Flight Safety Information December 6, 2012 - No. 244 In This Issue S African military plane crash kills 11 N.Y.-bound flight returns to GSP after smoke report Calgary helicopter pilot found inside wreckage Indonesia's Sky Aviation Readies To Receive First Sukhoi Superjet US airlines launch drive for national airline policy TSA screener accused of stealing iPads from passengers' bags at JFK Airport Illinois state senator busted for taking loaded pistol through O'Hare security checkpoint PROS IOSA Audit Experts British Airways' Jet Biofuel Plant Will Open in 2015 Chinese daily says its jet superior to Russian fighter FedEx delivers donated jet to NFTA to train airport firefighters Meet Chuck Yeager, an American legend Hong Kong Airlines May Scrap Airbus Orders NTSB asks Coast Guard to raise drug-test standards Scott Kelly prepared for yearlong space station flight S African military plane crash kills 11: reports Johannesburg, December 06, 2012 (AFP) - A military plane has crashed in South Africa's mountainous east, killing 11 people, several media said on Thursday, with one unconfirmed report saying the victims were members of Nelson Mandela's medical team. The Dakota air force plane, which crashed late on Wednesday, was transporting medics making a routine visit to the 94-year-old anti-apartheid icon at his rural hometown, according to the EWT news agency. An army spokesman could not confirm or deny the report. "I was informed that the carcass (of the plane) has been found," said Xolani Mabanga. "I will give more information later, when I receive information from the team on the ground." The plane had reportedly left Pretoria for Mthatha, a small airport in the Eastern Cape province that is the closest to Mandela's rural homestead of Qunu, where he has lived since retiring from public life. Rescue helicopters were dispatched to the mountainous region after the plane was reported missing, but had to be called back because of bad weather, reports said. Ground rescue teams were also sent to the area. ************* Status: Preliminary Date: 05 DEC 2012 Type: Douglas C-47TP Operator: South African Air Force - SAAF Crew: Fatalities: 6 / Occupants: 6 Passengers: Fatalities: 5 / Occupants: 5 Total: Fatalities: 11 / Occupants: 11 Airplane damage: Destroyed Airplane fate: Written off (damaged beyond repair) Location: Drakensburg mountains area (South Africa) Phase: En route (ENR) Nature: Military Departure airport: Waterkloof AB () (FAWK), South Africa Destination airport: Mthatha Airport (UTT) (UTT/FAUT), South Africa Narrative: A Douglas C-47TP turbine crashed in the Drakensberg area while en route from Waterkloof Air Base to Mthatha Airport (UTT). All eleven on board were killed. The airplane, belonging to the South African Air Force's 35 Squadron encountered severe weather conditions. Unconfirmed reports state that the aircraft last communicated with Air Traffic Control when above Giants Castle in the Drakensburg mountains, stating that they were at 11,000 feet and flying in Instrument Meteorological Conditions due to the bad visibility. The aircraft never arrived at Mthatha Airport. An Oryx helicopter was tasked to search for the missing aircraft, but had to abandon the search due to the very bad weather in the area. The wreckage of the airplane was found the next day. www.aviation-safety.net Back to Top N.Y.-bound flight returns to GSP after smoke report The crew of a Delta Air Lines commuter flight used "an abundance of caution" Wednesday when it declared an emergency and landed safely at Greenville-Spartanburg International after a report of a smoky odor in the cabin, airline officials said. Flight 6102 with 47 passengers departed GSP for New York's LaGuardia Airport and shortly after takeoff, during its initial climb, the flight crew received an instrument indication of smoke in the lavatory, airline officials said. While no smoke was visible in the cockpit, cabin or lavatory, crew members reported a smoky odor, declared an emergency and returned safely to GSP, according to airline and airport officials. The flight, a 50-seat Embraer EMB145 regional jet, was operated by Chautauqua Airlines, doing business as the Delta Connection. "The flight crew, exercising an abundance of caution, adhered to their training, declared an emergency and safely returned to the airport," said Peter Kowalchuk, a spokesman for Republic Airways Holdings Inc., an airline holding company that owns Chautauqua Airlines. The aircraft was removed from service for a maintenance check and passengers were transferred to other flights, Kowalchuk said. GSP spokeswoman Rosylin Weston said the aircraft landed at 8 a.m. There were no injuries. Flight 6102 was scheduled to leave GSP at 7:30 a.m. and arrive in New York at 9:45 a.m., according to Delta Air Lines' flight information. The flight was canceled, the information showed. http://www.greenvilleonline.com/article/20121205/NEWS/312050054/N-Y-bound-flight-returns-to- GSP-after-smoke-report?odyssey=tab%7Cmostpopular%7Ctext%7CNEWS Back to Top Calgary helicopter pilot found inside wreckage RCMP say the helicopter crashed 12 kilometres southwest of Slave Lake, Alta. A 38-year old Calgary helicopter pilot is dead after a crash southwest of Slave Lake, Alta. Wednesday afternoon. Around 12:30 p.m. RCMP in Slave Lake were notified of an emergency beacon activated by a helicopter in the Slave Lake area. The Canadian Forces Base in Trenton and Cold Lake responded along two helicopter companies from the Slave Lake area with the RCMP. The downed helicopter was located in heavily bushed hillside area approximately 12 kilometers southwest of the Town of Slave Lake. Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development cut a landing pad into the hillside and rescuers walked in to the wreckage. The Calgary helicopter pilot was determined to be the lone occupant of the helicopter. He was located deceased in the wreckage, according to RCMP, who are not releasing the name of the pilot at this time. Police say the cause of the crash is still under investigation. The helicopter was determined to have flown from Peace River, Alta. heading to the Calgary area. The RCMP in Slave Lake say they are grateful for the assistance provided by Sloan Helicopters, Highland Helicopters, Canadian Forces Search and Rescue, which were instrumental in locating the helicopter. http://beaconnews.ca/blog/2012/12/calgary-helicopter-pilot-dead-after-crash-near-slave-lake- wednesday/ Back to Top Indonesia's Sky Aviation Readies To Receive First Sukhoi Superjet Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Company (SCAC) is poised to deliver Sky Aviation's first Sukhoi Superjet by the end of December. Sky Aviation, a privately-owned Indonesian carrier that will be the first to operate the aircraft in the Asia Pacific region, is conducting pre-delivery inspection of the aircraft in Ulyanovsk, Russia prior to delivery before the end of this month, SCAC says in a statement. The Aviastar aircraft manufacturing plant, which is responsible for interior fit-outs for Superjets, is located in Ulyanovsk. The aircraft's interior installation and painting of the livery was completed in late November, but the "finalization of all the formalities" needs to occur before final delivery can take place, says SCAC. Sky Aviation's owner and chairman, Yusof Ardhi, tells Aviation Week a delivery date has yet to be set, although he notes that flight crew have completed type rating training for the Superjet. SCAC says eight Sky Aviation pilots have completed the type rating training. The company also says 18 Sky Aviation cabin attendants will complete training by the end of this month while 12 Sky Aviation mechanics are scheduled to finish their courses in January. The Indonesian General Directorate of Civil Aviation last month validated the Superjet's Russian type certificate. Sky Aviation has 12 Superjet 100s on order. http://www.aviationweek.com/Article.aspx?id=/article-xml/avd_12_06_2012_p04-01-524639.xml Back to Top US airlines launch drive for national airline policy The city of Newark is seen from a United Airlines commuter jet as it takes off from Liberty International Airport in Newark, New Jersey, November 14, 2012. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. airline company executives, complaining that their industry is over- taxed and over-regulated, on Wednesday called for a national airline policy to help them shore up profits and jobs. "Right now, we are subject to what is really a hodgepodge of ill-thought-out regulations and taxes," said Nick Calio, president of Airlines for America, flanked by top executives from US Airways (LCC.N), Southwest (LUV.N) and other carriers. U.S. airlines also suffer from an outdated air traffic control system, volatile energy prices and increased competition from foreign carriers for international routes that help pay for less profitable domestic routes, Calio said. The U.S. industry lost $55 billion from 2000 to 2010 and shed 150,000 jobs, or one-third of its workforce, according to an Airlines for America fact sheet. The airline executives launched their campaign for a national airline policy at an event on Tuesday evening with lawmakers, and also met with Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood on Wednesday to discuss their concerns. Calio said that $61 of a $300 round-trip domestic ticket, or about 20 percent, goes to pay 17 different taxes. "The people who are flying think we are getting that money ourselves, and we're not," Calio said. At the same time, the industry has boosted revenues by employing computer programs that tweak pricing instantaneously, added fees for checked bags, on-board food and more spacious seating, and reduced the number of empty seats by trimming flights. The industry plan includes repealing the commercial jet-fuel tax, reforming costly airline regulations, modernizing air traffic infrastructure, curbing speculation in the oil futures market and investing in research and development. It also proposes a number of reforms to make U.S. airlines more competitive globally, such as limiting U.S. Export-Import Bank financing for foreign carriers, reforming U.S. visa policies to reduce processing times and pushing other countries to end certain discriminatory practices. Calio said that after recent talks with lawmakers, he was optimistic that legislation to create a national airlines policy would be introduced in Congress. But he declined to say who would offer the bill or when. Back to Top TSA screener accused of stealing iPads from passengers' bags at JFK Airport NEW YORK -- A Transportation Security Administration screener was arrested on charges he swiped iPads and other electronic devices from passengers' luggage at New York's John F. Kennedy Airport, authorities said. Port Authority spokesman Steven Coleman said Wednesday that 32-year-old Sean Henry, of Brooklyn, was nabbed in a sting operation using decoy bags in cooperation with the TSA. Coleman said Henry was arrested after leaving work carrying in his backpack two planted iPads and other electronic devices. Coleman said stolen items were also found in Henry's home. The 10-year veteran of the federal agency was arrested on charges of grand larceny and official misconduct. http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/06/15722725-tsa-screener-accused-of-stealing-ipads- from-passengers-bags-at-jfk-airport?lite Back to Top Illinois state senator busted for taking loaded pistol through O'Hare security checkpoint Last week, Illinois state Sen. Donne Trotter added a congressional candidacy to his resume. On Wednesday, he added a felony charge of attempting to board an aircraft with a weapon. Sentencing guidelines for the single criminal count call for between one and three years in prison. Trotter's official biography on the website of the Illinois Department of Public Health describes him as "an advocate of gun control." Police say Trotter tried to get a loaded .25 caliber handgun through a security checkpoint at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport around 7:00 Wednesday morning. The weapon was in his carry-on bag and loaded with seven rounds, a TSA spokesman told WBBM-TV2, Chicago's CBS affiliate. There wasn't a round in the gun's chamber. The TV station reported that Trotter had a valid ID card required of firearm owners in Illinois, but it was not clear if the pistol itself was registered with the city of Chicago - a step required by law. The state senator announced on Nov. 26 that he would contend for the Democratic nomination to succeed former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. in Congress. Jackson resigned in disgrace amid allegations that he misused campaign funds. But instead of promoting his candidacy, Trotter remained in custody Wednesday evening. He is expected to attend a bond hearing Thursday. He reportedly told police that he moonlights at a security firm and forgot to take the gun out of his garment bag before going to the airport. Trotter was attempting to board a flight to Washington, D.C. http://dailycaller.com/2012/12/06/illinois-state-senator-busted-for-taking-loaded-pistol-through- ohare-security-checkpoint/ Back to Top Back to Top British Airways' Jet Biofuel Plant Will Open in 2015 British Airways and Solena will soon launch a $500m biofuel plant Yesterday British Airways (BA) announced that it has found a site for a bio-refinery that will generate up to 50,000 tons of jet fuel annually. In a partnership with the American aviation biofuel company Solena Fuels, BA will invest approximately $500 million in the plant, which will eventually provide the airline a steady source of jet fuel for a minimum of 10 years. The GreenSky Project, which will soon break ground and become fully operational in 2015, will allow Solena to product up to 16 million gallons of jet fuel and 40 megawatts of power. The project would also score huge achievements on the waste diversion front: 500,000 tons of waste would become diverted from landfills annually and instead become a feedstock for BA's new stream of jet fuel. Solena will produce the jet fuel using the company's proprietary integrated biomass gasification to liquid process (IBGTL). Solena's gasifiers will churn municipal waste, along with agricultural and wood waste, into jet, diesel, naptha and MGO fuels via a series of Fischer-Tropsch chemical reactions that in the end will create a greener alternative to conventional hydrocarbons. The strength of Solena's process is that its gasification process can incorporate various forms of feedstock into a cleaner source of jet fuel. According to Forbes, the Solena-BA venture will be enough to power all flights out of London's City Airport. Solena and BA claim that the bio-refinery project will create 1,000 temporary construction positions and 150 jobs within the facility upon completion. The U.S. engineering and construction firm Fluor will serve as the project engineer. With its massive investment, BA has joined other airlines that have become keen on biofuels as conventional fossil fuels continue to rock the aviation industry. United, its pre-merger competitor Continental, Alaska, the U.S. Navy and KLM are among the organizations that have tested biofuels for their fleets of airplanes. The ability to scale and find reliable sources of feedstock are among the challenges airlines face in incorporating biofuels; in fact, once the GreenSkyProject is at full capacity, it will only provide two percent of BA's fuel needs. But as aviation companies grapple with high jet fuel prices, the search for alternatives to petroleum will keep them focused on alternative sources of energy in order for them to remain competitive. http://www.triplepundit.com/2012/12/british-airways-jet-biofuel-plant-will-open-2015/ Back to Top British Airways and Solena will soon launch a $500m biofuel plant Chinese daily says its jet superior to Russian fighter On Nov 25, China's carrier-borne J-15 fighter jet successfully underwent a series of tests on the Liaoning, China's first aircraft carrier. People's Daily said the J-15 is equipped with two high-power engines and a brand-new system of high lift device, takeoff and landing device and arrester hook. Its wing can be folded up to both maintain the excellent combat capability and meet the special requirement of landing on the Liaoning. Featuring large combat radius, excellent maneuvering performance and high bombs carrying capacity, the J-15 has a fighting capability of full sea and full airspace. The Russian media guessed that the J-15 is a copy of Russian Su-33 carrier-borne fighter jet because its appearance is similar to Su-33. Geng Yansheng, spokesman of the Ministry of National Defense of China, was quoted as saying that many weapons have the same design principle and some command and protection methods are also similar. "Therefore, it at least is non-professional to conclude that China copied the aircraft carrier technology of other countries only by simply comparison." The state-run daily then cited areas in which it says the Chinese fighter is ahead of the Russian jet. First, J-15 has an avionics more advanced than Su-33. Su-33 is equipped with old-fashioned ARINC429 discrete avionics system of one-way low-speed data bus, while J-15 adopts joint avionics system of bidirectional data bus. TS-100, the Su-33's fire-control computer, has a computing speed of only 170,000 times per second, while the J-15's fire-control computer has an estimated computing speed of over several million times per second, said the media report. The J-15 owns a much more advanced radar system than the Su-33. Due to its backward avionics system, the Su-33 can only serve as interceptors, and is incapable of air-to-ground precision strike. The J-15 adopts improved materials and production techniques, and thus has greater strength and lighter weight. Finally, the J-15 is powered by Taihang (WS-10) turbofan engine, which is more powerful than the Su- 33's engine. "Overall, the J-15 is superior to the Su-33, and is comparable to world-class carrier-based aircraft such as the United States' F-18 and France's Rafale," the daily concluded. http://www.business-standard.com/generalnews/ians/news/chinese-daily-says-its-jet-superior-to- russian-fighter/89145/ Back to Top FedEx delivers donated jet to NFTA to train airport firefighters Retired jet to help train airport firefighters Capt. Grant Story taxied Federal Express jet N268FE toward the cargo terminal at Buffalo Niagara International Airport at 10:08 a.m. Wednesday - not unlike the plane's previous 39,448 landings. But when Story powered down the plane's engines just a few minutes later, it marked the end of the 33-year-old aircraft's journeys around the world and the beginning of a new career in Buffalo. N268FE, with the nickname Ginger emblazoned under its cockpit window, has dodged the scrap heap and been donated by Federal Express to the airport firefighting forces as a major addition to its training capacities. After the Boeing 727 tipped its wings in one final low pass over the assembled crowd, and as fire truck water cannons greeted the newest piece of air/rescue/firefighting equipment to the airport, the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority celebrated the arrival of its own 727 to train its firefighters and those of fire departments throughout the region. "FedEx sure knows how to deliver," said Kimberley A. Minkel, NFTA executive director, during morning ceremonies. "Our fire department has long wanted a real plane so our fire drills could be more realistic and true." "So please know we will put this aircraft to good use," she added, "and help our firefighters and police save lives going forward." The FedEx donation stems from a program dating to 1995, when the world's biggest air cargo carrier began retiring its fleet of aging 727s. The first went to the Federal Aviation Administration's research facility in Atlantic City, N.J., and the next to the Children's Museum of Memphis, Tenn., where Federal Express is headquartered. The arrival of N268FE at Buffalo Niagara International marks the 59th plane the carrier has donated, with many serving the same airport training functions planned by the NFTA's firefighting personnel. Airport firefighters, other professionals and volunteers from throughout the area are expected to train on the plane several days a week, practicing through synthetic smoke or puncturing holes in the roof to master ventilation techniques. FBI agents, counterterrorism agencies and even bomb-sniffing K-9 dogs also plan to regularly drill on board. "It's going to be great," said airport Fire Chief Chris Putney. What wouldn't we use this for? Putney explained that the plane was acquired through the efforts of Firefighter Brian Powers, who began researching how the department might acquire a practice aircraft back in March. When authority officials ruled out the almost $10 million price tag on some available aircraft for sale, Powers discovered the FedEx program by trolling through the Internet. "Brian comes to my office and says: 'Chief, we've got all these training videos but nothing we can touch. How much money do we have? Putney said. We don't have any, I told him. Next thing I know he's come up with a plane. Powers said that after a Google search produced the needed information, it took two weeks for FedEx to agree to make the donation. FedEx officials said they remain enthusiastic about returning airplanes to the cities they have served. "So whether it's an important package, or in this case an aircraft, we delivered to a community that we call home," said David P. Sutton, managing director of FedEx aircraft acquisition and sales. "It is my hope - it is the hope of FedEx - that this aircraft provides the critical hands-on training that is essential to the skill set of the next generation of emergency responders." N268FE, which flew 14 years for Air Canada before logging another 19 for FedEx, is expected to reside near the Fire Department headquarters at the airport for many years to come. Its FedEx logos will be removed, as will the engines and some instrumentation, but it will still be able to function to some extent under auxiliary power. http://www.buffalonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20121205/CITYANDREGION/121209526/1003 Back to Top Meet Chuck Yeager, an American legend Here's how the iconic test pilot got "the right stuff." * Shot down during WWII, he was hidden by the French resistance * First broke the sound barrier in 1947 * Set other supersonic marks throughout his career Feb. 13, 1923: Born in Hamlin, W. Va. 1944. World War II hero and ace: Shot down over France and protected by the French resistance, Yeager escapes over the Pyrenees Mountains to Spain and eventually makes it back to his base in England. Though required to return to the U.S., the newly minted P-51 Mustang pilot refuses and appeals successfully to then-Gen. Dwight Eisenhower for a return to combat activities. He fast becomes an air ace famed for shooting down five German planes in one day. 1947. A historic first: On Oct 14, Yeager takes the experimental Bell X-1 up to Mach 1, the first time a human and machine have surpassed the speed of sound (around 700 mph), shattering the myth that the barrier was in fact a sonic wall that would destroy any object on impact. 1953. A new record while cheating death again: Looking to break an existing Mach 2 record, Yeager pilots the X-1A to Mach 2.4 - around 1,800 mph - then suddenly loses the aircraft in a vicious spin. His helmet cracks the canopy as he struggles to regain control, eventually landing the plane after falling 51,000 feet in less than a minute. 1963. Touching the edge of space: Still pushing the envelope of manned flight, Yeager flies a Lockheed F-104 Starfighter to 104,000 feet, only to see the engine fail and the plane spin 14 times, causing him to eject. The seat's explosives burn his hands and face badly, leading to painful scar therapy. 1983. The Right Stuff: After a stellar combat and test pilot career that brings him countless military laurels and the rank of Brigadier General in 1975, Yeager retires from active duty and spends time hunting, fishing and consulting to aircraft manufacturers. Then director Philip Kaufman decides to adapt Tom Wolfe's The Right Stuff for the screen, with Sam Shepard starring as the General. Yeager consults on the film, does some of the stunt flying and has a cameo as a grizzled bartender at the Mojave Desert saloon frequented by the country's top test pilots. Yeager's name recognition soars, leading to TV ads for AC Delco batteries. Oct. 14, 2012. Revisiting the sound barrier: On the same day that Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner is busy breaking the speed of sound while plummeting from 128,000 feet in a spacesuit, Yeager hops in an Air Force F-15D jet and, at age 89, repeats the feat that 65 years earlier to the day made him an aviation legend. http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/tv/2012/12/05/about-pilot-chuck-yeager/1729913/ Back to Top Hong Kong Airlines May Scrap Airbus Orders HONG KONG (WSJ) -Regional carrier Hong Kong Airlines Ltd. may scrap all of its orders for Airbus A380 superjumbo jets as part of its effort to focus on short-haul routes. The carrier has already scaled back an initial order for 10 A380s to "not more than five," and is in talks with Airbus about either dropping the remaining orders or switching to another type of aircraft, Hong Kong Airlines President Yang Jianhong told Dow Jones Newswires on Thursday. The carrier could opt for smaller A330 or A350 widebody aircraft instead, and the discussions "could leave us without a single A380 on order," he added. Airbus, a unit of European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co., said Thursday it doesn't comment on commercial discussions with customers. Hong Kong Airlines has been seeking to break the dominance of bigger rival Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. in the Hong Kong market, but intensifying competition and high fuel costs have forced it to stop operating long-haul flights and focus mainly on regional flights to China and other parts of Asia. The carrier operates more than 20 Boeing and Airbus jets and serves short-haul routes between Hong Kong and other leisure destinations in Asia, including Thailand's Phuket, China's Sanya and Japan's Osaka. Hong Kong Airlines is backed by China's HNA Group Co., which also controls China's fourth-largest carrier, Hainan Airlines Co. The airline's discussions with Airbus come as other Chinese carriers have recently begun placing new orders with the European company. An earlier dispute between the European Union and China over the EU's plans to impose carbon taxes on airlines flying to or through the euro zone had led to a lull in aircraft orders from Chinese carriers. The EU in mid-November said it would delay implementation of the tax for a year. In recent weeks, Airbus has sealed 70 aircraft orders from China Eastern Airlines Corp. and China Southern Airlines Co. valued at US$7.27 billion at list prices. Back to Top NTSB asks Coast Guard to raise drug-test standards The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has recommended that the U.S. Coast Guard increase its postaccident drug- and alcohol-testing standards to the level of those required of merchant mariners. Currently, the Coast Guard requires that merchant mariners be tested within specified time periods following a marine accident or serious incident. But Coast Guard military and civilian personnel involved in similar events are subject to lower, less stringent standards. The NTSB cited five accident investigations between 2007 and 2011 in which the Coast Guard failed to adequately test its military and civilian personnel who were in safety-sensitive positions. While there was no indication that drugs or alcohol played a role in the accidents, the board considers postaccident testing important because individuals under the influence can contribute to an accident. http://safety.blr.com/workplace-safety-news/employee-health/alcohol-and-drugs-testing/NTSB-asks- Coast-Guard-to-raise-drug-test-standards/ Back to Top Scott Kelly prepared for yearlong space station flight When astronaut Scott Kelly told his nine-year-old daughter he was going to spend a full year aboard the International Space Station, she exclaimed "awesome!" When cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko told his wife the same thing, "she started crying." Kelly in the station's cupola on his previous Expedition. Credit: NASA But both men said Wednesday they were looking forward to blasting off in March 2015 and spending a full year in orbit, serving as medical guinea pigs to help scientists learn more about the long-term physical and psychological impacts of extended, confined flights in the weightless environment of space. "I personally think our ultimate destination, at least for a long time in our planet's future, is getting to Mars," Kelly told CBS News. "And I look at this as a step towards that." Alexey Krasnov, director of manned space operations for Roscosmos, the Russian federal space agency, agreed, saying through a translator "I hope this one-year duration expedition will help us achieve these tasks." A flight to Mars, possibly in the 2030s, is expected to take seven to 10 months, followed by a lengthy stay in the reduced gravity of the red planet and then an equally long trip back to Earth. Space station astronauts and cosmonauts typically spend up to six months aboard the international lab complex and researchers are eager to find out how the adaptation process might change -- and what might need to be done about it -- for longer-duration missions. The spaceflight duration record holder is cosmonaut Valery Polyakov, who spent 438 days aboard the Russian Mir space station in 1994 and 1995. The U.S. record for the longest single spaceflight is held by astronaut Michael Lopez-Alegria, who spent 215 days in space aboard the International Space Station in 2006-07. But the upcoming flight with Kelly and Kornienko will set a new record for NASA and it will be the first to employ the full range of modern medical protocols and research procedures over a 12-month period. Igor Ushakov, a senior medical researcher with the Russian space program, said astronauts and cosmonauts already run a 7 percent risk of having a problem that requires medical care after a six- month flight. "So the risk will double, so for at least one of the two it will be 14 percent for the yearlong expedition," he said. "I would like to knock on wood that it won't happen, the worst scenario. But the risk is increased, that's for sure." Even so, he reassured reporters, "the cosmonauts who were in space for a year or more, they all are alive and well today." "There's a legend among cosmonauts," he said through a translator. "When one of the cosmonauts was asked how he was feeling, he showed his thumb. And when they asked what do you want, he said 'I want to have a smoke and to kiss my wife.' So you can tell by this answer that the guy who came from a long-duration flight is in a good mood!" Kelly said was up to the challenge, but he acknowledged it won't be easy. "My greatest concern is just missing the people, your loved ones, your family, your friends on a personal level that you're attached to on the ground," he said. Another issue: the sheer routine of life in a confined space. "You know, in the morning you wake up, you're at work. When you go to sleep, you're also at work," Kelly said. "Imagine being in your office for a whole year and you never get to leave. That is a challenge, it presents its own set of issues, but I think I'm up for it and I look forward to it." Kornienko on the station during his previous Expedition. Credit: NASA Like all space station crews, Kelly and Kornienko will enjoy regular video chats with friends and family. They will be able to send and receive email and make phone calls via the internet when the station is within range of a NASA communications satellite. The station boasts an extensive video collection and books, along with a variety of musical instruments and players. But Kelly said mission "fatigue" may set in at some point "I think in a lot of ways it'll be similar to those challenges that people do that are kind of considered type-two fun, you know, it's fun when you're done with it, not while you're doing it. Like climbing Mount Everest, or something like that," he said. "Not the type fun you have riding a roller coaster. "I think in a lot of ways it'll be like that. I suspect, when you have like a third (of your time) left of something of a certain duration ... is when that fatigue level people generally see will be building up. I suspect I won't see that after six months, I'll kind of see that towards the end, hopefully not at all." Kelly spent 180 days in space during three earlier flights. He served as pilot of a shuttle mission in 1999 and as commander of another in 2007. He then served as a flight engineer aboard the space station during Expedition 25 in 2010 and as commander of Expedition 26 in 2011. Kelly is divorced and has two daughters. His twin brother Mark, married to former congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, also is a veteran shuttle commander. He retired from NASA last year. "They were all very supportive," Scott Kelly said of his family. "As far as like a specific reaction, the only one that comes to mind is my 9-year-old daughter, when I told her on the phone that I was going to spend a year on the space station, she screamed out 'awesome!'" Kornienko also is a space station veteran, logging more than 176 days in orbit as a flight engineer during Expeditions 23 and 24 in 2010. "I had some doubts, because, you know, a year is a serious time," he said. "My wife, of course, she started to cry. That was her reaction." From his perspective, "it's a unique opportunity for us," he said. "Before, only four Russian cosmonauts did that. ... I'm a professional, it's my job. And of course, I'm very eager to do this. I understand it won't be easy." Before, during and after their marathon stint in space, both men will be subjected to a battery of tests to measure their adaptation to weightlessness and what, if any, long-term effects might emerge. Space station Program Scientist Julie Robinson said U.S. and Russian researchers are focusing on seven general areas of interest: How weightlessness triggers post-flight vision problems for some astronauts Assessing exercise and nutrition in combating bone loss and muscle atrophy How the immune system responds to long-duration exposure to microgravity Assessing neurovestibular system changes that can affect balance and perception Possible changes in crew behavior, performance and inter-personal relations The effects of radiation exposure Accessing crew training procedures and possible changes "I would frame it as a pilot study or a spot check," Robinson said in an interview. "So we are building from ISS a significant body of understanding, on both what the effects are on the human body and also how to prevent those effects. "For many areas, we think what we've developed for six months is enough. But it's those pieces that aren't that way -- radiation is one, vision could be one, behavioral health issues could be another -- if there are areas where even a little bit longer than six months is a challenge, that becomes an important risk as we start looking towards Mars missions." http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n1212/05oneyearcrew/ Curt Lewis