Air Worthiness Directive Issued May 14

For Immediate Release
November 12, 2010

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) today accepted the second and final report on the November 2009 telecommunications outage prepared by an independent review panel assigned to investigate the incident.

FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt had asked the panel to examine the cause of the FAA Telecommunications Infrastructure (FTI) outage and to recommend strategies to reduce the potential for similar future outages. He also asked the panel to examine the FTI’s present and future architecture as it relates to emerging technology and future FAA systems.

The FTI system operates 24 hours a day seven days a week and provides communication support for the National Airspace System. Harris Corporation operates and maintains the FTI for the FAA.

Last April the FAA began carrying out the panel’s initial recommendations which included:

• Developing new automated tools for making configuration changes to network devices
• Increasing FTI workforce staffing during network maintenance
• Developing an alternate means for the entry of flight plan information to limit the impact of telecommunications network failures on the flight plan entry system.
• Creating two network enterprise management centers which give the FAA greater situational awareness of network activity and maintenance
• Installing additional cybersecurity measures throughout the National Airspace System

The final report on the FTI outage lays out 14 long-term strategic recommendations the FAA should pursue as it transitions to future network systems. The FAA has already begun evaluating and working through the recommendations which revolve around five areas:

• Governance: the decision making process for FAA systems
• Situational Awareness: FAA network monitoring and information sharing
• Interoperability: data sharing between systems and stakeholders
• Resilience: ability of a network to continue operating under a variety of conditions
• Cyber Security: the ability to thwart, detect, and respond to any attempts to compromise the system.

On the morning of Nov. 19, 2009 the FTI experienced an outage that resulted in system-wide delays. During the four-hour event, air traffic controllers managed flight plan data manually and safely according to FAA contingency plans. Air traffic control radar and communication were not affected during that time and critical safety systems remained up and running.

The panel confirmed the FAA’s preliminary assessment that the November outage was caused by a series of errors in network maintenance and monitoring during a telecommunications upgrade.

The panel is made up of the following participants: FAA Chief Information Officer David Bowen; Assistant to the President and U.S. Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra; Department of Transportation Chief Information Officer Nitin Pradhan; Noblis CEO Amr Elsawy; former Director of Command, Control, Communications, and Computer Systems Vice Admiral (Ret) Nancy Brown; FAA Air Traffic Organization (ATO) CIO Steve Cooper; and FAA Assistant Chief Counsel for Acquisition and Commercial Law Patricia McNall.

August 31 — Pilots authorized by air traffic controllers to taxi onto runways and await takeoff clearance will be instructed to “line up and wait” rather than “position and hold” beginning on September 30 under new terminology adopted by the Federal Aviation Administration. The new terminology, which was recommended by the National Transportation Safety Board, conforms to terminology used internationally under International Civil Aviation Organization guidelines.

A safety analysis conducted by the FAA’s Air Traffic Organization Terminal Services determined that adopting the phrase “line up and wait” will eliminate confusion, particularly among pilots who also fly overseas, and further reduce the risk of runway incursions.
Beginning September 30, controllers will state the aircraft’s call sign, state the departure runway and then instruct pilots to “line up and wait,” i.e., “United 451, Runway 33L, line up and wait.” The phrase, “traffic holding in position” will continue to be used to advise other aircraft that traffic has been authorized to line up and wait on an active runway.

The FAA will continue to emphasize that pilots are not permitted to cross any runway encountered while taxiing without explicit instructions from controllers.

ATLANTA – The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is proposing a civil penalty of $185,750 against Kingfisher Air Services Air Safari, Inc., of San Juan, P.R., for allegedly operating a Cessna 208B on 44 flights between June 2 and June 11, 2010, when it was not in compliance with Federal Aviation Regulations.

The FAA alleges that three pilots reported that the aircraft’s engine temperature exceeded the take-off limits before the carrier took the required maintenance action and had the engine repaired. The engine maintenance manual requires the operator to send the engine to an overhaul facility for a light overhaul when such problems are reported. The carrier failed to send the engine for overhaul after the first and second pilot reports.