Flight Safety Information October 17, 2012 - No. 209 In This Issue Air Canada 777 diverts to help locate stranded Aussie yacht NTSB TO ASSIST GOVERNMENT OF TURKEY IN AVIATION ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION Federal charges filed against Ukranian man accused of damaging Delta aircraft Baggage Handler at NYC Airport Gets Life in Prison PROS IOSA Audit Experts Airbus Sees Surprise Win in Jet Deliveries Over Boeing Rolls-Royce may build jet-engine plant in Mexico Anti-Laser Eyewear to Protect Pilots FAA Approves Portable Oxygen Models On Aircraft Air Canada 777 diverts to help locate stranded Aussie yacht The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) tells AFP it asked a Sydney-bound Air Canada Boeing 777 to investigate an emergency beacon activation, which was detected about 270 nautical miles east of Sydney on Tuesday morning. The AMSA "wanted help confirming the GPS location," says Canada's CTV News. "The location of the beacon was within a flight path, so we needed to assess the situation and the Boeing 777 was the closest asset available to us," Jo Meehan of the AMSA tells the Australian Broadcasting Corp. about the decision to contact Air Canada Flight 033, which originated in Vancouver. AIR CANADA: 75th anniversary timeline and photos The flight diverted to the area of the beacon, with the crew and passengers looking out the plane's windows in an attempt to spot the yacht from about 6,000 feet. The CBC says "Air Canada tweeted that the crew borrowed binoculars from some passengers to spot the yacht." The AMSA then asked a second commercial airliner - this one an Air New Zealand flight - to provide confirmation. The Sydney Morning Herald reports an Air New Zealand Airbus A320 en route to Sydney from Auckland also diverted was able to back up the yacht's location. "AMSA thanks the captains and crews of the Air Canada and Air New Zealand aircraft for their assistance in the search and rescue operation, and their passengers for their patience," the AMSA says in a statement. As for the yacht, the Australian Broadcasting Corp. reports that a merchant vessel has moved to the vessel "and is protecting it from strong winds until a New South Wales Police boat can reach the man later tonight." The operator of the ailing yacht has communicated with authorities that his vessel has been "demasted" and is low on fuel, according to the Toronto Star. The Toronto Sun writes "the AMSA believed the man, travelling solo, left Sydney two weeks ago and had been drifting away from shore for several days." "The conditions aren't favorable but he's doing OK and he just needs some help," an AMSA spokeswoman tells the Australian Associated Press (AAP). Authorities say they'll determine whether the man must abandon ship once they arrive. On the subject of enlisting the help of commercial airlines in rescue operations, an AMSA spokeswoman tells the AAP it is a bit unusual. "It's not common, but that's not because we try to avoid doing it," she says to the AAP. "It's because the nature of the incidents that we have aren't necessarily so remote that we can only rely on the commercial airlines." http://www.usatoday.com/story/todayinthesky/2012/10/16/air-canada-new-zealand- yacht-rescue/1636511/ Back to Top NTSB TO ASSIST GOVERNMENT OF TURKEY IN AVIATION ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION WASHINGTON - The NTSB has dispatched a team of investigators to assist the government of Turkey in the investigation of an Oct. 14 fire in the cockpit of a Corendon Airlines Boeing 737-800. The fire occurred Sunday at 4 a.m. local time as the airplane was being pushed back from the gate in Antalya, Turkey, for a scheduled flight to Trondheim, Norway. The aircraft was evacuated, and there were reports of injuries among the 189 passengers and seven crew members. As the U.S. is the state of design and manufacture of the Boeing 737, the NTSB has designated Senior Air Safety Investigator Tim LeBaron as the traveling U.S. accredited representative. LeBaron is leading a team of investigators (specializing in aircraft systems, fire and survival factors) and advisers from the Federal Aviation Administration and Boeing, who are traveling to the scene to assist with the investigation. The investigation is being conducted by the Turkish Directorate General of Civil Aviation, which will release all information. www.ntsb.gov Back to Top Federal charges filed against Ukranian man accused of damaging Delta aircraft A federal lawsuit was filed against a Ukrainian man Tuesday after an FBI investigation indicated he damaged an aircraft upon landing at Salt Lake City International Airport. SALT LAKE CITY - Federal charges were filed against a Ukrainian man Tuesday after an FBI investigation indicated he damaged an aircraft upon landing at Salt Lake City International Airport. Anatoliy Baranovich was traveling from Boston to Salt Lake City on a Delta Flight # 1215 on Monday when the incident occurred, according to a complaint filed in Utah's U.S. District Court. As the plane began its descent into Salt Lake City, Baranovich awoke from either being asleep or passed out and began shouting in Russian, court documents state. Baranovich told investigators via an interpreter that he believed the aircraft's wing was on fire. He also indicated he had been drinking for 50 straight days while visiting family in Ukraine and "never sobered up" because he was upset about not being able to begin construction on a house he was planning, according to the complaint. After the aircraft touched down about 10:30 p.m., Baranovich ran to the galley at the back of the plane and attempted to open the emergency exit door, ignoring flight attendants' instructions to stop, the complaint indicates. Baranovich's efforts jammed the door, malfunctioned the emergency inflatable slide and extensively damaged the fuselage, the complaint alleges. Flight attendants asked passengers to help restrain Baranovich, and a former police officer on board managed to put the distressed man in a wrist lock and force him to the ground, according to court documents. Once it had been determined there was no terrorist threat, the plane taxied to the nearest gate, and law enforcement and medical assistants were brought in. Baranovich told federal agents he had traveled from Kiev, Ukraine, to Amsterdam, Netherlands, before catching the flight from Boston. He planned to travel from Salt Lake City to his final destination in Portland, Ore., according to the document. He was carrying his Ukrainian passport and U.S. visa. Baranovich is charged with damaging and disabling an aircraft and interference with a flight crew. He likely will make his initial appearance in U.S. District Court on Wednesday. http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865564628/Federal-complaint-filed-against- Ukranian-man-accused-of-damaging-Delta-aircraft.html Back to Top Baggage Handler at NYC Airport Gets Life in Prison (AP) The testimony at a federal drug trafficking trial was chilling: Jurors heard how bribed baggage handlers at John F. Kennedy International Airport concealed cocaine on commercial jets inside sensitive wing assembly compartments. Saying the tactic risked the lives of passengers, a federal judge sentenced the convicted leader of the drug ring on Tuesday to life in prison. Former American Airlines baggage handler Victor Bourne was found guilty last year of charges he used his behind-the-scenes access at New York City's busiest airport to orchestrate the smuggling of more than 330 pounds of cocaine from 2000 to 2009. "You personally exacerbated one of the nation's greatest blights," U.S. District Judge Nicholas Garaufis said at the sentencing in federal court in Brooklyn. An unrepentant Bourne insisted investigators used "false evidence" to frame him. "How can I accept responsibility for something that I don't have nothing to do with?" the 37-year-old native of Barbados asked. The sentencing capped a federal investigation that has resulted in the convictions of 20 people - 19 of them airlines employees - the seizure of large amounts of cocaine and the forfeiture of $6.9 million. As leader of the crew, Bourne made millions of dollars that he laundered through business ventures in Brooklyn and Barbados, authorities said. Bourne "turned American Airlines into his personal narcotics shuttle service, running a criminal organization that ignored passenger safety and security in pursuit of a greater goal - enriching Victor Bourne," U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch said in a statement. Prosecutors built much of their case against Bourne based on the testimony of six former employees of Fort Worth, Texas-based American Airlines who pleaded guilty to narcotics trafficking. The jury heard evidence that Bourne bribed crew chiefs to assign his gang of corrupt baggage handlers to flights from the Caribbean. The cooperators testified he also paid them tens of thousands of dollars each to "pull drugs" hidden in the planes - and to keep quiet about it. One witness described one instance when Bourne carried two duffel bags into a cargo hold so he could retrieve drugs off an American Airlines jet arriving from Barbados. After removing a panel covering the wing assembly - containing "some of the plane's avionics and other vital equipment" - Bourne "proceeded to remove conservatively over 60 bricks of cocaine," prosecutors said in court papers. Another witness testified that Bourne accused him of stealing cocaine and warned he would "kill me, my family and kids" if it wasn't returned. Back to Top Back to Top Airbus Sees Surprise Win in Jet Deliveries Over Boeing Airbus SAS said it may surpass Boeing Co. (BA), its only rival, in jetliner deliveries for the 10th straight year even though the U.S. planemaker is ahead through the third quarter and has a higher full-year forecast. "Regarding deliveries, I think we are still ahead of Boeing," Airbus Chief Executive Officer Fabrice Bregier said in an interview yesterday with Pimm Fox on Bloomberg Television's "Taking Stock" in New York. In the year through Sept. 30, Chicago-based Boeing had handed over 436 aircraft to customers, compared with 405 by Toulouse, France-based Airbus. Boeing has been forecasting 585 to 600 deliveries for the full year, against the target Airbus has given for 570. Airbus, the civil aircraft unit of European Aeronautic, Defence & Space Co. (EAD), overtook Boeing in 2003 and has held the top spot for annual deliveries since then. "We might just beat Boeing" for 2012 deliveries, Mary Anne Greczyn, a spokeswoman for Airbus in Washington, said in an e-mail. "We're looking good so far." A spokesman for Boeing wasn't immediately available for comment after business hours yesterday. Both planemakers, whose duopoly is set to be challenged by new competitors in Canada and China, are building jets at record rates and boosting production even higher to meet demand for more fuel-efficient aircraft. Deliveries are key as that's when airlines make the final payments, which are usually a large chunk of the purchase price. Order Forecasts While Boeing had about a 2-to-1 lead in orders through the third quarter, Airbus expects to be ahead in the two years through 2012, Bregier said. That period encompasses when both companies began offering a revamped version of their single- aisle jets, the most widely flown planes. Airbus expects to have sold about 2,000 planes in 2011 and 2012 combined, Bregier said. The company began offering its single-aisle A320neo in December 2010. It won total orders for 1,419 of all its planes last year and had sold 437 through September this year, stripping out cancellations. Boeing, which doesn't give order forecasts, began offering its 737 Max late last year. It had net orders for 805 jets in 2011 and for 879 through Oct. 2 this year. "We will still lead this market," Bregier said. http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-10-16/airbus-sees-surprise-win-in-jet- deliveries-over-boeing Back to Top Rolls-Royce may build jet-engine plant in Mexico MEXICO CITY--Rolls-Royce PLC is looking to manufacture airplane engines in the northern Mexican state of Sonora, the head of a British trade mission to Mexico said Tuesday. "As Mexican manufacturing develops critical mass, more of these companies will come to get in the supply chain," David Wootton, Lord Mayor of the City of London, told reporters. Rolls-Royce officials were not immediately available for comment. Having attracted automotive manufacturers from around the globe, Mexico has since begun courting the aerospace industry. Justin McKenzie, head of trade and investment at the British Embassy in Mexico City, added that U.K.-based oil and gas firms are also very interested in investing in Mexico, although those prospects hinge largely on the success of the Mexican government's efforts to allow for greater private investment in the energy sector. http://www.marketwatch.com/story/rolls-royce-may-build-jet-engine-plant-in-mexico- 2012-10-16?link=MW_latest_news Back to Top Anti-Laser Eyewear to Protect Pilots There are already special "anti-laser" glasses and goggles out there, but the problem is that they can only filter out one wavelength of light. That poses a major hazard for pilots, since they can be hit with all kinds of lasers. And so, the Ministry of Defense (MoD) in the UK is developing some new anti-laser eyewear that is able to filter out a wider range of laser wavelengths. We've all been told that it's dangerous to shine a laser pointer straight into someone's eye, but that's just with the laser pointers you can pick up at your local dollar store. Now, imagine far more powerful laser dazzler weapons-using multiple wavelengths-that boast enough energy to pop a balloon. This can cause pilots not only to get distracted or temporarily blinded, but they could even suffer from more permanent eye damage. In fact, the US FAA says that there are over 2,000 incidents each year where pilots have lasers pointed at their planes. Protecting pilots against one wavelength at a time just isn't good enough, so the UK MoD turned to Thin Film Solution, based out of Glasgow. The resulting prototype has a composite structure where the polycarbonate layer has a special light-absorbing dye. When bonded with the glass lens, the wavelengths can then either be filtered out or reflected out, helping those pilots retain their optimal vision. They're still working on it, but I can see how these laser-filtering goggles can become standard issue for at least all military operations. http://www.mobilemag.com/2012/10/15/new-eyewear-filters-out-wide-range-of-laser- wavelengths/ Back to Top FAA Approves Portable Oxygen Models On Aircraft FAA said it has approved seven additional portable oxygen concentrator models for use aboard airplanes, bringing the total number of approved units to 21. Portable oxygen concentrators are small, portable devices that separate oxygen from nitrogen and other gases in the air and provide oxygen to users at greater than 90 percent concentration. They do not use compressed or liquid oxygen, which the government classifies as hazardous. The agency said it is pursuing performance-based standards that will apply to all oxygen concentrator manufacturers and models. http://www.aviationnews.net/?do=headline&news_ID=211107 Curt Lewis