Public Statement

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    FAA Penalty Against Circor Aerospace


    WASHINGTON – The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is proposing a civil penalty of $205,250 against Circor Aerospace, Inc., a Sylmar, Calif.-based aircraft repair station, for allegedly violating FAA drug and alcohol testing regulations.
    The FAA alleges Circor failed to conduct required pre-employment drug tests and receive verified negative drug test results before hiring 29 people to perform safety-sensitive aircraft maintenance work.
    The FAA also alleges the company failed to include two individuals in its random drug and alcohol testing pool.
    The FAA discovered the alleged violations during a December 2011 inspection of Circor’s antidrug and alcohol misuse prevention program. The alleged violations took place between September 2010 and December 2011.

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    NTSB Says Aggressive Test Flight Schedule, Overlooked Errors Led to Stall and Crash

    Oct. 10, 2012
    The National Transportation Safety Board determined today that the probable cause of the crash of an experimental Gulfstream G650 on April 2, 2011, in Roswell, N.M., was the result of an aerodynamic stall and uncommanded roll during a planned takeoff test flight conducted with only one of the airplane’s two engines operating.
    The Board found that the crash was the result of Gulfstream’s failure to properly develop and validate takeoff speeds and recognize and correct errors in the takeoff safety speed that manifested during previous G650 flight tests; the flight test team’s persistent and aggressive attempts to achieve a takeoff speed that was erroneously low; and Gulfstream’s inadequate investigation of uncommanded roll events that occurred during previous flight tests, which should have revealed incorrect assumptions about the airplane’s stall angle of attack in ground effect.

    Contributing to the accident, the NTSB found, was Gulfstream’s pursuit of an aggressive flight test schedule without ensuring that the roles and responsibilities of team members were appropriately defined, sufficient technical planning and oversight was performed, and that hazards had been fully identified and addressed with appropriate, effective risk controls.

    “In this investigation we saw an aggressive test flight schedule and pressure to get the aircraft certified,” said NTSB Chairman Deborah A.P. Hersman. “Deadlines are essential motivators, but safety must always trump schedule.”

    At approximately 9:34 a.m. Mountain Time, during takeoff on the accident flight, the G-650 experienced a right wing stall, causing the airplane to roll to the right with the right wingtip contacting the runway. The airplane then departed the runway, impacting a concrete structure and an airport weather station, resulting in extensive structural damage and a post-crash fire. The two pilots and two flight engineers on board were fatally injured and the airplane was substantially damaged.

    The NTSB made recommendations to the Flight Test Safety Committee and the Federal Aviation Administration to improve flight test operating policies and encourage manufacturers to follow best practices and to coordinate high-risk flight tests. And the Board recommended that Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation commission an independent safety audit to review the company’s progress in implementing a flight test safety management system and provide information about the lessons learned from its implementation to interested manufacturers, flight test safety groups and other appropriate parties.

    “In all areas of aircraft manufacturing, and particularly in flight testing, where the risks are greater, leadership must require processes that are complete, clear and include well-defined criteria,” said Chairman Deborah A.P. Hersman. “This crash was as much an absence of leadership as it was of lift.”

    The preliminary synopsis of the report is below:

    NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD
    Public Meeting of October 10, 2012
    (Information subject to editing)
    Aircraft Accident Report:
    Crash During Experimental Test Flight
    Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation GVI (G650), N652GD
    Roswell, New Mexico
    April 2, 2011

    NTSB/AAR-12/02

    This is a synopsis from the National Transportation Safety Board’s report and does not include the NTSB’s rationale for the conclusions, probable cause, and safety recommendations. Safety Board staff is currently making final revisions to the report from which the attached conclusions and safety recommendations have been extracted. The final report and pertinent safety recommendation letters will be distributed to recommendation recipients as soon as possible. The attached information is subject to further review and editing.

    Executive Summary

    On April 2, 2011, about 0934 mountain daylight time, an experimental Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation GVI (G650), N652GD, crashed during takeoff from runway 21 at Roswell International Air Center Airport, Roswell, New Mexico. The two pilots and the two flight test engineers were fatally injured, and the airplane was substantially damaged by impact forces and a postcrash fire. The airplane was registered to and operated by Gulfstream as part of its G650 flight test program. The flight was conducted under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident.

    The accident occurred during a planned one-engine-inoperative (OEI) takeoff when a stall on the right outboard wing produced a rolling moment that the flight crew was not able to control, which led to the right wingtip contacting the runway and the airplane departing the runway from the right side. After departing the runway, the airplane impacted a concrete structure and an airport weather station, resulting in extensive structural damage and a postcrash fire that completely consumed the fuselage and cabin interior.

    The National Transportation Safety Board’s (NTSB) investigation of this accident found that the airplane stalled while lifting off the ground. As a result, the NTSB examined the role of “ground effect” on the airplane’s performance. Ground effect refers to changes in the airflow over the airplane resulting from the proximity of the airplane to the ground. Ground effect results in increased lift and reduced drag at a given angle of attack (AOA) as well as a reduction in the stall AOA. In preparing for the G650 field performance flight tests, Gulfstream considered ground effect when predicting the airplane’s takeoff performance capability but overestimated the in ground effect stall AOA. Consequently, the airplane’s AOA threshold for stick shaker (stall warning) activation and the corresponding pitch limit indicator (on the primary flight display) were set too high, and the flight crew received no tactile or visual warning before the actual stall occurred.

    The accident flight was the third time that a right outboard wing stall occurred during G650 flight testing. Gulfstream did not determine (until after the accident) that the cause of two previous uncommanded roll events was a stall of the right outboard wing at a lower-than-expected AOA. (Similar to the accident circumstances, the two previous events occurred during liftoff; however, the right wingtip did not contact the runway during either of these events.) If Gulfstream had performed an in-depth aerodynamic analysis of these events shortly after they occurred, the company could have recognized before the accident that the actual in-ground-effect stall AOA was lower than predicted.

    During field performance testing before the accident, the G650 consistently exceeded target takeoff safety speeds (V2). V2 is the speed that an airplane attains at or before a height above the ground of 35 feet with one engine inoperative. Gulfstream needed to resolve these V2 exceedances because achieving the planned V2 speeds was necessary to maintain the airplane’s 6,000-foot takeoff performance guarantee (at standard sea level conditions). If the G650 did not meet this takeoff performance guarantee, then the airplane could only operate on longer runways. However, a key assumption that Gulfstream used to develop takeoff speeds was flawed and resulted in V2 speeds that were too low and takeoff distances that were longer than anticipated.

    Rather than determining the root cause for the V2 exceedance problem, Gulfstream attempted to reduce the V2 speeds and the takeoff distances by modifying the piloting technique used to rotate the airplane for takeoff. Further, Gulfstream did not validate the speeds using a simulation or physics-based dynamic analysis before or during field performance testing. If the company had done so, then it could have recognized that the target V2 speeds could not be achieved even with the modified piloting technique. In addition, the difficulties in achieving the target V2 speeds were exacerbated in late March 2011 when the company reduced the target pitch angle for some takeoff tests without an accompanying increase in the takeoff speeds.

    Gulfstream maintained an aggressive schedule for the G650 flight test program so that the company could obtain Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) type certification by the third quarter of 2011. The schedule pressure, combined with inadequately developed organizational processes for technical oversight and safety management, led to a strong focus on keeping the program moving and a reluctance to challenge key assumptions and highlight anomalous airplane behavior during tests that could slow the pace of the program. These factors likely contributed to key errors, including the development of unachievable takeoff speeds, as well as the superficial review of the two previous uncommanded roll events, which allowed the company’s overestimation of the in-ground-effect stall AOA to remain undetected.

    After the accident, Gulfstream suspended field performance testing through December 2011 while the company examined the circumstances of the accident. In March 2012, Gulfstream reported that company field performance testing had been repeated and completed successfully. In June 2012, the company reported that FAA certification field performance testing had been successfully completed. Gulfstream obtained FAA type certification for the G650 on September 7, 2012.

    Conclusions

    1. The test team’s focus on achieving the takeoff safety speeds for the flight tests and the lack of guidance specifying precisely when the pitch angle target and pitch limit applied during the test maneuver contributed to the team’s decision to exceed the initial pitch target and the pitch angle at which a takeoff test was to be discontinued.

    2. A stall on the right outboard wing produced a right rolling moment that the flight crew was not able to control, which led to the right wingtip contacting the runway and the airplane departing the runway from the right side.

    3. Given the airplane’s low altitude, the time-critical nature of the situation, and the ambiguous stall cues presented in the cockpit, the flight crew’s response to the stall event was understandable.

    4. The impact forces from the accident were survivable, but the cabin environment deteriorated quickly and became unsurvivable because of the large amount of fuel, fuel vapor, smoke, and fire entering the cabin through the breaches in the fuselage.

    5. The airplane stalled at an angle of attack (AOA) that was below the in ground effect stall AOA predicted by Gulfstream and the AOA threshold for the activation of the stick shaker stall warning.

    6. If Gulfstream had performed an in-depth aerodynamic analysis of the cause of two previous G650 uncommanded roll events, similar to the analyses performed for roll events during previous company airplane programs, the company could have recognized that the actual in-ground-effect stall angle of attack for the accident flight test was significantly lower than the company predicted.

    7. Gulfstream’s decision to use a takeoff speed development method from a previous airplane program was inappropriate and resulted in target takeoff safety speed values that were too low to be achieved.

    8. By not performing a rigorous analysis of the root cause for the ongoing difficulties in achieving the G650 takeoff safety speeds (V2), Gulfstream missed an opportunity to recognize and correct the low target V2 speeds.

    9. Before the accident flight, Gulfstream had sufficient information from previous flight tests to determine that the target takeoff safety speeds (V2) could not be achieved with a certifiable takeoff rotation technique and that the V2 speeds needed to be increased.

    10. Deficiencies in Gulfstream’s technical planning and oversight contributed to the incorrect speeds used on the day of the accident.

    11. Because Gulfstream did not clearly define the roles and responsibilities for on site test team members, critical safety-related parameters were not being adequately monitored and test results were not being sufficiently examined during flight testing on the day of the accident.

    12. Gulfstream’s focus on meeting the G650’s planned certification date caused schedule related pressure that was not adequately counterbalanced by robust organizational processes to prevent, identify, and correct the company’s key engineering and oversight errors.

    13. Gulfstream’s flight test safety program at the time of the accident was deficient because risk controls were insufficient and safety assurance activities were lacking.

    14. The inherent risks associated with field performance flight testing, and minimum unstick speed testing in particular, could be reduced if airplane manufacturers considered the potential for a lower maximum lift coefficient in ground effect when estimating the stall angle of attack in ground effect.

    15. Effective flight test standard operating policies and procedures that are fully implemented by manufacturers would help reduce the inherent risks associated with flight testing.

    16. Flight test safety management system guidance specifically tailored to the needs of manufacturers would help promote the development of effective flight test safety programs.

    17. External safety audits would help Gulfstream monitor the implementation of safety management principles and practices into its flight test operations and sustain long-term cultural change.

    18. Flight test safety would be enhanced if manufacturers and flight test industry groups had knowledge of the lessons learned from Gulfstream’s implementation of its flight test safety management system.

    19. Advance coordination between flight test operators and airport operations and aircraft rescue and firefighting personnel for high-risk flight tests could reduce the response time to an accident site in the event of an emergency.

    Probable Cause

    The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the cause of this accident was an aerodynamic stall and subsequent uncommanded roll during a one engine-inoperative takeoff flight test, which were the result of (1) Gulfstream’s failure to properly develop and validate takeoff speeds for the flight tests and recognize and correct the takeoff safety speed (V2) error during previous G650 flight tests, (2) the G650 flight test team’s persistent and increasingly aggressive attempts to achieve V2 speeds that were erroneously low, and (3) Gulfstream’s inadequate investigation of previous G650 uncommanded roll events, which indicated that the company’s estimated stall angle of attack while the airplane was in ground effect was too high. Contributing to the accident was Gulfstream’s failure to effectively manage the G650 flight test program by pursuing an aggressive program schedule without ensuring that the roles and responsibilities of team members had been appropriately defined and implemented, engineering processes had received sufficient technical planning and oversight, potential hazards had been fully identified, and appropriate risk controls had been implemented and were functioning as intended.

    Recommendations

    To the Federal Aviation Administration:

    1. Inform domestic and foreign manufacturers of airplanes that are certified under 14 Code of Federal Regulations Parts 23 and 25 about the circumstances of this accident and advise them to consider, when estimating an airplane’s stall angle of attack in ground effect, the possibility that the airplane’s maximum lift coefficient in ground effect could be lower than its maximum lift coefficient in free air.

    2. Work with the Flight Test Safety Committee to develop and issue detailed flight test operating guidance for manufacturers that addresses the deficiencies documented in this report regarding flight test operating policies and procedures and their implementation.

    3. Work with the Flight Test Safety Committee to develop and issue flight test safety program guidelines based on best practices in aviation safety management.

    4. After the Flight Test Safety Committee has issued flight test safety program guidelines, include these guidelines in the next revision of Federal Aviation Administration Order 4040.26, Aircraft Certification Service Flight Test Risk Management Program.

    5. Inform 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 139 airports that currently have (or may have in the future) flight test activity of the importance of advance coordination of high risk flight tests with flight test operators to ensure adequate aircraft rescue and firefighting resources are available to provide increased readiness during known high risk flight tests.

    To the Flight Test Safety Committee:

    6. In collaboration with the Federal Aviation Administration, develop and issue flight test operating guidance for manufacturers that addresses the deficiencies documented in this report regarding flight test operating policies and procedures and their implementation, and encourage manufacturers to conduct flight test operations in accordance with the guidance.

    7. In collaboration with the Federal Aviation Administration, develop and issue flight test safety program guidelines based on best practices in aviation safety management, and encourage manufacturers to incorporate these guidelines into their flight test safety programs.

    8. Encourage members to provide notice of and coordinate high-risk flight tests with airport operations and aircraft rescue and firefighting personnel.

    To Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation:

    9. Commission an audit by qualified independent safety experts, before the start of the next major certification flight test program, to evaluate the company’s flight test safety management system, with special attention given to the areas of weakness identified in this report, and address all areas of concern identified by the audit.

    10. Provide information about the lessons learned from the implementation of its flight test safety management system to interested manufacturers, flight test industry groups, and other appropriate parties.

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    PR: FAA Promoting Aviation Edu

    On September 14, Acting FAA Administrator Michael Huerta renewed two important partnerships to encourage young people to pursue a career in aerospace.

    “Our partnerships with FAA aviation and space education ambassador Jamail Larkins and the national Build-A-Plane program inspire students across the nation to explore the many opportunities that aviation and aerospace careers offer,” said Huerta.

    Jamail Larkins will continue to serve as the FAA’s official ambassador for aviation and space education under the STEM-AVSED (Science, Engineering, and Mathematics-Aviation and Space Education) program. Larkins is one of the country’s youngest aviation entrepreneurs and President of Ascension Air, a Cirrus fractional partnership program. He addresses up to 20,000 students about aerospace careers each year through public schools and youth groups. The STEM-AVSED program coordinates presentations with Larkins for agency outreach events, such as Aviation Career Education Academies, airport career expos and school visits.
    The agency also renewed a partnership with Build-A-Plane, a national program that allows students to construct real airplanes. Build-A-Plane Executive Director Katrina Bradshaw signed the renewal with Acting Administrator Huerta. Build-A-Plane started in 2003 as a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting aerospace and aviation careers by allowing students across the United States to work on the construction and restoration of airplanes.

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    PR: $1.3 Million in Grants for Airport Vehicle Surveillance

    WASHNIGTON–U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood today announced $1.3 million in grants for Chicago O’Hare, Denver and San Francisco International Airports to buy vehicle surveillance equipment that will increase safety by helping to reduce the risk of conflicts between airport vehicles and aircraft.
    “This equipment will help ensure the safety of aircraft passengers and crew, as well as the safety of airport and airline vehicle operators,” said Secretary LaHood. “The safety of everyone involved in the aviation system is our top priority.”

    Each of the three airports will receive $421,875 through the FAA’s Airport Improvement Program (AIP) to buy up to 75 Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) units that will allow air traffic controllers and vehicle drivers to precisely identify vehicle locations on the airfield, especially during low visibility conditions.

    The ADS-B units will be installed in vehicles such as fire trucks, snow plows and other airport operations vehicles.

    “This grant allows ground equipment operators to have a better situational awareness of where they are on the airfield, which increases airport safety,” said FAA Acting Administrator Michael Huerta.
    The airports selected to receive the grants have operating environments that should benefit from this new surveillance technology. Chicago O’Hare will see enhanced surface coverage of vehicle locations across the busy, complex airfield. At Denver, the vehicle ADS-B units will provide precise vehicle tracking during low-visibility winter weather. At San Francisco, the vehicle units will improve situational awareness during upcoming airport construction projects.

    AIP provides $3.35 billion in annual funding for airport improvement projects that are vital to maintaining the safety, capacity and environmental stewardship of our nation’s airports. More than 3,300 airports are eligible for AIP grants benefiting commercial passengers, cargo operations and general aviation activities throughout the nation.

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    NASA AND PARTNERS TEST UNMANNED AIRCRAFT TECHNOLOGY IN N.D.

    NASA AND PARTNERS TEST UNMANNED AIRCRAFT TECHNOLOGY IN N.D.

    GRAND FORKS, N.D. – A joint team of government, a not-for-profit research and development organization and academia has completed two weeks of flight testing “sense and avoid” technology that could some day help unmanned aircraft better integrate into the national air transportation system.

    The MITRE Corporation and the University of North Dakota (UND) developed automatic sense and avoid computer software algorithms that were uploaded onto a NASA Langley Research Center general aviation aircraft. The NASA Langley Cirrus SR-22 flew 147 maneuvers during 39 hours of flight tests in airspace near the Grand Forks International Airport. A supporting UND aircraft flew more than 40 hours during the tests.

    During the Limited Deployment – Cooperative Airspace Project (LD-CAP) flights the NASA aircraft demonstrated how technology onboard allowed it to sense and avoid the UND Cessna 172 “intruder” plane, flown by a university instructor pilot. The Cirrus, which has been developed as a testbed to assess and mimic unmanned aircraft systems, had a safety pilot in the cockpit, but researchers say computer programs developed by MITRE and UND automatically maneuvered the aircraft to avoid conflicts.

    “This partnership has allowed us to address challenges from a national perspective,” said Frank Jones, NASA Langley LD-CAP deployment lead. “The strengths that NASA Langley, MITRE and UND brought here have enabled us to accomplish a lot in terms of how much data we have been able to collect.”

    The data from this flight test will validate work done in simulation and help engineers determine howthey can design systems so that unmanned aircraft can be safely incorporated into the skies. “One of the toughest obstacles to safe integration of unmanned aircraft into civilian airspace is the availability of technology to mitigate the lack of an on board pilot who can see and avoid,” said Andy Lacher, MITRE’s UAS Integration Lead. “This is a complex operational and technical challenge that requires significant research in the community to address. What we are doing here will help inform and future development of performance standards for sense and avoid.”

    More than 100 leaders from academia, industry, government, the military and the general aviation community came to the Grand Forks Airport to observe the LD-CAP flight demonstration. Live, on a large screen, they saw how a remotely piloted aircraft, equipped with technology, such as satellite-based Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast ADS-B data-link tracking, could detect a plane in its vicinity then automatically be safely maneuvered away from any possible conflict.

    Unmanned aircraft systems are growing in popularity and have many possible uses, including remote firefighting, search and rescue and surveillance. But their routine use in civil airspace creates technical, operational and policy challenges.

    Organizers say sense and avoid technology is just one piece of the puzzle and that these initial flight tests further illustrate the complexity of incorporating remotely piloted aircraft into the national airspace. “We are dealing with a very complex problem that no one organization can solve on its own,” said Jones. “The door is open and now it is time to gather data and explore the potential solutions.”

    Follow-on testing is expected to feature additional advanced software by MITRE and UND as well as sense and avoid software managed by a task automation framework developed by Draper Laboratory.

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    NTSB investigative update on SC GEnx-1B engine failure


    September 27, 2012
    WASHINGTON – This is an update on the NTSB’s investigation into a July 28, 2012 incident involving a Boeing 787-8 airplane that experienced a loss of thrust in the right engine—a General Electric (GE) GEnx-1B turbofan – during a pre-first flight, low-speed taxi test at Charleston International Airport in Charleston, South Carolina. As reported in an earlier update, the investigation found that the forward end of the fan midshaft (FMS) fractured and separated. Examination of other pre-delivery engines revealed a second GEnx-1B engine with a cracked FMS that was installed on a 787-8 airplane that had not yet flown.

    The investigation is ongoing, and an initial inspection of all in-service GEnx engines has been completed. Most recently, on September 11, 2012, a Boeing 747-8F with GE GEnx-2B turbofan engines experienced a loss of power in the No. 1 engine during the takeoff roll at Shanghai Pudong International Airport, Shanghai, China. The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) is investigating this incident, and the NTSB is participating as the state of design and manufacture of the engine and aircraft. Any investigative updates regarding this incident will be provided by the CAAC.

    As part the CAAC’s investigation and in relation to the NTSB’s ongoing investigation of the July 28th engine failure, preliminary findings from the examination of the Shanghai incident engine revealed that the FMS was intact and showed no indications of cracking. The examination and teardown of that engine is continuing under the direction of the CAAC.

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    New FAA Center of Excellence for General Aviation

    Press Release – FAA Establishes New Center of Excellence for General Aviation

    WASHINGTON – U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood today announced that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has selected a team of universities to lead a new Air Transportation Center of Excellence (COE) for general aviation. The COE will focus research and testing efforts on safety, accessibility and sustainability to enhance the future of general aviation.
    “The United States has the largest and most diverse general aviation community in the world, with more than 300,000 aircraft registered to fly through American skies,” said Secretary LaHood. “This innovative partnership with academia and industry will help us take general aviation safety to the next level.”

    The selected group is called the FAA Center of Excellence Partnership to Enhance General Aviation Safety, Accessibility and Sustainability (PEGASAS), and will be led by Purdue University, The Ohio State University and the Georgia Institute of Technology. The core team also will include the Florida Institute of Technology, Iowa State University and Texas A&M University. Affiliate members include: Arizona State University, Florida A&M, Hampton University, Kent State University, North Carolina A&T State University, Oklahoma State University, Southern Illinois University (Carbondale), Tufts University, Western Michigan University and University of Minnesota, Duluth.

    The FAA’s COE program is a cost-sharing research partnership between academia, industry and the federal government. Research and development efforts by PEGASAS will cover a broad spectrum of general aviation safety issues, including airport technology, propulsion and structures, airworthiness, flight safety, fire safety, human factors, system safety management and weather.
    The PEGASAS university members all have nationally recognized collegiate flight education programs, and three of the core members (Purdue, Ohio State and Texas A&M) also own and operate their own airports. Research projects will be performed through a partnership of principal investigators from the different universities. PEGASAS will engage both graduate-level and undergraduate students in its research activities.

    “The FAA continues its goal of working to reduce general aviation fatalities by 10 percent over a 10-year period, from 2009 to 2018,” said Acting FAA Administrator Michael Huerta. “The Center of Excellence program is a valuable tool in providing the critical data we need to reduce those accidents.”

    PEGASAS industry and organizational partners are GE Aviation; Battelle Memorial Institute; NetJets Inc.; Cessna; Gulfstream; Piper; Raytheon; Rockwell Collins; Cirrus; Flight Safety Foundation; Guardian Mobility; Harris Corporation; Jet Aviva; NextGen AeroSciences; Nelson
    Consulting; Rolls-Royce; The Spectrum Group; Take Flight Solutions; Woolpert; the Flight Deck Display Research Laboratory at NASA Ames; Columbus Regional, South Bend and Fort Wayne Airports; Florida, Georgia, Iowa and Indiana Departments of Transportation; the National Business Aviation Association; the National Intercollegiate Flying Association; and Ohio Aerospace Institute. These non-federal affiliates will provide matching contributions to help offset the FAA’s investment in the COE’s general aviation research initiatives.

    The FAA established the first Center of Excellence for General Aviation in 2001 through a 10-year agreement to conduct general aviation research in airport and aircraft safety areas. The research topics included pilot training, human factors, weather, Automatic Dependent Surveillance/Broadcast (ADS-B), remote airport lighting systems and other matters.

    As the first Center of Excellence for General Aviation research concludes, the new team will continue critical research, testing and education efforts. The FAA intends to invest a minimum of $500,000 per year during the first five years of the new, 10-year agreement with PEGASAS.
    Congress authorized Air Transportation Centers of Excellence under the Federal Aviation Administration Research, Engineering and Development Authorization Act of 1990. This legislation enables the FAA to work with university partners and industry affiliates to conduct research in airspace and airport planning and design, environment and aviation safety, as well as to engage in other activities to assure a safe and efficient air transportation system.

    The FAA has established Centers of Excellence in eight other topic areas, focusing on commercial space transportation, airliner cabin environment and intermodal research, aircraft noise and aviation emissions mitigation, computational modeling of aircraft structures, advanced materials, airport pavement and airport technology, operations research and airworthiness assurance.

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    David Disiere Southlake Aviation Awarded $32-Million Damages in Congo Gold Smuggling Case

    In a civil trial that sounded like a real life James Bond spy novel, a Dallas County Jury awarded Southlake Aviation, owned by Dallas business executive David Disiere, $32.4 million in damages against Houston based oil company, CAMAC International, its subsidiary CAMAC Aviation, and Mickey Lawal CAMAC’s Vice President of African Operations.
    The case stemmed from a scheme in which CAMAC International and its officers used a Gulfstream V jet leased from David Disiere’s Southlake Aviation to try to spirit more than ten thousands pounds of gold bullion out of the Democratic Republic of the Congo with help from General Bosco Ntaganda, a notorious Congolese warlord.

    Following the verdict, Southlake Aviation’s President, David Disiere praised the jury’s decision, “twelve citizens saw through a smoke-and- mirrors defense put on by the CAMAC’s attorneys and clearly found that CAMAC caused my company to loose a $43 million dollar aircraft in a greedy scheme that violated the U.S. Trading With The Enemy Act.”
    The jury heard riveting testimony from a diamond trader involved in the scheme describing how CAMAC executives Kase Lawal, Mickey Lawal, and Kamoru Lawal arranged to exchange two-oversized suitcases stuffed with six-and-half million dollars in cash for ten boxes of gold delivered by General Bosco Ntaganda’s armed forces.

    An investigation of the smuggling incident by the United Nations Security Council found that CAMAC and its three top executives, Kase Lawal, Mickey Lawal, and Kamoru Lawal were dealing with “individuals operating in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and committing serious violations of international law involving the targeting of children or women in situations of armed conflict.”

    Kase Lawal, Mickey Lawal, and Kamoru Lawal who are Nigerian American brothers invoked their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination hundreds of times during their testimony in the case.

    Houston energy executive, Kase Lawal the former CEO of CAMAC International and the current CEO of the publically traded CAMAC Energy Inc. was appointed to a White House Trade Advisory position by President Obama and serves on the boards of the Houston Port and Airport Authorities.

    David Disiere, the Dallas business executive and owner of Southlake Aviation, told the jury how he was shocked to get a call in the dead of night informing him that his company’s 43-million dollar Gulfstream V jet aircraft loaded with ten boxes of gold had been confiscated in Goma by authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo on February 5, 2011. The jury’s verdict also included compensation of more than 535-thousand dollars for repairing damage done the to the aircraft’s interior passenger compartment during the loading of the gold.

    Because Southlake Aviation’s aircraft was confiscated in the Congo, VFS Financing a subsidiary of General Electric, automatically placed Southlake Aviation’s loan to purchase the Gulfstream V in default, accelerated the entire balance, and repossessed the aircraft.

    Testimony in the case and the investigation by the United Nations also indicated that former Houston Rocket’s basketball star Dikembe Mutombo acted as an intermediary in the gold smuggling scheme.

    Testimony in the case showed that David Disiere had never met the Lawal brothers. Disiere testified that CAMAC had signed a three-year lease for Southlake’s Gulfstream V jet and claiming it would use the jet was to travel between its Houston headquarters and oil operations in Nigeria.

    The jury agreed with David Disiere’s testimony that CAMAC and its officers violated the terms of the aircraft’s lease by using it in an outlaw region of Africa.

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    Airline Teamsters Outreach

    United Airlines (UA) mechanics represented by the Teamsters Union are joining Teamster organizers and American Airlines (AA) mechanics in Tulsa today for an outreach program in support of a campaign by AA mechanics to change their current union representation.

    Dozens of mechanics and related employees from both airlines gathered at a local hotel this morning near Tulsa International Airport where American Airlines has its largest maintenance facility. The workers are meeting with Teamster representatives in preparation for an afternoon of door-to-door outreach to AA mechanics throughout the Tulsa area.

    “This is part of a major push by AA mechanics and related workers who are unhappy with their current union representation and want to reach out to their coworkers to build support for a new union,” said Chris Moore, a representative of the Teamsters Airline Division. “With all the difficulties that American is going through right now, we believe these workers want the strong representative that the Teamsters provide to thousands of other aviation mechanics throughout the industry.”

    Teamster organizers conducting house visits with AA workers will be accompanied by UA mechanics who organized with the Teamsters back in 2008 and ratified a strong contract last year.

    “Becoming Teamsters was the best choice we made at United and I think we have a lot to share with AA mechanics,” said Rich Petrovsky, a UA mechanic in San Francisco, Calif. and a business agent with Teamsters Local 986. “American Airlines is threatening mass layoffs and outsourcing maintenance work so it can get out of bankruptcy and, as we saw first hand at United, the Teamsters are the only union with a proven record when it comes to fighting outsourcing.”

    Read more at the International Brotherhood of Teamsters

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    ENHANCING SAFETY, EFFICIENCY AND REDUCing AIRCRAFT EMISSIONS Over Florida

    ORLANDO, Fl. – Acting Federal Aviation Administrator Michael Huerta today announced a collaborative NextGen effort that will increase safety and efficiency while reducing aircraft emissions for the passengers, air traffic controllers and airlines flying into and out of many of Florida’s major airports.

    The announcement was made at JetBlue University, the carrier’s training center, where simulators demonstrated examples of NextGen procedures and routes. CEO and president of JetBlue Airways Dave Barger joined Acting Administrator Huerta for the announcement, and is chair of the NextGen Advisory Committee, an industry advisory group that works with the FAA as part of NextGen.

    “The NextGen Metroplex initiative demonstrates the progress that can be made when the public and private sectors collaborate to deliver benefits for the flying public, the aviation community and the national economy,” said Huerta. “We’re excited about the improvements NextGen is bringing to Florida. The end result for travelers will be fewer delays, quicker flights and an even safer, greener flying experience.”

    As part of the FAA’s NextGen modernization program, the Metroplex initiative will improve the flow of air traffic into and out of airports in the Miami, Orlando and Tampa metropolitan areas. A metroplex is a region with several airports serving major metropolitan areas where heavy airport activity and environmental constraints combine to hinder the efficient movement of air traffic. Metroplex initiatives are underway or planned in numerous metropolitan areas across the country and will help airlines improve on-time performance and reduce emissions generated by aircraft.

    The Metroplex initiative is based on satellite navigation, which the FAA calls Performance-Based Navigation (PBN), also a key component of NextGen. PBN enables pilots to fly aircraft using satellite coverage or by utilizing the on-board flight management system.

    PBN allows shorter, more direct routes that reduce flight time and fuel consumption, and result in fewer carbon emissions.

    “As the largest domestic airline based in New York, the busiest airspace in the world, JetBlue will continue to take an active leadership role in advancing the next generation of airspace management in partnership with the FAA,” said Dave Barger, CEO and president of JetBlue Airways. “These new procedures will increase traffic flow predictability while reducing our environmental impact, allowing us to provide more efficient travel for customers.”

    The FAA estimates that more direct routings and more efficient aircraft descents into the Florida Metroplex will save eight million gallons of fuel annually, which equates to a reduction in carbon emissions by nearly 80,000 metric tons and an estimated $23.0 million saved in fuel costs. In addition, the FAA estimates that 5.4 million fewer nautical miles will be flown in and out of Florida based on current flight plan miles filed.
    This collaborative partnership includes the FAA, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, JetBlue Airways, American Airlines, US Airways, NetJets and other aviation stakeholders including business and general aviation interests. The Florida Metroplex study area includes six airports: Orlando International, Tampa, Miami, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach and Fort Myers. Satellite airports, including Boca Raton, Daytona Beach, Kissimmee, Marco Island, Naples, Orlando Executive, Orlando Sanford, Sarasota Bradenton and Stuart (Witham Field), are also part of this NextGen initiative.

    The Florida Metroplex work teams will explore and develop proposed strategies to streamline airspace to help reduce airspace complexity for air traffic controllers and flight crews. The strategies include:

    • Creating separate flight tracks for departures and arrivals to allow aircraft to climb and descend more efficiently.
    • Expanding the development of Optimized Profile Descent (OPD) procedures into the airports. OPDs allow pilots to almost idle the engines while the aircraft descends, using the on-board Flight Management System to fly a continuous, descending path without leveling off. OPDs reduce fuel consumption, carbon emissions and noise.
    • Shortening flight tracks by making them more direct.
    • Designing new satellite-based procedures for reliever airports.
    • Developing routes that will enable general aviation traffic to fly more efficient routes through congested airspace.

    NextGen is the transformation of the radar-based air traffic control system of today to a satellite-based system of the future. New procedures and technologies will significantly improve safety, capacity and efficiency and will reduce fuel burn, carbon emissions and environmental impacts.

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    FAA Achieves Major NextGen Milestone

    FAA Achieves Major NextGen Milestone with Contract for Digital Communications in Aircraft

    Today, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced a significant step forward in its Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) programs, awarding a contract that will supplement the voice communications currently used in commercial aviation with a digital system for clearer, more efficient communication between air traffic controllers, the flight deck and pilots.
    The FAA selected Harris Corporation Government Communications Systems to provide Data Communications Integrated Services (DCIS), with a subcontracting team that includes ARINC Inc., GE Aviation and Thales.
    “The FAA’s commitment to Data Communications is a critical next step for improving air safety, reducing delays, increasing fuel savings and improving the environment,” said Acting Administrator Michael P. Huerta. “When fully implemented, DataComm will make work safer and more efficient for both the air traffic controller and the pilot.”
    Voice communication is currently the primary means of relaying information in air traffic management. However, voice communication is not the most effective way for air traffic controllers and pilots to communicate because it can be time-consuming and limiting. DataComm supplements today’s analog voice-only air-to-ground communications system with a digital system, and it will become the primary mode of communication in air traffic in the future.
    DataComm will provide a two-way data exchange between controllers and flight crews for clearances, instructions, advisories, flight crew requests and reports. It will enhance air traffic safety by allowing controllers to give more timely and effective clearances, and more reliable messages to reduce the risk of incidents associated with voice communications. It will also help air traffic controllers safely handle more traffic by reducing congestion on radio frequencies and related errors.
    The FAA will deploy data communications in air traffic control towers by 2016 and in air traffic facilities that manage high altitude traffic beginning in 2019. The $331 million contract covers seven years, with 10 additional one-year options. Harris Corporation will also be responsible for contracting directly with communication service providers to establish Data Communications Network Services.

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    Ryanair under the eye of Spanish and Irish Authorities


    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact photographer Joachim Eichner

    What: Ryanair Boeing 737-800 en route from Bristol to Reus
    Where: Barcelona
    When: Sept 15, 2012
    Who: 171
    Why: On Sept 15, the Bristol-Reus flight diverted to Barcelona after developing an engine problem. Passengers disembarked in Barcelona and were provided alternative transportation.

    This is one of the events that caught the eye of Spanish and Irish aviation bodies. They are initializing an investigation into Ryanair after a number of diversions occurred recently in Spanish airspace.

    The investigation was initiated after a diversion to Madrid during a Paris-tenerife flight, and three landings in Valencia on July 26.

    There are fears that Ryanair is courting disaster by flying with minimal fuel requirements.

    Read the official statement below:

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    Release: NTSB Urges Changes

    The National Transportation Safety Board today issued two urgent safety recommendations to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regarding two recent occurrences in which the fan midshaft on General Electric GEnx-1B engines fractured or exhibited crack indications; and a GEnx -2B incident that appears similar in nature. The recommendations are: (1) Issue an airworthiness directive to require, before further flight, the immediate ultrasonic inspection of the fan midshaft in all GEnx-1B and -2B engines that have not undergone inspection, and (2) Require repetitive inspections of the fan midshaft at a sufficiently short interval that would permit multiple inspections and detection of a crack before it could reach critical length and the fan midshaft fractures.

    On July 28, 2012, the NTSB initiated an investigation of an engine failure that occurred on a Boeing 787 during a pre-delivery taxi test in Charleston, South Carolina. This investigation is ongoing.

    “The parties to our investigation — the FAA, GE and Boeing — have taken many important steps and additional efforts are in progress to ensure that the fleet is inspected properly,” said NTSB Chairman Deborah A.P. Hersman. “We are issuing this recommendation today because of the potential for multiple engine failures on a single aircraft and the urgent need for the FAA to act immediately.”

    In addition, on August 31, 2012, a GEnx-1B engine installed on a Boeing 787 that had not yet flown was found to have an indication of a similar crack on the fan midshaft. The fan midshaft was removed from the engine for further inspection and examination. As a result of the investigative work to date, the NTSB has determined that the fan midshafts on the GEnx engines fractured or cracked at the forward end of the shaft where the retaining nut is installed.

    GE developed a field ultrasonic inspection method to inspect the fan midshaft in the area where the fracture and crack occurred that can be accomplished with the engine still installed on the airplane. To date, all in-service and spare GEnx-1B engines have been inspected. In addition, all GEnx-2B engines on passenger airplanes have been inspected. However, the NTSB is aware of approximately 43 GEnx-2B engines on 747-8F cargo airplanes that have not yet been inspected and is concerned that they are potentially susceptible to a fan midshaft failure.

    More recently, a Boeing 747-8F cargo flight, operated by Air Bridge Cargo, equipped with General Electric GEnx-2B turbofan engines, experienced a loss of power in one of the engines during the takeoff roll in Shanghai, China. The airplane had accelerated through 50 knots when the engine’s low pressure rotor speed dropped. The pilot rejected the takeoff and returned to the ramp. Photographs of the low pressure turbine show damage similar to the GEnx-1B engine from the Charleston incident. The NTSB will continue to coordinate with our investigative counterparts in China.

    Read the Recommendation Letter:

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    NTSB PR: Jim Cash Awarded Sammie

    National Transportation Safety Board’s James Cash has been awarded a Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medals for career achievement in public service.

    “Jim Cash is a humble and soft-spoken gentleman. But underneath that demeanor, there is a lion-hearted intellectual dedicated to investigation and committed to safety,” said NTSB Chairman Deborah A.P. Hersman. “Through his decades of work, his dogged determination and expertise, Jim has made significant contributions to accident investigations that have yielded the clues that led to important safety improvements. Because of that work, he has long been recognized by his colleagues around the world as a pre-eminent technical expert in accident investigation. He truly exemplifies the best of our NTSB staff and of public service overall. I am honored to work along-side him, to learn from him, and to share his passion and commitment to transportation safety.”

    Cash is the NTSB’s Chief Technical Advisor in the Office of Research and Engineering. He has spent nearly three decades deciphering information from electronic recording devices to help determine the causes of major aviation and other transportation accidents that, in turn, led to recommendations to advance transportation safety for the traveling public. Cash is one of world’s leading experts on cockpit voice recorders and flight data recorders, which help determine the system failures and human errors that cause airplane crashes.

    The Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medals, or “Sammies,” honor outstanding federal employees. The winners were nominated by colleagues familiar with their work and selected by a committee that includes nearly 20 leaders in government, academia, the private sector, media and philanthropy. More than 400 nominations were submitted for medal consideration this year.

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    NTSB RECOMMENDS SYSTEM FOR LARGE AIRPLANES TO PREVENT COLLISIONS WHILE TAXING


    WASHINGTON – Today the NTSB recommended that the Federal Aviation Administration require that large airplanes be equipped with an anti-ground collision aid, such as an on-board external-mounted camera system, to provide pilots a clear view of the plane’s wingtips while taxing to ensure clearance from other aircraft, vehicles and obstacles.

    On large airplanes (such as the Boeing 747, 757, 767, and 777; the Airbus A380; and the McDonnell Douglas MD-10 and MD-11), the pilot cannot see the airplane’s wingtips from the cockpit unless the pilot opens the cockpit window and extends his or her head out of the window, which is often impractical.

    The NTSB said that the anti-collision aids should be installed on newly manufactured and certificated airplanes and that existing large airplanes should be retrofitted with the equipment.

    “A system that can provide real-time information on wingtip clearance in relation to other obstacles will give pilots of large airplanes an essential tool when taxiing,” said NTSB Chairman Deborah A.P. Hersman. “While collision warning systems are now common in highway vehicles, it is important for the aviation industry to consider their application in large aircraft.”

    The recommendations follow three recent ground collision accidents (all currently under investigation) in which large airplanes collided with another aircraft while taxing:

    • May 30, 2012: The right wingtip of an EVA Air Boeing 747-400 struck the rudder and vertical stabilizer of an American Eagle Embraer 135 while taxing at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport (Preliminary Report: http://go.usa.gov/rPFh).

    • July 14, 2011: A Delta Air Lines Boeing 767 was taxing for departure when its left winglet struck the horizontal stabilizer of an Atlantic Southeast Airlines Bombardier CRJ900 (Preliminary Report: http://go.usa.gov/rnzC).

    • April 11, 2011: During a taxi for departure, the left wingtip of an Air France A380 struck the horizontal stabilizer and rudder of a Comair Bombardier CRJ701 (Preliminary Report: http://go.usa.gov/rnzW).

    The NTSB made the same recommendation to the European Aviation Safety Agency, which sets standards for aircraft manufacturers in Europe.

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    FAA Announces $10 Million Grant to Danville Regional Airport

    Washington, D.C. – The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) today announced a $10 million grant for a runway project at Danville Regional Airport in Danville, Va.

    “One of our key priorities is to ensure that our nation’s airports are properly maintained,” U.S. Transportation Ray LaHood said. “This grant will ensure that the Danville Regional Airport continues to operate safely.”

    The grant will fund the rehabilitation of Runway 2/20. Additional safety benefits include new runway markings and signage for better pilot awareness, grooves in the runway to give aircraft greater traction in wet conditions, new runway edge lighting, and improvements to the runway safety area.
    Acting FAA Administrator Michael Huerta said, “The Danville Regional Airport and its users will benefit from these important safety enhancements for years to come.”

    Aircraft will use the crosswind runway, Runway13/31, during the reconstruction of Runway 2/20. Project construction is expected to begin in September 2012 and completed in November 2013.

    The Airport Improvement Program (AIP) provides $3.35 billion in annual funding for projects that are vital to maintaining the safety, capacity, and environmental stewardship of our airports. More than 3,300 airports are eligible for AIP grants benefiting commercial passengers, cargo operations, and general aviation activities throughout the nation.

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    FAA Selects Harris Corporation As Voice System Provider

    August 27- The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has selected Harris Corp. of Melborne, Fla., to support an essential element of the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen). The NextGen-enabling program is called the National Airspace System (NAS) Voice System (NVS).

    NVS replaces the 40-year-old, legacy voice switches with a modern and flexible operational voice capability. NVS supports ground-to-ground voice communications between air traffic controllers and air-to-ground voice communications between controllers and aircraft. The FAA will deploy NVS in air traffic control towers, terminal and en route facilities, and future NextGen air traffic control facilities.
    “This system is another example of the critical role that interconnecting technologies serve as part of NextGen,” said FAA Acting Administrator Michael Huerta. “NVS will help ensure more efficient and reliable voice communications between our air traffic facilities as we maintain the world’s safest aviation system.”

    NVS will take advantage of modern router-based telecommunications technologies that enable the FAA to transition to a NAS-wide networked system. The current legacy voice switches operate independently at individual facilities and some have been in place since the early 1980s. NVS is a major modernization initiative that will enable the FAA to route, monitor and share information from one facility to another. It also offers the flexibility to allow the FAA to shift controller workload between facilities as needed.

    NVS will support airspace redesign, dynamic re-sectorization and offloading, and business continuity planning to protect against a loss of communications at air traffic control facilities. With the implementation of NVS, the FAA will have enhanced visibility and control over communications resources and will be able to manage them as a unified system versus individual platforms.
    The NVS contract has a five-year base and five two-year options, with a potential total value of $291.6 million.

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    DETERIORATED PARTS ALLOWED FLUTTER WHICH LED TO FATAL CRASH AT 2011 RENO AIR RACES


    August 27, 2012
    WASHINGTON – The National Transportation Safety Board determined today that deteriorated locknut inserts found in the highly modified North American P-51D airplane that crashed during the 2011 National Championship Air Races in Reno, Nevada, allowed the trim tab attachment screws to become loose, and even initiated fatigue cracking in one screw. This condition, which resulted in reduced stiffness in the elevator trim system, ultimately led to aerodynamic flutter at racing speed that broke the trim tab linkages, resulting in a loss of controllability and the eventual crash.

    On September 16, 2011, as the experimental single-seat P-51D airplane “The Galloping Ghost,” traveling about 445 knots, or 512 mph, in the third lap of the six-lap race, passed pylon 8, it experienced a left-roll upset and high-G pitch up. During the upset sequence, the airplane’s vertical acceleration peaked at 17.3 G, causing incapacitation of the pilot. Seconds later, a section of the left elevator trim tab separated in flight. The airplane descended and impacted the ramp in the spectator box seating area, killing the pilot and 10 spectators and injuring more than 60 others.

    “In Reno, the fine line between observing risk and being impacted by the consequences when something goes wrong was crossed,” said NTSB Chairman Deborah A. P. Hersman. “The pilots understood the risks they assumed; the spectators assumed their safety had been assessed and addressed.”

    Contributing to the accident were the undocumented and untested major modifications made to the airplane, as well as the pilot’s operation of the airplane in the unique air racing environment without adequate flight testing.

    The nearly 70-year-old airplane had undergone numerous undocumented modifications. The modifications, designed to increase speed, included shortening of the wings, installation of a boil-off cooling system for the engine, increasing the elevator counterweights, modification of the pitch trim system, and changing the incidence of the horizontal and vertical stabilizers.

    Although the Federal Aviation Administration required that a flight standards district office be notified in writing of any major changes made to The Galloping Ghost before it could be flown, investigators could find no records that such notifications were made except for the installation of the boil-off cooling system. The undocumented major modifications were identified through wreckage examinations, photographic evidence, and interviews with ground crewmembers.

    In April, while the investigation was ongoing and after the NTSB’s investigative hearing in January on air race and air show safety, the NTSB issued 10 safety recommendations to the Reno Air Racing Association, the National Air racing Group Unlimited Division, and the FAA. These recommendations addressed:

    • requiring engineering evaluations for aircraft with major modifications;
    • raising the level of safety for spectators and personnel near the race course;
    • improving FAA guidance for air race and course design;
    • providing race pilots with high-G training and evaluating the feasibility of G-suit requirements for race pilots; and
    • tracking the resolution of race aircraft discrepancies identified during prerace technical inspections.

    Although no additional safety recommendations were issued today, the Board reclassified nine existing recommendations as described below:

    • Eligibility Requirements for Aircraft with Major Modifications – recommendations A 12 9 and A-12-13 classified “Open—Acceptable Response”
    • Prerace Technical Inspection Discrepancy Tracking – recommendation A 12 10, classified “Closed—Acceptable Action”
    • Spectator Safety – recommendations A 12 14 and 15, classified “Closed—Acceptable Action”
    • High G Training, G-Suit Feasibility for Pilots – recommendations A 12 11, -12, -16, and -17, classified “Closed—Acceptable Action”

    A tenth safety recommendation, issued to the FAA, which addressed air race and course design guidance was reclassified as “Open—Acceptable Response” on July 25, 2012.

    “It’s good news for the air races that so many of our recommendations have been addressed,” said Chairman Hersman. “We will continue to push for the full implementation of all of our safety recommendations.”

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    Final Report on Helicopter Crash

    What: DAVCRON PTY LTD Bell 206
    Where: South Turramurra near the Canoon Rd netball courts
    When: July 20121
    Who: 2 fatalities
    Why: The pilot had picked his passenger to take him to Sydney Adventist Hospital apparently without checking weather reports which resulted in the Bell helicopter crashing in a cliff. Inclement weather and hazardous conditions in Lane Cove National Park led to the decision to call off the recovery operation on July 22, 2012, the same inclement conditions which caused the accident. Businessman Bruce Campbell, 65, and freelance pilot Colin Greenwood died in the crash at the foot of 15m cliff in Lane Cove National Park.

    Read More

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    Costly Mistake

    What: SAS Airbus 321 en route from London to Copenhagen
    Where: Heathrow airport
    Who: 175 passengers
    Why: The cart that crashed into an SAS plane at Heathrow caused £1 million worth in damage, all because driver Dennis Jackson had forgotten which vehicle he was driving when he drove a too tall vehicle under the plane’s too low tail. The SAS Airbus 321 impacted the rear of the craft near the fuel line and sliced through the plane. The plane was subsequently evacuated.

    Jackson’s employer Dnata gave him a written warning.

    It was, as one attorney said, an “expensive accident,” costing a fine of a week’s wages, £150(fees), £85 (costs) and £15 (victim surcharge).

    The official ATSB Report

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    Press: FAA Issues Cape Wind Determination

    The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) today issued a “Does Not Exceed (DNE)” determination for the proposed construction of 130 wind turbines in Nantucket Sound.
    The FAA completed an aeronautical study and has determined that the proposed construction of the 130 wind turbines, individually and as a group, has no effect on aeronautical operations. Therefore, the FAA concludes that the project, if constructed as proposed, poses no hazard to air navigation.
    The FAA makes obstruction evaluations based on safety considerations and the available solutions to mitigate potential risks.

    Form 7460-1 for ASN: 2012-WTE-322-OE

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    Just Released: Investigation Boeing 787 engine failure


    July 31, 2012
    WASHINGTON – The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating an engine failure that occurred on a Boeing 787 Dreamliner during a taxi test in Charleston, South Carolina.

    On Saturday, July 28, 2012, Boeing and General Electric, the engine manufacturer, notified the NTSB that a Boeing 787 experienced an engine failure during a pre-delivery taxi test. As a result of the failure, it has been reported that the engine left debris on the active runway at Charleston International Airport and caused a brush fire. There were no passengers aboard the aircraft nor were there any fatalities or injuries.

    Upon the notification of the incident, the NTSB sent an aviation investigator with extensive expertise in aircraft powerplants, to the scene on Sunday to gather information to better understand the circumstances of the event.

    As a result, the NTSB decided to conduct an investigation and has named David Helson as the Investigator in Charge. In the next few days, an NTSB aircraft powerplants expert and a metallurgist from the NTSB Materials Lab will travel to a General Electric facility in Cincinnati, OH, to lead and coordinate the disassembly and examination of the engine in question.

    The Federal Aviation Administration, Boeing and General Electric are parties to the investigation.

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    Just Released: NTSB Welcomes Administrative Law Judge


    Washington – Chairman Deborah A.P. Hersman has announced the appointment of Stephen R. Woody as an Administrative Law Judge for the agency.

    Since July 2009, Judge Woody has served as an Administrative Law Judge with the Social Security Administration. Prior to becoming an ALJ, he was a military trial judge in the U.S. Air Force, presiding over all judicial proceedings under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. He also served as a Staff Judge Advocate, and retired from the Air Force with the grade of Colonel.

    The Administrative Law Judges conduct formal hearings and issue initial decisions on appeals filed with the Safety Board relating to air safety enforcement actions by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) against pilots and other FAA certificate holders. Administrative Law Judges’ initial decisions can be appealed to the NTSB. The Board, in turn, takes final administrative action on appeals and issues decisions affirming, modifying or reversing judges’ decisions, or remanding cases to the judge for further proceedings.

    Judge Woody will primarily be responsible for hearing cases in the Office of Administrative Law Judges’ Northeast Circuit (Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Indiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Virginia). Judge Woody is a graduate of West Virginia University and earned his law degree at the West Virginia University College of Law.

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    FAA Fact Sheet – What is the Airport Privatization Pilot Program?

    The airport privatization pilot program is designed to allow airports to generate access to sources of private capital for airport improvement and development. The 1996 Reauthorization Act, Title 49 United States Code §47134, authorized the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to establish the pilot program. The 2012 Reauthorization Act increased the number of airports that could participate in the program from five to 10. The same restrictions on participation apply. Only one large hub airport can participate in the program; one of the airports must be a general aviation airport. Commercial service airports can only be leased and general aviation airports can be sold or leased. The program now permits up to 10 public airport sponsors to sell or lease an airport with certain restrictions, and to exempt the sponsor from certain federal requirements that could otherwise make privatization impractical. Most commercial service airports in the United States are owned and operated by local or state governments. Public-use general aviation airports are both publicly and privately owned.
    AIRPORTS IN THE PRIVATIZATION PROGRAM
    Chicago Midway Airport (MDW)
    Chicago Midway Airport (MDW), a large air carrier hub airport, owned and operated by the city of Chicago, handles more than 17 million passengers and 253,000 aircraft operations (calendar year 2008). The City also owns and operates Chicago O’Hare International Airport.
    Status:The FAA expects to receive a revised preliminary application including a revised timetable and a distribution ready copy of a request for qualifications or interest from the city of Chicago by December 31, 2012.
    Hendry County Airglades Airport (2IS)
    Airglades Airport, a general aviation reliever airport in Clewiston, Florida, is located 80 miles from Miami International Airport. The airport is owned and operated by Hendry County. The airport has a 5,603-foot runway, a general aviation terminal and hangars. Hendry County’s preliminary application was approved by the FAA on October 18, 2010.
    Status:The airport sponsor is negotiating an agreement with a private operator.
    Luís Muñoz Marín International Airport (SJU)
    Luís Muñoz Marín International Airport, a medium-hub airport is owned and operated by the Puerto Rico Ports Authority. In 2008, the airport had 4.6 million passenger boardings. The FAA approved the Authority’s preliminary application for the Luís Muñoz Marín International Airport on December 22, 2009.
    Status: The airport sponsor published a Request for Qualifications in July 2011 and prequalified six potential bidders to submit proposals. On July 19, 2012, the Puerto Rico Ports Authority selected Aerostar Airport Holdings as the winner of a public bidding process to become the private operator of the Luis Munoz Marin International Airport.
    AIRPORT INFORMATION IN THE DOCKET
    To review information on the airports submitted to the docket go to: www.regulations.gov.
    Chicago Midway, Docket Number FAA-2006-25867
    Airglades, Docket Number FAA-2008-1168
    Luís Muñoz Marín International, Docket Number FAA-2009-1144
    AIRPORT PRIVATIZATION FACTS
    What does FAA’s acceptance of the preliminary application mean?An airport sponsor who wants to participate in the airport privatization pilot program must receive preliminary FAA approval, through an application process, to reserve one of the five slots available under the program. Once the FAA approves the preliminary application, the sponsor can select a private operator to manage the airport, negotiate an agreement with the private operator, and prepare a final application for submittal to the FAA.
    Application process. A public airport sponsor and the private operator selected to purchase or lease an airport may request participation in the pilot program by filing an application for exemption under Title 49 United States Code §47134(a).
    A public sponsor may submit a preliminary application for FAA review and approval. It must contain summary narratives identifying the objectives of the privatization initiative, a description of the process and a realistic timetable for completing the program, current airport financial statements, and a distribution ready copy of the request for proposal. The FAA has 30 days to review the preliminary application.
    When the FAA approves the preliminary application, the applicant is guaranteed one of the five slots in the program.
    The airport sponsor may select a private operator, negotiate an agreement, and submit a final application to the FAA. There is no timeline for the FAA to complete its review of the final application.
    After the FAA reviews and approves the final application and lease agreement, it publishes a notice in the Federal Register for a 60-day public review and comment period.
    The FAA completes its review, prepares its Findings and Record of Decision (ROD), addresses the public comments in the ROD, and publishes the agency decision.
    If the FAA approves the ROD, it monitors the legal settlement and transfer of the airport from public owner and sponsor to the new private operator and sponsor.
    Number and category of airports. The legislation authorizes 10 airports to participate in the program. At least one must be a general aviation airport and no more than one large hub air carrier airport may participate. Under the pilot program, general aviation airports may be leased or sold, but an air carrier airport may only be leased.
    Exemption from federal requirement. The 1996 Reauthorization Act permits the FAA to exempt an airport sponsor from certain requirements that could otherwise make privatization unattractive. First, the public airport sponsor may receive an exemption to use the lease or sale proceeds for non-airport purposes. Generally, all proceeds from the lease or sale of airport land must be used for the capital or operating costs of the airport. This exemption requires the approval of 65 percent of the air carriers at the airport (by number of carriers and by landed weight). The FAA also can exempt a public sponsor from an obligation to repay federal grants and return property acquired with federal assistance upon the lease or sale of the airport.
    Conditions for granting exemptions. The FAA approval is based upon a number of conditions listed in Title 49 United States Code § 47134. These include the private operator’s ability to assume the public operator’s grant obligations, and ensure continued access to the airport on reasonable terms. The private operator must operate the airport safely, maintain and improve the airport, provide security, mitigate noise and environmental impacts, and abide by existing collective bargaining agreements. The public operator must provide a plan for continued operation of the airport in case of bankruptcy of the private operator.
    Federal assistance. The private operator of an air carrier airport may receive Airport Improvement Program (AIP) grants, collect Passenger Facility Charges, and charge reasonable fees. Airport rates and charges that exceed the Consumer Price Index require approval of 65 percent of air carriers. Private operators of general aviation airports can receive AIP discretionary grants.
    Federal oversight. Airports in the pilot program must comply with Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 139 and with Transportation Security Administration requirements for airport security.

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    PR: New International Aircraft Emissions Standard

    July 18–The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) recently took another step to make aviation “greener” when it unanimously approved a metric that will be the basis for developing the first-ever carbon dioxide standard for commercial aircraft. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) played a key role in making progress toward a new international standard.

    “A core element of the Obama Administration’s plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in aviation is to support development and integration of new, more fuel-efficient technologies,” said FAA Acting Administrator Michael Huerta. “This international agreement underscores our nation’s commitment and the commitment of other countries to make aviation as environmentally efficient as possible.”

    The FAA is a member of ICAO’s Committee on Aviation Environmental Protection (CAEP). Recently, the CAEP was charged with developing a new standard as more scientific evidence has found that CO2 contributes significantly to global warming. A team of technical experts from the FAA, together with experts from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), worked closely with experts from other ICAO member countries to develop this new CO2 metric for aircraft. The new metric, which is based on fuel-burn performance at three different cruise conditions and accounts for different aircraft sizes, now lays the groundwork for development of an internationally agreed upon CO2 aircraft standard.

    The FAA has long been a leader in making aviation as environmentally friendly as possible. At the heart of the FAA’s work in developing the Next Generation of Air Transportation system, or NextGen, is the promise of more direct routes that will reduce fuel and emissions. In addition, the FAA has been working with its academic and industry partners to develop sustainable alternative fuels, as well as more efficient aircraft engine and body designs through the Commercial Aviation Alternative Fuels Initiative (CAAFI) and the agency’s Continuous Lower Energy, and Emissions and Noise (CLEEN) programs.