Flight Safety Information January 18, 2012 - No. 012 In This Issue Etihad airplane, with 168 on board, has forced landing in Kathmandu Salt Lake City International Airport to be bulldozed and rebuilt A wild goose chase for Arco the dog: Bomb-sniffing pooch escapes at airport Crash shows poor aviation safety on reserves: chiefs (Canada) Looks Like the Gig Might Be Up for Regional Airlines FAA Safety Team | Safer Skies Through Education Industry hoping next FAA bill has smoother ride through Congress VisionMonitor Aviation Deploys Safety Performance Indicator Solution at Scandinavian Airlines System AViCON 2012: Aviation Disaster Conference India moves to let foreign airlines invest Business jet maker looks to China for growth Etihad airplane, with 168 on board, has forced landing in Kathmandu KATHMANDU, Jan 18: An Etihad Airways airplane flying from Kathmandu to Abu Dhaib, the UAE, with 168 passengers on board had an emergency landing at Tribhuvan International Airport Tuesday night. The Boeing 737 aircraft, which took off at 9:15 pm, had had the forced landing after one of its engines 'failed'. All the passengers including the crew members are safe. "We were informed that one of its engines failed five minutes after it took off," Ratish Chandralal Suman, general manager at TIA, said. "The plane had the emergency landing at 10:12 pm in Kathmandu," he added. According to him, the airplane had just crossed Dharke in Dhading, one of the adjacent districts to the capital, when the problem was first detected. Then the aircraft was held in the air for around half an hour to exhaust some more fuel so as to make the aircraft lighter. "This had to be done as the weight of an aircraft should be less when it faces engine failure," he said. The airport management had alerted the security agencies, ambulances and fire brigades soon after the problem was communicated to the TIA. The aircraft had arrived at TIA from Abu Dhabi just some time ago at 8 pm. It will now be grounded at the airport for some four days until Etihad engineers from Abu Dhabi come and fix the problem, Suman said. This is a second time an airplane flying from Kathmandu has faced such problem in a week. Only four days ago, a Qatar Airways airplane flying to Doha from Kathmandu had had a forced landing due to a similar problem. The aircraft then had to be force-landed in the nearby Indian city of Lucknow after the problem was detected when it was flying over Palpa district on its way to Doha, the Qatari capital, airport officials said. http://www.myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=40933 Back to Top Salt Lake City International Airport to be bulldozed and rebuilt SALT LAKE CITY - Mayor Ralph Becker Tuesday announced plans to demolish and completely rebuild the Salt Lake City International Airport to address seismic risks and accommodate its emergence as a regional hub. "The Salt Lake City International Airport was not built to be a hub," Becker said during his State of the City address at the Salt Lake City-County Building. "Today, as the number of passengers has increased annually to (more than) 21 million, it is by all measures a large hub airport, and it must be redeveloped to meet the needs of our region." City and airport officials have proposed a $1.8 billion phased rebuild of the airport that would take at least eight years to complete. City and airport officials have proposed a $1.8 billion phased rebuild of the airport that would take at least eight years to complete. The project is expected to get under way sometime next year. Because the airport operates as an enterprise fund and its budget is self-sustaining, no taxpayer dollars would be used on the reconstruction. Passenger facility charges and rental car fees would finance much of project, said airport spokeswoman Barbara Gann. The airport also has no debt and more than $250 million in reserves to put toward the project. Delta Air Lines, which accounts for roughly 75 percent of flights at the airport, also has committed funding to the renovation, as have other airlines operating at the airport, city officials said. "It's a real exciting opportunity for us, as the crossroads of the West and a major hub for Delta Air Lines, to redevelop our airport in a way that meets today's needs," Becker said prior to his speech. "It's a real exciting opportunity for us, as the crossroads of the West and a major hub for Delta Air Lines, to redevelop our airport in a way that meets today's needs," Mayor Ralph Becker said Tuesday night. As now envisioned, the airport would feature just one terminal and 12 fewer gates than it does today, but it would use the space more efficiently, Gann said. All 74 gates would be able to accommodate all sizes of aircraft, each with bridges to the respective planes, eliminating the need for outdoor staircases. The driving force behind the rebuild was the need for seismic upgrades to airport structures, the oldest of which date back 50 years, including Terminal 1 and concourses A and B. Rather than retrofitting those areas, city and airport officials decided to tackle operational problems, improve customer service, accommodate growth and maintain competitive costs by completely rebuilding the airport. "Visitors to the airport should experience a wonderful gateway to Salt Lake City, to our state and to the Intermountain West," Becker said. Design of the project is expected to get under way later this year. The goal, the mayor said, is to improve the overall passenger and visitor experience. "People appreciate our airport because it's an easy airport to get in and out of," he said. "We want to make sure we maintain that but also add a lot to the visitor experience here." Becker also is proposing to build a "net-positive" project, using renewable resources to produce more energy than the airport requires and feeding that surplus back into the system. The mayor said he envisions "a project not just bereft of negative impacts but one that positively contributes to the health of our residents, visitors and environment." http://www.ksl.com/?nid=960&sid=18914107&autostart=y Back to Top A wild goose chase for Arco the dog: Bomb-sniffing pooch escapes at airport, is on the lam 12 hours Arco -- a retired bomb-sniffing dog who once patrolled hallways on Capitol Hill -- spent Tuesday morning playing an elaborate game of hide-and-seek with his new owner, police and animal control officers in Romulus. The 5-year-old Belgian German shepherd escaped his collar during a bathroom break near Metro Airport, said Sherry Schumann, his new owner. He was on the run for more than 12 hours. Schumann lives in Perrysburg, Ohio, and came to metro Detroit to meet her new pet for the first time Monday. But after he got away, she spent the night searching for Arco in the rain, with help from Romulus and airport police. The group spotted the dog several times throughout the night, but he eluded them. When two officers got close enough to try to catch Arco, the dog bit them both and kept running. One Romulus officer needed stitches for a wound to his hand, while the other, an airport police officer, was bitten on his hand but didn't need stitches, officials said. Romulus animal control officer Kim Matthews, armed with dog treats and hot dogs, joined the search Tuesday morning. She spotted Arco running along railroad tracks near I-94 and Vining, near the airport. She called his name, and he recognized it. Animal control officers, police and staff from the Detroit Dog Rescue came to the scene, spending several hours playing with the dog and letting him get to know them. One of the officers threw a stick, and Arco knew exactly what to do with it. "The dog took off and wanted to play catch," Matthews said. Matthews broke off pieces of hot dog and Arco ate the whole bag -- along with most of a bag of dog treats. When he got close enough to Matthews, she looped a leash around his head, ending his time on the lam. The dog is now at the Romulus Animal Shelter, where he will stay in quarantine for 10 days to make sure he doesn't have any diseases, such as rabies. After that, animal control officers plan to release him to Schumann, who said he will become a tester at her business, Woofer's Delight in Toledo, which bakes dog treats. Schumann said she's overjoyed her dog was found safe, and she got to spend time with him Tuesday afternoon. "I gave him a hug, and he gave me a kiss," she said. http://www.freep.com/article/20120118/NEWS02/201180366/A-wild-goose-chase-for- Arco-the-dog-Bomb-sniffing-pooch-escapes-at-airport-is-on-the-lam-12- hours?odyssey=mod%7Cnewswell%7Ctext%7CFRONTPAGE%7Cs Back to Top Crash shows poor aviation safety on reserves: chiefs (Canada) WINNIPEG - Aboriginal leaders say a plane crash that killed four people on a remote northern Ontario reserve shows the need for better aviation standards, emergency response and weather equipment in isolated native communities. Grand Chief Stan Beardy, who represents dozens of northern Ontario First Nations including North Spirit Lake where the crash occurred, said that reserve doesn't even have a beacon to guide pilots in poor weather. Like many of his communities, Beardy said, the reserve is only accessible by plane yet doesn't have the same navigational equipment available in the rest of Canada. The reserves aren't asking for much, he said. "Basic navigational guides at the landing strips would be very helpful. A lot of those communities don't have beacons so it's all visual flying," said Beardy, head of the Nishnawbe Aski Nation. "We should be entitled to the same basic standards of navigational equipment that is available anywhere else in Ontario and Canada." Witnesses say the Keystone Airlines plane that crashed Tuesday was trying to land in a blizzard. Residents who rushed to the crash site frantically tried to put out the flaming wreckage with snow but couldn't save four of the people trapped inside. Brian Shead was the lone survivor and was in stable condition in a Winnipeg hospital. "He's doing well and recovering every day," his wife, Tracy, said in a brief statement Wednesday. "We are very grateful that he is alive." Transportation Safety Board investigators arrived at the scene Wednesday. The plane was not equipped with a cockpit voice recorder or flight data recorder. It was landing at an airport where there is no control tower and there wasn't any radio contact with the plane after it left Winnipeg. Officials with the airline said the weather reports they had were "acceptable" but the closest weather station is in Red Lake, hundreds of kilometres away. Beardy said the crash has resonated beyond the small, close-knit reserve to dozens of other isolated communities which depend on air travel. Most don't have their own weather-sensing equipment, which can be deadly, he said. "They don't have by-the-minute, by-the-hour weather forecasting. As we all know, especially this time of year, the weather changes on very short notice and it's very localized. With technology, if we had some support, we could improve the safety of air travel in the far north." The crash also underlines the need for better emergency response in remote communities, Beardy added. Like many small reserves, North Spirit Lake doesn't have its own fire truck or ambulance. "That's why we're hit so hard," Beardy said. "We keep thinking what if there had been some support to try to put the fire out? Or if you could have rushed those people out quickly to somewhere, maybe they could have lived. Those are 'what-ifs' that are haunting a lot of people." Grand Chief David Harper, who represents northern Manitoba First Nations, said many of his communities don't have their own weather equipment and pilots don't know what they're flying into. The technology exists to equip all remote sites with weather monitors, which would make flying safer for residents, he said. "We pay for Nav Canada," said Harper, head of Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak. "It's included in our air fares so why not put these up?" The federal government also needs to step up and help make remote communities less reliant on risky air travel, he suggested. A lot of remote communities depend on winter ice roads for cheaper shipments of food, fuel and supplies. But warmer winters have meant roads that were typically open for 60 days are now sometimes only usable for about 20. The federal government must help construct more permanent routes to give people an alternative to costly air travel, Harper said. "We've got to look at roads being built into all the remote communities. Ontario and Manitoba are probably the last communities that don't have all-weather roads...This is the time of year when you don't want to fly." Keystone Airlines has had two other recent crashes. The airline was involved in a high-profile crash when one of its planes ran out of fuel and crashed into a busy Winnipeg intersection in 2002. One passenger eventually died of his injuries. The pilot was convicted of dangerous operation of an aircraft, one count of criminal negligence causing death and four counts of criminal negligence causing bodily harm. Keystone was also grounded for a week and fined. Two years earlier, a Keystone plane crashed in the Assiniboine Forest carrying eight people. No one was killed. Transport Canada ruled the crash occurred when an engine lost power and water in a fuel tank froze. Read more: http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/Canada/20120111/north-spirit-lake-reserve- plane-crash-investigation-120111/#ixzz1joRk7lE6 Back to Top Looks Like the Gig Might Be Up for Regional Airlines The FAA hopes its new rules government flight and duty times will help reduce pilot fatigue. It took quite a while, but the FAA finally did the right thing-to a point-when it announced that it would give passenger-carrying airlines two years to institute new flight/duty time rules that sets new, stricter rest period requirements and flight-time limits. Of course, it punted when the air cargo lobby insisted the cost would prove prohibitive to the likes of FedEx and UPS, doing nothing but encouraging those carriers to voluntarily adopt the new rules. But for the nation's regional airlines, which already face a potentially crippling new law aimed at increasing pilot hiring minimums as much as six-fold, to 1,500 hours, the latest FAA rule on flight and duty time limits appears more worrisome than some in the industry might care to admit. To his credit, newly elected Regional Airline Association chairman and president of American Eagle Dan Garton actually sounded an alarm about how the new minimum hiring requirements and the new flight time, duty and rest rule will exacerbate an expected pilot shortage in the association's newsletter, Regional Horizons. The refreshingly candid commentary finally contained an acknowledgement that the regional airline industry faces some real trouble, not only as a result of changing demographics and a "faltering global economy," but also because of stricter regulations. The fact remains that regional airlines face "challenges" from a number of sources, including their own mainline partners. Now managing barely positive profit margins, the majors have not only finally addressed their overcapacity issues, they've driven much harder bargains with their regional airline partners, depressing yields among the RAA's member airlines to levels not seen since fee-per-departure agreements came into fashion. Meanwhile, the 50-seat jets that still dominate many of the regional fleets cannot make money as fuel prices stubbornly hover just below $130 a barrel. Now, the regionals face the likelihood of far higher pilot costs driven largely by the new rules. Prospective pilots simply won't invest the time and money needed to compile 1,500 hours for the meager $18,000 salary that regional airlines have becone accustomed to paying new-hire first officers. That, along with the fact that the airlines will need to maintain larger crew staffs to compensate for the longer rest periods mandated by the new regulation, could finally end the practice of regional airlines acting as a sort of training ground for their mainline partners. For its position on the new duty-time rule, the RAA referred AIN to a somewhat noncommittal written statement crafted carefully for public consumption: The Regional Airline Association recognizes a science-based rule on pilot flight and duty time will advance guidelines for airlines, and RAA is reviewing the comprehensive final flight and duty time rule released today by FAA. "The cornerstone of our efforts continues to be safety. This final rule is a culmination of considerable effort by FAA, pilots and airlines, which began with the Aviation Rulemaking Committee established in July 2009 and with RAA and airline member participation," said RAA president Roger Cohen. "While we are still reviewing the rule, it does open the door for additional research, including our own efforts on a ground-breaking fatigue study of multi-segment operations by Washington State University." With its continued dedication for safe, professional and reliable operations, and the need to balance critical safety initiatives, RAA also encouraged FAA to publish the First Officers Qualifications (FOQ) new rule. "Safety experts underline the importance of structured training programs, and the best and safest path to becoming an airline pilot is through rigorous, multi- dimensional professional and academic training-one based on quality versus quantity," said Cohen. "Safety requires consistency and certainty, and therefore airlines and all stakeholders need an expedited FOQ rulemaking," he added. To the RAA, one need only look at the recent accident record of U.S. Part 121 carriers for evidence of the industry's "dedication" to safety. In fact, since a Colgan Air Bombardier Q400 crashed on approach to Buffalo almost three years ago, no one has died in a Part 121 airliner accident in the U.S. However, one can fairly debate whether or not the RAA's efforts over the past few years to answer former FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt's "Call to Action" might have come too late. Of course, the RAA argues it has always put safety first, but it can't deny the Colgan crash marked the culmination of a six-year period during which regionals accounted for five of the six fatal accidents involving FAR Part 121 operations. Unfortunately, the so-called One Level of Safety rule, which in 1997 mandated that all Part 135 commuter airlines flying airplanes carrying 10 or more passenger seats meet Part 121 standards, couldn't force regional airlines to pay their pilots a living wage and work under conditions that promoted enough rest. Maybe the new FAA mandate will force a change in culture that for too long has failed to sufficiently discourage the kind of irresponsible behavior sometimes exhibited by underpaid, overworked flight crew. The traveling public deserves at least that much. http://www.ainonline.com/?q=aviation-news/blogs/ain-blog-looks-gig-might-be- regional-airlines Back to Top FAA Safety Team | Safer Skies Through Education You have asked us to notify you when a seminar is scheduled that meets your criteria. The following seminar may be of interest to you: "Come and exercise your N.T.S.B. Investigation skills." Topic: Come exercise your N.T.S.B. Investigation skills as we investigate an actual aircraft accident. On Saturday, January 28, 2012 at 11:00 AM Location: Vintage Flying Museum 505 Northwest 38th , Fort Worth, TX Hangar 33S Fort Worth, TX 76106 Select Number: SW1942214 Description: Come exercise your N.T.S.B. Investigation skills as our guest speaker, Pat Cannon, leads us in our own investigation of an actual aircraft accident. Lets see how close we can come to the real N.T.S.B. findings and find out which links in the "error chain" broke to cause the accident. To view further details and registration information for this seminar, click here. The sponsor for this seminar is: FAASTeam The following credit(s) are available for the WINGS/AMT Programs: Basic Knowledge 3 - 1 Credit Advanced Flight 1 - 1 Credit Click here to view the WINGS help page Over 136,600 pilots earned WINGS credits last year. Will you, this year? Back to Top Industry hoping next FAA bill has smoother ride through Congress The aviation industry is hopeful that lawmakers will act quickly to prevent another shutdown off the Federal Aviation Administration at the end of January. The short-term measure that funds the FAA expires on Jan. 31, leaving lawmakers, who are still trickling back from the holiday recess, little time to act. The last two times the agency's funding was winding down produced high drama in Congress. Stalled negotiations over a short-term bill in August led to a nearly two-week shutdown of the agency and worker furloughs nationwide. Airline companies are bracing for another bumpy ride this month, but are optimistic that lawmakers can agree to at least a short-term extension to keep the FAA up and running. "The odds are slim they'll reach a deal [on a long-term bill] in a week, but it's also unlikely they'll let it lapse," an industry source told The Hill. If Congress passes another short-term extension, it would be the 23rd stopgap FAA bill since the agency's last multi-year appropriations bill expired in 2007. Lobbying groups for the major players in the aviation industry spent the holiday recess making the case that the current short-term extension, passed last September, should be the last. "Upon Congress's return to Washington later this month, the first item of business must be to pass a two-year extension of the operating authority for the Federal Aviation Administration," Airport Council International President Greg Principato wrote in a letter to House Transportation Committee Chairman John Mica (R-Fla.) and the ranking Democrat on the panel, Rep. Nick Rahall (W.Va.). Short-term extensions are "no way to run the safest aviation system in the world," Principato wrote in the letter. "Airports have been forced to deal with 22 extensions in the last five years, including six covering 2011 alone. The last six extensions, which averaged just over two months in length, have left the FAA and airports filing out and approving multiple forms for the same projects." Standing in the way of ending that cycle, however, are the same issues that prevented passage of a long-term bill for the FAA for all of 2011. Last year, both chambers passed versions of the measure; the House approved a four-year, $59 billion bill, while the Senate passed a two-year, $34 billion version. But negotiations to bridge the two versions were grounded by a provision in the House to undo rules adopted in 2009 by the National Mediation Board to ensure that absentee votes were not counted as votes against forming a union in labor elections in the transportation sector. The Democratically controlled Senate balked at the provision, calling it anti-democratic. The GOP-led House has refused to drop it, leading to a standoff that has gone on since May 2011. The Chamber of Commerce, which normally sides with Republicans on labor issues, says that the provision should be removed from the long-term FAA bill and dealt with on its own. "Congress has until Jan. 31 to finish the FAA reauthorization, which has been delayed for more than four years," Chamber President Thomas Donohue said in a speech last week. "A new NextGen air traffic control system must be a top priority. It will ease delays, conserve fuel, create jobs and save lives." After the speech, the Chamber stressed Donohue was not taking a position on the laws regarding labor elections in transportation. Instead, the organization said, it was stating it preference for a bill that funds the FAA over the long haul. Jane Calderwood, vice president for government and political affairs at the Airports Council, said lawmakers should pass an FAA extension of funding at current levels for as long as they can, even if they cannot work out a deal on the labor provisions. "A long-term extension does not prevent Congress from finishing their work on this bill," she said. "Let's face it, since last March, what has changed on the key issue, the [labor provision]? Let us do our job while they figure out whatever the extension is going to be." Meanwhile, the union for flight attendants said Tuesday it is running radio ads against freshman Republican members of the Transportation Committee, Reps. Chip Cravaack (Minn.) and Sean Duffy (Wis.), for backing the labor provisions in the long-term FAA bill. The union, the Communication Workers of America, has repeatedly accused Mica of "doing the bidding of" doing Delta Airlines in pushing for the change to the labor rules. Despite the continued back and forth over the labor provisions, a spokesman for Mica sounded an optimistic note Tuesday about the prospects for an FAA bill to be approved by lawmakers in the next two weeks. "There is still time to complete action on a long-term bill before the end of the month, and Chairman Mica is hopeful that Congress will be able to do so," Mica spokesman Justin Harclerode said in an email to The Hill. Asked about progress on the bill, however, Harclerode demurred. "For the status of any negotiations between House and Senate leaderships, I'll defer to them." http://thehill.com/blogs/transportation-report/aviation/204727-industry-hoping-next- faa-bill-has-smoother-ride-through-congress Back to Top VisionMonitor Aviation Deploys Safety Performance Indicator Solution at Scandinavian Airlines System HOUSTON, Jan 18, 2012 (GlobeNewswire via COMTEX) -- VisionMonitor Aviation LLC., a leading developer of enterprise wide software solutions, has announced the deployment of their Real-Time Safety Performance Management software at Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS). Leveraging several years of EU sponsored safety studies, Captain Morten Ydalus, Head of Safety Office at SAS, utilizes the power of the VisionMonitor data management software to revolutionize the effectiveness of Operational Safety Management Systems. Captain Ydalus stated: "SAS practices a proactive approach to Safety Management. We utilize VisionMonitor Aviation technology to constantly monitor the performance of our Safety Management System which in turn fosters a process of continual improvement in safety performance at SAS." By using VisionMonitor to automatically collect, calculate, and monitor operational data affecting safety in real- time, key personnel are immediately made aware of any safety metrics that begin to exhibit undesirable trends. This type of proactive monitoring allows SAS the opportunity to make preemptive corrective actions to various areas of operations as needed. Using a concept of Safety Performance Indicators displayed in a Radar Graph Dashboard, VisionMonitor allows SAS to leverage their existing investments in systems and processes across various operational areas. The technology enables authorized users to drill down into the underlying data to see trends, measure and monitor performance, and to identify the overall effectiveness of the Safety Management System. About VisionMonitor Aviation, LLC (VMA): VMA is a subsidiary company of VisionMonitor Software, LLC, which was founded in 2001 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas. VisionMonitor was originally formed to provide energy companies enterprise wide software solutions for managing their environmental performance. The organization has since expanded into the Aviation industry with the input and support of leading Aviation safety experts and major airlines. VisionMonitor solutions are in use by major companies representing the Aviation, Energy, Petrochemical, Utility, and Storage Terminals industries. This news release was distributed by GlobeNewswire, www.globenewswire.com SOURCE: VisionMonitor Aviation Back to Top AViCON 2012: Aviation Disaster Conference Held At The Intrepid Air, Sea & Space Museum Wednesday, April 25, 2012 The Intrepid Air, Sea & Space Museum Pier 86, W 46th St and 12th Ave New York, NY 10036-4103 Registration and Sponsorship Opportunities: Early bird registration closes January 31, 2012 Click here to register Student, Government and Military registration discounts Click here Sponsorship opportunities Click here Investigating the Causes, Resolving the Claims CLE ACCREDITATIONS APPLIED FOR. AViCON is set to return to New York April 25 of 2012. This highly successful case study format is gathering reputation and recognition on both sides of the Atlantic. "I found the material presented very interesting and realistic, the location very appropriate, the speakers very engaging and professional, andthe entire experience very much worth my time. I look forward to seeing you at another AViCON and /or industry event." -- Lorenzo Berenguer, VP Global Claims Management, XL Services Switzerland AG AViCON will be of interest to anyone involved in aviation insurance - underwriters, claims managers, lawyers, risk managers, insurance brokers, airline flight safety directors, airline board members with flight safety responsibility, claims investigators, and aircraft product manufacturers. Taking just one day, the 2012 conference is based on a reconstruction of a fictional air disaster when a passenger aircraft crashes off the runway in bad weather. Causation is far from clear, and a number of parties may have contributed to the accident. The conference will show how such a disaster may be investigated and managed; it then goes on to illustrate the complex legal issues involved and the strategies that may be employed in settling the claims. Previous AViCON events have attracted well respected speakers and delegates from the legal profession and insurance market. Speakers have included aviation professionals, law partners, and associates from: Alimonti Law Offices Barlow Lyde & Gilbert Blank Rome Bryan Cave Clyde & Co. Condon Forsyth Cozen O'Connor Cranfield University DLA Piper Gates & Partners Ince & Co Kenyon International Emergency Services Podhurst Orseck Xchanging AViCON 2012 will follow the same configuration, whereby the speakers and delegates move along the timeline of an accident investigation, to legal discovery, multi-party litigation, and resolution. Previous AViCON events have addressed scenarios for a new entrant airline, and buying a new technology airframe that suffers a survivable failure to an engine. This year's scenario revolves around a failure that subsequently results in multiple fatalities due to a range of issues, including: * Organizational Failures * Crew Competence * Possible Bogus Parts * Defective Warning Systems All are set within an environment that includes many possible choices of forum and law. The 2012 accident scenario will be presented with state-of-the-art animation prepared by RTI's Magic Motion Studios, and will highlight a fresh set of complex issues of current concern and debate within the aviation market. This event presents a unique opportunity for all those concerned with safety in aviation to gain a fuller understanding of the entire range of complexities involved in an aviation accident, in a concise and effective format. After viewing the state-of-the-art animation, experts in disaster management and accident investigation will lead the audience through the technical aspects of crisis management and the process and protocols of a formal investigation. The circumstances shown in the video lead to potential liability for a number of parties, including the airline, the aircraft manufacturer, and the maintenance contractor. A group of leading lawyers will debate the issues that arise, including: forum selection, punitive damages, fee considerations, evaluating claims, negligent entrustment, discovery, spoliation, dispute resolution, quantum of damages, and relationship with insurers. If you or your firm has an interest in becoming an event sponsor, please visit our Sponsorship page for more information. For more information about RTI: www.rtiforensics.com For more information about AViCON 2012: www.rtiavicon.com Back to Top India moves to let foreign airlines invest NEW DELHI/MUMBAI (Reuters) - India's beleaguered airline industry was thrown a potential lifeline on Tuesday when the Aviation Ministry said it would recommended that the government allow foreign airlines to buy stakes of up to 49 percent in Indian carriers. India currently bars foreign airlines from buying into Indian airlines, although foreign investors are allowed to hold a cumulative 49 percent. "The question was to allow other airlines to participate in FDI (foreign direct investment). I discussed it with the finance minister and he agreed," Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh told reporters. "We realised that FDI is one of the factors that will help the industry survive the current financial problems." Shares of Indian airline companies surged by 7 to 12 percent ahead of a meeting earlier in the day between Singh and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee. India's loss-making airlines are grappling with high jet fuel prices, low fares and an economic slowdown. The total debt of the industry is expected to rise to $20 billion for the fiscal year ending in March, according to an Aviation Ministry report. A decision to open up the sector would be especially welcome to debt-laden Kingfisher Airlines (KING.NS), which has long lobbied for the change. "It is strongly welcomed. It has been long long overdue," said Kapil Kaul, regional head of the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation, an aviation consulting firm. "This will lead to capital, strategic expertise. This will also lead to foreign and domestic fund flows to the sector." Kaul told Reuters. U.S. billionaire Wilbur Ross briefly invested in budget airline SpiceJet (SPJT.BO) in 2010, making it the only Indian carrier to get major foreign investment in recent years. British Airways (ICAG.L) has been speculated as a possible candidate to pick up a stake in Kingfisher, which said last month that it would join the global oneworld alliance from February to help boost its competitiveness and finances. "The current losses of the airlines make the valuations attractive," said Amber Dubey, director of aviation at KPMG. An analyst at a Mumbai brokerage, who did not wish to be identified, said airlines such as Kingfisher and Jet Airways, with large founder stakes, would be comfortable with diluting their shares to allow investment by foreign carriers. NON-PERFORMING The Chairman of State Bank of India (SBI.NS), the country's largest lender, said on Tuesday that his bank would find it difficult to lend more to Kingfisher as the bank considers its loans to the airline to be non-performing. SBI is the leader of the consortium of lenders to Kingfisher. All but one of India's six main airlines are loss-making as they engage in aggressive price competition. India's airlines are expected to lose up to $3 billion in the fiscal year that ends in March. State-owned Air India , operating on government life support, is expected to account for more than half of that, the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation has said. Shares of Jet Airways (JET.NS) India's biggest airline, closed up 10.3 percent ahead of the announcement. Budget carrier SpiceJet (SPJT.BO), whose CEO has said his airline would consider selling stake to a foreign carrier if the government changed the FDI rules, rose 10 percent. Kingfisher ended up 4.8 percent. Despite heavy losses, domestic air traffic increased 17.6 percent to 55 million passengers in the first 11 months of 2011, government data shows. "India is one of the fastest growing markets today and nobody wants to miss out on the growth story," said Sharan Lillaney, aviation analyst at Angel Broking. A group of ministers will meet soon to work on the debt restructuring Air India, Singh said. The meeting will also discuss whether to allow direct imports of jet fuel, a demand Kingfisher Airlines has been making as it seeks to ease its fuel bill. Taxes make jet fuel in India 60-70 percent more expensive than the global average. Singh also said the government would release 1.5 billion Indian rupees to Air India to pay overdue salaries of its pilots. The government owes a total of about 6 billion rupees to the carrier, he said. Back to Top Business jet maker looks to China for growth BEIJING - Dassault Falcon aims to sell 20 business jets in China in 2012, accounting for 25 percent of the company's annual global sales. "China will be the biggest market of our company," said Jean Michael-Jacob, vice president of Dassault Falcon, owned by the fighter jet Rafale's maker Dassault Aviation. As the second largest economy in the world, China's demand for business jets will explode in the coming years, he said, "China will have at least 500 business jets in five years, and we plan to take 35 percent of this market." The French company sold 15 jets in China, each for between $30 to $50 million, within a year after moving its Asia office from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing in December 2010. The current China market is comparatively small with only 150 business jets in use, when the United States has around 7,000. Michael-Jacob said Falcon accounts for only 10 percent of the current China market. The biggest business jets seller in China is Gulfstream from the United States, which currently has over 60 percent market share. "The China market will grow in the coming years," he said. By 2020, China will have 1,000 business jets and Falcon aims to have taken 35 percent of its market by then. Since it first produced the Falcon in 1963, the company has delivered over 2,000 Falcons in more than 67 countries, taking 40 percent of the global business jet market. But since the global financial crisis, its global sales have stagnated. "The future is in China," Michael-Jacob said. http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/usa/business/2012-01/18/content_14471110.htm Back to Top Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP, FRAeS CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC