Flight Safety Information February 3, 2012 - No. 024 In This Issue Calls for Application for...The ISASI Rudolf Kapustin Memorial Scholarship Jet returns to O'Hare after hitting bird Airport In Pueblo Closed Following Crash Commercial Drones that Controllers Can't See Challenge U.S. Air Safety Drunk AI pilot grounded, airlines steps up breath tests (India) PRISM Certification Consultants TSA Agent at JFK airport stole $5,000 cash from passenger Hungary's Malev airline ceases operations Delta Airlines baggage handler arrested in LAX theft case Cathay Pacific Boeing 747 freighter rolls off taxiway Calls for Application for The ISASI Rudolf Kapustin Memorial Scholarship DEADLINE for filling application 15 April, 2012 The 2012 ISASI Seminar will be held at the Baltimore Marriott Waterfront Aug 28-30, 2012 The International Society of Air Safety Investigators announces their 2012 Scholarship program. The scholarship is open to all full time students in a recognized (note ISASI recognized) education program, which includes courses in aircraft engineering and/or operations, aviation psychology, aviation safety and/or aircraft occurrence investigation, etc., with major or minor subjects that focus on aviation safety/investigation are eligible for the scholarship. A student who has received the annual ISASI Rudolf Kapustin Memorial Scholarship will not be eligible to apply for it again. The scholarship is for attendance at ISASI Annual Seminar. An award of $2000 will be made to each student who wins the competitive writing requirement, meets the application requirements and will register for the ISASI annual seminar. The award will be used to cover costs for the seminar registration fees, travel, and lodging/meals expenses. Any expenses above and beyond the amount of the award will be borne by the recipient. ISASI will assist with coordination and control the expenditure of funds. The application and further information is available at www.isasi.org. Back to Top Jet returns to O'Hare after hitting bird A United Airlines flight taking off from O'Hare International Airport had to turn around after hitting a bird this afternoon, according to authorities. United spokesman Charlie Hobart said a bird hit United flight 643 about 3:20 p.m. shortly after departing for Portland, Ore., causing the pilot to make the decision to turn around. "The flight landed safely and without incident,'' Hobart said. None of its 134 passengers and five crew was injured and the aircraft was taken out of service while another airbus A320 took the passengers to their destination, Hobart said. Chicago Fire Department spokesman Will Knight said crews had been called for a "stand- by" along the runway at the airport until the emergency was secured as of 4 p.m. and no injuries were reported. Hobart said it was not known immediately what area of the aircraft the bird came in contact with and said maintenance crews are examining the plane. The jet returned on runway 28, according to a recorded message from the Federal Aviation Adminitration's Elizabeth Isham Cory. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-jet-returns-to-ohare-after- possible-bird-strike-20120202,0,7059921.story Back to Top Airport In Pueblo Closed Following Crash There was a plane crash at the Pueblo Memorial Airport Thursday night. Apparently, a Lear jet slid off the runway during takeoff. It made it two-thirds of the way down the runway before the incident happened. A Lear jet slid off the runway at the Pueblo Memorial Airport Thursday night, causing significant damage to the plane. All on board were uninjured. The plane made it two-thirds of the way down the runway before the incident happened. Eight passengers and two flight crew were on the plane at the time. The FAA tells 11 News its unsure where the plane was headed. 11 News has learned the plane was owned by CSU-Pueblo football donor Dan DeRose. The airport remains closed Friday while experts work to determine what caused the incident. It's unknown if it was weather related. http://www.kktv.com/home/headlines/138615334.html Back to Top Commercial Drones that Controllers Can't See Challenge U.S. Air Safety By Alan Levin The Qube, developed by AeroVironment, is a 5.5-pound hovercraft created for law enforcement. Pilot groups are raising safety concerns about letting small unmanned aircraft fly in U.S. skies as Congress orders regulators to speed up introduction of drones for domestic, non-military use. The Federal Aviation Administration is about to issue its first rules to let businesses and local law enforcement fly drones in U.S. civilian airspace without special permits. The agency, under a defense bill passed in December, has until June to open six U.S. test sites where drones will fly with other traffic. Demand to use remote-controlled aircraft for such uses as aerial photography has soared as planes ranging from a few pounds to the size of a jetliner have proven their value with the military in Iraq and Afghanistan, said Ben Gielow, government relations manager for the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International. "This is a revolutionary type of technology," Gielow said in a phone interview. The Arlington, Virginia-based AUVSI has 2,100 members, including Boeing Co. (BA) subsidiary Insitu and L-3 Communications Holdings Inc. (LLL) There is no system that allows operators of unmanned flights to spot and steer clear of helicopters and planes, and there aren't training requirements or standards for the ground- based "pilots" who guide drones, Lee Moak, president of the Air Line Pilots Association union, told reporters yesterday. It's also not clear how a remotely piloted craft would respond to air-traffic controllers in an emergency, Moak said. Until unmanned aircraft can demonstrate that they won't crash into other planes or the ground, they shouldn't be allowed to fly with other traffic, he said. "We have a long way to go," Moak said. ALPA is the largest pilots' union in North America. No Widespread Use The FAA initially won't allow widespread drone use, said Doug Davis, who oversees the only U.S. civilian test bed for the vehicles at New Mexico State University. Based on recommendations to the FAA from industry, flights probably will be limited to devices weighing less than 55 pounds, he said. Flights probably will be restricted to outside populated areas, to no more than a few hundred feet off the ground, and within sight of an operator on the ground, he said. That would, at least at first, block use by police departments and others who would like to get aerial views in cities, Steven Gitlin, a spokesman for AeroVironment Inc. (AVAV) of Monrovia, California, said. "Market adoption will probably start slow and speed up over time as people get more experience with them," Gitlin said. Privacy Issues AeroVironment, the largest supplier of small drones to the U.S. military, believes there could be significant sales of the devices to law-enforcement agencies, utilities and others, he said. Only about 1 percent of the 18,000 U.S. police departments have an aviation department. AeroVironment has developed a 5.5- pound hovercraft for law enforcement, called the Qube, which would cost about $50,000, Gitlin said. "There's going to be a lot more of this discussion of the privacy issue" once police, the news media or private detectives are able to launch hard-to-see devices into the sky with cameras, Davis said. Drone Incidents While accidents involving drones haven't caused any known fatalities in the U.S., their brief history has been marred by at least two incidents. In August 2010, the military considered shooting down a Navy unmanned helicopter that went out of control and was flying toward restricted airspace near Washington, according to a transcript of a press conference by Admiral James Winnefeld, who then commanded NORAD. The Navy regained radio contact with the drone and guided it back to its base at Patuxent River Naval Air Station, he said. Last year in Afghanistan, a drone collided with a military C-130 cargo aircraft, according to Davis. The cargo plane landed safely. There are 295 active drone permits in the U.S., the FAA said in an e-mailed statement acknowledging that it's working on a rule for their wider use. The FAA has declined to identify the government agencies and companies that have received permits, prompting a lawsuit last year from the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a San Francisco-based free-speech advocacy group. New Deadlines Last year's defense bill ordered the FAA to create six test sites where unmanned flights could operate alongside regular aircraft. The unmanned-vehicle industry lobbied for the change, frustrated by what it sees as the slow pace of regulatory change, Paul McDuffee, head of commercial development at Insitu, said in an interview. The FAA funding and policy bill expected to pass both houses of Congress next week would order the agency to complete a "comprehensive plan" on how to integrate unmanned flights into the aviation system by Sept. 30, 2015. Pilots are required to scan the skies to stay clear of other aircraft, and video cameras can't replace a pilot's eyes, Heidi Williams, senior director of airspace and modernization at the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, said in an interview. AOPA is a Frederick, Maryland-based group that represents private pilots. The military and industry are developing systems that can track other planes and guide drones away from other traffic. So far, the FAA hasn't certified such a system for use. McDuffee said he agrees with Moak's and Williams's safety concerns. "Will it be possible for peaceful coexistence between manned aircraft and unmanned systems? Yes," he said. "Will it come quickly? No." http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-03/commercial-drones-unseen-by- controllers-pose-test-for-air-safety.html Back to Top Drunk AI pilot grounded, airlines steps up breath tests (India) An Air India pilot, who is also a Flight Operations Inspector with civil aviation regulator DGCA, has been suspended from active duty after he tested positive for alcohol. "Captain Sebastian, who was to fly between Chennai to Madurai, has been grounded for three months after he was tested positive for alcohol during a pre-flight breathalyser test, a mandatory exercise to ensure flight safety," a senior Directorate General of Civil Aviation official said. After inspection at various airports, the DGCA has found that results from commonly used breathalyser - Alco-Sensor III -- were not satisfactory. "We have asked the airlines to use advanced breathalyser, Alco-Sensor IV, to conduct pre-flight checks. In the last 10 days, four pilots, including a trainee captain, have been tested positive for alcohol," the official said. They have all been suspended from active duty, he added. The Alco-Sensor IV is a handheld breath-alcohol tester which provides a simple, accurate and economical method of determining alcohol concentration in a person's breath with evidential grade accuracy. In order to make flights more safe, DGCA chief Bharat Bhushan has ordered strict action against these pilots. "I have ordered the strictest possible action against such people. We have been conducting regular checks, but we will also be conducting surprise checks to stop such practices," Bhushan told PTI. http://www.indianexpress.com/news/drunk-ai-pilot-grounded-airlines-steps-up-breath- tests/907523/ Back to Top Back to Top TSA Agent at JFK airport stole $5,000 cash from passenger Comes just days after a TSA agent in Dallas was found with 8 stolen iPads Police say a Transportation Security Administration agent stole $5,000 in cash from a passenger's jacket as he was going through security at John F. Kennedy International Airport, the latest in a string of thefts that has embarrassed the agency. Alexandra Schmid took the cash from the jacket of a Bangladeshi passenger as it went along an X-ray conveyor belt at around 8pm Wednesday, said Port Authority spokesman Al Della Fave. 'In viewing the surveillance video, we observed her removing the currency from the victim's jacket pocket,' Mr Della Fave said. Unsuspecting passengers: A security agent was arrested after footage showed her taking an envelope full of $5,000 cash out of a bag and pocketing it The video showed Ms Schmid wrapping the money in a plastic glove and taking it to a bathroom, he said. The money hasn't been recovered, Mr Della Fave said. Police are investigating whether Ms Schmid gave it to another person in the bathroom. Bungling TSA agents found two 'pipe bombs' at airport... but waited SIX HOURS before calling the cops The 31-year-old Ms Schmid was arrested on a charge of grand larceny and suspended pending an investigation. Her attorney's name wasn't immediately known. Ms Schmid, who lives in Brooklyn, had worked for the TSA for over four years, TSA spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein said. The video showed Alexandra Schmid (not pictured) wrapping the money in a plastic glove and taking it to a bathroom 'We do hold our officers to very high standards, and we have a zero tolerance policy for theft in the workplace,' Ms Farbstein said. This has been a bad public relations week for the TSA, as the news of Ms Schmid's arrest comes the same week as a security officer in the Dallas Fort Worth airport was put on leave after he was found with eight iPads that he stole from checked luggage. Police said Clayton Keith Dovel, 35, worked in a 'resolution room' at Dallas-Fort Worth Airport, where checked bags are examined before they're placed on a flight. 'The action of one individual in now way reflects on the outstanding job our more than 50,000 security officers do every day,' the administration's statement said. Abusing the badge: This is one in a recent string of thefts by TSA agents OTHER CRIMINAL SECURITY GUARDS In January, authorities charged an agent at Miami International Airport with swiping items and luggage and smuggling them out of the airport in a hidden pocket of his work jacket. He was arrested after one of the items, an iPad, was spotted for sale on Craigslist. Two other former TSA agents at JFK were sentenced on Jan. 10 to six months in jail and five years' probation for stealing $40,000 from a piece of luggage in January 2011. The agents, Coumar Persad and Davon Webb, had pleaded guilty to grand larceny, obstructing governmental administration and official misconduct. Last year, a TSA supervisor and one of his officers pleaded guilty in a scheme that lifted $10,000 to $30,000 from passengers' belongings at Newark Liberty International Airport. A federal judge sentenced the supervisor, Michael Arato, to two-and-a-half years in prison and his subordinate, Al Raimi, to six months of home confinement. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2095660/TSA-agent-Alexandra- Schmid-JFK-airport-stole-5-000-cash-from.html#ixzz1lK3bGlYx Back to Top Hungary's Malev airline ceases operations BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) - Hungary's national carrier ceased operations, grounded all its flights and stranded more than 7,000 passengers Friday, blaming what it called an "unsustainable" financial situation. Malev has debts of around 60 billion forints ($270 million) and has been unable to find new investors. The state-owned airline, which was established the year after the end of World War II, stopped all its flights at 6 a.m. on Friday (0500 GMT, midnight Thursday ET). Malev is a member of the Oneworld airline alliance that also includes American Airlines and British Airways. Managing Director Lorant Limburger said that in the past few days its partners suddenly lost trust in Malev and began demanding advance payments for their services. "This accelerated the cash outflow to such an extent that by today the airline's situation has become unsustainable," Limburger said in a statement announcing the shutdown. "We apologize to all our passengers." Earlier this week, Malev began operating under what amounted to bankruptcy protection, and a receiver was appointed by the government to oversee the airline. Company officials said the stoppage immediately affected some 7,200 passengers - 3,500 in Hungary and over 3,700 abroad - who had been expecting to board Malev flights on Friday. Malev said it has contacted other airlines in search of help for the stranded travelers. Malev had been selling tickets as late as Thursday. Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on state radio that two Malev planes were still abroad - one in Tel Aviv, Israel, and one in Ireland. Those planes were not allowed to take off because of the airline's accumulated debts, Orban said. Orban added that Malev faced the risk of having more of its 22 leased planes seized by creditors if it were to continue operations. Malev said it would seek to quickly return its airplanes to the leasing company. Last month, the European Union ordered Malev to repay nearly $400 million in illegal state subsidies received between 2007 and 2010. In 2010, Malev's losses reached $110 million. "It is a painful thing. We tried to keep Malev on track as long as we could, but this is as far as we could go," Orban said, adding that he is still hopeful that new investors can be found, despite Europe's ongoing debt crisis. "I believe a restart is not impossible." Malev was founded in 1946 and has 2,600 employees, many of whom will be laid off soon, the company said without providing precise figures. After several failed privatization efforts over the past 20 years, the state now owns 95% of the company. A deal to sell a stake in Malev to China's Hainan Airlines fell through last year. Hungary also is served by one budget airline, Wizz Air. Back to Top Delta Airlines baggage handler arrested in LAX theft case A baggage handler and a former baggage handler for Delta Airlines were arrested Thursday on suspicion of stealing tens of thousands of dollars in cash and property from passengers' luggage at Los Angeles International Airport, law enforcement authorities told The Times. Los Angeles Police Department and LAX officers served search warrants early Thursday at the two men's homes and allegedly seized more than $100,000 in cash and stolen property, authorities said. The men were taken into custody after the officers swept down on the South Los Angeles homes. The officers are part of a task force targeting criminal operations at the busy airport. Authorities were investigating whether the thefts were part of a criminal ring targeting passengers. The names of the two men who were apprehended were not released. No other details were immediately available. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/02/delta-airlines-baggage-handler- arrested.html Back to Top Cathay Pacific Boeing 747 freighter rolls off taxiway A Cathay Pacific Boeing 747-400 freighter rolled off Hong Kong International Airport's taxiway onto a grass area this morning while it was being towed. The aircraft was being towed from the airport's cargo area to its maintenance bay at about 09:50 hours local time when the tow bar was "accidentally disengaged", said Cathay Pacific in a statement. The aircraft then rolled off the taxiway onto a grass area before it was brought to a full stop by the towing crew. No damage to the aircraft has been reported, but the engineering team is still working to tow the freighter off the grass and back to the maintenance bay, the airline added. The incident has been reported to the Hong Kong Civil Aviation Department and the airline will work with the authorities and Hong Kong Aircraft Engineering Company in the investigation. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP, FRAeS CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC