Flight Safety Information November 25, 2013 - No. 243 In This Issue NTSB Investigates Jet's Landing At Wrong Airport CAAN seeks 6 months to improve air safety (Nepal) DGCA undertakes corrective measures for fear of air safety downgrade (India) Transportation Ministry Against Limiting Aircraft Service Life (Russia) Privacy Concerns Debated as FAA Lays Out Rules for Domestic Drone Operations Unruly passenger forcibly removed from Atlanta flight ERAU Unmanned Aircraft Systems Workshop: Register Now For Discount Think ARGUS PROS Announcing...The Annual "Moral Courage Safety Awards" NTSB Investigates Jet's Landing At Wrong Airport WICHITA, Kan. (AP) _ The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating why a pilot mistakenly landed a cargo-hauling jumbo jet at a small Kansas airport instead of the Air Force base a few miles away. The Wichita Eagle (http://bit.ly/1ephah6 ) reports that the agency opened the investigation Friday. NTSB spokesman Peter Knudson said in an email that the investigation would take about six to 12 months to complete. The Boeing 747 was supposed to touch down Wednesday night at McConnell Air Force Base in Wichita. Instead, it landed at the smaller Col. James Jabara Airport. Boeing owns the plane, but it's operated by Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings. Atlas spokeswoman Bonnie Rodney said in an e-mail that the company is providing its full assistance to regulatory authorities. The Federal Aviation Administration also is investigating the landing. http://www.wibw.com/home/headlines/NTSB-Investigates-Jets-Landing-At-Wrong-Airport-233257641.html Back to Top CAAN seeks 6 months to improve air safety (Nepal) KATHMANDU, NOV 23 -The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal ( CAAN ) has asked for six months' time to improve Nepal's aviation safety during a meeting with the Aviation Safety Committee of the European Commission (EC) in Brussels, Belgium on Nov 19. A 10-member Nepali delegation led by CAAN 's Director General Ratish Chandra Lal Suman and consisting of representatives from Nepal Airlines Corporation and private airlines participated in the meeting. They were asked to explain what measures Nepal had adopted to ensure safety amid frequent air crashes. The EC has twice asked CAAN to submit an action plan and progress report outlining its commitments to ensure safety as domestic airlines risk being black listed due to the high number of accidents. The EC, assisted by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), had held technical consultations with CAAN in Brussels on May 30, 2013. During the consultations, CAAN explained the situation in detail and provided information related to the control of safety risks. Nepal's aviation safety record has taken a blow with seven crashes in the last three years, most of them involving European-made Dornier aircraft. CAAN and the airlines made various presentations on the current safety measures and their future strategy to convince the committee officials, said CAAN officials. "We were questioned why safety had not improved despite our commitments," said Suman. "We informed the committee that a five-year project on safety, security, infrastructure development and capacity building was in the pipeline, and that it would help Nepal improve safety issues significantly. Similarly, regarding other issues like shortfall of qualified manpower at CAAN , we informed the committee of our plan to hire foreign experts," he said. CAAN has allocated Rs 62.5 million for the initiative which will be implemented from this fiscal year. The Nepali team also presented the Nepal's government commitment letter on various aviation issues to the committee. The committee is scheduled to decide the fate of Nepal's aviation status- whether or not to black list it-on Dec 7. According to aviation officials, the discussions were fruitful, but the committee did not comment on any of the answers presented by the Nepali delegation. Issuance of type certificate to MA60 questioned The Aviation Safety Committee of the European Commission (EC) has questioned the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal ( CAAN ) on issuing type certificate to the Chinese-made 58-seater MA60 aircraft. CAAN has recently issued type certificate to the MA60 allowing it to fly in Nepal for civilian transport for the first time. According to a participant, the committee asked them why the certificate had been issued when it did not meet the obligations of the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). CAAN officials informed the officials that the certificate was issued after verifying that the turboprop was designed in line with the specifications of the Chinese Civil Aviation Regulations 25 (CCAR-25) of the Civil Aviation Administration of China, and was compatible with the US Federal Aviation Administra-tion's (FAA) Federal Aviation Regulations (FAR) Part 25. According to CAAN 's Director General Ratish Chandra Lal Suman, CAAN can issue the certificate after verifying the aircraft under the FAA code. "If the aircraft is not certified by the FAA and the EASA, as a third option the aviation regulator has the right to issue the certificate at the request of the aircraft manufacturer." Suman, however, said that the committee was informed that the aircraft had not been issued a certificate of airworthiness. "The airworthiness certificate is issued after the aircraft is formally registered in the respective countries. And there will be a further assessment before issuing the airworthiness certificate to the MA60," he added. http://www.ekantipur.com/2013/11/23/business/caan-seeks-6-months-to-improve-air-safety/381284.html Back to Top DGCA undertakes corrective measures for fear of air safety downgrade (India) The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is undertaking corrective measures as pointed out by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The US regulator is scheduled to carry out a second safety audit next month. It is feared that after the audit, India's air safety rankings could be downgraded from category I to category II. Two months after their first audit in which it raised several safety concerns, an FAA team would again hold talks with their counterparts from the DGCA on December 11, official sources said, as per a PTI report. Weeks after a safety audit of the DGCA by the UN International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), a four- member FAA team had in September carried out their first audit and raised concerns over 33 specific issues. These included existence of large number of vacancies in top technical posts like those of Joint Directors General and Deputy Directors General, at a time when air traffic in India was growing at a rapid pace. DGCA had 421 employees till July this year as against sanctioned staff strength of 574. FAA had also adversely commented on the conduct of the regular training programmes, including those for pilots, engineers and cabin crew, besides lack of manuals on certain important safety issues. After a real-time audit at some airports, the FAA had noted certain faults in the implementation of safety norms by a couple of airlines and non-scheduled operators. http://www.travelbizmonitor.com/dgca-undertakes-corrective-measures-for-fear-of-air-safety-downgrade- 22396 Back to Top Transportation Ministry Against Limiting Aircraft Service Life (Russia) The Boeing 737 plane operated by Tatarstan Airlines that crashed in Kazan, shown above landing at Moscow's Vkunovo airport, had been in service for 23 years. The Transportation Ministry is against limiting the service life of planes, going against an idea proposed by State Duma deputies in the wake of a fatal plane crash in Kazan on Nov. 17. A group of United Russia party deputies last Wednesday put forward a bill that would limit the use of planes older than 20 years from 2017 onward, Kommersant reported. Aviation authorities appear to be divided on the subject. The Federal Aviation Agency supported the proposal in principle and said that companies' fleets need to be renewed gradually. However, the agency did say that age was not the only factor affecting the airworthiness of a plane. The Interstate Aviation Committee rejected the idea outright, arguing that the safety of a plane is not directly related to its age at all, a position apparently shared by Transportation Minister Maxim Sokolov. Sokolov said in an interview on NTV Sunday that there is no credible information suggesting that a technical failure had caused the crash in Kazan. "Every vessel, regardless of its service age, has an airworthiness certificate," Sokolov said, Itar-Tass reported. "The expert community believes implementing any restrictions related to an aircraft's maximum service life would be premature." Sokolov also said that aviation safety requirements in Russia fully comply with international safety standards. New amendments to the Air Code introduced this year have enabled state bodies to monitor the country's flight safety system and withdraw or suspend airlines' operator certificates if they violate safety regulations, he said. The crash of a Boeing-737 en route from Moscow to Kazan on Nov. 17 claimed the lives of all 50 people on board. The Interstate Aviation Committee said in a preliminary report published Wednesday that the crash was caused by a crew error during the second approach for landing at Kazan International Airport http://www.themoscowtimes.com/transport_n_logistics/article/transportation-ministry-against-limiting- aircraft-service-life/490163.html#ixzz2lehpFsj8 The Moscow Times Back to Top Privacy Concerns Debated as FAA Lays Out Rules for Domestic Drone Operations L.A. County Sheriff's Officer prepares a drone The federal government has unveiled new rules governing the use of drones in U.S. airspace, sparking debate over how the technology can be employed without compromising Americans' privacy. The new regulations unveiled by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) were produced so that Washington can move forward with testing drones at six sites across the country, with the aim of integrating them into the National Airspace System. The testing sites will be operated by private contractors still to be determined. Whichever companies are selected, they will have to meet privacy requirements formulated by the FAA. The agency's move came under criticism from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which said the privacy rules were too short on specifics. "It's crucial that as we move forward with drone use, those procedural protections are followed by concrete restrictions on how data from drones can be used and how long it can be stored," ACLU's legislative counsel, Christopher Calabrese, said in a prepared statement. "Congress must also weigh in on areas outside of the FAA's authority, such as use by law enforcement and the Department of Homeland Security, which have the ability to use drones for invasive surveillance that must be kept in check." Another critic, Representative Ed Markey (D-Massachusetts), accused the FAA of disregarding "the need for strong and comprehensive privacy safeguards," and called instead for "federal legislation to protect innocent individuals from expanded use of commercial and government drones." But Ryan Calo, who writes about emerging technology for Forbes, defended the FAA, saying its rules demonstrate officials are "taking privacy seriously and following a relatively defensible path forward." "The agency is requiring, for starters, that its test sites develop privacy plans," Calo added. "The privacy plan has to explain how data that is collected will be used and what the site's policy is around retention. The site must make these plans publicly available, create a mechanism for receiving and addressing public comment, conduct annual reviews, and have a way to update and enforce the plan." http://www.allgov.com/news/top-stories/privacy-concerns-debated-as-faa-lays-out-rules-for-domestic-drone- operations-131124?news=851741 Back to Top Unruly passenger forcibly removed from Atlanta flight A passenger on a Spirit Airways flight from Fort Lauderdale to Atlanta had to be removed from the plane Friday morning after he started yelling there was a bomb on board. ATLANTA - A flight attendant and pilot had to calm a plane filled with people Friday when an unruly passenger began screaming. It happened on board a Spirit Airlines flight that landed at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport . For unknown reasons the man went berserk on Flight 404 from Fort Lauderdale, Fla. A fellow passenger recorded part of the chaos and posted the video to YouTube. "There's a bomb on the plane! If she takes me off, I'll blow the (expletive) plane up," the man could be heard saying on the video as police officers removed him from the jet. The pilot asked for police to meet the flight at the gate, reporting that the passenger had outbursts throughout the entire flight from Fort Lauderdale to Atlanta and even started throwing items at fellow passengers. Passengers appeared to have remained calm as flight attendants asked them for their continued cooperation. "Ladies and gentlemen, it's imperative that everyone remain seated with their seat belts fastened. Please sit down, thank you," said a flight attendant on the video. Once Atlanta police removed the passenger, the pilot addressed the situation. "Folks, it will just be a few more minutes, please remain seated. We'll let you know. I appreciate everyone's cooperation. I want to sincerely apologize to everyone on board that airplane today for that," the pilot said. Police forcibly escorted the passenger from the plane and concluded he was mentally ill or having some psychotic breakdown. The man was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital for a psychiatric evaluation. Spirit Airlines said no one was injured and nothing illegal or dangerous was found when they searched the plane. Atlanta police said they have no plans to bring charges against this passenger. Investigators have not released the man's name. http://www.wsbtv.com/news/news/national/unruly-passenger-forcibly-removed-atlanta- flight/nb26q/?icmp=cmgcontent_internallink_relatedcontent_2013_partners5 Back to Top ERAU Unmanned Aircraft Systems Workshop: Register Now For Discount Unmanned Aircraft Workshop The Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) course is designed to identify the key concepts, attributes, and challenges of UAS operations. The UAS sector is one of the fastest growing and most dynamic segments within aviation industry. Currently the majority of UAS growth has been in support of military and security operations however, recent congressional mandates have unlocked a bourgeoning civilian market with interest in a broad range of uses such as aerial photography, precision agriculture, mapping, monitoring climate and environmental conditions, and public safety. Attendees will gain knowledge of: * UAS System Components and Classification * UAS Design and limitations * Regulatory Environment for UAS * Issues Associated with UAS Airspace Integration * Future and Current Trends affecting the UAS Industry Course Topics: * The UAS Market * UAS Systems Design and Development * UAS Sensors Packages * UAS Navigation Systems * National Airspace System Integration Who Should Attend: This Course is designed for UAS Engineers, Transitioning Military UAS Operators, Mission Coordinators, Entrepreneurs, Field Service Representatives, UAS Technicians, UAS Program Managers or others wishing to obtain further knowledge of UAS operations. Course Dates: Course Location: Course Fee: April 1-3, 2014 ERAU Daytona Beach Campus, FL Standard Course Fee: US $1,450 Early Bird Fee (prior to January 31, 2014): US $1,300 For more information, Please contact Sarah Ochs, Director of Professional Programs Tel: 386.226.6928 * email: case@erau.edu daytonabeach.erau.edu/uas Back to Top Back to Top Announcing The Annual "Moral Courage Safety Awards" Presented at Heli-Expo 2014 Presented by the US DOT - Transportation Safety Institute Call For Nominations The purpose of the award is to promote and foster positive safety culture in the rotorcraft industry by recognizing those individuals and organizations that make sometimes difficult operational decisions based on continued safe operations. Example of a deserving individual and organization - I learned of a HEMS pilot who aborted a critical neonatal transport because of unforecast bad weather. It was a tough call and one that haunted him, but he knew it was the right decision to ensure a safe outcome. His organization supported the decision and went so far as to recognize him for making the tough call. Both the individual and the organization should be recognized. Let's face it; it's always easy after the accident to second guess the decisions that put a crew in trouble. What our industry needs is to reward those who make the tough decisions that keep them out of trouble. That's walking the talk of positive safety culture! Sometimes choosing the safest course of action can be difficult, especially if it means modifying the mission. Bottom line, it takes moral courage to do the right thing. You can help - nominate someone today! Who is eligible? Any Crew, Crew Member, Maintainer, Supervisor, Manager, employee and or their organization who demonstrates commitment to a positive safety culture. Email Mr. D Smith for a nomination form. D.smith@dot.gov Or call US 405.694.1644 Curt Lewis