Flight Safety Information May 21, 2013 - No. 102 In This Issue Alaska volcano's ash prompts flight cancellations Storm damages jet, hangar doors at The Eastern Iowa Airport FAA warns pilots of obstructions at Hilton Head airport Emergency! Door falls off aircraft (Indonesia) US transport aircraft forced down in Aceh (Indonesia) Boeing aircraft landing gear catches fire in Moscow Trigana Airplane Skids Off Papua Runway...Jayapura Annual SMS Audit Results Released Is it still safe to fly on a U.N. helicopter? Emirates to debut shisha smoking lounge onboard aircraft Airline mix-up sends passengers to wrong continent Civil Aviation Minister takes action against erring DGCA officers (India) DOT Will Audit FAA on Runway Incursions Third European Flight Data Monitoring Conference (EOFDM), January 2014...Call for Presenters Alaska volcano's ash prompts flight cancellations ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) -- An Alaska volcano eruption is prompting regional airlines to cancel flights to nearby communities, including a town that reported traces of fallen ash. Pavlof Volcano released ash plumes as high as 22,000 feet over the weekend, according to the Alaska Volcano Observatory. Clouds obscured the volcano Monday, but U.S. Geological Survey scientists said seismic instruments at the volcano show continuing tremors. "Seismically, it's been pretty steady over the last 12 hours," geologist Chris Waythomas said late Monday morning. The abrasive ash has not risen enough to threaten international air traffic passing over the volcano-rich Aleutian arc, Waythomas said. Ash emissions have gone high enough, however, to affect flights of some smaller planes. Anchorage-based regional carrier Penair has canceled a dozen passenger and cargo flights to several remote communities since Sunday afternoon. The communities include Sand Point, which reported a dusting of ash Sunday. Penair CEO Danny Seybert said for those flying in the region, flight disruptions are part of doing business. It's not unusual for the airline to cancel flights a couple times each year because of volcanoes, according to Seybert. To him, it's not a big deal, not a sky-is-falling crisis. "If we had that attitude, we would have quit 50 years ago," he said. "It's one of the situations that Mother Nature presents itself along our route structure." Ace Air Cargo, also based in Anchorage, canceled two flights and delayed others, but for the most part, its planes are flying around any ash, said Greg Hawthorne, a company official. The airline is closely monitoring developments, he said. "We're used to those volcanoes going off in that region," he said. "But if the winds are wrong, you don't want to test that pumice." Pavlof eruptions typically involve gas-rich fountains of lava that can shoot up to a few thousand feet. But its ash clouds are usually lower and less dense than the plumes of more explosive volcanoes that pose a greater hazard to aircraft, according to scientists. That's not to say it couldn't spew out much higher plumes, they said. The volcano 625 miles southwest of Anchorage is among the most active volcanoes in the region, with nearly 40 known eruptions, according to the observatory. Pavlof last erupted in 2007. During the 29-day eruption, the volcano emitted mud flows and erupting lava, as well as ash clouds up to 18,000 feet high. In the most recent eruption, trace amounts of ash fell at both Nelson Lagoon and in Sand Point, a town about 55 miles from Pavlof. Residents in the community of nearly 1,000 awoke Sunday to a thin layer of the gritty ash. Kathleen Harper, a National Weather Service observer based at Sand Point, said it was raining lightly Monday. But on Sunday, ash was in the air, irritating her eyes and the back of her throat. She said the ash fall amounted to about a half teaspoon per hour on a sheet of white paper she placed on the ground. When the weather is clear, the eruption can be seen from Sand Point, as well as the community Cold Bay, 37 miles from Pavlof. Through her binoculars, Harper saw Pavlof spit out a fountain of rocky lava. "You could actually see the rocks coming out of the volcano," she said. "It was pretty cool." http://www.sacbee.com/2013/05/20/5435050/alaska-volcanos-ash-prompts- flight.html#storylink=cpy Back to Top Storm damages jet, hangar doors at The Eastern Iowa Airport A regional jet owned by a contract carrier for Delta Airlines is shown after it was was damaged Sunday, May 19, 2013, when straight-line winds blew the aircraft into a boarding bridge at The Eastern Iowa Airport. Delta cancelled a flight to Detroit on Monday morning and planned to have the plane inspected for the extent of the damage to the nose cone and interior components. (Kori Kaiser, The Eastern Iowa Airport) Straight-line winds Sunday night blew a regional jet into a boarding bridge and damaged hangar doors at The Eastern Iowa Airport in Cedar Rapids. Kori Kaiser, airport facilities maintenance supervisor, said the 70-passenger jet operated by a contract carrier for Delta Airlines was parked when it was shoved into the jet boarding bridge about 10:45 p.m. The steel jet bridge was scratched, but the Fiberglas nose cone and aluminum access panels behind it and under the cockpit were damaged. Delta cancelled a flight to Detroit on Monday morning. Kaiser said the airline was sending a representative to assess the damage to the jet. "The plane was moved about 10 to 15 feet," Kaiser said. "Another plane parked next to it did not move. "The jet bridges stand up pretty well to the winds we have at the airport. They are typically retracted each night to prevent unauthorized boarding of the aircraft." Kaiser said large doors that were recently replaced on the P.S. Air hangar were damaged. There also was some roof damage at the former National Guard Armory building on 18th Street SW. The airport control tower, which is operated by the Federal Aviation Administration, measured a peak wind speed of 78 miles per hour. Kaiser said the tower continued to operate during the storm. Airport Director Tim Bradshaw told the Cedar Rapids Airport Commission that a full damage assessment will be performed Monday. The airport previously sustained storm damage in August 2012. Sunday night's storm also toppled about a dozen utility poles on airport property along the south side of 76th Avenue SW. The poles, east of Edgewood Road SW, carried electric and cable television lines. http://thegazette.com/2013/05/20/storm-damages-jet-hangar-doors-at-the-eastern-iowa- airport/ Back to Top FAA warns pilots of obstructions at Hilton Head airport County to survey airport, seek approval to remove problem trees The Federal Aviation Administration has warned pilots about tall trees near Hilton Head Island Airport that could pose a danger to approaching planes. The agency has also barred three types of instrument landing procedures at the airport at night because the trees have encroached on a safety zone for descending planes. Daytime landings are not affected because pilots can fly with visual flight rules, according to FAA spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen. The most common type of instrument landing into the airport is still allowed, she said. The notice, which Beaufort County officials learned of Friday, hasn't yet affected commercial or general aviation at the airport. However, it could create problems under certain circumstances, county administrator Gary Kubic said. "The end result could be nighttime closure of the Hilton Head Airport, especially in poor weather conditions," he said Monday. The county requested a waiver for the notice Friday but was denied. Joe Mazzei, a pilot and vice president of the county Airports Board, said pilots making an instrument landing use an approved downward trajectory when preparing to land. Although that "landing slope" has a built-in margin for error, based on the FAA warning, he said pilots flying at the low end of that slope can't be assured they won't strike something on approach. Although the effect on airport operations appears minimal for now, the warning is likely to rekindle a years-long debate about tree trimming and removal near the airport off Beach City Road. County officials have long been concerned about trees in the approach path, Kubic said, and previous tree-cutting efforts have sparked protests from residents. Last year, residents pledged to fight what they referred to as "indiscriminate trimming." The county has asked consulting firm Talbert, Bright and Ellington to survey areas around the runways to determine if the FAA assessment of tree height is correct. From there, the county would prepare a strategy to remove the obstructions. It's not clear how much the survey will cost. Hilton Head town manager Steve Riley said the town is ready to work with the county but first needs to learn more about the scope of the problem. In addition to the trees, a warning light has gone out on a 260-foot-tall communications tower about 17 miles from the runway, the FAA notice said. Attempts Monday to reach a spokesman for Piedmont Airlines, which operates several daily flights at the airport for US Airways, were unsuccessful. http://www.islandpacket.com/2013/05/20/2509898/faa-warns-pilots-of- obstructions.html#storylink=cpy Back to Top Emergency! Door falls off aircraft (Indonesia) An emergency door of Sriwijaya Air flight number SJ 039 broke off as passengers were boarding at Raja Haji Fisabilillah airport in Tanjungpinang, Riau Islands, on Tuesday. The aircraft, scheduled to depart for Soekarno-Hatta airport, Jakarta, at 7 a.m. local time, had to delay take off until the damaged door was replaced. "Shortly after I took my seat, an emergency exit door in the right side of the aircraft suddenly detached and the emergency chute also opened," one of the passengers told Antara news agency. Tanjungpinang-branch Sriwijaya Air manager Gusmansyah said the aircraft was actually in good condition. "If the emergency equipment does not function, an aircraft is not allowed to fly," said Gusmansyah. http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2013/05/21/emergency-door-falls-aircraft.html Back to Top US transport aircraft forced down in Aceh (Indonesia) The Indonesian Air Force (TNI AU) on Monday forced down an aircraft believed to be a US military transport aircraft for entering Indonesian airspace without proper clearances. Intercepted at about 2 p.m., the twin turboprop Dornier 328 was flying from Maldives to Singapore via Sri Lanka. "We managed to detect its presence in our airspace thanks to our radar at the Lhok Seumawe Air Force Base," the Sultan Iskandar Muda Air Force Base commander, Col. Supriabu, told reporters in Banda Aceh. He said that once the US military aircraft was detected on its radar screen, the TNI AU contacted the aircraft and requested for its clearances. As the aircraft did not have any clearances, the aircraft was ordered to land at the Sultan Iskandar Muda airport in Banda Aceh. Because it followed the order to land, Supriabu said it was not necessary to scramble TNI AU jet fighters to intercept the aircraft. "Any military aircraft passing through our airspace must have two clearances issued by the Foreign Affairs Ministry and the Indonesian Military [TNI] headquarters respectively," said Supriabu. TNI AU personnel checked the aircraft with tail number 13075 to ensure it was not carrying certain goods. "It is a transport aircraft belonging to the US military with a 5-person crew. They were not allowed to leave the airplane for any reason before their clearances were issued by the TNI headquarters and Foreign Affairs Ministry in Jakarta," Supriabu said. After questioning the crew, the commander said the crew had indeed planned to land in Banda Aceh for refuelling but the aircraft was forced down because it did not have any clearances. "This is related to our country's sovereignty. Any aircraft, let alone a military one, passing our airspace has to have clearances," he said. "The aircraft is being impounded until its intentions for entering our airspace are clear." The aircraft is still parked at the airport pending its clearances. While the TNI AU claims the aircraft is a US military aircraft, it does not have the US military roundel nor US civilian registration. The only registration is its tail number, 13075, without any additional markings. http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2013/05/21/us-transport-aircraft-forced-down-aceh.html Back to Top Boeing aircraft landing gear catches fire in Moscow Passengers evacuate a Boeing 737 at an airport in Moscow. Another Boeing aircraft was involved in a fire incident this weekend, however this time it did not involve the 787 Dreamliner and did not appear to involve a battery. A Boeing 737 owned by Russian carrier UTair was able to evacuate all of its 130 passengers safely at Vunkovo Airport in Moscow after a fire was discovered on the landing gear, the Associated Press reports. No one was injured. Boeing just recently received approval from the Federal Aviation Administration to fly its 787 aircraft after battery fires were reported in two separate aircraft earlier this year. The planes were grounded for about four months while the problem was being investigated. Chicago-based Boeing Co. has a facility at Port San Antonio where employees perform modification work on 787 aircraft before final delivery. http://www.bizjournals.com/sanantonio/blog/morning-edition/2013/05/boeing-aircraft-landing- gear-catches.html Back to Top Trigana Airplane Skids Off Papua Runway Jayapura. A Boeing cargo airplane operated by Indonesian airline Trigana Air skidded off a runway at Wamena Airport in the Papua district of Jayawijaya on Monday. The incident took place at about 4 p.m. local time (2 p.m. in Jakarta), after the plane's right and left tires blew out upon hitting the runway, It's not clear yet what had caused the tires to blow. "While removing goods from inside the plane, police are investigating the scene of the accident," Papua Police spokesman Sr, Comr. I Gede Sumerta Jaya said on Monday. "There were no victims in the incident." The plane, captained by pilot Jatmiko and co-pilot Andika, was carrying basic staples as it flew from Sentani Airport in Jayapura to Wamena. Activities at the airport were reportedly undisrupted, as it was the last plane arriving in Wamena on Monday. Airport authorities said the airplane would be relocated on Monday evening so that the airport may operate normally again on Tuesday. Trigana immediately unloaded the staples after the incident. "Material losses are still being calculated," Sumerta said. http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/trigana-airplane-skids-off-papua-runway/ Back to Top Back to Top Is it still safe to fly on a U.N. helicopter? On March 9, a Russian Mi-8 helicopter flying under the U.N. flag lost its way in heavy rains and crashed into a densely wooded mountainside in the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), killing all 4 Russian crew members on board and prompting a review of U.N. safety regulations. The helicopter -- contracted by the Russian airliner UTair -- was traveling without an Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System (EGPWS), a digital mapping system which warns a pilot when the aircraft is about to hit the ground, a building, or the side of mountain. The device, standard in Western planes and helicopters, is not required in U.N. aircraft. In response to the air tragedy, the United Nations quickly issued an internal email indicating that it would require the device be installed in all U.N. aircraft. But the decision was rescinded following complaints by Russia, whose suppliers don't use the security devices in their own aircraft, according to diplomatic sources familiar with the matter. The fatal crash near the town of Bukavu was the worst U.N. air accident in the DRC since April 4, 2011, when a U.N.- contracted Georgian Airways Bombadier CRJ-100 jet crash-landed at the Kinshasa airport in stormy weather, killing 32 of the 33 passengers and crew aboard. Following that accident, a top U.N. official advised Ukraine to urge its helicopter suppliers to upgrade their own safety features, installing the more advanced ground warning systems in their helicopters, according to Ukraine's U.N. ambassador, Yuriy Sergeyez. But they never required it, and they refused to compensate companies that voluntarily installed the systems, which can add up to $150,00.00 to the price of a helicopter, Sergeyev said. Ukrainian firms, he added, installed the devices in some of their helicopters. Their Russian counterparts held off, according to U.N.-based diplomats. The latest incident highlights a risk for U.N. pilots that has been all but eliminated for their counterparts who fly commercial aircraft or who pilot helicopters in the United States and Europe, where the warning systems are standard. A review of internal, confidential U.N. communications also underscores the U.N.'s sluggish effort to address a pressing safety issue that potentially threatens the lives of U.N. crews and passengers. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), which sets international flight standards, recommends that U.N. aircraft carry the enhanced ground warning system. But the U.N. has determined that it is not mandatory. The post-crash debate is playing out against a wider U.N. competition over the lucrative air supply market. The U.N. peacekeeping department's air fleet - - at least 190 aircraft and 140 helicopters, in 17 U.N. missions around the world -- relies largely on low-cost planes and helicopters leased by private contractors or supplied by air forces from the developing world. The market has long been dominated by countries from the former Soviet Union -- including Russia and Ukraine -- that inherited a massive inventory of inexpensive aircraft after the breakup of the Soviet Union, and continues to produce variants of these rugged designs. A number of European powers, including France, Germany, Italy, and Spain, have been seeking to break into the U.N. aircraft leasing market (estimated at $1 billion a year, according to U.N. figures, , offering more advanced aircraft with state-of-the-art safety features. They have encountered little success at the United Nations, where contracts are required to go to the lowest bidder, and where, some have privately complained, U.N. bidding specifications favor former Soviet aircraft. Some U.N. diplomats believe that internal debate is driven as much by safety concerns as by competition for costly contracts, particularly between two top suppliers, Ukraine and Russia. Ukrainian firms are currently bidding on a major new contract for helicopters for the DRC, and they have sought to secure a competitive edge by highlighting the fact that they are moving faster than their Russian competitors to equip all of their helicopters with enhanced ground warning systems. "It is a purely commercial thing," said one diplomat. "The Ukrainians were led to believe that the [safety] specifications for helicopters would be changed soon -- and they added the special safety equipment on their own initiative. The Russians found out the specs were going to be changed and started complaining. So now, the Russians are pissed off that they risk losing contracts. And the Ukrainians are pissed off that the specs will not change." Sergeyev, Ukraine's U.N. ambassador, said that as far back as 2011 the U.N.'s then chief of the Department of Field Services, which manages logistics for U.N. peacekeeping missions, Susanna Malcorra, had urged him to instruct the country's contractors to begin installing the warning systems on their aircraft. Sergeyev said Ukrainian contractors have begun to comply with the request but that the additional costs associated with the safety upgrades have made their helicopters less competitive. The U.N., meanwhile, has sent mixed signals about its commitment to safety, according to U.N. documents. Shortly after the Russian crash, Christian Gregoire, an official from the U.N.'s Aviation Quality Assurance unit, sent out an email to the U.N. peacekeeping mission in the DRC announcing that the U.N. would now require contractors upgrade their early warning systems. "In the light of the recent tragic UTAIR mi-8 accident in MONUSCO [the U.N. peacekeeping mission in the DRC]," Gregoire wrote, according to a copy of the emailobtained by Turtle Bay, the U.N. peacekeeping department's Air Transport Section "will shortly amend all contracts Terms and Conditions to make the EGPWS mandatory equipment on board all UN operated aircraft." Gregoire also warned that failure to install the warning systems could lead to the grounding of some helicopters, or restrictions on their use in peacekeeping operations. In a separate March 12 memo, three days after the latest Russian air crash, an official from the U.N. aviation unit in the DRC, Andrei Anochkine, sent a memo to UTair charging that its aircraft were not in compliance with its contractual obligation to ensure greater ability to detect potential flight obstacles in low-visibility situations. "Safety is being compromised" by UTair's failure to use the EGPWS in its aircraft, wrote Anochkine. "Traditional GPWS can only monitor the ground directly beneath it," he wrote. "This can be a problem if there is a very sudden change in the terrain and the GPWS cannot provide a prompt enough warning for the pilot to react. With Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System (EGPWS), the system can track the course of the aircraft and see if it is heading towards a mountain or other similar threat." Together, the two memos appeared to mark a shift in the U.N. peacekeeping department's air fleet safety policy, But a subsequent department memo, drafted on April 12 by a U.N. procurement official, Sean Purcell, made clear that the policy had not in fact changed. While the installation of the new early warning systems would constitute an "advantage" to vendors offering helicopters to the U.N. "it is not mandatory at this juncture," Purcell's memo stated. At U.N. headquarters, officials downplayed the contradictory communications, insisting that the U.N. had never officially committed to requiring the installation of the new safety systems. "There was no reversal of decision, as in fact there has been no decision," she said. "Our first priority is to ensure that our air operations are safe and reliable," Ameerah Haq, the undersecretary general for the department of field support, which oversees logistics for U.N. peacekeeping missions, wrote in an April 30 letter to the Ukrainian ambassador. The U.N., she added, is "undertaking a review of technical and contractual arrangements in order to further reduce the safety risks associated with United Nations flights...This review may possibly conclude that EGPWS, or other similar systems, should be installed in all aircraft contracted" for U.N peacekeeping missions. Still, the U.N. assurances did little to mollify the Ukrainian government. In a statement to troop- contributing countries earlier this month, Sergeyev denounced what he views as the U.N.'s reversal, accusing the global body of "dangerously decreasing its attention to safety and security in the area of the helicopters procurement." "The overwhelming majority of the U.N.-contracted helicopters will operate without vitally important equipment," that could imperil U.N. peacekeepers and others who travel on U.N. helicopters, Sergeyev added. "How many new tragedies" are required, he asked, before the U.N. will change its "position on safety and security in the aviation procurement practice?" U.N. officials and UTair say that there is no evidence yet that the helicopter crash could have been prevented by an early warning system, and that the Russian government and the DRC are still investigating the cause of the crash. Therefore, Guerrero said, "we cannot speculate on the cause of the accident." U.N. officials also cite technical problems, noting that they are reluctant to early warning technology until they are confident that the digital maps of the terrain in many of the trouble spots where the U.N. operates, including the DRC and Sudan, are accurate. "The U.N. needs to verify that EGPWS will firstly deliver the expected, anticipated benefits," and whether it can do so "without endangering the crew and passengers," Guerrero said. "Aviation avionics and safety systems are highly technical and complex matters." Ilya Kimish, a spokesperson for UTair, wrote in an email message that the helicopters it supplies to the United Nations are equipped with "meteorological location" and "radio altimeter" devices that can determine how far their aircraft are from the ground, and can detect other "artificial and natural obstacles" in the flight path. But he said there is a good reason why the U.N. doesn't require aircraft to use enhanced proximity warning systems. They rely on detailed digital topographical maps and there "is a total absence of topographical maps of Africa." Another official said that it is likely that the U.N. will ultimately decide to require the enhanced ground-proximity early-warning systems, or another weather radar system that helps pilots navigate through stormy weather. But the official also said that the more advanced equipment would pose a fresh risk for U.N. pilots, giving them the additional confidence to fly in dangerous weather. The current U.N. policy, the official said, is "if you head into difficult weather you need to land and wait till the weather improves. If you are in doubt don't fly." The concern now, the official added, is that U.N. pilots will try to "push the envelope. In the end, it may actually add to the risk." http://turtlebay.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2013/05/20/is_it_still_safe_to_fly_on_a_un_helicopter Back to Top Emirates to debut shisha smoking lounge onboard aircraft Premium passengers traveling on Dubai-based airline Emirates will be exempt from the no- smoking policy starting next month, when the carrier debuts a shisha lounge on select jumbo jets. The new service is set to debut on the carrier's fleet of Airbus A380 aircraft and will be offered to Emirates' business and first-class passengers. Passengers can pre-order a shisha -- also known as a waterpipe, hubble-bubble, hookah or narghile -- from the onboard menu and retire to the lounge for a post-meal smoke beginning in June. Waterpipes could loosely be described as the Middle Eastern version of the post-dinner cigar, passing flavored tobacco through bubbled water which is then smoked through a pipe and hose. Emirates says it's introducing the Signature Shisha Lounge to enrich the flying experience for Middle Eastern passengers, but also to introduce the Arabian custom to foreigners. Meanwhile, the new service risks inviting controversy given that shisha pipes carry what some medical authorities describe as a misleading reputation for being a recreational and harmless form of smoking. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the tobacco is no less toxic in a hookah pipe. Contrary to belief, nor does the water filter out toxic ingredients found in the tobacco smoke. In fact, the CDC estimates that due to the way shisha pipes are smoked and shared -- frequency of puffing, depth of inhalation, and length of smoking sessions -- a typical, one-hour long session could be tantamount to inhaling 100 to 200 times the volume of smoke inhaled from a single cigarette. http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/afp/tourism/130520/emirates-debut-shisha- smoking-lounge-onboard-aircraft Back to Top Airline mix-up sends passengers to wrong continent A couple who had intended to fly from Los Angeles to Dakar, Senegal, ended up 7,000 miles away in Dhaka, Bangladesh, because of an airline error. Sandy Valdivieso and her husband Triet Vo, 39, told the Los Angeles Times that they didn't think anything was amiss when they got their Turkish Airlines boarding passes for their flights from Los Angeles to Dakar, the capital of Senegal. Their passes had them going from LAX, the airport code for Los Angeles International Airport, to IST, Istanbul, to DAC. It turns out that DAC is the airport code for Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. The airport code for Dakar is DKR. "I guess we were just going by the flight number on our tickets, and that DAC was printed on them," Valdivieso, 31, an academic counselor at UCLA, told the Times. "You just assume that everything is correct." Valdivieso booked economy class seats on their December flight from Los Angeles to Dakar, via Istanbul, for $2,700. Both their tickets and baggage claim receipts had DAC as their final destination. Their flight to Istanbul went smoothly. On their second flight, "when the flight attendant said we were heading to Dhaka, we believed that this was how you pronounced 'Dakar' with a Turkish accent," Valdivieso said. They quickly fell asleep. Valdivieso finally realized something had gone terribly wrong when she woke up hours later and noticed that the travel map on the overhead video screen showed the plane flying over the Middle East. After the plane landed, the couple proceeded to try to sort out the error. It took nine hours. Turkish Airlines flew them back to Istanbul. From there, they got on their six-hour flight to Dakar. Their luggage made it to them two days later. The carrier did not charge them for the extra flights. But the couple have been trying since December to get the airline to compensate them financially for the mistake. It wasn't until the Los Angeles Times contacted the airline that they were given two free economy class tickets to any Turkish Airlines destination. Rick Seaney, co-founder of the website FareCompare.com, told the Times that it's not that uncommon for mix-ups to happen with travelers' itineraries. But he's never heard of an airline sending passengers to completely wrong continents. "This is just brutal," he said. "A lot worse than losing your bag." http://www.usatoday.com/story/todayinthesky/2013/05/20/turkish-airlines-error-dhaka- dakar/2327031/ Back to Top Civil Aviation Minister takes action against erring DGCA officers (India) New Delhi, May 21 (ANI): Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh has taken a decision to award minor penalty of censure to four officers of DGCA namely James George, Assistant Director (Airworthiness), V.P. Massey, Director (Airworthiness), R.K. Yadav, Assistant Director (Airworthiness) and Rajiv Gaur, Assistant Director (AE) for non-intimation of employment of their dependents in the private airlines or any sector under Ministry of Civil Aviation. Disciplinary proceedings were initiated against these officers with the approval of Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) and a detailed enquiry was conducted by the DGCA in the matter. During the enquiry, it was established that the officers had not intimated or obtained permission from the Government regarding employment of their dependents in the civil aviation sector. Their said act was a violation of Conduct Rules and, accordingly, Minister for Civil Aviation took a decision to award minor penalty of censure for their non-compliance of Conduct Rules. (ANI) http://www.newstrackindia.com/newsdetails/2013/05/21/51-Civil-Aviation-Minister-takes- action-against-erring-DGCA-officers.html Back to Top DOT Will Audit FAA on Runway Incursions The Department of Transportation's Office of Inspector General (OIG) is to examine the FAA's Runway Safety Program in the light of a steadily increasing number of runway incursions and evaluate the agency's progress in implementing initiatives to prevent further incursions. Prevention of runway incursions and ground collisions has been on the NTSB's "Most Wanted Transportation Safety Improvements List" since 1990. "The number of serious runway incursions has tripled over the past three years from six to 18, while total runway incursions also rose from 954 to 1,150 in that same period," said the OIG in its initial report. "More concerning is that this increase occurred during a period when total air traffic operations declined slightly. In addition, the FAA has recently reorganized its Runway Safety Office, and has changed the way that the agency reports and evaluates runway incursions." The audit is scheduled to begin this week. http://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/ainsafety/2013-05-20/dot-will-audit-faa-runway- incursions Back to Top Third European Flight Data Monitoring Conference (EOFDM), January 2014 Call for Presenters The European Operators Flight Data Monitoring (EOFDM) forum is a voluntary safety initiative dedicated to the promotion of Flight Data Monitoring (FDM) or FOQA programm. Under the aegis of ECAST (European Commercial Aviation Safety Team), the EOFDM forum objective is to facilitate the implementation of Flight Data Monitoring (FDM) tools and programmes by operators and to help operators in drawing the maximum safety benefits from it. Despite its name, the EOFDM welcomes non-European operators, as well as aircraft manufacturers, regulators, research institutions, flight crew associations, etc. The 3rd EOFDM conference is looking again for volunteers to share their experience and enthusiasm with FDM. Presentations should be related to FDM programm and of general interest. Examples of presentations at past EOFDM conferences and more detailed information are provided at http://easa.europa.eu/essi/ecast/main-page-2/eofdm/ (click on "Annual EOFDM Conference"). Proposals should be addressed to guillaume.aigoin@easa.europa.eu and philippe.pilloud@easyJet.com . Curt Lewis