Flight Safety Information February 28, 2012 - No. 041 In This Issue Disabled Newark jet's scary landing FAA wants to boost airline pilot qualifications China Lures U.S. Pilots Tired of 14-Year Wait for Airline Captain's Seat Feds Increase Punishment For Pointing Lasers At Aircraft Qantas guilty of airport safety breaches ARGUS PROS Global Auditing Middle East & North Africa Helicopter Safety Team Meeting Virgin readies space ship test flight Five things not to do on airplanes Disabled Newark jet's scary landing A jetliner carrying 71 people wound up landing on its nose at Newark Liberty International Airport last night after its front wheel failed to deploy. No one aboard the flight from Atlanta was hurt. "Wejust thought it was the end,'' passenger Steve Parowski told the Star Ledger of Newark. "I just sent a text to my sons letting them know that I loved them and I hoped everything worked out.'' As soon as he got off the plane, he sent another text: "I landed and I'm alive.'' Cockpit instruments had indicated that there was a problem with the gear. That was confirmed by controllers when the plane flew past the tower. "The nose gear is not down,'' a controller told the pilot, according to paper. "You got no nose gear.'' Parowski, who lives in Franklin Lakes, told the Ledger passengers were alerted to the impending rough landing when the plane was still about 45 minutes out. He said the tense minutes before the 6:20 p.m. landing were spent circling the area - including the airport, where passengers saw emergency vehicles waiting - as the crew provided emergency instructions. The airport shut down as fire and other rescue crews raced to the runway when the Brazilian-made Embraer 170 touched down and came to a halt with the pilot holding the nose in the air for as long as possible. Then the nose dropped to the runway, Parowski said, and ground crews sprayed the plane with foam to prevent a fire. The plane filled with acrid smoke and the passengers were ordered to exit using emergency inflatable chutes. But at least one passenger was amazingly blasé about the scary situation. "I've had rougher landings than that,'' Angela Nickerson of Seattle, told the Star Ledger. The plane, operated by United Shuttle Air Express, carried 67 passengers and four crew members. Two of the airport's runways were shut as a precaution, authorities said, but were reopened within an hour. The National Transportation Safety Board said it will investigate. The problem was believed to be with the plane's hydraulics. Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/it_nose_job_jZ4D8iggBpGMUHOOXTwuCO#ixzz1ngGolAF Back to Top FAA wants to boost airline pilot qualifications WASHINGTON (AP) - Airline co-pilots would have to meet the same experience threshold required of captains - the first boost in four decades - under regulations proposed Monday by the Federal Aviation Administration. The proposed regulations would increase the minimum number of flight hours required to fly for a commercial air carrier to 1,500 for all pilots. Captains already have to meet that threshold, but co-pilots currently need only 250 hours to fly for an airline. The proposal is the first increase in the threshold to become a co-pilot since 1973, when the FAA raised the minimum number of hours from 200 to 250. Co-pilots would also need a "type rating" specific to the airliner they plan to fly, another requirement that has only applied to captains thus far. That would mean additional training and testing. The FAA was required to propose the new threshold under an aviation safety law enacted in response to the crash of a regional airliner near Buffalo, N.Y., three years ago. Fifty people were killed. Both the pilots in that accident had more than the minimum 1,500 hours. But the crash, which was blamed on pilot error, turned a spotlight on hiring and training at regional airlines. Pilot unions and safety advocates told Congress that co-pilots were sometimes hired at low wages with barely more than the 250-hour minimum and allowed to fly passengers after meeting no-frills training requirements. "Our pilots need to have the right training and the right qualifications so they can be prepared to handle any situation they encounter in the cockpit," said Michael Huerta, FAA's acting administrator. The proposal contains two carve-outs to the new experience requirements that weren't called for by Congress: Former military pilots will need only 750 hours to fly for an airline, and graduates of university or college flight schools need only 1,000 hours. Hours accumulated flying small planes up and down beaches towing banners or other basic flying isn't as effective as fewer hours of quality training, FAA officials have said previously. "The FAA believes a combination of training and flight experience is what makes a candidate qualified to fly" for an airline, the proposal said. Most airlines require both captains and first officers to have more than the 1,500 hours, but those standards have sometimes dipped during periods when airlines were expanding and the pool of experienced pilots is shallow. Raising the experience threshold for pilots may force some airlines to raise wages, adding to financial pressures at a time when high fuel prices are eating up profits. University flight schools have fiercely opposed the 1,500 hour requirement, arguing that it could make an airline career unaffordable because students would have to invest tens of thousands of dollars in extra flight time in addition to what they spent on college tuition. Some students might skip college altogether and use the tuition money for extra flight lessons. But proponents of the new safety law, including pilot unions and air crash victims' families, said at the time the law was passed that in today's airlines where captains and first officers are expected to be able to fly planes equally well there should be no difference in the standard they are required to meet. Scott Maurer, whose daughter Lorin was killed in the Buffalo crash, said he wasn't troubled by the carve- outs for some pilots since the FAA is still requiring co-pilots meet the same training and skills tests as captains before they can fly for an airline. "Anything that prevents something like (the Buffalo crash) from happening again is a good thing," he said in a telephone interview Monday. "There is some comfort in knowing that another family might not have to feel the same things we do." The public has 60 days to comment on the proposal. Back to Top China Lures U.S. Pilots Tired of 14-Year Wait for Airline Captain's Seat Kent John Krizman has spent 13 years as a co-pilot at American Airlines. For a chance to move across the cockpit, he's ready to take a job in China. "I should be flying as a captain," said the 52-year-old San Francisco resident, who has 20,000 hours' experience in jet planes. Promotion won't happen for at least five more years at American, while in China it could occur straightaway, he said. He and his wife "are all set to go," he said. Krizman was one of about 550 pilots who attended a China job fair in Miami last week, as first officers find fewer chances for promotion in the U.S. because of slower airline growth and captains retiring later. There are jobs available in China, where a surging economy and a fleet expected to grow 11 percent a year through 2015, according to government forecasts, is creating a need for experienced crewmembers. "Everyone is facing a pilot shortage," said Shen Wei, head of pilot recruitment at Shanghai-based budget carrier Spring Airlines (TPRINZ). "Foreign pilots are the quickest option." To help lure overseas crew members, Spring Air pays foreign pilots 30 percent more than domestic staff, Shen said, without elaboration. Air China Ltd. (753), the nation's largest international carrier, was offering $198,000 a year net plus bonuses for Airbus SAS A330 pilots, according to an advertisement on the website of Wasinc International, the recruitment company that helped run the job fair. During the two-day Miami event, which featured about a dozen Chinese airlines, about 70 pilots got provisional job offers, said Scott Snow, a spokesman. Doubled Pay Roger Grant, an American Airlines co-pilot, said in Miami that he may be able to about double his salary by moving to China and becoming a captain. He also said a move may offer better long-term prospects. "I've been worried about the direction that the pilot career has been taking," said the 45-year-old, who lives in Boynton Beach, Florida, with his wife and 7-year-old daughter. Workers across the industry are "getting punished" for mistakes made by major airlines, he said. It's easier for first officers to become captains in China than the U.S. because of demand rather than lower requirements, said Li Yanhua, an associate professor at Tianjin-based Civil Aviation University of China. Air- traffic controllers in China are already required to speak English, in line with global standards. China Demand Nationwide, the number of pilots in China needs to rise to 40,000 from 24,000 in the five years ending 2015, according to a statement posted on the website of the Civil Aviation Administration of China. There are about 1,700 foreign pilots working in the country, according to Spring Air's Shen. Calls to the CAAC went unanswered. China Southern Airlines Co. (1055), the nation's biggest carrier, is looking to hire 725 pilots this year, including 100 from overseas, it said by e-mail. It employs 4,400 pilots. Air China intends to recruit 600 pilots this year, including as many foreigners as possible, it said. The Beijing-based airline has 46 foreign pilots, or less than 2 percent of its roster. In the U.S., first officers are finding it more difficult to get promotions as an increase in the mandatory retirement age for captains to 65 from 60 creates a logjam at the top of chain, said Kit Darby, who runs a pilot-hiring and compensation consulting firm in Peachtree City, Georgia. Pilots who have been promoted at major U.S. carriers are unlikely to leave as even junior captains earn $12,700 per month on average, plus benefits such as pensions that can boost the package by 40 percent, he said. Moving to China may appeal to the 4 percent of the country's 90,000 pilots that are on furloughs, he said. "To the furloughed or unemployed pilot an overseas job looks pretty good," he said. Regional Carriers Pilots at U.S. regional carriers, which fly smaller planes on short-haul routes, have also been caught by the retirement slowdown as they lose opportunities to move to better-paid positions flying larger models at a major airline. Tony Giraldo, 51, for instance, said he has spent 15 years flying "numerous hours on the same equipment with no chance for an upgrade" at American Eagle, which ferries passengers from smaller cities to American Airlines' airport hubs. He was considering a move to China as it offers "bigger aircraft and new possibilities," he said. Some American Airlines pilots recently were promoted to captain, 14 years after being hired, the carrier said. The wait for advancement was five years in the growth period of the 1980s and as long as two decades a few years ago, said Sam Mayer, spokesman for the Allied Pilots Association union. AMR Bankruptcy The November bankruptcy filing by AMR Corp., the Fort Worth, Texas-based parent of American Airlines and American Eagle, also spurred Giraldo to consider opportunities elsewhere, he said. Krizman, the American co-pilot, similarly said that concerns about Chapter 11 had "refocused my efforts" to look overseas. American, which has a hub in Miami, wants to cut 400 pilot jobs as part of bankruptcy restructuring, as well as terminating pensions and outsourcing more flying to other carriers. The carrier's pilots "will remain highly compensated" even after the proposed changes, said Bruce Hicks, a company spokesman. American crew members "have long been among the best compensated in the industry," he said. China is stepping up pilot training to help meet demand. The Civil Aviation Flight University of China, the country's biggest training provider, plans to accept 2,400 cadets this year, 33 percent more than last year, it said in e-mailed reply to questions. Using domestic pilots is simpler for Chinese airlines as there are some restrictions on foreigners flying domestic services, largely because the military controls much of the airspace, said Spring Air's Shen. "The boom in foreign pilots coming to China may only last a few years," he said. "When we have more choice in the future, I will prefer our own pilots." http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-27/china-lures-u-s-pilots-tired-of-14-year-wait-for-captain-s- seat.html Back to Top Feds Increase Punishment For Pointing Lasers At Aircraft PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - Federal authorities are cracking down on pointing a laser at aircraft by stiffening the punishment. A laser attack on aircraft is a federal offense and across the country, the number of incidents has increased to nearly 10 a night. "Between September 2009 and the present, more than 75 aircraft laser incidents occurred within the Allegheny Flight Standards district office," U.S. Attorney David Hickton said. Offenders can now face a fine and up to five years imprisonment. The problem is the laser, which can be purchased for less than $50, can put a flight in danger. Pilots report flash-blindness, blurry vision, eye irritation and headaches - any of which have the potential to affect safety. "Many high-powered lasers can completely incapacitate pilots who are trying to fly safely to their destinations - oftentimes with hundreds of passengers aboard," Hickton said. The FAA has charged a Pitt student in an incident last year involving a laser pointer case with risking a catastrophe. http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2012/02/27/feds-increase-punishment-for-pointing-lasers-at-aircraft/ Back to Top Qantas guilty of airport safety breaches It has emerged that safety authorities upheld five safety complaints against Qantas last year at Brisbane airport. ABC News has obtained a letter, signed by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority's executive manager of operations, which reveals five of nine safety complaints against the airline were substantiated. It all began in late 2010 when workers at Qantas's Q Catering facility in Brisbane began complaining about a series of issues relating to the movement and maintenance of catering vehicles on and around the airport tarmac. The complaints eventually made their way to CASA, which subsequently investigated them, but the exact details of the events were not made public. Former Q Catering worker Wayne Bailey, who recently took voluntary redundancy from the company, says there were a number of worrying examples. "It was the trucks we were more dealing with," he said. "They're heavy trucks, they're quite large trucks like you have on the road. "The airport corporation rules state that all vehicles on the airport should be roadworthy. "We had trucks that the front brakes locked up and they dived off to the left or right. We had trucks that the rear demisters didn't work, which if you are working at two o'clock in the morning on a rainy day and you have no demisters you can't see you're trying to reverse and manoeuvre around the tarmac and around million-dollar aircraft; billion-dollar aircraft, and it was dangerous." "We filled in the report forms and everything that we are supposed to do that was Qantas procedure - time and time again they were basically fobbed off and ignored." It all follows claims last week that the airline had breached engineering safety guidelines by surprising staff with its recent announcement of a major restructure, and revelations CASA was talking to the airline about those changes. 'Too cosy' No-one from Qantas was available for an interview on the Brisbane airport incidents, but in a statement a spokesman said the issues at the airport were minor and only related to a few catering vehicles. In fact, he said, they were so minor in nature that CASA deemed they were not safety issues which required any directives on Qantas. The Transport Workers Union, which brought the complaints and which has been in a long-running industrial dispute with Qantas, says no action was taken because, in the words of assistant Queensland branch secretary Scott Connolly, the two organisations are too close. "I think the relationship between CASA and this particular company, Qantas, is far too cosy," he said. "The evidence we've seen paints a picture where the company has absolute disclosure with the safety agency that isn't shared with members of the public or interested parties in the industry. "These were critical safety instances. We had situations where aircraft were at risk of trucks ploughing into them...fully laden with passengers and it's a terrifying indictment upon our system where our safety agency is saying that's not serious." A CASA spokesman said the incidents were isolated in nature, that there were no contraventions of aviation safety regulations, and that the organisation did discuss its findings with Qantas. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-02-28/twu-calls-for-action-over-qantas- breaches/3857986?section=business Back to Top Back to Top Middle East & North Africa Helicopter Safety Team Meeting The MENA HST quarterly meeting was held at Rocco Forte Hotel in Abu Dhabi Feb 7th 2011 PRLog (Press Release) - Feb 20, 2012 - The MENA HST quarterly meeting was held at Rocco Forte Hotel in Abu Dhabi Feb 7th 2011 through the generous support or Prestige Jets of Abu Dhabi. The meeting started by highlighting that all MENA-HST operators had agreed on the principle of implementing the Safety Management System (SMS) as part of their larger State Safety Program by the end of 2012, moreover emphasized on the five risks identified during the initial helicopter pilot surveys completed in 2009, and underlined the efforts to mitigate these risks. An initiative of creating an up to date list of MENA-HST operators has been adopted which is to be circulated around all members of the team, additionally strategic plans and schemes has been suggested to bring valuable deliverables to the helicopter community at large, moreover it was suggested that MENA-HST to attend the Helicopter Operators Operations Committee (HOOC) forum to exchange ideas and best practices in the UAE. The air proximity and/or mid air collision are major factors that affect the aviation industry. The call for better collision avoidance equipment is a crucial which could be a mandate in affect by 2014 as it would greatly enhance safety in the Gulf region. As an avid supporter for the MENA-HST since its beginning, Capt. Samir Sajet the Regional Aviation Safety Officer - World Food Programme, has been unanimously elected to be the chairman of the team. Capt. Samir offered numerous imperative trainings, workshops and other courses that are to be held under the umbrella of the MENA-HST at a Free of Charge rate. The team has agreed on all the objectives and will reconvene to follow up on the discussed topics in May 2012. # # # The World Food Programme (WFP) is the world's largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide. In emergencies, we get food to where it is needed, saving the lives of victims of war, civil conflict and natural disasters. Back to Top Virgin readies space ship test flight Virgin Galactic has announced it will soon be ready to launch suborbital space flights. Palo Alto - Virgin Galactic, an offshoot of Richard Branson's Virgin Group, expects to test-fly its first spaceship beyond the Earth's atmosphere this year, with commercial suborbital passenger service to follow in 2013 or 2014, company officials said. Nearly 500 customers have signed up for rides on SpaceShipTwo, a six-passenger, two-pilot spaceship being built and tested by Scaled Composites, an aerospace company founded by aircraft designer Burt Rutan and now owned by Northrop Grumman. The suborbital flights, which cost $200 000 per person, are designed to reach an altitude of about 109km, giving fliers a few minutes to experience zero gravity and glimpse Earth set against the blackness of space. "In the suborbital area, there are a lot of things to be done. This is an area that has been essentially absent for about four decades," said Neil Armstrong, who was a test pilot for the 1960s-era X-15 research plane before becoming a US astronaut and commander of the first mission to land on the moon. "There's a lot of opportunity," Armstrong told about 400 people attending the Next-Generation Suborbital Researchers Conference in Palo Alto, California. "I certainly hope that some of the new approaches will prove to be profitable and useful." Preparations Virgin Galactic is the most visible of a handful of companies developing spaceships for tourism, research, educational and business purposes. SpaceShipTwo, the first of Virgin's planned five-ship fleet, has completed 31 atmospheric test flights - 15 attached to its carrier aircraft WhiteKnightTwo, and 16 glide tests, William Pomerantz, Virgin Galactic's vice president of special projects, said in a speech to the conference. Preparations for the ship's first rocket-powered flights are under way at Scaled Composites' Mojave plant and expected to take place this year. "We hope to have the rocket motor in the spaceship later this year and start powered flight testing," Virgin Galactic chief test pilot David Mackay told the conference. "We would like to be the first to do this, but we're not in a race with anyone. This is not a Cold War-era space race." "We flow pretty quickly from first powered flight to first flight to space and then it's not terribly long from there until we have our first commercial flight to space," Pomerantz told reporters later. He said passenger service could begin in 2013 or 2014, depending on the results of the test flights and other factors, such as pilot training. http://www.news24.com/SciTech/News/Virgin-readies-space-ship-test-flight-20120228 Back to Top Five things not to do on airplanes Be mindful of fellow passengers (CNN) - Every time you get on an airplane, it's a crap shoot. No, I'm not talking about safety but rather the person you'll be sitting next to. All walks of life end up flying at one point or another. Maybe you're stuck sitting next to someone who doesn't quite understand that his actions impact others around him. Or maybe YOU are that person. For that reason, I thought it would be fun to go through the top five things you really shouldn't do on an airplane. 1. No bare feet -- It should go without saying that being cooped up on an airplane with others mere inches from you is painful enough with everyone clothed. Just because it's a long flight does not mean you can get as comfortable as you get at home. Sure, go ahead and kick your shoes off, but you better be wearing socks. And if your feet smell, put those shoes right back on to make sure that you contain the stink. This one applies in all classes. I was in business class on a flight last year where the seats were angled out. Sure enough, a guy across the way put his bare feet right up there for all to see (and smell) as they walked down the aisle. Don't do it. 2. Don't abuse the recline -- Coach passengers have few things that they can control in the flying experience, but one is the angle of their seats. For most, there is a realization that if you recline your seat, it will impact the person behind you. There are those few gems out there, however, who simply don't care and jack that seat back as far as it will go. You have the right to recline, but try to be considerate. Don't be that guy who sees a cart rolling down the aisle with dinner on that long flight and decides to lean back. It's hard enough to eat on an airplane, but it's impossible with the seat bending back into your face. (Note: Some airlines have seats that recline into themselves, so go ahead and recline away in those. You'll only impact your own legroom.) 3. Don't be an overhead hog -- Everyone knows that there is likely going to be more demand for overhead bin space than actual space up there, so why not do your part to help get as much up there as you can? Put your roller bag wheels-in instead of sideways, if it fits. Don't take up a ton of space by placing a coat along the entire bin, as I've seen almost any time the temp dips below 50 degrees. More important, if someone asks if she can move your bag around to try to fit her own, let her. Think of it like a big Tetris puzzle, and you don't want to leave an empty space. 4. No talking loudly to strangers -- There are some people who love to talk to their seatmates on airplanes; there are others who dread the thought. There's nothing wrong with talking to your seatmate if there's a mutual interest, but keep the volume down to avoid bugging those around you who really don't care where you're from and what you do for a living. And just because you're talking to someone doesn't mean that he wants to talk to you. Be very careful to observe the warning signs -- fidgeting, quietness, looking away from you, opening a magazine, etc. Some people aren't rude, but they don't want to talk to you. Take a hint. 5. Don't make dumb jokes -- It's amazing how many people out there still think it's funny to say, "I've got a bomb," or something equally stupid. Oh sure, it's hi-larious to you, but it's only going to get you thrown off the plane and into heavy questioning. You might have no better way to spend your time, but when you delay that flight, you'll have a hundred or more new enemies who wish you'd never boarded. This list is far from exhaustive. Just let your conscience guide you (if you have one). Be nice to people and respect the rights of others and you'll all be much happier when you get where you're going. http://www.news8000.com/entertainment/travel/Five-things-not-to-do-on-airplanes/-/472/8988984/- /rinrua/-/ Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP, FRAeS, FISASI CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC