Flight Safety Information February 8, 2012 - No. 028 In This Issue Qantas Grounds A380 Due to Wing Cracks Jet Airways flight aborts take-off (India) FAA told to make room for drones in U.S. skies PRISM Certification Consultants FAA Bill Codifies Airline Passenger Bill Of Rights Air Marshals 'Threaten Safety' Say Whistleblowers Investors Rush To Buy Brazilian Airports At Auction Janice Voss, veteran of 5 space shuttle flights, dies at 55 Qantas Grounds A380 Due to Wing Cracks European aviation safety authorities will issue a notice later today requiring all airlines operating the Airbus A380 superjumbo to get their aircraft checked for possible cracks. David Pearson reports in the latest developments. SYDNEY (WSJ) -Qantas Airways Ltd. said Wednesday it has taken one of its Airbus A380 superjumbos out of service after cracks were discovered in its wings. Australia's flag carrier said Airbus has confirmed to the airline that the cracks don't pose a threat to safety. They are different from the type of cracks discovered in the wings of some A380s last month that prompted a European Aviation Safety Agency directive, Qantas said. Airbus requested precautionary inspections of the Qantas jet's wings after it ran into severe turbulence above India in early January. "During these inspections minor cracking has been found on some wing rib feet," a Qantas spokeswoman said. This cracking isn't related to the turbulence, or specific to Qantas, but is traced back to a manufacturing issue," she said. Qantas said it expects to have the aircraft back in service within a week. A separate spokesman for the airline said it is waiting for advice from Airbus on whether repairs will be required. Even though the cracks don't pose an immediate threat to flight safety, the spokesman said that it may still be prudent to conduct repairs. The airline last month found "minor" cracks on another one of its A380s. The Qantas spokeswoman said that the "type two" cracking that prompted the airworthiness directive hasn't been found on Qantas aircraft. Airbus, the unit of European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co. that manufactures the planes, has said consistently that the double-deck jet remains safe. It said in late January that the cracks that prompted the airworthiness directive stem from design and production issues, not structural fatigue from flying, but don't indicate deeper problems with the plane. The European Aviation Safety Agency in January ordered inspections of 20 of the 68 A380s in service. Back to Top Jet Airways flight aborts take-off (India) Mumbai : A Jet Airways flight bound for Goa was forced to abort take-off Wednesday following an incoming Indigo Airlines flight on the same runway, officials said. However, officials of both Jet Airways and the Mumbai International Airport Ltd denied that there was any near-collision or an emergency at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport. A Jet official said the Mumbai-Goa flight 9W-2403 was advised by the air traffic control to abort take-off this afternoon "on account of an incoming aircraft of another airline (Indigo) on an uncleared approach into Mumbai". Giving a different version, an MIAL official said the Jet flight was moving at slow speed and was consequently told to abort take-off and get in the queue for a second take-off. The official denied that there was any incoming aircraft necessitating the aborted take- off or any near-collision. The Jet flight later left for Goa with all 158 passengers aboard. http://twocircles.net/2012feb08/jet_airways_flight_aborts_takeoff.html Back to Top FAA told to make room for drones in U.S. skies Drones, perhaps best known for their combat missions in Afghanistan, are increasingly looking to share room in U.S. skies with passenger planes. And that's prompting safety concerns. Right now, remote-controlled drones are used in the U.S. mostly by the military and Customs and Border Patrol in restricted airspace. Now, organizations from police forces searching for missing persons to academic researchers counting seals on the polar ice cap are eager to launch drones weighing a few pounds to some the size of a jetliner in the same airspace as passenger planes. On Monday, the Senate sent to President Obama legislation that would require the Federal Aviation Administration to devise ways for that to happen safely in three years. "It's about coming up with a plan where everybody can get along," says Doug Marshall, a New Mexico State University professor helping develop regulations and standards. "Nobody wants to get hurt. Nobody wants to cause an accident." The drones' appeal is they can fly anywhere it's too dangerous or remote for people, and they cost less than piloted helicopters or planes. In Mesa County, Colo., for example, sheriff's deputies have negotiated a special agreement with the FAA to fly a 2-pound helicopter up to 400 feet above ground so a camera can snap pictures of crime scenes or accidents. An infrared camera helps deputies track a missing person or a suspect in an overgrown ravine. "It's a tool in the toolbox," says Ben Miller, the program's manager. 'Huge potential market' One reason advocates expect police to adopt drones is they're less expensive than manned helicopters. A Draganflyer X6 drone such as the one Mesa uses costs about $36,000. Another squad car, for instance, costs about $50,000, Miller says. "There is a huge potential market for civilian and commercial uses of unmanned aircraft systems," says Ben Gielow, general counsel for the industry group Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International. The market will almost double over the next decade to $11.3 billion, according to a March estimate by the Teal Group in Fairfax, Va., which analyzes the aerospace and defense industries. Commercial pilots have raised safety concerns. Although pilots are required to spend time flying planes and are tested on their abilities to hold licenses, no similar rules exist for the controllers of remote aircraft. Likewise, the FAA doesn't certify drones like passenger planes against engine failure or wings falling off. Capt. Lee Moak, president of the Air Line Pilots Association, says the people who remotely control aircraft should meet the same training and qualifications as regular pilots. His group is also concerned about controllers losing contact with drones. "We have a long way to go," Moak says of having drones fly safely with passenger jets. Despite their many successful flights in Afghanistan, drones occasionally crash. In August, for instance, an unmanned Shadow drone collided with a C-130 cargo plane. The cargo plane had to make an emergency landing at a base in eastern Afghanistan, but nobody was injured. A drone occasionally goes awry here, too. In August 2010, the military considered shooting down a Navy Fire Scout drone that wandered close to restricted airspace near Washington, D.C., after controllers lost their link to the drone. But controllers regained contact. Smaller drones need rules The legislation calls for the FAA to set up six experimental locations where drones can fly. Competition for them and the high-paying jobs among researchers and manufacturers they're expected to attract has already begun. "Members are already jockeying for their particular area," says Rep. Henry Cuellar, D- Texas, co-chairman of a House caucus of 49 members who advocate using drones. The legislation also calls on the FAA to establish rules for smaller drones weighing up to 55 pounds within 27 months. The schedule for all drones is Sept. 30, 2015. A key unresolved question is how to avoid collisions. The philosophy since the Wright brothers has been for pilots to "see and avoid" other aircraft. Without a pilot on board, the strategy for drones is "sense and avoid," perhaps giving off a signal that other planes receive. "You've got to find a way to apply today's technology to regulations that were written many years ago," says Bobby Sturgell, a former FAA head and now a senior vice president for Rockwell Collins, which makes navigational and other equipment for drones. "The message behind the legislation is, 'Let's make this happen.' " http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2012-02-06/unmanned-drones-share-faa- airspace/52994752/1 Back to Top Back to Top FAA Bill Codifies Airline Passenger Bill Of Rights After five years of kicking the can down the road, the 112th United States Congress has agreed on the provisions of the FAA Modernization and Safety Improvement Act of 2012, the bill we know as the FAA Reauthorization Bill. Through our efforts and the support of our congressional allies-Senators Boxer, Snowe, and Schumer and Congressman Mike Thompson -- the bill contains 90 percent of the Airline Passenger Bill of Rights. After a Joint House-Senate Conference Committee meeting on January 31, both chambers passed consideration resolutions. The House passed the bill on Friday, February 3, and the Senate vote for passage followed on Monday, February 6. In an impossibly polarized Washington political environment, our achievement is almost unparalleled. From a time five years ago, when airlines were treating us like crates of mangoes, we have secured a comprehensive set of airline passenger protections, codified in the laws of this nation. Unfortunately, the three-hour limitation for tarmac delays was not included in the legislation. We and our congressional champions lost that battle. Senator Boxer, in the Senate meeting where they agreed to sign the bill, described her frustration with that loss, along with her gratitude that every other passenger protection was included. So what was the final result? Our goals are well-established, so let's look at how the bill addresses those provisions. *Extensive tarmac delays are prohibited, and the DOT's Three-Hour Tarmac Rule remains in effect. *Food, water, and medical treatment must always be available, improving on DOT's "after two hours" provision. *DOT's Consumer Hotline information will be published on the internet and prominently displayed by carriers at their ticket counters and on their e-confirmations. *Unscheduled flights added to smoke-free requirement. *No Child Left Unbuckled goal supported by requirement to tell consumers what child safety seats work with which aircraft. *Airlines can no longer impose extra charge for carry-on musical instruments that can be safely stowed, and must carry larger instruments as checked baggage. *DOT to establish Advisory Committee for Aviation Consumer Protection, with one representative each from air carriers, airport operators, state and local government, and nonprofit groups with consumer protection experience. *Realistic scheduling to minimize departure delays. *Passenger awareness of insecticide spraying on international flights. *Informative delay reporting. *Consideration for active duty military members. Let's talk about the Three-Hour Tarmac Rule. Two weekends ago, we mounted a last- ditch campaign to pressure congress to include the rule. As a direct result of our efforts, Sen. Boxer went to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, seeking an amendment to restore the three-hour provision. Unfortunately, that effort was not successful; however, Congress has clearly seen the need for a time limit. The Secretary of Transportation will determine the definition of "excessive delay." The DOT Three-Hour Tarmac Delay Rule remains in effect. The bottom line is that Congress finally heard us. They validated both the need for tarmac delay plans and for time limits on the airlines' ability to imprison us on the ramp. Another key victory is the requirement for airports to maintain contingency plans in the same manner as the airlines. Many long tarmac strandings occur during extreme weather conditions. FlyersRights has long insisted that those events demonstrate, time and again, the overriding need for comprehensive planning to address massive diversion problems. This key provision will, for the first time, promote the kind of communication, coordination, and cooperation between the many players in our air travel system that provide the only solution to this complex problem. Several other Bill provisions actually improve on the DOT rules. The DOT rules said that airlines must provide access to food, water, and medical treatment after two hours on the ramp. Congress changed that two-hour restriction to "always." Airlines will finally be forced to schedule realistically, so that the morning and evening rush hours will not lead to continuing delay problems. Also, DOT will create an Advisory Committee for Aviation Consumer Protection, one member from each group listed in the table. Frankly, as the most vocal advocate for airline passenger rights for the last five years, I truly believe that I am the person who should fill the single consumer advocacy position on the committee. FlyersRights remains committed to airline passenger issues, and will continue to fight for needed passenger protections and for a truly effective, safe, constitutional, and consistently-applied airline security system. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kate-hanni/faa-bill-codifies- airline_b_1261438.html?ref=travel Back to Top Air Marshals 'Threaten Safety' Say Whistleblowers Air Marshal Whistle Blowers Expose Culture Of Misconduct A group of TSA whistleblowers, some who are active Air Marshals, allege the agency is run by a core of scofflaws who do more to threaten airline security than enhance it. Stories of misconduct closer to "Animal House" behavior than seriously acting to safeguard airline passengers, seem to contradict an anticipated Congressional study due to be released on Thursday. Reports of bigotry, sexual harassment, taxpayer fraud, waste and abuse--and even an officer driven to suicide over the frat-boy antics--threaten to blow the lid off a report which is otherwise being touted as a validation of the professionalism and dedication of most Air Marshals serving the public trust. One whistleblower, Steve Theodoropoulos, who is a former Marshal, has become the frontman for several others, all still on the job, who are remaining anonymous for their own safety and job protection. He outlines outrageous behavior by other lawmen who have apparently enjoyed a boy's club atmosphere shrouded in the secrecy necessary for such an important undercover operation. In the video below, more details are revealed of the shocking and outrageous behavior, including a mock game of "Jeopardy" with category headings aimed at belittling gays, lesbians and minorities. Plus, a fully armed supervisor caught sleeping on the job. "Anybody that's not like them, they're against," said Theodoropoulos. "I mean, how do you operate under those conditions?" This is not too surprising. It seems every law enforcement agency eventually gets taken over by knuckleheads who lose sight of their sworn mission and end up doing more harm than good. It's no wonder the average citizen feels oppressed by undeserving individuals who wield tremendous authority and begin to abuse it, seemingly without punishment. On Thursday, a congressional report in the works for over a year will be released. In it, the findings reveal that 76 percent of the Air Marshals surveyed do not believe public safety has been compromised. Since there are reportedly more than 4,000 officers in the program (no one really knows the exact figure) that means there are at least a thousand Air Marshals out there who disagree. Terrible odds on an airplane. http://news.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474981094380 Back to Top Investors Rush To Buy Brazilian Airports At Auction A host of Brazilian and foreign investors drove up offering prices for Brazil's biggest airports on Tuesday by more than 300%, raising $14.1 billion in an auction that gave winning bidders the rights to run airports for 20 years. The auction was held by Brazil's National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC) at the BM&F Bovespa stock exchange in São Paulo. A total of 11 private consortiums comprised of 28 domestic and international companies participated in an auction that's been in the works for more than three years. Brazil's crowded airports, especially the international airport in São Paulo, known as Guarulhos, and the domestic flights hub in the city, known as Congonhas, have come under fire for bottlenecks and even accidents at the short runway in Congonhas that saw TAM flight 3054 miscalculate a sopping wet landing strip and slam into a nearby warehouse and gas station in July 2007, killing all on board. Critics charged that Brazilian airports were not only outdated, but they might even be dangerous. The overall objective of the airport concession is to expand and enhance Brazil's airport infrastructure, efficiency and quality of service. From 2003 to 2010, global airport passenger traffic increased 40%. Brazil's has been even more impressive, increasing its local air traffic by 118% during the same period. The Guarulhos airport winning bid totaled $ 9.3 billion, with a premium of 373.51% over the asking price. Invepar ACSA consortium and Airports Company South Africa SOC Limited were awarded the contract. The Congonhas winning bidders paid $2.2 billion, with a premium of 159.75% over the asking price. Winning bidders include the Aeroportos Brasil consortium, made up of two Brazilian private investment companies TPI Triunfo Participações e Investimentos, UTC Participações and France's EGIS Airport Operation. The Congonhas concession is actually for 30 years. The company will run Congonhas and split the profits over the period. Guarulhos, Congonhas and the Brasilia airports are Brazil's three largest airports, accounting for 30% of the total passenger traffic, 57% of the total cargo traffic in Brazil, and 19% of Brazilian aircrafts. At a press conference following the auction, Brazilian Minister of Civil Aviation Wagner Bittencourt said that the high premium obtained from the concession verifies Brazil as a secure and opportune investment. "Brazil is a country where investments are safe and profitable. The 11 consortia that qualified for the auction were assertive in their bids," said Minister Bittencourt. Marcelo Guaranys, director of ANAC, said that this new model encourages competition and enables the reduction of passenger tariffs. "The model is designed so there is no tariff increase, and the companies are free to charge less than the ceiling price. We will have other operators and see the result between competitors," said Mr. Guaranys. The concession contract requires the companies to complete the government's previous projects in preparation for the 2014 World Cup. Currently, approximately R$626.53 million ($362.5 million) is expected to be invested in the Brasilia airport in advance of the World Cup, with a new terminal to cater to two million passengers per year. Investment in the Congonhas will total approximately R$873.05 million ($505.2 million) in advance of the World Cup, with a new terminal for at least 5.5 million passengers per year, Brazil's government said in a press release. Investment in Guarulhos will total approximately R$1.38 billion ($798 million), with a new terminal for accommodating seven million passengers per year, as well as improvements to the runways, yards, parking lots and access roads. http://www.forbes.com/sites/kenrapoza/2012/02/08/investors-rush-to-buy-brazilian- airports-at-auction/ Back to Top Janice Voss, veteran of 5 space shuttle flights, dies at 55 She was also former science director for NASA exoplanet-hunting spacecraft NASA Astronaut Janice Voss, who died Feb. 6, 2012, at age 55, is pictured on the flight deck of the space shuttle Endeavour during the STS-99 mission in 2000. Chosen by NASA for the astronaut corps in January 1990, Voss served as mission specialist on five space shuttle missions, including the only repeat flight in the shuttle program's 30-year history. She flew with the first commercial laboratory, rendezvoused with Russia's Mir space station and helped create the most complete digital topographic map of the Earth. Five-time shuttle flier Voss launched on her first and final missions aboard the shuttle Endeavour. As a member of the STS-57 crew in June 1993, she helped conduct biomedical and material science experiments in the first commercially-developed Spacehab module, a pressurized laboratory mounted in the orbiter's payload bay that more than doubled the work area for astronaut-tended activities. In February 2000 Voss again launched on Endeavour, this time for NASA's Shuttle Radar Topography Mission. After deploying a nearly 200-foot mast, Voss and her crewmates worked around the clock in two shifts to map more than 47 million square-miles of the Earth's land surface. Voss' second flight to space marked the first time a space shuttle came within the vicinity of Russia's space station Mir. Flying on the shuttle Discovery, Voss and her STS- 63 crewmates - including Eileen Collins, the first woman to pilot a U.S. spacecraft - rendezvoused with the Russian outpost to verify flight techniques, communications, and navigation and sensor aids. The February 1995 "Near-Mir" mission set the stage for the first shuttle-Mir docking later that year. Voss' two other spaceflights, STS-83 and STS-94, were the only time in the shuttle program's history that an entire crew was launched twice to achieve the same mission. The crew's first attempt began with a liftoff on Columbia on April 4, 1997. Three days into the mission however, a problem with one of the orbiter's three power-generating fuel cells resulted in the flight being cut short and the crew members returning to Earth. Three months later with Columbia back in working order, Voss and her six STS-83 crewmates launched again, this time as the STS-94 crew. During the successful 15-day flight, Voss and her fellow fliers worked inside a European Spacelab module, conducting experiments as part of the Microgravity Science Laboratory (MSL) mission. In total, Voss logged over 49 days in space, traveling 18.8 million miles while circling the Earth 779 times. Her five missions tied her with the record for the most spaceflights by a woman. Four years after returning to Earth for a final time, Voss transferred from Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, to NASA's Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, Calif., where she headed the science program for the agency's Kepler space observatory. Designed to search for Earth size planets orbiting distant stars, Kepler was launched in March 2009 and to date has confirmed 61 exoplanets and identified more than 2,000 planetary candidates. Voss left Ames in 2007 and most recently served as the payload lead in the astronaut office's space station branch at the Johnson Space Center. "As the payload commander of two space shuttle missions, Janice was responsible for paving the way for experiments that we now perform on a daily basis on the International Space Station," chief astronaut Peggy Whitson said in the NASA statement. "By improving the way scientists are able to analyze their data, and establishing the experimental methods and hardware necessary to perform these unique experiments, Janice and her crew ensured that our space station would be the site of discoveries that we haven't even imagined." "During the last few years, Janice continued to lead our office's efforts to provide the best possible procedures to crews operating experiments on the station today," she said. "Even more than Janice's professional contributions, we will miss her positive outlook on the world and her determination to make all things better." Path to space A native of Rockford, Ill., Voss received her bachelor of science in engineering science from Purdue University in 1975, a master of science degree in electrical engineering and a doctorate in aeronautics and astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1977 and 1987, respectively. Voss' first work with NASA was during her undergraduate studies at Purdue. A member of Johnson Space Center's co-op program, she worked on computer simulations in the engineering and development directorate in the years leading up to the start of the shuttle-era. Voss returned to the Johnson in 1977 for a year, working as a crew trainer teaching entry guidance and navigation. Before becoming an astronaut, Voss worked at the Orbital Sciences Corporation, supporting mission integration and flight operations for the Transfer Orbit Stage that launched the Advanced Communications Technology Satellite from the space shuttle in September 1993, and NASA's ill-fated Mars Observer from a Titan rocket in 1992. A multiple recipient of NASA's Space Flight Medal, Voss donated her personal papers documenting her spaceflight career to Purdue Libraries' division of archives and special collections in 2009. . "Knowing that someone else got from here to there brightened many of my days at Purdue," Voss said at the time, referring to the university's earlier astronaut alums. "Maybe my papers will help someone else feel that they aren't that different from me." "If I can do it, then so can they," Voss said. http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/46302650/ns/technology_and_science-space/ Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP, FRAeS CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC