Flight Safety Information January 16, 2015 - No. 012 In This Issue Divers make fresh bid to reach AirAsia jet main body Beijing addresses Taipei's safety concerns over plans for air routes near Taiwan Navy report: 2014 jet crash was preventable Global Warming Linked To More Extreme Weather And Weaker Jet Stream NCAA suspends Discovery Air, warns against safety breaches (Nigeria) PROS 2015 TRAINING Southeast Asia's aviation boom shows up patchy safety framework Aviation Working Group Recommends Improved Aircraft Tracking System Southwest to Pay Record $1.6 Million Fine For Airplane Delays Gogo gets FCC approval for faster Wi-Fi on aircraft Research Survey Request Najeeb E. Halaby Graduate Student Fellowship ERAU NextGen 101 Seminar - Washington, D.C. Upcoming Events Divers make fresh bid to reach AirAsia jet main body Indonesian Navy divers circle the location (red buoy) where the tail section of AirAsia flight QZ8501 was found in the Java Sea, January 10, 2015 Pangkalan Bun (Indonesia) (AFP) - Indonesian divers Friday made a fresh attempt to reach the main body of an AirAsia plane that crashed in the sea last month with 162 people on board, after their initial bid failed due to bad weather and rough seas. The plane's black boxes were recovered this week, providing investigators with a wealth of information to determine what caused the crash, and on Wednesday a Singapore navy vessel spotted the fuselage, the jet's main body. So far just 50 bodies have been recovered, but authorities hope the main section will contain most of the passengers and crew. Underwater photos taken by high-tech search equipment showed the fuselage and part of Malaysia-based AirAsia's motto -- "Now Everyone Can Fly" -- painted on the plane's exterior. The first attempt on Thursday to reach the fuselage failed due to heavy rains, high waves and limited visibility under water. Five divers tried to descend to the main body again Friday morning, and search and rescue agency official S.B Supriyadi expressed hope that they would succeed. "The weather is clear today, hopefully the divers will be able to reach the fuselage, examine its condition and see if there are any bodies inside," he told AFP. Officials say that if it proves difficult to retrieve bodies from the main section while it is still on the seabed, search and rescue teams will try to lift it. The plane's tail was raised out of the water last weekend using giant balloons. Supriyadi said that balloons had been prepared to lift the fuselage if necessary, but cautioned an operation to raise the bulky wreckage could be difficult and it would likely be easier to recover the bodies one at a time. There was a huge international hunt for the crashed plane, involving ships from several countries including the US and China, but the search has now been scaled back. The jet's black boxes, the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder, have been flown to Jakarta, where the National Transportation Safety Committee and international experts have started a probe. Indonesia's meteorological agency has said bad weather may have caused the crash, but only the black boxes will be able to provide definitive answers. All but seven of those on board the flight were Indonesian. http://news.yahoo.com/divers-hunt-victims-crashed-airasia-jets-main-body- 050135812.html Back to Top Beijing addresses Taipei's safety concerns over plans for air routes near Taiwan Taipei is concerned that four new mainland Chinese air routes beside Taiwanese airspace could pose a danger to the island's aircraft operating from its airports. Photo: AFP Beijing today addressed safety concerns raised by Taipei about four new air routes it plans to launch in March alongside Taiwan's territory. It said the routes were jointly designed by both the United States and mainland aviation experts and had all been approved by the International Civil Aviation Organisation. "The accuracy, safety and dependability of those routes all meet international requirements and practices," Ma Xiaoguang, a spokesman for the mainland's Taiwan Affairs Office, was quoted as saying in a transcript of a regular press briefing in Beijing this morning. Ma's comment came after Taiwan strongly criticised the planned routes. Taipei said the decision to begin operating the routes in March without its agreement was in breach of international aviation practice and could pose a danger to the island's aircraft. One of the routes runs roughly north-south up the middle of the Taiwan Strait and is just less than 8 km from Taiwanese airspace. The other three routes head east from the mainland to join the north-south flight path. Ma said the design and allocation of the new air routes were part of the efforts of the mainland's Civil Aviation Administration to ease pressure on the rapidly increasing air traffic over the Shanghai and Pearl River Delta areas, and also promote flight safety and reduce flight delays. He said the two sides had held two rounds of talks on this issue. Ma added: "I believe the two sides will continue to discuss the issue." The mainland's Civil Aviation Administration also said late yesterday that it would continue to communicate with Taiwan to resolve the problem, in response to Taiwan's demand for further talks to be held. http://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1679621/beijing-steers-clear-taipeis-safety- concerns-over-plans-air-routes-near Back to Top Navy report: 2014 jet crash was preventable Black box recovered in F/A-18E crash VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) - Jan. 15, 2014 was a chaotic day off the coast of Virginia Beach: an FA-18E Super Hornet crashed during a training exercise, leaving a Navy pilot severely injured, floating in the chilly waters of the Atlantic Ocean for almost an hour. But it was all preventable, according to a recently released Navy report. Document: NAVY safety investigation The Navy's safety investigation detailed the moments leading up to the $85-million crash. The pilot was designated a Naval Aviator in May 2012 and had logged over 400 flight hours, nearly 200 of them being in the FA 18E/F Super Hornet. On that January day, he was undergoing proficiency training on basic fighter maneuvers around 2:30 p.m. He conducted three clean maneuvers, but the mishap happened during a fourth, a nose low maneuver, while merging with another jet. "The [Mishap Pilot lost] situational awareness regarding his altitude, airspeed and rate of descent, descending more than 9,220 feet in just 44 seconds," read part of the Navy report. The pilot had flown too low, and according to the JAG Manual, it's not uncommon for a Super Hornet to accelerate uncontrollably once such a maneuver occurs. The pilot began to bring throttles back from maximum to idle power, but a minute later, he ejected. The flight leader, in another jet, questioned a puff of smoke he saw. The plane inverted. There was no response from the pilot. Then the flight leader saw the aircraft break water and sent out a Mayday call. On his way down, the pilot's helmet detached. His arms were broken, other bones fractured, and his head and face severely bruised. While drifting in the ocean, he suffered from hypothermia. The pilot was rescued and lived. The jet was a total loss. "Bottom line up front, this was a preventable mishap," stated the Navy report. The investigation credited the mishap to the pilot's inexperience with the maneuver he was conducting, but also blames an inadequate briefing of the flight before takeoff. Additionally, the crash report made special note of the pilot's training in the Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing System (JHMCS), which projects flight information on the pilot's visor. "I believe the [pilot's] lack of proficiency and experience in wearing and employing the JHMCS was a contributing factor to the mishap," the Navy's investigator wrote. During the Navy's investigation, 17 squadrons at NAS Oceanna were surveyed to see how many required pilots to go through an interactive training course for the JHMCS. Only 11 squadrons responded: 10 did not know the JHMCS Interactive Courseware existed; one did, but didn't require it as part of its training for the JHMCS. The pilot who crashed the Super Hornet had also not completed the JHMCS Interactive Courseware, and his squadron did not know it existed, according to the Navy report. The pilot was, however, "JHMCS qualified." He completed training for the JHMCS five days before the mishap flight. In fact, that was his first flight, since. While the training he underwent includes three basic fight maneuvers, it does not require a nose low maneuver. Part of the reason the pilot's flight brief was deemed inadequate also had to do with the JHMCS. The survey of NAS Oceanna squadrons found most pilots were not being briefed about when to eject from an aircraft while wearing the JHMCS. The investigation concluded "VFA squadrons as a whole are not aware of all the required JHMCS qualification standards, specifically the requirement to complete the JHMCS Interactive Courseware, and are not qualifying JHMCS trainees per the SHMCS SOP." To prevent a similar crash in the future, the Navy investigator called for training changes and for every hornet, super hornet, and growler squadrons in the Navy to be made aware of the accident and its cause. http://wavy.com/2015/01/15/navy-documents-show-jet-crash-last-year-was- preventable/ Back to Top Global Warming Linked To More Extreme Weather And Weaker Jet Stream NOAA satellite image Superstorm Sandy satellite image from Oct. 29, 2012. The largest Atlantic hurricane on record, Sandy is part of a spate of off-the-charts extreme weather events in recent years. CREDIT: AP PHOTO/NOAA We have seen a quantum jump in extreme weather events in the Northern Hemisphere in the last several years. Droughts, deluges, and heat waves are increasingly getting "stuck" or "blocked," which in turn worsens and prolongs their impact beyond what might be expected just from the recent human-caused increase in global temperatures. A growing body of research ties that unexpected jump to a weakening of the jet stream - in particular to "more frequent high-amplitude (wavy) jet-stream configurations that favor persistent weather patterns," as a new study puts it. Much of this new research ties the weakening jet stream to "Arctic amplification (AA) - defined here as the enhanced sensitivity of Arctic temperature change relative to mid- latitude regions," in the words of the new study, "Evidence for a wavier jet stream in response to rapid Arctic warming" by Jennifer Francis and Stephen Vavrus. But that is no by no means a universally accepted explanation. I'll review some of the evidence in this post. MunichRe2015 Reinsurer Munich Re has the most comprehensive database of global natural catastrophes Their 2010 analysis, "Large number of weather extremes as strong indication of climate change," concluded "it would seem that the only plausible explanation for the rise in weather-related catastrophes is climate change. The view that weather extremes are more frequent and intense due to global warming coincides with the current state of scientific knowledge." For instance, a 2010 Journal of Climate study that found "global warming is the main cause of a significant intensification in the North Atlantic Subtropical High (NASH) that in recent decades has more than doubled the frequency of abnormally wet or dry summer weather in the southeastern United States." In 2011, Dr. Peter Höppe, Head of the Geo Risks Research Department at Munich Re explained what had persuaded him of the causal link: For me the most convincing piece of evidence that global warming has been contributing already to more and more intense weather related natural catastrophes is the fact that while we find a steep increase in the number of loss relevant weather events (about tripling in the last 30 years) we only find a slight increase in geophysical (earthquake, volcano, tsunami) events, which should not be affected by global warming. If the whole trend we find in weather related disaster should be caused by reporting bias, or socio- demographic or economic developments we would expect to find it similarly for the geophysical events. And that was before two years of off-the-charts extreme weather catastrophes, particularly in North America (in 2011, the head of NOAA said the record dozen billion- dollar weather disasters was "a harbinger of things to come." Then, in an October 2012 study, Munich Re linked the rapid rise in North American extreme weather catastrophes to manmade climate change: "Climate-driven changes are already evident over the last few decades for severe thunderstorms, for heavy precipitation and flash flooding, for hurricane activity, and for heatwave, drought and wild-fire dynamics in parts of North America." At the same time non-climatic events (earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamis) have hardly changed, as the figure shows. Höppe said at the time: "In all likelihood, we have to regard this finding as an initial climate-change footprint in our US loss data from the last four decades. Previously, there had not been such a strong chain of evidence. If the first effects of climate change are already perceptible, all alerts and measures against it have become even more pressing." That same month a study led by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), "The recent shift in early summer Arctic atmospheric circulation" concluded global warming was driving changes in extreme weather in North America. As NOAA explained at the time: "Our research reveals a change in the summer Arctic wind pattern over the past six years. This shift demonstrates a physical connection between reduced Arctic sea ice in the summer, loss of Greenland ice, and potentially, weather in North American and Europe," said [NOAA's James] Overland, an oceanographer who leads the laboratory's Coastal and Arctic Research Division. The shift provides additional evidence that changes in the Arctic are not only directly because of global warming, as shown by warmer air and sea temperatures, but are also part of an "Arctic amplification" through which multiple Arctic-specific physical processes interact to accelerate temperature change, ice variability, and ecological impacts. Arctic amplification is often explained this way: Warming melts highly reflective white ice and snow, which is replaced by the dark blue sea or dark land, both of which absorb far more sunlight and hence far more solar energy. But a key point, as NOAA indicates, is that it actually consists of multiple, synergistic effects, as I discussed here. "Enhanced warming of the Arctic affects the jet stream by slowing its west-to-east winds and by promoting larger north-south meanders in the flow," as NOAA explained. "The researchers say that with more solar energy going into the Arctic Ocean because of lost ice, there is reason to expect more extreme weather events, such as heavy snowfall, heat waves, and flooding in North America and Europe but these will vary in location, intensity, and timescales." Prof. Jennifer Francis of Rutgers - coauthor of the 2012 NOAA-led piece (and lead author of the new 2015 study) - said at the time, "What we're seeing is stark evidence that the gradual temperature increase is not the important story related to climate change; it's the rapid regional changes and increased frequency of extreme weather that global warming is causing. As the Arctic warms at twice the global rate, we expect an increased probability of extreme weather events across the temperate latitudes of the northern hemisphere, where billions of people live." Francis explained her findings in this 2013 video: Jennifer Francis - Understanding the Jetstream - m The path of the jet stream "typically has a meandering shape, and these meanders themselves propagate east, at lower speeds than that of the actual wind within the flow. Each large meander, or wave, within the jet stream is known as a Rossby wave." That brings us to an August 2014 study from a team of scientists from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK). That study offered a specific mechanism for why we're seeing this quantum leap in extreme weather - some Rossby waves are stalling out for extended periods of time: "the study shows that in periods with extreme weather, some of these waves become virtually stalled and greatly amplified." As the PIK explained at the time: Weather extremes in the summer - such as the record heat wave in the United States that hit corn farmers and worsened wildfires in 2012 - have reached an exceptional number in the last ten years. Man-made global warming can explain a gradual increase in periods of severe heat, but the observed change in the magnitude and duration of some events is not so easily explained. It has been linked to a recently discovered mechanism: the trapping of giant waves in the atmosphere. A new data analysis now shows that such wave-trapping events are indeed on the rise. For a longer discussion of the details of that mechanism, see here. Not every study comes to the same conclusion as NOAA, PIK, and Francis (see, for instance, here). One 2014 study claims to "disconfirm the hypothesis that deep tropospheric warming in the Arctic during OND [October, November. December has resulted substantially from sea ice loss." But as Francis explained to me, the authors of that 2014 study "state that the first link in the 'chain' connecting rapid Arctic warming with a wavier jet stream, as proposed in our 2012 paper, is sea-ice loss - but in fact it is Arctic amplification (Arctic warming faster than mid-latitudes). While sea-ice loss is one of the factors contributing to Arctic amplification (AA), it is certainly not the most important factor - only 20% according to this study." Francis also points out "their modeled response to sea-ice loss is presented as time-averages, so any signal of jet- stream wave amplification will not be detected unless the ridge/trough system occurs in the same place every time, which it often does not." Clearly the interactions between global warming and Northern Hemisphere weather are complex. We still have much more to learn about "Recent Arctic amplification and extreme mid-latitude weather," as made clear in a recent Nature Geoscience paper (with that title) written by several of the leading researchers in the field, including Francis. But the evidence is mounting that we have entered a new regime of extreme weather thanks to our as-yet unrestricted emissions of greenhouse gas. The latest 2015 study, by Francis and Vavrus, concludes: These results reinforce the hypothesis that a rapidly warming Arctic promotes amplified jet-stream trajectories, which are known to favor persistent weather patterns and a higher likelihood of extreme weather events. Based on these results, we conclude that further strengthening and expansion of AA in all seasons, as a result of unabated increases in greenhouse gas emissions, will contribute to an increasingly wavy character in the upper-level winds, and consequently, an increase in extreme weather events that arise from prolonged atmospheric conditions. http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/01/15/3612054/global-warming-extreme- weather/ Back to Top NCAA suspends Discovery Air, warns against safety breaches (Nigeria) Nigeria's aviation sector regulator, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), says its recent audit on domestic airlines has revealed severe breaches of safety regulations by some operators necessitating the issuance of warning letters to some and the suspension of the operating licence of one of the airlines. "In pursuit of our oversight responsibilities as stipulated by law, the NCAA has lately carried out a review of the operations of some domestic airlines," said Sam Adurogboye, spokesperson for the agency. Past air crashes in Nigeria had been attributed to decisions or errors on the part of pilots and airline owners to breach safety processes in the pursuit of profits. And with recent harsh weather conditions occasioned by the harmattan haze that has stalled several scheduled flights coupled with other factors like high cost of fuel, which have eroded the profitability of airlines, strict enforcement of safety rules by the NCAA has become inevitable to halt attempts by airlines to risk passengers' lives and fly under unfavourable safety conditions. Adurogboye said the conclusion of the audit this week had led to "letters of warning or suspension of Air Operator's Certificate (AOC) served on defaulters." "A case in point is an airline that failed to carry out certain corrective actions within one week from January 1 - 7, 2015 as raised in an earlier letter to the operator. "Consequent upon the inability to address the issues raised, the NCAA in its letter dated January 8, 2015 to the operator hereby suspends the Air Operator's Certificate of Discovery Airways Limited. "The suspension takes effect from January 8, 2015, which was the date of the letter conveying the notice. This order would be in force pending the outcome of a comprehensive review of the airlines operations to be carried out accordingly," Adurogboye added. According to him, as much as it was not the desire of NCAA to regulate any airline out of existence, the regulatory agency, however, views any violation of safety regulations seriously. Discovery Air commenced flight operations last year. The NCAA has repeatedly raised fresh fears over the safety of some airlines still plying domestic routes noting that some of the airlines were defaulting in meeting staff basic salary demands, a trend he said could weaken staff morale and commitment as well as result in safety compromise. "The moment an airline cannot meet its financial obligations, it is believed that the staff morale will be down and this can impact negatively on safety and security of its operations," said the NCAA. http://sunnewsonline.com/new/?p=100160 Back to Top Back to Top Southeast Asia's aviation boom shows up patchy safety framework (Reuters) - The rapid growth in Southeast Asia's airline industry is showing up the pressing need for reforms to the region's fragmented safety framework, with a lack of streamlined standards on air navigation and staff training. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has no regional agencies overseeing aviation safety or co-ordinating air traffic control, unlike in the more developed European market. That issue has come to the fore after the AirAsia flight QZ8501 from Surabaya to Singapore, carrying 162 people, crashed in the Java Sea on Dec 28, shortly after the pilot requested to change altitude to avoid bad weather. Though the cause of the crash is still unknown, aviation experts have seized on the incident to point to the region's infrastructure suffering from congested skies and a patchwork of differing safety standards. "Hopefully, the QZ8501 crash will galvanize the states to make technical harmonization a priority," said Alan Khee-Jin Tan, professor of aviation law at the National University of Singapore. ASEAN is pushing ahead with plans to establish a single aviation market or "Open Skies" by 2015, that will allow its members' airlines unfettered access to each other's markets. However the group, whose 10 member states range from developed Singapore to impoverished Myanmar, has made scant progress on adopting uniform technical and safety operating procedures. "These are the harder issues that will be more difficult to harmonize since they impact on national sovereignty and the states are at very different levels of development and capacity," added Tan. Experts point to Europe as the model to follow, where the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) oversees the region's safety standards and crew training, while Eurocontrol co-ordinates the region's air traffic control. While Eurocontrol was established back in the 1960s, EASA was only set up in 2002 when the European Union was already a much more unified and better-funded bloc than ASEAN is today. SAFETY LAG The growth of the middle class in Southeast Asia has pushed the likes of AirAsia group and privately owned Lion Air to place record plane orders as they bet that low fares will prompt more of the region's 600 million-strong population to take to the skies. However the industry's expansion has far outpaced developments in co-ordinating the region's aviation regulation and protocol. "Leaving aside all the accidents, we are going to see the largest growth of air traffic in this region in the next 20 years. Do we have the infrastructure, do we have the rules and regulations to meet it?," said Ken Mclean, regional director of safety and flight operations, Asia Pacific at the International Air Transport Association, referring to Asia. For now, the answer is probably no. While Singapore and other countries are seen as having a robust aviation infrastructure, fast-growing markets such as Myanmar and Vietnam are only just starting to develop theirs. "If you cannot guarantee the safety before the demand reaches, then you'll be in trouble," said Hsin Chen Chung, director of the Air Traffic Management Research Institute, established jointly by the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore and Nanyang Technological University. The stakes are particularly high for Indonesia, which is set to emerge as one of the world's top aviation markets by 2020. Despite improvements, the air safety record of Southeast Asia's most populous nation remains patchy. "There is a lot of work to be done to address, identify deficiencies and to strengthen regulatory oversight and that's true in Indonesia and it's true in a number of other markets," said Andrew Herdman, director general of the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines. http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/01/08/us-indonesia-airplane-safety- idUSKBN0KH0ZI20150108 Back to Top Aviation Working Group Recommends Improved Aircraft Tracking System In early February the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) will consider whether airliners should be equipped with a tracking data broadcast system that sends regular position updates to airline operators, a flight data recorder that automatically deploys (and floats) after a crash, and a tamper-proof distress reporting unit that will transmit aircraft position and identification to a global network of rescue coordination centers when unusual attitudes, speeds, accelerations or other triggering events occur. The recommendation for a Global Aeronautical Distress and Safety System (Gadss), which includes the airborne equipment coupled with new global information-sharing networks for air traffic service providers and rescue coordination centers, comes from an ICAO and industry working group formed after the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 in early March. The group, which is working in conjunction with the International Air Transport Association's (IATA) Aircraft Tracking Task Force, will ask ICAO to debate and finalize the concept of operations as a first step in creating new global standards. IATA is calling on its member airlines to begin voluntarily tracking aircraft at 15 min. intervals, largely with existing onboard equipment. The working group's recommendations include a 2020 forward-fit equipage target and a fully operational state by 2025, with all aircraft, air traffic control and rescue coordination centers fully compliant. At takeoff, Gadss would begin sending position, time and identification information at least every 15 min. to the airline's operational control center (AOC), potentially using a third-party company to provide the tracking services. If anomalies arise in flight, the tracking system would automatically enter an "abnormal" mode and begin sending out position, time and identification updates at approximately 1 min. updates, with airlines, controllers and rescue services alerted. If extreme conditions are detected, the tamper-proof autonomous distress tracking system would automatically begin sending tracking data to rescue services, with the deployable recorder ejecting in the case of an accident. http://aviationweek.com/commercial-aviation/aviation-working-group-recommends- improved-aircraft-tracking-system Back to Top Southwest to Pay Record $1.6 Million Fine For Airplane Delays Passengers on 16 flights were forced to wait over three hours on the tarmac without deplaning The Transportation Department has fined Southwest Airlines a record $1.6 million for delays involving 16 aircraft at Chicago's Midway Airport last January. The airline was penalized for violating tarmac rules and forcing passengers to sit in planes on the tarmac during the delays. Tarmac rules stipulate that airlines must offer passengers the chance to deplane within three hours of arrival, but Southwest did not offer their customers that opportunity. "Airline passengers have rights, and the Department's tarmac delay rules are meant to prevent passengers from being stuck on an aircraft on the ground for hours on end," U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said in a release. The department added that Southwest's violation of the rules caused even more plane delays for other airlines, hence the large fine. The federal government began cracking down on tarmac waits in August 2010, imposing fines of as much as $27,500 per passenger for delays longer than three hours. American Eagle Airlines was fined $900,000 the following May. http://time.com/3670232/southwest-fine-airplane-delays/ Back to Top Gogo gets FCC approval for faster Wi-Fi on aircraft Anand Chari, Gogo's chief technology officer, stands next to the 2Ku dual antenna system, the company's next-generation technology for inflight Internet connection. Chari is holding the external antenna. (Chuck Berman, Chicago Tribune) Gogo gets FCC approval for faster aircraft Wi-Fi that works over water. Gogo's new onboard Internet service will be satellite based. Gogo, the Itasca-based provider of Wi-Fi service on aircraft, said Thursday it cleared a "major hurdle" when it received federal approval for its new, faster Internet connection technology. The service called 2Ku is several times faster than existing technology and is satellite- based so it offers connections over water. It received approval from the Federal Communications Commission. The company's other technology is air-to-ground, using cellular towers. "Clearing the necessary regulatory hurdles to provide this service to an aircraft flying anywhere around the globe is no small feat," Gogo CEO Michael Small said. FCC approval allows Gogo to operate its 2Ku system on 1,000 aircraft. The new antenna technology is expected to deliver peak speeds to the aircraft of more than 70 megabits per second, faster than many in-home Internet connections. Future satellite technologies could deliver peak speeds of more than 100 Mbps, the company said. It also will be more efficient, producing more bandwidth at less cost, Gogo said. That could lower the cost of in-flight Wi-Fi, company officials have said. Prices now are set to limit the number of passengers using the system because of limited bandwidth. The new antenna is 4.5 inches tall and produces little drag on the aircraft, the company said. Several airlines have signed on to try the new technology. They include Chicago-based United Airlines, which plans to begin a trial of Gogo's 2Ku Wi-Fi on five of its aircraft that operate "premium service" between JFK Airport in New York and Los Angeles and San Francisco. Gogo expects the new service to be available for the commercial aviation market in the second half of this year. http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/breaking/ct-gogo-fcc-approval-0116-biz- 20150115-story.html Back to Top Research Survey Request Limited Job Task Analysis Validation Survey The Center for Aviation Safety Research at Saint Louis University (USA) invites active and recently retired pilots, check airmen and instructors to validate a Limited Job Task Analysis for professional pilots. This task analysis focuses on a select set of phases of flight and seeks your opinion regarding the criticality of the underpinning knowledge requirements. This task analysis was developed with the help of an international panel of subject matter experts and practicing professional pilots. We are requesting you to kindly take this 45-minute online survey (https://slu.az1.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_0GuI969wyJB4snP ) to validate our draft of the task analysis. Please note that we need to have all survey responses by January 15, 2015. And, if you have friends who are qualified to support this research, we respectfully ask that you forward this invitation to them, as well. If you have any trouble accessing the survey, please feel free to contact Dr. Manoj Patankar, Executive Director of the Center for Aviation Safety, at patankar@slu.edu or 314-977-8725. Back to Top Najeeb E. Halaby Graduate Student Fellowship The Najeeb E. Halaby Graduate Student Fellowship was established by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) to shape the next generation of researchers in aviation weather, honoring the late Najeeb Elias Halaby, an eminent aviator and administrator, for his vision and more than five decades of extraordinary contributions to aviation (http://www.ral.ucar.edu/halabyfellowship.pdf). The Fellowship The recipient of a Najeeb E. Halaby Graduate Student Fellowship will spend three months (in 2015 or early 2016) in residence with NCAR's Aviation Weather Research Program, which Mr. Halaby was instrumental in establishing in the 1980s. As the nation's leader in addressing aviation weather research, NCAR plays a unique role in meeting user needs by transferring research results to operations through its Research Application Laboratory (http://www.ral.ucar.edu/). The Fellow will conduct research broadly aimed at improving the integration of weather into decision support tools for improved weather avoidance and air traffic management. The Fellowship will provide: * a monthly stipend for three months, including temporary living expenses * round-trip travel expenses to and from Boulder, CO * travel to a conference to present results * page charges for one publication of key results Eligibility and Application The Halaby Fellowship targets graduate students (late Masters or early PhD level) enrolled in an aviation-relevant department or program of a domestic or international university. Interested candidates should have advanced research skills, far-reaching vision, and dedication to get things accomplished. Consideration for this Fellowship will be given to candidates based on the following submitted material: * Curriculum vitae * Proposal (maximum five pages) presenting the research to be conducted at NCAR, the anticipated outcome of that, and how the proposed effort ties into the candidate's ongoing graduate research project(s) * Contact information for three references (one of which should be the student's primary advisor) NCAR will accept applications for the Halaby Fellowship each year. Email Applications by February 28, 2015 to halabyfellowship@ucar.edu Back to Top ERAU NextGen 101 Seminar - Washington, D.C. "The Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Worldwide Office of Professional Education is pleased to announce a two-day seminar entitled NextGen 101. The course is designed to identify the key concepts, attributes, and challenges of the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen). Government and industry employees with an interest in NextGen, aviation stakeholders and members of the military transitioning to a career in civilian education should attend. The course will take place in Washington D.C. on April 21-22, 2015. Course fee is $750 per person or $675 per person with five or more people registering from the same group. For more information and to register, please visit us online at http://proed.erau.edu/programs/specialized-industry-training/nextgen-101- seminar/index.html" Back to Top Upcoming Events: A3IR CON 2015 January 16-17, 2015 Phoenix, AZ http://commons.erau.edu/aircon/2015/ Air Charter Safety Foundation (ACSF) NTSB Training Center, Ashburn, VA March 10-11, 2015 www.acsf.aero/symposium ERAU NextGen 101 Seminar April 21-22, 2015. Washington D.C. http://proed.erau.edu/programs/specialized-industry-training/nextgen-101- seminar/index.html FAA Helicopter Safety Effort three-day safety forum April 21-23, 2015 Hurst, Texas eugene.trainor@faa.gov www.faahelisafety.org Curt Lewis