Flight Safety Information February 15, 2013 - No. 036 In This Issue Another Coast Guard aircraft tagged by laser pointer Pel-Air Senate hearing sensation: CASA hid key safety audits from ATSB Russia grounds four SSJ-100 jets due to design problems Serbia says it thwarted mafia plot to bring down government jet Passengers affected as German airport security strike continues Helicopter scandal: Antony took no action on bribery charges for 11 months PROS IOSA Audit Experts BlackJet, the Uber for private jets, takes off Meteorites slam into Russia as meteor seen streaking through morning sky Unmanned aircraft debate continues in Alameda Co 2013 ESASI Seminar in Madrid, April 18 & 19, 2013 Another Coast Guard aircraft tagged by laser pointer For the third time in four months a Coast Guard aircraft has been tagged by a laser pointer. The latest incident occurred Tuesday night when a C-130 aircraft on approach into Kalaeloa Airfield was hit by a laser pointer. There were eight people on board the aircraft at the time. None of the individuals were actually hit by the laser, which made three or four passes of the aircraft before vanishing. The incident happened at approximately 9:08 p.m., according to a Coast Guard spokesperson. Three of the eight people on board saw the laser, but looked away and no one was affected, the Coast Guard said. Last month a Coast Guard HC-130H Hercules aborted a landing at the Kahului Airport on Maui and was forced to return to Air Station Barbers Point on Oahu after an individual on the Valley Isle with a laser pointer targeted the aircraft.The crew was conducting night training missions at the time the laser targeted the aircraft Jan. 28. On Oct 23, a Coast Guard MH-65 Dolphin helicopter aircrew was forced to return to Barbers Point after someone shone a laser at them when they was two miles offshore of Oahu.The crew's flight mechanic and rescue swimmer were affected, compromising their abilities to perform their duties, the service said. Federal law makes pointing a laser at an aircraft a crime punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine up to $11,000 per violation, according to the FBI. Targeting an aircraft with a laser can cause glare, flash blindness or temporary loss of night vision. In October, the FBI reported that the number of laser attacks in the U.S. is on the rise. Incidents are projected to reach 3,700 this year-compared to just 283 in 2005. That's a rise of more than 1,100 percent. To report a laser attack, dial 911, or e-mail the Federal Aviation Administration at laserreports@FAA.gov or contact your nearest FBI field office. http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/breaking/20130214_Another_Coast_Guard_aircraft_tagged_by_laser_pointer.html Back to Top Pel-Air Senate hearing sensation: CASA hid key safety audits from ATSB In a set of extraordinary disclosures in the Senate inquiry into the Pel-Air crash report today it was revealed that two key safety audits were kept secret by the safety regulator CASA from the safety investigator the ATSB in contravention of a cooperative memorandum of understanding between the two bodies. The two most senior officers in the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, its chief commissioner Martin Dolan and its GM air investigations Ian Sangston did not know of the existence of the audits, one of which was scathingly critical of CASA's oversight of Pel-Air, until about 30 minutes before they appeared at the inquiry immediately after an often intense examination of CASA's Director Aviation Safety John McCormick. One document, the Chambers Review of CASA, ordered by McCormick and kept secret from the ATSB, found that the ditching of a tiny Westwind air ambulance flight near Norfolk Island in November 2009 might have been avoided had the regulator been doing its job properly. The other, a fatigue management review of the ill fated flight commissioned from the UK safety regulator, suggested that the captain of the flight Dominic James may have been unfit to fly the Careflight mission under its rules. CASA's director of air safety John McCormick said he didn't consider either of them relevant to the cause of the accident, which he says was entirely the fault of the captain, but would have been made available to the ATSB if it has asked for them. Senator David Fawcett, an experienced pilot, and Senator Nick Xenophon, the instigator of the hearing, pointed out to McCormick repeatedly in the exchanges between them and him that the ATSB could not ask for audits it didn't know existed, and that under the rules of co-operation between the two bodies, their existence had to be disclosed. What then followed was a lengthy spectacle in which the most senior executive in CASA, McCormick, denied understanding or recognising the most basic and clearly written obligations that exist in the MoU between the two bodies concerning the exchange of information between them. The Senate committee is inquiring in the final report by the ATSB into the accident, and how it became changed from one dealing with serious issues concerning the rules relating to fuel and route planning to one that blamed the crash almost entirely on the actions of the captain. Senator Xenophon told ATSB chief commissioner Dolan that the Pel-Air report the ATSB had finally issued was less compliant with the standards of ICAO Annex 13 than those produced by its counterparts in Nigeria and Lebanon, a comparison strongly rejected by Dolan. Both the fatigue audit and the CASA audit, which is separate from the CASA special audit into Pel-Air shortly after the crash, will be posted online on the Senate Committee website later today. At the outset of today's hearing Senator Fawcett speaking for the committee said it accepted that errors in fueling the jet that was ditched off Norfolk Island were made by the captain, and that the purpose of the inquiry was not to exonerate the pilot but to examine more deeply how the ATSB report was arrived at, and among other things, understand why it said little to explain why the pilot might have made the errors he did. The committee repeatedly sought information from the CASA team lead by McCormick as to why the regulator had not disclosed the Chambers Review, commissioned by McCormick, to the ATSB, quoting passages in which it found that had there been more effective auditing and oversight of Pel-Air, the operator of the jet, it would have discovered key failings in its performance and pilot training from interviews with the line pilots that if acted upon in a timely manner could have prevented the accident ever happening. McCormick said he considered the Chambers Review a private document, which made no findings which would have altered the ATSB's eventual findings that the accident was caused by pilot error if not violations of the rules by him. He said "I did say at the time that I wanted it warts and all." Xenophon told McCormick his explanation for withholding the Chambers Review's existence and findings from the ATSB to be "curious and bizarre." McCormick told the hearing that CASA had kept the findings of the Chambers Review from the ATSB in order "not to contaminate its decision making." He stressed the importance CASA placed on the ATSB reaching its own conclusions. However during the course of the hearing committee members read from emails which said, among other things, that the two bodies needed to avoid "putting egg on each other's faces", that a consistent policy was desirable as to whether flights should immediately divert to alternative airports when the weather deteriorated below minimums at destination airports, and other email discussions as to how the initially divergent views of CASA and the ATSB about the seriousness of the accident and were coming into alignment. Senator Fawcett put it to McCormick that he had in his possession information that the surveillance and processes of CASA in relation to Pel-Air were inadequate, and that in not disclosing this to the ATSB he had shaped its report, which had found that there were no systemic operator or regulator failings that had contributed to the accident. McCormick replied that the findings of the Chambers Review were not considered relevant to the ATSB's inquiries or findings, to which Senator Xenophone asked without audible answer "How would you know?" Xenophon said "there is a positive obligation on CASA to disclose the document to the ATSB for its consideration. " The SA Independent Senator said "You wanted this report to be downgraded in its safety important to protect CASA from the criticisms in the Chambers Review .... which found that if you had done the job the accident might have been avoided ....it was much more convenient to put all the blame on the pilot ...you've actually covered things up by not releasing the document." McCormick strongly denied this, repeating that in his opinion this was a private document commissioned by him while he was early in the job to understand what was happening in CASA. He conceded at one stage that he might have been wrong in this, and said that he apologised if he was wrong, and defended the now more advanced reform process he had undertaken at CASA describing it as a now much more efficient, competent and effective body that it had been at the time of the accident. Senator Fawcett said several times that he accepted that progress had been made at CASA but also pointed out that this wasn't what the committee was set up to do in its examination of the ATSB final report into the Pel-Air crash and the relationship between the safety regulator and the safety investigator. When the ATSB team began its appearance before the committee, having only just learned of the existence of the two CASA documents, its chief commissioner Martin Dolan said he could not give answers as to the effect on its Pel-Air report of not receiving that information 'on the run'. Dolan said he would be able to give considered replies to such questions at a later date. However in an exchange with the committee Dolan explained that the ATSB's starting point in its investigation was the factual evidence available at the time. Senator Fawcett said "There is concern in the committee that there is some serious dsyfunctionality in your starting point because the evidence that you started with was not as complete as it should have been for the public or for you." Dolan said "I'd prefer to give due consideration to this than make it on the run." http://blogs.crikey.com.au/planetalking/2013/02/15/pel-air-senate-hearing-sensation-casa-hid-key-safety-audits-from- atsb/ Back to Top Russia grounds four SSJ-100 jets due to design problems Russia temporarily suspended flights of its newest commercial aircraft citing designing problems, the planes' producer Sukhoi said Tuesday. Sukhoi suspended the use of some of its SSJ-100 planes after Russian aviation safety watchdog Rosaviatsia ordered the flagship airline Aeroflot to ground four jets of the same type and suspended their certificates. Currently Aeroflot has 10 SSJ-100 planes in its fleet and plans to order 179 more. The regular flights of all four grounded planes could be resumed by the end of this month, Sukhoi said in a statement. "The aircraft are currently being fixed in accordance with previously issued servicing bulletin. The first two aircraft will resume flights by the end of this week and the others by the end of the month," the designing bureau said. Sukhoi is liable to compensate Aeroflot the losses for each day of the planes' downtime. According to Sukhoi, the "design deficiencies" occurred in the aircraft' leak warning system, landing gear and the wing slats. SSJ-100 is a regional jet with seating capacities of 75 or 95. It is the first commercial plane designed in Russia since the fall of the Soviet Union. The plane has experienced accidents and problems after its first commercial flight in 2011. On May 9, 2012 one of the type crashed in Indonesia during a demonstration flight, killing all 45 people aboard. On June 18, 2012 a SSJ-100 aborted a flight from Moscow to Copenhagen due to unspecified technical problems. On July 10, 2012 a SSJ-100 experienced similar problems. The same day, another SSJ-100 en route from Nizhni Novgorod to Moscow experienced a malfunction in the air conditioning system. On Aug. 3, 2012 after taking off from Tartarstan capital Kazan, the plane's cabin had depressurized. http://www.nzweek.com/world/russia-grounds-four-ssj-100-jets-due-to-design-problems-49138/ Back to Top Serbia says it thwarted mafia plot to bring down government jet Serbian authorities said they had uncovered a plot by "criminal clans" to bring down a government plane carrying a national leader, in the latest twist to a murky row over the links between the mafia and politicians. In a statement, the Interior Ministry said Prime Minister Ivica Da?i?, who is also interior minister, had nevertheless decided to board one of the government's two planes for his return to Belgrade from Dublin on Thursday (14 February). The Serbian leader was in Ireland hoping to secure a date from EU leaders for the launch of accession negotiations. Serbia received candidate status in March 2012. Da?i? is at the centre of a row over links between him and his aides to an alleged drug smuggler, following a series of revelations in the Serbian press this month that have rocked the six-month-old ruling coalition. He has admitted meeting Rodoljub Radulovi?, known as Misha Banana, in 2008 and 2009, but denied any wrongdoing. Da?i? says he is being targeted by forces trying to halt the government's fight against organised crime and corruption. Some analysts, however, suspect political gamesmanship within Da?i? 's coalition government, with his partners, the increasingly-popular Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), eyeing a snap election that would almost certainly cement its hold on power. The SNS denies waging a smear campaign. The ministry statement said the intelligence service had discovered that "certain criminal clans", working with individuals with access to the government aircraft, planned to induce a malfunction during a foreign trip by either President Tomislav Nikoli?, Da?i? or SNS leader Aleksandar Vu?i?, who is leading the crackdown on organised crime. The statement noted that the government's official planes have been prone to malfunction. Serbia is still wrestling with the nexus of crime and politics that took root during Yugoslavia's bloody collapse in the 1990s, and is no stranger to political assassination. Zoran Djindji?, the country's first prime minister after the overthrow of late strongman Slobodan Milosevi? in 2000, was shot dead in Belgrade in 2003 in an assassination carried out by former members of an elite police unit working with the mafia. The interior ministry and Serbian security services are notoriously factional and used as political levers by rival parties. http://www.euractiv.com/enlargement/serbia-thwarted-mafia-plot-bring-news-517838 Back to Top Passengers affected as German airport security strike continues Thousands of travellers faced a second day of disruption at German airports as a strike by security guards over pay continued on Friday, causing more than 100 flight cancellations. In addition, Berlin's Schoenefeld airport said it had suspended all arrivals and departures until 1:00 p.m. British time after a small private plane ran off the runway in the morning. Cologne-Bonn airport said more than half of the 200 flights scheduled for Friday had already been cancelled and more would likely follow over the course of the day. At the northern airport of Hamburg, numerous flights by airlines including Lufthansa were cancelled. The airport's operator said about 20,000 departing passengers were affected by the strike. The strike had caused more than 200 flight cancellations at Hamburg and Duesseldorf airports on Thursday. Duesseldorf is Germany's third-busiest airport after Frankfurt and Munich, with more than 20 million passengers per year. Hamburg and Cologne-Bonn have about 13.6 and 9.6 million passengers per year, respectively. Verdi is calling for wage rises of between 2.50 and 3.64 euros per hour for 34,000 security workers in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, where Cologne-Bonn and Duesseldorf airports are located. In Hamburg, the union is calling for a wage hike of 2.70 euros for around 600 security workers. Works councils estimate that more than 70 percent of the employees work in the lowest wage group, earning just 8.23 euros gross ($11.06) per hour. German security industry group BDSW has said Verdi's demands were excessive. http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/02/15/uk-germany-strikes-idUKBRE91E0E820130215 Back to Top Helicopter scandal: Antony took no action on bribery charges for 11 months NEW DELHI: The Rs 3,546-crore contract for 12 AW-101 helicopters, inked in February 2010, has emerged as a test case for defence minister A K Antony, who has built his entire political career on a reputation for honesty, government circles acknowledge. Although no finger has been pointed at Antony, he is being blamed for not moving swiftly enough when the first whiffs of a bribery scandal surfaced over 11 months ago. The minister has been criticized for bringing in the CBI only this week after the top executives of AgustaWestland and its parent company Finmeccanica were arrested in Italy. Sources said the Congress veteran was determined to get to the bottom of the bribery scandal threatening to taint his squeaky clean political track record. A strong indication of Antony's resolve came in the form of a six-page factsheet, issued by the MoD on Thursday, which shielded him from the controversial decision to tweak the technical specifications for the helicopters. Government sources said outright cancellation of the contract was no longer a far-fetched possibility. "If the contracts for the Bofors howitzers and the HDW submarines in the mid-1980s could be terminated mid-way, even if they hit the operational readiness and modernization of the armed forces in a major way, these are just choppers meant for VVIP travel,'' said a source. The looming Budget session of Parliament, and the indication that the opposition is all set to feast on the latest scandal to hit the UPA, is proving to be a big push for a tough response. The session is set to start on February 21, and there are indications that the MoD might not even wait for the CBI to submit a formal report. Defence secretary Shashikant Sharma, as reported by TOI earlier, has also asked the Indian ambassador in Italy to formally procure the Italian court documents detailing the alleged payment of 51 million euros to swing the contract for AgustaWestland. These documents obtained officially could serve as a tool for action in case the government feels it cannot afford to wait for the CBI to give its findings. "We want to finish the ongoing review of the contract and take a decision before the next delivery of helicopters...Proper documentation will ensure there is no financial loss to India in the case of arbitration or other proceedings at a later stage,'' said a senior official. Despite having inducted only three of the AW-101 helicopters till now, with the remaining nine slated for delivery in batches of three each in March, May and July, the defence ministry has already put on hold all further payments to AgustaWestland. India has paid a little over 50% of the total amount to this UK-based subsidiary of Italian military giant Finmeccanica till now, while another tranche was to be paid later this month. Both the contract and integrity pact inked with AgustaWestland contain specific provisions by which "strict action including the cancellation of contract, recovery of payment, blacklisting and penal action" can be unleashed against the vendor. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Helicopter-scandal-Antony-took-no-action-on-bribery-charges-for-11- months/articleshow/18509251.cms Back to Top Back to Top BlackJet, the Uber for private jets, takes off SAN FRANCISCO--In an era of "Entourage" and a well-publicized fleet of planes personally owned by Google's top execs, the private jet has never before seemed as accessible to so many. The truth is, of course, that just a tiny fraction of the population will ever set foot on any plane other than a commercial airliner, but traveling by Gulfstream has become romanticized in popular culture, and as that's happened, there's been a rise in the number of companies aiming to provide a more efficient, and more affordable way to fly private. Into that new environment comes BlackJet, a company co-founded by Uber co-founder Garrett Camp that started flying today. And while it's hard to compare a car service to one providing seats on private planes, BlackJet is hardly shying away from that comparison. At its core, BlackJet is about letting people very efficiently book travel aboard chartered planes between any of ten cities across the U.S., and at a cost not that far off from first-class commercial tickets. Indeed, the company promises the ability to book a seat in just ten clicks -- a far cry from the day or two it has traditionally taken to reserve a seat aboard a similar plane. And that's the company's special sauce, explained CEO Dean Rotchin. In the past, he said, it has only been possible to reserve by the plane -- and now, passengers can book by the seat, and at substantial savings. A one-way ticket from San Francisco to New York likely comes in around $3,300, Rotchin said. Rotchin explained that BlackJet has contracts allowing it to leverage excess capacity on any of about 4,000 privately- owned chartered jets thanks to an industry-first high-tech reservation system he said is easier to navigate than any commercial airline's. And bookings, made in just seconds, are guaranteed as long as the passenger makes their reservation at least two days ahead. Of course, the service isn't available to just anyone. In order to be book, membership is required, and being a member costs $2,500 a year. So who will be a BlackJet member? According to Rotchin, it'll be professionals and businesspeople whose time is too valuable to waste going through the standard rigamarole of commercial air travel. And, obviously, those who can afford to shell out first-class prices for any seat. At its launch event in San Francisco today, BlackJet offered to give away free membership (and a companion seat on the first flight taken) to the first 1,000 people who showed up. And while many hundreds of people showed up to take advantage of the offer, it's not at all clear how many of them will ever available themselves of the privileges afforded by their new membership. CNET spoke to four people in line, and while all seemed attracted to the service, none were willing to say unequivocally that they they would pay for a seat on the planes. After all, BlackJet hadn't explained its pricing in much detail in advance, and there was a very well defined sense of confusion about how much a ticket costs. "It's a little high end," said Tonya Chin of San Francisco, who was waiting in the line. "I guess it's in line with private jet costs." Chin said she would consider flying BlackJet, but that "it would have to be a special occasion," such as a bachelorette party, or maybe even her own wedding. Another in line, Carlos Nieto of San Francisco, said he would "absolutely" fly BlackJet in order to "get that kind of luxury and service at a price that makes sense." But told how much BlackJet flights actually cost, Nieto seemed to back off his certainty that he would use the service. http://news.cnet.com/8301-10797_3-57569541-235/blackjet-the-uber-for-private-jets-takes-off Back to Top Meteorites slam into Russia as meteor seen streaking through morning sky METEORITE CRASH IN RUSSIA A meteor streaked across the sky above Russia's Ural Mountains on Friday morning, causing sharp explosions and injuring more than 500 people, many of them hurt by broken glass. Fragments of the meteor fell in a thinly populated area of the Chelyabinsk region, the Emergency Ministry said in a statement. About 6,000 square feet of a roof at a zinc factory collapsed, but it was unclear whether that was caused by meteor fragments impacting the building, or by a shock wave from a nearby impact. "There was panic. People had no idea what was happening. Everyone was going around to people's houses to check if they were OK," said Sergey Hametov, a resident of Chelyabinsk, about 930 miles east of Moscow, the biggest city in the affected region. "We saw a big burst of light then went outside to see what it was and we heard a really loud thundering sound," he told The Associated Press by telephone. Amateur videos posted to Youtube showed a bright streaks of light crossing the morning sky. In some videos, a large boom was heard -- possibly an impact or possibly a sonic boom of the meteor sailing through the Earth's atmosphere at more than the speed of sound. Reports conflicted on what exactly happened in the clear skies. A spokeswoman for the Emergency Ministry, Irina Rossius, told The Associated Press there was a meteor shower, but another ministry spokeswoman, Elena Smirnikh, was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying it was a single meteor. In this photo taken with a mobile phone, a meteor contrail is seen in Chelyabinsk region of Russia, Feb. 15, 2013. / AP At least part of the event was captured on amateur video. Some broadcast on Russian television showed an object speeding across the sky about 9:20 a.m. local time, leaving a thick white contrail and an intense flash. The Emergency Ministry says more than 500 people sought treatment after the blasts and that 34 of them were hospitalized. The meteor hit less than a day before the asteroid 2012 DA14 is to make the closest recorded pass of an asteroid -- about 17,150 miles. European Space Agency spokesman Bernhard Von Weyhein said, however, that there was no connection with the meteor over Russia, it was just a cosmic coincidence. Meteors are pieces of space rock, usually from larger comets or asteroids, which enter the Earth's atmosphere. Many are burned up by the heat of the atmosphere, but those that survive and strike the Earth are called meteorites. They often hit the ground at tremendous speed -- up to about 19,000 miles an hour, according to the European Space Agency. That releases a huge amount of force. Experts say smaller strikes happen five to 10 times a year. Large impacts such as the one Friday in Russia are rarer but still occur about every five years, according to Addi Bischoff, a mineralogist at the University of Muenster in Germany. Most of these strikes happen in uninhabited areas where they don't cause injuries to humans. http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57569551/meteorites-slam-into-russia-as-meteor-seen-streaking-through- morning-sky/ Back to Top Unmanned aircraft debate continues in Alameda Co. ALAMEDA COUNTY, Calif. (KGO) -- They have the potential to save lives, stop crime, and bring home missing people. But they're also one of the most controversial tools in law enforcement. Small unmanned aircraft are a topic of very hot debate in Alameda County. A life sized model of a predator drone sat menacingly among the protesters at the Alameda County Board of Supervisors Thursday. They won't be flying over the East Bay any time soon, but small, unmanned helicopters equipped with cameras might. "We plan on using this for search and rescue," Sheriff Greg Ahern said. Ahern wants to spend up to $50,000 on the devices he says could help locate missing people and survey the scenes of fires. But those aren't the uses that have civil rights groups concerned. "Although they will argue that it's being used for, you know, basically good policing, we're afraid that it's going to be used to surveil protesters, dissidents, you know, people that are against police brutality," Anne Weills, of the National Lawyers' Guild, said. The sheriff says that simply would never happen. "We don't use these types of devices for surveillance, gathering intel on civilian activity," Ahern said. But the American Civil Liberties Union wants that in writing. "The problem with the sheriff's policy is that it's crafted to look narrow but it contains loopholes that render the privacy protections meaningless," Linda Lye said. The public backlash comes as Alameda County supervisors prepare to decide just how much authority the sheriff should have to fly unmanned aircraft, a case that could be watched the world over. "We all know that all eyes are on Alameda County and we want to get this right," Sheriff's Office spokesperson Capt. Tom Madigan said. Alameda County would be the first in California to use the devices. Some are concerned over what happens when they get more sophisticated. "Technology that can literally see through walls, they can also be equipped with facial recognition technology and license plate readers and radar," Electronic Frontier Foundation spokesperson Trevor Timm said. Supervisors grilled the sheriff but community groups aren't satisfied. "We would also be more delighted if they had taken more of our recommendations," Lye said. If supervisors can broker a compromise, the small aircraft could fly in about a year. http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/local/east_bay&id=8993979 Curt Lewis