Flight Safety Information December 5, 2013 - No. 249 In This Issue China 'open to talks' with Japan on air safety over shared zones NTSB Report released in Learjet crash Small plane crashes in Puerto Rico; 2 bodies found Investigators unable to pinpoint cause of crash that killed Mexican singer Plane crash investigators conduct interviews as survivors recover Aviation:...EU Commission updates the European safety list of banned airlines Air safety inspection shows improvement: DCA official (Myanmar) Think ARGUS PROS Wisconsin bidding to host Boeing 777X jet production Saudi Arabian Aircraft: Inbound Flights Suspended From Abuja Airport (Nigeria) Therapy Dogs Arrive at San Francisco Airport Safety panel no place for rage: David Forsyth (Australia) Cheyenne airline faces $304,000 FAA fine for de-icing issue Watch for: AVIATION MAINTENANCE & ENGINEERING EXCHANGE China 'open to talks' with Japan on air safety over shared zones A group of disputed islands known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China is seen in the East China Sea. BEIJING - China offered Japan talks on the safety of aircraft in overlapping air defence zones after US Vice- President Joseph Biden urged Asia's top two economies to set up channels for resolving their disputes. "China is willing ... to talk with Japan to jointly safeguard the order and safety of relevant airspace," foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said on Wednesday. Mr Biden arrived in Beijing a day after he met Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Tokyo. China's offer reflected efforts by the leadership to force Japan to discuss a territorial dispute in the East China Sea that leaders including Mr Abe have so far refused to acknowledge even exists. The defence zone, which covers islands claimed by both sides, has ratcheted up tension in the region to their highest point since Japan bought some of the islands last September and spurred protests across China. Japan has administered the islands, called Senkaku in Japanese and Diaoyu in Chinese, since at least 1972. It says that sovereignty is not an issue and has refused any negotiations as a result. "The Japanese don't acknowledge that there is any dispute over the sovereignty of the islands and the Chinese want to start a discussion that will make that a point of contention," said Rana Mitter, an Oxford University professor. Mr Biden's trip, originally intended to pin down a Pacific trade deal and renew the US emphasis on Asia, has been overshadowed by China's creation of the zone. Mr Biden has said he will seek clarity about Communist Party leaders' intentions on the zone that was announced last month. In a meeting with President Xi Jinping on Wednesday, Mr Biden called the US-China relationship "full of promise". He praised Mr Xi as candid and constructive, and said "both qualities are sorely needed". The two spoke privately for two hours. http://www.bdlive.co.za/world/asia/2013/12/05/china-open-to-talks-with-japan-on-air-safety-over-shared- zones Back to Top NTSB Report released in Learjet crash Learjet (XA-USD) Crash in Fort Lauderdale 11/20/13 ATC Audio FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (WSVN) -- The preliminary crash report has been released on the Learjet that plunged into the ocean after taking off from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. The plane crashed just four miles from the airport, Nov. 19, after reporting engine failure. Officials said the pilots turned back to the airport then lost radar contact at 100 feet. Rescue crews found no signs of fire on board. All four people on board died. The National Transportation Safety Board's investigation continues. http://www.wsvn.com/news/articles/local/21012387437376/report-released-in-learjet-crash/#ixzz2mbVlLkTP Back to Top Small plane crashes in Puerto Rico; 2 bodies found (AP) A small cargo plane crashed near Puerto Rico's northern coast, killing the two U.S. citizens who were aboard, officials said Tuesday. Investigators had not yet identified the pilot and the passenger, Emergency Management Agency spokesman Carlos Acevedo said. The plane originally flew from Florida to in the Dominican Republic either on Sunday or Monday, Acevedo said. It departed late Monday from the latter Caribbean country and was headed to Puerto Rico's main international airport when it crashed, said another agency spokesman, Jose Cruz. Acevedo said the plane was carrying cargo that included mail, food and beverages. The aircraft was operated by IBC Airways, based in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Officials with IBC Airways did not return a message seeking comment. The plane crashed on a small mountain in the north coastal town of Arecibo, and officials with the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration were investigating whether the pilot had requested a change in altitude, Acevedo said. An FAA statement said air traffic controllers lost contact with the flight when it was about 25 miles (40 kilometers) west of the capital of San Juan. The agency identified the aircraft as a Fairchild SA-227-AC cargo plane but released no further details. The plane was registered and its certificate issue date was valid through 2017. http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2013/dec/05/cb-puerto-rico-plane-crash/ ************ Accident description Last updated: 5 December 2013 Status: Preliminary Date: Monday 2 December 2013 Time: 20:15 Type: Swearingen SA227-AC Metro III Operator: IBC Airways Registration: N831BC C/n / msn: AC-654B First flight: 1986 Engines: 2 Garrett TPE331-11U-612G Crew: Fatalities: / Occupants: Passengers: Fatalities: / Occupants: Total: Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2 Airplane damage: Destroyed Airplane fate: Written off (damaged beyond repair) Location: Sabana Hoyos district of Arecibo (Puerto Rico) Phase: En route (ENR) Nature: Cargo Departure airport: Santo Domingo-Las Américas José Francisco Peña Gómez Int'l Airport (SDQ/MDSD), Dominican Republic Destination airport: San Juan-Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport (SJU/TJSJ), Puerto Rico Flightnumber: 405 Narrative: A Swearingen Metro cargo plane impacted terrain near a cemetary in the Sabana Hoyos district of Arecibo, Puerto Rico. The flight departed Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic at 19:26 on a serivce to San Juan, Puerto Rico. A spokesperson for the Emergencies Agency reported that two occupants were killed. www.aviation-safety.net Back to Top Investigators unable to pinpoint cause of crash that killed Mexican singer Mexico City, Dec 4 (EFE).- Investigators found numerous irregularities, including a pilot who was older than the allowable age limit, in the plane crash that killed Mexican singer Jenni Rivera last year, but they were unable to identify the cause of accident "in an indubitable manner," officials said. The 43-year-old singer and six other people were killed on Dec. 9, 2012, in the crash of a Learjet in northern Mexico. A number of factors could have caused the crash outside Iturbide, a city in the northern state of Nuevo Leon, the General Civil Aviation Administration, a Communications and Transportation Secretariat agency, said in a summary of the technical report on the accident. The singer's Learjet 25 crashed shortly after taking off from the northern city of Monterrey en route to Toluca, a city near the Mexican capital. The Learjet 25, which was built in 1969 and had a maximum lift capacity of 6,800 kilos (nearly 15,000 pounds), was piloted by 78-year-old Miguel Perez, the civil aviation agency said. Perez's commercial pilot's license was issued on Jan. 29, 2012, and only qualified him to be a "co-pilot and on aircraft of less than 5,700 kilograms (12,555 pounds) of maximum takeoff weight," the civil aviation agency said. The other member of the crew, Alessandro Torres, was a 21-year-old with a U.S. pilot's license that did not authorize him to fly this type of aircraft outside U.S. air space, the agency said. "Given the high degree of destruction of the aircraft, it was not possible to determine the actual cause of the accident in an indubitable manner," the civil aviation agency said. Bad weather did not play a role in the crash and the plane did not explode or catch fire in the air, investigators said. The plane had a black box, but investigators were unable to salvage it from the wreckage and the voice recorder was never found, the civil aviation agency said. "The available technical information did not allow a determination to be made of the air-navigability of the equipment," investigators said. "At no time did the crew report to the air traffic control service a problem or emergency," the civil aviation agency said. http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/agencia-efe/131204/investigators-unable-pinpoint-cause-crash- killed-mexican-singer Back to Top Plane crash investigators conduct interviews as survivors recover The six survivors of a fatal plane crash Friday near the Western Alaska village of St. Marys continued to recover Monday in Anchorage while investigators looked into the cause of the crash. Four people died after the single-engine Cessna 208 slammed into snow-covered tundra Friday night. Residents of nearby villages found the wrecked plane in the fog with help from one of the passengers, who walked nearly a mile to reach the rescuers. The six who made it out of the plane alive were flown to Anchorage for medical treatment. They are Melanie Coffee, 25; Kylan Johnson, 14; Pauline Johnson, 37; Garrett Moses, 30; Tanya Lawrence, 35; and Shannon Lawrence, according to Alaska State Troopers, who did not release an age for Shannon Lawrence. Killed in the crash were pilot, Terry Hansen, 68, Rose Polty, 57, Richard Polty, 65, and Wyatt Coffee, 5 months old. The plane was operated by Hageland Aviation, which is owned by Era Alaska. Five of the survivors were listed in fair condition Monday at two different Anchorage hospitals, and one, Kylan Johnson, had been released after receiving treatment, hospital spokespersons said. An investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board interviewed one survivor Sunday and another Monday, said Clint Johnson, head of the Alaska NTSB office. The investigator hoped to conduct more interviews Tuesday or later in the week, Johnson said. "Obviously they just went through a very traumatic time in their lives, so their health and wellbeing comes first," Johnson said. "Our job is to be patient, and, when they're ready, be able to respond." Era spokesman Steve Smith said the airline offered to fly the survivors' immediate family members to Anchorage for free. Meantime, another NTSB investigator and a Federal Aviation Administration investigator were in St. Marys looking at the wreckage and taking pictures. Eventually the plane will be moved to Bethel or Anchorage for further examination, Johnson said. An NTSB meteorologist was also poring over weather reports at the time of the crash. An Alaska State Troopers spokeswoman said those searching for the plane right after the crash faced freezing rain, low cloud ceilings and about a mile of visibility. It was too early Monday to point to anything specific that might have caused the crash, Johnson said. "We're still very much in the formative stages." http://www.adn.com/2013/12/02/3209210/plane-crash-investigators-conduct.html#storylink=cpy Back to Top Aviation: EU Commission updates the European safety list of banned airlines The European Commission has updated for the 22nd time the European list of airlines subject to an operating ban or operational restrictions within the European Union, better known as "the EU air safety list". On the basis of safety information from various sources and a hearing both with the Nepalese aviation authorities as well as with a number of Nepalese carriers, the Commission decided to put all airlines from Nepal on the EU air safety list. Siim Kallas, Commission Vice-President responsible for transport, said: "The current safety situation in Nepal does not leave us any other choice than to put all of its carriers on the EU air safety list. We do hope that this ban will help the aviation authorities to improve aviation safety. I have already asked the European Aviation Safety Agency to prepare an aviation safety assistance project for Nepal. On the positive side, I am happy to note further safety progress, particularly in the Philippines, Sudan and Zambia. These countries, as well as a number of other countries where safety is gradually improving, remain for the moment on the list, but I am confident that positive decisions are in the pipeline if things keep moving in the right direction." The new list replaces and updates the previous one, adopted in July 2013, and can be consulted on the Commission's website. As a consequence of the ban on Nepalese carriers, they are prevented from flying into or within the Union. Also, European operators and travel agents will need to inform European travellers, who will have a right to reimbursement if they had booked a seat on a Nepalese carrier as part of a journey to Nepal, and decide not to use it. Consultations were also held with the civil aviation authorities of Libya. The EU Air Safety Committee noted that progress continues to be made, but agreed with the Libyan civil aviation authorities that it remains necessary to maintain the voluntary restrictions not to fly to the EU, which are applied since the Libyan revolution to all airlines licensed in Libya. The implementation of these restrictions will remain under close monitoring by the Commission and the EU Air Safety Committee. Further technical updates to the EU air safety list were made, due to the removal of some airlines that ceased to exist and the addition of new ones recently created in a number of banned countries: Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Indonesia and Mozambique. The Commission decision is based on the unanimous opinion of the EU Air Safety Committee, which met from 19 until 21 November 2013. The EU Air Safety Committee consists of aviation safety experts from the Commission, from each of the 28 Member States of the Union, as well as from Norway, Iceland, Switzerland, and the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). The Commission decision also received a positive opinion from the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers. Background The updated EU air safety list includes all airlines certified in 21 states, for a total of 295 airlines fully banned from EU skies: Afghanistan, Angola, Benin, Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Gabon (with the exception of 3 airlines which operate under restrictions and conditions), Indonesia (with the exception of 5 airlines), Kazakhstan (with the exception of one airline which operates under restrictions and conditions), Kyrgyzstan, Liberia, Mozambique, Nepal, Philippines (with the exception of one airline), Sierra Leone, Sao Tome and Principe, Sudan, Swaziland and Zambia. The list also includes 2 individual airlines: Blue Wing Airlines from Suriname and Meridian Airways from Ghana, for an overall total of 297 airlines. Additionally, the list includes 10 airlines subject to operational restrictions and thus allowed to operate into the EU under strict conditions: Air Astana from Kazakhstan, Afrijet, Gabon Airlines, and SN2AG from Gabon, Air Koryo from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Airlift International from Ghana, Air Service Comores from the Comoros, Iran Air from Iran, TAAG Angolan Airlines from Angola and Air Madagascar from Madagascar. For more information Follow Vice-President Kallas on Twitter Contacts : Helen Kearns (+32 2 298 76 38) Dale Kidd (+32 2 295 74 61) http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-13-1201_en.htm Back to Top Air safety inspection shows improvement: DCA official (Myanmar) An improved performance by Myanmar in an air safety inspection by the International Civil Aviation Organization will help to attract international investment in the industry, Department of Civil Aviation deputy director U Win Swe Tun said on December 3. An ICAO aviation safety inspection in 2010 had ranked weaknesses in complying with safety standards at 48.58 percent but this year the result had improved to 30 percent, said U Win Swe Tun. "The inspection shows that the safety factor in Myanmar aviation has improved and this result will help to attract international investment in the industry as well as more international commercial flights," U Win Swe Tun told Mizzima. "We are trying to comply with their suggestions to improve our weaknesses," he said. U Win Swe Tun said the ICAO conducted the inspection in November and its official result would be publicly announced within 90 days, in February. A director of one of Myanmar's newest domestic carriers welcomed the outcome of the ICAO inspection. "An increased safety level will give confidence to travelers and confidence in safety will provide for better prospects for the industry," said U Lwin Moe, the executive director of Asian Wings Airways. A specialized agency of the United Nations, the ICAO sets standards and regulations necessary for aviation safety, security, efficiency and regularity, its website says. An ICAO safety inspection includes checks of aviation laws, airline licenses, pilots' licenses, airports, air traffic control systems and air worthiness certificates. http://www.mizzima.com/business/investment/item/10704-air-safety-inspection-shows-improvement-dca- official Back to Top Back to Top Wisconsin bidding to host Boeing 777X jet production A model of the new Boeing 777X was on display during the 13th Dubai Airshow in United Arab Emirates. More than a dozen states are competing to convince Boeing to move production of the jetliner. More than a dozen states, including Wisconsin, are rushing to offer incentives such as subsidized training and infrastructure to convince Boeing Co. to move production of its new 777X jetliner out of Washington, where union members rejected a labor contract that froze pensions. The Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation said in a statement Wednesday that even though the state was not one that Boeing approached to submit a proposal, the agency is developing a proposal anyway, with plans to present it soon. WEDC says that more than 140 Wisconsin suppliers already work with Boeing and the state is uniquely positioned to meet its needs. Competition for the Boeing site promises to be tough. Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon called a special session of the general assembly this week with the goal of pushing through $150 million in economic-development sweeteners targeted at Boeing. States are lavishing attention on Boeing in hopes of securing the thousands of highly skilled jobs that would accompany production of the company's first jet designed for the 2020s. Union machinists in Washington voted 67% against an eight-year contract extension that would have cut benefits while keeping 777X work in Everett, home to the company's production line for the 777, the earlier version of the twin-engine model. Production of the 777X is to begin in 2017, according to the company's website. Washington state lawmakers last month sped through $8.7 billion in tax breaks to help land 777X production at Boeing's Everett plant. State officials are pushing to keep production there, said Alex Pietsch, the state's aerospace director. Washington is responding to Boeing's request for proposals, he said. About 56,000 jobs are directly or indirectly tied to the 777 program, along with about $20 billion in economic activity, Pietsch said. Boeing started considering its options in producing the newest 777, including moving some or all assembly out of state, after its proposed contract amendments were rejected by machinists in Washington and Oregon, Doug Alder, a Boeing spokesman, said. After the state proposals are received next week, Boeing "will look all things over and make our decision early next year," Alder said. The planemaker hasn't resumed talks with its machinists union, he said. "Neither side has initiated further discussions," Alder said. Boeing is looking for a location for parts fabrication, fuselage build, join, assembly, paint and delivery of the 777X airplane, Alder said in a Nov. 23 statement. It will also look for a site to make and assemble the plane's composite wing, he said. The machinists' labor agreement expires in 2016. About 20,000 Boeing employees work either directly or indirectly on the 777 jet. The twin-aisle, twin-engine 777X offers 12% lower fuel consumption than the competition, larger windows, a wider cabin and new lighting, according to the company's website. http://www.jsonline.com/business/wisconsin-bidding-to-host-boeing-777x-jet-production-b99156989z1- 234526421.html#ixzz2mbUB4U72 Back to Top Saudi Arabian Aircraft: Inbound Flights Suspended From Abuja Airport (Nigeria) Special Assistant on Media to the Minister of Aviation, Mr Joe Obi in a statement made available to Channels Television, has confirmed that flights into Abuja have been temporarily suspended to facilitate evacuation efforts to clear the runway. This, according to Obi, is due to a Saudi Arabian B747 cargo aircraft which veered off after landing in Abuja last night at the maneuvering area of the runway and ran into a maintenance area and stopped. Normal operations will resume immediately the aircraft is removed. The statement adds that it must be noted that the incident is not a plane crash as the Federal Ministry of Aviation regrets all inconveniences this incident must have caused air travelers and airport users. The statement further adds that concerted effort is being intensified to remove the obstacle and restore normalcy while the public will be updated as progress is made towards restoring normal operations at the airport. Another statement by the Group Corporate Communications Manager of Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria, Mr Yakubu Datti, said no casualty was recorded while plans are underway to move the air craft away following a preliminary assessment visit by AIPB, NCAA, FAAN and other relevant agencies. http://www.channelstv.com/home/2013/12/05/saudi-arabian-aircraft-inbound-flights-suspended-from-abuja- airport/ ************ Saudi Arabian Cargo Airplane Overshoots Runway in Abuja It seems like the spate of aircraft mishaps for the year is still not yet over. Yesterday, a Saudi Arabian B747 cargo aircraft overshot the Abuja runway, running into a maintenance area of the runway and stopped. LEADERSHIP newspaper reported that they got an eyewitness who told them that there was no casualty from the incident , saying that only the plane sustained some damage on its frame. He added that six persons were on board the cargo plane when the incident occurred. When contacted, the special media assistant to the minister of aviation, Mr Joe Obi, confirmed the incident to journalists in a statement made available last night. He said, "A Saudi Arabian B747 cargo aircraft landed safely in Abuja this night (yesterday night) but finished the maneuvering area of the runway and ran into a maintenance area of the runway and stopped. "No casualty and plans are on to move the aircraft after the AIB's visit soon." This will be the third major aircraft incident in a Nigerian airport since the October 3, 2013 aircraft accident involving the Associated Airline chartered flight that crashed in Lagos killing about 15 souls on board. Others included the Kabo Air aircraft incident with 512 pilgrims to Saudi Arabia en-route Sokoto Airport, the IRS aircraft with about 90 passengers and crew in Kaduna Airport and the Dana Air's air return incident in Port Harcourt which resulted in the grounding of its flight operations by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA). http://www.360nobs.com/2013/12/saudi-arabian-cargo-airplane-overshoots-runway-in-abuja/ Back to Top Therapy Dogs Arrive at San Francisco Airport The WAGS program at SFO brings therapy dogs to the airport.(San Francisco International Airport ) San Francisco International Airport is the latest to go to the (therapy) dogs. On Tuesday, the airport launched its Wag Brigade program, bringing therapy dogs to SFO. Wag Brigade volunteers will visit SFO terminals with their dogs every day. The handlers are the dogs' owners. "Interacting with therapy dogs has been proven to offer both physical and mental health benefits," said Dr. Jennifer Emmert, Animal Assisted Therapy manager at the SF SPCA. "We're hoping our therapy dogs will help provide stress relief to SFO passengers during the busy holiday season and beyond." The dogs can be identified by vests that read "Pet Me!" All participating dogs are graduates of the SF SPCA's Animal Assisted Therapy training program and are required to visit SFO prior to formal acceptance into the Wag Brigade program. Dogs are evaluated for temperament and comfort with large crowds, security requirements and the airport environment. Los Angeles International Airport unveiled a similar program earlier this year. Called PUP (Pets Unstressing Passengers), trained dogs and handlers roam through the gate areas on the departure level of each terminal and visit with passengers awaiting flights while providing comfort and offering airport information. Airports in San Jose, Calif., and Miami have similar programs. http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/lifestyle/2013/12/therapy-dogs-arrive-at-san-francisco-airport/ Back to Top Safety panel no place for rage: David Forsyth (Australia) INDUSTRY players making submissions to the federal government's review on aviation safety regulation need to leave the vitriol at home and respond constructively, panel chairman David Forsyth warns. In an exclusive interview with The Australian, Mr Forsyth also advised people to be patient about airing their views during the next five months of the inquiry. Submissions open today and the panel is expecting a similar number to the roughly 300 made to Labor's aviation white paper. Mr Forsyth and fellow panel members Roger Whitefield and Don Spruston have been poring over previous reports on the industry and will kick off the investigations in Australia next week when they visit major airlines and general aviation airports in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide. But the chairman emphasised this would be just the start to a long process that would take shape with a visiting program once submissions had closed on January 31. "We will get to other people and particularly we encourage people to put submissions in," Mr Forsyth said. "The better their submissions, the more likely we're going to be talking to them at some point and expand on what they've put in their submissions. "The submissions are important, and I think February and March and possibly some of April we're going to be pretty busy talking to people." Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss announced the review last month as a systematic and strategic examination of how well Australia's regulatory system was positioned globally. Mr Truss said yesterday the aim was to make sure Australia remained at the forefront of aviation safety. "The general and regional aviation sectors, in particular, have told the government they are concerned about the costs of regulatory compliance and how our regulatory system compares to other countries. "This review will place us in a strong position to ensure our aviation safety standards remain up to the challenge of meeting the predicted expansion of aviation over the next 20 years." The committee on Monday and Tuesday will visit Canberra to meet departmental officials as well as those from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, the Civil Aviation Safety Authority and Airservices Australia. They will be in Sydney on Wednesday, Adelaide on Thursday and Melbourne on Friday, when they will meet operators as well as visit Bankstown, Parafield and Moorabbin airports. Mr Forsyth said the committee would aim to finish a draft report by the end of April so it could submit the final document to Mr Truss before the end of May. "That's our timeframe and at this stage, although it's early days, we're hopeful of sticking to it." He said the panel was open to anything industry players wanted to tell it; however, Mr Truss had been clear in the terms of reference that he wanted a strategic review that did not re-examine investigations or look at individual complaints. The investigation would be in three major parts. "The first bit is the relationship between the agencies, which (Russell) Miller had a look at in 2007, and clearly there are still some questions surrounding the relationship, particularly between CASA and the ATSB," Mr Forsyth said. "So we'll be having a bit of a look at that. "The second part, which is a fair bit of work, I think, is to look at the regulatory reform program. "We've already had a few people give us some interesting leads about how that could be improved, so we're going to be looking at that fairly early in the piece. "There's lots of things: the way the regs are put together, the way they're written and the issue of why it takes a long time in the consultation program and so forth. "And that regulatory review thing has been going on for 20 years; it's a bit of a saga. "The third main plank is CASA's audit and surveillance program of industry. And that and the second piece is where a lot of the vitriol is." He said he understood some smaller operators were particularly cranky about the way CASA operated, but that the panel was not a witch-hunt and he would be seeking CASA's viewpoint. "As with all of these things there's never any one fault," he said. "When you've got a relationship breakdown it takes at least two and sometimes three, so it will be interesting to hear both sides of it." Admitting that managing the review would need "a fair bit of diplomacy", he said people would need to recognise that the panel was attempting to try and improve the situation. Being vitriolic about CASA or other players was not going to be seen as being particularly helpful. "The panel obviously wants to get to the meat of these things and deal with it and maybe look at some options for improvement," he said "It isn't here to sit down to hear people rant and rave so people need to be measured in the way they put their responses together." Commenting on his high-powered panel, the Qantas engineering veteran, chair of Safeskies Australia and former Airservices chair said his fellow panellists would be available to provide valuable insights into the Australian industry. Mr Spruston is a former director-general of civil aviation at Transport Canada as well as an ex-director general of the International Business Aviation Council. Mr Whitefield is a former head of safety at British Airways, a former UK Civil Aviation Authority board member and was a safety advisor to Qantas. Both men are pilots. "I think it should be a good panel," Mr Forsyth said. "I've spoken to them both on the phone a few times and they're both very knowledgeable guys and will be able to give us that litmus test or benchmarking, if you want to call it that, of the regulatory situation here and the agency situation here coppered to at least two other jurisdictions. So I think that will be very helpful." "As with all of these things, there's never any one fault," Mr Forsyth said. "When you've got a relationship breakdown, it takes at least two, and sometimes three, so it will be interesting to hear both sides of it." Admitting that managing the review would require "a fair bit of diplomacy", he said people would need to recognise the panel was attempting to try to improve the situation. Being vitriolic about CASA or other players was not going to be seen as helpful. "The panel obviously wants to get to the meat of these things and deal with it and maybe look at some options for improvement. It isn't here to sit down to hear people rant and rave, so people need to be measured in the way they put responses together." The Qantas engineering veteran, chairman of Safeskies Australia and former Airservices chairman said his fellow panellists would be available to provide valuable insights into the Australian aviation industry. Mr Spruston is a former director-general of civil aviation at Transport Canada as well as an ex-director general of the International Business Aviation Council. Mr Whitefield is a former head of safety at British Airways, and a former UK Civil Aviation Authority board member. He was also a safety adviser to Qantas. Both men are pilots. "I think it should be a good panel," Mr Forsyth said. "I've spoken to them both on the phone a few times and they're both very knowledgeable guys and will be able to give us that litmus test or benchmarking, if you want to call it that, of the regulatory situation here and the agency situation here coppered to at least two other jurisdictions. So I think that will be very helpful." Submissions can be made through the Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development website: infrastructure.gov.au/aviation/asrr http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/aviation/safety-panel-no-place-for-rage-david-forsyth/story- e6frg95x-1226776455520# Back to Top Cheyenne airline faces $304,000 FAA fine for de-icing issue CHEYENNE - The Federal Aviation Administration is proposing a $304,000 civil penalty against Great Lakes Aviation of Cheyenne for allegedly conducting 19 flights in January 2011 with aircraft that weren't in compliance with federal aviation regulations. Great Lakes operated the aircraft in conditions in which the carrier could reasonably expect frost, snow or ice to adhere to the planes, the FAA alleges in a media release. The FAA contends that Great Lakes flew Beech 1900 aircraft out of Hays, Kan., in January 2011 with de-icing fluid that exceeded the maximum temperature of 180 degrees Fahrenheit. The Great Lakes de-icing manual states that fluid heated to more than 180 degrees could damage the aircraft or its de-icer. Sen. Michael Von Flatern, of Gillette, a pilot and member of the Airplane Owners and Pilots Association, said the airline must have used the wrong class of de-icer on those occasions during the month of January 2011. He said he knew of no airline crashes related to such use. The FAA notified Great Lakes of the result of its investigation in a letter issued Sept. 23 to Charles Howell, the airline's Cheyenne-based chief executive. Great Lakes Aviation had 30 days from the receipt of the FAA's enforcement letter to respond to the agency, according to the letter. Allen Kenitzer, manager of communications and media relations for the FAA's northwest region, said Tuesday he didn't know whether Great Lakes had been in contact with the FAA. Two phone messages to the public relations officer for Great Lakes were not returned Tuesday. The airline operates an average of 12 flights per day out of the Cheyenne airport to Sheridan, Denver, Billings, Phoenix, Los Angeles and other destinations, according to the Cheyenne Chamber of Commerce office. http://trib.com/business/cheyenne-airline-faces-faa-fine-for-de-icing-issue/article_f6d54e55-7e7d-542c- 9027-9f91e8bd9937.html Back to Top AVIATION MAINTENANCE & ENGINEERING EXCHANGE Published weekly on Wednesday. Curt Lewis