Flight Safety Information October 28, 2013 - No. 222 In This Issue Using Satellites To Track And Improve Volcanic Ash Forecasts Santa Monica Airport jet crash: 4 people, 2 cats, 1 dog killed. FAA chief vows quick action on gadgets, stall training United Airlines fined $1.1 million over tarmac delays Man detained at Montreal airport after suspicious item found in luggage Firefighter Not Charged in Death After Plane Crash In-Flight Heart Attack Risk: Does Airline Pilot Age Rule Need Revisiting? Think ARGUS PROS Delta Air Lines Posts Profit of $1.37 Billion Using Satellites To Track And Improve Volcanic Ash Forecasts On April 17, 2010, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellite instrument captured this image of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano in Iceland erupting and spreading a huge ash plume over northern Europe. Credit: NASA Frequent travelers can agree that flight delays are all too familiar these days. NASA is looking into a potentially dangerous, though much less frequent, problem that has recently caused major disruptions in flight schedules: volcanic eruptions. Ash and tiny, jagged particles are expelled from explosive volcanic eruptions. These particulates can be blown thousands of miles away from their source and are dangerous to airplanes, grounding and diverting flights. This has a huge economic impact on travelers and citizens who depend on goods and services delivered by air. A new study, published in the Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology, uses NASA 3D satellite data to improve forecasts of volcanic ash plumes to benefit aviation. NASA currently has a number of instruments in space with the ability to "see" volcanic ash. Each of these instruments provides the researchers with information about the ash. This data helps detect, locate and characterize the physical and chemical properties of the ash plume. None of the instruments, however, creates a complete enough picture of the ash plume and its constituents to provide effective information to the aviation community about the threat, but that is changing. A large plume was created over European airspace when the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajokull erupted in 2010 grounding more than a hundred thousand travelers. The economic impact was more than a billion dollars, creating a wakeup call to the atmospheric science and aviation communities. "The Icelandic eruption, such a dramatic event, made us take a hard look at what each of our satellites can tell us," said John Murray, associate program manager for the NASA Applied Sciences Program's natural disasters focus area. "We knew we needed to understand how to integrate them to make better forecasts." To improve the warning issued by the world's nine operational Volcanic Ash Advisory Centers (VAACs), Murray knew that his team needed to look more closely at the unique capabilities of NASA's satellite imagery. The VAACs use relatively simple representations of atmospheric particles to develop forecasts used to guide decisions about where aircraft can safely fly. Useful short-term information about the volcanic ash distribution is provided by these models, but they lack accurate information about ash plume concentration, layering, and long-term dispersion. "The dispersion of a volcanic plume in the atmosphere is like ink in water," explained Jean-Paul Vernier, a researcher at NASA's Langley Research Center. "Models, which are used to simulate both, rely on source information like how much ink or ash is introduced and how the flow - either the current or wind - transports the material." Vernier explained that for longer lasting plumes typically injected at higher altitudes near commercial cruise levels, forecasters need a combination of trajectory models with refresh information about the plume's height and location, which is where the new NASA 3D data comes in. NASA's CALIPSO (Cloud Aerosol-Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations) mission is uniquely suited to provide researchers with updated information about ash plume height and location. CALIPSO provides an unprecedented 3D view of atmospheric particles, like volcanic ash, and cloud in the atmosphere using a space-based lidar system since 2006. MODELING THE PLUME The research team focused on the volcanic eruption of Puyehue-Cordón Caulle in Chile in June 2011. This eruption disrupted air traffic throughout much of the Southern Hemisphere. This powerful eruption ejected ash in the upper troposphere - 3 to 9 miles above the Earth. Because of the higher ejection, the plume was longer-lasting, circling the globe at least three full times in the southern latitudes. The data from CALIPSO allowed the researchers to track the plume on its trip around the world. Different channels of the CALIPSO lidar were investigated to be able to differentiate between clouds and ash. "CALIPSO gives us very accurate information about the 3D location of ash," said Vernier. "However, the CALIPSO lidar data comes to us in curtains and we don't know what's between two curtains. We use trajectory models to fill in those gaps." Volcanic ash observations from CALIPSO were used as initiation points for the trajectory model. It is possible to produce a more accurate forecast than using a simple dispersion model by accumulating several days of observations transported by the trajectory model forward in time. A key advancement with this technique, according to Duncan Fairlie, research scientist at NASA's Langley Research Center, was being able to use "cloud clearing" algorithms, or mathematical formulas, developed by Vernier. Comparing the model results with independent CALIPSO observations showed the team that the model had successfully reproduced the 3D structure of volcanic ash clouds. "We saw remarkable agreement between the trajectory model and the independent CALIPSO observations," said Fairlie. "To be honest, we were blown away." The study results were especially compelling for the aviation community in southern Australia and New Zealand. The Darwin, Australia VAAC found the Puyehue-Cordón Caulle plume had persisted during the three weeks following the eruption. The long-term dispersion model, however, forecast the plume becoming increasingly unstable. The Darwin VAAC had to rely heavily on fundamental satellite observations, which can't always see through the clouds to locate ash plumes. "Our model, however, provided additional information about the 3D structure of the volcanic plume, especially the extension of the plume's forward trajectory that was not available to the Darwin VAAC at the time of their advisories," said Murray. "For example, the model clearly showed the head of the volcanic ash cloud crossing the southern part of Australia directly east of the Darwin VAAC's advisory area on June 21." The team is currently working with the international volcanic ash community to aid in the integration of CALIPSO data trajectory modeling to the VAAC modeling process to help the aviation community's efforts to operate more safely and efficiently when volcanic ash events occur. Because much of the VAAC workload consists of making judgment calls between potential ash and false alarms, this process is especially challenging with low ash concentrations like those seen in this study. "The combination of CALIPSO observations of volcanic ash clouds and a Lagrangian trajectory model offers a potential new capability that VAACs could use to improve aviation safety worldwide," said Murray. "Additionally," said Vernier, "future NASA missions, such as SAGE III on ISS, will be useful to continue monitoring the dispersion of volcanic ash in the atmosphere." http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1112985839/aviation-forecasting-volcanic-ash-plumes-102613/ Back to Top Santa Monica Airport jet crash: 4 people, 2 cats, 1 dog killed L.A. County coroner's officials say they will need to use dental records to confirm the identities of four people killed in Sunday's jet crash at Santa Monica Airport. The bodies of four people were pulled from a twin-engine Cessna Citation on Tuesday morning. The private jet touched down at Santa Monica Airport on Sunday evening, then steered hard right off the runway and smashed into an airport hangar before bursting into flames. The crash collapsed the hangar and the fire spread to two neighboring buildings. No one on board survived. The bodies were charred beyond recognition so the coroner's office needs dental records to confirm the identities of the victims, Lt. Fred Corral said. Two of the victims were unofficially identified Monday when Los Angeles-based construction company Morley Builders announced its chief executive, Mark Benjamin, 63, and his son, Luke, 28, were believed to have been on the plane. The two other passengers were women, according to KABC-TV. The coroner also recovered the remains of two cats and a dog on board, Corral said. The airport has been shut down since the crash. But the transportation hub could be reopened to air traffic by Tuesday afternoon, acting airport manager Stelios Makrides told The Times. Officials from the National Transportation Safety Board - the federal agency overseeing the crash investigation - were unavailable for comment Tuesday because of the government shutdown. Agency officials told reporters Monday that it was too early to tell what caused the plane to veer hard-right off the runway after touching down. The pilot had not communicated any problems during the flight, the NTSB said. Investigators hoped the plane's voice recorder could shed light on what went wrong. http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-santa-monica-jet-crash-victims- 20131001,0,6085615.story#axzz2j1JoXrla Back to Top FAA chief vows quick action on gadgets, stall training WASHINGTON - The head of the Federal Aviation Administration said Thursday he would move "very quickly" on whether to allow the use of personal electronics on planes below 10,000 feet. FAA Administrator Michael Huerta said after a luncheon speech at the Aero Club that a new rule for pilot training to avoid stalls would also come "very quickly." He didn't name deadlines for gadgets or training. An advisory panel gave Huerta a report in September recommending he allow the use of gadgets that aren't making calls or connecting to the Internet while planes are taking off and landing. Use of electronics below 10,000 feet is now prohibited. "We know that this has a great deal of public interest, and we're going to respond as quickly as we can," Huerta said. The 16-day government shutdown this month delayed both decisions, he said. The agency is reviewing the damage after temporarily halting 1,000 contracts and furloughing 12,000 workers - although not air-traffic controllers. The agency has had a tumultuous year because federal spending cuts prompted a week of furloughs in April for a portion of air-traffic controllers, which delayed thousands of flights. Congress agreed to shift funding from airport construction to FAA operations to end the furloughs and prevent the threatened closure of towers at small airports. Controllers worked through the government shutdown, although work stalled on the agency's development of satellite-based navigation equipment called NextGen. When Congress reopened the government through Jan. 15, lawmakers included an additional $100 million for FAA operations. Huerta said the agency still faces cuts similar to the $637 million it lost last year. "Right now, Congress has provided us a framework where we don't anticipate needing to furlough between now and January, nor are we really looking at anything" such as closing towers at small airports, Huerta said. "It is so important - these negotiations that are going to take place in Congress between now and December in order to figure out what the fiscal course of the country is, going forward." The FAA is developing a rule for more pilot training to avoid stalls after the fatal Colgan Air crash in February 2009. The rule was expected Oct. 21 but delayed by the shutdown. "It's at the very top of our regulatory agenda," Huerta said. "It's a very high priority for me, and it's one that I want to get out very quickly." http://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/flights/2013/10/24/faa-huerta/3178265/ Back to Top United Airlines fined $1.1 million over tarmac delays The government on Friday announced a record $1.1 million fine against United Airlines for more than a dozen tarmac delays that left passengers stuck in grounded planes for hours, in some cases without working lavatories. The delays took place at Chicago-O'Hare International Airport on July 13, 2012, when severe thunderstorms and lightning caused several ramp closures. U. S. Department of Transportation rules prohibit U.S. airlines from allowing domestic flights to remain on the tarmac for more than three hours at U.S. airports without giving passengers an opportunity to leave the plane, but 13 United and United Express flights exceeded the three-hour limit that summer day, the government said. Some went over the limit by as little as two minutes, and some by more than an hour, with lavatories out of commission on two United Express flights during part of the ordeal. A total of 939 fliers were impacted by the delays without the chance to deplane, according to the DOT. "It is unacceptable for passengers to be stranded in planes on the tarmac for hours on end," said U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx in a statement. "We will continue to require airlines to adopt workable plans to protect passengers from lengthy tarmac delays and carry out these plans when necessary." United had a contingency plan for tarmac delays, but the DOT found that the airline did not implement it during these delays and that the plan was inadequate. The carrier told the government that it seeks to prevent tarmac delays whenever and wherever possible, according to the DOT consent order that outlines the fine. "We are committed to complying with the tarmac delay regulations and we continue to improve our procedures while maintaining the safety of our customers and co-workers," said United spokeswoman Mary Ryan in a statement to NBC News. The airline won't have to pay the full $1.1 million fine. Less than half of the penalty -- $475,000 -- is due within 30 days, but the rest is credited to United, including $185,000 for compensation the carrier paid to passengers and $440,000 for the cost of improvements United will make at O'Hare International Airport. "The good news is that it's a record fine," said Paul Hudson, president of FlyersRights.org. "They were, for the most part, either not fining airlines or giving very low fines... (so) it's good news, but it could be better news." Hudson was disappointed that only $185,000 was allocated as compensation to the impacted passengers, amounting to less than $200 per flier. He believes a fine of $10 a minute per passenger over the three-hour limit would be more reasonable compensation. Hudson also pointed out that as large as the fine is, the government allows penalties of up to $27,500 per passenger for airlines that violate the tarmac delay rules, which would amount to a maximum fine of more than $25 million in this case. He was also concerned that it's taking the government more than a year to investigate tarmac delay incidents, but called Friday's announcement a positive development. "It's certainly a (step) in the right direction," Hudson said, adding that it's too early to tell whether United's punishment will help prevent similar incidents in the future. "What's happening and will probably continue to happen is - unless there are some more attention-getting fines - is that airlines will make the calculation as to whether it's better to accept a fine of a few hundred thousand dollars or to obey the three-hour rule." http://www.nbcnews.com/travel/united-airlines-fined-1-1-million-over-tarmac-delays-8C11466187 Back to Top Man detained at Montreal airport after suspicious item found in luggage (CNN) -- Police have detained a man in his 70s at Montreal airport after a suspicious item was found in his luggage for a flight to Los Angeles, authorities said. The item discovered wasn't an explosive but a part of a potential device, said Montreal Police Cmdr. Ian Lafreniere. The detained man is known to police, Lafraniere said, but not for anything related to terrorism. Police searched the other passengers and their luggage, looking for a possible accomplice, the police commander said. But none was found. Authorities then began searching the man's home and car, he said, seeking "anything that will make us understand what's going on." During the time it took police to secure the area around the man's home, about 20 people were evacuated from the area. They have all since been allowed to return. Back to Top Firefighter Not Charged in Death After Plane Crash (AP) The firefighter who ran over and killed a survivor of a commercial air disaster in San Francisco this summer will not face criminal charges. San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe announced Friday that his office was closing its investigation of the incident without charging the firefighter with any crime. San Francisco firefighter Elyse Duckett was responding to the burning Boeing 777 when the truck she was driving rolled over Ye Mengyuan. Investigators believe Ye was laying prone on the tarmac and covered in firefighting foam. "This was a dramatically chaotic situation," Wagstaffe said of absolving Duckett of any criminal responsibility. "It was not a tough conclusion to reach." Wagstaffe said he arrived at his decision after reviewing police, fire and other first responder reports, the coroner's investigation and numerous videos of events at the scene. Ye, 16, was a Chinese student visiting the United States with classmates. Wagstaffe said some of the videos show the girl on the ground outside the plane before the area is covered in foam. Other videos have shown Duckett's rig later driving over the same area after it was covered in firefighting foam. San Francisco Fire Department Chief Joanne Hayes-White declined to discuss Ye's death other than to call it a "tragic accident." Hayes-White said in a prepared statement that firefighters likely saved the lives of many critically wounded passengers scattered about the tarmac and still trapped aboard the Asiana Airlines flight that crashed landed July 6. "If not for the professional rescue, triage, treatment and transport operations that were conducted by all involved agencies, it is likely that there would have been a greater loss of life," Hayes-White said. In all, 304 of the 307 people aboard the plane survived the July 6 crash. Ye and a friend were seated at the back of the plane that came in too low and too slow, clipping its landing gear and tail on a rocky seawall just short of the runway. It was unclear how Ye got from the airplane to the spot where she died. Investigators believe she was down on the ground and not standing during the aftermath of the plane crash. Anthony Tarricone, an attorney for Ye's family, said he was not surprised criminal charges were not filed. "It's really not the subject of criminal prosecution," he said. "It's properly the subject of civil action, which we intend to prosecute." He said he had not been in touch with Ye's family about the District Attorney's Office's decision. The cause of the crash is under investigation. The National Transportation Safety Board has said it did not find any mechanical problems with the plane during a preliminary review. But the plane's pilots, as well as the airline, have raised the possibility that a key device that controls the Boeing 777's speed may have malfunctioned. Ye and her close friend, 16-year-old Wang Linjia, who also died, were students at Jiangshan Middle School in Zhejiang, an affluent coastal province in eastern China, Chinese state media has reported. They were part of a group of students and teachers from the school who were heading to summer camp in Southern California. The other victim, 15-year-old Liu Yipeng, later died at a hospital. http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/decision-due-runway-death-calif-crash-20612531 Back to Top In-Flight Heart Attack Risk: Does Airline Pilot Age Rule Need Revisiting? By: John Goglia Airline pilots and safety investigators I've spoken with thought the same thing when they first saw news reports that a United Airlines Captain had suffered a heart attack on a flight from Houston to Seattle, which made an emergency landing in Boise, Idaho. First, of course, the hope that the pilot would be alright (unfortunately he later died). Second, the hope that he was not over age 60, which could re-ignite a long, fought battle over the age at which airline pilots have to stop flying. Most fliers, even frequent fliers, are not aware of the battle that raged over the so-called age-60 rule which forced many an excellent pilot - physically, as well as mentally - from our nation's airline cockpits solely by virtue of turning 60. Since the rule was first enacted by the FAA in 1959, until it was changed by an act of Congress in 2007 to age 65, the arbitrary cut-off at age 60 provoked intense debate among airlines, unions representing pilots, government regulatory agencies and the medical establishment. The pilot of United Flight 1603 was indeed over age 60. News reports listed his age as 63. And some media reports have already raised the possibility that his age may cause regulatory agencies to take another look at the age rule. I hope that isn't the case. The age 60 rule was always an arbitrary cut-off and kept many of the most experienced pilots from flying. It took years to get Congress to pass The Fair Treatment for Experienced Pilots Act. The FAA supported the act and stated in a press release at the time that it welcomed passage of the law because it enabled "some of the most experienced pilots to keep flying." The law today allows both airline pilots to be over age 60 on domestic flights; international flights, in compliance with standards set by ICAO, require one pilot to be under the age of 60. Airline pilots are subjected to some of the most rigorous medical requirements of any profession. They are required to take physicals every 12 months until age 40 and then every 6 months. Those physicals require electrocardiograms at age 35 and every year after age 40. The number of medical in-flight emergencies involving airline pilots is miniscule - both before and after the change to the age rule in 2007. This incident should not be the basis for any re-visiting of the age rule. However, there should be a rigorous look at whether any medical signs were missed during this particular pilot's last exam. http://www.forbes.com/sites/johngoglia/2013/09/28/in-flight-heart-attack-risk-does-airline-pilot-age-rule- need-revisiting/ Back to Top Back to Top Delta Air Lines Posts Profit of $1.37 Billion (MINNEAPOLIS)(AP) - Delta Air Lines made more than a billion dollars in the third quarter as more passengers paid a little bit extra to fly. Even its new oil refinery turned a small profit. The airline is seeing strong holiday bookings, and the "revenue environment appears solid through the end of the year," President Ed Bastian said in a statement. Delta's net income jumped 31 percent to $1.37 billion, or $1.59 per share. Not counting gains from fuel hedges, the company would have earned $1.2 billion, or $1.41 per share. That was 5 cents per share more than expected by analysts surveyed by FactSet. A year ago it earned $1.05 billion, or $1.23 per share. Revenue rose 6 percent to $10.49 billion, about what analysts were expecting. Delta shares rose 4 percent, to $25.65, in premarket trading. Traffic rose 2 percent for the quarter. The amount passengers paid for each seat flown one mile rose almost 5 percent. It said flying capacity would rise 1 percent to 3 percent in the fourth quarter. Delta is second only to United Airlines in passenger traffic among the world's airlines. Delta, based in Atlanta, saw passenger revenue gains in domestic flying and flying to Europe. Revenue for flights across the Pacific fell 5 percent. The weaker Japanese yen has made Asia flying less profitable for Delta as well as United. Those two have the biggest share of Asia flights among U.S. airlines. Last year Delta bought an oil refinery near Philadelphia, and has maximized its jet fuel output. It took longer than Delta had predicted, but the refinery turned its first profit in the most recent quarter, $3 million. It lost $136 million total during the three previous quarters. Delta said profits there were hurt by smaller spreads between the cost of crude oil and the selling price of fuel. The same tighter margins reduced jet fuel prices for Delta, the airline said. Its cost for jet fuel fell 5 percent to $2.97 per gallon. Delta Air Lines Inc. began paying a dividend during the quarter. http://business.time.com/2013/10/22/delta-air-lines-posts-profit-of-1-37-billion/#ixzz2j1OgWbJu Curt Lewis