Flight Safety Information July 25, 2014 - No. 153 In This Issue Air Algerie Plane Likely Crashed Due To Bad Weather: French Officials French Soldiers In Mali Find Black Box In Wreckage Of Air Algerie Flight Taiwan Plane Crash: Investigators Examine Black Boxes, Wreckage U.S. discloses intelligence on downing of Malaysian jet Crash Puts Taiwan's Air Safety in Spotlight India wants fresh US audit for air-safety upgrade 2014 plane crash fatalities already double those of 2013 PRISM TO HELP PREPARE FOR E-IOSA Airports go to the dogs to help frazzled fliers Profits Tell of a Turnaround by Major Airlines UAE Assistant Director General of Aviation Safety Affairs Sector GCAA to emphasis importance of airport safety culture at EMASS 2014 in Dubai THE ALPA 60TH AIR SAFETY FORUM Upcoming Events Employment Air Algerie Plane Likely Crashed Due To Bad Weather: French Officials PARIS, July 25 (Reuters) - Poor weather was the most likely cause of the crash of an Air Algerie flight over the West African state of Mali with 116 people on board, French officials said on Friday. Investigators at the scene of the crash had concluded the airliner broke apart when it hit the ground, the officials said, suggesting this meant it was unlikely to have been the victim of an attack. "The aircraft was destroyed at the moment it crashed," Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve told RTL radio of the wreckage of the plane carrying 51 French nationals which crashed in Mali near the border with Burkina Faso on Thursday. "We think the aircraft crashed for reasons linked to the weather conditions. No theory can be excluded at this point ... but that is indeed the most likely theory," he added. Separately, Transport Minister Frederic Cuvillier said the strong smell of aircraft fuel at the crash site and the fact that the debris was scattered over a relatively small area also suggested the cause of the crash was linked to weather, a technical problem or a cumulation of such factors. "We exclude - and have done so from the start - any ground strike," Cuvillier told France 2 television. He added that a column of 100 soldiers from the French force stationed in the region were on their way to secure the crash site near the northern town of Gossi. France deployed troops to Mail last year to halt an al Qaeda-backed insurgency. Aviation officials lost contact with Flight AH5017 en route from Burkina Faso to Algeria early on Thursday after a request by the pilot to change course due to bad weather. Burkina Faso authorities said the passenger list included 51 French, 27 Burkinabe, eight Lebanese, six Algerians, five Canadians, four Germans, two from Luxembourg, one Cameroonian, one Belgian, one Egyptian, one Ukranian, one Swiss, one Nigerian and one Malian. Crash site investigators saw no survivors. (Reporting by Chine Labbe and Mark John in Paris; Editing by Andrew Callus) http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/25/air-algerie-plane-crash_n_5619711.html Back to Top French Soldiers In Mali Find Black Box In Wreckage Of Air Algerie Flight PARIS (AP) - French soldiers on Friday secured one of the black boxes from the Air Algerie plane that went down in restive northern Mali with the loss of at least 116 people, French President François Hollande said Friday. Terrorism has not been ruled out as a cause, although officials say the most likely cause is bad weather. The black box was recovered from the wreckage, in the Gossi region near the border with Burkina Faso, and is being taken to the northern city of Gao, where a French contingent is based, Hollande told reporters after a crisis meeting with top ministers. "There are, alas, no survivors," Hollande said. "I share the pain of families living through this terrible ordeal." Nearly half of the passengers aboard the flight were French, many headed on to Europe after arriving in the Algerian capital from the Burkina Faso capital, Ouagadougou. The president has said that France will spare no efforts to uncover the cause of the crash - the third major plane disaster around the world within a week. "There are hypotheses, notably weather-related, but we don't rule out anything because we want to know what happened," Hollande said. "What we know is that the debris is concentrated in a limited space, but it is too soon to draw conclusions," he added. Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve added, speaking to RTL radio: "Terrorist groups are in the zone ... We know these groups are hostile to Western interests." The MD-83 aircraft, owned by Spanish company Swiftair and leased by Algeria's flagship carrier, disappeared from radar less than an hour after it took off early Thursday from Ouagadougou for Algiers. The plane had requested permission to change course due to bad weather. A team from France's Accident Investigation Bureau has been sent to Mali, Hollande said. A French Reaper drone based in Niger initially spotted the wreckage, French Transport Minister Frederic Cuvillier told France-Info radio on Friday. Two helicopter teams also overflew, noting that the wreckage was in a concentrated area. A column of soldiers in some 30 vehicles were dispatched to the site, he said. "We sent men, with the agreement of the Mali government, to the site, and they found the wreckage of the plane with the help of the inhabitants of the area," said Gen. Gilbert Diendere, a close aide to Burkina Faso President Blaise Compaore and head of the crisis committee set up to investigate the flight. The pilots had sent a final message to ask Niger air control to change its route because of heavy rain, Burkina Faso Transport Minister Jean Bertin Ouedraogo said Thursday. The vast deserts and mountains of northern Mali fell under control of ethnic Tuareg separatists and then al-Qaida-linked Islamic extremists after a military coup in 2012. French forces intervened in January 2013 to rout Islamist extremists controlling the region. A French soldier was killed earlier this month near the major town of Gao, where French troops remain. The intervention scattered the extremists, but the Tuaregs have pushed back against the authority of the Bamako-based government. Meanwhile, the threat from Islamic militants hasn't disappeared, and France is giving its troops a new and larger anti-terrorist mission across the region. The crash was the third airline disaster within a week. http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2014/07/25/french-soldiers-in-mali-find-black- box-in-wreckage-air-algerie-flight/ Back to Top Taiwan Plane Crash: Investigators Examine Black Boxes, Wreckage A forensic team recovers human remains among the wreckage of crashed TransAsia Airways flight GE222 on the outlying island of Penghu, Taiwan, Thursday, July 24, 2014. Stormy weather on the trailing edge of Typhoon Matmo was the likely cause of the plane crash that killed more than 40 people, the airline said. Aviation has suffered one of its worst weeks in memory, a cluster of disasters spanning three continents. (AP Photo/Wally Santana) Taiwan (AP) - The 10 survivors of Taiwan's worst air disaster in more than a decade include a 34-year-old woman who called her father after scrambling from the wreckage and seeking help at a nearby home. Hung Yu-ting escaped through a hole in the fuselage that opened up after the plane plowed into homes Wednesday while attempting to land on the outlying resort island of Penghu, killing 48 people. "She called me on the phone to say the plane had crashed and exploded but that she had already crawled out and I should come right away to get her," said Hung's father, Hung Chang-ming, who lives just a few hundred meters (yards) from the crash site. Hung rushed to the scene, but his daughter had already been taken away by rescuers. "When I was halfway there the fire was still really big, but it was smaller when I arrived on the scene," Hung told reporters. "There were two other injured outside and the first ambulance had already taken away three, including my daughter." Hung Chang-ming joined rescuers and other residents in putting out the fire and rescuing other survivors before going to the hospital to check on his daughter. Hung Yu-ting was recovering Friday from burns to her arms, legs and back suffered during her escape. The condition of the other survivors wasn't immediately known. Other relatives weren't so luckly, some recalling the last phone conversations with their loved ones. Shu Chi-tse said he had spoken to his son, Shu Chong-tai, just before the flight left the southern city of Kaohsiung on Taiwan's main island for a short ride west across the Taiwan Strait. "He is a good boy. He cares for me and his mom. He loves his grandma a lot," Shu said. Among the dead were all four members of the flight crew, a family of six and a family of four. They included several children, like 9-year-old Ho Po-yu, who was returning home to Penghu with his mother after attending a summer camp for young choral singers. Stormy weather and low visibility are thought to have been factors in the crash of the twin propeller ATR-72 operated by TransAsia Airways. The investigation is expected to focus on a four-minute gap between the pilot's request for a second approach and the plane's crashing into village homes at 7:10 p.m., during which visibility dropped by half. One of the questions is why did the pilots decide to proceed with the flight despite rough weather on the heels of a typhoon that had forced the cancellation of about 200 flights earlier in the day. However, aviation authorities said conditions were safe for flying and two other planes had landed at Penghu that day prior to the crash. The mother of one of the victims screamed at TransAsia Chairman Vincent Lin when he arrived to pay respects at the funeral hall Friday. Lin kneeled down, bowed to the woman and apologized. "Give me back my son, he is only 27 years old . He is still young, but now he is lying there at the morgue. I want my son back," she cried. "This is an unpredictable tragedy. The priority for us is to assist victims' relatives," Lin later told reporters as Buddhist monks conducted rituals for the dead. Local media reported Friday that the plane's cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder had been sent to the main island of Taiwan for analysis. One of the devices was damaged in the crash and ensuing fire, and it wasn't immediately clear when results of the investigation would be made public. The TransAsia crash was Taiwan's first deadly civil aviation accident since 2002, when a China Airlines plane went down shortly after takeoff, killing 225. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/25/taiwan-plane-crash_n_5619581.html Back to Top U.S. discloses intelligence on downing of Malaysian jet The Obama administration, detailing what it called evidence of Russian complicity in the downing of a Malaysian airliner, on Tuesday released satellite images and other sensitive intelligence that officials say show Moscow had trained and equipped rebels in Ukraine responsible for the attack. Senior U.S. intelligence officials cited sensors that traced the path of the missile, shrapnel markings on the downed aircraft, voiceprint analysis of separatists claiming credit for the strike, and a flood of photos and other data from social-media sites. The officials also for the first time identified a sprawling Russian military installation near the city of Rostov as the main conduit of Russian support to separatists in Ukraine, describing it as a hub of training and weapons that has expanded dramatically over the past month. The officials said that tanks, rocket launchers and other arms have continued to flow into Ukraine even after the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, which killed 298 civilians. Analysts at the CIA and other U.S. intelligence agencies are continuing to examine information about the crash, but the officials said the intelligence assembled in the five days since the attack points overwhelmingly to Russian-backed separatists in territory they control in eastern Ukraine. The senior intelligence officials said they have ruled out the possibility that Ukrainian forces were responsible for the attack. Images claim show the movements of a surface-to-air missile launcher and build up of Russian military activity across the border. "That is not a plausible scenario," said one senior U.S. official, who noted that American intelligence agencies have confirmed that Ukraine had no antiaircraft missile system within range of the Malaysian flight at the time it was struck. The official was one of three senior U.S. intelligence officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity during a briefing arranged for reporters in Washington to provide more detailed information on the assertions made by administration officials in recent days, as well as to rebut Russian claims. "We are seeing a full-court press by the Russian government to instruct affiliated or friendly elements to manipulate the media environment to spread Russia's version of the story," the official said. "What this looks like again is a classic case of blaming the victims." Russia has denied that it had any role in the shooting down of the Malaysian plane or that it has provided the Ukrainian rebels with SA-11 antiaircraft missile batteries. Moscow has instead blamed the Ukrainian government for the crash. On Monday, Russian Defense Ministry officials claimed that a Ukrainian military jet was flying less than three miles from the Malaysian plane just before it was shot down. The U.S. intelligence officials, who included experts on Russia's military and its relationship with separatists in Ukraine, said they do not know the identities or even the nationalities - whether Russian or possibly defectors from Ukraine's military - of those who launched the missile from an SA-11 surface-to-air battery. Nor have U.S. spy agencies reached any conclusions on the motive for the attack, except to say that the reaction among separatists recorded on social media indicates they believed they were targeting a Ukrainian military transport plane. In part, the officials said, that may have been because the rebels operating the missile battery were poorly trained and did not have access to other radar systems and equipment that ordinarily accompany an SA-11 system and are designed to help distinguish military targets from civilian planes. Phone conversations intercepted by the Ukrainian Security Service allegedly reveal pro- Russian rebels attempting to conceal evidence related to the crash of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17. (AP) U.S. officials said earlier that they had seen "indications" of advanced antiaircraft systems being moved into eastern Ukraine from Russia and being removed after the jet was shot down. The senior intelligence officials said spy agencies were not aware that an SA-11 system was in eastern Ukraine until the attack had happened. They declined to answer questions about whether warnings about the Russian military buildup over the past month had been shared with international aviation authorities. The officials also declined to provide more details on the satellites and other sophisticated sensors that enabled them to trace the path of the missile, citing concerns about compromising secret U.S. capabilities. Intelligence effort Still, the administration released information that had been kept secret until Tuesday, providing the most explicit illustration to date of the extent to which it has mobilized intelligence resources to track the conflict in Ukraine. In particular, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence released images taken of the Russian military facility near Rostov over the span of a month, before-and-after slides that the officials said showed a substantial buildup after Russia had pledged to pull back from Ukraine. Russia has gone to significant lengths to disguise that flow of weaponry, the officials said, by delivering equipment that matches the inventory of Ukraine's military. In some cases, the officials said, Russia appears to have pulled aging and inactive tanks out of storage because shipping newer ones would make it obvious that Russian arms were flowing into Ukraine. "We think they're continuing to do it" in the aftermath of the strike on the Malaysian aircraft, one of the intelligence officials said. Russia appears to have "felt compelled to increase the level of support" for separatists, the official said,because Ukraine's military has become increasingly effective against the rebels, retaking the city of Slovyansk. In recent days, the Ukrainian government has posted online what it has described as incriminating communications among rebel leaders and units, calls and radio transmissions apparently intercepted by Kiev. The U.S. officials said they have confirmed the authenticity of some of those recordings, including one in which the self-proclaimed defense minister of the Donetsk People's Republic, Igor Strelkov, claimed responsibility for shooting down a military transport plane at the time the Malaysian aircraft was struck. Analysis comparing that audio clip to other confirmed recordings of Strelkov's voice "confirmed these were authentic conversations," one of the officials said. Other aircraft shot down The officials noted that separatists had shot down aircraft on about a dozen other occasions over the past month - mostly helicopters and Ukraine military planes flying far below the 33,000-foot altitude at which the Malaysian flight was hit. Ukraine's military, by contrast, is focused on the ground threat posed by separatists and has yet to fire on an aircraft, the officials said. U.S. intelligence analysts have examined photos from the crash site and identified damage consistent with that caused by an SA-11 missile, the officials said, but they stressed that such analysis is preliminary. The briefing also revealed the extent to which U.S. spy agencies are relying on Twitter, Facebook and other social-media sites to monitor the conflict. The officials cited verbal exchanges among rebels posted on YouTube indicating separatists arriving at the scene of the wreckage were surprised to discover civilians. http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/us-discloses-intelligence-on- downing-of-malaysian-jet/2014/07/22/b178fe58-11e1-11e4-98ee- daea85133bc9_story.html Back to Top Crash Puts Taiwan's Air Safety in Spotlight Island's Record, Tarnished in the Past, Had Been Improving in Recent Years By JOANNE CHIU TransAsia Airways staffers answer phones at Kaohsiung International Airport after Flight 222 crashed Wednesday on Taiwan's Penghu Island. Getty Images The deadly crash of a Taiwanese commuter plane Wednesday has brought back into focus the island's air safety after years of improvement following a series of accidents. A turboprop aircraft operated by TransAsia Airways Corp. crashed while trying to make its second landing attempt at Penghu's Magong airport off the coast of Taiwan, killing 48 people and injuring nearly a dozen others. The incident came just days after the world reeled from one of the worst air disasters, involving a Malaysia Airlines jet that went down in Ukraine, killing all 298 people aboard, the second disaster for the carrier in five months. Wednesday's crash of the European-made ATR-72 was TransAsia's third fatal accident involving that aircraft type since 1995, though the carrier's safety record had improved in recent years. Over the past decade, Taiwan's other airlines have also made substantial gains in safety, following major overhauls to turn around an industry battered by several major crashes in the 1990s and early 2000s, with many involving the island's biggest carrier, China Airlines Ltd. 2610.TW -0.49% Before this week's crash, there had been no major fatal accidents for Taiwanese airlines since May 2002, when a Boeing 747 jet operated by China Airlines broke apart about 20 minutes into its flight from Taipei to Hong Kong, and crashed into the sea northwest of Penghu, killing all 225 people on board. John Chang, a senior vice president at China Airlines' regional unit Mandarin Airlines, said he believes the TransAsia crash was an isolated incident caused in part by adverse weather conditions. "While we still need to look into the reasons for the second landing attempt, I don't see that there are any systemic problems in our air safety regulatory system," he said. He said the island's aviation regulator has boosted efforts to supervise airlines to ensure flight safety, leading to a substantial improvement in industry standards. China Airlines invested heavily to refurbish its image, which had been left tarnished by a poor safety record. In 1998, the airline brought in Germany's Technik AG to overhaul its operations and set new training and safety standards for the airlines. It also implemented a new system to evaluate crew performance to identify potential threats and minimizing safety-related risks. TransAsia's ambitious expansion plans are likely to be hurt by Wednesday's crash of Flight 222. The Taipei-based airline is expanding and plans to start a low-cost carrier that would among the island's first. Marc Wang, an aviation analyst at KGI Securities, said the crash will likely deal a blow to TransAsia's expansion drive and its fundraising capability to fund its fleet expansion. The reason, according to an official at Taiwan's Civil Aeronautics Administration, is that an airline involved in a major crash would usually be banned from participating in international route allocations for a year. That means TransAsia might not receive permission to operate on new international routes in the foreseeable future, said the official, who declined to be named. "The incident would put TransAsia at a competitive disadvantage in competing with its Taiwanese peers for more air rights to expand its cross-strait flights and other international services," Mr. Wang said. Founded in 1951, TransAsia, a smaller carrier compared with larger rivals China Airlines and EVA Airways Corp., has sought to aggressively expand its network beyond domestic Taiwan routes. TransAsia's Taipei-traded shares ended Thursday down 5.5%. "Our top priority is to do everything we can to help the victims and their family members and that we will cooperate with the authorities in carrying out investigation into the incident," said a TransAsia spokeswoman Thursday when asked about the possible restrictions to the airline's expansion plans after the crash. The carrier, which operates a fleet of Airbus and ATR Turboprop planes, last year promoted Singaporean Hsu Yi-Tsung, a former executive at budget carrier Jetstar Asia, to lead the airline's overseas push. TransAsia last year got approval from Taiwan's aviation regulator to launch a low-cost airline that would operate flights within a five-hour radius of island, joining an already crowded market. In 2013, China Airlines also unveiled plans to launch a budget carrier, hoping to link neighboring tourist and business hot spots when it starts service in the fourth quarter of this year. http://online.wsj.com/articles/crash-puts-taiwans-air-safety-in-spotlight-1406211507 Back to Top India wants fresh US audit for air-safety upgrade FAA had expressed concerns over a lack of full-time flight operations inspectors in DGCA and downgraded India to Category-II in safety rankings New Delhi - The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has asked the US's Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for a fresh audit by end-August of the safety oversight mechanism. Sources in DGCA said the letter was sent this week. FAA, in audits in September and December, had expressed concerns over a lack of full- time FOIs (flight operations inspectors) in DGCA and downgraded India to Category-II in safety rankings, clubbing it with Zimbabwe and Indonesia. An official said, "The Wicks Group (TWG) in its interim report has said we can seek a fresh audit from the FAA if we have 20 FOIs. We have the numbers but would like to have 35 to 40 FOIs before we meet the FAA. We have written to the FAA for a meeting for a presentation next month." TWG has been hired to work with DGCA for a year under a bilateral assistance programme funded by the United States Trade and Development Agency. TWG has former FAA officials and had helped Azerbaijan, Cape Verde, Trinidad and Tobago, Saudi Arabia and Ukraine to upgrade their air safety rankings. DGCA has started a second round of interviews to hire more pilots. The regulator interviewed pilots for senior FOIs and FOIs on Tuesday and has more interviews on Friday. On Monday, it is to interview pilots for chief and deputy FOIs. The official said, "The FAA has not indicated how many FOIs we need to have. The norm is to have one for every 10 aircraft. We want to have 35-40 FOIs, so we can do safety inspections on scheduled and non-scheduled general aviation aircraft and helicopters." Hiring of full-time FOIs and their training are crucial for India to regain the Category-I status in FAA safety rankings. The FAA downgrade has barred Indian airlines expanding operations in the US and hit code-sharing pacts with American counterparts. Code- sharing is an agreement between two or more airlines to list certain flights in a reservation system under each other's names. Earlier, DGCA did not have regular FOIs. Pilots and commanders were taken from scheduled airlines for these functions. The commanders and pilots were paid by the respective airlines and not by DGCA. There were possibilities of conflict of interest, noted the FAA. DGCA had not been able to hire full-time FOIs due to its inability to pay them market-linked salaries. To address concerns raised by FAA, the government sanctioned the creation of 75 posts in DGCA, to recruit pilots at market-determined salaries. In the first round this March, the regulator, which has six full-time FOIs, could hire 29 pilots. Of those hired, 14 have joined. "We are trying to address their (pilots') concerns. The FOIs would be on our payroll for three years. We have written to the airlines to ensure their seniority and promotions do not get affected during deputation," an official said. http://www.business-standard.com/article/company/india-wants-fresh-us-audit-for-air- safety-upgrade-114072401160_1.html Back to Top 2014 plane crash fatalities already double those of 2013 Three passenger plane crashes in the last week may have caused nearly the same number of fatalities over a seven-day period as all aviation fatalities in 2013, according to an international aircraft accidents body. The Geneva-based Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives (B3A) reports that 2013 saw 459 fatalities as a result of aircraft accidents. Meanwhile, just more than halfway through this year, the organization is reporting 991 fatalities in 2014. Last week Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 was shot down by a missile over Ukraine, killing all 298 people onboard. On Wednesday, TransAsia Airways Flight GE 222 crashed while landing at Magong Airport in Taiwan during a storm, leaving 48 dead and injuring 10 others. Then on Thursday, an Air Algerie plane vanished off the radar over northern Mali with 116 people aboard. The airline said it's likely the plane went down on the outskirts of Mali's Gao region. While the string of crashes may have some second-guessing their upcoming travel plans, aviation experts say the recent tragedies are purely coincidental. "There's a very high level of aviation safety today," B3A founder and aircraft accident historian Ronan Hubert told CTVNews.ca in a phone interview from Geneva. Hubert said the aviation accident rate has been declining over the last 20 years. He added that the death rate as a result of plane crashes was so low between 2011 and 2013 that it's "very, very difficult to do better." "With all the passengers and aircrafts and flights we have taking off every day, the risk is near-zero," he said. The number of fatalities from aircraft accidents in 2011 was 828, according to B3A. That number dropped to 800 in 2012 and 459 in 2013. Hubert said most plane crashes involve small planes, and tragedies such as the Malaysia Airlines crash remain extremely rare. "This why you see the rate of casualties is very, very low, and suddenly in one week we have more than 450," he said. Black boxes to provide answers behind crashes Aircraft accident investigator John Cox agreed that the series of recent plane crashes is very rare. "We have three, very independent accidents occur in unique circumstances, all within a short period of time," Cox told CTV News Channel on Thursday. "And that's unusual." He said in the cases of the Air Algerie and TransAsia crashes, the black boxes will give a clear idea of what happened. Both flights are thought to have flown through bad weather before crashing. However, Cox said the MH17 black boxes may offer little insight into the tragedy. "They're only going to tell us what happened to the airplane after the vessel strike," he said, adding that it's highly unlikely that the plane's pilots had any idea that the aircraft was targeted. http://www.ctvnews.ca/world/2014-plane-crash-fatalities-already-double-those-of-2013- 1.1929984#ixzz38U6oODWa Back to Top Back to Top Airports go to the dogs to help frazzled fliers Trained therapy dogs roam terminals to comfort and entertain travelers who are stressed out or afraid of flying. LOS ANGELES -- Claire Arno and her two children missed their flight from San Francisco to Los Angeles. Stuck waiting at Los Angeles International Airport for the next flight to New York, Arno is looking for ways to entertain Piper, 4, and Marius, 6. Along come Hazel, Rosalie and Kai. The three dogs - a pointer mix, a Chihuahua/terrier mix and a long-haired Dalmatian - command as much attention as Gwyneth Paltrow would sauntering through LAX. Arno's kids rush over to pet the dogs. Other travelers snap photos of or take selfies with them. The dogs' owners call them the "pup-arazzi." "It's absolutely nice to run into them," Arno says as she watches her kids play with the pooches at Delta Airlines Terminal 5. "I think it calms the kids down. It's a little bit of home at the airport." That's exactly what LAX officials had in mind when they started the Pets Unstressing Passengers, or PUP, program last year. Thirty trained dogs have been employed to relax and entertain stressed-out travelers. Wearing red vests that instruct people to "pet me," the dogs wander LAX's terminals with their owners, providing comfort and airport information. For frazzled travelers, "this is a breath of fresh air and fun for them," Heidi Huebner, director of volunteers for the PUP program at LAX. Dogs are celebrities About 20 airports across the USA and Canada - including Miami International Airport, San Francisco International Airport, Mineta San Jose International Airport and Edmonton International Airport - have therapy dogs. Air travel can be particularly stressful these days. The mysterious disappearance of Malaysia Airlines 370 in March and now the shootdown of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 last week have travelers on edge. Even when passengers aren't worried about catastrophic events, they're dealing with a traveling experience that has deteriorated in other ways. About nine out of 10 travelers recently surveyed by the firm ResearchNow for the U.S. Travel Association said that in the past year, air travel has become either more of or is as much of a hassle. Flight delays and cancellations are the biggest complaints, but long security lines and checked-bag fees also are frequent gripes, according to the online survey of 1,031 business and leisure travelers from Feb. 5 to Feb. 12. "We know air travel can sometimes be hairy due to Mother Nature, delays," and other stressful events says Tara Hernandez, marketing and communications manager at Gerald R. Ford International Airport in Grand Rapids, Mich., which has six therapy dogs in its Gentle Fur in Action program. "What we have tried to establish with our ... program is a sense of comfort, a way to ease anxiety and stress." At LAX, Hazel, Kai and Rosalie are doing their best. "When she puts that vest on, she knows she has to work," says Lou Friedman, a retiree who owns Hazel with his wife, Barbara. The work beats Hazel's previous life, though. The Friedmans rescued the 9-year-old pointer mix from a shelter. When they found her, she was so afraid of people that she insisted on sleeping in a closet. She eventually let her guard down, and she and her owners now dedicate a few hours a week to helping others in distress. Hazel's favorite way to make a traveler chuckle is to lie on her back and wiggle around. Wearing red vests that instruct people to "pet me," the dogs in the Pets Unstressing Passengers, or PUP, program wander LAX's terminals with their owners, providing comfort and airport information. (Photo: Dan MacMedan, USA TODAY) Like other airport therapy dogs, Hazel had to be trained before she was hired. At LAX, the pups must have worked with a dog therapy organization for at least a year. They have to be at least 2 years old. And they have to be registered with Therapy Dogs Inc.,which evaluates people and pets who are involved in volunteer animal-assisted activities. The pets usually visit hospitals, schools, nursing homes and other venues before getting the airport gig. They then go through classroom training at LAX, which includes a walk-through with Huebner to ensure they are the right fit. Owners are fingerprinted and badged for security reasons. Other airports have similarly stringent requirements. Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport requires dogs and their owners to go through four evaluation visits. The LAX dogs typically are available for a few hours a day every day of the week. Each dog works until he or she gets tired. "When the dogs are done, they're done," says Norm Zareski, who owns 10-year-old Rosalie. On a recent Friday, Hazel, Kai and Rosalie enthusiastically take a stroll. They intend to get through all of Terminal 5 but make it only a few feet past security. "A lot of times, they don't make it past this area," Huebner says. "It's quality, not quantity." They are canine celebrities at LAX, a place used to playing host to many human celebrities. The pups even have business cards that tell travelers what their favorite treats and lounging spots are. Hazel's favorite treat is cooked egg yolks. Kai likes bell peppers. Rosalie's favorite place to lounge is on "any lap." The dogs attract children mostly, but they also often help the adult traveler who's just having a bad day. "You can tell. You see it on their faces," Zareski says. Megan Moroney has been up since 3 a.m. She's heading to a friend's wedding in San Jose. She was packing until midnight and then had to work a morning shift at a coffee shop before heading to the airport. She's exhausted, but when she spots the dogs, she heads straight to them. "This is the greatest thing you can bring to an airport because everyone is stressed out or bored," she says. "I just saw them and feel rejuvenated and excited. I feel peacefully happy." http://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/flights/2014/07/24/airport-therapy- dogs/13093195/ Back to Top Profits Tell of a Turnaround by Major Airlines, and Point to the Start of a New Era Both United and American also surprised Wall Street with unexpected $1 billion programs to buy back shares, something Delta already does. Credit Luke Macgregor/Reuters Signaling a major turnaround in the airline industry's fortunes, the nation's three major legacy carriers - American Airlines, United Airlines and Delta Air Lines - all posted record profits in the past quarter. It's a triumph for the airlines, all three the products of protracted bankruptcies and mega-mergers, and it represents a new phase in the industry's troubled history. For the first time in a generation, airlines are generating enough cash to pay down debt, buy new planes, reward shareholders with new dividends, buy back shares, and even raise employee bonuses and salaries. W. Douglas Parker, the chief executive of American Airlines, said on Thursday that the airline's second-quarter profit, excluding special charges, of $1.5 billion was its best quarterly earnings performance ever. "It is hard to believe that less than eight months ago, American was in bankruptcy," Mr. Parker wrote in a memo to the airline's 100,000 employees. Mr. Parker, formerly the top executive at US Airways, which completed its merger with American in December, said the airline would start paying a quarterly dividend for the first time since 1980. Richard Anderson, the chief executive of Delta, was equally effusive about his airline's performance. "The June quarter results show Delta is a top-performing S.&P. industrial company," he said during a conference call with investors on Wednesday. The company reported net income for the second quarter of $801 million, up 17 percent from the year- earlier period. Even United Airlines, which had a loss in the first quarter and has struggled with its merger with Continental Airlines, posted a $919 million second-quarter profit on Thursday. Both United and American also surprised Wall Street with unexpected $1 billion programs to buy back shares, something Delta already does. The three big carriers have been carefully keeping their capacity in check in recent years, rationing service around major hubs, and increasing fees and fares in the face of strong demand. They are also benefiting from alliances with foreign carriers that allow them to offer connections to much of the world. Some analysts, however, sounded a word of caution, particularly about the timing of the stock-buying program for United and American. American's integration with US Airways remains far from complete, for instance, and the airline still needs to merge the two reservation systems or strike a new labor deal with employees of both work groups. "Unanticipated integration problems could affect earnings and cash flows, which would be made worse by American's cash commitments to shareholders," according to a report by Fitch Ratings. "Like American, United also has sizable upcoming capital commitments as it takes delivery of new aircraft, and the share repurchases could pressure cash balances if not managed prudently." Domestic airlines are also facing new pressure from international rivals that are setting their sights on the North American market, including Chinese airlines as well as the three fast-growing carriers of the Persian Gulf - Emirates, Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways. These foreign carriers have all expanded their routes and added destinations both on the East Coast and the West Coast. Long-haul flying is generally more lucrative for airlines than domestic operations. "While U.S. airlines focus on traditional domestic housekeeping, they are largely overlooking the bigger, faster growing - but more risky - long-haul international markets," according to a report this week by the CAPA Center for Aviation, an aviation consulting firm. "This short-termism may well come back to bite them." The new American Airlines Group, created last year, came with a comfortable cushion of $10 billion in cash. It is deploying some of that money to its share repurchase program over the next 18 months, as well as a $600 million payment to a pension plan and $2.8 billion in debt repayments. The airline also reported a 10 percent jump in revenue to $11.4 billion in the second quarter. It received 21 new airplanes in the quarter as part of a major fleet modernization program and expanded service to several destinations, with new nonstop service between Dallas and Hong Kong and Shanghai. At Delta, which merged with Northwest Airlines in 2008, revenue in the second quarter jumped 9 percent to $10.6 billion. Passenger unit revenue increased by 5.7 percent in the quarter compared with the year-earlier period, and yield, a measure of the fares it charges, increased 3.8 percent. United also offered a better performance in the second quarter after posting a $489 million loss in the first quarter. Its revenue increased 3.3 percent in the quarter to $10.3 billion. The airline said that ancillary revenue per passengers - or the fees paid by each passenger - increased 7.9 percent in the quarter to $21 per passenger. Other airlines, too, reported strong earnings, including Southwest Airlines, Alaska Airlines and JetBlue. Southwest, the biggest domestic carrier, reported net income of $485 million in the past quarter. The carrier made its first international flights on July 1 to Aruba, the Bahamas and Jamaica, with service to Mexico and the Dominican Republic coming soon. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/25/business/profits-tell-of-a-turnaround-by-major- airlines.html?_r=0 Back to Top UAE Assistant Director General of Aviation Safety Affairs Sector GCAA to emphasis importance of airport safety culture at EMASS 2014 in Dubai General Civil Aviation Authority Dubai, UAE - 23, July, 2014: Ismaeil Mohamed Al Blooshi, Assistant Director General of the Aviation Safety Affairs Sector, UAE General Civil Aviation Authority ( GCAA ), will deliver a keynote address at the Emerging Markets Airport Security Summit (EMASS) 2014. The conference that will bring over 200 airport stakeholders and safety professionals to the Le Meridian Hotel, Airport Road, Dubai on the 26th and 27th of November 2014 to discuss key developments in airport safety processes for emerging hubs. EMASS 2014 is organised by Arabian Reach FZE LLC, an organisation specialising in tailored exhibitions and conferences as well as larger scale events and topical seminars that keep businesses abreast of industry trends, technological developments and updates to the regulatory environment. Al Blooshi's address will focus on developments in improving the safety culture at airports as a whole - a crucial element for busy flight hubs wanting to improve security while facilitating large volumes of traffic. "The GCAA is committed to providing designated aviation services with emphasis on safety and security and to strengthen the aviation industry within the UAE and its upper airspace. The UAE is a nexus for global aviation traffic, and we have worked very hard to instil a culture of safety at grassroots level across the country's airports. I am looking forward to sharing some of our experiences at EMASS 2014, a tailored event with a very relevant audience," said Mr. Ismaeil Mohamed Al Blooshi. Airport security investment is rising throughout emerging markets, with airports in the Middle East, Asia Pacific, Russia and CIS states, and the Indian subcontinent investing a total in excess of USD 30 billion towards upgrading technology and procedures. The aim is to improve passenger throughput and convenience while enhancing safety mechanisms. In particular, Advance Passenger Information Systems (APIS) are in high demand due to popular destinations including the United States requesting passenger manifests ahead of flights for security reasons. "Developing markets are seeing airports becoming high-value links for passenger and freight traffic. These hubs must be kept safe under all circumstances due to their correlation with economic activity. And with air traffic projected to double in the next decade or so, it is extremely important to create platforms such as EMASS 2014 where delegates can discuss managing capacity increases with security enhancements through technology, infrastructure and regulation," said Raj Menon, General Manager, Arabian Reach FZE LLC. The EMASS 2014 summit will include a technology showcase where 30 plus global security firms will highlight equipment, technologies and services to support emerging airports in upgrading their levels of safety, security and customer service. "EMASS 2014 offers a powerful and topical schedule that will equip attendees with the knowledge and skills to implement security policies that take into account 21st century risks and threats, while at the same time providing the highest possible levels of convenience, safety and speed," added Raj Menon Other speakers of note at EMASS 2014 include Brigadier Ali Atiq bin Lahej, Director of Dubai Police's Airport Security Department; Tahir A Qadir, Director General of Sulaimaniyah Airport in Iraq's Kurdish region; Sufyan Abbas, Controller Avsec Operations at Transguard, Emirates Group; Leigh Orwin, Security Risk Manager at Heathrow Airport Ltd; Ranjith Narayan, Executive Director of Security at Delhi International Airport Ltd; and ZdenekTruhlar, Security Control Senior Manager at Prague Airport. PR CONTACT Ram Muthaiah Mob: 00971 55 231 9715 Email: ram@emergingairportssecurity.com Back to Top THE ALPA 60TH AIR SAFETY FORUM A Celebration of Pilots Helping Get the Job Done Safely & Securely August 4-7, 2014 | Washington Hilton Washington, DC _______________________________________________________ AGENDA AT A GLANCE - Visit http://safetyforum.alpa.org for full agendas MONDAY - AUGUST 4, 2014 8:30-9:00 General Session-ALPA Air Safety Organization Update (Open to all ALPA Members Only) 9:30-6:00 ALPA ASO Group Workshops & Council Meetings - (invitation only) 9:30-4:30 Jumpseat Forum (invitation only) 12:00-5:00 Aviation Security Forum (invitation only) TUESDAY - AUGUST 5, 2014 8:00-6:00 ALPA ASO Group Workshops & Council Meetings - (invitation only) 9:00-5:00 Joint Aviation/Security Forum - (invitation only) WEDNESDAY - AUGUST 6, 2014 - 60TH AIR SAFETY FORUM 8:30-9:00 Opening Ceremony Captain Lee Moak - President, Air Line Pilots Association, Int'l General Edward Bolton - Assistant Administrator, NextGen, Federal Aviation Administration 9:00-10:30 Panel: Surviving a Main Deck Lithium Battery Fire: New Technological Solutions 11:00-12:30 Panel: Smoke In the Cockpit-Where Seconds Matter 12:30-1:45 Keynote Luncheon-100 Years of Commercial Aviation Mr. Paul Rinaldi - President, National Air Traffic Controllers Association 1:45-3:15 Panel: Responding To the Emergency - Using All the Tools 3:45-5:15 Panel: Landing A Distressed Airliner-What's Waiting at the Airport? 5:15-5:25 Presentation of the ALPA Airport Safety Liaison and ALPA Airport Awards 5:25-5:30 Closing Remarks 5:30-6:30 Hospitality Reception (Sponsored by Boeing) THURSDAY - AUGUST 7, 2014 - 60TH AIR SAFETY FORUM 8:30-10:00 Panel - Current Security Threats and Countermeasures 10:30- 11:30 Panel: A Discussion With Key Regulators 11:30- 11:40 Presentation of the ALPA Presidential Citation Awards 1:00-2:30 Panel: Pilot Health & Occupational Safety 3:00-4:30 Panel: Modernizing Our National Airspace System: The Flight Path, The Potholes and the Promise 4:30-5:00 Closing Ceremony Astronaut Garrett Reisman-Commercial Crew Program Manager, SpaceX 6:00-7:00 Awards Reception (Sponsored by Airbus) 7:00-10:00 Awards Dinner 10:00- 11:00 Post Awards Reception SPONSORSHIP & EXHIBITING OPPORTUNITIES AVAILABLE Contact Tina Long at tina.long@alpa.org for more information or click here to download the sponsorship brochure. Back to Top Upcoming Events: International System Safety Society Annual Symposium 04-08AUG2014 - St. Louis, MO http://issc2014.system-safety.org ACI-NA Annual Conference and Exhibition Atlanta, GA September 7 - 10, 2014 http://annual.aci-na.org/ IFA - Maintaining Airworthiness Standards and Investing in the Most Important Asset 'The Human Element' 17 - 18 September, 2014 Emirates Eng Facility, Dubai www.ifairworthy.com Public Safety and Security Fall Conference Arlington, VA October 6 - 9, 2014 http://aci-na.org/event/4309 IASS 2014 Abu Dhabi, UAE November 11-13, 2014 http://flightsafety.org/meeting/iass-2014 Back to Top Employment: NTSB Position Available - Mechanical or Aerospace Engineer https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/375124300 or https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/375127300 Curt Lewis