Flight Safety Information March 29, 2013 - No. 066 In This Issue Airblue crash re-investigation: ATC staff failed to navigate plane to safety, reveals CAA report Aiming Laser Pointer at Airplane Gets Man 2.5 Years in Prison Boeing delivers 1,000th airplane to China Eclipse Aerospace receives final FAA approval to produce new 550 jet More Problems For F35 Jet Diverted To Lubbock International Airport Boeing offers to conduct safety audit on Nigerian planes PROS IOSA Audit Experts As Boeing flight simulators move, pilots and instructors won't Jet (Airways) to add international capacity, hire foreign pilots (India) UAE airlines' aircraft orders to support over 200,000 high-paying jobs in US Westchester Aviation Association Airblue crash re-investigation: ATC staff failed to navigate plane to safety, reveals CAA report (Pakistan) The Airblue plane crash site. PESHAWAR: The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) admitted on Thursday for the first time that the pilot and the air traffic control staff were responsible for the 2010 Air Blue crash. In the re-investigation report of the crash submitted to the Peshawar High Court (PHC), CAA maintained that responsibility for the incident also lay with the air traffic control staff for failing to guide the aircraft out of the crisis. It revealed that the air traffic controller guiding Airblue flight ED202 was inexperienced and as such was unable to discharge his duty. "Weather forecasts (at the time of the flight) indicated rain, poor visibility and low clouds around the airport. The information regarding the prevalent weather and the type of approach on arrival was in the knowledge of aircrew," the report submitted before the court reads. It adds that the flight captain violated the prescribed flight discipline for the weather conditions and placed the aircraft in an unsafe situation. "The air traffic services (both the radar and the control tower), which could have helped the flight out of this situation, also failed to avert a 'controlled flight into terrain' (CFIT) due to lack of knowledge and training, and ambiguous procedures in the sort of scenario the aircraft was flying in during the last phase of the flight," the report further notes. CAA legal counsel Obaidur Rehman Abbasi, meanwhile, told the bench they will present their recommendations on safety measures at the next hearing, after which the hearing was adjourned. The summary of the re-investigation report was submitted in response to PHC's directives issued on February 19. In the previous hearing, the CAA had produced the transcript of the Cockpit Voice Recorder recovered from the crash site. The bench subsequently asked Safety Investigation Board president Air Commodore Muhammad Abdul Basit to summarise the transcript in simple terms due to technical jargon. Airblue flight ED202, bound for Islamabad, crashed into the Margalla Hills on July 28, 2010, killing all passengers and flight crew on-board. On November 9, 2012, investigation experts of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) completed their reinvestigation into the Airblue crash and concluded, among other things, that aviation body's initial investigation report into the incident lacked vital information. The information missing from CAA's report, according to ICAO experts, included the details on the weather conditions during the flight and the maintenance of navigational aids. The ICAO report also noted that while communication between the flight and the air traffic controllers was mentioned, no section in the final report was dedicated to it. The foreign experts also maintained that the draft of the first report had more details, but claimed they were omitted after it was reviewed by the CAA director general in March, 2011. They, as such, expressed concern over the possibility of a conflict of interest. http://tribune.com.pk/story/528123/airblue-crash-re-investigation-atc-staff-failed-to-navigate- plane-to-safety-reveals-caa-report/ Back to Top Aiming Laser Pointer at Airplane Gets Man 2.5 Years in Prison A 19-year-old North Hollywood man has been sentenced to 2.5 years in prison for aiming a laser pointer at a commercial aircraft - a steep punishment going well beyond the year federal prosecutors were seeking. "In this case the judge really felt it was serious behavior and he wanted to make sure that people understood it was not a joke," Los Angeles federal prosecutor Melissa Mills said in a telephone interview Tuesday. Defendant Adam Gardenhire remains free on bond pending a hearing next month in which he is seeking to avoid prison pending the outcome of an appeal. He was sentenced in Los Angeles on Monday by U.S. District Judge Stephen V. Wilson, a President Ronald Reagan appointee. It is believed to be the longest term handed down for a single count of "knowingly" aiming a laser beam at an aircraft. The defendant was indicted (.pdf) on two counts of pointing a laser and pleaded guilty to one charge. He was accused of aiming the laser pointer at a NetJet Cessna Citation as it was landing at Bob Hope Airport in Burbank last year. The green beam hit the pilot in the eye, temporarily blinding him. A Pasadena police helicopter investigating the incident was shot by the beam, too, but the pilot's vision was not affected. Defense attorneys, who did not respond for comment, were seeking two years of probation and community service. The maximum penalty was five years for each charge. http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2013/03/steep-laser-pointer-sentence/ Back to Top Boeing delivers 1,000th airplane to China China becomes the first country outside of U.S. to take delivery of 1,000 Boeing airplanes. More than 7,000 Boeing airplanes worldwide include China-built parts. SEATTLE - Boeing and China Eastern Airlines celebrated the delivery of the 1,000th Boeing airplane for China, one of the world's most dynamic markets for commercial airplanes. Boeing forecasts that China will need 5,260 new airplanes, valued at $670 billion, in the next 20 years. "We take great pride in the partnership that Boeing and China have shared for more than 40 years. Boeing greatly values China as both a customer and a supplier partner," said Boeing Commercial Airplanes President and CEO Ray Conner. "This delivery symbolizes the tremendous accomplishments we have achieved together along with the significant trust and confidence that Chinese airlines have placed in Boeing's products and services. Boeing is committed to advancing our partnership with China for decades to come." The 1,000th airplane, a Next-Generation 737-800 with the Boeing Sky Interior painted in special peacock livery, will join China Eastern Yunnan Airlines. China Eastern currently operates the largest 737 fleet among Chinese airlines. "We're pleased to be part of this historic delivery for Boeing and China," said Tang Bing, vice president of China Eastern Airlines. "We look forward to working with Boeing to leverage the reliability, comfort, economics and good environmental performance of Boeing airplanes, and bring more value to our customers." Boeing airplanes comprise the majority of commercial jetliners operated in China, providing dependable, efficient service to more than 20 different Chinese airlines. Chinese suppliers contribute parts and components to every current Boeing commercial airplane model, including 737, 747, 767, 777 and 787. Today more than 7,000 Boeing airplanes operating throughout the world use major parts and assemblies from China. Headquartered in Shanghai, China Eastern Airlines is one of the three major airlines in mainland China. Flying a fleet of more than 400 long-haul and short-haul airplanes with an average age of less than seven years, China Eastern Airlines serves nearly 70 million travelers annually and ranks among the world's top five airlines in terms of passenger transportation volume. http://www.traveldailynews.asia/news/article/51994/boeing-delivers-1-000th-airplane-to Back to Top Eclipse Aerospace receives final FAA approval to produce new 550 jet Eclipse Aerospace received final approval from the FAA on Thursday to start production of its new very light jet, the Eclipse 550. Eclipse Aerospace received final approval from the FAA on Thursday to start production of its new very light jet. The FAA granted Eclipse an amended production certificate, which Eclipse called "the final key to aircraft production" in a news release. Eclipse Aerospace is the reincarnation of Eclipse Aviation, which filed bankruptcy and ceased production of the Eclipse 500. A new group of investors bought the company in 2009 and started work on the next generation of the very light jet, the Eclipse 550. The new certificate allows the company to manufacture, test and certify the planes. Eclipse CEO Mason Holland said, "The results from our multiple FAA audits clearly indicate that EAI's production and quality systems are among the elite in the industry. We have 550s moving down the production line in Albuquerque, and armed with our full green light from the FAA for final assembly and test, we are on our way to delivering jets this year." The new 550 has several features, and a variety of options, that were not available on the original six-seat plane. http://www.bizjournals.com/albuquerque/news/2013/03/28/eclipse-aerospace-faa-approval- 550.html Back to Top More Problems For F35 Jet Diverted To Lubbock International Airport A new problem for the F35 fighter jet that made an emergency landing in Lubbock two weeks ago. Lockheed Martin officials tell us the jet tried to leave Lubbock and fly back to Ft. Worth this week, but experienced a problem with a communications channel of the flight control system and couldn't leave. The jet has been at Lubbock International Airport since March 11th, when a warning light forced the pilot to land here instead of Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada. The fighter jet remains at Lubbock International Airport this morning. http://everythinglubbock.com/fulltext?nxd_id=167562 Back to Top Boeing offers to conduct safety audit on Nigerian planes AIRCRAFT giant, Boeing Company has submitted a proposal to the Ministry of Aviation to conduct an "airworthiness assessment" of all its Nigerian registered aircraft in the fleet of domestic airlines in the country. The Guardian learnt that discussions between the American aircraft company and the Federal Government started since June/July 2012 after the Dana crash and Boeing's proposal in this regard is currently receiving attention from the Ministry of Aviation. Spokesman for the Minister of Aviation, Joe Obi confirmed the development in a statement yesterday. Obi disclosed that correspondences between the Managing Director of Boeing Professional Services (BPS), Ken Sain, Director for Africa and Middle East (Aviation Safety), Chamson Andjorin, and the Federal Ministry of Aviation bear testimony to this. According to him, "the Minister requested, and which Boeing has acceded to doing whenever their proposal is approved is an "airworthiness assessment" of all the Nigerian registered aircraft manufactured by Boeing, and not "re-certification" as erroneously stated in some media (not in The Guardian). He however clarified that with regard to the Dana crash, Boeing, being a subject of investigation excused itself from the airworthiness assessment to avoid any conflict of interest charge, adding that Boeing however recommended a third party, ALM, to conduct an airworthiness assessment of the MD83s in Dana's fleet. According to him, the assessment by ALM has been conducted and reports submitted to the relevant authorities. He further explained that but following the battery issues with one of Dana's aircraft recently, the Minister still requested Boeing to provide some details on the state of the Dana fleet. "Again, Boeing reiterated that since it is a party to the investigation of the crash, it does not want to appear compromised. But the aircraft manufacturer did volunteer to provide a "technical opinion" on the report by ALM. "We make haste to state that Boeing still plans to conduct the airworthiness assessment of its Nigerian registered aircraft once it's proposal, which is currently receiving attention is approved and the modalities for the exercise finalised and agreed by both parties". Obi disclosed that the aircraft manufacturer was desirous of consummating a business relationship with the Nigerian authorities as soon as possible. http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=117618:boeing- offers-to-conduct-safety-audit-on-nigerian-planes&catid=31:business&Itemid=562 Back to Top Back to Top As Boeing flight simulators move, pilots and instructors won't The company is consolidating flight in Miami, and doesn't plan to relocate the 38 employees based in Renton. Boeing's white-collar union said Thursday the company is eliminating the positions of 38 flight- standards pilots and flight-simulator instructors. Company spokesman Jim Condelles said, "We are committed to doing whatever we can do to find equivalent positions either in Puget Sound or elsewhere in the company." This month, Boeing announced it would consolidate its North American flight-training facilities in Miami, closing its one at Longacres in Renton and moving its flight simulators to Miami. That will start with relocating two 787 simulators by summer. In negotiations Thursday with the Society for Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA) to discuss the effects of that move, Boeing told the union it will not offer to relocate this subgroup of employees to Miami. The flight instructors train airline pilots solely in simulators on the ground. The flight-standards pilots put together and oversee training curricula and training manuals. The group joined the union only last May. Rich Plunkett, a senior SPEEA official who attended the bargaining session, said Boeing's move looks like "a strike at union representation." http://seattletimes.com/html/businesstechnology/2020663812_boeingpilotsxml.html Back to Top Jet (Airways) to add international capacity, hire foreign pilots (India) Jet Airways is looking to increase its capacity on international routes and will induct two Boeing 777s this year. The airline which earns about 55 percent of revenue from international operations flies Boeing 777s at present. It has leased five of them to Thai Airways and the lease term will end this year. The airline posted Rs 93 crore profit for the third quarter FY13 in comparison to Rs 122 crore loss in the same period last year. A senior Jet executive said the airline will induct two Boieng 777s and will wet lease three planes to Turkish Airlines for a year. Under a wet lease the aircraft owner also provides pilots, crew and is responsible for maintenance. Currently the airline flies the widebody Boeing 777s on London and Hong Kong routes from Mumbai and Delhi. It is not known yet on which routes Jet will introduce the two Boeing 777s. Jet's renewed focus on international routes comes at a time when it is concluding a stake sale deal with Etihad Airways. It has sought additional traffic rights for Abu Dhabi (Etihad's headquarters), Amsterdam, Dubai, Singapore, Hong Kong. Apart from increase in capacity from Delhi and Mumbai to Abu Dhabi, new flying points from India like Hyderabad, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Bangalore have also been sought. Over the last few months the airline had cut back on international capacity and withdrew from loss making routes such as Johannesburg, Milan and New York. New routes were also put on hold. The airline had secured permission to start services to Munich and was negotiating a code share alliance with Lufthansa. Also under consideration was shifting of its European hub from Brussels to Munich. But that plan has been put on hold and it is now considering shifting the base to Abu Dhabi. Meanwhile the airline is planning to hire around 100 foreign pilots for its wide body Boeing fleet and has already approached several hiring firms for this, even as the aviation regulator has set a December 2013 deadline for phasing out expat pilots. Interestingly, Jet's demand for foreign pilots comes at a time when the regulator DGCA's deadline for phasing out all expat pilots is nine months away, they said. Also, the airline during the post Q2 earnings, analysts concall last November, had said it was aiming to reduce the number of expat pilots by almost half by the the end of this fiscal. "By March 2013, we will reduce (the number of expat pilots) to 59 from 107. As of March end 2012, we had 207 expat pilots," Jet senior vice-president for investor relations, KG Vishwanath had told the analysts. According to a Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation report, over the next 12-18 months, Jet's wide-body fleet is expected to increase from 18 operational aircraft to at least 30, although this is largely dependent on the new network plan to be developed once the Etihad deal is completed. http://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/jet-to-add-international-capacity-hire-foreign- pilots-113032900192_1.html Back to Top UAE airlines' aircraft orders to support over 200,000 high-paying jobs in US Report says UAE airlines' orders generated over 100,000 jobs in US in 2012; Over 2.4m passengers to travel nonstop between UAE and US in 2013 Commercial aircraft exports to the UAE generated over 100,000 jobs in US in 2012, and the current $37 billion (Dh135.8 billion) orders from UAE carriers will over time support more than 200,000 high-paying manufacturing jobs in the US, says a new report. In 2012, the US-UAE commercial-aviation relationship generated more than $16 billion in benefit to the US, more than 100,000 jobs, and over $1.6 billion in tax revenue, said a new report released by the UAE-US Business Council. The US Department of Commerce estimates that each one billion dollars in aerospace exports sustains 6,700 jobs, which means that the current UAE order book of $37 billion will over time support more than 200,000 US jobs (this total has been reduced to reflect the gap between list price and actual negotiated price). Applying this jobs estimate to 2012, airliner exports sustained 30,800 jobs. Emirates operates eight flights daily from Dubai to US offering 2,932 seats; Etihad operates three flight a day offering 892 seats; and United and Delta airlines operate one flight each, offering 267 and 269 seats - respectively. In all, there are 13 flights a day, offering 4,360 seat capacity. Etihad's Abu Dhabi-Washington DC flight will start from March 31, 2013. From 2002 to January 2012, Emirates ordered 151 Boeing aircraft worth approximately $47 billion at current list prices. As of January 31, 2013, Emirates still had on order 73 777 wide-body aircraft valued at $23 billion - six were 777 freighters and 67 of the largest 777, the -300ER. Each of the latter lists for $315 million. Flydubai, a Dubai-based low cost carrier (which does not serve the US), has ordered 50 737-800 narrow-body aircraft worth $4.45 billion at list price. Boeing has delivered 27, and 23 are still to be delivered, at a cost of $2 billion. Etihad Airways, since its launch in 2003, has ordered 62 Boeings, 21 777s and 41 787s, and these were valued at $16.5 billion. Future deliveries comprise six 777s and the entire 787 order, worth a total of $10 billion, the report said. Employing staff at airport To service their 11 daily departures from their nine gateways (including Etihad Airways from Washington, beginning March 31), Emirates employs 307 US citizens and legal residents, and Etihad Airways employs 68. These numbers, however, do not include the significant number of employees at the handling companies both airlines use for services inside the terminals (check-in and gates), on the ramp, and for cargo operations. In a study of possible Emirates expansion in North America, the aviation consulting firm InterVISTAS calculated that each daily flight generates about 200 jobs directly at an airport, and total airport impact (including the spinoff effects described below) of approximately $80 million per year. It's thus reasonable to extrapolate totals of more than 2,600 airport jobs and more than $1 billion in economic benefit at just the nine airports that receive the 13 nonstops from the UAE. UAE carried 1.218 million passengers into the US, and 48 per cent, 586,670, were foreign visitors. These visitors' direct expenditure in the US exceeded $2.3 billion, for hotels, restaurant meals, car rentals, visitor attractions, and the like. This total does not include visitors who arrive on Delta and United nonstops from Dubai, nor air travel on connecting carriers within the US; Etihad Airways in particular has a codeshare alliance with American Airlines, while Emirates has partnerships with Alaska Airlines and JetBlue. Increased nonstop commercial airline service between the UAE and US is the fastest growing bilateral aviation relationship in the world, the UAE-US Business Council report said. To meet this new demand for travel to the UAE and beyond, Dubai-based Emirates Airline, Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways, and the US carriers Delta Air Lines and United Airlines now offer more than 61,000 seats on 182 nonstop flights each week, to and from nine US gateway cities. Over 2.4m passengers to travel nonstop between UAE and US in 2013, over 2.4 million passengers will travel nonstop between the UAE and US, and total capacity (in seats) between the two countries is nearly as large as US-Australia or US-Spain. In 2012, about $22.6 billion worth of US goods and services were bought by UAE from all 50 US states, from big things like Boeing 777s to small items like door hinges from a family business in Missouri. The UAE ranks 28 (in GDP) among world economies, but is the United States' 17th-largest export customer. From 2002 to 2012, the UAE was the fastest-growing US export destination (among those countries importing more than $5 billion each year), growing greater than 500 per cent. And on a per capita basis, among export destinations larger than one million people, the UAE ranks third, behind Canada and Singapore. http://www.emirates247.com/news/emirates/uae-airlines-aircraft-orders-to-support-over-200-000- high-paying-jobs-in-us-2013-03-29-1.500536 Back to Top Westchester Aviation Association Westchester Aviation Association is a not-for-profit organization which promotes aviation education and understanding on the part of government authorities and the public. Its members include a growing number of individuals and businesses who value the presence of good air transportation facilities in Westchester County. Westchester Aviation Association Main P.O. Box 447 Purchase, NY, 10577-0447 http://www.westchesteraviation.org/ Curt Lewis