Air Safety

Air Safety

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    Travel Warning Issued by U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Bureau of Consular Affairs

    The U.S. Department of State alerts U.S. citizens traveling and residing abroad to the enhanced potential for anti-American violence given recent counter-terrorism activity in Pakistan. Given the uncertainty and volatility of the current situation, U.S. citizens in areas where recent events could cause anti-American violence are strongly urged to limit their travel outside of their homes and hotels and avoid mass gatherings and demonstrations. U.S. citizens should stay current with media coverage of local events and be aware of their surroundings at all times. This Travel Alert expires August 1, 2011.

    U.S. Embassy operations in affected areas will continue to the extent possible under the constraints of any evolving security situation. U.S. government facilities worldwide remain at a heightened state of alert. These facilities may temporarily close or periodically suspend public services to assess their security posture. In those instances, U.S. Embassies and Consulates will make every effort to provide emergency services to U.S. citizens. U.S. citizens abroad are urged to monitor the local news and maintain contact with the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate.

    Media coverage of local events may cause family and friends to become concerned for their loved ones traveling and residing abroad. We urge U.S. citizens to keep in regular contact with family and friends. U.S. citizens living or traveling abroad are encouraged to enroll in the Department of State’s Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP), to receive the latest travel updates and information and to obtain updated information on travel and security issues. U.S. citizens without Internet access may register directly with the appropriate U.S. Embassy or Consulate. By enrolling, U.S. citizens make it easier for the U.S. Embassy or Consulate to contact them in case of emergency.

    Travel information is also available at travel.state.gov. Up-to-date information on security can also be obtained by calling 1-888-407-4747 toll-free in the United States and Canada or, for callers outside the United States and Canada, a regular toll line at 1-202-501-4444.

  • Eu Banned List Warns European Carriers to Fly Safely

    The civil aviation authorities of Member States of the European Community regularly puts out a list of banned airlines–airlines which are banned from flying over European airspace because the planes have failed safety inspections, and otherwise proven to be operating with less than prescribed safety standards.

    Unexpected additions to this most recent list are airlines from Germany and Spain, highly developed nations in which attention to safety appears to be waning. The expected underdeveloped African nations are included, such as Yemenia Airlines, which is now famous for using approved planes over Eu airspace and for allowing certain unsafe planes to fly outside of EU airspace. One such Yemenia Airbus crashed in 2009 killing all but one of its 154 passengers.

    https://airflightdisaster.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/list_en.pdf

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    India’s Aviation Crisis

    Promises last year to add over 500 regulatory positions have not yet been implemented, risking India being degraded by the FAA to a Category 2 country which cannot fly to the US.

    Only halfway through an inquiry of their aviation industry, India is suffering an ethical crisis in aviation, following the revelation of mass corruption and fraud. India has 8000 pilots. So far 29 pilots have lost their licenses. (This is not including 57 drunk pilots who reported for work inebriated.)

    Bribery, test cheating, fake flying records led to the revoking of licensure and firing of at least twelve pilots. In order to pass off some of the false information, those complicit had to have included aerodrome officials, aviation fuel suppliers, flying instructors and government officials. Some flying schools seem to be completely uncredited. Two gangs from six cities were running a racket fudging test scores. Revoked licenses include six commanders licenses and 13 commercial pilots licenses. The problem is industry wide, with a vastly understaffed (140 employees) regulatory system. Licensure testing is not computerized, and not focused on aviation.

    So in view of all of this exposure, I think back on 2007. I am not an attorney, and this is just my opinion, but it is the opinion of someone who is reasonably familiar with what goes on in the aviation industry.

    I see so much of what is happening, from my vantage point, just standing back and looking inside what is going on.

    I can not help but wonder how these airlines continue to get their financing.

    Why aren’t the financiers taking a harder look at who they’re giving the keys to the planes? Let’s consider how quickly Air Inda Express grew. Sure, they are owned by Air India, but they started out with five planes and very quickly grew to a fleet of 25. Someone financed these planes.

    Why?

    What were they thinking?

    After an audit of Indian Aviation in 2007 revealed unqualified manpower, then we saw the Air India Express crash in 2010. Now they have another audit and we find that NOTHING HAS CHANGED.

    Think about this in ordinary terms. If you as a driver were to lease a car, when
    you walk into that agency to get the lease, they check to make sure you have a valid license. They make sure you’re old enough. They verify your qualifications as a driver. They examine your fiscal health before they accept your contract and hand over the keys.

    SImilarly, those companies which provide the loans for airlines to purchase planes do their due diligence. If an airline defaults on a loan, that A380 or B737-800 is going to get repossessed just as a car would be repossessed in similar circumstances.

    In light of all of the corruption and lack of qualification that has been uncovered in all corners of Indian aviation, I can not help but wonder who performed the due diligence on these plane leases. Someone is financing it. It takes a lot of cash to put planes in the air, but that big financing brings in big income for leasing companies, in interest and lease payments.

    So, the 2007 audit revealed failings in Indian aviation; and this one that is ongoing in 2011 has revealed the continuation of failings. Where are the leasing companies? Shouldn’t they monitor the safey program of their investments? If they do not do so, are they not negligent?

    Are they not entrusting the guardianship of the lives of passengers, and those planes—weapons of mass destruction—to the hands of unqualified pilots?

    In the Air India Express case, there was a 737 800 leased. We don’t have an official report yet, but there have been some who have precipitously assumed the crash was caused by pilot error. Everyone is concluding the pilot blundered. We do not know if (in addition to bundering) he was unqualfiied, asleep, stupid, suicidal, or if the plane malfunctioned. And we may never know.

    But we do know a finance company backed that airline, who put a possibly unqualified pilot into that cockpit. Somebody financed that plane with due diligence that ignored the safety audits revealing the lack of health in Indian Aviation.

    Are they not negligently entrusting weapons of mass destruction to unqualified personnel? The financiers have the right to repossess the plane if there is a failing in the plane, its operation or its custodianship. The financiers can withhold the use of a plane until such time that safety conditions are met and they abide by all international expectations, rules and recommendations of air authorities, just as ALL airlines must. If they do not have that right written into their contracts, shame on them, and to lessen that shame, write that condition, right and responsibility on all future contracts.

    The lenders have the right to repossess the plane (and if they don’t they should.) They have the responsibility to do so, especially when life is on the line.

    In the meantime, banks and leasing company should suffer the consequences of their negligence right along with the operators after a crash. In other words, pay for your mistake. Pay the families of the victims for negligently entrusting that weapon of mass destruction.

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    Blacklisted by the EU: Air Madagascar

    According to a unanimous decision by the European Commission’s Air Safety Committee, Air Madagascar is the latest Airline blacklisted by the EU. The decision was made during the 5 – 7 April meeting. In some areas, 98 per cent of ICAO safety standards were not met. All airlines from Mozambique have been added because of persistent, significant safety deficiencies in operation and supervision. Three carriers are banned: Blue Wing Airlines, Meridian Airways, and Silverback Cargo Freighters.

    Russia was warned to “ensure” compliance of their aircraft.

    Mozambique Airlines twice weekly flights from Maputo to Lisbon which are operated under a “wet lease” agreement with a Portuguese company, EuroAtlantic Airways will continue. EuroAtlantic provides the Boeing 767-300, the crew and the maintenance.

    The Mozambican Civil Aviation Institute implemented an inadequate plan for improvement; but Portugal will be assisting the country to overcome safety problems.

    Official Eu Banned List

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    Passi Probe Nabs Top of DGCA Heap

    After allegations of attaining a pilot license under “extraordinary circumstances,” Garima Passi came to public attention.

    The flight school where Garima Passi had trained observed a hard landing, and determined that Passi had a disabling fear of aircrafts. Although the American Sabeena Training Centre she attended says that Passi “lacks basic aircraft control and she does not complete the gap between knowing and applying,” five days after attending a Uttrakhand training school, Passi was cleared to fly.

    (We do not know if she attended the full course.)

    Garima Passi quit SpiceJet airlines last month.

    So how did she get a license in the first place, and how was she flying for Spicejet? It helped that her father is (or was) Director of Air Safety Northern Command?

    RS Passi, the joint director of DGCA has been relieved of his duties pending probe into his role into his daughter procuring a fake pilot license.

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    Blame Samuel Jackson for Two More ATC Suspensions

    The Ohio, controller who watched a DVD while monitoring three planes sent audio of Samuel Jackson in the movie The Cleaner to those three planes over his mike, and sticking his mike in the ON position so he couldn’t receive calls. The FAA announcement of that controller’s suspension said that a military pilot on an alternative frequency heard the movie broadcast over airspace. That controller has been suspended along with his manager.

    Is this Oberlin Ohio controller the only one doing this or was he just the only one unlucky enough to get caught? What other distracting solutions have air traffic controllers found to keep them from falling asleep during long dull lapses during the night? FAA policy prohibits the use of portable DVD players.

    We haven’t heard from Samuel Jackson.

     

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    Wonder Not Why ATC Sleeps-It’s 2 a.m.

    There is a lot of buzz going on right now with so many air traffic controllers caught sleeping on the job. Everyone is lowering the boom on these individuals, and perhaps it is rightly so. And yet it seems to me that it is not a complete coincidence that suddenly in 2011, multiple air traffic controllers are caught sleeping on the job. Has this never happened before? Has no one ever noted it?

    This is in addition to an increase in controller errors. However, the increase in controller errors is (supposedly) a statistical glitch–not more errors actually but more reportage due to a new non-punative reporting system.

    It makes me wonder what has led to the circumstance of lone air traffic controllers manning all-night shifts. Has this been going on for decades? Or is this a recent development of economic cutbacks and our changing fuel economy, and our highly qualified personnel may be fighting to keep a position even on the swing shift, as job alternatives dwindle.

    Why is there an evening shift at all when the airlines have been combining flights and canceling flights, and rearranging flights and consolidating fights for economy’s sake? If the fact that an airport with minimal evening traffic chooses to have a lone overnight ATC shift, the act is practically a lagniappe. And if that is the case, then how sad it is that an act of extended service has turned to bite those offering the service.

    We do not put a lifeguard on the beach during the night when there are no swimmers, when swimming in dark waters is foolish. And yet, if we did place a lifeguard on that beach, we would not expect him to sleep. But would we expect him to stare out at the waters all night with no concession to human biorhythm? Is that not somewhat cruel? By the way, FAA’s rules forbid a controller from doing anything not directly related to air traffic control.

    When I hear the head of the FAA Air Traffic Organization Hank Krakowski has stepped down, it leads me to suspect that there is some scheduling pattern or policy that is directly attributable to him, something he did to disrupt the culture of air traffic control, that may be behind the significant coincidence of six (or more) sleeping ATControllers. I do not know if his stepping down is typical bureaucratic scapegoating, if he is doing the honorable thing because he’s in charge and the buck stops with him, or if he is truly responsible for some policy change that has led to the sleeping ATC.

    There are solutions, but they won’t be solutions today’s citizen of “instant everything” will like. There will be either the hiring more than just two controllers to turn night to day; or there will be (eventually) curtailing night flights and a loss of 24 hour conveniences.

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    Dangerous Maintenance

    It’s not just that they’re sending American jobs out of the country. There’s another question here: Is outsourcing maintenance endangering passengers because the lack of federal oversight?

    Forty percent of maintenance is being sent to third world countries which are documented to have lower standards and security lapses. Saving money may be the intent, but is the savings as important as the performer of the maintenance being able to read the manuals and order forms of the machines he is working on. The work is termed “typically inadequate.” To see Video, Click below.

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    Airworthiness Directive issued by Civil Aviation Administration of China

    Fortunately for Chinese passengers, aged Boeing 737s have drawn the attention of the CAAC. (These are the types of planes which demonstrated fatigue when a hole blew in the fuselage of a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 on April 1.) Planes with 35,000 total flight cycles or more will be inspected within 4 days; and those with between 30,000 and 35,000 will be inspected within twenty days. The CAAC says that most of the Boeings are new.

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    Blown Lap Joints and Other Points of Fatigue

    The older 737’s which ruptured their five-foot tops (at the lap joints) are just a drop in the proverbial bucket. Or, if you will, the canary in the cave. Because they are a sign of what is to come, if Boeing, and in fact ALL plane makers, don’t step up the inspection guidelines for metal fatigue in 15 year old planes. The FAA is mandating initial and repetitive electromagnetic inspections “to detect cracking in a specific part of the aircraft that cannot be spotted with visual inspection.” The FAA Emergency Airworthiness Directive pdf can be found here.

    Sure, since the fuselage crack on the Southwest 737 on April 1, older model 737’s have demonstrated a propensity toward metal fatigue. On that particular plane, in March, eight instances were found of cracking in the frame and six cracked stringer clips which hold the skin. To be sure, Southwest did the right thing by grounding its 80 737s and checking them all because it turned out that five of those inspected had cracks in the same location. Those 18-inch roof sections are being repaired according to the recommendations of Boeing and the NTSB with a large aluminum patch

    But what about 15 year old 757s? They should put all the older planes of comparable cycles—let’s not limit this to Boeing!— What about 15 year old Airbuses? —under scrutiny for metal fatigue. Are they not just as likely to blow as a 737?


  • Criminalization of Error

    Criminalization of error. That’s what aviation safety experts are worried about, after France’s potential criminal treatment of the flight of Air France flight 447. Experts complain that criminalization will inhibit voluntary disclosure.

    What’s that?

    No such thing as voluntary disclosure. If there were, perhaps research of the truth would not have to be so dependent on the black boxes.

    What have they disclosed thus far? Before anyone mentioned criminalization, had Air France stepped up to the plate? It’s not like anyone at Air France or Airbus announced to the world “I knew Thales pitot tubes were faulty and had the potential of freezing over at high altitudes.”

    No. Besides, it’s the just way these cases are handled in France, Mise en Examen.

    The French magistrate indicated that Air France may bear responsibility for failing to alert pilots to faulty air-speed sensors.

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    NTSB Releases Safety Recommendations

    Partial summary of what is included

    • incorporate in Aircraft Flight Manuals a committed-to-stop point in the landing sequence
    • subpart K operators and Part 142 training schools to incorporate the information
    • establish, and ensure that pilots adhere to, standard operating procedures.
    • principal operations inspectors ensure that pilots use the same checklists in operations that they used during training for normal, abnormal, and emergency conditions.
    • require manufacturers to revise existing, checklists to require pilots to clearly call out and respond with the actual flap position
    • revise/describe terms severe thunderstorms, such as “bow echo,” “derecho,” and “mesoscale convective system.”
    • revise regulations and policies to permit appropriate prescription use
    • require fatigue education (training and policy for doctors and pilots)
    • runway excursion prevention development
    • wet runway landing data information provided to pilots
    • pilot in command line checks demonstrating expertise

    Safety Recommendation .pdf

  • ICAO says Japan OK

    The Regional Meteorological Centers in Asia (Beijing, Tokyo and Obninsk) monitoring the situation published this press release WMO monitoring meteorological conditions in quake-hit area on March 15.

    Commiseration by the other world agencies followed: The International Air Transport Association (IATA), International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), International Maritime Organization (IMO), the World Health Organization (WHO).

    The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has activated the Environmental Emergency Response mechanism.

    ZAMG, Meteorological Service of Austria (Vienna), will provide meteorological support, on behalf of WMO, to the IAEA’s Incident and Emergency Centre (IEC) in Vienna on a 24/7 basis.

    WMO (World Meteorological Organization)

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    Washington National: Act III

    Click to reveal audio window

    You’ve heard about Act I, the American Airlines Boeing, which landed without the benefit of ATC guidance at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport

    You’ve heard about Act II, the United Airlines Airbus, which also landed without benefit of ATC guidance.

    So why was the tower offline? Simple. The controller apparently fell asleep on duty. The supervisor was on duty alone that night

    It is interesting and perhaps significant to note that the media is much more alarmed about this than most pilots seem to be. The midnight shift at many airports has minimal traffic and there is only one air traffic controller on duty. As was the case at Reagan National, Pilots have access to other air traffic towers. When failing to raise National, the two planes that landed on Wednesday contacted a nearby Warrenton Tower.

    The controller is not a beginner. He’s been on the job at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport for 17 years. This was his 4th successive night on the 10 p.m. to 6 a.m shift. There’s no denying that he should not have fallen asleep, or that there should have been two controllers there. But there are some factors to consider.

    • The accident would have been a whole lot worse if there had not been established protocols for dealing with an airport deemed “uncontrolled.”
    • The first crew designated an advisory frequency. (Emergency procedures.)
    • The second flight crew was aware of the problem, having been informed via that frequency about the silent tower.
    • Washington noise abatement prevents all but a few midnight flights.

    Yes it was a bad situation, but it could have been worse. It’s a good thing there were fall back procedures for the pilots to rely on. At least they never lost radar. And pilots are trained to land without ATC guidance, just in case something like this happens. And, after all, there are airports like Casa Grande, Arizona which are unmonitored and uncontrolled. Listen to the pilots in the audio below. They don’t sound at all stressed by the situation.

    There are consequences that will be far reaching. A minimum of two controllers is going to be mandatory. The controller who fell asleep has been suspended and will be handled according to procedures in the Human Resource Policy Manual.

    But there may be more to come after this. Policy changes, perhaps a lawsuit, perhaps even criminal charges.Or perhaps only retraining for the controller. Time will tell. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has ordered two controllers on the midnight shift at National.

    Airport ATC Audio

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    Tsunami Closes Airports

    Sendai Airport in Northern Japan was inundated by a tsunami and remained shut down.
    Narita, which focuses on long international flights, was partially re-opened today.
    Haneda, Tokyo’s other airport, closed for much of the day

    Flights incoming to Tokyo were cancelled due to the quake and tsunami, and some diverted to U.S. Air Force’s Yokota Air

    Nasa Images


    Below is the TSUNAMI WARNING SUPPLEMENT for Hawaii Fri March 11
    000
    WEHW40 PHEB 111649
    TSUHWX

    HIZ001>003-005>009-012>014-016>021-023>026-111849-
    /O.CON.PHEB.TS.W.0001.110311T1649Z-000000T0000Z/

    BULLETIN
    TSUNAMI MESSAGE NUMBER 12
    NWS PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER EWA BEACH HI
    648 AM HST FRI MAR 11 2011

    TO – CIVIL DEFENSE IN THE STATE OF HAWAII

    SUBJECT – TSUNAMI WARNING SUPPLEMENT

    A TSUNAMI WARNING CONTINUES IN EFFECT FOR THE STATE OF HAWAII.

    AN EARTHQUAKE HAS OCCURRED WITH THESE PRELIMINARY PARAMETERS

    ORIGIN TIME – 0746 PM HST 10 MAR 2011
    COORDINATES – 38.3 NORTH 142.4 EAST
    LOCATION – NEAR EAST COAST OF HONSHU JAPAN
    MAGNITUDE – 8.9 MOMENT

    MEASUREMENTS OR REPORTS OF TSUNAMI WAVE ACTIVITY

    GAUGE LOCATION LAT LON TIME AMPL PER
    ——————- —– —— —– ————— —–
    KWAJALEIN MH 8.7N 167.7E 1134Z 0.70M / 2.3FT 16MIN
    CHRISTMAS KI 2.0N 157.5W 1459Z 0.52M / 1.7FT 18MIN
    MANUS PG 2.0S 147.4E 1426Z 0.92M / 3.0FT 36MIN
    PAGO PAGO AS 14.3S 170.7W 1556Z 0.35M / 1.2FT 14MIN
    LUGANVILLE VU 15.5S 167.2E 1537Z 0.54M / 1.8FT 52MIN
    VANUATU 17.8S 168.3E 1532Z 0.69M / 2.3FT 20MIN
    DART 55012 15.8S 158.5E 1517Z 0.04M / 0.1FT 52MIN
    DART 46404 45.9N 128.8W 1440Z 0.11M / 0.3FT 18MIN
    KAPOHO HI 19.5N 154.8W 1408Z 0.06M / 0.2FT 14MIN
    HONOLULU OAHU 21.3N 157.9W 1329Z 0.68M / 2.2FT 32MIN
    HILO HAWAII 19.7N 155.1W 1357Z 1.32M / 4.3FT 24MIN
    KAHULUI MAUI 20.9N 156.5W 1340Z 1.82M / 6.0FT 28MIN
    LAHAINA HI 20.9N 156.7W 1335Z 0.50M / 1.6FT 64MIN
    MILOLII HI 19.2N 155.9W 1350Z 0.67M / 2.2FT 12MIN
    BARBERS PT HI 21.3N 158.1W 1323Z 0.65M / 2.1FT 06MIN
    HONUAPO HI 19.1N 155.6W 1340Z 0.04M / 0.1FT 32MIN
    HALEIWA HI 21.6N 158.1W 1329Z 1.09M / 3.6FT 38MIN
    MAKAPU`U HI 21.3N 157.7W 1312Z 0.49M / 1.6FT 52MIN
    KAWAIHAE HAWAII 20.0N 155.8W 1330Z 0.85M / 2.8FT 56MIN
    HONOKOHAU HI 19.7N 156.0W 1345Z 0.44M / 1.4FT 10MIN
    DART 51407 19.6N 156.5W 1322Z 0.17M / 0.6FT 44MIN
    NAWILIWILI KAUAI 22.0N 159.4W 1311Z 0.64M / 2.1FT 26MIN
    HANALEI HI 22.2N 159.5W 1306Z 0.85M / 2.8FT 28MIN
    TERN FR. FRIGATE US 23.9N 166.3W 1224Z 0.37M / 1.2FT 16MIN
    MALAKAL KOROR PW 7.3N 134.5E 1142Z 0.10M / 0.3FT 40MIN
    LEGASPI PH 13.1N 123.8E 1049Z 0.26M / 0.8FT 58MIN
    DART 46403 52.7N 156.9W 1128Z 0.09M / 0.3FT 60MIN
    DART 52402 11.7N 154.2E 0932Z 0.29M / 0.9FT 22MIN
    DART 46408 49.6N 169.9W 1030Z 0.14M / 0.5FT 18MIN
    DART 21414 48.9N 178.3E 0927Z 0.18M / 0.6FT 24MIN
    MIDWAY 28.2N 177.4W 1054Z 1.26M / 4.1FT 12MIN
    YAP FM 9.5N 138.1E 0951Z 0.18M / 0.6FT 92MIN
    WAKE US 19.3N 166.6E 0928Z 0.38M / 1.2FT 14MIN
    SAIPAN US 15.2N 145.7E 0916Z 0.66M / 2.2FT 30MIN
    TOSASHIMIZU SHIKOKU 32.8N 133.0E 0751Z 0.93M / 3.0FT 64MIN
    OMAEZAKI HONSHU JP 34.6N 138.2E 0660Z 0.99M / 3.2FT 72MIN
    DART 21418 38.7N 148.7E 0619Z 1.07M / 3.5FT 06MIN

    LAT – LATITUDE (N-NORTH, S-SOUTH)
    LON – LONGITUDE (E-EAST, W-WEST)
    TIME – TIME OF THE MEASUREMENT (Z IS UTC IS GREENWICH TIME)
    AMPL – TSUNAMI AMPLITUDE MEASURED RELATIVE TO NORMAL SEA LEVEL.
    IT IS …NOT… CREST-TO-TROUGH WAVE HEIGHT.
    VALUES ARE GIVEN IN BOTH METERS(M) AND FEET(FT).
    PER – PERIOD OF TIME IN MINUTES(MIN) FROM ONE WAVE TO THE NEXT.

    NOTE – DART MEASUREMENTS ARE FROM THE DEEP OCEAN AND THEY
    ARE GENERALLY MUCH SMALLER THAN COASTAL MEASUREMENTS.

    EVALUATION

    A TSUNAMI HAS BEEN GENERATED THAT COULD CAUSE DAMAGE ALONG
    COASTLINES OF ALL ISLANDS IN THE STATE OF HAWAII. URGENT ACTION
    SHOULD BE TAKEN TO PROTECT LIVES AND PROPERTY.

    A TSUNAMI IS A SERIES OF LONG OCEAN WAVES. EACH INDIVIDUAL WAVE
    CREST CAN LAST 5 TO 15 MINUTES OR MORE AND EXTENSIVELY FLOOD
    COASTAL AREAS. THE DANGER CAN CONTINUE FOR MANY HOURS AFTER THE
    INITIAL WAVE AS SUBSEQUENT WAVES ARRIVE. TSUNAMI WAVE HEIGHTS
    CANNOT BE PREDICTED AND THE FIRST WAVE MAY NOT BE THE LARGEST.
    TSUNAMI WAVES EFFICIENTLY WRAP AROUND ISLANDS. ALL SHORES ARE AT
    RISK NO MATTER WHICH DIRECTION THEY FACE. THE TROUGH OF A TSUNAMI
    WAVE MAY TEMPORARILY EXPOSE THE SEAFLOOR BUT THE AREA WILL
    QUICKLY FLOOD AGAIN. EXTREMELY STRONG AND UNUSUAL NEARSHORE
    CURRENTS CAN ACCOMPANY A TSUNAMI. DEBRIS PICKED UP AND CARRIED
    BY A TSUNAMI AMPLIFIES ITS DESTRUCTIVE POWER. SIMULTANEOUS HIGH
    TIDES OR HIGH SURF CAN SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASE THE TSUNAMI HAZARD.

    THE ESTIMATED ARRIVAL TIME IN HAWAII OF THE FIRST TSUNAMI WAVE IS

    0307 AM HST FRI 11 MAR 2011

    MESSAGES WILL BE ISSUED HOURLY OR SOONER AS CONDITIONS WARRANT.
    …SP…

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    Airline Passengers Benefit as Flight Attendants Gain Ground on Sanitation and Temperature Standards

    Flight Attendants Get Cabin Health and Safety Standards in Senate’s FAA Reauthorization

    WASHINGTON, Feb. 18, 2011 e-USNewswire/ — Members of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA) put key U.S. Senate offices on speed dial in a successful call-in campaign to press for long-overdue health and safety protections: Yesterday, the Senate defeated an attempt to strip OSHA protections for Flight Attendants from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Reauthorization Bill. The amendment to remove health and safety protections for Flight Attendants and passengers, including sanitation and temperature standards in the aircraft cabin, was rejected by a 52-47 party line vote.

    “No sanitation standards in the passenger cabin. Really???” said Veda Shook, AFA International President. “It is not funny. To date, OSHA has been kept out of the aircraft cabin and that means Flight Attendants and passengers are subject to an environment absent sanitation standards, temperature standards and proper procedures for clean up of biohazards. This is inexcusable and our union of Flight Attendants will not rest until we get the OSHA protections for passengers and crew. We applaud the Senate for taking this action today and we implore the House to act quickly to include the same provision in their version of the bill.”

    For Flight Attendants, each day on the job brings potential exposure to turbulence, severe air pressure changes, unwieldy service carts, broken luggage bins, balky exit doors and door handles, exposure to toxic chemicals, unruly passengers, communicable diseases, and emergency evacuations. As a result, safety and health violations occur on a daily basis for Flight Attendants yet the Federal Aviation Administration, which claims exclusive jurisdiction over the safety and health of crew members on civil aircraft, has failed to extend basic OSHA protections afforded to other workers across the country.

    The Association of Flight Attendants has already begun a targeted grassroots advocacy campaign to implore members of the House to include the health and safety provisions for Flight Attendants and passengers. The FAA Reauthorization bill has been extended 17 times over three years, delaying critical safety and health protections for Flight Attendants and the traveling public

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    Grounded: 757 Jets

    Uncompleted FAA safety checks have led to United’s 757 jet fleet to ground itself.

    The Federal Aviation Administration on June 22, 2004, ordered that the computers be replaced and that mechanics perform a check to ensure they were working properly. 2004. Did I read that correctly?

    The 757’s air data computer measures air pressure and other atmospheric conditions to determine speed and altitude. The units on these planes have been replaced but they haven’t undergone the required safety check. A flaw in the OLD computer caused pilots to believe they were flying too fast or too slow.

    United discovered the situation and informed the FAA that they were grounding their own fleet and performing the safety check after making the discovery on their own.

    Where was the FAA in this? Don’t they follow up their own directives to assure compliance? Did a follow-up team get hatched by a budget cut? Or is it just that the FAA is getting complacent or not taking its performance seriously?

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    Teamsters, TWU Labor Alliance Applaud PBS Frontline Report

    Safety of the American Traveling Public and Crewmembers Must be Maintained, Unions Say

    WASHINGTON, Feb. 7, 2011 — Today, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Airline Division and Transport Workers Union (TWU) commended PBS “Frontline” on its investigative report into airline maintenance. The two unions also stated that much remains to be addressed to ensure the safety of the traveling public.

    The report brought to light the increasing use by U.S. airlines of maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facilities that are not part of the airlines maintenance departments. In many cases, it noted these facilities use non-licensed technicians or mechanics with little or no training on the aircraft. In some cases the workers had very limited or no understanding of English, making it impossible to read maintenance repair manuals that specify the FAA required procedure to fix an aircraft.

    According to the report, one facility used by major U.S. airlines, when notified in advance of an upcoming FAA safety inspection, hid unauthorized and illegal parts from FAA inspectors, and subsequently returned them to inventory after the inspection for use. Incidents of “pencil-whipping,” a practice of signing off aircraft logbooks indicating repairs had been accomplished when they had not, were also reported. The report also revealed that internal airline documents stated that these falsified repairs came to light only after the aircraft was returned to service and in some cases, could have resulted in loss of the aircraft and loss of lives.

    On Jan. 20, 2011 it was announced that the FAA has proposed a $1.025 million civil penalty against San Antonio Aerospace, L.P., for failing to conduct FAA required pre-employment drug tests or waiting to properly verify those tests before hiring as many as 90 people to perform safety-sensitive functions between March 2007 and May 2008. The company is a subsidiary of Singapore Technologies Aerospace and in Nov. 2009 was renamed ST Aerospace San Antonio. According to U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, the agency alleges that 25 total employees performed “safety-sensitive” work before the results of the drug testing had been verified, and that 62 workers were not administered the test.
    Teamsters Airline Division Director David Bourne, commenting on the report and proposed FAA fines said, “The airline industries increasing use of MRO’s with problems similar to those mentioned in the documentary has been a concern for some time. Hearing the nature and gravity of the FAA inspection and proposed fines at ST Aerospace is even more troubling.”

    “When an airline has a fully staffed facility on its property, with mechanics and technicians that are fully trained and licensed on the specific airplane that needs to be repaired and a complete and legal parts inventory, we have to question the reasoning behind sending airplanes elsewhere to get repaired at substandard facilities,” Bourne said. “Compromising safety to increase the bottom line is simply unacceptable. Doing so during a time when many airlines are now reporting record profits, is even worse. This is not a new issue. We have watched with great concern at airlines who have taken aircraft from airports in the U.S. with fully staffed and qualified mechanics and technicians and flown them, in some cases, halfway around the world to get repaired in a facility where English is at best, sometimes a second language, just to save money.”

    John M. Conley, Administrative Vice President of the Transport Workers Union, also commented on the issues exposed in the PBS report.

    “More often than not, this work is done with minimal or substandard oversight to ensure a proper repair and FAA compliance,” said Conley, who is also a member of the FAA’s Future of Aviation Advisory Committee (FAAC). “When we have a situation where properly trained and skilled airline maintenance professionals are pushed aside to increase profits, we are left with an environment where pilots have no way of knowing who repaired an aircraft or if the repair was properly accomplished; in effect they become flying guinea pigs along with the flight attendants and passengers.”

    Conley, whose union represents airline professionals at several U.S. airlines explained, “We all say we are committed to safety, but sometimes safety is elusive. Maintenance, repair and overhaul work can and should be done properly and safely by the airlines maintenance facilities utilizing trained and qualified employees — to find that the FAA has fined ST Aerospace and also Pemco troubles us as well.

    “In the Pemco case, the FAA had asserted that Pemco could not comply with even basic FAA requirements on three occasions. This again brings into question why any airline would use a facility that can’t meet the same requirements that they themselves must adhere to. It starts with a commitment to safety and a safety culture; something that does not appear to be a high priority with some of these facilities,” Conley said.

    In December, the Teamsters and TWU sent a joint letter to Chairman Jerry Costello (D-IL) supporting his call for additional oversight hearings on MRO facilities.

    “Airline management must be held to the highest standards when it comes to the maintenance of commercial airliners and the people who work on them. Accepting the minimum standard should never be good enough for the FAA. The traveling public and the crews that operate these airliners must never be compromised. They should not have to guess if the airliner they are travelling on was properly repaired or if the work was done by the cheapest bidder,” Conley stated.

    Bourne continued, “We are pleased to note that recently, FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt, himself a former airline pilot, was quoted as saying, ‘Safety is compromised when our regulations are skirted or ignored. The traveling public has to be confident that the people who perform work on their planes are complying with those regulations.’ We agree completely with the administrator,” Bourne said.

    Transport Workers Union of America represents 200,000 workers and retirees, primarily in commercial aviation, public transportation and passenger railroads, including the majority of ground workers at American Airlines, American Eagle and Southwest Airlines and dispatchers at most major carriers. The union is an affiliate of the AFL-CIO. For more information, visit www.twu.org.

    Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents 1.4 million hardworking men and women throughout the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. For more information, please visit www.Teamster.org.

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    Special flight safety checks are being carried out at New South Wales and Victorian aerodromes this week.

    NSW and Victorian aerodrome flight safety checks

    Special flight safety checks are being carried out at a range of New South Wales and Victorian aerodromes this week.

    There will be a series of low-level flights to make sure flight paths at the aerodrome continue to operate safely.

    A twin-engine Cessna Conquest aircraft will be used to conduct the safety checks within an area up to 35 kilometres from the local aerodrome.

    The two pilots flying the aircraft will ensure navigation aids are operational and not suffering interference, as well as looking for any new obstacles that could be a danger to aviation safety.

    The Civil Aviation Safety Authority requires these checks to be carried out every three years to maintain a high level of air safety at all aerodromes.

    Low-level flying is an essential part of the safety exercise, with aircraft down as low as several hundred feet at times.

    Local residents may notice an uncommon flying pattern, but this is to make sure obstacles are accurately marked on charts and no new obstacles exist. Obstacles can be towers, trees, masts or buildings that can be a danger to aircraft.

    The checks are scheduled to be carried out between 7 and 14 February 2011.

    Aerodromes undergoing flight safety checks this week include Moruya, Cooma, Corryong, Wangaratta, Warracknabeal, Swan Hill, Shepparton, Tocumwal, Tumut, Polo Flat, Albury, Corowa, Yarrawonga, Nhill, Deniliquin, Echuca, and Wagga Wagga.

    If poor weather or other factors do not allow the safety checks to go ahead on the planned days they will be carried out as soon as possible.

    CASA has contracted the operation of the special check flights out to Radiola Aerospace Pty Ltd – a company with wide international expertise in these specialist operations.

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    Fatigue for one-Fatigue for all

    George’s Point of View

    Remember that old Herodotus misquote inscribed on the James A Farley Post Office Building: “Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.“?

    The iconic postman is viewed as being the superman of civil servants, intrepid deliverers, come what may. (For those of you born after 1997, the mythos of the intrepid postal carrier predates the movie. Bless Kevin Costner’s heart)

    That iconoclastic perspective will stand unchallenged by pilots if the FAA goes ahead in its move to impose stringent regulations limiting pilot flight time. The bill includes some $8 billion for airport construction and pilot scheduling limitations designed to lessen the incidence of accidents related to pilot fatigue.

    However the effectiveness of this bill may be challenged by an amendment exempting some pilots (those flying for nonscheduled carriers and charter flights carrying commercial cargo) from the amendments intended “fatigue protection.”

    Are cargo pilots and charter pilots built of sterner stuff? Are they eating their Wheaties and consuming super-charged vitamins? Are they really supermen who are not affected by the debilitating fatigue of lesser men? Is the biology of this select group of pilots different from all other pilots so that they are immune?

    What do you think?

    Maybe, just maybe, this new amendment is designed to sacrifice safety concerns in favor of profit.

    No kidding.

    There is no place for exemptions in this bill.

    However, that said, one hopes common sense will be applied in military situations. Say, for example, it is wartime. Can you see some 2011 era John Wayne pilot watching the second hand on his stopwatch and scrubbing a mission based on a peacetime standard? Is some squad somewhere going to have to stop in mid-mission due to a peacetime regulation? How doubly stupid would it be to give any faction opposing us the foreknowledge of such controlling factors. It’s the 2011 equivalent of the British sending their troops out in formation, to be picked off by guerilla fighting Americans. Are we the stupid ones with targets on our chests now?

    Let pilots flying commercial aviation have their reasonable hours, and leave the heroism and exemptions up to the military.

    And to mailmen too, of course—long may they be by snow, rain, heat and gloom of night, “unstayed.”

  • Air Tran #1 Safest

    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

    http://travel.yahoo.com/p-interests-37529946

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    Washington, DC, Area Operating Status

    Federal agencies in the Washington, DC, area are OPEN under 2 hours DELAYED ARRIVAL and employees have the OPTION FOR UNSCHEDULED LEAVE OR UNSCHEDULED TELEWORK. Employees should plan to arrive for work no more than 2 hours later than they would normally arrive.

    Read

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    CASA Media Release – Pilots urged to keep Shoalhaven skies safe

    Shoalhaven pilots are being urged to attend an important air safety workshop next month.

    The workshop will give local pilots special training to improve their flying and safety skills.

    The Civil Aviation Safety Authority is holding the workshop to help make the skies over Nowra and the Shoalhaven even safer.

    Safety issues to be covered at the workshop include aircraft maintenance and new rules for flying at regional aerodromes. There will also be the opportunity for pilots to ask questions and raise issues about local flying.

    CASA’s Peter Gibson says the workshop is part of a national regional air safety campaign.

    “Giving pilots from the Shoalhaven extra training will lift their safety skills to even higher levels,” Mr Gibson says.

    “All pilots receive comprehensive training but this workshop means they will be even better equipped to fly safely at all times and deal with emergencies.

    “Nowra and the Shoalhaven have a good air safety record but accidents do happen and everyone in aviation must work hard to keep local skies safe.”

    The workshop is being held at the Albatross Aero Club Museum Building on Tuesday 1 February 2011, starting at 6:00pm.

    CASA is providing free refreshments for everyone on the night.

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    Breaking News: Explosion at Domodedovo

    EXPLOSION AT MOSCOW’S DOMODEDOVO AIRPORT KILLS AT LEAST 10, HURTS AT LEAST 20 –

    A suicide bomber has been reported to have killed 10 at a Moscow airport. Dozens are reported to have been injured. The explosion occurred in the international baggage-claim near a baggage carousel. People are being evacuated from the airport.


    update

    23 killed 130 injured

  • | |

    Air France Moving Forward: Obfuscating the Issue and Consumer Politics

    George’s Point of View

    While we are waiting for news of where Air France Flight 447 disappeared to, somewhere in the ocean (and no one can really say with any great specificity anything more specific than somewhere between Rio de Janeiro and Paris France because everywhere they apparently believe it was, they looked, and it wasn’t) Air France is coming out with a report.

    An Air France assessment initiated by Chairman Jean-Cyril Spinetta in 2009 and performed by an international panel of eight aviation experts dubbed the Independent Safety Review Team is due to be released Jan 24, 2011.

    Its inception was timed, not too surprisingly, six months after the fatal crash, and although officially having nothing to do with the fatal event, its timing alone suggests an optimistic attempt on the part of Air France’s media team to counterbalance the lack of consumer confidence in the airline after they lost a whole plane and 228 lives.

    The report will cover training, technical and flight-safety issues, though the not-too-hidden agenda may be to reflect changes made since the crash of Air France Flight 447, (whose wreckage we all know has still not been located.) The report is a beginning of the “New Transparancy” proposed by Air France. There are people who would like to see that transparency extend to some old news, such as what is going on with the search for the wreckage of the worst accident in French aviation history.

    The last (02:10) ACARS transmission from Flight 477 contained a set of coordinates indicating the location as 2°59?N 30°35?W officially the last known position, (when the twelve warning messages with the same time code indicated autopilot and auto-thrust system had disengaged, TCAS was in fault mode, and flight mode changed from ‘normal law’ to ‘alternate law’) but one wonders if the instrumentation was already in disagreement at that point, i.e. if that location data could be as faulty as the frozen pitot tubes.

    So the report will be out today. The Assessment of Air France training, technical and flight-safety issues is bound to be a big event, but as the media and airline waves these initiatives in the public face, there are a lot of people still staring out to sea, looking for that lost wreckage, who won’t be distracted by any (see-here-look-at-this-news-see-how-much-we-are-improving) sleight of hand.