Flight Safety Information July 31, 2012 - No. 155 In This Issue GE Aviation Acquires Leader in Flight Data Analysis Boeing, NTSB probe airport grass fire sparked by 787 jet engine GE Aviation acquires Austin Digital Analysis finds that water-scoopers better for fighting wildfires India Risks FAA Safety Downgrade, Says CAPA Aviation accidents in Europe fall to new low PRISM Certification Support The criminalisation of air accidents threatens safety management philosophy Teamsters File Suit Against ABX Air Unruly flier enraged by neighbor's reading light Packer jet's close encounter with Virgin (Australia) GE Aviation Acquires Leader in Flight Data Analysis Cincinnati, OH - July 30, 2012 - GE Aviation announced today that it has acquired Austin Digital, a privately owned, Texas-based supplier of flight operations data analysis. Austin Digital's flight operations capabilities strengthen GE's services offerings with integrated solutions for aviation customers around the world. "GE is committed to delivering solutions that help our customers operate aircraft more efficiently, with reduced environmental impact," said Paul McElhinney, president & CEO, GE Aviation Services. "The acquisition of Austin Digital brings some of the best flight operations technology to GE Aviation's Services business, further expanding our commitment to deliver results for our customers. We are delighted that Austin Digital is joining our team today." "This is great news for Austin Digital employees and our customers," said Austin Digital CEO Thom Mayer. "Customers will continue to benefit from the same expertise and service for which Austin Digital is known, while the strength of GE provides a platform for future innovation and growth." ADI is a global leader in flight data analysis technology, specializing in facilitating Flight Operational Quality Assurance (FOQA) for airlines and business jet operators. ADI uses a propriety suite of tools to analyze digital flight data and other operational data to improve safety and efficiency for operators, a compelling addition GE Aviation Services' suite of customer-focused products and services. Flight data analysis encompasses a variety of functions affecting flight operations. The most prominent use is in the area of safety, where flight data is collected and analyzed to reveal high-risk events and trends. This process enables operators to proactively and effectively manage risk. Flight data analysis is also widely used in support of maintenance and engineering. Finally, flight data analysis can generate some of the largest tangible returns on investment when used to improve efficiency through optimization of fuel usage, reduction of emissions and improvement of component life. Austin Digital's capabilities will be integrated into GE's fuel and carbon management program focused on helping customers reduce their cost of ownership, cut fuel consumption and decrease emissions. Fuel and Carbon Solutions combines GE's technical expertise in flight operations, engine upgrades and advanced avionics, Lean Six Sigma techniques, GE's new ClearCore engine wash, and advanced diagnostic capabilities to identify, implement and track fuel savings opportunities for airlines and business jet operators. Austin Digital is headquartered in Austin, Texas and employs approximately 40 employees. GE Aviation, an operating unit of GE (NYSE: GE), is a world-leading provider of jet engines, components and integrated systems for commercial and military aircraft. GE Aviation has a global service network to support these offerings. www.ge.com/aviation # # # Contact: Matt Benvie t. 1 513-432-6834 matthew.benvie@ge.com Back to Top Boeing, NTSB probe airport grass fire sparked by 787 jet engine Investigators and analysts say it's too early to blame the South Carolina incident on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner passenger aircraft engines, which are made by GE. The 787 Dreamliner, a twin-aisle aircraft that seats 210 to 290 passengers, made its first passenger flight with Japanese carrier All Nippon Airways in October. Boeing delivered the plane more than three years late because of design problems and supplier issues. Above, a Dreamliner at Boeing's plant in Long Beach. After a jet engine sparked a grass fire at a South Carolina airport, Boeing Co. is again investigating its problem-plagued 787 Dreamliner passenger aircraft. The fuel-efficient Dreamliner, which debuted last year, has been beset by delays and production glitches in recent years. But investigators and analysts said it was too early to blame the latest incident on the jet engines, made by General Electric Co. and dubbed GEnx engines. The National Transportation Safety Board sent an investigator to determine whether the incident was serious enough to warrant a formal inquiry, said spokesman Terry Williams. "It's not unusual for us to look at a particular event like this and gather information," he said. "It's the investigator's first full day at the scene." The fire occurred Saturday while the jet was undergoing preflight runway testing at Charleston International Airport in Charleston, S.C. Although the airport shut down briefly, there were no injuries. The GEnx engines first entered service on a cargo-carrying version of Boeing's 747 jumbo jet in October and began flying on the Dreamliner in April. In a statement, the company said "this incident has not happened before" with its GEnx engines. GE said about 80 of the new engines are in service, and they have accumulated more than 125,000 flight hours. "GE continually monitors and analyzes the performance of the GEnx fleet in service, and we are not aware of operational issues that would affect the continued safe flight of aircraft powered by these engines," the company said. The Dreamliner, a twin-aisle aircraft that seats 210 to 290 passengers, made its first passenger flight with Japanese carrier All Nippon Airways in October. Boeing delivered the plane more than three years late because of design problems and supplier issues. It is the first large passenger jet with more than half its structure made of composite materials (carbon fibers meshed together with epoxy) instead of aluminum sheets. Major parts for the plane are pre-assembled elsewhere and then shipped to Everett, Wash., where they are "snapped together" in three days, compared with a month the traditional way. Chicago-based Boeing says the Dreamliner burns 20% less fuel than jetliners of a similar size. Through June, the aerospace giant had taken 859 orders for the Dreamliner from airlines and aircraft leasing firms around the world. Depending on the version of Dreamliner ordered, the plane costs $193.5 million to $227.8 million. "Boeing is changing the way an aircraft is produced, and it carries radical new technology never used before," said Michel Merluzeau, managing partner of aerospace consultant G2 Solutions in Kirkland, Wash. "There were bound to be problems." The problems continue to mount. Shortly after delivery of the first aircraft, All Nippon Airways reported a problem with landing gear. In March, Boeing had to slow Dreamliner deliveries because the sheets of laminated composite materials that make up the plane's body were separating. Just last week, five of Japanese carrier All Nippon Airways' 787 Dreamliner commercial airplanes were grounded because of corrosion found during testing in jet engines made by Rolls Royce. Boeing believed the problem could be traced to changes to a manufacturing process. Richard Aboulafia, an aerospace analyst with Teal Group Corp., a Virginia research firm, said the engine incident in Charleston is unlikely to have been caused by a design flaw. "These engines have been certified and flying for some time now," Aboulafia said. The incident, he said, appears more likely to have been caused by a worker's leaving a part behind or a foreign object finding its way into the engine and then firing into the grass. Engine failures do happen. In November 2010, a Rolls Royce engine exploded on an Airbus A380 super jumbo jet operated by Australian carrier Qantas Airways. In a report, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau said that an oil pipe in the engine was too thin and caused a fracture, allowing oil to leak and ignite. The airline has since replaced the engines. Nancy Castles, a spokeswoman for Los Angeles' airport agency, Los Angeles World Airports, said engine failure was a rare occurrence at Los Angeles International Airport. It didn't happen once last year in 604,000 takeoffs and landings at LAX, she said. The National Transportation Safety Board does not know when it will complete its work on the recent incident in Charleston because it's so early in the information collecting process. In the meantime, the GEnx engines will continue to fly. "Boeing and GE are working closely with the NTSB and are committed to resolving the issue appropriately," Boeing spokesman Scott Lefeber said in a statement. "Should the investigation determine a need to act, Boeing has the processes in place to take action and will do so appropriately." http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-0731-boeing-dreamliner-engines- 20120731,0,6690455.story Back to Top Aviation acquires Austin Digital GE Aviation has acquired Austin Digital, a privately owned, Texas-based supplier of flight operations data analysis to strengthen GE's integrated solutions. "GE is committed to delivering solutions that help our customers operate aircraft more efficiently, with reduced environmental impact," said Paul McElhinney, president & CEO, GE Aviation Services. "The acquisition of Austin Digital brings some of the best flight operations technology to GE Aviation's Services business, further expanding our commitment to deliver results for our customers. We are delighted that Austin Digital is joining our team today." "This is great news for Austin Digital employees and our customers," said Austin Digital CEO Thom Mayer. "Customers will continue to benefit from the same expertise and service for which Austin Digital is known, while the strength of GE provides a platform for future innovation and growth." ADI is a global leader in flight data analysis technology, specializing in facilitating Flight Operational Quality Assurance (FOQA) for airlines and business jet operators. ADI uses a proprietary suite of tools to analyze digital flight data and other operational data to improve safety and efficiency for operators, a compelling addition to GE Aviation Services' suite of customer-focused products and services. Flight data analysis encompasses a variety of functions affecting flight operations. The most prominent use is in the area of safety, where flight data is collected and analyzed to reveal high-risk events and trends. This process enables operators to proactively and effectively manage risk. Flight data analysis is also widely used in support of maintenance and engineering. Finally, flight data analysis can generate some of the largest tangible returns on investment when used to improve efficiency through optimisation of fuel usage, reduction of emissions and improvement of component life. Austin Digital's capabilities will be integrated into GE's fuel and carbon management programme focused on helping customers reduce their cost of ownership, cut fuel consumption and decrease emissions. Fuel and Carbon Solutions combines GE's technical expertise in flight operations, engine upgrades and advanced avionics, Lean Six Sigma techniques, GE's new ClearCore engine wash, and advanced diagnostic capabilities to identify, implement and track fuel savings opportunities for airlines and business jet operators. http://www.airtrafficmanagement.net/2012/07/ge-aviation-acquires-austin-digital/ Back to Top Analysis finds that water-scoopers better for fighting wildfires A Bombardier "Super Scooper" picks up water from Castaic Lake near where a wildfire driven by powerful Santa Ana winds threatened homes in Castaic, Calif., in 2007. A three-year analysis commissioned by the U.S. Forest Service has found that the most efficient air-attack strategy to suppress wildfires would use water-scooping aircraft - not the heavy tankers that the government favors. But Forest Service leaders plan to press ahead in acquiring more heavy tankers, which drop up to 3,000 gallons of fire-retardant chemical slurry. Nonprofit think tank Rand Corp.'s cost-benefit analysis being released Monday morning - launched in 2009, costing $800,000 - is aimed at perfecting the nation's methods for swiftly suppressing wildfires of the sort seen this summer along Colorado's Front Range. Fire-suppression aircraft fought blazes all over Colorado in June, including the devastating Waldo Canyon fire, which burned 346 homes and 18,247 acres in Colorado Springs, and the High Park fire, which chewed through 87,284 acres and destroyed 259 homes west of Fort Collins. "Our proposal would be to evolve to a portfolio of firefighting aircraft that is dominated by water-bearing scoopers. You can drop more water from a scooper per hour than you can drop slurry from a tanker," said Ed Keating, an economist who ran Rand's project. "Our perspective was to look at it from the taxpayer's perspective. Our estimates are that the most cost-effective portfolio would be dominated by water-scoopers," Keating said. The scoopers are chubby yellow aircraft the size of commuter planes with propellers on each wing and inlets below. They swoop over water, needing a three-quarter-mile stretch several feet deep. They're deployed in Canada, Russia and other areas with abundant water near fire-prone forests. Rand analysts said the 1,600-gallon scoopers could be had new for about $30 million each, with annual costs of $3 million, compared with $80 million for air tankers and annual costs of $7 million. Wildfire-suppression costs have increased to about $1.65 billion a year as more people live near forests. Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell issued a statement calling Rand's analysis "interesting" but "based in part on crucial and flawed assumptions" on costs. The Forest Service leases firefighting aircraft from contractors. For decades, firefighting ground crews have relied on slurry bombers that "paint" terrain with retardant to contain flames so that ground crews can move closer and build fire lines. The Forest Service hired Rand to help determine the best mix of helicopters and air tankers for a modernized fleet of firefighting aircraft. The current fleet has dwindled, and some tankers are more than 40 years old. A plan announced to Congress would add 18 to 28 new tankers as well as water-bearing helicopters and two scoopers. "Our 50-year history has shown us that, while there's a time and place for water - and we drop a lot of it - that for our large air tankers, retardant is the way to go. You can build the line with the retardant. It has residual, positive benefits for firefighters even when the water has evaporated. In the arid West, it is just a better buy for us," said Tom Harbour, the Forest Service's director of fire and aviation management. Rand's analysis includes a look at all fires in federal forests over a decade in relation to water bodies that would enable use of scoopers. "We found that about two-thirds of fires have been within 10 miles of a scooper- accessible body of water," Keating said. "We were surprised at the scooper-appropriate water accessibility, even in arid parts of the country." The increased development in forests is driving efforts to perfect wildfire suppression. Forest Service managers say tens of thousands of communities nationwide are at risk of wildfires, in part because aggressive suppression has left forests loaded with fuel. Harbour said managers are discussing how to deal with a complex public-policy question: Given the risks of super-large catastrophic wildfires in the future, to what extent does aggressive fire suppression make sense? The Forest Service will use mechanical tools and prescribed fire to thin forests, Harbour said. "But there's always going to be a role for putting fires out," he said. "We're simply always going to always have places where the proximity of communities and volatile vegetation and the time of year simply doesn't mix." Read more: Analysis finds that water-scoopers better for fighting wildfires - The Denver Post http://www.denverpost.com/environment/ci_21188377/analysis-finds-that-water- scoopers-better-fighting-wildfires#ixzz22AalMAiT Back to Top India Risks FAA Safety Downgrade, Says CAPA Indian airlines would lose opportunities to expand services to and from the U.S. if the FAA downgrades the country's safety rating. As the November deadline approaches for the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to assess the Indian government's record in managing aviation, gaps in the country's safety regulations could lead the FAA to downgrade India to Category 2 status, according to a report issued recently by the Center for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA). Under Category 2, Indian carriers could not start new service to the U.S. Its current Category 1 status allows its carriers to operate to the U.S and take part in reciprocal code-share arrangements with U.S airlines. India also enjoys an open-skies agreement with the U.S. In just the last two years, Indian domestic airline traffic has grown by 36 percent, while Indian airlines have registered a 19-percent increase in international traffic. "Near-term safety risks are being compromised as traffic increases at a dramatic rate," concluded CAPA. "The long-term institutional strengthening of the regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), should be the highest priority." The FAA found severe understaffing at the DGCA when it conducted its International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) in India in 2009 to review the country's compliance with ICAO's recommended practices. The FAA estimated then that the DGCA required 500 people. "The DGCA remains under-resourced," Kapil Kaul, CAPA's CEO for South Asia, told AIN. "Although 136 officers are in the process of being recruited, this is just the first step. However, you cannot get expertise and do training overnight. In 2012 the number should be higher, and even more in 2015. The DGCA is getting weaker and the situation is dire." In a move widely considered politically motivated, the government's civil avation ministry recently dismissed India's civil aviation director general, Bharat Bhushan, after he questioned the safety practices of some domestic airlines. India's Civil Aviation Safety Advisory Council has not held any meetings for the past year. "Incident and operational data analysis is poor and an independent accident investigation bureau or a safety board are yet to be established," said CAPA. A plan to establish an independent Civil Aviation Authority to regulate safety issues in India appears stalled. "By the time the CAA is set up, it will take at least 12 to 18 months, and safety cannot wait," said Kaul. http://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/ain-air-transport-perspective/2012-07- 30/india-risks-faa-safety-downgrade-says-capa Back to Top Aviation accidents in Europe fall to new low " This mixed picture does not give us any room for complacency" EASA The number of aviation accidents in Europe has fallen to an all-time low, according to a new report. The study, by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), says that in 2011 there was not a single fatal accident in scheduled operations. According to EASA's annual safety review the rate of accidents in scheduled operations in EASA member states between 2002 and 2011 was one of the lowest in the world, with 1.6 fatal accidents per 10 million flights. On a global level, accidents of the year 2011 send a contradictory signal, says the report. While the number of accidents involving passenger fatalities scheduled operations remained high at 16, the related number of fatalities to passengers dropped from 658 in 2010 to 330. This drop can be mainly attributed, says EASA, to the smaller aircraft involved, as well as to a lower proportion of fatalities. Commenting on the release of the review, EASA's executive director, Patrick Goudou, said, "This mixed picture does not give us any room for complacency. "Efforts must continue from both regulators and the industry to work towards a continuous improvement in global aviation safety levels." The review also addresses, for the first time, aerodrome safety covering issues such as runway excursions and bird strikes. It also includes information developed by the Brussels-based Eurocontrol on traffic movements in Europe and airline fleet sizes. EASA is the centrepiece of the EU's strategy for aviation safety whose mission is to promote and achieve the highest common standards of safety and environmental protection in civil aviation. Based in Cologne, the agency currently employs more than 650 experts and administrators from all over Europe. http://www.theparliament.com/latest-news/article/newsarticle/aviation-accidents-in- europe-fall-to-new-low/ Back to Top Back to Top The criminalisation of air accidents threatens safety management philosophy By: David Learmount London The criminalisation of air accidents is likely to get worse before it gets better - if indeed it ever does get better. That is the consensus in the air transport industry itself, and among the specialist lawyers who serve it. If this consensus proves correct, the dream of operating a successful industry-wide "just culture" to generate healthy internal incident reporting systems is under threat, endangering the objective of introducing safety management systems (SMS) in airlines worldwide. An effective SMS depends completely on an open reporting culture, which in turn depends on trusting that those who volunteer information will not have it used to criminalise them. "There is little doubt that the criminalisation of air accidents is on the increase," says Tim Brymer, a partner in London-based law firm Clyde & Co. "The laudable concept of balancing safety and accountability inherent in a just culture has largely failed." In 2006, the Flight Safety Foundation drew up a joint resolution with France's Air and Space Academy; the Royal Aeronautical Society (RAeS); the Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation; the European Regions Airline Association; the International Federation of Air Traffic Controllers' Associations; the Professional Aviation Maintenance Association; and the International Society of Aviation Safety Investigators. The resolution named nine fatal airline accidents which provoked criminal prosecutions in six national jurisdictions - Brazil, France, Switzerland, Italy, Greece and the USA - and argued that aviation safety was being harmed by these actions. Speaking at the RAeS in London two years later, Dr Francis Schubert, chief operating officer of Swiss air navigation service-provider Skyguide, said the message about just culture had been too purist, and it had relied on "an unfounded assumption" that safety overrides justice. He said: "The way the just culture message is currently expressed is neither understandable nor acceptable by the judicial authorities or the general public." Schubert maintained that the rise in criminalisation of aircraft accidents is testimony to this fact. Assuming Schubert was right, have things moved on since then? No, according to Brymer: "The problem is that the message put forward by the aviation community has simply not been understood by either the judiciary or the general public. "There is little doubt that the just culture concept is regarded with scepticism and suspicion as, in effect, a special pleading. Prosecution is largely by default given that convictions rarely result." Brymer added that this was as a result of either failure of the prosecution to establish a case or plea-bargaining. On the other hand, the EU has recently framed a new law governing air accident investigation in an attempt to achieve a balance between the objectives of the judiciary to determine whether criminality was involved, and the need for the aviation industry to be able to run a real-time self-diagnostic system without having it plundered in the name of justice. Brymer observes that in most countries, after an accident involving death or personal injury, both civil and criminal investigations are normally instituted at the outset. However, the relationship between the two investigations - the technical and the judicial - can be very different from country to country, he explains. "The interplay between these separate investigations and related proceedings vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction and there is no single reference point for all cases brought." It is this lack of consistency which agencies such as the International Civil Aviation Organisation would like to change. "Action from ICAO is urgently needed in view of the lack of uniformity between states and nations and the need to outline standards in relation to negligence and innocent mistakes," says Brymer. "However, this has to be coupled with education of the judiciary and politicians to carefully weigh the decision or pressure to prosecute, together with the impact which this inevitably has on the exchange of safety information," he adds. Most judiciaries see themselves as necessarily independent, owing nothing to society except to do their job to ensure that if the law is broken, justice is served. But how justice should be served can vary from country to country. Brymer explains that as a general rule, in legal systems based on the Napoleonic Code, pursuit of the potentially guilty party is deemed essential. He points out that in almost all countries with laws formed on the basis of private systems influenced by the Napoleonic Code - including Italy, Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, Poland and Romania - when fatal accidents occur, criminal indictments are more or less guaranteed. Looking further afield, Brymer has observed that under the Japanese Civil Code nearly every act which involves a fatality results in a prosecution. In Asia, every time a pilot survives a fatal accident, criminal liability will be assessed. "The position in Latin America is not quite so clear cut, although research shows that roughly 50% of fatal accidents result in criminal prosecutions," he adds. In its new law dealing with the investigation of aircraft accidents, the EU begs to differ. Indeed the regulation states that its purpose is dual: to regulate both "the investigation and prevention of accidents". It says: "An accident raises a number of different public interests such as the prevention of future accidents and the proper administration of justice. Those interests go beyond the individual interests of the parties involved and beyond the specific event. The right balance among all interests is necessary to guarantee the overall public interest." Whether or not a particular nation's judiciary chooses to take heed of that argument depends on how it sees its role. Does it see itself as an integral part of society or simply an agency for the defence of the letter of the law and for exacting retribution? Brymer explains that a just culture will not protect those who have broken the law, either deliberately or via gross negligence, and it is not the job of the judiciary to protect a just culture. However, it is perfectly possible for the judiciary to carry out its task while respecting the purpose of a just culture. "It is fundamental that full judicial immunity has no part to play in a just culture. Egregious conduct falls outside." Creating a balance is the thing, says Brymer: "All existing definitions of just culture draw a line between acceptable and unacceptable behaviour. A wilful violation is not acceptable, whereas an honest mistake is. "There must be a line drawn between legitimate and illegitimate behaviour. However, where the line is drawn - and who gets to draw the line - remains uncertain." And whether safety management systems work in the future or not also depends on that decision. http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/in-focus-the-criminalisation-of-air-accidents- threatens-safety-management-philosophy-373858/ Back to Top Teamsters File Suit Against ABX Air WILMINGTON, Ohio, July 30, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Pilot's employment terminated after exercising FAA-granted authority to ensure safe flight operations Today, the Airline Professionals Association, Teamsters Local 1224 announced they have filed a lawsuit against ABX Air over a captain's termination for exercising his FAA- mandated authority to ensure safe flight operations and his refusal to operate the aircraft in a manner that was prohibited by FAA-approved aircraft procedures. The lawsuit stems from an incident in June, in which an ABX Air captain operating in Japan requested changes to a flight plan after identifying safety concerns. The captain was terminated last week following his refusal to sign a coerced statement that would have required him to acknowledge that his reasons for questioning the flight's safety were invalid and that he had unreasonably used his captain's authority. The pilot, who has more than 25 years of experience as a captain, would have completed his 28th year with ABX Air in November. He has no previous history of discipline at ABX Air. "The union stands by the captain and his flight crew involved in this incident," said Captain Daniel Wells, president of APA Teamsters Local 1224. "Under FAA regulations the captain of an aircraft has the final authority as to the safe operation of a flight. There is good reason and wisdom for this mandate. When operating a highly-complex, multi- million dollar machine in the dynamic real-world environment, a captain is required to make rapid decisions based on the regulations, his experience, procedures, and the immediate situation at hand to complete a flight safely. The safety of the aviation system is a testament to the ability and professionalism of the many airmen who operate our nation's aircraft and make these decisions every time they fly, many times against a management who would otherwise put economics before safety. To impede a captain's authority to evaluate or even question the safety of a flight undermines the safety protocols upon which the aviation system is built." The complaint filed last week argues that discharging a captain for reasonably exercising his authority has a "chilling effect" on a pilot's ability to make decisions concerning the safe operation of his aircraft. It is clear this is what ABX intended. To make sure this effect was felt by all its captains, ABX took the extraordinary step of publicly announcing this captain's firing, and why, to every flight crew member it employs, even before the pilot himself was officially notified. To a larger extent, that effect ripples throughout the industry impacting aviation safety at a national level. The Teamsters are seeking the reinstatement of the captain's employment, as well as future protections for similarly situated flight crews who are authorized to make judgment calls pertaining to a flight's safety, or lack thereof. "The Teamsters will use all of our resources to defend and preserve a captain's authority," Teamsters Airline Division Director David Bourne commented. "Within the aviation industry, the captain's authority is the keystone of safe and secure flight operations." The complaint was filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio Western Division by the Dayton, Ohio law firm Doll, Jansen, Ford & Rakay. As noted in the filing, the law governing air commerce assigns the highest priority to safety, and entrusts the pilot in command with the final authority and responsibility for ensuring safe operations. A combination of several variables in the operating environment led to safety concerns cited by the flight crew, including the assignment of an alternate airport not listed in the aircraft's onboard computer database requiring the flight crew to manually calculate an approach, a lack of preparation time, marginal weather, and an inoperable fuel quantity indicator. The union maintains that the captain acted responsibly with the information he had at hand. ABX Air's Flight Operations Manual, as approved by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), provides that in compliance with Federal Aviation Regulations (FARs) and company regulations, a captain is responsible for and is the final authority for the aircraft's operation. The Airline Professionals Association Teamsters Local 1224 is affiliated with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Airline Division. Local 1224 is the certified bargaining unit that represents all flight crew members employed by ABX Air. The local also represents the flight crew members of Atlas Air, Cape Air, Horizon Airways, Kalitta Air, Miami Air, Omni Air International, Silver Airways, Southern Air and USA 3000. SOURCE Airline Professionals Association Teamsters Union Local 1224 Back to Top Unruly flier enraged by neighbor's reading light An Alaska Airlines plane comes in for a landing as another taxis for takeoff at Seattle- Tacoma International Airport An Alaska Airlines passenger may face charges after police say he launched into an expletive-laced tirade against a fellow flier who declined to turn off her reading light. The incident happened early Saturday morning on an overnight Alaska Airlines flight from Honolulu to Bellingham, Wash. Washington State Patrol spokesman Keith Leary tells The Bellingham Herald the passenger - a 50-year-old man from Tacoma whom police did not identify - apparently became upset when a woman seated in front of him refused to turn off her overhead reading light. Police tell the Herald the man then went to talk to the flight attendants to demand that the woman's reading light be turned off. When the attendants told the man that the woman was entitled to keep the light on, he flew into a rage, Leary tells the Herald. Leary tells the Herald the man is accused of shouting expletives at both the woman and others on the plane. He also threatened to annoy the woman for the duration of the flight by hitting the back of her seat over and over again, according to Leary. Other than the threat of being a nuisance, however, Leary says the man apparently didn't make any other explicit threats against passengers or the flight. "(B)ut he did drop a few F-bombs," the Herald adds. The man, who was traveling with his adult son and daughter, was met at Bellingham International by five sheriff's deputies, according to the Herald. He was questioned and allowed to continue on to his home in Tacoma. "He's not a flight risk," Leary tells the Herald. Still, the man's troubles related from the in-flight tirade may not have passed. The Associated Press writes "federal authorities will decide whether he will face criminal charges for causing a disruption on the plane." According to Alaska Airlines' online flight schedules, its Honolulu-to-Bellingham flight leaves Honolulu at 11:40 p.m. local time and lands in Bellingham 8:30 a.m. ET. The Herald reports 86 passengers were on the flight that landed in Bellingham on Saturday (July 28). Alaska Airlines flies 157-seat Boeing 737-800 jets on the route. http://travel.usatoday.com/flights/post/2012/07/alaska-airlines-in-flight-tirade-reading- light/814616/1 Back to Top Packer jet's close encounter with Virgin (Australia) Details have emerged of a close shave between a corporate jet owned by James Packer's Crown Casino and a Virgin Australia passenger aircraft over the skies of Armidale, New South Wales, late last year. A report from air safety inspectors, released today, reveals that the Gulfstream IV, which is used to fly Asian high-rollers to Crown's Melbourne casino, and the Virgin 737-800 were flying towards each other on air routes which intersected about 35 nautical miles north-west of the city on October 8. An air traffic controller identified the situation but the instructions issued to the pilot of the Gulfstream meant that the corporate jet was cleared for descent below the level at which the 737 was flying. The progress towards what air inspectors term a "breakdown of separation" continued when the controller did not recognise the error during the Gulfstream pilot's read-back of the clearance, the report from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau states. A breakdown of separation occurred about 3pm when the planes got within 4.8 nautical miles (8.9 kilometres) of each other. The appropriate separation between planes is 5 nautical miles side by side, or 1000 feet vertically. Fortunately, an automatic alarm was activated seconds later, and the controller issued an alert to the Virgin pilots advising them that the Gulfstream was at 1 o'clock in their line of vision at 4 nautical miles. "The pilot of the 737 responded that the traffic was sighted and that a traffic alert and collision avoidance system ... traffic advisory alert ... had been received. This was reported to have assisted the pilot to visually sight the descending Gulfstream IV," the report states. "Subsequently the controller acted correctly to recover from the ensuing breakdown of separation." The ATSB's general manager of aviation safety investigation, Ian Sangston, said today that the report highlighted the various layers of defence in a complex air-safety system. "In a complex situation there are a number of layers of defence ... and where there is an inadvertent slip up on the part of the controller, other layers in the system catch the slip," he said. The report found no evidence the pilots of either aircraft were at fault. The Virgin jet was flying from Brisbane to Sydney, while the Gulfstream was operating a flight from Melbourne to the Gold Coast Airport at Coolangatta. The corporate jet is one of three Gulfstreams - two of which are V versions - the casino owns to fly high rollers to Melbourne from destinations throughout Asia. In a VIP configuration, Crown's corporate jets can seat about 10 people. Crown controls 80 per cent of the high-roller market in Australia. Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-incidents/packer-jets-close- encounter-with-virgin-20120731-23cax.html#ixzz22CUIw9el Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP, FRAeS, FISASI CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC