Flight Safety Information October 9, 2013 - No. 208 In This Issue Pilots, Airline Fault Equipment in Asiana Crash 2 seriously injured in plane crash at Sedona Airport (Arizona) FAA Recalls 800 Furloughed Air Safety Workers Nigeria: NCAA Blamed Over Aircraft Flying With Fake Insurance United Russia Deputy Kicked Off Airplane for Drunkenness Aircraft noise linked to higher risk of heart disease and stroke Police: Woman pointed laser at Border Patrol helicopter IFA Forum in Hong Kong 26-27 Nov 2013 Next GFSC Meeting 06 November 2013, Abu Dhabi ISASI NERC Meeting (19OCT2013) Think ARGUS PROS Delta to AMR Jet Deliveries Stall on Government Shutdown Aircraft scrapping firm starts up in Prestwick (Scotland) U.S. Air Force shelving brand new C-27J Spartan aircraft after spending millions Aegean Airlines wins EU approval to buy Olympic Air APU needed....B737-300 APU needed Pilots, Airline Fault Equipment in Asiana Crash By JOAN LOWY (AP) The pilots of Asiana Flight 214, which crashed in San Francisco in July, as well as the airline, are raising the possibility that a key device that controls the Boeing 777's speed may have malfunctioned, an aviation expert familiar with the investigation into the crash said Tuesday. National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Deborah Hersman said early in the crash investigation that her experts had found no mechanical problems with the plane, but were investigating further. One of the three pilots in the Asiana cockpit told investigators after the accident that he thought the plane's automatic throttle was maintaining speed as the plane descended to land, but later discovered it wasn't sending power to the engine, Hersman told reporters in briefings following the accident. The autothrottle controls engine power and thus speed. Without enough speed, a plane can lose lift and sink quickly. In the case of Flight 214, the plane was flying low and slow as pilots attempted to land. The 777's landing gear struck a seawall just short of the runway. The impact ripped off the back of the plane, tossed out three flight attendants and their seats and scattered pieces of the jet across the runway as it spun and skidded to a stop. There are many ways in which a pilot can engage and then inadvertently disengage an autothrottle. But the South Korean air carrier and the pilots involved have raised the possibility with investigators that the autothrottle disengaged on its own, said the expert, who spoke only on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak publicly about the matter . There have been previous incidents involving other Boeing planes - 757s, 767s and newer 737s - in which automatic throttles that were engaged have disengaged for no known reason, the expert said. Boeing spokesman Bret Jensen declined to comment, saying that as a party to the investigation the aircraft maker is prohibited from speaking publicly about the accident. The Asiana pilots' contention that the autothrottle may have malfunctioned was first reported by The Wall Street Journal. NTSB investigators have left open whether the autothrottle was ever fully engaged. Inspectors found that the autothrottle had been "armed," or made ready for activation, Hersman said in her early briefings. But she said investigators still were determining whether it had been engaged. In the last two minutes, there was a lot of use of the autopilot and autothrottle, and investigators were going to look into whether pilots made the appropriate commands and if they knew what they were doing, she said. The flight was coming from Shanghai and Seoul. Two Chinese students were killed and 180 injured in the crash. A third student survived the crash but died after being run over by a fire truck. The NTSB has scheduled a public hearing on the accident for early November. Back to Top 2 seriously injured in plane crash at Sedona Airport (Arizona) SEDONA, Ariz. -- Two people were seriously injured in a plane crash at the Sedona Airport Tuesday afternoon. The pilot was coming in for a landing at about 2 p.m. but didn't like the approach so he pulled up to go around again. He cleared a fence at the end of the runway but then crashed into the ravine below the airport. There were three people inside the small plane. Amazingly, the pilot was able to walk away from the crash. He was taken to a hospital as a precaution. The two passengers suffered possible life-threatening injuries. One spent an hour and a half trapped inside the wreckage before being rescued by an Arizona Department of Public Safety helicopter and airlifted to a hospital. According to officials with the Sedona Airport, the three survivors are German tourists who rented the four- seater plane in Phoenix. Their names have not been released. "It's really lucky that all three of them are alive and breathing, and it's a miracle that one of them was able to walk up the hill," said Rod Propst, general manager of the Sedona Airport. Normally, the Federal Aviation Administration or the National Transportation Safety Board or both would investigate, but not this time due to the federal government shutdown. http://www.azfamily.com/news/Small-plane-crashes-at-Sedona-Airport-226984321.html *************** Date: 08-OCT-2013 Time: 14:00 LT Type: Mooney M20J 201 Owner/operator: Registration: C/n / msn: Fatalities: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 3 Other fatalities: 0 Airplane damage: Substantial Location: Sedona Airport (KSEZ), Sedona, AZ - United States of America Phase: Landing Nature: Unknown Departure airport: KHND Destination airport: KSEZ Narrative: The aircraft, a Mooney M20J 201, experienced a runway overrun upon landing on runway 21 at Sedona Airport (KSEZ), Sedona, Arizona. The aircraft sustained substantial damage and two occupants onboard were seriously injured. One occupant onboard the aircraft received minor injuries. www.aviation-safety.net Back to Top FAA Recalls 800 Furloughed Air Safety Workers FAA is recalling some of its airline and aircraft safety inspectors furloughed by the government shutdown now entering its eighth day Tuesday. More than 800 workers from its Office of Aviation Safety were recalled this week. These workers had been deemed nonessential under the Department of Transportation's (DoT) lapse in annual appropriations plan. Under the limited recall, about 200 engineers, inspectors and safety staff will return to FAA's Aircraft Certification Service, and more than 600 airline safety inspectors will return to the Flight Standards Service at airports across the country. The Office of Aerospace Medicine will also see 25 physicians and support staff return to work to support the Air Traffic Controller health program. One segment of the agency that will remain furloughed is general aviation (GA) accident investigators. "In the event of a general aviation accident, the FAA will collect information from local law enforcement, emergency responders and other officials, to conduct a basic investigation. If investigators identify an urgent high risk that requires additional resources, the agency would recall the necessary personnel to respond to the matter. The FAA is not responding to GA accidents with on-site investigation," the agency said. As the shutdown continues, the agency said it will continue to evaluate safety risks within the National Airspace System (NAS), and continue recalling support staff to address emergency needs. In a statement, Mike Perrone, national president of the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists, AFL-CIO (PASS) a trade union for aviation safety inspectors, said safety inspectors need to be back on the job immediately. "Before this shutdown, understaffing of the aviation safety inspector workforce was a serious issue; now, for every minute these inspectors are off the job, the backlog of their oversight and surveillance continues to grow. As we enter the second week of the government shutdown, Congress must immediately work to end the shutdown and put an end to undermining the critical work these inspectors perform," Perrone said. http://www.aviationtoday.com/av/maintenance/FAA-Recalls-800-Furloughed-Air-Safety- Workers_80368.html#.UlVAB1CRB8E Back to Top Nigeria: NCAA Blamed Over Aircraft Flying With Fake Insurance Following the discovery that Associated Airlines may have flown the ill-fated aircraft that crashed in Lagos without a valid insurance cover, worried insurance practitioners have blamed the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) for the ugly incident. According to the professionals, it was NCAA's inefficiency and poor oversight that made it possible for Associated Airlines and maybe some other airlines to operate their fleet in the country without valid insurance protection, as required of them. They said instead of prevailing on airlines in the country to buy adequate insurance to cover their fleet as prescribed by international aviation laws, the authority went outside its jurisdiction to argue that applicable aviation insurance premium rates in the country were too high. A seasoned insurance professional, Mr. Onyekwere Iwuagwu, said NCAA has failed Nigerians by not ensuring that airlines under its supervision get adequate insurances, particularly to cover passengers and their cargoes. "Had NCAA performed its roles effectively and efficiently by verifying the claims of individual airlines with relevant insurance organisations, the relatives of deceased and surviving victims of the air crash would have been saved the trauma of knowing that the much anticipated insurance compensation may not be coming after all," Iwuagwu said. Also speaking to THISDAY on condition of anonymity, a highly-rated insurance broker in the country reasoned that Associated Airlines may not have been alone in flying commercial aircraft without valid insurance. According to him, "many other airlines in the country, particularly smaller commercial aircraft, may have been flying without valid insurance cover, particularly since the enforcement of 'no premium no cover' by the insurance regulator, National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) started in January this year". He therefore, advised that going forward, the civil aviation authority should cross-check the validity of any insurance claims by the operators under its supervision with NAICOM or the individual operators the aviators named as their official insurer. "Henceforth, NCAA should verify every insurance certificate that airlines present to it as proof of having a valid insurance protection for their fleet with either the insurance regulator, NAICOM, or the companies they claim have provided them the cover. "This will stop airlines from flying their fleet of aircraft without any valid insurance cover and also ensure that deceased and surviving victims of air accidents are adequately compensated as enshrined in international aviation laws that Nigeria subscribes to," he said. The Associated Airlines aircraft conveying the body of the former Governor of Ondo State, Chief Olusegun Agagu, his family members and government officials to Akure for burial crashed close to the aviation fuel tank farm inside the premises of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) in Mafoluku minutes after take-off. The hopes of victims and their families were raised when some operators said the insurance industry was ready and capable of settling all the valid claims that may arise as a result of the air disaster. However, it was later discovered that Associated Airlines may have been flying its aircraft using fake insurance certificates even as it claimed that Sema Insurance and Nigeria Reinsurance Plc (Nigeria-Re) were its insurers. Nigeria-Re has denied the existence of any insurance contract between it and the airlines, saying such claims were not only false but made by people who do not understand the way the insurance industry is organised. The Managing Director of Nigeria-Re, Mrs. Isioma Chukwuma, told THISDAY that her organisation was never at any time the official insurer of Associated Airlines. She explained that her organisation, being a reinsurance company, does not transact any business with insureds or policyholders, adding that reinsurance companies insures risks taken by primary insurance companies and as such could not have had any insurance transaction with the airline. Just like the Nigeria-Re, Africa-Re as a secondary insurer does not transact insurance businesses with individuals, corporate bodies or any other type of client. It insures risks of primary insurers only. THISDAY investigations also confirmed that there is no insurance company named Sema Insurance on the list of companies registered by the NAICOM. THISDAY also double checked with the umbrella body for insurance broking firms in the country, the Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB), where it was also confirmed the Sema Insurance was not on their list. http://allafrica.com/stories/201310090511.html?page=2 Back to Top United Russia Deputy Kicked Off Airplane for Drunkenness, Witness Says United Russia are investigating an incident where its member Isayev was kicked off a St.Pete-Moscow plane for disorderly behavior. United Russia lawmaker Andrei Isayev was kicked off a flight from St. Petersburg to Moscow for supposed intoxicated shenanigans, and his party is demanding answers, news reports said Wednesday. Isayev brandished his deputy's ID while he and his aide yelled at flight attendants before the Tuesday night takeoff, until police removed the two from the plane, TJournal reported, citing Ilya Perekopsky, the deputy chief of the Russian social network VKontakte who was on the plane and witnessed the incident. "Tell your voters how you and your wasted aide made the whole plane wait while police removed you from the St.Pete-Moscow flight," Perekopsky tweeted. The takeoff was delayed by an hour and a half, he told TJournal. Isayev's assistant was fined 100 rubles ($3) by transport police for being intoxicated, Interfax reported. "We were calmly waiting for takeoff until Isayev and his aide showed up," Perekopsky said. "Judging by their behavior, I would guess they were on some kind of drugs." United Russia said it would investigate the situation and respond. "The incident with Andrei Isayev is extremely unpleasant for us," the secretary of the party's general council, Sergei Neverov, said. "Now we are going to ask him to give explanations." "This incident shall not pass without serious reaction from the party," he added. http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/united-russia-deputy-kicked-off-airplane-for-drunkenness- witness-says/487566.html#ixzz2hE3SXSJt Back to Top Aircraft noise linked to higher risk of heart disease and stroke (Reuters) - Exposure to high levels of aircraft noise near busy international airports has been linked to a higher risk of heart disease and strokes in two separate studies from Britain and the United States. Researchers in London studied data on noise and hospital admissions around London Heathrow airport while a separate team analyzed data for more than 6 million Americans living near 89 U.S. airports in 2009. Both studies, published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ)on Wednesday, found that people living with the highest levels of aircraft noise had increased risks of stroke, coronary heart disease and other cardiovascular diseases. Stephen Stansfeld, a professor at Queen Mary University of London who was not part of either research team but provided a commentary on their findings, said the results suggested that "aircraft noise exposure is not just a cause of annoyance, sleep disturbance, and reduced quality of life" but may also increase sickness and death from heart disease. City and town planners "need to take this into account when extending airports in heavily populated areas or planning new airports," he said. Other experts said the studies raised important issues about aircraft noise and health, but did not establish a causal link. "Both of these studies are thorough and well-conducted. But, even taken together, they don't prove that aircraft noise actually causes heart disease and strokes," said Kevin McConway, a professor of applied statistics at Britain's Open University. The British research team set out to investigate the risks of stroke and heart disease in relation to aircraft noise among 3.6 million people living near Heathrow, one of the busiest airports in the world. They compared hospital admissions and death rates due to stroke and heart disease from 2001 to 2005 in 12 areas of London and nine further districts to the west of London. Levels of aircraft noise for each area were obtained from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), and factors that could have affected the results, such as age, sex, ethnicity, social deprivation, smoking, air pollution and road traffic noise were also taken into account. Their results showed increased risks of stroke, coronary heart disease, and cardiovascular disease - especially among the 2.0 percent of the study population exposed to the highest levels of daytime and night time aircraft noise. The researchers noted that discussions on possible expansion plans for London's airport capacity have been on and off the table for many decades, with demand for air travel expected to double in Britain to 300 million passengers per year by 2030. "Policy decisions need to take account of potential health related concerns, including possible effects of environmental noise on cardiovascular health," they wrote. In a second study also published in the BMJ, researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health and Boston University School of Public Health looked at data for some 6 million Americans aged 65 or over living near 89 U.S. airports in 2009. The research - the first to analyze a very large population across multiple airports - found that, on average, zip codes with 10 decibel (dB) higher aircraft noise had a 3.5 percent higher cardiovascular hospital admission rate. The results showed that people exposed to the highest noise levels - more than 55 dB - had the strongest link with hospitalizations for heart disease, and the link also remained after adjustment for socioeconomic status, demographic factors, air pollution, and proximity to roads. Conway said that because of the kind of data used, the studies could only "suggest very strongly that we should find out much more about aircraft noise and circulatory disease". Back to Top Police: Woman pointed laser at Border Patrol helicopter BROWNSVILLE - A 20-year-old Brownsville woman was jailed for nine hours early Sunday following her arrest on a charge of aiming a laser beam at a U.S. Border Patrol helicopter that was in the air. Yesenia Lisbeth Diaz told Brownsville police that she didn't think "that (the laser beam) would reach that far," police spokesman J.J. Treviño said. The incident happened shortly after 3 a.m. Sunday near West Alton Gloor Boulevard. Treviño said authorities received a call from Border Patrol agents that a laser beam had been pointed at one of the agency's helicopters. The agents were able to tell police that the laser beam was coming from a location on Frankfurt Street, which is located off West Alton Gloor Boulevard, near Edward Manzano Jr. Middle School and Keller Elementary School. Police went to a house in the 2600 block of Frankfurt Street and spoke with Diaz, who admitted she aimed the laser at the helicopter, but said didn't think it would reach that far. Diaz was arrested and charged with one count of illuminating an aircraft with laser point, a Class C misdemeanor. A 28-year-old Donna man was sentenced earlier this year to 18 months in federal prison for aiming a laser at a U.S. Customs and Border Protection helicopter. Authorities said Margarito Tristan III aimed a green laser at a CBP helicopter conducting a night training operation near Weslaco. According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, the pilots were "illuminated by a green laser" and their eyes became "irradiated by the laser causing them disorientation." Authorities were able to trace the laser to Tristan, who admitted that he used the laser to illuminate the helicopter. http://www.valleymorningstar.com/news/local_news/article_3313c352-2fcb-11e3-9184-001a4bcf6878.html Back to Top Back to Top Subject: NOTICE - Next GFSC Meeting 06 November 2013 To: "GFSC Membership" Dear GFSC Members, The GFSC Executive Committee is please to announce the details of the next Gulf Flight Safety Council meeting. The details are as follows: Date: Wednesday 06 November 2013 Venue: Gulf Centre for Aviation Studies, Al Bateen Airport, Abu Dhabi Time: 0830 - 1600 We would like to once again thank GCAS for their generous support in sponsoring the venue for this meeting. Thanks and kind regards, Mark Captain Mark Trotter Secretary - Gulf Flight Safety Council membership@gfsc.aero www.gfsc.aero Mobile: +971 50 120 9503 Back to Top Back to Top Back to Top Delta to AMR Jet Deliveries Stall on Government Shutdown Delta Air Lines Inc. (DAL) and AMR Corp. (AAMRQ)'s American Airlines are waiting on new jets stuck as far afield as Germany with the partial shutdown of the U.S. government stalling deliveries across the global aerospace industry. An Airbus SAS A319 due to be delivered today to American is still on the ground in Hamburg, joining other Airbus jets idled in Europe for JetBlue Airways Corp. (JBLU) and US Airways Group Inc. (LCC) In Canada, Bombardier Inc. (BBD/B) said it has a Delta-bound regional jet and a turboprop for a buyer it didn't identify. The tardy shipments show the fallout for airlines and planemakers from the federal stoppage even as air travel remains unaffected. Makers of smaller planes also may be pinched, because a government closing until mid-October would delay 130 aircraft valued at $1.5 billion amid the peak season for those deliveries, the General Aviation Manufacturers Association said. "It wasn't on people's radar," said George Hamlin, a former Airbus executive who runs Fairfax, Virginia-based Hamlin Transportation Consulting. "We haven't had something like this happen. Everyone was preoccupied with the greater implications of the shutdown, and yet it impacts all sorts of things." Deliveries have been held up by the shuttering of a U.S. Federal Aviation Administration office in Oklahoma City, where the planes must be registered before they can fly in the U.S. FAA employees at that office aren't among 800 being recalled to work this week. Airbus Planes While United Continental Holdings Inc. (UAL) reported no disruptions involving its new aircraft, other airlines weren't as lucky. Tempe, Arizona-based US Airways has a wide-body A330 at an Airbus facility in Toulouse, France, the planemaker's home, and may face a late delivery this week for a single-aisle A321 that's now in Hamburg. American's A319 is marooned in Hamburg as well, as is JetBlue's first A321. "We've purchased it, but we can't fly it back to the U.S. until it's registered," Mike Miller, a spokesman for New York-based JetBlue, said in an interview yesterday. Boeing Co. is using temporary mail-in registration to avoid any delivery snarls, Doug Alder, a Boeing spokesman, said by e-mail. The registry regulations don't apply to Boeing's customers outside the U.S., according to Alder, who said the Chicago-based company was "taking steps to mitigate potential delays" while declining to say whether any deliveries had been halted. Bombardier Planes The customer for Bombardier's stalled Q400 turboprop delivery isn't being identified, said Marc Duchesne, a spokesman for the Montreal-based planemaker. Anthony Black, a Delta spokesman, said the delayed Bombardier CRJ900 regional jet was for the carrier's Endeavor unit. Embraer SA (EMBR3) said "it could be affected in the coming weeks if the shutdown continues" even though the Sao Jose dos Campos, Brazil-based company hasn't had any delays with regional jets for U.S. buyers. The shutdown could threaten fourth-quarter deliveries, said GAMA, which represents light-aircraft makers and their suppliers. The year's last three months typically account for 35 percent of annual general aviation aircraft shipments valued about $8 billion, GAMA said in a statement. "The longer the shutdown continues, the more likely it is to cause economic difficulties and job losses," GAMA said. Handovers of 12 planes already are stalled, according to the group, whose members include Boeing's business-jets unit and Textron Inc. (TXT)'s Bell Helicopter and Cessna Aircraft. Service Dates Late jets aren't yet affecting U.S. airline operations, because many of the delayed planes aren't due to enter service until November or later, the carriers said. That may change, according to consultant Hamlin. "It's good that some carriers have not been discomfited, but I would expect that to be a relatively brief period," Hamlin said in a telephone interview. "I know of airplanes put in service almost immediately." American, whose planned merger with US Airways has been stalled by a federal antitrust lawsuit, is due to get two more A319s this month, said Andrea Huguely, an American spokeswoman. Those planes are among 16 A319s it will take this year to refresh one of the oldest U.S. airline fleets. The FAA workers returning to their jobs this week were initially deemed nonessential for safety and sent home without pay when the shutdown began Oct. 1. About three-quarters of those workers oversee major airline operations. Most of the others will keep an eye on the "most critical" production of aircraft and parts, according to an FAA statement. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-10-08/amr-joins-airlines-with-jet-delays-on-government- shutdown.html Back to Top Aircraft scrapping firm starts up in Prestwick (Scotland) The aircraft scrapping industry is estimated to be worth £625m a year A Scottish company is to start up at Glasgow Prestwick airport, scrapping and recycling aircraft. Caledonian Aviation plans to start by the end of this year and will create about 20 to 30 new jobs in engineering, sales and administration. The company said it had already attracted $6m (£3.7m) from American investors. It plans to work on one aircraft per month initially, stepping up to six within three years. Caledonian said by then it could have about 200 staff. Company director Struan Johnston said it had chosen to locate at Prestwick after a hangar became available when BA decided not to renew a lease. 'Unique position' He said: "Prestwick's in a fairly unique position in that it's the last landfall before you get to the United States, and the European aviation market is not as well served as the United States for aircraft recycling - that's where we see the potential at Prestwick." On Tuesday the Scottish government announced it was negotiating to buy the airport. The Ayrshire facility, which was put up for sale last March by New Zealand-based owners Infratil, has been running annual losses of £2m. Ryanair is now the only scheduled passenger airline using Prestwick. Mr Johnston said: "There's an awful lot of businesses that surround the airport and that make up the aerospace cluster and we'd like to be part of that." He added that some used plane parts can be fitted to new aircraft, such as the interior panels of a 737 and the wiring and undercarriage. The aircraft scrapping industry is estimated to be worth $1bn (£625m), a figure which could treble within five years as older planes come out of service. The only other location in the UK where this type of work is carried out is Cotswold Airport near Cirencester. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-24455718 Back to Top U.S. Air Force shelving brand new C-27J Spartan aircraft after spending millions A dozen aircraft have been sent directly into storage at the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Ariz. The aircraft - which can take off and land on rough runways - has been deemed a luxury the Pentagon can't afford. The military has reportedly spent $567 million on 21 of the C-27J Spartans since 2007 - and the majority of them now sits in the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Ariz. (The C-27J is an advanced derivative of Alenia Aeronautica's G.222) The U.S. Air Force is putting brand new cargo planes directly into storage in an Arizona desert because it has no use for them - and is still expecting more, according to a report. A dozen new C-27J Spartans have been sent to a storage facility at the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Ariz., known as "the boneyard" and five that are still under construction will likely end up there as well, reported the Dayton Daily News. "They are too near completion for a termination to be cost-effective," Air Force spokesman Darryl Mayer told the Ohio newspaper. The military will try to think of other uses for the aircraft as they sit in the desert complex that holds other neglected military and NASA vehicles exceeding $35 billion in value, about 4,400 for flight and 13 for space, according to Fox News. The C-27J Spartans can take off and land on rough runways, but the planes were deemed a luxury the Pentagon could no longer afford after budget cuts, according to Ethan Rosenkranz, a national security analyst for the Project on Government Oversight. "When they start discarding these programs, it's wasteful," he told the Ohio newspaper. The Italian aerospace company Alenia Aermacchi was initially contracted to build the plans for $2 billion but that figure has dwindled. Since 2007, the military reportedly spent $567 million on 21 of the C-27J Spartans but only 16 have been delivered and the majority of those sit in the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, according to the Dayton Daily News. In 2011, seven democratic senators from Ohio penned a letter appealing to the military to purchase up to 42 more C-27J Spartans, saying that doing otherwise would "weaken our national and homeland defense." But they also reportedly knew that the mission would create 800 jobs at the Mansfield Air National Guard Base. The boneyard is officially known as the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group (AMARG). "The C-27s are going into type 1000 storage, the most extensive aircraft preservation capability provided at AMARG," Air Force spokesperson Ann Stefanek told the New York Daily News. Stefanek added that the good news for the American taxpayer is that other organizations, such as the U.S. Forest Service and the U.S. Coast Guard, have expressed interest in the planes. The Air Force, she said, is awaiting orders from the Office of the Secretary of Defense concerning where to ship the aircraft when someone can use them. http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/u-s-air-force-shelving-brand-new-c-27j-spartans-article- 1.1479580#ixzz2hE0W27sw Back to Top Aegean Airlines wins EU approval to buy Olympic Air (Reuters) - Greece's Aegean Airlines has won European Union approval to buy loss-making rival Olympic Air at the second attempt, after a new antitrust investigation found Olympic would close down if the deal was blocked. Aegean has said the proposed 72 million-euro ($96.4 million) deal is crucial for both airlines amid a decline in domestic demand in recession-hit Greece. "It is clear that, due to the on-going Greek crisis and given Olympic's own very difficult financial situation, Olympic would be forced to leave the market soon in any event," EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said on Wednesday. "Therefore we approved the merger because it has no additional negative effect on competition," he added. Reuters had reported on October 2 that the European Commission would clear the deal. The EU competition authority, which vetoed Aegean's first attempt to buy Olympic in 2011 from investment group Marfin (MRFr.AT), said the number of overlapping serviced by both carriers had been reduced since its decision almost three years ago. It also said other airlines would be unlikely to enter the Greek market and compete with Aegean and Olympic, and that there was no other buyer for Olympic. The regulator's approval marks the first time it has cleared a deal it previously rejected. Ryanair (RYA.I) made history when the Commission blocked its third acquisition bid for Aer Lingus (AERL.I) in February. Olympic, founded in 1957 by the late shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis, fell into a steady decline after being operated for decades by the Greek government, saddling the state budget with losses. Back to Top APU needed. B737-300 APU needed - Part no.170101-106B ,Type APS-2000 Engine Type T-62T47C1. Contact: curt@curt-lewis.com Curt Lewis