Flight Safety Information September 29, 2015 - No. 193 In This Issue Ireland-bound jet returns to JFK due to hydraulic problems Planes collide at Sea-Tac airport, no injuries Man Armed With Knife Breached Security at JFK Airport to Try to Meet Pope Man Tries to Open Jet Door At 30,000 Feet, Mistakes It for Loo FAA fines Sun Country $115K; lax drug, alcohol testing alleged DOT's IG To Audit FAA Oversight of Flight Deck Safety India favours pooling of safety regulators for SAsian region Air Astana passed IATA operational safety audit Kazakhstan improves position in world flight safety ranking Gear Up: Leading Pilots...Leadership Lockheed Martin Flight Service Pilot Portal Expanding UAS Services Head of pilots' union: Student loans could help avert the US's airline pilot shortage ACSF's Safety Program Now Covers All of Contiguous U.S. ELMS Aviation aims to raise safety standards in aircraft engineering Aviation body breathes easier as audit delayed (Cambodia) What Medicine Could Learn From the Aviation Industry Delta flight from Detroit to Las Vegas makes emergency landing in Omaha In-Flight Medical Emergencies: What Doctors and Travelers Must Know PROS 2015 TRAINING FAA warns of 'a million drones under people's Christmas trees' Puerto Rico to host international aerospace and aviation fair Foreign airlines asked not to refuel in Nepal United Airlines Faces Steep Ascent In Not-So-Friendly Skies DEA Operating Surveillance Aircraft Fleet Over U.S. And Abroad Iran in talks to buy 100-seat aircraft Russia's First 5th Generation Fighter Jet to Enter Service in 2017 GE Aviation's Durham-based jet engine factory gives update on jobs promise ERAU Certificate of Management in Aviation Safety iSMS - Safety Management System Training Upcoming Events JOBS AVAILABLE (New Positions) Ireland-bound jet returns to JFK due to hydraulic problems Officials say an Aer Lingus Boeing 757 jet heading to Shannon, Ireland, had to return to Kennedy Airport after experiencing hydraulic failure. Port Authority spokesman Joe Pentangelo (pehn-TAN'-jeh-loh) says the plane had landing gear problems and no flaps when it safely landed at 7:30 p.M. (2330 GMT) Monday, about 15 minutes after takeoff. Pentangelo says the jet's rear brakes overheated during the faster than normal landing, causing a small fire in the landing gear compartment. He says the fire was extinguished and the passengers were transported by buses to the terminal. A telephone operator at Aer Lingus would only say that Flight EI 110 experienced technical problems. There were no reports of any injuries. http://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/ireland-bound-jet-returns-to-jfk-due-to-hydraulic- problems-115092900408_1.html Back to Top Planes collide at Sea-Tac airport, no injuries SEATTLE (AP) - No one was injured after two slow-moving planes collided at Seattle Tacoma International Airport. The Seattle Times reports (http://goo.gl/rt4YNR ) one Southwest Airlines jets rolled into another jet as they were taxiing to gates to pick up passengers and crew Monday at about 6:30 a.m. You'll wonder if your eyes deceive you looking at these body-painted soccer girls wearing "nil." See The Most Unrecognizable Celebs After Plastic Surgery. Only 40% Of People Can Recognize Them. Test the hearing aid technology of the future for FREE! 100% Money-back-guarantee! The crash happened in an area where planes are parked overnight. Airport spokesman Perry Cooper says taking two planes out of rotation while an investigation and repairs take place could mean delays for passengers on other flights. Southwest officials did not say when the planes are expected to be back in service. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/sep/28/planes-collide-at-sea-tac-airport-no-injuries/ Back to Top Man Armed With Knife Breached Security at JFK Airport to Try to Meet Pope, Prosecutors Say PHOTO: Pope Francis walks the tarmac before boarding his flight from New York en route to Philadelphia from John F. Kennedy International Airport on Sept. 26, 2015 in New York.Getty Images Hours after Pope Francis left New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport for Philadelphia, a man armed with a knife breached security hoping to "give the pope his business card," prosecutors said today. Chris Cannella, 39, a retired New York City firefighter, was driving a black Chevy Tahoe -- similar to Secret Service cars -- and pretending to be part of a VIP motorcade when he made it onto the tarmac Saturday night, according to court records. The pope had flown out of JFK that morning and was already in Philadelphia by the time the incident unfolded. A guard said that Cannella drove up directly behind a motorcade around 6 p.m. and "flashed something silver that looked like a police badge and then drove past the guard post," according to court records. Then, around 7:30 p.m., a police officer saw Cannella drive behind another VIP motorcade, carrying Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi. When the officer asked him why he was following the motorcade, Cannella showed him a retired FDNY badge and said the Secret Service allowed him in before, but he couldn't name the agent. That's when he was stopped and arrested. Cannella told police he went through the check point "because he was trying to give the pope his business card" and also wanted to "talk to world leaders to effectuate change," prosecutors said. He had a knife more than four inches long, according to Port Authority police. Authorities also recovered a 9 mm magazine containing five hollow point rounds, as well as marijuana from Cannella's car. Cannella was arraigned today on charges including criminal impersonation and trespassing. It was unclear if Cannella had an attorney and it was unclear if he entered a plea. His bail was set at $500,000 and his next court date is Oct. 15. http://abcnews.go.com/US/man-armed-knife-breached-security-jfk-airport-meet/story?id=34109033 Back to Top Man Tries to Open Jet Door At 30,000 Feet, Mistakes It for Loo LONDON: In a bizarre incident, a Scottish man tried to open a KLM plane's door at 30,000 feet, mistaking it for the loo entrance, attracting a fine of 600 euros and a ban from travelling with the airline for five years. James Gray said airline staff accused him of trying to open the door of the plane he was on while travelling at 30,000 feet. However, he claimed he only touched the handle after confusing it for the door to the toilet. James, from Alloa, was huckled off the KLM flight from Edinburgh to Amsterdam the moment it touched down at Schiphol Airport, Scotland's Sunday Post reported. He was whisked away to a nearby detention centre where he spent the night before he was fined 434 pounds (600 euros). But when he went to fly home he said KLM staff refused to let him on board and said he was banned from flying with them for five years. He only made it back after a friend paid for him to travel with a rival airline. "The crew told me to stay in my seat and I was to be arrested when the plane landed. I tried to explain it was a simple mistake. It was a misunderstanding," Gray was quoted as saying by the daily. "The police came and arrested me. They weren't too friendly," he said. Gray claimed he spoke to a translator by phone as he was being interviewed by Dutch police. He also had to borrow money after the fine wiped out his holiday funds. A spokeswoman for Schiphol Airport and a spokesperson for the Royal Dutch Border Police both refused to comment. KLM said a passenger had been handed over to authorities due to "his misbehaviour" on board. http://www.ndtv.com/offbeat/man-tries-to-open-jet-door-at-30-000-feet-mistakes-it-for-loo-1223899 Back to Top FAA fines Sun Country $115K; lax drug, alcohol testing alleged Agency said airline had lax procedures for a pilot and other employees in safety-sensitive positions. Federal aviation authorities announced Monday that they are fining Twin Cities-based Sun Country Airlines nearly $115,000, alleging it violated drug and alcohol screening requirements for a pilot and other employees in safety-sensitive positions. The pilot flew for seven months without being made eligible for required random drug and alcohol testing, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said. The FAA also said Sun Country failed to conduct pre-employment drug tests and also failed to receive verified negative results before hiring or transferring a mechanic and three flight attendants into safety- sensitive positions. One of the attendants performed in-flight duties before being subjected to a pre- employment drug test. Among the other allegations, Sun Country: * Transferred an employee into the safety-sensitive position of in-flight supervisor, a flight attendant position, more than 180 days after she had taken a pre-employment drug test. However, Sun Country failed to have her retested, which was required because of the time that had elapsed since the initial screening. * Failed to include seven aviation screeners in its random drug and alcohol testing pool. The screeners, a position that typically involves inspecting cargo, performed their duties on one occasion while not in the random testing pool. Sun Country has 30 days from receiving the FAA's enforcement in writing to respond. Company spokesman Larry Chestler said in an e-mail: "Sun Country Airlines is working closely with the FAA to review these alleged violations, and to reach an appropriate resolution. We have no further comment at this time. http://www.startribune.com/faa-fines-sun-country-115k-lax-drug-alcohol-testing-alleged/329831471/ Back to Top DOT's IG To Audit FAA Oversight of Flight Deck Safety In light of last March's Germanwings accident in which the first officer deliberately flew the aircraft into the mountains, as well as the March 2012 JetBlue incident in which that flight's first officer locked the captain out of the cockpit because of the PIC's erratic behavior, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) has requested that the DOT Inspector General (IG) evaluate how the FAA oversees the security on the flight deck of commercial airlines in the U.S. Specifically, the senator asked the IG to examine how the FAA, working in conjunction with the TSA, mitigates the risk of intentional pilot actions against the aircraft, aircrew and passengers, whether current aviation industry cockpit security and hiring standards are sufficient to ensure aviation safety and precisely what steps the FAA is taking to evaluate the psychological health of pilots. The senator also wants to know whether the FAA's oversight of commercial airlines is sufficient to ensure cockpit security measures are implemented effectively. The IG audits are expected to begin before the end of this month. https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/air-transport/2015-09-25/dots-ig-audit-faa-oversight-flight- deck-safety Back to Top India favours pooling of safety regulators for SAsian region Faced with the shortage of air safety experts and funding issues, India today mooted the idea of pooling of safety regulators for the South Asian region. At a meeting of cooperative development of operational safety and continuing airworthiness programme for South Asia, Civil Aviation Secretary R N Choubey also asked countries to take advantage of GPS-Aided Geo Augmented Navigation (GAGAN) system developed by India. "The manpower that we get is the same that is available to the private sector...(So) the challenge (before us) is how to recruit and retain the manpower. Can we think of preparing a panel of safety regulators which is available to all the the member states in the region?" Choubey suggested He expressed hope that the participating members would deliberate on his suggestion going forward. Terming manpower crunch as one of the challenges in the area of air safety, Choubey said pooling of such resources would help in meeting the shortage of this specialised manpower. Choubey said India has offered the services of GAGAN to some of the countries and was negotiating with them in this regard. GAGAN provides augmentation service for GPS over the country, Bay of Bengal, South East Asia and Middle East expanding up to Africa. India is among the three countries in the world to have this kind of navigation system. Jointly developed by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Airports Authority of India (AAI) and launched in July this year, at an investment of Rs 774 crore, the new system offers seamless navigation to the aviation industry. The benefits of GAGAN include improved efficiency, direct routes, increased fuel savings, approach with vertical guidance at runways, significant cost savings due to withdrawal of ground aids and reduced workload of flight crew and Air Traffic Controllers. http://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/india-favours-pooling-of-safety-regulators-for- sasian-region-115092900412_1.html Back to Top Air Astana passed IATA operational safety audit Air Astana has successfully undergone the International Air Transport Association's Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) for the fifth time. The airline first passed the audit in 2007 and then again in 2009, 2011 and 2013. During the latest audit in May 2015, documentation and implementation of nearly 1,000 IOSA standards were verified on all aspects of the airline's activities. These included organization and management, flight operations, operational control and flight dispatch, engineering and maintenance, cabin operations, ground handling, cargo operation and security. The audit undertaken by accredited IOSA audit organization "AQS". It must be noted that since its third edition, the IOSA Standards Manual incorporates elements of the ICAO SMS Framework. "We are pleased to have yet again successfully completed IATA's Operational Safety Audit," said Peter Foster, President of Air Astana. The next audit is scheduled in 2017. Air Astana commenced regular flight operations on 15 May 2002 and currently operates a network of over 60 international and domestic routes from hubs in Almaty and Astana. Air Astana operates a fleet of 30 aircraft including three Boeing 767-300ER, five Boeing 757-200, thirteen Airbus A320 family aircraft and nine Embraer E-190. Air Astana became the first carrier from Russia, the Commonwealth of Independent States (the CIS) and Eastern Europe to be awarded the prestigious 4-Star rating by Skytrax in its World Airline Awards 2012 and was named The Best Airline in Central Asia and India. Both accolades were repeated in 2013, 2014 and 2015. In February 2015, Air Astana received the prestigious Air Transport World Market Leader Award. Air Astana is a joint venture between Kazakhstan's national wealth fund, Samruk Kazyna, and BAE Systems, with respective shares of 51% and 49%. http://www.eturbonews.com/64243/air-astana-passed-iata-operational-safety-audit Back to Top Kazakhstan improves position in world flight safety ranking Kazakhstan has improved its position in the world flight safety ranking, Tengrinews reports citing the website of the Ministry of Investment and Development of Kazakhstan. According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), in June 2014 a significant safety concern about Kazakhstan's airworthiness was removed. This brought the percentage of compliance of Kazakhstan's Civil Aviation Committee (CAC) with ICAO standards from 47 to 65 percent. "The global average level of compliance is 60 percent. Our work to further improve the position continues. The goal is to achieve 80% compliance by 2020," chairman of the CAC Beken Seidakhmetov said. Seidakhmetov also noted that together with ICAO officials it recertified all the airlines in Kazakhstan. There were 70 airlines in the Central Asian countries in 2009 and only 45 of them were left in 2014. "To exchange experience, we organized collaborative work on maintaining airworthiness with the aviation authorities of Turkey and France," Seidakhmetov said. After the removal of the flaws criticized by ICAO, the EU Air Safety Committee lifted the frequency restrictions from Air Astana on flights to the EU. Air Astana is Kazakhstan's national airline and a joint venture between Kazakhstan's Samruk Kazyna and British BAE Systems. As for now, Air Astana is the Kazakhstan's only airline allowed to operate flights into the European Union. All the other carriers are banned from the European airspace until a sustainable system to effectively oversee the carriers' safety is implemented. Meanwhile, CAC is working to meet the recommendations of ICAO and improve flight operations, which is also a requirement for airlines certification. CAC has already informed ICAO about its preparedness for the organization's validation mission. The ministry also said that in 13 out of 18 airports in Kazakhstan landing strips had been modernized. Those were airports of Aktobe, Atyrau, Kyzylorda, Pavlodar, Astana, Aktau, Almaty, Karaganda, Shymkent, Zhezkazgan, Taraz, Taldykorgan and Kokshetau cities. "Until 2020, it is planned to reconstruct the landing strips in the airports of Semey, Kostanay and Ust-Kamenogorsk," said the chairman. In the near future, it is planned to reconstruct the passenger terminal of the Astana International Airport. The purpose of the project is to expand the existing passenger handling capacity from the current 750 to 1,750 passengers per hour, or 7 million passengers a year. For more information see: http://en.tengrinews.kz/markets/Kazakhstan-improves-position-in-world-flight- safety-ranking-262277/ Use of the Tengrinews English materials must be accompanied by a hyperlink to en.Tengrinews.kz http://en.tengrinews.kz/markets/Kazakhstan-improves-position-in-world-flight-safety-ranking-262277/ Back to Top Gear Up: Leading Pilots Leadership. They write books about it. There are seminars, webinars, pamphlets and university courses about this elusive trait. I've known a few great leaders in medicine and one particularly great one in life. I've tried my own hand at medical school leadership. I really have no idea as to whether I was any good at it. I do know that good leadership is hard to find and highly prized by any intelligent organization. In aviation, especially as related to pilots, leadership is a tricky business. Having served as a department of surgery chairman, I find myself especially interested in the role of the chief pilot. It seems that the two roles are very similar. Most surgeons and pilots I know are detail-oriented, proud of their expertise, territorial about the profession and passionate. When either profession is practiced well, it is a beautiful thing to behold. Getting a group of surgeons or pilots all headed in the same direction, however, can be a challenge. This is often referred to as "like herding cats." Hence my curiosity about the chief pilot role in my new profession. I've known some very effective and popular chiefs in both realms. I have no direct knowledge about what the books say about leadership and I doubt any of my heroes have ever read a book about leading, though they may have written one. They seemed natural at it. I do know what I see as the common traits in good leaders in aviation and medicine. One is leading by example. You cannot be an effective chief pilot and stay in the office any more than you can be that surgery chairman who is never known to grace an operating room. This is for two reasons. First, if you can't fly or operate, all of your pronouncements, proclamations, directives and entreaties will be dismissed. "If you can't do, you teach," as the old adage goes. You are that fool. Second, you get to see how things work for real. Being chief means being surrounded by people who are incentivized to look good. Hence it is hard to get the bad news, or even the real news. Getting out on the line allows you to understand why the complaints about this hotel or that FBO are worth hearing. A friend of mine, a recently upgraded captain at Southwest Airlines, sent me the position description for the domicile chief pilot opening in Oakland, California. There was the customary SWA "warrior spirit, servant's heart, fun-luving attitude" introduction that is on all of the airline's postings. Under the skills/abilities/knowledge/work style heading, the ability to manage multiple concurrent tasks with interruptions, good communication skills and identification of the right person for the job were attributes that complemented compliance with standards, FAR Part 121, operation specifications, and policies and procedures. This drab litany caused me to think more critically about what I've seen and heard about chief pilot leadership. I have come to form my own opinions. I know what I think is counterproductive. A brash and dismissive attitude coupled with a loud bark may be one way of controlling pilots, but it certainly diminishes my interest in sharing information. Similarly, a pilot who knows more than I do and is pleased to remind me of this superiority strangles my interest in asking questions. There are lots of examples of this type of behavior in medicine. I always came away from interactions with these know-it-alls convinced of my own inferior knowledge. Only later, when I had time to think or look in the literature for the topic, would I find that a lot of what was said was either false or irrelevant. In both aviation and medicine there is the tendency to get into the weeds and miss the big picture. The FARs are important and must be complied with, but let's be sure the fuel caps are on, OK? I've asked several chief pilots and former chief pilots for their opinions. They all mention communication skills and technical knowledge. One suggested that former military pilots, in her experience, had more difficulty in hearing a pilot out. They'd rather bellow an order. Another said that very few people in upper management understand what a pilot actually does day in and day out. When things go wrong, he said, they tend to point the finger at the pilot group. "I can't tell you how many times I have heard, in a management meeting, your pilot did this or that." All chief pilots agreed that flying skills were important, but they recognized that a management job means less stick time. One said that pilots would accept that a chief pilot has a difficult time staying proficient, hence the term "chief pilot's Wx." At the 135 operation where I work we have a chief pilot who embodies what I have come to think of as the finest attributes for the job. Paul Proffett is a kind and thoughtful man. He has been an ATC controller, flown the Alaska bush, piloted firefighting planes and been an airline pilot, and he has managed to be the chief pilot almost everywhere he's been. That's only the half of it. Though I am a first officer and don't usually interact with Paul, I listen carefully when a captain calls him. I stand as close as I can get to hear the conversation, be it about weather or maintenance or a passenger problem. When a mistake has been made or the company has complained about something a pilot has done or said, Paul is the epitome of calm. He has told me, "You must always take a neutral position until you find out what really happened. Don't shoot first and ask questions later." Paul lives what he says. He enjoys the unanimous support of everyone I know. If Paul tells you that you are wrong about an FAR, or if he thinks you have made a mistake, you better believe it. He's our guy. Longtime readers will know that I have a good friend who has served in multiple chief pilot roles and head of standards positions. Rob Haynes and I connected about aviation over a decade ago, and I still call him constantly about things I see and hear. Here's what he has to say about the job of chief pilot. "Of utmost importance the individual must be known and respected as a good airman. A chief pilot's defining characteristics include: technically competent with enough passion and curiosity in the profession to remain interested, engaged and abreast of old and new challenges that aviators must face; a good sense of humor, including self-deprecation and irony; excellent communication skills and the accompanying body language and eye contact; an overall bearing of confidence and calmness and no trace of arrogance; and a sense of humility that allows one to remember his or her own mistakes. "The chief pilot should fly regularly, not only to maintain currency, but also to get an accurate sense of the conditions pilots in the operation must face each day. The credibility with pilots gained from this practice is priceless." You can see why I like this guy. He goes on, "If upon gathering all the details in an investigation the chief pilot determines that the pilot was not at fault, he must be willing to defend the pilot from all who may be critical of his/her actions, including higher management. "On the other hand, if the pilot is fairly determined to be at fault, the chief pilot has the responsibility to ensure the pilot understands his mistakes and the possible consequences of them. This may require [that] a penalty be administered. This is one of the least desirable duties that a chief pilot is required to perform, but also one of the most important. This reminds each pilot in the operation that there are consequences for poor decisions." A good leader, it seems to me, needs to be far enough out in front of the troops so they know what direction to go. Too far ahead and the group can't find her, too close and the troops trip over his heels. In all cases, a good leader must carry himself or herself in such a manner that I respond with the best I've got. When I see that leader, or talk to that leader, or even just think about him, I am a better aviator and, in the end, a better man. Rob put it beautifully: "To sum up, for a chief pilot to be effective, he needs to be a respected, laid-back aviator with a good sense of humor; slow to anger; not full of himself, with the ability to put himself in another's shoes; not prone to snap judgments; [and] kindhearted with a lion's courage to defend 'his' pilots, the operation and the profession while never forgetting that his customers are those same professionals that get the job done safely and efficiently each and every day in a challenging environment and an unforgiving sky." http://www.flyingmag.com/technique/proficiency/gear-leading-pilots#4uuWjuCXVdPOQtMP.99 Back to Top Lockheed Martin Flight Service Pilot Portal Expanding UAS Services The maps anyone can look at to see where UAS operations are active or planned. As more unmanned aircraft take to the skies, it's important that pilots know where these aircraft are operating. Lockheed Martin is working to design a UAS traffic management system to help keep pilots and operators safe as they fly in the National Airspace. The first components of the system were recently deployed through the Lockheed Martin Flight Service Pilot Portal, with more expected in the coming months. The company is collaborating with various industry stakeholders to develop these UTM capabilities, including the NASA UTM research project through a Space Act information sharing agreement. "The foundational capabilities we're developing are about safety, efficiency and situational awareness," program subject matter expert Heidi Williams said. "Our capabilities are addressing those needs first. As UTM evolves, we can build on that foundational set of capabilities, and we're more than prepared to do that." Here's a look at the UAS-related capabilities the portal already offers, and enhancements you can expect to see in the near future. The Portal The Flight Service Pilot Portal initially launched for the FAA and served as a place for pilots to plan their flights either over the phone or online, said Mike Glasgow, Chief Architect and Lockheed Martin Fellow. The website, 1800wxbrief.com, launched in 2012 and gives pilots the ability to go online and find out everything they need to know before flying. This serves as a good infrastructure to communicate with pilots about drone activity as well. The form used to file a UAS operating area. How it's Working for UAS When UAS operators receive a Certificate of Authorization to fly, they have to file a Notice to Airmen, or NOTAM, for each flight to let other pilots know the UAS will be in the airspace, Glasgow said. The team at Lockheed Martin can file those NOTAMs for operators over the phone, and UAS operators will soon have the ability to file them online through the portal, once that function is approved by the FAA. Once the operator is in the system, the next step is creating situational awareness for pilots who use the flight service, Glasgow said. They use three methods to notify them of UAS operations: a map, a briefing and an alerting service. Via the map, operators can use the UAS tab to see where drones are scheduled to fly in the continental U.S., Hawaii and Alaska, Glasgow said, and can zoom in and click on each scheduled flight to get more details. "It's a planning tool that helps pilots know right away what will be in the area they're intending to fly in," Glasgow said. "As we develop this we are in constant dialogue with the test sites and the FAA. We continue to get input into other things pilots would like to see. Through the map you not only can you see where UAS operations are, but you can also see adverse conditions and severe weather flight restrictions." The briefings are what Glasgow describes as the bread and butter of the flight services. Instead of sending pilots a blob of text with information outlining the area specified by the NOTAM-which is difficult for both the pilot and the flight services specialist to visualize-they receive a graphic that shows the pilot's flight route. Through the NextGen Briefing capability, or NGB, pilots can also see if any UAS operating areas are intersecting their flight path, and when their manned aircraft will enter those areas. In the summary box, pilots can see how long they have to pass through the area before the UAS is active, or if they'll be in the area at the same time as the UAS. Finally, the system also provides pilots with an alerting service, Glasgow said. If something changes with the weather or if a UAS is spotted in the area they're planning to fly after they were given the briefing, they receive an alert either through an email or a text message. "It continues to monitor the flight in the background," Glasgow said. "If a new condition pops up, it sends an alert. The alert has a picture and can be satellite communicated directly to the cockpit. We're adding UAS operation areas to that. It's anything that represents a hazard to a pilot. So they get maps, they get a briefing and we have an alert service." What's Next The team is working on developing an app that will serve as the ground control station for UAS, but will run on an iPad instead of through the website. All operators will have to do is push a button to submit, making it more convenient to flight plan. Glasgow expects that feature to be available in the next few months. Flight services will also provide support for exemption cases, Glasgow said, which happens when a UAS is flying in an area it's not intended to fly in. They'll support two situations. The first is known as a fly away, when a UAS goes beyond the range of the radio control link and doesn't have the ability to return to base. The second situation is nonconformance, when a UAS enters a geo-fenced airspace. Both situations present potential hazards to pilots, and flight services specialists will determine if it's something air traffic control needs to know about. Pilots will also receive alerts about these situations. When an exemption case occurs, people will be able to call flight services or report the incident through the website. This feature should be functional by the first quarter of next year. The team is also looking at taking position reports for unmanned and manned flights and performing ground based detect and avoid, Glasgow said. The capability would allow them to see when two aircraft are getting too close to one another and notify them they need to move. That is the building blocks for beyond line of sight applications for UAS, Glasgow said, and is one of the longer-term capabilities the team is working to develop. How the flight service shows UAS operating areas to pilots in a briefing. The Challenges The fact that the FAA is still working on determining regulations for UAS makes developing UTM capabilities challenging, so Glasgow and his team are focused on creating components they're confident will be needed, no matter what the final rules are. "It's kind of a balancing act," Glasgow said. "As an industry and community we're still trying to get all the rules and policies in place for how this will work. Deciding what capabilities make sense to deploy now when we don't have rules is a significant challenge. We don't want to get ahead of the FAA. We're in constant collaboration with them." As the industry tackles the many unknowns, Glasgow and his team will continue to develop capabilities that will work no matter what solutions end up being deployed, and no matter the size of the UAS. "We don't care if they're large or small. Any of them can use the system. We expect different users to use different subsets of the capabilities, depending on what their needs and requirements are," Glasgow said. "This is all about safety. Keeping pilots aware of aircraft operations is fundamentally a safety issue." http://insideunmannedsystems.com/lockheed-martin-flight-service-pilot-portal-expanding-uas-services/ Back to Top Head of pilots' union: Student loans could help avert the US's airline pilot shortage The head of the world's largest pilots union urged the airline industry on Monday to find ways to alleviate the rising costs of aviators' schooling, saying a shortage of regional airline pilots looms in the United States. The expensive education required to become a pilot, coupled with the low wages and benefits of entry- level jobs, is deterring the next generation of pilots from entering the profession, Tim Canoll, president of the Air Line Pilots Association, International (ALPA), said in an interview. That could result in service cuts to small U.S. cities and hurt regional carriers where many commercial pilots get their start, such as Republic Airways Holdings Inc. and SkyWest Inc., which larger U.S. airlines contract to operate low-demand routes. Republic said in July that a shortage of pilots and an ongoing labor dispute forced it to fly less than forecast, causing second-quarter income to fall 79 percent year-over-year. The company's share price has plunged. Canoll said ALPA, which does not represent pilots at Republic, currently sees no shortage of available candidates for U.S. airlines including Republic. There were roughly two government-approved pilots for every aviator job in the United States in 2014, according to the union, which represents pilot groups at 31 U.S. and Canadian airlines. But demand for pilots is expected to jump in the next decade as U.S. airlines add planes to their fleets and thousands of pilots retire. Hiring sprees by the likes of American Airlines Group Inc and Delta Air Lines Inc may mean regional carriers are hard-pressed to find new staff. Canoll said corporate or government-backed loans could help students pay their way through flight school. He said large U.S. airlines could also promise pilots-in-training a job after they do a stint at one of the regional carriers. Large U.S. airlines will have to pay the regional carriers more so those companies can offer competitive wages, he added. Otherwise, carriers such as American may have to take over the routes that regionals operate. "We have to find a way to draw the picture for a young person" considering the pilot profession, Canoll said. "They're just not going to do it for $22,000 a year," he said, referring to a current typical starting salary at a regional airline. Informal talks on how to avert a shortage are under way among industry and government stakeholders, and a formal group may be on the horizon, he said. http://www.businessinsider.com/student-loans-could-help-avert-pilot-shortage-2015-9 Back to Top ACSF's Safety Program Now Covers All of Contiguous U.S. The FAA's Central and Northwest Mountain Regions have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) allowing charter operators, corporate flight departments and fractional program managers to participate in the Air Charter Safety Foundation's Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP). The signing of this MOU means the ACSF-managed ASAP program is now approved in the contiguous U.S. ASAP, an FAA/industry partnership, provides a near consequence-free environment in which participants can identify and report safety issues that could be critical in identifying potential precursors to accidents. By enrolling in ASAP, companies can view de-identified safety event reports from other participating companies. The real value of the program, however, is the collective volume of data that can be reviewed for specific safety trends that offer companies a chance to implement corrective actions before an accident happens. According to ACSF president Bryan Burns, "Companies that have implemented an ASAP have learned a wealth of information regarding safety-related events that otherwise would have gone undetected until a major event occurred." http://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2015-09-26/acsfs-safety-program-now- covers-all-contiguous-us Back to Top ELMS Aviation aims to raise safety standards in aircraft engineering An Exeter-based company is preparing to launch a product it believes will help to raise safety standards in the aviation and aerospace industry. ELMS Aviation Ltd has spent three years developing an application to ensure engineers are qualified to carry out maintenance, manufacturing and operational tasks. The Electronic Logbook Management System, or ELMS, is a cloud-based application that uses complex algorithms to evaluate a worker's competence. This analysis is carried out in line with current European Aviation Safety Agency and UK Civil Aviation Authority regulations. The application evaluates a range of data provided by users, including their training, qualifications and work experience records, to provide an accurate indication of their competency to carry out a particular job role or activity. Visibility of this intelligence will enable organisations to build a clearer picture of staff competence, thereby creating opportunities to improve efficiency, safety and the overall quality of their operations. Individual users will benefit from the ability to build and share a digital CV and logbook, reducing the need to supply large quantities of paperwork for quality boards and recruiters. The application also provides the opportunity to showcase their work experience in a fashion that exceeds the capacity of a traditional CV and also allows for measurement and reporting. http://www.exeterexpressandecho.co.uk/ELMS-Aviation-aims-raise-safety-standards/story-27888557- detail/story.html#ixzz3n7yqFUrR Back to Top Aviation body breathes easier as audit delayed (Cambodia) The UN's International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has agreed to postpone an audit of Cambodia's aviation authority until June 2016 to give the agency more time to prepare. Sinn Chanserey Vutha, spokesman of the State Secretariat of Civil Aviation (SSCA) said yesterday that his organisation was confident it would pass the audit, but had requested more time to ensure the best possible outcome. "Flight safety management is not a challenge for us," he said. "We can handle it, even though we have more flights, and we can manage the safety of the passengers and planes." "But we need more time in order to better respond on the protocol questionnaire," he continued. "We need experts to help us respond the right way, and supported by evidence." Cambodia fared poorly during its last full audit by the ICAO in 2007, falling short of international standards in almost every criteria. Serious deficiencies were reported in the oversight of air navigation services and accident investigations, which were reiterated during a follow-up investigation last year. The ICAO had scheduled a full audit for November 2015, with some aviation analysts warning that a poor review could result in Cambodia's aviation regulator being "blacklisted" by the international safety body. Vutha said Cambodia has worked to address the deficiencies noted in the last audit and was in a far better position ahead of its next review. "The SSCA has strengthened standards and regulations more than before, as well as human resources," he said. "We are confident that we will not be blacklisted, and that our score will be better than in 2007." However, the task is bigger. The Kingdom's aviation has grown significantly in the eight years since the last full audit, with more airlines and far more passenger traffic. Tourism arrivals have grown from 2 million in 2007 to over 4.5 million last year, while the SSCA has licensed new airlines to handle the increased load. Last year, the authority issued airline operation certificates (AOCs) to three Chinese-backed airlines - Bassaka Air, Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Apsara Air - prompting concerns that airlines were seeking to base operations in Cambodia because of its lax regulatory standards. "As it is much more difficult to start an airline in China, establishing a Cambodian airline to pursue the China-Cambodia market represents a far more attractive solution," the Australia-based Centre for Aviation (CAPA) said in a report issued in February. Vutha said Cambodia will need to demonstrate to the ICAO that it is not cutting corners on passenger safety. "We need to prove that we can inspect airlines to ensure they operate according to safety standards," he said. A failing grade could have a serious impact on Cambodia's growing tourism sector, resulting in both restrictions on airlines operating in the Kingdom and a dent in tourism. Ho Vandy, former co-chair of the Government-Private Sector Working Group on Tourism, said he was optimistic that civil aviation authorities were well prepared for the upcoming audit. He stressed, however, the importance of the review's outcome. "It's like an exam," he said. "If we get a good score, it will make tourists more confident to visit Cambodia. But if not, it will make them worried and turn them off." http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/aviation-body-breathes-easier-audit-delayed Back to Top What Medicine Could Learn From the Aviation Industry The cockpit of the new Bombardier Inc. CS100 airplane is seen at the company's facility in Toronto, Ontario, Canada earlier this year. JOHN SOTOS: Yesterday's blog post showed how electronic medical record systems can divert, or "channelize," a nurse's attention away from the patient, causing harm to the patient-just as channelizing a pilot's attention can cause an airplane crash. Continuing the theme that information without attention is worthless, today's blog post shows two other ways that EMRs can crash patients like airplanes, based on recent experiences of a family member whom I'll call Alex. Alex returned home from the hospital elated but exhausted. After a few days, with the exhaustion worsening and her usual internist unavailable, she was directed to see an internist new to her. Fearing lung blood clots, this internist ordered a CT scan of the chest. It showed no clots, but-completely unexpectedly-showed a large mass in the chest that the radiologist felt was cancer. The internist compassionately broke the shattering news, but Alex responded as most people would to a cancer diagnosis. Two days later, a physician friend of limited experience, but who had detailed memories of Alex's medical history, read the radiologist's report and offered a different diagnosis: The mass in the chest was actually a greatly enlarged vein that had grown up following an unusual blood clot Alex had suffered years ago. An agonizing week later, super-specialists at the university hospital reviewed the CT and confirmed the vein diagnosis, telling Alex she was cancer-free and needed no tests to prove it. Alex was overjoyed. Besides bad doctoring, what happened here? And why must the electronic medical record (EMR) share responsibility for Alex's psychological brutalization? The answer lies in two characteristics of the EMR. First, EMRs reduce conversations between physicians, exactly as email reduces conversations in business offices. While this may increase efficiency with routine medical care, when a case has unusual elements, conversations are essential. In Alex's case, the internist and radiologist should have talked the day of the CT. The internist should have challenged the radiologist's interpretation, and the radiologist should have pressed the internist for more information about Alex's history. Between them, they had a chance to figure things out. Both, however, probably thought they had all relevant information from the EMR, making such an exchange "unnecessary." Second, the EMR mixed informational wheat with chaff. Alex's extensive EMR record did indeed mention the old blood clot that led to the correct diagnosis, but both the internist and radiologist failed to find this historical nugget, not believing it worth their while to study the record, even for an unusual case. In other words, the friction of seeking and absorbing information in the EMR inhibited their search. Reinforcing these points, a week later Alex visited a hospital clinic to discuss her medications with a pair of doctors. Reviewing her EMR record, the pair re-shattered Alex by declaring that cancer was still possible, and by recommending two tests. Fortunately, Alex resisted, saying that information in the EMR obviated these tests, and insisting that these doctors actually talk to the super-specialists. When this was done (three nerve-wracking days later) the doctor-pair relented and pronounced Alex cancer-free. For the second time in two weeks, Alex felt the joy of a cancer cure. These EMR problems have strong aviation parallels. Regarding communication, all aircrew members receive extensive training in cockpit communication, to overcome cultural and other influences that tend to silence the exchange of observations and questions. In medicine, the EMR is inhibiting important mouth-to-ear conversations. For wheat vs. chaff, in every aircraft's thick technical manual, emergency procedures are printed in boldface font, and no one is allowed to fly the aircraft until they prove they have memorized the boldface. In medicine, each human's "boldface" is unique, but EMRs contain so much chaff-courtesy of simple cutting and pasting, plus reimbursement-motivated templating-that doctors cannot reasonably find their patients' boldface, as four different doctors proved to Alex. Bad as these problems are, another exceeds them. After an airplane crash, aggressive and intrusive external investigators pinpoint causes and assign blame, aiming to propose system fixes that will prevent recurrences. Medicine, with its less fiery accidents, rarely conducts such investigations; certainly, none of the errors that befell Alex were officially recognized as such. And so, defective systems-whether software, organizational, or human-continue defective, and kill and maim. Medicine's need for a true aviation-style safety culture has long been recognized. But as the amount of physician-computer interaction increases, it becomes ever more vital to implement. Dr. John Sotos, a cardiologist and flight surgeon, was a medical technical adviser to the television series "House." He is currently CEO of the medical-expertise search company Expertscape (www.expertscape.comand @expertscapenews). http://blogs.wsj.com/experts/2015/09/29/what-medicine-could-learn-from-the-aviation-industry/ Back to Top Delta flight from Detroit to Las Vegas makes emergency landing in Omaha Passengers from Detroit were expecting to be in Las Vegas Monday night, but are stuck in Omaha after their Delta Airlines flight was diverted. Delta is not commenting on what caused the landing, but according to our affiliate station in Omaha, the plan made an unscheduled stop after a small fire broke out in the bathroom. The fire was reportedly extinguished and the plane landed safely. Nobody was injured, but passengers are waiting for their plane to Las Vegas. http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/delta-flight-from-detroit-to-las-vegas-makes-emergency-landing-in- omaha/35542334 Back to Top In-Flight Medical Emergencies: What Doctors and Travelers Must Know People with compromised health should think twice before boarding flights, and health care providers should also think ahead A medical emergency that strikes in mid-air is a scary prospect for any traveler, but it presents a particularly complex situation for physicians and other health care providers. In an instant, a doctor could go from nodding off to making medical, ethical and legal decisions that could represent the difference in a fellow passenger's life or death. A new article in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine, penned by University of Virginia emergency medicine physician Dr. William J. Brady and colleagues, offers important advice for health care providers about how to handle just this situation. And it has valuable takeaways for everyone who flies - tips that could save your life. The frequency of mid-air medical emergencies is likely underreported, the article warns. One study suggested that emergencies occur on one in every 604 flights, but there is no mandatory reporting system, so the number of incidents is likely higher. The most deadly in-flight emergency is cardiac arrest. While cardiac arrest represents only 0.3 percent of in-flight events, it is responsible for 86 percent of deaths. And that's despite the mandatory presence of defibrillators, the most essential piece of medical equipment for treating a heart attack. For most medical emergencies, a doctor, nurse or emergency medical technician may have no equipment at all, almost no space and no assistance. As such, it's critical for health care providers to plan ahead before a medical emergency occurs, according to Brady of U.Va.'s School of Medicine. "We want physicians to think in advance about the situation. You're on a small commuter plane, you're on a large transoceanic flight, whatever. Something happens. Think about the way you're going to approach that," he said. "You're not in your office, you're not in a hospital, you don't have equipment, you don't have room, you don't have personnel. ... It's a very austere environment." The article addresses a host of potential scenarios, including stroke, trauma, psychiatric emergencies and contagious diseases. Brady noted that there is simply no way for airlines to prepare for every contingency. "The initial reaction of most people, lay people as well as physicians, is, well, let's just get some medical equipment and put it on the plane. But this is not a medical operation, this is not an air ambulance," he said. "Having all this equipment in an aircraft really isn't necessary, and at the least shouldn't be expected." While the New England Journal of Medicine article is directed toward health care providers, it has an important message for all travelers, Brady said: Think ahead and use good judgment. "You need to be intelligent," he advised. "If you're not feeling well, if you're ill, if you're just getting over an illness, if you're just developing an illness, if you've been injured on the way to the airport or recently, if you've just had surgery - in situations like that you need to realize that you're going up in an environment that can be compromising medically. "Even with the appropriate cabin pressure, the amount of oxygen that you're breathing in the aircraft is lower, so there's a physiologic stress there. There's the whole anxiety component. There's the issue of jet lag and time change and all that sort of thing. So there are lots of physiologic issues you have to factor in. "Be smart," he urged. "If you just had surgery, you probably shouldn't be flying unless you just have to be flying, and have medical approval. If you are developing a high fever and a cough and you're scheduled to fly somewhere, don't do that. You're putting yourself and potentially others near you at risk. Don't get on an aircraft and have a bad event occur just because you're in a rush to get somewhere." The article's authors were Jose V. Nable, Christina L. Tupe, Bruce D. Gehle and Brady. http://news.virginia.edu/content/flight-medical-emergencies-what-doctors-and-travelers-must-know Back to Top Back to Top FAA warns of 'a million drones under people's Christmas trees' A top FAA official said as many as one million small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) could be sold during the upcoming US holiday season. "The talking point is that there will be a million drones under people's Christmas trees this year," FAA assistant administrator-policy, international affairs and environment Rich Swayze said, adding that he has heard the one-million figure "from several sources." Speaking at the Airlines for America (A4A) Commercial Aviation Industry Summit in Washington DC, Swayze said FAA is trying to get in front of the sales surge to inform the public about safety issues associated with small UAVs. "We're trying to get out and educate people about potential dangers," he said. Swayze explained that FAA plans to send a representative to a pre-Christmas staff meeting at US retail giant Walmart to educate sales people selling small UAVs on how to inform consumers about operating UAVs safely. Walmart advertises 19 different "drones" online, ranging in price from $19.99 to $274.95. "A lot of people who don't have a pilot background are operating these things in the airspace," Swayze said. Hawaiian Airlines president and CEO Mark Dunkerley, also speaking at the A4A conference, added, "From an operating perspective, [small UAVs are] a very serious issue and there's considerable concern that it's going to end in tears ... It's not just in and around airports where drones present a danger to the traveling public. There are many areas outside of five miles of an airport where a drone conflict could occur." US Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Oregon), the ranking member on the House of Representatives Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, said, "A lot of what pilots are seeing is irresponsible use of toys. The toys, in my opinion, should be set up so they can't be sold unless they're geo-fenced for altitude and perimeters." Swayze said one of the difficult aspects of developing regulations for UAVs is that there are so many different interests that need to be addressed. "I've been in DC for 15 years now working on policy and I've never seen so many divergent interests driving one topic," he explained. "One day it's safety concerns, the next day it's 'we've got to get these incorporated into the airspace as soon as possible,' the next day it's privacy concerns and then the next day it's security-are these things going to be armed? So it's really up and down." http://atwonline.com/technology/faa-warns-million-drones-under-people-s-christmas-trees Back to Top Puerto Rico to host international aerospace and aviation fair Representatives of hundreds of leading companies will participate on Oct. 30 in the 2016 America's Aerospace Summit in San Juan, seeking and offering business opportunities on the Caribbean island, organizing committee president Arnaldo Soto said. The fair will draw some of the industry's leading players, who will present projects to be developed in Puerto Rico, promoting the advantages of doing business and becoming partners and distributors, Soto said in a statement. Puerto Rican companies have been exploring investment alternatives for years amid a prolonged economic recession and have identified the most viable options in the aerospace and aviation industry, Soto said. The fair will be held at San Juan's Sheraton Convention Center and will showcase for Puerto Rican investors and companies "the means to produce for this industry, since there are thousands of opportunities and billions of dollars available," Soto said. Companies will be provided with information on becoming distributors and instructions on the procedures for being certified as suppliers and manufacturers, as well as on providing services to the aerospace and aviation industries. Puerto Rico has become a hot spot for the aerospace and aviation industries due to its location, trained labor force, infrastructure, federal laws and tax incentives offered by the government, Soto said. http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2015/09/28/puerto-rico-to-host-international-aerospace-and- aviation-fair/ Back to Top Foreign airlines asked not to refuel in Nepal The decision to preserve Nepal's fuel stocks is likely to affect all airlines using narrow-body jets on long- haul routes, said the officials Sep 29, 2015- Foreign carriers will not be provided refuelling facilities at Kathmandu's Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) from Tuesday afternoon onwards as the jet fuel crisis is likely to deepen on the heels of the unofficial trade embargo imposed by India. The tough decision was made on Monday in a move to keep the existing stock of jet fuel-aviation turbine fuel (ATF)-intact, as the existing stock is only enough to fulfil the demand for less than seven days. Furthermore, TIA officials say that the move will allow the domestic airlines to fly for a little bit longer. The airport authorities on Monday sent a notice to foreign airlines flying the Nepal sector that the cutbacks would come into effect by 12 noon on Tuesday. TIA officials have said that the tough decision was taken in response to requests made to them by the Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC). The government had on Saturday requested all foreign airlines to refuel their tanks in ports abroad and to carry enough return fuel when flying into Nepal, because the Nepali government could not predict when the fuel shortage would end. The decision to preserve Nepal's fuel stocks is likely to affect all airlines using narrow-body jets on long- haul routes, said the officials. Owing to the festive season in Nepal, most airlines flying narrow-body aircraft are flying at full passenger and cargo-load capacities, and they will thus be hit hard. However, airlines flying wide-body aircraft, except for Turkish Airlines and Korean Air, will not be affected as much by the decision. Industry insiders say that a few airlines have started to find alternative airports to refuel their tanks before arriving in Kathmandu. Korean Air and Dragon Air have planned to, for example, touch down in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Turkish Airlines and Air Arabia plan to touch down in New Delhi and Lucknow, respectively. For airlines flying the cross-border international sector or the short-haul sector--between Nepal and destinations like India, Bangladesh, Bhutan and China--the government, on Saturday, had requested the airlines to fill their fuel tanks to maximum capacity in their respective takeoff points of origin, so that they don't need to refuel at TIA. http://kathmandupost.ekantipur.com/news/2015-09-29/foreign-airlines-asked-not-to-refuel-in-nepal.html Back to Top United Airlines Faces Steep Ascent In Not-So-Friendly Skies United Airlines planes sit on the tarmac at San Francisco International Airport on July 8, grounded by a computer glitch. Some 3,500 United passengers around the world were delayed. Stepping off his recent flight from Boston at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, education consultant Debashis Sengupta looked a little surprised. "The flight today was actually quite nice," says Sengupta. "No problems at all, in fact - not something I was expecting from United." This frequent flier says an uneventful, on-time flight on United is the exception, not the rule. "I'm not a fond customer of United at all," says Sengupta, 53, of West Newton, Mass. "I've never had a good flying experience. They pack people like sardines ... and if I would have to put a number to it, I would say 7 out of 10 times when I flew United, I've had a problem in terms of getting in late, way too late, so I'm fairly sure I'll miss my connecting flight." Another frequent flier, 49-year-old Kathy Karlesses of Philadelphia, says she finds flying United "not that great." "Their on-time performance is pretty dismal and service in the air is nothing special," she says. Karlesses says she, too, is shocked when her United flights are actually on time. Government figures show the nation's second-largest airline consistently lags behind its competitors in on- time performance. In July, according to the Department of Transportation, just 73.5 percent of United flights arrived at their destination on time. Only Frontier and Spirit Airlines were worse. United also consistently ranks poor in customer service surveys. In the annual American Consumer Satisfaction Index, United ranks seventh out of the nine biggest airlines. The 2015 J.D. Power Airline Satisfaction Study ranks United dead last among major North American carriers in customer satisfaction. Karlesses does travel on other airlines, and she says she is often surprised by how different it is. She says she is "seriously considering" taking her business elsewhere. "I'd think [United] would make it easier to stay loyal but they're making it painfully hard to stay," she says. "Every way you can measure an airline's performance, they fail," says Vicki Bryan, an airline industry analyst for Gimme Credit, an independent corporate bond research firm. Bryan says United's troubles extend beyond flight operations to its website, its reservation and check-in systems, and employee relations - and that, she says, is costing the airline. "They have ceded market share in the most lucrative kind of passenger segments, the business class customer," Bryan says. One of those customers is Edward Pizzarello, who writes the frequent-flier blog Pizza in Motion. United passengers wait to check in at San Francisco International Airport on July 8. A similar computer problem disrupted flights in June as well. Pizzarello says he travels nearly 200,000 miles a year for his job at a private investment firm, spending between $20,000 and $30,000 annually on airfare. After years of being loyal to United Airlines, he says he now flies more often than not on American and other competitors. "United lost my trust a couple of years ago and continues to reinforce the reasons I book away from them," Pizzarello says. "I really don't think it can get worse. They've got operational reliability issues, they've got customer service issues, and their employees aren't very happy about what they do." Fixing problems from IT glitches and website outages to lost luggage and chronically late flights presents a big challenge for new United CEO Oscar Munoz, who took over the company Sept. 8 after former CEO Jeff Smisek stepped down amid scandal. And Munoz acknowledged those troubles in a recent letter to frequent fliers saying, "We can do better." "If our performance has not met your expectations, I want you to know I'm committed to learning how to better meet your needs and desires," he added in the email, which critics noted didn't have a link or address to which customers could reply. In a conference call the day he took over the beleaguered airline, Munoz told analysts the company needs to "reach our customers with a better service product and we need to convince them that that is our commitment. "At the front of everything we do is we have to realize that we have millions of human beings traveling on our equipment and they're trying to get someplace, either a business or family event," Munoz added. "And we've just got to think of a service excellence model." Already, United is simplifying some of its domestic routes with more planes flying out and back from one city to another to help minimize delays that tend to ripple across the country when bad weather hits. A United spokeswoman says the airline has also made recent investments in improving food, frequent-flier clubs, facilities and operations. But in addition to winning back customers, United must also find a way to boost its workers' morale. "Employees are incredibly upset," says Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants. "The crews have to put up with the same sort of pains that the passengers are, and the crews are really the passengers' best advocates. They see on a daily basis what passengers are going through, and I hear from flight attendants all the time saying, 'All I have to do every single day is say, 'I'm sorry.' " That frustration among workers is compounded by the fact that five years after United and Continental merged, the airlines' 24,000 flight attendants, as well as United's 9,000 mechanics, are still without a new unified contract. Nonetheless, Nelson and others are optimistic that the long overdue leadership change at the top will lead to dramatic improvements. If not, a once-great airline may continue to flounder and many valuable customers may never return. "It would take a sea change from their competitors for me to shift a sizable chunk of business back to them," Pizzarello writes on his blog. "United has ingrained in me that I am a transaction, as valuable as the fare I buy on any given day, and nothing more (and on some days, much less). You can only whip the horse for so long before it doesn't respond." http://www.npr.org/2015/09/28/443089396/united-airlines-faces-steep-ascent-in-not-so-friendly-skies Back to Top DEA Operating Surveillance Aircraft Fleet Over U.S. And Abroad New evidence indicates that the FBI is not the only federal agency using aircraft to conduct surveillance on Americans. N1338B - DEA Surveillance Aircraft registered to fake company. The United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is operating a fleet of surveillance aircraft over locations within the United States as well as "foreign environments," according to Jeffrey Stramm special agent in charge of DEA aviation division. The Administration does not "get warrants for public space surveillance," Stramm said in a phone call with The Post. He went on to say that this surveillance program is in accordance with Title 21 United States Code. While Stramm wouldn't confirm the number of aircraft that make up the fleet, our investigation identified 92 aircraft (as of 2011), much like those belonging to the FBI surveillance fleet. An Office of the Inspector General (OIG) report indicated that the FY2010 budget for DEA aviation operations was $47.6 million. The report also stated that DEA employed 108 Special Agent Pilots as of June 2011. The DEA surveillance fleet "engage[s] in daily activities," said Stramm, and "all aviation support requests are initiated by field office supervisors," according to the OIG report. The DEA registered 30 aircraft of their fleet to a post office box in Houston, Texas under the corporate name of "Silver Creek Aviation Services," a company that does not exist beyond registering these aircraft. Another non existent company used for the sake of registering aircraft is "Lindsey Aviation Services," which houses an additional 10 surveillance aircraft. This tactic is popular among federal agencies. The FBI registered surveillance aircraft to fake companies such as "FVX Research." Silver Creek Aviation Services does not appear in Texas public registries or have a web presence beyond aviation registration websites. Stramm explained that registering air assets in this way provides "a level of protection," against "the bad guys." Most of the images of these aircraft show oversized windows which would lend credence to the claim that they are primarily using binoculars and other traditional methods of surveillance and observation. However, while the DEA denies using technology such as the advanced imaging surveillance technology as well as cellphone surveillance technology like StingRay, which is employed by the FBI fleet, photographs of DEA aircraft available online show the same equipment attached to the belly of both agencies aircraft. This advanced imaging technology is capable of monitoring all moving activity, such as cars and pedestrians, within 36 square miles. The DEA aviation division, unlike that of the FBI, does not allow their aircraft information to be tracked by websites like Flightradar24.com which is used by The Post to ascertain the activities of the FBI fleet and which partially led to the initial discovery in May of this year. By simply requesting either through the Federal Aviation Administration or these public tracking websites themselves, an aircraft owner can block their aircraft from open tracking, as the DEA appears to have done. The tip that lead to this investigation was from John Wiseman a technologist that, through some techno- sleuthing, tracked a plane registered to Silver Creek Aviation Services despite it's absence from open flight tracking websites. "I'm picking up mode S/ADS-B pings these aircraft broadcast." Through this type of tracking Wiseman is usually able to determine aircraft identification, altitude, transponder information as well as location. "I store all the pings in a database so I can go back and 'hit rewind' if I learn some new piece of interesting information," he said. The Post will continue to work with Wiseman on these issues in the future. One of these aircraft crashed in Westminster, Colorado in January of this year. Local media was intrigued as to why local police rushed out to conceal the tail number of the downed aircraft. It was later made clear that law enforcement and DEA were partners in the mission that ended when the engine of the aircraft failed. Furthermore, it appears at least one of these aircraft changed hands from U.S. Border Patrol to the DEA. Aircraft N6187Y was deregistered from Border Patrol in 1994 and later registered with DEA. Shifting resources from other national priorities to the War on Drugs is not uncommon. When asked whether or not these aircraft are used to monitor state sanctioned marijuana activities, the DEA aviation press relations office replied, "not by this office." This leaves the door open to whether or not surveillance of these activities by field offices is being done with DEA aircraft. The North Star Post will be submitting Freedom of Information Act requests in order to determine for certain more key details about this domestic and foreign surveillance operation. http://www.mintpressnews.com/dea-operating-surveillance-aircraft-fleet-over-u-s-and-abroad/209904/ Back to Top Iran in talks to buy 100-seat aircraft Passenger seats aboard a Sukhoi Superjet 100 Head of Iran's Civil Aviation Organization (CAO) says the country is in talks with France, Canada and Brazil to buy 100-seat aircraft as part of the Islamic Republic's bid to renovate its commercial fleet. The announcement by Ali Abedzadeh came just after Russia's Sputnik news agency said Iran had signed contracts worth $21 billion to buy satellite equipment and aircraft from Russia. Abedzadeh didn't confirm or reject the report. Instead he said, "Any contract for purchase of aircraft has to be signed between an airline and the manufacturer", adding "no aircraft will enter the country without the license and evaluation of the Civil Aviation Organization". On Saturday, Sputnik quoted Managing Director of Iran Aviation Industries Organization Manouchehr Manteghi as saying that the contracts had been signed at the MAKS-2015 air show in Russia last month. The deals involved satellite-related equipment as well as the Sukhoi Superjet 100 regional passenger aircraft, the news agency said. Abedzadeh said, "We will enter into negotiation with any country which has a better offer for sales of aircraft to Iran." "All aircraft in the world are designed and built in such a way to be capable to fly. However, not all of them can be necessarily operated in any country due to airport limitations," he added. Last month, Iran's Vice President for science and technology Sorena Sattari praised the 100-seat Superjet as an "extraordinary" aircraft during his tour of the air show near Moscow along with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Russia's Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov was the first official to say in July that his country was in talks to sell Superjet passenger planes to Iran. Since then, Russian media have promoted the proposal, hinting at possible deliveries to begin in 2016, but Iranian officials have been less forthcoming on the issue. Iran will need more than 400 civilian aircraft worth at least $20 billion in the next decade to renovate its aging fleet which has suffered under years of US and European sanctions. Minister of Transportation Abbas Akhoundi has said Iran was in talks with Airbus. "Airbus, as one of the European aviation companies, comprises about 50% of Iran's aviation fleet and in this regard, we are in direct negotiations with the company to renovate our fleet," Akhoundi said last month. http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2015/09/28/431058/iran-russia-aviation-superjet-cao-abedzadeh Back to Top Russia's First 5th Generation Fighter Jet to Enter Service in 2017 The induction date for Moscow's newest fighter aircraft has been pushed back. Russia's answer to the American F-22 and F-35 aircraft, the PAK FA T-50, will enter service with the Russian Armed Forces in 2017, Russian Air and Space Forces Commander Colonel-General Viktor Bondarev said over the weekend. "Under the program, we will finish testing next year and will begin to receive the T-50 jets in 2017," Bondarev told Sputnik News. Back in June, during the Paris Air Show, the head of United Russia's Aircraft Corporation, had still talked about a potential 2016 or early 2017 induction date. However, serial deliveries are now slated to begin in 2017. The Sukhoi PAK FA (Prospective Airborne Complex of Frontline Aviation) T-50 prototype - the name will change for the production aircraft - is a multi-role, single seat, twin-engine air superiority/deep air support fighter with stealth capabilities. First flown in 2010, it is expected to have a service life in the Russian Air and Space Forces of up to 35 years. The PAK FA T-50 is intended to replace Russia's fleet of MIG-29s and Su-27s and also serves as the basis for an Indo-Russian jointly developed fifth generation fighter aircraft under the Perspective Multi-role Fighter (PMF) program. However, as I noted previously, the Indo-Russian program has been plagued by delays, cost overrun, and unsteady technology. So far, four PAK FA T-50 prototypes, along with two test beds of the fighter, have been delivered by Sukhoi to the Russian Air and Space Forces and are currently undergoing extensive testing. Three more prototypes are expected to be delivered by the end of this year. All in all, Russia plans to build 250 of the fifth generation aircraft, with 55 to enter service by 2020. Last month, the CEO of Russia's Tactical Missiles Corporation, Boris Obnosov, told reporters that the PAK FA T-50 will be equipped with a brand new missile, the X-58USHK, which boasts a top speed of around Mach 3.5. "The X-58USHK missile for the fifth-generation fighter is at the final stages of development ... the flight speed will exceed 3.5 Mach," he said. The new weapon will be placed inside the aircraft's fuselage. According to a Russian defense industry official, the PAK FAT T-50 is more of a robot than a flying plane and is also allegedly superior to the U.S. Air Force's F-22. The T-50 "is already to some degree a flying robot, where the aviator fulfills the function not only of pilot, but is actually one of the constituent parts of the flying apparatus. That is, the reaction of the aviator is a part of the control loop," he told RT. "The T-50 is now ahead of not only all other fighters of the Russian Army, but also foreign models," he continued. As an example, the official compared the planes' stealth capabilities: "For example, the visibility of the American fifth-generation F-22 fighter is 0.3-0.4 square meters," compared to the 0.1-1 square meter visibility of the PAK FAT T-50. http://thediplomat.com/2015/09/russias-first-5th-generation-fighter-jet-to-enter-service-in-2017/ Back to Top GE Aviation's Durham-based jet engine factory gives update on jobs promise, preps new airplane engines On the heels of a state-incentivized hiring binge, GE Aviation in Durham is undergoing costly manufacturing preparations for a yet-to-be released engine aimed at powering future 777s. Spokesman Rick Kennedy says it's one of three next-generation engine products GE Aviation is about to start executing from Durham. Produced in Durham, the GE90-115B powers the Boeing 777. Already, the company produces engines in Durham that power the Boeing 777, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and regional jets made by Bombardier and Embraer. Additionally, GE Aviation's component of a partnership with CFM International - the core of the CFM56 engine that powers both the Boeing 737 and the Airbus A320 - is manufactured in Durham. But preparations are under way to ramp up future products. Over the past two years, the company has spent more than $50 million in Durham to prepare to manufacture three new lines, specifically what's called the "LEAP engine," the "Passport" and a new engine core that could some day power your corporate trips. LEAP engines are the next-generation replacement for the CFM56 engine, he explains. It will power the new Boeing 737 MAX and the Airbus A320neo aircraft, entering service in 2016. "So, the production ramp-up for Durham for this engine will occur later this decade - at the same time the current CFM56 production will be phased out," he says. Additionally, the Passport engines will power future Bombardier business jets. The facility is also preparing to manufacture a new engine core for the GP7200, which will one day power the Airbus A380. Its headcount has expanded to support the new products. In 2013, GE announced a bullish plan to expand its GE Aviation workforce across the state. The plan involved 242 new jobs over five years. That included 50 new hires and new equipment for next-generation commercial engines at the firm's Durham facility. Additional job expansions were announced for Wilmington, West Jefferson and Asheville in 2013. In return for the jobs promise, the state pledged nearly $5 million in incentive grants to the division. David Rhoades, spokesman for the N.C. Department of Commerce, says the state has yet to pay out any of its promised incentives, as GE Aviation's first-year report has not been finalized. Kennedy says GE Aviation has fulfilled its end of the bargain. Its current headcount is more than 350, he says. In 2013, the headcount given was 370, but that number included contractors. Kennedy says that, in actuality, the total in 2013 was closer to 300. And he does not expect the headcount to grow in Durham. "350 is about where we want to be," he says. In the years following the announcement, it's been doubling down on engine development - but not just in the United States. Recently, the company announced it would be building a new turbo prop engine development center in Europe - a move that does not impact the Durham facility, as they're different engine products, says a company representative. Additionally, a gas engine facility is opening in Canada. GE Aviation's Durham plant served as the backdrop for a Monday proclamation by Gov. Pat McCrory. McCrory proclaimed that the week of Sept. 28 would officially be "State Manufacturing Week." GE Aviation is one of more than 10,300 manufacturing facilities employing nearly 450,000 in the state. According to the governor's office, manufacturing remains the state's largest industry, at $88 billion or 20 percent of North Carolina's entire Gross Domestic Product. For every $1 spent on manufacturing, $1.66 is generated for the state's economy, according to state officials Monday. http://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/blog/techflash/2015/09/ge-aviation-durham-based-jet-engine- factory-jobs.html Back to Top CERTIFICATE OF MANAGEMENT IN AVIATION SAFETY Professional education seminars for aviation practitioners Embry-Riddle will host a variety of aviation safety focused executive education courses at its Daytona Beach Campus; all courses are offered in a face-to-face traditional classroom setting taught by subject matter experts from the aviation industry. Who Should Attend: These courses are tailored for industry professionals involved in the operations, management, and supervision of aviation organizations. What You Will Learn:The certificate is designed for participants interested in obtaining a strong safety foundation; the objective is to produce aviation industry professionals who are skilled in providing expertise in safety management and technical guidance on FAA, OSHA, DOT and EPA Compliance Issues. The certificate requires completion of three 5-day courses in Occupational Safety and Health & Aviation Ground Safety, Aviation Safety Program Management & Aircraft Accident Investigation and Management. REGISTER TODAY ONLINE ERAU FALL 2015 CERTIFICATE OF MANAGEMENT IN AVIATION SAFETY SERIES: OCT. 19-23, 2015: OSHA & Aviation Ground Safety Oct. 26-30, 2015: Aviation Safety Program Management Nov. 2-6, 2015: Aircraft Accident Investigation LOCATION: DAYTONA BEACH CAMPUS, FLORIDA CONTACT INFORMATION: Ms. Sarah Ochs, Director of Professional Programs Email: case@erau.edu Phone: (386) 226-6928 www.erau.edu/cmas iSMS - Safety Management System Training Back to Top Upcoming Events: Fundamentals of IS-BAO October 1, 2015 Farnborough, UK https://www.regonline.com/builder/site/Default.aspx?eventid=1661564 IS-BAO Auditing October 2, 2015 Farnborough, UK https://www.regonline.com/builder/site/Default.aspx?eventid=1661567 Fundamentals of IS-BAO November 2, 2015 Hong Kong, China https://www.regonline.com/builder/site/Default.aspx?eventid=1724162 IS-BAO Auditing November 3, 2015 Hong Kong, China https://www.regonline.com/builder/site/Default.aspx?eventid=1724176 BARS Auditor Training October 6-8, 2015 Dubai, United Arab Emirates http://flightsafety.org/bars/auditor-training OSHA & Aviation Ground Safety Training Course (ERAU) Oct. 19-23, 2015 Daytona Beach, FL www.erau.edu/cmas Aviation Safety Program Management Training Course (ERAU) Oct. 26-30, 2015 Daytona Beach, FL www.erau.edu/cmas Aircraft Accident Investigation Training Course (ERAU) Nov. 2-6, 2015 Daytona Beach, FL www.erau.edu/cmas Aviation Safety Management Systems (SMS) Seminar (ERAU) Nov. 17-19, 2015 Daytona Beach, FL www.erau.edu/sms Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Seminar (ERAU) Dec. 8-10, 2015 Daytona Beach, FL www.erau.edu/uas New HFACS workshop Las Vegas December 15 & 16 www.hfacs.com 2016 DTI SMS/QA Symposium January 3, 4, & 5 2016 Disney World, FL 1-866-870-5490 www.dtiatlanta.com Back to Top JOBS AVAILABLE: *IOSA FLT Auditors *Experienced Trainers in the area of Safety Management Systems *Quality Control Specialist *Manager Quality Assurance and Quality Control Aviation Quality Services GmbH www.aviation-quality-services.com Flight Training Human Factors Specialist Emirates www.emirates.com/careers Manager Group Safety Management Systems Virgin Australia Location: Brisbane, Australia http://careers.virginaustralia.com/cw/en/job/496413/manager-group-safety-management-systems Curt Lewis