Flight Safety Information March 21, 2012 - No. 057 In This Issue AViCON 2012: Aviation Disaster Conference (25APR - NYC) US F-16 fighter jet crashes in SKorea; pilot safe PRISM ANNUAL SMS AUDIT RESULTS Experts: Airline safety standards still inconsistent The Asia-Pacific Regional Runway Safety Seminar - Bali 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 AViCON 2012 Trailer by RTI Forensics AViCON 2012 Trailer Aviation Disaster Conference Investigating the Causes, Resolving the Claims Venue: The Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum New York, NY April 25, 2012 CONTINUING LEGAL EDUCATION ACCREDITATIONS ARE BEING SOUGHT FROM 22 STATES, PUERTO RICO, AND CANADA The following distinguished faculty members are scheduled to instruct at the event: Frederick (Rick) Alimonti Alimonti Law Offices, P.C. Professor Graham Braithwaite Head, Department of Air Transport, Cranfield University Christa M. Hinckley Partner, Husch Blackwell LLP Nick Hughes Partner, Holman Fenwick Willan LLP David T. Hunter Orion ADR Jason Kelly President, Crisis Advisors Curt Lewis, PE, CSP Curt Lewis & Associates LLC Ricardo M. Martinez-Cid Partner, Podhurst Orseck Rocie Park Director Aviation Claims, Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty Tim Scorer Consultant, Ince & Co LLP Kathryn Ward Partner, DLA Piper UK LLP Diane Westwood Wilson Partner, Clyde & Co US Fitzpatrick Grand Central Official Hotel for AViCON 2012 Gather with our distinguished faculty and your fellow delegates before and after the conference. A limited number of rooms have been reserved for April 24th and 25th at the special rate of $209 per night plus tax for attendees of the AViCON 2012 conference. After you register to attend AViCON 2012 you will receive a confirmation email which contains the promotion code for the hotel. Reserve your room at the Fitzpatrick Grand Central by calling 212-351-6800 or at fitzpatrickhotels.com using the code. We look forward to seeing you there. The highly successful AViCONŽ 2010 held in London is set to return to New York. This Aviation Insurance Claim Conference, with its unique format, is gathering reputation and recognition on both sides of the Atlantic since first presented to the London market in 1998. Following are some of the testimonials received from attendees of AViCON 2010: "Excellent having so many professionals together defending their position sitting in the same room and explaining to the audience the consequences of their actions." "I completely enjoyed the whole presentation and found it very educational." "Brilliant!!!" "Very impressive in terms of content and organization." "A very interesting and informative day." This conference 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. 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, Curt Lewis & Associates, Inc., DLA Piper, Ince & Co, Kenyon International Emergency Services, Podhurst Orseck, and 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 worked around the scenario of a new entrant airline buying a new technology airframe that suffers a survivable failure to an engine. This failure subsequently results in multiple fatalities due to a range of issues that include: * Organizational Failures * Crew Competence * Possible Bogus Parts * Defective Warning Systems All are et 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, in a concise and effective format, for all those concerned with safety in aviation to gain a fuller understanding of the entire range of complexities involved in the resolution of multi-party claims that arise from a fictitious aviation accident. Taking just one day, the 2012 conference is based on a reconstruction of a very conceivable and carefully scripted air disaster that occurs when an airline transport 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. After viewing the 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 and the results of the investigation lead to potential liability for a number of parties including: the airline, the aircraft manufacturer, and the airport authority. A group of leading lawyers and insurance executives will debate the issues that arise including: forum selection, punitive damages, fee considerations, evaluating claims, discovery, spoliation, mediation and dispute resolution, quantum of damages, and relationship with insurers. Register for AViCONŽ 2012 Go to: WWW.RTIAViCON.COM and select the 'Registration' link to view the Registration Application Form. Regular fee $795.00 * February 1, 2012 to April 25, 2012 Student $395.00 * Prior to April 25, 2012 * Must present law school, college, or university student identification at the door Government / Military $650.00 * Prior to April 25, 2012 * Must present government employee or active military identification at the door DISCOUNT REGISTRATION FEE AVAILABLE UNTIL APRIL 16th! Subscribers to this newsletter are being offered a $100 discount when registering between now and April 16th to attend AViCON 2012. Visit the AViCON website, click on Registration, enter the Regular Fee quantity for the number of attendees, and then enter promotional code AViCON-425 and click on the Apply button. US F-16 fighter jet crashes in SKorea; pilot safe SEOUL, South Korea - The U.S. Air Force says a F-16 fighter jet crashed in central South Korea but its pilot ejected safely. The 51st Fighter Wing said in a statement that the crash took place around noon Wednesday. Officials were investigating the cause. The Air Force would not say whether the crashed plane had been flying as part of training under way in the area. South Korean local government officials said the plane crashed into a paddy field. About 28,500 U.S. troops are stationed in South Korea as a deterrent against North Korea. http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-501712_162-57401337/us-f-16-fighter-jet-crashes-in- skorea-pilot-safe/ Back to Top Back to Top Experts: Airline safety standards still inconsistent 3 years after fatal crash, FAA has failed to meet new congressionally mandated requirements One consistent level of safety across the entire airline industry - from regional jets to large mainline carriers to air cargo operations - has not been achieved three years after the warning sign delivered when tired and poorly skilled pilots crashed their commuter plane in New York, experts told a U.S. Senate hearing Tuesday. The Federal Aviation Administration has made progress toward meeting congressionally mandated requirements to extend rest time for pilots before duty and establish new procedures to minimize safety risks, Calvin Scovel III, inspector general at theU.S. Department of Transportation, testified before the Senate Aviation Subcommittee in Washington. But the FAA has not met deadlines for raising pilot training standards, increasing minimum pilot qualifications, implementing pilot mentoring programs to raise the proficiency of less-experienced pilots and improving the leadership skills of airline captains, Scovel said. Congress required the FAA to issue a final rule to increase airline pilot qualifications by August, but FAA officials say they cannot meet the mandate until August 2013. The new rule would require first officers, who are also called co-pilots, to hold an Airline Transport Pilot certificate, which requires 1,500 hours of pilot flight time. Somewhat lower requirements may be allowed for ex-military pilots and graduates of aviation degree programs, the FAA said. Currently, airline captains must have the ATP certificate, but first officers only need a commercial pilot's license and as little as 250 hours to be hired by some commuter airlines. Airlines have challenged the change, delaying the process, FAA officials said. The FAA estimated the airline transport certificate requirement will cost more than $87 million annually, with the brunt of the expense to be covered by regional airlines and other small carriers. "These rulemaking activities are complex, and some have encountered significant air carrier opposition,'' Scovel said in reference to legislation that Congress passed in 2010 following the crash of a Colgan Air commuter jet near Buffalo, N.Y., in February 2009. Fifty people were killed in the crash, which the accident investigation attributed to pilot error by the captain and his overall weaknesses in basic flight control. While the nation's biggest airlines are running at an unprecedented level of safety, the fatal accidents in recent years have involved regional airlines, Gerald Dillingham, an aviation expert at the Government Accountability Office, said in written testimony submitted to the Senate subcommittee. "The last six fatal commercial airline accidents involved regional airlines, which account for about 53 percent of the nation's commercial flights,'' Dillingham said. "As a result, Congress, the media and the flying public have raised concerns about the extent that there is 'one level of safety' across the entire airline industry.'' Poor pilot performance was cited as a potential contributing factor in four of the six accidents, including the Colgan Air crash, by the National Transportation Safety Board. The FAA did meet requirements under the new law to address pilot-fatigue problems. Pilots will be required to state before each flight whether they are fit to fly and, if not, airlines are required to assign substitute pilots without taking punitive action against the tired pilot. Other changes include a 10-hour minimum rest period before reporting to duty, a two-hour increase over the previous rule. But the fatigue rules will be phased in slowly over the next two years, and cargo flights are exempted. That exemption has led to criticism that cargo operations are being held to a lower safety standard because no passengers are on board the flights. Margaret Gilligan, FAA associate administrator for aviation safety, said at the hearing that the agency believes that, overall, "we have struck the right balance within the rule.'' But Carl Kuwitzky, a Southwest Airlines captain, disagreed. "We do not have one level of safety. We have two - one for passenger pilots and one for cargo pilots,'' Kuwitzky, who is also president of the Coalition of Airlines Pilots Associations, told the subcommittee. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-airline-safety-0321- 20120321,0,4186125.story Back to Top Invitation to The Asia-Pacific Regional Runway Safety Seminar - Bali Date: 21 - 24 May, 2012 Venue: Kartika Discovery Hotel, Bali, Indonesia The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), in partnership with the DGAC Indonesia, the Flight Safety Foundation (FSF) and the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA), invites its Member States, participants, sponsors and exhibitors to the Asian Pacific Runway Safety Seminar - Bali. ICAO and its Runway Safety Partners are committed to presenting Regional Runway Safety Seminars (RRSSs) across the globe over the next two years to promote the establishment of Runway Safety Teams (RSTs) as a means of addressing runway safety issues. Be part of an important regional event that will bring together experts from diverse professional domains to promote a multidisciplinary approach to improving runway safety outcomes in Asia-Pacific. Learn about: * the benefits of establishing Runway Safety Teams (RSTs) and how they work * identification of runway safety hazards * different mitigation strategies available * regionally relevant issues and how they have been or could be addressed * regional support for RSTs Aviation professionals who should attend include: * Regulators * Aircraft operators and pilots * Air navigation service providers and ATCs * Aerodrome operators Registration is free! Participants may choose to attend the full four-day programme or to attend the first two days only. RUNWAY SAFETY PROGRAMME PARTNERS Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP, FRAeS, FISASI CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC