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Game Warden Recognized for Pulling Boy from Burning Plane

On June 18 of 2011, Joe Lindsey was by the Guntersville airport with his family when he saw a plane crash. He drove part of the way to the crash, and rushed through the woods to pull a seven year old boy from the burning wreckage. Lindsey was awarded the Medal of Honor on Thursday April 12, with top state officials like Governor Robert Bentley in attendance.

The Medal of Honor is the Alabama Legislature’s highest honor given to law enforcement. Joe Lindsey is with the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources—a state game warden—and this is not his first rescue; in 2008, Lindsey rescued a child from a burning van. He does not consider himself a hero, just that he is “a guy who was in the right place at the right time and I had a job to do.”

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Japan Rocket Warning Marks No Fly Zone

Notice to airmen
North Korea is launch of a satellite between April 12 and April 16; and as it is going up by rocket which will scatter debris, area Airlines need to be forewarned.

At least 19 airlines including Philippine Airlines, Japan Airlines, Korean Airlines and Garuda are rerouting to avoid the rocket or any falling debris. Alternative routes may add 13 to thirty minutes to flights. The Philippines has warned ships to steer from certain arieas where debris might fall into the Yellow sea. The second stage is expected to fall in water 140 km from Luzon.

However amateur sky watchers are saying in order for the satellite to get into the correct orbit, these experts say, they risk early stages dropping on allies’. The question remains North Korea Lying About Its Rocket Launch?

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News: Safety Agreement

Enhancement of safety and efficiency are what is on the table between Boeing and Embraer who have signed an agreement to work toward safety, efficiency of aircraft operations and productivity in manufacturing. The passenger benefits that will trickle down will be in the areas of research and technological development in narrow body jets.

They have already made progress in “drop-in” biofuels along with Airbus and the Sao Paulo State Research Foundation on long-term aviation biofuels research.

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India Bucking the EU System

From January 1st, European Union imposed a carbon levy on air travel. In support of this, carriers air carriers submit their emission stats.

In a March statement, India opposed the EU Joint declaration. It appears that the government of india has boycotted the directive and forbidden its carriers to comply under the concept that it is a trade levy in disguise. India follows China, who in February forbade its carriers to comply.

The cost of the measure will add from 4 to 24 euros to the cost of each round trip flight.

Expect to see backlash escalating trade conflict with countries opposing the ETS as governments resist or comply and trade repercussions ensue such as China’s suspension of 12 billion in Airbus orders.

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Hawker Beechcraft Headed for Bankruptcy

Centerbridge Partners, Angelo Gordon and Capital Research & Management are negotiating bankruptcy with Hawker Beechcraft.

A forbearance agreement expiring in June will probably lead to a chapter 11 which will keep firm in operation.

Centerbridge is the biggest lender. The private equity investment firm manages a $3 billion fund focused on distressed-for-control and buyout investments.

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Charges Dropped against Surviving Pilot

Lt. Lance Leone, the co-pilot aboard Coast Guard helicopter 6017 on July 7, 2010 when it struck some wires between the mainland and an island near La Push, Washington, was charged with negligent homicide and destruction of government property, and dereliction of duty.

Those charges have been dropped.

The crash killed the chopper’s pilot, Lt. Sean Krueger, along with Aviation Maintenance Technicians Brett Banks and Adam Hoke. The charges had been levied in accordance with the strict culture of discipline and accountability. The inherent danger of Coast Guard operations is a given, but the three fatalities warranted a full investigation.

Lt. Lance Leone hopes to be in retraining soon in accordance with the Coast Guard mission, pass retraining, and securing a new Coast Guard assignment flying and rescuing.

Read More

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Ill-Run PIA Approaching EU Banned List

Forty uncertified defects found on PK-734 operated by A310 at Paris on 9 Aug 2011 leads the European Union to declare CAA regulatory control “unreliable.” A ban will likely be imposed in March 2012.

DGAC France has been authorized to perform routine inspections on PIA on behalf of EASA since November and has found and documented problems. Pia’s poorly maintained fleet of old Boeing 747 and A310 fleet is already banned. The supposedly penniless airline is making payments on new Boeing 777s and is arranging financing of 1.5 billion for 5 more, and possible 5 more after that.

Flakey and unreliable scheduling of flights has resulted in bad credibility and lack of confidence in the national airline; and that lack of credibility is trickling down to the financing. As recently as March 2, a flight was delayed over 24 hours, and the scene at the airport was described as pure chaos.

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EASA Proposes Fatigue Across the Board

New European rules ‘harmonizing’ the workload limits across 27 member states could allow pilots to fly aircraft for 22 hours without sleep, increasing a pilot’s work day from 16 hours 15 minutes to 20 hours, and the maximum shift time for a long haul flight with two pilots from 12 to 14 hours, as well as eliminating the need of a third pilot on long-haol flights.

The proposals have raised the attention of BALPA, The British Airline Pilots Association.

The seventeen percent increase in workload will result in a 5.5% higher chance of an accident.

It is inconceivable how EASA can call “flying farther with less rest-time, more frequently (7 starts in a row), no back up crew and more fatigue” bringing standards “up” when it is actually leveling down safety standards. Such a workload flies in the face of the constructs of human biology.

But the UK’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) “has said they have no fundamental problem with the rules.”

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Germania Pilot Lands on Wrong Runway


Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact photographer Kevin Gutt

What: Germania Airbus A319-100 en route from Cochstedt to Las Palmas
Where: Las Palmas
When: Jan 14th 2012
Why: After being cleared to land on runway 21R, the pilot touched down on runway 21 L. There was no other traffic on the runway at the time.

The pilot apologized and the tower controller chided as one might expect.

The incident is under investigation.

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Jet Airways Pilots Protest Nasim Zaidi Committee’s Prescriptive Limits

A letter written by Jet Airway’s Society for Welfare of Indian Pilots complains that the new limits for pilots flight time are set at 10 hours (compared to US’s 8) and the Director of Operations can extend that time an hour and a half. The letter points out that the committee selectively adopted from various schemes/studies whatever limits that suited them, extending the time well beyond what would be considered safe.

In the US, the maximum time pilots can be scheduled to fly is limited to eight or nine hours. US Pilots must get a minimum of 10 hours to rest between duty periods, a two-hour increase over the old rules; and pilots who fly overnight are allocated fewer hours than day flying pilots. In the US, these rules are based on the science of human biology.

The changes in US fatigue rules are aimed at preventing airline pilots from flying while dangerously fatigued. Notably, by comparison, the maximum hours of work prescribed for Indian pilots is about 25% more. The Nasim Zaidi Committee rules either completely disregarded the science, and furthermore, incorrectly defineterms pertaining to night-time operations, further opening up the pilots to further exploitation.

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Coming Soon: Step by Step Reconstruction of Sol Líneas Aéreas Flight 5428


In a Saab 340 simulation, two pilots are attempting to reconstruct how the pilots managed on May 18 in the Sol Líneas Aéreas Flight 5428 crash in Prahuaniyeu, 16 miles south-west of the town of Los Menucos, Río Negro, Argentina, crash that killed 22. The information sources were the black boxes, (flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder) including records of the dialogue and sounds in the cockpit and flight operations.

Those interested in the results include Judge Bariloche Leónidas Molde, the court clerk, the prosecutor, and an aeronautical engineer, and representatives of the Accident Investigation Board for Civil Aviation (JIAAC). JIAAC’s September preliminary report indicated that the pilots were responsible for the accident.

A new voice transcription to be used includes noise in the cabin, like the sound of alarms. The experts will use a certified replica of the plane that crashed in the Black River and the black boxes to establish what happened to cause the flight to crash. 19 seconds of audio before the impact was badly damaged and a team is currently trying to rescue the audio.

The simulation will recreate the flight based on both the voices of the pilots and data from the Flight Data Recorder.

The trial will last two days. The date of a final report has not been set.

Individuals in noncompliance of official procedures and lacking official documentation may be excluded from participation. Also, some question Saab involvement but rather than this being a conflict of interest, they are engaged as responsible technical experts on their own machines. Family members just want to hear the actual transcribed voices of their loved ones.

We may be talking about this again, since final analysis reports can take so long, and may or may not be conclusive.

Src: http://www.clarin.com/sociedad/Tragedia-Sol-simulador-reconstruyen-vuelo_0_571142968.html

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Air India on Flakey Financial Footing


Newspaper articles in July promised compensation to Air India crash victims, and here it is September, and they’re still arguing about compensation, which is still unpaid.

Perhaps this is partly due to financial circumstances, as independent sources say all Indian airlines are barely keeping afloat, due to competition, low fares and rising wages and fuel expenses,(not to mention corruption, and failed safety efforts) but in the worst shape are Kingfisher Airlines and the state-owned Air India. Liquor tycoon Vijay Mallya who controls Kingfisher, denies rumors of Kingfisher nearing its demise.

In mid-August, the government said it planned to take three months to financially restructure Air India. The turnaround plan is described as a hub-and-spoke route model. Costs will be cut by redeploying staff and unloading real estate.

According to Moody’s any loan to Air India is ‘credit negative’. Air India has incurred heavy losses and has been in the red since its the 2007 merger with Indian Airlines.

In the meantime, who knows when, or how much suffering families will be paid in compensation.

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NTSB Chairman Deborah A.P. Hersman Sworn in Second Term

WASHINGTON – Deborah Hersman was officially sworn in today for a second two-year term as NTSB chairman. She became chairman on July 28, 2009. She was nominated for the second term by President Barack Obama on June 28, 2011, and confirmed by the U.S. Senate on August 2, 2011.

“I am deeply honored to continue serving as chairman of the NTSB,” Hersman said. “It has been a privilege to lead this remarkable organization with its dedicated and professional employees. I look forward to continuing to work with my fellow board members and the staff to make transportation safer for our citizens.”

Her term as chairman ends on August 3, 2013. She is concurrently serving a second five-year term as board member, which runs through December 31, 2013.

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NTSB Press Release announces Asiana Investigation


Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact photographer Paul Carlotti

NTSB ASSISTS GOVERNMENT OF SOUTH KOREA IN AVIATION ACCIDENT

Washington – The NTSB is dispatching a team of investigators to assist the government of South Korea in its investigation of the crash of Asiana flight 991, a Boeing 747-400F cargo airplane.

On July 28, 2011 at about 4:12 a.m. local time, the airplane, en route from Seoul Incheon International Airport to Shanghai Pudong International Airport, People’s Republic of China, crashed into the East China Sea about 70 miles west of Jeju Island, South Korea, after the flight crew reportedly declared an emergency due to an in-flight fire. The two pilots are believed to have been killed.

The NTSB has designated air safety investigator John Lovell as the traveling U.S. Accredited Representative. Mr. Lovell will be assisted by an NTSB Operational Factors investigator and advisors from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
and Boeing.

The investigation is being conducted by the Korea Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board (ARAIB), which will release all information. The ARAIB phone number is: +82-2-6096-1030 / Fax: +82-2-6090-1031 and its email address is: webmaster@araib.go.kr.

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Essential Air Services Shutdown Pending

The 20th temporary extension of the Federal Aviation Administration expires in days.

The House passed a bill threatened by a presidential veto, and the FAA may be shut down midnight Friday, and end “Essential Air Service” to 13 cities.

Thirteen airports are targeted to lose their EAS subsidies.

Press Release – Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood Urges Swift Action by Congress on FAA Bill

July 20, 2011

WASHINGTON – Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and Federal Aviation Administration Administrator Randy Babbitt called on Congress today to pass a clean extension of the FAA’s authorization in order to avoid airport project construction delays and employee furloughs. The current FAA reauthorization expires at midnight this Friday, July 22, 2011. LaHood and Babbitt said they oppose the House bill because it includes controversial provisions that needlessly threaten critical FAA programs and jeopardize thousands of public and private sector jobs.

“Congress needs to stop playing games, work out its differences, and pass a clean FAA bill immediately. There is no excuse for not getting this done,” said Secretary LaHood. “Important programs and construction projects are at stake. This stalemate must be resolved.”

Secretary LaHood also said, “I want to reassure the flying public that, during this period, safety will not be compromised.”

“We are going to be forced to furlough valuable FAA employees unless this situation is resolved quickly,” said FAA Administrator Babbitt. “These employees do everything from getting money out the door for airport construction projects, to airport safety planning and NextGen research. We need them at work.”

If Congress does not extend the FAA’s authorities approximately 4,000 employees will be furloughed beginning Saturday July 23, 2011. Without the appropriate authority, taxes will not be deposited into the Trust Fund to pay some FAA employees. Employees who are paid out of the Trust Fund handle a variety of functions including: airport safety and engineering standards; airport safety planning; the Airport Improvement Program, which administers construction project grants to airports; and Research, Engineering, and Development, which includes NextGen research and testing.

Congress has extended the FAA’s authorization 20 separate times.

Without a full year extension, FAA will be unable to move forward on more than $600 million in airport construction projects that include good paying jobs for local communities across the country. Some of these projects include:

GulfportBiloxi International Airport: proceed with construction of a terminal building expansion, rehabilitation runway lighting, rehabilitation of a taxiway, and rehabilitation of an access road.
RichmondInternational Airport: proceed with construction of a new apron for terminal concourse A.
Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport: proceed with construction of taxiway Y and Z rehabilitation.
LaredoInternational Airport: proceed with the rehabilitation of the Engineered Material Arresting System which will help protect passengers if an aircraft leaves the runway.

Additionally, during each of the previous 20 short term extensions, the FAA’s Airport Improvement Program has only received small portions of its $3.5 billion in grant money.

As a result, states and airports have been left waiting to plan projects or begin construction since the total amount available is unknown. Some projects that are already underway are being constructed in stages and the total cost of the project will likely be higher as a result of that approach.

For example, in Wisconsin, the state has delayed accepting construction bids until officials know how much federal funding is available. Unless the FAA receives a longer extension, projects in Wisconsin could be delayed into next year since the construction season will start to wind down at the end of the summer.

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Air India’s Culture of Coercion and Fear

It’s not the Hatfields and the McCoys but it’s a feud going on between Air India and its 1,600 pilots. This is the scenario:

Pinched for money, Air India’s owes cash to pilots, employees, vendors, fuel and ground transportation suppliers; they are cutting rates and (safety) corners.

Air India is supposed to be shaping up, but they ignore rules and regulations meant to reduce pilot fatigue. Unsafe practices include changing schedules so often that some pilots refer to the company’s management style as “schedule by wake-up call.”

The Indian Pilot’s Guild sent the Star Alliance a letter exposing Air India’s culture of “coercion and fear” to compel pilots to fly long hours.

Pilots are complaining about being forced to work long hours while Air India ignores safety regulations. They can’t take off when they’re sick, for fear of being penalized, which is of course another safety violation.

After losing a billion dollars last year, Air India has applied to the Indian government for money. India’s aviation regulatory agency uncovering fraudulent pilot training and corruption in aviation administrative circles. In the face of tightening procedures, Air India will have its back against the wall if they’re going to comply with safety regulations.

Meanwhile, Air India is attempting to join the Star Alliance network of 27 airlines.

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Transition Roadable Aircraft (Flying Car)

MIT engineers have built a car that flies. Or a plane that drives on the street. This vehicle flies (and drives) on ordinary gas. Below, we have attached a clip of the TRA’s first flight, or as the video calls it, it’s “Wright Brothers Moment.” The wings retract so it can drive on the road.

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Spatial Disorientation-in the pilot, or in the head of the investigator

Donald Estell attempted to land the 21-year-old, single-engine Piper aircraft in challenging conditions, (on its second approach to St. Louis Downtown Airport in Cahokia) but instead, struck a house. The crash that ended the life of 65-year-old Estell of Clayton, Mo., and Robert Clarkson, 77, of Belleville has been attributed to pilot error by a June 27 report by the NTSB. The crash occurred on Feb 21, 2010, and it happened (according to the NTSB) because of spatial disorientation.

A pilot who loses his orientation, and whose proprioception (perception of direction) is compromised is described as suffering from spatial disorientation. Most useful for maintaining orientation is an external visual horizon, which helps maintain the sense of “up and down.”

We know that spatial disorientation is a real condition. It is also one of several “pilot error” causes that officials point to when they can not figure out why an otherwise airworthy (or supposedly airworthy) plane crashes.

There are cases rightly or wrongly attributed to spatial disorientation, for example, the Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 that spiraled into the sea off Beiruit; the May 12 2010 Afriqiyah Airlines Flight 771 crash where the pilot undershot the runway on approach to Tripoli; and the July 28 2010 Airblue Flight 202 which crashed in the Margalla Hills on an ILS approach to the opposite runway 30.* There are events attributed to spatial disorientation when it may or may not be a factor, and may or may not be the only cause. Even when it does occur, it is usually in combination with something else, such as foggy weather which obliterates the horizon, radar failure, cabin pressure loss (the sudden loss of pressure can cause a pilot to lose consciousness.)

Families who have lost loved ones in airline crashes rely on investigations to determine what systems failed, and what went wrong that caused the crash. It is the solemn duty of investigators (like those in the NTSB) to sort through the wreckage, and analyze the black boxes to determine to the best of their ability what went wrong. The final report is usually the result of a year or several years of intensive study and research. It is usually the more responsible or determined investigators who do not settle for a spatial disorientation cause blaming the pilot, but who look beyond it to find the underlying factor—the radar failure, or system failure, or pressure leak or faulty automatic pilot—that instigated the disorientation.

*See Comment

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Nigeria working toward ICAO Standard

Long known for substandard aviation, changes seem to be in Nigeria’s future.

Nigeria’s airports are slated to be revamped to meet international standards according to Stella Oduah, Minister of Aviation. Safety and security are intended to be the new priority, as they aim for “zero” accidents.

Infrastructure and services are also slated to be improved.

The ICAO’s AFI plan is part of the Third Pan-African Aviation Training Coordination Conference.

The conference is organized by the ICAO Comprehensive Regional Implementation Plan for Aviation Safety in Africa (AFI Plan) in cooperation with the aviation regional organizations in the AFI Region, and hosted by the Government of South Africa will be held in Cape Town, South Africa from 27 to 29 July 2011.

The agenda for the conference is here.

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Ethiopia Denies Boeing test Flights

Mr. Tewolde Gebremariam, the CEO of Ethiopian Airlines, has announced that Ethiopian Airlines has begun flying to Milan. The nonstop service between Addis Ababa and Milan is only one of 63 destinations offered, and it’s maiden flight was July 2nd.

The airport at Addis Ababa has been involved in an expansion program, leading Boeing to ask the Ethiopian Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) for landing rights—Boeing wants to conduct high-altitude tests there but the request was denied. However, in October 2006 Airbus conducted a flight test for its A380 in Addis Ababa.

Officials claim congestion due to construction is behind the denial.

Addis Ababa is a high altitude airport and preferred for high altitude testing.

Private airlines at the Addis Ababa airport operate under an aviation regulation that prohibits private airlines from operating aircraft with over a 20-seat capacity.

Capt. Solomon Gizaw, owner and managing director of Abyssinia Flight Services calls this a protectionist practice.

“Do you know why the governments put the 20-seat limit? It is to protect Ethiopian Airlines. We all like the national flag carrier. But how long will it be protected?”

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India Aviation In Crisis-DGCA Examiners Examined

What does it mean when the teacher flunks the exam he’s teaching?
What does it mean when three teachers flunk the exam they’re teaching?

Three Jet Airways examiners flunked the DGCA exam, Manoj Manha and M. Shain had “inadequate subject knowledge” of the Airbus they are purported to be experts of and Anupam Khanna was “casual” and “lacking in cockpit discipline.” Manha and Shain will be continuing as examiners after corrective training.

The deficiency casts a shadow on all of those whose expertise was qualified by Manha, Shain and Khanna.

It means that if the DGCA is going to follow through and maintain standards, every person qualified by these examiners (or otherwise taught by them) is scrutinized and retested.

Can pilots be deemed competent when they have been trained by incompetents?

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Airbus Major Airshow Humiliation


Damaged A380 Wing
Update
The gearbox problem is not the only recent technical glitch that occurred. The aircraft’s huge propellors built by French company Ratier-Figeac, (indirectly owned by U.S. group United Technologies _UTX.N_,) developed cracks prematurely.


What: A380 superjumbo,
Where: Le Bourget airport, Paris
When: June 17, 2011
Who: no reported injuries
Why: Before an audience including 2,100 exhibitors from 45 countries—a jury of its peers—during the Paris Airshow, Airbus had to pull its A380 display.

The A 380 was withdrawn from the flying display when the jet had an on-the-ground collision with a building, clipping a wing on a taxiway structure.

Also, although it made a fly-over, the Airbus A400 M military transport demo was cancelled due to a “a minor gearbox problem”

Then on Saturday Airbus announced that two of three versions of the A350, would be delayed for about two years. We commend the decision to delay, because while Rolls Royce will be granted more time to develop a more powerful motor, hopefully Airbus will take the time to work on whatever bugs are in its system. A delay in release is clearly an opportunity to perfect the product, from a safety perspective.

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US Airways Computers Down, Flights Cancelled

A power outage in Phoenix knocked out all of US Airways computers, grounding flights all over the US.

Boarding pass scanners are also down.

US Airways has published three press releases regarding the outage:

3:
US Airways Releases Third Update Regarding System Outage
TEMPE, Ariz., Jun 10, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) —

US Airways’ (NYSE: LCC) website, usairways.com and airport computer systems have been restored following a systems outage earlier today.

As the operation returns, flights may continue to be delayed.

Early reports indicate that the systems outage was the result of a power outage near one of the airline’s data centers in Phoenix.

We strongly encourage our customers to check their flight status before arriving at the airport by visiting usairways.com or by calling US Airways Reservations at 1-800-428-4322. (LCCG)

SOURCE: US Airways

US Airways
Media Relations, 480-693-5729

2:
US Airways Releases Update Regarding System Outage
TEMPE, Ariz., Jun 10, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) —

US Airways’ (NYSE: LCC) website – usairways.com – and the airline’s airport computer systems are back online and we are working to restore operational order following a systems outage earlier today.

Flights throughout the US Airways system have been impacted and are delayed. While usairways.com is back online, it may perform unreliably and in a delayed fashion.

Early reports indicate that the systems outage was the result of a power outage near one of the airline’s data centers in Phoenix.

We strongly encourage our customers to check their flight status before arriving at the airport by visiting usairways.com or by calling US Airways Reservations at 1-800-428-4322. (LCCG)

SOURCE: US Airways

1:

US Airways Issues Statement Regarding System Outage
TEMPE, Ariz., Jun 10, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) —

US Airways (NYSE: LCC) is experiencing a computer systems outage that has impacted usairways.com and the airline’s airport computer systems.

Early reports indicate that the systems outage is the result of a power outage near one of the airline’s data centers in Phoenix.

Some airport computer systems are coming back online now and we are working to restore operational order.

We strongly encourage our customers to check their flight status before arriving at the airport by calling US Airways Reservations at 1-800-428-4322. (LCCG)

SOURCE: US Airways

US Airways
Media Relations, 480-693-5729

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21st Century Air Traffic Control: GAATS+ Technology

New technologies in aviation come about to solve problems and make air travel safer. From this new technology, controllers will have increased situational awareness.

Air traffic control relies on positive and procedural navigation: positive uses radar; procedural uses the radio-procedure of pilots reporting their position every few minutes.

Gander Automated Air Traffic System Plus (GAATS+) is Canada’s new trans-oceanic flight control system developed especially to help deal with sixty percent (the percentage of jets equipped with GPS position-reporting and text-based communications avionics) of the thousand jets crossing the North Atlantic daily (just as Air France 447 did.) It reduces radio procedure by extending positive control via north coast radar feeds.

The new technology is an advance in integration which automates ATC processes (taking advantage of the newest GPS technology, ADS-B and ADS-C) and is expected to save client airlines a million in fuel yearly. It is said that GAATS+ “provides significant enhancements to the original GAATS system, including electronic flight strips and increased automation of data exchange with other ATC facilities. GAATS+ also integrates automated flight plan processing, track generation, advanced conflict prediction and data-link communication for position reports.”

Of course I can not help but have opinions on operational technology, even without a single tangible thing that qualifies me to have an opinion.

The phrase that caught my eye is the statement that “GAATS allows reduced separation by lessening reliance solely on procedural control.”

I am not now nor will I ever be working in a control room. I will have to take the word of Air Traffic Controllers on how this system will work at making flying safer.

My opinion is only based on a layman’s experience and too much attention paid to aviation detail. I only see a few sticking points and they are broad ones:

  • The technology conundrum: Technology is good because it brings greater efficiency; but sometimes I wonder if a reliance on technology will allow skills to atrophy. Will a system like this ultimately result in less able controllers, the same way cockpit technology has resulted in less able pilots?
  • Separation conundrumI hear the phrase greater separation, and I think, “okay, these planes won’t impact each other; they’re safe from direct contact and wake turbulence.” So when I just see the GAATS literature talking about enabling “reduced separation,” what perceive a greater possibility for direct contact and/or wake turbulence. I know the idea of a 5 minute longitudinal separation as opposed to ten is intended to mean greater capacity for traffic. But increased technological accuracy and precision in tracking jets is a good thing only as long as we don’t use the precision in a way that is ultimately chancy.
  • New software conundrum Anyone who has ever had a system knows that the bugs in the system don’t show up right away. They are discovered at various points whenever parameters are stretched or unexpected /unanticipated/ extraordinary events occur. Even when software is not beta any longer, ( las GAATS+ is the latest incarnation of existing GAATS), it is still a developing work in progress, as new problems are revealed and are bridged. So we can only hope that any bugs that exist will not be fatal ones.

Senate Examines ATC

Randolph Babbitt, the administrator for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Paul Rinaldi, the head of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association presented to the senate new aviation policies and rules.

During the hearing, Senators asked about fatigue among controllers. Several high-profile incidents in which controllers were said to be asleep or distracted while on duty include a controller who fell asleep Monday at Boeing Field/King County International Airport in Seattle and two controllers who were unresponsive at Preston Smith International Airport in Lubbock, the controller who slept for five hours at McGhee Tyson Airport in Knoxville.

The agency intends to a second controller at 26 airport towers and one other air-traffic center on overnight shifts so controllers don’t work overnight alone.

Dr. Greg Belenky of Washington State University’s Sleep and Performance Research Center suggested controllers be allowed controlled twenty minute restorative naps.