Flight Safety Information March 27, 2013 - No. 064 In This Issue DGCA deregisters 15 Kingfisher aircraft £40-million of cocaine found in private jet AirAsia, Tata JV closer to take-of Police ID pilot in plane crash in Cordova Landing Gear Collapses As Plane Lands At Easterwood PROS IOSA Audit Experts Airline 'fat tax': Should heavy passengers pay more Airline Iberia's CEO steps down after strike German officials blast U.S. cuts at airport DGCA deregisters 15 Kingfisher aircraft The Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), on Tuesday, announced that it had deregistered 15 aircraft of Kingfisher Airlines paving way for global leasing companies to take them back on grounds of default on their lease rentals by the crisis-ridden carrier. Giving this information here, Director General Arun Mishra said he would soon discuss the issues concerning Kingfisher's dues to tax authorities, airport operators and other vendors. The airport operators, particularly the state-run Airports Authority of India (AAI), had seized several aircraft of the liquor baron Vijay Mallya-owned carrier and decided not to release them till Kingfisher cleared the dues. In the meantime, some leasing companies, including German aviation bank DVB, moved the Delhi High Court which ordered that the lessors had a right over these aircraft. Following the decision, aircraft lessor International Lease Finance Corp said it had successfully removed one of six Kingfisher aircraft, an Airbus A-321, stranded in India. A demand for deregistration of two more Kingfisher planes was made by DVB at a meeting with DGCA on Monday. The two planes had been sent to Turkey for repairs and maintenance where DVB seized them. However, unless the planes were deregistered in the lessor country, the German bank cannot reclaim them and lease or sell them to other carriers. Kingfisher has ten planes of its own and another 15 leased ones which are yet to be deregistered. http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-business/dgca-deregisters-15-kingfisher- aircraft/article4552847.ece Back to Top £40-million of cocaine found in private jet More than £40-million worth of cocaine was found in a private jet owned by Alain Afflelou, a French millionaire businessman. The drugs were found by customs officers in the Dominican Republic. Officials boarded the Falcon jet before it was leaving the Caribbean island for Paris. They seized 26 suitcases packed with cocaine . Afflelou, who wasn't aboard the private jet when the incident occurred, denied all knowledge of the drugs. Furthermore, the London-based tycoon said that he loaned his plane to Transhelicopter Services. "'Alain heard the news last night through the media and he's amazed," claimed a spokesman for Afflelou. "'He will now take all the necessary steps to establish what happened. A letter demanding an explanation has also been sent to the French leasing company." http://privatejetdaily.com/201303273539/latest/40-million-of-cocaine-found-in-private- jet.html Back to Top AirAsia, Tata JV closer to take-off Malaysian budget carrier, AirAsia's joint venture with the Tatas and Telstra group for a domestic airline moved another step closer to take-off following approval from the government on Tuesday. AirAsia's proposal, cleared by the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) on March 6, was given a formal go-ahead on Tuesday, according to an official statement issued by the Finance Ministry which put the investment at Rs.80.89 crore. The venture will now need operational clearances such as the Air Operator's Permit from the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). Talking to journalists here, Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh said the AirAsia JV had not yet submitted any application to the Aviation Ministry. Following the opening up of the aviation sector to foreign direct investment (FDI) last September , AirAsia had formed a joint venture with Tata Sons and Arun Bhatia of Telestra Tradeplace to launch a new airline in India. http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/airasia-tata-jv-closer-to- takeoff/article4552871.ece Back to Top Police ID pilot in plane crash in Cordova The pilot who crash landed a plane in a Cordova, Ill., farm field Saturday has been identified. Dr. Richard M. Kishiue, 67, of Bettendorf, a Genesis Health Group OB/GYN, was the pilot who survived the crash, Rock Island County Sheriff Jeff Boyd said. "The fact he was able to land safely is quite impressive," Boyd said. Meanwhile, the National Transportation Safety Board began its investigation Monday morning and was expected to be on the scene near Cordova, Ill., Tuesday, agency spokesman Aaron Sauer said. The plane crashed shortly before 2 p.m. Saturday in the field at 171st Avenue North, about a half-mile east of Illinois 84. Sauer said the pilot received a minor injury and was treated at the scene. The single-engine Beechcraft airplane lost power and clipped a utility pole and lines during its descent into the field. The pilot was able to land the plane upright in the field. One of the wings was partially torn off in the crash. "He was attempting to do what we classify as a force landing in the cornfield," Sauer said. Kishiue flew out of the Davenport Municipal Airport in Mount Joy and was the only person on board. According to the Federal Aviation Administration website and the plane's tail number, the aircraft is a 1979 Beech Bonanza A36. The plane is registered to Romeo Aviation LLC of Middle Road in Bettendorf and is based at the Davenport Municipal Airport. Efforts to reach Romeo Aviation were unsuccessful. http://qctimes.com/news/local/police-id-pilot-in-plane-crash-in- cordova/article_e4c20fba-9646-11e2-b356-001a4bcf887a.html Back to Top Landing Gear Collapses As Plane Lands At Easterwood A single engine Cessna 152 plane has crashed at Easterwood Airport while it was landing. The plane took off from Central Texas Regional Airport in Temple earlier this afternoon, making touch and go landings across the country. Around 2:30 this afternoon, the plane attempted to land at Easterwood Airport. The nose gear collapsed, which caused the plane to crash land. The pilot was a student pilot from Central Texas Flight Training School in Harker Heights and was not injured. Nobody else was on board the plane. Easterwood's Director of Aviation said that type of plane is typically used for training. "He was pretty shook up after that experience," said Director John Happ. "We can always fix an airplane, but it's pretty tough to fix somebody who gets hurt." No flights were delayed as a result as a crash. Lynn Lynsford with the Federal Aviation Administration says, "The incident is under investigation and the FAA will have no further comments until a final crash review is made public." http://www.kbtx.com/home/headlines/Small-Plane-Crashes-at-Easterwood-During- Landing-200101661.html Back to Top Back to Top Airline 'fat tax': Should heavy passengers pay more? Should overweight passengers be charged more? One economics professor says yes. An economics scholar in Norway has recommended that air ticket costs be calculated according to a passenger's weight. Dr. Bharat P. Bhatta, associate professor of economics at Sogn og Fjordane University College, Norway, is proposing three models that he says, "may provide significant benefits to airlines, passengers and society at large." In his paper, published in the Journal of Revenue and Pricing Management, Dr. Bhatta noted "a reduction of 1 kilo weight of a plane will result in fuel savings worth US$3,000 a year and a reduction of CO2 emissions by the same token." He cited a move by Air Canada, which removed life vests from its planes to make each flight 25 kilos lighter, and other initiatives by low-cost carriers such as charging for excess luggage and making oversized passengers book two seats. "Charging according to weight and space is a universally accepted principle, not only in transportation, but also in other services," Bhatta says. "As weight and space are far more important in aviation than other modes of transport, airlines should take this into account when pricing their tickets." His three "pay as you weigh" models are: Total weight: A passenger's luggage and body weight is calculated, with the fare comprising a per kilo cost. In this scenario a passenger weighing 100 kilos with 20 kilos of luggage (120 kilos total) would pay twice that of a passenger of 50 kilos with 10 kilos of luggage (60 kilos total). Base fare +/- extra: A base fare is set, with a per-kilo discount applying for "underweight" passengers and a per-kilo surcharge applying to "overweight" passengers. High/Average/Low: A base fare is set, with a predetermined discount applying for those below a certain weight threshold and a predetermined surcharge applying for those above a certain weight threshold. Bhatta prefers the third of these options. He goes on to say that weight could be ascertained through passenger self-declaration, with one in five passengers randomly selected and weighed to dissuade cheats (with penalties for cheaters) or by weighing all passengers at check in. This latter option however would "incur huge transaction costs" and "would require a passenger to arrive a couple of hours early to have time to get through weigh-in, security and passport control." http://travel.cnn.com/airline-fat-tax-should-heavy-passengers-pay-more- 619046?hpt=hp_c2 Back to Top Airline Iberia's CEO steps down after strikes The chief executive of Iberia has resigned following months of strikes at the loss-making Spanish airline, parent company International Airlines Group (IAG) (ICAG.L) said on Wednesday. Rafael Sanchez-Lozano and IAG decided "by mutual agreement" that he would give up his duties as Iberia chief executive and as an IAG board member immediately, the company said, without giving the reason. Sanchez-Lozano, who had led the airline since 2009, will be replaced by Luis Gallego, CEO of budget carrier Iberia Express, a major source of tension with Iberia workers. Iberia staff reached an agreement with management earlier this month to end strike action over job and salary cuts after a government-appointed mediator stepped in to end the gridlock. Workers staged two five-day walk-outs in February and March and threatened further action if their demands were not met. Iberia agreed to shed 3,141 workers instead of 3,807 and softened pay cuts to reach a deal. "(Sanchez-Lozano) has led the airline through a very difficult period in the midst of a deep recession and has completed the first important step towards returning the airline to profitability," IAG Chief Executive Willie Walsh said in the statement. IAG, home to Iberia and profitable British Airways, said the company lost 3 million euros (£2.55 million) every day that workers at the Spanish airline were on strike. The company posted an operating loss of 613 million euros for 2012. http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/03/27/uk-iberia-strikes-idUKBRE92Q0B420130327 Back to Top German officials blast U.S. cuts at airports Lufthansa and German trade officials say wait times at U.S. airports will discourage Europeans from traveling here, at a time when they are trying to build trade. Jurgen Weber, chairman of Lufthansa's supervisory board, told reporters Tuesday that a Transportation Security Administration line that morning for a flight to Washington from New York's LaGuardia airport was hundreds of yards long. And Weber said Customs and Border Protection lines coming into the U.S. also are long for foreign travelers. Weber belongs to Global Entry, a U.S. background-check program to speed up Customs and Border Protection processing from overseas. But Lufthansa finds Customs waits at New York's JFK airport are more than two hours for its passengers, he said. "Huge concerns," Weber said. "It's unbelievable that this nation at the helm of technology thinks about reducing the number of air-traffic controllers, the number of security people at the airport." Longer lines stem from $85 billion in federal spending cuts that run from March 1 through Sept. 30. For its share, the Department of Homeland Security cut overtime for Customs and TSA, which already lengthened lines at busy times of day. "We will do everything we can to mitigate lines," Janet Napolitano, the secretary of Homeland Security, told reporters Tuesday at a breakfast hosted by the Christian Science Monitor. "There will be lines." Looming are Federal Aviation Administration plans to furlough air-traffic controllers one day from every two-week pay period starting in April, which is expected to delay flights. The U.S. Travel Association surveyed 1,200 overseas travelers in late February and found 43% would recommend avoiding the U.S. because of the entry process. More than four out of five (84%) think the government could fix the problem. Security delays rankle European travelers. "Everybody is working hard to give the passenger a superior experience and at the point of arrival, after a wonderful flight, you are stuck for three or four hours," said Nils Haupt, a Lufthansa spokesman. "This is really unacceptable." Thomas Zielke, CEO of the Representative of German Industry and Trade, which advocates for German companies in the U.S., said 3,500 companies that rely on flights for travel and deliveries are also disappointed with the waits. "They have the same problem," Zielke said. Weber said his wife suggested Tuesday that they avoid U.S. travel in the future. "They cannot understand it," Weber said of passengers facing the waits. "I hope many people fly to the United States as customers of Lufthansa, but we also have to protect our customers." http://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/flights/2013/03/26/lufthansa-customs- delays/2022375/ Curt Lewis