Yahoo Travel released a report ranking airlines according to safety.
1. AirTran 5 incidents out of 255,000
2. Southwest 23 incidents out of 1,131,500 flights
3. US Airways 24 incidents out of 1,131,865 flights
4. Continental 23 incidents out of 884,395 flights
5. Delta 77 incidents out of 1,994,725 flights
6. United Airlines 49 incidents out of 1,204,500 flights
7. American Airlines 87 incidents out of 1,241,000 flights
8. JetBlue 17 incidents out of 219,000 flights
IATA PRESS RELEASE SAYS: Re-Think Volcano Measures – Governments Must Base Decisions on Fact Not Theory
Paris – The International Air Transport Association (IATA) sharply criticized European governments for their lack of leadership in handling airspace restrictions in light of the Icelandic volcano eruption and urged a re-think of the decision-making process.
“We are far enough into this crisis to express our dissatisfaction on how governments have managed it-with no risk assessment, no consultation, no coordination, and no leadership. This crisis is costing airlines at least $200 million a day in lost revenues and the European economy is suffering billions of dollars in lost business. In the face of such dire economic consequences, it is incredible that Europe’s transport ministers have taken five days to organize a teleconference,” said Giovanni Bisignani, IATA’s Director General and CEO.
“Governments must place greater urgency and focus on how and when we can safely re-open Europe’s skies. This means decisions based on risk-management, facts and utilizing operational procedures that maintain safety,” said Bisignani.
IATA criticized Europe’s unique methodology of closing airspace based on theoretical modeling of the ash cloud. “This means that governments have not taken their responsibility to make clear decisions based on facts. Instead, it has been the air navigation service providers who announced that they would not provide service. And these decisions have been taken without adequately consulting the airlines. This is not an acceptable system particularly when the consequences for safety and the economy are so large,” said Bisignani.
“Safety is our top priority. Airlines will not fly if it is not safe. I have consulted our member airlines that normally operate in the affected airspace. They report missed opportunities to fly safely. The European system results in blanket closures of airspace. I challenge governments to agree on ways to flexibly re-open airspace. Risk assessments should be able to help us re-open certain corridors, if not entire airspaces,” said Bisignani.
To assist governments in assessing risk, airlines have conducted successful test flights in several European countries. The results have not shown any irregularities or safety issues. Airlines are also exploring various operational measures to maintain safe operations. These include day flights, restrictions to specific flight corridors, special climb and descent procedures, and more frequent detailed boroscopic engine inspections to detect damage.
The scale of airspace closures currently seen in Europe is unprecedented. “We have seen volcanic activity in many parts of the world but rarely has it resulted in airspace closures—and never at this scale. When Mount St. Helens erupted in the US in 1980, we did not see large scale disruptions, because the decisions to open or close airspace were risk managed with no compromise on safety,” said Bisignani, who urged Eurocontrol to establish a volcano contingency centre capable of making coordinated decisions.
Bisignani called for an urgent meeting of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the specialized agency of the UN, to define government responsibility for the decisions to open or close airspace in a coordinated and effective way based on real data and special operating procedures.
Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact photographer Antonis Panayotatos
What: American Airlines McDonnell Douglas MD-82 en route from Chicago to Dallas
Where: Chicago
When: Mar 11 2010
Who: 140 aboard
Why: After takeoff, the MD-82 flew through a flock of birds. Several birdstrikes occurred in the right engine. The flight was cleared to return and landed safely a little while later. No injuries occurred.
I’m not claiming that bird strikes only happen in certain seasons. Birds live near airports and share the airspace. It’s going to happen.
I’m just saying that some of the bird strikes can be predicted according to migratory patterns. Unfortunately, I don’t think this can be predicted in any useful way, at least not yet, but predicted in the sense that when you’re driving down the expressway and see a cloud of birds migrating, you know it is bird strike season again.
All air traffic controllers and safety inspectors continue to work at full capacity during the shutdown, however:
4,000 FAA employees are still furloughed
70,000 construction workers commissioned for aviation-related projects out of a job.
FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt has come out in support of a long-term reauthorization bill recognizing the safety priorities of the FAA. “We’re not going to budget safety.”
219 STOP WORK ORDERS have been issued.
A Press Release was submitted July 27, 2011 titled What They’re Saying: We Need an FAA Bill Extension
Contractors have been told to stop work on critical airport modernization projects around the country after Congress failed to pass legislation giving the FAA the authority necessary for work to continue by last Friday’s deadline. Dozens of “stop work orders” have been issued for major projects designed to build and modernize control towers and other aviation infrastructure from coast to coast. Construction workers, engineers and planners were told not to come to worksites across the country after the FAA was forced to issue stop work orders on projects ranging from the construction of new air traffic control towers to the rehabilitation and modernization of air traffic facilities. Nearly 4,000 FAA personnel, many needed to oversee various aspects of these projects, were furloughed on Saturday. Stopping work on these projects could significantly increase the ultimate costs of construction for taxpayers. Affected contractors, airport managers, and local officials across America are calling for action.
“This is no way to run the best aviation system in the world.”
-Ray LaHood, Secretary of Transportation, Portland Press Herald, July 26, 2011
“Unless Congress acts quickly, more work on projects critical to our nation’s aviation system will come to a halt.”
-Randy Babbitt, FAA Administrator, My Fox News Chicago, July 25, 2011
“So for them [construction workers] this is like running into a brick wall, and they’re asking me, ‘How do we explain this to our families?’ I don’t know what to say to them.”
– Lucca Toscano, Vice President Paul J. Scariano construction firm, Fast Lane, July 25, 2011
“I got a telephone call Friday about noon that said the job was going to go into suspension effective midnight Friday…Disappointment for the most part. Most don’t really understand what’s going on and why something like that there is affecting what’s going on here on their everyday job.”
–Ken Hengst, project manager for EAS Contracting, KRIV-FOX Houston, July 26, 2011
“It’s never a good way to run a construction project just to randomly tell people just to stop work.”
-Paul Bradbury, Jetport Director, Portland Daily Sun, July 26, 2011
“I’ve been doing this for 19 years, 7 here at this airport. I’ve never seen anything quite like this… As you can tell, if this project stopped right now, we’d literally have a torn-up ramp. The busiest ramp here at the airport, having this kind of hole in it.”
– Brian Kulpin, Reno-Tahoe International Representative, KTVN Nevada, July 25, 2011
“It’s depressing, you got a site [McCarran Control Tower] that was flourishing with activity and there’s nothing going on right now.”
–Sasha Milosavljevich of Archer-Western Contractors, CBS News, July 26, 2011
“The economy has devastated construction in Las Vegas in the last couple years and we were really excited to get this going…It’s disheartening we’re in this position now and our people have to stay home while Congress works this out.”
–Darren Enns, secretary-treasurer of the Southern Nevada Building and Construction Trades Council, Las Vegas Sun, July 26, 2011
“It’s very frustrating. It puts about 50 construction workers out of a job. But about 200 people are involved in this some way—designers, engineers, vendors, delivery folks. It’s going to be a hardship on them.”
– Kevin Klein, Cherry Capital Airport Director, Associated Press, July 26, 2011
“The longer it goes on, the worse it affects us.”
– Bob Graf, contractor for Palm Springs International Airport, Desert Sun, July 26, 2011
“We were informed Friday to stop all construction activity… The scary portion for us is the indefinite nature of all this”
– Dan Anello, project manager at Oakland International Airport, San Francisco Chronicle , July 26, 2011
“The shutdown affected all airport divisions…The folks I normally deal with have been furloughed. Any questions or things we have to do are on hold until this is resolved.”
– Rich Nuttall, Denver Airport Manager, Telluride News, July 26, 2011
“We had already bidded and awarded the contract and most of that cash would have stayed in the local economy, so there is an economic impact.”
– Cindi Martin, Glacier Park International Airport Director, Daily Inter Lake, July 26, 2011
“Our airports are not only our most important resources for moving goods and people, they are critical to creating jobs and putting Americans back to work…we need Congress to pass extension legislation for the FAA now.”
-Antonio Villaraigosa, Mayor of Los Angeles, Our Weekly, July 25, 2011
“We seem to be being hijacked by a completely ego-driven and frankly ridiculous fight in Washington,”
– Annise Parker, Houston Mayor, KHOU 11 News, July 26, 2011.
“It’s inaction like this that’s hurting our economy that everyone is working so hard to improve. Laying all these employees off, stopping this project, delaying grant money that’s already been awarded, it only trickles down to hurt our economy even more.”
-Luzerne County Commissioner Maryanne Petrilla, Citizen’s Voice, July 27, 2011
“It’s very important that the people in Washington get back to work and get this bill passed so the tower is completed and the working-class people get back to work.”
– Wilkes-Barre Mayor Tom Leighton, Citizen’s Voice, July 27, 2011
March 12, 2013
WASHINGTON – Today the National Transportation Safety Board issued five Safety Alerts that focus on the most frequent types of general aviation accidents.
“Because we investigate each of the 1,500 GA accidents that occur in the United States every year, we see the same types of accidents over and over again,” said NTSB Chairman Deborah A.P. Hersman. “What’s especially tragic is that so many of these accidents are entirely preventable.”
Each year, about 475 pilots and passengers are killed and hundreds more are seriously injured in GA accidents in the United States, which is why GA Safety is on the NTSB’s Most Wanted List.
A Safety Alert is a brief information sheet that pinpoints a particular safety hazard and offers practical remedies to address the issue. Three of the Safety Alerts focus on topics related to some of the most common defining events for fatal GA accidents. These include low-altitude stalls, spatial disorientation and controlled flight into terrain, and mechanical problems. The other two Safety Alerts address risk mitigation.
The five Safety Alerts issued today are:
• Is Your Aircraft Talking to You? Listen!
• Reduced Visual References Require Vigilance
• Avoid Aerodynamic Stalls at Low Altitude
• Mechanics: Manage Risks to Ensure Safety
• Pilots: Manage Risks to Ensure Safety
The NTSB is creating five short videos – one for each Safety Alert – which will be rolled out this spring. The videos will feature regional air safety investigators sharing their experiences and observations of the many accident investigations they conducted as well as advice on how pilots and mechanics can avoid mistakes that can have such tragic consequences.
“GA is essentially an airline or maintenance operation of one, which puts the responsibility for sound decision making on one person’s shoulders,” Hersman said. “We are promoting and distributing the alerts to reach pilots and mechanics who can benefit from these lifesaving messages.”
September 14–The September/October 2010 issue of FAA Safety Briefing, which focuses on proficiency and its absolute importance for pilots and aviation maintenance technicians, also includes a must-read article for pilots. FAA’s Paul Greer writes about the complicated subject of receiving compensation for your flying. He says, “Flying and getting paid for it has been a dream that most pilots have had at one time or another. It’s been done by generations of pilots, but it’s also an area ripe with opportunities for new (and even older) pilots to run afoul of the regulations.” Read all about it on page 12 of the September/October 2010 issue.
The weather in Los Angeles may be a gray, drizzly 56 degrees today, but much of Europe is suffering travel-suspending ice and snow. Snow on the forecast, snowplows on the runways, chains on the cars and weather delays on the calendar. And who is embroiled in all of this? Pilgrims and passengers, wayfarers, tourists and businessmen, travelers all.
And these brave folk out going where many have gone before are complaining about “unnecessary” delays in their travel plans. They are getting all wound up.
Listen, when you fly in winter, delays are going to happen. Need I say it is better to be safe than sorry? Believe me, I know. And my feet have been in your cold, wet, uncomfortable, transient shoes all too many times. But waiting is better than crashing.
I understand firsthand the griping of the thousands of travelers stranded overnight in hundreds of airports all over the world. Truly, I feel your pain. But it reminds me of butter. No, it reminds me of chiffon. (Forgettable margarine. Memorable cosmos.)
Remember that 1970’s commercial….
If you’re going to try to fly when there’s five inches of snow on the runway at Heathrow, delays are going to happen. You’re going to get a message like “Due to the continuing bad weather, further flight delays and cancellations are likely over the coming days and beyond. We are operating a reduced schedule until 06:00 on Wednesday, 22 December.”
If you’re going to take off from Charles de Gaulle Airport in December, delays will happen. Look at Rouen in the snow. (Livecam) Airports are chaotic enough around the holidays but when you throw this kind of weather in the mix, you’re relying on the airport who is relying on every contractor they can get their hands on to get runways clear in an uphill battle; and you’re relying on planes that don’t function at their best in freezing conditions; and you’re relying on an industry that is hamstrung by untenable weather.
This weather will pass. Enjoy the scenery. Fly safe. I hope that there will be one less aviation-related accident for me to hear about.
So where ever you are this holiday season, take your cup of cocoa with marshmallows, or coffee, or whatever is your cuppa tea, and cozy up somewhere warm. You can’t fool (with) Mother Nature. It’s going to be a long winter.
