the FAA over a previously proposed civil penalty stemming from alleged maintenance lapses. In August 2010, the FAA proposed a record $24.2 million penalty against the carrier for allegedly improper maintenance work done on more than 280 jetliners. At the time, the agency said the alleged violations covered essentially all of the airline's workhorse McDonnell Douglas MD-80 series jets. From the start, the company vowed to fight the proposed penalty, arguing that the work never posed any safety risks. Talks have been underway to try to resolve the controversial matter. But on Tuesday, a number of government and industry officials said the bankruptcy filing could make it politically more difficult for the FAA to seek to impose the maximum financial pain on the company. The company spokeswoman declined to comment on the penalty. Back to Top Robert Sumwalt sworn in for second term as NTSB Board Member Robert L. Sumwalt was sworn in today for his second five-year term as a Board member of the National Transportation Safety Board. Nominated by President Obama, his term of office will run until December 31, 2016. "Public service is truly one of the highest callings in the land. I have been honored to serve on the NTSB for the past five years, and I am humbled and appreciative that President Obama has asked me to serve for an additional term," said Member Sumwalt. "I am grateful to the Senate for their positive action on this nomination. I look forward to continuing to work with my colleagues on the Board, as well as the NTSB staff." Member Sumwalt was first designated as Board member on August 21, 2006 by President Bush and served as Vice Chairman of the Board for a two-year term. He is currently serving a five-year term as Board member, which ends on December 31, 2011. http://www.truckinginfo.com/news/news-print.asp?news_id=75425 Back to Top LOT continues with 767 belly landing investigation LOT Polish Airlines is continuing its investigations into the Boeing 767-300ER which made a spectacular belly landing at Warsaw Frederic Chopin Airport on 1 November after its landing gear failed to deploy. The airframe, MSN 28656, is being inspected at Warsaw, said the airline. It said: "The structure was already checked by Boeing's AOG [Aircaft on Ground] survey team and the engines are still being tested. After completion of the investigation LOT Polish Airlines together with aircraft owner will decide about the next steps." The 1997 airframe is owned by Aircastle Investment and had accumulated 7,354 cycles in 59,327hr as of 30 September, according to Flightglobal's Ascend Online database. It is powered by General Electric CF6-80C2 engines. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news Back to Top TAECO investigates Air France missing screws incident Taikoo (Xiamen) Aircraft Engineering (TAECO) is investigating an incident in which "several screws" were missing from an Air France Airbus A340 aircraft that had undergone heavy maintenance, according to the maintenance repair and overhaul (MRO) company. "TAECO was notified by Air France of a quality issue on an A340 which was discovered in Boston following the aircraft's arrival from Paris," TAECO said in a statement. "Air France reported that several screws were missing from an external panel. The incident caused operational disruption to Air France while the problems were fixed. Air France stressed that at no time was the safety of the flight in question." The aircraft had undergone heavy maintenace at TAECO from 4 October to 10 November 2011. The company said it has launched an investigation into the incident to identify the cause. It will share its findings and follow-up measures with Air France. "TAECO takes all reports of quality incidents extremely seriously," said the company. TAECO employs over 5,000 staff in Xiamen. It is a unit of Hong Kong Aircraft Engineering (HAECO). Source: Air Transport Intelligence news Back to Top FAA searching for space-based ADS-B provider The US FAA has issued a market survey to identify vendors who could provide a space-based automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) service for remote mountainous areas in the US and in oceanic regions starting in 2018. Such a system would augment the FAA's domestic ground-based ADS-B infrastructure, set to be operational as early as 2013. The new system would complement the ground-based system with real-time surveillance of aircraft in remote or oceanic areas independent of radar or infrequent position reporting by voice or ACARS data messaging over satellite or ground links. "As part of FAA's ADS-B NextGen program, the Surveillance and Broadcast Services Office is considering enhancing ADS-B service to include surveillance in oceanic and remote mountainous airspace and other airspace as required currently outside the detection limits of land-based surveillance equipment (non-radar airspace), thereby increasing safety and efficiency and reducing separation minima," the FAA said in a 22 November notice. One possible option for the service would be through a new Iridium NEXT constellation which should be in place by 2018. Iridium plans to begin building the constellation in 2015 using SpaceX Falcon 9 launch vehicles. The constellation is to have 66 operational spacecraft and six on-orbit spares. Satellites, built by Thales Alenia, would include ADS-B receivers that pick up ADS-B data transmitted from aircraft and relay the surveillance data to ground stations which then would route the data to the FAA. Alaskan company ADS-B Technologies also has a network the company says could provide the service based on a constellation of Globalstar satellites that will be operational in 2013. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news Back to Top Helicopter crash families attend NTSB safety forum Representatives of four southwest Oregon families who lost loved ones in the 2008 crash of a firefighting helicopter will attend a National Transportation Safety Board forum that begins today in Washington, D.C. Although they won't be allowed to testify, they will meet with the NTSB director and have been allowed to submit questions, said Ashland resident Paul Steele, father of fallen firefighter David Steele, 19. The young man was among seven firefighters from Jackson and Josephine counties who died in the Aug. 5, 2008, crash near Weaverville, Calif. "This is about safety for the next crews on these flights - that's the bottom line," Paul Steele said. "If we don't learn and make safety improvements, this will happen again," he added during a telephone interview from the Los Angeles airport Tuesday afternoon. The NTSB's two-day Public Aircraft Oversight Safety Forum: Ensuring Safety for Critical Missions will be headed by board chairwoman Deborah A.P. Hersman. In addition to the 2008 tragedy, other deadly helicopter accidents investigated by the NTSB that will be discussed in the forum include a Sept. 27, 2008, accident in Maryland involving the Maryland State Police, and a June 9, 2009, accident on a helicopter operated by the New Mexico State Police in that state. "Our accident investigations have demonstrated the risks of inadequate safety oversight and identified persistent confusion as to the role of the FAA when it comes to public use aircraft," Hersman said in a prepared statement. "During the forum, we will gather information on the roles and responsibilities of the entities engaged in public aircraft operations and hear about methods for ensuring effective safety oversight," she added. Panelists participating in the forum will represent federal, state and local governments as well as aviation industry associations and civil operators contracting with the government, according to NTSB spokeswoman Bridget Serchak. Nine people died in the 2008 crash that occurred on a nearly 6,000-foot-high mountaintop just west of Weaverville. The Sikorsky S-61N helicopter, owned by Carson Helicopters Inc., was ferrying out firefighters battling the Iron 44 fire in the Trinity Alps Wilderness. In addition to David Steele, the deadliest helicopter crash involving wildland firefighters in U.S. history also killed fellow firefighters Shawn Blazer, 30, Medford; Scott Charlson, 25, Phoenix; Matthew Hammer, 23, Grants Pass; Edrik Gomez, 19, Ashland; Bryan Rich, 29, Medford; and Steven "Caleb" Renno, 21, Cave Junction. Command pilot Roark Schwanenberg, 54, of Lostine, and check pilot Jim Ramage, 63, of Redding, Calif., also died. Ramage was a Forest Service employee. Co-pilot William "Bill" Coultas of Cave Junction was seriously injured along with local firefighters Richard Schroeder Jr., Jonathan Frohreich and Michael Brown. All of the firefighters were employed by Grayback Forestry Inc. of Merlin. Members of the Charlson, Gomez and Renno families are joining Paul Steele in attending the NTSB forum. "This forum brings it back into the public eye," Steele said, adding that the families of the fallen firefighters applaud the NTSB's extensive work in investigating the accident. The NTSB concluded that Carson Helicopters, whose Pacific Northwest office is in Merlin, deliberately understated the weight of its Sikorsky by more than 1,000 pounds in order to make it appear the aircraft could safely carry a heavier payload. That helped the firm win a Forest Service firefighting contract, investigators concluded. However, company president Franklin Carson in Perkasie, Pa., has rejected those charges. The company has cited engine failure as the cause of the crash. NTSB investigators also found that lack of adequate oversight by the U.S. Forest Service and the FAA contributed to the crash. The NTSB has recommended changes to the seats, harnesses and fuel bladder safety systems of similar aircraft. "There are upgrades that can be made," Steele said, adding, "It is a matter of getting action taken and adjustments made so this doesn't happen again. But those responsible for this also need to be held accountable." The forum can be viewed by webcast at www.ntsb.gov. http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20111130/NEWS/111300326/- 1/NEWSMAP Back to Top Russian lawyer to challenge power of top aviation authority after series of crashes MOSCOW (AP) - A prominent Russian lawyer said Wednesday he will challenge the powers of a regional aviation watchdog following a crash that killed an entire Russian professional ice hockey team and other recent air disasters that have raised concerns about the nation's air safety. Igor Trunov said he will ask Russia's Supreme Court to trim the authority of the Interstate Aviation Committee, which was formed in 1992 by 12 nations of the former Soviet Union. The Moscow-based body employs mostly Russian staff and serves both as the top certification authority for Russia's civil aviation and the nation's top crash investigation body. Trunov said a conflict of interest keeps the body from objectively investigating crashes and leads to new disasters. "This monopoly on power and on investigations has prevented the IAC from naming officials responsible and led it to blame everything on the dead," Trunov said at a news conference. "It leads to impunity." IAC officials declined to comment. Trunov said he had filed a court appeal on behalf of relatives of the victims of several recent crashes, including the Sept. 7 one of the Yak-42 plane near Yaroslavl, which killed 44, among them 36 players, coaches and staff of the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl hockey team that contained some former NHL stars. It was one of the worst aviation disasters ever in sports, shocking Russia and the world of hockey. The only player who survived the crash later died of burns, leaving a flight engineer as the sole survivor. The Interstate Aviation Committee concluded its probe earlier this month, saying that a pilot had caused the crash by inadvertently putting the wheel brakes on during takeoff. It also pointed to lax oversight and insufficient crew training as key reasons behind the error. Trunov argued that the IAC's probe failed to determine the true cause and that the government must open a new investigation. He was backed by several veteran pilots, who said the IAC's verdict had left some key questions unanswered. Vladimir Gerasimov, a former top crash investigator, said the IAC's claim that the plane crashed just a couple of seconds after taking off didn't seem plausible. Alexander Akimenkov, a decorated test pilot, agreed with that and said the probe also failed to determine the reason for the plane banking sharply on its left wing. Trunov said that one possible cause for the crash could be bad fuel, even though officials said it was fine. Yevgeny Sarmatov, whose wife, a flight attendant, died in the crash, said that the crew often had been forced by the plane's owners to buy fuel for cash and its quality could have been substandard. Gerasimov said the plane's owner, Yak-Service, had been checked for compliance with regulations twice this year before the crash and received clearance. The company was stripped of its license following the September crash. Trunov said the Russian government's decision granting broad powers to the IAC must be revised. "The oversight and investigative functions must be separated. They mustn't be done by one body," he said. Back to Top United gets single operating certificate United and Continental airlines will get clearance from the Federal Aviation Administration on Wednesday to operate as a single airline, the union for Continental pilots said. The so-called single operating certificate means that, as far as the FAA is concerned, United and Continental are one airline. For passengers, it's a different story. The company will continue to sell tickets on United and Continental flights, and passengers will still check in and fly with two separate airlines. The parts of the airline that passengers see, such as check-in and frequent-flier programs, are expected to be merged early next year. A spokeswoman for the airline said that it had not received the single operating certificate as of Tuesday evening. But the company has told pilots that the two airlines will begin operating under the single certificate at 6 a.m. CT Wednesday. That means Continental pilots will start using the "United" call sign when they talk to air traffic controllers. United is on its way toward merging both airlines under the United name. It will be able to merge flight operations once it gets a single union contract covering pilots from both airlines. Shares of Chicago-based United Continental Holdings Inc. rose $1.05, or 6.3%, to close at $17.63. http://travel.usatoday.com/flights/story/2011-11-30/Pilots-United-gets-single- operating-certificate/51495316/1 Back to Top AMR bankruptcy clouds Boeing jet order (Reuters) - Boeing (BA.N) could be at a disadvantage to Airbus because the bankruptcy of AMR Corp (AMR.N), the parent of American Airlines, places up to $40 billion of jet orders at the mercy of a U.S. bankruptcy court, lawyers and bankruptcy experts said. It faces a lengthy await for confirmation of a key order for 100 of its latest type of jet, a fuel-efficient version of its best-selling 737, hampering efforts to level the playing field with rival Airbus (EAD.PA) after a patchy 2011. AMR filed for bankruptcy on Tuesday. The planemakers are jostling to refresh their short-haul models with new engines in response to a clamour for fuel savings from airlines. The Airbus project is about a year ahead of Boeing's and the European planemaker has won firm or provisional sales of 1,450 revamped A320neo aircraft, more than twice the 700 provisional agreements for the competing Boeing 737 MAX. Blaming high costs, AMR, the third-largest U.S. airline, took cover from creditors just four months after bathing in glory with an order for 460 Airbus EAD.N and Boeing jetliners. Airbus walked away with the majority of the sale and pushed its rival to change strategy by successfully wooing a gold-standard Boeing customer that had not bought European for years. Boeing salvaged part of the deal by agreeing to match the Airbus "re-engining" strategy, rather than investing more time and money in a bolder redesign to try to leapfrog its rival. But the change came too late to allow designers to finish plans and prices for the 737 MAX, forcing Boeing to settle for a draft deal which it has yet to translate into a binding order. Under the U.S. system, a bankruptcy court can reaffirm or reject contracts that involve spending a troubled company's money during the 18-month breathing space offered by Chapter 11 reorganisation. But it is generally harder to persuade a court to authorize significant new obligations ahead of a full reorganisation plan, although exceptions can be made to preserve the core business. "The court would be extremely reluctant to approve entering into a new agreement at a time when the shape and direction of the reorganization plan is uncertain," said Stephen Selbst, a partner at New York law firm Herrick, Feinstein LLP. BOEING CONFIDENT Most industry analysts believe both sets of orders will go ahead barring a fresh economic upset. That is because American desperately needs new aircraft to reduce its fuel costs. It is expected to retire older planes as part of its reorganisation. But the Boeing order remains on ice during a slippery time for the global economy, meaning a further delay is not entirely without risk. Boeing had also hoped to add momentum to its wider sales campaign by tying up the prestigious order. Delays may also give time for lessors to reflect on their involvement in the deal, which depends heavily on financing, as fast-growing emerging-market carriers fight over the same jets. "My guess is that today Boeing wish they had a firm order," said an independent industry executive, asking not to be named. Boeing insisted it was confident the deal would go ahead. "When we entered into our recent agreements with American, we were confident that these assets at issue will be core to their operation in almost any scenario," said Boeing spokesman John Kvasnosky. "We have no reason to doubt that today." Nor is it automatically the case that the purchases of Airbus jets will get approval. Courts must be satisfied that other creditors will not be disadvantaged and bear in mind that damages must be paid if the contract ends up being halted later. But the Boeing case is unusual because of the scale of the unresolved part of the order, worth $9 billion at list prices. "It throws a spanner in the works for sure," said Dana J. Lockhart, a former finance director for Airbus Americas. "Taking on a post-petition obligation of that magnitude (during bankruptcy protection) is dead on arrival." Lockhart has sat on a number of airline bankruptcy creditor committees, including the stormy Eastern Airlines bankruptcy case in 1989, the last panel to include both Airbus and Boeing. The American Airlines deal in July intensified a race for more efficient aircraft that has pushed Airbus and Boeing production to record levels despite warnings of a new recession. It included a provisional order for 100 revamped 737 MAX worth $9 billion at today's list prices. American also ordered 100 current-model 737s worth $8.5 billion. The Seattle Times reported these would be worth $4.7 billion after discounts. Airbus's share of the deal included a firm order for 130 revamped A320neos worth $9 billion at catalogue prices and 100 ordinary A320 jets for which it plans to arrange leases. In practice, airlines in court restructuring are usually allowed to proceed with firm orders to modernise their fleets, and cancellations have been limited to a handful of cases. But aviation industry sources say some deliveries may be deferred. "The American orders are so central to the business plan that neither manufacturers nor the airlines would want to see them blown up," Lockhart said. "The best thing to do is to agree mutually to kick the can down the road." Back to Top Does hospital IT need airline-style certification? Would patient safety be improved with airline-style certification or regulation? Earlier this month the pilots of a Boeing 787 "Dreamliner" carrying 249 passengers aborted a landing at Okayama airport in Japan when the wheels failed to deploy automatically. The pilots circled and deployed the landing gear manually. About a year ago pilots of an Airbus A380, the world's largest passenger plane, made an emergency landing at Singapore on landing gear that they deployed using gravity, the so-called "gravity drop emergency extension system". In both emergencies the contingencies worked. The planes landed safely and nobody was hurt. Five years earlier, during tests, part of the landing gear on a pre-operational A380 failed initially to drop down using gravity. The Teflon solution The problem was solved, thanks in part to the use of Teflon paint. Eventually the A380 was certified to carry 853 passengers. Those who fly sometimes owe their lives to the proven and certified backup arrangements on civil aircraft. Compare this safety culture to the improvised and sometimes improvident way some health IT systems are tested and deployed. Routinely hospital boards order the installation of information systems without proven backup arrangements and certification. Absent in health IT are the mandatory standards that underpin air safety. When an airliner crashes investigators launch a formal inquiry and publish their findings. Improvements usually follow, if they haven't already, which is one reason flying is so safe today. Shutters come down when health IT fails When health IT implementations go wrong the effect on patients is unknown.Barts and The London NHS Trust, the Royal Free Hampstead, the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre, Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals NHS Trust and other trusts had failed go-lives of NPfIT patient administration systems. They have not published reports on the consequences of the incidents, and have no statutory duty to do so. Instead of improvements triggered by a public report there may, in health IT, be an instinctive and systemic cover-up, which is within the law. Why would hospitals own up to the seriousness of any incidents brought about by IT-related confusion or chaos? And under the advice of their lawyers suppliers are unlikely to own up to weaknesses in their systems after pervasive problems. Supplier "hold harmless" clauses Indeed a "hold harmless" clause is said to be common in contracts between electronic health record companies and healthcare provider organisations. This clause helps to shift liability to the users of EHRs in that users are liable for adverse patient consequences that result from the use of clinical software, even if the software contains errors. That said the supplier's software will have been configured locally; and it's those modifications that might have caused or contributed to incidents. Done well, health IT implementations can improve the care and safety of patients. But after the go-live of a patient administration system Barts and The London NHS Trust lost track of thousands of patient appointments and had no idea how many were in breach of the 18-week limit for treatment after being referred by a GP. There were also delays in appointments for cancer checks. At the Royal Free Hampstead staff found they had to cope with system crashes, delays in booking patient appointments, data missing in records and extra costs. And an independent study of the Summary Care Records scheme by Trisha Greehalgh and her team found that electronic records can omit allergies and potentially dangerous reactions to certain combinations of drugs. Her report also found that the SCR database: - Omitted some medications - Listed 'current' medication the patient was not taking - Included indicated allergies or adverse reactions which the patient probably did not have Electronic health records can also record wrong dosages of drugs, or the wrong drugs, or fail to provide an alert when clinical staff have come to wrongly rely on such an alert. A study in 2005 found that Computerized Physician Order Entry systems, which were widely viewed as a way of reducing prescribing errors, could lead to double the correct doses being prescribed. One problem of health IT in hospitals is that computer systems are introduced alongside paper where neither one nor the other is a single source of truth. This could cause mistakes analogous to the ones made in early air crashes which were caused not by technology alone but pilots not fully understanding how the systems worked and not recognising the signs and effects of systems failing to work as intended. In air crashes the lessons are learned the hard way. In health IT the lessons from failed implementations will be learned by committed professionals. But what when a hospital boss is overly ambitious, is bowled over by unproven technology and is cajoled into a premature go-live? In 2011, indeed in the past few months, headlines in the trade press have continued to flow when a hospital's patient information system goes live, or when a trust reaches a critical mass of Summary Care Record uploads of patient records (although some of the SCR records may or not be accurate, and may or may not be correctly updated). What we won't see are headlines on any serious or even tragic consequences of the implementations. A BBC File on 4 documentary this month explained how hospital mistakes are unlikely to be exposed by coroners or inquests. So hospital board chief executives can order new and large-scale IT systems without the fear of any tragic failure of those implementations being exposed, investigated and publicly reported on. The risk lies with the patient. Certification and regulation of health IT systems would reduce that risk. http://blogs.computerworlduk.com/the-tony-collins-blog/2011/11/why-hospital-it- needs-an-airline-safety-culture-e/index.htm Back to Top Korea develops unmanned tiltrotor aircraft The new unmanned tiltrotor aircraft unveiled by KARI. Korea on Wednesday unveiled its first unmanned tiltrotor aircraft, capable of vertical takeoff and landing as well as high-speed navigation. The Ministry of Knowledge Economy and the Korea Aerospace Research Institute disclosed the new "smart" aircraft at the aerospace center in Goheung, South Jeolla Province. The state-funded aerospace think tank is negotiating with government agencies for commercial use of the vehicle. "We have just completed the research and development program, and are in talks with the ministries of defense, land and knowledge economy about the next step," said Park Kyun-je, chief of KARI's smart aerial vehicle development center. "Our UAV can now fly at about a speed of 400 kph, and our aim is to raise it to 500." Most helicopters' maximum speed is between 200 and 300 kph. In addition to military use by the Navy and the Marines, KARI expects the aircraft to be useful for reconnaissance of coasts and islands, prevention and control of forest fires, transportation monitoring and atmospheric and environmental observation. The tiltrotor aircraft could also be used in the future as a platform for personal air vehicles which enable door-to-door transportation without the use of runways, KARI said in a press release. KARI seeks to export the new UAV. Companies in the U.S. and the Middle East are showing interest in working together with KARI for the smart UAV development. The value of global demand for unmanned aerial vehicles is expected to more than double from $9 billion last year to $19 billion in 2020, according to the Teal Group, an aerospace and defense market consultant. KARI is set to continue flight performance tests to check on sensors for collision- avoidance, maximum speed and flight duration by next year and is considering developing a manned version as well. KARI has been working on the UAV development project for the past 10 years since 2002 with dozens of businesses, universities and research institutes. The 20 participating companies include the Korea Aerospace Industries, LIG Nex1, Huneed Technologies, Youngpoong Electronics and several foreign firms such as EATI. A tiltrotor combines a helicopter's vertical lift capability with the speed and range of a plane by using rotors on rotating shafts attached to conventional wings. Currently, the United States produces a tiltrotor the Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey the manned version of which is deployed by the U.S. Marines Corps. and was featured in the blockbuster film "Transformers: Dark of the Moon." A program to mass produce the unmanned tiltrotor was canceled in the early 2000s. http://www.koreaherald.com/national/Detail.jsp?newsMLId=20111130000763 Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC