Flight Safety Information December 19, 2011 - No. 255 In This Issue Air safety proposal aims to prevent fatal crashes for smaller planes (Canada) Emirates tail-strike crew missed chances to catch weight error Qantas jet drama reinforces seatbelt warnings This week marked the longest period without a fatal airliner accident Dagestan Airlines ceases operations Compass Airlines Flight Attendant Sentenced 7 Years In Bathroom Fire NTSB to give probable cause in deadly crash of medical helicopter outside Brownsville, Tenn Ajit Singh takes over as Civil Aviation minister (India) Race is on for sales of Boeing's MAX vs Airbus neo Kingfisher grounds 15 planes; banks working with airline (India) Air Force to Award Silver Star to U-2 Pilot Francis Gary Powers NTSB: Aviation fatalities down in 2010 Air safety proposal aims to prevent fatal crashes for smaller planes (Canada) Twelve people were killed when First Air flight 6560 crashed near Resolute Bay in the far north of the Canadian Arctic on August 20. The federal government has proposed new safety measures for private and commercial airplanes that would equip the aircraft with a warning system geared to prevent often-fatal collisions with natural terrain and other obstacles. The terrain awareness and warning system (TAWS) would be implemented for aircraft with six or more passenger seats, resulting in improved safety and increased competitiveness in the international market, Transportation Minister Denis Lebel said Friday. "Our government will continue strengthening aviation safety for Canadians," Lebel said in a statement. "Using TAWS will significantly reduce the risk of airplane crashes with land, water or obstacles." The TAWS uses alerts, both audible and visual, to warn pilots about potential collision risks and aims to provide sufficient time to take action to prevent an air crash. The Department of Transportation, Infrastructure and Communities said most Canadian air carriers that operate internationally now use the system, but the proposed requirements would extend to all aircraft that meet the six-seat criteria. The proposal was forwarded to the Treasury Board in October. In a news release, the Department of Transportation, Infrastructure and Communities said the implementation of the program to all applicable aircraft in the country would result in a cost savings of $215 million over 10 years through death prevention and a reduction in serious injuries and property damage. Without knowing precise figures, airline analyst Robert Kokonis, of Air Trav Inc. said implementing the safety systems would costs six figures per aircraft, which he said could be a tough burden to bear for some smaller airlines. "It would be something to enhance safety - at any airline, safety is always your No. 1 concern," Kokonis said. "For some of these smaller carriers that work on tighter margins, especially in an era of (high fuel) costs and uncertain economic times and now we'd add on an extra cost. Of course, if it's mandated by the government, they're going to have no choice." The proposal estimated that it would cost a total of $59 million for "equipping and retrofitting the remainder of the fleet" with both TAWS and an enhanced altitude accuracy system. "There would be some cost associated with the implementation of these proposed amendments, but the risks associated with . . . accidents would be reduced, resulting in fewer deaths, serious injuries and material loss," the proposal reads. "Businesses and consumers would therefore benefit from the increased safety of aircraft. Moreover, airlines travelling to the United States and to the European Union would be in compliance with similar regulations in those jurisdictions, strengthening Canada's ability to compete economically in those markets." It is not clear whether the First Air plane that crashed into a hillside in foggy conditions in Resolute, Nunavut, on Aug. 20, had similar safety mechanisms in place or whether that crash, which claimed 12 lives and left three survivors, led to the TAWS proposal. The proposal notes that between 1977 and 2009, 35 planes "were flown into the ground while under pilot control" in Canada, leading to 100 deaths and 46 serious injuries. http://www.canada.com/news/safety+proposal+aims+prevent+fatal+crashes+smaller+planes/5804559/story.html Back to Top Emirates tail-strike crew missed chances to catch weight error Australian investigators have catalogued a series of missed opportunities to catch the weight data error which led to the serious Emirates Airbus A340-500 tail-strike at Melbourne. During the flight preparations, the base weight from the flight-management system, 361.9t, was augmented with a 1t allowance for last-minute changes, to produce a figure of 362.9t. Probably through a simple miskeying, the first officer inadvertently entered the incorrect take-off weight for the aircraft - using the figure 262.9t rather than 362.9t - when calculating the take-off performance data through the A340's electronic flight bag. This incorrect weight, 100t below the actual figure, was transcribed onto the flight plan, along with the associated performance parameters. While the single electronic flight bag was handed to the captain, so he could check the figures, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau said: "There was a lot of activity in the cockpit at that time and it is likely that the associated distractions degraded the captain's checks, and the weight error remained undetected." The pilots' procedures were also supposed to include a verbal check between them which compared the take-off weight in the flight-management system with that entered into the electronic flight bag. But the "various distractions", including the first officer's discussing departure clearance with air traffic control, meant this check was "omitted", said the ATSB. The loadsheet confirmation procedure provided two more chances to pick up the error, the first when the first officer read the take-off weight from the flight-management system and then from the calculations on the flight plan. But having correctly read the former as 361.9t, the first officer initially misread the flight plan as 326.9t, then re-read it as 362.9t - the correct figure, even though this was not the one written on the plan. The first officer thought he had simply miswritten the figure, and corrected it, but this left the miscalculated performance data unchanged. The second chance to capture the error came with a check of the 'green dot' speed from the flight-management system and electronic flight bag. While the check is intended to ensure that these speeds are within 2kt, the pilots failed to notice that the two systems were displaying 'green dot' speeds differing by 40kt. The flight-management system read 265kt and the flight bag 225kt, and the ATSB said: "Because they both ended in a '5', the captain may not have noticed the difference in the values." During the take-off roll on 20 March 2009, the aircraft failed to accelerate sufficiently, using up almost the entire runway before over-rotating and suffering a tail-strike 265m from the runway end, followed by two more strikes at 173m and 110m. The A340 overran, hitting infrastructure, before becoming airborne and eventually returning to land safely. Investigators pointed out that the variations in parameters experienced by the crew during normal mixed-fleet operations "increased the difficulty" of the pilots to recognise suspect outputs from the electronic flight bag. In the two months prior to the accident the crew had been exposed to take-off weights varying from 150-370t, and the erroneous take-off weight of 262.9t, said the ATSB, "would not have been sufficiently conspicuous" to alert them. "This problem is not unique to this accident," it stated. "Previous investigations into similar data entry error and tail- strike occurrences have highlighted the inability of flight crew to conduct a 'rule of thumb' or reasonableness check of speeds when moving between aircraft types. "An unintended consequence of mixed fleet flying appears to be a reduction in a flight crew's ability to build a model in long-term memory to facilitate recognition of 'orders of magnitude', or a 'rule of thumb', in respect of take-off performance data." Source: Air Transport Intelligence news Back to Top Qantas jet drama reinforces seatbelt warnings A Qantas A330, one of which was involved in a rollercoaster ride off Western Australia's coast. AIR safety investigators have reinforced warnings to airline passengers to buckle up after an investigation into a Qantas jet that went on a rollercoaster ride off Western Australia's coast found at least 60 people did not have their seatbelts fastened. The lengthy investigation into the 2008 incident 154kms west of Learmonth found that the in-flight upset was a unique event and unlikely to happen again. The Airbus A330, with 303 passengers on board, pitched down twice due to a combination of problems involving its flight control computers and a component called an air data inertial reference unit (ADIRU). A software design problem caused the flight control computers to command the aircraft to pitch down in response to incorrect data from the ADIRU. The wild ride saw at least 110 people injured, 51 of them seriously enough to require hospital treatment. Nine of the aircraft's 12 crew members were also injured. Australian Transport Safety Bureau chief commissioner Martin Dolan said most of the passenger injuries occurred when unrestrained occupants were thrown into the aircraft's ceiling. "The rate and severity of injuries was much greater for those who were not wearing a seatbelt," Mr Dolan said. "Although passengers are routinely reminded on each flight to wear their seatbelts when seated during a flight, some passengers do not follow this advice." Investigators were unable to say what caused the ADIRU to produce the incorrect data on the aircraft's angle of attack but ruled out electromagnetic interference from sources such as the Harold E. Holt Naval Communication station or personal electronic devices such as laptops or mobile phones. Mr Dolan said Airbus had taken prompt action to reduce the likelihood that the accident would be repeated by issuing new pilot procedures and redesigning its software. "Passengers, crew and operators can be confident the same kind of accident will not happen again," he said. http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/aviation/qantas-jet-drama-reinforces-seatbelt-warnings/story-e6frg95x- 1226225638840 Back to Top This week marked the longest period without a fatal airliner accident This week marked the longest period without a fatal airliner accident 1) in modern aviation history. As of today, Saturday December 17, 2011 , there have been no fatal airliner accidents since October 13. An accident-free period of 65 days and counting. On October 13 a DHC-8 turboprop airplane crashed in a forest near Madang, Papua New Guinea, killing 28 passengers. Three crew members and one passenger survived the accident. This accident marked the start of the longest period without a fatal airliner accident since 1945 according to Aviation Safety Network data. The previous longest period was in 1985. Sixty-one days passed between a Fokker F-27 turboprop accident in Burma (4 fatalities) on October 12 and the December 12 tragedy involving a McDonnell Douglas DC-8 of Arrow Air that crashed on takeoff from Gander, Canada, killing all 256 on board. The average period between two fatal airliner accidents since 2002 is twelve days. 1) ASN defines an airliner accident as: "An occurrence associated with the operation of a commercial multi-engine airplane model, with a certificated maximum passenger configuration of 14 or more passengers, which takes place between the time any person boards the aircraft with the intention of flight until such time as all such persons have disembarked, in which a person on the airplane is fatally injured and the airplane is damaged beyond repair." www.aviation-safety.net Back to Top Dagestan Airlines ceases operations Russian provincial carrier Dagestan Airlines has terminated all services following the suspension of its air operator's certificate. On 17 December, it halted ticket sales and said passengers with tickets for its flights would be flown by a selected domestic carrier under a contingency scheme. The airline's license expired on 16 December but inspectors from the supervisory agency Rosaviatsia ruled against extending it, citing irregularities in its activities. Dagestan Airlines has undergone three inspections after a fatal Tupolev Tu-154 aircraft crash at Moscow last December. Rosaviatsia chief Alexander Neradko said it would make a decision on the carrier's fate shortly. "The main point now is to preclude new accidents," he added. Last November, Dagestan Airlines along with five other Russian operators was suspended from conducting flights to the European Union over safety concerns. In the first 10 months of this year, it transported 283,000 passengers, using four Tu-154s and two Tu-134s. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news Back to Top Compass Airlines Flight Attendant Sentenced 7 Years In Bathroom Fire December 18, 2011 - A former flight attendant with Compass Airlines, Eder Rojas, 23, of Woodbury, Minnesota was sentenced in United States District Court in Fargo, North Dakota, Friday to more than six years in prison by U.S. District Judge Ralph Erickson for setting fire to an airplane bathroom while in-flight. In addition he was ordered to pay back more than $100,000, the bulk of the money to go to Compass Airlines for damage to the bathroom and accommodations for passengers. Prosecutors said prior to this flight Rojas was aboard another Compass Airlines flight about five weeks before that was forced to make an emergency landing in Wisconsin because of a bathroom fire in which Rojas helped put out the fire. Charges in this case have not been filed. On September 26, 2011, Rojas, pled guilty before United States District Court Judge Ralph R. Erickson to a charge of setting an aircraft on fire. Rojas, pleaded guilty to setting fire to a Compass Airline approximately 35 minutes into the flight, which had originated in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 7, 2008. Rojas was originally scheduled for trial in September of 2008. He was placed in a halfway house in Fargo pending trial. On the eve of his trial, Rojas fled to Mexico. Rojas was returned to North Dakota on August 3, 2011, through the efforts of the FBI and the United States Marshals Service. The plane was traveling to Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, and carrying approximately 72 passengers and four crew members. Rojas was working as a flight attendant on the plane. The aircraft was forced to make an emergency landing in Fargo, North Dakota. In a later interview, Rojas admitted to FBI agents that he had intentionally used a lighter to start the paper towels in the rear bathroom of the aircraft on fire. Rojas indicated his reason for starting the fire was that he was mad at the airline for making him work on that route. However, Defense attorney Richard Henderson disputed that claim on Friday and said Rojas suffers from a narcissistic personality disorder and that his client wanted to be a hero after setting the fire and then being the one to put it out. "I don't think he understands what fully motivated him to do this," said Henderson. Assistant U.S. Attorney Brett Shasky said on Friday that Rojas could have created a fireball on the Compass plane because of the oxygen on board and it would have been one big boom. The pilot had "visions of passengers on fire before that plane got to ground," said Shasky. U.S. District Judge Ralph Erickson said "It could have been an unmitigated disaster, really, that's all I can say about the offense. The real issue is do we get him the psychiatric help he needs." Judge Erickson said "you ran away, you had to be extradited. I'm not going to reward that behavior today, tomorrow, or ever." Rojas tearful in court said he was sorry for what he had done and would accept any punishment given. "It was selfish of me. I was just thinking of me, myself and I. I hope the passengers can forgive me for what I did." http://avstop.com/news_december_2011/compass_airlines_flight_attendant_sentenced_7_years_in_bathroom_fire.htm Back to Top NTSB to give probable cause in deadly crash of medical helicopter outside Brownsville, Tenn. WASHINGTON -- Almost two years after a medical helicopter crashed outside Brownsville, Tenn., killing its pilot and two nurses, the National Transportation Safety Board is expected to release the probable cause of the accident next month. A voluminous docket of documents on the March 25, 2010, Medical Wing accident indicates much attention has been paid to the weather as a factor in the predawn crash as pilot William D. Phillips, a retired Memphis police officer from Bartlett, raced west from Jackson into an oncoming, intense cold front. Witness statements indicate several heard something like thunder at the time of the crash, but a preliminary report a month after the crash said the French-built chopper showed no signs of a lightning strike. Ida May Clark, who lived on the road near the wheat field into which the helicopter plummeted, told investigators she heard "woo, woo, woo ... like a train," then felt her whole house shake. Witness Wayne Tritt told the NTSB that the flash of lightning he saw as he drove that morning was "blue-white light," as if a transformer had blown out. "The sound he heard was 'explosive' and not like regular thunder," the investigator reported. Twenty-two months after the Memphis Medical Center Air Ambulance Service incident became the fourth medical helicopter crash in a six-month period, NTSB spokesman Peter C. Knudson said the probable cause is expected to be released in the latter half of January. The agency held four days of hearings on the increase in medical helicopter crashes in February 2009 to look at nine fatal accidents that had killed 35 people over the previous 12 months. Phillips, 58, and nurses Cynthia A. Parker, 48, of Dyersburg and Misty L. Brogdon, 36, of Jackson had just transported a patient from Parsons to the Jackson-Madison County Hospital. All three in the helicopter returning to their base at Brownsville were aware of the severe weather ahead. On the ground at Brownsville, pilot Robert Christopher Call, known as Chris, a Navy-trained pilot with just a month at Hospital Wing, had just come on duty at 5:30 a.m. He had been in touch with Phillips as he sat at the Jackson hospital heliport. Phillips estimated he had 18 minutes to make it back before the storm got to Brownsville. A 32-page analysis of the weather on that morning indicates that a small-scale storm system was moving northeast through the southwest part of the state carrying pea-sized hail in some areas. "The accident site was located ahead of the low pressure system and the cold front in the warm-air section of the front," it says. Weather radar imagery for the accident site at 5:59 a.m., seconds before the accident occurred, and 54 minutes before the sun would come up, showed a "bow echo," or bow-shaped line of cells often associated with straight-line winds and small tornadoes. Instruments indicated an intense storm with severe turbulence, lightning and hail along with "organized surface wind gusts." The report notes that the "gust front" of an intense thunderstorm makes an area "prone to extreme low-level wind shear." Regarding lightning, extremely detailed data showed that, within 15 miles of the accident site between 5:45 a.m. and 6:15 a.m., there were six cloud-to-ground lightning strikes and 12 intra-cloud strikes, but "none occurred within 90 seconds of the accident." NTSB investigator Ralph E. Hicks interviewed Call, other Medical Wing pilots and some flight nurses in the course of the probe. According to his notes, one of the nurses expressed "an industry concern: Do you really need that type of transportation. Couldn't you go by ground?" Another flight RN-EMT said the rural counties of West Tennessee don't have enough ground ambulances and she expressed frustration that "routine transports" by air are being done "for convenience." http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2011/dec/19/ntsb-to-give-findings-in-crash/ Back to Top Ajit Singh takes over as Civil Aviation minister (India) The Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) president Ajit Singh Monday assumed charge as the new Civil Aviation Minister New Delhi The Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) president Ajit Singh Monday assumed charge as the new Civil Aviation Minister. Singh was inducted as a minister with Cabinet rank in the Manmohan Singh government Sunday, within days after his party entered into a pre-poll alliance with the Congress party ahead of the Uttar Pradesh state legislative assembly elections. RLD is the new entrant to the Congress party-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) whose strength in the Lok Sabha has increased from 272 to 277 now. RLD which has strong presence in the Jat-dominated western districts of Uttar Pradesh is expected to contest between 45 to 60 seats as junior ally of the Congress party in the state elections slated for early next year. "This is a very sensitive sector and I am taking my time to understand it," Singh told reporters at the Rajiv Gandhi Bhavan, the headquarters of the civil aviation ministry. This is the 72-year-old Singh's fourth tenure as a federal minister. His initial demand for Agriculture ministry could not be met since the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar heads the agriculture ministry. Singh replaced Vayalar Ravi, who was holding duel charge in addition to the Overseas Indian Affairs ministry ever since NCP leader Praful Patel was promoted as a cabinet minister and shifted to the Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises in January this year. Singh, son of former Indian Prime Minister Chaudhary Charan Singh has taken charge of the Civil Aviation Ministry when the sector is in a big mess due to ever rising fuel prices and high interest rates. The national carrier Air India is even in a bigger mess with mounting losses. Singh said that he would take a few days to understand the ministry before coming out with the plans for the civil aviation sector in the next few days. RLD had won five seats in the last general elections as an ally of the principal opposition Bharatiya Janata Party and is seen as an opportunist politician who changes his political allies too frequently. http://gulfnews.com/news/world/india/ajit-singh-takes-over-as-civil-aviation-minister-1.953695 Back to Top Race is on for sales of Boeing's MAX vs Airbus neo (Reuters) - Boeing Co (BA.N) started a year later than its European rival Airbus (EAD.PA) in a race to overhaul the $2 trillion narrowbody aircraft market, and is fighting hard to restore balance to their tense duopoly. With Boeing's announcement this week that it has a launch customer -- Southwest Airlines (LUV.N) -- for its upcoming 737 MAX, the two planemakers have officially squared off in the competition to make the best -- and best-selling -- narrowbody aircraft: the upcoming MAX vs the upcoming Airbus a320neo. The two airplane families feature new engines in their current designs. Both planemakers boast superior efficiency, and with Boeing's announcement on Tuesday of the list prices and a better understanding of the capabilities of the three models of its 737 MAX, the company will have an easier time converting its 948 commitments from customers to firm orders. "We are in a position to start firming up the 948 commitments we have so far and continue to meet Airbus in different campaigns around the world," Boeing Commercial Airplanes Chief Executive Jim Albaugh told Reuters on Tuesday. "We got off to a little later start than they did, but I think we've done very well in the four months since we launched the airplane," he said. Speaking at the Reuters Global Manufacturing and Transportation Summit, Albaugh said Boeing has done enough work on the airplane's configuration to make performance guarantees. Airbus has taken 1,450 orders and commitments including some 1,200 firm orders for its a320neo family, compared with 948 for the 737 MAX, which includes a single firm order for 150 planes from Southwest. Boeing says its remaining order commitments soon will appear as firm orders on its books. "Right now, the stage is set for 50/50. You look at the numbers," said Teal Group aerospace analyst Richard Aboulafia. "You look at loyalty and so far there's been a very high level of loyalty displayed by customers on both sides." Airbus orders include 200 aircraft from AirAsia (AIRA.KL), and all-Airbus customer, while Boeing signed up its loyal Asian customer Lion Air of Indonesia for 201 737 MAX aircraft. The difference of just one airplane illustrates the fierce rivalry between the two Asian low-cost carriers as well as their entrepreneur owners. "I think you're going to see a tremendous run-up in orders of the next six to 12 months," Aboulafia said. IT COMES DOWN TO ENGINES The 737 MAX, due to enter service in 2017, will be powered by CFM International engines and promises to reduce burn and carbon dioxide emissions by 10 to 12 percent current single-aisle airplanes. CFM International is a joint venture between General Electric Co (GE.N) and Safran (SAF.PA). Boeing says the plane also will have lower operating costs. The neo is due to enter service in 2016, featuring engine options from Pratt & Whitney, a unit of U.S. manufacturer United Technologies Corp (UTX.N), or CFM International. Airbus maintains its aircraft is more cost efficient. List prices for the MAX range from $78 million to $101.7 million. This compares with $84 million to $106 million for the three neo models. "Either people are taking two different roads to the same result. Or someone's right and someone's wrong," Aboulafia said. "The only difference is that Airbus is hedged because they've got a choice of both engines," he said. Neal Dihora, an aerospace analyst at Morningstar, said Airbus still has a marketing advantage over Boeing simply because it started selling its plane earlier. Airbus unveiled its neo plans in December. "Airbus is winning this contest because they're showing that they have a product and the ability to actually get these fuel savings into the market place as opposed to just in the design phase," Dihora said. Boeing has yet to publicize the specs for its upgraded 737, but Albaugh said it is appropriate to view the aircraft as a replacement for the 737 Next Generation. The current 737 models are the domestic workhorses for many airline customers, seating between 110 and 220 people for short- and medium-haul flights. The largest model of the MAX, the -900, can serve as a replacement for the discontinued 757 on most routes, Albaugh said. "The 900 is an airplane that in our view can do over 95 percent of the missions that the 757 did," he said. "In terms of a one-for-one replacement of the 57, it's not one for one, but it's pretty close," Albaugh added. HOW BOEING ARRIVED AT ITS DECISION TO RE-ENGINE Until its surprise decision to re-engine the 737 last summer, Boeing had made it clear that it preferred to build an all- new small airplane to take the place of its 737 NG. The company took the heat from analysts as it dragged out a decision over whether to redesign or re-engine. And it stood by as Airbus notched more than a 1,000 orders for its neo and made inroads into U.S. markets. In July, Boeing finally bit the bullet and said it would re-engine the aircraft, a move many outsiders perceived as a reaction to interest by American Airlines (AMR.N), a loyal Boeing customer, in buying the neo. American, which is restructuring under Chapter 11, split its giant order for 460 single-aisle jets worth up to $40 billion between Boeing and Airbus. In the Reuters interview, Albaugh said there were more considerations than American and that Boeing arrived at its decision on its own terms after consultation with customers. "Everybody liked the idea of a new airplane. But they wanted an airplane with certainty on a precise date, and they also wanted to understand what the guarantees of that airplane might be," Albaugh said. He said Boeing was confident it could build the plane and provide 20 percent improvement in efficiency. "But what we weren't confident of was what the nonrecurring costs would have been for development," he said. "I was also concerned about the schedule risks associated with that airplane," he said, "so I think we wound up in a good spot." Albaugh said he believes the MAX has such a pronounced cost-savings advantage over the neo that it will quickly catch up in sales with the neo. "Right now on the NG (Next Generation), we have more firm orders than they have on the 320 classic," Albaugh said. "And I have I have full expectation that we will split the market on the MAX and the neo as well." Back to Top Kingfisher grounds 15 planes; banks working with airline (India) MUMBAI (Reuters) - Beleaguered Kingfisher Airlines (KING.NS) has grounded 15 planes in its fleet as it battles a prolonged cash crunch, a company executive told Reuters, as banks continue efforts to prop up the airline, which until recently was India's second-largest. A Kingfisher executive, who declined to be identified, told Reuters the airline had grounded 15 of its planes but did not say how long they had been grounded or why. The executive was speaking after the Economic Times reported that Kingfisher had grounded some of its Airbus planes after it was unable to meet maintenance and overhaul expenses. Kingfisher, controlled by flamboyant liquor tycoon Vijay Mallya, has been seeking additional working capital from its lenders. The chairman of State Bank of India (SBI.NS), which heads the consortium of Kingfisher's lenders, on Monday said banks are trying to help. "We are trying to help Kingfisher," State Bank of India Chairman Pratip Choudhuri told Reuters on Monday morning. Asked if banks were open to lending more funds to the cash-starved airline, he said, "everything is on the table". Indian conglomerate Sahara, meanwhile, plans to lend Kingfisher more than 2.5 billion rupees, the Times of India reported on Saturday, citing sources. A Sahara source who declined to be identified told Reuters on Monday that the group was planning to lend to the carrier at least that amount but did not give further details. A Sahara spokesman declined to comment. Kingfisher shares rose more than 2 percent and into positive territory after the SBI chairman's comments. They were up 0.69 percent at 21.85 rupees in a weak Mumbai market as of late morning. Its share price has fallen 67 percent since the start of the year, cutting its market value to about $202 million. All but one of India's six main airlines is loss-making, as carriers engage in aggressive price competition even as they are squeezed by the high cost of jet fuel and other expenses. India's aviation regulator is conducting a financial review of Kingfisher, a process that is ongoing, an official with the regulator said on Monday, declining to be identified. Kingfisher's active fleet has shrunken to 40 from 69 at the end of 2010, the Economic Times report said. A Kingfisher spokesman declined to comment to Reuters. An official source at Mumbai's airport told Reuters that Kingfisher had grounded two aircraft there in recent weeks due to a lack of spare parts, but there were no new flight cancellations. Kingfisher, which has never made a profit, has seen its market share shrink to third-place after it slashed flights beginning last month. Over 100 of its pilots have quit recently and suppliers, including airports and oil companies, have stopped extending credit to the airline. Back to Top Air Force to Award Silver Star to U-2 Pilot Francis Gary Powers WASHINGTON - The U.S. Air Force will award a Silver Star posthumously to Francis Gary Powers, the pilot whose spy plane was shot down in 1960 over the Soviet Union in a defining moment of the Cold War. The Air Force determined that the U-2 pilot showed "steadfast loyalty" while under harsh interrogation in Soviet prisons. In a report obtained by The Associated Press, it cited his "sustained courage" and gallantry despite "cajolery, trickery, insults and threats of death." The Silver Star is the Air Force's third-highest honor for service beyond the call of duty. Powers was swapped for a Soviet spy in February 1962 at Berlin's Glienicke Bridge. He died in the 1977 crash of a traffic helicopter he was flying in Los Angeles. His son, Francis Gary Powers Jr., requested that his father be considered for the medal. He said the Air Force confirmed this week that it plans to award it. "It is vindication of my father 50 years afterwards," he said. "Dad is one of our American heroes." In the aftermath of the downing, some people criticized Powers for not committing suicide using a toxin-tipped needle he was given before the flight. Powers said the CIA instructed pilots to surrender and to use of the poisoned pin only if they chose to while under torture. Pilots were permitted to tell the truth about their missions with the exception of certain specifications of their aircraft. "While he admitted he was spying, he did not reveal any vital information to the enemy," said Powers Jr., founder of the Cold War Museum in Vint Hill, Virginia. The decision to award the Silver Star comes just a few weeks before the 20th anniversary of the dissolution of the Soviet Union, on Dec. 25, 1991. Powers was not honored after his return in 1962 because of the "global political environment," the Air Force report said. The U-2 case was detailed in declassified data presented at a 1998 conference, and Powers was awarded a military POW medal and a CIA director's medal posthumously in 2000. The U-2 Soviet overflights were a joint CIA-Air Force program. Powers Jr. said he requested his father be considered for the higher military honor a few years ago, citing honors given other captured spy plane pilots. He said no date has been set for the award ceremony. Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/12/18/air-force-to-award-silver-star-to-u-2-pilot-francis-gary- powers/?test=latestnews#ixzz1gzFLDj2z Back to Top NTSB: Aviation fatalities down in 2010 Aviation in 2010 proved to be the vehicular travel mode with the lowest fatalities in the US, according to year-end figures released by the US National Transportation Safety Board. Of the 34,925 deaths attributed to the highway, rail, marine and aviation modes of travel, aviation accounted for 472 fatalities, or about 1.4% of the total. Automobile accidents, by contrast, accounted for 32,885 deaths or 94% of the total, slightly down from the 33,883 highway fatalities in 2009. Within aviation, airline fatalities dropped from 52 in 2009 to two in 2010, with the commuter sector recording zero fatalities in 2010, as in 2009. Fatalities in the air taxi sector remained at 17 in 2010, the same number as 2009. As in 2009, the majority of aviation deaths occurred in the general aviation segment, with 450 fatalities in 2010, down 6% from the 478 deaths in 2009. Non-US-registered aircraft were involved in accidents in the US that resulted in three fatalities in 2010, down one death from the 2009 count. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news Curt Lewis