Flight Safety Information January 4, 2012 - No. 002 In This Issue United Plane's Toilet Fault Forces China Flight Back to Newark Airline Insurance Claims Tumble 45% in Safest Year, Ascend Says Man Charged With Trying to Bring Explosives Onto an Airplane Qantas 747 involved in weight-data inquiry at Melbourne Man charged in $630K fraud involving FAA certifications UTC's Chênevert Named "Person Of The Year" By Aviation Week European Carbon Regulation for Airlines Takes Off Boeing Misses 2011 Aircraft Delivery Targets United Plane's Toilet Fault Forces China Flight Back to Newark (Bloomberg) A United Continental Holdings Inc. (UAL) flight to Shanghai landed in Canada and then returned to New York's Newark airport because of a toilet fault. The plane spent a couple of hours on the ground before turning back, said Naoko Munakata, a Tokyo-based employee at Hill & Knowlton, the PR agency that represents United in Japan. The service will take off again from Newark at 5:30 a.m. today, she said by e-mail. The flight left Newark at 11:06 a.m. yesterday before diverting to Goose Bay Airport, according to information on United's Website. Back to Top Airline Insurance Claims Tumble 45% in Safest Year, Ascend Says Jan. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Global airlines' insurance claims fell 45 percent to the lowest in seven years in 2011, as the industry posted its safest year on record, according to Ascend. The cost of incurred airline hull and legal liability losses for 2011 dropped by about $966 million to $1.18 billion, Ascend, a unit of London-based Reed Elsevier Plc, said in a Jan. 3 statement on its website. About 400 people died in airline accidents last year, based on figures in the statement. The industry posted the lowest fatal-accident and passenger-death rates on record in 2011 as safety standards increased and air travel grew, Ascend said. Flying is now about twice as safe as it was 15 years ago, it said. "It's the safest year ever," Paul Hayes, Ascend's director of safety, said in the statement. "Airlines are getting safer -- and more quickly than they're expanding." Last year's worst crash happened July 8, when 83 people died after a Hewa Bora Airways Boeing Co. 727-100 undershot the runway on landing in Kisangani, Congo, Ascend said. Another 35 people survived. Other fatal incidents included an Iran Air Boeing 727-200 crash that killed 69 people in Orumiyeh, Iran, in January. A Rusair Tupolev TU134 crash in Petrozavodsk, Russia, killed 45 people in June. Back to Top Man Charged With Trying to Bring Explosives Onto an Airplane MIDLAND - We're getting our first look at the man arrested for trying to bring explosives through a security checkpoint at the Midland International Airport. The FBI has identified him as 30-year-old Trey Scott Atwater. He's being held at the Midland County Jail. Atwater and his family had been visiting relatives in the Basin and were on their way back to his base in North Carolina. Atwater sent his bag through the X-ray machine at the security checkpoint on Saturday morning and that's when TSA agents spotted a military grade explosive device in his bag. The terminal was immediately evacuated while the Midland Police Bomb Squad and FBI swept the area. Atwater was detained by the FBI for interrogation and the terminal was re-opened after about an hour. Atwater is charged with trying to bring explosives onto an airplane. FBI officials say he will remain in custody until his arraignment on Tuesday. Right now, we don't know whether he was in a military uniform or how many explosives were in his bag. Our sister station, WNCN, in Raleigh, North Carolina, went to the home where Trey Atwater lives. On the door, there's a sign that reads Trey Atwater, U.S. Army. Neighbors are also telling WNCN that Atwater is a green beret and had just come back from serving in Afghanistan in the first part of November. We'll continue to bring you the latest developments on this story. http://www.newswest9.com/story/16427455/man-charged-with-trying-to-bring-explosives-onto-an-airplane Back to Top Qantas 747 involved in weight-data inquiry at Melbourne Australian investigators are examining a weight-data event on a Qantas Boeing 747-400 at Melbourne, days after completing inquiries into the Emirates weight-data accident at the same airport. While details are sketchy the Australian Transport Safety Bureau said the occurrence involved a 747-400 (VH-OJM) bound for Sydney on 22 December. "Prior to departure the crew detected an incorrect zero fuel weight on the loadsheet," said the ATSB. Just six days before the 747 incident the ATSB published its final report into the Emirates Airbus A340-500 tail-strike during departure at Melbourne in March 2009, which badly damaged the jet and occurred after failure to detect a serious error in weight data. The ATSB has been particularly focused on the problem of erroneous weight and balance data, and conducted an in-depth review into more than 30 instances between 1989 and 2009. It found that the most common contributing safety factors related to crew actions - such as monitoring and checking - followed by inadequate risk controls, including poor procedures. In its report into the Emirates accident the ATSB also highlighted the "inability" of flight crew to perform "reasonableness checks" to gauge whether parameters were suitable for flight, and added that this oversight was a "consistent aspect" of such occurrences. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news Back to Top Man charged in $630K fraud involving FAA certifications A 57-year-old Cartersville man has been charged with defrauding a Dubai government agency of hundreds of thousands of dollars by delivering bogus FAA approvals for aircraft modifications, federal prosecutors said Tuesday. Aviation consultant Andrew Kent Anderson was arraigned Tuesday afternoon on a federal indictment charging him with nine counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, authorities said. "Andrew Anderson is charged with bypassing the certification process by providing false and fraudulent FAA certifications to his clients who sought his assistance with obtaining legitimate FAA certifications," U.S. Attorney Sally Quillian Yates said in a news release. Anderson had been hired to help obtain FAA approval for certain modifications to several airplanes, including a Boeing 747 and two Avro jets, owned by the Dubai Air Wing of the government of Dubai, prosecutors said. The defendant provided certificates purportedly issued by the FAA but in truth were not, prosecutors said. He was paid more than $630,000 for his services. The alleged fraud occurred between April 2008 and June 2010. A federal grand jury indicted Anderson on Dec. 20. If convicted, Anderson could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison on each of the wire fraud counts and fined up to $250,000. Another defendant in the case, Tod Anderson, 54, of Portage, Mich., on Dec. 14 pleaded guilty to a criminal information charging him with conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with the fraudulent certificates for the Boeing 747, prosecutors said. Tod Anderson is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 23. He faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Prosecutors did not say if the two Andersons were related. http://www.ajc.com/news/man-charged-in-630k-1287942.html Back to Top UTC's Chênevert Named "Person Of The Year" By Aviation Week United Technologies Corp.'s Chairman and Chief Executive Louis R. Chênevert has been named "Person of the Year" for 2011 by Aviation Week, which cited Chênevert's leadership in pursuing the now-pending $18.4 billion acquisition of Goodrich Corp. The largest deal ever for UTC - expected to significantly expand the Hartford-based company's Hamilton Sundstrand aerospace systems division based in Windsor Locks - could define Chênevert's legacy as CEO. Chênevert was also was at the forefront of UTC's Pratt & Whitney division in 2011, making major strides in re-entering the narrowbody commercial jet engine market with the development of the geared turbofan engine, the publication said. George David "The sum of Louis Chênevert's achievements will reverberate for many years to come," said Anthony L. Velocci, Jr., editorial director of Aviation Week and editor-in-chief of Aviation Week & Space Technology. "He is the person who had the most impact on the industry in 2011." Aviation Week said as UTC evolves, Chênevert has his eye on the future. "The ultimate prize to me is to be on the next generation 737," Chênevert told the publication. That, however, has proven elusive so far, as Boeing said it will not redesign its top-selling 737 to allow for other engines - and Pratt is not on the current models. Chênevert joined UTC's Pratt Canadian division in 1993 after more than 10 years at General Motors. He served as Pratt's president from 1996 to 2006 before succeeding George David in 2008 as CEO. Prior recipients include United Continental CEO Jeff Smisek (2010); former U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates (2008); the father of China's space program, Tsien Hsue-shen (2007); Alan Mulally, previously of Boeing Co. (2006); and Pier Francesco Guarguaglini, previously of Finmeccanica (2005). http://www.courant.com/business/hc-chenevert-aviation-week-20120103,0,7651713.story Back to Top European Carbon Regulation for Airlines Takes Off 2012 started with some good news. On Sunday, the European Union began charging all airlines flying into and out of Europe for their carbon emissions. Covering a third of all global flights, this new scheme is one of the widest-reaching measures adopted lately by any country or regional bloc to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. Given all the hurdles and protest it faced, the fact that this scheme actually began is not just an incredible accomplishment for the EU, but also a bit of a miracle. The new scheme will make all airlines flying to, from or within the EU liable for their CO2 emissions. They will receive tradable carbon allowances, covering a certain amount of CO2 emitted each year, based on historic data. Carriers that exceed their limit will be able to buy allowances from other carriers that have emitted less than allowed. The EU believes this cap and trade scheme is the fairest way to cope with aviation's contribution to global warming and incentivize airlines to reduce their footprint, which represents about 3 percent of global CO2 emissions. Of course, airlines won't be the first ones to join the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). The scheme, which began in January 2005 as the first emissions trading scheme to regulate GHG emissions, applies to power generators, steelworks and other heavy industry in Europe. The main difference is with the new regulations is that this is the first time companies operating outside the EU will have to comply with the ETS. The EU didn't have much choice about it, as it didn't and probably couldn't regulate just European airlines, because that would give all the other airlines an unfair competitive advantage. Yet, by deciding to regulate everyone, the EU made every airline outside Europe angry. Very angry. If you want to understand the global inaction when it comes to climate change, you don't need to go to Durban or Copenhagen. You just need to look at the list of threats the EU received following the announcement of this directive to learn how the main global forces feel about putting a price on carbon emissions: the Chinese government warned it might impose punitive tariffs and the China Air Transport Association went even further and suggested that Beijing should threaten to reduce future purchases Airbus aircraft, Russia threatened to hike overflight charges for European airlines flying to and from Asian destinations, and India threatened to levy a retaliatory tax on European airlines operating to and from India. Not too surprising, the main resistance came from the US. Last October the House of Representatives passed a resolution prohibiting US airlines from participating in the EU's ETS, declaring that the EU action "directly infringes on the sovereignty of the United States." But it's not just the Republicans that are unhappy with the new directive. Couple of weeks ago, Secretary of Transportation, Ray LaHood and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton wrote to the EU commission reiterating the Obama administration's objections on "legal and policy grounds," and said the US would respond with "appropriate action." They didn't elaborate though what that action would be. Last but not least there was a legal battle against the directive, with a group of US airlines that filed a suit to the EU highest court, arguing that "forcing them to participate in the potentially costly emissions-trading system infringed on national sovereignty and conflicted with existing international aviation treaties." The court rejected this claim about two weeks ago, confirming "the validity of the directive that integrates aviation activities in the system for trading emissions quotas." The court's decision was final, but US carriers are looking now to take their case to other courts. Airlines for America, an industry lobby group and one of the plaintiffs in the case, said according to the New York Times, that its members would comply with the system, but would also review options for pursuing the case in Britain's High Court, which had referred the original complaint to the European court in 2009. Why did all the airlines put so much effort to fight this scheme? Simply because they are reluctant to pay the price for their emissions - according to Airlines for America, its members would be required to pay more than $3.1 billion to the European Union between 2012 and 2020. The carriers don't plan to take the entire burden on themselves- they'll be passing it along to their customers. According to estimates passengers will pay an average levy of $2-$15 dollars due to the new measure. No matter how much of the new carbon fees carriers will pass to their customers, the new directive is expected to create an incentive for them to reduce their carbon footprint, encouraging them to develop biofuels, purchase fuel-efficient aircraft and so on. As Gernot Wagner, economist at the EDF and author of 'But Will the Planet Notice?' explains, the new system is still far from being perfect, as airlines initially will receive most of the required allowances for free, and the additional cost for a flights will not cover the full cost of the damage for the environment, which he estimates in $20 for a transatlantic flight, but it's still a step in the right direction. It might take time before both airlines and passengers will feel the impact of the new directive, as the airlines won't have to hand over the first batches of emissions permits until the spring of 2013 to compensate for flights made in 2012. Still, it's going to be interesting to see if the impact of the new scheme. If it will prove itself, it will maybe give the rest of the world an indication that the Europeans actually know what they're doing when promote regulation to fight global warming. http://www.triplepundit.com/2012/01/european-carbon-regulation-after-overcoming-worldwide-resistance/ Back to Top Boeing Misses 2011 Aircraft Delivery Targets Boeing's all-out push to ramp up 787 and 747-8 deliveries in the fourth quarter appears to have fallen short of target, according to analysts' estimates. Boeing planned to deliver about 15-20 787 and 747-8s by year-end as part of an overall 2011 target of about 480 deliveries, with the bulk of the newer model deliveries made up of 747- 8Fs. However, investment banking firm Sterne Agee says, "Based on our checks, we expect Boeing to report only 11 deliveries in total for these two programs for 2011, with only two 787 deliveries versus expectations of at least five." Boeing declines to comment on specific delivery details, but will reveal official numbers for December in a results call scheduled tomorrow. Pre-delivery preparations of three 787s for launch customer All Nippon Airways (ANA) were under way through December, with the airline's third and fourth aircraft originally expected to officially deliver by Dec. 30. However, unspecified technical hitches prevented the departure of Line No. 31 around Dec. 27 and Line No. 9 on Dec. 30. Both aircraft, as well as a Line No. 41, the fifth 787 for ANA, are now expected to be delivered in the next few days. As a consequence of the last-minute hold-ups, Sterne Agee estimates December deliveries of 48 aircraft, which results in 125 total fourth-quarter aircraft deliveries. By platform, these were 89 737s, nine 747-8s, six 767s, 20 777s and only a single 787. "We had estimated that Boeing would deliver four to six 787s in the fourth quarter of 2011, while checks indicate that at least three aircraft saw final delivery date shift from late December to January," the firm says. "We do not believe this is related to issues with final assembly but more of the timing of completing the final checkout of the aircraft before handing them over to the customer." The ongoing ramp-up of 787 deliveries, meanwhile, is expected to continue to accelerate with final assembly of 50 aircraft completed as of the end of December and as many as 55 aircraft on the two final assembly lines in Everett, Wash., and Charleston, S.C. As a result of the delivery shift, Sterne Agree is lowering its fourth-quarter revenue estimate to $18.8 billion from $19.2 billion. "We are now estimating Boeing to report 125 total aircraft deliveries in the fourth quarter of 2011 versus our previous assumption of 133, resulting in 474 aircraft deliveries for 2011 versus guidance of around 480." The 787 delivery slowdown prompted ANA to postpone the start of services on international routes from Tokyo and Beijing to Frankfurt. In mid-December, the airline blamed a "productivity reason" at Boeing for the delay and said the first flights to Beijing had been rescheduled for January. http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story_channel.jsp?channel=comm&id=news/avd/2012/01/04/05.xml&headline=Boeing%20Misses%202011%20Aircraft%20Delivery%20Targets Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP, FRAeS CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC