FAA: Final Rule Represents Major NextGen Milestone

WASHINGTON – The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced the performance requirements for aircraft tracking equipment that will be required under the Next Generation Air Transportation System, or NextGen. The avionics will allow aircraft to be controlled and monitored with greater precision and accuracy by a satellite-based system called Automatic Dependent Surveillance – Broadcast (ADS-B).

“Today we have reached a major NextGen milestone,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. “This technology represents another step forward in our ability to make America’s skies the safest in the world.”

The final rule, developed with extensive input from the aviation community, requires aircraft flying in certain airspace to broadcast their position via ADS-B by 2020. The rule mandates that the broadcast signal meet specific requirements in terms of accuracy, integrity, power and latency.

“This rule gives the green light for manufacturers to begin building the onboard equipment that will allow our air traffic controllers to know where aircraft are with greater precision and reliability,” said FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt. “That is one of the key elements of NextGen that will improve the safety and efficiency of flight.”

Additional ADS-B services should allow pilots to view cockpit displays to see the location of other aircraft in the sky around them. ADS-B displays are envisioned that will show pilots where they are in relation to bad weather and terrain – even at night or in conditions with poor visibility – and provide flight information, including temporary flight restrictions, which allow pilots to plan safe, more efficient routes.

Some of this information is now being broadcast free to aircraft equipped with ADS-B in the Gulf of Mexico, South Florida and in the airspace above Louisville, Philadelphia and Juneau, Alaska. Those areas were chosen as key sites to roll out ADS-B due to challenges presented by vast stretches of water, rugged terrain and traffic congestion. These areas also are populated by aircraft already equipped with ADS-B. The nationwide rollout of ADS-B ground stations will be complete in 2013.

By 2020, the FAA will require ADS-B equipment for aircraft flying in airspace including Classes A, B and C, around busy airports and above 10,000 feet.

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    Revised Safety Rating for India

    India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has been notified that the US is downgrading its aviation safety ranking, based on failure to meet the standards of the ICAO. The International Civil Aviation Organization regulates technical, training, inspection, records, airworthiness, and operations standards. The safety downgrade is partially due to a September FAA audit which found 33 DGCA deficiencies including too few experts, maintenance deficits and poor documentation.

    India’s being lowered to safety category II means that there will be consequences affecting Air India and Jet Airways Indian flights.

    See the release below:

    Press release: FAA Announces Revised Safety Rating for India
    The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) today announced that India has been assigned a Category 2 rating under its International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) program, based on a recent reassessment of the country’s civil aviation authority. This signifies that India’s civil aviation safety oversight regime does not currently comply with the international safety standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO); however, the United States will continue to work with India’s Directorate General for Civil Aviation (DGCA) to identify the remaining steps necessary to regain Category 1 status for India. With a Category 2 rating, India’s carriers can continue existing service to the United States, but will not be allowed to establish new service to the United States.

    India achieved a Category 1 rating, signifying compliance with ICAO standards, in August 1997. A December 2012 ICAO audit identified deficiencies in the ICAO-set global standards for oversight of aviation safety by India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). Subsequently, the FAA began a reassessment of India’s compliance with ICAO standards under the FAA’s IASA program, which monitors adherence to international safety standards and practices. The FAA has consulted extensively with the DCGA and other relevant Indian government ministries during its evaluation, including consultations in India in September and early December, and meetings this week in Delhi.

    “U.S. and Indian aviation officials have developed an important working relationship as our countries work to meet the challenges of ensuring international aviation safety. The FAA is available to work with the Directorate General of Civil Aviation to help India regain its Category 1 rating,” said FAA Administrator Michael Huerta.

    The Government of India has made significant progress towards addressing issues identified during the September 2013 IASA assessment. On January 20, the Government of India took further steps to resolve outstanding issues when the Indian Cabinet approved the hiring of 75 additional full-time inspectors. The United States Government commends the Indian government for taking these important actions, and looks forward to continued progress by Indian authorities to comply with internationally mandated aviation safety oversight standards.

    Additional Background on the FAA’s IASA Program:

    As part of the FAA’s IASA program, the agency assesses on a uniform basis the civil aviation authorities of all countries with air carriers that operate or have applied to operate to the United States and makes that information available to the public. The assessments determine whether or not foreign civil aviation authorities are meeting ICAO safety standards, not FAA regulations.

    A Category 2 rating means a country either lacks laws or regulations necessary to oversee air carriers in accordance with minimum international standards, or that its civil aviation authority – equivalent to the FAA for aviation safety matters – is deficient in one or more areas, such as technical expertise, trained personnel, record-keeping or inspection procedures.

    Countries with air carriers that fly to the United States must adhere to the safety standards of ICAO, the United Nations’ technical agency for aviation that establishes international standards and recommended practices for aircraft operations and maintenance.

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    Training! Training! Training!

    The NTSB was discussing safety measures in late October, especially pilot training before stalls. The new rule has been a long time coming. Earl Weener, a member of the National Transportation Safety Board, talked about the serious history of pilots wrongly pulling the plane’s nose up till the plane fell to the ground. If training is part of the problem, then at least that is a lack that can be amended.

    Only twenty-six percent of pilots train for high altitude stalls, but according to a NASA study, twenty-eight percent of stalls are high altitude stalls. Seventy-one percent of stalls happen while autopilot is on.

    In early November we heard how the FAA unveiled a rule about pilot training to avoid stalling airliners. It came about because of four crashes: Those crashes were Colgan 3407 in 2009, Air France 447 in June 2009, Pinnacle Airlines 3701 in October 2004 and USAir 427 in September 1994. (Too bad there have to be stall issues before stall training came to the attention of officials.) In the February 2009 crash of Colgan Air, it was determined that the pilots–as in the three other flights–in the midst of a blizzard in Buffalo pulled up on the nose of the plane, causing the crash. A meeting of air safety leaders in late November has jump-started the plans. Though something that has taken so long in the works can hardly said to be jump—started.

    The powers that be sound positive about the new rule.

    The FAA speculates training will save nearly seven million because of prevention—at a program cost of $274 million. Within five years this will mean:

    • Better ground and flight recovery training
    • Better pilot flight monitoring each other
    • Better runway safety protocols
    • Better crosswind training.

    I have been beating a drum for a long time about obvious solutions to obvious problems. Yes, things may fail, but why not implement preventative measures where available? So now rather than my usual battle-cry: Maintenance! Maintenance! Maintenance! Maybe I will be saying Training! Training! Training! I am looking forward to increased safety brought about by this new rule.

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    Press Release: FAA Proposes Civil Penalties Against Five Companies

    FAA Proposes Civil Penalties Against Five Companies

    WASHINGTON – The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is proposing to assess civil penalties ranging from $50,000 to $70,000 against five companies for alleged violation of the Federal Aviation Regulations or Department of Transportation Hazardous Materials Regulations.

    $50,000 against Spirit Airlines, Inc., Miramar, Fla., for returning an aircraft to service, and then operating that aircraft on revenue passenger flights when it was not in compliance with Federal Aviation Regulations. The FAA alleged that Spirit failed to replace a faulty elevator aileron computer (ELAC) after the aircraft experienced an uncommanded pitch down of the nose while operating between Orlando, Fla. and San Juan, Puerto Rico on Aug. 21, 2009. Although Spirit’s maintenance program required replacement of the ELAC computer, the airline did not do so before flying the A321 on a revenue passenger flight the next day from San Juan to Fort Lauderdale, when the aircraft experienced another uncommanded pitch down.

    $63,525 against Friendship Airways Inc., Fort Lauderdale, Fla., an air taxi operator, for operating two Cessna 402 aircraft on 77 commuter flights in violation of its air carrier certificate and operations specifications. The FAA alleged that the two aircraft were not authorized for use for the flights between June 21 and July 21, 2008 because they were not listed on the company’s operating specifications for commuter service.

    $50,000 against Fleet Aviation of White Plains, N.Y., an on-demand charter and air taxi company, for operating two of its aircraft on 251 flights between June 15, 2009 and March 19, 2010 when crews had not completed the emergency drills required by its training program.

    $54,000 against Englund Marine Supply Co. of Astoria, Ore., for offering a package containing flammable gasses and liquids to UPS for transportation by air from Astoria to Rio Vista, Calif., March 26, 2010. The package was discovered leaking at Portland before it was loaded on an aircraft.

    $70,000 against Coty, Inc., of New York, for offering a package containing perfume, a flammable liquid, to FedEx for transportation by air from Upland, Calif., to Covington, Wash., March 9, 2010. FedEx employees at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport discovered the shipment leaking.

    In all instances of alleged hazmat violations, the materials offered were not properly classed, described, packaged, marked, labeled and in proper condition for shipment under the hazardous materials regulations.

    Companies have 30 days from receipt of the FAA’s notice of proposed civil penalty to respond to the agency.

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    FAA: “Line Up and Wait” Training Now Available

    “Line Up and Wait” Training Now Available
    On Sept. 30, 2010, the familiar ATC instruction “taxi in position and hold” will become history. Instead, expect to hear “line up and wait” when ATC issues instruction for a pilot to taxi onto a departure runway and wait for takeoff clearance. Another procedure change that occurred on June 30, 2010, requires ATC to issue an explicit clearance to aircraft crossing any runway (active, inactive, and closed). To help pilots with these important procedure changes, FAA added an online training module to www.FAASafety.gov. The course is titled “Line Up and Wait: Taxi Authorization and Runway Clearance Guidance for Airmen,” and is listed in the Featured Courses portal on the FAASafety.gov home page.

    The course provides a good review of safe taxi operations, ATC procedures and phraseology, and pilot responsibilities. It also reviews best practices for avoiding runway incursions, such as knowing and understanding the meaning of the runway hold markings. Some three-fourths of runway incursions result from a failure to comply with this marking.

    Additional details on both procedure changes are available in the Aeronautical Informational Manual (AIM) and Pilot/Controller Glossary, located under the Air Traffic section of www.faa.gov. You can also reference more specific information on line up and wait with FAA Notice JO 7110.536.

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    Single Engine Plane Crashes Near Montrose

    Reservoir

    Five people are feared dead after a single engine plane crashed in Ridgeway Reservoir Colorado.

    The incident happened in the south of Montrose at 1:50 pm on March 22, 2014. The plane was on its way to Montrose regional airport from Oklahoma. Investigators believe that none of the five passengers survived, although no victims have been found yet.

    Rescue and search efforts are still in progress, whereas a team of divers is recovering the parts of plane from water. NTSB and FAA will be investigating the incident.

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    FAA Penalty Against Woodward

    WASHINGTON – The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is proposing a civil penalty of $246,450 against Woodward, Inc., a Santa Clarita, Calif.-based aircraft repair station, and its subsidiary HRT for allegedly violating FAA drug and alcohol testing regulations.
    The FAA alleges Woodward HRT failed to conduct required drug tests and receive verified negative drug test results before transferring or hiring 12 people to perform safety-sensitive aircraft maintenance work.

    The FAA also alleges the company failed to include six individuals in its random drug and alcohol testing pool.
    Other alleged violations include failing to administer a return-to-duty drug test to one employee after he completed a substance abuse treatment program. The company’s testing firm also allegedly used an expired intoximeter bottle to perform calibration checks on a breath-testing device.
    The FAA discovered the alleged violations during an inspection of Woodward’s required drug and alcohol testing program April 9-13, 2012. The alleged violations took place between August 2010 and March 2012.

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